I was going to write all about our weekend, but decided just to hit a few highlights:

•  My Macbook Pro arrived!  I got it set up, moved most of my data over, and installed all my software.  I also got BootCamp installed, Windows running, and a couple of game demos to exercise my snazzy video card.  To sum up, I'm extraordinarily happy about this machine; it's amazing to me how much of a step forward it is from my old Powerbook -- it's fast, the screen is bright and clear and beautify, it's fast, and comes with Leopard (which I like a lot so far), and it's fast, and it's nice to have the iSight camera up top, and it's fast.  Did I mention it's fast?
• Windows validation stinks.  I have a legitimate Windows license, installed on one computer, etc.  However, Microsoft's validation scheme decided that I've reinstalled my computer with that license too many times and won't let me activate the system.  Sounds like I either have to talk my way through a phone support person, or drop another $100-150 on another license.  What the heck?
• Call of Duty 4 is very, very well done.  I sense another $50 disappearing from my wallet some time very soon.  Portal is also extremely fun, and I'm going to be picking that up soon as well. 
• I wish I didn't have to bounce back and forth between Windows and Mac just to play games.  One day...
• We lost our copy of "Cars" a few months back.  I picked it up on Friday since the kids were sick.  We watched it I think 5 times this weekend ;)
• I finally got our Christmas lights down.  Amazing that I put off for 2 months something that took 20 minutes and a visit to borrow the next door neighbor's ladder.
• I'm about to wrap 2 personal projects that have taken way too long and sapped my time for primary projects.  Unfortunately, one-more-thing syndrome means that they're not likely to die nearly fast enough to make me happy.

I realized I forgot to post about the rest of our weekend! I guess the excitement of getting a new car kind of got in the way.

We had a really relaxing weekend and it was very much anticipated. Saturday morning we met our good friend Brock (from Livermore) at the Brentwood Farmer's Market and then went out to lunch to our favorite Mexican place, Jalisco's. Ethan was thrilled (understatement) to see "Uncle" Brock and spend so much time with him. He had been talking about it most of Friday and all of Saturday morning. After lunch we came back to our place and Ethan got to watch Incredibles with Brock; very exciting. If you know Ethan well at all, you know he takes his movie watching quite seriously. He was so glad Brock liked the movie and enjoyed all his favorite parts.

Sunday the kids were too sick to be at church, so Jase stayed home with them and I went. The sermon was excellent; James 2:1-13  Showing No Partiality When Fulfilling the Law of the King. Something I came away with - do I have a genuine care and love for ALL mankind? Or, just those who make me feel nice and special, saying everything they know I want to hear? Do I genuinely care about the beggar on the street corner, the woman pregnant out of wedlock, the guy who looks like a staple gun attacked his body (as Ryan put it) or the lady in the store that's not dressed well and looks like she's never seen a shower?! Seriously, think about it. Do you really love others the way Christ has commanded you to? I realized that so many of us love when we're getting something in return. As soon as love isn't being shown to us (just the way we think we deserve it) we write those people off our list of people to be nice to. Very sad and SO not like Christ. We were reminded that we are commanded by God to LOVE and BLESS those who would be considered our enemies. I found my mind wandering off at that point while I thought about what our present world considers an enemy. Its so common for people to "hate" that person or that group of people. So common (for women especially) to say "Oh, I'm not her friend anymore..." I don't think we fully understand who Christ is talking about when He says "Enemy". I've always thought that it definitely means loving those who don't see eye to eye with me and who don't agree with me on things or don't like me very much... but I think the word enemy goes so much deeper. Someone who hates you and their delight comes in seeing you fall and fail, suffer, be unhappy, etc... do you have many of those in your life? I think not.  With that in mind, it makes our "not liking so and so very much" seem so petty and insignificant.

So, good sermon. Go listen to it if you have time. If you want to hear it, you can go to our church's website and download it. Otherwise, just be happy knowing that you missed out. After church we just hung out around the house; had a yummy pizza lunch and enjoyed the quiet day.

The new week has started and both kids seem to be doing a bit better. I think we'll have the runny noses for several more days, but we're just thankful it never moved into their chests. I've been doing my best to keep that from happening when they get sick.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

This would normally be the time I'd blog about our weekend, lamenting over the fact that its over. BUT... Jason has a four day weekend and so for us, its not over yet!

We've had loads of fun this weekend and enjoyed lots of fun family time. On Friday we spent the earlier part of the day relaxing around the house, both kids took naps and then when they woke up we drove to the IKEA store (relatively new) in Sacramento for some fun shopping. It was the first time I had ever been to an IKEA store and it was a great experience. I know they don't have the most high quality stuff, but if you enjoy home shopping, you'll LOVE that store. We had so much fun looking at all the displays, playing with toys for the kids, running from home set-up to home set-up and having dinner in the IKEA restaurant! The whole time was lots of fun and it was especially nice that its a fun place for kids. Ethan had a blast and Rachel would have, except she's cutting teeth, so life isn't very fun for her right now.

Saturday morning Jase went to get a hair cut and took Ethan with him, hoping to get Ethan's cut as well. Thankfully they had time for both and Ethan ended up getting his first ever professional hair cut! To my amazement, Jason said he barely cried and actually enjoyed it. He called me afterward and was yelling (very excitedly) over the phone "I gotta hair cut Mommy! I was a good boy! It looks handsome!!" He does look pretty cute.

Saturday afternoon we drove to San Fransisco (Pacific Heights) to visit Jason's co-worker Scott. Many of you might remember when the kids and I surprised Jase at work - Scott was a huge help in that. He was emailing details and plans with me for about 2 weeks prior, to make sure the surprise was a success. We had a blast with Scott; ate yummy food he made for us, enjoyed the amazing view from his living room and even got a peak at his iphone... which he let me play with. So fun! After we left Scott's house we drove down to Chesnut Street to do some fun window shopping. One of our favorite stores down there is called Giggle and it has some of the neatest baby/child toys and equipment. Most everything is outrageously priced, but they also have hard-to-find stuff, some at decent prices. We haven't been there since I was pregnant with Ethan, so it was fun going back with kids this time.

Sunday was a good day. Ryan preached on the tail end of James 1 and his sermon was fabulous. Its one of those sermons that I can't stop thinking about; very applicable and got my mind really moving. I love when the sermons truly stick with me throughout the week and continue to work on my heart and convict/encourage me beyond just Sunday and Monday.

After church we had the "All Church" picnic lunch and swim at the Rose Garden pool. We live only a mile away, so we walked and worked up the appetite to swim in the very cold water. It was a really relaxing, fun time. Ethan is getting more and more comfortable with being the water and today he did really well kicking and going under and pushing himself off the bottom. He probably had the most fun playing with Duncan. The two of them kept getting out of the cold pool water (and believe me when I tell you, this was COLD water) and going to the showers and taking a hot shower. They're such goons.

Tomorrow we're driving into Livermore to have lunch with Jason's Grandma Anita. We're all very excited to get to spend some time with her. The kids call her "Great Gramma Nina" and they love getting to see her and spend special time with her.

I'm uploading lots of new pictures tonight. They consist quite a number of things; our swim date on Thursday at the Dulkevich's home, one picture Jason took at IKEA (since his company does the delivery side of IKEA'S business, he took the picture on the wall of the delivery truck, etc...) pictures of our trip to S.F and today at the pool. There might be some miscellaneous ones throughout.

Have a good week!

Our weekend was great, how about yours?

We had fun on Friday night at Music in the Park in Downtown Brentwood. I don't know who the group was that played, but they were very good. We parked the car about a mile away from the park, got dinner and walked to the park and ate on the grass. The kids had a blast!

Saturday we baby sat Duncan and Ellie McFarland, to give Keith and Merari a day out alone together. We had a nice time with the kids and to our surprise, Ethan and Ellie got along great together. Its usually very dramatic when the two of them are in the same room for too long. I think Ethan only had to apologize once to her all day long!

Saturday night we went out for dinner and then Emily came to spend the night! After the kiddos went to bed she and I went shopping and had a great time.

Sunday was a very nice day... amazing sermon on James 1:13 and after church we had lunch with Emily, the Rippees and McFarlands. Very delicious lunch at one of our favorite places in Brentwood called Jaliscos. Emily stayed for the afternoon and we had a nice time with her.

We started tackling the garage this weekend as well and we're almost done!! I have the van loaded with Goodwill stuff that I'll take tomorrow (we have about 3 trips worth) and then a huge pile of cardboard that I'll take to that drop-off and then we're done! A large part of our garage is taken up by the boxes holding our kid's play structure and the patio cover, so once those are built (and it looks to be sooner, rather than later!) we'll have plenty of room to get everything put away nicely in there. I'm very excited. If any of you know me well enough, you know I like a very clean and organized garage. Its a sickness... During the garage cleaning I came across a snake underneath a box. If you know how much I like clean garages, you probably also know that I hate snakes. Needless to say, I freaked out, while Jase took care of it.

We hope you all had a good weekend! We took pictures that we'll upload asap.

Our weekend was awesome! It was busy, but packed full of family fun.

Friday night I surprised Jason by getting a sitter to come watch the kids and I took him to dinner and a movie (he paid of course!) We saw Spiderman 3 and loved it. Very fun movie. We also ate at a new place, Lucy's Asia Bistro. It was super yummy food and just very relaxing.

Saturday we celebrated Mother's Day with both our parents. We had dinner at The Hidden Dragon (yummy Chinese food!) and then we came back to our house for desert and to open presents. It was very exciting for us, because Saturday was the 1st time J's parents were able to come out and see the new place! 

Sunday was a busy day, but oddly enough, relaxing as well.  We went to church in the morning and then came home and Jason fed the kids lunch and then they went down for naps and I made a yummy lunch for us to sit down and enjoy together... in the peace and quiet. After lunch we read a couple chapters of our book and then we fell asleep on the couch and got a 2 hour nap before leaving to go visit Grandma Elsie. 

We drove to San Leandro to visit Grandma Elsie in the rehab hospital she's at. It was SO good to see her, finally! She's doing well and looks like she's recovering well. She was happy to see her great Grand kids and we got several pictures that we'll upload soon. 

After visiting Grandma, we took Grandma Anita out to dinner at Chevy's and had a great time with her. Ethan and Rachel loved having alone time with Great Grandma Nina and Ethan could not stop telling her about the BART train he saw off the freeway.

All in all, it was just a fabulous weekend and we had a blast getting to spend it with our families. Hope you all had a great weekend!

-Stef

We had a nice weekend, even though the kids were still sick.

Saturday morning Jason and my Dad went to the old house and finished cleaning out the garage, taking the cardboard and junk from the side yard, dumping it, and bringing over the final load of stuff to the new garage. We owe a big thank you to my Dad for all his help. He's giving us a TON of his time over the past couple of weeks and we're very grateful to him for his wanting to help us so much. He's not a fan of checking websites, so that was mostly just for you all to know and for my Mom to pass on to him though of course we've told him in person as well.

Saturday afternoon we did some odd jobs around the house. Jason ran a lot of errands and I stayed home with the kids, making sure they took nice, long naps. Saturday night we went to my parent's house for some yummy homemade soup Dad made. Ethan loved it and to my surprise, ate a whole bowl of it; veggies and all!

Today has been a nice day... the weather is warming up, but not too fast. It was warm, but very breezy out here. The kids are doing SO much better already, but Jason still stayed home with them and I got to go to church, since I had piano duty and a VBS meeting after church.

This afternoon our friends Peter and Julie Handel came over with Indian food for lunch! We had such a nice time with them. Julie and I were good friends growing up and it was great fun spending time with the two of them. We had fun talking tech talk, looking at Peter's iPhone (yes, I know, we're very lucky) and just catching up on life. Thanks for the yummy lunch, guys! Next time we'll head over your way.

Update (Jason): Julie posted some pix from the visit here.

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for our kids! I think we're on the mend and much quicker than the Doctor had thought. Apparently, this can last up to 3 weeks.

I'm hoping to get back to normal life this week. Our CBS Bible study is having its last meeting this Wednesday and then we break for the summer, so we're really hoping to make it to say good bye (for now) to our friends.

We seem to be enjoying our weekends more these days, knowing that very soon they will be busy with packing, cleaning and moving and no time for relaxing.

We did find out today that our credit and loan approval has been accepted by the bank and now we're just waiting to sign all the papers, have all the formalities go through and get our move in date! Thanks to all of you for praying so much for us these past couple of months... please keep praying and we'll continue to keep you posted.

This past weekend seemed to go by nice and slow. Friday night was our annual Brentwood get together with my parents and 2 families from the church we used to go to in Livermore. All four of us families live out here in Brentwood and we try to make it a point to get together once a month for dinner, so we can keep in touch and spend time together. Bryan and Jessica Kemper hosted it this month. We got to see Bryan's parents and that was an added bonus! They're from Florida and so we don't see them too often, but they're such a fun couple. Ethan had fun seeing his buddies Jackson and Daniel. I think he wants to be just like Daniel when he "grows up".

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast at Mimis and then in the afternoon we went to a celebration for Paul (at our church) for his grand opening of his Dental office out here in Antioch! We're very happy for Paul and pray God's richest blessings on him and this new office he's opening up here. Several families from church came to the celebration, Pastor Frank gave a short blessing and we prayed together and then ate some very yummy food. Saturday night was dinner and dominoes at my parent's house, which is always fun.

We had a great morning at church - interesting sermon on Daniel 7. I was curious to see how Frank was going to approach such a difficult chapter (that most pastors will try to avoid) but he did a very good job. It was a really interesting sermon, with lots of history and facts I had never really considered. I've been enjoying the sermon series on Daniel quite a bit. After the service we had our Chili Dog Round-Up (I know... sounds awful) to help raise funds for VBS this summer. We've been selling tickets for this lunch for the past month and today was the big day! We've been so amazed at how quickly the Lord has been providing for this vision/desire a few of the ladies had, not that long ago. Its amazing what God can do with vision, faith and determined people. We needed to raise $2,000 to cover costs for supplies, food and such for VBS and the Lord provided us with more than our set goal within the first week!! The Chili Dog Round-Up was another way to raise money to help cover the cost of attendance, so it won't be too expensive for kids to come. It all went really well and it was fun staying at church and eating lunch together. VBS is going to be a cowboy theme this year, hence the non-appetizing name for our feast today.

Now we're home, kids are napping and Jason and I are going to work on our Bible Study homework together.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. -Stef

Our weekend was nice, but went by too quickly. Friday night we had my sister and her friend over for dinner and a movie. We stayed up too late, but had a great time with them.

Saturday we went out to breakfast and then took a trip to Costco, which is SO fun to do together! I don't usually get to go to Costco with Jason and I forgot how much fun it is.

Sunday was a long day, which we're not used to anymore. We went to our old church in Livermore and said good bye to our missionary friends who are going back to the mission field. It was great to get to hear him preach before leaving and nice to be able to see them and give our farewells. We enjoyed seeing our friends again and most of all, getting to spend the day with J's parents and Grandma. It felt like "old times". One thing that's been hard about not going to church in Livermore, is that we don't get to spend an afternoon every week with Jason's family; we really miss that.

Tomorrow is a holiday, but its not really going to feel like one around here. I am still teaching piano lessons and Jason is working, but thankfully he gets to work from home. This is going to be another busy week for him at work this week... which is making us really look forward to our get away next weekend to Monterey.

Happy Monday everyone!!

Our weekend wasn't too eventful, but it was very productive. Jason did a lot of odd jobs around the house and I was able to get a lot of laundry and house cleaning done (yay!)

Friday night my parents watched the kids for us so we could go grocery shopping together (thanks Dad and Mom!) Something we don't do together very often, but we love doing it, so its fun when we can. It brings back many fond memories of our newly married days.

Sunday was a nice, relaxing day. We went to church in the morning - Jason said the sermon was excellent, but I'll have to listen to it online today because I had nursery. Ethan got a kick out of Mommy staying IN the nursery with him and Mommy got to see how Ethan beats up on all the kids! Seriously though, most the time he's just wanting to give hugs, so I'm going to have to teach him how to do that without killing them.

Sunday afternoon we came home, had a yummy burrito lunch and then took naps (so nice!) and then in the evening we had several families from our old church over. It was a really fun night and nice to see everyone again.

Today starts up another busy week with CBS, Home Fellowship, Women's Bible study, piano lessons and more! The kids and I just went on a 4 mile walk/run and now they're both sleeping and I'm hungry.

Hope you all had nice weekends. -Stef

We had such a wonderful weekend! Friday was a "stay-at-home" night and we simply relaxed and enjoyed the kids. Its been a while since we had an empty Friday night.

Saturday was also quite relaxed until around 3pm -- when the party started!! We had a great time with our family and friends and Jason said it was a perfect night. He wanted to celebrate his birthday with family and friends in a low key fashion and I think we pulled it off quite well. We had dinner and some games, but mostly everyone just talked and ate.

Sunday was... amazing. We went to church in the morning and heard an absolutely awesome sermon from Pastor Frank. Seriously... it was incredible. It was taken from 2 Thes. 3: 6-18 The title was The Grace of Work and it was mainly about how we are fighting against Satan, not the world. We are part of an Army fighting for Jesus Christ; the word "fighting" means we're doing something and not being spiritually lazy.

He used a really good analogy of a homeless person holding a sign that says "Will work for food." In most cases that's not true - the person just wants money and is too lazy to actually go and work for it. He said that we often see those people and look down our noses at them in shame because we think they're so lazy and waisting their lives. So, he said that we can often times turn our noses down at them, but all the while, our spiritual lives can be in the same state as that homeless man; complacent, lazy, making excuses, etc... I thought of something interesting during the sermon. I so often go to read my Bible and pray - mostly early in the morning, when distractions are limited, but sometimes its not until the kid's nap time. Anyway, I find that the phone, front door and my thoughts can be a huge distraction to me and then today I realized... when I'm watching a good movie, I won't let those things distract me. Somehow I can ignore the phone (even turn off the ringer sometimes!) and I create an atmosphere in which nothing can distract me... when I want to. I was really convicted about that.

He also pointed out that we learn by example, not always by what we are taught. Our kids will more often than not do things they see us do and not the stuff we tell them. That is so true. When I was trying to teach Ethan to say "please" and "thank you" I had to say it myself all the time... over every little thing. He saw me doing it and then he quickly picked up on it.

He talked about how  we're all too often concerned with political matters than we are with our walks with God... there needs to be a real desire to imitate Christ. We're living our lives for Christ, not other people. That was so freeing to me. I like to please people and I've seen myself take that too far - going out of my way to make sure others are happy and comfortable, to the point of actually forgetting about what God would think of it or, just thinking God would approve because I'm making others happy. I loved his quote "Don't work to please man, do you work to please God. Don't do things to please people, do them to please God and bring glory to Him."

Then he talked about the busybodies that go around butting their noses in other people's business and taking on other's concerns when they shouldn't. That was very convicting for me... I do that too often and I know its sin and I know its wrong. I get caught up in listening to much to gossip and getting into other people's issues (which really is sin) when I should have nothing to do with it. When I'm busy doing that, I'm not imitating Christ at all, nor am I focused on Him, but those other people. So... lots to think about this week. It was a fabulous sermon. I took enough notes to write a book.

After church we had Jason's birthday lunch at Panda Express and then came home and we all took nice long naps and then had my parents and niece and nephew over in the evening for some ice cream fun.

All in all it was a great weekend. We've been really enjoying our Sundays lately - we miss all our friends in Livermore, but the new Sunday schedule has proven to be an incredible blessing to our family. Ethan is making some new friends as well and he has done very well in his class. God is so good to give us what we need and to provide so abundantly. We are truly blessed.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!