God still answers prayer

In His time He'll work a miracle

He will NEVER fail

Satan has lost the battle 

When to the Lord we humbly bow

GOD STILL ANSWERS PRAYER!!!

I do!

I had the privilege of organizing a Mexican Food potluck, aka a FIESTA, for my team at work for today.  

So a guy at work told me, after eating my food, "Wow girl... I don't know why you don't have men running after you all the time." My response, "I DO, I just run faster than they do!" Haha, he had to laugh!!! :)

Dickinson Family visit... so much fun!!

 Seeing Heather, Phil, Kimberly, Sarah, Noah and little Elijah was soooo much fun!!

It was also so nice to see Michael and Beth and spend some time with the Gospel Center Church family. How good it is to have so many friends!

Me with my 'other' nieces and nephews. I'm sorta' like the adopted Auntie for everyone!! :) I like it!  More to spoil!!

The picture below was sooo funny. Isaiah was soooo super excited to get his picture taken that he was running everyone out of the frame and then yelled, "I'm GONNA' GET MY PICTURE TAKEN!!" It was so hilarious!! We couldn't stop laughing because he was soooo serious when he said it.

 

Hmmmm... 

This is where Michael stole Bro. Phil's piece of chicken, when he had his back turned, and replaced it with a chicken bone. Haha!! They are definitely brothers!!

Dear friends! It's even more precious now that we both speak the same 2 languages. :)

 

 Making a new little friend!! Elijah and I found we adored each other from the first moment we met, until the  moment our visit ended! :( We were both very sad.

No hugs and NO kisses!! :) Sarah!!

(Inside joke!)

 

 Auntie Janet brought all of the kids some 'harvest' suckers to help them sleep that night.

Hehe! They were a hit!

This is where Heather screamed at the top of her lungs with a raspy voice, "We are SSOOOO good looking!" Haha, this prompted Brother Phil to gag... and say, "oh brother!" Haha, good times!!

Silly!!

Look at poor li'l Elijah's face.. he really wants that sucker and the girls are just cheesin,' not to mention Michael.

Rest assured, in the end, Elijah DID get his sucker. Haha!

Unfortunately, all of the Dickinson family got very ill when they were in AZ so...  this allowed me to spend a bit more time with them.  A couple days before they left I  played chauffeur for Heather and the kids as we ran last minute errands, eating yummy lunches and delicious ice cream. :) As you can tell by my 'lip' I hadn't been feeling too well that week either. Haha, Kimberly kept wanting me to act like she punched me in the lip. Hmm?!? =)

On our way back to the house that day Noah was looking at the mountains with dreamy eyes and said in the sweetest voice,

"Mommy, I wanna' climb a mountain."

Awe!! Heather wasn't feeling a hundred percent so I asked him,

"You wanna' climb a mountain?"

He replied, "Yes!" in the sweetest, pleading voice.

How could I resist?!?! I told him,

"Well, if you wanna' climb a mountain then we better climb a mountain!"

I then said, "Would you like to climb a mountain with me?"

I of course looked at Heather with the same pleading eyes as to say, 'Awe, is it ok to offer and will you say, uh, 'yes?' She nodded.

I told Noah, "well, I'll make you a deal... if you wanna' climb a mountain, I'll climb a mountain with you tomorrow morning but you have to get up really early. Can you do that?"

He was elated!! His face lit up the Arizona sky. Haha, which is hard to do!! :)

So the next morning he was to be up no later than 6:15ish.

They were so excited and I was so exhausted... haha!! :)

I am a sucker when it comes to kids.

Here we are early morning before our hike!

 Hiking Dreamy Draw

King on the Mountain!!

 Allowing Sarah to jump off a cliff... haha, not really! Just angling the photo so it looks like it. :)

We had so much fun!!!

The kids did awesome... all that walking in Colombia has sure made them good hikers.

 

 What a great shot of the hiking group!

Sarah was officially Jake's guardian, though Jake kept a good eye out for coyotes, chipmunks, squirrels and other creatures that appeared a threat. He did great with Sarah.. he altered his pace, selected his path carefully according to her ability and was extremely patient with her. It was so neat to watch him be her guard.

 

We made it!

Kimberly and Sarah had driven my car when they lived in Phoenix but Noah and Elijah had not gotten their first driving lesson yet... well, there's no time like the present.

 They loved it. I actually drove down the street with Noah, he had a blast!

As you can see, Elijah had a terrible time saying 'goodbye' to me! :( Poor baby!

I was so excited that the Dickinson's got to spend some time at my sister's house after they left Arizona. What dear friends we have in the family of God!

Jeremiah

For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.

And I will be found of you... (Jer. 29:11-14)

Yeah, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you. (Jer. 31:3)

Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not. (Jer. 33:3)

How wonderful are the promises of God!!!

Just recently, one of my coworkers and I were discussing the mercy of God. We are both outdoor people that love to be surrounded by God's handiwork. When you spend your time outside, among God's creation, you begin to realize how small you really are. The scripture teaches that if God's people fail to praise Him the rocks will cry out... and how true it is. All of nature sings in symphony a glorious melody of praise to its Creator. So why can't I? God help me to speak of His wonderful mercies and amazing grace.

"What is man, that you (God) are mindful of him?"

Tribute to a Friend!!

It's hard to believe it's already been a year - What a great time we've had!!

 Jake was a rescue from the Humane Society that was going to be put down if he was not adopted.

A friend gave me a wonderful lifelong gift in Jake.

This year has been amazing, sharing it with my little friend. We have had nothing but good times.

Learning 'wait' and how to not run out of the house when the door is open... hmmm, that may be like putting a large slice of chocolate cake in some people's faces... haha... HARD TO DO!! For some anyway! :)

Learning to Sit up Straight! Now he does it all the time and he stays up forever.

For those of you who may wonder, yes he has been a good doggy sitter. He still has his puppy and he does not mistreat him he carries him and snuggles with him but does not tear him apart.

I was doing yoga in the morning and as soon as I stepped off the mat, Jake took over and started doing his own doggy yoga. I laughed so hard it was hilarious!! He still stretches with me in the mornings.. no prompting needed. :) 

This was his first time 'Packin'.... he did great!!

Spending time with his friend Alyssa.

King on the mountain!

Hiking so many different trails... longest hike recorded just under 10 miles at one time.

Finding shade under a 'uh' tree?! Hmmm, gotta' do what you gotta' do!

 

 There's nothing like having the wind in your hair at 90 miles an uh... I mean, 55 miles. Hehe! Sorta' like humans wrestling with the wind while driving.... good times!

He's a great travel companion... better than a cup of coffee. Awe, well maybe he needs one, but I was doing fine. :)

Helping mom with her homework... I think he got the hang of it. Look at the book, highlight a few lines and then take a nap. Haha!! :)

He loves the mornings!

 Bein' cute makes you tired.... awe, Jake that is! Hehe! :)

Friendship at it's finest!!

So much to do, so little time

Do you ever wonder how life sometimes goes from 0-90? Haha, well, so much has happened since my last post, but unfortunately I don't have time to blog about it. Huh? :) See you sooner than later... I'll be back in a few.


Tomorrow's the GIB, I mean BIG DAY, wish me well! :)

Ciao!

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times!

The Sunday after my dive I had a boatload of people over to my humble little shack for dinner. Hmm, what was I thinking? Not only did I feel like I'd had a USB plugged into me which had transferred all of my energy to somewhere else but my place is too small to have that many people. In total there were 11 of us. It was cozy and we made it through and had a delightful time.

On the Menu:

Fresh Peach Iced Tea

(Fresh only because it had real peaches from that morning and a slice in each glass)

A Cool Cucumber Mint Refresher

(Mmm, you'll see in a minute)

Appetizers:

Fresh Guacamole & Chips

Fresh Salsa

Entrée :

Caldo de Rez

(Otherwise known as Beef Soup, but not like you're thinking... mmm)

Dessert:

Buñuelos

(Sort of like Churros but flaky and flat like a tortilla with cinnamon & sugar)

Yum, sounds good... hmm, maybe I'll go make one right now. Haha!

Pastor Steve, his wife Brenda, Johnny and Cherita (i.e. Cher)

I think Johnny and Steve were on their 3rd bowl by this point. Haha!

 

Roseanna! What a great smile. Mmmm!!

So either she really likes the food or she's really excited she doesn't have to cook. :)

I finally got her to share the guac... hehe!

 

Chris & Sandy

I had to bring my patio furniture in to have a few extra spots.

So this is now my official indoor/outdoor patio. Nice! :)

Ethan finally came to me, bribed by promises of sharing my drink with him.

Natalie loves Jake and as you can tell he loves them.

Well, maybe he loves that Ethan is his size and there's sweet stuff on his face.

Muaw!!

Ok, so this is the Cucumber Mint Refresher... as you can see, it was a hit!!

I got a play-by-play of Ethan licking the edge of the glass, rotating, licking, rotating, licking. Haha, Johnny eventually told him he couldn't have any more of his drink, though it did justify Johnny asking for bottomless refills. Haha!

I made enough soup to feed an army, literally. So I loaded up the trough and took it to churh for our Sunday-night-after-service-get-together. The funny thing is, everyone in the church got a taste of it... hmmm... can someone say, portion control?!?! Yikes, I had enough left over to take to some friends and some for lunch as well. Haha! Well, when you only eat it once a year its worth it.

I take dinner requests but the resounding answer for the food choice is always 'MEXICAN.'  Hmmm? Is there something I should know!?!

Mmmm... maybe next time you can come!