Independence Day Fun!

Yesterday, I made our favorite fruit pizza and we headed off to a church picnic!!  It was fun seeing everyone all decked out in their red white and blue!  Stony Point Christian Fellowship  has been a wonderful place for us to worship locally when we aren't ministering in San Jose.  They are amazing at community outreach and drawing others to Christ through fellowship.

 Ni'ke and her friend Ashlynn couldn't get enough of the "dump tank" contraption that someone creatively built (from a Pinterest idea, no less!)  She was soaked and happy, and this mom forgot towels!  Happy for the warm day to drip dry!

Our lovely New Zealand friend, Asta

The boys were zipping around the whole time with their water guns - Ma-lak barely slowed down enough to make it into a picture

Gotta love live music!

Climbing trees, a great summer activity!

My Rea and me

Rea and her friend, Xavier - inseperable all day...  :)

Happy Birthday, Ya'shar!!

 How can it be that my little guy is EIGHT!?!?!?  We had a "progressive birthday week" due to a strange work week and schedule on everybody's part.  Rea has been swimming twice a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they ALL swim in the evenings Monday thru Friday.  We drove down to San Fran on Wednesday, the day before his birthday, because I had to take an exam (see the post below!) so afterward we had a lot to celebrate.  We stopped at the Olive Garden, Ya'shar's choice, to have a birthday dinner celebration.  According to the birthday boy, "It's the best restaurant in Sonoma County."   Oh, to view the world through the eyes of an 8-year old.  :)

 We were too stuffed to have birthday cake after eating fatty Italian food (and I hadn't decorated his cake yet, only baked it) so we waited till his actual birthday to have cake.  Thank goodness for flexible children.  My sleep took a beating last week, severe "night shift syndrome" as I affectionately call it, and so I decorated his cake at 3:00 am while watching late night TV.  The blocks were supposed to be legos, but I pootered out on decorating as daylight approached and didn't feel like frosting marshmallow halves to complete the "lego" block look.  I think Ya'shar didn't mind, but I can't speak for Emmett.

 Happy birthday my sweet boy!  You, my little baby, are so amazing!  May you forever live up to your name of "Righteous Judge, Upright Ruler", and continue to rule your days with love and grace.

Day in San Francisco

 So.  Because I just don't have enough to do, I decided it'd be a great idea to get another certification.  I'm already an ONC (Orthopedic Nurse Certified) and have been for several years, but when I transferred to the ER, I decided that studying for the CEN exam (Certified Emergency Nurse) would be a great way to get up to speed on all the things that I needed to know to work there.  And wow, is there a lot to learn!  I thought I would apply to take the test later at the end of the summer so that I would have all summer to study and prepare, but when I applied to take the test, I didn't realize that you had to actually take the test within 90 days of applying.  So the cut-off was July11, and we are leaving for our family vacation July 6-14.....  No problem, I just asked my darling husband and children to come spend the day in San Francisco after dropping me off at the H&R building to take my exam!  They roamed all over the city, went to the marina and the park and had lunch.  And when they picked me up 3 1/2 HOURS later, I had a BIG smile on my face, because I passed my test!  Whew.... :)  What a load off.  A big test, a big accomplishment, and now I can relax for the remainder of what's left of our summer!

Miscellaneous Summer Shots

 Hanging pool-side with cousin Monoco

 This was a few weeks ago, I think the morning of Rea's birthday.  I had just gotten home from work and Daryle couldn't wait to give her a present (specifically the one he'd picked out for her!)  So she opened her new watch. :)

I love this sweatshirt - it was perfect for Rea!  Would you believe I saw it on Facebook of all places.  (I told her, "Just to be clear, it's a cool sweatshirt, but real girls can swim or dive or do neither or anything they want...")

I love this picture!  We had gone out to the mall and out to eat after church on Father's Day, and Daryle took our picture from across the Starbucks as we were waiting for our drinks.

Fun day at the arcades with Dad

 Who likes Black Bear?!?!  These kids do!