Jen's Baby Shower!

 This lovely woman threw a baby shower for ME 11 years ago when I was a brand new wife and mommy-to-be, 2000 miles away from my family and a little homesick.  I will never forget her thoughtfulness and the love and generosity of the nurses I worked with who soon became life-long friends!  And here we are, full circle, with Jen expecting a baby of her own!  Rhine Suubi ("river of hope") will make her appearance in April sometime!

 It was just a year ago that we were celebrating Angie's little miracle baby, Ashlynn!  She turns the big 1 this Thursday!

 Love the daffodils and the smiling face beside them!  Emily, your carrot cake was out of this world delicious!

 Ellen entertains us with a story!  Was great to see Bekki, who worked with us years ago!  Love that she came all the way to Roseville to spend the afternoon with us!

Loved this dog! I learned later that HE is Max, after calling him a she/her all day...  OOPS!

Always good to see my Kim!

Raye, looking at pictures!

Mary and Charlene

Show us that baby bump!!

Gifts of love.  Check out the little baby booty party favors!

 Almost naptime?! That's ok, Raye will entertain you! It's a great hostess that throws on a cowboy hat make a baby (and all of us) smile!

Love this picture of Theresa and Charlene!

Opening presents!

This is a little plaque/stand thing I got for Jen.  Suubi means "hope"!

Ellen and Max!

 Aaaahhh.... those tea cups made my whole day!  All I could think of were my grandmas!  I think all of them used quaint little teacups like these, but especially Grandma Cleo and I'm pretty sure Grandma Borton, too.  (With those amazing sugar cookies she used to make!)

The whole gang!  Back: Mary, Bekki, Angie, Ashlynn, Kim, Colleen, Charlene, Ellen, Theresa
Front: Emily, Jen's mom, Jen, Shannon, and Raye!  Thanks for such a fun and special day in Sonoma!  Can't wait to meet you, Suubi!!!

Haircuts and Happy Smiles

 I took the curly girlies to La Chaise Rouge for their annual haircut.  (Gotta love curly hair!)  I occasionally snip around on it from time to time, but with all the swimming around in chlorine that they do, it's good to have a professional help  me out and healthy up their curls now and then.

 Rea managed to not freak out when Maddy trotted up to her and sniffed her shoes.  :) 

Ni'ke was well-prepared and serious about her day of pampering, and brought her book a long for "dryer time".  She immediately said "yes" to an offer of pomegranate tea!

 Hose her down!

 Ni'ke posing for her 'after' shot!

I love the sign behind Rea's head. "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy."

Well, I can't have half of my children well-groomed, and the other half untamed and shaggy, so last night it was the boys' turn!  Here are the "before" shots:

 And the much improved AFTER!!!  They look like almost grown-up young men! (sigh)

Great and Precious Promises!

 While the rest of the country is digging themselves out of massive snow piles, we are enjoying some badly needed rain!  Daryle and I were driving the kids to swim practice the other day, and we were SURE that the end of the rainbow was literally right ahead of us, so close that we could touch it!  I was fully prepared to hop out of the car and stand on the side of the road, bathing in the colors, but alas....  It disappeared just as we approached it.  I love rainbows!

Baby Saraya

Alex and Evette are dear friends of ours that we met five years ago on a trip to the Cayman Islands.  We became instant friends with them, and spent a lot of our vacation having dinner with them, walking and talking on the beach, scuba diving and snorkeling, and talking about our faith, and love for big families.  They were recently blessed with this beautiful little girl, Saraya Maria. She was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 while in uetero, and her story is amazing. RJ Lewis Photography and his Miracle 18 blog tells their remarkable miracle story.  Please pray for our friends and their precious little one as she continues to grow and thrive and flourish.  God is so much bigger than "against all odds..."  

http://themiracle18blog.tumblr.com/

Palm Springs SANE Training

 Well I am once again a little behind on updating my blog, nothing shocking there!  A month ago I flew to Palm Springs for a week to take a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner course.  This is a 40 class that meant for some VERY long days of training, and homework every night, homework and studying before I got there and long after I got home.  I received my certificate of completion 2 weeks after the class, and I am so glad that I did it.  Eisenhower Medical Center has set a great example for how a forensic nursing program should look at every hospital, and it was great experience for me to be there and network with people who are doing what I aspire to do.  I learned how to do exams and collect and submit evidence for victims and suspects involved in sexual assault. It had the potential to get a little depressing - hour after hour of discussing horrible and depressing things, but this was overcome by us all shooting out the door at the end of everyday and eating great food, perhaps some room service here and there, and enjoying views like this:

 This was my first time in Palm Springs, and I had to laugh when I got off the plane.  The entire airport, meaning the gates and terminals and restaurants and everything is all outdoors under these canopies!  Birds flying all around my head and walking on my luggage while I waiting for my flight.  I didn't really mind....  :)

Free "upgrade" to a tiny little Mini Cooper - my rental car for the week.  It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to put the key in and about 4 days before I knew how to roll the windows down. (learning curve, people...) Every single day I came out to the parking lot and could.not.find.my.car. On the upside, I drove all OVER the desert in that cute little thing, and my grand total for refilling at the gas station before turning it in?  $17.  That's right.