Pumpkin Carving 2010

Half Moon Bay

Last week Nate did a job in Half Moon Bay... which would have probably been about a 3 hour commute each way in traffic... So, we spent the first half of the week at his parents' house in Castro Valley (to lessen the commute), and then the second half of the week in Half Moon Bay at a hotel! It was sort-of considered a family vacation. Half Moon Bay is one of our favorite places to visit too! We like to go to the Ritz Carlton and walk around their beautiful property, as well as the beach down below. (This is where Nate proposed to me 5 years ago!) So we enjoyed the beauty of the ocean, our nice warm pool and spa at the hotel, waffle breakfast every morning, and fun evenings out down town. Unfortunately... we forgot to take pictures!!!! Here is the only picture we got, and it was only taken because Anna and I were matching:)...

Summer has flown by!

I cannot believe that summer is almost over already!! We have been so busy! I'm apologize for my lack of posting. I hope this post finds you well. In case I don't ever get around to posting all about our summer, I figured I better at least post a couple of things about this week!

This week we've been enjoying our backyard. Tuesday night we BBQ'd hot dogs and hamburgers.

Mmm... BBQ goodness:)...

OREO's!!!

Wednesday evening we had our friends: Sara, Raeleah and Kylah over for Shishkabobs! (Sara needed a little break from being home alone with the kiddos as her husband was out of town:)

Happy Birthday, Auntie Katie R!

Last weekend we made a quick trip down south to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday! I was singing in Ripon on Saturday, so we left straight from there at 4:30pm... Arrived at Chris and Katie's apartment in Riverside at 11:15pm! Sunday morning we got up bright and early to celebrate Katie's birthday at DISNEYLAND!!! We drove through McDonald's for breakfast on the way there, and we were off! Stopped at the front entrance to get a nice family photo before the day got crazy and we'd forget!

Already enjoying Disneyland, before we even entered the park!

Not quite sure what Nate and Chris were looking at? :)

My little banana Anna... waiting for Auntie Stine to get us in FREE:)!

This one is a little blurry, but it's Alex and Daddy entering the waters of Pirates of the Caribbean for the first of 2 times today!

Unfortunately, partway through the morning Alex started complaining that his tummy was hurting... and just after we got off of Autopia, he asked me to pick him up... and all of a sudden... he threw up! (Thankfully I must have felt it coming and turned him out- away from me!) Thankfully, also, Alex is potty-trained but I still carry around extra clothes, just in case!

We weren't quite sure what to think of it... He seemed fine otherwise. The one thing we thought of was that Alex had been holding Nate's coffee mug in the car on the way there, and at some point we realized that he had actually been drinking some! (That was on an empty stomach too.)

So we decided to wait it out and see how he did.

After lunch, while Chris, Katie, and Nate went on Splash Mountain, I took Alex and Anna to see some Characters.

Alex was ready to give hugs; Anna was not!

Tigger and Alex:)

Tigger trying to give Anna "5".

Then... we all got in line for Winnie the Pooh... and while in line... Alex asked me to pick him up again... and yup... you guessed it... He threw up again!!! Once again, I was so thankful that I did not get it on me! Unfortunately, it got all over Alex's blanket! With him not feeling well, we definitely needed him to have something to snuggle with. So... I went looking for a blanket! I found one, but it was a big one for $35! No, we weren't willing to spend that much... but I found a tigger doll for $12, so we brought Alex into the store to see if he liked it... He LOVED it! So we laid him down in the stroller and got him snuggled in with tigger. It wasn't long before he was sleeping. Off we went to California Adventure!

Here is a pic of Anna peaking in on brother (after she stole tigger:)... thankfully he was out!

Daddy and Anna

Auntie Katie and Anna... look at those beautiful smiles!

And that's all I got as far as pictures at Disneyland! I wish I had more, but I just totally forgot about the camera! What you need to know is that: Alex woke up a happy camper, didn't throw up anymore, enjoyed Monster's Inc. twice, Buzz again, Pirates again, some fireworks, and Peter Pan! We all actually had a WONDERFUL day! It was so relaxed and fun! And best of all, it was with Uncle Chris and Auntie Katie! And we even ended up getting to be with Auntie Christine when she got off work in the evening!

The next day we all slept-in until 10:30 or something! Chris and Katie made an awesome breakfast! I felt so pampered!!! I got to just lay around while they slaved in the kitchen! It was soooo yummy too!

After breakfast, Uncle Chris had to head to school for a group project, so we said our goodbyes to him. Then the rest of us got suited up for the swimming pool! Chris and Katie have a beautiful pool, that they actually had never been in!

After swimming we got cleaned up, packed up, and said our very sad good-byes to Auntie Katie. It was a very special trip. Happy Birthday, Auntie Katie! We love you!

"My Private Seat"

This is a funny little story that I just couldn't pass up! So yesterday we were over visiting my parents... Grandma Joyce had gone upstairs to get something, Grandpa Fred headed up the stairs to go "potty", and Alex decided that he'd like to go upstairs too. So he asked, "Grandma, can I come up too?" With the O.K. from Grandma, Alex headed up the stairs. Once up there, he proceeded to the bathroom to find Grandpa Fred! Grandma quickly said, "No, Alex, don't go into the bathroom. Grandpa needs his privacy." Alex, the little copy-cat that he is, said, "Ya, Grandpa needs his private seat." :) That was cute in and of itself, but then a little later, Alex needed to use the bathroom himself... And when Nate took him, once he was on the potty, Alex said, "Please leave Daddy, I need my private seat." Ah! What a kick!

Alexander

I was looking through my most recent posts, (which I realize have been few and far between) and noticed that Anna has gotten much more attention than Alex lately... thus, here is a "must read" about our Alexander Tate:

Last Sunday after church got out, Alex's Sunday School teacher from first hour came running to find me! She said that Alex has grown so much and she was totally amazed by him that day! For one thing, he's talking SOOO much now:). She said that he just went on and on through the whole class:). Then, she said that right after they prayed for snack, Alex began talking about how Daddy told him he doesn't have to be afraid. He said very confidently, "I don't have to be afraid because God is with me all the time! God is with me (and he patted his chest) wherever I go."

Ah! If that doesn't make your heart sing, I don't know what will!

After that conversation was over, he began telling the story of Beauty and the Beast... so not as neat, but totally impressive! He's only seen it a few times, and he was able to tell the storyline! The teacher said that they were just cracking up.

Then he started telling them how I was sad, and so he gave me his blanket. He said that I got a scratch... that part is true, and he OFTEN will give anyone his blanket if he thinks they are sad:). He's too funny. Then he told them that he pushed me while we were gardening outside... and he kept showing them, over and over again, how I fell down and knocked my head! I have no idea where he came up with this, but they sure got a kick out of it! :)

And last but not least, she told me how he loves to help others. While sitting playing with bubbles, Alex turned to Eliana (a slightly younger little girl), got some bubbles on his wand, put it up to her face and said "now blow", and when she did, Alex exclaimed, "Oh, wow! Good job!" So he got some more bubbles on his wand and did it again... he praised her and did it again and again.

Wow, what a blessing. It sure was good to hear what a sweet boy my Alex can be, and especially that he is growing in the knowledge of God!

Curlers!

I decided to have some "girl" fun with Anna:)...

A fun little flip!

Praising God for life!

Last Friday evening we had a very unexpected event...

We had gone over to our friends (the Millen's) house in Castro Valley for dinner and visiting. It was a great evening, and we were having such a great time, that it was just before 10pm when the kids were still awake and Anna took a fall. I was sitting on the couch holding baby Johnny and Anna was next to me. All of a sudden I saw Anna falling off the couch, face-first, and she hit the ground with a loud thud! It was carpet flooring, but the thud was loud enough that I knew it was going to be bad. Anna cried instantly. I handed little Johnny off and quickly swooped down to pick up my precious Anna. As I held her in my arms she gasped and gasped and gasped (and I cried "breath, Anna, breath!"), and finally let out a loud cry. But not long after, she arched back, her eyes rolled back, her face became stiff and she seemed to me like she was dying!! I panicked. I called to her and she was not responding, so then called to Nate "help!". Nate got up, ran over, and took her from my arms. Carolyn ran into the other room to get the phone and asked if she should call 911, and I answered "yes!". It seemed like an eternity, but in all actuality, it was probably 10 or 15 seconds. Neither Nate nor I had ever seen a seizure, but Carolyn had seen many and told us that's what had happened.

Then she came back to. Oh I was so relieved! I thought we were loosing our little girl! Then we began debating... should we call back and cancel the paramedic and just drive her to the hospital on our own? But they were already there, and they wanted to take a look at her. Upon hearing our story, they decided that she should be taken to Children's Hospital. They stripped her down to her diaper only and strapped her to a flat board for kids. That was hard to watch because, of course, she cried. At this point I was very unsettled and scared for my baby. I'm so thankful it happened where it did though. Carolyn was so great through it all. As the paramedics were checking Anna out, she prayed with me. She hugged me when she could tell I was so worried, and she offered to help with every detail. Alex spent the night there with them, and Jim drove Nate to the hospital because only one of us could ride with Anna in the Ambulance.

I wasn't able to ride in the back with Anna, but at least I was in the same vehicle and knew that she was breathing the whole ride there. That 20 minute ride felt so long, and most of the time I prayed and prayed. When we arrived at the hospital I got out and went to see Anna. As soon as she saw me she reached out her little hand through the blanket and I grabbed her hand in mine. I could tell she was comforted to see me, and anytime I had to let go she cried. That was a sweet time for me.

Once we got into a room and off the stretcher and into my arms she was much happier. Then we did a lot of waiting and a lot of talking to tons of different doctors. Each person wanted to hear the details of the event clearly. And finally Nate was let in! The big question was whether or not they would do a CT Scan. The short of it is that they ended up doing a scan and Anna did beautifully. Nate and I touched her and sang her to sleep during the scan so that they did not have to sedate her. Praise the Lord!

About 2:30AM, a doctor came into the room and asked if we'd like to go home! The CT Scan came back normal! Praise the Lord! So we were able to get her back into her pj's and head home. Nate's mom picked us up and with it being so late and Alex asleep at the Millen's we decided to stay the night and Nate's parents' house. We found out in the morning that Alex did great and even wanted to pray for Anna. That will make your heart melt!

So, a week has gone by and our little Anna is alive and healthy! We are so thankful for God's provision. It was a good reminder that life is short and we must live every moment purposefully. It was also a good reminder that God is absolutely in control of everything! He orchestrated it all and had a good purpose for His own glory. I've already come away from that event having learned a few things, and I'm so thankful that God has helped me learn to trust Him more.

Another News Flash!!

Today, just before her afternoon nap, Anna took 6 steps to me! Then she did it again! Then she took 12 as I kept walking further and further away from her:). Yahoo! Go Anna! (Here is a little clip... sorry it is distorted a bit and hard to watch.)

News Flash!

Anna stood up on her own today! I actually thought she would have done this much sooner, but I guess with people and things to pull up on, she hadn't felt the need to try before! It won't be long before she's off and walking without help!

February 19th

Just an ordinary day at the Enns' house... Out for a walk in the cool February air...

Snacks are always welcome:)