ano nuevo

Happy new decade!!

us trying to take a family pic on the first day of twenty eleven !!


the kids bundled up and squished into a love seat (storing it for a friend in our garage) for a special new year's eve movie night. it was especially cold(at least for los angeles!!) dropping below 40...so they each were holding a heated up "warmy"!


miguel picked out a spidey bouncer with some xmas money...he asked me to start calling him tigger!
guess what elia spent her money on?!


on sunday our pastor spoke of how jonathan edwards carried with him everywhere a list of 75(i think!) resolutions. the list was found on his person when he died.

it inspired me to make some lasting resolutions this year...commitments to work on over my lifetime.
here's what i have come up with so far...
(in case any of you want to try and keep me accountable over the next 50 years!!) :)

1. re-read these resolutions weekly.(jonathan edwards had this written at the top of his list)
2. put my family and friends above a clean house.
3. speak the truth in love.
4. stop rushing others and myself around.
5. plan less, live more...and enjoy it.
6. be joyful always, pray continually.
7. live intentionally.
8. give more...of myself, my time, my focus.
9. encourage more, critce, critiseze, criticize less.
10. learn how to spell!
11. stop raising my voice, unless someone's life literally depends on it!
12. write stuff down.
13. remember that i have been saved by God's grace...ALONE.
14. less rules, more fun.
15. put the needs of others above my own.
16. clean my bathroom more regularly.
17. calm down.
18. stop worrying about what others think.
19. appreciate my husband.
20. sit still in the moment.
21. enjoy the sweet "mess" God has blessed me with.
22. love my husband.
23. respect my husband.
24. eat more fruit.
25. praise God, in every circumstance...always.
26. give all glory and honor to God alone.
27. take myself less seriously.
28. talk less, listen more(and better).
29. remember i am far more sinful than i could ever imagine.
30. remember i am far more loved and forgiven than i could ever dare hope.
31. accept people as they are.
32. accept myself as i am.
33. no chocolate before noon.
34. keep the sabbath day holy.
35. bloom where He plants me.

our view from here(after we climbed culver city's highest little mountain...400 feet above sea level)

101225.7

baking cookies, losing teeth, getting braces, presents, pies, trees, rain, tamales and more rain, rain, rain...our awesome Christmas 2010 in a nut shell!






waking up Christmas morning



everyone opening our family present(LA style snowboarding!)


our sweet mess!

getting ready for a yummy mexican feast with our neighbors on Christmas eve!!

making cut out cookies for our neighborhood!



there's a song about this one, right?

hope your day was just as sweet!
love us 6

Emmanuel...God with us

welcome to our Christmas 2010 family photo attempt...





what the day was really like


loved this one...till i realized we were missing someone!



finally!

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, but are those words accurate?
One snapshot can lure you into imagining the moment was warm, loving, and gentle.
In reality, at least in our reality, surrounding this photo were moments of screaming, laughing, arguing, playing, crying, fighting, and giggling!
Convincing six people to hold still, and look cheerful was not so easy.
I hesitated to use this picture, feeling it was a “misrepresentation” of our life. On further consideration I realized it actually sums us up pretty well.
Times of laughter and love mixed up with moments of turmoil and tantrums.
Tough are the days.
Emotional are the nights.
Many tears are spent.
Endless are the things to be done, cleaned, fixed, put away, thrown away, bought, brought, dropped off or picked up.
Our life can definitely be chaotic.
But it is always sweet, tender, joy-filled and rich!
We are far from perfect and miss our mark often.
But, as each day closes, we rejoice and take heart in the truth that though we are far more sinful that we could ever imagine, we are also far more loved and forgiven than we could ever dare hope.

Feliz Navidad y Prosepero Ano 2011!!

traditions

we officially celebrated elia after thanksgiving, trying to create some space between our back to back november birthdays...

she picked a purple cake with orange sprinkles(she asked me to buy the sprinkles in october!) and invited her best little pal clark over for pizza

she loved every minute of the day, especially the singing

she loved her great gifts from her Nana, Gram, Papa, Grampy and Gramy...

a totally cool pink bike made especially for her from our sweet friends...

and carrying on a special tradition that aunt anissa started with selah 5 years ago now...

purple earrings!!

selah, elia and i went to get them pierced and then called anissa to tell her all about it, since anissa is a few states away these days!

elia was very tough, and says it only hurt "a lot!" :)

happy rest-of-your-birthday-little!

3

can it be???the youngest of our sweet mess is three!!


in many ways she seems to be opposite of "others" around here...

but she fits right in, bringing us much Energy, Love, Inspiration,and Acceptance.

our youngest blessing from God,

every day is sweeter with you!
happy happy happy birthday elia!
we love you

5

five years of fire!
five years of passion, willpower, drive, tremendous arguing capabilities and strong-headeness second to none...except maybe me!



five years of intense love, laughter, joy and excitement...the wild, unbridled kind.


five years of screaming louder than i thought possible, praying harder than i thought i would, loving more purposefully than i ever thought i could.


five years of a wild, at times scary, roller coaster ride.



five years of life made more spicy!



sweet, passionate miguel...you continue to be absolutely tremendous!
your spirit is deeply inciteful, perceptive, intense...beautiful!
happy number five buddy!
we love you!

wink!