Yates Family

Random Gifts

2008-04-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

So this whole trusting God completely with our finances, has been amazing.

The goal right now is to get out of debt...completely and forever. We are on a great plan and should be completely debt-free (except for our mortgage) in about 26 months....maybe less!

I've been grocery shopping somewhere new....its not the nicest store nor is it in the nicest neighborhood. But, I like it nonetheless. I'm also finding amazing deals on groceries.

Like...free bread. Yep, free. They have this lovely "reduced to quick sale" rack of breads and such and every week I get 2-3 loaves of bread--free. And its GOOD bread. And its cool, because in Colorado it takes weeks, if not a month or more, for bread to go stale! So I just throw the bread in the freezer and I'm good to go. Or the week that eggs were down to $1 a dozen. Not because they were bad, but because they overstocked them. Same for yogurt and milk. Someone is messing up on ordering, but we sure are benefiting!

Or the referral thank you gift card to Williams-Sonoma that our realtor gave us a couple of days ago. Or the Starbucks card my mother-in-law sent as a "just because" present. Or the hostess giftcards we received to Lowe's and Target. All of these are places I LOVE, but are not places that are currently in our budget.

I even got a Free Panty gift card (Up to $7.50 value) from Victoria's Secret in the mail today! Hello? When was the last time I got new panties...let alone free?

Or the extra $100 I got from Delta as a "shared reward" for hitting all of our targets in March. I only worked 32 hours and yet I'm benefiting from what has been done all over the country! (Sadly due to taxes and what not, I really only saw about $47.)

I honestly can only see God in this. It is not coincidence or luck or karma or anything like that. God cares about the details in our lives. He longs to provide for us and to show us compassion.

We are becoming stewards of God's resources. We are actively attacking the debt that has pulled us away from what God wants for us. We are working hard to remove the obstacles that keep us from doing that which we want to do....like living out the generosity that is in our hearts.

It is exciting! And I can't wait to see what God will do next or how He will transform our hearts and our perspectives over the course of this time.

Ode to Delta

2008-04-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we are enjoying our Delta flight benefits once again.

Last Thursday, John and Brooklyn flew to Long Beach for a 24-hour stint. John's Grandpa was staying with his mom for the week and John thought he'd take advantage of a day off and spend it with his Grandpa.

Brooklyn got to have her "alone" trip with Daddy....Kenna got one back in February, and had the time of her life!

And coming up on Friday,(April 25-May2) our whole family is flying out to Long Beach for the week! So fun! John actually has to work some (bummer!) so he'll only be out for a few days. But, then, my mom is so kind that she will be flying home with me and the kids so I don't have to do it all alone! (Thanks, Delta, again!)

I'm planning on having playdates with all my girlfriends and their kids since all the grandparents work during the day! And then we can love all over the fam at night. Should be a blast.

And for those of you wondering, yes, I still have a job with Delta. The merger won't officially go through until January. Until then, all is well. I have no idea what will happen then, but am grateful that God knows! We are enjoying this blessing immensely and will be thankful for it as long as it lasts!!!

So to my friends in the LBC, see ya next week!

Free Date Night

2008-04-18T06:16:00.000-07:00

So, another fun story for you. At MOPS we do a raffle every week. A ticket gets put in if you are on time and you can purchase one for $1. I always put in $! just to support the group. Well a month or so ago, I was the 2nd name picked!!! And I won 2 tickets to go see the Colorado Mammoth play. In case you don't know (ha!), the Mammoth are our local lacrosse team.

So John and I are going tonight courtesy of God. John looked our seats up online and they are REALLY good. So even though I know nothing of lacrosse, John and I will have a little outing free of charge. Thanks, God!

Oh, and since I've been watching the kids of my friends lately, I have about 16 hours of stored up FREE childcare. I'm learning how to live on a budget and watch and wait for God to provide.

Spatula City--for all your spatula needs!

2008-04-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here is a fun story of a TMMO (Total Money Makeover) miracle!

About a month ago, I attended our monthly MOPS group. We were a couple weeks into our TMMO.

One of Dave Ramsey's main principles...are you ready for it, is "don't spend money you don't have". Genius, I know. But, John and I have never really "understood" how to live on a budget.

I've owned one spatula (the soft kind used for scraping a mixing bowl) since we've been married. Somehow it has disintegrated due to dish washing and apparently children's teeth. Anyway, I've been wanting to buy a new one for some time.

Each time I'm out at a store, I have very firmly told myself no. Dave Ramsey says "live now like no one else so you can live later like no one else." Now, mind you, a spatula probably costs between $3 and $10, but we are learning that EVERY dollar counts and must be accounted for in our budget. A spatula is currently NOT in our budget.

Anyway, at one point at MOPS, my table leader says, "Oh, Katy, I forgot to tell you. You won the 'Suzy Homemaker' award at last month's MOPS for your potato dish. Here's your award." And she handed me 3 very cute orange spatulas in 3 different sizes tied with a cute ribbon.

Yes, 3.

Not only have I only owned one spatula in my life, but it was white and perhaps a bit boring. Now, I have 3 and they are ORANGE...which happens to be John's favorite color! :)

How fun is that?

And as I looked at my "award", I could only see God's affirmation and blessing on what John and I are trying to do. Just God's tender kindness towards me.

DAVE RAMSEY!

2008-04-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Dave Ramsey??

Basically, he is a Christian financial guru.

Our church did a series on finances a couple months ago based on a lot of his principles and John and I are all fired up!

Seriously.

I am going to be posting a lot about this topic since it is in the forefront of our minds and hearts right now.

His books Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace are incredible!!! Over the course of the last 2 months, John and I have FULLY submitted our finances to God and are making radical changes in the way we view our money and our responsibilities toward it.

It is awesome. I am planning on being pretty brutally honest about my heart on this issue so be ready! And, the fun part is getting to see how God is blessing our commitment to honoring Him fully with our finances. Get ready for some fun stories!!!

Tia & Mrs. Dybas

2008-04-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. Kathy Carey and Linda Dybas.

This past weekend we had very special visitors from Long Beach. Some of you know our history with them and there is no way to tell the whole story here.

Linda was McKenna's preschool teacher last year in Long Beach. I have known her since high school as I used to carpool with her children. She blessed me to no end as she brought McKenna home from preschool everyday since Josiah was a newborn and Brooklyn barely 2. Kathy is the mother of one of my best friends, Melissa, although we have developed our own relationship since John and I got married. Kathy has invested in me and our family in NUMEROUS ways, one being my cooking mentor! They are both godly women who share such a unique friendship with one another and with God. I am always blessed by their wisdom and love.

Anyway, they were here for 4 days and we had a blast. We hit up the Butterfly Pavillion, Casa Bonita, Barr Lake State Park and Nature Center and had lots of fun here at home. I had to work Saturday night and awoke to all of the kids laundry washed and folded!!! Wow!

They got to enjoy a drop by visit from our pastors, Keith and Julie, where we laughed and shared popcorn. They were able to go to church with us and meet many of our friends and see what a healthy and God-honoring church we are attending.

We had a LOVELY visit and I can't wait for them to come again!!!!

(Pictures to come as soon as I figure out iLife '08!)

Where to start?

2008-04-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

SORRY!

I'm going to take some time today to update my poor, sad little neglected blog!

A Tale of a Neurologist

2008-02-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I had an appointment with a new neurologist. I have to admit. I was freaked out.

I had seen 2 different neurologists in Long Beach and pretty much hated them both. They had extremely poor bedside manner and honestly didn't do a thing for me.

The first doctor, during my first visit, after reading my charts and results from my EEG said, "Well, it looks like you had a seizure." No lie!

They offered me no explanations, no hope, no plan of action...just a prescription and a return visit date. Whoop-dee-do.

So, after my last seizure in Nov I had been putting off this new visit. What's the point? They are only going to pat me on my head and give me more meds. I have been dealing with a lot more "symptoms" since being in CO. Dizziness, lack of concentration, lack of focus, memory issues, etc have all plagued me for the last 6 months. It had gotten increasingly worse in the last month or so and John finally told me to make the call.

Anyhoo, I went on Friday only to discover that Dr. Chen, was Dr. Judy Chen! A woman!!! Turns out she is 1 of 3 female neurologists in the state. That gave me courage.

She was WONDERFUL. She probably spent about 45-50 minutes with me and was in absolutely no hurry. She wanted to know EVERYTHING. She asked questions, she nodded her head, she smiled at me, she asked follow-up questions and she wrote everything down. She said she wanted to understand my case up until now.Wow.

Then, she TALKED with me. She told me that with adult onsets of seizures it is typically a result of immature brain cells that just don't develop properly. When there is additional stress placed on you sometimes these immature cells react through a seizure. So when I told her how emotionally unstable I was at the time of the first seizure, she said, absolutely ,YES, that could have been what brought it on! I have been telling everyone since day 1 that I think my first seizure was a physical manifestation of how emotionally distraught I was. Most people just laughed. The doctors in Long Beach assured me that couldn't be the case...its always more scientific than that....

So, just to have her agree to my feelings or pose the possibility of a reason for all of this was sooo encouraging!

She also said that the altitude really could be affecting me with the additional symptoms. She said it typically takes 6 months to a year to get used to it, but that I should be seeing a difference soon.

I also upped my medication dose back in November, and she said that could also be a reason for the additional symptoms. She had me go in for a blood draw to check my dilantin levels. She said if it was too high (toxic) that could also explain my reactions to it.

Then she went on to say, that women who struggle with epilepsy often find symptoms to be worse 2 days before and 2 days after a period. (What a concept!) She said hormones play a huge role in how we feel. So she suggested that I keep a journal of how I feel until my next appt in March. To see if things to worsen around my period. If I can pinpoint days when things are worse, Dr. Chen said that would be an ideal time to do another EEG to see if anything shows up.

We talked about the "funny feeling" I get from time to time and she confirmed that those were aura seizures. She said that if I ever get them close to each other to view it as a warning. Although, since upping my medication in November I have not had any of these.

Even though she doesn't know the EXACT cause of everything, just the fact that she is willing to discuss possibilities is comforting. For 3 1/2 years, no one has given me a single answer, suggestion, encouragement or plan. In less than an hour, Dr. Chen did all of that.

I had prayed extensively prior to this appointment, but with little faith, I'm ashamed to say. It was a reminder that God CAN do anything and that He does care about the little details in our lives. I don't feel so alone anymore. I feel encouraged. I feel like someone cares about me and the quality of my life and is invested in helping me.

Its amazing what a good doctor can do.

Overwhelmed....

2008-01-31T14:51:00.000-08:00

...with beauty.

This past weekend (December 29-30) I had the incredible opportunity to go to a wedding in Long Beach, CA. I was able to go for 2 whole days without my kiddos. (thank you honey!!!)

Over the course of those 2 days, I was able to hug, kiss, love on and catch up with probably, about 100 people.

It was non-stop, on-the-go busy and oftentimes unbelievably precious.
I'm not actually sure how to even write about this. And this post is more for me, than anyone else. So if it is exceptionally, long, too bad! :)
I was able to see and touch 6 very distinct phases/aspects of my life in the course of 2 days.
1. The family God gave me to grow up physically with
2. The family God gave me to mentor me spiritually and love me in my youth
3. The precious friends I have walked life with
4. The tender family that called me up to maturity and loved me for me
5. The amazing family God has blessed me with in my husband and children
6. The beautiful friends that are walking beside me now

My brother Mark, Beto, Laura, and friend Lindsay

Dino Maisano, my youth minister

Melodie and Auntie Katy

So Cal sunrise from my mom's backyard

Me and the folks at Bake-N-Broil my favorite restaurant in Long Beach

Miss,my dear friend from high school and Marci, my friend since elementary school!

Mary Bouma (of mair-wear who makes all of our super cute beanies!)

PJ and Karin....our pastors, mentors, friends

My brother, Danny and my mom at the best burger joint, In-N-Out

So, seeing as it is now a month later and I have not finished this post, I will just post it as is.

God is GOOD. It is amazing to see His hand in my life. I am grateful for His guidance, provision and plan for my life. God has graced my life with the most wonderful people. I don't know where I would be without them. So to my friends, old and new and to my family, I love you. I appreciate you. I am so thankful for you.

New Look for '08

2008-01-15T08:15:00.000-08:00

Let's be honest. I LOVE pink! So why not have my blog truly reflect my love for this wonderful color.

When I was little I loved pink anything. Clothes, ribbons, panties, shoes, socks, dolls that had pink dresses, sheets, bedspreads, notepads, stickers,pencils...anything.

Somewhere along the way, I realized pink wasn't so cool anymore. So I made the switch to yellow..which I also really love. I didn't want to appear too girly.

But, thankfully, pink has really made a comeback! Its everywhere now. You can buy just about anything in pink...KitchenAid mixers, trash cans, ipods, cell phones...anything. I love it.

I try to keep my pink possessions to a minimum so as not to frighten off my dear husband. But, honestly, if I lived alone, my house would probably be decorated in a plentiful amount of pink accessories.

So, here's to PINK!

A warm body with above average intelligence

2008-01-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's me in a nutshell according to my supervisor, Deven, at my new job.

Yes, you read that correctly. I have a new job.

Some of you have heard about it, most of you are probably in the dark. (Sorry!)

I am now an employee of Delta Air Lines! I am a CSA (Customer Service Agent) working at the ticket counter at DIA (Denver International Airport.) The airline industry REALLY likes acronyms.

Ok, so here's the long, drawn out story because you will be asking questions if I don't say it all.

Lots of people in Reunion work for the airlines. We live about 13 minutes from DIA so its an easy commute. Several moms I know work for airlines. So I decided on Oct 17 to look for any openings at any airline. It was late at night and I just started going to websites and applying for any available part-time work. Now, I wasn't really ready to go to work part-time, I just figured your app sat in their database for months on end and maybe my name would come up in 6 months or a year or something. And maybe at that time our lives would be at a place that I could leave for a bit each week.

ANYWAYS, on Fri, Nov 2, I got a message on my voicemail from Delta saying they wanted to interview me for a position. I called her back, with little hope that this would work for us. Mary and I chatted a bit on the phone and hit it off. She said they were looking at me for their "Ready Reserve" position. What? I had NO idea what that was. I was completely embarrassed when I asked what that position was. She explained that is was an on-call position that worked "below part-time status" to fill in holes in the schedule. They sent out the schedule a month in advance and we would choose which shifts we wanted to work. Hmmm. The minimum requirement was 8 hours a week and the max was 3 days a week. Hmmm. Oh, and she was sad to inform me that they don't offer full benefits for this position, but full flight benefits were included. Excuse me? Yes, 30 flight days for me, John, McKenna, Brooklyn, Josiah, my mom AND my dad. Hello?! Crazy! I could go in for an interview Sat (the next day) or Tuesday. I opted for Tuesday.

So, I went in on the 7th and had a great time. It was fun to dress up and have someone care about the skills I have other than changing diapers and making dinner. I felt really good about the interview and even better about the job.

I heard nothing for a couple weeks, then out of the blue Mary called and said I was in the next level of interviewing. I went in for a PAT (physical agility test) on the 20th. Whew, I passed. :) Then, I went in for fingerprinting on the 23rd.

Feeling good.

Then nothing. For a long time.

Finally, on Fri, Dec 14 I get a call saying they want to extend a job offer. Whoo-hoo! Orientation is Sat Dec 15 or Tues the 18th. I opted for the 18th. Went in for 5 hours of orientation. At that time, they politely informed us that they needed "warm bodies" during the holiday rush and that we had 13 hours of computer training to do before we could work the following week. Gee, thanks.

Well, since I am "above average intelligence" I was able to get through the training in about 9 hours. I worked my first shift on Dec 24. Yep, I signed up for the early morning shift: 4:00 am-12:30 pm.

It was great. I got up at 2:45 (IN THE MORNING!) and my coffee was brewing as I came down the stairs. I had a lovely cup of coffee while sitting in front of the fire. I was able to drink the whole thing without distraction or having to microwave it 2 times. Then I got ready, without distraction, and headed out the door at 3:20. It was GORGEOUS out. Crystal clear skies. Sparkling stars. The air was crisp and clean. The airport was all lit up and beautiful.

I had a great time. I didn't know how to do a thing! My main responsibilites will be
1. Working the lobby. i.e. directing traffic and encouraging people to use the kiosk
2. Working the kiosk. Helping people read the monitor and push a button.
3. Checking id's and tagging bags.

That's it! Its fun and great to meet new people.

So, I'll be doing this 8 hours a week, typically on Monday mornings. Our flight benefits kick in at the end of the month and then we can attempt to travel standby. (Are you so bored already?)

Ok, so that's my scoop on my new job at Delta.

God's Gift

2008-01-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

I figured you were tired of reading about Delta, so I thought I'd write this separate.

What has been so incredible about this job is how God has orchestrated ALL of it.

Everyone has asked me how I found this job. My only response has been, "God gave it to me."

Most airlines only have part-time and full-time. Many people get hired on as full-time and then give their shifts away to accommodate their lives at home. But, they run the risk of getting stuck with unwanted shifts. This 8-hour a week deal is pretty much unheard of in the industry.

Most airlines have an extended (2 weeks) training out of state...usually in their hub.
Because this is a "below part-time status" position, they only required a 4 hour orientation locally...on site.

Apparently, 135 people applied for this position. 5 were hired.

Many of my girlfriends immediately wanted to know how to apply for this job. It really is perfect for stay at home moms. The job did not exist on the Delta website. I looked and couldn't find it. In fact, it didn't even show that Delta existed in Denver. When I asked a supervisor about it, they said it is only listed while the job is available. When I applied, the listing was only online for 3 days.

Typically, the airlines will only look at applications that have a resume included. When I was randomly filling out online applications, I did not have a resume put together. So I just left it blank. Remember, I wasn't looking to get a job now, but much farther in the future. When I was doing my orientation, Mary, the supervisor that hired me, said, "Yeah, I remember reading your application. I cracked up because in the notes section for your resume you put: Stay at home mom. Will submit resume later."

So, all I can say, is I did NOTHING to get this job. It was all God, and I am so grateful. We are hoping this will enable us to keep in close relationship with family and friends in SoCal. Not to mention, ever give us the opportunity to travel a little and vacation from time to time. :)

7:24

2008-01-10T13:01:00.000-08:00

That is what time my son slept until this morning.

John and I were talking and we decided that in his 21 months of existence, he has not once slept that late in the morning.

Thank you, God! What a treat!

I don't know Mommy, I just felt like sleeping.

Don't Hate Me.....

2007-12-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, several friends have kindly reminded me that I have not posted in well over a month. Am I ok? Yes.

Bottom line...I got behind, I have too much to say, and now I'm overwhelmed with all I have to write and knowing that I don't have enough time to do it all.

But, in the spirit of one of my dear friends, I'm going to just start. :)

Oh yeah, Thanksgiving

2007-12-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

Yep, haven't blogged about that yet....

Well, my brother Mark and his new bride, Jaclyn made the drive out here for Thanksgiving. They also brought along their "baby" Chandler, a King Charles Spaniel. We had an incredible week!

It snowed the day before Thanksgiving so we had a blast in the snow.

Thanksgiving was lots of fun. It was my first time getting to host a meal at my favorite time of year. Of course, amidst the preparations and such I completely forgot to take a picture of our time together. Boo! And a family friend, Bambi, who lives in Englewood, was able to join us for the day.

We had lots of fun together eating, sharing our blessings and I was able to honor John in a special way. A dear friend shared this Thanksgiving tradition with me. Prior to the meal, she sets out a special plate (ours is the Red "You are special today" plate)and then informs the honoree that that is their setting. Then she takes a moment prior to eating, to share with everyone why this person is special to her.

So, I don't always get to honor John in front of others, so it was cool to be able to tell him how he blesses my life and why I am so thankful for him.

The other CRAZY news is that Mark and Jacs spent several days that week house hunting. And, on Tuesday night, they signed a contract for a home that is literally 1 1/2 blocks away from us!!!!! It still seems unbelievable. So they will be moving here in late April/early May to join us as Colorado residents.

We are thrilled to have some family nearby and excited at what God has in store for all of us!

Hey, Griswald, where are you going to put that tree?

2007-12-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have seen the movie, I'll let you answer that. :)

The 1st weekend in December, my dad, came out for a quick visit. Deb wasn't able to come, so Papa came solo and did a great job!

We had a fantastic visit and filled it with all sorts of fun things, including a trip to Golden to cut down our very own Christmas tree. It wasn't picture perfect by any means, but fun enough that we'll attempt it again next year.

We drove up with about 6 other families for this very "outdoorsy" adventure. Once we got there, it was a steep hill covered in snow...I didn't know if we were going to make it some of the time. John had Josiah on his back, my dad carried Brooklyn, McKenna was made for hiking and I brought up the rear hanging on to every tree limb or sturdy growth from the ground I could find! We trooped around the top looking for the perfect tree. Well, I'm not exactly good at visualizing the potential in something. I knew it would be fine once inside the house with decorations and such. So when John said he liked one, I was content.

Until we got it home and I really looked at it. Holy cow! There is no way that thing is going to fit in our house.

Turns out, it didn't. John had to cut off 4 ft and that left us with an 11ft Christmas tree. Its pretty awesome.

So we have a fun Colorado tradition under our belt...it was definitely more fun than the drive to Home Depot. :)

Papa Came to Town

2007-12-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned, my dad came to town for the weekend which was loads of fun. Besides our wild tree adventure, we went to the Butterfly Pavilion which is always a good time.

Papa read books and books and more books to the kids. They LOVED it! And he was a dreamy guest as he got up at the crack of dawn with Josiah every morning (yes, my little love bug is still getting up around 5:30 everyday!!!) And by the time I came down the stairs, the coffee was made, the dishwasher unloaded, Josiah was happy playing toys or reading books with Papa...and the TV had never been turned on! :) Amazing.

And one night, we had a lovely evening out on the town. We got a babysitter for Josiah, and my dad took John and I and the girls out to dinner. We went to one of our new favorite restaurants, La Sandia, in the Stapleton area. We had such a nice night. We then went and played at Outdoor World, which the girls refer to as the "animal store" due to the fact that there are literally hundreds of stuffed wildlife all around the store. It freaks me out to no end and I forget the rest of the country (outside of CA) actually takes part in the whole hunting/gaming stuff.

Anyway, the girls love climbing the stairs, looking at the aquarium, hiding in the tents, sitting in the camo furniture, etc. And they do have a Starbucks inside, so I can't complain too much.

And my dad brought Christmas presents for all of us so we also partook in a bit of unwrapping mayhem. Very fun.

It is always special when our parents come to visit. Its just fun getting to share a bit of our new life with them.

1st Annual Cookie Party

2007-12-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

So I did something HUGE, and threw a cookie decorating party for about 45 people on Sat, Dec 8th!

My friend, Mary Bouma, does this every year and we have been going to this for probably 5 years. As December neared, I couldn't imagine the month without the infamous sugar cookies, divine frosting and unending supply of decorations.

She agreed to share her secret family recipe with me so that I could host the Colorado version of her cookie party.

Well, I made about 24 dozen cookies during the course of the week. I had a lot of help from my cookie elves as well as from the Teague's.

It was an open house all day and we had a slew of friends and neighbors drop in for some sugary fun.

Julie, our pastor's wife, noted that 5 months ago the only people we knew were the Teague's. And here we were, able to have 40 something new friends in our home. Wow! We are extremely grateful for the awesome people that God has brought into our lives that we get to share life with.

It was quite the party, and as much work as it was, I am definitely planning to do it again next year...with a few tweaks. :)

(And yes, all the photos are of the kids. There were actually adults present, but everyone just wants to see the kids....)

Brooklyn turned 3...a week ago

2007-10-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a little behind.....

Brooklyn turned 3 last Wed on October 24th!

It is SO hard to believe she is 3!!!!!

We had a really fun day. We went to the Denver Zoo. My grandma had sent some money for her birthday so we decided to buy a family annual pass to the Zoo. We had a great time. McKenna was obsessive about the map...and hardly looked at animals as she was so busy scanning the map for the next thing. (It was quite humorous...and sometimes annoying!)

Brooklyn was very anxious to see the elephants. Unfortunately, we walked the OTHER way and the elephants were last on the map.

Josiah just loved walking everywhere. He had fun chasing geese and running through the crunchy leaves. (Well, everyone loved running through the leaves....even me!)

It is a beautiful zoo, especially in fall.

That night, we had the Teague's over for dinner. Ally & Heather made a very special pink ice cream cake which everyone loved.

John and I were talking recently about all the growth Brooklyn has experienced in the last few months. Her language is finally coming together. People, besides us and McKenna, can actually understand what Brooklyn is saying. This is huge! She is very artistic and loves to draw pictures and color. She especially loves beading...her fine motor skills are quite impressive.

Brooklyn has a great energy about her and is just excited by everything. She loves to play dress up...esecially "Singuella" (Cinderalla) and enjoys playing with babies and dolls and playing "shopping" with McKenna & Ally. She is a great climber and somersaulter! She is definitely showing more signs of independence as she likes to pick out her clothes and pajamas and what she wants to do in her playtime. But, she also desires to be like McKenna. Brooklyn is always watching McKenna and imitating her actions AND words. Its cute. She loves the people around her which is evident when she wants to pray for her "friends" every night.

We are grateful for our precious Brooklyn. I am blessed and honored to be her mother. I look back 3 years ago to that bizarre pregnancy and all the stresses that were in my life and I am so thankful that God brought us through that and to such a place of peace.

The Scarecrow

2007-10-23T07:41:00.001-07:00

Josiah's costume just arrived in the mail. It has a few more accessories, but here's the basic look:

ADORABLE!!! Shiralyn is sooo talented and I am so grateful she uses her skills on my kids! :)

Snow!!!

2007-10-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

We woke up to snow flurries today!!! He, he. We all just sat by the window and stared at them.

I asked Brooklyn what she saw and she said, "snow!" When I asked her what color it was, she said, "white, like my milk." :)

When we came out of church at about 11:20, it was definitely snowing and the parking lot was covered in about 1 inch of snow. We were in awe the whole way home. (All 3 minutes of our drive.)

As soon as we got home we got our gloves on and headed out front to play in our first day of snow. We had a blast. By the time we came in, everyone had snotty noses and wet patches on our pants from snowball residue.

We had so much fun! Its hard to believe it was 83 here yesterday and today we are playing in SNOW. Crazy, but oh so fun.

Oh...and a shout out to Mary Bouma for making my very cool head wrap. I can't believe how warm it keeps my ears!!

Funny Things Kids Say

2007-10-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

A couple humorous encounters with my kiddos.

Just now, I was sitting on the couch watching morning cartoons with Josiah and Brooklyn. We all just woke up like 20 minutes ago so we're all still a little foggy. Josiah was trying to "love" on Brooklyn which is intense body slamming at best. Brooklyn started in on a wild whine and cry. I comforted Josiah, telling him that Brooklyn was a little grumpy for not wanting his precious hugs.

Brooklyn piped in with, "I'm not grumpy."

Me: "Yeah, you're being a little grumpy."

B: "That's from Snow White."

It took me a minute to realize what she was saying. She thought I was calling her Grumpy, as in one of the seven "doors".

Me: "You're right. Grumpy is from Snow White, but you are being grumpy and grouchy this morning."

B: "No, I'm being Dorothy!"

I cracked up....yes, she is being Dorothy for Halloween, lest anyone forget.

THEN....

(this portion involves bathroom humor, so if you can't handle it....leave now)

Last night, after I put the kids to bed, I was downstairs doing this and that. I hear the toilet seat go up and I hear grunting. I go to the bottom of the stairs and see the light on in the bathroom. I think, this had better be for real, as Kenna often comes up with unique reasons to be out of bed. I have my gruff "go to bed" voice ready.

Me: "McKenna? Are you ok?"

McKenna: "Yeah. I just have to go p.u. (a.k.a. bowel movement}

I climb up the stairs, awaiting the inevitable question of "mom, can you wipe?"

Me: "Do you need me to wipe?"

McKenna: "Its still making its way."

Me: "Making its way?!"

At this point, I'm doubled over in laughter that my daughter refers to her bowel movement as "making its way" I stand in the doorway laughing for a couple minutes. I go back downstairs and tell her to let me know when it has made its way.

So funny, these kids.

Denver

2007-10-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I tell you, we have more fun living here! For the visitors alone, this has been great!

John has a friend from the hospital in San Pedro who's in town and coming to dinner on Sunday. Then, we have friends (Dan, April & Faith Diniakos) from Long Beach out visiting next week. They are coming over for a playdate and dinner on Friday. The following weekend my childhood best friend (April Spicer) and her son, Wesley, will be in town visiting.

Its amazing when you just have extra room to help others out. And a place to sit down to dinner together. We enjoyed having people over in Long Beach, but we just didn't really have the room. During summer months it was easy to be outside, but once it got cold it was just down right difficult.

Mark and Jaclyn will be here for Thanksgiving and I can't wait to host a holiday in our new home. It's going to be great!!!

And then, Jennifer & Jessica Brueckner will be here in December for a few days. (Those are our babysitters from Long Beach!) They wanted to see the kids in the snow!! Finally, someone wants to visit in the snow. :)

Anyway, we love having guests!!!! So if any of you are EVER in the Denver area, you had better make plans to come by.

My Brooklyn

2007-10-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Isn't she adorable? She is in Dorothy mode all the way!

Grandma Shiralyn made McKenna and Brooklyn Dorothy dresses for Halloween. But, since the girls are looking for reasons to wear their dresses, we decided to do a Wizard of Oz party for Brooklyn's upcoming 3rd birthday.

So I had Brooklyn put her dress on the other day to go pass out invitations to her party. Boy, was she excited.

Here are few pictures of my angel.

So cute!

Early Risers

2007-10-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

I love my kids....but they get up WAY too early!

Josiah starts calling for "mama" around 5:45 A.M.! I finally pull myself out of bed between 6 and 6:15 with him. We tiptoe downstairs and cuddle on the couch in the dark for 15 minutes before I begin the morning routine.

No matter how quiet we are, something wakes Brooklyn up! She typically makes her way down the stairs, with all her "friends" in tow, by 6:45.

McKenna stays hard asleep until 7:15 or 7:30. Way to go, kid!

These are a couple of pictures I took the other morning when it was way TOO dark to be awake. (Obviously, the flash was too bright for such a dark morning...)

Good thing they're so darn cute, huh? Its hard to stay grumpy when you look at those adorable faces.

Pray for me and the upcoming time change...Nov 4. I think I will be going crazy when I have to get out bed before 5. It pains me to just think about it.

Church, Part 3

2007-10-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

There is good news!

We have found a church.

After a couple months of grieving and frustration, John found it! It was a church that was meeting on Sunday nights in a local school auditorium. He went one Sunday night and loved it. He came home and asked if he could go to the pasta party at the pastor's house. Ok....I said. The pastor lives about 3 blocks away. John went and got to meet lots of people and ask lots of questions. He came home pretty pumped up.

I went the following Sunday night and wept as I felt the Spirit of the Lord just surrounding this body of believers.

The church is called Crossroads Community Church.

We've been attending for nearly 2 months now and have had confirmation after confirmation that this is where God wants us.

I will continue to share what God is doing here, but realized I had left everyone hanging with a sad story. So here is the happy ending! (Or really, the happy beginning.....)

We are making friends and connecting deeply with other believers. We are being challenged to find a place to serve. We are being called into a deeper and more loving relationship with our Father. We are being loved and cared for.

It is good.

This last Sunday, Crossroads had the opportunity to move to another location. They are now meeting in the school just across the street from us on Sunday mornings. The attendance DOUBLED (at least) on this opening Sunday. My soul was ecstatic! I get such joy in watching God draw people to Him and His church.

We are blessed.

Whoever said baseball is boring...

2007-10-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

....is SO WRONG!

Last night John and I got to go to the Wildcard Tiebreaker game between the Padres and Rockies. Oh my gosh! It was so much fun!

Now, I grew up in a "baseball" family. But my enjoyment of the game basically involved Dodger dogs, salty peanuts and going home after the 7th inning stretch and singing the "baseball song." I liked hanging out at the stadium and I was lucky if I saw a hit or 2 and occasionally glanced down to see a guy in a uniform run from base to base. My brother , Mark, on the other hand, lived and breathed baseball as a kid. He liked everything....especially the stats and all the math...and the baseball cards. (Very weird.) So I kind of tolerated his passion for the sport and tried not to act totally bored when he recounted everything any player had ever done and what would happen if he hit this run or stole that base or made 2 more catches. Yada, yada, yada.....

But, last night all of that changed. John and I watched THE BEST game of baseball.

I was on the edge of my seat...if not standing on my seat for the majority of the game. I was cheering, and yelling, and booing & taunting the opposing team. I was high-fiveing the fans around me. I was actually reading the board and finding out things about the players that made me change the way I looked at them. I learned about batting averages. I began to expect different things from players. I watched the pitches and began to see the difference between a fast ball, a curve ball and a slider. I got mad when the umpire called strikes that were obviously balls. I paid attention to the batting line-up and knew when to expect greatness and when to hope that they put in a PH. :)

And throughout the whole game, I kept thinking of my little brother, Mark, and how proud he would be of me. I was also bummed John didn't have his number programmed in his cell (what?) because I had lots of questions for him. I was constantly quizzing John and every now and then, John would say, "that's something only Mark would know."

I watched every single second of the game with absolute intensity. I loved it! It was fantastic. I was so excited....the energy in the stadium was out of control. I refused to leave my seat to go to the bathroom, afraid I would miss something. (Yes, it was that good.)

So, I'm now officially a baseball fan. I"m beginning to "get" the game and why so many people love it.

GO ROCKIES!!!!!

Church, Part 1

2007-09-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

This was something I wrote during the first few weeks we were here.

I went to check out a church this morning.

I cried through a lot of it...because it wasn't the River.

It wasn't Steve leading worship, or James on drums. It wasn't Karin welcoming everyone and saying an opening prayer. It wasn't PJ teaching. it wasn't David doing announcements. It wasn't hugs from all of the fabulous people I love.

It was good and i'm going to have John check it out....but it was so hard to be open-minded, because it wasn't what I love.

This church part sucks. We left our family and we will visit from time to time. We're not trying to make other parents or have other grandparents fill in. We're not replacing them. But we're supposed to find another church and be committed and love them. Currently I don't see how that's possible. I'm sitting here bawling because that just doesn't seem feasible. How can I love another the way I love the River???? This sucks for me. My heart is still so connected to the River tribe.

God, help me to learn to love another church family. Lead us to the place where YOU want us. Help us not to waste time at the wrong places, but to connect quickly.

Church, Part 2

2007-09-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

The process of looking for a church has been wearisome at the least. There were 2 churches that we were checking out when we first got here. Both of them within 5-10 minutes and both church plants meeting in school auditoriums.

In August, I visited a church by myself one Sunday morning. It had a lot of good aspects....except no one but for the greeter at the door said hello to me! I was in shock. In fact it angered me. I cry during every service of a church I visit. I slowly left the church walking by lots of people and even looking some in the eye and made it to my car without even a head nod. I got in, shut the door and started crying. Here I am a guest, longing for connection, wanting to find a church home. And NO ONE said hello! (The greeter doesn't count...he had to!) I started driving away, blurred vision from the hot tears. I got about 3 blocks away, and turned my car around. I drove back to that church, parked my car and went back in. I found the pastor's wife and pulled her aside. Crying, I told her what had happened. I told her the worship was great, the message super...but no one said hello to me! She apologized and made some excuses about it being thet 5th Sunday and they forgot to schedule more greeters. I told her that's fine...but if they want to grow as a church and reach all these people, the body has to start paying attention. Not just the greeters or the staff members...but everyone. I told her I would come visit again, but that she needed to know there was a gaping HOLE in their ministry.

I don't know if I scared her half to death or just freaked her out to no end, but I felt someone at that church needed to know. Not for me...but for the next really hurting person who walks through their door.

I called Karin that night and related the story to her. She made a very good point. She said that ministry happens from the top down. Priorities happen from the top down. Warmth and care begins with the pastors and if a church is missing that, then it is probably not super important to the leadership of that church.

Hmmm. Of course, it crossed my mind, that perhaps I was to fill this gaping hole in this church. People are my passion. Connecting people to one another and creating an atmosphere of warmth and care and personal touch is extremely important to me. But, I was not feeling that from the Holy Spirit.

A few weeks went by and no one from that church ever contacted me. The pastor's wife knew my name and my story, and yet, never made a phone call or sent a letter. It kind of confirmed that that was not the church for us. It saddened me and angered me.

Mmmm....Starbucks

2007-09-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here enjoying a vanilla latte and feeling so good.

I think Starbucks really does put an addictive chemical in their coffee (that makes you crave it fortnightly....).I told John, it really makes a difference in my afternoon. I'm not grumpy, or irritable....I have lots of patience and energy...I laugh more, I'm eager to accomplish tasks around the house...I'm just a better person all around.

I've wondered if owning an espresso machine would help. Its the espresso factor...not just the caffeine in coffee. Would I make it? Would it taste the same? John said part of what I like is the comfort of someone else making it....true. Perhaps I could teach John? :)

Well, I'm anxious for them to build our new Starbucks. I have no idea when the target date is...but definitely too far from now. So, just so I make it clear....I would definitely appreciate Starbucks cards for Christmas or anytime you want to send a little pick-me-up in the mail. Trust me, my whole family will be grateful.

Hysterical

2007-08-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, for those of you needing a good laugh...you've got to check this out.

It is a description for an item for sale on ebay. Its a bit long, but well worth the read. You may want to keep your legs crossed as it may lead to you wetting your pants from laughing so hard.

Of course, the links aren't working right now, so you'll have to copy and paste this url into your address bar.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675

And if you've got nothing better to do, and lots of spare time (ha!), I also recommend reading this woman's blog. Hysterical! I've now signed up to get emails when she posts a new blog.

mom2my6pack.blogspot.com

Enjoy a good laugh!

Surprise!

2007-08-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call today around noon from my Uncle Jim. He was calling to say that he would be landing in Denver at 4:00 pm and wanted to see if they could swing by on their way to Castle Rock. Surprise!!!

I was so excited! I had no idea they were coming and was thrilled at the idea of guests...especially family I never thought would make it out here! (No offense, you guys)

We had such a fun visit! McKenna and Brooklyn gave Uncle Jim, Karina & Jack the tour of the house. We had dinner. We played on the swings and ran races in the backyard while it sprinkled rain on us. We played chase and hide and go seek and tickle monster and just had a good time!

Here are a few photos from our evening together.

Precious Prayer

2007-08-26T21:41:00.001-07:00

We pray a lot around our house. We pray at mealtimes, bedtimes, and as the need arises when we lose a toy...or our temper...we present our requests to God.

But, usually, it is just John and I who utter our petitions to the Lord. The kids are quick to mention their requests...the grandparents are always on the top of the list and lately, McKenna has wanted to pray for her Dorothy dress for Halloween. :) Every night we also pray for Paul, a 16 year old at our church who is battling an aggressive cancer. It melts my heart that the girls remember him every evening...even as we haven't seen him in 2 months.

Tonight, was special. As I was tucking the girls into bed, I asked them who they wanted to pray for. McKenna said, "Phil, Heather, Ally & Travis." Brooklyn said, "Daddy & Paul." And then McKenna added, "And Melodie."

I took their hands and as I was beginning to start, I asked if either of the girls wanted to say the prayer tonight. I offer from time to time and get a resounding "no, Mommy do it." But, tonight, McKenna said, "I do." So I closed my eyes and waited. And this is what I heard:

"Dear God, thank you for Phil, Heather, Ally & Traivs. Thank you for Daddy. Be with Paul and bless him and give him peace. I love Melodie. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

I was so choked up I could hardly respond. I said, "Amen" because there was nothing to add to that precious prayer from the mouth of my 4 year old daughter.

It blessed my heart to no end to witness that. And I know the Lord heard McKenna's request tonight....

Little Mommy

2007-08-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

I'm doing some stuff on the computer right now and am listening to McKenna and Brooklyn play in their room.

This is the conversation I just heard McKenna have with her baby:

McKenna: Baby, you have to go to bed now.

Baby: But, I want to stay up longer.
(Yes, she really switched voices to be the baby.)

M: You can't. You've already stayed up a long time and its late.

M: You want to stay up more? Yes? Well, you can't. You have to go to bed if you want to go to Auntie Em's party tomorrow.
(We've been watching and reading a lot of Wizard of Oz lately)

M: Stay in your bed. If you want to see Auntie Em, you have to go to sleep.

B: Ok, mommy.

It just cracked me up! Well, she definitely knows the bedtime rules...

Crazy

2007-08-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, I was a bit crazy today.

Josiah was up at 5:15 and by 9:30 he was awake from his nap. I had all 3 children awake for a good 2 1/2-3 hours. What could we do? It was pretty warm out and I really didn't feel like the park. (We go at least once a day as it is.)

Where could we go? I packed everyone in the car and started driving. McKenna kept asking where we were going and I kept answering a very slow and simple, "I really don't know."

I decided to drive over to the Stapleton shopping area. I thought maybe there would be a new McDonald's or Burger King that had one of those lovely indoor play things. (I would only go to one that was new as the older ones tend to really gross me out.)

We got there and drove around. No fast food playgrounds. Hmmm. What else is there? I contemplated letting the kids run around Outdoor World...and then I saw the movie theatre.

On a whim, I drove by the front and strained my terrible eyes to read the movie listings. Yes, Ratatouille was still playing. Showtime...10:30. I looked at the clock and it was 10:44. There were always lots of previews. We could do it...

Wait! Am I crazy??? Take my 3 kids to a movie all by myself?? Am I nuts? But at the same time, I REALLY wanted to see a movie. If it was a disaster, we could just leave. I asked McKenna if she wanted to do something crazy. She said, "what crazy?"

I got everyone out and got the stroller in motion. I walked up to the box office and asked how much of the movie we had missed. The guy told me it was about 10 minutes into it. When I asked how much kids tickets cost, he informed me it was $5 for kids 3 and over. Score! I bought 2 tickets and started walking in, informing the kids that we were going to see a movie!

We made a quick bathroom stop and headed into the dark, and very loud, theatre number 7. There were 3 people in the audience. Parents and their 2 year old son. Perfect.

We picked a row, sat down and started watching. McKenna had her hands over her ears as it was too loud. Brooklyn started crying because there was a chase scene going on that really was loud and very quick-moving. Ok, maybe this was a terrible idea. Then I realized that Josiah, who was sitting on my lap was laughing every time he saw the rat. That gave me hope!

The noise softened and the scene slowed down and we started having fun! We took a popcorn break about half way through and returned to see the other 3 moviegoers leaving. We had the theatre to ourselves!

Josiah remained on my lap eating popcorn until the last 20 min or so when he decided to go check out the lighted staircase. Go for it!

It ended. We clapped. We left happy and quite satisfied. (The movie really is great!)

I was proud of myself for this huge adventure and leap of faith...even if it really was crazy.

Sweet Vacation

2007-07-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yes...its been awhile. But, I have a good excuse! We were on vacation!!!

Last week we traveled to Chautauqua Lake, New York for a huge family reunion to celebrate John's grandmother, Betty Sheldon's 90th birthday. (It is right on the Pennsylvania border)

We stayed at the lovely Sheldon Hall right on the lake. I've included some pictures of the house. The first one is from the front...I am standing half way from the house to the lake! The second, is of one of the dining rooms. There were about 9 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and cubbies and closets galore. It was beautiful, peaceful, calm and just plain relaxing.

I will write more as I get a chance.

We enjoyed running around on the lawn, canoeing, fishing, visiting family, exploring the area and just enjoying each other's company.

I look forward to catching up soon!!

Oh...and John posted a bunch of pictures from our trip on our website...just click on the "Yates Family" tab to the right.

McKenna's 4th Birthday

2007-07-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

My life has been so out of order...so why should my blogs be any different?

McKenna turned 4 on the 26th and we celebrated by taking a plane ride to Colorado.

The girls mostly enjoyed the plane ride. Grandma Shiralyn provided a super fun bag for the girls to entertain them on the ride here.

Mommy and Josiah spent most of the flight in the kitchen with the two awesome flight attendants. We were in row 25 so it was a short jaunt to the back and the girls quickly realized it was fun to go back and forth. Mimi (my mom) kept giving them trash to bring to the back. At one point the flight attendant asked McKenna if she would like to help collect trash from the whole plane. McKenna, (to my shock) nodded her head and follwed Frederica to the front of the plane. Next thing I know McKenna was wearing Frederica's apron and was holding a trash bag and walking down the aisle of the plane. I ran to grab my camera and by the time I got it out she was running towards me. Frederica said she was doing great the first few rows and then realized everyone was watching her and commenting on how cute she was and she bailed. I got a very blurry photo....but its still cute.

When we arrived at our house Daddy surpised the girls with new bikes. And Ariel bike for McKenna and a Princess bike for Brookln.

Then we all went out to TGIFriday's for dinner. We figured it was one of the only places around that would sing to McKenna and bring a fun dessert. Very cute.

McKenna continues to be a DELIGHT in all of our lives. She is a wonderful big sister. Very helpful and always wanting to ensure that everyone knows the rules. :) She is so gracious with her brother and sister always ensuring they have what the want or need...even if it means giving them something she has. McKenna loves to read, to color and to play. Her imagination is really blooming and the songs and stories that come out of her mouth are precious and often very curious!!! She also has quite a passion for winking.

The last year of her life has been incredible. Her experience at Los Altos Brethren Preschool is indescribable. The impact that the school and her teacher, Mrs. Dybas, on our family is priceless. McKenna's knowledge and understanding of who God is and His character is just precious. We pray everyday about letting our light shine for Jesus and McKenna continues to surprise us in the ways she lets her light shine.

Independence Day....on the 1st

2007-07-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Reunion (our "community")put on a big Independence Day celebration last night. Bounce houses, face painting, watermelon, lemonade, live music, pie eating contests and the like for a grip of people to enjoy. We went with the Teague's and several of our neighbors and set up a fun "camp" on the grass next to the lake. Quite scenic. It was supposed to end in a fabulous firework show which got cancelled due to the super interesting Colorado weather. You know the electrical storm with 20-30 mile winds.

But we all had fun nonetheless. Here's some pictures of our evening on the lawn.

We're Here!

2007-06-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

After a week and a half at my mom's house, MANY TEARFUL goodbyes, a trip to the beach, a birthday party, working our church's booth at our neighborhood street fair, an outing to the Mattel toy store, and a 2 hour plane ride.....we arrived at Denver International Airport to be greeted by my sweet husband!

We arrived on Tuesday and its been a whirlwind every since.

John did some pretty INCREDIBLE work on the house while he was here. Driving up to OUR home was wild. Getting used to everything has been great. The boxes and unpacking seem unending. My mom says if I get them all unpacked by Thanksgiving I should be ecstatic. :)

The kids are adjusting rather well. They have had a rough month. From having everything they own boxed up, to sleeping here, there and everywhere to flying on an airplane to just being in a new place, they have done remarkably well. All 3 of them have slept through the night both nights we've been here and have taken great naps during the day. Thank you Lord! (And thank you to my friends who have been praying for their sleep.)

We love it here. It is beautiful, quiet, calm and spacious. (Well...that's how it looks at least when the kids are asleep!)

We're happy. I'm happy. My mom is here with us until Saturday which is amazing. When we ever unpack the camera do-dad I will download pictures from the last 2 weeks and post some.

Just wanted to let everyone know we got here safely and are doing very well.

Love to you all.

Packed

2007-06-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of our moving truck. Way too real. :)

But it came, it got filled (oh did it get filled!) and it is in route to Denver.

We had a tremendous amount of help from friends, family and neighbors to load up the truck on Saturday. (Paul Tschetter...get ready for some work on the receiving end!!! If you have any friends...it would benefit you to convince them to join you!)

John's last Sunday at church was yesterday. Man, was that hard! I really hate this part.

John and I had a tender time around the Campbell's fire pit last night. Andrew assured us that they were all in a good place and not to worry about them at all. Mark told us they would continue to serve in God's Kingdom and continue the legacy we began on Chestnut St. Shelly wished we had had more time around the firepit together to deepen our relationships. (Hey Shelly--I'm counting on a HUGE firepit in heaven and I'd love to sit next to you forever!!!)

Our sweet neighbors went above and beyond the call of duty (once again) to help us during this stressful and crazy time. (Mark the ultimate packer, Maria the "forelady" and Shelly the don't-worry-we'll-take-care-of-it ringleader.)

We are so blessed (meaning "how truly happy") because of all of you. We cannot imagine our lives without the impact of our family, friends, church and neighbors. We have learned invaluable lessons from you. Thank you.

So that's where we're at.

WILD.

Bittersweet

2007-06-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

I totally freaked out tonight when I realized it was the last night the kids would sleep in this house.
I started crying when i was putting kenna's jammies on. It hit me like a ton of bricks. (and i didn't even give them a bath tonight!!!)

Its weird to think we are leaving this home of so many memories. first roll overs, first crawls, first steps, first words...coming home from the hospital, christmases, backyard birthday parties.

i was crying and mckenna was being SO comforting. just rubbing my leg or my arm and just looking into my eyes with such compassion and strength...in a weird way. brooklyn just kep saying, "sad. mommy. daaady." i think she thought i was sad that John was at work. :) anyway, finally mckenna asked what was wrong. i said i was sad that we are leaving this house. and she looked at me with a big smile and said, "but you will be happy at our new house in colorado." and i had to smile and agree. :)

transitions are so hard for me. i cry as they approach and weep through the whole thing. and usually as soon as i'm on the other side i rarely look back.

this period of transition has been so hard. i was telling one friend that buying a house and moving has been the most permanent committment i've made since marrying John. (i realize its not REALLY permanent, but you know what i mean.)

its affecting so many people and i hate that we are making everyone so sad. but on the other hand, i know we are follwing God's leading. and i truly am excited about this next chapter of our lives. (imagine everyone having a place to sleep and 1 room to actually keep toys in!!!)

our neighbor, Maria, really affirmed us when she told us she was happy we were leaving. (what?!) she said that we needed to go in order to reach more people for Christ. that we had done what we needed to do on Chestnut Ave and that we needed to take Jesus to our next street.

what God has done on this street is crazy wild. and i know He's not done with us. He's going to stretch us and mold us and continue to draw us closer to Him. and I want that wether its in CA or CO.

so admist the mess of boxes and trash and sorted piles...I'm crying tears of grief as I put this part of my life behind me and I'm crying tears of joy as I release our future into our Father's hands.

Home Sweet Home

2007-06-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we went through our final (and first) walk through of our new home. Wow.

We actually drove out there on Monday. A nice 16 1/2 hour drive in the Jeep Wrangler. Complete with hot sun, pellting winds, bumpy roads and oh yeah, no air conditioning. :) Most of the drive really was nice...especially once we drove though the Rocky Mountains. John and I agreed it was the most beautiful scenery we have ever encountered on a drive!

We spent the night with our realtor again...she's so great.

And Tuesday morning we met the project manager to give us the grand tour. Somewhat unbelievable. It still seems like a really great house that we are going to visit for the summer. Hard to fathom that it is ours.

it was beautiful. Wonderful. It was fun picturing the kids running up and down the stairs or sleeping in their rooms. We got to meet some of the neighbors across the street who were delightful. Moved there a year ago from California. :)

We spent several hours in the house just walking around, dreaming, laughing and thanking God.

We experienced some crazy Colorado weather before we left. A lovely hail storm that left about 3-4 inches of hail on the ground. There was incredible lighting and the LOUDEST thunder either of us had ever heard. Crazy.

We flew home Tuesday night grateful for air travel and our families that took care of our kids while we were gone.

Reflections on Hosea

2007-05-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

I recently read the book of Hosea...possibly for the first time. Just wanted to jot down my thoughts, as a rememberance of the Lord's GREAT love for me...and you.

God will "allure" us and "speak tenderly" to us. He promised to be with us forever, and He promises righteousness and justice; He promisies love and compassion and faithfulness.

Nothing we do is hidden from our Lord. He sees it all--and it breaks His heart. Our unfaithfulness, our lies, our betrayal. He is grieved by our pride, our "intent on pursuing idols" and our attempts to do everything on our own. All He wants is for us to acknowledge Him and show mercy. To turn to Him and cry out to Him with our needs and wants. To ask for His consent and approval on decisions.

God is the "Holy One among us". Although anger is stirred in Him, he shows restraint. His compassion and love outweigh His wrath. He is jealous and wants to be first place in our lives.

He wants us to remain humble. When He blesses us--we need to maintain purity. In our pride, we forget God. We become puffed up with our stuff and what we have achieved--completely forgetting that ALL of that is a gift from Him.

God's free and lavish gift of love is unending. He wants us close to Him--so He can love us deeply.

I want that. I crave that love...and He is offering it to ME.

Wow.

Best Yet

2007-05-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

Best Mother's Day Ever!

John and the kids really spoiled me!

McKenna told me Saturday night that I should stay in bed when I woke up and she would bring me coffee. :)

John got up with the kids and at about 7:30 I felt someone standing over me. I opened my eyes and there was Kenna. She smiled and said, "Happy Mother's Day. Go to the bathroom and go potty and brush your teeth and then get back in bed." I cracked up...and readily obeyed. Then John and the kids brought me coffee in bed. McKenna helped with all of my sugar and helped stir it.

Then John brought me breakfast in bed! Apple cinnamon macadamia nut pancakes (a mix fresh from Hawaii per Danny)...yum! Of course, McKenna had to help me eat it. :)

Then, McKenna informed me it was time for me to take my shower. So I did. And I got dressed and did my hair and makeup without any distractions--amazing!

After my shower, I started getting dressed, but McKenna told me I had to get BACK in bed and open my presents. So, I obliged.

I got a beautiful picture frame with 3 black & white photos of my adorable children. Then a BIG huge box with a bunch of individually wrapped gifts. The girls helped me open... a necklace and earrings, 3 outfits and 2 pairs of shoes!!!!! Whoa. John has NEVER bought me clothes or shoes before.** And they were all super cute. I was overwhelmed and surprised and quite delighted!

We had a great morning at church...I got to teach McKenna and Brooklyn's little class. So fun! Had a great and relaxing afternoon. And then all of John's family came over for dinner. John and his brother cooked and made a wonderful meal! Chicken Piccata with linguine, fresh bread and salad. He even went so far as to make a coconut cream pie for dessert (from scratch) which is his mom's favorite pie.

IMPRESSIVE. I told him he has set the standard high and I will be looking forward to Mother's Day every year!!!

I felt so special and loved and appreciated. :) Thank you, honey!!!!

**When I asked John if he got help on shopping, he admitted that he had. He called Phil Teague (who is a GREAT shopper for his wife) and asked how to do it. These were his instructions: "Go to a mall and go in a store you think/know your wife likes. Walk all around the store looking at manequins. Find 2 or 3 manequins who have clothes on that you like and then find those outfits on the racks. Do not stray from the manequin outfits or try to put something together yourself." Isn't that great advice for any man who is intimidated by shopping at the mall?! Way to go Phil!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

My dad got me a great card for Mother's Day.

It reads, "Do you have difficulty falling asleep? Do you get less than 6 hours sleep per night? Do you wake up feeling exhausted? Then you might be experiencing....motherhood."

Inside, my dad wrote these words to me,"The tough times, and yes I know there are tough times, will fade in your memory...really. The sacrifice of yourself will pay handsome dividends in the future. That's when your children will rise and call you blessed."

And that's what it is, isn't it? A scarifice of YOURSELF. Not just your time, your energy, your desires, etc. It is ALL of you, ALL of the time. You never stop thinking about your children. Even when you get to take a break away from them or indulge yourself in a nap...they are still on the forefront of your mind. The list of things to do (usually FOR your kids) is constantly running through your head.

And I still wouldn't trade it for anything.

I am so blessed to be a mommy to McKenna, Brooklyn & Josiah. I adore them. I love their little faces (snot, dirt and all) and am thrilled with their little lives.

For those of you reading, please take a moment to pray for all the mommies out there who have lost a child in the last year. Lori Coble & Adrienne Graves immediately come to mind. All of our military moms who lost children in combat recently. The moms who lost students at Virginia Tech. And I'm sure each of you know someone as well. Pray for them as this will be one of the hardest days of their lives.

To all of my mommy friends---have a blessed day! You are a blessing to my life and I receive so much encouragement, faith, love and inspiration from each of you.

Edsel Maddox

2007-05-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Josiah with Edsel and Jerry Maddox that was taken back in October when we were out for a visit. (They are Deb's parents who live in Colorado Springs.)

Edsel has been in the hospital for 11 weeks battling cancer and other ailments. The doctors report yesterday said that at this point he would be bedridden, unable to talk or eat on his own for the rest of his life. He had made a living will that very clearly stated that he did not want to live like that.

So Jerry, Deb and her brothers made the very difficult decision to honor his wishes today and took him off of the respirator. They are asking for prayers that Edsel would go quickly..."minutes and hours rather than days." (**As of Wednesday morning, at 10:30 he is still with us. Jerry and Deb stayed up all night with him. Oftentimes singing and praying with him, giving him permission to go.**) (***Edsel passed away, Thursday, May 10th in the evening....peacefully. While we are sad at this loss, we are also celebrating his new life in heaven.***)

Edsel has walked closely with the Lord his entire life and I can only imagine the joy he will experience as he gets to meet Jesus face to face.

Please lift up Deb, Jerry and other family members as they grieve the loss of this precious, kind, generous, loving and honorable man.

Joy

2007-05-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, feeling the need to balance out the previous post. :)

I'm super excited about several things right now.

1. My best friend from college, Sarah, and her husband Nick are in Ethiopia this very moment adopting a little boy!!! This is just about the greatest thing that could happen to ALL involved. Words cannot describe my joy.

2. 5 of our neighbors are being baptized TOMORROW! Mark & Maria, Andrew & Shelly, and Renee are all making a public commitment to Christ tomorrow afternoon. JOY!!!!!!! (Oh and there will definitely be tears....)

3. We were able to capture the "Chestnut Story" on dvd last Sunday. A local church hired a professional videographer to record what God has been doing on our street over the last year. The church wants to use the example of neighbors reaching neighbors through home groups. So much joy!

God is good....all the time.

Emotional Freak

2007-05-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

That's how I feel right now.

Let's face it....I am just a sensitive girl. Everything touches me...deeply.

And sometimes that really bugs!

There are days where I can set it aside, but most of the time it can overwhelm me.

I've been crying about everything. Frustrated with the sadness in the world. And in my own life.

I'm sad that a 16 year old boy in our church has a crazy aggressive cancer. He has already lost an arm to it and now it is back and wrapped around his lungs and his heart.

I'm sad that yesterday that two sisters in Orange County (3 & 4) were killed in a car accident....because a semi wasn't watching the road in stop and go traffic and stopped too late. (I'm really sad that I even watched the news last night!!!)

I'm sad that my grandma's brain is slowly deteriorating. That her conversations are filled with confusion and her ability to reason is slipping away.

But, despite it all, I KNOW that God is in control. I KNOW that nothing happens without Him knowing it. I KNOW that He loves me and loves each of these lives more than I can fathom. I KNOW that I can find peace only in Him....and I do KNOW His peace. There is nothing like it.

Sometimes I just wonder why He made me this way. Why my heart loves so much and so deep....even toward perfect strangers. What am I supposed to do with this? How do I use this for His glory? I feel like the tears aren't enough. How do I put my tears into action? (Does that even make sense?)

I just kept thinking this morning, "life is weird." We each have this short time on this earth. It is so important to know our purpose and to follow after it. I know I am here to love God and to love others....but in what capacity?

I feel like God is calling me out of the "isolation" of motherhood and into something more. But I don't know what yet. Not to abandon this first calling....that one is for life. :) But to expand upon it.

For those of you who know me well, I welcome your thoughts and input. Pray for me. If you see more out of this emotional chaos than what I currently see, please tell me!

Updated House Pics

2007-05-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Paul, went out and took a few more pictures of our house. It's coming right along!

There is a driveway, and finished front and a lot of the interior is complete. Very exciting.

Just click on this link to view: new house pictures

Enjoy!

Official Dates

2007-05-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we got some concrete dates for our move. Everyone has been asking.....

We will have our final walk through on May 29 and the house will close and be ours on June 5.

It is hard to believe that this house we envisioned is nearly complete and ready for our wild little family!

John and I will drive out the Jeep on Memorial Day (long drive!). Then we will do the walk through on Tuesday morning and fly back that afternoon.

Our FABULOUS realtor is letting us stay with her and leave the Jeep in her garage until we come back.

Our move dates are still somewhat tentative. But, it looks like we'll pack up a truck and send it out June 19th. John and Danny will drive the minivan out and meet the moving truck. They will unload the truck and set up key furniture, like beds and such. They will also install blinds in the windows, light fixtures and do any other "little" projects around the house.

The kids and I will stay at my mom's house while they are gone and then we will all fly out June 25 or 26. (Not sure yet....)

So that's all I know for now!

Pet Peeve

2007-04-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, its 9:39 in the morning and I'm finally getting around to making my coffee.

I've been preoccupied with changing diapers, getting kids dressed, feeding them breakfast, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning up from breakfast, ending arguments, building block towers, putting Josiah down for a nap, moving the pack-n-play, unloading the dryer and starting a new load of wash, etc. (Of course, I"M still in pajamas and haven't even brushed my teeth OR my hair yet....)

So I go in to FINALLY make my coffee. I'm looking forward to sitting down with a cup and reading my Bible and journaling for about 15 minutes before I get back to the craze.

The brewing comes to an end and I can already taste my little inidulgence.

And then it happens. I go to pull the carafe away from the coffeemaker and I see it...coffee grinds on the lid.

NOT TODAY, I think. I lift up the lid and yes....the stupid filter folded over.

I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

So, not only do I have to redo the whole set-up process, but those were my last ground beans. Now I have to grind up new ones. All of this resulting in 10 more minutes until I can have coffee.

I know that isn't forever. But in my schedule, I probably won't get those back. And turns out, as I'm typing now, I can hear Josiah waking up. So I can forget the sweet break I had envisioned.

BUMMER.

Grieving

2007-04-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

I am crying like crazy right now and can't seem to stop.

I can't go into all the details, because I don't know all of them and what I do know is horrifying.

John had a patient the other night. A little 2 1/2 year old boy was brought in...dead. John said it looked like he had been beaten to death. And that his body was so bruised and broken that it had obviously been going on for quite some time.

He found out tonight that Child & Family Services had interviewd the older 2 siblings (4 & 6) and they admitted to seeing their mom beat this little boy on other occasions.

The mom.

I don't even know what to say or think. But I felt I had to grieve this little boy's life because I didn't know if anybody else would.

I'm outraged. I'm terribly saddened. I'm speechless. I'm horrified.

I can't believe this still goes on. In this country. In this state. In this area! We have every resource available to us, and yet its not enough. These senseless tragedies!

Lord, have mercy on us.

What do I do? How do I respond to this?

For now, I'm going to keep crying. Then I'm going to get in bed with Brooklyn and hold her.

Tell how much

2007-04-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

I was reading in Mark this morning. Reading parables and text I have read since I was a child.

I was struck by a command of Jesus.

Jesus had just healed a demon-posssessed man. A man who was filled with MANY demons. In fact, he was so tortured by these demons that he lived among the tombs, in isolation, and cried out all day and cut himself all day with stones. Talk about a miserable and out of control life.

Jesus walked on the scene and these demons were terrified of him. They knew they had to leave this man's body and begged Jesus not to send them out of the area. So, Jesus, being so kind, sent them into a herd of pigs nearby. (By the way, the herd was actually 2,000 pigs!!!) The pigs went crazy and ran off a cliff into the ocean and drowned.

All of a sudden, this man was in his right mind. He was sitting, wearing clothes and capable of having a normal conversation. What a miracle! He had been saved by Jesus. He wanted to stay with Jesus and his disciples....who wouldn't? But, Jesus wouldn't let him stay.

This was his command, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark 5: 19)

And, as you can imagine, he did just that!

How often are we telling others how much the Lord has done for us?? How often are we telling our own families???

I just want to challenge you (AND ME) to be speaking of what the Lord has done and is doing in our lives. To take time to notice his mercy in our lives. To see the miracles and share them!

So, let me know what God is doing in your life. It is so encouraging and uplifting to share God's work.

My husband

2007-04-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

I love my husband.

Currently, I love him, because he just cracks me up.

Our neighbor, Mark, just poked his head over our adjoining (7 ft.) wall and asked if John would come over and help him move something. Most people, would walk through their house, go out the front door, walk next door and go through their back gate.

Nope, not John. He just hopped OVER the wall.

Effortlessly, I might add.

I love that!

Grandma

2007-04-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

In light of the last post, I want to do a brief tribute to my precious Grandma. We are kindred spirits and have shared some fabulous moments, like....

...everytime we went to her house as kids, she would make us 7-up drinks with a cherry and a little cherry juice

...our love for sweets, especially little ones

...our trip to D.C. and New York City when I was 8. She let me, the picky eater, eat bread and butter at all the fancy dinners and restaurants we went to!

...when my grandpa was in the hospital, my grandma stayed with us and shared my bed with me. Everynight before we fell asleep , we would eat chocolate covered raisins...IN BED! (our little secret)

...the summer I lived with her after my grandpa died, we went out for lunch and decided to have strawberry pie instead

She is the most thoughtful woman I have ever known. She has consistently sent beautiful cards to me and my family for every special occasion: birthdays, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc. If you show up at her house, she will have something specifically made for you to eat. She never forgets what you like and makes special effort to have it "on hand" for you anytime you stop by.

She is also the most generous person I know. She gives anyone who has need. She doesn't ask questions, but just opens her heart and gives. She enabled me to go to Brethren Christian H.S. which is where I met John and several of my best friends. She has helped my brothers and I with many other "needs" along the way....including, most recently, helping with our downpayemnt for our new home. (Don't hold it against her all of you who want us to stay!!!!!)

She loves the Lord and supports His work on this earth any chance she gets. Her parents were missionaries and she spent most of her childhood in Japan. There is no place you will find her on a Sunday morning than in her church. She loves the body of the Christ and her best friends and memories revovlve around her church. She has set an incredible example for me with her consistent behavior and devotion to the things of God.

Ok, so much more I could say. I have learned so much from her. She has been a woman I have wanted to emulate since I was a child. I am so grateful God blessed me with her as a grandmother and a friend.

Diagnosis

2007-04-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not "official", but it appears my grandma is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's.

She's been having difficulty with her memory for the last several months and it has gotten worse in the last 2 months. She has become very confused with time (a.m. or p.m. and what to do at various times of the day). It's been challenging for everyone, but we've all kind of chalked it up to old age and fatigue and poor diet.

She had a neurology appointment this last Wednesday and he prescribed a medication for her that might help. My grandma called me this morning saying she just about fell over when she read on her medicine that it was for people suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's. Apparently the neurologist made no mention of that actual phrase so it took her for quite a surprise. She has always been terrified of this disease and said she would rather die than live with any form of dementia.

I was ok with it, until this morning. She started saying things like, "well, we had some good times, didn't we?" And "I probably don't say it enough...how much you mean to me. But I hope it goes without saying, that you know it automatically how much I love you." Wow. That was tender to hear, but also made it feel very real that my grandma is scared and keenly aware that her life may not be that much longer.

I'm crying about it for the first time. Not that I'm afraid of death, or even her death. In fact, I rejoice in where she is headed! This woman has lived an amazing life and knows Jesus and is going to be united with her Father and her husband in the place we were really created for.

I'm more sad about what lies ahead for her in this earthly life. I went to a few websites this morning to learn more, and it was very difficult to read and comprehend in terms of my own grandma.

I take the kids to see her almost every Wednesday morning. I will continue to do so up until we move. The visits are getting harder, and thus shorter, but I am determined to spend as much time with her as possible. To make sure she knows how much I love her and appreciate her and value her.

I would appreciate your prayers for my grandma and all of us. I would also appreciate any insight or experience any of you might have had with this disease.

The Comeback Pile

2007-04-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ladies, have you heard of this before? Has your husband ever referred to the "comeback pile"? I was shocked to find out it existed this morning.

Here's how the coversation went:

Me: "So are you going to wear that orange vest today?" (This was in reference to a very old orange sweater vest we found when cleaning out our closets yesterday.)

John: "I had thought about it."

Me: "Too bad you don't have those old orange pants to wear with it." (John had a pair of orange nylon warm-up pants that I hated and he actually wore them to our wedding rehearsal!!)

John: "I still have them."

Me: "What?! No you don't! You haven't worn them once since we've been married."

John: "They're in the comeback pile."

Me: I must admit, I'm a bit timid to speak. Scared to think of what else I thought was gone for good that might actually be residing in the comeback pile. "Hmmm. Sounds like your wife might need to intercede on behalf of your wardrobe."

John: "You don't know where it is. It is secured very safely." And he walked out of the room.

So now I'm terrified of what really is in there. And when John might bust out with a torn and ragged shirt or perhaps the hideously obnoxiously bright orange pants.

So for those of you who think you have control over your husband's wardrobe....beware of the comeback pile. It is lurking somewhere.....

Wedding

2007-04-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

So, my little brother Mark got married on Good Friday to Jaclyn. It was beautiful. Mark was as cute as he can be. (Can little brothers ever grow out of "cute"?) Jaclyn was gorgeous and calm!

Josiah was hysterical in his little tux and my princesses looked adorable in their flower girl dresses. And since there were 6 flower girls there was no pressure on McKenna. But, the big girls befriended her and she did her duties like a champ! (Of course, she wouldn't smile or even look at the camera for most shots so there is a long blond in every picture that HAS to be McKenna!)

My husband got to get all dressed up in a tux as a groomsmen and it was so fun to see him in his handsome attire. What is it about tuxedos?!

To see more pictures, click on the Yates Family link to the right. There are a lot!!!

I was emotional and teary from watching my brother make one of the most important committments he'll ever make and crazy and frantic from watching my kids. Wow, they were a handful. If it isn't a CLOSE family member, I recommend NOT taking 3 small children to a wedding. Seriously. Wow. I have never been more ready for an alcoholic beverage.

And it was great fun to see all of my dad's family from Texas and New Mexico. Once we move, we will be a 5 hour drive to Taos, NM and plan to do some weekend trips out there to visit. And we got to see a lot of old friends we don't hardly ever see anymore. They all got a kick out of seeing me with three children.

McKenna's favorite part was watching everyone dance silly. Brooklyn really liked the grilled steak and mushroom skewers...she was really hungry. And Josiah just loved being passed around all night and cuddling with anyone who would hold him.

Overall, quite a beautiful and successful night!

Congrats Mark & Jacs!!!

Fitness guru

2007-03-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors gave us their total body gym a few days ago and guess who thinks its the neatest new toy? (Yes, John does...but so does McKenna!)

Get a load of her new workout!

At the end of her first workout, McKenna said to John, "Daddy, my arms are so tired from all this exercise!)

The future of Starbucks...

2007-03-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

...is alive and well.

Brooklyn and I had a very fun morning together a few weeks ago. McKenna was at preschool and Josiah and Daddy were at home sleeping.

Mommy needed a coffee fix and the barista offered Brooklyn her own "coffee". It consisted of a shot of whipped cream with red sprinkles on top.

Now, Brooklyn asks for her own coffee everytime I make a trip to Starbucks.

Framing

2007-03-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

Our house is coming along...quickly!

Paul & Abi were kind enough to go out and take some pictures for us a week or so ago. They took a grip and we are thrilled to see our home becoming a reality.

The first 27 pictures are of our house and the rest are of the Teague's home.

So exciting...

Just copy and paste this link to view the shutterfly album: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYt2LFo3bNWR6

Birthday Boy

2007-03-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

My little baby turned 1 on Friday. What a year. It was the hardest year of my life! I am so grateful to be at this point.

My cuddly, adorable, sweet, noisy and walking baby boy is now 1.

I am finally seeing the differences in girls and boys. Josiah is NOISY. He just utters noise...funny, cute, loud noises. And he loves to make noise. He will find all sorts of things around the house and bang them together and with a huge smile parade around the house proud of his obvious musical skills.

Josiah is such a cuddle bug! He just loves to give hugs. And not just momentary touches, but big huge hugs! And they typically come with a loving pat to the back. I think his most favorite hugs go towards his big sister McKenna. You should see those two cuddle..it is precious.

He is a great nighttime sleeper and does pretty well during the day....my sanity lies in this!

The Lord has blessed me with a tender son. Josiah has a radiant smile, sparkling eyes, a gurgling laugh and a love for hugs and people.

We celebrated his birthday on Friday by going to Disneyland. Uncle Danny and his girlfriend Diana met us there and we had a blast. Then I made him his favorite dinner....spaghetti. And for dessert, banana pudding. He ate it all by himself with a spoon--messy, but cute. :)

We are having him dedicated at our church this Sunday and having the family over for lunch and a birthday party.

What an incredible milestone. He has gone from a helpless infant needing to be nursed every 2 hours to fight jaundice to a walking, smiling, gurgling, noisy, adorable little boy! What a year! God has shown his faithfulness to me over and over. I was reminded that the joy of the Lord is my strength. His love and compassion towards me has been evident on a day to day basis. It is my deepest prayer and desire that my son will personally know the love and compassion of our Lord and follow Him all the days of his life.

Thank you to all of you who have participated in Josiah's life with your love, prayers, time and support.

Snot & drama

2007-03-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Ever had a day (or 2 or 3) that consisted of just that--snot & drama? That was my day yesterday and apparently today as well.

My children were all a disaster yesterday. Josiah is teething or SOMETHING because he was as crabby as could be. Sensitive to EVERYTHING and crying everytime I turned around.

Brooklyn is in the throws of being 2 and man, I am feeling it! She thinks it is really cute to say "Mommy" as loud as she can, as fast as she can and as many times as possible...despite anything I am doing. Like changing diaper, talking on the phone, praying, prepping snacks, etc. So when I say, "What Brooklyn?" She just smiles at me and says, "hi." Cute I know...but after the 100th time, not so much. Not to mention crying all day with just excessive snot and nothing anyone does makes her happy...quite the opposite.

McKenna is actually being pretty good, so I guess I can't complain too much. She is currently obsessed with being the "leader" so I am seeing a lot of running to the next thing and knocking down her toddling brother (which results in mega tears---drama--- and oh, yeah, snot) and pushing Brooklyn (which results in drama and snot).

Brooklyn is producing so much snot and stubbornly refuses to use a tissue so she smears it all over her face and then the next thing she touches sticks and dries to the snot. I found grass, one of McKenna's hairs and crumbs caked into her cheek at various cleanings during the day. And you can bet, those cleanings didn't go over too well...resulting in lots of drama and yes, more snot.

So yeah, rough day. :)

Too long

2007-03-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Obvioiusly, it's been way too long since I wrote. I got bummed about the computer crashing and having to refind pictures, etc. that I started procrastinating and well...it's been a month.

I'll have several catch up posts coming...

Homecoming

2007-02-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

So Pepperdine had its Homecoming over the weekend. I thought I should go. I'll never be able to go to one again. It might be fun. There was a PAC reunion and academic division reunions. Perhaps I'd see some professors. I'd love to give Andy Benton a hug.

I decided to take McKenna at the last minute.

Good thing, because she was the only person there I knew!

Seriously. I saw Ron Hall, the photographer, and I knew no one else. It was LAME. Not a single professor was there. No administration whatsoever. Just current Greek students who HAD to participate to get spirit points or something. And alumni?? Yeah right.

Of course, McKenna loved the all you can eat kettle corn and ice cream and lemonade, but who wouldn't? As soon as we get our computer back I'll add pictures...super cute. (Can't find them now after the crash...)

Computer Woes

2007-02-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

It happened. At first, it was just taking slightly longer to go from page to page online. I'm so used to our high speed cable modem that allows us to navigate effortlessly that it was a bit annoying, but no bigee. Then, I was having difficulty reading my mail. Definitely a problem. Next it just wouldn't do anything.

Honey? I think something's wrong with our computer...

A few phone calls later and a trip to the Apple store in Costa Mesa and we have a crashed hard drive.

I thought macs didn't do this!!!!!!!!

BOO!!!

So, it's been about 2 weeks now that I haven't had internet access or checked my email. Miserable.

We finally borrowed our neighbors laptop...I had to pay bills. (I don't even know how to do that with paper anymore...plus I didn't have any stamps.)

The WORST part is we still don't know if our memory will be able to be recovered. I am sooooo sad about that.

So the lesson for the rest of you is this: BACKUP. Backup everything, regularly. We did a backup in October, but everything since then may be lost.

Foundation

2007-01-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday, Thursday, the foundation of our new home has been laid.

Wow. What a crazy thought.

As you read this, pray for our family. Pray for our home. Not just the walls and design...but for what will take place inside. Pray that our family will be sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit with who will set foot in our home. That it will be a place of comfort, safety and refuge to our family and anyone who comes into it. That the foundation of our family will remain firm in the Lord. That we will shine BRIGHTLY for the Lord and His light will eminate out of our home and our lives.

I can't even tell you how excited I am when I think about all the possibilities of who we can touch for the Lord while we are there. To have SPACE to have people over for dinner....or to spend the night...or several nights! (We had to have all of our final dinner guests in October prior to Daylight Savings since we only have room to eat outside!) That we will be able to open our home to people we haven't even met yet for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It brings incredible joy to my heart knowing that we will be able to use our home for God's glory and His purposes.

I'm praying that we will always keep that in perspective as we go about our daily lives.

Time's Up

2007-01-24T16:39:00.000-08:00

After one hour of bliss...I heard "it." You know, the sound that threatens to destroy all good that is going on in a house with small children. A cry from the room of sleeping children. My thoughts ran quickly to "What?! Only an hour! Geesh. Now everyone is going to be grumpy. I shouldn't have tried having them all sleep together. Stupid! How will Josiah make it until bedtime with such a short nap? There goes my break, etc. etc. etc." I bolted from the couch kicking off slippers as I ran so that I wouldn't make any excess noise as I tried to salvage what was left of the precious naptime by removing the crying culprit. Who was it? Josiah. I reached over the railing and grabbed him as fast as I could scanning the faces of my girls as I dashed out of the room to see if they had noticed. Brooklyn was rolling over, eyes still closed. McKenna looked me right in the eye and nodded as if to say, " I know Mommy, I'll go back to sleep." I got in the living room and laid back on the couch and lo and behold, Josiah laid his head on me and went back to sleep. Wow. In fact, he ended up sleeping on me for another 45 minutes. I couldn't exactly sleep as he switched positions about every 4 minutes, but I had to smile at the sweetness of my sleeping son on my chest. Brooklyn stayed asleep for another hour and McKenna slept for another hour and a half.

Naptime was still a success.

And there was much rejoicing.

Mommy Bliss

2007-01-24T13:11:00.000-08:00

Now, these pictures don't do them justice, but I just had to document what was going on.

Ok, at this very moment, all 3 of my children are asleep....in the SAME room!!! This is a first. Of course, I had to "help" Josiah fall asleep in the living room so as not to wake up the girls when I laid him down in their room, but still..its a start.

Maybe one day in the near future I can actually have my living room back and use it when my kids aren't in it. Wouldn't that be nice?!

I'm weaning Josiah this month so that John and I can do our next trip without him. He can be quite a handful and our next trip is so quick it would be too much to try and take care of him, too. He's doing great. Turns out he loves to eat so he seems fine with the transition.

Well, I'm going to get back to my "quiet" time and tackle the mound of laundry that needs to be folded. Ahhh....

Perspective

2007-01-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes God grips your heart in ways you never imagined.

I recently became aware of a precious family in Colorado who had to take their 7 month old son off of life support on Friday, Jan 12. If you need to get a HUGE dose of perspective, please visit his site. (It is on the links bar to the right, Baby Noah.) It wll rip your heart. It will cause more tears than I can describe. And it will show you a family who lives with open hands...allowing God to put in and take out. Throughout this entire journey of their son Noah's life, they have given all praise and glory to our Father.

Today is his memorial service at 1:00 pm. Be praying for this family. God is using them in INCREDIBLE ways.

The word is out

2007-01-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

So, everyone officially knows now. I can breathe a sigh of relief and we were able to tell McKenna about our big news.

McKenna is so smart that if we had mentioned the Colorado scoop to her she would've told anyone who would listen. You should've seen her face when John told her there would be stairs going up to her bedroom. She squealed with delight and said, "Mommy! Did you know in Colorado there are stairs to my bedroom?" So excited.

We have gotten such encouragement and support from our friends and family. People at church have come up to us with such wonderful hugs and support. Comments like, "This is perfect for you." "We will miss you, but know this is right for you. " "Good thing we have 6 months to process you leaving" And I've been shocked to discover that just about everyone has a connection in Colorado! They used to live there, went to college there, and seriously, 7 out of 10 people have an aunt that lives there.

Of course, we've also incurred such grief from everyone about the Denver weather. Blizzards, feet of snow and now an avalanche?! Geesh. I don't think Denver has seen this much action in such a short period of time...ever. (Well, who am I to know? I'm used to Storm Watch Alert everytime it sprinkles here.)

John and I will be going back the first weekend in February to have our appointment at the Design Center. That's where we pick everything out....at least the $15,000 worth of stuff that came with it in our sale price. You'd be shocked how quickly that will go!

So that's the latest.....

What about your family?

2006-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah, our family doesn't want to talk about it. Can you blame them?

They are heartbroken, sad, understanding and supportive...occasionally they admit they are excited for us!

The upside? Denver is a 2 hour plane trip and we will be living about 10 minutes from the Denver airport. it really is a quick trip!

Grandma Shiralyn is hoping to retire in about 4 years...so we're planning on a LONG trip to see us as frequently as possible. (We'll probably pay for some trips out as it is a lot cheaper and easier to fly 1 person our way then for all 5 of us to make a visit!) She is going to come and visit as often as she can..we'll make sure of it!!

Mimi (Janice) doesn't have a lot of time, but we're hoping for a few weekend trips! It turns out she actually likes Denver a lot...just not the idea of us living there! :)

Papa & Nana (Gary & Deb) love Colorado! Deb's parents live in Colorado Springs so they will definitely be coming out often. Gary hopes to retire in about 6 years and Deb's son, Cailean, will be graduating from high school in 5. So....there is some GREAT talk about them moving to Colorado at that point. How fun would that be?!

Katy's brother, Mark, is also a huge CO fan. He is marrying Jaclyn Luke in April. Jaclyn has family in Westminster, a couple cities over from where we'll be. They are actually flying out there tomorrow to spend Christmas snowboarding with her family. We're trying to convince them that Colorado would be a fabulous place for them to "settle" down in one day....

We will also attempt to come out here when we can. As I mentioned, it's a pretty tough trip for a famiy of 5. And none of our family actually has room to house us all! :) But I forsee a lot of "parial family" trips. Mommy and Kenna or Daddy and Brooklyn to come out for a few days or something like that. And as the kids get older...I'm really hoping for some grandkid trips so Mommy and Daddy can have some time alone. What a concept!

Again, this is an incredibly difficult decision for us. Especially when considering the precious relationships our kids have with their grandparents. We are all committed to making it work, though. So if you have any suggestions for long-distance relationships, let us know! :)

What about your church?

2006-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

Words cannot describe how difficult it is going to be to leave our church, The River. www.gototheriver.com

This has been our home and our family for the last 5 1/2 years. We have done just about everything there is to do at our church. It has been our LIFE. The relationships we've experienced there could never be duplicated. I get emotional about it evereytime I think about it.

Our pastors, Jim & Karin, have been our mentors, friends, encouragement, strength, ministry partners, parents at times, game buddies, counselors and the list goes ON and ON. Their influence on our lives is impossible to measure.

The good news is that God doesn't reside just in Long Beach! The Lord is alive in the Denver area and there are so many churches! We are already praying that the Lord will lead us to the right place where we can connect with other believers and the Lord in a significant way. Where we can bring the people we come in contact with and be apart of a community that seeks to glorify Christ in every way.

What about John's work?

2006-12-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

A huge concern that the Lord has already taken care of!

Turns out a nurse is needed pretty much everywhere in the world. John has SO many options! There are many hospitals in the Denver area and he literally has choices everywhere.

John has actually decided to go with a traveling nursing company. What's that?

The company has contracts with lots of hospitals. You sign on with the company and then choose which hospital you want to work with. The company takes care of all the details. You do an assignment for 3-6 months at a hospital and then can move on to another location.

John will be able to begin work immediately with full benefits right away. The pay is actually more than a full-time rate at a hospital and he will be getting a housing stipend on top of that.

He's thinking about doing this for the first year or so and check out some of the local hospitals before "settling" down at one of them. It's a great opportunity for him!

10127 Quintero, Commerce City, CO

2006-12-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

So here are some pictures of our new home!

We will be living in a wonderful new community called Reunion. Find out more at: www.reunionco.com

The home we fell in love with is by Richmond American Homes. It is 2270 square feet. It has a living room, kitchen, kitchen nook, family room with fireplace, study, bathroom and huge walk-in hall closet on the first floor. It has a 600 sq ft. partial basement. Upstairs, there are 4 bedrooms, a full bathroom, a master bathroom with one of those fabulous round bathtubs, and a laundry room. We will have a permanent guest room and we really want/expect to have lots of visitors!

There are some pictures of the model home. Of course, the model shows the highest of upgrades! Ours won't look qutie like that. :)

The other really fun news, is that our close friends, The Teague's are moving with us! www.teaguekids.blogspot.com Phil & Heather have 2 kids, Ally 2 1/2 and Travis (who was born 21 minutes after Josiah). They fell in love with Richmond homes as well and we ended up buying homes on the same day. When it came time to choose our lot, we ended up with lots next door to one another! So we won't be alone in this new venture....we'll have fabulous friends next door!

The home across the street from us is owned by a family that moved from California. The man who sold us our home joked that we are moving to "Eastern California" because of all the Californians relocating to the area.

You're Doing What?!

2006-12-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Pictures: #1 the community center in the area we will be living. #2 A picture of what our home will look like. #3 Choosing our "lot".

Yes, it is official. After much prayer and consideration, the Yates family is moving to Colorado at the end of June.

I know everyone is in shock. It is shocking news. I'm hoping this site can help everyone be a part of this process with us.

Everyone wants to know why. Bottom line, we can't afford to live in So Cal. We have chosen to have 1 income so that I can stay home with our kids. God has blessed us enormously with the house we have lived in the past 3 1/2 years. But we are rapidly outgrowing it. Our best option was to move out of state. (Kind of our only option seeing as a 3-bdrm home costs $550,000 at the low end)

Why Colorado? For me, it was the only other state I'm really willing to live in! :) (Spoken by a true Californian, right?) I met a lot of people from CO while at Pepperdine and I really liked all of them! It offers all 4 seasons in a mild form...at least in the Denver area. (Except for the blizzard currently hitting the area!) John loves the outdoors: boating, hiking, snowboarding, skiing, etc. CO has tons of open space and so many places to play. We want our kids exposed to all sorts of activities. It's affordable. Has clean air. You can even drink water out of the tap! And many other reasons. None which will be "good enough" for anyone, I'm sure.

I know there lots of other questions and concerns and I'm hoping to get to them over time. I don't have answers to everything. I know this sounds strange...maybe even wrong to some of you. But we feel God's peace in this. Every step of the way we have been gently led by the Lord. So many doors have been opened to us...and so easily. We have seen God's hand in many of the small and large details.

I'm excitied, scared, nervous, sad, freaked out, optimistic and overwhelmed by what this all means.

I have lived my entire life here. And you all know how much I love to connect with people. How I'm disappointed if I don't see someone I know when I go to the grocery store or if I don't get a chance to meet the new guest at our church. I love my life here. But at the same time, I don't see my children growing up here.

When John and I drove around this last weekend in CO it was so easy to see McKenna, Brooklyn & Josiah thriving in a community like that. It was exciting to dream for them and their future.

I have deep roots here. Those will not be moved easily. There have been a lot of tears and I know there will be a lot more. Please don't assume we made this decision lightly.

We covet your prayers and your support of us as we go through this moving process. If you are reading this, you are loved by the Yates family. We value your role in our lives and will continue to do so.