One more time

Not sure if you recall the car accident that involved the son of an ENT physician in Merced, Ryne Spitzer. I've continued to read the father's heartfelt daily accounts of caring for his son who is in a semi-coma since February 2009 and the father's spiritual journey.

After reading today, I feel compelled once again to let you know how amazing, touching, God-loving, inspirational, and even heart wrenching at times this blog is to read. Especially at this time of the year, and knowing people in my life that are having a challenging time accepting God into their life, turning it all over to Him and living a life according to how God wants us to live.

I believe this blog will move you to witness the pure loyalty and trusting in our God. I cannot even begin to explain how Dr. Spitzer uses his words and lyrics expressing his relationship with God through it all.

Please, just read a few days worth. You have to become a 'member' of the site - by setting up a username and password - but I KNOW you will be moved, sometimes to tears, but in a most GLORIOUS way, observing God's love in ways that are REAL and written by a 'normal guy'.

Think it may be to 'heavy' for you? GOOD! That shows you are probably READY!

Thanks for reading and I will continue to pray for you.

Ryne Spitzer site

Christmas Time!

The tree is decorated.

The house is ready.

WE are ready!

The Gingerbread House is made!

The presents are bought, wrapped, shipped and a few already delivered!

The Christmas cards have been sent.

We've been enjoying Christmas music, daily!

The school Christmas program was enjoyed!

The beach house reservation for Christmas vacation in Cayucos are done.

We've RSVP'd to party with Malibu friends.

Now it is just waiting for it to all occur and celebrate Jesus' BIRTHDAY!!!

We look forward to celebrating on Christmas Eve with Amy, Andrew, Erika, Kaelyn at my mom's house. We'll pick Taylor up that evening, head down to Dick's parents. Taylor will be with us until January 3rd!

Wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas and the HAPPIEST and HEALTHIEST New Year!

Thanksgiving!

I hate it when that happens!! I did not take any pictures of our trip!! What was I thinking? Ugghh!!!

We started out this year remembering LAST year and the HORRIBLE traffic jam out of San Francisco. So, this year, we left on Monday!! Very smart choice!! We drove to Merced and stayed the night at my parent's home, babysat Kaelyn again while Mom went to school and Dad worked. It was very nice. She did not sleep well the night before so she took a 2 hour nap!!! Meanwhile, I need to do SOMETHING, so I organized her dresser of clothes! Erika was pleased! :) We took the kids to dinner on Tuesday and headed down to Visalia on Wednesday morning. Jane and Bill took us to The Depot for dinner. I had Bossa fish! WOW! It was so buttery and soft, it actually reminded me of popcorn!! Was yummy!! It was a nice evening, telling stories of old.

Andrew, Erika and Kaelyn arrived at Dick's parents home on Thanksgiving morning. We loaded our car and we all drove down in ONE vehicle! Yup, baby games for the 4 hour car ride! I LOVED IT!!! This is what I got to look at!!! ;)

We checked into our hotel, and was at my sister Brenda's house by 4:00! Right on time! WHEW!!

We walked in to a spread of hors d'oeuvres that was unbelievable!! Sooo many choices!!! Everyone began to busy themselves with mashing the potatoes, making gravy, setting dishes on the table, baking the rolls, all of that last minute stuff! Then, the feast! Was very very good and everyone ate TOO much!!! We got a little silly in the evening, discovering all of the weird things we can all do with our tongues! Very entertaining!!! Guess you had to be there!! Thank you Brenda for hosting such a wonderful, thankful day!!!!

Andrew and Kaelyn on Thanksgiving Day!

This is all of us making our tongue do weird things in the reflection of the window. It wasn't until we were all done when we realized that the neighbors could see us and it would look like we were making faces at THEM!!! Wow! Memories! hahahahah - Just for the record, Amy gets full credit for taking this pic. I actually stole it from her blog - ssshhh, don't tell!

On Friday, Dick and I ran our 4 mile route and headed over to Brenda's for, you guessed....ROUND 2 Turkey Lunch!! hahaha...That plate looked just like the plate the day before!!! Then we headed over to Antonio's baseball game - travel team. Well, let's not talk about that.....it was not Antonio's best day OR the teams best day so some not so good baseball was going on....but he still looked GOOD!! Look at that extension!!

After the game, everyone met up at our favorite RED DEVIL PIZZA place. We love their pizza and go every time we are in town. Amy came over with Randy and Antonio's girlfriends was there too.

Dick and I took Kaelyn over to Brenda's house so she could be with Kaelyn and the rest of us could all kick up our heels at the HONKY TONK Country Bar where we all danced and honky tonked the night away!

Kaelyn was doing fine until she noticed no familiar face was present! Then, the crying began! Oh No!! Poor thing. She finally fell asleep and Dick and I came and picked her up around 11:00. We took her back to our hotel where she slept until her parents came knocking at the door at 2 a.m. They had a GREAT time and really appreciated the time together while Kaelyn was in good hands with her cousins and Auntie Brenda!

On Saturday, we ran our 4 mile route, packed up the car and headed over for yup, ROUND 3 Turkey leftovers!! YUM!! We visited with the Gonzales family until about 5:00 p.m. then made the trek back to Visalia where the kids got in their car and drove back to Merced.

Kaelyn hanging out with Gpa Dickie!!

On Sunday, we went to church with Dick's parents then met up with Galen and Wendy for breakfast. Good to see them, catch up, look at pictures from the Labor Day in November party and ate MORE good food!!! We spent the afternoon with Dick's brother David and wife Morri. I really like them and learn something every time we are together. Morri is the one that gives me my 'Good Books to Read' list. She can pick them!! Jane made a ham dinner and then we sat around the table sharing stories of our childhoods. Always fun to hear what Dickie was like as a child! It compares so much to how Taylor is, very weird!!

On Monday we received an email that Taylor had an unscheduled basketball practice that afternoon so we left Visalia by 10:15. A little earlier than we anticipated, but a blessing because traffic was ZERO!!! NICE! We made the 4 hour journey in 3 1/4!!!

Overall, a very enjoyable, fun-filled time with family and friends. We are thankful each and every day for all of our blessings, our cup continues to overflow!! We missed Taylor of course....it was his year with his mom....but he is always with us in spirit and we are grateful for that.

"Bach On!!!"

Those were Dick's words as he was dropping me off in front of the Symphony Hall this morning! hahaha.....Yup, today's concert was Bach - J.S. Bach AND J.C Bach!!

I am usually the donut girl but since one of the volunteers was out with a knee replacement surgery, I was the coffee pourer - JUST as important!!  I enjoyed catching up with Peggy, Anna and King.  Gail was a new girl in our group this morning, she usually works in the Symphony Store but was called to assist us today.

I had heard the guest speaker before and enjoyed listening to Scott Fogelsong give his 30 minute lecture describing Bach's life story.  It is so nice that they have this EXTRA feature at these rehearsals, it really sets the stage!

One notable tidbit that I learned was that J.C. Bach (Johann Christian Bach) was Bach's 11th (out of 20!) and youngest son.  He was also a composer and musician, known to have taught MOZART and influenced him greatly. 

The rehearsal began promptly at 10:00 a.m. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos were the highlight of the day, beginning with No. 3 and No. 4 with The Orchestral Suite No. 1 played in between. Then, his son, J.C. Bach - Symphony in B-flat major was played and the rehearsal ended with Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.  

Yes, again, SF Symphony, you brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps on my arms at least 5 different times this morning.  Thank you for your amazing musicianship among players, your professionalism and delightful program.  I am honored to pour coffee or pass out donuts for your followers any day of the week!! 

Affirmation of Faith

We received the following in church today.  I just have to post these words.  They are from The Confession of 1967 by the Presbyterian Church.  

The church gathers to:

Praise God

To hear God's word for humankind

To baptize

To join in the Lord's Supper

To pray for and present the world to God in worship

To enjoy fellowship

To receive instruction

To receive strength and comfort

To order and organize its own corporate life

To be tested

To be renewed

To be reformed

To speak and act in the world's affairs as may be appropriate to the need of the time.

The church disperses to serve God wherever its members are, at work or play, in private or in the life of society.  

Their prayer and Bible study are part of the church's worship and theological reflection.  

Their witness is the church' evangelism.

Their daily action in the world is the church in mission to the world.  

The quality of their relation with other persons is the measure of the church's fidelity.

To me, these words spoke clearly and reminded me on the reason for being part of a Church. We are very pleased with Calvary Presbyterian Church and are sooooo happy to have found such a blessed place!  The pastor's sermon style does not touch the surface, he goes in pretty deep, reminding us in a very positive, God loving way, our role as Christians today. 

What Faith Can Do

We know a few people in our life that are going through some really tough circumstances.  I read Ryne Spitzer's blogspot daily and pray for this young man and his family. One of his recent posts had a song that really touched my heart. Hope it speaks to yours too. 

Here are the lyrics to the video above. Just begin the video and follow along. You won't regret it.

"What Faith Can Do"
Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it’s more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don’t you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard
Impossible is not a word
It’s just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody’s scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It’ll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That’s what faith can do)
When the world says you can’t
It’ll tell you that you can!

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do
That's what faith can do!
Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise -kutless

My NEW Blog

I started a new blog!

Check it out:

http://gabbythetherapydog.blogspot.com

Taylor's Kid Birthday Party!

Yes, his birthday was October 21 but we finally were able to schedule his Friend Birthday Party! After a lot of ideas, we ended up with inviting 5 friends to come over for Pizza, Cake and off to the new Disney Family Museum in the Presidio! It just opened October 1 so it is new to all!

Standing in front

WOW! If you are a fan of Disney, this is a MUST SEE!  Taylor is a BIG fan and did a report on him as well.  ALL of his accomplishments, awards, oscars, etc. are in the main lobby - FREE to anyone to view. The museum begins with his birth and fills his entire LIFE! AMAZING!! 

The most precious piece that I saw was his first drawings of Mickey.  It all started with that drawing!! Unreal! The building is one of the brick buildings from when the Presidio was a base. All of the displays were beautifully portrayed.  Walt's only living child - Diane - organized the museum.  She owns the Silverado Winery and lives in Napa.

All in all, a good time, good party with his good friends was had. 

Halloween 2009

In the past 11 years, Halloween NEVER fell on a day that we had Taylor!!  Perhaps it being at the end of the month, sometimes creating a 5th weekend? Because weekends were switched in the month of October, we were able to have our very FIRST Halloween with him this year! Pretty exciting!  He was a Count!! And a good looking, preppy one at that!!

In our neighborhood, two streets over is Avila - a street well-known to have A LOT of children! For the past 11 years the street is blocked off for 3 blocks and the owners decorate their garages and hand out candy! There were soooooooooooo many people, strollers, dogs, kids and grandparents!! 

We kept thinking of our little Kaelyn and how much fun she would have going garage to garage too, watching all of the kids.  Hopefully next year!! The weather was PERFECT - no wind, just the right temp! 

One of Taylor's friends lives at the end of Avila so we met at his house, along with 2 other friends from school and we all went garage to garage.

I wished that my camera took better pictures at night - or at least I knew how to take better pictures at night. It was quite the scene!! Men dressed as Barney, Elmo, Pirates - it was a Hoot!! 

Here are some of the garages:

This one just had the lights that I thought were pretty. 

Inside the piano, a skeleton would roll out - but this is 

the typical Marina style home, when the garage is rolled down.

We got home around 8:30, counted up the goodies and watched 'The Lion King' movie. Taylor had a very fun Halloween - NEXT YEAR - We are dressing up  - and Gabby is too! Must think of our "theme"! Hmmmm....any ideas? Please share!