Camping Out

One of the fun things we did this summer wast to camp out in our backyard. We set up the one room tent, which I then filled with airmattress and pallets from wall to wall. We cooked out (hot dogs, an all time family fave). And then we made smores, yumm! The kids love it! And it was very affordable lol! (Denae was actually asleep on the couch for a lot of this, but did wake up in time for a hot dog.) After playing chase in the dark, we let the kids change into their jammies in the tent (Kevin and I cheated a bit and used the house to change) We then piled up in the tent, enjoying the night sights and sounds through the tent window, which included watching a search helicopter fly around with its big light shining looking for someone (thankfully the helicopter was not very close by or our camp out would have been over). After a bedtime Bible story we snuggled down to sleep. At least most of us did. I think Delaney and Darilyn whispered for hours. Everytime I woke up, they were whispering, had rearranged their "bed", or had changed into the next days clothes and back into jammies. Good grief! You'd have thought they didn't share a bed every night! lol But all in all it was great fun and I think we will do it again.

Hey, I'm back!

Well, technically I've been back home for a couple of weeks, but I haven't been back on my blog for a while. It was so good to see my mom and dad and brother and his family in TX, but I sure did miss Kevin and the kids. Kevin came to the airport to pick me up and he brought Denae with him. My goodness, was I ever glad to see them! They had a good time while I was gone, but I think they were glad to see me, too! lol

The girls got their school pictures taken and back already. I think they turned out really cute this year. They wore their new cowgirl shirts. The bottom picture is the whole outfit that shows in the class pic. I took it before I sent them to school.


After I got the girls school pics, I decided to try to get some pics of Dallas and Denae so Grandma could update her picture frames with something more current than Dallas at 6 mos and Denae at 6 mos (I am horrible at getting new studio shots of the kids by themselves). These turned out really cute too, and the ones below are my favorites. I love the one of Denae looking back and laughing at Dallas because he said cheese in her ear.

And, the girls are doing really well in school. Delaney got her first progress report which they send out every month. She has straight A's. Darilyn got a great report as well, but it didn't actually have any letter grades or precentage points. They should get their first report card at the begining of Oct, right before they go off track for 4 weeks.

I have started doing preschool with Dallas and of course Denae has to join us. It is going really good. We are working with Dallas on letter recognition. We have flash cards that we use with capital and lower case letters. He is doing well and is starting to try to write some of the letters, too, although at this point it is more like drawing the letters. Denae has flash cards too. They are actually first word cards, with a picture and the word below it for begginner readers. She just tells us what is in the picture. For the cat, dog and horse she also gives us the sound it makes. She also "blows out the candles" on the pic of the b-day cake after telling us it is cake. And the gift card is a 'prize.' Anyway, it is fun for her to have her own pre-school cards and she stays out of Dallas letter cards and the girls' math and sightword flash cards.

I am going to post some more pics in another post, but before I close this one, I wanted to welcome back my long lost neighbor and friend, Kim. She is finally home from visiting her family in Oregon for a month (I wish!!) We missed you!

Rodeos and Fireworks: An American Tradition

For the Fourth of July we decided to go to the Folsom Rodeo. It's been a few years since we went, but we enjoy it and the fireworks are usually good. Besides, we thought it would be fun to see what Dallas, our resident boot-lovin' cowboy, would think of all the cowboys and horses and such. Kathy, Craig and the boys joined us and we had a great time. To be honest, the cowboy skills weren't that great that night, but we did see some good stuff. The mutton bustin' was the best part. Those kids were great. We asked Dallas later if he wanted to try that next year (all the participants were 5 or 6), but he decided he would rather tie up the calfs. And he didn't think he would want to try to ride a bull like Uncle Brent either. (One of the days we'll have to get Presley, Logan, and Dallas all together in their cowboy duds for a photo session. Uncle Brent could join them I guess, since he's the closest we have to a 'real' cowboy!lol) Anyways, back to the rodeo. They had a really cool flag presentation where a guy parachutes in with a humongo flag to the music of "I'm proud to be an American." We enjoy that everytime. I got a video clip of it (I hope that wasn't 'illegal'!), and if I can post it, I will. (I haven't had any luck posting video clips yet. Suggestions anyone?) After all the dust of the rodeo had settled, we got to see a great fire works display upclose and personal. We were only a few rows away from the arena floor where they shot off the fireworks. By this time Kevin was sitting on the row in front of us with Denae. When the fireworks started with a very loud BANG, Denae started crying. I thought, oh no, another one who doesn't like the noise. (Delaney is just now growing out of that.) She cried until she got in my lap, at which point the tears ceased, she pointed at the fireworks and said, "Yook, Mama! I yike it!" This is being interpreted as "Look, Mama! I like it!" She then spent the rest of the show pointing out the bright bursts of lights and colors to me just in case I wasn't seeting them on my own! All in all it was great 4th of July!

World Class Families

Awesome, awesome, awesome! That is the only way to describe todays World Class Families seminar for the ladies. So many timely things were said that I can't even begin to type them all here. To sum it up, I guess I would say we as mothers and wives need to spend time with our children, pray without ceasing, and devour the Word of God like never before. The ladies that serve as our examples at the Rock Church are World Class to be sure, and their leadership is unparalleled. Thank you Sis. Wilson and Sis. Young for your burden for our families and your committment to seeing the women of TRC become the BEST moms and wives in the World!

After a wonderful Holy Ghost filled first session with a question and answer panel and of course the great and inspired teaching of Sis Wilson, we had lunch out in front of the church by the fountain. The sunshine and fellowship were a great way to spend some time with fellow mommies sans kids. Then we reconvened to hear awesome teaching by Sis Young and breakout Q and A groups geared towards grandparenting, parenting boys, parenting girls, single moms, and homeschool moms. We could leave and join the groups throughout the time in order to hear advice and get answers on any of the subjects we needed. I started with the girl group lead by Sis Patty Felt. I heard some great ideas on spending time with daughters, encouraging daddy/daughter time, creating special memories and traditions, how to approach "the birds and the bees", and how to foster a child's independence. I then went to the boy group lead by Sis. Sargent and Sis Jill Lewis. There were many great ideas about how to encourage your boy to be independent, how to plan time for Dad and his son, and how to face those hard dating years.

All in all it was definitely World Class. We are taking a break for the summer, but I know I speak for many, many other ladies when I say I can't wait for the next one and I will spend my summer making those connections with my kids like Sis. Young suggested. Our kids and families are worth ever bit of hard work and sacrifice that we give and the love and devotion and satisfaction that we receive back are immeasurable.

Family "Church"

Every Monday night we have family time of prayer and Bible reading with a lesson. About a month ago Kevin and I decided to start making this time even more "kid friendly" by having some type of object lesson or experiment or activity to reinforce the Bible truth for the night, kind of like a mini kids church. We thought it would give us a great opportunity to try out ideas we have read or seen on our kids so when the door opens for the childrens' evangilism we have praying about, we will have had all kinds of hands on experience. So far we have found out that balloons with water won't pop when over a flame (like being filled with the Holy Ghost helps us endure the fire of temptation), that even a small force will make a big difference on a pendelum, no matter how heavy the weight (like our prayers can move mountains), and that a small strand can bind us up if we get wrapped up in it enough times (like bad habits or sins) and that small strands can also be used to make strong ropes that help us (like good habits and prayer). Soon we are going to add some puppets to our family church night. But anyways, the kids LOVE it so far!! They talk about it all week and remind us all day on Monday that "Tonights our family church!" Tonight we played a hide and seek game with the kids and taught about the lost coin, lamb, and the prodigal son. Then we spent time in prayer. We have been following the Lord's prayer since our time of focus on that as a church in January. It has really helped the girls in learning how to pray. Well, tonight God just reached down and touched us as a family and we had an awesome prayer meeting with the kids! We even had some Holy Rolling going on. Oh wait that was Dallas rolling around on the floor. Well, we can always hope lol! Dallas did really get into his praying before his holy rolling started. He was sitting on our fireplace hearth rocking back and forth and hitting the ground with his fist. I wish I would have got a video clip of it, but I was praying with Darilyn at the time. We ended with Dallas in Kevin's lap and my arms around the Delaney and Darilyn praying for family unity, etc. Denae was there too, and soon she pushed between the girls to bury her head against me, and the girls put there arms around her. It was so sweet and precious. What a great way to end a prayer meeting.

Happy Easter!

Oh Happy Day!!

Over a year ago we received a new computer. In the process of moving pics from our old computer, which was close to demise, to our new computer, I inadvertently lost several folders of my most important pics. These included when Dallas was born, his dedication, and 1st b-day, when Denae was born and her dedication, as well as some others, such as various Easters and vacations. I knew I had e-mailed pics to my mom and dad, but they had been unable to find them on their computer. So, as dissappointed as I was, I had to resign myself never seeing those pictures again except in the photo albums of my mind and heart. However, today, something wonderful happened! My mom found the pics on her computer!!! So to celebrate I have included some pics of Dallas' first b-day, which I was not able to put in his slide show. I will share some of the other "lost and found" pics later. Enjoy!


Yummy cake! He just digs right in!
Look at all that frosting in his hand!
All done! Now I rub the plate on my head!
Exhausted! We tried to wash the frosting out of his hair, but without shampoo at the church it was to no avail. It made a wonderful smelling hair gel though! lol

Texas Time

For those of you who have been wondering why I haven't posted anything new in a while, it is because I have been living in Texas Time! This past weekend I flew in to visit my family at my sister's home and church. I went to see my two new nieces, but in the process was able to surprise my sister! It was such fun! I took Denae with me and Kevin stayed behind with the other 3. I was only there over the weekend, and really wished my husband and kids could have come, but still had a GREAT time. We laughed and cried and sang and laughed and sang some more. And the kids played non-stop, although we did get them cleaned up and sitting still in time for church:) I do have to tell a funny story from the trip. We were out eating at a local Mexican food place, enjoying the fellowship, when we noticed a b-day party going on closeby. As we got up to leave, one of the ladies asked to take a picture of Denae. Her grandmother, the guest of honor really liked the outfit, etc. Well, we said sure. Before I knew waht was happening, we were all gathering around so we could give the 90 (or so) year old grandmother a "treat" (my dad's words!) We sang "Happy Birthday to You", and appartently no one had given any fore thought to what to call her in the song. We were all looking at each other as that line in the song got closer, then my Dad saved the day! "Dear Mama!" he sang and we all followed along. I guess he had heard them calling her that. Well they loved it! They laughed and took pictures and it was the birth of "The Singing McDaniel's"!! lol If you want to see at least a million pictures of this past weekend, then go to my sister's blog at www.pkthrasher.blogspot.com. She has done a wonderful job on some slideshows, and as I couldn't do any better, I thought I would let you enjoy her work:) I told you I would this, Mom!!lol

Happy Birthday, Haley!

My niece Haley celebrated her 12th birthday yesterday. She has always been so special to me. She is the one who gave me the name Meme. When she was a baby, she would say Mama for her mom, Katrinia, and Meme for Aunt Melissa. The name just stuck. I love you, Haley! You are turning into a beautiful and remarkable young lady. I can't wait to see what God has in store for your future, but I am also excited to see what God begins to do, and is even doing with you, now. By the way, now that you are 12, do you think your mom and dad would let you fly out and stay with me for a couple of weeks in the summer? lol That's a long way, but we would love to have you. Hope you had a GREAT birthday and we love you sooo much!!!

Christmas Day!

We had such a great Christmas this year! Kevin's Grandma and Uncle Norlan came to stay with us and we spent a lot of time with Kevin's mom and dad,and sister and family. Kevin and I and the kids opened up presents here at our house on Christmas morning and of course our houseguests joined us. His mom and dad came to watch the kids as well. Later we went to Kathy's house for Christmas dinner and more gift giving with the rest of the family. Everyone got such nice things, but we made sure the kids remembered that the reason we give gifts is to honor Jesus for giving us the greatest gift of all: himself. Since God showed His love for us by robing Himself in flesh and giving His own life and blood for our salvation, we show our love for each other by giving. Christmas is always so beautiful with the memories we make and the moments we share.

Christmas pictures of my TX family

I just wanted to share some Christmas pics of my family in TX. I did not get to be with them this year, so I really missed them all. The top pic is of Kennedy Grace and the one below that is of all my sister's kids, Haley and Kennedy, Mallory, and Presley. The next one is Logan and the bottom is Jaci, my brother's two kids. Jaci and Kennedy are the two new 'twin cousins', born 2 mos apart. Of course the original twin cousins were Delaney and Mallory, born 2o days apart. I sure do miss these kids. When we all get together next Thanksgiving (hopefully!!!) we will have a blast with girls ages (almost) 13, 8, 8, 7, and boys ages 5, 4, 3 and baby girls age 2, 1, 11 mos. Whew! What a houseful that will be!

The Christmas Spirit

Last night we enjoyed an evening that can only be found in the Christmas season. We first went Christmas shopping at Costco, which was suprisingly crowd free. It was great! Then, we went and picked up hot chocolates and drove to a neighborhood that every year does a remarkable job decorating for Christmas. It is a small street, but every house goes all out. A church down the street sets up a hot chocolate stand. Christmas music is played and people get out and walk the street. It was cold, but not too bad, just enough to feel like Christmas. The kids love it. I took lots of pictures to share with my friends. When we were walking back to the truck, the kids wanted to look at more lights, so we will have to go to some more neighborhoods during the season. Hope you are enjoying your Christmas season. Take time out to make memories and enjoy all the wonderful things about this season: friends, family, sharing, giving, joy, peace, love, lights, and hot chocolate (or spiced apple cider, yumm!)

Just Checking In

It has been almost a week since my last post, and I wanted to catch everyone up on our lives. We have been fighting colds the past week. So far the hardest one hit has been me, although I am feeling a bit better now. I have also been busy with some work I do from my home. The kids are doing fine. Delaney and Darilyn both got progress reports last week with great reviews. They also recently started to get an allowance and they are taking their jobs very seriously. They are such great helpers. Dallas is busy getting his dad to teach him Bible Quizzing verses. He is also trying to learn to climb trees. Uh oh! His last attempt gave him a pretty bad scrape on his back, but did not result in a Dr. visit, thank goodness. Denae is just as bright as ever, talking more, and, my personal favorite, putting toys and things back where they go. She also likes to try to copy the hand clap games the girls play. It is pretty funny. Kevin is busy with work which is going great. As usual, he has both his "regular" job with the flooring distributor as well as roofing sales. It keeps him pretty busy. I recently joined Signs of Praise, our church sign team. We are preparing for a Christmas service right now and I am enjoying learning the song. It is a lot of fun and the ladies involved are just awesome. I of course am also busy with christmas cards and christmas shopping. Oh, the season of great joy!! I really do love the Christmas season, all the lights and decorations, the music, the cold weather, and of course the giving of gifts. But lets not forget the real reason for all the celebration. Jesus gives us this love to share and the reason we can celebrate.

On a different note, I wanted to tell my mom congratulations on doing so well on her last final on medical terminology. Great job, Mom. You continue to amaze and inspire me.

Well, I am going to join my family now for some Bible Quizzing review and other fun things in front of the fire. Until next time, have a great holiday season.

Thanksgiving Day Pictures

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

"You're still the one that I love. The only one I dream of. You're still the one I kiss goodnight. You're still the one. Your still the one I cling to. The one that I belong to. You're still the one I want for life."

Today is the wedding anniversary of 2 very special people, my mom and dad. I want to wish them a very happy day and at least 34 more years of wedded bliss. You are a true example of what a godly marriage should be: love, laughter, and commiment to each other and God no matter what. I wrote out the lyrics to the song that makes me think of the two of you. I wish I was there and could sing it to you, but since I'm not, I wanted you to know that whenever I hear that song, I sing along in honor of you. God has blessed your marriage and I know He will continue to do so. We love you both so much. Happy Anniversary!!

Pretty Little Princess

Here are a couple of pics of Jaci Breane, and Jaci with her daddy and her big brother Logan. Isn't she adorable? She has cheeks like Logan. I just want to give them big kiss. Logan looks pretty happy with his new baby sister, and of course Brent looks like a proud father. I am sure Jaci is already getting him wrapped around her little finger. It doesn't take a little girl long to get to her Daddy. Crystal is also doing well, and we are thankful and glad for that. Thanks, ReNetha, for posting the pics of our new niece on your blog, since Brent and Crystal are obviously too busy to keep the rest of us updated lol. I hope you don't mind that I borrowed them.
To see more pics, go to http://www.our365.com/webnursery/webnursery/Baby/BabyPageDirect.aspx?CID=0017715216
And make sure to sign the guest book to congratulate Brent and Crystal, or to wish Baby Jaci well, or just to let them know you stopped by. FYI, Crystal's niece, Kadie (ReNetha's adorable baby girl) is in some of the pics. She is the baby with hair! lol

Jaci Breane has arrived.

Congratulations to Brent and Crystal and Logan on the new baby. Jaci Breane was born this afternoon weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz and 19 1/4 inches long. I will post some pics of her as soon as I get some. You can check their blog, too, for more information as they get the chance to post. I can't wait to see her, but since she is in TX and I am in CA, I guess I'll have too! Jaci, Aunt MeMe and Uncle Kev and your cousins love you very much and Logan, give her a big kiss for us, OK?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

This little girl loves her daddy!

What a wonderful couple

Today is my dad's birthday and I wanted to wish him the best birthday ever. He has been a great dad and I love him so much. When people ask me what it was like growing up as the middle child (middle child syndrome and all of that) I always tell them that my parents made the effort to make sure each of us had our own special place in the family. My dad always called me his baby girl. He still does in fact! Dad, you have had a wonderful influence in the lives of all three of your kids, but as your baby girl, I want to say I love and appreciate you so much. Happy Birthday!!

California Railroad Museum

We took the kids to the train museum on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast. There were lots of cool things to see and do. If Mam-ma and Pap-pa would ever come and visit us, we could all go there. I know they like trains and such. HINT HINT! We could also ride the train. That would be lots of fun!

A good friend of ours passesd away today. James Ruiz was an integeral part of the church we attended for almost 3 years in Oakland. He and his family ministered to us in so many ways, one of which was "adopting" our kids, as well as me and Kevin, into their family. Please be in prayer for his wife and two kids, a daughter (19) and son (15) as well as the church. He fought cancer along with some other issues for several months before being called on to his reward. We will greatly miss him, but know he fought the good fight and finished his course.