couldn't resist

Ok, I couldn't go to bed without posting a couple of pictures from our fun day at Master's Kids today. We had our Harvest Parade and well, here are a few pics . . .

cowgirl or . . .

indian?

can't forget a picture of Drake . . . so adorable!

sweet little girls - catch the little "ham" on the right -
gee Jodi, who does she take after???? :o)

heaven, will you be there?

This past Sunday night we went to our church for their evening worship service. We don't generally get back in the evening, but this Sunday was special - my brother and sister-in-law were dedicating their little Reagan to the Lord. What that means is that they were promising in front of God and our church that they would teach her about the Lord!

Anyways, John MacArthur, our pastor, was preaching on "Which way to Heaven?" from Matthew 7:21-29

21Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

I can think of no decision more important than that of your eternity!!! Where will you spend your eternity? The scriptures are very clear - either Heaven or Hell!!! They are both very real places!! I think what is most shocking about this passage is that there are so many in the world today who think they know God and yet there will come a day when they will meet Him and He will say depart from me, I never knew you! There is nothing worse than that! Our society is so easy lulled into a false sense of God. There is only ONE way to heaven - that road is narrow and it is ONLY through the Lord, Jesus Christ. We can try to create our own beliefs and standards and be "good" people, but the fact of the matter is that we do not have to live by the world's standard of righteousness, rather we must surrender the standard that has been set forth by the Creator, God!

I am blessed beyond belief to attend such an amazing church, where the scriptures are proclaimed consistently and yet, I was so convicted of how I do not share as often as I should with those around me. Not all will enter the gates of Heaven, but I pray that those I love and those around me most certainly will!! I know that this is a little off my normal sharing of what cute things my girls have been up to (and they have been doing some cute things . . . another post for that), but I feel so passionate about my eternity that I would be remiss if I didn't share my heart, and afterall, this is my blog, so I can share my heart! :o)

I could never do justice to John's message, but if you are interested in hearing it I think you can download it and if not you can buy a copy from Grace to You. Just as I say that I am having trouble finding it, but it may take a few days for them to get it up on the site . . . not totally sure how it works over there.

The long and the short of it is - there is one way to Heaven!!! We tend, in America, to want to be accepting of all, but really that is NOT what the Bible teaches. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6) - there is but one way and it is only through Jesus Christ. There is no amount of "good" works that we can do which will get us into heaven - Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

I will come down from my soap box, but only because it is late and I want to get to bed. My heart is heavy - as you can surely tell.

I will end with this - there were 6 points that John made regarding what lulls people into deception:

1. A superficial understanding of the Gospel - people have a false understanding because they don't understand the Gospel.
2. A false sense of assurance
3. A failure at self-examination
4. A fixation on religious activity
5. A fair exchange - people will say - I'm not that bad - today I haven't committed a crime therefore I am basically a "good" person.
6. A familiarity with Biblical morality. Just because they are moral doesn't mean that they are obedient to God's law.

Pardon me for not having more details on his points, but I was walking Lily around outside so I was thankful to get the major points down.

I am now off to bed. I pray that this finds you healthy and, if you haven't already done so, searching your heart to see if Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life! I pray that He is!!
Love, Me

happiest place on earth

Yesterday we headed down to Disneyland, one of our (that is, me and the girls) favorite places to play. My cousins and their kids were going to be down there and with Flavio out of town why not???

I don't think we had ever been to Disneyland around Halloween and, as usual, everything is decorated! We loved the Goofy pumpkin.

We tried a picture of all of us in front of this pumpkin, but my "little punkin" aka. Lily wasn't really feeling the happiness! Oh well, Ellie was more than happy to pose with the Mickey Pumpkin.

Patiently waiting for "Aliel" (as Lily says) to return from her dip in the ocean (I am sure that is code for potty break or Ariel change).

This cracked me up - Lily LOVES Ariel - that's what little sisters do - love what their big sisters love - so it goes with Lily and her love for Ariel, but . . . when it came time to sit with her for a picture Lily wanted nothing to do with it. Ariel was very sweet to hold Lily's hand, but I couldn't get a smile - although she was thrilled to have met The Little Mermaid.

Ellie had a list of questions to ask Ariel - she asks me so many questions about this sweet princess, but seeing that I am not an authority on Ariel I always suggest we ask her next time we see her. But, just like when you go to the doctor and prepare your questions, but the second he walks in the room you go brain dead (maybe that is just what happens to me) - well much the same happened to Ellie. On the way home Ellie was asking me what Ariel's favorite color is and when her birthday is!!!! I guess I should write these things down and put them in her Autograph book . . . that, however, would require organization AND if you know me - that is not one of my best qualities!!
Anyways, Ariel was a highlight for both of the girls.

Which do you think is getting more attention - the cookie or the sandwich????
Check out the face if you should wonder about that answer!

If you have never been to the petting zoo it is certainly worth your time - at least that is what my girls think. They could spend all day there! Yep, we go to Disneyland for the animals!!!
Look at that face!!!!

Peter Pan carved into a pumpkin. You would be amazed at all of the different characters these artists are able to sculpt into pumpkins. I can barely draw stick figures!!!!

The only thing better than Disneyland is Disneyland with cousins!!!!
Ellie and Ethan!
(Ellie just saw this picture and said "Oh! How cute!!!)

Ellie wanted to go on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters with Ethan - it sounded like a good idea . . . until she actually got on the ride (that she has been on SEVERAL times!!!
oh, and I was in the car right in front of her!!)

Later on in the day this conversation took place between Ethan & Ellie:
Ethan: "So, Ellie, did you like Buzzlightyear or not?"
Ellie: "Yes!"
Ethan: puzzled "You DID?!?!"

At five he even realized that crying throughout the entire ride should
not equate to having a good time!

Isn't this cute - we were watching the parade and Lily reached out to grab Caleb's hand.
So sweet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REAGAN!!!!

My newest little niece turned one today! Why does the time have to go by so quickly? We have known about sweet Reagan since she was about 6 weeks old. I remember my mom and I were at Target Christmas shopping when my brother and sister-in-law met us to show us Reagan's picture. That was the first time we had a face to our prayers. She officially became part of our family in May, but it seems like she has always been with us! We so love precious little Reagan and are so grateful to God for bringing her into our lives and thankful to her mommy and daddy for going to Vietnam to pick her up. What a wonderful addition she has been to our family.

Last week at Lombardi Ranch (it was burned in the fires this week)

To Reagan,
I love you so much and pray for you that God would draw you to Himself at a young age that you might be able to serve the Lord for many years. I am so happy that you are in our family - you are a precious gift! These past five months have gone by too quickly, but it has been such a delight to watch you grow and to see that you are ready to walk. Before long you will be jumping off of the bed with your sister, brother, and cousins, laughing and screaming with excitement. Don't grow too quickly - I tell Ellie and Lily the same thing, but they keep growing.
Happy Birthday sweet girl.
Love, Auntie Shell

is there anything wrong with this picture?

Pictures from our "evacuation vacation"

my dad!

This past Sunday my dad was given the opportunity to speak at our church. He did such a great job and I am going to try and post the link here to the audio copy. We have been having these little "electives" series on different topics - my dad was asked to speak on Leadership - something I think he is very equipped to speak about. He talked about how God has used some of the things we have gone through in the past to teach and train and use him to be a leader in our family and business. Well, let's see how this works - click here for the audio, then click on the download for October 21st Learning from a Layman download.

Impromtu Vacation

Well, the girls and I (Flavio had to go out of town on business) ended up have a little, impromptu vacation this week. If you haven't already heard, southern California seems to be on fire!! Because of the fires in the Santa Clarita Valley we were evacuated! It was a bit of excitement for us - when you have two little ones looking to you for comfort you can't really flip out, so . . . we took the ADVENTURE approach. We were planning to go to my grandma's house for dinner Sunday night and as the girls were getting up from their naps I was realizing that the house was really smelling smoky - I called my parents and they said they had noticed the smoke, there were a few fires, but by the time they got out of the SCV the smoke seemed to disapate - well about 10 minutes later there was a police car strolling through our neighborhood telling us we had to evacuate! So . . . I instructed Ellie to get a few things together - I grabbed the pictures and scrapbooks and my computer (all of my pictures are stored there) along with the cat and a few other things and off we went to Grandmother's house. I, fortunately, had thrown the video camera on the front seat and was able to video some of the flames that were across the street from us!!!! How crazy is that?!?!?!? To see the hill across the street from you on fire!!!!!!! It was a great opportunity to tell Ellie and Lily about God's power. He is in control of ALL things and nothing escapes His notice. Ellie was a little anxious and what better to do than leave all things at the feet of Our Lord? It was a good time to remind her, and myself, that we are to not worry about anything, but pray about everything (Philippians 4:6). It is amazing to me how God puts opportunities in front of me each and every day to teach my precious girls about the mercy and goodness and power of the Almighty Creator - I just need to be aware of those opportunities and take full advantage of them! God is good and most of the homes in our area were spared. I think there were only a couple of homes really affected by the fire.

All that to say - Ellie had the best 48 hours of her life! You see, my cousin and her family live across the street from my grandma. Ellie lived with them for the past 2 days!!! She played with her two 12 year old cousins, Laura and Megan, Caleb (9), and Brett (6). Did she miss me? The better question is - Did she know I was even around? The answer to both - a resounding NO!!!! The saddest part of our "vacation" - 12pm today when I had to break the news to her that we were going to go home! We managed to survive . . . barely!

We are home and happy to be amongst our own things! We are so grateful to the Lord for a spared home, a fun vacation, and an amazing family!

The Pumpkin Patch

Our beautiful Pumpkins


It is rather difficult to get a picture of Ellie and Lily, much less them AND their cousins. I was under strict orders (from my mom) to get a picture of all of the kids, well . . . this is the best that I could get - not so great! Of course, my two were the wiggliest. Oh well, a fun memory nonetheless.
Sweet little Reagan - her first trip to the pumpkin patch.Lily isn't really sure what to make of all of this. Isn't she just adorable?!?!
My little punkins!

We had a great time at Lombardi Ranch - it is so nice and close. Once my brother and sister-in-law came by and gave us a jump - my battery is VERY low - hopefully it will survive for the next week! I have to give it back very soon and don't really want to put any money into it! Just pray it doesn't die on me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

Not the best picture, but here is the birthday girl with 2 of her 17 great grandchildren!
My precious Lily - she was not quite certain how to use this funny new toy.
Now she figured it out - what are big sisters for?

We celebrated my grandma's 95th birthday Sunday - only we had to change our plans slightly. Saturday evening grandma called my mom to tell her that she wasn't feeling so well and at 95 you don't take anything lightly! So my aunt ran over and picked grandma up and off to the hospital they went. If you know my family that didn't stop us at all!!! We just moved the party from my parents' house to the hospital room. My mom made grandma's favorite dinner and dessert and she enjoyed the best meal of all the patients. I realized I never asked how she was feeling - she looked so great, as usual, that I completely forgot that she was sick. She is doing great and will probably get released somewhere between wednesday and friday. Please pray for her when you think of her - she is a special woman!!

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On a completely different note - I don't know if any of you happened to have heard about the terrible accident that happened here friday night on the 5 freeway? Well, all of the lanes were shut down and my dear husband was trapped in that traffic! He got to spend the night on the freeway!!! He didn't get home until 6:15 Saturday morning!!! Can you believe that?!?!? He said that the CHP officers were walking up and down the freeway telling everyone to turn off their cars and go to sleep. I am not totally sure why they didn't divert the traffic and try to get everyone off of the freeway, but they didn't ask for my suggestions each time I called to get status. Maybe they will call me next time!? That was a fun night - and Ellie keeps asking "Why did daddy have to sleep on the freeway?" I think she is sad that she missed the experience.

daddy's home . . . HIDE!!!

I don't think there is any sweeter time than before daddy comes home! The girls get so excited and don't really know what to do with themselves! Especially now with his new job, there are weeks where the girls are in bed before he gets home . . . Lily was so excited that she made a little "fort" between the couch and the coffee table to hide in (remember she is only 19 months old, so her fort skills require some fine tuning). So cute!!!

So he got home . . . and Lily proceeded to eat his dinner (she had already eaten)! This little one lives by the motto - have food, will eat!!! Isn't that the cutest - daddy sharing his dinner with his little girl. Oh I just love these babies so much! Praise God for His goodness and graciousness in giving them to us!

tmk finally started!!!

Signing in for our FIRST DAY of TMK!!!

Gotta love music time!

Snack time!!!

fishy paintings!

Waiting for the Metrolink to take us to Union Station - our very first TMK field trip

The year before my youngest brother was off to kindergarten he and my mom did a mommy and me preschool program once a week at our church. At that time it was called Christ, Mommy, and Me. I can remember hearing about all of their fun, my middle brother and I were even able to go on a few of his field trips - which meant we were able to play hookie from school . . . YEAH! Anyways, this year, my sweet little Ellie and I have started the same mommy and me preschool class - it is now called The Master's Kids - afterall, we all belong to our Master, Jesus Christ!

We are having so much fun. Ellie can hardly wait for tuesdays to come around. She is even more excited for our field trips - we went shopping and got some fun snacks that are reserved just for field trips - juice boxes, chocolate graham crackers, animal crackers, and so on. Why is it that the things that are normally taboo are A-OK for a field trip? Well, it works in my favor - who woulda thought a juice box would be so exciting!?!?!

I am enjoying this time so much with my oldest little girl - before I know it the year will be done and we will be preparing for . . . perish the thought . . . KINDERGARTEN!!! Yikes!!! I am not looking forward to that AT ALL!!!! So . . . in the meantime . . . I will cherish every tuesday at TMK and all of the days in between - they are far too precious!