Hospital Days...

These first two pictures are when he first had to be in the hospital


Nick and Anna playing soccer

Kyle and I enjoying this nice Spring weather!

This is Da playing with his phone... such a encouraging sight to see! :)

My grandfather has been in the hospital for a straight week and in and out of the hospital since Christmas day. Whenever I have a free day I go down to sit with my grandmother to keep her company. My Da is recovering beautifully from his surgery, but still needs lots of prayer.
This weekend my Da's mom and two sisters came into town from California. We have had so much fun being with everyone. Friday night we welcomed the California family to Nashville with a southern meal. Mom and I made barbecue, cowboy beans, and coleslaw. After we ate we went to the hospital so they could see my Da for the first time in years. It was such a sweet time that I will always hold dear to my heart. Da asked us to all hold hands around him then he shared how he feels about all of us... lets just say there wasn't a dry eye after that. Saturday we went to eat lunch at Rakkas in Hendersonville. After that we went to the hospital for a bit. Later that night my mom made a yummy meal and we played one of our favorite card game, spoons. It was a wonderful night full of laughs! Today was the first day that my Da looks like he is getting better. It was such a relief when we all came to visit him after church and he was playing on his phone. For those of you that dont know he is a HUGE tech buff, he loves to be on his computer, phone, TV, etc. We had another great meal... grilled steaks and then we spent most of the day outdoors. Tomorrow morning our Cali family leave to go home, I am so thankful they were able to come and visit my grandad. I think it might be just what he needed! :)
These are some posters that all of the family made for him.

Valentines Wreath!

First you cut felt peices into squares

Next you cut the felt into a swirl so it will look like a rose.

Roll up the felt like roses- this and the cutting takes the LONGEST!


Hot glue roses on to a foam wreath. (I painted mine white in case the flowers have a gap.)

While looking through some of my favorite blogs I found a super cute craft to work on for the up coming holiday, Valentines Day! This project is extremly time consuming, but the pay off will be so cute! I already LOVE it and its not even finished.. may even make one for everyday use.
**I will post pictures of the finished product! :)

HOME SWEET HOME!

Finally our search for a home has come to an end this week. Tuesday we headed out to look at some houses we found, all of us had a good feeling about our picks of the day. Sure enough we found the house that we wanted to have! We made a offer yesterday and last night we found out they counter offered, so we put in another offer and they accepted! Not everything is finalized, but we couldn't wait to share the news! This is a fairly new home, built in 2003, so its move in ready!! With the help of some fresh paint and decorations it will be perfect... oh and a fence for Maple!

Today I have been going through the pictures of the house online figuring out how I want to place our furniture. My style is cottage/ shabby chic so soft pastel colors are a must for our new home. I am thinking of keeping the paint colors neutral with pops of color. I can not wait to start decorating our new home!

** I just have to share: Sunday Kyle and I went down front to get prayed for so that we might find our home- Saturday was very discouraging finding nothing that was promising. Before leaving my grandfather told us in front of the congregation that our house was waiting on us to find it. We left feeling great, that night Kyle and I made our list of houses to look at on Tuesday. Tuesday we found our house and by Wednesday night they accepted our offer!!! Isn't God great!?!?! :)

While I'm Waiting...

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord

I couldn't help but think about this song while we waited in the lobby.

Today has been a very long 10 hour day (and for some people longer) at the hospital for my family and I. My grandfather recently discovered that he had a tumor on his bile duct which is connected to his liver. Throughout this process the doctors have not seemed hopeful since this type of tumor is rare, but because of our faith we have stood strong never wavering. They ran cat scans on him Thursday to find that there were more spots that could be cancerous which meant it was very aggressive. Today when they went in the goal was to take out as much of the tumor that he could and repair his bile duct. Before the surgery we were told that this may not work and that it would be extremely complicated since it was a 5 hour surgery. My grandfather stood firm and told the doctor that he was thankful for what he could do but he was in Gods hands and that he knew he would be okay.

This afternoon the doctor came out to introduce himself and to let us know that the surgery went as well as it could!!(Praise the Lord!!) He removed as much of the tumor that he could and repaired his bowl duct. He also told us that what ever he saw in the cat scan on Thursday was NO LONGER THERE!!! About an hour later we were able to see him and he is recovering beautifully. Of course he is completely out of it, but to see him was such a wonderful blessing! :) I am so proud of my grandfather and the testimony that he will be able to share. He still has a journey ahead of him but we praise God for the miracles that he has blessed us with. This week we will find out what comes next if anything, so your prayers are very much needed and appreciated more then you will ever know.

We serve such a mighty God that still works miracles everyday! I am so thankful for my family and church family... the support and phone calls we have received today mean so much to us all. I will keep everyone posted as this week plays out.

Saturday Fun

When we pulled up I saw the girls cutting up all the veggies... love seeing the kids take part in the kitchen. :)

I love my grandfathers positive attitude! He is in so much pain, but when we all come around he perks up... love him so much!




This morning Kyle and I met with my Uncle Tony to do some house hunting. We drove all over Hendersonville and Gallatin searching for the perfect home to begin our family in. So far nothing has sparked our curiosity to the point of wanting to put a contract on anything. When we got home Kyle looked up some more houses and drove by to look and make sure we would be interested in looking before we set anything up. Hopefully when we go look all together we will like something. Our move out date is March 11, 2011 so we need to find a house before then or we will be "homeless". I have faith that God will provide for us and that we will have the desires of our heart. :)

Tonight we went over to my Granny and Da's house to spend time with family before my grandfather goes in for surgery on Monday. My mom was inspired, as was I by some of the recipes our California family made us. Our meal was a variety of food- veggies, roast, homemade mac and cheese, guacamole, tortillas,and salsa. It was so good and had fresh ingredients. Later tonight the girls made us some sugar cookies and some yummy icing. Tomorrow my grandad has to go on a clear liquid diet for his surgery on Monday so I looked up some things that my granny can give him without bending the rules. We all pray everthing goes smoothly and that the Lord will have total control over this situation.

Dinner Dates

If you look closely you can see Cole's chap stick mustache!





Last night we had Adrian, Michael, Cole, and Connie over for dinner. Since we were gone for a week and not able to see anyone a dinner date was a must! On Thursday night one of Cole's favorite shows comes on, Wipeout. Last week when we were gone they had a Wipeout party to kick off the new season so I new they would all enjoy watching it over at our place after we ate. I prepared one of our favorite dishes, Jambalaya... its so good on a cold night! I let Cole use my camera so he took almost all the pictures for this post. :) After watching our show we browsed the web for houses, Kyle and I are in the process of buying, and we ended up finding a few we liked.

Tonight Kyle and I are having a total chill out night. I know Kyle is wore out from going back to work and I am not feeling great so I thought it would be fun to rent a movie and stay in. I made us veggie pizza, in the past when we stay home I make Kyle's favorite but this just sounded so good! :) I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband that enjoys our nights in as much as I do!!

California Family

As I mentioned in the previous post this past week we traveled two places for one vacation. Our second stop was L.A., my mom has family that live there and since its been 9 years since we have been out we thought it was time to go visit again.

From the airport my Aunt Alice, Aunt Susie, and cousin Christie came to get us. They took us to our hotel to drop off our luggage then we went over to see my Grandma Lucy. We were welcomed by family in the sweetest way, family all throughout the night would show up as they got off work. Grandma made us a wonderful meal, my favorite being her homemade mac and cheese! While we were at Grandma Lucy's house one of our family members blessed us with a SUV to drive around while we were there. They had told us before that it was a van, but it was anything but that! I am honestly still amazed at the hospitality shown towards us during our stay. Before everyone went home we were all talking in the front lawn about a 5 month old baby named Noah who would have surgery the next day on his heart. After hearing the story, my cousin suggested that we gather hands to pray, we went around the circle praying for baby Noah and my grandfathers healing. I opened my eyes to look around the circle, seeing everyone in agreement brought me to tears... I am so thankful for a family that doesn't just say "we will be praying", but prays right there on the spot. After the evening was over we went back to the hotel to get a good nights rest for our next day.

Day two in California we went to a neat place called The Grove. It has an outdoor mall and a Farmers Market attached to it, with lots of places to eat. While we were there Mario Lopez was filming for a show called Extra, myself and Madeline got to be in the crowd behind him... very cool! After looking around at all the neat places we headed to Hollywood! My favorite thing on Hollywood Blvd. was seeing the handprints and names of all the stars that are present and ones that have past. When we left there we took a drive through Beverly Hills. It was absolutely beautiful... the houses were out of this world! Rodeo Dr. was next on the agenda, we were all looking around for someone that looked familiar. :) That night we went to my Grandma's to eat a true Mexican meal! Lets just say I was very full when we left there that night! :P

Day three we went to breakfast with Aunt Susie then ventured out to the mall to look around. After we finished up there we went to visit with my grandfathers Uncle Frank and Aunt Helen. All the other family I have seen throughout the years, but I have not seen them in 9 whole years! They showed us pictures and talked about old times. That night we went to The Amadors house to have a barbecue, almost everyone that was there came out to our wedding!! We had a great evening spent eating, hanging out, and dancing!! We had a lovely night spent with family and friends!

Day four we went to DISNEYLAND!!!! Kyle and I were so happy to be able to go with everyone! My Aunt got us one free ticket which meant we only had to pay for one... such a blessing! We had a wonderful day riding every ride we wanted to, eating, and watching shows. No time was wasted, we wanted to get in as much as we could because you never know when we will be back. That night got pretty cold and when I say cold I only mean like 50 degrees. A show called World of Color was playing at California Adventure and man did it blow us away!! It is amazing how talented the people are that put that 30 minute show together. We all said at the end we wanted to go and watch all the old Disney movies again. :) The park closed at 11:00 and that is when we left... we were all very sleepy, I fell asleep on the way home.

Day five was a chill day, we spent it with Grandma Lucy and Aunt Alice. We ate at every ones favorite burger place called In & Out and OH was it good! I never order burgers out so this was a real treat! We spent most of our day at Grandma's house talking about everything and looking at her garden. They have the most beautiful plants in California. Grandma Lucy has her very own Poinsettia Tree in her back yard... I had never seen one before. That evening we went to Aunt Susie's house for yet another great meal. We had a nice night, but was not looking forward to the end. When we left the tears flowed as we all walked out in silence. What a sweet night this was for everyone.

Our last day we went to be with Grandma soaking up every minute because we knew we only had about an hour with her before we needed to leave. She showed us all the jewelry that she has made over all the years, some of which we own. After leaving we went to drop off the car so my aunt and uncle could take us to the airport. We had one last visit and prayed for a safe trip home then it was time to head home.

We truly had a wonderful trip. I have already said that we can not make it as long next time before heading out to L.A.. It's sad to think that we have such a sweet family so far away, we wish we were all closer! I can not thank everyone enough for all the love you showed my family, we will forever be grateful of everything and may you be blessed for blessing us! WE LOVE YOU!!! :)

What happens in Vegas...

This week my family and I all traveled to Vegas and L.A. as one of our Christmas gifts. It was my family and my first time to go to Vegas... we were very excited to say the least! Kyle has been with his family before so he knew what all would be fun to do, which was nice to have.

When we arrived in Las Vegas we wanted to find a ride to where we could all go together, the only thing large enough was a limo. Surprisingly it was just as cheap or cheaper then a cab. Our driver drove us around so we could see everything before going to Vdara(the place we stayed). When we arrived we were all so amazed at how huge and modern everything was. My favorite part about our hotel, other then the beds, was that there wasn't a casino inside, which meant NO SMOKING! Originally Kyle and I were going to share a room with my grandparents, but since they were not able to come we had it all to ourselves! :)
After we got settled we went sight seeing down part of the strip, spending most of our time in "New York". We all,except Madeline, rode the roller coaster as a prep to our day in Disneyland! Later that evening we ate at a place called "The Buffet" (creative I know) and it was so yummy and VERY filling. After we ate we went to see the beautiful water show in front of the Bellagio. That night when we got back to our room a hot bath was a must!

Day two of our trip was jammed packed with more sight seeing. We woke up and went to breakfast at Denny's then hit the strip visiting almost ALL the hotels. Every one was so unique and the details were amazing!! When I used to try and picture Vegas I would think of casinos, dirty, clubs, never in a million years did I expect all the beautiful architecture and how clean it would be. We visited Paris and took a ride up the Eiffel tower, we were told that the real Eiffel tower is 50 more stories high... I cant even imagine (we were 50 stories high already)! By the time we were heading back up the strip it was dark and time for all the shows on the street to start. We watched a pirate show and a volcano show, both were very cool and something I will never forget!! That night Kyle and I wanted to dinner alone so we went back to the Venetian to eat and ride the gondola ride. We had so much fun on our trip and feel very blessed that we were able to go!!

Christmas Eve

Kyle and I both had a wonderful Christmas weekend spent with ALL of our family! On Christmas Eve morning I woke up to finish some baking I started the day before. After Kyle and my brother woke up we all headed to Cracker Barrel to eat a yummy breakfast, when we got home it was time to get ready for our fun evening!
We have always spent Christmas Eve with my moms family so that is where we went first. The church that my mom and her brothers attended growing up is walking distance from my grandmothers house, so we were able to walk on over for the candle light service. It was so nice to all come together and really remember what we were all celebrating. The service was beautiful, we sang songs reminding us how precious our Savior is... its a night I will never forget, we are so blessed!
When we got back to my Grannys we ate then opened presents. The past few months the family had collected enough money to send my grandparents on a trip to see family we have in California!! We had so much fun, I always cherish the time I get to spend with my wonderful family!
After we were finished there we headed to Kyle's family to exchange gifts. We had fun seeing what each other got as we opened presents one by one. I also got to talk with his aunt, that is a chief, about cooking! We had a great time over there.
To wrap up the evening we went to my parents to stay the night... we all stayed up entirely to late! I personally think the most fun my family and Kyle had was making fun of my WAY to small PJ'S that my husband got me. :)
We had such a fun Christmas Eve and I wouldn't change a thing. We might have a few more stops to make then most people, but I consider that a blessing. Both my parents grew up with grandparents either far away or absent, so for Kyle and I to have all our family here is a major blessing that most people don't have.