Married Couples Fellowship

Saturday night our married couples fellowship was held at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We had a great turnout, about 20 couples. Pastor Brad was the guest speaker. It was a fun night filled with food, fellowship and fun.


The happy couple


Some of my gal pals, Jill and Summer.


The musicians, Mike, Tom and Ben

Happy Anniversary

It's been 3 years since we got to know our friends, the Seling's. Although we attended church together for months before, we never realized how much we had in common. Now we hang out all the time and thank God for our special friends. Love you guys!


Kristin made the same dinner the first time we ate at their house-Mexican manicotti, YUMMY!


Tom and Rob made fresh pomegranate juice.

A Few Random Pictures

We went to the park on Thursday.


I'm not sure what the "peace" is all about???!!


It was crazy hair day at school on Friday.

Welcome Autumn

It's almost October and now that autumn is here, there are plenty of festivals. Today we visited Bates Nut Farm for their Farm Education Day. While we were there we saw all kinds of animals, learned about bees and bats, watched wool spinning and looked at old steam engines. Tom and Kelly went through a corn maze and we looked at all the pumpkins. We even tried homemade ice cream to help cool us off. When we left our thermometer read 101 degrees!


This is a view of one of the many pumpkin patches. The pumpkins pictured here are called Big Macs.


Hanging out with the Big Macs.


Kelly tries to lift this gigantic pumpkin.




Among the many animals were miniature donkeys. There was even a mini baby donkey with her mother.

Wild Animal Park Field Trip

Tom and Kelly went on the 2nd grade class field trip to the Wild Animal Park. They attended the "Night Owls" program and camped from Thursday night to Friday morning. They did all kinds of fun things. They started the afternoon with a tram ride, ate dinner and had a campfire. They were even able to get a close-up view of some wildlife. Kelly got to touch an alligater.


Tom and Kelly had an entire 6 person tent to themselves. Here's Kelly lounging on the sleep mats.


This is a view of the outside of their tent.


They ate dinner alongside the giraffes.


There was a speaker from the zoo who spoke about this owl. His name is Archey and he has a crooked wing.


Here are some of the campers. Kelly's in the back row, third from the left. If you look closely at the campers you'll notice most of them are wearing matching t-shirts. Each of the campers and the adults received these cool, glow-in-the-dark t-shirts.

Free Starbucks for Homeschool Teachers!!!

On the last Monday of this month, Sept. 29th, Starbucks will give homeschool teachers a free tall coffee when they present proof that they are homeschool teachers. Here's the link to the news story.

http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200809231.asp

On Sunday we took a leisurely sailing trip from Long Beach down to Newport Beach. Our friends, the Seling's invited us to go with them. Rob's brother, Steve was in a race and needed to return the boat to Newport. We had a great time. The kids even had a chance to steer the boat. Here are some shots from the trip.



Tom and Rob get ready to set up the main sail.


The sail is up and we're off!


Our newest little sailor.


I had a great time on the boat and I even managed not to get seasick (thanks to Dramamine!).

Kelly joins Annie at the steering wheel. In the background you can see the city of Long Beach.


Kelly and Tom enjoy some time sitting together.



Tom controls the spinnaker sail.

My Attempt at Creativity

I tried to get a little creative and take some fun pictures. Here's my attempt.

Latest Project

My friend, Rebekah, asked if I'd help her make a tablecloth for her school table. She bought the fabric from this amazing quilting shop called Fat Quarters Quilt Shop. Here is the finished product. This table is a bit larger than the one she's using.




Rebekah wanted large rickrack sewn between the two fabrics. It really added to the tablecloth.

Happy Birthday Summer

Tonight our friends, The Seling's, came over to celebrate Summer's birthday. In honor of Summer's birthday, they gave us a fruit tree to remember her by. It was a nice evening (the cake was great too!).


Kelly, Annie and Emma wait to sing.


On the right-hand side are Kristin (front), Rob and their daughter, Maddie. If you look on the table behind the cake you'll notice a beautiful planter. It was delivered this afternoon and came from Tom's family. Thank you so much!


Blowing out the candles.

Remembering Summer

September 11, 2001 is a day Americans will remember forever. September 11th also holds a special place in our hearts because it was a day that affected our family as well. Ten years ago today we lost our newborn baby, Summer Lynn, due to a premature birth. It has become a tradition that we celebrate our daughter's birth with a cake & friends. It's a great way to remember Summer and reminds us that while she is not here with us, she is up in heaven with our great Creator. Tonight we will celebrate with just a few of our friends. I'll post pictures after our celebration.

"How to" Speech

Today Kelly gave her "How to" speech at school. Her topic was "How to Braid Hair", and I got to be her model. She was very nervous about the entire thing, but after a lot of practice she felt ready. She did a great job.


Here she is giving her introduction.


Beginning the braid...


Continuing the braid...


Almost finished...


All done!!!

A Great Ministry

This morning at church we had a guest speaker, Wes Bentley, from Far Reaching Ministries. They are an outreach ministry who train chaplains to serve as pastors in the Sudan. They also minister to women and children in northern Uganda who have been victimized by an extreme group called the "Lord's Resistance Army", or LRA. You can read more about the ministry at www.farreachingministries.org.

During the message we watched two short movies about the things going on in Africa. I was very touched, especially by the one about the children. It was moving to see these little ones and to hear about the brutal things the LRA does to these innocent people. For example, they kidnap young children and force them to kill their parents to save their own lives.

This ministry is amazing. We are going to start supporting them on a monthly basis. I encourage you to check out their website to get a picture of the things going on in these areas we will probably never see. Please pray for the ministry and the people they help.

Brannan Look-alike Meter

I found this cool website from my sister-in-law, JaNel's blog. It was loads of fun. Let me know if you agree with the heritage meter.

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genelogy - Family tree diagram

Brannan Look-alike Meter #2

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

A New Hobby

What started as a few times shooting the "little bow" in the backyard has turned into a budding interest in archery. Yes, Kelly really enjoys shooting the bow and now she even has her own. Tom bought her one on a recent visit to the archery store. Here she is practicing on Saturday at the indoor range.

First Day of School

Today was Kelly's first day of workshops at Coastal Academy. Workshops are days when the kids are in a classroom setting with their teachers. Kelly attends workshops on Wednesdays and Fridays. The other three days are homeschool days.


Here she is right before we loaded into the car. We went shopping yesterday with Kristin and her girls. Mom Mom bought her this cute dress.


Kristin's daughter, Maddie now attends the Classical Academy High School in Escondido. Kelly loves her, and she's a great "big sis".


Here are Kelly's other pals, Emma (left) and Annie (right). They're growing up so fast!!!


Kelly is now a 2nd grader. Here she is in her classroom.


Here we are in the hallway before I left her.