Don't Get Wrapped Up In Sin

That day at chapel, Mr. Sullivan (our pastor's son and church worship leader, who also teaches the upper grades at Faith Christian Academy) gave a really great object lesson. He spoke about Lazarus being raised from the dead; and although he was brought back to life, he was still "bound by the grave clothes." He had some volunteers show how easily we can get wrapped up in sin and other bad habits, and that God can deliver us, but we still have to get "unwrapped."

Chapel, 2/20/09

Since I'm a State worker on "Friday Furloughs," I've been blessed to be there for chapel the last two furlough days.

Monopoly Junior

This post is mainly for Grandpa & Grandma and our aunties and uncles who live far away....

a pic of everyday life....


Here's a picture of the girls and our very nice, dear landlords, Richard & Arlys. You can see that the girls talked Arlys into playing a game.... Staci ended up winning, much to Shauna's dismay. :)

Yes, that is a gigantic hole in the right knee of Shauna's tights... I've yet to discover the solution for girls who like to wear their new tights just once before they get a hole in the knee. (Staci had an enormous hole in her tights, also, but on the left knee... you can also see that Staci likes to change clothes even more often than Shauna).

President's Day 2009

We had a girl's party at our house on Monday, February 16th. Here are a few pics of the event.

Sweet sisters, Marissa & Brianna

My dear young friend, Jean' Elle, who calls me "Parker" (not Mrs. Parker or Staci's mommy, just Parker)

The five girls (yes, it did get quite loud ... Grandma Rozana remarked at one time that my "party was getting out of hand") LOL

We thank God for godly friends that we can hang out with; and I'm glad that my girls are beginning to forge friendships that I pray will stay with them through the teen years and on into adulthood.

Valentine's Day 2009

Our Valentine's day was packed with lots of goodies. The morning started out with a visit to Pastry Heaven in Citrus Heights, CA to see Good Morning, Gina of 103.9 The Fish. Gina was there to kick off her 10,000 hugs campaign - she's trying to get 2,000 hugs by May and 10,000 hugs by 2010. You can send her a virtual hug by emailing her at gina@1039thefish.com . We then headed to Round Table to have lunch with my friends Bob & Staci from Vacaville. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture to document that visit. :(

Then it was back home to rest for an hour or so before I took the girls to Picture People to take advantage of the Valentine postcard special. After we had our pictures taken, Grandma Rozana paid the $5 so Shauna could "ride a dinosaur" at one of the shops in the mall.

That evening the girls stayed with my mom while Matthew and I went to our church banquet. We sang karaoke - Matthew and I sang "Groovy Kind of Love".. it was a blast.. I love to sing, and the lights were off, so it wasn't quite as embarrassing as usual.

Sis. Sullivan, our pastor's wife, reads the Mad Lib love poem I created as the game for the banquet.

A dear friend, Sis. Maudie Burns, whose husband passed away last year. February 16 of this year would have been their anniversary if he was still alive. This was her first Valentine without him in over 60 years.

Our pastor's son, Tyler, who was the "emcee" of the evening ... he delighted us all with his humor and wit and the great jokes!

My valentine and I

Freedom

We've been having some wonderful church services where the Lord has manifested Himself and His presence in a very powerful way. One of the revival nights we sang a new song "Freedom" which the girls had sung before in kid's choir. I may be off a little bit on the first verse, but you'll get the gist of it. The song is celebrating the freedom we have since Jesus Christ has set us free from the bondage and addictions of the world.

The song goes something like this:

I'm gonna sing a little louder than before, Oh, oh, oh, oh

I'm gonna jump a little higher than before, Oh, oh, oh, oh

I'm gonna shout a little louder than before, Oh, oh, oh, oh

I'm gonna praise a little harder than before Oh, oh, oh, oh

Freedom, freedom Freedom, freedom

He set me free, yes, He set me free; He broke the bonds of prison for me

I'm glory bound my Jesus to see; Glory to God, He set me free!

Freedom, freedom Freedom, freedom

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hal-le-lu-jah!

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After I picked up the girls from daycare last night, Staci was singing this song in the backseat, and she CRACKED ME UP because she sang these words:

He set me free, yes, He set me free; He broke the BOMBS of prison for me; I'm GOING DOWN my Jesus to see, Glory to God, He set me free!

I was laughing so hard as I explained to her the "mishaps" she was saying. :)

It was so cute! (At least this momma thought so)
Hope everyone is having a blessed day!

School Friends

Here are some pictures of Staci and some of her classmates on Thursday, February 12, and Friday, the 13th, as they were getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Trip to RC Willey and HSM Disney on Ice Tickets from The Fish

Wednesday night before church, we drove out to RC Willey to see if we could win tickets for the girls to see Disney on Ice's High School Musical - The Ice Tour. The Fish was giving away tickets every 15 minutes between 5 and 7 pm. We arrived at RC Willey at 5:30, and won the 6:15 drawing. I was praying that we would not win a t-shirt, CD, or movie passes, because then we would have been out of the running for the Ice tickets. The girls were so jazzed, and my mom had wanted to take them anyway, for Valentine's. The girls went with my mom and sister the next evening. The group of 4 tickets was over $100 value. Yeah us!!! Thank you, to The Fish!
The girls had a blast exploring RC Willey - it's a beautiful home decorating store that we had never visited. Since we had to leave shortly as we didn't want to be late for work, I told the girls that we would come visit some other time. Here are some pics of the girls at RC Willey.

Organ Recital

After Brenda's birthday lunch, Shauna and I went to an "Organ Recital." Our landlady, Arlys, is the organist for her church, St. Matthew's Lutheran. They recently purchased a beautiful new organ, and invited Dr. Roger Nyquist to play for their organ dedication. This man is incredible! Shauna's comment was: "If there was Organ Olympics, he would definitely win first place."
Shauna was getting lulled to sleep by the beautiful classical music, so we left at intermission, but it was a great event to attend. I also liked the way they decorated the refreshment table with the black and white keys.