Saturday BBQ

Since Lacey and Rob were in town from Missouri, Pop wanted to get us all together for a BBQ. We drove up, and Faith was flown in from Colorado so the whole family could be together, a very rare and special occasion.

Mom with her boys, Peter and Levi.

Mom with her girls, Lacey, Hope, Spring and Faith.

I love how Molly wandered into this shot.

All the siblings in age order.

Tracy and Molly.

Before the BBQ, Gregory had a baseball game, so many of us went over to watch him play. It was a close game. The final score was 5 - 6, Angels (that's Gregory's team). Gregory hit the ball twice, and got 2 outs at second. It was nice to be able to get to one of his games.

Disneyland for Tracy's b-day

Disneyland is letting annual pass holders in for free on their birthday this year (if it's blocked out), or they will give you a gift card in the amount of an entry ticket. Since Tracy's b-day was a block out day, we decided not to fight the crowds, but to avoid them, so we waited a week and went on the 24th instead.

BIRTHDAY DINNER SURPRISE!!!
Peter made reservations for dinner at the Blue Bayou Restaurant. For about an hour, we were part of the scenery for many boats in the Pirates of the Caribbean. Surf and Turf! Tracy got lobster and steak...yuuuummmm! It was a very nice meal, and the atmosphere is unbeatable!

Peter outside the Blue Bayou.

Had to get our Castle shot.
We were standing there waiting for the Disney cameraman to take our picture but he suddenly disappeared. Then, a nice lady who saw the whole thing, offered to take one for us.

Storybook Land is always fun. I love seeing all the miniature houses and castles. Even the plants are miniaturized in there.

The clock comes to life at Small World.

We didn't go on any of the 'big' rides, but we had a very nice time. We started our day off at California Adventure where we went on the new Toy Story ride at Paradise Pier. It has a bunch of places you stop and play different carnival games. It was very fun. Tracy scored 140,000 points, and Peter got 94,000. We'll have to see who wins next time.

One At A Time Bpatist Church 4-19-09

On April 19th, the whole family was invited to go down to One At A Time Baptist Church in Downtown LA. Peter's dad pastors the church, and he wanted us all there together. Tracy was asked to sing a couple songs, and the grand kids sang a couple as well. The church is in the lobby of the Ford hotel on 7th street. To learn more about the church and their ministry, please visit their website, www.oaat.org.

Alvin, practicing the piano before the service.

Lacey and her youngest, James Kenneth.

Pop doing a sound check before the service.

Peter and Tracy at Clifton's for lunch afterwards, with the whole family. They also ordered a yummy carrot cake for Tracy's b-day.

Tracy's B-day '09

Tracy's parents came over and spent the afternoon with her on her birthday. They went to lunch, and cruised the lovely town of Hemet looking for a steakhouse that Dad remembers from 25 years ago. We didn't find it but had a good time driving around anyway. We ate at a lovely little Italian place called Datillo's. The Lobster Alfredo was outstanding! After lunch we went to the house and had a fun time playing Uno Attack. When Peter got home, he joined us for a few rounds until my parents went home, and the two of us went to dinner.
It was a great and very relaxing birthday.

The painting in the background was painted by a friend of the family
and given to us just recently as a wedding gift.

Easter - Resurrection Day '09

We all had a great time this Easter at mom and Pop's. After a wonderful dinner of ham and peas, potato salad, etc. we all went out back for the egg hunt.

Looking for the prize egg.
Each year one egg is designated for a special prize to the one who finds it. They seem to know where it is, but now have to dig for it.

After much searching, Abigail found the prize egg.

Gregory and Adam

Alice
'look what I found, mom!'

Out front, before the festivities began.

Family extentions

Peter and I have recently found out that we will have a wonderful addition to our family. He/she is due to arrive in mid October and we couldn't be happier! The OB gave us a bit of a scare a couple of weeks ago though. She asked if we would like to do a sonogram, and of course we said yes...but she didn't see anything. "it's early yet" she tried to comfort us, "but lets send you to radiology just to see what they can find out.

We went to radiology and after a series of question that worried me further, she finally said that she couldn't tell us anything good or bad. Well that didn't help. A few minutes later, after she had finished her measurements and she found out that we were Christians, she really began to open up. Peter was looking over her shoulder the whole time, but I couldn't even see the monitor until she turned it towards me.

"Here's your baby", she said, "and that's the heartbeat", it was a little spot that kept flashing lighter and darker. At that moment I started to cry. I had allowed all the negative possibilities to overwhelm me. Next she turned up the sound, and we got to hear the little heartbeat...what a precious moment. During the silence before I got to see what she was seeing, I prayed. I knew that the baby's life was in God's hands, but I was still scared that something was wrong. I had given it to God, and then we got to see the little precious blessing. God is so good, to calm my fears at that moment. He could have made us wait to hear the results back from the OB, but He didn't. We are now about 10 weeks along, and really looking forward to being parents...a little nervous, though, as I'm sure all new parents are.

We've moved

Getting ready for the move. Tracy went to a couple local supermarkets and asked them to save apple boxes. We should have thought of this sooner, it would have saved us some mula.

It was nice to have these bigger ones too though.

Our living room packed up and ready to go.

We never did post anything here about our move so let me take the time to do so now. Peter was working in the oil fields but got an offer from his family's business in the agriculture industry. We took several months to consider the offer, and finally decided this is where God was leading us. We looked for a house in the Beaumont area, thinking that would be central to the places Peter would be working, but again God led us in a slightly different direction. We are in Hemet now, and love the home we are renting.

We would like to thank all you who helped us out with the move either physically or in prayer. We really appreciate it and couldn't have done it without you.

Bob Lucas has an expertise in loading trucks. It was really nice to have him.

Rick Chavez taught Tracy that if a box is too heavy for her, the guys won't like to lift it either. Just because there is still room in the box of books, doesn't mean you have to continue to fill it with books. Mixing it up with lighter stuff is fine...ok probably better.

The crew before we departed. (Left to right)

Mike and Erin Augusta, Bob Lucas, Lisa and Kevin Derr, Tracy and Peter, Rick Chavez, Svein Rivelander, and Levi Holladay. We were overwhelmed by all the help we had that day. We were especially grateful for those who were able to make a day of it and come with us from Castaic to Hemet, and help us unload the truck (Bob, Kevin and Lisa, and Levi). God shows His blessings in many ways, and we are truly blessed by our church family at PBC.

Picking a few things up at Tracy's parent's house.

Wow, almost done unloading!

Hey, we haven't even sat on our new couch yet!!!

Mike and Arlis Dowd came down from Banning to help us move in.

Friends of Tracy from Kare Youth League.

Left to right

Lisa, Kevin, Bob, Tracy, Peter and Levi. They made the nearly 3hr trek from Castaic down to Hemet to help us unload. We could never thank them enough.

We also love the church we've been attending in Beaumont called Fellowship in the Pass. We submitted a request just last week for church membership and are going through the process. Tracy joined choir last week, and Peter is looking into serving in the power point ministry.