Hey Hey!

Wow...we haven't posted since the beginning of September...where is the time going!? Life felt surprisingly fragile and short the other day when I was walking through Costco and saw the aisles of Christmas stuff already flooding the store...can 2008 really almost be over?...and then I realized, yep, it sure is...I mean we already booked our flights to TEXAS! (Yes, I said it! We are going to TX!! ;) waahooo!!) We pulled our fall stuff out...well what little we have, and we are preparing for family in December. We are planning an ugly sweater Christmas party, New Year's eve party, and just completed our 2009 projected calendar for the College Group...I'm getting concerned...wasn't it just Easter???? ;)

And of course the Baseball playoffs. You know you are in October when the playoffs hit! GO CUBBIES!!! AND TAMPA BAY RAYS (that one is for you Zobie!) ;)

So also, at the forefront of our excitement these past couple of weeks is the return of THE OFFICE & SURVIVOR!! We wish ya'll could come over for Office parties every Thursday!! heehee ;) Oh, and have any of you seen the movie "Baby Momma" yet? It has Tina Fay from SNL in it...let me just tell you it is hilarious!! A must see for you momma's! ;)

Love you all!! Here is the newest office episode!! Woowoo!!! You will laugh...a lot! ;)

Our New Bedroom Furniture!

Okay, so the itch to start decorating our house has started and Chris and I have been talking about bedroom furniture for our guest room. Well, on Saturday my sweet husband braved the IKEA store with me to find a bed and some fun accessories. We knew that we couldn't get caught up in the hundreds of departments all around us full of wonderful Items we could totally see in our home, so we dodged the sitting chairs, and got past the office set ups (which were great!), we crept past the wonderful shelving units and bookcases, kitchen tables, and wonderful kitchen supplies! And finally got to our destination...bedding!! We found a bed that we loved, but I am so surprised we bought it! It is not our usual taste at all, but for some reason we were inspired...a white bed frame with a blue and white toile print duvet cover...imagine that with our dark wooded, somewhat Asian and African style decor...so we are stepping out into new territory...we picked up a white shaded lamp too, and picture frames to match the bedroom...it's kinda fun to step outside of our usual taste and adventure! heehee Anyways, here is a pic of the bed we bought! We are getting ready for visitors so come see us!!! ;)


Blessings!,
sara

So encouraged...

Spurgeon sure has a way with words...I read this today and was blessed! Enjoy!

Charles Spurgeon

"The unsearchable riches of Christ." —Ephesians 3:8

My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than you think Him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He deserves gold. My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of His pipe, when He is the Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at His feet. There is no love like His, neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in Him—oh! this is life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined. My Master does not treat His servants churlishly; He gives to them as a king giveth to a king; He gives them two heavens—a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him for ever. His unsearchable riches will be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you need; your place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, THERE, where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One. The unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth, and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus, and we will tell out the good news to others.

D-ship Ideas...

Okay, so we started D-ship groups with our college group this summer and it has been amazing! Guys are off the charts growing and the girls are doing well too...although, ladies...I need suggestions...

Girls tend to not trust each other very well...group setting are fun for social time more than deep spiritual confession and accountability type time...I guess I'm asking for advice on how to break through some of that...Have ya'll been in D-ship group setting? How did they do things? Any advice? ideas?

I'm open to suggestions and certainly am praying for new ideas...a couple of girls here are praying and brainstorming with me...but I figured why not put my feelers out with the girls I love and trust...and I guess guys if you have suggestions you can add them too...heehee...

I know there is a spiritual battle at hand and the girls are timid of unpacking anything...I get it...pray for us if you think about us...we meet every Monday night...and if you have any ideas send them my way!! ;)

Technology...

Wow has it really been 3 months since I last posted a comment on here...I am such a loser! ;) Life has been so fast and so much has been happening! As the summer was getting under way we started having some technical difficulties...it was weird... everything technical just began to stop working...AWESOME! heehee ;) I know you Chadwicks had a day with the yard equipment not that long ago...heehee...Well I feel your pain...

So we had our computer stop working, and then our camera broke, and then I dropped my cell phone in coke and it died and I lost all my phone numbers...and I mean ALL! You can imaging the frustration...we were able to get a new laptop, and I was able to replace the phone, but I NEED TO GET PHONE NUMBERS FROM YOU SWEET FRIENDS!!!...and we are waiting on the camera for a bit...so pics are rare right now...this season of our lives may be missing from the photo album, but it's all good...heehee Hence the reason I have yet to send out the wonderful pics of our home!! We finally moved in!! Waahoo!!! It is beautiful on the inside...we won't talk about the exterior yet. heehee, but once I get a pic I will post it for all to see!!!

Blessings!! Glad to be on here again!!

Oh The Change...

So we have had 3 new baby arrivals in 9 days this month! What a whirlwind it has been! And life will never be the same...How Fun! It is really neat to see the whole process through, and I realized we haven't really been a part of many of our friends pregnancies from start to finish...we have been so far away or only have seen them in pics or in sporadic visits, so for us getting to experience Addison this past week has been really fun! She is changing everyday! I tell Robyn she is a different baby everytime I see her! She is so cute! ;) And then there is Cosette who is SO much fun to play with right now! She is all smiles and really ready to get around! ;) We can't wait to meet little Josiah and Hannah at Thanksgiving! We are really blessed to be Uncle and Auntie to 3 new babies in the 9 DAYS!!!! So cool!!

And for us, well our house is nearly complete on the inside, my dog learned that the toilet is an endless water supply (sick!), and we were so blessed to get away to San Diego for a night over Memorial Day! Needless to say, things are moving and changing! ;) So here are a few pics of the babies!! They are so cute! We'll post more from our trip to San Diego and of our house and cute puppy soon!!! Love you mucho!


Pic #1: Proud Uncle Chris and Auntie Sara meeting Addison for the first time! (Born May 23rd), Pic #2 & 3:Ben and Shan's little ones - Josiah and Hannah (Born May 18th)

And more news....

So literally like a day after we found out that Jason and Vanessa were on Nino #2, we found out that Graham and Steph are having another Nino too!!! There are going to be so many babies running around!!! ;) heehee Congrats ya'll!

Robbie is nearly ready for Addison to come out (Maybe May 26th or so!!) and Shannon is almost there as well...

Pray for Shannon...she went into premature labor at 27 weeks and the doctors were able to stop the labor but have ordered her to be on bed rest until she reaches 32 weeks...she can only get up to shower and use the restroom. Oh goodness...

So we will be uncle and aunt to 13 kiddos by the end of 2008....Wow! heehee ;)

Ben & Shannon - Josiah, Hannah
Graham & Steph - Brayden, Cosette, and Baby Mac #3
Robyn & Justin - Peyton, and Addison
Jason & Vanessa - Kenya and Baby Delgado #2
Curt & Mandy - Andrew
Jay & Shannon - Jaydn
Chris & Steph - Kimmie & Jon

Ah we Love ya'll!

We Love "The Office"...Oh let us count the ways...

Okay, so "The Office" is one of the funniest shows on TV right now and we have been totally sucked in. Last night was such a funny episode that our love for these characters just grew...heehee But in all seriousness, if you haven't watched "The Office" you should start...It is so much fun...but start with season One...it is way more funny when you get to know the characters! ;)

So, we thought we would take a minute to recount our love for the "funnies" this season, and selfishly try to convert you (if you haven't been already)to be lovers of the Michael Scotts of the world...heehee

Dad, one day you will love him...heehee

Enjoy!!!

1) Job Fair

Michael sets up a booth at a local job fair to find "the best and the brightest" for Dunder-Mifflin's summer internship. Watch out for the "Blisties"!



2)Dinner Party

Things go from bad to worse when Michael and Jan host a dinner party. (This is maybe the most awkward episode of this show so far) heehee



3)Fun Run

Michael is involved in a freak accident and begins to feel the office is cursed. This prompts him to hold a charity 5k fun run. Sooo funny!! Chris has the Fun Run T Shirt! ;) heehee



Oh my Gosh we love this show!!! ;) heehee

Say What!?

So today has been an exciting day! First, we found out that our buddies Jason and Vannesa are having Nino #2!! CONGRATS YOU GUYS!! And Second, I realized today that Prince Caspian comes out in exactly 14 days...WHAAATT!!!?? ;) We are so excited!

I looked at the trailer and snooped around the official website for a minute and had to share...I can't lie...it is pretty neat! Enjoy! ;)

Here is the official Trailer:

Where has the time gone!?

So the other day Chris and I were talking and it suddenly dawned on me that my 10yr reunion is this year...WOW...that was so far away last time I thought about it! And then I was talking to my mom and she was telling me about my baby brother Tariq (AKA "Honey") and how he is graduating middle school this year...WOW!...I remember when he was born...wasn't that yesterday? ;) And then I had a conversation with sweet baby Kenya on the phone...WOW...can she even roll over yet...where did time go!? And I had a neat conversation with my brother Omar about life and he said "I'm getting older ya know"...WOW...is that my baby brother??? That is really weird hearing that come out of his mouth...

Then I think of Shannon having babies, kids we had in youth group getting married, and we are now officially considered part of the "Adult crowd"...where did the last 10 yrs go!? What if we still feel like we are 18??? ;)heehee ('cause we do most of the time...we still think our bodies work just as well now as they did then too! ;) heehee)

So we are just amazed at how grown up everyone is...how much life is changing...WOW...it is all moving so fast...

Here is a pic from Sufyan's Graduation last year. All 7 kids together! Waahoo! That doesn't happen very often. ;)



Blessings!
Chris and Sara

McKenzie, McKenzie, McKenzie...

Yes, McKenzie is my cute baby puppy that chris got me for Christmas! I love this little dog soo much...she is such a blessing!

She has been growing like a weed, and I just sit back and think "but, but, it has only been a few months! How can she already weigh in at 50lbs!" I can only imagine what it will be like with kids!

So here are a couple of proud mommy videos and pics...probably totally boring to most of you, but they are precious to us, so why not share...it is our blog after all! ;) heehee

Blessings!!

Our Video of Christmas morning won't load from our computer so I'll post it another time!...I had no idea she was coming! It still makes me tear up... ;) heehee

In the mountains...


Kenzie loves the water a whole lot too... When we were running the other day she decided the nasty green creek looked like fun to run through, and after about 15 minutes of trying to get her out of the slimy creek water we knew she was addicted... ;) She got a fun bath outside after that... heehee



And the doggies at the dog park... (This was in March I believe)




Snuggling and the Beach...














Blessings!!

"Then Shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily..."

So it has been an interesting couple of weeks here...Let me start with this...Our time in Cali has been anything but routine since we moved here in 2006, and we find ourselves now in April of 2008 with more questions and uncertainties than we started with nearly 2 years ago. We find ourselves at times just hurting for rest in our hearts, and we feel like we are one thread away from unravelling...

Have you ever been in that place where you are just begging God to speak...begging Him to to show you the next step...begging Him for rest? I think that is where Chris and I find ourselves a lot right now...

If there was ever a time we have just been broken down and at the end of ourselves it is now and then we remember... "I (God), I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the Lord of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.'" (Isaiah 51:12-16)..."Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?" (Jer. 32:27)... and then I consider him "who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that we may not grow weary or fainthearted..." (Heb. 12:3)

Today I find myself praying the words of that Casting Crowns song "East to West"...
"Lord, I don't want to end up where you found me...I feel like I'm just one mistake away from you leaving me this way. Jesus show me just how far the East is from the West. May we find your mercy and rest today..."

So It Begins...

Hey everyone! We are so excited to have started a personal blog...We started one for our college group and we have enjoyed it so much that we just had to start one of our own. ;) So it feels like there has been a ton going on...and since we are not always very good with the phone a blog is perfect! One post for all to read!! Awesome!!

So a little praise report! I have been without my right hand due to surgery since January 7th, and on April 1st I got to finally take the cast off!! Yes, that is right...I have my hand kind of back, and it is so awesome!...Woohooo!!!!!! ;) Except for the extremely long black hairs growing on it...how that happened I have no idea, but it is nasty and will be shaved...heehee Please pray for my hand to continue to heal and for my rehab...the worst has yet to come. ;) I may post a couple of fun pics soon...

We pray you will join us on our adventures through life...we pray that the Lord is given the glory...we pray that these posts reveal the depths of where we are at and draw our relationships closer with family and friends. We love you all very much!

Till next time...