Valentine's Party & Jana.

We kicked off the weekend by going to a Valentine's Party at a nearby park.  The girls participated in decorating cookies, making crafts and exchanging valentine's.  It was their first time exchanging valentine's, and they enjoyed making and passing out their little cards with a heart lollipop attached.  Inside we wrote "Jesus loves you!" and "John 3:16"... Biggest sister was out on the playground passing out her valentines to kids she has never met.. and explaining to them what the verse meant... basically evangelizing!

That evening, for Friday Night Family Night, Bryant took biggest sister and big sister to the "World of Color" show at Disneyland/California Venture while I stayed home with littlest sister.  It was their first time seeing the show, and Bryant's first time going to Disneyland with just the girls... so they just all had a blast as you can imagine. :)

On top of that, the girls had the chance to see their favorite singer perform live at a local church.

Needless to say, the girls were pooped by Saturday evening...but we still made it to church this morning AND attend a meeting tonight!

Looking forward to this week... celebrating Valentine's with the family...and learning about God's love!

A Surprise.

Biggest sister has been waiting months for her Oji-chan (grandfather in Japanese) to visit so he can fix her guitar strings (on her toy guitar he purchase for her two birthdays ago).  She knows that whenever Ojichan visits, he brings a new set of strings and helps fix her guitar.

Oji-chan has been in Japan the last few months...and when she found out he was visiting this past week she was ecstatic.  She even reminded Oji-chan over skype that her guitar strings broke again and asked if he can help her fix it.

Well, to her surprise, when Oji-chan showed up at the door with Oba-chan last Tuesday he had another guitar with him! It was an OLD guitar that he had stored in the garage for a looong time. But biggest sister didn't care.  She was SO excited to have a bigger, and a REAL guitar to play with!! She immediately got the guitar out and started playing.. but of course, Oji-chan said "let me put new strings in first, and then you can play."  He spent most of the evening replacing the strings and tuning his old guitar and her toy guitar (which she happily gave to her little sister).

That evening both girls put on a great show with their "new" guitars!  And since then, biggest sister has written a song about each member of her family (including our dog Mochi)..

The simplest of things that brings JOY to our girls... The joy that comes from a new (even though old) gift... And the joy that comes from her grandfather's generosity and willingness to put the effort and time into something his granddaughter truly enjoys.

Notes.

Some notes from this week's bible study... 


* MODEL boldy.
* Use words that bring LIFE. 
* Be a JESUS kind of companion.
* Don't resist.  It will only delay the blessing.


...And my friend Sally's interpretation of Proverbs 3:5&6:


"Have confidence, be bold and feel safe in the Lord with all your soul.  Don't look for support to your own wisdom or insight.  In all your journey and habits of life, learn to know Him- recognize Him by experience and He will smoothly lay out and level your path."

Inseparable.

These girls....

... are inseparable.

I hope and pray that they will always be this close. 

Around Here...

The simplest things that keep the kids entertained and intrigued...

Hot days= Playing with water/ Giving their baby dolls a bath :)

Sweet Bryant came home from work with a bouquet of four pink Ranunculus.. 

and says, "one for each girl that I love." :)

He also brought home this tall cherry blossom branch...and ALL the buds blossomed beautifully!

 Planted many Cosmos seeds in our side yard today...
in hopes to see their faces this spring!!                                             

Old Stomping Ground.

Bryant and I both love San Diego. 

San Diego is where Bryant grew up. That is where I went to college.  That is where we met, got married and spent our first year of marriage (in Solana Beach).  We have a lot of wonderful memories there... Today, we went down there for our friends' son's 2nd birthday.. We left early in the morning so Bryant can go surfing with his friend at one of his favorite beaches.. Del Mar beach.  It was such a beautiful day.. perfect for sitting out in the sun, perfect for playing in the sand and water.. perfect for hanging out and catching up with our good friends.  We had lunch afterward at one of my favorite places to eat in Del Mar.

We also stopped by La Jolla Cove which was on our way to the birthday party... La Jolla was beautiful, as always...I used to study at the cafes down by the cove during my college years, so it brings back memories every time I go visit the cove.  Bryant took biggest sister down the rocks to check out the tide pools and seals (while her little sisters were napping).  After we fully bathed ourselves in the sun.. we went to the birthday party, got to spend quality time with our friends, and then drove home. Such a fun day. We miss living in San Diego... Maybe someday the Lord will move us there again. ;)

Shoe Fetish.

Littlest sister has a major shoe fetish (her older sisters have always preferred to be barefoot)...but not this girl... Often times I find her digging in the shoe basket for her shoes or carrying her shoes around saying "shooooooes" in hopes that someone will help her put her shoes on.  I think the main reason why she LOVES shoes is because, when we all put our shoes on it usually means "time to go out"!  But she also enjoys wearing them around the house... Good thing she has a ton of hand-me-down shoes from her big sisters and their friends!!