It's A Wonderful Life!!!

This week..

2012-02-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

It was a good week at Bethel Christian Academy and I just wanted to share some cute pictures and stories from this week!

First, the bunny.

One of my little men, Obadiah, asked me one day if he could bring his bunny to school. Me, being the AWESOME teacher that I am ;) said, OF COURSE!

Well, I would like to introduce you to Obadiah and his "bunny"!

That is the BIGGEST bunny that I have ever seen!! He is the size of a small dog!! Pretty sure, I had a different kind of bunny in my head when I agreed to that!! haha, lets just say this day was very interesting!! The kids LOVED it though!!

All, of us with the bunny!

Here are a few cute pictures we took during recess today and thought I would share!!

Some of the girls and me!

The boys wanted to take a "manly" picture..and this is what we came up with!! :)

They are so funny!

Last little news of the week, tonight our Volleyball season started with our first game!!

I was pretty nervous about it because it would be my first time coaching alone, since my partner in crime decided she would rather get married and move 3000 miles away instead of coaching with me (love you Michelle)! ;)

I was so proud of them tonight, we started out our season right with a win!!!

Way to go BETHEL!!

p.s..yes, as you can see California is SUPER sunny!!! They DEFINITELY needed the black marks on their cheeks. The sun shines so bright here in February!!! ;)

Hope you all have a nice weekend!

God knows!

2012-01-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

Oh wow, I had to go back and look at what my last blog post was because I honestly couldn't remember! I can't believe it's been since November!

November seems like ages ago!

In case you were wondering, the holidays were very special this year!

I was able to stand beside my childhood best friend as her Matron of Honor and celebrate her marriage to a great man!

I got to spend some wonderful, quality time with my parents and brothers!

I was able to see some of my extended family as well!

Christmas was wonderful! I returned to CA on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas and New Years with my wonderful husband and all of our relatives on his side!

Then the New Year came.

Little did we know that God was about to change everything in 2012.

To make a long story short (because I know a lot of my blog readers are already aware) on January 4th our sweet Mom was told by a Doctor that she had a huge mass of fluid in her abdomen.

From the minute he found it he told us that there was a big chance that it would be cancerous.

Two weeks later she was operated on to have the mass removed and the cancer was confirmed.

What do you do when out of no where your Mom who has spent the last 20+ years loving you and sacrificing for you is given this kind of news?

My very first thoughts were..why her?! Why the most selfless, loving person I know?

You know, I have known several people that have been diagnosed with cancer, actually our family has had two VERY close friends go through this, but even those situations can not compare to being told that its YOUR Mom!

I can truly say it is the most heart wrenching, earth shattering thing that has happened in our family.

I honestly DO NOT know how unbelievers handle hearing that a loved one has cancer.

What a hope we have that they don't.

Seriously, THE ONLY thing to hold on to is that God is in complete control.

God knew this was coming. God planned this out for our family.

God knows what is to come.

God knows.

What a comfort.

I am so thankful that God has provided this peace and comfort for our family and especially for Mom.

God has "wrapped His arms" around Mom since the moment she knew something was wrong and provided her with such a comfort and strength.

She and Dad have been such an example for us kids and everyone around them.

Two days before all of this happened. On January 2, my Dad wrote an email to my brothers and I, basically just encouraging us in the Lord as we started the new year. I would like to share a little portion of what he said in this email because I think it was COMPLETELY God using him to prepare us for this trial that was about to come...without even my Dad knowing.

"We also don't know what God has for us in 2012. He may have good things and great victories and He may, in His providence, have disappointments and sad things for us.

God may interupt our plans in 2012 - and He almost always does! This is always frustrating to me and sometimes you want to get mad at people or even mad at the Lord. But I have to remind myself, as every Christian that is right with God should, that the plan change or interuption may be precisely from God. I know that Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose." I believe that every Christian will have trials, but we know from reading the Bible that all trials for the Christian are designed by God. That has always been a Huge comfort to me. He allows just the right trial in our lives to help make us what He wants. "

Every time I read that it is a huge comfort to me. What a great set of parents God has given us.

So, it is only January 31st and God has given us some tough roads already in 2012 but just as my Dad said He will only allow exactly what we need in our lives to make us what He wants us to be!

We know, as of right now God has chosen to give the most important lady in our life cancer.

What has he chosen for you right now? Are you trusting in him?

I know it's almost a minute by minute battle some of the time with my flesh wanting to worry and not trust in Him.

A friend texted me this verse at the beginning of all of this and it is such a comfort.

Isaiah 43:2

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."

God truly is our "refuge and strength"!

How amazing is that? We can completely rest in Him! He is always with us!!

I will try and keep you all posted on Mom as we go through this time!

I know so many of you are already praying and that means more than you will ever know!!

Prayer works!! Please don't stop!

We know there is a long road ahead for Mom.

It has already been and will continue to be a great time of spiritual growth and a time of each of us being drawn closer and closer to the Lord!!

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you!"

A perfect day at the zoo...

2011-11-15T18:51:00.001-08:00

Our class spent the day at the Oakland Zoo today!

It turned out to be a perfect field trip.

I know I say this EVERY time I do a post about my class...but the parents of my kids are incredible.

I thought they were awesome when I first started teaching and well now....we know each other very well and they just mean so much to me.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this time in their lives.

They always make me feel so special and never stop thanking me and making me feel so appreciated.

It's really great.

The Oakland Zoo was so beautiful! It is so relaxing and pleasant to walk through. With each animal you feel like you are in their real habitats. It's incredible!

:) I didn't even realize the bear was doing that in the picture till I got home. Cute!

The giraffes were my favorite!!

Julian came with us!! Isn't he sweet?! He really enjoyed the kids and got a little taste of what my everyday with them is like. Never a dull moment..would pretty much sum it up!!

Most importantly, the kids had a blast. :)

They were totally into the maps!! :)

All of us!! :)

What a great day filled with great memories.

These are the days when it really hits me how many amazing things God has given me.

This group of 13 sweeties are my life.

I am just humbled to have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

God is good.

Our favorite little guy!

2011-11-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Bryce's 2nd birthday with his family and friends!

Bryce is Julian and I's favorite little man. He is just the sweetest little boy you will ever meet!

Bryce's parents are J and I's closest friends as a couple!

I grew up with Daniel (Bryce's Dad) and Julian grew up with Renee (Bryce's Mom) and we (as couples) have grown very close over the past year and a half since moving to CA.

So naturally their little boy has us wrapped around his finger!! :)

Here are some pictures and a couple of videos from his party today!

When we got to the house today Renee had taught him say "Welcome to my party!"
It was adorable!

Bingo!

He is still learning the whole coloring thing! :)

Bryce and his friends!

He LOVES basketball!

PRESENTS!!!

He was so sweet when he was opening. As soon as he would see what it was he would respond with a "GASP" and then "TANKSHU" (his version of "thank you") :)

I love this video!!! :)

Oh yes, and his party was an airplane theme. Renee is so creative, everything was decorated so cute!!

It was a good day!! Best birthday party I have attended in a while!!

Seriously though, how cute is he??!! :) Melts my heart!

I'm so excited...I can BARELY stand it!!!!!

2011-10-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

For those of you that know my family in real life... you are WELL aware of what sports team we root for!!!

Well, I' m here to tell you....

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS are going to the WORLD SERIES!!!!

My father spent the first 18 years of my brother's and my life turning us into St. Louis Cardinal fans...and let me tell you...it WORKED!!!!

We are the REAL deal. Not the ban-wagon fans that you usually run into during this time of year...

we are the ALL year round...EVERY day....REAL fans!

If you aren't convinced yet...maybe this will convince you....

My parents have a bedroom in their home that is decorated with Cardinals stuff! All Cardinals!!!

The walls are red and blue...the bed is Cardinals...the pictures and decorations...all Cardinals!

ONLY a REAL Cardinal family would do that!!!!

(this is the cake I had made for my parents 50th birthday party)

You convinced about how big of fans we are yet?? ;)

So you can imagine how EXCITED we are that we get another chance at the World Series!

After just having won it back in 2006!!!!

So tune in folks..it all starts Wednesday night.

Who knows what will happen but so far we are VERY proud!!!

GO CARDS!!!!

By the way, if you would like to join the ban-wagon and be a fan for the next week or so we will gladly take you!!! But I must warn you...Cardinal fans are very devoted...you may just be a fan for life afterwards! :)

It's kind of addicting..because they are so AWESOME!!! :)

It's me. I'm back!!

2011-10-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!! :)

I am sorry that I have been MIA in the blog world for...what has it been??...almost 3 months!!

I have been feeling a little guilty lately for not giving any attention to my blog AND the ones I follow.

I'm not even going to make excuses for this behavior, so instead I will just update you on some main happenings in our life the past few months!!

The last thing I posted on was my cousin coming to visit. She did, and it was wonderful!

She is a total sweetheart and we had the BEST time!

One week after she left, my younger brother David came out for a visit!

We had a wonderful time with him. I'm so proud of David. He has grown up so much in the last year and I am seeing the man he is becoming. I love him so much and we loved being able to spend this quality time together. He started his senior year of college this fall, I am so excited to see all the things God is doing in his life and can't wait for him to take these next exciting steps!!

Ok ok...just because I said he was growing up doesn't mean he has some not so mature moments! ;)

Reppin David's camp he worked in all summer!

Old Town Sacramento

The day after David left us, Julian and I took off on a road trip to Salt Lake City.

We wanted to do one last fun thing for the summer and we enjoyed SLC so much when we went in the spring so we went again. It kinda helps that my bestie Courtney lives there! :)

We, once again, had THE best time. I love that place. It's such a beautiful area.

I'm sure it won't be our last visit!

We enjoyed a night at the SLC Bees baseball game! :)

We love each other and we love cotton candy!! :)

Every time we are together people ask or just assume we are twins.

It is pretty amazing how much we look alike.

We also went on a hike in the mountains to a beautiful waterfall!

My sweet man! :) Handsome too, if I might add!

You see those rocks behind us?? Yes, we climbed ALL the way to the top! It took us forever..but we made some great memories!

We got back from Utah and I jumped right back in to school! Spent the next two weeks getting everything ready, having teacher orientation and enjoying my last few moments of Summer Vacation!

We started school the day after Labor Day.

It's been six weeks since then! I can't believe that. Time goes so fast!

Our school went thru some changes this past summer for several different reasons, but resulted in an amazing change for me! Last year, I taught 1st and 2nd grade and over the summer I found out that we were doing some rearranging and I would be teaching 2nd and 3rd grades this year!

If you do the math....this would give me the SAME exact kids that I had last year!

I was SO happy to hear this news. My kids and I became so close last year and I was sad that I had to say goodbye to half of them this year...but that didn't happen!! We get to stay together for this year too!

We are mature 2nd-3rd graders now!! This was the first day of school!

:) Love them so much!

This is my classroom this year! :)

I went with a zoo animal theme!!

Oh yes, and I saved the best news for last! Do you remember the post I did HERE about my little man Bosa?? Well, if you remember I said that he would not be returning this year because of the family moving away. Well, some things changed and they ended up NOT moving! So, my little guy, is with me again!

:) This is us on school picture day! He was so dressed up and handsome!

He has already given me several funny moments and crazy moments. So thankful the Lord has allowed me to have another year with him!

Alrighty, that's about it! You will hopefully be hearing from me again...VERY soon!! :)

Another visitor!!!!

2011-07-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today, my cousin Paige is arriving here in CA and spending the next week with us!

Paige and I, although she is several years younger, have always had a very close relationship!

Whenever we are all together as a family, Paige and I are inseparable!

She is great. Not like most teenagers these days, who think that everyone else's life should revolve around them. Which is why everyone loves her, she really is the sweetest thing ever!! Anyhow, I'm not going to get into a long description of her. Just thought I would "announce" her coming to visit...because I'm really looking forward to it!! :)

It's her first time to California so it will be so fun to give her a little taste of our wonderful state!!!

Michelle's Bridal Shower!!

2011-07-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I was able to host a bridal shower for my best friend Michelle, who you can read more about HERE! :) It was so much fun putting together and the ladies of our church and several of the Mom's in the school really had a great time celebrating with and spoiling Michelle! :)

Here are some pictures of the shower, enjoy!

Since Michelle is getting married in December, I decided against doing the shower theme in her wedding colors because it wouldn't be a very "summery" atmosphere. :)

So, we just kept it fun and light and went with a Luau/Hawaiian theme shower!

First off, the food!! :)

The beautiful bride-to-be!! :)

Gift Table

While we ate, one of our Pastor's wives gave a little devotional. It was very special!!

We then had tons of fun playing all sorts of games!! :)

Playing "How well does the Bride know the Groom" was fun!! Michelle was very nervous about this game, but she did pretty well!

After the games, we enjoyed the delicious cake and ice cream while Michelle opened her gifts!!

One of the fun things about this shower is that three out of her four Bridesmaids were all in attendance!!!

It just so happens we all live here in CA!! It was so nice that we all got to be at at least one of her showers!

Here we are - (from left to right)

Renee (her sister in-law), the Bride, Me and Grace (her future sister in-law)

Look at us with our cute little buttons! :)

I had to get one picture of the Bride and myself!! Love this girl!

It was a great shower. I'm so happy for her!!!!

We are all going to miss her so much out here in California!

My little man!

2011-07-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking through this post for awhile now, I want it to be perfect!
I am very excited to tell you about this little guy!
I want to introduce you all to someone that is very very special to me!

This little boy, in the last year, had such an impact on my life and has taught me some great life lessons!
I really am a different person because of meeting him and having him in my life!

This is Bosa Olotu!

This past year he was in my 1st grade class!

First off, there are some things you need to know about Bosa!

When he was younger he was diagnosed with Autism.

He was not a normal child at all.

His parents were very concerned and they talked to "doctors" and "psychologist" who basically

gave them no hope.

They enrolled him in a school where he..never had interaction with other kids and was just left to himself.

They said he would never be normal.

You see until he was 5 years old, Bosa had never talked!

Because of this, his parents really had no hope. They had a son that couldn't talk and "doctors" saying this was the way it was going to be.

His Mom told me she would pray everyday that he would start talking.

She felt like if he started talking there might be hope for some normalcy in his life!

Finally, a little after he turned 5 he started saying words and before long he was talking away!!

This was when his parents started looking for other answers!
They found Bethel Christian Academy and at the age of 7, Bosa enrolled into the Kindergarten class at our school!!

When he came to our school, he couldn't do anything....including...

reading...writing...alphabet...and even go to the bathroom by himself!

Now, I can't take any of the credit for this part because this was the year before I met him!
Let's just say the Kindergarten teacher at our school is amazing and she worked soo hard with Bosa!!

Of course, he is no where near the others in his class but Bosa came into 1st grade knowing how to read, write, do simple math, and yes, use the bathroom on his own (which I am very thankful for)!! :) lol

As you can see from the pictures, Bosa is quite the character!

He was the one that brought excitement to our classroom every day!!

His autism, of course, set him apart from the rest of the class in his academics but the other children always treated him right and normal. They had such a love for him. Even though it was VERY obvious he was different than them, as well as, a couple of years older.

It was such a joy to see this.

When Bosa would have a "Bosa moment"...instead of laughing at him, it was almost like they understood.

They would look at me and smile, as if to say, ya we know..it's Bosa!

They loved him so much and he loved them!!!

This made part of my job much easier!

I don't even know where to begin on the struggle that I had with Bosa this year.

First off, the positive is that he is a very lovable kid.

He is happy and wants to be good and obey and responds very well when you discipline him!
He ALWAYS wanted to please me, if he thought I was at all upset with him he would get these HUGE tears in his eyes and say.."I'm sorry Mrs. Balatbat."..in the sweetest little voice!

But he does have autism.

The REAL autism!

I say that because some people will use "autism" as a label for their child that has serious discipline issues and isn't truly autistic!

Bosa is definitely autistic.

This was the first encounter I had with personally dealing with an autistic person one on one.

When I first was told about him, before I met him, I was very very nervous!
It was going to be my first year teaching and as if that pressure and stress isn't enough...

I was also getting an autistic child in my first group of kids.

I know God did that on purpose.

Bosa taught me SO many things but the biggest lesson that I learned was true PATIENCE!

I spent 8 hours a day for the past nine months with Bosa and I wouldn't trade a second of it.

Even the times when he would roll his eyes and cross his arms and pout...
...or...
the time when I left the room for something right after I had disciplined him and I came back in to the entire class telling me that while I was away..Bosa had said very loudly..."STUPID TEACHER!"
ha, yes, this did happen!
....or....

when I would give him some type of instruction and his answer would be...

"WHHATTT??" lol

Yes, he did have these moments...but the hardest thing to work with was getting him to concentrate.

If you have had any interaction with an autistic person you know that keeping them focused on one thing for a long period of time is very very hard!

This is when the true patience came in.

Day after day, class after class, minute after minute...my job was to make sure this little boy was learning and in order to learn he had to pay attention to me and listen and then take out his class work and focus on each and every part.

Maybe this sounds simple, but with an autistic person...this is FAR from simple!

For the entire first semester and into the second, until about the beginning of March, I saw very little improvement with Bosa.

It was very very frustrating.
I honestly, was to the point of just wanting to back off and not push him to do more and do his best...in a way, I wanted to give up!

I kept thinking, I am pushing and pushing this little boy to learn and what if he CAN'T??
I remember one day in our Teacher's meeting, the principal asked if any of us had anything we wanted to talk about and I basically laid it all out there.
I don't think any one of the teacher's knew what a struggle I was having.
It was really really bothering me..
I would have moments when I would have a session with Bosa and I would go back to my desk and I would actually start to cry.
It just seemed like he wasn't getting it....any of it!!

The afternoon after I had the "breakdown" in teacher's meeting. lol
Our principal came to my class after school and we had a great talk! Probably for about 2 hours.
Btw, just a little interjection...the principal at our school is THE BEST!!!
Honestly, I wish every school could have such a great principal and I wish everyone of you had such a great boss! What a good man his is! His heart is totally in it and he loves the Lord!!! He's the real deal!!

Anyhow, during our "Bosa" chat...he basically spent the entire time encouraging me through Scripture and his own life experiences. I went away from that refreshed.
I spent the next several days whenever I had a chance...just praying for Bosa.
No, I'm not going to say that the next day Bosa was totally different and I never had a struggle again...but I know that the Lord gave me an extra amount of patience and from there on out I did see a big change.
The last three months of school were so different. It was like he really had been taking things in all year and he finally started to show me!

I was so proud of him!
Ask anyone, especially my Mom. She was my Bosa go-to person.
She knows every Bosa story...I would even text her during the day if the story was so funny I just couldn't wait! lol
Bosa, is a very special little boy! I really really hope that I had a part in "molding" him this year.

At the end of the year I was informed that Bosa's father had a received a job in TX and they would be moving.
When I heard this, I was so sad! I had already been looking forward to another year with him and thinking/strategizing on how I would teach him some of the more challenging things in second grade.
I have just been praying that his parents get him into a Christian school with a teacher that really cares!
I know he could be a great man someday! He has so much potential! :)

I am sorry this was such a long post and I hope you weren't bored throughout it, but I really wanted to share Bosa with you all. He holds a special place in my heart and I hope I had an impact on him because....

he sure had one on me!!

2011-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

One year ago....

We stood in a beautiful church and promised each other the rest of our lives!!

It's been such a great first year!

There have been sad times, happy times, difficult times, fun times and everything in between!

Sometimes when I think of our first year it seems like it flew by...then others it feels like we have been through so much together and I love him so much more everyday that how could it have only been a year ago?!

He truly is the best husband in the world. I am so spoiled!

He treats me with respect, and love and is always doing things that he knows will make me happy!

But he also is such a leader. He guides me in the right way, helping me make the right decisions, always being there to support me/us and our little family! :)

He is my best friend and my biggest fan!

I love him with all my heart and that love grows and grows each and every day!

He is my man and I get to spend the rest of my life being his girl!!!!

He makes me the happiest girl in the world!

Happy First Anniversary Babe, I love you so much!

Thank you for an amazing first year, I can't wait to celebrate the next 50+ with you as well!

Love summer days!

2011-06-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

We went for a nice walk in the park today!!

Just thought I'd share a couple pictures.

Julian loves his new toy, the Iphone 4 so we tried out a couple of new apps that we found!

Ok, I'll admit it..I'm loving his new toy too!! ;)

We have had so much extra time together for the past couple of weeks and it's been great!

It's all about to end though because even though I have the rest of the summer off, Julian will be going back to school starting Tuesday. On top of working his normal night shift...yep, so unfortunately there won't be much more quality time this summer! :(

So we are going to just really enjoy this last weekend together before it gets crazy!

Julian is taking me for a little get-a-way for our 1st Anniversary (which is Saturday)!!

Getting very excited!!

I'm SO happy to announce....

2011-06-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Friday evening a very best friend of mine, Michelle,
became a BRIDE-TO-BE!!!!

I am just beyond happy for her.

She was the Maid of Honor in our wedding and it just makes me so happy that I will be standing up on that very same platform with her on her day as well!!! :)

To me, Michelle is that friend who has always always been there!

We grew up together and our entire childhood we were best buddies! We have so many memories..I would never be able to write about all of them...but here are a few...

Having slumber parties at each other houses, sharing our twin beds and giggling long into the night.

Being together when her family went through the horrible time of losing their home in a fire.

Countless birthday parties.

Being together the day when I was in a horrible accident...and Michelle always visiting me and wanting to stay with me and push me in my wheel chair, the entire summer.

Countless hours spent playing on the school playground after school! (Both of our Mom's worked in the school office, so we would play together until they got off of work)

In high school, being inseparable and being able to share anything and everything with each other.
Through college, always being the constant, never changing, faithful friend.

Michelle is a friend that I can honestly say I don't think that we have ever had a fight!!
Seriously, we just get each other. Most of the time, we don't even need to say anything.
She is the friend that I can make eye contact at across the room and I know exactly what she is thinking without ever discussing it.

Michelle and I had the awesome opportunity to teach in the same school together out here in California for this entire past school year!
How crazy is that?!

My best friend and I, 2000 miles away from home, get to teach in the same school!!

When I moved out here to CA after getting married, on one hand, I was SO excited to start my life and new family with Julian, but on the other hand....
It was one of the saddest times in my life.
That may sound weird and I don't really think that anyone can imagine the feeling unless you have lived it.
I was/am always always homesick.
I never realized how much of a "homebody" I was until I came to California. I said all that to say, that having Michelle here in California with me was, I truly believe, a gift from God.
That may sound totally cheesy, but it's honestly the truth!
God allowed me to have my childhood best friend here with me for this first year. It allowed me to ALWAYS have a little piece of home. There was always someone there that knew exactly how I was thinking, where I was coming from, and someone that knows ME as a person so well, my best friend!
What a blessing!!
I am so thankful for that!

About this last year, wow, I just can't explain how great it's been for our friendship!
It's so great, because now we are both adults, living our own lives but we have this solid friendship that goes back to when we were children.
We made SO many memories this past year.

We did all our class field trips together.
We had a blast coaching the high school girls Volleyball team together!

Everyday one of us would be in the other's classroom sharing a story...

So many hilarious moments in our teacher's meetings (we have them everyday) funny things are bound to happen...especially when you have our boss!!
I think just about everyday, Michelle would kick me really hard under the table during these meetings.
Many times, we couldn't make eye contact or else we would crack up!

We had many many shopping trips.
Nights at our house having dinner and relaxing!
So many conversations, about spiritual decisions, discipline issues with our kids, the right/wrong way to deal with a fellow peer, laughing our heads off about certain school situations.

My favorite part of the day at school, was just about every evening we would wait for each other and we would walk to our cars together and discuss that certain day or certain situations...
I didn't realize it then...but those are the times when I look back at them and think...
Wow, what a GREAT friend I have in her.
We totally, completely get each other!
I honestly don't think you get many friendships like that in a lifetime.

So, now you know (maybe too well :) ha! how I feel about Michelle and what a great friend she is....
Maybe you can see how EXCITED I am for her and her upcoming wedding!!!
I love her fiance', he truly is a great man, and I am so happy for the two of them!
Although, I am so sad that she will be leaving me here in California, I, once again, am soooo sooo thankful for this past year that we have had together!
I will always always always remember our memories and I know that Michelle and I truly have a....
LIFELONG friendship!
I can't wait to celebrate her wedding...but first....we have A LOT of planning to do!!!!
Bring it on, I LOVE weddings!!!

It's been awhile, I know! :)

2011-06-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have so much to blog about and I have no idea where to start.
For the last two months life has been pretty hectic!
Starting with the end of school that was not only exciting but very very busy!
In the last three weeks of school we crammed in our
annual Spring Auction,
our 1st-6th grade Spring Program,
a fun but stressful Field Trip,
THREE Graduations
a school wide Field Day
....and in between all of that...
the end of the year rush to get all assignments done, classrooms cleaned, grades graded!!!

From school, we jumped right into our exciting summer.
Starting with my bestie, Nicole, coming to visit us two days after school ended!

What a great great time we had!! Seriously, we took so many pictures, laughed constantly, talked and talked and talked and made memories that will last for such a long time!!

It was so fun showing her our life and our beautiful state of California!

The day before Nicole left my Mom arrived in CA and was followed a few days later by my Daddy! :)

I can't even tell you in words how great it was to have them here!

My parents are two of my best friends and spending this time with them was so great!

It was fun to have my Dad with us right before his birthday and Father's Day. It made it a little easier when I couldn't see him on those special days! :)

Since they left, Julian and I have been keeping busy with day to day things.
We have a few slow weeks coming up and then the mid/end of the summer will be filled with Craft camp at our church, a Bridal shower, and a couple special family members who will be visiting us near the end of the summer!! Along with getting ready for the school year!

I have been so bad at keeping up with the blogging world! I feel way behind! I need to catch up on all of my favorite blogs..and... hopefully it won't take another 2 months till my next post!

so thankful she is mine...

2011-05-08T00:02:00.000-07:00

It's Mother's Day!

The day that we set aside to honor the person who brought us into this world.

The one who molded us into who and what we are today.

God allowed me to have an amazing Mom!

Sometimes I think of all the other situations I could have been born into. It makes me grateful beyond words because God gave me to the most wonderful parents in the world!

It honestly humbles me.

I believe it must of been around the time when I was old enough to buy things for my Mom (on her birthday/mother's day) when I first had these thoughts. I clearly remember being in the store looking for the card to buy for my Mom and I would see these cards that would go on and on about how their Mom was now their best friend and they love being able to share everything...etc..etc...

I remember thinking....
Who in the world is ever best friend's with their MOM??!!

As a teenager, especially, this really baffled me! :)

Mom's just aren't the normal teenager's best friend. lol Even in my younger college years I could just never relate to this kind of relationship.

I realize now that these cards are probably NEVER purchased by teenagers. lol

You know, there is something about marriage that really changes you.

I'm not saying that people that don't get married until they are older aren't able to mature and become an true adult, but honestly when you get married EVERYTHING changes.

One of the biggest things is your relationship with your parents.

They are still your parents but they aren't responsible for you anymore. They aren't the ones that you "fall back on." Now you have your spouse. It's NOT all about you anymore, you have another person to think of.
It sort of "forces" you to become an adult!

After I got married, my relationship with my Mom really changed.

It started changing in the year before I actually got married but that probably had to do with the fact that I did a lot of growing up that year.

My Mom had to do less and less "parenting" and started becoming my friend.

When I was a teenager if you would have came to me and told me that my Mom and I would have the relationship we have today. I would have probably laughed at you.

Now, I wouldn't trade the world for the close relationship we have.

She is my best friend.

Thank you Mom.....

* for everything you ever have and will teach me

* for all the advice you give

* for showing by your example what a being a GREAT wife is

* for passing down your sarcastic personality! :)

* for teaching me about being a true friend

*for encouraging me

* for constantly making me laugh

* for your prayers

* for giving me the huge goal to try and be the kind of Mother you were to us

* for giving of yourself completely in everything that you do

* for being "hard" on us when we were younger because you wanted to make us the best we could be

* for teaching me to be a hard worker

* for listening to me talk and talk and talk on the phone :)

* for showing by example what it's like to have a true relationship with God

* for officially being....

my role model,

THE person I aspire to be most like! :)

I love you, Mom!

This is our first Mother's Day apart.
I miss you so much and REALLY wish we could be together today!
Happy Mother's Day

Like Mother..Like Daughter...

2011-05-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

It's Memory Thursday and since this is Mother's Day week, I thought it fitting to give a memory of my Mom! :)

People that know my Mom and I repeatedly tell us how similar we are. In facial expressions and mannerisms and the way we talk or tell stories. Well, since getting married and moving away I often find myself doing things just like my Mom or saying something to one of my kids at school that my Mom used to say to us.

It's kind of scary at times!

I think, oh NO!!! My MOTHER would have said that!!!! :)

But then I think....I can't think of anyone else I would rather be like than my Mom!!! :)

Love this picture..just a snapshot taken by a friend on my wedding day of Mom and I waiting in between poses. Yes we really do act alike! :)

Well, growing up it was a continual family joke that whenever we would all drive somewhere together my Mom would constantly be the "passenger seat driver." It wasn't just a little thing. It happened ALL the time!!

Dad would be driving and Mom (very dramatically) would warn him of the car ahead that stepped on the brakes...or of a green light that was turning yellow...or of a car that would change lanes quickly and cut Dad off! Usually her dramatic warning would consist of her hand FLYING across and slapping Dad's leg and usually we would hear....
"STEVE!!"
or
"THAT CAR!!!!"
or
"DAD"
or most of the time...
just a very loud....
"GASP!!!"
haha...every time it happened we would all laugh!!!
Dad usually made some joke about how he wondered how he had NEVER gotten in a car wreck when she wasn't with him because without her "warnings" he definitely should have already had many many near death experiences!! :)

Well friends, here I am with my own husband now....
and he will attest that one of the most irritating things I do is when I am the "passenger seat driver!"
It's BAD! I find myself doing it all the time!
Usually using the EXACT same phrases that would come out of my Mom's mouth...and of course,
I also do the "hand flying over and slapping his leg" thing too! :)

What can I say..How can I stop myself?!?
After all, I WAS trained by the best! :)
Love you Mom! Thanks for rubbing off on me!
By the way, it's nice to be able to use my Mom as an excuse when I get a look from Julian.
I say "I'm sorry! I get that from my MOM!!"
He can't be mad after that...he would never say anything negative about his Mother in-law! ;)

Spring Break Road Trip!!

2011-05-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Today was "back to reality" day for me.

I have spent the last week and a half enjoying one of THE best Spring Break's ever!!

A few weeks back my wonderful husband, all on his own, decided to take me on a road trip to see some very dear friends of mine that live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I was shocked when he brought it up! We had been throwing some ideas back and forth of what we could do on our break (he had already requested this week off as one of his vacation weeks also).

One night we were driving and out of the blue he says, "I want to take you to Salt Lake."

I said..."WHAT?! Really!!!"

I was SO excited! I have two really great friends there in SLC!!

One, is my good friend Tab who I grew up, she was one of my bridesmaid and teaches in a Christian school there in UT. The other is my sweet friend Courtney. I have known Courtney for a long time but it wasn't until last fall that Court and I became super close. One day we started chatting back and forth and we just never stopped. She is now one of my best friends!! I was so excited to see her since it would be the first time we would be together since our friendship has grown!!

Have I mentioned that I have the best husband on the planet?!?! :)

I DO!!!!

So, we took off on Sunday evening and drove a few hours then stopped and finished the trip on Monday.

We arrived in beautiful Salt Lake on Monday afternoon and stayed until Thursday morning.

My friend Tab, had been in Michigan seeing her (now fiance) David and was supposed to return on Monday p.m. but due to plane issues she didn't come in till Tuesday afternoon.

Here are some pictures of us on our "road trip". We had a lot of fun on the "road"!!

Monday night we had a great time being introduced to the SLC area!!

We were also introduced to Courtney's "special someone", Matt! We spent the evening getting to know each other and "bonding" over Mexican food, a drive in the mountains, and bowling!!

It was so fun to "double date"!

Our guys got along very well and are actually a lot a like which just made the night so much better!!

Tuesday, we spent the day shopping and doing girl things like a trip to the nail salon!! Julian just came along for the ride. It's times like these that I'm so happy I married a guy that grew up in a house full of girls!! :) He is very understanding (most of the time) when it comes to shopping etc...

Tab also returned on this day!! It was very nice to see her again!!!

Tuesday night, Courtney's parents had us over for dinner. It was a nice relaxing evening and we had a great time eating, laughing and playing games!!

Wednesday was such a beautiful day!!!! It was sunny with clear skies. Tab had to teach all day so Courtney took us through more of Salt Lake. We did a "drive by" of the Mormon Temple and the Capitol building.

Isn't this just a gorgeous place!?! Look at those mountains!!!

We took a walk in the park and just relaxed enjoying the time together.

Wednesday night we were able to see several old friends that all attend Courtney and Tab's church.

It was great to catch up and see people we haven't seen in a while!!

Not to be repetitive, BUT it was truly a GREAT trip! We had a such a wonderful time.

Thanks to my two awesome friends who "put up with us" and showed us their amazing city!

We would love to come back again soon!!!! Thanks friends for making it a memorable Spring Break!!
Miss you girls already! :)

Thank you Jesus!!

2011-04-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

GLORIOUS DAY!!!!

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,

One day when sin was as black as could be,

Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin—

Dwelt among men, my example is He!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever:

One day He's coming—O glorious day!

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain,

One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;

Suffering anguish, despised and rejected;

Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He.

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever:

One day He's coming—O glorious day!

One day they left Him alone in the garden,

One day He rested, from suffering free;

Angels came down o'er His tomb to keep vigil;

Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He.

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever:

One day He's coming—O glorious day!

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,

One day the stone rolled away from the door;

Then He arose, over death He had conquered;

Now is ascended, my Lord evermore.

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever:

One day He's coming—O glorious day!

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,

One day the skies with His glory will shine;

Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;

Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever:

One day He's coming—O glorious day!

Happy Easter! Let's not forget the REAL reason to celebrate!

I'm actually going to do this...

2011-04-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I have made a BIG decision....

I have decided to join my friend Nicole on her quest to make Thursday's "Memory" Day on our blogs.

It's definitely a big commitment for me..:)...but I think it will be good for my blogging life! ha! It will require me to post at least once a week!! :) Also, I will feel like I have something to post about.

That is my biggest problem with my blog. Hence the reason I have not posted in awhile. I just cannot bring myself to do a post if I don't really have anything to say! The main reason for my blog is to be able to show my family and friends (that all live so far away) bits and pieces of my life. It's nice to be able to share pictures etc...I feel like it makes us more connected! I remember when I first started a blog, my Dad just didn't get it.

He would say....

"I don't understand, why do people have blogs??? What makes people think that other people really care about what they have to say? Isn't that being just a little self consumed??" :)
Gotta love my Dad... he is SO good at telling it like it is! :)

I have to say I TOTALLY agree with him though...he IS a pretty smart man!!! I assured him I wouldn't be one of those bloggers..lol..I think it made him feel a little better about it! :)

So anyway, the reason I haven't posted is because my life has just been the normal busy life of a wife/school teacher lately! The end of the school year is a busy time! We do still have our Spring Break though! It starts tomorrow at NOON and we don't come back to school until May 2nd!! I am ready for this little break before the last 4 weeks of the year!

But back to the main reason for this post....

Every Thursday I will be posting a memory. I'm sure some of you know I am a HUGE scrapbooker so I am a BIG fan of keeping memories alive!!

So, when my close friend, Nicole decided HERE to do this, I called her up and said..."I want in on this one!" :)

I have been blessed with a pretty great life so far and I look forward to looking back at memories..good/bad/crazy and everything in between and sharing them on here!

So...stay tuned...here we go...

p.s..Since I just introduced this this week and didn't post a memory I think I will dedicate my Dad's very nice, loving and straight to the point "opinion" of the blog world as this weeks memory! :)

haha, I love you Dad..and your welcome, your voice has finally been heard!!!! :)

Reunited....after all this time!!!

2011-03-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

A while back I did I did a post about a dear friend of mine Julie.

I told you all about our friendship/history and then announced that she was expecting her first child!

Well, last weekend I found out that she was coming to Sacramento to visit her parents (which live there now).

We weren't sure if it was going to work because their visit would be short but we wanted to try to see each other.

Well.....I GOT TO SEE HER!!!!!

It was the first time I have seen her in 3 1/2 years!!! It was SO good!!

Ok, that last time I saw her was on her wedding day! I can't believe how we still look so much alike!!

I remember the night of her rehearsal I was standing talking to some people and her Dad came up behind me and put his arm around me and said "Hey Jewels, Do you...." I turned as he was talking and he said..."Oh, you aren't Julie!" :)

We always did look like sisters and I think we still do! :)

It was so nice that our husbands FINALLY got to meet!!!!

It's so funny because we are so much a like and our husbands are so much alike! It didn't dawn on me till today. Julie and I will talk and talk and talk...non stop!! Our husbands, just sit and listen! haha!

I guess that is a good thing! If the husband and wife both talk a lot...there would be some issues! :)

Oh, and I got to see her with her baby belly!!!! :) I was so excited about that! I have always loved baby bellies but since she is the first "close" friend to have one....well, let me just say...I would never ask anyone other than a close friend to touch their baby belly! I kept telling her, after I found out I would see her, I CAN'T WAIT to touch your belly!!! haha, It was only fair to give her warning!! :)

So, here is a pic with the belly!!! :)

I love Julie's face...she has the opposite feeling about her belly! :)

Plans are being made to make a trip to Oregon to see Jason and Julie again!

I'm so excited about that!

They are expecting their baby GIRL to arrive the first week of June!!!

Her name will be....Alayna Joy Gardner! :) So sweet!

I am hoping to go spend a few days with her a few weeks after the baby comes!!

It's HER day!!!!!!

2011-03-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

It's March 15th!!

Do you know what that means?

To me, it means that a very dear friend of mine will be celebrating her 24th birthday today!!

Happy Birthday,

Nicole Elizabeth LaBate!!!!!!!

I so wish I could be with her to help celebrate her birthday but since I can't...

I just wanted to give her a shout out from my blog! :)

Thanks for being a best friend Nicole, you have no idea how much you mean to me!!

Nicole and I...well how shall I say it?? We go WAY WAY back!! :)
Like we met right after I was born....in the church nursery!!! :) It was special!! haha, well, I can't say I remember it exactly, but I'm sure it was special!!!! :)
We probably didn't like each other in the nursery...or maybe we did...
That was kind of how our younger years went. Some may call it a love/hate relationship.
Sometimes we LOVED each other and others...well, you get the point! :)

No, really, during our elementary days, we were buds!! Best buds!!! :)
The kind of friends that you made secret clubs with and told each other your deepest darkest secrets.
Because we all know that 4th graders have very deep and dark secrets!!! :)
And...we DID have a club...although I believe I am still supposed to keep the name of it a secret!!! :)
There were only 3 members and still to this day NONE of us will tell you what went down in our 'club'!!
(most likely because we don't remember...but that's besides the point) :)

Anyway, moving on into Jr. high and high school is when our friendship wasn't very strong.
We were "friends" but not as close... I don't really remember much of our relationship but basically we just had our own group of friends and didn't do much 'hanging out' during these years.
I know we had some drama too but honestly can't remember much of that either!! But that is how all high school drama is..seems really important then but you can barely remember it a few years down the road!

College came and we still ran in different 'groups'..no drama during this time but just didn't really have a relationship. Until Nicole's senior year (she was a year ahead of me.)

Nicole was placed on my father's bus route (a ministry of our church that picks up children and brings them to Sunday School each week). I had the job of driving our mini van to the outskirts of our 'route' and bringing children to the bus. Nicole was chosen to be my partner and ride with me every Sunday morning and afternoon. This is when our relationship changed! I am so so glad it did!
We spent so many hours for the next (almost) 2 years riding in that van. We talked and talked and talked and laughed and laughed and just became SO close!! She went from being just a girl I grew up with to being my best friend! I will always always look back on that time and be so thankful that we had the opportunity to share that!

During my senior year, I got engaged and started the long process of preparing for the wedding!

Nicole, honestly was the friend that was always always there! Not that my other bridesmaids didn't care and do a ton to help too but because she was there as in literally, most of the others in my bridal party had all moved away by this time, she was involved in all of it. She just went above and beyond!!

She always listened to me talk and talk and talk and talk....I'm sure I was so annoying sometimes!!
You know, when I think back at that time, she was such a great example of a SELFLESS friend, which is what a true friend really is, because if you are selfish in a friendship...it won't be a long lasting one.

Those of you that know her know this, but Nicole is single and isn't dating anyone and wasn't during that entire time of wedding planning. Yet she was just so genuinely excited for me and wanted to be completely involved in everything!! It would have been so easy for her to get maybe a little tired of all the wedding talk etc...but this is just NOT her. She is a great example of a giving, selfless person.
I'm so honored to be a close friend to her!

The wedding came and went and she has continued to be this kind of friend.
You know, when Julian and I came back from our honeymoon and I had a few days to say "goodbye" to all of those people that I love back home.
Honestly, besides my actual family, Nicole was my hardest goodbye! :(
I remember being sick to my stomach after saying goodbye to her. It was very very hard!

I'm so so so thankful for our friendship.
Basically, to sum it up...in the last (almost 9 months), the 2000 miles apart hasn't done any "damage" to our friendship. For me, it's just shown me who and what a real friend is. The distance doesn't matter. We are still so so close! We talk all the time. I know she is always just a text or call or skype away!!

So, Nicole, on your birthday, I just wanted to say....
Thanks for being a true friend. Always honest with me, always ready to tell me straight what you think whether you think I'll like it or not, always giving of yourself, just a REAL friend!
Love you girl!
Happy 24th Birthday!!!
Hope your day is amazing and this year is even better!!!

I've just had a few things going on....

2011-03-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

My life has been busy the last few weeks....which is my excuse for being the horrible blogger that I have been! It seems to have slowed back down to normal the last few days, which is usually when I start to feel guilty about neglecting my blog! :) So, here I am, back to posting!

Right after returning from my trip to Indiana our little school and church went through a rough time.

Actually, I think that it all started when I was away....

but one by one...people started to get sick.

I mean nasty sick! The worst kind of stomach flu! It was pretty crazy how fast and how much it spread!

Let's just say...my respect for germs grew A LOT!

It was BAD...that is just the best word I can use to describe it!

I am pretty sure about 80% of our church members were sick with it at different times during the two weeks that it went around! Then it was in the school too...Five out of my thirteen little ones had it at some point, as well as many other students in other classes.... :(

Our principal (his entire fam except his wife), our school secretary, 3 out of the 4 elementary teachers and several spouses all got this nasty thing! :( I thought I had made it through without catching it but no such luck...I was one of the last people that did get it and I can definitely testify to it's nastiness!!

It seems to have cleared up though and no one else has gotten sick in the last week! Which is good!

So, we all learned some good lessons about cleanliness, washing hands, and disinfecting and that when you are sick...

STAY HOME!!!! haha, DON'T COME TO SCHOOL!!!!!

Well, we all came from being sick and tried to regain our strength and start last week....

which just happened to be THE BUSIEST WEEK OF THE YEAR for our school!

Yeah, the sickness had bad timing!

Last Friday, March 4, was our annual Spring Academic Competition!

The whole school spends the entire day competing in many different areas!

Let me just say, this being my first year being apart of it.....I WAS IMPRESSED!

At the church I grew up in we did some competing against many other schools/church's at our Preaching Conference every year but NOTHING compared to this! Back home, we competed in speech and music mainly but here they compete in EVERYTHING!!

Math, Bible, History, Spelling, Speech (stories/preaching), Home Ec (cooking and sewing), Art..which includes a TON of things...Photography, Crafts, Needle Work, Painting, Drawing...then of course there was Music (solo's, groups, instruments, piano), and then there were physical things, like running (sprints and long distance) and Chess, Ping Pong and Basketball. Sounds a little overwhelming, huh?!

That's what I thought too...

It was a great day and a lot of fun!! Everyone was involved from 1st - 12th grade!! We spent the last several months getting ready for the different events and the kids were really excited about competing in their events!

My little ones, for speech, all memorized different poems and they did such a great job!! Some of them played the piano or chess and ping pong... and they all took the Academic test and were part of the spelling bee! What a great experience for each of the kids to get to participate in these events!
Let me just brag a minute and say... for being a small school....some of our kids/teens have some pretty amazing talent!!! Especially the older ones....our music department is pretty great!!!

Another great part of the day was the parents participation! Seriously, I love our parents! I feel like I say that every time I do a post about school but they never cease to amaze me!
Many parents came out and spent the entire day at the school helping in whatever way possible!
Honestly, without them there is no way we could have done everything!
They judged different events, helped watch the kids that weren't involved in anything, tallied all the judging forms and got the rewards all ready for the award ceremony, helped make and hand out the hot lunch, graded the test... and on and on and on! It was just really amazing how great they were/are!!!

So, after the super long school day, we all went home only to return that evening for a Choir/Band Concert done by the Jr. High and High school.

It was so beautiful! I love how classy P. Sutton makes these concerts!
They all dress in Black and White and they guys wear a Tuxedo shirt, cummerbund and bow tie!
They looked so sharp!

After the concert we had the Grand Prize Award Ceremony!

Then ended the day by auctioning off the Home Ec desserts that were entered into the competition!

A VERY VERY long day at Bethel Christian Academy but what a great time it was!!!

So, that wraps up all my excuses for not being the best blogger...oh wait, did I mention that I am also Co-Volleyball Coach and we are in the middle of our Volleyball Season right now?!? ... ok, I'm done making excuses.. :)
You will be hearing from me again soon!!

I just LOVE going home!

2011-02-23T23:16:00.000-08:00

Last week at this time Julian and I were rushing around doing our last minute packing for our trip back to Indiana! We left for the airport Thursday morning at 4:30 a.m. as soon as Julian got home from work (he has a midnight shift). We landed in Chicago around 1:30 p.m. and our busy weekend started!

To start I would like to talk about the real reason for our visit to Indiana...

Tyler and Mary

On Friday, February 18, Tyler Brock and Mary Johnson became...

Mr and Mrs Tyler Brock!!!!

These two people are separately and together two of Julian and I's dearest friends.

Mary and I go way back. We have been friends basically since her family moved back to the United States after being missionaries in Mexico. If I remember correctly that was in the 4th or 5th grade.

Throughout Jr. high and high school Mary and I were very very close!! She is one of those friends that never changes. She is constant and she has such a sweet heart and is just an all around selfless person!

Tyler and Julian didn't meet until college and even then didn't really have a close friendship until the end of our sophomore year. When Julian and Tyler are together they are something else...they can constantly make you laugh! I know that Julian is very thankful for the friendship that Tyler and he have..it's one that I know will last a very long time!!

As couples, Tyler and Mary and Julian and I did A LOT together. Especially during our last two years of college when our relationships were heading the same direction and our relationships were both getting to be serious. When we went on group dates, Tyler and Mary were always there...we had countless lunch dates together in the school cafeteria. They were the couple that we always paired up with...

So, we just HAD to come to Indiana to see our dear friends married off!!

Plus, my handsome husband had the honor of standing by his friend at the altar as his Best Man!

Here are some pics from the special night!

Us with the happy couple!

Mary was a beautiful bride!

Feeding each other the cake at the reception!

Nice Tyler..just rub it all over her face!! :)

Going in for another Kiss! aww..

Leaving the reception!!

The Bridal Party looking on as they kiss!

Groom and his Groomsmen!

Bride and her Bridesmaids!

Like I said before, Mary and I were very close in high school but we weren't the only two in our little group!

Sarah, Michelle, Mary and I were a foursome!!! We all have grown up and it's so hard to believe that three out of the four of us are married!!! Where does the time go? But it is so nice to know that although we aren't as close as we once were, we are all still friends!! I know the four of us will always have a special friendship!!!

Michelle was not able to make it to the wedding..seeing as we teach in the same school out here in CA...they couldn't let both of us get off for the trip..:( but she was in this picture in spirit! :)

...here are the three of us that are married women! Now, we just need Michelle to join us! ;)

Here are some other random pictures from the wedding I thought you may enjoy!

Having fun with the Swangims!

Getting ready to finish up these pictures!!! Can you see it on their faces?? They were ready to be done!

Love this one of Mary with her nephews and niece!!!!

Soo adorable!

And this is too precious...Mary saying bye to her ring bearer!

Us!

One more of the sweet newlyweds!

Although the main purpose for the visit was the wedding...we were also able to fit several other fun things in!

Friday afternoon, while Julian was doing Best Man things, my dear best friend Nicole and I spent the entire afternoon together! I miss her so much way out here in California....it's really not fair that we live SO far apart!! Over the past, (almost 8 months..can you believe it?!?!) since we got married, Nicole and I have stayed very close! I am thankful for that!!

We decide to spend our afternoon traveling to IL to check out a store that one of our other best friends had discovered and raved about!!! Let me just say....this place was AWESOME!!

Actually you can read more the store at Nicole's blog!!

We had a wonderful time doing what we do best....TALKING and SHOPPING!!!! :)

I miss my in person time with Nicole..she is such an incredible friend!

Here's a little peak at the store!

Happy to be shopping and doing it together...it had been too long!!

Another part of Nicole and I's friendship that is great is that our families have become very good friends as well...so we couldn't be in Indiana without spending time with the whole fam!

After the wedding on Friday night the LaBate's came over to my parents house and we had a wonderful time with them!!!

LaBate girls and I!

Last (but far from least) was the great time we spent with Dad and Mom!!!!!

I love them so much!

We had such an awesome time with them!!!

Eating / Shopping

Laughing

Just being together again!

I love them so much!

We spent our last evening, Sunday after church, out with some great friends!!!

here are a few pictures that I snapped!

Us with Andrea and Dustin (another couple that Julian and I were college friends with)...with Mr and Mrs E...in the background!

Here are the Leslie kids...leaving an empty space for Sharon...:)
We missed you Sharon!

I am so glad that we were able to take this little trip back! I love seeing all the people that I grew up with and that all had a part in my those years! I love my home church and even though it hasn't been extremely long since I have lived at home...it is so refreshing to come back and visit!!!

So....I am definitely looking forward to next time....

Hopefully soon....unless.....ALL of you back home just want to come see me!!! :)

It's only fair......we should take turns!!!

I heart my Valentine!

2011-02-13T22:28:00.000-08:00

I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I get to celebrate my Valentine's Day with the sweetest, handsomest, most loving man on the planet!!

I love him! :)

February 13th and 14th are both very special days for us!

Because... on February 13th - four years ago - is when our relationship officially started!!

It was not a planned "date" but it was definitely the start so we consider it our "anniversary!"

But back to him.....

I could go on and on about him...

here are a few things I would like to share with you about MY VALENTINE:

...he is funny (in a corny way, which I love)...

...he is very very sweet...

...he is selfless (ALWAYS thinks of me before himself)....

...he loves the Lord with all his heart...

...he leads me in the right way (when my stubborn self might not want to do that certain thing)...

...he is so smart in handling financial things ( I know that may sound small...but I know I am lucky in that area...there are many guys that are not like that)...

...he gives GREAT hugs! :)...

...he gets interested in the things I am interested in (b/c he knows they make me happy)...

...one of his best friends is his 16 year old sister (I love that he cares for her so much despite the age difference etc...this is something I know will be passed down to our children)...

...he is so close to his family...

...he talks about having kids all the time (I think it is so cute when he refers to our kids!)...

...he takes me to the mall whenever I want!!!! :)...

...he loves my family! (WHO WOULDN'T"T!?!?) lol...

...he is very dedicated to our church...

...he knows how to help me get my mind off the stresses of teaching kids all day long when I come home at night...

...he works so hard at his job...

...he LOVES to cook (which if you know me..that's a very good thing! :)

...I could go on and on...:)

but last of all and most importantly....

...he loves me with all his heart...

and

...he tell me he loves me all the time...

...my Valentine is not perfect...

...but he is perfect for me!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day, love!!

Science/History Fair

2011-02-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Bethel Christian Academy had it's annual Science/History Fair recently!

The lower Elementary, Jr. High and High Schooler's all do a science project and display the results on this night. While the 4th-6th graders do history projects.

The younger grades don't make individual projects (b/c of the obvious reasons like...they can barely color in the lines let alone come up with a science project and then make a display showing it off). No, what happens is....

The teacher makes it!!!!!!

That's me..by the way! :)

I was a little nervous about my first science project (as a teacher)...but it turned out great!

Since the "theme" of my classroom this year was flowers...I decided that our science project would go along with it!

All during the month of January I took Science class and taught on plants.

Anything and everything about plants.

The first week back I went out and bought pots, dirt and grass seed (I didn't want to grow flowers...I was just a little scared that they might not grow in January)

They painted their pots and we planted their grass seed and we waited......

I was just slightly worried when almost two weeks into it....there was no sign of grass!

But one day, it happened!! It started growing and by the time our Science Fair arrived....

our grass was SO tall!!!

I have never been accused of having a "green thumb" but I can grow a pot of grass!!!!

The kids were so excited about showing their parents our project! I was excited to get it over with....:)

This was the after noon before the big night! We set up our project together before they got out of school!!

Here is our board!!

The main thing that they learned was all the different parts to a flower and the reason for each part!

I made it so that the labels to the different parts could come off and on. We had major girl/boy competition matching the the label to the correct parts!! The kids learned a lot and had tons of fun in the mean time!!

I do have to give the kids credit on their awesome job making "grass" with construction paper to go along the bottom!! I was very proud of how it turned out..and of course so were they!!

Their very own pot of grass was of course the MAIN highlight!!

You see, unlike the Midwesterners, California people don't have huge lawns filled with nice green grass.

Actually, some of the kids were in all seriousness telling their parents that they wanted to replant their pot of grass at home out side their house!! :)

Of course, the rest of the school had some really great displays too...but having the bias that I do...

I still think ours was the best!! :)

Some of the highschoolers..

5th and 6th graders room

Here is one of my favorites...second of course to ours..:)

but seriously, I thought this was an incredible replica of the Golden Gate Bridge!!
Check it out!!

It was an all around great night at Bethel!

I love these open house nights that we have....

its such a great time with the families....

even though I see them every day it's just a more relaxed setting when you really get to talk more and get to know more about each other!! I'm so blessed with the children I got this year!

They were so excited and most of them came "dressed up" to the Science Fair...well, seeing them in anything other than their school uniform is dressed up to me!! :)

This is Yahir....my mischievous cutie that really took the dressing up thing seriously!

So cute!! By the way, for those of you that have heard the "Seashell in the Ear" story...

That is him...:)

Shutterfly Deal

2011-01-31T22:01:00.001-08:00

Love Hugs Kisses Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Sunday School Bowling

2011-01-28T22:38:00.000-08:00

I love love love our Sunday School Class!!

I know I have posted before on our get togethers...but we have them every third Saturday of the month!! We have such a great time together!

This month's event was BOWLING!

We really enjoyed the time together!!

We have a very wide variety of personalities so it makes for some FUN moments!!!

I love these pictures of Michelle!! The picture on the right is when she was telling me that I better NOT post (anywhere) the picture on the left of her.

OOPS...I think I just did...shh don't tell her! ;)

Then there are those of us that get very excited when we actually knock some of the pins down...because those times are very few and far between!!

As you can see it is mainly the girls that have issues with bowling.

Why is that??

What a wonderful night to just spend time with friends and enjoy ourselves!!

I am so thankful for my church family!

Here is a picture of Michelle and I. I am so thankful that we are able to be together out here in California. It's like I always have a piece of home with me.

What a wonderful friend she is!

Then of course there is my husband!! He is so good to me!

We are enjoying every minute of being newlyweds...I want to be newlyweds forever! :)

We are already getting ready for our next "event!"

Our class is hosting a Valentine's Couples Banquet for all the couples in the church!!! Be watching for a post about it..shortly after Valentine's!

Two Peas in a Pod

2011-01-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

Do you remember your childhood best friend?

Meet Gabi and Giselle.

These two are currently my favorite set of "best friends."

Gabi and Giselle are definitely "two peas in a pod!"

They are your typical set of "best friends"

Gabi is the quiet, reserved one

Giselle is the witty, outgoing one

I LOVE these two sweet girls!

I love that they refer to each other as " my best friend" even when they are standing next to each other.

Here is an example of an everyday conversation I might have with these two.

Gabi and Giselle standing by my desk at lunch

Giselle: (while raising hand) "Mrs. Balatbat"

Me: "Yes, Giselle?"

Giselle: "Ummm....my best friend and I went biking last night"

Me: "Oh really!! Gabi (standing right next to her) did you have fun biking?"

Gabi: "Yes, and then we went to McDonalds!" (big grin on face)

Here's another: (in the middle of a lesson)

Gabi(raises her hand)

Me: "Yes, Gabi"

Gabi: "Ummm....me and my best friend went to the zoo"

Me: "Oh really!"

I glance at Giselle who is sitting at her desk grinning and shaking her head up and down as if to say "Yep we did!"

These two definitely have the ability to make my day no matter what mood I am in.

I love that they have this unwavering dedication to their friendship!

As is the case with most children who are best friends, so are their parents. These families are amazing!

They will do absolutely anything to help me in the classroom, whether its grading, cleaning, buying something for the class, fixing something, sharpening pencils for the kids, running an errand to the office for me, making breakfast for the class, bringing me Jamba Juice on really hot days and coffee on really cold days etc etc....

Separately each parent treats each of these two girls like they are their own!

When the school year started I was almost convinced that they each thought they had two Dad's. They each call their own "Dad" and the other "Poppi"

It's so cute!!

I have been extremely lucky to have these two girls and their families be apart of my first year of teaching!!

And....

Finally, I LOVE that they are only in 1st grade....

which means...

I have another entire year with them!!

Our First Christmas

2011-01-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

I am aware that I have been a horrible blogger the last month! I apologize!:)

Our holiday season was filled with so many great memories!! We were busy busy busy!!! I took so many pictures of all of the festivities but I tried to narrow it down a little for you!

The last day of school we had our Christmas party! It was a such a great day! We made Christmas cards for their parents and used WAY too much glitter! Then the whole whole school had lunch together in the church auditorium that was tons of fun! Several of the school parents planned for it, decorated and served us all lunch! After the lunch we then finished the day opening gifts...theirs from me and then mine from them!!

As I mentioned before, the week of Christmas I was able to make a quick trip home to Indiana to see my family and friends back home! I had a very eventful time trying to make it to Indiana...after my flight being cancelled the first day and then delayed till the next night..I eventually made it.

As a result, my trip was shortened to only two days long but I was able to fit a lot in during my stay!

My best friends and I spent one of the mornings doing a fun photo shoot, getting manicures and going to lunch! Great memories were made!

My family and I spent an evening in Downtown Chicago. We went to the zoo and looked at their awesome Christmas lights and ice sculptures! Chicago is such a beautiful city at Christmas!

My girls and I were also able to have our annual Christmas together. Who knows the next time we will all be together for that again!

I was also present for my family's Christmas! I am such a lucky girl, I have the best family on earth! I miss them so much!

After all that I came back to California and my husband on Christmas Eve.
We had a wonderful first Christmas together. Christmas morning we opened our gifts.

Then we spent the rest of the day with Julian's family.

Our first Christmas was definitely full of memories and good times!!!

Six Wonderful Months!

2011-01-02T15:56:00.002-08:00

Six months ago....

I married the most wonderful man in the world!!

It seems like yesterday! Time flies by!

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

Ladies Fellowship

2010-12-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

It's the Christmas season and we have been busy!!

The last couple of weeks of the semester I was a teacher to 13 very wild children! They tested me more those last three weeks than they did the first 3 months!! I think they had too much turkey and then they couldn't get Christmas out of their minds!! But it's all over! Well for the next two weeks at least! I can't believe I have taught a whole semester already...it flew by!! Even though I really need this break I know I will miss them all dearly!

We were busy with church things as well this past month. We had our Christmas Cantata last Sunday and also the school had their Christmas play the Friday before that.

Two Friday's ago we had our Ladies Christmas Fellowship. That's what I wanted to blog about today! The third Thursday of every month we have what we call Ladies Fellowship!

It is such a wonderful time!

All the ladies of the church are invited but normally it's just a handful either because of work or family commitments or because a lot of our members live a half hour away or so. We meet at the church and just have a nice time of fellowship and talk about the latest drama or stories in our lives and then our pastor's wife (more on her in a minute) gives us a devotional. After that we usually eat dessert and then we pass out the missionary letters that the church has gotten in the last month and we take turns each reading one out loud. It is a great time to keep track of what is going on with our church's missionaries! Then we pray for them and the needs that they have expressed in their letters!

I love this night! I have grown so close to the ladies in our church already and this night is always special. I learn so much too! It is nice to be able to hear from our pastor's wife on a regular basis.

She is a godly, sweet, considerate, wonderful lady. I love her! She is always ready to listen and always wants to know about what's going on in your life the good, the bad...all of it. She has a good eye and can tell if you are having a hard time with something and will just walk right up and give you a hug! I grew up in a larger church and although our pastor's wife was a great example to me just by watching her and listening when she did teach us ladies, it just isn't possible to have as close of a relationship as you can in a smaller church. I love it! I could go on and on about her.

One hilarious thing about her that makes me laugh...is that she is a texting QUEEN! haha...she is so funny! She loves to text! When I first moved out here in one of the first conversations we had she said to me.."So, do you text??" I said "Yes." She says "Great!! Me too!!" We have been texting ever since!

This is her and I at our Christmas Ladies Fellowship. I adore her!

The Christmas ladies fellowship is a little different than the others throughout the year. For one, EVERYONE comes! Two, we do it at someones home instead of at the church. Three, ALL the girls in the church are invited...babies, kids, teens. The other's throughout the year are just for the adult ladies so this is a special time for the girls! We are all together!

One of the things that we do is we all write in Christmas cards for all the missionaries and then they are sent out to be a blessing, so each of our missionaries knows that the ladies of our church have been praying for them throughout the year!

Then there is food! Lots of food! We all brought a little something!

My beautiful bestie!

Then there's my crazy sister!

Katie with Leilani at her first Christmas ladies fellowship!

Emily and Katrina Stager and I! I love these sweet girls!

Michelle and Kathy Stager...both are sweet sweet friends!

Love these two teen girls! One is my sister so I have to love her! :) The other is our pastors oldest daughter, Julia! Great young ladies!

After we ate, we had our devotional time and then we had a gift exchange! It was so fun. We all brought gifts and then we played a white elephant game. It was too complicated to tell on here but you will be able to see from the pictures below how fun it was!

Renee, we had the fellowship at her house this year! I love this pic of her!

There was a lot of laughing! This picture is so funny! I just had to post it!

The little girls had gifts too! They were very happy!

haha my mother in-law with her gift!

Taking it all in!

Julia was happy with her earrings!

Having a great time!

Chell loved her gift!

At the end of the night we took a group photo! This is all of us(minus one or two that were sick or weren't able to make it)....(and plus Bryce..he isn't one of the ladies but he is too cute to stay out of the picture) :)

The Bethel Baptist Church ladies!

Christmas is approaching quickly!!! It's so hard to believe!

I have some quick exciting news to share that has nothing to do with this post.....but......

I get to go home tomorrow!!!!!

For a long time now I wasn't planning on going home this Christmas. I was having a hard time with that but it just wasn't going to be possible because Julian has to work basically double the amount than normal during this month and all the way till Christmas eve. His company (UPS) doesn't allow anyone off during the holidays. But just this last week my parents told me that as a Christmas present they wanted to fly me out there this week for a few days..while Julian is working... because I would be home alone basically all week. It was such a surprise and a blessing!! I am so thankful and so excited to see them and all my friends back home.

I will be back to spend Christmas with my hubby though!!!!!!!

We are very excited about our first Christmas together!

Friendship...a wonderful part of life!

2010-12-04T16:09:00.010-08:00

It's so crazy to think how fast time flies....

How many changes that you go through....

One of the best parts about life is having real, true, lifelong friends that go through these changes with you.

I have been blessed with so many of these kinds of friends!

But today I would like to dedicate this post to one in particular.

In the fall of my 8th grade year I met her. Our church held an Youth Conference every fall and it was a time when many different youth groups from across the country came to attend.

I do not remember actually meeting Julie Bowersock but I know that it was my 8th grade year.

I remember having fun with her and other girls from her church. Her father was the Pastor of a church in Baltimore, MD. We parted ways at the end of that week and if I remember correctly we didn't talk again until the next fall. We had a lot of things in common and when she came back again we picked up our friendship right where it left off. After that year, we promised to stay in contact. Of course, that was in the days before high schooler's had their own cell phones, facebooks, or even email! ...so we did the "old fashion" thing! We wrote letters!

Our friendship grew and grew.....

As we reached our older high school years we began calling more often. We made traditions. We sent each other Christmas and Birthday gifts. We knew all about each other's lives and friends and all the high school drama that each of us had! :) She stopped coming to the conferences after her sophomore year. Her church was small and as the few highschoolers that they did have got older...they eventually began to drift and soon there wasn't much of a group of teens to bring to the conference.

I still remember the last time she came. Her senior year her Dad brought her for a day and a half of the conference. He was on his way to a meeting in MI so he dropped her off on the way. Our goodbye was very tearful. We weren't sure when we would see each other again.

She was going off to a Christian college in California and I still had a year of high school to finish and then would be attending college in Indiana.

We promised to stay friends and we actually DID! :)

We shared our first date stories and eventually our first dates with the guys we would both marry....we shared everything. She has always been a friend that I could go to about anything.

By now, you might be thinking...why are you telling us all this...just wait its coming...:)

Even though we are only a week apart in age...she really beat me to it when it comes to getting married! At the end of her freshman year she met her "one." He was a senior. They dated long distance during her sophomore year and were engaged in the spring of that year.

The next fall, September 29, 2007, at the ripe young age of 19!!! (I still can't believe that)

She was married! I traveled out to Baltimore and stood as a bridesmaid in her wedding.

That was the last time we saw each other!

She was supposed to stand in my wedding as well...which is something that we both had always joked about. When we would say bye on the phone after talking....b/c we never knew when we would see each other next....I remember we would say...alright..."See you at your wedding." haha.... we said that way back in high school till a couple of months before my wedding...

Anyhow, it's a long story...but the company she works for told her that she could not have the days she asked for off to come to my wedding. They don't let people off on holidays...it's their busiest time and well we got married on a holiday weekend...so that was that....

We were both crushed....but life isn't always fair is it? :) It still makes me sad that she wasn't able to come!

Julie and her husband Jason live in Oregon which actually is only 5 hours from where we live!!

After all this time and distance...and her parents actually live in Sacramento which is only 1 hour and a half from us...which is even better!!!

Well....all that to announce to you....

Thursday she called to announce to me that they will be having a BABY!!!!!!

How amazing is that??!?!?

I know, you are probably not as excited as I am.....

but as we were talking I kept thinking...wow...we always dreamed and talked about our weddings and husbands....but we are past that and look at us now....

BABIES!!!

haha..no one get any ideas....not for me...yet... :)

The awesome part is....since we live so close I will be able to go to the baby shower and we will be able to share this stage too!!!!

This is Jason and Julie!

I am still trying to wrap my head around the whole baby thing! I guess before you get married it seems so far off. This the first of my friends my age to be having a baby! What a fun and exciting things we still have to look forward to!!!

I would like to say, once again, for those that may be a little over eager out there. (Trust me, we just had our five month anniversary and we have had plenty of "baby" comments already) Don't think that this post is me trying to say....our "baby" time is coming anytime soon!!! :)

What I am trying to say is....I am excited about what the future holds and I am thankful for the wonderful friends God has put into my life!!!

'tis the season...

2010-11-30T17:52:00.012-08:00

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Ours was very very nice! I decided not to post my pictures...basically because it takes too much time to load pictures on here and I wanted to put these on instead. Anyhow, we celebrated (as I said before) with the Balatbat family. Everyone gathered at my in laws house and ate wonderful food (and yes there was turkey)! Filipino's love to cook and they always do things in HUGE amounts (at least my relatives).

Thanksgiving night, at midnight, Julian, Joyce (his sister) and I went to the outlets to start our black friday shopping! It was a crazy crazy experience! I LOVE black friday shopping! It is so fun to be out there with all those other crazy people! We got home around 3 a.m. and then we were up again at 9 to go shopping some more!

Saturday, was a day that I had been looking forward to for a long time!! We decided that we were going to go get our very first Christmas tree! I love Christmas and I have been excited about decorating for our first Christmas! So first thing Saturday morning we headed out to a local "tree lot"....

and we found our tree!!!

It was so fun! Even though there was no snow and actually it was raining...the little tree lot did feel very festive! :)

Getting ready to take it home!

Michelle, my best friend, spent the entire day with us and we used her big truck to haul our tree home!

Carrying it in!

Up the stairs!

Let's just say, this moment, or this twenty minutes...which was about how long it took us to figure out the tree stand and get the tree to stand straight....was a very memorable time! One of those that you just won't forget...Julian "Babe, stop pulling it"..Me "I'm not pulling, you are pushing".... It was a very special! :)

yep...that's me...still holding it up!

then the fun part...all the stuff on the floor is the decorations we had yet to put out...

lights!

Did I mention it's our 1st Christmas and we are EXCITED!! :))

ornaments!

Finally Michelle was in a picture! Thanks for taking pictures all day for us Michelle! We love you!

It's our awesome tree topper! I love it!

We made a last minute decision on what the tradition would be for the "who puts the tree topper on"...we decided our entire family would do it together (all two of us) ...I'm not sure how that will work in the future, especially if we have several kids but we will cross that bridge later! :)

Love my moose couple...(passed down from my mother) btw most of my decorations were passed down! Including our tree skirt...which is definitely very special to me!!

Our stockings! I got these after last Christmas at an adorable store called Swoozie's!!

Love them!

Here's the finished product!

the nativity scene we had all during my childhood

Love this set...actually one of my bridal shower presents from my Mom! I just had to put them out...they are way too cute to be in the cupboard!

It's so perfect!!

It definitely is "beginning to look a lot like Christmas" around our home!

Looking forward to all that this Christmas season has in store!!!

Early Thanksgiving...

2010-11-22T18:02:00.004-08:00

This past Saturday, we had a Thanksgiving Dinner with our Sunday School class!

It was very nice!

Right at the beginning of the school year our church started our Sunday School class. It's called the young couples class but its really open for anyone. I guess if you wish you were a young couple or you used to be a young couple or you are a young couple....you are pretty much welcome! :) Our class is co-taught by Daniel Kelso (most of my readers will know who that is...if you don't know...Daniel grew up at the church that I attended all of my childhood...and he married someone that grew up at the church that my husband did (our current church) and the other teacher is a Jared Stager.

Let me just say...I love the Stager's! Kathy (who is the wife) has been a huge blessing to me since moving here! They just moved here to California last fall around this time. Kathy's dad is a pastor in New York. She and I have the homesick thing in common!!!! She has been such a great friend to me. She always seems to know when I need a hug or an encouraging note or a random text. She, like me, never left home until her move here and is very close to her family. She is about a year ahead of me in the whole "getting used to CA." thing! I love her. Another amazing thing about Jared and Kathy is that they have adopted THREE children!!!! All from different places....Guatemala, El Salvador and New York. All of their girls are just adorable!!

Anyhow, we had our Thanksgiving at their home.

Here are some pictures....

My plate!! Yum!!

Filling our plates!

The kids corner!

(The baby is the Stager's youngest. Emily is her name they adopted her in June.)

The men

Katrina, Emily and me....

(Katrina is their oldest from Guademala. She is in my class!)

Now with Joy...she is such a trip!

The Kelso men ..

I love Thanksgiving!! Although I am a little nervous about my first Filipino Thanksgiving!! :)

I will definitely keep you posted on how that turns out. I am hoping to see something resembling a turkey....We (the WHOLE Balatbat family) is gathering to celebrate the American holiday. Let's just say...it should be interesting.....:)

SURPRISE!!!!

2010-11-17T16:27:00.012-08:00

So, I know I already posted this...but this past Sunday was my Grandpa's 80th birthday!

The family had been planning a birthday party for the past couple of months and the first time my Mom mentioned it to me I started thinking about how awesome it would be to be there for it! I miss my family so much....everyday....

It's a very long story but when Julian and I looked into it we found that it would be possible for me to be there! I decided to keep it a surprise!

Let's just say....it was a wonderful weekend!!!

I flew out of San Fran on Friday afternoon and arrived in Charlotte, NC late that night. My Uncle Kirk, Aunt Amanda and cousin Paige picked me up from the airport.

This is us on the way from the airport! We were all super excited to surprise them!

Since it was so late we decided to wait and surprise my parents and grandparents Saturday morning.

We planned it all out and arrived early the next morning while they were all finishing breakfast.

It was a moment I'll never forget.

I wish all of you could have seen their faces!!

I walked in the garage door that is right off their kitchen...no one was looking when I walked in. In a normal voice, I just said, "Hey, I heard there is a party today! Is this where it's at?"

My Grandpa was the first to turn and look and as I looked over at my parents they all had the same confused look on their faces. You know, the one you get when you see someone you know where you least expect them. It was great!!!

Here are some pictures from the moment...

He was so cute...he kept hugging me!

I missed my Mom so much! We were both crying!

He was just beaming!!! :)

We spent the morning getting ready for the party.

Here is the birthday boy waiting for the party to start!

He was so happy all day! :)

Grandpa and his little girls! aka..the party planners!

the food was great!

The granddaughter's! We always have a great time together!

and we all love him!!!

Another great thing about the trip was the time we all got to spend with David and Ali! David's family was our next door neighbors for our entire childhood..we grew up like brother's and sister's. It was so great catching up with him and getting to know Ali more!!

Everyone waiting to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake!!

The cake was beautiful and yummy!

Singing :)

I love them SO much!!

proud to be his granddaughter!

Cutting the cake!

My Uncle Kerry and Aunt Lisa (on my Dad's side) also live in Greenville so they came for the party too!

..this is where the younger people hung out...:)

Dad's inner-child comes out when he is around all the cousins! He gets a little crazy! :)

...but they LOVE it!

so cute!

It was such a beautiful day!!

Grandpa had about 30 friends come! Quite a big turn out for your 80th birthday!!!

Brother's and Sister's

Look at them! :)

what a beautiful couple!

Another wonderful part of the weekend was getting to meet my brand-new brother....I absolutely fell in love with him! He is definitely cuter, more laid back, sweeter, and calmer than any brother I have ever had..:)

But he kind of stole a little bit of the attention from Grandpa..which is something that I plan on discussing with him next time we are together!

....but maybe not because he is just so cute! It's hard to be stern with him when he is looks at you with his sweet eyes!

Did I mention that he knows how to shake already?? He loves it! Once you do it with him once he will be doing it the rest of the day!

He also likes to be in the middle of every conversation! Literally in the middle!!

He can make himself comfortable no matter what situation he is in!

He is just all around great!

After all the birthday festivities we headed over to BJU (my youngest brother's school) and cheered him on in his play off soccer game!

Here we are...David's fan club!

Go #11!!!

Yes, he came too! :)

Just a little cold but happy to be together!!!

Sunday, being Grandpa's actual birthday, called for another celebration at a local fish restaurant!

Paige's choice off the menu!

Grandpa loved getting sung to and especially loved the dessert part!!!

All of us...(minus Dan) who had to work :(

Just a few short hours later I had to say goodbye! :(

It was truly a wonderful weekend...the only down side was that my sweet husband had to stay home...It was very hard to leave them so soon! But I'm very thankful for the time we had!

Greetings from South Carolina...

2010-11-13T14:14:00.002-08:00

I left sunny California yesterday morning and flew here to Greenville, South Carolina.

Today we had a 80th birthday party for my sweet Grandpa!

I surprised the entire family by showing up this morning! I can't wait to post pictures and the video of when I walked in the house! It was great! They were so shocked!!!

We had a great time at the party with him!

I'll post more on it soon!

23 years old....

2010-11-03T17:25:00.014-07:00

Just wanted to share some pictures from this past weekend....

We celebrated my 23rd birthday!

My first birthday...as a married lady....

Let me just start by saying..I was so spoiled!!!

First of all, by my parents! :) Yes, it is possible to spoil someone from 2000 miles away!!

I received this awesome gift in the mail....

What, you may ask, is it?? Well this super cute bag is especially made for another awesome gift that my parents gave me a few years back...it's called a Cricut Expression! If you don't know what a CRICUT is...I would strongly advise you to google it! It is definitely one of the most amazing machines invented...being a teacher and a scrapper may cause me to be a little bias in saying that....but that's besides the point! It's pretty amazing!! Anyway, this birthday they ordered me this bag that I can use to transport my cricut or store it!

Thank you Dad and Mom! I love it!

Second, I was also spoiled by my students and their parents....

At lunch hour on Friday, there was a knock on our classroom door and in walked a whole line of parents of my students...and their arms were full of balloons, gifts, food, decorations, an awesome cake and lunch for me....they walked in singing...it was so SWEET! I started crying during the birthday song! We had a wonderful extended lunch! They really really spoiled me! I have to say..God has given me some of the sweetest, most helpful, encouraging parents there are! They are so supportive in the day to day things of school and they always go way out of their way to show me they are behind me and care about me.

My kids were so excited to have the party! They all knew about it before hand so they were very excited to surprise me and to finally celebrate...especially the cake part! :)

they loved their birthday hats!

The Kindergarten came to our room for the party too!

The cake itself almost made me cry....it was awesome!!! That is our "official" class picture from picture day! I have never had my picture on icing before! :)

All of us....one of the lessons I have learned in my two months of teaching is...it is absolutely impossible to get the entire class looking and smiling at the camera....at the same time!

This was one of three shots...:)

the wonderful parents that came and planned it all....

Told you they were excited about the cake!

my huge card!

Third, I was definitely spoiled by Julian...

On Saturday, my actual birthday, my wonderful husband took me out for breakfast and then took me on a shopping spree!

After a fun filled day, we went over to my in laws for what I thought was a small family get together...but ended up being another surprise party. Julian had asked some of our close friends over! We had a lot of fun! It ended up being more of a World Series baseball party...but it was still fun!

Even Bryce came!

Family!

My sister :)

Loved the candles!

Auntie and nephew

Opening gifts

I put this picture on here...because it caught us bumping heads...and the next one shows the result of the bump.....

awwww... :(

:) Michelle is such a special friend

Thanks Babe, for making it such a special day!

I would also like to say..thank you to all the friends from far away that helped make my day special as well. I received packages, cards, and phone calls that all meant so much! I miss you girls! Love you....

I am definitely a BLESSED girl! I have such amazing people in my life!!!!

A beautiful day at the pumpkin farm....

2010-10-28T17:04:00.013-07:00

Today was such a great day!

I think my sweet little autistic student summed it up pretty well when he leaned over to me at lunch and whispered..."Today was the BEST fun I EVER had!" :)

We, the 1st and 2nd grade class, have been counting down the days till October 28....

For the last week I have had to stop fights about how many exact days there were till today....

For today we went on our first field trip of the year!!

To - G & M Farms

We were SO excited!!!

And it was everything we hoped it would be...and more....

Here is our day in pictures!!!

"Mrs. Balatbat!!!! We are HERE!!! "

Right away, we went on our hayride!!! Let me tell you CA definitely has more modern hayride equipment than IN.....haha...but that's only because they don't use it for actual farms!! :)

Ready to have a great day!!!

The hayride took us the the "pumpkin classroom" where got our very own "pumpkin lecture."

They loved it!!

He was having a blast!!

(btw...this is my autistic boy...one of these days I will dedicate a post to him! He is so special to me! His name is Bosa...)

the "pumpkin teacher" :)

Even the kindergarten were very impressed!

My boys!

Next on the agenda was the hay bale maze! It was lots of fun!!! They went crazy!

My girls!!!

After that craziness we found some more craziness over at the "corn" box....just like a sandbox but instead it was filled with corn! What a blast!

Bosa was having the time of his life!

He definitely had this coming to him! He stared the corn dumping fight!! I love this picture!

the girls were doing more girly things...like making "corn" snowmen..:)

until...they started burying each other in corn....

they eventually convinced me to join them...

it was so fun!

until...they started burying me...

all done!!

Then they all wanted a turn!

Next, we looked at the animal part of the farm...

haha..only Bosa!

Miss Kelso with the 3rd and 4th grade!

All of us with Bosa being the center of attention like normal....

Silly faces!

the more mature 3rd and 4th graders...

Our animals...

Bosa, the goat....

I'm so glad Michelle and I get to share these memories together!!

In the hay tunnel

I love him!

Eunice and her pumpkin!

Gabi and I picking our pumpkins!

All done :(

Going home....

Bye Pumpkin Farm....we had so much fun today!!!

We made so many memories today! I can't wait till our next field trip!

Let me just say...for those hours today I, for the first time this year, actually felt like it was Fall....all of you back home...don't take for granted your beautiful fall season...you don't realize how great it is until you don't have it anymore....

Prayer Request Time...

2010-10-19T17:19:00.008-07:00

I realize I haven't really blogged much about the actual day to day of school since the year started...Let's see, how would I describe my life the last 8 weeks..btw, I can't believe it has been that long already! Time is flying by....

These are some words that describe my first eight weeks of teaching...

Long

Exhausting

Busy

Never a dull moment

Sore Feet

Crazy

Grading that never stops

Early mornings

Late nights

Frustrating moments

Crazy moments

Moments I just want to cry

Happy moments

Hilarious moments

......

Needles to say, I have never experienced anything like these last 2 months in my entire life...In the last two months, I have fallen in love with 12 little children. They are such a great group of kids! Not one day passes when I don't have some story to tell about them...

One of my absolute favorite parts of the day is prayer request time, during Bible class...

I hear so many things...sometimes they say silly things that have nothing to do with prayer, other times they share their hearts...Here are some things that I have heard when asking for prayer request...

1. Pray that we won't have any earthquakes today.... (this is a result of actually having one the very first week of school)

2. Pray for my Mom (very serious face)..."Oh, is she ok??"...Yeah, she just

stubbed her toe...(huge smile)

3. Pray for my baby sister's crib, that it won't fall down while she is

in it... "Oh, ok!!" Very confused by this one...especially since the "sister" isn't born yet..:)

4. I love you, Mrs. Balatbat... "I love you too...but is that a prayer request??

Remember, prayer request time is for things that we want to talk to God about" :) (How do you not melt when you hear that??)

5. Pray that that bad guy won't come to our church again next Sunday... hmm...I didn't really know how to respond to this one..so my reply was "OK" ... I found out later, there was a guy that was at their church making a lot of noise during the service..haha...

6. Pray for ALL my babysitters...(long pause)....I like them soo much!...

sooo sweet! :)

7. Pray that my Dad and Mom will stop fighting...and that my Mom will run the family business better... :( What do you say to that? That child has obviously heard way too much at home! Sad...

8. Pray for my Mother and my Father... Trust me this child is far far from being the type that would call his parents Mother and Father...that's why this one really made me laugh!

9. On Saturday, Giselle and me went to the zoo!!!! haha....once again...not something we talk to God about!

What can I say... I have some of the funniest, cutest kids on the planet in my class...

Just look at them!! :)

School Video!

2010-10-15T19:56:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago, AT & T came to our school and shot a video for the online yellow pages! I thought it would be fun to share it on here! Just click on the link and then press play on the video...

If you watch very closely you may catch a glimpse of me! :)

Click Here!

Complete again!!!!!

2010-10-12T17:03:00.004-07:00

You might remember me telling you that on my wedding day, we not only gained a family member (JULIAN - in case you were wondering) :) but we also LOST a family member...our sweet sweet Golden Retriever, Dakota Brady. He was a very good sibling for almost 9 years and he is greatly missed...:( BUT...I would like to announce that our family is complete again!!!!!!

As of last Wednesday, I officially have a NEW brother...

I would like to proudly introduce to you......

REMINGTON BRADY

(a.k.a - Remi)

Seriously....you can't get much sweeter than that! :)

To all of you back home, if you see him, give him a kiss from me and tell him that he has the best sister in the world, dying to see him!!! :)

A new work...

2010-10-07T21:32:00.010-07:00

I am a little late posting this but I would like to tell you about something very exciting that has been going on in our church! As of October 3, Bethel Baptist Church of El Sobrante, California has started a ministry (in hopes of it one day becoming a church) in Sacramento, California! The very first meeting was this past Sunday! It is so exciting to be a part of this new ministry! In the first church service there were 16 who attended. Nine of which were, as far as we know, unsaved! Please pray that this ministry will grow and we will be able to see a great work of God in Sacramento! Below are some pictures of the very first meeting!

Here is our Pastor and his wife! They have been praying and working hard for this day and were so thrilled to see it finally arrive!

Some of the visitors along with the ladies of our church that were there!

Here they are again by the new church's first sign!!

This is Marlowe and Becky! Lord willing, Bethel Baptist Church of Sacramento's future pastor and wife!!! They are so dedicated to the ministry and are such an example to Julian and I!

Here is a video of the beginning of the service! I thought I would share it with you! It definitely will be a wonderful thing to have as far as a memory years down the road!! I'm sure some of you will wonder where they are meeting at...Julian's parents own a care home for elderly/disabled people in the Sacramento area. What a blessing, that the new ministry is able to use this as a meeting place for a start!!!

I am the vine, and ye are the branches....

2010-09-27T19:18:00.005-07:00

It's so amazing when God brings you exactly

what you need..exactly when you need it!

The past couple of weeks I have been having an extremely hard time with being homesick! I think some of it has to do with the "newness" of California wearing off...and there is the fact that I am exhausted day after day with all that goes along with teaching and at least for me...when I am tired I am EMOTIONAL! :) I have been tired for the last month! Anyway, I have been a little down at times.... and I was just last week thinking of how long it will be until I see my family and friends and wishing I could visit them....and then God sent me a "little" boost! :)

This may sound silly but I think He was trying to tell me... I care about you! I can help with the "little" trials in your life..even something as trivial as being homesick...

I got a call from my Uncle Kirk who happened to fly into Los Angeles last Monday to take a class at USC for his job! He informed me that he was going to be there for two weeks and was wondering how far we were apart. I was a little bummed at first because I knew we were at least 7 hours away from him and didn't think there would be any chance to see him!

All that to say...he really wanted to come so he rented a car on Friday night after his class and didn't get here till around 1 a.m. and then spent all day Saturday with us and turned around and drove the seven hours back on Sunday morning!

We had such a great time! I showed him our church and school and then we spent the rest of the day Saturday in Napa Valley, which is only about 30 minutes away from us!

It was such a beautiful day!

This part of the country is also called "wine country" in the world...but to me as a Christian I kept being reminded of the verse in John 15 verse 5...

" I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing . "

Here we are!

We visited several different vineyards! It's a very beautiful part of California!

One of the vineyards had a castle there as well! It was very beautiful!

Still newlyweds..after all these months! ;)

It was such an encouragement for God to send me a little "taste" of family to help with my homesickness! Thanks for coming Uncle Kirk! It meant so much!

God has truly given me the BEST family in the world! I love everyone of them!

Happy Anniversary!!

2010-09-25T21:09:00.002-07:00

Happy 40th Anniversary Fairhaven Baptist Church!!

Tomorrow is a very special day for my home church in Indiana and I just wanted to dedicate this post to them! I hope they have a wonderful day thanking God for the great things He has done through them! I know I owe a lot of thanks myself and hundreds of others around the world as well! Happy Anniversary Fairhaven!

Good Times with Great Friends!

2010-09-04T21:10:00.009-07:00

One of the things about my move to California that I am so thankful for are the friends that I have here! Not only are there two of my childhood friends that live here and attend the same church but there are several other people that were college friends or married college friends! How nice it has been to be able to have close friends that all know each other right off the bat!

Last Saturday...all of us got together to basically have one last "party" before the school year started and our lives were busy once again! It was such a wonderful time and we made some great memories!!!

When I stop to think about it...it is so weird to think that I have close friends that have children! It's quite a crazy thing to think about! Wow...and even more crazy is to think that that could be me?!?! (Well..maybe not for a few more years!...:) Anyhow...the point of all that is that these babies in my life are absolutely ADORABLE!!!! If you know me, you know I love babies!!! I fell in love with babies at my old job in Indiana..where I worked in the Infant room! These two babies (Leilani and Bryce) are so different in so many ways but both have me wrapped around their finger! Not just me..you will see in the pictures below, we are all in love!!!

Bryce...just look at him!!!

He's almost standing up on his own!

Leilani....Big eyes and so sweet!

I think he feels just a little smoothered when we are both around!

Julian and Bryce having a very deep, personal conversation

:) He is going to be a great Dad someday!

Waiting for the food to be done!

Mommy and Bryce

Uncle Marlowe and Leilani

She loves her Daddy!

Ben feeding Bryce his bottle

Sleeping with Auntie Liz

Another great thing about our night together was the food!!! It was all very yummy!

Dan was the grillmaster!

The rest of the guys were his moral support :)

All of our preparation was done and we were just waiting on the men...

Finally!

Michelle made our dessert! It was fantastic!!

The last part of the evening was spent playing games...which included..screaming, laughing, yelling, more laughing... the shedding of tears (on my part) from laughing so hard and great memories made!

(fyi-this week we celebrated our SECOND month anniversary!!) :)

Daniel and Ben were pretty intense during this game! We were playing Apples to Apples...haha...they were the main reason for the tears!

Bryce was getting in some good laughs as well!

What a wondeful way to end the summer!