Tuesday before Thanksgiving

On Tuesday (before Thanksgiving), Ben took Rachel to the zoo so that I could have some alone time with my good friends from my bible study (lunch) and later to spend some time with my mom (doing our pedicures). ;)

Here are some pics that Ben took of Rachel at the zoo! :) They had fun and bonded! :) Rachel walked into the reptiles section and said, "Ewwwwwwwwwwww!"

Ben said that I'm brainwashing her to not like those types of creepy crawlies! Oh well, I can't help it! In the pic, you can see her little finger pointing to it!
This one is looking right at my baby! Augh! Don't worry she's giving it a good lecture about scaring people!
Cheese Daddy! (hurry and take the pic)
Running all around the zoo! Ben tried to take a pic of him and Rachel together, but she kept moving and/or he would not get them at all. In the evening when I finally got home, I was so happy to see them!! Here I am trying to get a pic of Ben and I (he's always making faces b/c of the flash)!
My pretty nails! (I got a pedicure and the lady talked me into getting a manicure too! I was gonna post a pic of my curly-pedicured- toes, but thought that it would gross everyone out, so I didn't!)
Cheese! Mommy & Rachel
That's all for now. I'll post more later! :)

Thanksgiving Week

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

We had a great time with our family on Thanksgiving Day. We were warming ourselves up at Lala and Papa's (my mom and dad's home).
We allowed Rachel to bring one of her toys to play with and she chose her Little People School Bus! She had to bring all the Little People her little hands could gather, of course! :)
It's tradition to have Dad make the turkey, he also has the honor of trimming it before we eat! :) It was YUMMY!!! Uncle Ashley and Aunt Lilia joined us this year at mom & dad's house. They are so much fun to talk to and catch up with! :)
Here we are before prayer time and food. (Can't you tell we're hungry.)

After lunch we all scoped out the deals in the newspaper for "black Friday".

(Ben was the only one to brave the cold to go to Comp USA at 9pm that night to buy Photoshop 6 and a card for his camera. He said it was an experience that he had to try once at least in his lifetime! ;) He was gone for 3 1/2 hours just to get those few things! He made it back home alittle after midnight!)

After lunch, dessert, reading the paper, & nap (Rachel's), we decided to watch Rudolph. Rachel loves the movie, but is scared of the snow monster. :) She sits real close to daddy to protect her! ;) It's too cute! She and he were having a father-daughter moment! :)

Thank you Lord for blessing my family and I. We are honored to be YOUR children. You are amazing and each day I see your wonderful work in my life. I love YOU LORD!

Last Wednesday

Rachel and Uncle John just "chillin". :)

We had a great time visiting with my Tia Paz and Uncle John. They were at my mom's last week and we decided to go and visit and have dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't get anymore pics of the others. :( It was nice that evening, though, because we got to eat outside on my parent's patio and we felt the cool front come in as we were outside! :) It was amazing how fast the weather can change. :)

Last Tuesday-

Last Tuesday, Rachel and I played outside at Lala and Papa's house. She loves to run around and play on her little slide. :) She and I had a blast bonding. :)

Happy Belated Anniversary to Jonathan & Heather

Okay, I wanted to post this last month! I'm a bit behind!

Happy One Year Anniversary to J.J. and Heather!!! We love you both very much! :)

May God bless you with many, many more years together.

Sunday- November 18, 2007

Happy One Year Anniversary Nitin & Arati!

You have 1 year under your belt as a married couple! :)
May God bless you with many, many more years together.

Here's a pic of Arati getting ready for her reception. Look at how radiant she is!
Friends for life! :)
Me, Kelly, & Arati (friends since middle school)

My Girl

Psalm 91:2

November 14
You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.
Psalm 91:2
Have bad things really happened to you? You and God may have different definitions for the word bad. Parents and children do. Look up the word bad in a middle-schooler's dictionary, and you'll read definitions such as "pimple on nose," or "pop quiz in geometry." "Dad, this is really bad!" the youngster says. Dad, having been around the block a time or two, thinks differently. Pimples pass....
What you and I might rate as an absolute disaster, God may rate as a pimple-level problem that will pass. He views your life the way you view a movie after you've read the book. When something bad happens, you feel the air sucked out of the theater. Everyone else gasps at the crisis on the screen. Not you. Why? You've read the book. You know how the good guy gets out of the tight spot. God views your life with the same confidence. He's not only read your story...he wrote it.
Come Thirsty
Max Lucado

I've been feeling a bit *off track* lately. I don't know what it is, but I'm feeling a bit anxious and insecure. I think that I am just focusing too much on what's going on in the world and now looking up to the LORD. I have been doing so well with God's help when it comes to doing things (out of my routine) and it's been so wonderful to feel so confident in God and His power that runs through me. But the last 2 days, I've been *shaken up* and I am getting up off the ground again and recovering as best I can. I am talking to my Lord and He's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO responding to me and it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wonderful. Like today, I read this message (above) and it's like God is saying, "Melony, just trust in ME , for I am faithful." I am going to continue to seek my Father at all times, in the good time and bad.

(Also, the message above shows me that this little *pimple problem* is just that to the Lord, He's in control and will be faithful to me and always be with me!)

Thank you Jesus for the wonderful blessings which you have bestowed upon me. I am so grateful for the awesome PEACE that HE has given to me when I am feeling *out of sorts*. Lord you are so good to me! :)

Scrapblog

Just wanted to share what I did on Scrapblog.com!!! Thanks again Angie for letting me know about this gem-of-a-website! :) Enjoy! :)

Parmesan cheese anyone!?

Rachel just loves to put Parmesan cheese on her spagetti and pasta and pizza, so the other day I was letting her *pretend* to pour it on her food and she ended up spilling it on her plate as well as the table! ;) Oh well... she wanted to eat it just like that!

She really cracks us (Ben and I) up! :)

Spending Sunday afternoon with my friends

On Sunday afternoon I was able to spend some time with my oldest and dearest friends, Kelly and Tara. :) It was so much fun! Kelly & Tara have many scrapbooking supplies and ideas so we did that when we met up on Sunday. It was so nice just to talk and catch up! :)

Tara is on the left and Kelly to the right. :)

We tried figuring out the timer on my camera so we could take a group pic, but just couldn't. Kelly took a few with her camera... I closed my eyes in each one of them.... I have that problem w/ lots of cameras! Augh!Here is a pic of me by myself showing the girls that I can take a pic without closing my eyes! Kelly and I working on some cards.

Overall, we had a blast. We are planning to do it again soon! :) Thanks girls! I was so happy to have a few hours to spend with my girlfriends to talk and laugh and eat and play! :)

More pics

Here are some pics that I took this weekend...

Ben and I stopped to put some gas in the car before we left SA and while he was pumping the gas, this bird stopped by to say "hello". It was so nice to see it being so comfortable so close to danger (the parking lot). :) It stayed for a bit and flew away. It was so nice and a sweet blessing from God to see that before the trip! :)

Hey, that's me! I took this when we were driving home from Austin on Sat. afternoon! :) Rachel was so excited to see us when we got to my parent's house on Saturday afternoon! :)
We got in on Sat. afternoon (like I mentioned earlier), but we were kinda tired to go to church at 5pm, so we stayed in and unpacked and actually took Rachel to our little Lake here at the apartment and had a nice quiet dinner at home. :) It was nice to just relax and be with each other.

SO....

Rachel and I woke up nice and refreshed on Sunday morning and got all "dolled up" so we could go to church! :) It was different b/c we went w/o Ben, but it was a nice adventure for me! (I totally rely on Ben to go with us places on the weekends so it's nice to venture out on our own.) He stayed to finish some work for school. :)

Here's Rachel with her Easter dress (putting some use into it before she grows out of it). My mom had bought that shawl a long time ago and she'd only worn it once before, so I put it on her again on Sunday. She looked adorable with it on! :)

Love and Respect

Here we are getting ready for our little road trip through the country. My good friend Angie was the one who told me about this conference and she also gave us a nice, scenic way to get to Austin. It was a BEAUTIFUL and CALMING way to get to Austin (which can usually be very hectic and rushed). Thanks Angie! We loved it! :)

ON Friday and Sat. morning, Ben and I went for a day trip to Austin for the Love and Respect Conference held at the Hill Country Bible Church. It was FABULOUS!!! So excited to be on our way to Austin for the evening! We look a little proccupied because we were almost there and trying not to take the wrong turn! :)
Trying to take a pic of Ben and I before going to bed Friday night.... he kept hiding his face behind my big head! We had a blast! :)

Overall, we learned so much from Dr. & Mrs. Eggerich at this conference! So many ideas were given on how to make a marriage work and get out of the "Crazy Cycle" that we get on at times. It's nice to know that we all have problems, but there's a way to fix it and learn to be mature and respect and love each other. I am so glad that God made this all fall into place and we were able to be blessed by these wonderful speakers. :) He's so good!! :)

Halloween Pics

Getting ready to get dressed into her costume.

(I don't know why I was making that face, but we were excited to be getting the hair done before we put the costume on!)

I'm a princess/ballerina! (It's whatever you decide she looks more like!) BTW, thanks mom ("Lala")for putting this one together for us! :)
Where's the candy!?
Rachel and Daddy playing in the yard before it's time to go get candy!
Mom and Rachel looking pretty! ;)

We had fun! Rachel, Daddy, Lala and I went to a few houses to get candy, but we started to early, many ppl weren't ready or home yet. We wanted to get back before it got too dark and pass out the candies at my parent's house. Rachel wanted to go to "more houses" and she really enjoyed picking out candy from the bowls. (I would tell her to take only 1 or 2 and she'd take one only!- She did great!) THE BEST PART was when we got to my parent's house and sat out on the porch to hand out the candy! Rachel just had a blast giving out the bags to the other kiddos! She's scream in excitement as they walked up the sidewalk. :) Papa even brought her out a flashlight to use and look to see if anymore kids were coming. She got to eat a lollipop and that made her night! (We didn't get that much candy, but we're all happy for that! Now, I won't be getting into the bag for a treat!) Rachel really enjoyed this Halloween the best! She knew that something was going on and was really excited to go to other's houses for "treats" and she really LOVED seeing the other kids participating in the fun. This was a great time for me to get all excited with Rachel and see her joy and happiness spilling over to all of us! This is what make parenting such a blessing! Thank you Lord! :)