Releasing Our Children

"Moses' mother loved him enough to release him into the sovereign care of Jehovah. She had done all she knew to do for as long as she could for her baby, and then she had to trust God to do His part."

Patsy Clairmont, Under His Wings
(someday I'm going to get this book...love her quotes)

InstaFriday snapshots

Well, I'm attempting to link up with Jeannett and her InstaFriday. Wish I had an IPhone, but I'm finally figuring out my phone some and can at least send my pics to Picasa and share here.

This week we were driving around and saw this ... Beaches...one of the first restaurants we found in Manhattan Beach. It was a nice place with good food and reasonable prices. We've been there a few times. It is now being remodeled and is going to be a totally different restaurant. I'm actually pretty sad about that.

We drove to the beach earlier this week when it was windy and cold. The beach was still a beautiful sight.

Tonight I really felt like having fish and chips. So we decided to head to Hermosa Beach Pier and see what they had there. We ended up at Hennessey's Tavern. Then we walked on the pier. If you look closely to the right of the sign, you can see the rooftop of the restaurant. We sat to the right facing the beach. I took the sunset picture from our seats. Then we walked on the pier. Like the Manhattan Beach Pier that has AVP plaques of champions as you walk the pier, Hermosa Pier has 'Surfers Walk of Fame' plaques. I've actually heard of some of the surfers.

I was sitting on my couch the other day and this caught my eye. For some reason I thought it would be a cool picture.

I bought the candle holder for my daughter, thinking she might want to use it for her wedding with rainbow candles. She said she had enough stuff and didn't need anymore. So, I decided to keep it and bought some candles at aunaturelle. Ordered three sets (rainbow colors) with three different scents. And I only light one or two at a time for a little while. So nice and smells wonderful.

Treasured Tokens Thursday

I really need a reminder. :)

Today's tokens are people. I treasure these three so much!

I didn't know Dan growing up. We met at Grace Church when he moved here from Yuba City. We hit it off right away and became good friends. We were in Sounds of Grace and Youth Group, then on to the College/Career Group. We had a great group of friends we hung out with and we grew closer. And the rest, as they say, is history. We've been married over 32 years ... and counting. :)














My firstborn. She just turned 28 two days ago!!!! One thing that I treasure about this girl is her love and care for people. It was evident even as a baby. My dad was sick and I heard he was in the hospital. We traveled up there (2 days in a Honda Civic with a 2-month old) and were there till my dad passed away. When we got home (we were living in Montana at the time), we got back into our routine. I was blessed I didn't have to work. But there were days I just wanted to sit down and cry. Elizabeth would crawl over to me and just place her head on my lap as if to say, "It's okay, momma. I'm here." She is there for her friends just like she has been there for me when I've had my own sad/crying times. I love you, Liz. (You'll always be Elizabeth to me).












Now to my youngest, who is now 26!!!! She was a handful, but a fun handful. I didn't always handle our battles very well, but, Praise God, she has grown into a beautiful and still fun and funny young woman. She always made me laugh with her random thoughts and sayings. She also scared me as she seemed to be heading down a path I didn't want her to head. I thank God that He protected her and that she is now a more responsible person and figuring out that life is hard, but you just keep going the best you can. I pray for her all the time, especially that she would seek God more in her decision-making. She is getting married and will have an instant family, but she seems very well suited for Lily, who will be there, hopefully, often. The baby picture was taken by Jeanne Thwaites Photogaphy in SLO. I don't remember Danielle being in a dress since those photos....Oh, yeah, Liz's wedding. And she will be in another beautiful dress in October in her own wedding.

I had to add this. We were in OR on her birthday and we went to Red Robin for lunch and she got a sundae for her birthday. She still makes me laugh.

The wedding pictures were taken by Judi Peet. Thanks, friend.

Who said she could turn 28 years old?

You can see Liz's story and some pictures from here. I loaded more pictures (which I noticed have some duplicates) on FB since it was so much easier. Enjoy!

Being Spontaneous

This was all last weekend (I didn't get time to post till now) Our weekend starts on Thursday at 1:00pm when I get off work. We decided to go to the Dodgers game.

Thursday, April 14 vs. St. Louis Cardinals - 7:10 p.m.
Fans at Thursday's game will receive Purple and Gold LA Caps as the Dodgers pay tribute to the Lakers. NBA Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Sharman, who also played in the Dodgers' minor league system in the 1950s, will throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Long-time Lakers anthem singer and good luck charm Jeffrey Osborne will perform the National Anthem and God Bless America.

 LOVE my hat and my new shirt (Alyssa Milano fashion). It was a fun time even though they lost.

 Andre Ethier is up at bat.

On Friday, we met with some missionary friends, Lloyd and Pamela, who were here for his dad's memorial service. We met at the Blackboard Bistro in Seal Beach (a few blocks from where they were staying). I enjoyed French toast, scrambled eggs, 2 slices of bacon and 2 pieces of turkey sausage.

 

Then on our way to San Pedro to do car shopping, we stopped at 7Eleven to get a soda. We were handed flyers for “free Friday” entrance to the Long Beach Grand Prix. We had never gone before, so we decided to be spontaneous. Ooooo....so, we went in and enjoyed a time of car racing…even though it was only practice, qualifying and celebrity driven races, it was still fun to sit and watch and hear these cars racing around. DEFINITELY needed the earplugs. They helped so much and my ears didn’t feel like they were going to burst.

I loved this car: Disabled Veterans of America.  SEMPER FI

And here are a couple of videos...quick as they are...of Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti (grandson of Mario). I don't know how everyone finished since we were only there on Friday, but it was just fun to be there. And then there were the celebrities. The cars went around so fast, I could only get a couple of cars with my little digital. I clicked about 200 times and got these.

 Brian Austin Green (Desperate Housewives)

 Djimon Hounsou (Amistad)

Mike Sullivan (owner of Toyota of Hollywood and Santa Monica)

So, Saturday ended up being a relaxing day after the two active days. We didn’t get the chance to look at cars, but we need to do that soon. I’m housebound and I’m getting Spring fever/cabin fever. I can only walk and bike so far and if I need to buy something, I can’t carry it all the way home. Well, I guess I could learn. But we are trying to make our weekends more fun than work/laziness, so it was fun to get out of the house and do some fun and spontaneous stuff. I will definitely start planning some fun things for the future (any suggestions?).