The Koegle Family

Have You...

2009-06-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

checked out my new blog yet??? I've posted a few things and you've got to check it out. In fact, save the new blog info to your blog so it can tell you when I've updated my new one. :) It's called A Birder and Her Boy! Come on over!

A Fresh Start...

2009-03-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

So, I've created a new blog...it's looks identical to this one (because I love this current layout), but I will be updating the new blog with new posts from now on. Please click on THIS link and it will take you to the new blog. Save the blog address so you can have access at your fingertips. :)

I just needed a new blog without the blog address of "koeglefamily." The "koeglefamily" is no longer in existence of what it was and I don't really like having a constant reminder of that on my computer...it's already in my heart every day.

Let me know your thoughts...

Emotions...

2009-03-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Emotions are interesting...some days I wish I had less emotion pouring out from within me. Some days I feel I don't have enough. But most days, I'm emotional. Yesterday, I was emotional. I had the opportunity to run into our neighbors, Mike and Kim, and I'm so glad. Today, Mike is leaving to go out of the country...he's being shipped out to Iraq for 8 months. And I am really sad to see him go. His wife threw him a huge going away party on Saturday with tons of friends, family and neighbors there to see him off. There was an awesome impromptu flag ceremony that brought even Mike, the tough military guy, to tears. He said, "The flag now means so much more to me than ever before." He believes in going to Iraq and fighting for his country and helping another. He is a great guy and I hope all who read this send up a prayer for him once in a while for his safety and protection...physical, spiritual, mental and emotional. As I left the party, I really didn't get a chance to say "goodbye" to Mike but I did ask if they were going to be around the next couple of days. They said yes and I thought, "Cool...I'll run into them." And I kept looking out the window trying to figure out if they were home or what over the next couple of days. Well, Tuesday came and I had the pleasure of having my friend Melody and her girl, Julia Rose, come over to play and when lunch time came around, Mel was hungry for Mexican food. Being 38 1/2 weeks preggo, I figured I'd just let her pick! :) When we pulled into the parking lot, I was pleasantly surprised to see Mike and Kim in their truck. I was hoping they were eating at the same restaurant...they weren't. Before I walked into our restaurant, I caught eyes with Mike and he came over and gave me a BIG hug. I told him that I'd be praying for him like crazy and that I'll miss him. And I told him, "You come back." His simple response said with a smile, "I will." I sat down inside with a heavy heart and told Mel who they were. Then I remembered that I had just put my camera in my purse right as I walked out the door. So I rushed out and found them a few doors down grabbing Chinese food and asked them if I could take a picture. The picture isn't the greatest with the best background, but I love it. And I'd love it if you upheld this couple in prayer with me over the next 8 months. Here they are...

At the impromptu flag ceremony...Here's Mike talking before the flag went up...Derek, Dave, Dave's buddy, and Mike readying the flag!When I got home from Bible Study last night, I saw these ribbons and again, got emotional. I haven't seen them in a while and we've never had them up on this street. But I'm glad they are up and they are a constant reminder to keep those deployed in our thoughts and especially prayers. Thanks Heather for taking the time to put all the ribbons up! I'm sure Kim will be surprised and grateful!!

Lord, please keep your watchful eye on Michael. Please protect him and keep him safe from any and all kinds of harm, whether it be physical, spiritual or emotional. Preserve him and Kim through this trying time and allow them to be together again when You see fit! AMEN! :)

Wordless Wednesday...so I'm a day off!! :)

2009-03-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Cole showing off his new helmet and bike skills...

Cole showing off his lady skills...

Cole showing off his "skateboarding" skills...Cole showing off his pouting skills...

Sonny showing off his posing skills...
And me having fun with the camera...
Comment away...

It was a SLO trip!

2009-02-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, Cole and I took a trip to SLO to visit the Roughtons. It was a BLAST! The kids had a great time playing together and running around like crazies with home-made super-hero capes on (thanks to Summer) and we were able to pop in and out of the house to do a few things as the weather permitted. We had SUCH a wonderful time and we are so thankful for you, Summer and Todd, Ashlynn and Jeremy, and for your friendship! Thanks for hosting us in your home and making us feel at home too! And thanks for all the delicious meals!! Here are some pics of the weekend...check them out. There are some REALLY cool pictures! Let me know what you think!

Birthday Time!

2009-02-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the 18th, was my mom's (29th) birthday and her best friend, Judy, called me a couple of weeks ago with a plan. The plan was to surprise her at work and take her away for the day. So, I called her boss and asked if there was any way we could pull this off and have her take a personal day without my mom actually knowing. She said yes and so the plan was on. And then the plan was off with the weather being what it was for the last week. And then when the weatherman said it was supposed to clear out on Wednesday...it was back on! :) So, my dad took the day off of work, he and Cole and I piled jackets, bird books, binoculars and snacks into the car, picked up Judy and headed over to Mom's work yesterday. We came in singing "Happy Birthday" and I videotaped us going in. And then Dad told her what we were doing and she was SO excited! She quickly shut everything down and we got the heck out of there! We headed up to our fav coastal spot...Carp(interia)...and had lunch at the Cajun Kitchen...SO tasty! We actually ran into Judy's brother and sister-in-law, Ted and Sue, and they joined our table.
After our great meals, we headed over to the Salt Marsh Bird Reserve and walked around for about an hour or so.
We saw the usual birds...Great and Snowy Egrets, a cute pair of Ruddy Ducks, a whole slew of American coots, a beautiful Green-winged Teal, good 'ol Mallards, many Buffleheads and a couple of Great Blue Herons.
Just as we were turning around, Mom called out "Hey guys...I see something HUGE! It looks like a little boat in the water, but I think it's a bird. Seriously, it's really big guys. Come check it out." Judy and I were like, "Sure Mom, okay...we'll come over and look," thinking "Yeah, sure. Whatever Mom." But low and behold...she saw a bird we had never seen before in the wild. It was an almost-adult Mute Swan. They are mostly on the East Coast and around the Great Lakes, so to see one in the wild on the Pacific Coast was certainly a treat. We were able to get right over it on the birding path and take a whole bunch of pictures...here are just a few. :)
And while we were checking out our Mute Swan, we looked overhead and saw this beautiful Sharp-Shinned Hawk. Another first for me. :)
After birding, we headed back to the car to open presents. Probably not the best setting to open presents, but my mom was able to sit down, which was necessary. :)
Then we decided to head up to Lake Casitas and check out the lake area and campground there. They have a pretty amazing campground up there, complete with trailer and boat rentals, a camp store, many playgrounds and nice picnic areas. Just after the sun set, we found a cute Great Blue Heron wading in the shallows looking for dinner. Speaking of dinner, we drove back down to Carp and ate at one of our fav restaurants, The Palms.
We had a great dinner and then headed home, tired from our fun all-day adventure! Happy birthday to the best Mom around...you are such a great woman, wonderful mother and awesome grandma. I love you SO much Mamua. :)

Prayer

2009-02-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

On Sunday night, I had the privilege to sing with an incredible choir...the choir from Cal Baptist University. Our GBC choir sang with them on 2 songs and I think we sounded pretty good! After we sang our two songs, Emilie and I sat back in our seats and enjoyed the rest of the concert. As soon as I sat down, I saw my sweet boy, Cole, come down the aisle and join me. I was excited that he came with my mom and dad and was able to see me and Auntie sing! Towards the end of the concert, we had a short prayer time and while Pastor Peter was praying, Cole was SO concerned and wanted to know..."Do you like cheese dogs?!" And the question wasn't whispered. I seriously lost it! It was one of those moments in church where you can't control yourself and you feel like everyone is looking at you. I just laughed so hard that my laugh was silent and my whole body shook. I think he asked the same question, "Do you like cheese dogs?" five times and with each repeat, I laughed even harder. Leave it to the kid to make me lose all control!

Happy 4th Birthday Cole!!!!

2009-02-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

My favorite picture of you as a baby!

I cannot believe you are four years old today!!! It seems like yesterday that I had you in my belly and was so excited to feel you kicking and moving around! And now you are my little man who loves to do everything!! I love watching you play outside, watching you ride your little red tricycle as FAST as you can round and round! I love watching you build tall, crazy building and robots with your Legos. I love watching you sleep. I love hearing you sing songs, either by yourself or with me in the car! I love getting you all cleaned up and walking around with you at my side. I love when you draw awesome pictures of me, write my name on them and then give the picture to me like a present! I love that you like protein milk. I love that you are my boy. I love that you have rad dance moves. I love that you are so polite to (most) people. I love that you make friends easily. I love that you will sit with me and read story after story after story. I love taking you to Disneyland and Magic Mountain and experiencing new rides with you (and old ones too!) I love playing hide and seek with you, playing catch with you and playing t-ball and golf with you. I love teaching you new things. I love your little inquisitive mind. I love to hear you pray. And I love you.

Your first vacation at 7 weeks old!

Your first day at the beach...Carpinteria, of course!
Chillin' in your favorite chair!
First time at the pool!Teether biscuits are the best!
Lookin' mighty cute on the couch!

On your first boat ride in Big Bear!You certainly love bath time!
Your first Halloween...as the cutest tiger ever!!!
Showin' off for the ladies!
You're always so silly!!
Howdy, cowboy!!
Helpin' out at Children's Hunger Fund!
Your 3rd birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese!
Just wiggin' out!

Your first day of preschool, September 2008!
With Miss Laura at preschool!Tux snugglin' with his favorite boy!

Argh matey!Always climbin'!
Happy birthday Cole...I love you beyond measure! :)

Irked

2009-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

So, at the end of December, T-Mobile was having a super awesome sale on phones and I was able to get a "texting" phone for free-99. :) Basically, it retailed at $199, I paid $50 for it, but I got a $50 mail-in-rebate for it, so it'll be free. Wahoo! And...to make the deal even sweeter, I received a free companion flight as well! I didn't even know that I qualified for that special and was pleasantly surprised when I was handed all the literature. And I've been dying to go to Portland to visit Mary, Kyle & Wyatt and all the bald eagles up there, so I was super-excited! You had to go through a whole month-long process just to get a pin number to look through possible flights, so I needed to be patient. Okay, I can handle that. Well, I got the booking pin yesterday, one month after I bought the phone, and thought I'd give the flights a little looksey. ARGH! The cost of one flight on their so-called deal is more than the price of 2 flights going through several other websites. The cheapest flight that was available from here to Portland was $541. I could get 2 tickets for the times I want for $380 through JetBlue. What kind of freakin' deal is that?????? I'm definitely miffed and I think I'll call T-Mobile and see what I can do. Very frustrating, don't ya think????

Good times with the Davis'!

2009-01-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, the 17th, my family had our annual Davis Get-together...we can't even call it a Christmas get-together any more as it's usually in January due to everyone's busy schedules. Most of the Davis clan was able to make it down to Laguna "Goonie" Beach for an afternoon/evening full of family time! Cole was so bummed as his "cousin" Zachary was still on vacation in Hawaii and his other "cousin," Savannah, was really sick at home. He did get to meet his newest "cousin" Phoenix and really thought she was cute! We had a great time of catching up and I was so excited that Cole could finally meet my Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim. They came in from Florida and everyone was glad they were able to make it out...it's been a LONG time! Here are a few pictures...

They sure do have beautiful sunsets from this balcony!!
Cole and Dusty playing Legos and building something together...good thing Dust is an architect!
Pretty darn cute if you ask me! :)Dusty and Cole playing with the huge bouncy ball from Aunti Di & Uncle Roger!
Uncle Roger, Emilie and Dad comparing bellies...I think Uncle Roger won! Or lost...I don't know!Dad strummin' some tunes for everyone to listen to...Aunt Sue getting her fill of Phoenix...what a sweet girl!
Thanks Uncle Roger & Aunti Di for opening up your home to all of us yet again. We had such a great time and I hope it's not another year before we see everyone again! KATO! :)

I've Been Tagged!

2009-01-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Thanks Laina!!

1. Where is your cell phone? On my nightstand
2. Your significant other? Well...he's working...if you want to still call him my sig. other.
3. Your hair? Needs a cut!!!
4. Your mother? Is working right now and still not feeling great! :(
5. Your father? Is also at work, probably writing a song :)
6. Your favorite thing(s)? My God, my son, my family, my friends, birding, reading, the beach...
7. Your dream last night? This is weird...that Cole's jaw popped out of place, but he was okay and I was FREAKED OUT! Dude...I don't know about that one!
8. Your favorite drink? Tie between hot tea and Dr. Pepper
9. Your dream/goal? To raise my son to see a difference in me and follow the Lord. To go on an Alaskan cruise. To go to Florida and Texas to bird. To read my Bible EVERY day!
10. The room you’re in? Cole's room...pretty soon I'll have my own desk in my own room with my own computer! YAHOO!
11. Your fear? Not being able to protect Cole
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Walking with the Lord and in my own place.
13. Where were you last night? With Emilie and Laina at Kaiser for a birth class
14. What you’re not? A messy person. A boy. An atheist. A germophob.
15. Muffins/donuts? Donuts...all the way!
16. One of your wish list items? A REALLY nice camera and a spotting scope w/ camera.
17. Where you grew up? Santa Clarita
18. The last thing you did? Paid bills :(
19. What are you wearing? Pj's...for another couple of minutes and then it's shower time!
20. Your TV? In storage
21. Your pet? Tux - the best cat ever and Cleo - the love bug who annoys you every chance she can. :)
22. Your computer? In the garage in a box...waiting to come out!
23. Your life? Blessed, busy, exciting, challenging, prayerful, and FUN!
24. Your mood? Calm
25. Missing someone? My two puppies that I gave away last year.
26. Favorite pastime? Birding, beaching, watching (TV and movies), playing (cards & games & catch with Cole) and reading!
27. Something you’re not wearing? Jewelry
28. Favorite Store? I don't know...probably Walmart ;)
29. Your summer? is going to be busy
30. Your favorite color? Blue
31. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday afternoon when Cole was pushing me around the backyard on HIS tricycle...it was hilarious! I don't really fit at all!
32. Last time you cried? At Tinna and James' wedding on Sunday. :)
33. Who will re-post this? Who knows!
34. Four places I go over and over? Church, school, Trader Joe's and Walmart
35. Four people who e-mail me? Kohl's, Emilie, Jenn & my Yahoo reminders. :)
36. Four of my favorite foods? Chips and dip, Vegetables, Chicken Enchiladas, and Brownies
37. Four places I would like to be right now? Carpinteria, done with my class, feeling 100% and in someone's arms...it's been a while. ;)
38. Four people I tag? Julie, Kristal, Kim and Summer :)

Busted!

2009-01-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

So I caught a couple of furry creatures stealing my birdseed from one of the feeders yesterday morning...and they were pretty cute. :) I was able to walk right up to the little guys and take pictures a few inches away. Here they are feasting away...

My mom wants to "get rid of them," however, I think they are too cute for words.

Maybe I'm just a softy. :)

SORRY!

2009-01-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Cole received many games for Christmas and we have only just begun digging into them and giving them a whirl. Here are some pics of the first time he played SORRY! It was very fun!
Cole and Grandma starting out the game!Cole getting the winning card and...doing the victory dance, card in hand! :)
He very much enjoyed saying, "SORRY!" with quite the silly accent. Oh what fun it is to play games with a youngster. :)

Tea Time!

2009-01-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Lindsay and Bev took my mom, sister and me out to afternoon tea at The Gilded Rose Manor in the valley. We had such a nice time catching up, sipping some great tea and eating some tasty tea-time treats. :)
Emilie, Mom and me...
Linds and Bev...
I love the details...
All of us girlies...
Thank you, ladies, for such a wonderful afternoon filled with friends and fellowship. I love you all!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome 2009!!!

What a year this has been!

2008-12-31T11:36:00.000-08:00

I hope and pray that you had a marvelous Christmas with your family and friends! I certainly did! I, however, did not get too many pictures of Christmas Day. :( It was a day of family and friends surrounding us, good food, gifts under the tree, entertainment by a 3-year-old, and lots of great memories! Remembering that amazing birth so long ago, in a town far, far away was the center of everything this year and Cole reminded me of that every time he looked at his own little nativity scene that was given to him by his friend, Faith. :) He also loved arranging and rearranging Mary, Kyle and Baby Jesus! :) He would then correct himself and say, "Oh no, no, not Kyle...it's Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus." He certainly loves his Auntie Mary and Uncle Kyle, although they are so very far from us now. On that note, I would like to post a very BIG congratulations to Mary & Kyle on the birth of their beautifully handsome son, Wyatt James, on Christmas Eve! Wyatt made his way into this world of ours at 3:14 p.m., weighing in at 6 lbs 10 ozs and measuring 18 1/2 inches long. Wyatt, we can't WAIT to meet you, little man. We are so thankful for you, your mama and your papa. :)

This year has been one for the books for me. It has had SO many ups and downs, highs and lows, and has been a constant reminder that I need to rely on the Lord to give me strength and hope. Although this year has disappointed me in so many ways, it has been so encouraging and wonderful. Knowing that God has me and my son in HIS hands at ALL times is wonderful! Knowing that things WILL be alright is encouraging! Knowing that my family is ALWAYS there for me, no matter WHAT comes my way is wonderful! Knowing that I have countless friends that will CONSTANTLY support me and PRAY for me is so encouraging! Thank you to those who have kept me and Cole and my family in your prayers...I do not have any way to clearly express how much it has meant to me. THANK YOU!!!!

How exciting that a new year is upon us! What will this new year bring? Who will it bring into our lives? Where will we go over the next 12 months? Only the Lord knows and we will just have to WAIT UPON HIM! I think the biggest test that I have had to go through this year is waiting. Waiting seems to be one of the hardest trials to endure, as there is no end in sight. You just have to wait for the answer and wait with patience, confidence and more patience! And with the right attitude and mindset. Isaiah 40:31 says, "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary." I have certainly gained a new strength in this process!! Although I have needed some time to rest along the way, rest my soul, I have not grown tired and weary but have become energized by the Lord!!! I pray all the time that the Lord will continue to give me that strength to endure. 1 Corinthians 10:24 exclaims, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win."

I will run.

I will run to win.

Run with me.

Frosted Friday!

2008-12-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

Pictures taken this morning in our backyard! :)
Let me know what you think...I love 'em! :)

What a weekend!

2008-12-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

Wow...I'm glad it's over, but it was GREAT! Here are how things went down...

On Friday, we had our first performance of the SCV Candlelight Christmas Concert at Grace. I had my camera with me the whole time, so unfortunately, I have no pics of the choir and orchestra. We all did wonderfully, including mom with her bum hand, and afterward, we went out to In-and-Out with Cheryl, Zach and Emily. We had a blast watching my little man entertaining everyone with his stories and songs...thanks guys for making it out for the concert and hanging for a bit! It was a lot of fun!!! Now, home to study for a midterm at 8:00 a.m....

On Saturday, Which ended up being at 10:30 a.m. because my instructor's car broke down. :( But me and all the classmates ended up studying in the hallway and crammin' for the last bit of info. It worked and I pulled off a 96% on the midterm (which is 20% of my grade for the class!) WAHOO! :) The fam and I had lunch and then I had to get ready for the 4:30 p.m. call time for the next concert. It went very well again and Cole and I took some pictures...

Me and my sweet boy...
Mom, Cole and I...We, of course, needed to throw in a silly one!!! :)
And then we headed off to Aaron's Graduation Party at the Precht's home...Aaron graduated from the Nursing program at C.O.C. on Wednesday and there was a big bash for him celebrating his success!!! Aaron, I'm so very proud of you and can't wait to hear all your future nursing stories!!! Here are some pics from the party!
Aaron and I...
Sam and I...
Seth and I...
Samantha and I...
Jill and I -
Mom, TJ and Tyler warming up in the living room...
And Mom, Judy and Seth warming their buns up by the nice fire...
It was a VERY fun and very late night, so...

On Sunday, Cole and I slept in and enjoyed a quiet morning. We had lunch together and then I had to get ready for the last Christmas performance. The Grace choir is certainly something special to be a part of and I'm SO very grateful to have been a part of it for 1 year! I started the first week in January and have been carried through this last year on prayers and support from my choir family. Thank you!

After the concert, Cole and I headed out to dinner at Stonefire with mom & dad, Emilie & Brice, Aunt Cheryl & Uncle Tedd, and Aunt Jenny & Uncle Rod. We had such a good time eating and chatting the evening away! It was super-loud in there, but we still had a great time. Good food, good family...how much better can it get??? :) We said our goodbyes and headed home....to my sweet bed! Cole and I had a fun night reading Christmas stories and snuggling up! :)

You've Gotta Check this out...

2008-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

So Kandi's put this music video on her blog and you need to check it out...

Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Richardsons and Villaflors, be sure to check it out...you will definitely enjoy it. :)

Conversations...

2008-12-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

Cole - "Hey Mom, do you know what an adult is?"

Me - "Yes, an adult is a grown-up."

Cole - "Yeah, yeah...an adult is a grown-up. Did you know we have to be so, SO very careful with grown-ups?"

Me - "Why do we need to be careful, sweetie?"

Cole - "We need to be care not to punch them in their face."

:)

Check out Summer's latest posting...

2008-12-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

It's too cute for words...

Here it is...

Yup...they are WAY too cute!!!

Stitches, Thanksgiving, Terrific Tots and Christmas Cuteness...

2008-12-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

So here are a bunch of updates that have happened over the last month...I know, I'm a slacker. The first picture may make you queasy...proceed with caution. ;)

My mom's stitches after the dressing fell off...it wasn't a pretty sight. She sliced her finger open somethin' fierce while trying to flatten a box outside in the backyard. Blood gushing...the whole she-bang. This all happened 45 minutes before Mary's baby shower for little Wyatt James a couple of Sundays ago. I immediately told her to just GO and get everything stitched up because there was NO way that wound was going to stop bleeding on it's own. Thankfully, she only missed about 45 minutes of the shower and we all just ate and chatted so she could join us for the fun stuff. :) It's healing pretty nicely, although when they took the stitches out, it was still just gaping...weird! She's playing in the Grace Christmas concerts this weekend against her doc's orders! YIKES! There are no replacements for harp, so apparently she just needs to suck it up. She'll do wonderfully!On to Thanksgiving Day...
Brice, Mom and Uncle Tedd (always goofing off!) getting some GOOD grub! :)
Thanksgiving dinner with the Duncans...MMMmmm! Thanks Aunt Cheryl and Grandma Vi for such a tasty meal and fun time with the family...we need to do that more often!
The cousins...Emilie, Kacy, Renelle and Philip...on Thanksgiving Day!

We all enjoyed playing a couple of rounds of Cranium after the big feast...here are some pictures from the games!! Kace reading "a question out loud and passing it to the team." :)Aunt Cheryl SO EXCITED that Brice was guessing the right thing!!!
The other team deep in thought, trying to figure out the question...
Brice and Phil had to act something out...together...quality laughs!
Time for Terrific Tots...
Cole's Preschool Christmas class picture!
Cole with Miss Laura and the one and only girl in the class, Morgan, having so much fun outside!
Auntie Emilie and I conducted Circle Time and sang "Holiday" :( songs with the kiddos...we sang The Twelve Days of Christmas, Jingle Bells (as pictured below) and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It was a blast!
Cole opening his gift exchange book...it was a Kung Fu Panda book...he LOVED it!
Cole with Miss Anita and Miss Laura on his last day of Preschool in 2008! They are WONDERFUL teachers and we are both so thankful for them!Cole looking pretty cute (I must say) in front of our Christmas tree this year!
He even knows how to pose...I seriously didn't tell him anything...what a natural stud! :)
I have my first midterm for my Pharmacy Technician program this Saturday and would appreciate any and all prayers you can send my way! So far, the class is going very smoothly and I have a 95% in the class. :) YAY ME! :) I'd love it to stay that way and this midterm is 20% of my entire grade in the class...hopefully I'll do well. It's only happening on the most busy weekend of all for me with all the GBC Christmas concerts going on as well. I'm hoping to get some studying done today and tomorrow morning, then it's all up to the brain retaining and spitting it out at the right time. Next week, I'll try and post some pictures from the concert and Aaron's Nursing Graduation Party from this weekend!! Enjoy yours and come to the concerts if you can! :)

Halloween & Fall Festival...

2008-11-06T15:35:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics from Halloween & the Fall Festival at Grace...

Gutting pumpkins is SO much fun! :)

"Ew Mom! Check out all this goo!"

"Mom, get it off!!!! I need to wash my hands RIGHT NOW!"
The only pumpkin that I actually carved...but it was pretty cool. :)

Cole's preschool class picture for their Halloween dress-up day! (2 days before Halloween)

Pretty much the cutest bat I've ever seen! Showing off his wings during Circle Time at preschool!
Cole and I all ready to go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood before heading to Fall Festival at Grace. I had my grandma's leather dress on from the 1940 or 50's that she wore to a costume party way back then! It was fun. :)

Trick-or-treating at Heather and Adam's house...
At the Fall Festival...he looks so happy here...most of the evening was spent in tears or tired fits...but he did have a blast going through Box City. :)Auntie Jamie met us and rocked out with us at the Fall Festival!!! What a punk! :)
Cole flying through the Conference Center showing us his skills. :)
At the end of the night, the Brache's took down their life size Spiderman from the roof of their car and we snapped a picture with him. Here's Cole shooting some webs with Spiderman! :)
All in all, we had a good evening and we got a TON of candy...which we are still trying to figure out ways to get rid of. :) Now, to my favorite holiday of the year...Thanksgiving!! :)

Autumn Greetings to you!

2008-10-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture from our family trip to Lombardi's Ranch!! We enjoyed the day so much!!

I took lots of pictures...to see the rest of the album, click the link below and check them out!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35708&l=43e79&id=505919576

Hope you enjoyed the pictures...and enjoy your fall season! :)

Happy Birthday Bricicle!!

2008-10-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Brice's 26th birthday on Saturday the 11th by going to Red Robin, going to a home C.O.C. football game, and then coming here to play cards games! We also went out to dinner at Sisley's on his actual birthday, which was the 13th! It was a celebration weekend!!! Here are a couple of pictures from the Saturday celebration!

Brice, I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I'm so very thankful for you and all that you are to me and to Cole! I pray that the Lord will RICHLY bless you and your FAMILY this next year! :)

NKOTB Concert...Really.

2008-10-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

So, Lindsay and Brian have a hook-up at the Staples Center and were able to get tickets to the SOLD-OUT New Kids On The Block concert that was on Wednesday night. Linds and I were not feelin' the love before we left and weren't all that excited...I had had a major migraine that day and was not feeling good at all. Thankfully, my migraine meds worked wonders and I was able to go with Linds and we had a GREAT time. Once we got there, we felt the love and the excitement. It was loads of fun listening to and groovin' to music from SO long ago. NKOTB was actually really good and their voices were even better than I remember. They put on an excellent show and we were so happy that we went! We even got to see Natasha Beddingfield perform about 5 songs for the preshow. She's got some serious lungs! Here are a few pics that I thought were pretty good...we were sitting in the VIP section on the left side of the stage. :) Thanks again, Linds, for taking me...I had such a good time!!! And thanks to you, I've renewed my MAJOR crush on Jordan Knight. :)

Linds and I in front of the...
Natasha Beddingfield...
And the crowd goes seriously and absolutely berzerk!!!
Oh Oh uh Oh oh, Oh oh uh oh, Oh Oh uh Oh oh, The Right Stuff... :)
Yes...Jordan was singing to me...
The Staples Center was completely packed...it was awesome...and deafening!
Singing "Forever"
They were so sneaky and somehow teleported to the back of the Staples Center and sang on a rotating stage and Jordan played the piano...they sang about 3 songs out there...very cool...
And had a dancer on top of the piano...
Joe McIntyre dancing with a lucky lady...
Jordan singing a solo song...with his shirt unbuttoned...blowing by a fan...OH LORD!
Joe singing to the ladies!
Donnie saying, "This goes out to Renelle, baby, wherever you are..." LOL!
Spotlights are fun.
There goes Jordan again, singing to me...
Do you see the halos about them...I think they're my angels. :)
Wish I was in the front row right then! :)
End of the concert...and "Hangin' Tough!"

"Good night Lindsay and Renelle...thanks for coming!" :)
Great show...Fun times! :)

I'm interested...

2008-10-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

I know I'm weird...I've accepted it. I've got to know...who brushes their teeth when they shower? Does anyone else beside me? Just wondering...

P.S. You should just accept it too...

A Long Time Coming...

2008-09-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

So, last week, I was able to do something that should have been done 5 years and 4 months ago...put my specialized, personalized, Renelle-icized license plates on my awesome car. When I traded in my super-rad Ford Escort (*sniff, sniff*), I, of course, took my plates off before I handed her in. BUT, I never put them on my sparkly, shiny new car (back then). So, after searching and wondering where they have been all these years, Mike was able to find them hidden away in his garage and he handed them back over to me! :) I promptly made an appointment at the dreaded DMV to see if I could still use these plates. I did NOT know that you are required to pay a fee just to "hang on" to or "retain" them, if you will, and you also have to pay a fee to "reassign" them to your new car. Needless to say, after two trips to the DMV, sitting next to people that were super-weird in the DMV, waiting in lines, and well over $150 to get these bad boys back in action...I was successful and they went on as soon as I drove home and was able to get my hands on a screwdriver. :) Here's a pic...
Yay for my uubercool plates! Thought I'd share my happiness with ya! :0)

I know, I know...I'm so bad at this...

2008-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Okay...So I really need some reminders to do this on a consistent basis. I do have good intentions and take pictures all the time with the intent on posting them on this blog...but I never actually sit down and do it. Well, now that the summer is (almost) over and the family is back into the swing of things, I'd like to do more updates. Here's the latest on us...

Cole started preschool on Sept. 8th! I can't believe the day really came, but it did and I'm so proud of my big boy. I ended up staying the entire time with him on his first day so he could get acquainted with everything and by the second day, he was off and running...literally! Here are a few pics from that historic first day...

Cheeseball!!!! :)

Fun with playdough...what's with the face, dude?!
So precise...
Mama helping the preschooler with his all-important cubbie page...
We decided to do our funny faces for the camera...YIKES!

Off to stamp art time... hmmm, which one should I choose...Cole's favorite part of the day so far...SNACK TIME!
"Hang on to the donut rope kids...
...because we're off to the park!"
Park time with his new buddies!!

Sand is so cool...Cole loves the swings...now...for so long he was afraid when he went in them. Now he reminds me (or his teacher) that he's slowing down. When she pushed him way up high, he replied with, "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" :)
Cole, Miss Anita, Miss Laura, and the rest of the kiddos in the class!
Circle Time!
What a fun time this is going to be! I'm looking forward to helping out in the class. I have signed up for about 6 days that I'll be helping. It should be loads of fun. And I really think Cole's going to enjoy the interaction with his buddies and the teachers!

Cole recently learned how to draw happy faces and this was the result of the first try on a page. I think it's quite good! :)

So there you have it...it's been a crazy four weeks! Emilie, Brice and I sang in a trio at church 2 weekends ago with the choir and had a wonderful time praising our Lord! We've had some good family evenings involving great food and fun card playing. We've enjoyed the nice weather we had last week. And we're excited to see what Fall brings to the table!

How to read these next few posts...

2008-08-13T22:42:00.001-07:00

So I should have posted these from finish to start to have them in order. Oh well. If you want to read from start to finish, start with "It All Started With Vegas," then read, "On to Utah," after that check out "Commissioning and Party Time with the Obergs," and finish with "Back to Vegas...then home sweet home." Sorry for the confusion! Hope you enjoy the stories and pictures. Be sure to leave me a comment or two! :-)

Back to Vegas...then home sweet home...

2008-08-13T17:34:00.001-07:00

We left Utah after breakfast on Monday morning and started to trek down the interstate to Vegas...we hit a bunch of summer thunderstorms and saw QUITE the display of lightning. It was very cool...I did take a few pictures from the car on the way down...

Look at the clouds on the right side...I thought it looked like an eagle's eye or the "eye of God."
Just outside of St. George, Utah...

Coming into Vegas at sunset....

The first time in Vegas, we attempted to go to the Pirates show at Treasure Island. Dad dropped Emilie, Cole and me off right in front of the show, however there were definitely about 5,000 people already there to watch it. We stayed for about 5 minutes of the show and took off...Cole was pretty bummed, so I promised that we would come back and see it. Well, this time we went about 45 minutes early and got right in front of the main Sirens ship. We waited and waited and really enjoyed the show. Here are a couple of pics...

After the pirate show, we headed over to Fremont Street to see the overhead light show...here's a peek off the strip off of the parking structure at T.I...Cole and G-Pop checking out the light show overhead...
The theme of the show was Queen music and it was AWESOME...WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!!!

After an evening of dinner at 1:00 a.m. with my dad and gambling on penny slots until about 5 a.m. (I did win $$$) I finally headed off to our hotel room, but was up for basically the entire rest of the "night" with some major stomach issues. And I was able to get an hour's rest while Grandma and G-Pop took Cole down to the cafe for breakfast...however, when Cole came back in with them, he wasn't really feeling good. Well, I needed to finish getting ready, so I set him on the counter in the bathroom so I was right there...which wasn't such a hot idea. He ended up puking a WHOLE bunch on himself and the bathroom floor and into the trash can. Poor boy. Once that was over, he was a new kid. Totally fine, no issues at all! :) I had issues the rest of the day, however my pops thought it would be a good idea to hit up the historic...
We had a great time exploring the mines and checking out all the cool gift shops...

This is the railroad that is still in working order and we were able to take a ride around the mining area of Calico...pretty cool. Although it was 118 degrees outside...
Inside one of the museums where you can enter into the mine...all original mining equipment and office equipment...
Most of the quaint mining town burnt down...twice. These are mostly replica buildings, however there were a few originals from the 1800's.

We headed home in the nice air conditioned car and finally made it to our sweet house at about 7:30 p.m. My bed never felt so good!! We all had an AWESOME vacation and are so glad we were able to go together! Lots of fun memories and lots of cool pictures! :)

Phew...that's all folks!!!

Commissioning and Party Time with the Obergs...

2008-08-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

So the real reason for this entire trip was to attend the Naval Officer commissioning ceremony of my good friend, Sam Oberg on August 2nd. We arrived at our destination (Wolf Creek, Utah) on Wednesday, July 30th and just relaxed and enjoyed the views from our balcony (too bad I forgot to take any pictures of that!) On Thursday, we headed down to Ogden to visit Sam and Ashlee and their 3 boys, Trent, Braden, and Kyler. We were able to go to lunch together and just have a great time catching up. Cole fell asleep on the car ride back to their house, so we ended up just heading back to our timeshare (about 12 miles away from their home into the mountains)

Here are some pics from the Commissioning Ceremony of Ensign Samual J. Oberg. It was held in Bountiful, Utah at a beautiful banquet hall...

Sam swearing the oath...
Seth, Sam's brother, saluting the newest Naval Officer...very cool moment indeed!
TJ, Sam and Seth posing in uniform...
Sam, Camille, John and Seth...these parents are VERY proud of their boys!
The OSB...Seth, Aaron, Ensign Sam, Stevie, and TJ...
Mom and Dad with the Oberg boys...proud "parents" too!
Here are the Prechts with the Oberg boys...I'm sure glad Judy was able to make it and survive the day...she woke up with a horrible migraine. Sad times, but she ended up being okay!
Sam and his beautiful wife, Ashlee, posing for the cameras...
And I finally get a picture with the man of the hour...
Seth and Sam...two of the best buddies a girl could have...seriously...
Cole looking pretty darn cute with Uncle Tink....I was messing around with my pops hat and this picture actually turned out pretty good! :)
Sam is one decorated Naval Officer!
Samantha and Seth enjoying the AWESOME food they had catered in...YUMMY!
What he's worked many years for...

After the amazingly emotional commissioning ceremony, most of the people headed over to Sam and Ashlee's house in Ogden, about 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City...

Party Time at the Oberg's Pad!!!

Cole and Cooper playing in the boys bedroom...they were in heaven!!!
Samantha, TJ, Stevie and Aaron chillin' in the backyard and sippin' on some "juice."
Dad and Peter strummin' away and Sam looking very happy he's an officer!

Sweet little Cooper looking on as Dad and Chris play some tunes...
Aaron and Mary making some extremely odd faces...TJ, Jessica and Stevie relaxing with a beverage...
Ryan looking a bit crazed...
TJ sporting the shades...

The boys singing a song ...Camille, Sam's mama teaching Cole how to fish...in the garage...
Thank you to all the Obergs for making this trip well worth the gas money! :) We had SUCH a blast with you all and I'm so grateful to be considered friends with all of you!!! I hope we can do something together like that soon.

From Wolf Creek Utah, we headed towards Vegas again on Monday, August 4th...

On to Utah...

2008-08-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

So on Tuesday, July 29th, mom, dad, Cole and I left for Utah for 6 nights. Our original plan was to drive from Vegas to Zion National Park, spend a few hours there and trek it up to Ogden where our other timeshare is. However, we decided that Bryce Canyon National Park was to awesome to pass up and we took a detour. We ended up spending the night in wonderful Beaver, Utah and then pressing on towards the goal of Wolf Creek Mountain, Utah... Here are some highlights of Utah and our adventures.

We're on our way!!!
Some beautiful works of the Lord along the way...
We hit Zion National Park first...
Cole and I right outside the Zion tunnel through the mountains...
My boy and me in Zion...SO PRETTY!
Along the highway in Zion National Park, we came across some cool sheep/mountain goats that were right alongside the road, up on a BIG rock. When I went under the rock to take some pics of this awesome animal, here's the stare down that I received. I promptly picked up the pace and moved away from being right under this guy...he was VERY intimidating. There were 5 altogether. They totally stopped traffic on the tiny 2-lane highway...many people got out of their cars and took some photos of them!

On the way to Zion, we stopped in at a local rock shop and looked at some cool rocks and fossils.
We also spotted a herd of buffalo along the way and he was the biggest one of all, right in front of the fence...

We took the beautiful route to Bryce Canyon and finally made it to Inspiration Point. What a privilege to see this amazing creation of the Lord's twice...

Grandma showing Cole the amazing view from Inspiration Point! I think that might have been her favorite moment of the entire vacation! :)

Cole and I snuggling up close enjoying the view!
Dusk in Bryce Canyon National Park...

We went to a few other vista points, but my camera died after Inspiration Point. We were fortunate enough to see many mule deer and even some pronghorn deer, which look sort of like antelope. We ate dinner at the famous Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon, went shopping in their souvenier shop, bought way cool rocks and postcards, and finally left at about 10:30 p.m. Dad pulled off the highway and turned off all the car lights and we stargazed for about 10 minutes. We were able to see the Milky Way and so many amazing constellations...even a few shooting stars! We drove through a tiny town called Panguitch, Utah, couldn't find a hotel room and finally made it over to Beaver, Utah around midnight. We found a Comfort Suites and were very glad for a comfy bed and a great breakfast. We even chatted with a family from the Netherlands about the differences in prices between the US and the Netherlands...fascinating conversation! We then headed up the 15 for a LONG drive to Ogden, Utah. And that marks the end of the trip from Vegas to Wolf Creek Mountain, Utah.

It all started with Vegas...

2008-08-13T11:18:00.001-07:00

Our summer family vacation started on Sunday, July 27th and this is how it went...

Ahh...The open road! Vegas, here we come!!!!'Nuff said!Emilie, Cole and I in front of the famous Vegas sign...at about 11:00 p.m.! :)

We were so lucky to be able to see Kristal, Shaun, Natalie and Landon Sawyer the first night we arrived. We went out to a birthday dinner for me at an incredibly tasty restaurant, Brio Tuscan Cuisine. :) After dinner we hauled the kiddos to the exquisite Bellagio to watch the fountains.
Here is Natalie and Cole with their first row seats to the show! :)
Ahh...so cute...Natalie and Cole awaiting the show together! :)Side by side...LOVE IT!Kristal and her sweet boy Landon watching the fountain show!Emilie, Cole and I inside the Bellagio hotel checking out the gardens...awesome!
Inside the gardens, below the awesome "eagle chicks" :)
The way-cool fountains in the gardens...I have never seen the likes of this!
On Monday, I was able to go over to Kristal's new apartment and check it out and have some girl time. We talked for quite a while and we were able to catch up in between taking care of the kids and laughing at Natalie totally showing off for me. :) It was great...thank you Kristal for your hospitality and your incredible friendship. I'm so glad you're only 4 hours away instead of 8! :) That night we went to the MGM Grand and checked out the lion attraction, grabbed dinner at Panda Express, and hit up the M&M factory...here's dad kissing his fave color!
Cole and me at the MGM Grand!

The beautiful lioness posing for the cameras...she gave all of us quite the view when she came right up to the glass and also played in the water with her ball. :)
Just had to take a picture of this one for Mike. :)After our night out on the lit-up town, we came back to our timeshare, got comfy, and Cole and I had a dance off to my new Leona Lewis CD. We had SO much fun!

Emilie and I at the Vegas airport on Tuesday morning...she was only able to join us for the Vegas part, but I'm so glad she was with me on my birthday and we were able to have a ton of fun together!
And we're off to Zion National Park and Bryce National Park...

June Update...

2008-06-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hello! I've been so busy (and lazy) and haven't updated this blog in a LONG time! :) So, here goes! I'll give you the personal updates first: Cole just started Summer Day Camp - Camp Clarita - through the city and he's doing really well. It's very similar to preschool and yes, this mama cried when she walked away and left her teeny tiny son at "school" for the first time. He did very well the first day, no tears as I left, and had many cool things to show me when he was finished. The second morning did not go very well, many tears and screams, but ended up doing well throughout the morning. And again, he had some awesome art projects to show me at the end of the day! I'm so in shock that he's old enough to be going and doing something like this...yes, they really do grow up that fast!!!
Picking up his macaroni art project from his "cubby."
So excited to show me what he's made today!!! :)

But we've been enjoying the warm summer nights and days.

Emotionally, Cole has had a very tough month. He's been able to express verbally what he's going through and how our situation makes him sad. It's just heartbreaking hearing him say the things he does. But, we try and talk through his tears and I really try and help him get through the emotions. It's terrible to hear your son cry, "I just want my daddy to come back." But, the Lord is good and he is helping both of us get through and heal. I've had a tough past couple of weeks, but really feel that this week has been better and there has been more healing. I've had the chance to get some counseling through Grace and am SO thankful that they have the resources they do and are willing and able to share them!

Cole and I had the opportunity to house-sit for the Parsons family last week and had a BLAST! We had their whole, beautiful house to ourselves for 9 nights and really took advantage of it! We watched movies and hung out and just had some mommy and Coley time. It was SO great!

We celebrated my dad's 64th birthday on May 29th and just had dinner up at my parent's house and hung out...good family times!! Dad, I'm so thankful that we've had "extra" years with you and I'm so grateful for you and the example you are for us! I LOVE YOU!!! :)

Cole has been loving having a great big backyard to play in over the 4 months we've lived here...he's picked up a few sports as well. Here is him practicing his t-ball!!!

And he swings...
....it's a HOMERUN!!!!!! And the crowd goes wild!!! :)

My good friend, Jamie, and I were able to "get-away" a couple of weekends ago and we went to Huntington Beach for a Friday night and then were able to catch our fave band, Dizmas, play at the Huntington Beach Summerfest. We had such a blast! On Friday night we hit up Duke's on the beach for a tasty seafood dinner and an evening walk on the pier. On Saturday we hit up the local Denny's, had a blast singing to the seriously awesome tunes they had, and then hit up the beach for the rest of they day. After most of the bands played, we were able to hang out and have dinner/chat with a couple of the Dizmas boys and their friends and get some face time in before they leave to go on the road for most of the summer. Thanks Jamie for GOOD TIMES!

Here's Jamie at the pizza place where we ate dinner with Edwin (roadie) in the background.
"Under the Boardwalk...under the sun....Under the Boardwalk..."
I've loved being able to take many outside pictures in the backyard lately. I love photographing plants and flowers for some reason. Here are a couple of cool ones of recent times...

Here are the cute baby sparrows that were right outside our back door...it was so awesome watching them from tiny, blue eggs to peeping babies to flying birdies!!! WAY COOL!! :) (Their nest was on top of our outside speakers in the backyard.)
Well...that's about it...sorry for the long blog. Hopefully you can leave some comments. And I hope you are doing well!!! Have a great upcoming weekend!

Bedtime chats...

2008-05-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

So, today Cole and I decided to lay down for a nap together after reading a bunch of books from the library. He wasn't quite ready to sleep as he kept messing around and being silly. This is what our conversation sounded like:
Cole (with a silly smile on his cute little face): Are you a monster?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a fridge?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a fly?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a daddy?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a fan?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a G-Pop?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a boulder? (Where did he get this one?!)
Mom: No...
C: Are you a (then about seriously 50 more things)?
Mom: No...
C: Are you a Davis?
Mom: Yes!
C: No..you're a mama!!!

I thought it was so cute. A couple of the things made me laugh really hard! He kept going back to me being a fridge...maybe he was hungry or something! What a precious boy! Just thought I'd share. ;)

Random pics from the last couple of weeks...beware...crazy ones!

2008-05-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Cole and Ashlynn chillin' on the couch lookin' oh-so-cute! I watched Ash & Jeremy while Todd & Summer were down visiting Summer's dad in the hospital...fun times!!!

I think this should be my new profile pic...what do ya think?? Dude, I'm SO hot!

Dad, posing with the wig, too. Seriously, I'm related to him?! :)
And Mom too, of course...lookin' sexy, mama!
And we had to get Cole in the wig too...I personally think he looks like Snoop Dog from Starsky & Hutch... :)
Here's the latest fiasco with Tux...what do you think it is??

Well...it was two giant rose thorns piercing his nose...why didn't you just say you wanted a nose piercing Tux? I would have taken you! :)
Catching Cole and Cleo napping on his bed...I did put him in there the right way about 20 minutes prior to the picture...he's definitely a mover!
And last, but not least, the adorable baby shower cake my mom and I decorated for Brad & Lynda Beers...I thought it turned out adorable. I stemmed off the cake Kristal and I decorated for Nate and Debra's first girl, Annabelle! :)
Let me know what you think of the pictures...all comments will be looked over meticulously for any wisea%$ remarks. :) Have a great day!!!!

Argh...

2008-05-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give an update for those wondering how my skin tag/mole removal went...it was fine, although I'm TOTALLY bummed. I was under the impression that what I thought I was going to have removed was skin tags and they were all covered under the same dollar amount. It was $100 just for the appointment and $25 for 1-25 skin tags removed. Well, it turns out that I didn't really have any skin tags, they were all considered moles...and they cost $145 to remove...each ONE!!! So needless to say, I was only able to get one removed (the one in between my "breasticles" as Emilie would say) and it didn't really hurt at all. They numbed that sucker up and "shaved" it off and then cauterized the wound. Well, the cauterization didn't work very well and it "sprung a leak" as the doctor said so they ended up putting a pressure bandage on it. SO fun. Anyway...more info than you probably needed. If any of y'all have an extra $300 laying around, I have 2 more moles that I want to have removed and would appreciate the donation...we'll call it the "Renelle's Beautification Process Fund." :) I'm totally joking...I would love to have 2 more removed, so I'll be saving up some mula for those procedures. Now I know what to expect and am not so nervous! Thanks for your prayers.

On a sad note, the Coleford is puking this evening and not feeling great at all. So far, only 2 times, but I'm ready for more...he's finally resting on the couch and hasn't thrown up since about 7:00 p.m. Hopefully it stays that way, but I have a feeling I'll be in for a LONG night. I'd appreciate your prayers for his little belly.

So, wow...I'm really bad at this!

2008-05-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

Life has just been crazy over the last 6 weeks. I'll give a quick update....on Sunday, June 6th, my family left to visit my Uncle Tedd & Aunt Cheryl's new house in Indio (Palm Springs area) and had SUCH a great time. They have a beautiful home there with a pool, spa & bbq in the backyard on the 3rd hole of their country club golf course! :) Yeah...that's how our family rolls! :) We were able to relax and have fun, watch the end of the final 4 in college basketball and just have a great time catching up and chatting! On Monday morning, Uncle Tedd, Brice, Emilie and I played the Indio Municipal Golf Course. Although it was loads of fun, it was so frustrating not playing very well! I am a beginner, but I've always done pretty well for a beginner and it was NOT evident when we played. I think I cussed more than I have in a LONG time at the stupid golf clubs and balls! :) Here are a couple of pictures from our game...

Neat palm tree shot on the golf course...

Uncle Tedd looking so professional...

What a nice shot...yeah right...can you see the blur of the ball shanking to the right?!!!

Good form, Brice, good form! (Hole 17)

Em looking pretty nice on Hole 16.

Cole driving around Uncle Tedd & Grandma in the golf cart near the house...

On Tuesday afternoon, after a great breakfast and a little pool time, Cole and I took off on a long adventure across the desert and drove to Higley, AZ where one of my best friends, Kristal lives with her awesome hubby Shaun and their TWO kids, Natalie and newborn baby boy, Landon! We had SUCH a wonderful time visiting and talking, catching up, playing with the kids, and I had a great time bonding and cuddling with little Landon. On Tuesday night, Kristal made a wonderful spaghetti dinner (her first homemade dinner since Landon was born) and we just hung out. On Wednesday, (minus Shaun cuz he had to work) headed over to the Phoenix Zoo with the kids in tow. We had such a great time looking at all the animals and feeding some ducks. Awesome zoo...if you have the chance to check it out...definitely do. We then met Shaun at Texas Roadhouse for some GOOD steaks and had a nice time chatting. Thursday morning was just hang time and it was so nice to just get to talk and let the kids play together! Thank you, Shaun and Kristal for a WONDERFUL time and for hosting Cole and I...we had a BLAST!!!!! We love you guys SO much and are so thankful for your friendship and love!!! :) Here are a few pics from Shaun & Kristal's...

Kristal and her sweet double stroller and the 2 kiddies...

Uncle Shaun and Cole hanging out reading Cole's fav book for that week...Marvel Heroes!

Cole and Natalie checking out the turtles and ducks... 5 turtle bumps on a log... A gorgeous lioness posing on her rock...her man was behind the rock...

The carousel ride on the way out of the zoo...so fun!

Sweet, little Landon chillin' in his swing...

A beautiful, Arizona sunset from Shaun & Kristal's housing tract...
Cole and I made the long journey back to CA on Thursday afternoon and had a great time singing songs and messing around the whole drive back to Indio. On Friday, we (Uncle Tedd, my mom, Cole and I) went to the Indio Living Desert Zoo & Botanical Gardens...SO RAD! They had some of the coolest animal exhibits and lots of fun things for kids to do and go in. They had the most awesome giraffe exhibit...the wild giraffes could come right up to part of the exhibit and eat leaves from your hand! And most of the walkways were either covered with trees or had misters that made it do-able in the desert heat. They also had a beautiful butterfly exhibit where you could go in and see up close and personal, about 20 varieties of butterflies. They would land on people's hands and everything. Here are some of the cool things we saw -

A buckeye butterfly...

Hmmm...this might be tasty... YEEHAW COWGIRL (well, it was really a warthog, but still fun!)...
Cole grooming the goats in the petting zoo...
He's a master at the bongos!

A gorgeous American Kestrel...

A mountain lion...look at the size of her paws... A close-up of a laughing hyena...
Two mourning doves posing in the aviary...

And here are a few more shots of the time spent at the house in Indio!

Cole practicing his surfing...

A cool fly next to some hanging flowers in the backyard...

Some beauties of nature...

"Hey mama...look, I'm naked, naked!"
On a walk through the country club grounds, I found this tree branch cut off that looked JUST like an owl's face...pretty awesome...
On the same walk...hanging flowers from a tree...I thought it was a cool shot...

Mom, Cole and I finally headed home on Saturday morning, hit up the Cabazon outlets for hours and I literally came home empty handed...that's how disciplined I am! :) But sure had a lot of fun window shopping...well, I did get a couple of shirts for Cole from the Carter's outlet. We got home just in time to hit up Rattlesnake Slim's to hear Trout & Co. play for the evening.

Most of the rest of last month was pretty standard. Mike and I had our first court date on the 16th, which went relatively smoothly. I was able to have lunch (which turned into dinner too) with my good friend, Megan, on the 19th. We were able to catch up with each other's lives and hang out for a while. I also attended a Tea Class at Clarice's cake shop on the 22nd with my mom and Judy as well as Lindsay and her mom, Bev...here are a couple of pics of what we were taught to create...

Just this last Saturday, May 3rd, my family attended the 40th anniversary for Bouquet Baptist Church, now Bouquet Canyon Church. We attended there from about 1985-1993. It was so much fun seeing old faces from the past and reminiscing with friends! They had a wonderful catered meal from Wolf Creek and a great service comemorating the 40th anniversary.

Tomorrow I'm going to have bunch of moles/skin tags removed from various parts of my body, and I'm fairly nervous. They have to "punch" the ones out from the top of my head, and I'm afraid it's going to go to far and "punch" part of my brains out...just kidding! It's a little nerve-racking so I'd love some prayer over the situation if you read this before Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Thanks! Everything else is going pretty well, considering the circumstances. Cole has had a pretty hard week with missing Daddy and crying a lot. I've been trying to take lots of time to sit with him and try and explain, in the way a 3-year-old can understand, what's happening and what to expect from here on out. It's been a challenge and I would appreciate any prayers on this matter. It's so hard to see my little boy sad because of the situation we're in and I love him to death!!! :) Other than that, we've had some pretty fun days. This Sunday is Mother's Day and it will be so nice to spend it with my mom and the rest of my family! I will try and give another update next week and not make these so few and far between!! Thanks for your patience, thanks for your prayers and thanks for your support!!!

I believe an update is needed...

2008-03-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hello...my, oh my, has it been a long time since I updated our blog! It's been a little hectic over the last couple of months and I've been overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the love and support of my family, my friends, strangers who have heard about what's going on in my life and are praying for us, and overwhelmed with the incredible strength the Lord is able to give us when we have to go through a trial. The Lord has been good, as He always is.

Cole and I moved into my parent's house at the end of February once our lease was up at our house over by Henry Mayo. It has been chaotic here, but it's been wonderful having my family surrounding me and Cole every step of the way. Each week has been a little easier and little less messy and we figure out how to handle everything. :)

Mike continues to live in his new apartment. There has been no change in our situation for the better that I can report. Everything has been made pretty clear to the both of us where the direction is going. I filed for legal separation a few weeks ago to establish custody of Cole and financial support, as I have not worked since Cole's birth. It's been a very emotional roller-coaster, but I feel confident in the decisions that I've made. It's amazing to see the hand of God at work in very real ways in your life. I am in awe of how the Lord can use my trial to encourage others and to strengthen their walk with the Lord as well as mine. This is truly the closest I've been with the Lord since I became a Christian. I feel His presence with me all the time and am SO grateful that I have Him...I couldn't get through this without Him! Please continue to pray for Mike and his walk...he is at a crossroads in his life that will take him down one road or another and I truly pray, EVERY day, that he chooses the godly road. Pray that the Lord will lift the hard-heartedness away from him, pray that the Lord will reveal Himself in new and fresh ways to Mike, and pray a new understanding of what it means to submit yourself to Christ.

On a lighter note, we've been able to visit some friends recently and catch-up. Here are some pictures of Cole and I visiting my best bud from elementary school, Kori, at her parent's house in Hasley Canyon. They have a beautiful property with horses and a river bed and lots of fun things for kids to check out. Kori had her beautiful daughter, Ella, there with her and Cole had a blast playing with her.

Cole riding Ella's awesome trike!

Colie just looking adorable as usual on the property
Ella cruising in her awesome car...with mama's help!

Here are a couple of pictures from Easter this year...I am so thankful that I've been involved in the Grace adult choir since January. It's been such a blessing. I sang in all 3 Passion play performances for Good Friday (and Saturday) and then for both Easter morning services. Brice, Emilie, Cole and I went up to the amphitheatre and took a few pictures after the services, then we all, with mom and dad, went out to eat at Thelma's Morning Cafe. Then we headed up to our house for a Resurrection Easter Egg hunt...so fun. 12 plastic eggs filled with little representations of the death of Christ with a book to explain it all to children. It was great!

Em and I being silly in between Easter services!

Aahhh...sisters and BFF's!
The Villaflors...so very cute!"Look mama...I found an egg!!! Yay!" says the Colester!
Learning about the Resurrection through our Easter Egg hunt!

And just this last weekend, Cole and I had the opportunity to go to San Luis Obispo and visit some of my best friends, Todd & Summer Roughton and their kids, Ashlynn & Jeremy! And bonus...Katy Fetters was visiting for her spring break, so I got to visit with her as well. We had such a blast. We arrived in the early afternoon on Thursday, went to dinner at a great place in downtown SLO called Mondeo Pronto...great salmon dish, then walked around downtown for their awesome Farmers Market. We watched "Enchanted" and then fell off into dreamland.

Jeremy & Todd at the Farmers Market!
The boys running around like crazies in the park right next to Grace Church.
The sleeping arrangements for the boys...pretty cute!

On Friday we were able to go to Montana de Oro, a beach/hiking place. We mostly went to the beach part...had great fun looking at all the beautiful rocks and climbing through "pirate" caves! We watched "The Devil Wears Prada" that night and then headed off to bed.

The kiddos eating breakfast together...so cute!
Cole decided that he really wanted to check and see how cold the water was...with all his clothes on!
Montana de Oro...beautiful!
The entrance to our "pirate" cave we explored! SO FUN!
Cole attempting to wade through the river...again, note the clothes!

And there he goes...at least Ashlynn was right there to help him up! Love this one of Ash & Todd...a keeper!
"Look mama...I'm tryin' to catch some fish for you," Cole explains!
Artsy pic of the "beach" rocks...very pretty though.
Summer & Ash on our adventure at Montana de Oro!
Jeremy & Cole...BFF's! SO CUTE!

On Saturday, the girls headed to Pismo and I got my very first (and maybe last) tattoo!! It was a pretty rad experience and I was able to capture a few photos of it...

Aren't I crazy?! :)
The beginnings of the tattoo...the outline and some shading done...
Breathe, Renelle, breathe....
Kris, the tattoo artist, finishing it up with Cole's name...

The finished product...my new tat!

We also hiked Bishop's Peak in SLO that afternoon and had a great time with the kids. We were able to see basically all of SLO from the top and the views were beautiful!

Todd & Ashlynn being quite adventurous!
A view from our hike...beautiful SLO!
Keep going...we're almost to the top...NOT!
From inside the "Raspberry Forest" as the kids called it!

Another beautiful view of SLO!Todd & the kids on the steep trail...
Katy & Colie...new BFF's!
My feet by the end of the hike...I know, silly to wear flip-flops, but I couldn't put shoes on yet because of the tat...I still had the wrap around it with tape. The reason they look so different is that they put a solution on the tattoo when they are done, so one foot was more sticky than the other and it attracted more dust! :)

On Sunday we all headed off to Grace Church, the church where Todd pastors the high schoolers, and we listened to a great sermon in their service. I'm looking forward to being able to visit again soon! Todd & Summer...thanks for such an awesome weekend. Cole and I had a blast and I'm so very thankful for your friendship and support...I'll be up again soon. Love you guys. And Katy too!!! Thanks for riding home with me!

This coming week is Spring Break for the school districts out here in Valencia, so my family is heading down to the Palm Springs area to visit my aunt & uncle's new vaca home. I'm also going to have the opportunity to be able to visit another best friend, Kristal, and her family. I will be able to meet her new little man, Landon Shaun, who was born on March 17th! I'm so very excited!!! Thank you for your continued prayers for Mike, Cole and I and I will definitely be giving updates more often, now that things are a bit more calm! :)

It's Been a While..

2008-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've had a chance to update this. I'm not even sure what to write down, as my life has kind of been turned upside down. To keep this short and P.C., I would like to ask for prayer for Mike and I and our marriage. It has certainly had its ups and downs over the last almost 7 years, and we are definitely in a down right now. Most of you know that Mike and I are separated right now. Mike moved into his own apartment two weekends ago and is in desperate need for prayer right now. I would appreciate any and all prayer warriors to step up and send those prayers to our Lord. He can work miracles in a heartbeat or in a lifetime...it's up to us to have the faith!

I find so much comfort in knowing that the Lord walks with us every step of our lives. It's amazing to me that even in times of sorrow, disappointment, anger, happiness, joy, He is still there. And even when we sin, He is still right there to pick us up when we ask for His forgiveness and repent from our evil, sinful ways. I know that the Lord promises us He will never give us more than we can handle...and knowing that makes me stand amazed thinking how He has allowed the trials in my life to come my way and that I'm a strong enough woman of God to handle it all. Sometimes I think He may have chosen the wrong person as I tire spiritually when so much is going on. However, when I start to let my spiritual life "sag," I am encouraged by so many friends and family to keep my faith in the Lord and to delve deeper in my relationship with Him every day. I think I've prayed more over the last 4 weeks than in the last year. Sad, but true. Thank you for those who have been such an encouragement and shoulder for me to cry on over the last month....I cannot express what you mean to me in my life right now!

My hope and prayer is that the Lord will say "Well done, my daughter. I'm proud of the way you handled yourself and the trials I've put in your life." I feel that I am doing Him proud now, and I pray that I continue to have that attitude towards life. When I feel anger or bitterness or sin to creep up in my life, to be able to recognize it swiftly and to stomp it out! And even in the good times. Because there will be good times again. There will be happy days for my family. I have the confidence that the Lord can do ANYTHING! Please continue to pray for our little family...for Mike and his walk with the Lord, for myself and patience, faith, courage, and joy, and for my sweet, sweet Cole, that he would know how much we love him and that the Lord loves him, too.

I'm looking to find new homes for my adorable puppies, Neo & Trinity. The are a combo of white lab and boxer, but look just like black labs. Neo has the white patch on his chest and looks a little more boxer than Trinity. Trinity is almost completely black. If you or anyone you know is willing to even take a look and consider them, I would be grateful. I have the home I'm living in right now until February 23rd when our lease is up and then I'll be moving in with my parents. They are gracious enough to allow me to bring my 3 cats for a trial run and see how that goes, but it would just be too much for everyone if the puppies came too. They have new furniture in their home and I respect their wishes for it not to be ruined! So, that being said, I would love if the puppies could find a home together...that would be my wish for them. They have been together since birth and I don't want to have to separate them, but if need be, that's what will happen. Here is a fairly recent picture of them in our backyard...

Thank you for your continued prayers and my hope is that you would also be encouraged to deepen your relationship with the Lord, wherever your walk may be. Be bold for Christ, that's what He wants us to be! Be joyful in all circumstances! Be faithful!

The Christmas Season...Part 2

2007-12-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

On the 12th, my mom, Cole and I headed down to Disneyland for a look at what they do for the "Holidays." This was the first time my mom had been to Disneyland in about 10 or 12 years. She bought and annual pass so she could join us as often as possible! :) Cole and Grandma had a blast going on rides together and hanging out. Here are some pics of our fun afternoon/evening at the DL!

The castle at night....SO pretty!

Cole and Grandma on the tram ride, ready to have fun!

Grandma and Cole waiting for the Dumbo ride!

And here they are getting ready to fly!!!

And they're off....

It's a Small World all lit up...AWESOME!

We were also able to join Summer and Todd, Ashlyn & Jeremy and Summer's sister, Breezy for a couple of the hours....always a blast with the Rought's...this was probably their last trip to DL for a while as they are moving to SLO in 11 days!!!! We were glad to be able to join them for a while and I snapped this cute picture of Cole and his "best friend," Jeremy walking out of the Buzz Lightyear ride...

The cold tram ride home after waiting for 30 minutes for it! BBBBRRRRRRRR!!!! Grandma wrapped both of them up in G-Pop's big jacket and kept them warm...except for their noses! :) And there were still smiles from them too! :)

Last Friday, Emilie, Brice, Katy, Beau and myself were hired to be "Carolers." We sang at a Christmas party for Janice Simpson from Grace. It was a lot of fun preparing and practicing and I hope and pray that all her guests truly enjoyed the songs we sang and really listened to the lyrics of the music. We were able to sing 8 songs, 3 with accompaniment, and 5 acapella, and we think it turned out pretty well! After singing, we went to my parents house and surprised them by caroling at their door too! They loved it! And they were able to watch the Colester overnight so Mike and I, along with Emilie and Brice, could go see I Am Legend! All I have to say is...WOW. I seriously had a headache for 2 days after the movie because it was so FREAKIN' intense. I enjoy thriller and suspense flicks, but this was over the top in my opinion. The story line was pretty awesome and definitely left a lot to think about, however, I will probably only watch that one once!

On Saturday morning, I headed up to my parent's house to meet up with them and head out to Wrightwood, CA for our Davis Family Christmas! We had a GREAT time chatting with my cousins and aunts and uncles and ALL three kids had a blast playing in the snow that was still there from a storm the weekend before! Cole really had a blast and thought it was REALLY funny to throw snowballs at people and mama's car! Here are couple of pictures of the kids enjoying the cold weather....the girl is my cousin, Dusty and his new bride's daughter, Savannah or Sav, and the boy is my other cousin Steve, and his wife Morna's son Zachary...

All three kids on the sled...no way were we going to be able to get all three kids looking at the camera at the same time!!! :)

Cole making use of EVERY part of the toys!

Zachary posing in the snow!!! SO CUTE!

"Aunkey" and Cole playing Lincoln Logs...well, Aunkey is building and Cole is shooting...

Probably the biggest hit of the night...this puzzle that made sounds...very entertaining!

Zachary with his spoon...Savannah lookin' around, and Cole running and jumping in the snow!

Cole, Sav, and Zach with "Uncle Steve" or "Daddy"

The three kids throwing snowballs over the balcony...Cole's favorite part.

We really enjoyed ourselves and had a wonderful time with family!! Thanks to the Nish Family for opening the Wrightwood house to us all and allowing us to actually see snow this Christmas season!!!

So...what do you think???

2007-12-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

So...what do you think of the new blog page??? Give me some feedback people. I also did a poll on the right...check it out! I think it's purrty

A Concert, Cuteness and Cole!

2007-12-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

Last night we were able to attend the Grace Baptist Annual Christmas Concert. As always, it was amazing. It's something I look forward to each and every Christmas season. This year, Brice & Emilie joined the adult choir, so not only did we have my mom playing harp to look forward to, but we had Emilie and Brice to watch and hear! We went with my Uncle Tedd & Aunt Cheryl and Cheryl's mom, Vi, and had a great time. Cole unfortunately sat through the first 30 minutes only, but Mike was nice enough to take him to the lobby so I could enjoy the entire concert! We then headed over to Stonefire Grill for some good eats and had a nice time visiting with my family. Here are some pics from the Concert and Uncle Tedd with Coley...

Uncle Tedd & Cole hamming it up for the camera!

The choir...Emilie is in the third row up and third person in on the left wearing a green sweater and Brice in on the top row towards the middle wearing a blue dress shirt and suit.

Our amazing choir director, Peter Beers, doing what he does best!

Robin (the narrator) & our Sign interpreter...

The end of the concert and everyone including the orchestra getting a standing ovation! Mom is standing up on the left hand side behind her harp. :)

And I just had to take this shot. Cole is just starting to try and put his own clothes, shoes, etc. on and he came stumbling in my room wearing his new thermal pj's and MY ugg boots. :) Too cute.

Many Updates Needed!

2007-12-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! The Koegle household has been busy, busy, busy! We celebrated Thanksgiving here at my house with my family (Mom, Dad, Em & Brice) and Mike's sister Katy & her husband Beau (Brice's brother). If you don't already know the craziness that is our family...there it is! :) We had a wonderful time. Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving that I'd love to share with you...
The beautiful table that Emilie & I set up

The cute idea I thought of by putting a leaf from my persimmon tree tied onto the napkins..

The bird...it was SO tasty!

The whole family filling their plates with the yummy Thanksgiving feast!

In other news...the night before Thanksgiving, we found out that I was pregnant and we were so excited to tell our family the next day. We planned everything out and had a great time telling our family on Thanksgiving and some close friends that weekend at church. However, the following Monday evening, the Lord decided to take the baby up to heaven and we miscarried. That evening was more than emotional and we were very saddened by this as we have been trying for a second baby for almost 2 years. But we know that the Lord's timing is PERFECT and His plan is PERFECT for our family. Although we may not understand His reasons for things, we know He has our best interests in mind and knows what's best for us and our family. We finished out the week with our hearts in the right place and praising the Lord for the trial that He has put upon us. We are also grateful that the Lord put the hope in our hearts and minds that we CAN get pregnant again. That was a great feeling. Please continue to pray for our hearts that they would not be hardened later on and that we would continue to find joy in the situation.

On a lighter note, this last weekend, we (the entire California Koegle clan) made a last minute trip to Columbus, Ohio for a HUGE family reunion for Michelle's (Mike's mom) side of the family. We had a blast and were so grateful that we were able to make it back there. Many of the family members that were there, I had never met before. There were about 115 people in this amazingly awesome mansion belonging to Michelle's cousin, Jim Cullinan and we all fit with plenty of room for more. We flew out there on a red-eye flight on Friday night, arrived at 6:15 a.m., the party started at 3:00 and (for us) ended at 12:30 a.m., we got up at about 10:00 a.m., went out to lunch with Bob's family, then headed back to the airport at 5:00 p.m. to catch our flight out at 7:30 p.m. We arrived at LAX at about 9:45 p.m., got to the flyaway at about 10:45 p.m., drove home and finally fell into bed at about 1:00 a.m. And Mike got up to go to work the next morning at 5:45 a.m! So, are you tired just reading that....I am!!! :) Thanks again to everyone who made the weekend happen for us...we had a GREAT time! :)

This week, besides catching up on sleep, has been pretty uneventful. We got our Christmas decorations all put up and the house feels homey finally! I'll take some pictures this weekend and post them next week!

Now begins the crazy busy Christmas season. As I sat at my Titus 2 Bible study last night, I was reminded that we need to slow down and not be so out-of-control during this season. Just because it's the "holiday season," does not give us the right to be crazed, frenzied women. And I need to remember that! I hope and pray that this amazing season that is upon us will be filled with quiet moments with your family and loved ones and you will be reminded of the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas...the birth of MY & hopefully YOUR Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Wow...How Times Flies!

2007-11-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't expect it to be this long before I could get my bum in the chair and write an update. Sorry folks! There have been a lot of goings-on in the Koegle family over the last several weeks.

As far as Tux goes, he's doing GREAT! He was able to get his stitches out last Tuesday and was also able to take his "lampshade" collar off! He was definitely a much happier camper! And he was such a good boy for the vet techs each and every time we went there. When I took Tux in for his stitches out, I also had an appt for Neo and Trinity to see the vet for a well check-up and to get their first set of shots. Thank goodness my mom was able to come with me and corral Cole while I was with all the animals!!! They were looking a little on the skinny side as they had kind of stopped eating when we fed them. We were stumped with this as puppies usually chow down anything you put in front of their little noses. The vet, Dr. Aaron, an AWESOME lady, said that most puppies are born with worms, so that may be the problem. And we also got them some "Missing Link," which is a nutritional supplement to add in their food. When we got home, they still weren't eating as much as they needed, so we got some canned dog food and that was the end of that. So these little buggers are high maintenance. And to that, I say, "Dang it!!!" Oh well! Cole is really getting to love them and calls them "his" puppies. And he is getting better at not freaking out when they are trying to play with him.

More good news on the homefront...when Mike and I got the dogs, we did not tell our landlord right away. We were definitely not comfortable "hiding" this from them, as they have been SO great with us up to this point. So, Mike finally called Jun, our landlord, and told them that we picked up two puppies last week. He was a little concerned, so Mike said, "Why don't you come over to the house, check everything out and we can show you that we are really taking excellent care of the place." In other words, "Renelle, start cleaning like crazy!!!" :) The house floors get DISGUSTING in a matter of about 2 hours once I wash them, so I was up at about 5:45 a.m. the morning he was to arrive to come check things out (and fix our master toilet) cleaning my bum off! The place looked great and I really think he was pleased!! :) I talked to him yesterday, and asked him what they had decided about the dogs. He said that he and his wife, Tess, spoke to the realtor that helped them rent this place out and she said to charge us a $500 additional deposit. Jun and Tess told her that she was crazy and they are only requiring us to put down a $300 deposit and they were nice enough to let us pay it in installments. We were thinking that this was going to happen and he was telling me yesterday that he loves us staying here. I also asked him what they were thinking about us staying longer, as our 1-year lease is up in February. I figured I'd ask now in case they wanted to boot us out with the farm we now have. Jun said that we were welcome to stay as LONG as we would like as they really love having us as tenants. And I asked him about the rate we are paying and if it's going to go up when the lease is over. He answered that very quickly with an emphatic, "NO!" Yay! I really feel that the Lord is blessing us for being honest with them and upfront. So, it looks like we have the place until we eventually find a house to invest our little "stash" into. :)

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Mike's sister, Katy, on her recent marriage!! Katy and Beau decided on November 2nd, that after 1 1/2 years of being engaged and MUCH family drama with them getting hitched, that they needed to just do it and they were married the next morning!!! They were married at the Ventura County Courthouse, which by the way, has beautiful grounds and a really nice building, and there were about 20 people there with them. Mike, Cole and I were the only family members from the Koegle clan there, and Mike was able to give her sister away. And when the ceremony was over, Mike was able to pray over them with everyone surrounding them! Beau's mom and stepdad, Barbara & Mike, treated everyone to a wonderful lunch at Mimi's in Ventura and (my) Mike was able to read some scriptures with them and have their first meal together be communion. It was a pretty emotional day and weeks following, but I know the Lord is doing GREAT things and is ever present in their lives. Our relationship was strained with Katy over the last 2 - 2 1/2 years and much has been restored and we are working on it being better than ever!!! It was pretty amazing seeing my husband really taking a leadership role and being such a godly example for his sister and her new husband!!

My family is having Thanksgiving together this year, which is rarity as we normally celebrate with Mike's parents all together. This year we decided to keep it smaller and more intimate and have my mom and dad, Brice and Emilie, and Katy and Beau over for Thanksgiving dinner...here at my house!!! We figured it would be way too much to ask anyone if we could bring our puppies with us, as they shouldn't be left alone for more than about 3-4 hours right now. So, we are going to be cook, cook, cookin' here on Wednesday and Thursday!!! I'm really excited!!! I'll write another update after Thanksgiving with pictures of our feast!! Happy Turkey Day! :)

My Poor, poor kitty!

2007-10-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

So...this is not for the faint of heart. Tux came home yesterday after his surgery in the morning. So, it turns out that his injury was much worse than all of us has anticipated...the vet had to do an incision about 6-7 inches long! She was supposed to just clean the original wound and stitch it up so it would heal properly, but as she was doing the surgery, she found that the wound we were seeing was the "tip of the iceberg." She had to enlarge the incision and remove some debris and hair from under the skin, which is what is in the plastic baggy. He now has a drainage tube to help with swelling and infection. And he does NOT like the lampshade he is wearing for a hat right now. We brought him home from the vet at about 6:00 p.m. and almost had to take him back to the vet at 11:00 p.m. because Tux kept finding a way to get the "e-collar" off. After managing to get it off for about the 6th time, he bit through one of his stitches...the one holding the top of the drainage tube in place. NASTY! There was blood and fluid all over the floor...not a pretty sight. So we finally were able to get him to keep the collar on and I stayed up with him until 4:30 a.m. to make sure he didn't take it off again. The emergency vet clinic that I called said that I just HAD to make sure it stayed on...regardless of what it takes! I finally crawled into bed at 4:30 a.m. and the dogs woke up at about 5:45 a.m. Needless to say, I freakin' exhausted, but glad Tux is doing better this morning. I was semi-successful in getting his antibiotics down and he was finally able to eat some food this morning. He's been napping on Cole's bed for about 2 hours now, all calm and quiet. When Cole woke up this morning, Tux was resting on the couch and Cole said, "Mommy, mommy...look, there's Tux. And he has an owie! May I go kiss him?" Such a sweet boy! Please pray that I am able to keep it together over the next few days. We have an appt for the vet to take out the drainage tube on Saturday morning. However, I've been super emotional about the whole thing and that's just not the way to handle it. I need to have super-strength right now...to deal with Tux and his injuries, to continue to train and pay attention to Neo and Trinity, and, most importantly, tend to my little Cole-man!

Sad note...this is the first year I can remember that I did not get pumpkins from Lombardi's Ranch! We don't have any pumpkins to carve, no candy to give out, no costumes to wear. What a bummer Halloween this will be. Hopefully I'll figure out something so Cole can at least walk around our neighborhood and get the experience. We were going to go to Grace for the Fall Festival, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave Tux for very long! Anyway...Happy Halloween and have a fun and safe night!

Introducing...

2007-10-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

So, we finally have names for our new family members! It took a while and we had a few friends with input, but Mike and I chose these names at about midnight on Sunday night! Our little boy's name is...

Neo...and our little girl's name is...

Trinity. Just like from the Matrix which just so happens to be one of our favorite movies! Let me know what you think! They are doing pretty well!

On the other hand, our (favorite) cat, Tux, was in a cat fight on Saturday morning and got a GIANT gash under his armpit. We took him to the vet and he is having surgery this morning to close the gaping hole in his side. I was definitely sad to leave him overnight and to hear that he has to have surgery, but the vet said it was the best thing to do as almost every wound from a cat fight gets infected, and that can turn ugly very fast. I did take a picture of the wound, so here it is...it's pretty gnarly in real life.

Tux was great at the vet and was purring on the vet table and at one point, even fell asleep. What a good boy! His surgery will be at about 9:30 this morning, so if you read this around that time, please pray that everything will go well! I know he's just a cat, but he's part of our family and has been since right after we got married. I'm sure he'll do well...he will have to have one of those lampshade things around his neck when he comes home...that's what I'm worried about. I'm sure he'll be trying his darndest to get that thing off. :) I'll try and do an update when we bring him home.

Our new addition...s!!!

2007-10-27T14:15:00.001-07:00

Yes...you read correctly. We have TWO new additions to our family. On Thursday night we picked up our two ADORABLE puppies from Ryan & Tammy! They are 6 weeks old and are actually really good babies...we've had about a 60% success rate with going potty outside on command! I think that's pretty great considering they are only 6 weeks. :) Here a couple of pictures that we've taken over the last day or so. We do not have names for them yet...if you have any ideas, we are trying to think of cute brother/sister names...like Luke & Lea, Donny & Marie...you get the picture. We just haven't found the right fit yet!

Bringing homes the little ones!

Our boy plays peek-a-boo out front!

Our little girl

Our little boy

Their cute little furry dog bed with the new toys!

Ashlyn and the little man posing for a pic!

The boy showing off his goatee! And sleeping all over his sister! :)

Remember...send us your suggestions! :) Have a great weekend and GO BUCKS!

Our Trip to the East Coast!

2007-10-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been back almost 2 weeks and we are just now recovering from the awesome vacation we had back East. We went to Pennsylvania for my cousin Dusty's wedding and ended up making a 10-day trip out of it. We were able to visit the Pocono Mountains, Allentown, PA, Bethlehem & Nazareth, PA, Allensville, PA, Manhattan, NY, New Jersey...and lots of little townships and cities in PA as we got lost almost everywhere we went! I've put a few of my favorite pictures from the trip below, but if you have access to Facebook, I'm going to try and post most of my "favs" on there. We had an awesome time!!!

To view the rest of the pictures from the album...click here

Poconos Favs

Our future family member...

2007-10-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, our friend Tammy's dog had puppies and we are pretty sure we are going to get at least one of them...Here are a couple of pictures of the little babies at 2 weeks old...they are SO cute!!! They just started opening their eyes a couple of days ago...

Aren't they cute?! We haven't picked out a certain one yet, so we'll see how different they all look. I kinda like Ryan's favorite, but who knows if he will let him go! :) I'll give more updates when I can. We'll probably be able to pick them up around November 9th.

We are leaving on Saturday morning for our vacation back east. We are planning to visit Philadelphia, Allentown, Nazareth, Allensville, Hershey, Stroudburg and Bushkill PA and we are also planning a day trip to Manhattan NY. I promise to take lots of pics and return with many memories!! My cousin Dusty is getting married and that is our main reason for going on this trip...but we will have so many other things to do/see while we're there...it's gonna be a blast!!! Peace out! :)

Silly Stuff...

2007-10-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

I saw this on someones blog and decided to do my own!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Tuffy Serve (CRV)
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Double Choco-chip
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): R-KOE
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Blue Egret
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Ruth Hollywood
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): Koere
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Red Kamikaze
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers): Leroy William
9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names): Chris Trout
10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Moir Manhattan
11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower). Autumn Poppy
12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”): Peach Jammie
13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Bagel Palm (lame)
14. YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour” and the year): The Birding Thunderstorm Tour 2007!

"Oh What a Beautiful Morning"

2007-08-31T08:06:00.001-07:00

So, for the last week and a half, I have been getting up with Mike when he goes to work. I jump (roll) out of bed when the alarm goes off and trot (drag my body) down the hallway to the kitchen and whip both of us up a very tasty soy protein shake. Shaklee's Energizing Soy Protein Mix is really the best there is...I take a tall glass of 1% milk, two heaping spoonfuls of nonfat vanilla yogurt, 6 tablespoons of ESP Mix, and a couple big handfuls of either frozen or fresh fruit...enough for 2 glasses! They are so good, and they are so healthy!! Mike's energy level has really sustained over the whole day. I'm so glad he's not coming home and falling over into bed like he usually does as a result of having maintenance insomnia. :( Anyway...he's loved me getting up to get his shake and vitamins ready and see him off to work, and I've loved being up this early in the morning...really. I used to me a great morning person, but slowly, I became a "late" morning person as Cole slept until 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. or later. Now, I'm up around 6:15 a.m. and have a little time for myself in the morning to do devos or just a little bit of housework. It's been great. This morning, I was sipping on my mango, pineapple and strawberry (a.k.a. tropical frozen fruit mix) shake, sitting at the kitchen table, and looking out at my bird feeder in the backyard. Looking through the very dirty sliding glass door, I realized, man this thing really does get dirty in a matter of two days. There were fingerprints all over it, smudges, cat hair, and who knows what else, and I got discouraged. And then I looked at all those handprints, from my adorable, precious son and I realized that it will only be a while longer that he will be making those smudges all over the doors, and then he'll be tall enough to reach the handle. After realizing that it is not the end of the world to have sticky handprints all over the sliding glass door, I took a second look at the smudges and found this...look at the top handprint...I thought it was precious. He really does hold my heart in his hands! (And now I'm teary-eyed!)

I'm Melting....I'm Melting....

2007-08-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh...seriously...it's WAY too hot!!! When Mike came home today at 4:15 p.m. it was 111 degrees. MAN! I, who really do like summer, am officially done with the heat. I'm ready for fall, ready to wear a sweater, ready for the leaves to change color, ready for the smell of crisp weather. And I'm ready to go on our trip to the Poconos. Yes, are lucky enough to be able to attend my cousin's wedding in October and are taking a little over a week trip to Pennsylvania, New York, Philadelphia, and maybe a couple of other surrounding areas. If you have ever been on that side of the US of A and have any great ideas of sight-seeing/things to do, let me know. We are planning on going to Manhattan one day, Philadelphia another, but don't have any other set plans.

Found out yesterday that I have yet another ear infection...the second of this summer. It really stinks and it pretty darn painful. Luckily, this one is the least painful of all the ones I've had over the last 3 years (only 4, but they seem to hurt so much, they count double or triple). And Cole has a bit of a cold. I think this if the first time he's had a cold in well over a year. I don't remember the last time he had a sniffly nose. But he's still his amazing self. I swear, I'm the luckiest mama in the whole wide world with getting to be a steward over Cole. Pretty awesome.
Also wanted to wish Mike's mom, Michelle, a very happy birthday. She turned "29" yesterday and Cole was so excited to sing his Grammy the Happy Birthday song. It was also Cole's BFF Jeremy's birthday as well and Cole got to do double the singing! :) Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

On Saturday, our niece, Addison, is turning 2 and is having a big ol' pool party bash to celebrate. At least they have a pool to help cool us all down. However, I'm not supposed to submerge my ears, so I might be out of luck. I'll still have fun holding the new little Amelia. :)

That's all I have to report. Mike has back-to-school-night tonight and I need to arrange all the goodies we are bringing for the families. Brownies (my fav), oatmeal raisin cookies, and peanut butter cookies. TASTY! (That's for your Kristal) Hope you have a great weekend, and you don't melt away like I have been doing. Here's to living in SoCal, right?! :)

A Big Step in Our Christian Walks...

2007-08-22T09:25:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, August 19th, Mike and I had the privilege to be baptized at Grace in the amphitheatre. We talked about getting baptized for at least 2 years and never got around to doing it, always coming up with an excuse or something else. But, my dad (persistence always wins!!) sent me yet another email letting me know that there was going to be another night for baptisms coming up in August, thinking maybe this would be the time. Well, I forwarded the email to Mike, and he took the steps to set it up and the rest is history. Todd Roughton was kind enough to dunk us and we feel privileged to have such a good friend be in there with us. It was an amazing night of testimonies and commitments to the Lord and Mike and I are so excited that we finally "took the plunge"...literally. :) We had a ton of family and friends there supporting us and it was just an awesome evening. Here are some pictures from the night...

Mike giving his testimony...

Todd praying for Mike...

Todd baptizing Mike...

A cute look between the two of us...and me giving my testimony

Todd praying for me...

Mike and Todd baptizing me...

All three of us hugging after both baptisms!!!

Thanks to Todd for baptizing Mike and I...it was a honor, dude! And a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family for coming out to support us in our Christian walks. And last, but CERTAINLY not least, thank you to our Lord, for choosing us for His kingdom and for the blessings He bestows on us daily. We both hope You were pleased by or professions that night.

Back from Indio...

2007-08-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

So...we returned from Indio on Sunday night...and came back to about the same heat! :( It was blazing hot the whole time we were there, but we still managed to have a blast with my mom and dad and Emilie and Brice. The resort was very nice...and included a lazy river and 2 huge pools. We went in the lazy river pretty much every day, but only going in the later afternoon as the average temp was about 113 degrees. Didn't feel that much hotter than here, but it was still enough to melt the makeup right off of my face. (Not really) We cooked great dinners every night and were able to go out to a great meal early Sunday night to a place called Haleiwa Joe's, a kind of seafood and steak place. Our original plan was foiled because we did not have a reservation for another restaurant, however, I think we were all pleasantly surprised with the meals!! I had an awesome salmon dinner and Mike had some great pork ribs. We would definitely recommend the restaurant to anyone. On the way home, we stopped at the famous BIG dinosaurs for Coley to see. He had a blast! He was a bit apprehensive at the beginning, but soon found out that they were very cool and even got the guts to sit in one of their mouths. All in all, we had a great time and are so glad we had the opportunity to get-away with the fam. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

Feeding the ducks at the resort...

Mike and I at Haleiwa's...

Cole and Mike visiting the dinosaurs...

And here is a cool sunset picture of the typical Palm Springs look...

Houston...we have a name....

2007-08-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

So Brian & Lindsay FINALLY decided on a name for their beautiful new daughter....Amelia Rose. I think it's beautiful and am very pleased. (Not like I had a say in the matter at ALL) :) Mike, Cole and I will be off for a mini-vacation for the weekend. We are staying in a timeshare down in Indio (close to Palm Springs) from Thursday to Monday. My parents are going with us, and Emilie and Brice will be able to come Friday night to Sunday morning. We should have a great time! When we get back, I'll post some pics of the trip. Have a great weekend!!!

Congrats Brian & Lindsay!!!

2007-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

A BIG congratulations goes out to Mike's brother, Brian, and his wife, Lindsay (our sister-in-law) on the the birth of their third daughter!!! She is yet to be named, however, here are her stats so far!! She was born last night at 8:49 p.m., weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz., was 18 inches long, and has lots of dark hair. :)

Lindsay did so well with the labor and delivery. She was admitted to the hospital at about 3:15 p.m. and they started her i.v.'s with the saline solution and pitossin drips soon after. She started having some mild contractions for about an hour. The doctor, Dr. Tuso, came in to the room at about 4:30 and broke her water. Her contractions came on much stronger after that, so after about 45 minutes of some tough contractions, she asked for an epidural. She dilated quickly after that...from 6-7 cm at about 5:45 p.m. to 10 cm at about 7:30 p.m. She started pushing around 8:00 or 8:15 p.m. Beverly (Lindsay's mom), Brian (the daddy), myself, and Katy (Mike & Brian's sister) were able to stay for the delivery which was so exciting and amazing to watch! Lindsay said her epidural started wearing off right before she started pushing, so she basically felt everything once she started actually delivering the baby. YIKES! But, Lindsay (and Brian) were amazing and she did so well!!!!
Here are a few pics of the "hard" labor... :)

Here are a couple pictures of the little one right after entering this big world of ours...

Daddy meeting his newest little girl!!

Ashlyn meeting her new baby sister for the first time!

Mommy meeting her newest daughter for the first time too!

All three generations of girlies!!

Grandma holding her newest granddaughter!

Grammy, PopPop and Addison meeting the new one!!

Ashlyn holding her sister for the first time!!! She was so excited!

Pop Pop smiling at his new granddaughter!

Grammy holding her new granddaughter and Addison checking the "new baby dolly" out! :)

Again, Congratulations to the Koegle family!! We can't wait to see what she's going to turn out like as the days, months and years go by! We love you guys!!!

Santa Cruz Grace Senior Trip

2007-06-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

We just got back last Friday night from the GBC High-School Senior Trip w/ the Roughtons. We had the privilege of "chaperoning" for the trip and had a total blast. All of the kids were so awesome. We only knew a couple of the girls a little bit and were so grateful that ALL the kids were very accepting of our little family. We tent camped at New Brighton State Beach in Santa Cruz, CA. I must admit, I was a little nervous tent camping with Cole, as last time we tent camped, Cole did not enjoy it very much. Well, this time was totally cool! Cole did so great and really was a joy to watch run around and look for squirrels and birds. I think he conned each and every one of us to go on a squirrel walk with him at some point in time. On Tuesday, we all hopped in the bus and headed off to "The city" or San Francisco, and shopped around Union Square for a few hours and then headed off to a Giants/Blud Jays baseball game. It was actually Cole's first baseball game ever, sadly to say. I was hoping his first ball game would be a Dodger game, but I'll settle for another CA team. :) And on Thursday, we headed to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk where everyone enjoyed fun rides and amazing weather. It was actually hot there, which is apparently not normal for that area. I was also able to meet up with my cousin, Phillip, who lives in Santa Cruz and graduated from UC Santa Cruz on Sunday with a BA in Business. Congrats again Phil...I am SO proud of you!!! Here are some pictures of the trip. Thanks, Todd & Summer, for asking us to come with you guys, and thanks to all the Seniors for lovin' us!! We love you right back! :)

Most of the group waiting our ride in Union Square, San Francisco

Mike getting his daily wake-up call from Dilley and Eric...

The beautiful city as we are driving in on the Oakland Bay Bridge...

Todd, or "Uncle T" as Cole calls him...

Cool building in Union Square

Cole posing for the camera while waiting for the game to start...

Chillin...with our homeys at the stadium before the game...

Kaitlyn resting in the hot, hot sun before the game started...

Everyone enjoying the ball game...

Cole & Mike at the game...

Kiera & Shannon at the game...

The cool Coke bottle slide at the stadium...

A beautiful flower on 41st Avenue in Santa Cruz...

Mom & Cole in "The City" next to a cable car...

Blaine, Dilley, Matt & Eric waiting for a ball to catch...

Chet (the speaker) and his bro, Mike...

Brad Beers as awesome as ever!

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my dad, G-Pop to Cole, to Mike, Daddy to Cole, and to Mike's Dad, Pop-Pop to Cole. I am so very thankful for each of you. Dad, you are an amazing father and grandpa and I'm so grateful that the Lord has given me another Father's Day with you. You have shown me patience, humility, and compassion all my life and I am a better person because of you. Thank you for being the person that you are...my papa!! :) Bob, I am so very thankful for you as well! The Lord has blessed me incredibly with a father-in-law such as yourself and I thank the Lord for you too! You are such a loving, generous, and fun Pop-Pop for Cole to have and to watch you and Cole's eyes light up when you see each other warms my heart immensely. I pray that we have many more Father's Days to celebrate with both of my dads in the future!!! And to Mike, my love. It has been such an amazing journey that the Lord has taken us on...especaially since you have become a father. To watch Cole run and jump in your arms and beg to play Spiderman and to be thrown high up into the air makes me so very happy. And to watch his face when he hears that door open when you come home from work and to see him run into your arms makes me realize how much Cole loves his daddy and what a great one you are!!! The Lord has truly blessed my life with wonderful men and for that I am forever thankful!!!

Here are some cute pictures from Father's Day...

In the morning, we took off with my mom & dad and Brice & Emilie to head down to Travel Town in Griffith Park. We had a blast looking at all the trains and watching Cole run up to all of them. Thanks Mom & Dad for giving us the idea...we had a blast!

After Travel Town, we all headed to Brian & Lindsay's house for a BBQ & Pool Party with the Koegle Family! Thanks guys for an excellent lunch/dinner and for the fun times!

I think Brice is almost as far along as Lindsay!!! :)

And last, but not least, Happy 26th Birthday to Katy...Katy turned 26 on June 19th and we celebrated her birthday with everyone at the Koegle's on Father's Day. Hope your day was awesome, Katy-Bug. We love you...Here's a cute pic of Katy, Ashlyn & Cole blowing out the candles on the cake.

Our New House...

2007-06-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Finally...so here are some pictures of our new home. We are renting for now, so bear with me on the white walls...we're not sure if we want to put forth the effort to paint if we are going to only be in here 1 year. But so far, we really like it. It's starting to feel like home, slowly but surely. I LOVE having a backyard with flowers and birds! And, as you can see, the place has lots of room for Cole to go crazy in! Enjoy...and come over to see the house in person when you can! We'd love to have you over...just call! :)

Our purty backyard! Yay for tiki torches and bbqs in the summertime! :)

Our master bedroom...

Our living room...

Coley's room...

So Mike finally has an office...

Here is our GIGANTIC kitchen and dining room/breakdance room...

>

And here is our enclosed patio that Mike has fondly labed our W.T. room...

That's about it...it does have 2 bathrooms...but they are too small to even photograph. :) And also, one nice long hallway in which my husband runs at break-neck speed and slides on Pergo flooring all the way to the front door! :) Boys will ALWAYS be boys. :) We are enjoying our house and are so thankful that the Lord provided us this beautiful home, just in the nick of time. :)

The Hilliger Wedding...and Our 6th Anniversary!

2007-05-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, I flew up to Fremont via the San Jose Airport for Josh & Laina's wedding. It was so weird going on an airplane all by my lonesome. That's the first time I've ever done that. However, it was really nice because I was able to read a ton...which may be my favorite thing to do. Anyway, I flew up to Fremont on Friday morning, and Lindsay (Besch) came to pick me up. We went straight over to Lighthouse Bible Fellowship, the church where Josh & Laina had their wedding ceremony. We helped with a few last minute things for the ceremony hall and left to check into our rooms at the Fremont/Newark Hilton. Great hotel if anyone is interested. The rooms were awesome. Lindsay and I got ready for the rehearsal and headed back over to the church around 4 p.m. The rehearsal went very smoothly and we all had a great time. Josh's family had the rehearsal dinner catered in to the church's Fellowship Hall. The dinner was amazing!! And the tables looked so cute! Mike, Cole and Brice drove up to Fremont after work that afternoon and arrived around 9:30 p.m. We went to bed fairly early, as us girlies needed to get up early in the morning to start beautifying ourselves for the wedding. :) Lindsay, Emilie, Laura (Laina's sister-in-law), and myself all primped in Lindsay's hotel room before the wedding. We were actually on time for the pre-wedding stuff! A miracle!! The wedding ceremony was amazing...Laina looked PERFECT and Josh looked oh-so handsome in his tux! The wedding party stayed for a few pictures at the church and then headed to a nearby country club for the reception. The day was beautiful and warm and great for pictures. I was able to shoot about 250 pictures for Laina & Josh...I hope a few come out so they can use them.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding/reception and photo shoots in the church and at the reception site....

It was Mike & I's 6th wedding anniversary on Saturday, April 28th. It was very cool being in a wedding on our anniversary. Just special, I suppose. Mike, thank you for the last 6 years...you have brought me so much joy and happiness...I don't even know how to express my feelings, but I do know that I feel more in love with you now than when we tied the knot, knowing what kind of man...husband and father you have become. The Lord has abundantly blessed me and I am so thankful to Him!! Here's to many, many more years ahead of us... I love you!

Aloha...our Hawaiian Vacation!!!

2007-04-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

Well, Mike and I just got back from a 7-night Hawaiian cruise on Monday morning. We had the chance to go on this awesome vacation with Emilie & Brice and my mom & dad. We all left on Easter Sunday. Mike and I got up super early and were able to hit the sunrise service at Grace before we caught our plane at LAX at 1:00 p.m. with my mom & dad. We had a relatively smooth flight and landed safely in Hawaii in the late afternoon. We got to the ship by about 5:00 p.m., just in time for the safety drill. Isn't that exciting! I will spare you of all the details, but here are some beautiful pictures of our vaca...

The atrium on the cruise ship...

One of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen...Kauai!!!

An awesome sea turtle I saw at Poipu Beach, Kauai!

Just a cool silhouetted picture of an old barn...yes in Hawaii!

The beauty of Wailua Falls, Kauai .

Seeing this in person is indescribable...Waimea Canyon, Kauai.

A vibrant hibiscus! One of my favs...

Just off the road coming home from Waimea Canyon...so cool!!

The Botanical Gardens in Hilo, Hawaii.

Looking into "Pele's" crater...can you see the steam?

Mike inside the Thurston Lava Tube.

Me...in the rainsforest...right outside of the Lava tube.

Another beautiful sight...Rainbow Falls, Hilo, Hawaii

The fam on the last night for dinner. :) !

Mike and Brice being monkeys, climbing in a banyan tree on Maui!

The whole fam on the last night with our fav waitress, Abbey (on the left) & her server, Megan (on the right) and the BEST waiter...ever...Hensley in front and center.

A SWEET looking duck...not sure what kind it is...I've looked in all my bird books and online, and I can't find a match?! But really cute! This was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

Some cute turtles...just trying to get higher in this world. :)

A Hawaiian Duck in the foreground, and a Black-crowned Night Heron in the background.

Alright...that's probably enough pictures to last a while. Tell me what picture was your favorite! I'll also post some pictures of our new house soon.

Wow...how long has it been??

2007-03-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, so you are probably wondering if we fell off the face of the earth. It's been like 8 or 9 weeks since I've posted anything. Sorry...things have been a little crazy here!!! We sold our townhome on Abbey Glen and moved into a rental home (for 1 year) in Valencia over by Henry Mayo Hospital. We just moved on Feb. 23rd and are still unpacking boxes and trying to figure out what to do with the spaces. It's a really cute little place...3 bedroom, 2 bath, all pergo flooring, new kitchen appliances, an enclosed patio and a backyard for Cole to play in, 2 car garage...you get the picture. I'm still getting used to waking up in a new place. I have not moved much growing up. Mike, on the other hand, has moved countless times and is used to the whole process. We were both EXTREMELY sad to sell our place on Abbey Glen, but we really felt that it was necessary and the timing was the Lord's. We are able to pay off all debts and still have a lot of mula in the bank on hold for another home in the future.

Thank you to all you wonderful peeps out there for helping us move...Emilie, Brice, Summer, Todd, Ryan, Tammy, Sean, Andy, Misty, Gabe, Mom, Dad, Brian, Lindsay, Michelle & Bob. We are forever indebted to you for all your help, whether it was for a few hours or a few days! We could not have done it without you and we are so appreciative of your help!!! :)

I will post some pictures soon of our new place so you can check it out. I was able to get a new computer, so hopefully I'll be able to update this blog more often. Hope this finds you well and all is great with you and your family!! Love ya...The Koegles!!! :)

New Year's Resolution Complete!

2007-01-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

Hi...I am very proud to say that I have just finished reading the Bible, from beginning to end, for the first time. My New Year's Resolution from 2006, my one and only, was to read the Bible from start to finish...and I did!! Yay for me and my walk with the Lord. I decided to read "The Daily Bible..In Chronological Order." I think it's a great way to get through the entire Bible and have everything make sense, historically. It was a challenge and several times through the year I got a week or two or three behind, but I would slowly catch myself up and this morning I finished out Revelations with a happy heart! Here's the cover of the Bible if anyone's interested in starting it up for 2007. It's not too late...I would encourage you to do so if you've never read the entire Bible. It only takes about 15-20 minutes a day. And I will need at least another 50 years of reading through it over and over to get even part of what the Lord wrote. :)

Carpinteria Birding at it's Best!

2007-01-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

Hello...well after that crazy long blog, which TOTALLY didn't turn out like the preview...I had it all perfectly set up to go along with the pictures...I figured I'd better do a quick blog about the birding trip to Carpinteria. My mom, Judy, Mary and I were able to drive up to Carpinteria pretty early in the morning on Thursday, January 4th and stopped in Ventura along the way to check out the BIG waves that were crashing up onto the street. I figured I needed to get some pictures of this, so I proceeded to jump out of the car, and try and shoot a couple of pictures, finding a place along the road that wasn't wet at all...I'm sure you know where this is going. Well, about 10 minutes into me shooting pictures, a wave snuck up on me and as I was trying to run behind the car, it soaked me. My entire back and pants were dripping, so I took off the sweater and wrung it out, and Judy had a blanket in the back that I sat on for the rest of the trip. It was pretty funny!! :) I did however, get some great pictures looking up and down the coast...Anyway, we stopped off at the Carpinteria Bluffs and I was able to see a GORGEOUS white-tailed kite and a very cute white crowned sparrow which I got a good picture of...
We headed up to the Carpinteria Salt Marsh, where birding is always fun, and walked around for a couple of hours scoping out Great Egrets hunting for fish, Green Herons, Buffleheads, an incredible Cinnamon Teal which I have never seen before, a Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed Grebes, Eared Grebes, Turkey Vultures, Killdeer, Willets, and many more. It was a really fun day and I was able to mark off a ton of new birds in my birding book. :) We finished up the morning by grabbing a quick bite at the Cajun Kitchen Cafe in downtown Carp and then headed home. It was a wonderful way to start the new year off! :) Here is a picture of the "beaches" in Carpinteria...however, the tide was so high, there was no beach. I was shocked. Many times, I have walked to the edge of that jeti in the distance. The tide and the waves were pretty
awesome.

A Desperately Late Blog Update! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2007-01-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! So sorry that I've been a little slow about updating the blog! It was a crazy busy holiday season this year and to top it all off, I've been sick with an upper respiratory infection since before Christmas. Where do I start...well, we started off the Christmas season with the Davis Clan down at my Uncle Roger & Aunt Diana's house in Laguna Beach on December 2nd. Their amazing house overlooks the Pacific with this incredible view! We had such a great time and had some awesome home cooked food! My dad and Steve were able to play guitar and entertain us for a while which was great to hear them play. :) And we were able to get all the cousin's kids in a picture for the first time. It didn't turn out perfect, but you get the idea, right? On the left, Cole, the middle is Savannah, daughter of my cousin Dusty and Suzanne, and on the right, Zachary, son of my cousin Steve & Morna. Pretty cute, huh?! And here's a picture of "the boys" enjoying a brewski.

The next
Christmas event was the 2nd annual Christmas Evening at Brian & Lindsay's house with the Koegle klan...here are a few pictures from the evening! We had a great lasgana dinner w/ salad and a fun chocolate fondue fountian for dessert!! Thanks guys for a great evening!!! :)

We were also able to attend the 1st ever Villaflor Christmas Dinner Party on December 22nd. :) Emilie and Brice had us, Laina & Josh (who were engaged on Dec. 23rd! Congrats guys), Katy & Beau, and Tammy & Ryan over for a tasty dinner of chicken enchiladas, spanish rice, and mexican ceasar salad with a chocolate fondue fountain for dessert too! We played Apples to Apples and had a great time discussing what our favorite feature about the Lord is and what we are thankful for from 2006. Thanks Em & Brice for a fanastic evening! Here are a couple of pics from that night...Brice wasn't drinking at all, too! :)

Next we spent Christmas Eve day with my family. My dad who had been in the hospital for about 5 days, was able to be home for Christmas...he had an severe reaction to using an antibiotic weeks before. It had actually been slowly poisoning his body without him knowing it until he started having issues with diarrhea and vomiting and just feeling "crappy." No pun intended! :) His body went into acute kidney failure and I'm so glad the doctors were able to reverse the effects without having to do anything drastic like dialysis or anything. He had a bit of a relapse last week, but is feeling better and hopefully on the mend. Anyway...Emilie and Brice, Mike, Cole, and I, and my parents celebrated at my mom & dad's house and we had breakfast and opened gifts and had a great time. Thanks Mom & Dad for hosting us and for all the wonderful gifts. I know Cole loves to ride his trike that you bought him. Yay!

Our little family was able to attend a beautiful Christmas Eve service at Grace and then headed down to the Koegle household in Camarillo for Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day! We got there and ate a quick dinner then were able to relax for a while. After the kids went to bed, we organized the TREMENDOUS amount of gifts under, well, in the same room as the Christmas tree. We went to bed at a decent time after playing some cards and them woke up, had a great Christmas morning and then crashed almost the whole afternoon. I was not feeling well, Michelle was sick too, Lindsay and Bev had a stomach thing, Bob had hurt his back a few days earlier and Brian was nursing a broken foot. So, needless to say, it was kind of a boring Christmas afternoon and evening comparitively to ones past. We normally play all kinds of games and have a huge feast, however, that did not happen this year. We still cooked a turkey, but we ended up having sandwiches. It was actually really good. We headed home fairly early and got some rest. I was sick pretty badly for the next 4 or 5 days. Thank goodness Mike was on his two week vacation from work so he could be there to help me with Cole all the time. There's nothing like trying to take care of a kid when you, as the parent, are sick. :( Two weeks into my cold, I figured I'd better see a doctor and finally figured out that I had an upper repiratory infection, was given antibiotics that I'm just now finishing and still feeling so so. Hopefully by the end of this week, I'll feel like a normal human being again. :) Thank you to PopPop and Grammy, Brian, Lindsay and Bev for all the wonderful gifts to our family. We are certainly blessed to have such a great family, Koegles and Davis' and Villaflors included! :) Here are some pictures from the Koegle Family Christmas...

And lastly, even though we all were not feeling great, Mike & I and Cole, Emilie & Brice, and Mom & Dad hung out for New Year's Eve at the Davis house. We had a great time playing cards, having dinner and just hanging out!! Here's to a great 2007, eh??

My goodness, this was a long blog...hope all who read this didn't get to sick of hearing what's going on! :) We were able to go up to Carpinteria a couple of times over the break and do some WICKED awesome birding. Thanks Judy and Mary for going with us. I'll post some pics of that trip next time. I think this blog is long enough as it is. :) I feel so thankful that the Lord has yet again given us another year to praise him and another year to come closer to Him. May 2007 be even better than the last. God bless you! :)

Is anyone there??

2006-12-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

I'm just wondering if anyone actually reads the posts that I write and spend so much time on. :) If you read this, will you please post a comment so I can see who is interested in what's going on! :) Thanks!

Happy Turkey Day!!

2006-11-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late...but just wanted to share about our fun Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated down at the Koegle's house in Camarillo and my parents and the "newlyweds" were able to go too. We had a great time watching football, playing with the kids, eating, hanging out and catching up, playing football, eating, playing charades and Pictionary and eating some more. I swear, Michelle, my mother-in-law, feels a definite need for everyone to gain at least 5 pounds before leaving her home. :) But we do love to eat all the goodies she puts out. We had a great time and here are some pictures from that day.
What a pretty spread for all to enjoy!

Doesn't Michelle do a beautiful job on the decorating? I think so!

Look at the pretty apple pie my mom and I made:

Katy and I being silly...

Cole hamming it up for the camera...

Some awesome action shots of the football game

Good form Mikey!

Beau & Brian being dorks for the camera...

All of us enjoying the holiday and getting ready to play charades!!

After playing charades until 1:00 a.m., we finally decided to hit the sack. Bev, Lindsay and I were a little crazy, but we got up at 4:45 and got ready very quickly and quietly and went shopping at the Thousand Oaks mall at 5:45 a.m. I've never done the whole "Day after Thanksgiving Early Bird Sale" thing, but I thought it would be fun to try this year. We had a great time and really did get a bunch of awesome deals on presents. And I would just like to brag a bit...I have (almost) all my Christmas shopping done and everything I've bought is already wrapped and under the tree ready to roll for Christmas! :) I'm very proud of myself. Last year I vowed I would not wait until the week before to start my shopping and be wrapping for hours and hours on Christmas Eve. And I followed through!! :) Yay for me. Now I'm able to start helping my mom with all of her Christmas present shopping. My house is totally decorated and all my holiday stuff is out and I've got the Christmas music channel on in the background at all times. I really do love Christmas time and I'm hoping that Cole will realize that it isn't about getting presents, it's about giving, and it's not about food and hulla-baloo, it's about spending quality time with our families and really remembering the whole reason for the season, Jesus Christ! Praise God for sending his Son to us...what a powerful event in the history of man.

Other news from the Koegle household...

- Yes, it is official, we have our house on the market. We actually put it up for sale about 5 weeks ago and I keep forgetting to blog about it. If you know of anyone in the market for a really cute townhome...send them our way. Please pray that the Lord's will is done in this situation, as it is very hard to just "wait it out" and work through the situation and stress of "selling" the home.

- Hallelujah...this last Friday was my last day working with Justin. About 3 weeks ago, I let them know that I have a couple of other options that are looking pretty good and that I am done watching him. This is going to be SUCH a huge relief off of my shoulders. Most of you know that I did not enjoy watching him, as he was a really hard child to work with. It was truly getting to me and Mike really encouraged me to pursue other options in order for me to be more happy. So...with that said, we are just praying that the Lord will make it very clear for what He has in store for me and for our family.

- Mike is rounding out the last couple of weeks of school (CSUN) and is doing wonderfully as usual. Please pray that the Lord will keep him motivated to finish out the semester with a bang and to just get to the end. :)

- Cole is doing really well these days. He's constantly learning more and more words, which just astounds me most of the time. I have a child that I can actually communicate with...it's totally cool! :) Once I was done decorating the house w/ all the Christmas stuff, I showed Cole what he could and couldn't touch. His favorite new phrase is, "Don't touch decorations." And you can truly tell what he is saying. It really is the cutest thing ever. He just babbles to me everywhere we go telling me about the cars, the trucks, the motos, the cows, the horses, the moon, the birds, the ducks, the coots, daddy, grandma, Pop Pop, Grammy (Ranny), Auntie Emilie, Brice, Sean, and many more friends. He is a total crack up. :) God is so good for what he gives us! :)

GO BUCKS!!

2006-11-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

The Koegle Family certainly had a great time watching the Ohio State Buckeyes BEAT the Michigan Wolverines. They won 42-39 in a very close game and here are some pictures that showcase just how big of fans we all are...maybe a bit overboard at times, but too much fun!