Gone Fishing

Ok, so I was gone a little longer than a week. What can I say, huh? Life happens. :) I have had the most wonderful couple of weeks! On the 2nd, I told you that we were going on vacation to Universal Studios and Disneyland. We had so much fun, and it was great to spend time together as a family with no work, no schoolwork, no cleaning, and all that stuff! Our biggest decision was what park to go to, and what rides to ride when we got there. We did end up going to Knott's Berry Farm instead of Disneyland for a second day, though, and that was a good decision. We stayed in a hotel on the beach, and had the greatest view of the sunset on the nights we were back before sundown! Watching the sun go down, with the ocean in the foreground from our hotel room was just so amazing! Each time, I just had to take pictures because the glory of His creation was too much not to do so. Here's just a sampling of the pictures I got from our hotel room.



That's the Channel Islands you see in the background of that last picture. One of these days, we'll take a ferry out to the islands, since, we like to stay at that hotel, whenever we take a vacation. If you're ever in the Oxnard area, or going to be going through there, I highly recommend that hotel. It's the Embassy Suites at Mandalay Beach (not to be confused with the Mandalay Bay Casino- that's in Las Vegas.)

We also had a great time teaching our children about what it means to worship the Lord in our everyday lives. Our youngest refused to sleep in the crib that was provided for her, so you guessed, it...she slept with us. One of the nights that we were trying to get her to go to sleep, she had found the Gideon's Bible in the side drawer, next to the bed, and decided she wanted to "read" it. So we let her turn pages, and we "made up" the story for her. (What I mean by that, is that we didn't actually read that bible to her, but told her who Jesus was, and that He hung on a tree for her. So we didn't actually make up the story, but just told her the "story" unrelated to whatever page she happened to have turned to.) Do you know how awesome it is to hear a child say "Dezus" for the first time?! And how wonderfully humbling it is, to say grace with all your children in a public place? The hotel served actual breakfast each morning for free, and so each morning, we would go down and get our table, and say grace before we went and got our food (it was buffet style, sort of.) To show our children how not to be ashamed of our faith, was just so neat!!! We rarely eat out, and I don't remember the last time that we ate out with the children, before this trip.

Another thing that was awesome, and that I didn't tell you before was that April 4th was our 5th anniversary! We spent it at Universal Studios, having fun and being silly. My wonderful husband gave me tickets to Women of Faith for the following weekend. I'll tell you more about that later in this post. Thank you, sweetie, for being such a great listener, and knowing just what kind of gift is perfect for me!
Ok, well now that I've gone on and on, about our trip, I'll tell you about the rest of my two weeks hiatus. :)

When I got back, I attempted to wade through my 153 emails waiting in my inbox, and learned that I had been given two awards! Sometimes, I just feel so loved!!! Thank you to Michelle at In the Life of a Child for the Blogging With Purpose Award.
I also received an award from Bola, whom I've never met before, but apparently, she likes my blog. Incidentally, the award she gave me was one I received from Sidharth as well, and I thank you both. I can't really say that I know what I've persevered through, at this point, as I am highly blessed, but thank you all the same.
I apologize that I am not going to pass these on. Not because I don't know any fellow bloggers that deserve them, I do, but because I just don't have the time right now. I am highly appreciative of these awards, and to all my fellow bloggers, though. And I must say this, all the glory goes to Him, above. If it weren't for His prodding in my life, there would be no blog here.

Ok, well as I told you earlier, I received tickets to Women of Faith from my husband for our anniversary. I was just so tickled! Not only had he given me tickets, but he had made it possible for me to attend with one of my good friends. We don't get to see each other often enough, and rarely do we get to spend time together without our respective children. (Between the two of us, we have 8 children.) We've been friends for 15 years, and she was a big influence on my change in faith. Her gentle and loving persistence with regard to my lack of faith, for a number of years, had much to do with me finally seeing the "Light." Thank you Kelley! You are a true friend and sister.
That second picture is of all the ladies that were speakers, and or musical artists at the Women of Faith conference. So much fun!!!

And finally, finally, I learned yesterday, that I do, indeed enjoy fishing with my husband. For the longest time, whenever I would go out to the ponds with my husband, I would take along a book, or something to do, while he fished. Because of that, we weren't really spending time together. But yesterday, for some reason, I decided to pick up my daughter's fishing pole, and try it again. (I used to fish occasionally, but I have a phobia about worms- even fake ones, so I couldn't bring myself to do fish anymore.) Anyway, I learned that I was actually having fun. I think my poor daughter was a little put out that I commandeered her pole, but Hubby says that now, maybe he'll get me a decent pole of my own, since I do seem to like it. :) Who knew???!!! One last picture, and I'll close for the day...

Thank you to all of you, for your patience in my return, and I'll try to keep you updated, more often so that the next post isn't so lengthy. Blessings to you all!!!
Type rest of the post here