Happy 13th Birthday Daniel!

Tuesday was Daniel's 13th Birthday! He woke up and very kindly, help to make breakfast, while Ryan produced some delicious fruit smoothies. We sang to him and he blew out his breakfast birthday candle. His breakfast was: A large cheese and lentil burrito with a mango and strawberry smoothie. While he ate, Mama told us the story of Daniel's birth. (He smiled real big, when Mama came to the "entrance of the baby into the world")

A lentil burrito and mango, strawberry smoothie with a candle in the straw....

Our small match......

Danny and his brothers.....

Don't forget Katie.....

Daniel decided that he would like to go to Knotts Berry Farm for his 13th Birthday and so soon after his meal, we found ourselves in front of the park gate. Daddy was so kind and bought us all season passes!!!!

Inside the park, Daniel went with Mama and the little ones to Camp Snoopy, while the rest of us headed for the roller coaster area. Daniel had alot of fun! He rode on his favorite coaster called "Sidewinder." Basically, you are in a car that spins while riding along a track. He loves that ride!
He also went on several rides with the little ones. He was a big help to Mama.

a picture with Snoopy.......

Waiting for our season passes.....

Danny and Joshy on the "Race Car" ride. For a kids ride, it's actually really fun!!!

Later towards the evening, He asked me to ride on one roller coaster with him, "Jaguar." Buckled in and ready, Daniel and I waited as the Ride Attendent checked us and then the ride started. Zoom! We were off! Daniel loved it! He was laughing and screaming! Then as the ride was coming to an end he said"Ashley, can we go again?" I wanted to say yes so badly, but I knew there would be a line. However, the particular car we were in, it's line was empty, and the Ride attendent let us ride again! He was thrilled! Having already ridden it before, Daniel and I began a conversation on the next round. We enjoyed our second ride and it soon came to an end, and that was Daniel's last ride of the day. (Danny is always so much fun to be with! I love you, Danny- Boy!)

Tired and hot, we all headed for the car. Daddy took us to "Wendy's" and bought us a frostie! Yum! We all, needless to say, finished those in no time!

Mama drove us home. We fell asleep within minutes, including Danny!!!

It was a great day! We praise the Lord for giving us him! We love you Daniel! Happy Birthday!

I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalm 139:14 (KJV)

Update coming soon!

In the making....



Sacramento Conference, 2009!

An Answer To Prayer! Visiting!~

It's that time of year again! The Sacramento, CA, ATI Regional Conference, is just around the corner! We have been busy getting ready!

Some friends of ours, from church, Jana, and her son Jacob, wanted to attend the conference last year, but were unable to due to transportation. This year again, they wanted to attend and the Lord was opening doors. Transportation again, was needed. We would have been happy to let them drive up with us but, here a problem presented itself. They needed to leave Tuesday and return Friday. Our family is arriving Monday and staying till Saturday. So Jana, called the ATI headquarters and asked if there were any families in their(Her and her son) area, that they could drive up with. The staff at headquarters did, in fact, have a family in Huntington Beach, who were attending the conference! So the family was called and they kindly agreed to bring them up! There are two neat parts to this story. The first is, they were arriving and leaving the exact dates that Jana and Jacob needed to, and the second is, the family just happened to be some old friends of ours!

Moe and Dee Dee Khackbaz, are a family we met through Habitat For Humanity. They live very close to our church and sometimes we would stop by for a visit.( We hadn't seen them recently!)

Mrs. Khakbaz, called Monday and invited us to the park, along with her, her three kids and another family. The purpose was for Jana and Mrs. Khakbaz to meet, as they will be driving up together, and since we knew both families well, we we could help them get to know each other! So we all headed to the park and enjoyed visiting! Jacob got along really well with their two girls, Jovi and Ranna, and he had a great time catching lizards with their son, Abraham! Ryan, Daniel, and Isaiah went along with them and came back with three! Meanwhile, Jovi, Ranna, and I enjoyed a game of chance, with some dice. Later Katie and Sydney( one of the other family's daughter's) joined us with the little ones, Natey and Joshy!

Being at a park, I had to get one portrait.....Mama and Mrs. Khabaz, walking.

Katie and Sydney.

Abraham, Jacob, Ranna and Isaiah, holding lizards and chatting.

Isaiah, Jacob and Abraham...and their lizards!

Ranna(left of me), Jovi(right of me) and I! It was so good to see them again! We hadn't seen each other in awhile!

Since we are on the visiting subject.....

Saturday, one of the families at our church, the Pau's, invited us over for dinner! We had a very nice evening! Mr. Pau, kindly shared his "Wii with" us. I played two games but, not being much of a video game person, I soon found myself in the girl's room chatting! We had great fun together! Ryan and Daniel enjoyed the Wii games with Jason and Justin. They played golfing and boxing.

Katie and Danny, playing the "Wii..."

Joanna and I. She said something here, really funny!

During the boy's game, we girls and the little ones played a really fun game called "Stoner!" Basically, one or more persons get picked to be "it." Then you decide on an object to hide, for example: we used a little toy shovel. Everyone else who is not "it" goes inside while those who are "it" hide the object somewhere.( Had enough of the "it" yet?) When they are all done, they call the other players and give them ten seconds to find it before they start running around tagging people. The point of the game is to find the object before all the players are tagged! (Very fun!) Justin came out later and joined us!

Meanwhile, Natey, Joshy and Josiah Pau enjoyed playing with Playmobile and Legos! The two best toys in the world for boys!

Watching the players....

Soon it was dinnertime! We all enjoyed a delicious meal of Chili, pineapple muffins, chocolate cookies and homemade ice cream! (Thank you so much, Mrs, Pau, Nichole, Sarah, Joanna and Victoria!)

Eating....

After dinner, and the washing and cleaning up was done, we girls trooped upstairs and talked some more.

Us girls, talking.

..."I like this pillow!" "No! It's mine!"

sometimes..."duty calls!"

Ok, now in all seriousness, we did not fight! We had a good time!

Group shot-1 Joanna, Nichole, Victoria, Sarah, Lizzy, Katie and I.

Group shot-2

......."hehe".....

The Boys: left to right: Josiah, Joshy, Jeffery, Isaiah and Danny.

We really enjoyed our visit with the Pau Family! Thank you so much, Pau family!

Praise the Lord for the fellowship that we can have among believers! It is such a special gift from our Lord!

Use hospitality one to another without grudging. (KJV)

1 Peter 4:9

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (KJV)

2 Corinthians 13:14

Fishing!~

Last Thursday Uncle Kenny and Auntie Janice took us fishing at Jenks Lake! They had taken us before in pairs, but this time we all went, including Mama, which was very fun!

Uncle Kenny had told us to be ready to leave at 6:30, which meant we would have to get up around 4:30-5:00am! We had SWORD the night before and so we did not get to bed as early as we should have. Nevertheless, morning came, as always! Mama was hurrying around trying to wake those still asleep, like me. (I wasn't feeling to great and my stomach hurt awfully bad!)The younger ones were bright and excited as they talked of the out come of the future fishing trip! Older boys were grabbing poles and vests to put in the van. I hurried to shower and dress and soon we were piled in the car!

Here is the parking lot of Jenks Lake! I have no idea how the trip went on the way up, because I fell asleep. (It was a 2 hour drive!) I felt much better once we got there though, and grabbed my camera to take some pictures of the lake and it's surroundings!

Our car, parked.

Jenks Lake is a beautiful place and being there reminded me of camping trips our church had taken before! I love being near the mountains and in woody areas! The trees covered most of the land except for where asphalt guided cars. It was so peaceful up there and I could hear all sorts of different birds singing!

A fallen tree....

This duck saw me coming down the path, he came out of the water, waddled straight for me, stopped and turned for a picture!! It was the funniest thing I'd seen a duck do!

I can honestly say, the animals at the lake were very friendly! This squirrel posed for me!

Once we had found our fishing spot, and prayed over the day, it seemed everyone was in motion! Uncle Kenny, Ryan, and Katie were setting things up and making trips back and forth from the van and jeep. Aunt Janice was preparing and casting poles into the lake. Mama pulled out some sugar cookies and the little ones were soon munching!

Cookie watchers....

Timothy, enjoying the remains of a sugar cookie......

Ryan, Daniel Isaiah and Katie soon had cast out there poles and were waiting patiently! meanwhile, Aunt Janice went out in the "float" to see if she could catch anything out there! Later, Uncle Kenny went out too. Unfortunately, I could not fish this time, because I am sixteen and I don't have a license. Uncle Kenny and Aunt Janice felt really bad, but I assured them I would survive. While the others fished, I enjoyed a hike around the lake, reading, taking pictures and talking with those who were around! Although we only caught two bass and Aunt Janice caught two, it was a very nice, slow, relaxing day! We did however have some excitement! During the first part of the day, a helicopter needed to pull some water from the lake! There was a fire nearby and Jenks was one of the nearest supplies of water. It was so neat to watch the water being sucked up!

That was about the most excting thing that happened, that day! We really enjoyed the fishing trip!

Here are some pictures from the day.

Another friendly duck.....



Natey and Joshua, visiting with Mr. Duck!

Uncle Kenny, the fisherman.

Katie and Isaiah, waiting.......

Uncle Kenny and Aunt Janice...waiting.

Wouldn't be much of a post without a decent portrait.
Katie, looking cute....

These three gentlemen went on the hike around the lake with me.


A classic picture.



This is the fallen tree I showed earlier. The boys decided to be brave, balance their way and pose for a picture! They are towards the top of the tree where the trunk is very narrow. The water on either side of them is VERY deep.



Then we challenged each other to run from where the boys were to the trunk. It was kinda scary but we all made it! (Ryan said I should go out onto the tree where they had been so I could see what it was like to pose for a picture out there!) Danny here, is enjoying this challenge!

our site from across the lake...

Last week in Sunday School, one of the verses we were studying was 1 Peter 5:7. I think this verse really fits. It reminds us to give our fears and worries over to the Lord and He will take care of them! In the same way, while one is fishing, he does not spend his time worrying about what he will catch or if he will catch but leaving that to the Lord he patiently waits to see the results. What a relief, to think that someone is willing to bear our burdens and resolve our problems for us!

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:7

A Special Evening!~

Last night, was our SWORD, end of the year, presentation, which Justin led! (Thank you, Justin!) The children sang two songs for their parents, which I had the joy of accompanying!! They did a great job! The buttons on their sashes represent all the goals they accomplished!


We really enjoyed this last SWORD year and the leaders are planning another one, Lord willing!


We also had a special speaker! Maria Istoc, origially from Romania, now a missionary to Paris, France! It is always so great to hear the missionary reports and we all really enjoyed her testimony! She had not visited for 5 years, so it was great to see her again!

Below is a video of the children's presentation! (All the "Sebo Boys" are wearing suits...Just in case you couldn't find them! Also, there is a slight pause in the video, for a picture...)






Here are some better sash pictures, with the exception of Ryan, and Natey.