A new song

I just now finished writing a new song!.......it is the first song that I have written in almost 10 years, so I am pretty excited about it!.......I have been taking piano lessons for several months now, so I even was able to figure out the chords that go with the words.... that is a first!! It is very cool how this song just seemed to be given to me by the Holy Spirit, I can try to sit down at times and write something but nothing comes and then other times it just clicks,.....well, I feel very blessed to get to have such a thrill! God is so good! !! I will work on the recording and get it published and post it here soon!

Summer Spectacular 2008

Well, we were quite busy last week ......we went to Summer Spectacular at the Church. It is the Vacation Bible School to the MaX!! I was a teacher in Julias class, so it was great to spend the week there and get to be with Julia the whole time! There was over 1000 kids and it was really great! to view all the details and more photos of the week you can click here http://www.thehangar.org/

After the long fun spectacular week, we went to cool off at the boat for the weekend.......we went to the beach and got some time to just enjoy the waves the sun and the sand!

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day first and foremost to My Heavenly Father ! I Love YOU.

Today, after Church we went to my Mom and Dans for lunch to celebrate Fathers Day. It was nice to get together...... Robert , Brandon, Grandma, Eliu, Eliu's Mother ,Mercedes, and Doug's Mom and Dad , Gene and Jeanne were there. We had a nice time.

...............I can't help but pause today and acknowledge the absence of my Grandpa, this is the first Fathers day that he isn't with us .........and also My Dad who has been gone for eight years next month ........they are both very much missed ..........everyday.....

Here is a picture of my Dad and I at Lake Havasu many moons ago( I would say I was about 10 years old???).......my Dad loved the water.....as a family we spent a lot of our time at the Lake,fishing,skiing, boating or just playing on a sandbar being river rats! I remember one of his ideals was to have a pond at home.......and of course he built us a pond at the house he built on Jefferson street ......I think that he could make just anything he put his mind to.......once he made me a barbie house it was the coolest thing......and he made some of our furniture too.....he even made a fire wood rack for the fireplace that had R+V ( Ray plus Velvet).....and when my dog Muffin couldn't get up on the bed anymore he built her carpeted stairs...Just to name a few.......I was so blessed to have such a talented Dad....and one that showed us so much love and so much life adventure............and I cherish my memories.

Julia gave Doug a crown for Fathers Day! He is a great Daddy ! Happy Fathers Day! I Love you Doug!

Baby Shower !

Yesterday, we had a baby shower for My Brother Robert and his Wife Jessicas baby. I am getting a new nephew! He will be born in August and we all are very excited about this new member of our family! This is a picture of Me, Julia, my Mom ,Jessica, Jessicas Mom Shirley and Jessicas Sister Jamie at the baby shower. It was a lot of fun!

Last Day Of School

Today was the last day of school for Julia! Her class had a Hollywood party!! She has had a great year at pre school.....just three half days per week......next year she will be PRE -K!! Which will be five half days! She had great teachers and met lots of friends.

Weekend Reports are not Necessary!

I just wanted to make a note on the challenge.......I think that the weekends might be difficult to do daily reports ( due to going out of town and just the general different schedules that the weekends bring ) and so ........daily reports are not necessary for the weekends........we will still do our best during those times so that we will reach our goals....., but reporting a grade won't be required.................(unless you just can and want to check in) ......... ( we can report our Fridays grade on Monday ) and Mondays on Tuesdays.......and so on.

Here we go BABY !!!

We are back in the desert after being gone to Oceanside for the weekend. , Doug's parents went with us ,we got a room at the Marina Inn which is walking distance to our boat.....Doug, Matt, Clint ,Wally and Johnny went out fishing on Saturday so the room gave us a place to hang out while the boat was out.......Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend Sheila's daughter, Mandy, in San Clemente.....it was a great time......she is going to have a girl, I am so happy for her.

Well, I am excited about the challenge starting tomorrow!!! I can't wait to reap the results!! I want to #1 continue to do my Quiet Time with God ( that has been so rewarding )..........#2 get in shape and lose 15 pounds (which will give me a whole wardrobe because then all my clothes in my closet will fit again!) .......# 3 organize a couple rooms in my house ( Laundry room and guest bedroom ).........and #4 get to bed by 10:30PM...wow now that I have published this I really have to get with it and do it!!!!! Like I said I am excited to reap the results.......but it won't be easy! My Dad always said, "don't set your goals too low"........ so......., I am aiming high! Sheila and her three daughters and two of her grand daughters . I used to work for Sheila, at the Erawan salon, she is such a special friend , very talented artist, photographer and cosmetologist (just to name a few) , ......I have known her my whole adult life and am very thankful to have her in my life......she has a beautiful family with one more on the way! Congratulations!

Get Ready Get Set GOAL !

OK, I gotta make this quick because we are leaving for the weekend and I am not quite ready and Doug is........so I just wanted to announce a six week challenge that my Mom has proposed.........we are going to set some personal goals and keep a daily checklist on how we are doing with each goal we are not going to keep the checklist online ( that will be for us individually ) but we need to have accountability to make us more successful in completing the challenge.........so we are going to start this coming Monday...June 9th 2008 and report on the comment section of this post as to how we rate our previous day.......example B+ on Exercise......A on eating right........C- on getting sleep........but we won't put the specifics just........for example, Loras report Goal # 1 B+ Goal # 2 A Goal #3 C- .............if anyone is wanting to start the challenge with us please do..... the more the merrier!!! and this is good motivator to have the accountability for daily reports. Just start thinking about what your personal goals are and the daily plan of action over the weekend and then we will start on Tuesday reporting for the Monday start day!!!! It will be great to see at the end of six weeks what the success stories will be!!

Lots of Fun!

This last weekend was full of fun. We went to a birthday party for Julias friend Ashley on Saturday morning. It was a princess party and was very fabulous ! Then Saturday evening we went to a graduation party for our niece Breanna, and three nephews Brad, Sean and Shey. It was a big party and lots of friends, family and fun. It is hard to believe that these "kids" are graduating!!! They have all grown up sooooo fast. We are very proud of them all. Congratulations and God Bless them !

Sunday after church we had a little party at our house.......Matt and Diane and the kids came to the desert from Oceanside......it was fun to have them here.....we are usually the ones visiting them at there house, so it was nice to be here with them.......also our friends Clint & Brenda , and Wally & Trena came over. We had a great day with our friends.

I have been busy these last two weeks doing lots of sewing.......I am making jean quilts......lots of time but I really enjoy it.

Monday evening Julias preschool had a program that we went to it was very fun . I can't believe that it is the last week of school next week.but I am looking forward to summer vacation!

Julia with Grandma Jeanne at her school classroom..........
Julia, Madison and Levi in the Pool

Ripple Effect

Yesterday my Grandma, my Mom and I attended a memorial service for Dorothea Fulton , She was a wonderful woman who was a great influence on many people including my Mom and Grandma.......she was the youth leader at their church when my Mom was a teen and then later on she was my Moms boss at the bank where she worked.........One of her Sons, David Fulton is the founder of Christian School of the Desert , which I attended and now my daughter is attending!!.......so in a ripple effect way she has and still is influencing my life! The Memorial service was a wonderful tribute to her.......over and over as people stood up to share their memories of Dorothea it was said that she loved and lived for Jesus, and that she was so kind and always made people feel special. She is face to face with the Lord now and I am sure she is hearing the Lord say " Well done good and faithful servant ".
Today was our final Bible study that I have been attending on Thursday mornings......on Catherine Martins book " Set My Heart On Fire".........so much to say about what I have learned and experienced during this study..........today while Catherine was speaking I felt the Lord urging me to tell Catherine what an impact her teaching has made on me..........she was talking about how others had made an impact in her life and had a ripple effect ........and some of them may never even have know the difference that they made......or that God made through them.........and now through her. She is such a great writer and spiritual leader and I felt that the Lord also wanted me to ask her to pray for me.........So after the Bible study I was able to let her know how much I have learned from her and also ask her to pray for me........and she did. Wow I feel so blessed ......I am overwhelmed with excitement of this blessing.

THE JULIA SEA !

We were gone for 4 days , we went to Oceanside! It was nice to get to stay for 4 days!

Friday we went to San Diego to shop for a dingy.......we have been wanting to get one for awhile, and we will need one for our trip that we want to take to Catalina this Summer. We found the one that we wanted and the people at West Marine gave us a great deal so we went ahead and bought a dingy!!! We named it "THE JULIA SEA"

We hoped to go to Lego Land on the way back to the boat from San Diego....but it started to rain.......so we couldn't go to Lego Land on Friday.......Julia was sooooo disappointed......there was rain in the forecast for the next few days........I told Julia that there was nothing that we could do about the rain.......but she should pray and ask God (who can do something) to let it not rain on Saturday so that we could go to Lego Land on Saturday....she prayed...............and.............you know that God is so good and faithful ! We asked our good friends Matt , Diane, Levi and Madison if they could go with us and they did........we had the best weather nice and cool and just perfect for a day at Lego Land!!! I was pleasantly surprised at Lego Land......it is very fun and is perfect for the age of our kids.....but yet as an adult I was entertained as well! There are lots of rides.....even roller coasters,.....shows ..........and lots of things made of thousands of Legos!

.......After we got back from Lego Land , we had dinner and then we hung out and danced to Steve Orrs music at the Monterrey Bay Cannery. On Sunday and Monday we played with the dingy and it was great weather both days.......we got to visit with our friends Joe and Barbara and our friends Greg, Amanda, Ellie and Grace and of course Monty. It was a very nice and relaxing 4 days!......when we got home to the desert the weather was beautiful and cool as well......not even 80 degrees.....what a difference a week makes !!!

Maiden Voyage of The Julia Sea

Tour of The Island Dancer

The Heat is ON!

It turned Hot this weekend!!!!.........I think they said that yesterday was a record high for the date......... it was something like 113 degrees ! My Aunt Memory (My Moms Sister --from Tahoe ) was here in the desert staying with my Grandma for a few days,.....we got together while she was here, it was nice to get to see her we had a good visit .......but it always seems to go so fast ..........I am sure that she had a good visit,....but as hot as it is here ....Tahoe will feel good to go home to!! ---That is the place to be now!.........I am just thankful for Air Conditioning!!!

This is a picture of Aunt Memory and Uncle Steve from another visit.......my camera was out of service this weekend...

The Power of the Holy Spirit

Catherine Martin , who is the director of Womens Ministries at Southwest Community Church, founder of Quite Time Ministries, is an Author of many books , and her latest book is titled, "Set My Heart On Fire " (Experience the Power of the Holy Spirit )....she was the speaker at the Womens Retreat that I attended in Lake Arrowhead.........Also my Mom and I have been attending a 4 week Bible study on Thursday mornings........where Catherine has been speaking in depth on this book. Wow, it has been good. Being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit is the only way to experience abundant life........He can take away years of bitterness and set a heart free from the load of cares.......He can comfort pain like nothing else ........He can bring Peace even in the toughest struggle......He can give us Love for the unlovable........He can guide us with knowledge..........He can give us Joy in spite of our circumstances....He can give us self control .......He can make us aware of sin in our life that we don't even realize we have..........When we ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit , and then surrender to His lead, we can do things and experience life that we never thought was possible.......and would not be possible on our own. Jesus said in Luke 11:9-13
"And I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, an it shall be opened to you. " For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks , finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened. "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? "If you then, being evil , know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? "
The Holy Spirit is a gift from our Heavenly Father.......He is with us when we ask Jesus to be our Savior........ We need to ask to receive the filling of Gods Holy Spirit day by day and learn to surrender our weaknesses to Him.............and when we do we are plugged in to the full power .....not just giving the Holy Spirit a tiny place in our hearts to have.......that is not living abundantly.....not being filled up and surrendered to His power is like setting out to sail a sail boat with no wind.....or trying to sail against the wind.......that won't get us very far.......but day by day as we learn to surrender and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with His Power and listen to the things that the Holy Spirit will tell us , we then produce the evidence of having the Holy Spirit......the fruit of the Spirit.....Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness,Gentleness, Self Control..........It is a daily struggle with the flesh ....as sometimes we want to do it our way on our own without His power and guidance.........but if we position our sails .....,by reading Gods Word and listening and being obedient to His will , Praying ,worshiping God, confessing our sins ......when we mess up asking Him for forgiveness in the name of the Lord Jesus ...........and asking for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit,.....then the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit will power us in the right path for smooth sailing..........and Powerful Abundant life.

HOOK UP!

Well, I am feeling better after getting a long hot shower and sea salt scrub...........this weekend we went to the boat .

.........when we got there on Friday evening , there were 4 or 5 television news vans in the harbor.......they we there reporting a story of a couple that has been missing since Thursday.......they went out to go fishing and were supposed to return that evening and did not......we heard later that their boat had been found in Mexico on Rosarito Beach........but they were still not found.......We are praying for them and their family.

Saturday we went out fishing........Our good friends Matt and Diane and their two kids Levi and Madison went with us. We had a great day on the water ......we saw dolphins......whales ......sunfish........and we caught a 270 pound thresher shark......! I did reel it in most of the way.....but I had some trouble with the belt hurting me so I had to hand it over to Matt to finish the job!! It was a fun experience!......I am very sore today from all the reeling !

We got it all cleaned and vacuum packed after we got home........Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day!

Julia gave me this for mothers day.......she made it at school! Even though it has been over 4 years now it still seems new to me to receive a mothers day gift........especially one being handed to me by my child! She told me the other day that she loved me so much and I am the best Mommy even when I get her in trouble!! How sweet is that! .... Wow .....I am blessed!

(No, she wasn't even trying to get out of trouble...!)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Julia and her friend Bronwyn sure know how to have fun! They really took the Mr. Potato head game to a new level of creativity!

Uncle Brian ( Dougs Brother ) is such a brave soul.........he came by for a check up and then he let Julia and I take his car for a spin!

The 216 Pound Thresher Shark

Well, the Island Dancer Crew came through and scored a 216 pound Thresher Shark in the tournament yesterday.......Wally reeled it in........way to go Wally! It is a lot of work , but it sure is great to have the fresh steaks in the freezer!

Doug likes the new paint on the house! Now I just need to get a taller ladder so I can finish it!

While the Cat's away the Mice will Paint the House

Doug left yesterday morning to go to the boat for a fishing tournament. It is the annual Thresher Shark fishing Tournament in Oceanside........Last year he got 3rd place with a catch of a 318 pounder!! So the Island Dancer Boat is a shark hunting machine!! I even fought one last year for about an hour and a half and then it broke off .....due to a rig malfunction.......We had a good year last year for shark steak......and we are all out now...... so it will be great to get a fresh stock in the freezer ! Well......Julia and I decided that since we had some time at home for the weekend while Doug is fishing we would do something fun and creative........so we went to Home Depot and got the supplies and proceeded to paint the house!! Yes, it will be a great surprise to Doug when he gets back.......well, it looks a lot better so I don't think that he will mind.........I just talked to him on the phone and they are back at the dock and they got a 216 Pound thresher shark and he thinks that they probably will get 4th place.........Hooray!! we will have yummy shark in the freezer again !!!.....so he should be in a good mood for a surprise when he gets home ( that will be good:)! .....The house was just one solid color .....it needed some trim color....so we added some contrast to the look........if I just had a taller ladder.........well......I got most of it finished ....but I will continue when I can get a taller ladder.......I had plenty that I could do for yesterday and today I am pretty tired.......it will look good when he drives in tomorrow !! My mom came by to check out the painting.......and she said that it looked good ......so did the neighbors ........so I think it is ok! .......my Mom took Julia over to visit my Grandma for a little while.....they curled Grandmas hair for church tomorrow and then went to Dairy Queen........they brought me some too........Yummy Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard !! I have been getting up early and doing my exercising so.....I guess I don't feel too guilty!! Thanks Mom!

This is a picture of last years tournament thresher....... 318 pounds!!(click on picture to enlarge) Warning do not try this activity at home!! Unless you are extremely sure that you know what you are doing!! ...Threshersharkfishing can also be dangerous! ....so proceed with caution with it as well! :>
This is the one that got away last year!! By the way it was fighting.......it was a huge one!!......Doug says that I have to get another one this year.....we will see......maybe on Mothers Day!!

Eyelash Extentions Procedure Video Link

Here is a link that shows the eyelash extention procedure! Click and check it out!

http://www.lavishlashes.com/eyelashextensionprocedure.html

password trouble??

Several people have said that they have tried to leave a comment and could not because the password didn't work.......I had the same sort of problem before .........I think that you need to sign in first......on this front page of the blog........up in the right hand corner......click on " sign in "and then when you go to post a comment it will let you without your password.....hopefully this helps.......it is a blogger thing......I don't have control over passwords or registration , I am just going by what worked when I had the same experience! Let me know if this doesn't work and I can research it more.........
Well I am off to take Julia to school and then do some eyelash extensions at Jessica's. ( that is the latest thing that Jessica and I have learned to do )( Girly fun stuff!!!).......and then I'm getting a massage that Robert and Jessica gave me a gift certificate for my birthday!!! I am soooo looking forward to it!!!!

Spring Cleaning

This last week we went through our storage and cleaned out a lot of things .....stuff .......getting ready for a garage sale.........we made it through the garage sale on Saturday........it was a success.....we have more room in our storage area.......a little cash in our pockets... and a good feeling of relief that it is over and out!! Later on Saturday we went to a wedding for a friend at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells........it was very nice.....the view of the mountains from there is beautiful!! Julia went to her Grandma Jeannie's and Grandpa Genes ( Doug's Parents) for the night .....they made homemade ice cream and had lots of fun! It was a very full day......being that we got up at about 4:30 Am for the garage sale and then got home from the wedding at about midnight......! Also......Julia had a little stomach bug on Wednesday night........we didn't get any sleep......she has not had much experience throwing up......Thank God.......But she had a night of it on Wednesday.........so of course she stayed home from school on Thursday.......no more throwing up but she had no appetite and was very tired.......and she had a fever of 101.........so she got lots of rest and a little Tylenol and by Friday she was doing better.......still not much of an appetite ......but fever was gone and she had more energy.........by Saturday she was ready to go! I needed to be at church by 6:45 AM this morning .........I made it in time ......and all went well.......but as soon as we got home from church it was nap time!!.........we took a long nap and I quote Julia......"that nap was refreshing!"

Grandpas Birthday......April 23,1919

My Grandpa .........Lowell Mann went to be with the Lord in Heaven about three months ago..........he was born 89 years ago today..............April 23, 1919..........we love and miss him..........

If they are having birthday parties in Heaven I'm sure they are having a real "HUM DINGER" for him!

His birth verse is .........Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life...........

............He has a great big heart......his physical heart was remarkable too........it kept going strong...about 30 years after open heart surgery and many other challenges...........and he made his living drilling water wells...........!

Havin' Fun

STILL

This coming Sunday the Choir is singing a Song called "Still" I am working on learning all the words and wow what great words to be dwelling on!!

" STILL" By Hillsong:

Hide me now Under your wings
Cover me Within Your mighty hands
When the oceans rise and thunders roar I will soar with You, above the storm
Father, You are king over the flood I will be still and know You are God
Find rest my soul, in Christ alone Know His power, in quietness and trust

Princess Retreat!

Well this weekend was Julia's turn to go on a retreat!......Friday she went to my Mom and Dans and they had a "Princess Party" with some friends ,complete with the princess dress code! She had so much fun that she wanted to stay another night!! So she stayed to "help" them get ready for lunch on Sunday that we had, to celebrate my birthday!! My Brother Robert and his wife Jessica and Son Brandon were there and My Grandma Julia and Cousin Eliu were all there at My Mom and Dans house.

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Doug and I got to go out and have some time together while Julia was on her retreat!

It was a great weekend for all!