A First Visit to Disneyland

In November we took Ashlyn to Disneyland for the first time! She loved the adventure, although it was a very long day for her!

Scroggins family

Micah was quick to greet Mickey and Minnie. Ashlyn on the other hand, had fun looking, but made it clear she didn't want them too close to her.

Ashlyn loved It's a Small World! It so much fun to see the amazement of children as they delight in the wonders of Disneyland!

Ashlyn's favorite ride was the carousel. She could sit on that thing all day long. She cried whenever it was time to get off.

Dumbo was lots of fun too!

Princess Ashlyn!

She enjoyed the teacups, as long as I didn't make it spin! :)

Only what's done for Christ will last

This little plaque hung in the kitchen window at my Grandparent's house for as long as I can remember. It was the same phrase that was on their wedding announcement almost 65 years ago. As the kids and I traveled to Oregon to be with our family to celebrate my Grandma's life, I was reminded once again of the truth of that statement. My Grandma lived her life for Christ, and in the process, she was an amazing example to me, my siblings and my cousins, among many others. I was so blessed to have a Grandmother who loved God so dearly and gave so richly of herself to so many others around her. She truly lived her life for Christ, and now she is enjoying her eternal reward as she worships at the feet of her Lord. I am so thankful for her faithful service as well as her faithful prayers for my family and me.

As we gathered together with all of my aunts and uncles, and all my West Coast cousins, we had a wonderful time remembering Grandma, getting to know all the little ones, and reconnecting with one another.

Ashlyn and Alyssa had great fun together climbing on and off this little coffee table

I was thankful for the opportunity to finally meet my nephew, Christopher Joshua

He's a sweet little one! It's amazing to think Ashlyn was once this small!

The three little girls... Alyssa, Ashlyn and Jasmine

The girls with their Mamas... Katharine, Barbara, and Joy

Micah loved his 2nd cousin Natalie. They had lots of fun playing games, and building this house of cards!

We all arrived in Oregon the day after my birthday so Joy surprised me with a birthday cake! Thanks Joy!

The Sullivan clan with all the West Coast cousins

It was joy to worship together as a family during a time of singing. I was impressed at the great blessing it is to have family members with whom we can enjoy a time of worship together.

Ashlyn and Jasmine had lots of fun together!

And it was fun to see Christopher all smiles!!

The kids all had fun in the huge great room that we got to hang out in during the day

And the adults had fun using that same room to play games in the evening! This family can't have a reunion without playing games.

Micah having fun in the gym with Uncle Loui

It rained quite a bit while we were there, but Ashlyn still enjoyed being outside.

And so did Micah!

Cousins... Ashlyn and Barbara with Katharine and Alyssa

Hugging cousins... Ashlyn and Jasmine

Micah enjoyed the opportunity to hold baby Christopher

Cousins... Jasmine, Christopher, Micah and Ashlyn

My little cuties! I love to see Micah all dressed up in a suit!

Sullivan Family

The Truax family

Dancing girls!

After Natalie left, Micah found Brady and had a ton of fun playing with him during the rest of our time their!

It was fun for Ashlyn to get to know Papa and Nana a little bit, since it had been over 6 months since she last saw them. Here she is playing with Papa!

Micah had fun learning to do the wheelbarrow with Uncle Paul

It was a blessing to worship together as a family on the Lord's Day as Uncle Jim opened the worship of God and encouraged us with truths about heaven.

It was a beautiful time to be in the Northwest! We loved all the color that we got to see there!

The Sullivan children...
Joy, David, Kris, Paul, Jan and Kathy

Micah and Mama

Fall Fun

We had lots of fun in Fall 2009. Here's a sampling of some of the things we did...

A visit to Lombardi Ranch to pick out our pumpkins

Josiah and Micah had lots of fun playing on and in the large pumpkin

Ashlyn wasn't too excited about the Pumpkin Patch. But it was at the end of a week long fever and not feeling well, so that probably had something to do with it.

Joshua had a blast sitting on the back of the fire engine, playing with the hay!

Ashlyn was finally pleased when she found a little pumpkin to hold.

The animals were a big hit with all of the kids

Luv u cuz!

The highlight of Ashlyn's day was a nice cold slushee

The kids enjoyed running around Scarecrow Alley, even Josh and Ashlyn

Micah sure loves to spend time with his cousin, Josiah.

Ashlyn enjoyed the addition of a pillow to her bed this fall.

Here the kids are enjoying a fun morning treat!

Barbara and Erica
It was a joy to be part of Erica's wedding planning this fall. From showers to invitations to early morning Starbucks chats, it was a blessing to be part of all of it!!!! Thanks for including me Erica!

The culmination of assembling and addressing over 400 invitations!!

Micah has had fun with all of the crazy Sparks events this fall. This particular night was crazy hat night. Micah was clever enough to find this hat all on his own. He called it his drum hat, and he carried around a drum stick banging it while on his head. Yikes!!

As a family we enjoyed Menchie's free ice cream night. All you had to do was print off their silly hat and wear it into the store for 12oz. of free ice cream and toppings. We hope they do this again next year!

Ashlyn is getting bigger and bigger. She discovered how to push a chair over to the sink so she can "help" with dishes. This is one of her favorite things to do!

Mich and Daddy had fun making Micah's car for the Sparks drive-in moving night.

Micah and his John Deere tractor

Ashlyn has discovered other Mama's shoes and loves to wear them around.

We had a great time with the Sedy family during our Harvest Party

We carved pumpkins

And had so much fun pulling out all that ooey gooey stuff!

Ashlyn and Zachary were quite content to play on the stairs

Next came the donut eating game. Who knew it would be so hard (and fun) to eat a donut swinging on a string.

Ashlyn decided it was much easier to just grab the donut and put it in her mouth!!

Bobbing for apples was the next activity.

Ashlyn thought it was great fun to stick her face in the water!

Micah liked it too! But unfortunately the bobbing ended with Micah when he bit into the apple and his loose tooth got even more loose (along with some blood to taint the bucket of water)!

By the end of the night the tooth came all the way out

And to finish off the night, the kids had fun outside with some sparklers

Brianna, Bethany, and Micah with their pumpkins

The kids and I traveled to Oregon for my Grandma's memorial service. Although they had fun on the plane, I was thankful it was only a 2-hour flight!

The kids had fun making a few Thanksgiving cards with finger paints

Ashlyn loves snuggle time with her Daddy!

We enjoyed having Josiah with us for almost a whole week! It was busy though, so I think this was the only picture we took.

Thanksgiving... we were so blessed to give thanks to God with some of our family and friends!

Joshua and Ashlyn having fun together

Auntie Vonna, Ashlyn and Dinanna

I love these ladies! I am so blessed to have them as a part of my life!

Ashlyn and Mama

Ashlyn enjoyed her Thanksgiving dinner

The kids had fun in the attic with Daddy getting down all the Christmas decorations!