Sometimes that chisel can really be uncomfortable

I trust that you will take a few minutes to watch a provoking video. Our Pastor used a part of this in his message on Sunday, and I was happy to find the whole video on You Tube. It is funny, and it is spiritually challenging. I thank God for continual reminders of His love and opportunities for growth. I pray this video will be the same for you.

Back to school for everyone

Today was the first day of school for everyone. Wesley started 5th grade; Andrew is now in third grade; but, the biggest adventure was for Little Miss Brooke, who began first grade today. I even had my first day of classes at the college.

It was a great day overall for all of them. Wesley's favorite part was learning that he is not required to write in cursive. (He hates writing in cursive.) Andrew did not share too much with me, but he came home with a Chinese hat???? I asked Brooke what she did: "I wrote a page of letters. It was O." Did you read today? "No, we had free reading time, but Ms. Darby said I could just look at the pictures." Ha :) I am thankful, again, for a Christian school with a great dedicated staff. Here is to a great year of school.

It was grand!

We had a 4-day vacation at the Grand Canyon. Mom and Dad were celebrating their 40th anniversary, and they let us come vacation with them for a couple of days. We had an 8-hour trip to the Grand Canyon; we drove during the night so that the kids (and I) could sleep. We arrived at the Grand Canyon just as the sun was rising that morning. We bypassed the hotel and went straight to get our first look and watch the sunrise. It was beautiful, and truly breath-taking.

We spent three days hiking in the Canyon, observing different viewpoints, and shuttling around the enormous state park. Below are some favorite pictures, but I will have many more on the slide show. Actually, Gary and I took over 450 pictures---look for the book coming out next spring :)
The kids enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Poppa. Andrew, who was normally very fearful of the water, overcame his fear this vacation and became successful at swimming, floating, and doing the cannonball. We were all pretty proud of him!

Getting ready for football season

The boys are signed up for the Ventura Buccaneers this year. They are excited about playing football, beginning in August. Today was the day that they had fittings for their equipment. I learned that it takes much work (and several people) to gear up a young boy with football equipment. After getting dressed out, the boys were ready to run into each other and do some body slams!


As a player, each of the boys has to raise $100.00 in donations for their football season. We were given $10.00 vouchers for some local restaurants to give to those who can help. While all of our family is not in our area and would not benefit from the vouchers, I still want to ask if anyone would be willing to help the boys raise their $100.00 each. Let me know and thanks!

Wesley is a teen; oops, I mean ten!

Yes, our oldest child turned ten years old today! What a blessing he is to the entire family. Wesley is the leader. He is the strong one. He is the giver of hugs for his mom, and he is the analytical mind of his dad. We love you, Wes!



We spent the afternoon at Golf N Stuff in Ventura, where we all played a round of golf. The boys then ventured out to the bumper boats and arcade games. After the time at Golf N Stuff, Wesley chose the shops where we would go to spend some of his birthday cash. His favorite two places to shop: Game Stop and Toys 'R Us. Top it all off with stuffed crust pizza and double decker chocolate cake. I think Wesley is going to be sick, but hey, it was fun!

One way to teach how to tithe

I must first thank my brother, Aaron, for his contribution to the following post. As his family was visiting last week, Aaron shared the video above with Gary. It was actually late one evening when I was putting the kids to bed, that I heard some loud laughter coming from the living room. I came into the room to ask them to quiet down, when I saw this video that Aaron was sharing with Gary.

The next morning, Gary pulled it up on our big screen TV and had the kids watch it. I must admit, my children now fully understand the Biblical concept of tithe. Now, my kids frequently ask me to put the "tithe rap" on my computer screen. I took the following picture of them while they were finishing up their version of the tithe rap. While rap is not my favorite type of music, I had to laugh as they danced around the family room: "Walk it out....."

A family visit

We were so excited to have some family come visit us here in Southern CA. Since most of our family is in the mid-west, it is difficult for them to get out here (except my wonderful parents :) )Aaron, Linda and their 4 kids came out for a week. I think the kids were most excited about the plane trip, but we kept them busy for the week and had a great time. The slide show is a compilation of our visit with them. Thank you, Aaron and Linda, for coming out to see us! We sure do love you all. When we were in the car after leaving them, Wesley said, "I sure do miss my cousins!"

The love life of a 3 1/2 year old

I found the current edition of Aaron Sturgill as a child----his son, Ryan. This morning, at breakfast, Ryan informed me that he hates kissing. I told him that I was going to give Uncle Gary a very big kiss. He put the glove over his face.

Then, Ryan (age 3 1/2) informed me that he has a girlfriend. The following were various parts of our dialogue: "Her name is Bekah. She is 6 years old." He likes the mature, older ladies. "She is Alex's girlfriend." Wait, I thought she was your girlfriend. The glove went back over his face. "I don't have a girlfriend now." The crisis and love triangles that are formed at this young age. I told him I would be his girlfriend. "No, you kiss Uncle Gary." I guess he doesn't want their to be a rivalvry.

I do have many pictures from my brother and his family's visit, but this one just begged for its own post!

Wii love it!

Not being able to hold off until Christmas, Mamaw and Papaw Beard got an early Christmas present for the family. As you can see from the picture below, Gary set it up, and we tested it. Meanwhile, with blinds closed and back door locked, the kids played outside. :)


When we finally let them in the house (realistically, it was only 20 minutes), they were excited! Wesley and Andrew had decided to save their money to buy a Wii, but they knew it was going to take quite awhile to save up that much money. We bowled, golfed, shot hoops, shuffled, and played basketball and tennis most of the day. The kids and Gary went for an all-nighter.

When Gary and I woke up this morning, we saw that Wesley and Andrew had decided to share the couch---not a good idea for Andrew!

A hidden talent

Andrew had a play date with his best friend, Sean, a month ago. His mom just gave me a CD with some pictures of the two of them this past school year, and this video was included . I was surprised to see this hidden talent in Andrew. The boys wanted me to post it, so that Gramma could see how good Andrew was doing at his piano playing. Not bad, considering he has never had a lesson! (Note: Sean's brother, Blake, is the busy one in the video.)