Christmas Day 2009

New legos



Ellie's new lego car.

Jay's other awesome Lego set.

Sandy wearing her Snuggie.

Ellie got all the new Barbie and the Three Musketeers.

Cool Tony Hawk sweater.


Thank you Alex for the Littlest Pet Shop!

Already rockin out to Lego Rock Band.



He has wanted this book for so long!



We are so blessed by our family and everything that they sent for the kiddos. We had an awesome Christmas! We opened gifts and then relaxed all day. It was a wonderful time to really think about Jesus and His birth and why He came to Earth, to save us!

Christmas Eve 2009

We are really into calendars so we got them each a calendar and let them open them on Christmas Eve.

Being silly!

Ricardo took so many pictures to get them both smiling nice but in this one Jay has a nice smile and Ellie is talking!

Our beautiful princess!

Our handsome son.

Now in this pic Ellie looks nice and Jay is talking! My kids really NEVER stop talking!!

Ellie wearing the cover to the dress. My parents got them these outfits for Christmas. They both look awesome. Thanks Ramon Grandparents!!

We were so excited for Christmas this year since we haven't had a Christmas at our house for so many years. We got to out up our tree and decorate the house. We went to church service and enjoyed hearing how Jesus came to this earth to save us from our sins. Thank you God!

Blizzard of 2009

Trying to find our walkway



Our cul-de-sac was finally plowed! They packed all the snow up in the front yard so of course the kids had to climb on it!

It was much "nicer" on Sunday so we went out again for some fun. The snow wasn't blowing on our faces like the day before so we stayed out for like 2 hours!

Another view of the front yard and driveway.

This is Sunday the 19th. It snowed all day Saturday and finally stopped around midnight. This is Ricardo's car buried under a ton of snow!

Enjoying some hot chocolate and cookies after we came in.



We definitely wanted to take advantage of the snow so we went out on our sleds and had some fun!

This was on Saturday, midday. It was snowing so hard!

Ricardo and the dog.

Our dog Sandy in her new sweater.

This was Friday night, the 18th. It was all over the news that we were going to get tons of snow and boy were they right!

Ellie's Christmas party at school

Ellie and her teacher Miss Elizabeth. We are so happy that we have great teachers!

The daycare had a Christmas party for the kiddos and it turned out so nice. Here Ellie is at the table with her friends eating lots of goodies. These hats are made of cutouts of their hands. They sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It was really cute!

Family Fun Day

Ellie showing off an ornament.

The kids got to meet Rudolph at the Christmas party.

There was a craft center inside and the kids got to make ornaments.

This is the horse that pulled our carriage. Her name is Princess and she was the horse that Ellie wanted to get. What a blessing that we did get this horse!

While on the carriage ride. It was so much fun!

Ellie and I while waiting outside for out turn on a horse drawn carriage.

Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves arrived by firetruck.

Our housing area had a Christmas party fun day on Dec. 5th. It snowed that day, our first snow of the season. It was so cold outside but we went to the party and had a great time.

Our huge tree!

Casting Crowns - Praise You In The Storm

Ricardo and I heard this song so many times on the Christian radio station after his accident. He would have an appointment where the doctor would scrape the skin off of his hands and then in the car this song would come on. I don't believe in coincidences, only a loving God!

more about "Casting Crowns - Praise You In The Storm", posted with vodpod

On this day two years ago..........

As most of you know, Ricardo was injured in Iraq on December 3, 2007. He had only been there 3 1/2 months. I just wanted to share some verses that really ministered to us and really helped us to go through such a crazy time in our lives. First of all, I called Pastor Rick as soon as I found out. When I talked to him, he said that I was experiencing the "peace that surpasses all understanding" because I felt "OK" about the situation. I just knew in my heart that everything would be ok. That was GOD. So later, I talked with Kristy, Pastor Rick's wife, and she said the exact same thing!! I was familiar with this verse at the time but I wanted to read it in my Bible again. When I opened the Bible and read the verse, I just started to cry! Here is the verse:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7

How awesome is that! Be anxious for nothing! I love how God loves us and how He uses others to minister to us. After Ricardo was released from the hospital, he was staying in housing for Wounded Warriors. We stayed there 2 weeks without the kids. It was so hard. I had been reading through the Psalms before all of this had happened so one day I opened up my Bible and I was on Psalm 30. Verse 5 jumped out to me:

Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

WOW........again! God's timing is so perfect. Then to make it even more awesome; we had a meeting with a lady with an organization who helps the wounded guys and there families with anything they might need during their stay at BAMC, the military hospital. We were in her office and I noticed posted on her cubicle PSALM 30:5!! It was so amazing and wonderful. That was such a hard time in our lives but it was so neat to see God's hand putting everything together. We are so blessed that we lived through this and we thank God for being with us throughout it all. He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

What I want for Christmas is....

Hello Family and Friends. Ricardo, Jay, Ellie and I sponsor a child named Andrew through Compassion. Andrew is a 9 year old boy who lives in Uganda. Compassion is having a campaign right now to get even more children sponsored. We have received materials about a boy named Juma Msafiri Humai who lives in Tanzania. He is 5 years old and lives with his mother, father, and two siblings. He loves to play soccer and play with cars. We are praying everyday to find a sponsor for this child before the end of the year. If this is something that you feel you would like to help with, please contact me. I have more details. I also am asking you to forward this information to anyone that you think may be able to help. There are many children who are in need of sponsorship. Here is the website www.Compassion.com if you want to look it up online. Please join me in praying for this little guy and all the other children who need help.
We are so very blessed by our child Andrew. We frequently receive letters from him. We feel as if he is part of our family. We got a letter from Andrew in the mail yesterday and this is a part of it:
"Andrew says he really loves you and thank you because he usually gets food, school fees, uniform, books, and soap from your support."
(Andrew has a translator write the letter for him.)
What better way to spend our money than to be a part of a child's life who is learning all about Jesus through this wonderful ministry!