We've been Fresno residents for 9 months...

Time flies. The kids are almost done with their first year of school in Fresno, CA. I was on a walk last night around 8 o'clock and enjoyed thanking the Lord for His goodness to us. What a sweet time to reflect on His work in our lives in these last nine months. It made it easy to thank and praise Him because the air was cool and breezy. :)

Thank you Jesus:
-Brian loves His job!
-The kids have learned or are still learning what it means to say goodbye to something they love deeply (Hume and all who are there) and to rest in God's sovereignty.
-The people I have met and grown to love
-For our church home
- Being closer to family...they are only about an hour or so away now.
-Fire Women's Bible Study--the Lord has taught me a ton through these ladies.
-Life and breath, even in the Fresno air.
-The birds...singing, I love to hear them
-Getting to see and/or talk with people daily who have never heard of Jesus or placed their faith in Him
-Grace, faith, and Your love...we couldn't live without it!
-Meghan...if we weren't in Fresno, we wouldn't have been able to have Meghan live with us.
-For Your blood that has brought me peace.

Ashlyn--15 years old today!!!!

Ashlyn Blake Downs was born May 19, 1993 at 5:14pm. It's hard to believe it has been 15 years she has been on this earth. To be her momma is an honor and a joy. God has graced Ashlyn with the heart of a servant and she often considers others before herself. She gives the best foot massages and back rubs and I tell her I will pay her a dollar and she never takes the money. How great is that!

I took Ashlyn out of school at lunch and we went to Jamba Juice for an Orange Dream Machine with an energy boost, then off to get her hair cut and colored. Doesn't she look great! She is beautiful! The way her hair is now reminds me of a picture of her when she was little, her hair was bobbed and blond and she was holding a big bullfrog at Ponderosa Pool. Time flies and I am doing my best to cherish each day the Lord gives me with her.

She is so much farther along in wisdom and her relationship with Jesus than I was at 15. Her theology and reality line up a lot more than mine did. Praise You Jesus for your grace!

Many friends and family have called or Facebooked her today and have made her feel so loved. We are blessed by those the Lord has placed in our lives.

Brian and I are blessed to have such an amazing daughter!

A Tribute to My Mom

Mom is the woman in my life who has shown me love when I don't deserve it, taught me to love, cared for me, disciplined me even when I resisted it, prays for me and my family and those who are special to me.

My mom loves Jesus! I don't know of any other gift that is better than that. She has shown me what it means to be a follower of Christ when life is good and when life is hard.

Mom didn't give up on me even though I was a difficult child and caused her many tears. Maybe I am a blessing somehow, because of me I kept her on her knees seeking the Lord on what to do with me. :)

My mom is the woman I want to be. As she follows Christ, I will follow her, by God's grace.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Saying Goodbye to the Rooster...

In my last entry I stated that a number of things had come to an end last week. At the time of writing it, I did not know our neighborhood rooster came to an end...well, at least I think he did. He hasn't been around at 6 in the morning for the past few days. Hmm. A couple weeks ago I was determined to get up early to take a picture of him to show you that I am not making it up. Now I think my chance is gone. Believe me, I am not too sad about it. He gave us much fun, during the daytime, trying to figure out where he came from and whose he was standing so proud on our fence or strolling across the front lawns. He sure thought he ruled the roost...I wonder if he became someone's roast. We may never know. The rooster is kind of symbolic in a silly sort of way. I came to expect it, enjoyed him some of the time, had fun searching for which fence he was on...you get the idea. More profound than the rooster are the other "endings".

After two years of being a student at the School of Women's Ministries, I have completed the program. Praise the Lord! I enjoyed every aspect of it. I attended six all day Saturday classes and had homework pertaining to the subject of the lectures for each unit, including an internship to apply the skills we were acquiring. I had a blast! I love to learn, especially when it comes to being better equipped to love others with the love of Jesus. I have much more to learn, but am thankful for focused time to study and glean from others. I tell the kids that we are life long learners. At the conclusion of my last class two Saturdays ago, I felt a sense gratitude for those who had invested in my life for two years.

Another thing that came to and end was our Fire Ladies Bible Study. We spent the last 12 weeks studying the attributes of God. Each of us has grown closer to the Lord and eachother in this process. I adore these ladies. They are a blessing to me as you know if you have read this blog. It was bittersweet to complete it. We are seeking the Lord and what He might have us do next.

Meghan, our adopted in our heart member of the family, moved out and went to her home in Camarillo last Wednesday. This was a hard goodbye, because we've spent the last seven months living under the same roof. We have laughed, cried, drank Cafe' di Vita, played Settlers, been stretched by the Lord, grown, and just plain lived life together....Lo and behold, she missed us sooo much that she came back the same day for another week. I guess it isn't a real ending yet, but I thought it was last week. What a sweet treat to have her another week, like a vanilla latte with whip, only better.

I want to savor and embrace what the Lord has done and continues to do, I don't want to rush into the next thing. I am going to reflect and chat and listen to the Lord about it.

Brian, Ashlyn, Kylen, and Julianne are more of a joy in my life than I can convey to you. I love them more and more.

Maybe the rooster will come back like Meghan did...nah.

My Day with Tristan...

There is a lot on my heart and mind because this was a big week for me in the way of "endings", coming to conclusions of things precious to me. I will blog about those when I have a chunk of time, but in the meantime I have had the pleasure of watching Tristan, my friend, Danyel's, almost two year old little boy. We have had a blast! He is taking a little nap at the moment, so I thought I would share my day with you. My adolescent kids wouldn't let me follow them around with a camera, but Tristan didn't mind at all.

We began our morning by playing with his toys and then he helped me finish getting ready. I put make up on, he brushed his cheeks with a eye brush. I don't have pictures of that because the batteries were dead. He loved rocking in the rocking chair that my mom rocked me in when I was a baby. We sat outside on our swing for awhile, too. It was sweet to sit side by side and listen to the birds.

Off to the store we went, to buy supplies for Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats and of course batteries. (Julie, my sister-in-law had posted this recipe on her blog and I thought we would try it out.) Tristan helped me by holding our grocery list. He was excited about the batteries.

We got home and here is the play by play of Rice Krispy making. Meghan helped us out by mixing the marshmallows and butter on the stove while I made sure Tristan stayed put on the counter. We measured the ingredients, buttered the pan, read the recipe, drizzled chocolate, and tasted a few of the marshmallows.

Pushing down the Rice Krispies

Drizzling them with chocolate (Can't ever go wrong with chocolate.)

We finished up the treats, played a bit more, ate some lunch, and then off to meet Julianne up for her walk to Starbucks. Julianne's sixth grade class had an award for their Jog-a-thon and so now at 1:36 there are 32 6th grade students on a sugar high. Julianne got a Vanilla Bean Frappucino, me a coffee frap, and Tristan, a chocolate milk. On the way home Tristan fell asleep. I think I tired him out. He is precious, made in God's image.

Meghan and I tried the Krispy Treats. We must have done something incorrectly, because they aren't chewy, they are definitely Krispy.