When would I ever have considered a "Sharpie" to be almost as dangerous as a knife when decorating pumpkins? I never thought I would ever find myself saying things like "don't eat the snail", "get the dog's tail out of your mouth", "stop eating your boogers"?  I never imagined I could feel good about sitting in front of the TV  for almost 48 straight hours----granted I was comforting and holding my sick baby boy and that is all he could and would do.  I never imagined I could love my life as much as I do------I haven't competed in a bike race, tennis match, triathlon, volleyball tournament or anything that used to be so much of who I was.  Melia and Mason are absolutely and positively the best of me, how can I be so lucky to be a part of their wonderful little lives?  It almost (ALMOST) makes me want to have another one.

Blake Powell, Lara Ross and ME----we are in the Garden of Gethsemane, need I say more?

I am standing in front of the most famous site in Jordan/ in Petra. I am posing with Donna Colson who is the couple missionary in Northern Jordan, she and her husband picked us up and drove us the 3 hours to Petra, hiked with us 3 hours and drove us 3 hours back to the Amman airport. They were wonderful to us, they provided us water, sun screen, and fabulous company.

This is me and my assembly partner in Jerusalem. We are at the church of the nativity. You can see the woman behind us with the alter behind her. That is the exact spot (supposedly) where Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus. The column on the right is where Joseph and Mary supposedly layed the baby Jesus to sleep in the Manger. This tiny area is where the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenians all share and worship.

Here is day one of our Disneyland trip.  We pulled Mason out of the car seat at 5:00 am after driving all night.  His entire face, neck, back and chest was nothing but rash.  This was why he spent the first day at CHOC (Children's Hospital).  They never will know for sure what it was, my pediatrician seems to believe it was a reaction to his MMR vaccine.  He was worse on day 2, but better on day 3, 4, and 5.  It was amazing to see how his little personality changed once he started to feel better.

I had to chose bright matching clothes for Disneyland so when they wondered off I wouldn't lose them forever.  Melia was so tough and brave, her favorite ride was Tower of Terror, she rode it 4 times.  Mason had a bought with some illness that made us spend the first day in Childrens Hospital of Orange County.  Every vacation has to have some glitch, right?!  We had a wonderful trip anyway.