For Meg's Princess 6th Birthday

All wrapped up so pretty.........

My mother, a young friend, and I had a joyful time helping out and enjoying Meg's first slumber party. She had such a wonderful time with her lovely new friends.

Praising the Lord

What Not to Wear

One of my pet peeves is people not wearing appropriate clothing -- whether being underdressed or overdressed. You don't wear your bathing suit to the supermarket and you don't wear a cocktail dress to a backyard barbecue.

However, I don't think I could have said it better that Erin does over at "A Dress A Day". She addresses it quite well in "What to Wear on Airplanes".

Game Show Finale

So, last night were the finals of "The Smartest Guy in Town". Turns out the smartest guy in town was the English teacher that beat Sarah the other day. Going up against him was Kathy, "a mom", and Bethany, a former homeschooler. Both also did well.

Cleaning off the stage before taping begins......

And the taping begins.....
During his monolgue at the beginning of the show, Brad Sherwood said, "Oh, I see Sarah-Kate's here tonight!"

First Time at Storytime

Diego went to the library for Storytime yesterday for the first time. He brought his craft to me and said, "My paper." He doesn't say many words, though he "talks" constantly. So this was pretty special for Nana!

Game Show, Day Three

Well, the ride is over......she made it to the semi-finals, but had to leave yesterday. They divided the top nine contestants into three groups. Apparently, each group will do something different. She was in the group that went on a fast carriage ride on a bumpy road while being asked rapid-fire questions. They were very odd questions that had to do with pop culture, but not necessarily of this era. Some of them I had never heard of (What were the names of the baseball players in the early 70's who traded wives?) and some of them were from so far before she was born that she had absolutely no idea. The oldest contestant won.

She was happy she got as far as she did and felt good because she didn't lose on a question she "should have" known. She would have hated to lose on a history, spelling, or math question! I am very proud of her.

We spent the whole day shooting. First, they interviewed family at our church and then we went out to Carriage Vineyards (a place we had never heard of!) to do the actual playing of the game. It is very tiring sitting around all day! :-) All in all, though, it was a very interesting experience.

The final round will be played tomorrow night in our city park. We are, of course, going to go watch. Here's a picture of Brad Sherwood and Sarah getting their mikes unhooked after their ride.

Game Show, Day Two

Sarah's made it through her first day of competing! They have narrowed it down to nine players. She plays again tomorrow morning. Here's Diego with the host and the "spokesmodel".

I just found out that the film crew will be at our house at 8:15 in the morning to do interviews!!! Yikes!!!

"The Smartest Guy in Town"

"The Smartest Guy in Town" is a brand new game show on the Game Show Network. The premise is that they will go to small towns and find the smartest person. Or at least the smartest person that tries out! If I understand it right, it is kind of a spoof or over-the-top rendition of game shows. So, they picked our town for the filming of their pilot this week! (Don't yet know when it will air.)

Yep, you saw it right. That is Sarah-Kate being interviewed by Brad Sherwood, of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" fame. She was interviewed a few weeks ago by a couple of the producers and picked to be on the show, but today was just filming some random promotional scenes. (You can see Joel and Diego on the top of the slide in the picture above.)
How fun! Hope she wins a bunch of money! (We really still don't know exactly HOW the game is played.)

Soaking Feet

Papa and Diego after a long hard day.

Grandchildren, Day Seven

We met Daja halfway yesterday to reunite the Gombojav family. Wonderful reunion!

Though I've had a wonderfully laid-back morning, there are definitely some sights I am going to miss!

Grandchildren, Day Six

Tuesday afternoon we received a surprise! Serena came home a day early! How exciting! But that meant rushing around and doing some rearranging of schedules and getting down to the airport to pick her up. Josh was busy that evening teaching at our School of Ministry, so we made it a surprise for him! We brought her home, she got to take a shower after 32 hours of traveling, and was waiting for him when he got home! How fun! Oh, and the children were very excited about Mommy being home, too! Though a little put off by the sudden change in plans, Jael explained it this way: "Well, it wasn't how I had it planned (she planned to spend the night with Meg), and it wasn't how Mommy had it planned (Mommy had left another day's treat bag), but God knew that I missed my mommy so He planned it that way."

After picking Serena up, we had a picnic, came home and went swimming, and got ready for bed. By that time, I totally "spaced" on blogging! Sorry this post is two days late!

Here's a few pictures from the kids' last day together for awhile.

Won't someone push me, please?

We love Papa's playground!

Grandchildren, Day Five

Nana walked in after my nap to finding me "just chillin'."



Papa taking us out for a walk (and ride) before dinner.

Grandchildren, Day Four

All ready for church. Aren't I handsome?

I love Jesus so very much. Sometimes His love overwhelms me and I cry. It's a "happy cry".

Four generations in the swimming pool. We finally coordinated the pool being ready and the weather being warm enough. The pool temperature was 89 degrees!

Grandchildren, Day Three

Abishai decided that Cooper needed a new bed. He tried to put her in the basket, but she would jump out each time. TiTi (Aunt Sarah-Kate) told him to just leave the basket down and Cooper would get in by himself. She was right. Of course, as soon as Abishai started to carry him around, he would jump out again. But, it thrilled Abishai that Cooper liked his new bed.


Practicing for their worship dance on Sunday. First time all five have "performed" together. First time the three-year-olds have performed at all.

Half of my boys enjoying "Reader Rabbit".

Grandchildren, Day Two

This afternoon, Caesar and Diego, 20 months and 19 months old respectively, were tussling over a little dune-buggy type toy. They were struggling for several minutes. Suddenly, they just stopped as if they both tired out and decided to surrender at the same time. They just sat there relaxed loving one another.


Ezekiel experiencing pure joy.

We are only missing Ihbeleg. One of these days, he'll be old enough to visit Papa and Nana's house, too!

Grandchildren, Day One

Serena’s been out of the country. She left last Thursday and will be home next Wednesday. I’ve been taking care of her three children while Josh works. Yesterday, I met Daja in Bakersfield (half way between) to pick up her four oldest children for a week. (She’s going to a wedding in Washington.)

So, that means we have EIGHT CHILDREN who are 5 years old and younger in the house until next Wednesday! Three one-year-olds, two three-year-olds, one four-year-old, and two five-year-olds. Whew!

Today was the first full day with all eight. In fact, all of them spent the night last night. I’m not sure how long it took to bathe all of them this morning!

It was a very busy day. I’m exhausted and my feet hurt. But, you know what? I am so blessed and quite peaceful. “This tired” is a good tired. Today wasn’t filled with the same type of stress as some of my days. I truly enjoy the role of “Nana”.

Last Christmas, my husband gave me the cutest gift. In a darling little suitcase, were a cute “diner uniform-looking" pajama set, a tiara, and maribou mules. Fit for a bombshell! LOL Today the girls asked me if they could “see” them. Using these props, a reporter is interviewing a princess. They took turns. What exactly is their body language saying?! :-)

Jael, age 5, set the kids’ table for dinner tonight, even though she wasn’t having dinner here. On her own, she made place cards for Meg, Israel, and Luc. Pretty creative, isn’t she?

A New Addition

Two days ago, my husband called home. He wanted to know if I wanted him to bring home a kitten. One of his clients had gotten a kitten the day before, but their first cat didn’t like him. Gabe knew I’ve been wanting more OUTSIDE cats. We only have one full-time cat and one part-time cat. The full-time cat is named Lindsey and lives on our patio. She is a real sweetheart, but has never lived in the house. Bonnie is our part-time cat. She lived in the house for almost a year, but now she only comes close when she wants to. She was in the driveway this morning. I saw her on the farthest corner of our property the other day. We live in the country. I want cats OUTSIDE protecting us from all the mice, lizards, and SNAKES. At least they are supposed to. We found a young rattlesnake on our patio a couple of weeks ago! Thus, why I want more cats.

So, his conversation with me on the phone was me asking questions about the cat needing a new home (how old is he, is he neutered, what color is he) and Gabe repeatedly emphasizing that it HAD to be an OUTSIDE cat. He was emphatiac that he doesn’t want any cats in the house anymore. (It’s been years.) I agreed, of course. The cat would live OUTSIDE as soon as he was used to our house and was old enough. OUTSIDE -- that’s where the mice, lizards, and snakes are.

So, he brought Cooper home. He was Tigger when he came, but Sarah-Kate has renamed him. Since I can’t think of a reason not to call him Cooper, Cooper he will be. The kids love him! He is great with them, too. In fact, he is adorable.


As Gabe was cutting his nails this morning (Cooper has those sharp baby nails.), he informs me that if we do end up keeping the cat IN THE HOUSE, we will have him declawed.