Growing and learning new things...

Mommie took Sara and Ingrid to the mall today to let them play and work out some energy because the weather has been rainy and cold lately and they have been shut up in the house and not sleeping good at night. When they do not sleep good, guess who else does not sleep good?? (Mommie and Daddy) So here are a few photos from the mall. Also, they are learning new skills. Sara is brushing her teeth on her own and loves it! She does a good job of it too. Sara is also talking more. She loves to call out to "Mommie" and also to "Daddy". Giovanna will give Sara the phone when I call home from work or school and she will call out "Daddy, Daddy" and then say "bye" and blow me a kiss. No matter how tired or discouraged I am, that lifts me up and gives me energy to finish the day! Ingrid is drinking from a "sippy" cup on her own. She skipped the bottle and is going straight from drinking from mommie to the cup, which is great! Ingrid is also crawling very good now and is getting fast and beginning to try and pull herself up. They are growing and learning so many new things and it gives us a sense of how our heavenly Father must feel when we grow spiritually and love and adore Him in our worship!

SNOW, SNOW AND MUCH SNOW

This is my first time in 4 years that I have seen this much snow in NC, and of course it had been Sara's and Ingrid's first snow. Sara really enjoyed, she wanted to be outside with the children playing; eventhough, her nose and hands were cold and red. I'm glad I had a waterproof suit for Sara and her boots. She look liked a little skimo.

Our two little angels!

A NEW YEAR'S PRAYER FOR YOU

By Wendy Blight

“Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.” Lamentations 2:19a (NKJV)

It’s a new year. What is on your heart? What would you like to accomplish? What would you like to change? Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions?

A few years ago, I gave up making New Year’s Resolutions. I could never keep them. One year, instead of a resolution, I wrote a prayer. Throughout the year, I watched in amazement as God worked in my life and in the lives of others through my simple prayer.

Today, I would like to pray for you. Below is the prayer that the Lord put on my heart. As you read it, I invite you to use it as a model. Sit with the Lord and ask Him to help you personalize this prayer for you.

Father in heaven, thank You that You are Sovereign. Thank You that You know each precious woman reading this devotion. You planned for her to meet You here today. You created her heart. You know her every need, her deepest desires, and her open wounds. Lord, I ask that in this new year, You would fall afresh on her.

Father, You are Holy and call us to be Holy. Yet, we confess that so often our hearts wander from You, our speech does not glorify You, and our actions do not honor You. Soften our hearts to receive the words Your sweet Spirit has to speak to us. Clothe us with humility. Take away our desire to always be right and have our own way. Help us to seek Your Word in all that we say and do. Help us to submit to Your Word; allow it to penetrate those deep places in our hearts that resist change. If necessary, put us through the refiner’s fire to burn off those things that keep us from walking in step with Your character.

Give us hear ts that love and seek after Truth above all else. Give us wisdom and discernment to reject the lies of this world and the evil one. Guide us into all Truth. Guard our hearts and keep our eyes fixed on You. Grow in us those things that will make us more like You. As we study Your Word, fill us and saturate us with You!

Today, Father, we surrender our thoughts, our speech, and our hearts. Thank You that You are Faithful and True. We trust You will do a mighty work in us and through us this year and carry it on to completion until the day we step into eternity with You. Help us to trust in You with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. Help us to acknowledge You in all our ways so that we can hear Your voice as You say, “This is the way, walk in it.”

Lord, we love You and thank You that You love us. May our lives be a living testimony of You. We ask this in the powerful and mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord who will do immeasura bly more than we could ever ask or imagine. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR 2009!

Frank's mom was in town and it was nice to have a babysitter to spend the night with us. My girls and her cousins had a pjs party to receive the New Year while me and Frank went out to eat. It was nice to have a date at least for a couple of hours just the two of us. It was very cold last night and chilly this morning. To all of you have a blessed New Year 2009 and let Jesus be the center of all your projects, goals and resolutions. Praise God!!!

OUR CHRISTMAS 2008!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Sara was able to open her presents this time by herself, I just helped her a little bit. She was fascinated with her baby doll we got her, she just wanted to play with that all day and now she likes to go to bed with her baby doll- little girls!!
Here are some pictures of her opening her gifts. We just buy them 2 or 3 toys and clothes to each one, but they got more than that from Papa and Nana, they like to spoil them rotten, thank you grandparents. We know you all enjoy doing that!
By the way, I am posting a cute picture of Sara singing in a mini band like karaoke, it was very funny wacthing these 2 little fellows in a band.

Activities Sara likes to do

Sara is a very smart little girl. Recently, she has learned new words and she will repeat them when she hears them. Some of the things she has fun to do is building with blocks, she can build a high tower now and when her sisi (Ingrid) is on the way, she will say NOOOOO!!
Also, she likes to play with play-doh (plastelina). She will play with this while I put some food in her mouth.
We had to open one of her christmas presents earlier because she was getting bored with her old toys. She loves to play with her Mc Donalds Drive-thru. It is like a kitchen and she pretends to cook and feed her baby. She loves to copycat what I do as a mom. Ingrid loves to watch her, I am sure she wants to play with her so bad but she will have to wait a few more months. Oh, I can't forget this. Sara is learning how to pray, she will hold hands and at the end of the prayer she will say AMEN.
I love my little girls, my princesses.

INGRIDITA

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving and the day Giovanna and the girls put up our first Christmas tree! It has been a challenge to get Sara to leave the ornaments alone but she is now obeying and not touching the tree. We went to a Thanksgiving lunch with a couple of other seminary families in the apartment building next to us. We had a wonderful time and it was more children at the party than adults and we had so much fun watching them play together. Ingrid began to do something new, stick her tongue out! I got a few pictures of it and it was hilarious. After the lunch, we went for a family walk together with the girls in a new double stroller that Giovanna got from the sharing shop on campus. Sara loves her sister so much and this stroller lets them sit side by side and Sara held Ingrid's hand the entire time.

As I watched parades and football on TV, people were asked before commercials what they are thankful for. Everyone said the common things like family, friends, material things, etc... and it brought tears to my eyes as I never heard one person mention that they are thankful for what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. In Isaiah chapters 52 and 53, the prophet Isaiah described what the Savior would endure hundreds of years before Christ came. In 52:14, Isaiah says that the Messiah would be beaten and disfigured so badly that He would not even be recognizable; beaten worse than any man would ever be beaten. Yet, at Thanksgiving, all we can think about is turkey, football, and family. That's all nice, but it is nothing in comparison to the love, grace, and glory of Jesus Christ. Thank you Jesus....

Giovanna's photography skills!!

Sara 20 months and Ingrid 5 months

These girls are growing! Not only physically, but in their personality. Sara is on the go constantly, while Ingrid is calm and laid back. Ingrid is now eating some baby food and cereal and wearing size 12mos clothes! She can roll over and move her arms and legs good and her cordination is getting better as she is able to reach out and grab things and put them into her mouth. Sara is now repeating words we teach her or that she hears. Giovanna has taught her the parts of her face in Spanish. She can call out "boca" and Sara points to her mouth, etc.!! She loves to play ball and put her shoes on without help. Here are more recent photos so enjoy!!

Two beautiful blessings!!

"Yo no puedo vivi sin ti"

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ingrid 3 months and Sara 18 months

Time has passed fast. Ingrid is 3 1/2 months and Sara 18 1/2 months. They are growing so fast, they are both my babies but I have to be honest Ingrid is easy to handle right now, she can not go anywhere, however Sara would run away if you are not holding her hand. Sara's favorite word is na-na for banana, hope she will be learning more words in the next months, she also says pthe Spanish word for "poopie", and she says "sisi" (sister), bye, hey. She is very friendly and likes to say hi to anybody outside. My new neighbor, Gwynneth, has taken some pictures of my girls with her professional camera (I would love to get one of those) outside our neighborhood. Check them out and please send us a comment, we would love to hear from you, its real easy.
Giovanna