G'ma Jac is Here!!

everyone has been enjoying grandma's stay so far. her presence has really been felt. she's been cooking, babysitting and spending much needed time with the kiddos. there's been a lot of running around to get the kids registered for school, it's been nice to have her company.

we are heading to fontana today to spend some time with carlos' family.

... 'til next time ...
nic

Sherri Shepherd

today was 'smile sunday' at LLCF. every year LLCF brings in a comedien to share the gospel with laughter. for those who don't know, Sherri was just signed with 'the view', to sit along side Barbara and the gang. she has already been seen on 'the view' and was asked to stay on. i don't know the whole story but hearing her today was great. she shared her testimony and asked for prayer as she moves to NY and takes on 'her giant' ... a staff and TV show that won't let her use Jesus' name.

my mom is here ... she's been here for a few days and will be here until september 4th. (that is why i haven't been on for awhile ... plus our home computer finally bit the big one. it will no longer boot. so i am reduced to waiting to use carlos' laptop.) pictures of mom's visit are coming.

gotta go grocery shopping now ... a task i absolutely hate. 'til next time ...

nic

This is a double double. It is a burger at in-n-out. It is a franchise.
We had them for dinner tonight. Yum! Pastor Chris can tell ya! If you're ever in California you have to have one! If you look under the soda cups you will see a bible verse. Cool huh!

los

boogie boarding

our first day with the boogie board! the kids had a blast!! they did a great job sharing, which you all know is hard with a new toy. i really never thought the kids would get used to the salt water but it doesn't even bother them.

we are headed to palm springs today. some friends of ours are on vacation there and have invited us to join them. i can not believe how much traveling we've done since being out here. an hour trip here, two hours there. it is amazing how you don't even think twice about going somewhere. "it's just how it is out here", to quote carlos.

an update on the house ... i wish i had one. no, really, we are should be closing any day now. it was suppose to be today, but i don't think all the paperwork is in. so again, we wait.

anyone wanna come visit?
nic

hangin' @ the Hawthorne's

as we waited for carlos to come home from his staff retreat ... we hung out in fontana.

HOLLYWOOD

we finally made it to hollywood ... it only took us 5 days. the kids were really not into walking hollywood blvd. but that is pretty much all we did. we looked at the stars and found ones with our names on them (thanks for the idea amanda.) unfortunately, we couldn't find one with alexis and michelle spelled with one 'l'. but we managed.
on a side note ... if you ever find yourself at mann's chinese theater, taking pictures with the people dressed up in costumes isn't free. mickey mouse came up to me and very nicely told me that they pose for donations. i said, 'oh, sorry' and walked away (feeling guilty of course.)

thanks for reading,
nic

earthquake?

WOW, looks like you guys knew that there was an earthquake before we did. we still haven't heard anything about it (i should probably turn the TV on.) it must have been too far away, we didn't feel anything at all. contrary to popular belief, we are not picking up broken plates, and such, off the floor.

thank you for your concern ...

oh and, i just realized (today) that i can comment back to those of you leaving comments ... so be looking for that as well!

love love love,
nic

fun with micki I

well, micki is keeping us busy ... we've already been to the beach twice and an angels game. today, we hope to make it to hollywood and hopefully an early bed night for the kiddos. they have been troopers but are really in need of a good nights sleep.

much love to you all!
nic

guess who's here?

MICKI! our first visitor from NY. we've got a lot of things planned for the week. we will be going to the beach, of course, -(everyday if you ask mic)-, we wanted to go to a dodger game but they are away, so we will be going to an angel game, hopefully, the red sox are in town so i'm not sure if we can still get tickets. we will also head to HOLLYWOOD. we've already started hitting our favorite food spots. we went to 'tommy's' last night, carlos' favorite fast food. they advertise as being world famous, but really aren't. it's chili burgers and dogs and fries. good stuff. micki really liked it. next we will be hitting 'in n out', my favorite. burgers once again but there is just something about them. i think micki's organic diet is pretty much on vacation, too. we may try to do something with our hair. i know, it sounds REALLY girlie, but i need someone else to lighten mine and i'm not sure if i trust carlos. picture forthcoming if it happens.

Micki says 'HI!!'

nic

A big hole in the earth

We stopped a few times on the way here from New York to see some friends in Michigan and Missouri. This was actually the last stop. By this point we were ready to be done and the big hole didn't get much love. I think we broke a record for how quick we were in and out of there.

los

Missouri Folk

The Mcabee Family.

the ride to the mcabee's wasn't one to write home about, unless you want to scare the family back home. i don't even know where to start. let's just say that the closer we got, the further it seemed to be. i think it must have been around midnight when we started into the woods. the longer we were on the road, the narrower it got. and then it was no longer a road, it was dirt and wood (old wood) bridges. carlos and i looked at each other and said, "what? who would live in here?" i was glad the kids were sleeping because it was a scary ride - pitch black, foggy, narrow roads (i guess that's what you'd call them), and tree limbs knocking on the van. finally, we arrive, "that must have been the longest driveway ever." we let ourselves in (1am) and went to bed. we learned a lot about MO from our hosts. like how their land had lizards, snakes, deer, bear, and ticks, lots of ticks. "yikes, when are we leaving?" - LOL!! inspite of all that, our time there was extremely enjoyable. i think the kids got every toy out that the mcabee's own. oh, and i forgot about the 4wheeler rides. after one crash, lessons were then given and THEN the kids had a blast on them. i don't know what los was thinking letting jax drive a 4wheeler with lexi on the back and not a lesson on how to drive it. and wouldn't you know, jax rammed right into a tree. the kids were fine, just a little banged up.

more michigan homies

The Archer's.
Let's be friends again!

Miller mean apple...

Recognize these guys?

so these pics are a bit better! the only downside is that they are all 'BEFORE' pics. i guess i'll have to send the 'AFTER' pics another time (if in fact i still have readers then.) if you roll your cursor over the pic, it'll tell you what room it is.

better pics!

water the grass?

This is a new concept for me or at least one that i had forgotten about; having to water the grass. Unfortunatley our sprinklers in the front of the house do not work very well. Our landlady is taking care of it but for now i have to shlep the one hose we have from the front yard to the back yard and back again. Why not by another hose you ask? I'm trying not to spend where i don't have to. I hesitate to spend any money till we get our money from the sale of the house.
So...i was sitting on the front porch looking at the dead spots on my grass when i noticed the hispanics cutting the grass across the street. FYI Everyone here has a gardener. Ya so do we. That's what they call the guy or guys that cut your grass and oh ya maintain the sprinkler system that almost everyone has as well. I marvled at how quickly they did their thing. They have it down.
Anyway i noticed that i had not seen it rain yet. This was confirmed last week by a good friend who i will call Mac. He called to leave a rather angry message on my voicemail that went something like this. DID YOU KNOW THAT IN THE LAST YEAR SYRACUSE HAS GOTTEN 42INCHES OF PRECIPITATION (I FORGET THE EXACT NUMBER, BUT IT WAS IN TH 40'S) AND LOS ANGELES HAS GOTTEN 4!
Oh well i gotta go. I have to water the lawn now.
Peace
Los