Bear with us

Hey all...okay so obviously this year has started out to be not so good for me with the blogging updates. For those of you who haven't heard, Brock got laid off from his job on the 9th (interesting start to '09).
Well, things are going fantastic! Here is Brock's update he sent out:
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"Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers over the last week! I know that I haven't provided any updates, but that's because I've been SO BUSY with new ventures and opportunities... PRAISE THE LORD!!! God is providing a miracle just as expected and prayed for.
Thanks to your prayers, and the faithfulness of the Lord, my phone and email have been flooded with job opportunities.
As I have been praying, I haven't been hearing, "Update your resume and get a job." Instead, it's been a message of, "Rely on me, and I will sustain you."
On Sunday (2 short days after my lay-off) I was approached with an opportunity to do some sales and marketing consulting for a business owner in our Church. This has gotten my wheels spinning and I'm praying about pursuing consulting as my steady form of income. This obviously carries significant risks, but I keep hearing, "Rely on me, and I will sustain you." So, I've begun this project as a step of faith. When it ends in a few months, I am trusting that the Lord will provide another project or opportunity. So... it looks like I'm self-employed... (gulp)
That leads me to my second BIG request for prayer in the last few weeks. Please pray that the Lord would make this current project a success, and future projects would come quickly. Pray that this transition is smooth for our family, and we work out the logistics quickly.
And... here comes the plug... PLEASE forward my information to anyone you know who could use my services. I'm focusing on innovative sales, marketing, and distribution techniques to help small businesses grow. I've gained a wealth of experience in these areas over the past decade. (Hey, I can't be a sales consultant without selling myself... right?? :-)
But most importantly, please continue to pray for us.
Thanks for your prayers and support!

-Brock Sheets"
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Now, I tell you all this because, though having him working from home is a dream of mine, he is hogging the computer! That situation is in the process of getting fixed in the next couple of months, but until then it may keep my updates spotty...I even have a Christmas post ready and waiting for pictures to be added to it...just takes more time than I can have right now.
We'll work it out and you'll have more posts to enjoy soon.
Love to you all and a huge THANK YOU for your prayers!
-Esther

Happy 3rd Birthday to my beautiful daughter!

Today is Reagan's 3rd birthday...all I have to say is that she gets more amazing and beautiful everyday. God blessed us more than I could have imagined by giving us this source of joy...our wonderful Reagan Joy.

Then:

And now: (today is a happier day)

Happy 3rd Birthday my sweet Reagan!!

poor mans Christmas card

Okay, so here is our poor mans Christmas card...posted online is free!!
If you want one printed to hold in your hands, put on your fridge or to frame for your mantle, let me know and I will GLADLY send one to you...a nice 8x10 will look good over the fireplace...
Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!
We wish we could be with all of our friends and family for the holidays, but I think we'd have to rent the conference hall at the Hilton!
We are so blessed to call you our friends and/or family and hope that you know how much we love you!
We pray you know the love of our God who sent His son to earth to die for us so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be with Him someday...the true meaning of Christmas!

spoke too soon and some catch up

I spoke too soon on the sickness being gone...it's not nearly as bad, just Brock and Reagan with colds and Reagan got cellulitis again for the third time...sooooo painful for her and it needs to GO AWAY!!!

So, I realized that I forgot to get our halloween pictures on so here are a few:
Reagan kept showing up with candy (I guess people thought she was cute so they kept giving it to her!) she has two suckers here ready to give one to her friend Zac...Zac's a little shy...I think he likes her...

or it's the other way around...Reagan gave him the red sucker and the sweetest hug!

Here is Brock and Rick and little Zac and Sam both came as penguins! Stinkin' cute!


Reagan with Grandma and Ti-ti Carmen

little mischievous grin

always the little ham! She wore this costume last year, but it still fit and nothing was as cute! (Sam will wear it next year!)

Samuel was done at this point in the night!

nobody tell...Sam wore tights!


And here are a few to get December started...by the way, I know I said I would be posting once a week, but I've failed miserably and will again with our vacation coming. I ask for grace as we finish the year and I'll start again fresh in 09!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

The sickness has stopped!

FINALLY! The sickness in our house has stopped! My last post, asking for forgiveness was just a few hours early. That night, the flu hit Reagan, HARD! All night long (literally with hardly a stop) the "adventure" endured, then early Saturday morning, Sam got his second round of it, and about an hour or two after his hit, mine hit! Oh it came with a fury! The carnage was unbelievable! I'll spare you the details, but let's just say that diapers and buckets don't catch all that exits the body when kids have the flu!
Sam had the bug affecting his "southern end" for about 10 days! It was so awful for him...he had the worst rash I've ever seen from the constant "irritation". Thank the Lord he is better now as of yesterday and the rash is almost gone already. Thanks to all who have been praying for us!
I have to give a HUGE thank you to my amazing husband, Brock who played nurse/maid to the three of us for a couple days. It was non stop messes, laundry, soup making, drinks, baths, diaper changes, bucket washing, etc. He certainly rose to the occasion and did EVERYTHING! He was really awesome and I thank God for such a great man. Let's face it, not every dad/husband would do the things he had to do. He didn't complain once, I don't think he even sat down more than once all of the first day. I couldn't have handled it better myself. So thank you Brock and I love you more than words could say!
Okay so on to more pleasant things...here are LOTS of pictures...again!
Here is the month of November...it might be long for you so take a few minutes and enjoy! (click on picture to see bigger slideshow)

I need forgiveness...

I need forgiveness from you all who count on me to blog, all you who actually check our blog and all you who just enjoy the occational laugh and pictures of our family. It's been over two weeks now since my last post and I'm suppose to be posting every week! I'm really not doing well!!
I've had family in town, I worked a couple days, Brock's had the flu, both kids have had colds for over a week and Sam has the flu this week, (just got done cleaning up a MAJOR puke 5 minutes ago! sorry that's gross.)
So I'm not just lazing around eating Bon Bon's and watching General Hospital, I've had my hands full!
I PROMISE a good post soon...like in the next couple days, so please don't give up on me. Check back and you'll be pleasantly satisfied with a handful of pictures and maybe a comical commentary.
Thanks to all our "followers"...we all love you and covet your prayers for our family and right now for our health, (especially for mine since I haven't gotten any of the nastiness yet!)
Love, Esther

lots to catch up on

Wow, it's been almost a month! Time is just flying too fast!
Samuel is graduating from high school now...we are so proud of him. Of course I'm kidding...

Here is the month in 15 seconds:
-Brock's mom came to visit from VA, had a GREAT time.
-multiple visits to Disneyland
-Reagan fought off cellulitis...twice.
-Sam has two teeth
-Halloween = 1 skunk and 1 penguin
-Sam fell (more like flipped) down 6 stairs...his mother almost had a heart attack! (he's perfectly fine)
-Reagan calls us by our first names...or she calls us "babe"!
-Sam says "da da da" and "ma ma ma" and "duba duba duba"...oh, and he has learned how to scream...louder than any girl I know!
-Reagan has had the flu
-Sam stands up a lot...not quite cruising yet though.
-and we have a new president and have witnessed a truly historic election.
I'm sure I've missed something, but I think all the big things were covered...

Just a couple quick stories:

1-you know you use your voice commands on your headset for your cell phone a lot when your two and a half year old quite often says, "Call dad, mobile....yes." it's really funny!

2-Disneyland is MAGIC! I went with the kids and my mom and grandma and we were sitting down to have corndogs (best on the planet...and biggest!) and we saw Mary Poppins and Bert signing autographs and taking pictures. My grandma simply said her dress was lovely and she would love to take a picture with her. I told my grandma that the line was really long (they always are to see the characters) and that maybe we would try to catch her next time. We were sitting where they pass by to leave Main Street and they walked by and were gone. My grandma said once more how she would have loved to have taken a picture with her. Not loudly, no one was around (we were sort of in the back), just voicing her wishes. Well, they were gone for about 2 minutes when all of a sudden they reappeared and headed straight for us! Mary Poppins said to my grandma, in an English accent of course, "I love your hat (she had a big red hat on) and I simply must have a picture with you." I was sitting there with my mouth open stunned because we didn't ask or tell anyone to have them come back...Disneyland is MAGIC!!! (I think they listen) We took pictures and then they went back to "the back". They came out just for her! After they left, I sat there staring at the buildings looking for the microphones!!

3-When I went to vote, I was putting Reagan into the stroller and she asked to play in the rain (it had been raining). I said, "no, Mommy has to go vote right now." She got a big smile on her face, and said, "yeah, vote...Obama?" I simply laughed and said, "NO-bama baby." Walking in I hoped she wouldn't say it out loud again...who knew today he'd be our next president. (As with past posts, this in NO WAY says who I voted for for president)

Here are lots of pictures to catch you up on our ever-growing, changing, amazing kids!


pictures from Halloween will be on the next post...I have to get the pictures off of the camara, and quite frankly, I just don't have the patience to sit here any longer.
Love to you all! Thanks for your patience in waiting for this late post!