Wedding in the Mountains

I guess I took an unplanned blogging break the past couple of weeks. It seems like life is always busy around here with just day to day living. We attended a wedding up in Big Bear this weekend. Big Bear is a mountain town about an hour's drive from here. It was beautiful. The wonderful young couple are good friends of my oldest son, and he was also in the wedding. They had such a unique wedding invitation too. I loved it. I'm going to share it here and hope that they don't mind :-)

This was the cover,

 And inside this is what you found. Yes, sweet journal entries from their dating life. Isn't that just the sweetest idea? The back had all the wedding details.

 My twins also had their first dance at this wedding :-) They both got to dance with the beautiful bride. Thank you Jen for making it so fun for them. They talked about that dance all the way home :-) 

Cody (the groom) and my son, Ryan.

 The wonderful couple, exchanging their vows. 

Isn't it a beautiful setting?

Thank you Jen and Cody, for sharing your special day with us. May God continue to bless you both!

I'll try to get back to blogging now. 

Thanks to all of you for sticking with me and visiting again. I'll be stopping by to visit your blogs again too :-)

Blessings,

Marcia

How We Spent Our Sunday

On Sunday we headed "down the hill". That's the phrase often used by residents here in the high desert. Many commuters make this trip everyday. Here's a photo of that mountain peak I posted a few months ago. It still has snow on it. 

We went down near the Pasadena area of L.A. because my son was preaching his first sermon at the church where he's now working as the youth pastor. The congregation at this church was wonderful and really made us feel welcome. I'm so thankful for everyone there and the way they're making Ryan feel right at home. I'll share a few photos. Here's the marquee outside with the message he was sharing. 

My husband even snapped a photo of him up front. He probably shouldn't have done it, but he is a proud  dad :-) We think Ryan did a great job sharing the message. Do you think we might be a little biased? I know I'm bragging a little, so please forgive me, I'm a proud mama :-)

 Also a photo of him with the twins, in his office there at the church.

 Ryan works at the church twice a week right now, and he's also working this summer at a camp in our local mountains. He's doing quite a bit of driving each week. I'm sure hoping that his car will hold up :-)

After the service, we made a quick trip by the home my in-laws used to live in. They lived in a hilly area of Pasadena just about a mile away from the area where the Rose Parade takes place. My mother-in-law passed away in 03, and they left the area a couple of years before, but it was nice to drive by and see their old home. We have many wonderful memories in this place. It would have been nice to go peek inside, and to play in that pool out back where we spent so many summer days.

Here are a few of the other beautiful homes there in Pasadena. 

 

I always enjoy driving down the streets and seeing the lovely houses and yards, especially since they're so green, and we don't have alot of that here in the desert.

We really had a wonderful day. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings,

Marcia

Fresh Paint

Having fun with paint and stamps this week. 

 Can you tell I'm still thinking of the seashore? :-) Thank you to everyone for your sweet comments on my last post. I'm sorry if I was whining a bit :-) You're all wonderful!
I'm joining Friday Pretties
hosted by Joyce from I Love Pretty Little Things

I hope you go by and visit :-)
Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Blessings,

Marcia

Getting Away From It All

 photos by Michelle Halemeier

Sometimes we just want to get away from it all, don't we? Wouldn't you just love to jump into this photo?

It was taken in Tanzania by a friend of my kids. She's working as a missionary in Malawi Africa, and went to Zanzibar to visit, and sent back several photos.  Isn't it beautiful?

Anyway, back to getting away from it all. Some of you might remember that back in February I posted about the IRS auditing us, asking us to prove that our kids were indeed our kids. We'd finally received the "all clear" that they did agree with us, they were our kids......for the year 2007. 

Well, the joke was on me. A couple of weeks ago, they sent us another notice, and this time it's for the year 2008. Yes, they are examining us again, for our "exemptions". That's IRS talk for children. I explained that we'd just received an all clear from them, dated January 22, of this year. They told me that it was for 2007, and this one is for 2008. 

Seriously.

After which, I burst into tears (yes, I really did), and told them I would call them back when I could compose myself. I'm such a girl when I'm frustrated :-) The people that I've dealt with at the IRS have been very nice, and I mean that. However, I found out that they don't have access to my records...the ones I sent them last Fall. They don't have access to their records either. That file is closed, so I'm now in the process of sending them copies of the letters they sent me on my last audit. That would be the letters that say we owe nothing, that they agree with us, they are our kids, etc., etc. Yes, THEIR letters to me. 

I'm so glad I kept everything.

As I said, the people are very nice, but I'm a little concerned about the IRS being responsible for this National Insurance thing congress has passed. I mean, if they can't access their own info from 4 months ago...well, I'm not holding my breath that they'll do any better with medical insurance.

That's just my 2 cents though, and if by chance someone who works for the IRS is reading this, please don't hold it against me. I really don't want another audit. 

I did say you were nice :-)

Anyway, some days it would really be nice to get away. On those days when things don't go quite our way, it's nice to know Who's really in control. I have to remember to keep my focus on God and not on my silly circumstances. And who knows, maybe He just wants me to show kindness to some IRS worker along the way. I hope I can do that. It's alot better than bursting into tears :-) I have much to be thankful for...and I truly am a Blessedmom! 

They really are my kids :-)

Blessings,

Marcia

No Snails For Me

I'm joining Mama M. in another Five Question Friday post. If you'd like to join in, just follow the link. Yes, I know, that it's just after midnight, so I'm a little late, as it's actually Saturday, but I hope you don't hold that against me, I'm a night owl ;-)

 1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose? My first thought would be some type of Art major (I majored in Liberal Studies, but only completed 3 years), but on second thought, I might want to major in something I don't think they offer anymore. Remember Home Economics? That was still a major when I went to college, and I think I'd like to do that. I am a homemaker, and I could still use some help in the Home Arts.

2. What do you love most about your home? I love that it's filled with love and wonderful memories of raising my family here. It's not a large house, but we live on a nice little cul-de-sac and have some of the best neighbors around.

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)? I really enjoy reading, and read many different kinds of books. I think I'll share the type I don't like, and that's scary books. I don't want to read Stephen King. I'm the same way with scary/horror movies.

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten? Escargot...yep, snails, and I'm not going to willingly ever eat them again!

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be? I'm a mom of 6 kids, so I guess I'd choose someone like Claire Huxtable or Carol Brady because they were both moms with lots of kids. Claire had the added pleasure of being married to Bill Cosby on the show, and boy, could he make me laugh! I am getting older though, and there was a feisty little lady on The Golden Girls that would be a fun part to play. She was Sophia, the funny, outspoken mom, that could get away with saying anything.

I'm adding a little revision note here. Leanne, over at Joyful in Hope, mentioned Olivia Walton in her comment, and I thought, oh yeah, Olivia, from my favorite TV show, why didn't I think of her? Chalk that up to writing a post way too late at night! Sorry Sophia, Claire and Carol, but Olivia wins, hands down! 
Thank you Leanne :-)

Have a wonderful weekend my friends.
 Blessings,

Marcia

Woo Hoo! Wednesday Passion Flower and Garden Mystery

I'm linking with Marla at Always Nesting for her Woo Hoo Wednesday blog party. I hope you will all visit her beautiful and fun blog. If you don't know Marla yet, you're going to love her. She's a sweetie. This plant was started last year from a clipping from my brother's garden. It's really a vine, and it's finally bloomed! My kids call it the "Bubble Gum" plant because the flowers have a slight scent of bubble gum. It's actually a Passion Flower. Isn't it a beautiful flower? I'm Woo Hooing because this is the first flower it's produced.

Now, I'd like to know a little more about this plant. 

 We planted it in our garden last year and the tag said "Garlic Chive". The leaf does taste like garlic and it was a nice little herb last year, but over the winter it started to grow and this is what it looks like now. 

 Those bulbs sprouting up are indeed in the shape of garlic, but since garlic is a root crop, I'm expecting those bulbs will eventually flower. I can't find any photo on the internet that shows garlic chive growing to this size, so I'm a bit stumped. At one point I wanted to pull it out of my garden as it had gotten so big, but curiosity has gotten the best of me and I've kept it there. I really want to see what pops out. It kind of looks like the Space Needle standing there doesn't it?

We have been competing with the birds for our strawberries the past few weeks. My mom mentioned putting some type of screen over them. She didn't mean a screen door, but it seems to have helped :-) 

 Our garden is just starting to sprout as we were a little late in our planting. I can't wait for our tomatoes to ripen up. I hope we get to them before the tomato worms do!

I hope you all have a wonderful week :-) Woo Hoo!

Blessings,

Marcia