Memorial Day 2010

A time to remember with a grateful heart the many men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country. This morning I attended the Memorial Day Service at Covina Hills Forest Lawn with my friends Rick and Rebecca Cline. It was a beautiful ceremony with patriotic music, inspiring speeches and ceremony. (Click here to see all the pics)

Spring Commencement at Biola

Commencement is always a busy time at work. This year we again graduated a record number of both graduate and undergraduate students. Friday afternoon before the ceremony I shot a couple of pictures of the green, grassy area that will soon be fenced off and cleared to make room for the new Talbot building. I'm going to miss those trees! Saturday morning I watched the ceremony online. Preparation for this one was a bit more complicated since the princess was graduating. We had guys from the Secret Service and State Department around our office and building all week in preparation for the security detail for her father the King of Swaziland. Thankfully it all went off uneventfully. This afternoon after church my Grace Group met for lunch at Neff Park. Jen & Lance brought their little 130 lb puppy "Bear". He is such a BIG cutie!

Food & Recipe Blogs...

I have been finding some pretty good food blog recently. Here is one that peaked my attention. I discovered quinoa within the past year and have enjoyed finding recipes to make it different ways. Take a look at this page... haven't tried this one yet but it sure looks good!

An Afternoon in Greece!

Friday night I found some info about the OC Greek fest which sounded like a lot of fun and I decided to asked Grace if she wanted to go. Saturday was a beautiful day to be outdoors with the sun shining through big, white, puffy clouds and after a leisurely morning sipping coffee and eating a yummy omelet Grace and I were on our way to "Greece". This event is put on every year at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim. They even had free shuttles from the parking area! We got there around one in the afternoon and were soon engrossed wandering through all the booths and vendors and surrounded by traditional Greek music playing in the background. There were so many pretty jewelery pieces I wanted to get one of each! Next was the food area and was it good! We had lamb skewers, fried potatoes with lots of feta cheese on top and then topped it all of with some Greek coffee and a delicious pastry. While we were eating we watched folks get up and dance to the traditional music and also caught a Greek cooking demo. Then we took a stroll through the church with it's interesting traditional paintings. All in all it was a fun afternoon!

Talbot Groundbreaking

This morning we gathered as a community to praise and give thanks to the Lord for His miraculous provision. Back in March there was a call for 40 days of fasting and prayer to ask the Lord to provide the remaining funds needed to break ground. Last week in what he called the "May Miracle" President Corey updated us on God's wonderful provision of the 6 million dollars needed. So today we celebrated and gave thanks.

The orchestra lead us in singing "...on Christ the solid rock I stand...". God is good!

Ladies Spring Tea at Grace
Saturday was our annual ladies tea at church. This year's theme was "Joy in the Journey". After months of planning it finally came together. We had fourteen hostesses and over one hundred ladies attended. So many different colors, themes, and beautiful tables! I had fun coming up with a variation on my blue dishes. This year I chose to use pink and blue. For the favors I baked and decorated tea cup shaped cookies and put them in a little bag with a beautifully wrapped chocolate. Marcia de la Haye was the special speaker and shared from her heart about her struggles and finding joy in the journey even through the trials. It was an encouraging message. I sat with Leny and Janis and enjoyed visiting with them. Both of these wonderful ladies used to be in my Grace Group and I miss them!

We sang this in church today, what a blessing!

Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do;
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true

- Frances R. Havergal, 1876

A Happy Mother's Day

It was great fun to drive down to Imperial this weekend and surprise the whole family for Mother's Day! I love surprises and what better way to celebrate Mother's Day than with three amazing moms. Sunday morning Timothy was up bright and early lighting the fire to start cooking the sancocho de gallina. This has become our Mother's Day celebration meal for the past couple of years. It is a delicious Colombian soup with hens, potatoes, plantains and yuca root. It is even better when it is made the traditional way outside over an open fire. Margie and I were up early too and gave the soup a little stir. Yes, we were still in our jammies... and who could resist taking a few moments to play with the cutest dog ever! Just look at that goofy face! Nino was in a very happy mood playing fetch and tug-of-war. After church we all enjoyed our meal and had a great time with Mom, Monica and Margarita as they open their gifts. Thank you all for the wonderful gift of modeling what truly amazing mothers are. Love you!

Celebrating Megan's Birthday & Cinco de Bocce

We combined the Cinco de Mayo lunch with the Bocce Awards. As always there was tons of food and about fifty people attended. I made Pioneer Woman's "Restaurant Style Salsa" with my new food processor (which I love!) Yes, I've been wanting one for a while and finally broke down and got one. Hmm... what can I make with it next?! During the lunch I spent some time with cute little Kate. She is getting so big and is quite smart. We practiced colors as she used my finger to point to each one. She also had a grand time playing with the sombrero.

The adults also joined the fun. Here we are, the Registrar Senoras and Senorita posing with our flowers!

And big moustaches abounded!

Back at the office a lot of us wore polka dots today (Megan loves polka dots) to celebrate her birthday.

Even "Reggie" got into the polka dots! It was a fun day.

Click here to see all the pics.

Nature hike

From 2010 May 2 - Nature Hike in the Heights

Yesterday afternoon Grace and I went for a nature walk up on the trails by my place. There really are some great hiking trails and right now everything is very green and lots of plants are blooming. The path was lined with purple thistle flowers, queen anne's lace, daisies, lavender and lots of other plants I don't know the names of. There was one place on the trail where the hill was covered with cactus that was all in bloom. I took some pictures of the cactus flowers and even managed to get a couple stickers stuck in my fingers... ouch! We even ran across some wild life... cute bunnie rabbits... birds... butterflies... lizards... and (Now don't freak out Mom!) a small snake that was crossing the path! OK, that one did freak me out a little bit! We ended up right under the tunnel at Colima then turned around and came back. It was a beautiful day for a hike!

Busyness at work, Bocce finals, and a Baby shower...

This week was the beginning of registration on the new software Banner. It was a very busy time at work for all of us answering many questions and returning many phone calls. Thankfully we have a great staff that was wonderful with all their help! Wednesday rolled around and it was time for the Bocce finals. I ran around taking care of baby Kate while her mommy and daddy played in the final game...and won! Congratulations to team "Uh-huh"! Saturday morning was a beautiful day. Sunny, blue skies, and perfect for a nice outdoor baby shower. It was fun to celebrate along with Kasey in anticipation of baby Cole's arrival. I sat with Elizabeth who kept me quite entertained with her funny faces!