All tuckered out!

Abby, Kate and Savannah dropped by the office today for a visit. We had a blast tossing a ball, singing the alphabet song, seeing her pucker up after eating a bite of burrito with salsa on it and getting lots of hugs. I told Abby she could market the sweet Kate hugs. They are the perfect stress reliever!

Abby sent me an email this afternoon that said:


"Where can a one year old go to have a good time??? There are 3 places that I can think of... the pool, the beach, and seeing her aunties at the Registrar. Thanks for playing with Kate today, she had a blast!!!"


Here is Kate all tuckered out after the fun play date with her Registrar Aunties!

Summer evenings in my backyard

Summer evenings can be beautiful and relaxing especially after a long day at work... Today after coming home from work and running some errands I headed for the backyard. I love to be able to just be outside and enjoy it all. I think I am a country girl at heart. We are getting toward the end of one avocado crop and the new one on it's way. I picked a big bag of them to share with my family this weekend. The fig tree is also loaded with fruit and I picked a few that were ripe. Ripe fresh figs are so delicious!

Welcome to Biola!

Yesterday was "Opening Day" at work. I made some "welcome to Biola" cookies which were quite a hit. Jeri and Co. did a great job with all the decorating.We decked out the office to welcome the Class of 2014 and their parents. Can you believe that most of the freshman class was born around 1992? Wow, I must be getting old!

O the Deep, Deep Love...

The hymn we sang in church this morning was a beautiful reminder of what boundless love Christ gives us so freely. The word picture in the first verse is amazing!

"O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
'Tis an ocean vast of blessing, 'tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, 'tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

- Samuel Trevor Francis (1875)

Selah does a meaningful rendition of the song.

Pizzeria Ortica for Dinner

Last night Sara, Grace, Jon and I went to Pizzeria Ortica in Costa Mesa to celebrate Grace's birthday. Chris and Adam joined us too.

The food was amazing! We started with charcoal grilled lamb skewers, prosciutto e melone and a salad of radicchio, arugula, endive, apple & Gorgonzola cheese. Then we followed that with a delicious zucchini flower soup. Then it was time for pizzas! We had a pizza Margherita with Parma ham and wild arugula, pizza Margherita with spicy salami and mushrooms and last but not least pizza Milanesa with fontina cheese, asparagus and a fried egg. They were all very tasty and the crust was as good as I remember it being in Italy!

It was nice to catch up with Adam who will be leaving on Monday leading a semester study tour around the world. Jon and Chris entertained us with stories from their office and Sara, Grace and I did a little catching up too. For her birthday dessert they brought Grace some chocolate and hazelnut gelato (with a birthday candle and all!) We also ordered babà al rhum - a rum-soaked brioche and budino di cioccolato - a chocolate crème layered with caramel. All the desserts were over the top! Happy Birthday Grace!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister!

Can't wait to celebrate with you tonight!

Have you ever heard of July 41, 2010?The office celebrated the July birthday's today, July 41, 2010. How cool is that? The past month has been so busy that it has been hard to coordinate everyone's schedule for the party. So the "party planner's" had to come up with a creative way to celebrate. I'm not complaining. The dulce de leche ice cream was delicious. Maybe we should make this a tradition!

Surprise!

Today at lunchtime some of us drove over to Abby's place to give her a little surprise baby shower. Here are "the Registrar girlfriends" from left to right, Chrystal, Megan, Abby, Jeri, Ruth, Amy.

Family Fun

Timothy, Monica and the kids dropped in this weekend for a quick visit. It was great seeing them, hanging out, cooking and eating together. Sunday after church we met up with Grace and Jon at the Ethiopian restaurant. Such good food! We ate and ate and had the most delicious coffee at the end of the meal. After that we all headed over to the Fullerton Arboretum. We have had an unusually cooler summer and it was perfect for an afternoon stroll. The flowers were beautiful! I am really thankful for these wonderful moments we can spend together.

Meet Savannah Joy!
I got to meet little miss Savannah Joy this evening. She is just 9 days old and very cute. Big sister Kate seems to be taking it all in stride and is quite a little talker. You forget sometimes how small these little ones are when they are first born. I was enthralled by her tiny little nails on her tiny little toes, so soft and pink. After spending a week with Gia, Luca and Rocco... this evening with Kate and little Savannah... and this weekend with Christine, Abby, David and Margie... I feel so blessed and my "Auntie" cup runneth over!

A wonderful time away from everything...Sometimes you just have to step away from all the stress and hustle and bustle of daily life and spend some quality time with your best friend. I just spent a wonderful week doing just that.