More pics from Claire's party

Work continues...

Yesterday we were able to start laying the top layer of subfloor in the dining room. Cam and Anthony measured, cut and placed half the flooring in the room, while Gavin scrubbed Briannes room and vacuumed the carpet. I started vacuuming the master bedroom carpet ...... until the power head on my rainbow died.

I was vacuuming away in the master bedroom, picking up the larger pieces by hand, when I noticed something small and gold by the wall. I really thought is was a small piece of gold foil, so I tried to vacuum it up. It would not come up, only moving closer and closer to the wall until I knew there was no way the vacuum was going to pick it up without me moving away from the wall. Then, the power head started to make an unusual sound. I turned off the vacuum to take it apart and clean out the power head. After vacuuming out the inside of the power head, I put it all back together and turned it back on ..... the light on top of the power head came on, but the motor was not turning the brush. Biscuits!! On my way to ask Cam to take a look at the vacuum for me, the gold object caught my eye again, so I picked it up. It was not foil after all. It was a small pin with a small cross and the words 'Let Go Let God'. I smiled to myself as I walked out to the dining room to tell Cam about the vacuum and show him my new treasure.


The pin is now attached to my purse....

Offer accepted!!!

I sit here in shock, trying hard to focus on something, anything. I can't believe we have made it to this point. Let me go back a ways...

Back in May, I found a foreclosure listing for houses in Paradise. On that list, I located a home that sounded absolutely perfect for my family; 6 bedrooms, 2 bonus rooms and .67 acres, plenty of room to live and grow. After contacting our real estate agent, Carol, we went to see the house.

Cam and I were both immediately drawn to this house. Although there is currently no garage on the property, there is definately room for one. We will have enough room for each of the girls to have their own rooms; Brianne wants black walls with white splatter and a black light, Jocelyn wants a 'Hannah Montana' room, and Claire will be happy to be able to play in her own space. Cam can have his 'man room'; somewhere between
and .
I will be able to have my 'craft' room, and someday I will have an outdoor kitchen for my canning (the summers are WAY to hot for canning, but the product is much prettier if the fruit is not frozen.)

Anyway, I am rambling on.... When we decided to seriously look into buying this house, I prayed for guidance. I prayed the Lord would lead me in the direction that would be best for our family. (I also asked for assistance in keeping my eyes open to the path.)We made an offer on the house last Wednesday. On Sunday, while driving to Monterey for a week of vacation, I received a call from my sister Julie. Carol was looking for us with information about the house. I called Carol back just as we were entering Marysville. The Bank (seller) had come back with a counter offer, $10,000 less than their reduced asking price, but still $16,000 more than we had offered. After stopping in the parking lot of Carl's Jr. to talk it over with Cam and my Mom, I called Carol and told her we would take the house. (I was SOOOO nervous I thought I was going to by physically ill!) Being a Sunday, we were unable to reach our lender with the infomation, soooo, first thing Monday morning, I was on the phone againg with Carol, and Ari (our mortage broker). After much discussion, and the shock of the new monthly payment, we decided to make a counter offer on the Bank's counter offer. On Wednesday, we offered $5,000 more than our original offer, $11,000 less than the banks offer. Well, today we recieved a call from Carol...... The Bank accepted our offer!!!!!! It will be a mad dash weekend to get proof of funds statements for Carol so she can be ready to move on the offer first thing Monday morning!!!!! I still cannot believe we have finally made it to this point! Pray for us! More later!

News from around the world.....

Humboldt Fire threatens Paradise!




Have you ever had the thought 'Wow, this is just like in the movies!'? The last few days have been that way for me. Try as I might, something always came up when I wanted to go down the hill to Chico and look at flooring. Wednesday thru Saturday that 'something' was the Humboldt Fire. On Wednesday, my Mom and I had been to all three flooring stores in Paradise, when I was called in to work to help out. Thursday I was called in again. I was able to hang on to my one day off, Friday. (Jeri felt to guilty to call me in.) Then it was back to work for the start of my regular work week on Saturday. (Not that I mind being called in during an emergency. Other than with my family, there is no place I would rather to be if I had to be up here on the ridge, than right in the thick of the information; to be able to pass on the updates to my family) By Monday night, the fire was totally contained...
5 days
1,000's evacuated
23,344 acres burned
74 homes destroyed
20 more damaged
DC10 bomber (the only one in the United States)
2500 firefighters (THANK YOU!!)
over 50 law enforcement officers from outside agencies (THANK YOU!!)
$11.5 million to fight
$16.3 million in damages





THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CAME TO HELP DURING THE FIRE. The fire is out, with minimal damage to the Town of Paradise as a whole. Though not all of it's employees were so lucky. Linda G., one of our beloved Community Service Officers, lost her house in the fire. Linda Q, one of our beloved Fire Secretaries, also lost her house in the fire.





DC10 helping to fight the fire...the only DC10 supertanker used for fire fighting, in the United States!



A break and some much needed rest.





News from Hawaii!!

While we were facing evacuation, Brianne was sunning herself in Hawaii. The only picture she sent me was this one...

It's to bad she had to go all the way to Hawaii to learn to respect the scalding hot frijoles!


News from Ethiopia!!

Beth and Garrett received a referral for two beautiful little girls! I am SO happy for you two! We can't wait to meet your beautiful daughters!

Getting ready to sell!

I have been so worried about jinxing our plans, that I have not wanted to tell to many people about them. I have decided if I want what is best for my family, I have to relinquish control to a higher power, and trust the Lord to provide the path. (I pray He helps me to keep my eyes open to see his path.) So here I am, telling all of you ... we are getting our house ready to sell. There, I said it.

Cam and I have found a house we REALLY like, with enough room for us now and in the future. (6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, two bonus rooms, some fruit trees already planted, and plenty of room for a vegetable garden!) We are working hard to make the dream of owning this house, into a reality. One of the MANY projects on the way to getting our current house ready to sell, is finishing the retaining wall I started across the front yard.


Gavin and Cam are working on the wall while Brianne and Claire supervise from the shade. (It may look like dirt in front of the wall, but it's actually the asphalt lined gutter, a perfect base for my wall.) I'll try to keep you posted on our progress!

Long time no type...

I have been reprimanded by Beth to update the blog...so here goes:

Back in April, Jocelyn had an appointment with a pediatric dentist to have 6 baby teeth pulled, 3 per visit, to allow enough room for her permanent teeth to move down into place. Even with the 'sleepy water' (novocaine) and 'happy air' (strawberry scented nitrous oxide), Jocelyn was not able to relax when the dentist began to push on her teeth to loosen them up. So, we had to make an appointment with the oral surgeon to have all 6 pulled at one visit, under sedation. She was a trooper getting the IV in, with just a little panic episode. She calmed right down as soon as the medication entered her system. Once she was under, I was sent to the waiting room while her 6 baby teeth were pulled. You can see her new gap-toothed grin in the previous entry. We have an appointment with the orthodontist on Thursday, to see when he would like to start her braces.

Brianne is now in her second round of braces (the first round when started when she was in 3rd grade, to make room for her permanent teeth.) It would have been nice if the girls could have received their fathers' genes when it comes to their teeth, but NOOOOOO, they had to get mine!

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Cam and the girls went to the Butte County Fair last weekend while I was slaving away under my headset. This is what happens when you wear flip flops to the fair...
So much for Briann's Prom pedicure!

Her right foot has already been wiped with baby wipes, to show you just how dirty her left foot is. Cam took some pictures of Jocelyn and Claire riding the ponies, so as soon as I get those, I will add them here.

She's growing up and I can't stop it....

After two hours of hair, makeup, toe nail polish, prepping and primping, Brianne and Gavin are on their way to dinner and Prom. After 7 months of dating, I finally agreed to let them go out on a date....Prom. I think I am still in shock. My baby, going to Prom.

Daddy's Little Helper

For the past 17 months, Cam has been lucky enough to be able to spend the days with the girls while I am at work. They have all grown very close, and I love to watch them interact. While Brianne and Jocelyn are in school, Claire likes to have Daddy's undivided attention. (The dishes can wait, Daddy!) Picture a 37 year old man on the floor with the dolls, cars, coloring books and crayons...oh, and don't forget the bristle blocks! When Jocelyn comes home from school, she gains a shadow, even on the rainiest of days. Claire has become J's shadow, wanting to be everywhere J is, and do everything J is doing. From coloring to make-up, Claire is in. She loves to let J give her makeovers and release the girly-girl in each of them.

Brianne has never really been a girly-girl. As a sophmore in high school, getting ready to go to Prom, she is just recently starting to enjoy dressing up and getting her hair and makeup done. I'll have to post some pictures after Prom next weekend.

From our trip to San Francisco last year. The headphones are for a walking tour through Alcatraz.