One More California Slideshow!

I wanted to post one last slide show of various pics from our CA trip. We loved the Los Alamos Sports Park playground! The shade tent was wonderful and it was fun to meet old and new friends there for lunch. I took the kids back there one day while Desi had a lunch meeting. Owen almost fell asleep in the sand. It was so warm we were all in flip flops and the sand felt so good between our toes :)

For Thanksgiving we were at Desi's parent's house. Jan drove Papa up from Escondido and we were all sad that Grandma Maxine had to miss out since she was in the hospital. We made the most of it though and enjoyed Shannon's wonderful cooking, Costco pies for dessert and pin the hat on the turkey after dinner. Grandpa Des amazed Owen and Emma with his barrel of monkeys skills and Owen got to show Papa his magnetic car. As far as Grandma Maxine goes, she is doing better at home but is still not fully healthy. Thanks for your continued prayers.

On our last Saturday, we got to spend time with our friends the Eberts and that night our friends the Piphers hosted a potluck for us. It was wonderful to see long time friends. We dined on great food and played Cranium and pool. Thanks again Scott and Tracy (and Megan) we had a wonderful time with you guys!

Sunday the kids got to play a little b-ball and we visited with so many wonderful people at Calvary Chapel Murrieta. That night we were treated to the best carne asada tacos at Joe and Rosie's. Somehow I failed to get a pic of their dog (which I wanted to steal). Our kids loved playing there and it was so hard to leave!

The last pic is of Owen and Emma sharing a rocking chair. Amazing. They are touching and smiling at the same time! Precious moments :) Thanks again to our family and friends. We miss you and are blessed to have you in our lives.
~Rose

Tim & Lauren's Wedding

Finally I am getting these pictures up. Tim and Lauren got married November 11th in the Temecula wine country. It was so picturesque-like out of a movie! We had such a blast at this wedding! It was fun to see friends that we have not seen for a year or longer. Desi was the best man and gave a great, if not long, toast. The dinner was super yum and we finished the night off with dancing. Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!
~Rose

Going Home

This is how I feel today!

Today is our last full day here in Cali. Time for laundry and packing...a trip to Trader Joes with a gift card we got Sunday. Our last meal with Desi's family. Tomorrow our flight leaves Ontairo at 2pm. I am so thankful to be going home!

Our time here has been amazing. Totally wonderful and amazing. God provided lots of special time for Grandma Jan and the kids before we left for the desert. The second day we were there we heard that G-gma Maxine had to go to the hospital. The whole time we were gone, Jan was busy with her mom and dad. Since Thanksgiving we've only seen her in bits. Lots of Grandpa Des time...and for that we are thankful! Yesterday we saw Maxine. She was doing so much better and is on the road to recovery. Too bad we could not spend more time with her, but God knows. Please pray for her recovery as well as Jan (she is spending a LOT of time down there). I think she'll have to visit us in the Spring for more good Grandma time.

Thanks to all of you who had us over and spent time with us. We are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have here. We will miss you all!

~Rose

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.
~James Openheim


Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.
~Margaret Young

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
~Abraham Lincoln

Tidepools and the Beach

After saying goodbye to Kameron and Steph, we headed down MacArthur Blvd to the Crystal Cove area. Thanks to Kameron's recommendation we had a blast at the beach. I LOVE the beach and it is the thing I miss the most living in land locked Colorado.

Our Family

Beautiful views

The tide pools and coast

The kids enjoyed finding critters. A lady came out and showed us good places to look and what the rules of the tide pools are. Good stuff to know.

We found this cool coral just laying on the ground.

The kids quickly tired of carefully walking along the rocks and such, so we moved over to the beach. The kids loved the wet sand, running away from the water and finding treasures. Hope asked me why we didn't bring our swim suits. It was so warm I was wondering the same thing. We all got pretty wet. Oh well.

Levi loved the wet sand and chatted with the water. Shells were good for throwing.
It was so stinkin hard to pull ourselves away from the beach. Next time we visit Cali, we are spending more than a few hours here. It will be an all day event!

~Rose

Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war. ~Loren Eiseley

Camping In The Desert With 9 Children!

So, we got back last night from the desert. We were about 10 miles from Yuma, Arizona. It was about a 5 hour drive from Temecula, CA where we are staying. We drove up in the motor home and back in a car. David and Sharee brought up their 4 neice/nephews and a friend as well so it was a full house. We played games, rode the quads, enjoyed campfires, made new friends and just relaxed! What a great trip :)

The Gang: Four adults and 9 children!

Hope learned how to ride the little 50cc "little red" and went around this berm track over and over again. Owen learned how to ride it as well and Emma and Levi got rides on it with an adult.

I think we really got hooked on this desert dune thing!

David and Desi on their last ride together. They went out to the dunes and rode up the "hill" twice! That's my man!

This is the "hill"...at the top are two large sand rails and I think that is a quad near the top. David and Sharee are on their way up. I was not comfortable on the 400cc bikes (I rode it once) and my little 90 would not make it up. The hill was way too intimidating for me to go up alone, but I got to go up in Dave Van Hulzen's beefy 4runner. It was probably the most fun I have had since my roller coaster days. We rode with a large group of sand rails and quads and spent probably close to an hour in the dunes going in and out of the bowls.

Sunset on our last night. Buddy (the Adam's dog) was a big hit with Levi. You could hear Levi calling "Buuudee" when he saw him.

I took close to 200 pictures out there, so I have more to share, but this was all I time to load up today. More to come at a later date. We had a blast camping and it was relaxing and fun to be there with many families and kiddos. Hope made a friend named Selah and they are going to be pen pals. Thank you David and Sharee for bringing us out along with your kiddos. This will be one of the most memorable trips our family has ever taken. We are truly blessed and enjoyed our time with you both.

~Rose

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A Good Family is Worth It's Weight In Gold!

We are really enjoying our time here. It seems the days go by so quickly though. Yesterday we drove down to Santa Ana to see my long time friend Kameron and old friend/roomie Steph. I still need to download the pics so bear with me :) It was fantastic to see Kameron (who happened to be my BFF in High School and maid of honor in my wedding) and her cutie pie son Aidan. We played at a near by park and then took a snack break in her cute condo. Thanks for your hospitality Kameron. You look fantastic and I'll be praying for a smooth labor and delivery...hopefully sooner rather than later ;)

After saying our good-buys and rounding up our wild and noisy kiddos we headed down MacArthur Blvd to PCH to go to the Corona Tide Pools. Man, we should have brought our suits, it was so warm we could have gone in the ocean. The kids loved the beach and did NOT want to leave. But alas, in Orange County you must beware the traffic on the 91!

Today the family (save Levi and I) went back to Knott's. I am not feeling all that well and wanted to get laundry and snack shopping done before we leave tomorrow for camping (in a motorhome). I think it will be nice to be out there for the next few days and just stay put in one spot. I am not used to all this coming and going (and neither are the kids for that matter). So, I'll be offline till Wed evening :D

Here are a few pics of Desi's family and the kids. They are the best in-laws ever! Grandpa Des-ever sweet and kind. I feel at peace around him.Aunt Shannon in her classroom. She is a fantastic aunt and sister. I only wish we lived closer so we could see her more often.

Grandma Jan, full of wisdom and joy. She brings a positive spirit to our family and is so encouraging and just knows how to have fun with the kids.

Now time for some honesty. I am really struggling with loving Owen on this trip. It's totally my thing and I do not blame him for acting like a child. He is still having bowel issues and it's so darn frusterating to have him continue to whine and cry way more than the girls. He is a really great kid, but I have been having a really hard time with him. It's so hard to admit this, but this is what God is using in my life right now. I do not have health issues, I do not have difficult co-workers, I do not have loss in my life right now. What I have is a boy who needs a lot of love and patience and I am failing at giving it. Please pray for me on this camping trip that I will be able to connect with Owen and find my joy in God in the midst of situations that usually get me angry. I know God wants to help me in this and I am ready to surrender it to Him. Thank you my friends.
~Rose

Little Aunt Shannon and A Potluck Dinner

Wow, I am so stinkin' tired. But I knew that's how I would feel going into this vacation! Here is a pic from Saturday night. Jan had put on a tape of little 5 year old Aunt Shannon singing Thanksgiving Day songs. She was so cute and our kids had a blast watching her.I met my friend Lori at the Los Alamos Sports Park today for a few hours of playground fun while Desi drove the newlyweds to LAX. Thanks to Des Sr, Levi and I got a little shopping and rest in this afternoon and we all had dinner together once Desi got home. After dinner it was over to the Pipher's to hang out. Speaking of the Piphers, they have graciously offered their house for a get together. I emailed a bunch of people, but if you are reading this and did not get the invite, than this is your invitation! We hope to see you there.

~Rose

You are all invited (and anyone else you know) to come potluck with us!
Where: the Pipher abode
When: Saturday November 24th
Time: arrive 4:30 Dinner at 5pm
Please Bring: a main dish, side dish, dessert or drinks :)

There is a nice pool table so if we get enough people we can have a little tourney. This is a family friendly event so bring your little tykes if you have any. Hope to see you there! RSVP back to me only if you feel like it.

At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other. ~Ann Landers

California Adventures With Grandpa Des

The above pic was taken last Wednesday while waiting for our plane to arrive in DIA. Notice the two goofs to the left of Hope. The next few pics are from the following day when Des Sr. (aka: Grandpa) took us to In-N-Out and Knott's Berry Farm.

This is my favorite shot from the day. Little Emma enjoying Lucy's Tugboat so much that she can do "no hands" all by herself!

~Rose

And We Have Sitters!

Whew, we've got sitters for the kids! Desi and I took the kids over to CCM yesterday to see Grandpa Des's office and say hi to a bunch of people. We interrupted Aunt Shannon's class and wouldn't you know it, the gal that was recommended to me for babysitting the boys was in her class! I asked and Erica said yes! Yipee! I am very confident that she'll be fine with the boys. I'll attempt to put Levi down for a nap and then there is always the cell phone, so I can come to the condo if needed. What did we do before cell phones? Those poor babysitters just had to deal with the screaming babies (been there, done that!).

Desi is out with Tim doing last minute errands. They have been friends since they were little boys and it's such a blessing to be a part of Tim's wedding. Lauren is super wonderful and a great fit for Tim. We look forward to a life long friendship with them.

The kids have all had one on one time with Grandma Jan and are loving it. They get to spend the night and be the center of attention. Hope's night is tonight. She gets to go see High Tops the musical at CCM with Aunt Shannon and Grandma Jan. Tomorrow we get to church when 1st ends, go to 2nd service, stay till 3rd starts and then Desi is off with Tim to make sure he eats and is dressed and ready by 1pm. I'll have to leave to take the girls to Erin's house by 1:45 or so. The wedding starts at 2:30. After the wedding, I'll grab the girls and head home. Shannon and her boyfriend will come over so we can get to know Gregg a bit better (which will be nice, since we won't get to see him again this trip-he lives up in Northridge-I think).

~Rose
p.s. one of my bestest friends in the whole world (Dori) sent me a link to a great website full of quotes...as you can tell I am hooked! Hope you enjoy the quotes...otherwise ignore them ;)

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.
~Martin Luther
(of whom we named our son after: Levi Martin Luther Starr)

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
~Emily Brontë

Come, let's be a comfortable couple and take care of each other! How glad we shall be, that we have somebody we are fond of always, to talk to and sit with.
~Charles Dickens

Love one another and you will be happy.
It's as simple and as difficult as that.
~Michael Leunig

Sometimes It's Good To Be A Veteran

Grandpa Des got all 7 of us into Knott's for only $51!!!!! Can you believe it? We arrived shortly after lunch and stayed till the 6pm closing. The weather was cool and cloudy (wonderful) and there were hardly any people there! The kids were pumped and a bit overwhelmed at first. Camp Snoopy was a big hit.

Owen's favorite ride: Charlie Brown Speedway-where the best ride operator ever let the kids ride three times in a row. Emma's favorite ride: the airplanes (even though she never got her's up in the air). Hope's favorite ride (and mine): the LOG RIDE! We did it three times and I could have done it more. Love it! We talked Owen and Emma into joining us on the first go and they were so stinkin scared! Owen said he was not scared, but did NOT want to ride again. The only ride we had to wait in line for was for the stagecoach. All in all it was fantastic. We got home with kids in bed by 9pm. Not bad.

Thank you Grandpa Des for a wonderful day at Knotts and tasty dinner after. To quote Hope, "This was the best day of my whole entire life!"

Tomorrow is Tim and Lauren's rehersal and dinner. Des and Jan will babysit so we can go together. Pray for the kids to be good for their grandparents! We are still working on babysitters for Sunday afternoon (the wedding is from 2:30-8). I'm planning on splitting the kids up if we can so no one is overwhelmed by our four loud children!
~Rose


We should all have one person who knows how to bless us despite the evidence, Grandmother was that person to me.
~Phyllis Theroux

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida.
~Dave Barry

Is It Always So Moist Here?

We arrived safe and sound in Ontairo, CA yesterday around 1pm. The plane ride was wonderful. The seat near Owen and I never got a body, so Levi had his own space to move around in. The kids did very well and the only bad part was landing...Levi just screamed...I mean SCREAMED for the whole landing. Everyone around us was really understanding and one grandma said some encouraging words to me as I tried to restrain the crazy Levi.

We have a super nice two bedroom condo to stay in in Murrieta. Boy has this place changed and grown since we first lived here over 8 years ago! Calvary Chapel Murrieta has blessed our socks off with providing this place for us to stay as well as gift cards for food and gas.

Grandpa Des is taking us to Knott's Berry Farm today as a surprise for the kids. Grandma Jan is not feeling well, so pray for her as she stays home to rest. We'll get to see Aunt Shannon tonight hopefully and catch up with her. Time to go! I'll post pics in a few days.

I miss all you Denver folk already!
~Rose

Enjoying The Journey

This is a little sign I have above my back/kitchen door. It's such a good reminder for me. I tend to not enjoy the process as much as the finished product. I doubt God really wants me to live like that, but rather to enjoy each moment He gives me breath. To that end, I am joining my husband and we are taking all 4 kiddos up to Estes Park for the weekend. Desi will be teaching 4 sessions at a winter camp for Jr & Sr Highers from Faith Evangelical Free Church in Ft. Collins. I know all you moms out there know...it would be so much easier for me to stay home. But I believe God wants us to go and I want to enjoy it instead of getting stressed. So pray for us! I'll be back in a few days.

~Rose

Man Camping

Well, here are the camping pics as promised. Micah got these pics to me last night and I just LOVE them! The boyz had a great time. They hiked into an amazing spot right near a stream. Owen ate nothing but chips, marshmallows and chocolate. He fell asleep pretty early and was the last one awake. He told me following the stream to where it came out of the ground was his favorite part. He also told me who did #2's and who didn't. They all came home dirty and tired and ready to do it again. I am so glad Owen had a good time and did well- I think all boys need to spend quality time with their daddies. Owen did call me when he got home (I was at the store) and said, "Mommy, I missed you." Yeah, way to melt my heart buddy!

The men: Micah, Jason (my bro), Josh & Luke, Desi & Owen

The first of many dad/son camping trips!



~Rose

Breck Part 2-The Photos (so hard to pick only a few for the blog!)

My family :)

The best in-laws a girl could have!

We enjoyed Bubba Gump Shrimp Co for dinner-YUM! Life IS like a box of chocolates! Our hotel had a room with a big screen that we used to watch a Nuggets basketball game.










































Pie for dessert!

We enjoyed spending time with our friends Bruce & Karen.

Aunt Shannon is a wonderful Auntie! Main Street is so quaint...we were in walking distance from all sorts of shops and eateries. Desi and I went back to Bubba Gump (I love their coconut shrimp!) for lunch to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. Thanks for babysitting Starrs! We went for a walk after lunch and found this wonderful toy store with tons of hands on toys in the back. Later that day we brought the whole family back to play (it was snowing-not swimming weather!). We had a wonderful trip and are so thankful that we got to go!
~Rose