I ran out of space on our blog...ie, out of photo space.  My GB is full.  Young has been traveling so much, we haven't had a chance to sit down and either increase it, create a new account or add on to his account.  So bare with us...we're working on it...I haven't forgotten about you all!

Operation Christmas Child

We participated in Operation Christmas Child again this year. Last the children didn't really understand what they doing, just that they were picking out toys for little kids that don't have any toys. It was probably the same this year, but I would like to think my prep work made it a little more meaningful to them. So we watched a promo video online so they might connect faces to their actions and then those actions to the love of Christ. (They watched video in VBS this summer and still talk about the children in Alaska that they sent school supplies to.) They had lots of questions after watching the video which was good...gave me lots of opportunity to explain why we participate in this program.

The next day we were off to the Dollar Tree to fill the boxes.  Timo decided on a little boy and Cameron wanted to fill a box for a little girl.  They both did really well picking out toy for the children, only getting side tracked on toys for themselves a few times.  But I kept reminding them we were there for the other children, not ourselves.

The next morning we spread it all out and started packing!  The boxes were so full, we had to put a tight rubberband around them to keep them closed!

On Sunday we took the boxes to church to help with the 250 boxes the whole church collected...wow, so amazing to see God use the people of our church to help the children of the nations.

Mary Poppins

We rented Mary Poppins from the library and the kids loved it!  It's such a great movie and just right speed for my kids...no stressful, scarey parts.  Just lots of laughing, music and dance.  Although it is pretty long, 2 1/2 hours, we had to split it into two days, Timo and Cameron were pretty captive the whole time.  I would highly recommend it to any parents out there looking for a good, clean, fun movie for their little ones. So many good parts and songs!  Here are Cameron and Timo trying to do the tongue twister...I think you know which one I'm talking about...

San Francisco Giants Playoffs and World Series

If you follow baseball then you already know the SF Giants won the world series. And you might know the crazy road they took to get there. As a major sport fan, I was so lucky to be a part of the ride! We were able to get tickets to the playoffs, game 6 against the Cardinals. We had to win this game to stay in the playoffs and keep the hope alive to go to the World Series. I have to be honest, I didn't think they would win the game or go to the Series so I really wanted to go to this game just to be a part of it. We didn't know we if we had tickets until the night before,so I spent the next day begging every friend I had to babysit. Sarah W generously offered and we were off to the game. It was electric. Every out, every hit, every pitch counted and the crowd was overwhelming the whole game...we barely sat down. We won that night and the following night...thus, making it to the World Series.

Sarah text me this cute picture of her with the kids...playing baseball while we were at the baseball game...Timo was none too happy that we were at a Giants game without him.

Then comes the World Series two days later.  We had spent our entertainment funds on the playoff tickets, not thinking they would make it to the World Series, so going to any of the games was our of our budget.  In true Giant's torture fashion, just when we thought we couldn't go, we got a call from Young's boss who had tickets to game 1 but was stuck in NYC and wouldn't be able to get back in time.  THANK YOU MICHAEL!!  We scrambled again for a sitter and found ourselves sitting right behind home plate in game 1 of the World Series!   Check out these seats...

The stadium was alive with orange and black fever...almost deafening.

We were sitting right behind the  famous Panda heads, guess who was up to bat...hitting one of his 3 home runs that night.  Yeah, we were there to see that.  And the popular Gangnam Style song playing over the mega tron screen.

Such a great night, so many great plays...Buster, Pence, Crawford...so many.  I was horse from so much screaming.

The final out of the game..and we won!  It was at this point I knew we would sweep the Detroit Tigers.  There was was just something about the way the Giants were playing...we had this Series in the bag.

This was City Hall lite up in all orange lights on our way home from Game 1.  Congratulations to the Giants and congratulations to our friend Bobby who is the Ast. General Manager.  Amazing team work!

Bunk Beds!

I'm way behind on this post, but we finally bunked the kids beds!! I've been wanting to do it for a while but every time I would bring it up, a strong disagreement over who would get the top bunk erupted. I told them until they learned to compromise, the bed wouldn't get bunked. After many contract negotiations, we all came to an agreement..every two weeks the children would switch beds. This was the first night...Timo got the top bunk first.  I think Cameron thought two weeks was really just one night b/c she was quite upset the following night when she still was in the bottom bunk.

But as you can see, her bottom bunk days didn't last long.  This was the third night...Timo felt the top bunk was too high for him and wanted the bottom bunk permanently.  Now there is peace in the land and everyone is happy...including Mommy!  There is so much more room in their room now.  I feel things are much more clean and neat with all the extra space.  Just in time for Christmas...to fill all that space up again...

Chinese Songs

The kids are speaking more and more Chinese these days and, although I don't speak it myself, I'm quickly learning what are real words and what are made up words.  I think this is their first "mash up' of Chinese songs.  I think it's a combination of real songs, real words and a few made up sounds to make it all sound loud.  And don't worry, you don't have to adjust your volume, they are singing two different songs at the same time...and yes, Cameron is combining her karate in with her song.
Another winner...the two of them being exactly what they are...silly best friends! 

Weekend with Dad

While I was away at the conference, Young was in charge...which meant eating out and going on hikes! Cameron LOVES to eat at restaurants (apple doesn't fall far from the tree) and Timo LOVES to go hiking, so Daddy has a pretty easy time pleasing both.  I think this was the first night, ice cream for dessert.

The next day they went hiking back to the Marin Headlands and out to the lighthouse that was closed the last time we tried to go.  It was open this time and they went all the way out to the tip.  Looks like it was a beautiful day for a hike.

After the lighthouse, he took them down to the Nike Missile Site.  As luck would have it, it was the 70th anniversary celebration that day so there was lots of things open and on display that wouldn't normally be.  Young said Timo was in heaven!  He asked every question he could thing to ask and didn't want to leave.  What is it with my son and his passion for anything military?  Reminds me of my brother...completely obsessed...and it now in serving his 22nd year in the Air Force.  Hmmm.

They were also serving cake...at least Cameron found some enjoyment out of the whole thing.

I remember when the twins were babies and Young would be like a deer in the headlights when I needed to run out for an hour and he had to watch the kids. But he is a pro now. All this fun and he even got them dressed in costumes and ready for the Fall Fest at church...super impressive...makes me love him even more...if that's possible.

Women of Faith Conference

A few weekends ago our Women's Ministry embarked on our first Women of Faith Conference! Anyone who knows me knows this has been a huge prayer of mine for a long time.  I've never been but had heard how fantastic these conferences are...it was all true.  We had an amazing weekend!!  I was 20 wonderful ladies the whole weekend and boy was it an adventure...with lots of lessons learned.  My first task, getting 20 women up to Sacramento (2 hours away). A few ladies drove themselves because of timing issues, the rest were in this 15 passenger van that I drove...we definitely prayed for safe travels there and back!Thank you ladies for trusting me.

After checking into our hotel, we headed to the Black Bear Diner for a little supper before we headed to the evening session of the conference.  So. Yummy.  Total comfort food.  Lesson learned for next year...20 women need a little longer than an hour to order, eat and, um, socialize.  We were a little late to the pavilion...

But we got there and the first sound I heard were thousands of women worshiping the Lord!  I was overwhelmed by how God works, how faithful He is and how He paved the way for us to be there.  The evening session was tremendous, from comedy to music to message....and that was just 3 hours.  I couldn't wait for the all day session the next day!

Our hotel had free breakfast so we agreed on a time to meet at the van, ready to head out.  Lesson learned, see if a Starbucks run is needed, decide the night before so you allow extra time.  We were a little late, again...but made it and day two exceeded my expectations.  I can't even  begin to tell you all my "take aways" but the resounding theme was "knowing who you are in Christ."  I was so caught up in the moment of the whole weekend, I didn't take any pictures...luckily Sarah W. took a few...here with a few of our ladies.

We made a plan to tailgate for lunch.  I got all the fixing for sandwiches, chips, fruit, drinks, etc...everything needed for a easy tailgate lunch.  Lesson learned...write a check list so you don't forget the bread at home.  But everyone was so forgiving and made yummy and ham and cheese rollups!  They all ended up thanking me for a low carb lunch...such sweet girls.

After the session ended we decided to have one last meal together before heading back to SF.  This was a great time of digesting things we had just heard or experienced.  I didn't know some of the women very well before we left, but by dinner time, we were all new friends.  The best part was everyone was already talking about our trip next year!  God is good.

Halloween

As I've mentioned before, Halloween is my least favorite holiday...used to be Valentines Day but then my lovely children were born on that day, so it moved Halloween up to the top of the list. I'm not one who likes to be scared, don't like scary movies and in general have little imagination when it come to the whole costume thing. Not to mention as Christians, Halloween is not a holiday I want to make high on our list. Witches, evil spirits, and zombies really go against what we teach in our house. But, having said all that, we still allow the kids to partake in the tradition while they are young. Timo continued with his Ninja, even though he talked about being Matt Cain for days. When it came down to dressing, he just couldn't give up the Ninja. Cameron switch up and was Funny Bones.

This was our first Halloween in the rain :( but we survived.  We started a little earlier than normal, trying to get some houses in before the rain really started but the drizzle was just hard enough to need an umbrella...making a little hard to take pictures.  We cruised our normal neighborhood close to our house with our buds Caleb and Evan and it was great.  The neighborhood blocks off the streets to traffic, making it really safe for the littles. 

Starting to feel goofy after a few pieces of candy...

The later it got, the darker it got, the scarier things got...which meant it was time to go.  Timo was trying to figure this one out.  It was very disturbing for him...he asked a lot of questions.  And see how far away Cameron is walking from this scary ghost?  She didn't even make it, I had to pick her up and shuttle her away.  She didn't like the eyes...

But the real marker for the end of our evening was Timo asking me to carry his candy because it was too heavy...what a problem to have, huh? Luckily, right as we were heading back to the car it started pouring rain.  Just in time!  Another successful Halloween. The kids were so tired by the time we go home, counting candy had to wait til the following morning...but just as fun!

Fall Fest FBCSF

Our church has an annual Fall Family Festival for Halloween...trying to get away from the whole evil spirits part of Halloween.  I was away at a conference so Young had to handle the kids and all the fun himself.  Timo was a Ninja and Cameron, of course, was Batman.  I wouldn't want to meet up with these two in a dark alley!  Love how they take their roles so seriously.

One of the fun events at the fall fest is trunk or treat.  Cars decorate their trunks and the kids go trick or treating around the parking lot to each car.  I LOVE this idea.  Looks like there were some great themes this year.

Games, bouncy houses, face painting...all the ingredients for a good time.  Looks like Cameron shed her batman mask for her second love in life...a cheetah.  I really can't tell you how much Cameron loves cheetahs, you would never believe me.

Timo's costume came with a mask that we lost within 10min of pulling it out of the package.  I turned the house upside down looking for it but it couldn't be found anywhere.  Good thing Rolo the Clown was there, helping me not look so bad.

Young took some video of the kids "going fish"...so cute that they get so excited.  How much fun it is to be a kid!