Alana & Noni



Alana & Poppy



Papaw & Alana

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Time with Poppy & Noni

Trying to get Poppy to eat a piece of gum....wasn't successful. Haha









Story time with Noni

Alana's Wonderful Grandparents & Great Grandparents!

Alana, her Great Grandma Loo & Daddy

Alana's Nana & Papaw

Papa Hale & Alana

Nana Hale & Alana

Granny Allen & Alana
Gramps & Alana

Noni & AlanaAlana's Nana & Papaw
Poppy & Alana

The beautiful faces of Grandparents

Dad & Mom with Nana & Papa HaleGramps & Granny Allen

My wonderful grandparents!!!!

Grandparents are wonderful………

I have many fond memories of spending time with both sets of my grandparents. And I am very fortunate that my daughter has great grandparents!!! She loves her Noni & Poppy, and her Papaw & Nana very much!

Even though both sides of my grandparents are states away, they are very close to my heart! I love to see them every chance I get and reminisce of times past.

My maternal grandparents have always lived in Oklahoma, well as far back as I can remember, so visits with them were not as often as we would have liked but when those opportunities came we loved every minute we had. I have memories of fishing in their pond, walking the property, going to the dump, cleaning out the cellar, sitting in the cellar, swinging on the swing, walking to the mailbox, sitting under the willow tree, mowing with the riding lawn mower, crafting, cooking, singing as Granny played the piano, going to Dollar General and many many other memories. Thanks Gramps & Granny for all the wonderful memories from my childhood and the special times we had together. I wish you still lived in Asher at times, I loved the peacefulness of being out in the boondocks! I would love to be able to take Alana back to that place and her be able to have the memories I have from that wonderful time.

My paternal grandparents known as Papa & Nana, lived in Rialto, CA until just a few years ago. So visits with them were more often, time spent at their house was always fun and special. Nana always took us with her to do her “grocery shopping” wow, we would fill and line up 5 or more baskets in one trip…. No joke. The reason for this, my Nana owned “Horizon Homes” these were homes for girls & boys and adults that needed full time care. So when we went grocery shopping, we went and bought groceries for every home…these trips were to Stater Bros. We were always allowed to pick out the newest Archie comics on these trips. After shopping, we would visit every home and fill the cabinets and refrigerator with all the freshly bought groceries. Other memories I have from Nana’s, being she owned her own business, she had an office out in the “big room”….Nana’s house was huge, so we had names for the different area’s of the house. This office was awesome, a telephone, typewriter, notepads, message pads, stamps, deposit books, oh wow, a little girl’s perfect play spot. Especially when your cousin was present, we would have a time playing office. I have many memories from Nana Hale’s. I remember leaving the light on for Papa, he would get home from work in the wee hours of the morning, memories, of playing on the hill, helping Nana clean, reading comics, playing Nintendo. So many memories…. Although my Papa has passed on, Thank You Papa & Thank you Nana for a memory bank full of wonderful memories. I could go on and on.

I am so thankful for the family God has blessed us with! I am fortunate to have such wonderful grandparents. Unfortunately my Papa Hale passed away 1 year ago, June 15^th, 2009. I know he is in a much better place and one day I will see him again on the other side!

I am very thankful for the example my grandparents have been. Thank you for raising your children in the fear of God. Thank you for instilling Quality Moral and Characteristics in them. My parents are a reflection of what their parents are and have been. Two individuals of integrity.

I love you Gramps & Granny !

I love you Nana!

Now I have the joy of watching Alana and be apart of the memories she is making with her grandparents...thank God her grandparents love & live for God! Thank you both Mom & Dad's for being that example to her and loving her!

A Happy Be-Lated Fathers Day to my Father-in-law!
Last night we had dinner over at my in-laws and were able to give him a small gift for fathers day.






Hope everyone had a blessed weekend!

It is very hot here in the valley...predicted 106 temp high for today!!! Today is the first selling day for fireworks, thank God I'm not on the schedule today!


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The last few days have been great!!!




Shopping for new clothes


At work with mommy


Bathing Cocoa





Auction time with daddy!!!

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Thank God it’s Friday….for me that is….at work! I love being home with Alana!

Let’s see we will probably swim, make cookies, play with play-dough, play store, church, kitchen, babies and clean.

In between giggles and squeals we will squeeze in a nap! J My little precious is growing way to fast.

Yesterday, I was doing bookwork and she was in the other room playing. I hear her calling me, so I stop what I am doing

And go find her to see what she needs, well needless to say, it turned into a hide-n-go-seek game and a tickle fest. By the time

we were finished she was telling mommy to take a nap and she would do the book work.

She has the most amazing facial expressions and a huge imagination! What a wonderful gift from God she is!

She almost has her ABC’s down and is starting to memorize Acts 2:38!

I love every moment I am able to spend with my little pumpkin!

Children truly are blessings from God!

Alana anticipating a trip out of town with Poppy & Noni.

Alana loves her Noni & Poppy, here she is with her purse and backpack, patiently awaiting the knock on the door!

How precious she is to us!

Father’s Day

Alana…she is so funny. We got home from church and Alana went to find Daddy’s presents....she brings them out and then decides to take the first gift out of the bag and just give it to daddy! Ha ha

I absolutely love her expressions! When Jeremy opened one of the boxes there was a box of See’s candy tucked in with another gift and when he opened the See’s candy Alana squeals “Oh my Goodness!!!”

We busted up laughing!

After gifts we decided to head out of town for lunch and some shopping! We had lunch at La Fiesta, needless to say, I won’t be eating there again. El Capitan is still my number 1 vote for Mexican Food and my favorite! Off to Wal-Mart to grab some groceries and then home to prepare Pasta Salad for dinner. Being there are so many people away for camp, our church BBQ was postponed and everyone had the evenings free to spend with family! So off to the Hale house we went for a delicious BBQ and games with friends & family! Pictionary was the game of the night and yes our team won! Ha ha! We had a great time and hope you did as well with your family or whoever you spent the day with!

Today is another beautiful day to be alive, live for Jesus and love your family!

-Unknown : "A good memory is one that can remember the day's blessings and forget the day's troubles."

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,

He called it ... Dad

Happy Fathers Day Hubby, Dad & my Father - in - law!

~~Author Unknown.~~

Fabulous Friday!

What a fun day we had today! We woke up, cleaned up the house, made lunch for hubby and off to Nana's house! My in-laws rented a huge inflatable water slide/pool for the little ones today. This was for Hailey & Josiah's birthday! We had such a blast! Thanks Nana & Papa!

Alana had a blast! What a joy watching the smiles come across their faces as they flew down the huge slide! After about 2 hours of fun, Nana fixed yummy hot dogs with chips and cold drinks, how fast can we eat and get back in the pool? Not fast enough! Back in the water for another 1 1/2 or so. The kids were shivering, but weren't ready to get out. We convinced them we needed to go in for a bit. So after about an hour break they were ready to head back out. This time Auntie dowsed everyone down with sunscreen. WOW!!! All the sudden Josiah is "FLYING" down the slide? What in the world? Where did the speed come from? ha ha after catching our breath from laughing at how fast he seemed to be flying down the slide, we realized the sunscreen had increased his speed to lighting speed! Watch out...here he comes!!!!

What a great day of laughter and fun with our family!

Alana is pooped out, water logged, no nap and exhausted!

Hope you had a blessed day in whatever it was you found yourself doing!

For those of you preparing for Pacific Coast Camp, go hungry and expecting a special blessing from God!

Our Pumpkin!

I can’t believe it…I missed a day of blogging. I was home sick yesterday and just didn’t have the energy. I have to say it is a beautiful morning. I love to see “Big Bright Blue Skies.”

I was reading Sis. Kathy Mcelhaney’s blog and loved the post she put yesterday…..for those of you who do not make your way around the blog world you can read it below. How true it is, your Pastor feels the shaking of every situation, whether good or bad.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010

Shaking At the Top

Les and I have been in San Diego for a couple of days. He's working and I just tagged along. Our room is on the 10th of 11 floors. The view is pretty unspectacular- the freeway. It's really just your average room, king size bed, a little desk, typical hotel closet and bathroom. We were fine with it since it's clean (my number #1 criteria!) I wasn't so sure how I felt Monday evening when a 5.9 earthquake hit!

I've been in larger earthquakes in my day, but I've never been on the 10th floor during one! It seemed our room shook forever. I was reading on the bed and the lamp swayed, and continued to sway!

We often hear of those "at the top" taking a fall. Whether it is a politician, CEO, or pastor, their fall seems greater because they are higher up. But a true man of God feels the shaking that is going on below. When a marriage falls apart or a child is gravely ill, the pastor feels the shaking. If a family leaves the church or a teenager rebels against all he has tried to teach them, the pastor feels the shaking.

We may only see or feel our needs or those of our family, but a pastor feels the shaking of an entire congregation. When the earth beneath our feet has settled, the reverberations of our actions may cause shaking that lasts much longer.

Thankfully when we are praying, the pastor also feels that shaking! When the youth group comes home from camp on fire, the pastor rejoices with the shaking! When new saints are born into the kingdom, the pastor feels the shaking!

What kind of shaking are you causing today?

Being Fathers Day is just around the corner, I want to say Thanks again Dad & Pastor for being the greatest Father, and the greatest example. You have truly been faithful! I am so thankful that I not only am your daughter but you are my Pastor. I wish I could sincerely express my appreciation for you and mom and the gratitude I have for your consistent stand for holiness, righteousness and separation. Thanks for preaching the word and please never let go of the old paths!

Last night my Pastor which is my father preached an awesome message on dealing with situations. Text came from Acts 7, regarding Stephen being stoned and him turning the situation (his spirit) over to God. Asking God to forgive those persecuting him.

When, Why & How do we deal with situations when they come our way? God has given us everything we need to make it through the storms of life, if we are full of the Holy Ghost, there is nothing that we can’t make it through. God will open the windows of Heaven and give us Peace and the Assurance we need to stand no matter how hard the wind blows.

God heard Stephen’s cry, God gave Stephen a peace, and assurance, but he didn’t change the situation. Sometimes God allows us to go through situations, to increase our trust in Him, to lean on Him. He may choose to deliver us at times from our situations, but other times he may leave us where we are and give us a peace that passes all understanding and an Assurance that everything will be ok.

Our attitude, determines our altitude!

Jimmy Dean – “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

God gives us exactly what we need to make it through everyday!

I’m thankful to know a God that knows exactly where we are and what we need!

-Winston Churchill : "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

-Unknown : "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."

-Joe Harsel : "Everyone is better looking when they are smiling."

Attitude..... How is your's today? 

-Sasha Azevedo : "A change in attitude can change your life!."

Taken from the 73^rd Psalm:

1: Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

2: But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

17: Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

22: so foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

26: My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

28: But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

The prophet Micah says in Chapter 7 verse 8:

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.

Today is a new day! This is the day, that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Well it’s Monday and back to work!

This weekend was very fun & relaxing! My hubby took me to Disneyland for my birthday! What a treat! This is the first leisure trip we have been on without our precious baby girl “Alana”. Yes, we missed her very much, but I have to admit we had a blast! We have been away two other times without her, but it has been on business. Friday night we got to L.A. about 11 PM, checked into our hotel which we booked off of Priceline and saved over 50%. We had a HUGE, beautiful room! Saturday morning we were in Disneyland by 11 AM…..ha ha that is early for us. We usually show up about 1 – 2 PM (lol).

We were excited and anticipating the new “World of Color” water show at California Adventure. Upon arrival we were advised to get our FAST PASS as soon as possible to ensure being able to sit in the Viewing area.

We did that first thing and were given a YELLOW FAST PASS for the 10:15PM showing. So after our FAST PASS adventure, we had turtle talk with CRUSH, then off to the boardwalk in Paradise Pier to play some games. Jeremy won a cute stuffed Dumbo, we thought was for Alana, but after about 10 minutes of carrying it around the park, Jeremy felt to give it to some little kid. J ha ha (Alana has plenty of toys, she definitely didn’t need another thing) So off to Disneyland to see the Hill Billy show and Capitan EO. Let me say this, I was not impressed with Capitan EO. In fact, if I wouldn’t have been sitting directly in the middle, I pry would have walked out. Talk about EVIL. That was disgusting. No wonder Michael Jackson had the issues he had, entertaining junk like what was presented in that show. EW! Anyways, after Capitan EO we left back to the room for a nap. About 2 hours later we were back at California Adventure to watch the spectacular musical “Aladdin”. We have loved this show since we first saw it in 2003. *by the way, the last showing of this awesome musical will be August 15^th. * If you haven’t seen it, and are planning a trip to Disneyland, be sure to check it out at the Hyperion Theater in Hollywood’s backlot. Time for dinner at Condor Flats and then off to get in line to view World of Color. We got in line around 9:30 PM and were escorted to the viewing area around 10 PM. The show was absolutely amazing. The technology they have is incredible. A must see!

Day 2 (Sunday) we slept in…which was nice! Got to Disneyland about 12:30 and headed straight to the pier for a Bread Bowl of Broccoli & Cheese Soup….mmmmm yummy and full of calories…ewe whoops.

We ended up sharing a Turkey Sandwich and a Bread Bowl of soup…so maybe the calories were not too bad (WINK)

Once we finished eating we headed over to Disneyland to ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. The lines were too long so we decided we would buy Alana a surprise and head out. We ended up getting her a stuffed Pooh Bear and headed out. Traffic was horrible. From Disneyland to Santa Clarita it was stop n go….grrrrrr. I hate traffic!

We stopped in Bakersfield to eat at Applebee’s (Thanks Jon & Brit)! It was yummy! Then homeward bound to see our Pumpkin!

We got home and got everything unpacked and then got the call that Church was out and we could come get Alana! Yay…we were so excited to see her!

She loved her Pooh Bear and was glad to see Mommy n Daddy!

Thanks to my parents for keeping her for 2 nights! Thanks to my in-laws for taking her to see “Auntie T” on Saturday! We love you all, and we had a blast!

Thank God for Sundays! A day of spiritual rest! I'm so thankful to be apart of God's family! So thankful for the truth and to know I have the Apostolic expirence myself...which is Acts 2:38...."Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Thank God for the Holy Ghost!!!
If you have never experienced being filled with the Holy Ghost you have no idea what you have been missing out on!!!
This simple chorus is on my mind....
"God's been better to me, than anyone else I know!
God's been better to me and I'm gonna tell him so!
He took away all my sins & washed me white as snow! God's been better to me, than anyone else I know!!!

-Eric Hoffer : "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."

Good Morning to all!!!
Hope you have a blessed day! We are having a great time in So Cal!!!

I walk slowly, but I never walk backwards.
Abraham Lincoln

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Yes Happy Birthday to me and every other person celebrating their Birthday today in the world. Today is also my friend Audrey's birthday, we went to school together! She is a very sweet girl! "Happy Birthday Audrey"

Well last night I celebrated my birthday with my side of the family....yes Celebrated the fact that I turned 1 year Older....mmmmm hey I'm still living so I'll take every birthday gladly! I am so thankful for all that God has done this past year and for his many blessings. He surely has been good to me. I thought I would post some pictures from our celebration and tell a quick story. Since Alana's first birthday, she got such a kick out of blowing her candles out that we would periodically have cake for dessert and put candles in them and sing "Happy Birthday" to Alana throughout the year, which was fun, but pry some what confusing on her part....because....everytime we celebrate someone's birthday she automatically says "my birthday cake?" It's very cute. She does grab the fact that we say, "today is Mommy's birthday" and she will be like "ok?" So anyways, we had a birthday cake last night and Alana of course got to "help" blow the candles out! of course I let her do most of the blowing, regardless that the candles were practically melted down to the cake by the time she got them all out, but hey, I love watching her reaction and what memories I will have years down the road!