With Hope

The past week at work has been really hard for me. We lost a little girl on Friday that had been in and out of the hospital since she was born. I was always so excited to go to work when I knew I got to spend the day taking care of her...Although she was really sick, she always had a smile on her face and just wanted to be loved. She was only 8 years old and she taught everyone around her about hope and strength. She was strong. She was a fighter. Even when she was very sick and felt horrible, she still managed to give me a smile about something (I had to try pretty hard). I only wish I could be half as strong as her. I can't help but wonder why God planned for this to happen....I wish I did not doubt my God, but in times like this, I can't help it. All I know is that right now she is in heaven running, dancing, twirling. She is singing Hannah Montana songs, and she is free from pain. Rest in peace Gianna.

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

So we can cry with hope
And say goodbye with hope

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope
-Steven Curtis Chapman

How lucky I am!

Last night I got home from a long weekend of work to find my sweet husband making this:

He made one of my favorite dinners...grilled pork tenderloin with pico de gallo and rice! It was so good:) For dessert he made chocolate souffle's topped with strawberries. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband!

Caught me!...I will just smile and look cute.

I found this picture of Erica and I while I was going through some old boxes in the closet....(Yes, still unpacking from moving 7 months ago) Here we are at Grandma DB's house playing with some toys. I laughed so hard when I saw this because I know Erica so well....and I know she was doing something she was probably not supposed to be doing by the look on her face! I am not sure what she just did or what she was thinking of doing...But I do know that the little pretend smile on her face was because she was about to do something to me! Hahaha it just cracks me up looking at this picture!

CHRISTMAS!!!

Last night Derek and I bought our tickets to go back to Cincinnati for Christmas!!! Originally we did not think we would be able to go as I had to work on Christmas. Thanks to an amazing nurse I work with, I was able to switch holidays with her! Now I will have the Christmas holiday AND the weekend right after Christmas off! Derek is off work the whole week of the holidays so it works out perfect! I am so so so excited to see everyone!!! I just hope baby G has not grown too much since I last saw him:)

The Present

More like home

While Mom and Dad were here we did a LOT of shopping for our house! Here are some pictures of the new artwork we got...We also got new end tables, chairs and coffee tables....those pictures will come when the house decorating is a little closer to being finished! Thank you Mom and Dad!!!

Stanford

On Monday afternoon I took Mom and Dad to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital to see where I work. We took a tour of the hospital and unit that I work on. After that we went to see some of Stanford's campus. Here are a few of Stanford's Memorial Church.


The church was built in the early 1900s by Jane Lathrop Stanford in memory of her husband, Leland Stanford Sr., who founded the university.

Monday Hike

On Monday morning we decided to go take a hike at Rancho San Antonio Park. We did the Wildcat Loop Trail all the way up to Vista Point which overlooks the south bay area. On the way we saw a daddy deer and baby deer! Also on the way to the trail there is a farm with a lot of animals. I always love to see the animals but it was closed:( We did get to see a momma pig and her cute little pigglets!!! They were so cute!

Horseback riding in Saratoga

On Sunday Morning we decided to go horseback riding. Derek had to work so he missed out:( We went to Garrod Farms which is only 15 minutes from our house. It is a beautiful farm and winery on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz mountains. We went on a guided tour for an hour and then spent an hour petting all the horses! It was so nice to be able to spend so much time with Mom and Dad:)

Visiting the Redwood's with Mom and Dad!

Here we are at the Henry Cowell Redwood State Park with Mom and Dad. We decided that we were gong to take them there on Friday morning and spend the afternoon at the park. It ended up being a really nice day to go explore the park and we all had a lot of fun!





Some of the really big trees have openings at the bottom where you can go in and see. Some of them were kinda creepy (seems like a great place for little creepy crawly animals to live)...

Dad and Derek got a good laugh at this one! When we were taking the picture Dad made a noise and made Mom and I think there was something in the hole....so we screamed and ran....funny Dad!

Derek was our "Tour Guide" the entire time telling us the history of the trees. Some of these Redwoods are 1800 years old and the tallest one is 285 feet!

Happy Birthday Kar!

Today is Karen's 25th Birthday! Karen has been one of my very best friends since we were in kindergarten. I think I can say that Karen and I have been through everything together! We always have so much fun no matter what we are doing...I wish I was there on your Birthday Kar! I love you:)

Squidoo

Squidoo (an online group that raises tons of money for charities) is giving away $80,000 to selected charities from now until October 15. There are no catches, and no gimmicks - all you have to do is CLICK HERE to visit their website and vote ($2 per vote) for the charity of your choice (from their list of about 50).

There are several good charities to choose from, but the one that got my vote was March of Dimes. They provide funding for research to reduce and prevent premature births, and they provide support for families with preemies.

Each vote gets $2, and you can only vote once (more than that and they will delete your vote(s). Remember, voting ends October 15! So, whether you vote for March of Dimes, or something else, support a worthwhile charity.

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati

I was so glad to be in Cincy for Oktoberfest! It is always so fun to go downtown with friends and family and enjoy the German food and beer! Erica, Griffin, Mom and Dad and I all went down on Saturday afternoon...We ate all the authentic German food. (Sauerkraut balls, pretzels, meatballs, fried pickles, bratwurst, and potato pancakes) Yes that is a lot of food! Then on Saturday night I went back down with my friends....it was so nice to be able to go out with everyone!

God Bless Griffin Patrick

Being Griffin's Godmother is a very special honor and I am so glad I was able to be there beside him. God Bless you Baby G!



"And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children." -Isaiah 54:13

The other man in my life:)

Two weeks ago I went back to Cincinnati for Baby Griffin's baptism and ended up staying for 10 days! I had so much fun and got to spend a lot of quality time with everyone...especially baby G! I got to babysit him during the week while Erica was at work and we had so much fun! We ended up going to Grandmas to see her every day! We went for walks almost every day and Griffin just loves to be on the move! He is such a good baby and just loves people. He is smiling, cooing, rolling over, eating baby foods, laughing, and he just loves to be the center of attention. I love him so much:)