Moments 9 and 10

9. November 18^{th -} Grandma’s pie recipe

Ever since I had my first bite of Jesse’s Grandma’s pie, I wanted the recipe. Jesse will be the first to tell you that it won 2nd place in the LA county fair. It’s that good. Well over the past two years we have visited Grandma three times. She always makes up a pie when we stay with her. On our one year anniversary we stayed with her and she gave me one of her glass pie dishes. I was so excited! I was hoping she would also give me her pie recipe. But she didn’t. I decided that day I wasn’t going to give up on my dream of carrying on Grandma’s pie legacy. When November came this year we decided to go to Disneyland and stay with Grandma. That hope inside me leaped! Will I get the pie recipe this time? One of the days we were there Grandma said she would give me her recipe before we left! I was so excited! Well, it was the last day of our trip. We were packed and ready to go, just visiting a while before we headed out. We were talking and Jesse said, “So Grandma, you said you would give Te your pie recipe before we leave”. She was so cute. She told me where to find it in her kitchen and I want and got her pile of recipes and she found the one for her pie. When she handed it to me, Handel's Messiah Hallelujah Chorus was singing loud in my head!!!!!!

10. December 14th – Gray hair?!?!?!?!

What!?!?!?!? That’s right. I found my first gray hair! So you tell me, when did you find yours?

Well that was my year. God really stretched me and taught me life lessons. Life is full of ups and downs but at children of God we have this scripture to meditate on.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” NASV

Moments 7 and 8

So these next two moments are not easy for me. See, I usually don’t like to think about things that hurt. I just try to ignore them so I don’t have to feel pain. But I’ve come to realize that it is far better to feel the pain and remember then to forget. So here I go……

7. September 14^th – John’s cancer

Today Jesse got a call from his mom. She wanted to come to our house to tell us something. We were at lunch at Taqueria so we told her to meet us at our house at 1pm. We knew it wasn’t good news. When we got home John and Nancy were waiting outside. We went inside and sat down. Nancy looked and John and said, “Why don’t you tell them”. John proceeded to tell us that the reason he had been sick the last month or so was because his cancer was back and it didn’t look good. They didn’t know many details at the time but he told us he didn’t want to fight it. That he had lived a good life, was happy, and proud of his children. I remember looking at Jesse and he didn’t say anything. All I could think was how much he wanted to be a grandfather and he wouldn’t get that change. I looked at Nancy and she was crying. I couldn’t believe this was happening. They got up to leave and Jesse and I gave dad a hug and told him we loved him. And as he turned to walk out the door we heard him start to cry. After they left, we sat silently for what seemed like hours, crying.

8. October 14^th – John passes

Oh boy, where to start. Jesse went with Steven to Stockton to look at shoes. I was at home watching TV. Over the past 4 weeks I have been on edge. John was getting worse and every time Nancy called, I thought it was “the call”. Well today Nancy called me, upset. She said she and Aunt Michelle took dad to the hospital and it wasn’t looking good. She told me to get down there quick and tell Jesse and Joe. I got in my car and started driving to the hospital. I got to the ICU and called Jesse and he was just leaving Stockton. Jerry and Nikki were also on their way from San Francisco. We were all able to be with dad. Lena left work and came, and my mom came for a little bit. Dad was having such a hard time breathing. He only had strength the breath. He could barely talk. Lots of family and friends came to the hospital to see him and be a support for us. Finally they put him in a room and we all took turns staying with him. I told myself I did not want to be there when he passed. I didn’t think I could handle it. But we turned on some praise music and prayed and read scripture. After about an hour, he went to be with his heavenly father.

This is one of the difficult things I’ve gone through. Sometimes it’s the hard things in life that you experience that end up being good in the end. We knew he wasn’t in pain anymore and that he was with Jesus. I’m glad we could be there with him till the end. John was surrounded with love.

Moments 5 and 6

5. August 7^th - Engagement

Jesse surprised me with a trip to Muir Beach! We stayed at our first bed and breakfast. He took me to the place where he proposed to me. We took some pictures and walked around. Then we decided to meet up with Jerry and Nikki in San Francisco so they could show us around the city. We had lunch at the Beach Chalet. As we were eating I could tell Nikki wanted to tell us something. She was whispering to Jerry, and I just pretended to ignore it; to be polite. So we continue eating and out of the blue they tell us they are eloping in two months. I was so happy for them! I told Nikki my plan to make her my sister-in-law worked! After lunch we went to the Sutro Baths ruins and walked around on the beach. It was a great day!

6. September 4^{th –} 5K

So up until this year running was something I never even considered doing. But after starting Prism and losing some weight, Jesse and Tanya convinced me to “try out” a gym. So I went and got a membership. I started out running a little on the treadmill but mostly walking. After about six months of losing weight, Steven asked our Prism group if we wanted to run a 5K. So Jesse and I started training. We ran our first “5K” on the treadmill after watching the Biggest Loser. We signed up for the 5K and trained both on the treadmill and outside on the bike path. Finally the day came to run the race. Steven, Beth, Jesse and I were ready to go! We got off to a good pace. The adrenaline rushed through my body. I was looking at all the other people running the race with us. Seeing so many people running made me run faster. Boy scouts were handing out water. They were so cute! I remember running and thinking, “wow, I am running a race. Me.” Finally we rounded the corner and could see the finish line. Before Jesse came around the corner I sprinted as fast as I could. He of course passed me, but I kept going as fast as I could until I passed the finish line. I was so emotional that I forgot to tear off the bottom of my number and give it to the lady so she could record my time. She ripped it off and I walked over to the sidewalk and sat down. The feeling you get when you accomplish something you thought you never could is amazing. That feeling is what keeps me running even when I don’t want to run anymore. I will never forget this day because I accomplished “the impossible”.

Here we are after crossing the finish line!

Moments 3 and 4

3. March 13^th – LOST Party

For my Birthday this year I decided to have a LOST party. It was awesome! Everyone came as a character.


Tanya and Noah made to most awesomest LOST cake EVER!!!



Kim and Tanya did a lot of the food.

Carla helped me with decorations.


Tanya and Noah helped me come up with the LOST version of the game Werewolves of Millers Hollow.

This was my first Birthday party ever that was so involved. It was so much fun. BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!!!!!

4. March 31^st – Noah leaves / Grandpa Passes

Today was a hard day. Kim, Brynn and I went to Tanya’s house to watch her kids while she took Noah to the airport to leave for Saudi Arabia. It was Wednesday, so Tanya said we could have our worship planning meeting at her house. Steven and Dave came for the meeting. We got there early and watched Noah play with the kids and say goodbye. We cried a little and watched him leave. Then we got our meeting started. I was starting to feel a little better. Then Steven’s phone rang. It was my dad. I don’t know why he answered it, but he did. When he got off the phone and looked at Kim and me, my stomach went in a knot. I knew what he was going to say. Then, he said it. “Your grandpa passed away this morning.” My heart sunk. The rest of the day was a blur.

Here is me and my grandpa in his backyard. I LOVED playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. You can see the grapes he grew in this picture. He would let us pick some off the vine and wash them with the hose and eat them! He built the swing set in this picture for his grand kids. He loved having us over and playing with us.


Grandpa's birthday was two days after mine, so he would always be at my parties and we would share the cake.

I miss my grandpa and think of him often.