3 x 50

This year, three out of the six of us turned or will turn 50. So it was time for a girls vacation!

Due to busy schedules, financial constraints, and/or family obligations, we had to pick somewhere local to 'get-away' for a three day weekend. And NAPA was the place.

And what did we do?  Wine tasting..

Sutter Home Winery was one of the free ones. Since none of us are wine drinkers, we didn't want to pay a surcharge for tastings.

And we ate..

Sat in on a cooking demonstration at the Culinary Institute of America

... and ate..

Celadon was delicious!

... and ate..

.. and ate some more.

One of my rare attempts of taking a selfie.

We not only ate throughout this trip, but more importantly we continued to keep the bond we 'sisters from another mister' strong.  It's such a blessing to know that we will all grow old together through the ups and downs of life.

All Alone?

When I saw this picture posted on FB it just broke my heart.

Somewhere in the US on September 28

I could not stop crying for this lone young man. Could you guess where he was? What he was doing? On September 28 probably very early in the morning?

Well, if you have a high schooller in the house, they may know. Ask them.

On Sept 28, it was See You At The Pole, where Christian teens gather annually at their local schools'  flagpole to pray for their school during the early morning before school starts. Started in 1990 as a grass roots movement of 10 students praying  at their school, it is now a global day of student prayer.

This young man pictured above was the only one standing at his school's flagpole praying for his fellow students, school and country. At first he was waiting for someone else to show up but after awhile when he figured out that no one else was going to join him, he prayed that his prayers alone would make a difference to Jesus. And it did. The picture went viral all over the country.

This young man touched my heart so deeply because he took his faith into his own hands and made it a message to the world that He loves Jesus and that our schools so desperately need God so he prayed. 

Last year, Emily joined other students from Youth Alive, a Christian club at her public high school to pray.

Last year, Hannah joined her junior high classmates to pray at the flagpole

And this year, Emily again joined her classmates as the sun was coming up, to pray for her school, teachers and country.

I am thankful that my girls have a spiritual community to be a part of at school.

Being a teenager is so different now as compared to when I was in high school. But one thing has not changed: being a teen is not easy. In fact, it may be one of the hardest times of your life. Balancing academics, extra curriculars, friends, peer pressure, social media, discovering your identity, and planning for a future in which you have no idea what you will be doing much less know what you want to do.

That's a lot for a someone to go through when they aren't even officially an 'adult' yet.

So for a teen to go to God through prayer to ask for help is H-U-G-E!

So was that lone young man all alone when he prayed that early morning on Sept 28?

Nope.

Jesus was with Him.

3 and 2

I am blessed with two daughters and no sons. My sister is blessed with three sons and no daughters.

Zachary (13); Joshua (16); Hannah (almost 13); Emily (almost 16) and Daniel (almost 19) - July 2016

It all evens out. God knew that it would be easier for me to raise a girl than a boy.

I'm an introvert; clean-freak; need constant verbal communication to understand you; and loves shopping. I'm not at all outdoorsy nor enjoy the outdoors; not-athletic; not-active anything; not interested in sports nor computers nor cooking!

I wouldn't know what to do with an active messy hungry smelly boy.

2003

My sister is an extrovert who talks to pretty much anyone that breathes; cooks and bakes up a storm to feed a soccer team; goes out to all the boy's soccer and baseball games and is a big Giants fan.  My sister has no patience in dealing with a crying anxiety-ridden child and she definitely does not have the patience to deal with 'girl drama'.

2006

I can't deal with a boy's computer obsession, smelly heads/bodies, messy rooms and loud voices.

2007

But I love my nephews as if they were my own so God knew what was best. We have the best of both worlds.

Beauty

We were treated to an AMAZING performance of  "Beauty and the Beast" by our local theater company, StarStruck. What made this performance so special is that we know the lead actress, who played Belle.

Kaleea is a former KHAer and started her singing performances there and has blossomed to be an amazing singer. She's a Senior in high school and is passionate about God.

She along with the whole cast was incredible. The performance was like a professional production.

Nothing 'amateur' about it.

They sound like adults but when you get a closer look, they are all kids..

I was definitely Star Struck!

Half A Century

Well, I hit the half century mark last month and I really feel it. I think the only time I was thrilled to say I'm 50 was when I took the Pilates 50+ class. And it wasn't an easier class. I thought they would go easier on us oldies but it just humiliated me more seeing those oldies working harder than me. Being the huge introvert that I am, I didn't want a big bash. I didn't want anything really. Just stay home and read my books were my plans.

But my dear friends didn't agree with those plans. On my actual birthday, while my husband and girls went to an All-Church Work Day, I was treated to a Dry Bar at Santana Row by my dear dear friend, Elaine (or Queen E as I refer to her).

Our little group at the Dry Bar

Elaine, along with my purse-shopping buddy, Teresa and my BFF, Helen went to a Blow Dry Bar where they wash and style your hair fancy-like.

Before and After.. you can't really tell that much but..

I didn't know what to expect but it turned out quite nice and it was perfect because for dinner Matthew was taking me out so I had a good reason to have fancy hair!

..the back is where you can tell the most. I can't get those curls by myself! I'll need 5 hands!

After the Dry Bar we made a quick stop at my favorite donut place, Stan's...

Teresa loves donuts as much as me!

And then to a little Korean hole in the wall for a delicious lunch!

Love taking a newbie to eat Korean food! Teresa loved it!

In the evening, we cleaned up quite well and ate for the first time at Alexander's Steakhouse...

... where the steaks start at $65+

Matthew's T-bone steak was HUGE!

The day after I had lunch with my siblings and parents celebrating at Cheesecake Factory..

My brother ordered a special cake from Pacifica for me!

And then the following weekend I was treated to a day of shopping at Stanford and lunch with my favorite cousin, Cheryl.

Cheryl and I had Thai food on University.

 And this last weekend, my SIL's family took us to Peruvian food on the Peninsula.

It was quite tasty. Thought it would be more Mexican but it wasn't.

Overall this birthday has been the most relaxing, enjoyable, fun and filled with so much love!
It was the perfect way to celebrate the big 5-0.

First Day of School x 2

FINALLY! School has started! Well actually school has just started for one of my girls. The other one started two weeks ago.

Hannah started at a new school. We didn't want to leave KHA but knew that God was in control. Long story-short, KHA temporarily suspended their middle school due to low enrollment so we moved her to FCS this year. Their school year starts mid-August so Hannah had to cut her summer short unfortunately. She literally had two months of summer vacation: June 15 - August 15.

She's smiling here but on the inside she was a wreck!

We were still able to go on an Ow Family trip to Seattle and Vancouver in June (a first since 2002 which was the last time all my siblings and parents traveled together) and our annual stay in Monterey at Matthew's boss' vacation home.

Hannah's summer consisted of:
- Making many DIY videos
- Vlogging our Monterey trip
- Working on summer homework: a pre-algebra review workbook assigned by me
- Reading 2 novels as summer reading homework assigned by FCS

After school on the first day of school was all smiles.

Hannah's transition to her new school even with three former KHA classmates, was tough the first week but as the weeks went by her anxiety lessened. We are thankful for the kind and understanding support of the FCS teachers and administration.

Emily started school today! A sophmore at WHS! She got an extra two weeks of sleeping in and staying in her pjs!

My sophomore is almost as tall as me.. just little under an inch.

Emily had a heavy load her first year in high school and did well so I let her relax for the summer. I thought she would have a boring summer but apparently she was quite busy..

Emily's summer consisted of:
- One week away at Hume Lake Christian Camp
- Five days of volunteering at Resonate Church's Turn It Up Summer Program; she was on the Food team and completed 23 hours of community service
- Completed the online driver's ed course and passed the written DMV test so now she has her learner's permit! YIKES!
- Bunny-sat for five days
- Created our Monterey vacation home video (Matthew says now he can retire)
- Read 37 books

Emily has all but one of her classes with Rachel (left) again!

The years go by so quickly.. ten years ago..

First Day of Kindergarten for Emily - 2006

Change is never easy. I don't like it. I don't look forward to it and I don't ever look for it. I don't get bored and antsy. Starting at a new school was hard for me as a parent who has been volunteering/working at the same school for the last 10 years. But life needs change or you get complacent. Change helps you grow and at 50 I think I'm ready to grow! LOL!

Hume

Emily's first time away from home for a whole week.. and went to High School Summer Camp!

Hume Lake in the background! So gorgeous!

Emily and 12 other members of her Youth Group at FCC went to Hume Lake Christian Camp during July 4th week.

The girls' cabin

She has never been away without one of her parents so this was a big independent step for my first born! And she had a great time!

Emily attached to Courtney

She enjoyed the recreation time, food and cabin time.

 The camp grounds look so beautiful!

Emily and Brandon, one of the counselors, braided Adrianne's hair!

She made a cool key ring during craft time.

The kids woke up so see the sun rise against Hume Lake at 6:00am!

The camp had a professional photographer and posted the following pictures on their website. Of course, I did not purchase any so that's why the Hume marks on the photos.

Crazy Campers!

Can you find Emily in this picture? I'll give the first person  a $10 Amazon card if you can find her! Show me proof that's it's her!

This was how many kids that were at camp that one week!

At church, the following Sunday, the kids went up on stage to share about their experiences and thank the congregation for supporting and praying for them!

Grace, Courtney and Danika shared on stage how God spoke to them.

Here is what Emily said to her supporters regarding her experience:

"I really appreciate your help in supporting me on my trip to Hume Lake Christian Camps. I had a great time bonding with friends and studying the word of God. I really enjoyed the worship and listening to the sermon during chapel. I also enjoyed times casually hanging out with some friends.

In a typical day, we’d wake up for breakfast and then head to chapel, which consisted of worship and a sermon. Organized recreation was afterwords, where we play engaging and competitive team games outside. After we eat lunch, there is 4-5 hours of free time. This is a time where we can do any activity of our choosing. Most of our time was spent at the volleyball deck to hang out and watch, or play cards. We had dinner, and then went to an evening chapel service. At night we had about an hour of time, there was usually a scheduled event we could attend.

The camp theme for this year was Bingo (farm themed). It was based on the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 16-19. When Elijah’s faith in God was tested, Bingo’s trust in his farmer was also tested. A short film about Bingo was shown, which relates to Elijah’s story. I learned about our love for God. I learned that God wants our genuine love for him."

The two gals below are not super close friends of Emily's even though they attend Youth Group together.  Funny thing is .. both attended one of Emily's birthday party over a decade ago.

Grace I. in 2016 at camp........2003 at Emily's 3rd year old birthday party (13 years later)

Grace F. in 2016 at camp.......... 2005 at Emily's "Princess Tea Party" 5th birthday (11 years later)

Bottom line.. you never know when you reconnect with some 'old' friends!