Liquid, Gas or Solid?

Right now Israel and Judah are dancing an interpretation to liquid, solid or gas. This means that one of them yells LIQUID (in a funny little voice) and then they dance around the room showing Sean and I what liquid on the loose should look like. Next, someone yells out out GAS...look out it's about to get crazy!!

Zoe and I are Best Friends!

I got to go spend time with some of my dearest friends in the strangest place in the world, and.........I got to squeeze little Savanah Zoe Bohlender! Well let me tell you all about her legs. Her legs are skinny. Little little baby legs. There's not much squish at all, but at the rate she guzzles her bottle the squish will conquor those legs! Every bit of her is little bitty. When she pulls those little legs up next to her tummy there's not a whole lot of baby girl there! I don't know how she is going to handle all of the love everyone already has for her.




This was the first time I met Zoe.



This was just before I checked the squish on her leg.


This is when Zoe met Sean.



This is Zoe showing me how cute she is.


This is Zoe showing me how tired she is from all the hard work she's been doing.


This is Zoe showing me her Dad's soul patch.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's Baby Time!!!


I'm so happy for you friends! Welcome to the world Zoe. We love you!

Girl Goes Mop Crazy

Today Sean and I went to Target to get a Swiffer. Within an hour of the purchase the kitchen and bathroom floor are shinning! Yay!

How Do I Look?

This was the question Judah asked me this morning. Yesterday was the first day of school. The night before she picked out her cloths, practiced her "entrance" and made sure we all thought she was as cute as humanly possible.

This morning was a little bit different. Judah did ask if I thought she looked cute. She really did look cute. She ALWAYS looks cute. The only problem was that she had been in the cloths for less than an hour and they were already dirty. When I told her this she just said, "No one notices that stuff anyway, like if they are clean. They just notice if they are cute."

UHAUL Makes Moving Easier

Saturday, August 20, 2006
8:00 Go to Gym with Sean
9:00 Go get Coffee with Sean
10:30 Look at House with Sean and Girls
12:00 Shopping for Pants for Sean (You wouldn't believe how interesting this part really was)
3:00 Rock Climbing with the Famo
6:00 Good Movie and Good Dinner at Home

Sunday, August 21, 2006
8:30 Head to Church with Sean
3:00 Head to UHAUL with Sean and Jason
3:30 Jason's Seat Belt doesn't work
4:00 Is Something Burning? Do You Smell That?
4:15 Breaks? What Breaks? Who Needs Breaks?
4:30 You're Sending a Mechanic??
5:00 Hang out with Sean and Jason in a Parking Lot while the wonder mechanic does his magic.
6:30 Should be heading out in half an hour
7:15 Just a few more minutes
8:00 Almost done
8:20 Head to Three Arch Bay to get furniture!!
8:45 Let the Loading Begin
2am Unload the last piece of furniture and CRASH!

For only $29.99 you can rent a 17 foot smooth riding truck. I bet the truck you rent won't have a crack smoking Statue of Liberty on the side of it like ours!

Wowie Zowie

I can't believe that it's been so long since I last posted! So here's what I've been up to...

1. Pack my stuff up and pack it in the a closet at Mark and Angela's (thanks guys!!).

2. Lots of baby squishing.


3.Reds vs Dodgers with Paul. Dodgers won.


4. Hopping a plane to LA just in time to miss all of the luggage hastles.

5. Spend some super fun family time at the LA Farmers Market.




6. Got a job as an Office Manager at Taylor Family Chiropractic. I started yesterday.

7. Great food at Doug and Renee's (Sean's folks).




8. Oh and I can't forget toe tickling with the girls! Fun fun fun!

Girl Gets Ring

Well, I have some big news. I went to California last week to see Sean. He asked me to marry him and I said yes!

Okay, now let me back up a bit. When I was living in California last year Sean and I dated for about 6 months until I left to come back to Cincinnati. When I left I expected my feelings for him would die down, but they didn't. For six months I thought and prayed for God's guidance.

While in Kansas City he and the girls (he has an 11 year old Israel and an 8 year old Judah) came to visit. I knew it would be hard and a bit confusing to see him. I knew I would have a lot of fun with all of them. When they got there I was happier than I expected to be with them. When they left it was harder than I expected to say goodbye and go back to Cincinnati. I talked to a friend about how I was feeling and she pointed out that I hadn't told him how I was feeling. So, the next day I called and told him. A few days later he called and asked me to come to California so we could get some objective council. Next thing I know I'm on a plane to Orange County.

One evening he said something that made me think he might ask me to marry him while I was there. I was totally surprised. I called my mom the next day to see what she thought. She didn't seem too surprised! That evening he asked and I said yes! You can read more of his story here.

So, that's my big news. I am in Cincinnati right now, but I'll be moving back to California in a few weeks so that I can be closer until we get married. That will give us more time for the girls to adjust to me being around. My days are about to get quite a bit more interesting/exciting. I don't think a more wonderful thing could have happened to me.

Die Phone Die

What you don't see in this photo is my croaking phone. It's not like I jumped in and had instant remorse. No, I swam for a good long while before realizing that I had drown my phone. But doesn't it look like we are having so much fun! Ava loves the water.

A new phone should arrive at my house around sometime today. I still probably won't be able to recover all the phone numbers, so if you want to talk to me or you want me to be able to call you then you should email me your phone number.

False Alarm

I thought it was working. I make a few calls and sent a few text messages. Shortly after that it died again.

Good news. If you ever jump in the pool with your phone you can put it in a bag with silica jell packets. It will take the water out of your phone. It may take about 48 hours, but it should do the trick. :)

I forgot to mention-when the phone died so did all of the numbers. Can you email me your phone number?

A Great and Terrible Day

Yesterday was great in that it was spent by a pool with Angela and Ava. It was terrible in that when I got in the pool I still had my cell phone on me. So...if you need to get a hold of me then you can email me and I'll give you my home phone number. :)

Home Again

My last week in Kansas City was a very exciting one. I got to spend time with Christina and hear about her travel journeys. I am glad she went, but I am SO glad that she is home.

A few days after Christina arrived Sean, Israel, Judah and Jason came to town. We hung out at the Bohlender's, had great conversations, ate REALLY good food (thank you Chef Henry!) and had way too much fun. All of the kids were outside one night when Israel ran in to announce that there were fireflies outside! She and Judah had never seen them before. Judah never came in to tell us about them because she was too busy chasing them. The night before they left we went to Shiloh Gardens (where no one would think of spraying for bugs) and chased the fireflies there. We saw more lightning bugs and got more chigger bites than any of us had before.

Wednesday morning I had to say goodbye to everyone. After having spent such a great month with such wonderful little boys and amazing friends I was a bit sad to say farewell.

Now I'm back in Cincinnati. It feels good to be home. Angela and I have hung out a lot in the past two days. I didn't realize how much I missed my sister. Ava is bigger than I expected. She is sitting up on her own and getting on her hands and knees to rock back and forth. Pretty soon she'll be crawling. When I see it I'll be sure to push her down.

Oh Happy Day

On Saturday one of my favorite persons in the whole world came home! Christina has been serving the nations with Jesus, but He has finally sent her back to us. I have missed Christina a lot in the past six months, so I am VERY happy to have her back. She's living with Katchen right now and I think that is completely unfair and wonderful at the same time. Two of the greatest women I know will be under one roof! What a lucky roof.

Welcome home Christina!

Does Jesus Give You Heartburn?

Well...more like does He make your heart burn. (Luke 24) This thought has been running through my mind ever since I had a conversation with Randy about decaffeinated Jesus. I think about Jesus. I talk about Jesus. But when it comes down to it, does the time that I spend with Him leave me saying, "When He spoke to me, my heart burned within me."

This thought came up again today. I was with Noella again. We were talking about the fun that we've had gallivanting about glorious Kansas City. It has been terribly entertaining, but at the end of the day it leaves you feeling a bit empty. I am not suggesting that we only stay at home to pray and read our Bibles or spend every moment at the House of Prayer. One of my favorite things to do is to get out and see the city that I have spent so many hours praying for. I actually enjoy Kansas City! But the truth remains that my heart is not full when my social calendar is. I need to spend time in the presence of God. It is something that I crave. I need to feel Him love me, and I need to return that love. I need to feel that love burn in my heart.

Girl Puts Down Game

I would have to say that the Omega Intensive has been the most fun event I have ever planned. It was fun to be in KC with such wonderful friends. It has been wonderful to work with Randy again. I have enjoyed Kansas City (tonight Noella, Deloris and I went to see Henry V in the park!). I have also really enjoyed being in the House of Prayer. I don't always love being in the Prayer Room. There have been times when I had a lot of grace to spend long hours there. More often than not it is a choice to go.

I think overall it went pretty well. I am relieved that it is over, and I will get to go home in a week or so. At the same time I am a bit sad that it is over and I will have to head back to Cincinnati where there is quite a bit of uncertainty for me. Uncertainty is not an option in anyone's life, but as a planner it is a bit of a challenge for me. I'm constantly trying to straighten out the rubix cube of my future, but sometimes it just can't be done. I have to take my hands away from the puzzle. Even though I really desire to continue to work at it until I can figure it out. I turn to God and ask Him to help me. I know that He has a plan. I know that He is a better planner than me.

Ava Thinks She's Big, But She's Not!

Look at that smile. She is so proud of herself to be sitting up. So what if she is about to eat carpet, she's acting big and she likes it! I miss Ava!

The Omega Intensive began yesterday. I love planning events like this. I especially enjoy meeting the people who I've been exchanging emails with over the past few weeks. There are around 100 people in attendance. Believe me...you wish you could be there.

Today Noella and I hit the town. First we went to Liberty to Martinali's Cafe. It's an adorable little place, with delicious food and wonderful prices. It's in the same building as a great furniture store and a little quilting shop. If you have the opportunity to check it out you should. High tea is only $12.50! Just make sure you call in advance for it.

Next it was off to Parkville to the Jazz, Blues and Arts Riverjam. I had never been to Parkville, but I will definitely go back. They had the cutest little shops, wonderful trails along the Missouri River, good pizza and the best chocolate truffle I think I've ever had. The music wasn't very good, but the art...especially the jewelry was beautiful.

While we were looking at art we met a guy named Eric, who was selling his paintings. He was definitely trying to communicate something with his art (which isn't all that common at festivals like this), but I'm not the most discerning person when it comes to art, so we both began to ask him questions about what he was trying to say. He told us that he believed that all knowledge was shared in the universe-it was only a matter of tapping into it. This statement was the beginning of a long conversation about his spiritual beliefs. We talked to him for quite a while about absolutes, can there really be a gray area, God's love, etc etc etc. Both Noella and I were praying that the Holy Spirit would show up...but He didn't. At least it seemed to both of us that He didn't. We both knew that it didn't matter what we said to Eric...unless God showed up nothing was going to happen. We left hoping that some sort of deposit of God's light had happened. We prayed for him...and that's it. I'm never sure how to resolve these situations in my heart. I hope that this situation was a divine set-up. I hope that it planted seeds of God's love in Eric's heart. I wish that there had been at least a hint of something going on inside of him...but there wasn't. This is situation definitely gives me motivation to pray.

Kansas City...A Beautiful Place To Spend Your Summer

For some reason I always forget how hot summer is going to be in the Midwest. I decided to go on a walk this morning thinking that if I went before 8am it wouldn't be too hot. By 8am it was almost 90 degrees! I went anyway.
Being in Kansas City has so many benefits, but one that it is lacking is Norwood's Gold's Gym. If I'm going to sweat for the sake of exercise I like it to be in an air conditioned room. There is a Gold's downtown, but that gym is almost a joke. I have been spoiled by only driving 4 minutes to a 6am spin class. If I didn't feel like making it to the 6am I could always go to the 9:30 or noon class. That's not happening in Kansas City. Not unless I want to pay $643 to go to this place. Hmmm...no thank you. I guess I'm stuck sweatin it out outdoors. Oh well.