1 week

We officially have one week until this new life begins.

In the mean time we took some Christmas Pictures with the Family (well... with our brothers)

.... so here you go...

Awwww... how cute huh?

Oh.. by the way... my last post had a ton of spelling errors and the such. Please ignore them.... all of them.

Happy 2007.

Few Months in Review

Merry Christmas to all!
I am terrible at Blogging. Maybe this should be my New Years Resolution?
Since September... school has been going great... here is a Christmas picture of my class! I decided to just put the silly picture on year. It is kinda like "where's waldo"... can you find Mrs. Marks?

McKenzie and I spend our anniverary upvalley. We stayed in Yountville, and had an excellent time.
We had a great time! Then just last week we went to Disneyland.... oh Christmas Magic! We love Disneyland at Christmas... and any time of the year for that matter. It was our last time to use our passes before they expire. We also got to see friends from GHFC which was just great!

Here is a picture of the girls after we beat the boys in "four on a couch"...

January starts a whole new life for us (again!). McKenzie start the police academy on Jan. 6th. A whole new chapter of our lives begins! We are looking forward to it, but it will be a long 6 months.

Ok... I need to finish some laundry and unpack from our vacation (last week.. but really just 2 days ago). Then we have to finish up some Christmas shopping... bad huh?

We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

-Stacy and Mac

we're still here

Sorry it takes me so long to update this crazy thing! We now have internet at home, so I should be able to update it more regularly.

Here are some quick updates:

1. Camp was awesome! Here a few mud day pictures:

These are the people we worked with all summer.

McKenzie I were lead counselors and then Mac also did all the AV teach stuff. We had a really fun mud day every week!

I spoke at camp 3 out of the 4 weeks. I did a purity seminar for the girls. One of the churches there was from Hayward. They have asked me to come at the end of October to speak at a purity seminar at their church. I am exciting for the oppertunity to speak with those girls. Please be praying as I prepare.

Now we are back in Napa... settling in to our new apartment. Things are almost all done... I still need to hang some things on the walls and stuff. McKenzie is taking some classes and preparing for the academy. I am really enjoying teaching 5th grade. I have a great class! So far, so good. I am looking forward to the year. I am coorindating the after school activities for the school too, which has been pretty fun.

So that is the short and sweet version of life. Thanks for the prayers... they mean so much. Drop us a line when you get a chance!



Bye Bye for now!

We're Here!

Ok... sorry it has taken so long to post anything new... life is nuts! But let's see..... what has been going on.

We had a great garage sale last Saturday! Thanks all our friends who helped us... it turned into a packing party! We got rid of everything big we needed to and took the rest to the goodwill.

Sunday we finally got a moving truck (which was a HUGE hassle... and I would rather not re-live it... but let's just say I reserved it a month before we were suppose to move... and I confirmed it the week of, and they didn't have it when we went to get it). Sunday they had a great send off for us at church. It was a really neat morning (throughout many tears). The had a great video of people saying stuff to us, and it was just really neat. They had a funny slide show and played funny "did you know" type games. Very clever. They gave us an AWESOME quilt with squares of kid's handprints from the ministry. That was an amazing gift that we will treasure forever! I can't think of anything better.

After church we went to the Garrisons/White's home and had a bbq, and then the packing began! Thank You Thank You Thank You to all who helped!! We are so grateful!

Then some sad and yet happy goodbyes and we were on our way. There were tears up the five and for the rest of the evening... and yet a peace that we were doing what we were suppose to do.

The first day of our trip was sinchy! (which means really easy) it took us 2 hours to get over the grapevine... with no traffic... which was awesome. We found our hotel and got a good nights sleep before going the rest of the way.

Monday we drove into nor cal! Everything fit in our storage unit (praise jesus!)

So this week we have....
1. Done a lot of sleeping.
2. Laundry
3. Got my school curriculum for next August.
4. Got to see my new classroom... my name was even on the door :o)
5. I will get my finger prints done on Friday!
6. Played cards with my parents
7. Saw a movie
8. Gone on a much needed and really fun date night with McKenzie
and... we've done more that I have probably forgotten but the coolest thing happened today:

WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE!

We've put the deposit down and everything! It is PERFECT!!! Something opened up just yesterday and they don't do a waiting list so praise the Lord that we walked in today.

We'll post pictures when we get them. We will be able to move in between August 15 and 20th! It is perfect! We get home from camp on the 12th... so it's just great!

Ok... more to come later... hopefully with pictures.

Tomorrow our friends from So Cal are coming to see us! They had planned a trip anyways to come to Lodi, so it worked out to come and have lunch with us! So that will be fun! And we are going to be eating at Taqueria Rosita! Yum!

Ok... good night and good luck!

PS We leave for camp Saturday afternoon, in case you are wondering!

Thought On Moving

McKenzie and I vowed to never ever move in the summer again. We will either
1) Only move in cooler weather
2) Only move when we have enough money to pay someone else to do it.

Ok... so we may only be half way serious, but this is stinky. We are excited about the new adventure that God has placed us on... I guess it's just hard to trust in him when we are packing in 100 degree heat... and it doesn't feel like we've made a dent!

So I am sorry it has been so very long since we have posted anything. Our lives have been way passed crazy.

I cannot even remember all that has happened since I posted last... so we will just concentrate on telling you what is happening now:

1. We're packing (boooo boooo)
2. VBS is next week. We are expecting about 200 kiddos... it's all coming together... but it is gonna be a long and tiring week. :o)
3. McKenzie and I are taking July 3rd off! We're going to glen ivy day spa... it will be fun.
4. My mom is coming tomorrow. She is gonna help at VBS and do a little packing too... thanks mom. (i put her to work ... on her vacation... how nice is that?)
5. The big moving day is July 9th. (the church is having something in between services, then packing the truck, then we're gonna drive into the sunset)


Exciting stuff that's happened:
1. Baby sister sanborn was born yesterday. I got to hold a baby that was less then 6 hours old... which is amazing!!! Zoe Grace 7lbs 4ounces 19.5 inches long... beautiful!

2. Ummmm.. can't think of anything else... except I got some new clothes on REALLY good sale!

Ok... so pray for us as we move. Just 14 more days. It is physically and emotionally draining. It gets more so by the day. But we just keep reminding ourselves, that we didn't make this decision.. God did, and now we just follow Him. We'll make it! ;O)

Alright, I gotta eat some dinner, and then do more laundry (oh the fun... BLAH!)

The News Is out...

Well.. everyone officially knows!

McKenzie & I are moving to Northern Ca. Our last Sunday down here will be July 9th.
We will spend a week visiting family, and then we are off to work at Sugar Pine Christian Camps (www.sugarpine.org) for 4 weeks during their Jr/High School Program Camps!

Then back to the Napa/Vallejo area where I will be teaching 5th grade at North Hills Christian School in Vallejo, and McKenzie will be going to the Napa Valley Jr College. He will start the police academy in January.

Big changes! But the Lord is so faithful.

For those of you who missed our in church announcement, it went something like this:

McKenzie:

Stacy and I have enjoyed serving and working here at Granada, and being a part of this church family very much. We are both sad to leave, but we have seen the Lord’s mighty hand through each step in our decision making process.

I have always felt called to go into Law Enforcement, and this move will allow me to focus on that goal. I plan to attend the Napa Valley College Police Academy in January.

Stacy:

The Lord has been so faithful to us through these months of prayer and decision-making. He has answered so many prayers in very real ways, even above and beyond what we have asked for. Through all the sadness of leaving, it has been so encouraging to see the Lord’s hand through it all.

One of our goals for the year was to allow McKenzie to follow his dreams to pursue Law Enforcement, and I am excited that we are able to give him the opportunity to do that.

Last week I accepted a position at North Hills Christian School, in Vallejo teaching 5th grade. This was a huge answer to prayer, and I am excited to see how the Lord will use me next year in the lives of those children and their families.

We want to thank you for being our family for the last 6 years. You have blessed us in so many ways! It has been a wonderful experience for us to have served and fellowshipped at Granada.

McKenzie:

We believe that our last Sunday here will be July 9th.
There are a few ways that you can pray for us in the process:
1. Pray for our move, for packing and for safe travel.
2. Pray for our transition from one place to the next and that we can keep trusting the Lord.
3. Pray for Stacy as she prepares to teach, and for my preparation as I enter the police academy in January.

If you have any other questions, we would love to tell you all the ways in which the Lord has worked as we have made this decision. Thank You.

So that is the news around here. Please be praying for us as we go through this busy summer!

-us

To Infinity and Beyond!

I thought this was a very funny picture! Look how bored I look!! But I did get a pretty good score! McKenzie is Mr Serious :o). I think this ride is good for Cop practice.

So yea, we went to Disneyland tonight. Walked around a bit, went ona few rides, and just mostly had a good time.

So from our house to yours... have a great night!

Sick... again

Stacy is sick again. Those little ones at church... I just always get some mutated form of whatever they bring into the early childhood center.
Sinus and bronchial infections.

This one took me out though.... 3 days in bed! But get this... they were roofing our house! Yea, try to sleep when you don't feel good, and then have roofers pounding away at the house! Yikes!!! Not fun at all.

But never fear. A breathing treatment, antibiotics, codine cough syrup, and advair have solved this little problem! :o) Now I just have this little cough holding on.

Luckily there a big strong man around who loves me and takes care of me (even when I'm mean gross and sick).

So this week I am hoping to rest up some more, and get ready for a quick trip to Nor Cal at the end of the week!

Good Night, and good luck!

Happy Easter!

Well.. Happy Easter to one and all. We have survivied this incredibly busy time! Yea! We celebrated with lunch today at Lucille's and some quiet time at home (right now!) We might even go to Disneyland tonight!

But, as promised here are a few pictures of the awesome Easter egg Hunt we had last weekend!

I'm not sure if you can tell how many eggs are really out there.... over 1500 for each hunt!

Some of the Kids even said it was better then Halloween! (Niether of these pictures really do it justice!)

In all my glory! "I see more eggs!!!" Get em!

Not the best spicture... but I thought it was a nice action shot anyways!

Ok, so Happy Easter to all of you! Hope you had a wonderful day! The Lord is Risen! :o)

Egg Hunt!!!

Yesterday we had "Family Jam" at church. It was a big fair sort of thing. We had two GIANT easter egg hunts (one for little kiddos, one for older kids) We had about 3000 eggs. Yes that is 3000 (so 1500 for each hunt!!)

We had lots of kids from the community come (the whole goal). We gave away awesome prizes (huge raffle) it was great!!

I will post pictures tomorrow or maybe tonight!

It was a blast!

And now... on to Easter week!

Surprise!!!!

Happy April 1st Everyone!!!
(AKA: April Fools!!!)

Rest is good...

We learned today at church.. rest is good! That is the way short version! I agree with it though... wholeheartedly.

Right now I am sitting in our living room, and McKenzie and Brydon are playing video games at the kitchen table. They're funny. I can hardly believe how much they play video games. Must be a guy thing. I just don't get it!! (of course i am just watching TV and checking email etc... so I suppose I'm not doing much better!)

We are doing well. Pray for us and some decisions we are making. The Lord seems to have led very clearly up to now, but there is much more to come I am sure (right now the boys are talking in russian accents... as they play their video game, which really makes it hard to concentrate on what I am writing.. they are just getting louder and louder!) :o)
Anyways... please keep us, and our future in your prayers as we move forward.

Other then that... we've had a nice weekend with Brydon. Hopefully we will get to see Anita while she is here too. That'll be fun.

Ok.. now the boys are laughing at me, and making fun of me in the russian accents (sorry for the interuptions in the midst of serious requests!) So I am just gonna watch TV... and write more later. :o)

Hope you are all doing well. More updates on decisions to come in future entries.

-stacy

A whole lot of nothing

Not much else is going on ... at least nothing new to report.

I (stacy) is going on the church women's retreat this weekend. I was on the comittee... so it has been a fun process planning the different aspects of the weekend. I think it will be fun, & hopefully relaxing. It is in Laguna Beach... so that is a good start, and my favorite prof from Biola is the speaker... so it all looks promising! :o)

I believe McKenzie's knee is feeling better from the accident. (if not he'll have to post to correct me) :) We're still dealing with a few things from the first accident, and then we'll start the new car search/decision. The smaller accident we had with the Lancer is going MUCH faster. It should be fixed and done within the week! Soooo there is that update.

Brydon is coming down to So Cal the end of next week... so that will be a fun visit. He is really coming to go to a conference, but we get to see him too... so that is something to look forward to. I think Anita is coming too, later on in the week... so hopefully we'll get to hang out with both of them.

Other then that I think I can speak for both McKenzie and I to say we are a little tired. There's been a lot of activity in the last month with all the car and sickness craziness. Hopefully this weekend brings relaxation for both of us!

Hopefully we'll get some more fun pictures soon. I think that is more fun then reading all my writing and sorting through all my typos! :)

Talk to you soon...

Stupid Drivers...

... are everywhere in Southern California apparently! So today in the Costco parking lot (I LOVE Costco... LOVE IT LOVE IT!)

We had backed out, Kenzie put it in drive, looked in the mirror... and had to honk at the man who was now backing into us. After 2 honks he hit us! We were in the Lancer... but there doesn't look like there was a lot of damage. Some scratches in the paint. Long story short the guy was really really really cranky and mean. VERY not nice. (we'll leave it at that) He tried to buy us off with $25, but we asked for his information. He didn't understand why we wanted it, Ummmm becaus what if it cost 50??? And either way, it is important to get the information from the person who hit you. There was a witness. A guy in a AAA car... yea... he actually works for AAA, and he gave us his name and phone number. We didn't even have to ask. So that is good. But either way it is a dumb way to end a Sunday.

In good news, we had 3 new families at church this morning. Made for a very busy morning, but it was fun. :)

We went to Disneyland last night with our friend Sandra... here is a funny picture she took on her phone:

Funny 3D glasses waiting for the Muppet 3D Show. Good thing McKenzie has really LONG arms so we can take pictures like this. :)


OK... so the car is ok, so that is good. (But the guy didn't need to be so mean... good grief)


Talk you all later....




OH... PS. If you read this (and I know you do because I figured out how to put a counter on the bottom of the blog site... and I know I haven't looked at it that many times) You should comment, and let us know you are reading it. OR at least email us and let us know. The more comments the more posts! (It's more motivating to write if you know someone is actually reading it!) Thanks! (and thanks to those who have commented.. we appreciate it!)

Weekend Update

I (Stacy) was pretty sick this weekend. I even have to call in sick on Sunday. I was wrecked. I think the Lord was telling me very strongly to slow down. I taught the kids once in Sunday School "Slow Up before you Blow Up" I wasn't getting angry... but a blow up could have been underway. My body ached, my stomach hurt, my head hurt... I was miserable. But I feel MUCH better today. I was wasted pretty much all of last week, until about 7pm Sun. night. The bummer was having to cancel all of our plans this weekend. But... I feel so much better!! So that is good. Still a little stuffed up though. Hopefully the rain will clean the air. (It's rained just a little bit today... of and on). The moral of the story. Stacy needs to learn to rest. I'm just not good at it... but especially when I am sick and already low energy, I need to rest! Luckily McKenzie takes good care of me.

Oh.... and here are some cool pictures from San Diego. So.. two good things came out of the trip, these two pics. :o)

This is the sky... (duh Stacy). I was actually trying to take a picture of a plane... they were flying really close. But the sun was in my eye, so I just took the picture... and I missed the plane. But this is pretty cool.

This is one shot in the Frienship Tea Garden. Totally not as cool as the one in San Fran, but it was ok. McKenzie said it was a waste of $6... but I don't think it was a total waste... just a little waste.

Ok.. all for now folks... have a good Monday!

San Diego... Worst Vacation EVER!!!

Yea... so we had a horrible weekend...

Let's do a short version! (mostly cause we don't need to relive it... )

FRIDAY: Have to leave town late due to stupid car insurance stuff to take care of....First hotel... renovation... never stay in a renovating hotel... booo... no pool no spa no restuarant... booooo

2 1/2 Hours Later... we finally have our money back, and reservations elsewhere.

SATURDAY: It's suppose to rain, so we don't do anything fun... nope it never rained... thank you weather channel (boooo) had a nice time at Borders :o)
Sheriton screwed up our reservation... 20 minutes later... it's fixed... so Saturday isn't miserable.

Stacy begins to not feel good... so we go get breath right strips for better sleep.

SUNDAY:
Stacy wakes up with big head ache... breath right strips made this headache start. Back to bed, and a quick breakfast later.

Balboa Park.... pretty fun. Stacy literally blowing her nose ever 3-5 minutes (no exageration!)
Went to the muesum of art... well worth it. It rained boooo (right when we were eating outside... COLD!!!! But luckily we were covered!)

4 hours later... Stacy is REALLY not feeling good. Run by drug store on the way home. Day Quill and Night Quill (that is not spelled right is it.. oh well.. don't mess with me right now!) I take the day time and am so blasted I sleep for 2 hours... miserable!

Go to eat dinner... it makes Kenzie's tummy hurt... bad.. no more details needed.

MONDAY:

Get up and decide... we're not letting the man get us down... off to Sea World! Quick stop to get some more medicine for a not feeling so hot stacy...

Drive to Sea World... but wait.. what is that noise? Could that be a flat tire... YUP!

Kenzie changes tire... Stacy get's directions to Costco (luckily there is one near by)

Get 2 new tires for the car (yea.. it couldn't be patched... that is a nice $200) No Sea World for us. A quick walk through Ikea.... always fun.

Time to go HOME! 2 hours later.... we had only gone 36 miles...

We left San Diego at 4, and got home at 8:30....

We should have just stayed and worked! BLAH!

Here's a cute/funny picture from our trip:

I don't feel good :o)

UPDATE:

Stacy has bronchitas (not spelled right either) but doc gave me medicine... so I should be doing better soon...

MORAL OF THE STORY: (ok the story was longer then I planned)

We need a vacation... any ideas?

Valentines day fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

After the car accident it was nice to have a night like this!

We have a nice collection of self portraits so far in our marriage... luckily McKenzie's arms are really long! :o)

Car Crash Pictures...

MONDAY Feb. 13th, 2006

McKenzie totalled the car... we have already established that it wasn't his fault... but here are the pictures... enjoy... :)

Not At Fault!

McKenzie got the police report yesterday... and it said we are not at fault!

Praise the Lord!!!!!

We'll get pictures on here soon as possible. Now we just wait for the insurance adjustor to do his thing!

Car Accidents Stink...

McKenzie was in a car accident yesterday. He can give you better details, but basically some crazy in a tank like SUV pulled out in front of him (trying to dart across the intersection, and make a left). Mac couldnt' break in time, and BAM!
Air bag, Scrunched Car, Cops, Ambuliance, Neighbors watching and calling 911, dented SUV, scared wife, rubble in the street, tow truck, ... the works. Ya know, the kind of mess that all the traffic slows down for so people can stop and look... yea... that was it.

Praise the Lord McKenzie is ok! Some bumps and bruises, he's going to the doc tomorrow to make sure everything is ok.

Pray for us as we go through the whole insurance thing, new car thing, only having one car thing, money issues etc. It stresses me out, but McKenzie of course is as cool as a cumcumber. The Lord put us together for a reason, and this is one great one! :o) (When he called to tell me he says, "Hey babe, where are you?" ( I respond) "Oh, well I was wondering if you could come to like beach, almost to lambert for a minute" (i say sure, why?) "Umm, I totalled the car" (of course questions flew from there, and then I hung up and forgot where he was) He is a calm guy... it was nice.

It was McKenzie's car, for those of you who were wondering.

So yesterday was eventful... but we move on.

Cool Things God Has Done Already? :
** a lady from our church and her daughter stopped because they saw it was McKenzie. Nice to have someone there I knew.
** 3 cars have already been "donated" for us to use when we need to.
** we work at the same spot, so that solves issues.
** A coworker is picking Kenzie up tomorrow, so I don't have to go in early on my long day.
** McKenzie is ok :o)
** The doctor could get him in tomorrow... which is sometimes hard to do.

Ok... enough from me. :O) Thanks for the prayers, have a great valentines day! (We're going to Midevil (yea I spelled that wrong) Times dinner tonight... so that should be fun!)

Not much new to report

Just pretty much hanging out... not too much new to report.

The house is clean... that's cool :O)

Mostly just hanging today, we went to Chipotle for lunch, but decided to just come home. We thougth about going to Disneyland, but just didn't get there. Kinda nice to have a half way lazy day in a nice clean house. Watching the Olympics, sending out some thank you's.

Next weekend, VACATION! Well, a mini vacation. It's presidents weekend, so we have monday off. I decided to take off Sunday, and we are headed to San Diego. We might even go to the zoo :O)

Welp... that's it for us... what's up with you?

Update...

Here is an update... what has happened since OCTOBER!

November:

* Christmas Boutique! (if you didn't come... you missed out!) Some girls in my fellowship group at Church did a Christmas Boutique. It was really fun. I made cookie in a jar, cookie in an oven mit, and signs to hang on the door. I doubled my money.. so that was great... but it was also just a LOT of fun!

* SNOW DAY! Was awesome! We had about 700 people there, which was amazing! Lots of fun, people in the community etc. It was great! It made the front page of the paper (although it was billed as a fundraiser ss how well...

here is a picture from last year's snowday... so at least you get an idea (we bring in over 1500 tons of snow... it's great!) It looked a lot different this year... but there's Kenzie and I two weeks before we got married last year.


* CRUISE! For our anniversery we went on a cruise. We went with Carnival.... and had a great time doing nothing! It was Mon- Fri, Long Beach, Catalina, Ensenada, a day at see, and back to Long Beach! I loved Catalina!!!!!

We will do another cruise for sure... it was a good first cruise. :) I got a little sea sick... but I did ok. When I get pictures on my computer I will post them. It was fun!

December:

Merry Christmas From Stacy and McKenzie!!!

This was one of our 3 favorite Christmas pics. Thanks Sandra for taking them!

December was full of church activities.. but we did go home for Christmas. It was nice to be with family. It was a quick trip.

My parents came back down with us... on the trip I not only threw up all over my self (a very funny story actually) but got the flu (the cold flu, not the stomach flu) So I was pretty much worthless. I was sick for a week. So they didn't have a very fun trip. Luckily no one else got it.

New Years Eve... Sanborn Party! Happy 2006!

January:

Here we are.... 2006 I can hardly believe it. So far so Good! Kenzie's parents came and stayed in Newport... that was nice... we kinda got to have a vacation too :) We had a good time with them, and Brydon who came too.

And now.... Family Movie night tonight, that should be fun.....

So that's the update! Hopefully posts will become a little more frequent. :o)

Have a good day!

Yea... I know it's been a while... but I am gonna do better... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from us!