Thursday, July 30, 2009

My Little Guy

My Silas can now pull himself into a standing position!!!!
A couple of days ago Patrick said, "I think it's time we lower the crib down". So, he did, Praise the Lord!
We put Silas down for a nap and he was crying for a bit. Josh peaked in on him and started hollering, "Come quick!" When we all (all 5 of us) got to Silas' room, he was standing in his crib, then....he fell backwards, poor little guy. We were all so proud of him, though. He's growing up, and he's definitely got an audience to watch the process!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

God knows

My sister Keela just fowarded this to me and I had to post it.

What a good story. It is true that many of our "inconveniences" were blessing that we never knew....

9-11-01
A man from Norfolk , VA called a local radio station to share this on Sept 11th, 2003, TWO YEARS AFTER THE TRAGEDIES OF 9/11/2001.His name was Robert Matthews. These are his words:A few weeks before Sept. 11th, my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child. She planned a trip out to California to visit her sister. On our way to the airport, we prayed that God would grant my wife a safe trip and be with her.. Shortly after I said 'amen,' we bothheard a loud pop and the car shook violently. We had blown out a tire. I replaced the tire as quickly as I could, but we still missed her flight. both very upset, we drove home.I received a call from my father who was retired NYFD. He asked what my wife's flight number was, but I explained that we missed the flight.My father informed me that her flight was the one that crashed into the southern tower. I was too shocked to speak.. My father also had more news for me; he was going to help. 'This is not something I can't just sit by for; I ha ve to do something.'I was concerned for his safety, of course, but more because he had never given his life to Christ. After a brief debate, I knew his mind was made up. Before he got off of the phone, he said, 'take good care of my grandchild. Those were the last words I ever heard my father say; he died while helping in the rescue effort.My joy that my prayer of safety for my wife had been answered quickly became anger. I was angry at God, at my father, and at myself.. I had gone for nearly two years blaming God for taking my father away. My son would never know his grandfather, my father had never accepted Christ, and I never got to say good-bye.Then something happened. About two months ago, I was sitting at home with my wife and my son, when there was a knock on the door. I looked at my wife, but I could tell she wasn't expecting anyone. I opened the door to a couple with a small child. The man looked at me and asked if my father's name was Jake Matthews. I told him it was. He quickly grabbed my hand and said, 'I never got the chance to meet your father, but it is an honor to meet his son.'He explained to me that his wife had worked in the World Trade Center and had been caught inside after the attack. She was pregnant and had been caught under debris. He then explained that my father had been the one to find his wife and free her. My eyes welled up with tears as I thoug ht of my father giving his life for people like this. He then said, 'there is something else you need to know.'His wife then told me that as my father worked to free her, she talked to him and led him to Christ. I began sobbing at the news.Now I know that when I get to Heaven, my father will be standing beside Jesus to welcome me, and that this family would be able to thank him themselves ....When their baby boy was born, they named him Jacob Matthew, in honor of the man who gave his life so that a mother and baby could live.This story should help us to realize this: God is always in control. We may not see the reason behind things, and we may never know this side of heaven, but God is ALWAYS in control.Please take time to share this amazing story. You may never know the impact it may have on someone. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures Forever. Psalm 136:1

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Thanks Grammy!

Friday night we had a terrific family night! We decided to go with a "Cuban" night. Patrick made his cuban beans and rice (always a favorite around here) and I made a pork roast. It was very good. For dessert we tried a recipe that we had at a church in Miami. It was Natilla. Has anyone ever had it or made it? It's a type of pudding is the best way to describe it. It turned out good, but grainy, so I was wondering if there is anyone that has made it before, if they have any pointers. While I was stirring the Natilla (a very tedious process) I was talking to Denise (Patrick's Mom). She said that Silas deserves a bite of Natilla too. For those of you that don't know...I'm a little protective of my Silas. I'm not all that adventurous to give him foods that he technically doesn't "need". Patrick often sneaks goodies to him, like creamy mashed potatoes (loaded with salt and butter) yogurt, bread, lemonade, to name a few. So, my Mother in Law basically pressured me :o) into committing to give Silas some Natilla. He loved it! My Silas loves his food! He still tends to grunt/MMM during every bite. He's not really begging for more because he only makes this sound when the spoon goes into his mouth. Silly Boy! Thank you Grammy!

Also as a side note (I guess sort of a brag :o) I submitted a recipe to http://www.allrecipes.com/ and they put it on the site! Yippee! It's a recipe that I received from Amanda (thanks Amanda, love ya!) and have tweaked a bit (more savory, less sweet) So far 4 people have reviewed it (one is my Mom, so maybe she doesn't count) and I have 5 stars! Yay! I've submitted a couple of other recipes, but it's supposed to take time before they're reviewed and submitted. Here's the page if you want it. Arkansas Green Beans - All Recipes
Hope you're having a great day! Live for Jesus, you'll never regret it!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Our Day

Today has been a good day. My family is happy and healthy, my house is somewhat clean, my laundry is sort of caught up (will the last two ever be completely done?), the weather is gorgeous. ..... I think the Lord knew I needed a good day. We've been praying about being able to take a trip to Michigan to my family reunion. This year it's our 40th and this year all of my family will be there...even my Dad! I really wanted to go, so I began to pray and ask the Lord if it's His will that he would let us go. (There's a couple of things we prayed would take place, so we would know for sure). The Lord answered my prayer...but, it was a no, this time. Of course I am a little disappointed (okay, maybe a lot. But, don't tell my kiddos!) But, more than anything I want to be in the center of the Lord's will. We don't always understand His ways, but I know without a doubt that His ways our perfect. The Lord is so good to me!
Anyway, back to my day...We started our day as usual, with some personal time in God's Word. For some reason, Silas is a little clingy today, so he read right next to us. Except his book was "Noisy Farm".
Brenna and Beth both have been sweet to read to Silas. He loves to be read to. I think I have another reader on my hands!
Today I had a "Pow Wow" with JEB. I told them to meet me in the Living Room with pen and paper. I asked them several questions and they were to write down as many answers as possible. There were many questions. Some of them were....What are your strengths? weaknesses? What do you want to learn to do? What do you have a burden for? Do you have any goals for when we get to the mission field?
After they wrote their answers I talked with each one of them and reviewed their answers. It's amazing to see what they believe their strengths and weaknesses are. I loved hearing their goals for the future and their burdens. I have some precious children. We talked about developing their strengths and working on their weaknesses. They looked up Bible verses about their weaknesses and made a poster of the verse and posted it near their bed.

We've done a lot of French studying today...and plenty more is still on the adjenda for today! At lunch Patrick told the kids he'd take them to wade in the river for just a bit this afternoon. This is a picture of them headed to the river through our neighborhood.
It's been a good day.
Another good day.
God is so good to me.










Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Silas Boone

My Silas can really move around. His new thing is to get in the crawling position on his hands and knees and then move into the sitting position. This picture was taken a few days ago and he's in the process of moving to the sitting positon. Now, he has mastered getting upright into the sitting position. It's so cute and he's growing so much.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Our Pizza Night

Friday Night is our Family Fun Night and it's always fun planning what we are going to do. It's the night JEB gets to stay up later, we have dessert, and we have soda! Yay! We usually try to do something fun, like a game or watch a movie together. A few weeks ago we all slept together "camp out" style in the living room. A few days ago during dinner Patrick asked all of us "If you had to invent your own pizza what would it be?" We had fun hearing everybody's answers. We had already decided we were going to have Dessert Pizza for our Friday night dessert, so we thought our Friday Night Family Fun Night should be "Pizza Night" and try a couple of our inventions. Tonight we tried Patrick's and Brenna's inventions. Patrick's invention was a PBJ pizza. We used a regular homemade thin crust pizza crust, then he topped it with peanut butter, strawberry jam, and fresh strawberries. It was very good. It was also a little confusing to my taste buds. I wasn't sure if I was eating a dessert or a sandwich! But, it was very good and we all enjoyed it!
A slice of PBJ pizza

This is Brenna's invention. She invented the Triple Decker Pizza. Basically it's a layer of crust, sauce and cheese, with another layer of crust, sauce, and cheese, and then a final layer of crust, sauce, and cheese. It was very delicious. We really loved it!!



MMMM! What a good pizza!



I tried 4 times to turn this picture, but for some reason it won't turn. This is our fruit pizza for dessert. Beth was able to choose what our dessert was for this week because she scored the best on our Rosetta Stone test. Good Job, Beth!
We sue do love our Family Fun Nights! We're already planning the next one!



You can never go wrong with Chocolate!!

We made a special dessert last night to celebrate finding my diamond. We decided to go with chocolate!!! We made this Layered Brownie Cake. It was fabulous! It had two layers of brownies and the filling/frosting was made with chocolate and whipped whipping cream. This recipe will definitely go to our recipe box of our all time favorites. Now....it's time for Weight Watchers.....no joke.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Our Drama for the Week


We've had a little bit of excitement around the Gimenez Home this week. Here's an excerpt Patrick wrote on our family blog:

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Continuation of Missionary Mysteries....Case Solved!!!
In the continuation of the Mystery of the Missing Jewel, we bring you back to the scene of the crime. Kami's diamond was found stolen (okay, missing) from her wedding ring on Tuesday morning. Chief Detective Patrick was brought in to handle the case. We dusted the crime scene (okay, we swept the whole house) looking for the clues to the missing diamond but to no avail. Kami was in shock and broken by the loss.The main question was to figure out when the diamond may have fallen out of her ring. I opened my Top-Secret Detective Laptop and began to scour pictures from our camping trip looking for a picture of Kami's left hand. I finally found a picture of her holding Silas from last Friday. I zoomed in on her left hand and.....the diamond was still there!!!The case then turned to the van, maybe it fell out traveling back. We sent in our team of detective apprentices to inspect the van, but again nothing. The case was getting cold. Then we received an anonymous phone call giving us a lead (okay, my mother called and told us to check Kami's purse or the diaper bag). Then last night at church, we prayed that Kami would find her diamond. When we woke up this morning, my mind was brought back to the purse. I took Kami's purse and sat down at the laboratory desk (our kitchen table). I began to scour through ten pens and pencils, various shopping lists from weeks gone by, little girls earrings and who knows what else (I think her purse is a crime scene in itself)!!! Then there it was!!! The long lost diamond was dropped by the thief into her purse (okay, there was no thief...it just fell out). Kami woke up to me asking her to marry me all over again as I presented her the diamond (yes, I am Mr. Romantic)! We praise the Lord for His answered prayers and for my mother who provided us the tip that led us to crack the case!

============================================================


It has been exciting and I'm so thankful my diamond was found!!! Praise the Lord!!!

When the kids were scouring the van looking for the diamond, I told them if we find it then we are celebrating and having a huge dessert!! So, what do you think Josh remembered that I said first thing this morning?? So, now I'm going to figure out what our special dessert is going to be!Normally, we vote on what our Friday night dessert will be for our Friday family fun night (This week it's Fruit Pizza) But, since we're having a special dessert tonight too, I will pick what the dessert will be....hhhhmmm, chocolate or pie or cake or ice cream.....what should I pick??? This is going to be fun!

Baby Food Jars


Not too long ago, I asked all of my facebook friends for ideas on what to do with all of our leftover baby food jars. There were some very fun ideas of crafts that we might make. But, for now I think I found the best use for them....to hold more baby food! Patrick and I (well, mostly Patrick) made Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Green Beans, and Peaches for Silas. Hopefully this should last him a little bit. Right now he goes through about 2 baby food jars a day. He has half a jar of fruit with his cereal in the morning. Then, a jar of veggies for lunch, then I mix another half jar of fruit or veggies with his cereal at dinner time. He is really enjoying his food! It won't be long until he's sharing some of my plate!

Monday, July 13, 2009

JEBS New favorite Pastime

Joshua, Elisabeth, Brenna and Silas have enjoyed talking to my parents on Skype. It's so fun to be able to talk to them "live" and show them things in our house. We were even able to see my Mom and Dad's new refridgerator! They've been able to watch Silas learn how to crawl and see Josh's new bird and Brenna's new fish. Isn't Modern technology fabulous!!


Sunday, July 12, 2009

Our Camping Trip

*Warning* Many camping pictures to follow!
We had a great camping trip to Jackman, Maine. We started out our trip to our doctor appointments in Maine. We really enjoyed meeting Dr. Doyle. Silas checked out a healthy 16 1/2 pounds and was given 3 shots in his thigh. Poor guy! Then, it was off to The Last Resort, our camping spot.
It was so exciting to see many Moose signs along the way.


Finally, we arrived to camp. We had a secluded spot in the woods. There were so many bugs! Flies, Horseflies, Mosquitoes, you name it...they were there! We all worked hard getting our camp set up.



Josh got a fire going with his flint and steel. The smoke from the fire really drove a lot of the bugs away. We were so thankful!


The tent is up! Yay! Our tent is so fabulous. It went up very quickly and it has lots of room.




This was the name of the site we chose...Raccoon. Very fitting, because on Friday night we saw a humungous raccoon stealing Josh's pretzels.

Now, that camp was set up, we went on a hike to the Lake. (Actually they call it a pond, but it was very big.)


This is Long Pond. Our site was very close to the Pond and it was gorgeous! On Friday we saw a Moose and its baby on the other side of the shore.

We had a great time hiking. I think it was one of my favorite parts. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved exploring through the woods. God sure did make this earth beautiful for us to enjoy!

Of course, we had to see this snake along the way. I hate snakes!


This is another hike we took to the Upper Churchill Stream.


Once we got back to camp, Josh started chopping wood. He chopped and chopped. He loved splitting the logs. Who knows how many he did throughout the couple of days that we were there. He loved it! Patrick did some chopping too. I loved seeing my strong men at work.


We took a break from the bugs for a bit and played Mille Bornes. That is the card game that Brenna got for her birthday.


Ugh! I hate outhouses. But, this was our only bathroom spot. The shower house is about a 15 minute walk away. There is nothing like a nice shower after a hike in the woods!


Josh loved using his binoculars. They were able to see the Moose very well this way.





Josh acting goofy.


We had fun cooking around the fire. We had hotdogs one night. The next night we had canned beefstew warmed over the fire with some bread. It was so good! On Friday morning we made eggs, bacon, and pancakes over the fire


Some of the paths had this stuff all over the path. It looks like green felt. It was so gorgeous! The first night got pretty cold. The lady that owns the campgroud said it was 47 degrees, but it felt much colder than that! I'm thankful we brought plenty of Jackets and blankets for the kids.




Then, we rented the boat for half of the day. I think this was Patrick's favorite part. He loved being out on the boat. Silas and I rode for about 20 minutes, then went back to camp for Silas to have a good nap. Patrick and JEB stayed our for about 3 more hours and caught tons of fish. They caught Brim, Perch and Chub. They loved it and the water was so beautiful.













This is another trail we hiked on. The Tim Trail. Once again it was beautiful. It had rained a bunch the days before, so part of the trail was underwater.




Beth was so brave and wanted to keep going deeper and deeper into the woods. The path led us into a deep dark section of the woods. It was scary, but fun.







We saw some Moose tracks along the way. That scared Brenna... just a little. We decided to clap and talk really loud on the trail to warn any animals that we were coming.








We had a great time camping for our first family camping trip. We made so many memories and Patrick's already planning a second trip. We learned some camping do's and don'ts (like long socks for us girls for sure, and we're buying an air mattress! and more jackets and sweatshirts for me and Patrick) I'm so thankful we were able to go camping as a family and have a great time together!





























Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Happy 10th Birthday, Brenna!

'When I tucked Brenna in on Sunday night she told me these words, "Momma, don't be sad that I'm going to be double digits tomorrow." Double Digits,Wow! I'm very proud of my Brenna. She is a very caring and fun young lady. One word to describe Brenna is "bubbly". She is always a lot of fun and makes me laugh. She also has a servant's heart and is ready to help me throughout the day. I love it that she has a personal relationship with the Lord. One of the prayer requests in her prayer journal is that she would be able to lead someone to the Lord. What a great prayer request. She wants to be used for the Lord. These are a couple of the pictures we took a few days before her birthday.







She asked if I could make her a turtle cake (again) this year. For some reason the M & M's ran. Brenna said they looked like veins.



Brenna received a lot of neat gifts. One thing was her new fish tank. It's the perfect size for hers and Beth's room. Josh bought her some guppys for her tank.




We invited the Roys to come over for her birthday and help us celebrate. We walked on the walking trail by our house. Brenna has made very good friends with Cami Roy. She's so thankful for a new friend.





We stopped at a field to play some baseball (Brenna's favorite sport) She's a very good hitter!

















Then, it turned rainy and cold. It was in the 50's with a very cold wind. Can you believe we're still wearing jackets in July!! It was a great day and Brenna had a lot of fun. Happy Birthday, Brenna, WE love you!!