The Martinsens

New Blog

2010-07-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

NEW BLOG

Please go to

www.ananchorformysoul.blogspot.com

Noah and Ace

2009-03-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

My Birthday Boy

2009-03-03T10:00:00.001-08:00

It's happened. My baby boy has turned one and is quickly becoming a toddler. Tissue, please? We celebrated with having just family over and Noah's best bud, Malachi. We had a BBQ and went to the park and then ate carrot cupcakes while Skyping with Nana and Papa in Guatemala. For those who like to know these details; Noah stats are 23.4 pounds (60%), 30.5 inches (75%) and his head is 48.5cm (95%)- lots of brains. The first picture is a year ago- look at how he has grown.

March 1, 2008

March 1, 2009

Yummy cupcake

Oh, Malachi, watch out!

Showing Malachi how to work his car

Two bubs in the tub

Just for fun

2009-03-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

Noah got a package in the mail for his birthday. He was so excited to scoot it around the house and sit on top of it. He was the king of his soapbox.

Valentine's Day pictures
The constant love-hate relationship Roxy and Noah have

Yummy, ravioli

Day at the Park

2009-02-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

So... what's going on with us?

2009-02-11T18:02:00.001-08:00

It's been so long since I have logged on to this blog that I forgot the password and it took me a few times to log in. So... what's up with us? It's been almost 2 months. I don't think I've ever gone that long without blogging. We've been doing the usual. Alan still working for SCI (safer cities iniative) out of the Mission Division and truly enjoying it. Ministry opportunities everywhere. I'm taking care of Noah, working a few days a week and doing a few Bible Studies. One is actually a class offered through our church that is a Spiritual Care training. It has been a lot of fun and I've gotten so much out of it, not just on how to counsel others but for myself. Another is with some ladies in our Bible Fellowship group on the book, Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges and it's really good. I highly recommend reading the book- you'll learn so much about yourself that goes by without seeing.

Noah is adorable as usual and is more fun than ever. I don't think I have taken any pictures of him since Christmas. What a horrible mom I am! :) He still has just 2 bottom teeth which I think is soo cute. He's not walking on his own quite yet but probably soon. He's obssessed with buttons right now- the TV, space heater, printer and fax machine. Anything that has a button, he's there pushing it. He loves to go on walks and runs with me in the paseos and playing in his pack n play in the backyard. He's definitely an outdoor kid. When he needs calming down I just take him outside for a few minutes. He still tries to befriend Roxy but she wants nothing to do with him. However, he does terrorize her by putting his toys in her water bowl or pull blankets out from underneath her.

We are getting ready to be a guardian home for a golden retriever puppy that our friend, Julie needs a home for. We are all excited and are looking forward to the puppy's arrival. Noah is going to have so much fun with her. Any name suggestions??? We need some, so please send your suggestions our way.

We'll that's it for now. Noah is eating my grocery receipts so I'll post pictures later when I take some.

Christmas in Mississippi

2008-12-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

We packed and went off to De Soto County, Mississippi for Christmas last week. Alan's whole family met there at his sister's ranch for the holiday. They have 17 acres to their property so there was always something to do. Whether it be riding the ATV, fishing, giving kids pony rides, shooting, paddle boating in the pond and for the kids swinging on the swings. We didn't go out much except to eat and go to the store but always seemed to stay busy. Caitlin, Noah's cousin, was so excited to spend the week with him. She had been talking about it all year and was by his side pretty much the whole time. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Saying, "hi" to the horses. This one is very muddy from the rain.

Saying, "hi" to Beau their 18 month golden retriever

Eating out- Yum, yum Corky's

Getting ready for another plane ride.

Gitte 'up

Paddleboating in the pond/lake

Caitlin caught a fish. Many fish were caught during the trip.

Family pictures

Bath times- Caitlin was such a helper
Nana and the grandkids

Caitlin and her new pony for Christmas

Had to take this picture- we just couldn't resist.

Noah loved riding the ATV. He found it very relaxing with the wind in his hair.

Caitlin and Noah taking a pony ride

Noah opening his Christmas present from Caitlin

Noah loves to get in a swing

A little Christmas breakfast

Video of Noah and Caitlin on the pony

Halloween, Milestones and Moving

2008-11-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's been a while since my last update. We've been running around like crazy and I'm sooo not motivated to update when I don't get any comments :)

In the past three weeks we found out we were moving and moved when we weren't really planning on it. We listed our townhome for rent months ago on Craigslist to see if there would be any interest. We never heard anything so we decided to be content with where we were living. The reason why we listed it was because with family coming around more often now we need a third bedroom. The location isn't the best for either of our jobs and we didn't have a yard. So we listed it and heard nothing. We kind of put it out of our minds until one day a couple wanted to come see it. We didn't think much of that since we've tried to sell the townhome before and people would come and go and we'd hear nothing.

The day after the couple saw the townhome they told us they wanted to rent it and if possible move within 2 weeks. We had only talked about where we would like to move too but hadn't looked for anything seriously because we didn't have any interest until now.

That day ( Saturday) I got on Craigslist and started looking for rental listings in the area and price we wanted. We didn't want to purchase something that fast and regret it later so renting seems like the best option right now. There were a few listings in the area but one stood out. I thought it would probably already be taken so I didn't want to get my hopes up. Because it was a Saturday when I was looking I didn't expect to hear back from the mangement company until Monday. Sure enough the managment company got back to us Monday and Noah and I were able to go look at the property. It had just been listed and I was the first one to inquire about it.

The property was vacant and ready to be moved into. I took some pictures for Alan so he could see when he got home from work. There's a huge park right across the street. It has a nice size yard, 2 car garage, 3 rooms and is much closer to work for the both of us. It seems perfect for us. We were expecting a door to close at anytime because all seemed to go too smoothly.

No doors closed so we kept on proceeding. That Thursday we were signing a lease agreement- less than a week from when the renters came to look at our townhome.

Everything happened so fast that my mind is still spinning. Alan's parents had previously planned a trip to come see us that next week so they were able to help us pack, take care of Noah and move. They were so helpful and I can't imagine us moving without them.

The home is much older than our 2005 townhome but we'll adjust. We've been able to go on lots of walks and runs already and Noah's even gotten to swing at the park.

Below are a few pictures of the last 3 weeks

Noah was not into Halloween at first but then he perked up later. We went to our church's, Fall Festival. Noah and his buddy, Malachi ( who was a corn) got some pictures together but Noah went crazy trying to eat and attack Malachi. We were laughing hard.

Malachi thinking, "why is this crazy kid on me."

Peek- a- boo, I see you

Noah learned how to crawl and pull himself up just a few days before we moved. It changes our whole home dynamic now.

Amongst the hustle and bustle of moving on Saturday, I spotted Noah's first two teeth- FINALLY! We were wondering when they would pop up. He's been a nightmare since, but I love him just the same.

Noah loves the outdoors and can't wait to get out

In front of our new home

A Bunch of Busy Bees

2008-10-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to put up a new post for weeks now but haven't found the time too. Much has been going on so here is a long blog with lots of pictures. I'll keep the words to a minimum so you're not reading a book.

Alan turned 30 this past Tuesday!!!

We celebrated with Baja Fresh take out after he got home from work and some creme brulee I made for dessert. The birthday celebrations change when you have kids. However, some friends invited us to go with them to the Dodger game Wednesday so that was a much more fun thing to do for his birthday. Alan loves baseball so he enjoyed it even though they lost miserably.

Home-made Dodgers hat or Dork hat. Lots of laughs!
The Dodger game with friends, Paul and Karen

LA sunset at Dodger Stadium

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Pumpkin Day

Last Friday we had our first Pumpkin Day. We took Noah to the local pumpkin farm and did everything pumpkin. Here's some fun pictures of the day. I didn't put a picture of the carved pumpkin up and figured you probably don't really care to see it, although it was pretty cool since it was the new kind of carving where you don't have to open up the pumpkin. Alan carved an owl.

Kiss squish

Walking in the scarecrow and sunflower maze. The sunflowers are SO tall.

Mama, I picked a flower for you! Alan's teaching him early.

All snuggly in the stroller- Noah got his own pumpkin to take home.

Checking out the farm animals

Got to get a picture here

I want to eat it!

Our favorite picture

Can you find Noah?
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Mission Bay

Almost 2 weeks ago we took a little family vacation to Mission Bay. It was a lot of fun and Noah was awesome. We stayed at the Catamaran. Our room was right on the bay so we could get to the jogging/walking path from just outside the sliding glass doors. The beach was right by the hotel too so we did lots of walking and being outside. We never used our car when we were there because everything was in walking distance. Here's a few pictures from the trip.

My mom came down for a few hours to hang out with Noah so Alan and I took advantage and went kayaking.

There were parrots at the hotel that made LOTS of noise. Noah wasn't too interested in them because they didn't have fur.

Ready for the pool

Sunset on the beach

Sometimes we'd feed Noah his babyfood on the patio outside but this day we just had the door open and were feeding him inside. The ducks were always begging for food that they even came in our room once.

6 + months

2008-09-21T14:57:00.001-07:00

Noah has reached 6 months, actually he's now closer to 7 months than 6 but we went and got pictures taken to remember the age. He has been so much fun these past few weeks!! I'm really liking this age the best so far. He has been scooting and rolling around the floor but not crawling yet. He loves to play in his crib so I let him. A few times Alan or I have gotten him up from his nap and he'll look back with a face of: I'm not done playing in there, can I go back? We'll put him facing one way and when we get him up from his nap he's usually turned around on the other end on his stomach playing with his stuffed animals.

It's much easier to take Noah out and about because he can go in his umbrella stroller now and we have enough time to go do something before he needs another nap.

Noah has developed a high pitched scream that can just about drive me crazy. We called it the puppy dog scream because he sounds like a puppy dog getting squished. It's just him exploring his voice but I can't wait for this sound to pass.

Here's our smiling rolliepollie.

Morro Bay

2008-09-06T18:28:00.001-07:00

Labor Day weekend we rented a house on the beach in Morro Bay with all of Sarah's siblings and families. There were 10 of us total. We had a great time. The house was beautiful and fit all of us in it. It had a great backyard and the house was across the street from the sand dunes that lead down to the beach. It was so nice to get away from the heat in Santa Clarita. We watched the fog come in and go throughout the day. Something you never get in Santa Clarita. I love it when the weather changes throughout the day, especially fog. There is something about fog I just love. That could be a whole another blog in itself. Maybe my next one- my love for fog.

Some of the activities that went on during the weekend were: Bocci ball, flying kites, playing the Wii, surfing, running to the rock and back, going into SLO, reading, cooking lots of Mexican food, eating salt water taffy, cousin's playing, bad coffee (we could never figure out the coffee maker- it looked fancy but couldn't produce good coffee), trips to Spensers grocery store, walking the wharf, early morning strolling the kids in the strollers so they wouldn't wake up the others, cookies, home grown tomatoes, and much more.

We had a great time and hope to do it again. Here are some of the pictures. You'll notice that whenever Alan, Noah and I go on vacation it always ends up being to the beach. I guess we just love to beach.

Just before the sand dunes and bird reserve.

The sisters (Renae, Lisa, Me, Ruth)

Playing Bocci Ball

Flying Kites

There were massive jellyfish everywhere.

Noah and Jack playing. Jack liked the pet Noah's head.

Noah sleeping in the stoller while we ate lunch on the wharf. He had his first cold so he didn't feel his best all weekend.

Blog Makeover

2008-08-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

How do you like my new Blog makeover?? It was time for a new refreshing look. Here's some fun that's been going on in the life of the Martinsens. Captions below pictures.

"I can't take my eye's off of you, well the paper that is!"

Mommy, can I please have the paper? I LOVE paper. Just saying "hi" to Nana and Papa, Alan's parents.

Opps, was I not supposed to eat it? Sorry ;)

Noah just loves his bouncer. Here he is having fun.

Up in the amphitheater again. Alexia, me, and the boys, Noah and Malachi.

Noah and Malachi and their matching shirts.

Life is too easy when you're a baby.

The latest and greatest

2008-08-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, this is my last full week of maternity leave with Noah. (actually not even a full week because I have to go in on Friday to get my classroom started) I've been so blessed to have 5 months off to stay at home and take care of my little guy. On Monday, the teacher meetings begin and then Thursday is the first day of school. I'm am very excited to be able to job share so I only have to work 2-3 days out of the week except for next week. I'll work Thursdays, Fridays and every other Wednesday. Alan is going to get as many possible days I work off since he's work schedule is more flexible than mine. The days we both work we're lining up some friends who are able to help out, one being my best friend, Julie, who is adopting a 2 year old boy from Uganda.

Noah has been really wanting to crawl. I see it in his face everytime he gets on his tummy. This week he sat all by himself for about 10 seconds and then face planted. He smiles at anyone who smiles at him and loves to entertain or be entertained.

Here are some of the latest pictures with captions underneath.

Noah and I walk to the mailbox each day and he loves to grab the mail we get and chew on it. If he's not letting go I find the cleanest piece and give it to him to suck on. Here is a Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon (or remains of one)

Our friends, Renelle and Cole, gave Noah the cutest shirt that says "Martinsen Creations" The size is for 1 year but after we washed it, it fits him perfectly now.

Don't you just want to kiss him?

Noah sitting up for the second time

More Summer Fun

2008-07-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Waiting for our "Big Band/Swing" concert at church to begin

Noah loving his camping chair

2008-07-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July

We went down to Oceanside for the fourth. We stayed at my Dad's condo with Sharon's two crazy cats. Actually one is nice and the other is crazy mean. We thought the mean one (Murphy) was going to attack us in the night because he was not happy we were there. I did wake up at one time with Murphy four feet from my head staring at me. I was startled so the cat hissed, growled, etc and ran to his hidaway cupboard. Let just say we're glad we have all body parts intact when we had to go home. Noah slept in a different room away from the cats so they wouldn't get near him. Below is a picture of Noah laughing on the beach but the camera caught him with his eyes closed. Rice cereal are the new words in our house. Yum Yum.

Noah in his crab floaty on the living room floor. He loves this ball and was having a ball playing with it.

Noah was unsure of the water at first so didn't smile very much which is very unusual for him. After a while he warmed up to the water(no pun intended) and enjoyed the experience. He started splashing and kicking his feet.

June

2008-06-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yikes! It's been a month already so this post will be for the month of June. It has been a busy month. It started with part of Alan's family coming to visit. His sister, Carlene, and her husband, Robert, and their daughter, Caitlin all came to stay with us from Mississippi. Noah met his Uncle Rob. We got some pictures of the cousins while they were out visiting.

My birthday came up while they were out so they watched Noah for us while Alan and I went out to dinner at Ruth's Chris (our favorite) and a movie (Indiana Jones). Another day we watched Caitlin so Carlene and Rob could go see Indiana Jones. While they were gone we converted a huge box that came in the mail the day before into a car for Caitlin. Here we are in the garage designing and decorating the car and Noah tried out the exersauser for the first time (he's not quite ready yet)

Caitlin loved her car. Alan and her pushed it down the stairs a lot and when Rob and Carlene got home Rob put Caitlin in it and had her go done the stairs in the car. It was pretty funny. Caitlin was a little unsure after the first time but was a good sport for the next 4 times.We got sunglasses and summerwear (swimtrunks, rash gaurd and hat) for Noah so when the pool gets warm enough (at least 85 degrees) we'll put him in the water. Noah loves his sunglasses and doesn't mind them on his face. He looks like one cool guy in them.Just the other day we took Noah to the pool in all his swimgear hoping that the water would be warm enough but it is still a little too cool (high 70s). We put his feet in though. Just a few more hot spells and it will be perfect for him. Last year the water got to be about 95-100 degrees because it's solar heated (it wasn't refreshing at all) so they pumped cooler water in to bring down the temp. We can't wait to take him swimming.

So I asked Alan for the Ab Rocket for my birthday and he got it for me. That's what came in the huge box that we made Caitlin's car out of. Anyway, I caught Roxy trying to work out the other day but she had a hard time getting the back part to go done so she just cried at me :)

So "lets get down to the nitty gritty" -Nacho Libre. Noah will be four months on the first of July. He loves putting his hand and fists in his mouth. He discovered them a few weeks ago along with grabbing his feet. Many times I'll go in his room to wake him up and he's awake with his hands firmly grasping his feet all four sticking up in the air. It's quite cute. This week he started fully rolling over by himself and on Monday he woke up in the middle of the night crying because he had rolled to his stomach and couldn't get back over. He sleeps at least 10 hours at night. I give him his last feeding between 7:30 and 8:30pm and put him down after he's all burped out usually between 8 and 9. He'll sleep until 6:00-7:30 depending on when he finally got to sleep the night before. His baby babble voice is influxing a lot this week like he's telling us a story and he laughs like crazy when he's tired. It's like he's getting silly because he's tired. He's very ticklish.

His weight gain has slowed down the past few weeks but he weighs about 14.3 pounds. The last 5 times I've weighed him it's been the same. I'll find out for sure what it is when we got to the doctor on Tuesday. I think he's growing longer right now instead of wider.

I know it's weird place to leave the blog but I've gotta get some things done so hopefully I'll blog sooner this time. Feel free to say hi via comment. I love to see whose interested in us. Tell me what you've been up to lately. What are you doing to beat the heat this summer?

Just for cuteness

2008-05-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

What a cutie! I can't believe how big he is getting.

6 years and going strong.

2008-05-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Alan and I had our sixth year wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been six years already. It's hard to believe that in another six years it'll be twelve years. So if it goes as fast as the first six, twelve years will be here before I know it. Noah will be finishing up kindergarten ready to go into first grade, crazy!! So what has happened in six years. Well we got married fresh out of college, in fact it was 2 weeks after graduation for me, (1 year after for Alan). We lived in a one bedroom apartment and Alan was pursuing a youth pastor position and working as a pool technician. I was about to start my student teaching in fall but until then I was a nanny for the summer. Since then we have moved to our townhome, had 2 cats (although we only have one now- sad death story) changed churches, Alan has had a few jobs (pool technician, junior high and high school teacher, youth intern, and now cruise agency owner and police officer), flipped a house, gone on a few trips and then the best; we had Noah. I stayed the same with my job of teaching first grade for five years. I guess you could call me boring but I like it because I'm so familiar with it. Anyway, much has changed since we were fresh out of college ready to embark the working/married world. It has been a great six years and we're happy. It'll be fun to look back on the next six years and see where we've come to.

My advice to any newlywed of any age. Marriage is a COMMITMENT of strength and love. There will be times where you feel weak and unloving but you must stick to it- endure! Just like it says in Philippians- endure and run the race. Don't just run it but run it hard because at any moment of weakness sin can creap in. Any moment you are not putting your loved one or anyone else first you are being selfish. NEVER talk bad about your spouse. One thing I can't stand is when people talk bad about their spouse. If you talk bad about your spouse, you're the one who married them so what does that make you. PRAISE your spouse. Sometimes it's easier to pick out the bad stuff and forget the good stuff. The good stuff is what's important. HAVE FUN with your spouse. Make time to go out and have fun and laugh. It's the fun times that your memories will build upon. Know your spouse's LOVE LANGUAGE. If you don't know what it is, read the book, "The Five Love Languages." That's the way your spouse will feel loved and if you're showing it the wrong way they are not going to feel loved. And above all FOLLOW 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Sadly our photographer didn't take the picture digitally so I have to scan the loose ones in my computer. The best photos are in our album and I can't get them out without the pictures ripping :( So these will have to do.

Weekend in Oceanside

2008-05-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we went down to Oceanside to my Dad's wedding reception. He got remarried in April and they had their reception this past weekend. While we were there we got to stay at the new Wyndham time share resort for a night. It was huge and right on the beach. The reception was there too so it was convenient. It was Operation Military Appreciation weekend so all the military vehicles were out on the sand to look at and play on. Even a hovercraft came on shore and we got to see it take off into the ocean from our room. It kicked up sand and then shot off into the ocean really fast shooting water everywhere that we couldn't even see the hovercraft. Noah got to meet his cousin, Jack , Uncle Scott and Aunt Lisa for the first time. We wish they lived closer to us.

As you can see in the first 2 pictures Noah has his arms up. He seems to always have his arms up when he's on his back now. It's his latest thing and it's actually kind of funny because they just stick up for no reason at all. I think it's from putting him on his playmat so much that he's used to reaching for things when he's on his back. Now he just does it out of habit- opps!

My two men

Noah didn't mind getting sand between his toes ;)

The Hovercraft

The propellers are so big. The Wyndham is in the background.

View from our suite. I couldn't believe how fast the hovercraft took off.

Lovely late afternoon in O'side
Noah and Aunt Ruthie at the reception

20 years ago

2008-05-12T23:34:00.000-07:00

Exactly 20 years ago to the day, my family and I arrived in San Diego to live. We moved from Perth, Western Australia where I was born and here are a few pictures of us getting off the airplane. The airplane was small because we flew into LA and then took a small flight to San Diego. Not all my family members are in the pictures but they are the only ones I could find. Gotta love my Dad's crocodile dundee looking hat.

2 months old

2008-05-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Noah turned 2 months yesterday. As a celebration we went to get his shots. What a nice mama I am :) I was nervous about his shots since I didn't see him get any when we were in the hospital (or at least I don't remember). Alan got to witness all that. Noah did very well yesterday. He cooed at Dr. Kim and didn't cry too much when he got his shots. Of course he was fussy when we got home but nothing too bad. Noah was in the 75% for weight (12.9 lbs) and 90% for height (24 1/4 inches). He's a tall one!! He is awake much more now and loves to laugh, even in his sleep.

Roxy, our cat, is doing much better but still won't look at Noah if we bring her to him. She roams the house more but won't go into his bedroom. We've seen her run into his room a few times and then run our quickly like she forgot it was Noah's room now.

I realize that now all I blog about is Noah and I told myself I wouldn't do that before he was born but I just can't simply resist. Here's some of the latest pictures.

What did you say?

7 weeks old

2008-04-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Noah is 7 weeks old today! He smiles all the time and it starting to interact with us. When we smile at him he'll smile and coo back at us. Lately he's been more alert and not sleeping as much as the first few weeks. He usually will sleep through the night 6-7 hours which is very nice for me. His choking is getting better but he still chokes almost everytime when I feed him. I don't think I ever blogged about that.

The pediatrician suggested we have an esophogram done but it didn't really show anything because it didn't give him a chance to choke. The esophogram basically was an x-ray of him drinking to see if his esphogus was fully developed and if fluid is going into his trachea (which I am almost certain it is). Noah couldn't be on the x-ray table too long because he is so little so in the one minute that he was on the table he didn't choke which didn't give us a chance to see what's really going on. The radiologist said he is fine and that he just has a little reflux which is normal for babies. I left frusterated because I didn't feel like anything was really solved because he didn't see what really happens. We are praying this is something he will grow out of because it has been not just frusterating for me at feeding times but for Noah too. However this past week he has been doing better only choking once a feeding or every other.

On a lighter note, we went to the beach this past week for some fresh air and to watch Alan surf. Someone gave us a cute little beach outfit that Noah needed to wear soon because he is going to out-grow it so we thought what a great opportunity to wear it. The rest of the pictures are just us playing and sleeping.

What a snuggle- buggle!

Daddy and Noah sleeping

Alan surfing in Ventura (very small waves-but still fun)

Checking out the waves

Noah is playing with his "Puppers" that his cousin Jack gave him for Christmas

Mmmm, the ear tastes so good.

Music

2008-04-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

I logged into the blog today and noticed that Alan added some new links to our website interests, one being music he has made over the past few years. I clicked on it and forgot how good he was at making music. Sometimes life gets so busy that I forget what we love to do. Since one of Alan's degrees is in music I shouldn't have been surprised how good his music sounds. It's been a while since we've gotten back to doing what we love, for Alan, music and surfing. For me in high school and college it used to be music and tennis. I haven't played tennis in forever or sang in a group for years. And even though I took 9 years of piano, I couldn't play a tune today.

I do love to run, hike, read and serve in ministry but somehow I never have the time or better yet to say, make the time. These are things I really need to get back into. It's easy to get caught up in the usual daily activities that I forget to do what I love to do.

Anyway, if you are interested in hearing some great music provided by my hubby click on the link, "Some of Alan's music" in our website interests or here http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/alanmartinsenmusic

Enjoy!

Noah's room

2008-04-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to post pictures of Noah's room because his crib has been on back order for two months. We just got his crib last week and put it together. He slept in his room last night for the first time. We didn't have a monitor yet so I was nervous I wouldn't hear him since his room is across the house. Fortuntely he didn't cry and when I went to get him this morning he was awake laying in his bed patiently (it makes me wonder how long he had been waiting). Today we got a monitor so I can sleep better in my own bed. I also took a few pictures on him in his bed today. He looks bigger in it than I thought he would.

It's hard to see in this picture but his name is on the wall above his crib

Our little man

2008-04-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

Easter, Park and LA Zoo

2008-03-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Late Easter! Here are some pictures from our Easter. Alan's sister, Carlene, and our niece, Caitlin came out to visit last weekend. While they were here we went to the new park by us and the LA Zoo. Alan's parents have been staying with us this past week and will most likely stay for a few more before they leave to travel the US representing their mission agency and seminary in Guatemala.

Family picture

Caitlin and Noah and their Easter basket. They each got a ducky.

Noah cuddling with his duck. One day I'd like to get a real one for Easter along with a rabbit.

Noah and Great Uncle Jack on Easter

Alan and his Dad playing Frisbee at the park.

Strolling Noah around the park.

Reggie, the famous alligator, at the LA Zoo.

A 7 week old giraffe that drank 1/2 a gallon of milk in 20 seconds. Noah can't even compete. I love giraffes!
Noah will remember so much of his trip to the zoo. No, not really. He slept the whole time.

Noah and Papa hanging out.

Fun times with Noah

2008-03-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since I have updated on Noah but time just seems to fly by in a foggy state of consciousness lately. Let see, some unusual milestones were that Noah turned over to his belly on day 6! We were so surprised and shocked to see him do this. He moves side to side a lot but we weren't expecting him to turn over this soon. He kicks all the time and every doctor he's seen says, "Gosh, he sure does have strong feet." I keep thinking I wasn't imagining all that kicking in the middle of the night when I was preggo. He just getting ready to kick that soccerball or football.

Noah had his 2 weeks check up this past Monday and I was super excited to see that he gained not just his birth weight back but a whole pound beyond it putting him at 9 pounds 2 ounces. His length was above average (21 3/4 inches) and his weight and head were average. Here are some pictures from the past 2 weeks.

Noah checking out his monkey in his playmat.

Noah enjoying his baths now, in fact, the last one put him to sleep.

Daddy couldn't resist and had to buy him his first LAPD outfit and on the back it said bombsquad.

Noah and Mama in our St. Patricks shirts. Mine is hard to see but it had a shamrock on it in rhinestones.

Our first walk

Noah and Chloe (just a 7 month difference)

Noah and Aunt Ruthie

Noah sleeping

2008-03-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

This is nothing too exciting but we're learning how to post videos so I wanted to put it up.

Noah Alan Martinsen

2008-03-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

Noah was born Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 6:48pm. He weighed 8 pounds and 2 ounces and is 20 inches long. We are so excited to have him home and are loving every minute with him. Here are a few of the many pictures we've taken this past week.

Noah after his first bath. He didn't enjoy it.

Noah and Grandpa
Simply adorable
Noah and Daddy

Our family
Someone, please take care of me :)
Hooray! We're going home!

The grand induction

2008-02-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right, Alan and I will be going to the hospital for an induction tonight. After a week and a half of doctor pleading we are going in to have our baby. It's been a stressful decision-making week for me because I was hoping I wouldn't have to do an induction. The doctors found that I'm mildly preclamtic on Tuesday and have been recommending that I go to the hospital and deliver. The Tuesday before that they found my blood pressure was high and sent me to the hospital last Friday. With much pleading I was able to get them to let me go home after being in the hospital for 5 hours. But once they found out I'm preeclamtic they've been hounding me since. I didn't want to do an induction because the chances of a caesarian are much higher and it's going to be quite a process just to put my body into labor since it's not quite ready yet.

The doctor who will be delivering the baby, Dr. Yuan, called me today and put some of my nerves at ease. She is the best at Henry Mayo and is very considerate. We couldn't be having a better doctor to deliver so God truly is blessing us in that way. Anyway, if you read this blog today, pray that all goes smoothly. My next post will be all about our new baby boy!

Pregnancy Pictures- 36 weeks!

2008-02-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today Alan and I went to get pictures taken after church to document this fun stage in our lives. Here are our favorite pictures that were taken. Tonight we're going to Ruth's Chris for dinner (our favorite) to celebrate and make the most of our last few weeks of "just us." We will miss it but are super excited about our pending new addition.

Renae's wedding

2008-02-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend one of my sisters, Renae, got married. The rain held out for the wedding and the sun came out just in time for the ceremony to begin. It was in San Juan Capistrano at the Crystal Cathedral's retreat center called Rancho Capistrano. Our camera died just after the ceremony so we only have pictures from the rehersal and ceremony. Let's just say the pictures of me are not my favorite as I was sick with a sinus cold and super swollen. Renae looked beautiful and the whole ceremony and reception went great. Congrats Renae and Todd!

PLEASE PRAY!!

2008-02-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Friends and Family,

Please pray for our friends Scott and Andrea Sward. They lost their one year old son, Isaac, today from a horrible car accident that happened yesterday morning. Andrea is in intensive care as she has many serious injuries and Scott has internal injuries as well. The Sward's left California a few months ago for Denver, Colorado to prepare to go on the mission field in Cambodia. Please pray for them and their families as they have extreme tough times ahead of them. I can't imagine the devastation they must be and will be going through. Pray for Andrea as she is still in intensive care and fighting to stay alive. Pray for Scott that he can be strong for both him and Andrea as he learned that his son died this morning and is trying to be in the ICU with Andrea as much as possible. God allows these things to happen but sometimes it's so hard to see why. For more information on the Sward's go to this web site: http://www.friendschurchsw.org/swardupdate.html

33 weeks

2008-01-20T18:56:00.001-08:00

33 weeks! Just 7 more to go.

2008-01-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Arrgg!! I can't seem to format the pictures correctly. These are supposed to go below the next post. I need someone to show me how to format pictures because it seems like I've tried everything and I can't figure it out. First these accidently deleted from my post below so I was going to add them in but they wouldn't go where I wanted them and so I thought I just add them in a different blog below but they keep going to the top. I'm so frusterated!! Read the post below first and then these pictures will make sense.

Baby Shower

2008-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

First off, I know I had said I'd update a long time ago and didn't. Life has been busy and I just haven't been motivated to blog lately. However, much has been going on so I figure it's time to update.

Baby is doing great- kicking me like crazy. Every now and then I have to push a hand or foot back into place because he really likes to stretch. Last week I went back to work from winter break and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The first three days I had energy and then Wednesday hit and I was exhausted. Thursday I rebounded and then by Friday afternoon I was spent.

I realized last week I've been having contractions for the past few weeks. I had just thought it was the baby moving and pushing my belly forward to make it really tight. But then I was reading and found out that they are precontractions that you can't feel except for the tightness.

Saturday, Alan and I went to an all day labor and deliver class which totally freaked me out! I think I was better off not knowing what is to come :) I'm excited to meet our baby but not looking forward to the labor part. I keep thinking if I make it worse in my mind it won't be as bad in reality. I hope it works.

Saturday evening my mom and sisters came out for my baby shower on Sunday. We went out to dinner at Stone Fire and then to Mimi's for dessert and then we went to go see, "Juno." The movie was very matter of fact and really displays the reality of teenage pregnancies. We all enjoyed it.

Sunday was my baby shower with friends from church, Master's and family. It was a lot of fun and we all really enjoyed it. My best friend, Julie, gave a devotional and we ate and opened gifts. One of my roomates from college, Abby, surprised me and came to the shower. She moved to Colorado a few months ago and was in California visiting family in Turlock. She and her mom, Pam, and her daughter, Chloe drove down from Turlock Sunday morning to come to the shower. I was so surprised because I had forgotten she was in California and didn't expect her to come to the shower.

Abby, Cloe and Pam

Julie, Chloe ( Abby's daughter) and me

Food and cake tables

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! Okay so you'd think that since I've been blogging for a few years I'd remember how to upload pictures in order but for some reason every time I upload a ton of pictures I always end up forgetting to upload the last ones first and then it messes up the story. Oh well, these pictures are once again, in backwards order.

Alan and I spent Christmas with my family this year. Everyone came out to Oceanside and it was fun to all be together since it doesn't happen very often anymore. Alan and I arrived Christmas Eve in time for the festivities to begin. Everyone was there and Todd, Renae's fiance, parents arrived about the same time along with my Dad and his fiance, Sharon. Ted, my mom's man friend came too so it was a full house!! We had a Christmas Eve dinner of prime rib, salad, mashed potatoes and chocolate cake. Alan and I did our traditional white elephant gift exchange where we provide all the white elephant gifts (they're actually provided by my adorable loving students from a few days before :0 ). I can only store so many candles, lotions, necklaces, candy, etc so my family or Alan's family always get a kick out of what they get from my students. I'll go through some pictures and then catch up on the events below.

Dec. 27

This is what happens when you have 10 + people staying in a house with poor plumbing and meant for about 5 people. My mom didn't have a plunger so the boys went out to go get one and fix the problem. Scott and Alan made Chris do the dirty work. Chris obviously didn't want anything to come back up at him so he stood in the bathtub as he plunged.

Jack was the highlight of the trip and much attention was given to him. He is definetly a typical toddler boy. Here we are playing in the backyard just before they leave to go home.

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Dec 26 (Boxing Day- holiday in Australia)

The day after Christmas some of us went to the San Diego Zoo. When we were kids we would have passes to the San Diego Zoo and go all the time with our grandparents and parents. It was fun to go again especially with Jack who loves to see all the animals. Alan and I hadn't been for about 8 years.

Chris and Alan are putting on their monkey faces- can you tell a difference?

Our row at the Sea Lion and Otter show

Opps! I just deleted 2 pictures as I was writing about them in post. Oh well, one was Alan on the sky fare above the park and the other was Chris and Alan with a huge camel. Maybe I will post those pictures later.
_______________________________________________________

Dec. 25- Christmas Day

Christmas Day consisted up getting up, opening stocking and gifts, watching Jack play with his toys, the guys went surfing, eating, watching the sun set at the beach and going to see National Treasure. Our main meal was Mexican food- tamales, enchiladas, rice, salad, etc. Two of my uncles came over and a family friend came too. At sunset some of us went of over to the beach in front of my Dad's condo to watch the sunset and then Ruth, Chris, Dad, me and Alan went to see National Treasure. It was a fun movie

Jack opening up another train item. He loves his trains and milk :)

Jack and his lawn mower- training him early.

At the beach, in front of Dad's place. Chris and Alan threw the frisbee and Jack played in the cold puddles.

Uncle Alan and Jack playing the piano for everyone :)

Well, that's about it for now. I've been writing forever and I'm ready to go do something else now so I'll update on the baby later today or tomorrow. All is good.

Renae's bridal shower

2007-12-10T18:24:00.001-08:00

One of my sister's, Renae, is getting married in February so last night I went to one of her bridal showers. It was in San Clemente, which is about an hour and a half from where I live. The first picture is the Tyndall girls, my mom to the left, me, Renae and then Ruth to the right. The house the shower was at overlooked the ocean. To say the least, it was beautiful! I arrived just in time for the sun to set and so we took a few pictures. They weren't my favorite pictures because I look like a butterball turkey but nonetheless it's a picture of us. Instead of gifts we each brought an ornament for their tree next year and gave $$ to the money tree. Renae and Todd aren't registering so it was fun to do a different gift item than the usual registery gift.

Gobble Gobble

2007-11-30T22:51:00.001-08:00

This year I cooked my first turkey and all the fun stuff that goes along with it. Alan had to work Thanksgiving evening so we decided to stay close to home and have our own Thanksgiving dinner/lunch instead of driving the 2 hours south to where my family lives. Thanksgiving evening I was able to visit Alan at his new station and he showed me around. The turkey came out good, not great, but good. We had lots of left overs and are all turkied out.

This is a picture of me yesterday. My belly is getting bigger and bigger. We are getting ready for him and have already moved furniture around. The office is now in our bedroom and our garage can no longer be used to park the car because of all the stuff that is sitting in there now. I need to go through a lot of it and reorganize it into the closets. The office looks nice in our room. I thought it would look like there's too much furniture but it actually fits in well. After getting organized it'll be time to paint and then get some baby furniture. I haven't had any leg cramps for a few weeks (knock on wood) so it has been a nice break. My belly is starting to get uncomfortable and will only continue to do so. I have to turn sideways to wash the dishes now.

23 weeks and baby clothes

2007-11-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

What a blessing! I have a parent of a student in my class who in done having kids and her last one was a boy whose now 18 months. She was so kind and gave me 2 big tubs full of baby boy clothes. She said she was going to get rid of them anyway and thought of me to give them too. Alan and I had a ton of fun pulling clothes after clothes out of the tubs. It seemed like Mary Poppins purse where more and more just kept coming out of them or the feeding of the 5000 when the fish didn't stop coming. We ended up filling 3 trash bags full when we were done. We don't have any baby furniture yet so we're storing it all in the closet in bags. Thank you, Mrs. Walker!!

This is me this week at 23 weeks. I look huge in this picture. Some days I look bigger than other days. It must of been what I was wearing. Today I had my 24 weeks check up and the nurses eyes opened really big when we heard the heartbeat. He has a fast one! He moves a ton too. Last month, the ultrasound technician had an hard time getting pictures of him because he was moving so much. Alan and I are pretty mellow people but I have a gut feeling we're going to have an active one :)

Facebook

2007-11-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I finally buckled down and joined facebook. Let me know if you are a member too so I can add you as a friend.

Random pictures & Leg cramps

2007-10-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have had it pretty easy being pregnant, no real morning sickness, nothing too dramatic until last night. I woke up to excruciating leg cramps. I had had a few mild ones last week but nothing like last night. My whole left leg started to cramp up and nothing would get the tension out. Massaging it felt worse and I had to wait it out for about 10 minutes which seemed like an eternity before it began to subside. It still hurts from last night and I'm worried it's going to happen again tonight. I've had leg cramps before when swimming and such but NOTHING like this one. I'm praying this is just a phase and goes away quickly. Any of my pregnant friends going through the same thing?

On another note, I've had some pictures I've taken in the past few weeks that I've been meaning to put up on the blog. They don't go together but instead of making a separate blog for each I'm putting them all together. Please excuse the randomness.

Last Saturday at Castaic Lake with some friends from our fellowship group from church for a southern BBQ and boating day. The food was sooo good and the water was really smooth. It was a great way to end a crazy week.

Josh and Katy were one of the couples that brought their boat to share with everyone.

Two weeks ago I had this picture taken. I was 19 weeks, now I'm 21 weeks.

My favorite baby outfit so far. We bought it right after we found out we're having a boy. I was too lazy to adjust the picture so it's sidways.

Right before the fire really took off and the whole hill was on fire. I didn't get too many pictures because we were running around frantically trying to get all our important papers together.

The smoke from one of the fires when we got home from church a week ago. At this time I really didn't think we'd get evacuated because it hadn't come over the hill yet. This was just before all the smoke dropped and made everything really dirty. It looked like the end of the world.

The smoke is dropping and coming over.

We're having a . . .

2007-10-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

BOY!

After an extemely stressful few days of being evacuated from our house because the fire was right behind it, we were able to find out that we're having a BOY. At first he wasn't cooperating and had his legs crossed so the technician couldn't tell and didn't want to give an opinion because she really didn't know. I begged her to keep trying and maybe if I got up to go to the bathroom the baby would turn around. Sure enough, he did move and it was very apparent he's a boy. She kept telling us he's a boy and that it was very clear. She even offered to buy us a new wardrobe if he wasn't :).

It made the stressful and tiring day end nicely. We are now back at home with Roxy (our cat)and the fire has gone elsewhere. It shouldn't come back our way because all the brush is burnt ;( around here and there's nothing more to burn. It's sad because now we see just black burnt ground instead of the green brush we had before. I'm super thankful that it didn't jump the street or our house would of been toast- Praise God! Alan, me, baby boy, and Roxy are all happy to be home.

Baby kicks

2007-10-20T11:06:00.001-07:00

I started to feel little flutters and kicks in my tummy starting week 14 but nothing too dramatic. Yesterday when I got home from work I wasn't feeling too well so I ate something and layed down on the couch. While I was there all of a sudden the baby started to kick me really hard. I felt 2 kicks with my hand and Alan got to feel the third kick with his hand. I was so surprised that the kicks were that hard because I had never felt the kicks with my hand before just the usual flutters and thumps in my belly. It was the coolest thing! I had been waiting to feel them with my hand and would sometimes press down to try and feel them but never would. Then yesterday it was like the baby kicked out to my hand to touch it because I wasn't trying to feel them at first. All night I kept trying to feel them again but whenever I pushed down the baby would stop. It makes it so much more real and fun when I can actually feel them with my hands.

Too cute too not post

2007-10-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

My sister- in- law, Lisa, took these pictures of my nephew, Jack, just after he got his new rain boots. He decided he wanted to strut his stuff so she couldn't resist getting a few snapshots. The pictures were too cute that I had to post them too.

VOTE!!!

2007-10-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Come on people, VOTE!!!!

Boy or Girl??

2007-10-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

Please take our poll to let us know what you think we're having. We're curious to see what y'all think. You have until October 22 to post your predictions which is when we will find out; that is, if Baby is cooperating.

Fall Break

2007-10-05T17:47:00.001-07:00

Finally Fall Break is here!! I love having a week off in October. The weather is perfect- finally nice and cool but not cold. I've been looking forward to having fall break for a while which made this past week that much longer. This past week has been a busy one with waiting for Fall break, getting progress report cards out and organizing/running our Math Night at school. Over 500 people came and we had the In and Out truck come to sell burgers. This is my 3rd year running it and it's always a fun night.

People at work said I was showing on Wednesday. It must of been what I was wearing. I was wearing my biggest pair of jeans so my belly was able to feel more at ease. I don't like wearing my old clothes anymore because I can tell the baby feels squished and my stomach gets tired after a while. I guess I'll have to go shopping during my week off.

During our center time at work I have a group of kids sit around a table and read to me. I have to lean over and help them with their reading and everyday at that time I feel the baby move because I'm squishing him/her. It's fun that he's/she's communicating to me already and I can tell what's going on.

Tonight Alan's brother and his wife are coming over for dinner because they are moving to Texas in a few weeks. Now we really have no family close. The closest family is mine in Oceanside (about 2 1/2 hours away). It's a good thing we have some friends that are like family to help us out and babysit every once in a while after the baby is born.

My sister, Renae, got engaged this week too!!! Congrats Renae and Todd. I can't wait to help her plan her wedding which will probably sometime in January, just in time for me to be huge. It'll make for fun family pictures to look back on.

Next week I'm going up to visit my brother, Scott and Lisa and Jack. I can't wait to spend some time with Jack since he's at that fun age to play with and to spend some time with Scott and Lisa too. They live close to San Fransisco so I'm flying up there- it's only an hour flight. I wish all flights were that long. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Puzzle

2007-09-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Ten tiny little fingers

and a cute little nose.

Tapping on her tummy,

with ten tiny little toes.

She'll be getting bigger.

You'll watch her tummy grow.

Inside a tiny baby,
soon everyone will know!

Think you know the answer?

Well that just may be.

'Cuz your teacher, Mrs. Martinsen

is having a BABY!

This week I sent this puzzle home with each of my students. When they put it together it formed this poem. It was a fun way for the kids and parents to find out that I'm having a baby. I've had great reactions to it and lots of excited kids. It went much better than I anticipated and I'm so thankful.

Hawaii and Baby update

2007-09-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I posted that I was pregnant because I realized the last I posted was when I was 10 weeks and now I'm at the end of 14 weeks. The time has flown by. With the school year starting and getting ready for our trip to Hawaii along with falling asleep all the time I haven't had time to update. Sorry for all the writing ahead of time.

________________________________________________________

Let's see... first I'll update the Baby and me. As I said, I'm at the end of 14 weeks. I managed to get through the first trimester without getting too sick. The main things that bothered me the most were the HOT HOT weather and my toothpaste :) I can now brush my teeth without gaging too much and the weather is only in the 90s now. I've been tired as expected and just want to sleep alot of the time. I was a little disappointed at our 12 week appointment because I thought I was going to get an ultasound and didn't. They said I only get one more and it's at 20 weeks to see what we're having. We did of course hear the heartbeat with the doppler but it somewhat of a letdown beause I thought we'd actually get to see Baby again. We'll find out what were having in about 5 1/2- 6 weeks so I'll be taking a poll soon. Other than my belly now having no definition and my pants getting tighter, not much has changed. I plan on telling my students and parents in about 2 weeks so hopefully my belly will hold out. I've been trying to wear some of my bigger clothes so it's not so obvious yet. Pray that the reaction is a good one and not negative. I've heard too many negative stories at my school that it makes me nervous.

________________________________________________________

So since Alan had his vacation time this month and we wouldn't have another time to go away before the baby is born we went on a last hurrah to Hawaii last week. We went on a cruise which took us to the 4 islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai. After the cruise we stayed another few days in Wakiki. We had a great time relaxing and spending time together. We got to go hiking under a volcano in some caves and to a waterfall. We also did LOTS of snorkling and swam with sea turtles ( a highlight of the trip). We went kayaking, swimming, Alan went surfing, we saw the aquarium in Maui and went to Luau. We stayed pretty busy and were off the ship mostly during the days. Our favorite island was Kauai. We had gone there for our honeymoon 5 years ago and loved it. Napili Bay in Maui come in a close 2nd to our favorite places on the trip. That's where we swam up to sea turtles when we were snorkling. Anyway, here are some pictures from the trip. I was hesitant on putting some of them up (the ones of me in a swimsuit) but thought I should so you can see my baby belly. To me it seems pretty obvious and I think I saw a few looks from others out of curiousity while we were there.

Here we are in the caves that are made out of molten lava. They went extremely high and when we all turned off the flashlights it was so dark you couldn't even see you hand in front of your face.

Alan's relaxing on our balcony. It was so nice to sit out there are watch the ocean.

Our cruise boat from the shore.

Dinner time in one of the resturants.

The biggest sting ray I've ever seen. It was in the shark and sea life exihibit at the Maui Ocean Center.

A diver feed the fish and sting rays in the aquarium as sharks swam overhead.

Alan driving the jeep we rented on a few of the islands

Kayaking up a river

The pig at the Luau

Luau

Okay, one of the riskay ones :) There's my 13 week belly. I had to buy new board shorts while we were there because my other ones wouldn't close.

Okay- the riskiest of them all but there you go, my belly! You won't get another picture like this from me again :) We're all snorkeled up ready to go.

Our first baby clothes purchase. We bought prepared for either a boy or girl.

The U.S. Arizona Memorial in Honolulu

Sunset in Wakiki, it was beautiful and ended our trip so nicely

Alan and me at sunset as the boat went by the Napali coast in Kauai. You can only see the Napali coast by air or boat.

We hiked to this waterfall and then went swimming under it. It was really pretty.

It's been a while

2007-09-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hi readers!

I know it's been a while since I've posted. With all that beginning of the year stuff going on and being away for 10 days I haven't found time to post. I will post pictures of our recent trip to Hawaii (we just got back this morning) and update on the baby soon. Thanks for being patient.

Many say, well it's about time! We say, it's perfect timing!

2007-08-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Yay! We're expecting a little one around March 10th 2008. I've waited quite a while to post anything on our blog because I wanted to tell people at work first before they found out on their own. So I had to wait all summer.

Many of you may already know that we're pregnant and some of you it might be new news, sorry if it's new news and I didn't get to tell you in person. We are 10 weeks along and this past Friday we had our first ultrasound. Baby Martinsen's heartbeat was going 176 beats per minute and sounded strong. We were so excited to see our little "peanut" and hear his/her heartbeat. Baby Martinsen also wiggled his/her arms and legs for us. It was so fun to see.

Many have asked us if we are going to find out the gender of the baby. Yes, we are going to find out. I'm am such a planner that knowing will be more fun for us than not knowing. Some people say, "But then you won't have a surprise," however I think that whenever we find out, it'll be a surprise and just as fun.

I've had it great so far! No sickness at all. Only a couple of times around week 5 and 6 I felt a little nauseous from being in the sun too long or doing some activities too fast. Other than that, I thank God that I haven't had to run head first to that famous porcelain throne.

The picture is hard to see the baby but if you look closely you can see little arms and legs. In 2 weeks we go in for another ultrasound and the baby should be easier to see so I can post a better picture then.

We are super excited about our little peanut and can't wait to meet him/her!

Exchange Students from Sweden

2007-07-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Our two sixteen year old exchange students from Sweden, Katti and Natalie, said their tearful goodbye's as they boarded a bus to the airport this past Tuesday. Alan and I were their host family for two of their four weeks in California. They came with an EF group of high school students from all over Sweden and Norway. Many of them didn't know each other before the trip. They visited all over L.A. and even went up to San Fransisco for a weekend with their group. Alan and I were responsible for housing, feeding and driving them to and from their events in town. It was fun to have 2 teenagers living with us for a few weeks and learning all about their Swedish culture. The girls spoke great English which made it easy for us to communicate. Overall, it was a fun experience and we'd love to do it again in the future. If anyone else in the Los Angeles area is interested in being a host family for exchange students next summer, let me know and I can direct you to the people to contact.

Hi, girls if you're reading this! How was you're LONG flight home? Have you been enjoying your Swedish meatballs?

More pictures

2007-07-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

Weekend in Oceanside

2007-07-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my brothers and sisters and I planned a birthday party for my parents since it was a birthday year marker (60- sorry mom). My parents were born 4 days apart in the same hospital so it was only fitting that we plan one party for the both of them. Scott, Lisa and Jack flew down from Redwood City and the rest of us made ourselves available. The weekend started with a Padres Game at their new stadium, Petco Park. The stadium was really nice (still feels new) and the seats were good too. Unfortunately, the Padres lost but it was fun anyway.

Saturday evening we had the party for my parents. We played the games that they always made us play when we were kids like: pin the ear on Snoopy, drop the clothespin in the jar, cottonball races and a pinata. All the adults got way involved in the games especially with the pinata. People were diving and dogpiling to get candy. It was quite a sight!!

Those are just a few of the fun things we did that weekend. Below are some pictures of the baseball game and Jack playing in the water in the backyard. Jack loves water especially when you spray it on him. In fact, one day he got a hold of a spray bottle and kept squirting himself until he was soaking wet. He kept laughing and squirting- it was way too cute.

Me, Ruth and Renae

Alan and Chris

Scott and Lisa

Jack playing in the water

Fun times in Washington

2007-07-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend (Thursday- Sunday), Alan and I went up to Washington State to visit with his extended family and with some friends of ours. We stayed with one of Alan's Aunts and Uncles in Bellingham along with the rest of Alan's immediate family. His parents flew up from Guatemala and his sister and her family from Mississippi and his brother and his wife from Pasadena. It was fun for everyone to be together again. Alan's dad has 8 brothers and sisters and they are all married with kids and many of their kids have kids. So as you can imagine it was quite a weekend.

We had a huge family reunion Friday night where almost everyone was able to make it. It was 59 total that were there. A lot of names and connections for me to memorize, but by the end of the evening I could pretty much name everyone and know who they belong to. We took a family picture in the rain which was hilarious because trying to get 59 people to take a picture in the rain was quite a task. By the time the picture was taken we were all soaking wet. I can't wait to see what the picture will look like.

Alan's Aunt Jeri and Uncle Duane( the ones we stayed with) have a tea house in Lynden, Washington which is about 10 minutes from Canada. On Friday we had lunch at the tea house with his immediate family. It was such a cute store. Inside the main room were little rooms that were decorated differently for private parties for tea. People can reserve a certain room for tea if they'd like too. We ate in the main room because there were too many of us to fit in a smaller room. Below is a picture of one one the rooms. The tea was fun since everyone gets their own tea pot and strainer for the leaves. The food was really good too!

That morning (Friday) we took family pictures with Alan's immediate family so that's why we are matching in a few of the pictures. One of Alan's cousin is a professional photographer (Donette Studios) up there and so we were able to get him to take some pictures for us at another one of his Aunt's houses.

On Saturday we were able to see some friends of ours, Adam and Amy Ford and their daughter, Tatum. They used to lived in California a few years back and we built a good friendship with them from church. They moved to Washington and we've been planning to come up and see them ever since. We went to breakfast first and the we went to Deception Pass, which is the only bridge that connects to the San Juan Islands. It was a beautiful day and fun to catch up with them. We also got to meet Tatum too.

Saturday afternoon Alan's parents had an Open House for friends and family to come and visit. I met a whole new bunch of people that have known Alan's parents for years.

Sunday night we ordered pizza and and hung out with A. Jeri and U. Duane's kids (around our age) and their spouses for the evening. Caitlin (2 1/2) , our niece, gave everyone quite a show with all her singing.

Sunday we went to church in Lynden with A. Jeri and U. Duane and kids and then went out to lunch. In between church services Colleen and Todd (Alan's cousin and husband) made us expresso's at their place which was 2 minutes from the church. Those Washintonians (my made-up word) sure know how to make some good coffee drinks. Then after lunch it was back to the airport to fly home.

All in all, the trip went by way too fast! We had so much fun and loved being up there. It was nice to get away from the LA smog. We can't wait to visit again.

I can't seem to format the picture like I'd like too so below are some pictures of the trip.

One of the rooms at the Tea House. This one is for little girls because the tables are so low. The girls can dress up in the hats and boas that are hung on the side of the room.

This is Mount Baker, a mountain that Alan's dad was so persistant on us seeing while we were there. Saturday the weather cleared up so we could see it. The picture is from A. Jeri and U. Duane's house.

Alan and Caitlin goofing around in the airport.

Alan, Caitlin and Me after family pictures at Aunt Janet's house. They have a huge pond in their backyard along with a golf couse.

Adam, Amy and Tatum at Deception Pass.

Aunt Jeri and some of the tea pots for sale at the tea house

Alan and Me in front of Lynden's Cup of Tea

The Fords and Us in front of the Deception Pass Bridge. Tatum is being carried by Adam.

Romans Road

2007-06-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

I am posting the Romans Road because I got the opportunity to use it a few weeks ago with a co-worker. I thought it may be helpful for others reading or simply just a good reminder of God's love for us.

The Romans Road to salvation is a way of explaining the good news of salvation using verses from the Book of Romans. It is a simple yet powerful method of explaining why we need salvation, how God provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what are the results of salvation.

The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent.

Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation, Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of sin - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!

The third verse on the Romans road to salvation picks up where Romans 6:23 left off, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins.

The fourth stop on the Romans road to salvation is Romans 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 says it again, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The final aspect of the Romans road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins.

Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Would you like to follow the Romans road to salvation? If so, here is a simple prayer you can pray to God. Saying this prayer is a way to declare to God that you are relying on Jesus Christ for your salvation. The words themselves will not save you. Only faith in Jesus Christ can provide salvation! "God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. With your help, I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness - the gift of eternal life! Amen!" Please let me know if you said this prayer for the first time today.

If I were President

2007-06-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Back in February I had my students write about if they were President. They were to describe what type of President they would be, who they would live with in the white house and what they would do. So with that said, enjoy reading about a first grade perspective on being President.

If I were president, I would be a cute president. I would live with mom, dad, Kayla, and Tess in the white house. As president I would make a difference. Next, I would make laws fair for everyone. Last I would read to children. I hope that they like me. I think it would be fun to be president. –Samantha

If I were President, I would be a fat President. I would live in the white house with my hamsters. As president I would pay bills. Next, I would go to work. Then last I hope I stay alive when I am 100. I think it would be terrible to be president. –Kevin

If I were President I would be a powerful president. I would live in a white house with a snake and his name is Mike. As President I would help children. Next I would make different laws. Then last I would make laws fair for everyone. I hope that Mike doesn’t die. I think it would be very hard to be President. –Michael

If I were President, I would be a fat President. I would live in the white house with my mom and dad. As President I would protect our country. Then I would talk and read to children. Then last I would make speeches. I hope that I get a dog. I think it would be painful to be President. –Reilly G.

If I were President I would be a tall President. I would live in the white house with my mom and dad. As President I would protect our country. Next I would say the laws of our country. Then last I would ask the people questions. I hope that I did the right thing. I think it would be painful to be President. –Taylor K.

If I were President I would be a vice President. I would live with my husband. As President I would help Alysah and live with her. Next I would write papers with Alysah. Then last I will protect our country. I hope that me and Alysah wont die. I think it will be fun to be President. -Taylor R.

If I were President, I would be a powerful President. I would live in the white house with my parents. As President I would do a flip onto the couch. Next, I would protect our country. Then last I would improve schools. I hope that I would help the citizens. I think it would be cool to be President. –Riley H.

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house with my cat. As President I would name my cat Rodeo. Next I would have important papers. Then last I would improve schools. I hope that I would make the country better. I think it would be hard to be President. –McKenna

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house with my children and my first gentleman. As President I would help people. Next I would write the rules. Then last I would improve schools. I hope that everyone agrees on the laws I make. I think it would be wonderful to be President. –Jacquelyn

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house with mom, dad, and Connor. As President I would help people. Then I would protect our country. Then last I would make laws. I hope I’m a good President. I think it would be fun to be President. – Isibeala

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house with my seven kids, my husband, and my three dogs named Marley Charley and Roxy. As President I would take people to the hospital. Next I would take care of my babies. Then I would go play with my dogs. I think it would be painful to be President. –Hannah

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house with Veronica. As President I would make some rules. Next I would make a speech. Then last I would make a speech so the bad people can’t come. I hope it will be fun. I think it would be cool to be President. –Ethan

If I were President I would live in the white house with Taylor. As President I would help Taylor. Next I write on paper with Taylor. Then last I would walk with Taylor. I would not die. I think it would be fun. –Alysah

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house with a cat named Sam. As President I would talk to the children. Next, I would protect our country. Then last, I would make different laws. I hope that I get a dog. I think it would be fun to be President. –Kayleen

If I were President I would be bossy. I would live with Abraham Lincoln, I would help the army. I would help the homeless. I would go to bed. I would hope to get respect. I think it would be hard to be President. –Anthony

If I were President I would be a nice President. I would live in the white house. I would live with my pets. As President I would make laws. Next I would write notes. Then last I would make laws fair for everyone. I hope that everyone will be fair. I think it would be fun to be President. -Jillian

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there. For Mother's Day my mom, and 2 sisters and I went wine tasting in Temecula. It was a fun afternoon. We went to two wineries where we tasted different wines and then looked at some of the other wineries for fun. I learned that my favorite wine is the sweet fruity kind. I'm not for the dry wines at all, never have been, never will be. Ruth and I like the sweet wines and Renae and mom like the dry ones. If you have never gotten to visit Temecula's wineries, I highly suggest it. They have 31 wineries and the all the ones we saw were beautiful. Anyway, it was a fun time to hang out with the girls since we don't all get together very often. Wine tasting on Mother's day has become a Tyndall (my maiden name) tradition. Anyone is welcome to join us next year in celebration of Mother's day. Tell me about your Mother's Day.

World's Largest Thermometer

2007-05-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, Baker is home to the world's largest thermometer so I had to put a picture of it up. I guess every town has to have something unique. Baker is not only home to the largest thermometer but also the home to the Bun Boy resturant. Other than those two things nothing else lives in Baker. It's in the middle of the desert. Baker is where the world's greatest PD race begins every year. It goes approx. 120 miles to Las Vegas. PD's from all over the world come out each year to compete in the race. Each team has 20 people running. Depending on how fast the teams are the teams will start at different times during the day.

Alan's PD started in the last group since they are a pretty fast team. They started the race at 6pm on Saturday evening and finished around 9am Sunday morning. Alan ran his portion around 1:15 in the morning. It was super windy and cold. We went to watch and drop off people for legs 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and then headed back to the hotel. We didn't get back until 5am Sunday morning. We were tired and dusty from all the wind kicking up the dirt.

It was fun to see all the lights from the cars and vests in the desert in the middle of the night. Each runner had a follow vehicle to give them water, make sure that everything was okay and to protect them from getting hit by passing traffic. After all teams finished the race and recooped there was a huge awards reception Sunday evening. There were so many people there. They had all the scores and times posted for each team. Alan's team came 69th place out of over 200 teams. All the teams that got under 100th place got a commerative mug so Alan now has his first Baker to Vegas mug.

B to V

2007-04-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Here are two pictures of Alan getting ready to run his leg in the Baker to Vegas relay. His leg was 5.6 miles. His vest even lit up like a Christmas tree ( had blinking red lights) when he ran because it was in the middle of the night. More details on the race later.

Bike Ride

2007-04-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

To offically start off my spring break, some friends, Megan and Kim, and I went on a long bike ride on the paseos around town. We rode for an hour and a half. The weather was perfect! It was warm but the clouds covered up the direct sun so it didn't beat down on us. It was a fun bike ride. At the end of our trip we treated ourselves to lunch at Stone Fire and then rode home. What a great day for a bike ride. If you live in Santa Clarita and haven't had the chance to bike ride the paseos I highly suggest it.

Adrenaline Rush

2007-03-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing like a good adrenaline rush to wake you up in the morning! I got my fair share of it this morning. Let just say it was one of those mornings that you look back on it and it seems like it could only happen in your dreams. Speaking of dreams that's what I was doing all morning while I was supposed to be getting ready for work. Yes, you guessed it, I overslept. Not just a little where you can make up time and still get to work on time. I overslept like I had never overslept before. Here's how the story goes:

I went to bed like any other ordinary night, set my alarm clock, put my clothes out for the morning and made my lunch (I'm so thankful I did this ahead of time). I jumped into bed, read a little of my latest book and then set off for my usual night of slumber. Alan was working all night so I was able to enjoy the queen bed all to myself. In the morning I usually hear my alarm and press snooze a few times and then get up. I knew this pattern had been getting worse lately and was afraid that if I didn't change my morning habit I'd be regretting it soon. We'll the day has come and I now will be keeping my alarm clock across the room so I actually have to get out of bed to turn it off!

This morning I woke up to the sound of the trash truck outside taking the trash away. Before I opened my eyes, I though, "Huh, that's interesting the trash truck is here really early this morning." Then my consciousness hit me and I realized there is no way the trash truck would be here before 5:15, the time I had set my alarm for.

I fearfully opened my eyes hoping it would still be dark but instead the room was bright as can be. That's when the adrenaline began pumping. I thought, "Okay, it's probably just 6:30 and I can still make it to work on time if I rush. I took a glance at the clock and couldn't believe what I saw, so I took another look and then panic rushed in. The clock read 7:53! I was suppose to be at work at 7:30 and school starts at 8:00. It takes me about 25 minutes to get to work in the morning so there was no way I was going to remotely make it even close to 8:00.

I bolted out of bed and started dialing the school number. Of course I dialed the wrong number in my frantic and tried dialing again in which I then dialed the wrong extension so I dialed again. After 4 times of trying to make 1 phone call I got through to the office and told them I overslept and I'd try to make it in as fast as I could. On days like today I wish I didn't have a job where people are relying on me to be there at a certain time. Well, I took a fast shower and was out the door in 15-20 minutes and made it to work by 8:45.

Fortunately we have enough people on staff that someone was able to take over my class for me so the kids didn't miss a beat. However, my heart sure missed a few beats this morning and I felt like I spent the rest of the day trying to get them back. If you have a story you'd like to share about an adrenaline rush you have had, please share away, I'd love to hear them.

Morro bay

2007-02-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

Morro Bay

This past weekend Alan and I were able to get away for a few days. It had been a while since we had gotten away and this past weekend worked out perfectly. Alan has 5 days off in a row and I have a student teacher who could cover my class without me having to write sub plans. We left for Morro Bay on Saturday and were welcomed with a beautiful sunset. This picture is just before sunset on Saturday.

We had a fancy dinner at the Inn Saturday evening at sunset. Alan was able to get this picture by our table at dinner.

On Sunday the 2 tall ships from Pirates of the Carribean came to the bay. People were able to go on the 2 ships and sail out to the ocean. While they are out in the ocean they actually have a battle. They really shoot the cannons at each other; but of course with no live ammo- just gun powder.

We didn't go on the tall ships because we had already booked a tour of the bay with sub-sea tours. It was cold on the tour and I was concerned I was going to catch a cold. Fortunately, I didn't catch a cold and was happy to warm up after the tour with some salt water taffy and hot chocolate. We saw seals, fish, birds and of course our favorite, sea otters. :)
Sunday afternoon we borrowed beach cruisers from the Inn we stayed at and went bike riding down some trails and roads by the golf course. I had a pink cruiser and Alan had a red cruiser. My chain kept slipping on the way back which made for an eventful trip back up the hill to the Inn.

On Monday we picked up some sandwiches at the store and stopped by the pier in Pismo. The weather was beautiful so we sat on the pier at one of the picnic tables and had a picnic. We said it was, "The perfect picnic on the pier in Pismo with pigeons, people and pickled sandwiches." Say that 5 times fast!

Over all, it was a fun trip up to Morro Bay.

Woodland House has Sold

2007-02-22T18:15:00.000-08:00

Yay, the escrow on the Woodland House has closed so our fixer-upper project is done. We saw the house for all the four seasons- spring, summer, fall and winter. Today it snowed at the Woodland house so the new owners will be getting a taste of Pine Mountain in the winter.

Anyway, now we can say "been there down that" to flipping a house. We enjoyed fixing up the house and are glad we were able to accomplish this goal. Maybe we'll do it again if the market and right home comes up at the right time. So for all those people out there who have thought about doing a flip one day, I say, "Go, ahead, do it!" You'll learn a lot in the process where you can't learn by just reading a book. You only live once on earth so why not make the most of it, even if it means taking risks. The hardest part is actually taking the step to do it. Well for us it's on to the next project- goal.

Woodland house in the spring

More first grade cuteness

2007-01-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today my student teacher joined our classroom. At the end of the day I let the kids have time to ask her questions to get to know her better. Of course since they are 6-7 years old they ask all the personal questions like, "how old are you?" and "do you have a boyfriend?" One student asked, "Have you been out of the country?" She replied, "yes" and said she had lived in Israel for four months and mentioned the people there speak a different language called Hebrew.

Then with all seriousness a kid asked in his sweet little voice, "When they talk do they sound like this- pea poy pea poy pea poy?" It was sooo cute. I couldn't help but laugh. The student started to laugh at how funny it came out and a couple of boys ended up rolling on the floor laughing. It was one of those cute moments in first grade. Thought I'd share the cuteness.

Gingerbread house

2007-01-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Jordan ( a student from last year), and her sister Jacquelyn came over and we made a gingerbread house and drank mint hot cocoa. The girls showed me their American girl dolls and told me all about them. They have added many new dolls to the collection since I was a little girl. They really liked playing with the lazer pointer to make Roxy (our cat) try to catch it. It's Roxy's favorite game. After we finished the house, I realized we forgot to decorate the front of the house- Oops!

Christmas with Jesus

2006-12-31T15:48:00.000-08:00

OCEANSIDE ---- About 2,000 friends, family members and law enforcement officers came together Thursday to remember and celebrate the life of Oceanside police Officer Dan Bessant, who was fatally shot last week in the line of duty. Although there were tears, red eyes and sniffles during the emotional service, New Venture Christian Fellowship Church also was filled with laughter as friends and colleagues recalled Bessant's infectious sense of humor and wide-eyed smile. Law enforcement officers from as far away as Nevada created a sea of blue uniforms in the church. The officers and Bessant's friends from around North County filled every seat, lined the walls and gathered around the outside of the large church in southeastern Oceanside during the two-hour tribute to the slain officer. "He gave his life for the city he loved," Oceanside police Chief Frank McCoy told those inside the church. "Now we have to give our love and support to his family."The 25-year-old officer who left behind a wife and 2-month-old son was gunned down Dec. 20 while assisting another officer in a traffic stop in northeast Oceanside near the back gate to Camp Pendleton." San Diego Union Tribune

I knew Dan from church in High School. He got to spend Christmas with Jesus this year. Please pray for Dan's wife, 2 month- old- son and family. They have a hard road ahead of them and need prayer. He will truly be missed by the community, family and friends.

Turkey Trot

2006-11-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Alan and I went to Oceanside to be with my family for Thanksgiving this year. We started a new tradition of running the Turkey Trot, a 5K run, on Thanksgiving along with 2700 other people. Some people were dressed up in costumes and running. It was quite a humbling experience to have a big beer bottle or turkey run past me while strolling along their children - that's somewhat of an indication of how I did. :)

Actually, I did okay. I ran most of the way. I did have to walk a little bit after I choked on the water I grabbed from someone holding it out to me. I tried to drink and run and throw it in the trash can all at the same time. Let's just say I'm not coordinated enough to do that. So, if you are ever running a long run and water is handed to you- DONT take it unless you plan on walking. :)

Here is a picture of the whole family before the run

Alan and me after the run

The boys

The girls and Jack (Jack is posing like a little ladies man)

Children's Hunger Fund

2006-11-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

Today, Alan and I along with several others from church went to the Children's Hunger Fund to put together food paks that are going to be shipped off to Peru. Bryan, our friend and neighbor, works for CHF and showed us his office there. We were able to meet some of his co-workers and get the true scoop on him at work. Between our group and several other church groups we were able to pack over 1400 food paks in 2 1/2 hours. They said it was a record. It was a lot of fun and went to a great cause.

Cute thought

2006-10-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

Today my first graders and I were discussing resources from the different locations- oceans, woods, deserts, hills, etc. I told them that part of their pencils are made from trees and even their paper is made out of wood from trees.

One girl raised her hand and said, "Yah, I know because if you cut a tree in half you can scoop the paper out from inside." I told her it was a cute thought but no, that's not the way it works.

Anyway, thought I'd share the cuteness with you. Tomorrow is Halloween so maybe I can get a few unrecognizable pictures of our class to post. If anyone want to come and hear a great children's story, I'll be reading at Borders on Wednesday at 4:45 in the children's section.

Downtown LA

2006-10-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Downtown LA was so clear on Friday so I thought I'd take a picture and put something new on my blog.

Kim's wedding

2006-09-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

One of my roommates from Master's, Kim Nelson (now Calloway) got married this past weekend. We went up to Merced for the wedding with our friends Mike and Julie. Julie and I were doing guest book and gifts for Kim and her new husband Andrew. It was hands down the most God-honoring wedding I have ever been too. They honored God in everything and really took time to thank everyone for coming to the wedding. It made me realize how much more I could be honoring God in what I do and how I let those God- honoring moments easily slip away. I am so blessed to have Kim as a friend and sister in Christ. Congratulations Kim and Andrew!!

Dancing with the Stars

2006-09-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

"Well, if there's ever a night to throw your underwear at the TV, tomorrow's the night to do it."

What in the world does that mean? That's what the host, Tom Bergeron, said on "Dancing with the Stars" Tuesday night and I'm still laughing at it. What is meant by that saying? Did anyone else hear him say that? What an odd statement!

More pictures; blog below

2006-09-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Dan and Sean hanging around "the kitchen"

Yep, a poodle did the hike too!

Cam, Kim, Josh, Katy, Me, Alan

Getting ready to hike out

Me, Katy and Kim

Alan and the fish he caught!

Backpacking with Friends

2006-09-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while. A couple of times I tried uploading pictures but they wouldn't come up so I kept putting it off. I'll upload some more pictures of our trip when they decide to upload properly.

Labor Day weekend Alan and I went backpacking with some friends; the Clarks, the Coles, Kim & Cam and Josh & Katy. We backpacked about 6 miles in from the trail head to Hilton Lakes. It was about 12 miles total with about 30 pounds on our backs for the whole weekend. The trail head is just north of Bishop and south of Mammoth. It was high enough that there was still snow on the mountain in some spots. The weather was beautiful though. It was a great time to relax and hang out with friends. At night we made smores, drank hot chocolate and played some Catch Phrase. During the day we walked around the lake, fished, and even some of us bathed in the freezing cold lake.

Picture of Alan and me along the hike.

Making pancakes

Alan caught a fish that we were able to eat for dinner.

The guys worked hard to hang our food up at night so the bears wouldn't eat it. We realized that the bag was so low to the ground that it more likely would attract the bears than send them away. Fortuntely our food was still there in the morning.

Hilton Lake

Singular or Cingular

2006-08-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I was tutoring a 6 year old boy and we were going over plural and singular words. I asked him if he has heard of the word "singular" before and what does it mean. He relied with, "Yep, it's a cell phone company!" Funny, that would of never happened 10 years ago. I've gotta keep up with the youthful mind of America. In fact while I was asking him the question I thought he'd say that only because who hasn't heard of Cingular today even if you've only lived for 6 years. I think Webster should add Cingular to the dictionary as a well advertised cell phone company because it is obviously more recognizable than the word singular.

The ending

2006-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

I think I've made you wait long enough. I have to say I really enjoyed reading your endings to the story and wished we had thought of some of them to do. Some of them were quite sneaky like moving up a seat or pretending to get some popcorn ourselves.

Alrightly, so the couple is about to return and we don't know what to do. Well, we thought it would be rude to tell the lonely guy that his seat was taken. The last thing he probably wants is for us to acknowledge that he came to this movie by himself. So we waited it out to see what would happen.

The lights began to dim for previews when the couple started walking back in. I thought that possibly, just possibly the couple left for good and we could have gotten out of the confrontation. Nothing really that exciting happened. They looked at us and the lonely guy, we sheepishly shrugged, they shrugged and laughed and said, "Well, I guess we're the one's who left." They sat down in the row between the lonestar and us. The end.

Now as I write this: mom, me and the couple should have sat right down next to the lonestar just to make things even more uncomfortable. Can you imagine? Sitting in a theater all by yourself and the only other people in the theater come and sit down on both sides of you like it's packed full of people. Someone should try it! If you do, let me know what happens :)

Okay Meg, get some sleep, nighty- night :)

Save us our seats! (funny story)

2006-08-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend my mom and I went to go see, The Devil wears Prada. The movie has been out for a while so it was only playing once a day at 9:50pm. When we walked into the theater, there was only 1 couple sitting, so basically we got free reign of the seats. We sat down a couple rows in front of the couple and talked for a while waiting for the movie to start. About 5 minutes before the movie started the couple got up to go get some snacks. On their way out, the guy sarcastically said, "Hey, could you save our seats for us?" We looked around the empty theater and easily relied, "Sure, no problem!" and went back to our conversation.

Meanwhile a guy 18 years old walks in by himself. My first thought was why is he coming to see this movie all by himself and a guy nonetheless. He must really be into fashion. Well, he starts walking up the stairs and when he got close to our row my mom and I looked at each other thinking the same thing. "What if he sits where that couple was sitting? What do we do? Should we say something?" He keeps walking up past us scanning the room for where he wants to sit. He turns on the couple's claimed row and starts walking. He keeps walking, walking and (no, don't do it!) "plunk"- he plants himself right where the couple was sitting- 2 rows behind us!

Now, the question is, what would you do? Would you really turn to the guy and say in a theater, full of empty seats "Hey, ummm, those seats are actually saved, you're going to have to sit somewhere else." We started laughing so hard, I felt bad for the guy.

Okay, so the couple is about to return to reclaim their seats, what do you think we did? I want to hear your thoughts to how the story ended(mom, no cheating- you cannot reply with the real ending.) After a while so all have time to respond, I will write the real ending. Enjoy, get creative!

Martinsen wedding

2006-08-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from David and Victoria's wedding last month. It was a lot of fun and great to see family and friends we don't get to see often.

4th of July

2006-08-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

Now that it has been a month ago, here are a few pictures from the 4th of July. The top one is Alan's family except Robert (brother-in-law, Carlene's husband) The bottom one is me and Alan. I tried to put it up as our blogger picture but I can't seem to figure out how to do it. If you know how to switch the pictures, let me know. Thanks.

Update on Woodland House

2006-07-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

Thank you to those of you who replied to my plead for help. I appreciate it.

Many of you have been asking about the Woodland House. I've been holding off on writing about it because I was hoping to write that it sold, but unfortunately it hasn't. We are still waiting and getting very impatient. Let's just say God is teaching us a lot about trusting in Him and that all things work together for good to the glory of Him. We were hoping that this house would have sold a long time ago. We have lowered our price many times but no bites. It's like we've had our fishing line in the water with tasty bait for a long time but there seems to be no fish in the lake. All we can do is wait and pray and pray and wait. Pray that this house sells soon. I will let you know as soon as we get an offer.

The Case of the Blogger Blues

2006-07-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have a case of the blogger blues. I just haven't felt like blogging lately. I have lots of pictures stored up but I just haven't felt like publishing them. Those who are reading this and blog, do you ever feel like this? I think it might be because I'm not sure what my readers want. I keep questioning, "Do people just want to see pictures with little words or would people rather read about my mundane and at times quarky life or read some kind of little inspirational message." Do you really want to read about what I had for lunch or what I did today? I can blog it if you want it.

So I am enlisting all who read this to please let me know what you would like to see on this blog. Comments definetly inspire me to write and publish more. The less comments I get, the less I want to write because I don't know who is reading this and if anyone is really interested. So for the sake of my blogger blues, graciously send a comment my way. :)

Trip to Monterey in June

2006-07-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

Awww... how cute?

Jack loves to suck his fingers.

Scott, Lisa

Ruth, me, Mom

Me and Jack

Wedding Shower

2006-06-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

A picture from my brother in law, David and his wife to be, Victoria's wedding shower yesterday. They were the judges for our game of "which team can make the best TP bridal dress?" The woman on the far left won. Congrats David and Victoria! Just a couple more weeks and you'll be married. Welcome to the family Victoria.

Martinsen Mouthpiece

2006-06-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry mom and dad (Alan's parents), I stole the name. I thought Martinsen Mouthpiece is a great title for the next 3 blogs since I published them all at once. Enjoy!

Summer time is here

2006-06-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

It's not officially summer yet until June 21 but this is how I know summertime is here:

1. School's Out!!! That also means summer vacation for me too!
2. Swimsuits are already picked through
3. It's hot!
4. Re-runs of Seinfield are fun to watch!
5. At 9:30 every night I can hear the booms of Magic Mountain's fireworks echoing through the valley.
6. The crickets are chirping at night to cool off.
7. The green spring time hills have already turned yellow.
8. I have a bag of hot cheetos in my cupboard. I get one bag every June for the summer.
9. All my plants die because I forget to water them.
10. The beach is calling- I can hear it, can't you?

Birthday Surprise

2006-06-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

My birthday was interesting this year because it landed on 6/6/06. The date was a little nerve racking but none the less a great day. It was probably one of my best birthday's yet because I was surprised. Surprises rarely ever get past me because I analyze everything and can usually figure out any kind of unusual behavior. Well, Alan got me this time! I was completely shocked- not just for the surprise but that I was totally oblivious to the signs.

The day started out with my usual Tuesday bible study with a couple a friends from college at Panera. They treated me to breakfast and gave me a gift certificate to Nail Forum. Just in time for a summertime pedicure! When I got to work/school the kids greeted me with cards and flowers and my room mom made me cupcakes to share with the kids at recess. The kids were very sweet and gave me hugs as they walked in the door. Then at lunch my first grade team treated me to lunch. It was nice to get off campus and just hang out.

When I got home I had a package waiting for me on the doorstep. It was from my sister, Renae. She works for Cobian sandals, so she sent me a pair from their new Mexican line. Then the phone calls began. Since I have a large family, I'm on the phone a lot on my birthday. Ruth and my Dad called me from Australia but unfortunately I missed their calls so they left messages. Alan came home and said let go eat! After a few more phone calls we left for Claim Jumper. When we got to Claim Jumper I was on the phone again checking messages. Actually Alan asked me if I had checked my messages yet. While I was on the checking my messages, Alan put our seat order in and we were seated.

We were seated but the lady had left it placed for four people, Alan said that he told the lady for 2 but she must have gotten confused. He excused himself to the restroom and I ordered our drinks and appetizer. I waited and waited and was wondering why it was taking Alan so long to come back. Finally he came back, but with our great friends Brian and Alexia. I was shocked to see them and because Alan surprised me!

I had made a comment to Alan a few days before that it would be fun to have a few close friends join us for dinner on my birthday. I completely forgot I had told him that. Earlier in the day, before Alan had gotten home from work, Brian had called looking for Alan. This isn't unusual because he calls for Alan occasionally so I didn't think of it out of the ordinary. Then when we got to Claim Jumper Alan asked me if I had checked my messages hoping I would, so he could tell them to seat us for four. His plan worked because I did check my messages and didn't hear him. The timing also worked out because Alan told Brian and Alexia to meet us 6:30. Between the phone calls and Alan doing "working on the computer" we got there at 6:30. I didn't realize he was planning to stall us if he needed to. I just thought we left when we left.

After dinner we all came back to our house for some icecream pie, a recipe Alexia gave me from Brian's birthday. It was such a special day and tons of fun. Thanks Alan and all my friends for making it so special. I had a great day!

What I want to be when I grow up

2006-06-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

I asked my first graders what they want to be when they grow up. Keeping it to the original spelling, this is what some of them wrote:

When I grow up I want to be a nrose (nurse). I would be a nice nrose. When I am a nrose I will help babys. I will also make sure there is nothing wrong with them. I will also be giving shots. I want to be a nrose because you help people.

Claire, age 7

When I grow up I want to be a probaseuboll (pro- basketball) player. I will be a good shooter. When I am a baseuboll player I am gonobe good. I will be a fast ronra (runner). I want to be beter then lbrn gam (Lebron James). I will be good spotmin ship ( have good sportsmanship).

Jake, age 7

When I grow up I want to be a cheerleatter. I will be a graet cheerleatter. When I am a cheerleatter I will cheer. I will also cheer for basket ball plarys. I will do a great job cheerleatter. I want to be a cheerleatter because I am good at it.

Miranda, age 7

When I grow up I what to be a gunasic (gymnastics) teacher. I will be a graet bedaboal (bendable) teacher. I will do acerbas (acrobats). I will also do flips. I will also be as well as my sister. I what to be a gunasic teacher becas it is fun.

Mindy, age 6

When I grow Up I Want to be a artest (artist). I will be a colrful pantr. Whe I am a artest I will pant colrful. I will also sel my pikTrs. Ialsowillbeas god as the famas artist. I wasnt to be a artest becaus it Will be fun.

Tori, age 6

When I grow up I want to be a toyenganer (toy engineer). I will be a nice toyenganer. When I am a toyenganer I will make turanturak (train tracks). I also will make toyturan (toy trains). I will also be good as a riell (real) enganer (engineer). I want to be a toyenganer because it is fun.

Eric, age 6

When I grow up I want to be a techer. I will be a good techer. When I am a techer. I will tech kids. I will also read to them. I will also teach as good as Mrs. Martinsen. I want to be a techer because it will be fun.

Jordan, age 7 ****Bonus points for Jordan for kissing up :)

When I growup I want to be a vetinereain (veternarian). I will be a smart vetinerean. When I growup I will check animels. I will allso take caer of pets. Allso I will do a good gob.

Alexandra, age7

4 years and going strong

2006-05-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today is our 4 year anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 4 years. Time has flown by and much has changed since 4 years ago, one being 4 years older- Yikes! Anyway, these past four years have been awesome not just relationship wise by spiritually too. We are so much stronger now than we were 4 years ago. I can't imagine what 50 years will be like. We look forward to the years to come and growing much older with each other. Okay, that's all the sappiness I'm going to publish on this blog.

Picture taken on Easter

Before pictures

2006-05-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

The time has finally come! Many hours of blood, sweat and tears we can reveal the before and after pictures. The formatting doesn't allow for them to be side by side. Enjoy! Sarah and Alan

After

2006-05-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Pine Mountain Club pictures

2006-05-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the golf course in town and the sunset from the house.

Woodland listing!

2006-05-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's true! We will have a listing for the Woodland house by this Friday. We will also be having an open house this Saturday and Sunday. Pine Mountain Club is having a lilac festival with all kinds of fun things going on including helicopter rides over the mountain community. There is an expected 12,000 visitor turn out for this event. Great weekend for the open house. Anybody want to come up and visit? The contractors will be done this Wednesday and then all we have to do is little touch ups here and there on Friday night. I'm waiting to take pictures so that you can get the full effect of the new house. It looks amazing! On Saturday when we worked a 12 hour shift I saw cars stop in front of the house to check out the new look. People are very interested to see what's going on and to see the change since it's been run down for so many years. Anyway, I'll post the before and after pictures as soon as I get a chance.

A sweet and sour experience

2006-05-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Imagine you were a first grader and this happened to you...

One of my favorite parts of the first grade school year is the spring and all the fun projects we get to do during the spring time. One of them being the life cycle of the butterfly. The week after spring break I always get an order of caterpillar larva delivered to school so my class can watch the butterfly lifecycle first hand. Each caterpillar comes in a little cup which I number so they can get their own personal caterpillar to watch grow and journal about. I always preface this unit by telling the kids that some of them are going to die along the way. It's just the nature of insects and that not all of them will turn into butterflies. The kids usually respond well and if theirs does die they are okay with it. This year I had none die, a first I must say. The kids loved journaling about how the caterpillars grew so big and then turned into it's crysalis' and then how they had to wait and wait until they came out. Monday they started coming out of their crysalis' and by Tuesday they had all came out. The kids have been so eager to get into the classroom each morning to check up on their precious little babies.

Today we went to go let them go free in nature where they need to be. They kids were sad when I told them it was time to let them go free, but a little happy knowing they are going where they needed to be. We walked out to our new reading garden on the playground, remembered the lifecycle of the butterflies and said our goodbye's. I then opened the cage to let them fly free. They started flying up in the air and out to nearby flowers. It was a great moment to see them all come out of the cage and be set free. The kids were so excited. But then.....

The kids froze to their horror as one kid pointed past me and screamed out, "THE BIRD!!" I turned around to see a big black bird standing behind me munching on one of our precious butterflies. It stood there mocking us as the wings of the butterfly were sticking out on each side of its beak. The kids instantly threw a protest. "That's so sick!" one kid said. "You mean bird!" one yelled. "I think that one was mine" another moaned.

I stood in horror thinking is this really happening. I felt so bad that they had to experience such a sad part of nature. I mean of course the bird is going to eat whatever is smaller than it, but why did it have to be in the garden right then. I didn't see it when we walked up. Instantly, I thought this has to go on the blog because the kids faces were hilarious as we experienced this tragedy of life. I had to hold myself from laughing at the irony of the whole thing. I can only imagine what kind of impact this might play in their lives. Hopefully they won't dislike birds forever.

You look like a hippy

2006-05-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

We had to shave Alan's head Sunday night. Here is what it looked like after shaving it Sunday. He was told that he has too much hair and that he looked like a hippy, so he'd better shave it again. At the bottom is Alan's head shaved again at a zero. You can't get less hair than that unless you razor it all off. Anyway, we wanted to share his new do.

Some people have farmer's tans. Alan has a hair tan.

Landscaping pictures

2006-05-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the Landscaping Alan did on Friday. It's hard to get pictures of it all at once. All that's left with the landscaping is time for grass to grow and finishing touches(plant flowers, weedwack the front of the hill, put in flag stone and some more woodchips). We're going to put the house on the market before the grass grows, it'll take too long to wait. You can only do so much on a huge hill like this one. We put in lots of wood chips to liven up the hills and walkway and ground plants like finca and rosemary- they can withhold the freezing temperatures in the winter. We attempted to cover up the propane tank with some new bushes, but as of now they are too little to cover it up. We may have to rethink this idea or really advertise that they will grow and will cover up the propane tank box.

Frusterations and Permits

2006-04-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

So, Alan got up to the house at 10:00am to find a little note waiting for us. "Thou must get a permit for your siding." Well not in those exact words but close enough. The siding is practically done, why now? They've been driving by all the time the last 2 weeks and haven't said anything. Money! It's all about ripping people off. Permits are one of those things in life I don't get. I mean, it's your property you shouldn't have to get permission to change your house. You own it, not the city- Don't even get me started on property taxes! That's a whole nother issue I think is wrong.

Alan was hoping our contractor would be working since it was such a nice day. He waited and waited for him to show and of course no show. What's up with that!! Excuses, excuses. "Oh, I thought it was going to rain." "I'm getting over a cold." All I know is we're on his tail now. We want this job done. We'll see what he can complete tomorrow. He promises to get the whole job done, deck and all by the end of next week. We'll see...

Anyway, just a little venting. Things are coming together, however, I think we're mentally ready to get this house on the market. It's time to sell! Soon, I keep reminding myself, soon.

Alan's hard work today

The transformation has begun!

2006-04-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

The transformation has begun. You will see in the next few pictures that the house is looking dramatically different! These pictures are a little outdated because they were taken Friday and Saturday. There has been a lot that has changed already since then. I hope to gets some more recent pictures on Thursday when Alan is back up there working on the landscaping. My kitchen knobs from Target came in the mail yesterday- all 40 of them. I've got some knobbing work cut out for me. It's a cheap and yet a needed feature in the kitchen. A little thing like that can really bring a room together.

Chris, my brother, is getting ready to hack up the stones the fire place is on with a crow bar.

Granite tile going in. I think it's done now so I'll get a finished picture soon.

Our machinery to get the siding up!

2006-04-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

Alan spent a day just getting 1/2 the yard tilled and seeded for grass. Today he worked on the other 1/2. The yard is so big and unusual in shape. We are trying to get creative by creating some kind of curb appeal. The yard has been my biggest creative challenge yet with the house.

The rocks that were put in so poorly below the fireplace and now gone. We are going to put in brick and a different design to open the room up so more. We decided against relocating the fireplace because we think there a permit regulations about putting it in the corner. We can also make it work where it is by reformed the platform the stove sits on

Alan and Chris realized that a jackhammer would work much better than a crow bar.