 |
Welcome to our little corner of the world!!!!!! Sammy Matthew Leo Lucy Esther |
 |
| Home Pictures Stories Family Guestbook |
 |
Stories 9-29-09 We are starting to feel the effects of Autumn around here. A few days last week we actually had highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's!!!! It felt cool! It has also rained quite a bit more. Matthew is asking if we can get out the jackets yet! He really wants it to be cool again. I think that is mostly because he likes to be outside so much.
The kids helped Dave cut down a tree a few weeks ago. (It was more like a really tall bush.) I am posting some pictures of them hard at work. There are also some other pictures of the kids playing outside, and others of the kids in Weslaco.
Which brings me to another highlight of the past few weeks - a trip to Weslaco (a town about 10 miles south of us). The kids got to tour the fire station, and then we all went to CiCi's for dinner. We all had a lot of fun! The pictures show them sitting outside the fire station, which used to be the city hall, and then chowing down at CiCi's. For those of you who have never heard of CiCi's it is an all-you-can-eat pizza place.
One other "big" event of the past month or so is, Sammy accepted the Lord as his Saviour on September 9th. He had been asking questions for a while and the previous week had just started a new program at church on Wednesday evenings. Through this program he began having "quiet time" daily, reading his Bible and reading a short explanation of the passage, and then closing in prayer. The subject of these devotionals was "Worship". He learned throughout the week that he could not worship the Lord with a sin-filled heart. He came to me that day and asked me if I could show him how to be saved. When I asked why he wanted me to show him, he said, "We are singing a song on Wednesday nights that says 'My sins have been forgiven, I'm on my way to heaven' and I want that to be true when I sing it tonight". It was such a blessing to be present when Dave took God's Word and showed Sammy how to trust the Lord as his personal Saviour. It was a marvelous thing to watch the simple faith and trust he expressed to the Lord as he asked Him to come into his heart and cleanse it so he could truly worship God. It was a moment for which I have waited and prayed for many years. God is so good!!!!!!
We love you all, and can't wait to hear how each of you are doing. God bless you all. May you enjoy His wonders throughout His beautiful creation around you this fall!
With Love,
The Hernandez Family
8/27/09 It rained! Yeah!!!!! We have not had rain here in six or seven weeks (unless you qualify a sprinkle that lasts about 3 minutes as rain! Speaking of that Esther, she is crawling everywhere now. There is no place in the house that she can't reach if she sets her mind to it. Dave got some really pretty pictures of her tonight. I will get them up here as soon as I have them available to me. Well that is about all for now. Just wanted to give you the latest from our house. We love you all. God bless. The Mommy
8/23/09 Hello everyone! We hope you are all doing well. For all of you in the north, I hope you are enjoying your last days of summer. For those of us here in the south, I don't think we will have to look forward to the last days of summer for a few months yet! Anyway, we are doing well. The kids were able to finish the "dirt house" they started several weeks ago. I have the pictures posted if you want to see the "final product". There are also pictures of the kids playing in the sprinkler. We try to let them play in the sprinkler at least once a week, as it makes being outside a bit more tolerable. I think Lucy likes it as much or more than the boys! Dave recently purchased a new camera, so you will see a few practice pictures in the mix. Sammy got a tiny toy camera as a prize in Sunday School and Lucy loves to use it. Dave got a few pictures of her taking a picture of him! We just received a box of books from Grandma Knight. My house was very quiet for a couple of hours! Thank you Grandma Knight! Sammy has been doing word problems in school, and much like his mom he has had a time trying to figure out a "backwards" problem (one where he is given the answer and he has to figure out one of the factors). He would have to get my bad character traits! In other news he has thoroughly enjoyed a new computer game Dave found for them. It is a group of "Navy Seal" type guys that have to rescue hostages, etc. He and Matthew have really gotten into it. Speaking of Matthew, he and Dave cut down a tree in our backyard this past week. He worked very hard, and enjoyed every minute of it. He even got to use the ax! (With plenty of adult supervision!) They dug out the stump and hauled away the wood. Abuelita even payed him for all his hard work! I don't know which he enjoyed better - the work or getting paid! Leo surprised me this past week. We received several school workbooks that were fairly easy so I let Leo start working on them. As he was doing a page the other day (one where he was supposed to put a consanant with a vowel-consanant blend to make a word), I heard him reading something to himself. It didn't look like he was reading the work on the page so I asked him what he was reading. He said he was reading the little words at the top of the page (the instructions for the teacher!) I asked him to read them to me, and he did! He likes to read to Lucy and gets a thrill out of doing math pages and flash cards like the big brothers. Lucy is becoming more and more the little mommy. She usually doesn't stay around long when the brothers are playing their games or shooting their guns (though she can handle their toy guns as well as they can!) She would rather be in the kitchen stirring or in the bathroom scrubbing or in the diningroom sweeping. Dave got her her own little broom and dustpan, so now whenever she sees dirt she runs to get them and clean up. Esther is crawling now. She had the same problem as Sammy had at that age. She could move backwards but not forwards. At least it did not last more than a week. Now she goes pretty much any where she wants, though she would still rather be carried! She says Mama, papa, brother, more and bath (though not completely clearly). Well, I better go and get supper for everyone. Have a great weekend and enjoy your time in the Lord's house tomorrow! With Love, Bekah
On a different note, we had a very big blessing in our house this past week. We were given another set of bunk beds for the kids. It is a wooden loft/trundle bed set with a built-in desk, dresser and shelves. It is so nice and is really an answer to prayers. It will give everyone their own bed and their own desk, for which the boys especially are grateful!!! However, to make it fit we ended up switching rooms. The kids now have our larger room and we took their smaller room. So right now we are still finding a place for everything and getting things put away. It will be really nice when everything is set up and ready to be used. I think I am almost as excited about it as the kids! It will definitely make life easier for me. Anyway, that is about all I have for now. God's blessings to you all!!!! With Love, Bekah
On a different note, we have been having over 100 degree weather for a couple weeks now. It is not like we didn't expect it, but we have gotten used to staying inside during the day and only going out in the late evening. The boys don't particularly like that, but when they try to go out earlier, they return hot and sweaty in about 10 minutes! We didn't do much for the 4th of July as it was hot and there were no fireworks displays in our area. Instead we let the kids run in the sprinkler and then watched the Boston Pops orchestra and fireworks show on TV. We hope everyone is enjoying your summer and is staying cool!!! Have a great weekend and a blessed day in the Lord's house this Sunday. With Love, Bekah
Another thing the kids worked on was building a house out of mud! This was part of a school project. They were learning about all the things that go into building a house. ( I think they had a lot of fun with the mud as well! ) I posted some pictures of them working on it. There are also pictures of the kids at the park. They can't seem to get enough of the outdoors. Sammy and Matthew were playing in the Livingroom last week, and built a tent. Not being content to just play in the tent, they made up flyers that said "Tent for rent, in the Livingroom by the recliner", and then passed them out to everyone else in the house. When asked how much it cost to rent their tent they said it was free! Leo is getting more and more "literal" by the day. He, Sammy and Matthew were trying to decide what game to play. Sammy and Leo wanted one game and Matthew wanted another. Sammy said, "Matthew, you are outnumbered." Leo said, "Matthew, you are outnumbered and Sammy and I are innumbered." I think the English language would be much easier to understand if we all thought like Leo! Lucy has been wanting to do school now. She writes very well, though nothing legible yet. She loves anything purple. She can't recognize many colors yet, but she definitely recognizes purple! She can spot it a mile away. Esther is sitting up now. She also has her first tooth. She has been rubbing her tongue over and over her tooth. I am not sure if she is still trying to figure out what it is or if she likes the feel of it on her tongue, but she sure looks funny with her tongue always rolling around in her mouth! She is getting very good at grabbing anything in reach including glasses, puzzle pieces, dinner plates, and hair. And she reminds me of a barracuda, once she has gotten a hold of something it is next to impossible to get her to let go! By the next time I write, I am sure she will be crawling. Well, that is about it for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day on Saturday. May God richly bless each one of you. Have a great summer!!!!! Bekah
Then this weekend Uncle Rick and Aunt Teri came from Colorado for a visit. The kids had such fun with both of them (Though Esther is rather partial to Aunt Teri!) We had a great time and some great food. Uncle Rick and Papa grilled fajitas for us on Mother's Day. It was DELICIOUS. If anyone needs an excuse to move to Texas the food would be a good one! I am putting up some pictures of the Monster Truck show as well as some recent ones of the kids and I. I couldn't get any of Dave, as he had to be behind the camera. Sorry about that! We are definitely in the midst of our "summer" here, as summer for us lasts seven or eight months. It has been reaching 100 nearly every day for the past couple of weeks. If any of you want to switch some of your weather for ours, we are willing to share!!!! Well, we hope you enjoy your summer and the Lord blesses you greatly. With love, The Mommy
Recently, the kids requested a pizza night. They all worked to make the pizzas from kneading and rolling the dough to adding all the toppings. (Mom cooked them!) I posted some pictures of all of them hard at work! They thoroughly enjoyed making them (and eating their work!) Another "highlight" of the last few weeks was the kite! Dave bought a kite for the kids and we went to the park so the kids could fly it. They had a wonderful time and got pretty good at keeping it in the air. The pictures aren't so great, but you will get the idea. You will also see some pitures of the kids playing in our backyard. We took Esther's walker outside and set it on the patio so she could watch the others play. She LOVES it outside. Whenever I am outside hanging laundry I usually take her along as she could be outside all day and love every minute of it. As for the kids, Sammy is learning to skip. He is very much against trying anything he thinks he might possible get wrong the first time, so skipping was out of the question. Once a week I get all the kids outside and we have "PE"! One of the things we do is practicing things like skipping, jumping jacks, hopping on one foot, etc. Sammy has watched us skip for several weeks now, and he finally decided to try it. He didn't do too bad for his first try, at least he was willing to try it again! Matthew is whistling. Last week he walked past me and I heard him whistling softly. I congratulated him and he said, "I have been working on it for a couple days now, and I finally got it!" He is the opposite of his brother in that respect. After a few more days he got much better at it and can even whistle a tune now. It got so he was whistling all day. We had to instruct him that there are times when whistling is not recommended (like in the middle of Sunday School class!) He can't wait for his birthday which is less than a week away! Leo is really enjoying reading now. He loves to be able to pick out words in books or in passages in the Bible during our devotions. Recently he has been playing "Hang-man" on Sammy's Magnadoodle (a toy that you can write on and erase multiple times). Sammy and Matthew play Hang-man regularly, and now Leo is picking it up. He can't spell out all the words he uses, so most of the time he just fills in all the spaces with whatever letters the other person guesses. I don't complain - since he has started his Hang-man pursuits he has improved his letter writing tremendously! Lucy got a stroller and a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. She loves both of them. She pushes her babies around in the stroller and wants to take the stroller to church with her (so she can take care of her babies there too!) Her vacuum actually picks up dirt--Yeah!!!! She likes to have everything clean and in its place, so she really enjoys using the vacuum (just like Mom and Abuelita!) Esther is interacting a lot more now. She gets frustrated when she can't be in the middle of whatever the others are doing. She is getting much better at balancing herself, so she should be sitting up soon. She likes splashing in the tub, and is very, very strong. I still can't believe she is three months old already. Time sure flies! Well, I best get going. Everyone is in bed and I better get there too. Please sign our guestbook if you get the chance. We would love to hear from you, and the kids love to read what everyone has to say. May God richly bless each one of you. With love, The Mommy
Sammy is getting along very well in school. He recently started a new math book and has found it challenging, but a lot of fun! He still loves to draw and can usually be found either reading or illustrating something he has just read! Matthew is growing by leaps and bounds these days. It seems he is wanting to catch up to his older brother as quickly as possible. He is nearly Sammy's height. He also got his first loose tooth, and can't wait for it to fall out. He wiggles it constantly! He is a big help around the house. He still loves all things military and can usually be found with a gun in his hand!!!! Leo is warming up to Esther a little bit at a time, and is just recently wanting to hold her, and bring her toys. Just this morning he and Lucy were fighting over who would get to put their blanket on Esther! Leo is reading simple sentences now, and really enjoys books in general. His favorite toys are his Thomas trains. Lucy is getting to be quite the little lady. She can regularly be found sweeping, washing dishes, dusting, or doing laundry. (I wish she could do all this by herself already!!!) She is a really good helper. She loves to dress up in fancy clothes, and carries her baby dolls around every where she goes. Esther is really getting involved with the family these days. She can be found just about anywhere the other kids are (usually by default!) I was washing dishes today and Esther was sitting in her carseat on the floor of the kitchen watching me. Leo and Lucy were playing with her. I noticed it got quiet, so I turned around to see what was wrong ( A side note here, anytime it is quiet around my house, something is wrong!!!). No one was in the room with me --- not even Esther! I started to worry, but seeing as there are no steps in the house, at least I knew they couldn't have hurt her too bad, and she wasn't crying, so... I headed toward the back of the house and found Esther sitting comfortably in her carseat in the middle of the kids' bedroom. Leo and Lucy had gotten tired of playing in the kitchen and I guess they thought Ester had too! Well, I hope you all have a great week! We love and miss you all. God Bless. Bekah
With Love, The Hernandez Family: Dave, Bekah, Sammy, Matthew, Leo, Lucy and Esther
God bless. Mommy Hernandez
Dave, Bekah, Sammy, Matthew, Leo, Lucy, and Little One
Hello again, everyone.
Well, we have quite a lot to tell you so here goes.
First of all, we will have a new addition to our family just after Christmas!
We are quite excited!
The boys are hoping for another sister.
Leo wants either a baby or a sister.
That is the way he put it anyway!
It would be nice to have another girl, mostly so Lucy won't get sooo spoiled.
The next big piece of news is we will be moving the end of the month.
We are going to live with Grandma Hernandez in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
She has been alone for more than four years now, and the Lord has provided the opportunity for us to move down there and be with her.
We hope to be a help and a blessing in any way we can.
The boys are very excited about living with Abuelita.
(They also are looking forward to having a yard to run around in whenever they choose!)
We are not looking forward to leaving our church, but we will not miss living in the big city!
Other than that, we are just busy sorting, pitching and packing.
We will not be taking much down to the Valley as Abuelita has everything already.
We will be leaving the 30
th of September.
It is coming very quickly!
We probably will not have the opportunity to write again until we get down there, so thank you ahead of time for your patience as we get moved and settled in.
We should have a lot of new pictures for you then!
God bless each of you.
Have a wonderful fall, and hope to catch up with you soon.
With Love, The Hernandez Family
Papa, Mama, Sammy, Matthew, Leo, Lucy, and Little One
7-12-08 I wanted to say thank you so very much to everyone for all the birthday wishes this past week! I felt so honored! I had such a special day. Thank you for thinking of me. The boys were so sweet on my birthday (with a little help from Papa!!!) I was working in the kitchen and Leo walks in with three red roses and says "Happy Birthday, Mama." Then Matthew walks in with four roses and then Sammy comes in with five. It was so sweet! After I had my dozen roses, the boys left the room and returned with ice cream and brownies. It made my day! If you check out the pictures you will see my roses as well as all the kids with the roses. By the end of the day I was so humbled to think of all the time and love that went into making my day so special. Thank you again!!!! Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day. We spent the majority of the day at our church. Our church puts on a picnic every 4th of July as an evangelistic outreach. We had more visitors there than members! It was wonderful! After the service and singing we had a good Texas BBQ brisket meal (One suggestion: if you ever need a reason to move to Texas the food here is reason enough!!!). After eating we had a desert contest for the ladies, as well as an ice cream contest and even a cookie baking contest for the kids. It was a lot of fun, as well as delicious! Afterwards we had games for everyone. It rained most of the day, but that was nice because it wasn't nearly so hot that way. The boys played their games outside under the carport, and then ate watermelon. They sure had a wonderful time. It has been a full and enjoyable summer already, and it is just beginning. Our church has several things planned throughout the summer, and hopefully it will be a memorable time. Hope everyone has a great summer. We miss so many of you, especially as we celebrate holidays and other special days throughout the year. God bless each of you! Mama H.
We are doing fine. We had a bit of sniffles go through the family, but everyone seems to be back on their feet now. Hopefully that will be all for the summer. Have a great Fourth of July! Love to all. God bless. Mommy H.
6-16-08 Well, busy-ness still prevails at our house. We took an unexpected trip to Abuelita's house this past week. (Unexpected for us, anyway. Dave was planning on going down by himself, but things worked out so we all were able to go.) It was a lot of fun. It has been nearly seven months since we visited last, and all the kids have changed greatly in that time, especially Lucy. Abuelita sure enjoyed having the kids around! We left Houston Monday morning and arrived at Abuelita's house that evening. We were able to stay until Thursday and left about noon to head back home. We stopped in Corpus Christi and the boys and Papa got to visit the U.S.S. Lexington!!!! That was a huge highlight of the trip for them. They have been wanting to see it ever since they first drove past it over three years ago. They were sufficiently "wowed"! Lucy and I got to walk on the beach, something she has never done as of yet. She LOVED it! (A girl after Grandma Knight's own heart!!!) She would stand at the water's edge and get her feet wet in with the waves, but then she would want to walk out into the water. Of course, as soon as she stepped closer, she was hit by a wave that splashed her from head to toe! She wasn't quite sure what to think of that but in the end, she decided she liked it. We stayed in Corpus for about two and a half hours, then headed home, arriving at about 1AM. It was a long drive, but we all thoroughly enjoyed the trip. After taking Friday to recouperate, we spent Saturday getting ready for our big day on Sunday. Not only was it Father's Day, our church had our Old Fashioned Sunday. (It's a southern thing!) Lots of us dressed up in old fashioned clothes and we had dinner on the grounds (that's grounds, not ground!!!). The ladies decorated the fellowship hall with old quilts, pictures, canning jars, etc. After the service and the meal, a man in our church who owns several Model Ts gave everyone rides. The boys were thrilled! Then Dave took family photos of everyone who wanted them, while the little ones went outside and had three legged races, gunny sack races, and ate watermelon. Meanwhile the ladies had a quilting bee, working on quilt squares to be put together into a quilt in honor of our church. The whole day was so much fun! Needless to say, I had to take Monday to recouperate again! Anyway, I sure hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We would love to hear from you, about your plans for the summer months and how each of you are doing. Have a wonderful week enjoying the blessings the Lord has showered on each of us. Love to all, the Mommy! PS. The new pictures are ones Dave took while he was testing out a new setting on his camera. The reason why Sammy is not in any of them is because he was getting his hair cut at the time!!!! Enjoy!!
Well, I hope you enjoyed your history lesson! It was neat to see why we celebrate and remember on this day. I hope everyone will get a chance to visit a grave or find some way to honor our veterans this weekend. We have all been doing great. We have been quite busy lately as we had our Missions Revival at church and were busy with all the preparation that goes into such a meeting. I have a heart full from the meeting that I would like to express right now, but can't. I wish each one of you could have been there. We had in our services a missionary family from Guatamala that has been serving on the missions field for over 20 years. Such dedication humbles me. Well, I better get off of here, before I make this a crying session. We love each of you and pray the Lord will touch each of your hearts in a special way this weekend. May God richly bless you. Love, Bekah and Family
|
) I guess the weather here is never half-way. When it rained it POURED! It came down in buckets for nearly an hour. The kids were so thrilled. Matthew was drenched in about 30 seconds! Dave got lots of pictures so you can see how hard it was coming down. We definitely needed it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Esther didn't remember what rain was like so she was happy to watch it from a distance, safe under the shelter of the carport.
 Contact This Site's Owner
|
