Staycation

We're halfway in our spring break and since Jeff is in Mammoth until the end of the weekend we are loving our stay-cation. A big thank you to God for giving us some sweet sunshine. Such special times to take these girls out on the water, where I believe my heart truly belongs.

A trip around the bay equals a great day for the little Rices. Everyone wants to be captain on "Chance".

Great little helpers. I love that the cart says pool use only but we're rockin it out on the docks.

A couple fun dates with some special friends.

A long run to Mutts and then a Blue Moon celebration.

Feathers! Thanks to Nicole at the Cody Rose salon. So fun, even Lilah loves hers.

Youth Expo! This was such a fun experience, for FREE!

The girls wanted to be a bubble but the line was super long. I'm sure this will be a must at the fair this summer.

Our girls have always been bug kids. Bella was so excited about the roaches and spiders. All I could say was ewwww! We kept on having to go back to let her hold them.

Exciting to see cousin Tess here at the pretend farm. The girls loved it here and it was mess free.

And a trip to Pretend City with mimi and papa. Looks and sounded so great, can't wait to go myself. Well, I'm just pretending about that. A trip to the beach sounds a bit more relaxing.

Excited for what the rest of the week has to offer. Praying my sweet Jeffy, his brothers and dad have a great safe fishing trip.

Ranch Roudup

Sofia has been doing Ranch, which is a great program through our school at the Fairgrounds. She takes care of the animals and even experienced handling and lovin' all the new babies that were recently born. She took care of gardens, cooked with all the veggies they grew, made leather and learned how to ride horses. Her appreciation for our earth and the animals are much greater because of this program.

Special dinner ceremony for all the students and parents. Each child was honored for there hard work.

These sweet people would meet the kids outside of school and walk them across the street and help prepare there food. The staff here is the best!

I came early one day to find Sofia walking this guy around on a leash.

We'll miss you little goat! See you soon this summer at the fair.

Daddy's Day

Fun date with dad to the Irvine park. I love looking at these pictures. Lilah's shoes are to big, Bella doesn't match and Rubi's hair accessory is Jeff's hat. What matters is that they had a great time. These kind of trips with daddy include reading those signs that tell about the animals history.

Ice cream ended the day because dates with dads are all about fun!

March Madness

Madness in a good way of course. Killybrookes silent auction was so great, thanks to the talented Keli.

Sofia turned 10 and one of her special nights included the fabulous play, Wicked. We first went to Mastro's and had warm butter cake and convinced the sweet valet guy to drop us off at the entrance.

I took the girls to the bay to teach Sofia how to paddle. She did great until the wind picked up.

Hello Snow

The 3 little ones and I had a 3 hour field trip to watch Sofia for 2 min. The day was so sunny and the mountain was freshly snowed, I'm pretty sure half of California was in Big Bear. In result of Gods beauty, we had to park miles away. Our adventures included long walks, shuttle rides with patient passengers, snowman making and getting kicked off the mountain with a stroller.

Thankfully we were able to see my dad, Sofia and Camden, for a minute.

This little 7 year old is the best helper ever!

Running for a cure!

As Jeff left for work I went back and forth, should I go? Woke the girls up at 7 and we were out the door by 8. Not a usual Saturday for them. I was so glad because I was inspired beyond words and it went right through to my heart. Thats when you know something is good, when your spirit is touched. Signed up for Team in Training who raise funds for the Leukemia Society. We're running the Rock in Roll marathon in June and I have a goal to raise $2500. Running for me is great physically but the people who love it the most are the girls. Sofia and Bella push me. They beg and plead to go further on the river trail or at the Back Bay. Here, Lilah and Rubi are at the Moon Park. This is our families fav park. There is 2 sets of playgrounds and a huge moon right next to the river trail.

Please visit my website http://pages.teamintraining.org/ocie/rnr11/jricek9nom

Good news, Bank of America will match any cash I recieve. So if you were to give me a check for $20, it will end up being $40. Wow, thank you Myra!

A Night to Celebrate

Sofia got baptised. It was such a beautiful display of her growing faith. Since last year she witnessed so many who did at the fairgrounds during Easter. She has asked questions and to be honest, it then required me to search the bible and answer her. She took an intense children's class on baptism and through some cute activities she learned a few facts. The purpose of baptism is simply a way of signifying to others of your decision to accept Christ. Baptism is symbolic of your relationship with Jesus in the same way that a wedding ring is symbolic of your marriage. Hangin' with Grandad while nervous but so pumped.

I baptise her which was a very special memory. It was also exciting because Jessica and her mom were also baptised.

Is baptism required? We learned that its important to Jesus and in the bible 104 times but isn't required for salvation. Matt. 28:18 - 20 he tells his disciples, "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." It wasn't enough for Jesus to have the disciples go and preach and lead people to Christ but he clearly thought they should all be baptized as a declaration of their salvation.

Its So True

When people say, "where has the time gone"? I catch myself saying that. Our sweet little baby is now 10 years old. I love it! Look at these silly girls. A mind of there own, creative, energetic and so lovely. We had a fabulous time.

Daddy, or these days, dad, made a yummy dinner to start the night off. We went to the Spectrum for Rocky Mountain Choc. Factory apples and carousel. Ended up shopping, dancing and a lot of singing. Movie and popcorn to end our fabulous night. Happy 10th birthday my love!