Girl Sorts Of Fun

This was a weekend filled of girl sorts of fun for Yours Truly. On Saturday I jump-started my birthday month celebration a little early by joining my good friend Jennifer for lunch and spa manicures (her birthday is in February so we had a joint-celebration). After returning home the Little Miss and I enjoyed watching her favorite movie of the moment, Princess Diaries 2. I ended my evening watching a rerun of Say Yes To The Dress. Don't worry, Mr. Wagner balanced out all the estrogen in our house by changing the oil in his truck and watching a truck-building TV show. He also ended the day watching a manly aviator movie (after helping me to pick out a favorite wedding dress on the show I was watching but don't tell him that you heard that here).

My favorite event of the weekend was taking our girl on a mommy/daughter date to see a local high school's production of Annie. Our own curly haired girl sure loved the singing and dancing and we enjoyed sharing the outing with our friends Joani and Allison. For me it brought back memories of my own (very short lived) theatrical career in high school where I was in the musical South Pacific. My favorite choir friend Liz and I even had solos...granted they were one line each but I dare say we were truly Oscar worthy.

Happy Valentine's Day 2012!

Wishing you and your loved ones extra hugs, kisses, chocolate and most of all, God's amazing love this Valentine's Day!

Love, The West Coast Wagners

On The Rocks

If you'll recall, the Little Miss and one of her best buddies, Logan, pretended to get married a month or so ago. Well, sounds like their future romantic relationship is already on the rocks. While the two kiddos were walking together holding hands on their way to swim lessons today, the Little Miss tugged on Logan to walk a little faster and he replied,

"Stop doing that!..I was going to marry you when we get older but not if you do that again!"

So classic. I love this cute, talkative, engineer-minded, often silly but yet more serious than most, boy!

Giving Thanks

Lately as part of the Little Miss’ daily bedtime routine, we have been trying to ask her for at least three things that she is thankful for so we can pray and thank God for them. This has been a good reminder in my own life about the need to regularly take the time to quietly reflect on all that I am thankful for. Here are just a few specific things that come to my mind this week:

1. Our girl’s school – If you’ll recall, this mama was so not ready for the school days to start but I have to say, it has been a wonderful experience and our girl LOVES it. I really appreciate the strong sense of family involvement/community that exists at her school in addition to the academic approach and biblical teaching. I am fully aware that there are very different schools of thought regarding the best approach to schooling (the never-ending public vs. private vs. home school debate). I personally support all three approaches and think there is no perfect solution, each has it’s pros and cons, and depends significantly on the child and family. In our case I am thankful that God has provided a terrific school that is a great fit for the Little Miss and our family. I am excited for our whole family to get more and more involved there over the years to come.
   


2. Reconnecting with an “old” friend – The Little Miss and I had the chance to visit with one of my dearest high school friends (Rebecca) this week and got to meet her adorable three year-old daughter for the first time. Most of my high school memories involve Rebecca in one way or another and she will always have a special place in my heart. Unfortunately I could count on one hand the number of times we have seen each other since we graduated 20 years ago (yikes!). Neither of us could even remember the details of the last time we saw each other or exactly how long it has been (at least 10 years if not more I believe). Such a blessing to see Rebecca and though it was too short to truly catch up, it made my week. Now I’m just hoping we can stay better in touch and that it’s not nearly as long before we meet again.



3. Having my hubby home – Mr. Wagner calculated and realized he had to travel for work about 4 months out of the year last year (excluding weekends). While I am so thankful for his job and the fact that he enjoys it, our whole family is really thankful that he’s starting on a new design project. That means we will have him home more this coming year. The Little Miss and I enjoy our share of “girl time” but we much prefer having the man of our house around! His presence helps us to feel more complete, as our little (but so very blessed) family of three.

Courage to Go Deeper

Yours Truly is excited for the new study our house church (i.e., home fellowship group) is starting. I was really struck this week by the first passage we are focusing on in Luke 5 where Jesus asked Peter if he could get on his boat, then asked Peter to push off from shore a little bit, later asking to go deeper and finally to trust Him and throw in his nets (to catch fish). Such a great picture of how Jesus asks us to invite Him into our lives, then gradually to learn more about Him. He doesn't want us to stop there but invites us to go deeper and even asks that we trust Him and "throw down" to join Him where He is at work.

As I've been praying about this lately I've been realizing that going deeper and joining where God is at work requires not only trust in God but also great COURAGE. Courage to walk with Him every day. Courage to face whatever situations life may bring. Courage to share His grace and love with others no matter what. Courage to stand for the truth. Courage to not give up. When I think of people I know today that have great courage I immediately think of our dear friends Jack and Mel. Jack, while serving as a middle school youth pastor, was seriously injured in a boating accident in his mid-twenties and as a result, is considered to be quadriplegic. His wife Mel, also in her twenties at the time, didn't listen to the counsel of others to leave him and instead stayed true to her marriage vows "in sickness and in health". She has been with Jack through it all. Every day. Now, over 25 years later.

Today Jack and Mel regularly "throw down" with Jesus and are always available to join Him at work. They are an amazing TEAM. They help lead a grad/career group at their church, they disciple and continually pray for others (Mr. Wagner has been meeting regularly with Jack for years), they go wherever there is a need (Mel was with me when I was admitted to the hospital on multiple occasions when I was pregnant with the Little Miss, before Mr. Wagner could get there from work), they provide pre-marital counseling (including ours, Jack even married us) and continue to follow-up with couples they have worked with over the years. Jack and Mel are now like "adoptive" grandparents to our own daughter and her close friend Allison (they sure look young for being grandparents, wouldn't you agree?!). Through it all, they are both two of the most HUMBLE people I know (in fact, I am sure I am going to be in deep murky waters with Mel after she sees this post!). Courage. They have it. Throw down with Jesus and join Him at work? They DO it.

Here Comes the Bride (But Not Yet!)

I'm not sure how "official" it was but our Little Miss got married this past week. We were watching the Rose Bowl with the Booth family and rather than the torture...errr...ummm....I mean entertainment...of watching the Ducks play, the Little Miss (5 years) and Logan Booth (4 years) decided to organize their first wedding. They wouldn't let us come into the playroom until they placed every tiny toy along the wall upstairs (about 200 toy pieces that were probably carried two-by-two over the course of an hour). I thought the toys were the audience but was corrected to learn that they were the "decorations". Out came the (fake) flower bouquets and the parents were (finally!) invited up to observe the proceedings. Being that neither kiddo has ever actually attended a wedding, the ceremony was nontraditional. Yours Truly attempted to officiate and when asked "who gives the bride away," there was only silence to be heard. While Mr. Wagner does approve of our dear friend Logan, our girl's daddy was having visions of the future and couldn't even pretend to give his only child away. I think Mr. Wagner needs another 30 years or so before he'll agree to handing over his daughter! My favorite part was hearing the Little Miss and Logan declare how they will always be good friends and I even heard them use the "L" word. Now, if only we could bottle up these sweet kiddos so they would always stay so young and innocent.

Happy New Year 2012!

From our family to yours, we hope you all had a wonderful time welcoming the new year. We took advantage of the snow and enjoyed a sledding outing with the Curtis family after church. You see, where we live one gets excited about the white stuff even if there is grass peering through. Fun times!