All These Things

Thursday, November 18, 2010

If Fancy Nancy was a Turkey...

She would look like this...

And some pictures of my little turkey...

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I have so many pictures to catch up on but I thought I would start with the most recent and share some pictures of my beloved Captain Hook, Wendy (from Peter Pan) and the cutest pink octopus this neighborhood has ever seen. Well, except for the one that was around 3 years back but that is another post for another time. Enjoy!

Our neighbor and friend Michelle had a great costume and was a perfect place to start the night of trick-or-treating!

Reagan could hardly believe that she got to keep the candy

Getting the hang of this...

But ohh... don't you hate when your tentacle gets stuck in your bucket?

Reilly and Rylie

Unlikely friends... Captain Hook and Wendy

the background: Rylie wanted to be Wendy but with one condition. Toby had to be Captain Hook. He gladly agreed and she was absolutely delighted!

Waving at all the cars that passed by...

Reilly, Reid, Rylie and Reagan. R Neighbors :)

Shiver me timbers! That is one handsome cap'n!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Answering the Call...

I am sitting down to make a long overdue post and am feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information I want to share. Let's just start with the basics...

As many of you may already know, Toby and I have recently followed God's unmistakable leading in deciding to become a foster-to-adopt family here in San Antonio. We have always planned to adopt at "some point" but never knew when or what that would look like. So, when I began feeling God speaking to me about the multitudes of children in need in my own city, I wasn't totally shocked. But when I realized that this meant possibly doubling our family size during residency, I knew this calling was in proportion with an ark, sacrificing a long awaited child and leading a group of people from an occupied land. Okay, so it pales in comparison to what Noah, Abraham and Moses were asked to do but in our small world in felt incredibly similar. Toby and I laugh at the way this makes very little sense on a logical scale but love the creativity of the God we serve.

We are currently almost complete in the application process through Baptist Child and Family Services and possibly weeks away from having a child or children join our family. Seriously- if you think of this in terms of pregnancy that would be like being 38 weeks pregnant. The difference is that I am not wearing jeans with an elastic waist and I don't find myself in the constant state of needing to go to the bathroom. The similarity is that our world and home will be completely different in the coming weeks and we have NO IDEA what to expect! Well, except that we are expecting to see God's heart in all of this.

More soon...

Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Eyes of Texas Were Upon Us...

So I know that at UCLA we only care about "natti’s". That’s national championships, of which we have the most by far. But, yesterday's game against Texas deserves some kind of summation after the Bruins victory. It was an amazing game to witness. I got to watch the game with Becca's cousin Nate, a UT alum. He gave great insight into the Longhorns, Austin and the stadium which made the game that much more fun.

A few of my observations from the game: This was the most attended game in Austin history (101,700). Hearing them sing the Alma Mater “the eyes of Texas are upon you all the live long day” is one thing to experience in your life. When you're at an event like this and things are going well it's not surprising to receive 50+ texts from friends. Any seat facing east in Texas Stadium is a good seat – the heat and humidity are offset by a nice breeze, upper deck middle was perfect. You could hear the UCLA fans who composed three small sections throughout the game, because UCLA was ahead throughout. UCLA won the game in the third quarter when Norm Chow wisely decided to not let Kevin Prince throw the ball deep in UCLA territory and simply ran 7x before punting; when Texas didn’t return Locke’s 46yard punt it felt like the game was in hand – and tons of fans started leaving the stadium. I don’t get fans that leave in the third quarter, first tickets are really expensive, second if you bleed burnt orange for your school you should be able to cheer them through tough times. That old-guy UCLA cheer dude, who exhorts the crowd with his “I need every man woman and child…" chants is priceless and one of the best things about UCLA football – which says a lot about how bad we’ve been. It’s hilarious that the Texas flag is more highly regarded at the game than the American flag. You can diffuse any possible altercations by talking about how bad UCLA’s quarterback sucks. UT fans and UCLA fans can get together for a rousing “take off that red shirt” when required. Though all the talk radio and fans in San Antonio and Austin were looking passed this game to Oklahoma – they should have concentrated on this game. 66-3 and 34-12 will be numbers that this generation of Texas fans don’t forget. The pistol just might work. Imagine if we had a good quarterback - same story for the eighth consecutive year. Tortured UCLA fans deserve to have a good QB. It’s Westwood – you’d think we could recruit someone. We will probably get annihilated in the home and home series next year in the Rose Bowl, but this was one of the most fun sporting events I’ve ever been too. It’s definitely tops in my 4 years in Texas which have some really good moments, it looks like this: 1) UCLA beats Texas 2010, 2) Final Four with UCLA 2008 – we lose to Memphis who it turns out was loaded with cheaters and ended up forfeiting all their wins from that season. 3) Lakers over Spurs with Kobe hitting game winner 2009 4) Missions v Frisco – seeing a bunch of the current playoff bound Padres in Double A ball. I’m out.

-Toby

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Happy Birthday Reagan!

Aren't birthdays great? There are so many reasons that make them so wonderful. There are the obvious ones like cake, friends, celebration, gifts and balloons and then there are the sentimental reasons like the way they bring about a sense of thankfulness and remembrance of the years past. I didn't start doing this on purpose but I have ended up creating somewhat of a tradition as I pour through iphoto each year when Rylie and Reagan celebrate a birthday. I love seeing the pictures of the past year and comparing a date in time to the very same date one year later.

This year, I thought you might like to join me. Instead of posting 1,000 photos for you to see, I held back and chose a few highlights from each of Reagan's birthdays so far. And what better way to start things off than with a pregnant belly shot 1 week out from delivery...