No Pics

I have no pictures today but wanted to post an update on life. First off, I'd like to comment on how quickly this year is passing!!! Zack and Sophia's pajamas that fit last December are high waters now. That part makes me sad, but I sure am glad they're growing at a normal pace.

Zack continues to do well in school. He is reading very well. Our trips in the car are filled not with silence but with Zack reading every sign he sees on a building or a semi! I get a little testy at times over it cause sometimes silence would be good, but then I remind myself that his eagerness to learn is a good thing.

Sophia is still loving kindergarten and is doing well. It is still very hard to tell if she will find academics to be easy or if she'll struggle a bit. I just don't think she's interested yet, but she is not below average so I'm not worried at all. Her personality precedes her wherever she goes. Tonight at the dinner table she put her head down and then asked to go to bed. I called her bluff only to find her sound asleep in bed 2 minutes later! She must be growing.

We're spending Thanksgiving with friends this year. It will be a lot different than years past, but I have to admit that I am glad I don't have to cook! Michelle LOVES to cook and bake so she is in her zone. I'll be playing the Wii with hers and mine - yippee! As if I'll get a turn with those four! NOT!

Which brings me to my next point. My battery died yesterday. Allstate came out to jump the car. After the jump, my air, windows, door locks, radio, dvd player, and inside lights don't work. Add to that the fact that the heater won't go off and you have the Rivera family driving around in an oven! This is the LAST American car I buy! Michelle has a friend who plans to fix it. My fingers are crossed!

Both kids have told their teachers that we are taking a big boat to the North Pole. And, believe it or not, they are telling the truth. We are heading back to Idaho for a snow extravaganza that includes a boat ride to the north pole amongst other small town Christmas activities. We can't wait! We always love seeing Super Granny, Uncle Dreamy and the Sablans. This time we'll be freezing!

Friends - I would be remiss not to thank my friends now and again. I have some of the best friends in the world. I am convinced of it. The type of friend that the Bible defines as"someone who loves at all times" is hard to come by, and yet, I have been blessed to have a bunch of just those types of friends. Friends just don't have stipulations, and it is in that freedom of friendship that one is challenged to grow.

I am reading a book I read long ago called "A Sacred Romance". It is about how our innermost being (our heart) is touched by God from our very birth. How God romances us through different things in our childhood. It is somewhat hard to explain, but for me, those "romantic moments" would include lying on my bed listening to the birds chirp, mowing the lawn, sitting by a tree reading...

Then there are arrows that penetrate our heart. For me there are many, but having a dad who had many addictive issues was the biggest arrow closely followed by an addiction to service to the church. These arrows are what determine our personality if we let them, and most of us do!

The book is about how to get the romance back. How to heal and return to that youthful state in which we found peace in the simple yet profound ways God romanced us. I was reminded of a quote by a British poet:

"Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows."

I think as adults often times our brains get in the way of the simplicity of God's love for us. And, on that note, I will sign off.