Thankful

I am feeling very grateful right now. My heart is full. I am more content than I have been in years.

Thank you for the health of my husband and my son.

Thank you or our fun labrador, Laredo.

Thank you for our comfortable home.

Thank you for our jobs, where we are able to earn a living and make a difference.

Thank you for Rachelle and for her love for our son.

Thank you for our loving, supportive and wonderful family.

Thank you for our friends, especially those that know us daily.

Thank you for the food on our table, may it fill us and give us the energy we need.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for the cross, for heaven and for LIFE with ABUNDANCE.

I love you LORD. THANK YOU. All praise honor and glory are YOURS.

Asparagus Festival with The Wong Family

Yet another AMAZING family that we get to spend time with! We all went to the Stockton Asparagus festival on Sunday. 70 degree weather, lots of people, fried food, beer, the kids were happy....it does not get any better!!

Alex and I had a great time playing on the slides and running around on the grass. He LOVES his baby sister Vivian...he is always kissing her. I too love Vivian. She is not only adorable but also an easy baby. She lets me hold her for hours. I am fighting off baby fever...this little girl is too cute.

Hunter likes playing with Alex. He wants to follow him where ever he goes...like a big brother. Hunter claps as Alex shows of his dancing moves and they both rode the ponies together. Hunter ate some fried asparagus and really liked it....i think he mainly liked sucking the ranch dip off! I am learning that he can handle eating more big kid food now...which is fun.

It is hard being so far away from family. But friends like these make it a bit easier! We love you Wong family...thanks for spending time with us.

Yeee Hah!

I have a dream that one day I will live on a ranch with horses. I want to fall asleep to the sound of crickets, drink iced tea on the porch, let my dog run around, watch my son chase frogs, eat bugs and get dirty, and go for long walks at sunset with my husband.

Since I am not quite there yet.....a pony ride will do!

Hunter had so much fun. He loves animals and really enjoyed this pony.

Forward

Hunter is facing forward and he loves it!!


-- Post From My iPhone

Kiss Me Again

There are only a few kisses in my life that moved me to tears, gave me butterflies and that I will really honestly remember every detail, smell and sound. One of those kisses happened to me this morning.

My mothers kiss was healing. I still remember when I fell down on my bike once. I fell right into one of those bushes that leaves you with paper cuts all over. I went running home and wanted nothing more than my mom to kiss it better.

I remember my first kiss from a boy. It was gross, wet and horrible in every way.

I remember the first kiss after I knew I was in love for the first time. It was all emotion.

I smile as I remember the first time Wade kissed me. He was nervous. It was in the parking lot of the pizza parlor after our 3rd date. It was then I knew he had real potential to be the one.

I am suppose to say my first kiss as a wife to Wade at the alter....and I remember that kiss vividly...but the one I remember more is when Wade and I got to be alone for the first time that night. He kissed me with more love, passion, commitment, honor and trust than ever before.

I remember after I gave birth to Hunter I was an emotional wreck. Wade was my rock. I remember the first time after Hunter was born, and my bump was gone, that Wade held me close and kissed me with true compassion and love unlike I had ever felt.

And this morning I am able to add a new kiss to my list. My baby boy has handed out a few wet kisses before....but non like today. After his morning bottle I put him back to bed while I finished getting ready for work. As I went into his room to say good bye he raised up his arms and wanted to be held. I of course held him for a minute and told him how much I loved him. He then mashed his sweet little face into my check and kissed me. I will always remember this kiss and it is the moments like these that I fall ever deeper into love with my baby boy.

What kisses have built the foundation of love in your life?

I Love you more!

A few days ago the post man brought me one of the BEST letters I have ever received. Jasmine Ravelli sent me a love letter!

Meet Jasmine.....She is an adorable little girl. Wade, Hunter and I got to spend some time with the Ravelli family when we went out to Arizona for my Grandma's wedding.

!

Jasmine's dad, Justin and Wade have been friends for many years. They work together at SUN every day. Even though they live in AZ, Justin comes out for a week once a quarter and stays with us. We enjoy having Justin over and wish every time he came he brought the whole family.

We love you Ravelli family....and Jasmine thank you for this special love letter. It is on my fridge to remind me of you and how much I love you too!!

The most beautiful

Flowers I have ever been given. Thanks Sherry! XO

More Navaro Fun!

Here is a picture of the swingset that Alison gave to her cousin Hunter! I just know that Hunter is going to love this play set...Alison is so sweet to think of Hunter!!

The Navaro family! We love you.

Here are a few pictures of Alison feeding Hunter his dinner and then cleaning him all up! Alison did a great job of neatly getting the food into Hunter's mouth, but when she smelled the baby food she was done....I have to agree it does not alwasy smell very good....but Hunter likes it:)

Family Time

Yesterday afternoon we were able to relax and spend some time with friends! Jeff, Amy and Alison Navaro invited us over to their place for Taco's and beer. They were better than any taco truck!!

I love this family and for more reasons than I can count. I always feel comfortable and welcome when I am around them...in fact I have never once felt weird or out of place when I am with them. I also really admire how they have raised their baby girl....she is polite, fun and respects boundaries! Jeff snapped this family picture of us while we were hanging out in the back yard....don't you love the white flowers Alison put in my hair!!

Hunter got to meet Alison's bunny "Titi". He loves animals and it is so fun to watch him light up when he sees one! I cannot wait for the next time we get to hang out with the Navaro family!

Metal Detector

The audit lasted over 7 hours. We examinded every log book, every training record, every rat trap and almost every inch of the facility. Every practice and procedure was quetioned. I learned many more things I could be doing to take the level of security even further. I also defended areas that I believed were more efficently sercure with my methods. Every audit I expierence makes me better at what I do.

We have one critical control point in the almond operation, the metal detector. If metal was packed with the almonds it could cause serious harm to someone. The metal detector is tasked with finding metal and rejecting it from the line. It is our last defense and our protector. We test it three times a day, we calibrate it, we clean it...all to ensure it will protect us.

Our Metal Detector is suppose to be fail proof...and of course on the one day I need it to perform at its best...it fails!

The moment those metal test strips were not rejected by the detector during the audit I had a heart attack. But thank God for policy and procedures. We noted the deviation and stopped the line. We reran all of the product since the last good check and re calibrated the metal detector. Corrective action equals a passing grade! We will pass after all!!

Today I got to thinking about a corrective action policy for my life. If I fail or someone or something critical in my life fails...what do I do next?

Food Safety

Today is a big day for me....especially in light of the Salmonella outbreak in Pistachios. Today is the food safety audit of the plant. I have spent countless hours preparing for this day. We have completely rewritten the programs and trained all of the employees. I have a strong desire to not only pass the audit but to know that I am doing everything in my power to protect each person that eats an almond that is processed and packed in this facility from any possible threat to their health.

My biggest fear about this audit is verbiage. Everyone calls different documents/ programs/ procedures by different names. I want to have clarity of mind so that I can properly represent our program and practices despite any politics or verbiage.

I welcome today's challenge and look forward to the insight it will bring to our program as well as our frame of mind regrading the priority of food safety and quality.

Wish me luck....

If Hunter could speak I think he would say....

"I don't think I want to take a nap...."

Hunter wants to be a fireman!

The fireman rescued us from the chimney fire!






-- Post From My iPhone

I am in Trouble!

Looks like it is time to put the locks on the doors! This little trouble maker is getting into everything! He is climbing stairs and opening cupboards! WATCH OUT, Hunter is on the loose!

Grow Baby Grow

Last weekend we had a garden day. As a family we spent time working on the yard. We planted a pink Oleander, purple lavender bush and a few other shrubs. We also laid down a great deal of rock to prevent the neighborhood cats, and ours, from using the flower bed as a litter box (YUCK!).

Here is a quick shot of my almond tree! I cannot believe how much they are growing right now! In the next few weeks the tree will be taller than me!! The almonds are plump and Wade is already counting our 2009 crop.

Speaking of growing...look at my baby boy! He is huge and smarter than ever....well except when he ate the grass!

Who I Work With

Here we go....Now you get to see who I work with and for! My boss is Mr. Crecelius he is standing to the left of me...Dan (sales) is behind me and Bob (CFO) is the tall guy behind Jim. Bob was at my wedding and a real comedian....LOVE working with him! The rest of the bunch in this shot are almond/growers and owners of the company.

I really enjoy working with farmers. I get to wear blue jeans, get dirty and talk about agriculture all day long!! I think I look funny standing next to all these boys....where are my girls at??

Work party for me!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Happy 27 to Me!!

A birthday donut!! Yum!! I hope your day is off to a good start!


26 was a BIG year for me...more to come on that later.

-- Post From My iPhone

Feeling Green

I have a huge, long list of things I would love to do if I was a stay at home mother...one of the top five is growing a beautiful, lush garden. Since I do not have much spare time these days between operating the Almond Plant, loving on my baby boy, kissing on my hubby and keeping the house up....my sister got me a simple and easy herb garden. Watching it grow is helping to satisfy my urge to be green!

What do you wish you had time to do??

He calls me by Name

Since the moment my baby boy was born I have been longing to hear him say "mama". Well of course despite my coaching and bribing he said "dada" months before he said "mama". I remember when he finally clearly spoke my name...it was a feeling of love and honor I have never felt before....then I quickly realized that he had no clue that "mama" was me.

As the thoughts swirled in my mind after this realization I quickly began thinking of God and how he desires me to call upon Him and to call upon him by name. I am learning that this is a way for me to honor God and love God. This world is big and in trouble. However I am grounded on the rock and I know my God by name.

From the moment Hunter said "mama" until now he has begun to understand that I am "mama" and that I love him in an unconditional and powerful way. I am so undeserving of a love this sweet. I look forward to the days to come as he discovers and grows.

My God, I love you. Thank you for this precious son you have given to Wade and I. Use us to teach him, love him and lead him to you. You are my God, my King. I will forever praise you.