Happy Fall!!

Hi all,
We are all doing well and loving this fall weather. Enjoy the pics!

Fun at theFresno Fair!

Pumpkin picking time!!

Our little fireman and ladybug!

We had a great time trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with Aunt Tara. She dressed up too! Take a look....

Thanks Tara, love you!

It's a new year!

Things are changing again for the Watney family. Dad is searching for a new job, mom got a new job, James entered pre-school and Julie is talking with several words. Read below for the highlights!

James-

Yes, its' true, I was fighting back tears as I watched my little boy walk from his table to the rug to listen to a story read by his teacher Mrs. Jackie! James' first day of pre-school was on the 26th of Aug. and it went very well. All of the parents stayed in class for the first 30 minutes and then were asked to leave to attend the parent orientation meeting. James took a look around to find me and as is our tradition, we blew each other kisses and said our I love you's and off I went. It was a huge relief to me for James to be so comfortable in his class! Though he didn't talk or play with any other kids on the first day, I know it will only be a matter of time before he makes some new friends! He loves school and can't wait to go again.

Julie-
It's apparent that she is going to be a tom-boy. Though she has dolls and girlie toys, they rarely get touched. She much prefers to play with cars, tools and copy anything her brother does. She absolutely loves to dance, did I mention she rarely sits still. I have yet to get through reading one book to her because she just does not stop moving! She loves to give kisses and blow on your tummy and she is addicted to shoes. She wants them on at all times and will even bring me my shoes from the basket so I can wear them too! She says several real words now and continues to "talk" all the time even though much of it is undecipherable. It won't be long now!

Josh and Shannon-

We are experiencing something new, job changes!! Josh is searching for a job that can provide financially for our family but one that allows him to be with us a bit more. Please pray for the right place for him!! I accepted a job at our church, The Well. With such rapid growth, we are launching several multi-site locations. The teaching will be through video but everything else will be live, so..... I am the new Kids Connection (nursery-6th grade) Coordinator for one of our sites. That means I organize all of the volunteers, do the scheduling and make sure all of the curriculum/materials/etc are ready each Sunday. The best part of my job is I can do all of this from home!!!! No more babysitters, lots of tears and being missed. God is sooooo good!

Summer Fun

We have had a whirl wind of a spring and summer so far. We started by celebrating three birthdays three months in a row with parties for each. James had a car party in April which was so fun!! My friend Lisa made Lightning McQueen and Mater cakes which were awesome, check out the pictures. Then Miss Julie turned 1 at the end of May with a huge pool party. She wasn't interested at all in eating her cake or making a good mess of it. Then of course the 30th not-so surprise party for Josh in June. I feel like I need a vacation from all the party planning!!

With two camping trips under our belts so far this year, we can say that our kiddos love the great ourdoors. Who wouldn't like to play in the dirt and climb some rocks? We are looking forward to a trip to San Diego in a couple of weeks to see my fam and spend time with Shamu! Enjoy the pics and the update on the kids!

James- What can you say. He has a strong will and an independent mind. His favorite expression lately is " I can do it by myself", which most of the time he can. He is proving to be his daddy's son with frequent trips to the golf course where he practices his swing and his favorite part of the game, chipping! While his infatuation with all 4-wheeled vehicles is apparent, his love for cars is a strong front runner. He tells me to look for his "steam" as he revs up his engine and races through the house. He is so excited to go to preschool this August. He will be in a 2 day a week class, yipee. We're hoping this will bring him out of his shell a bit and not be so shy around other people. He is our sweet, rowdy, full of energy BOY!

Julie- She is 14 months now and just blowing our minds every day. She loves to run after her "racing" brother and oh my goodness, what a climber! Many a time I have found her standing up on a chair just to watch her very slowly lower one of her legs down to the floor and step off. What a graceful girl we have! She is beginning to use some words, her favorite being, "up"! She can sign, more, all done, please, and thank you. She loves to take everything out of the toy box, drawer, basket, you name it, but then she carefully puts it all back. In our house we call that being "particular", she must get that from her mommy. She is definately understadns what we are saying to her which is so cool. I ask her to do something and most of the time she does it! It is rare when you don't see a smile on her face.

She is our oh so sweet Julie Girl!

I'm a blogger, I think!

Wow, well here I am trying to figure this whole thing out. I'm sure it will take a while but here it goes.

The Watney family is doing well. James will be 3 this month and is quite the character. In one word, he is extreme. He is of course a very active boy who can't sit still for a second. His favorite things right now are all cars and trucks. He especially enjoys crashing all of them into each other while making the destruction sounds! If you're looking for a quiet place, our house is not a good choice. His favorite time of day is playing golf in the backyard with Daddy. James naturally has his own set of "real" clubs as he calls them and can, with a full swing, sail the ball across the yard and onto the putting green. He follows that up with a "nice shot"! Watch out Tiger! He is also developing quite a healthy love and protection for his sister, Julie.

Oh Julie girl. What can I say. One look at her and you heart just melts. She is really establishing her personality and coming into her own. Although with her brother as her mentor, she is becoming rather "wild" herself. She is a fast crawler and can "chase" after James around the house which she loves. The two of them laughing together is a great sound! She is rather particular however. When crawling on carpet she will stay down on her knees, but when she moves onto the wood floors, her knees come up and she starts walking on her feet with her hands still on the ground. It makes me think if a stinker bug with her bum bum in the air. Just a matter of time before she will be running down the hall, yikes! You might think we don't feed this girl enough since she is so little, that is until you see her eat. She literally uses both hands and one after the other puts food into her mouth. I'm not even sure she chews it! She's our bottomless pit.

Josh and I have had a busy year. We celebrated our 8th anniversary this past January! Wow, that old saying is true, time really does fly. Josh is doing well in his job. He earned "top dog" this past December in his region. He is so good! Last fall Josh was asked to lead a big ministry at our church. We call it "First Touch", all of the greeters, ushers, people with the bulletins and all the answers to questions of guests. With our church growing at such a quick rate (we're up to 6 services), you can imagine how many people are on this ministry team. Josh does an amazing job of organizing, communicating, motivating and leading all of these people. God is using him in a great way!

As for me, I am just trying to keep up. My teaching job will be finished in April, yipee!! I will be able to focus on the things I love, my husband and kiddos! God is so good as He continues to bless us and provide for us in ways we never would have imagined.