Thanksgiving day Turkey Bowl-"I'm a big boy now"

They finally got to play with the big boys. This was quite a big deal to Alex who has waited patiently on the sidelines since he was, I don't know, Two. Unfortunately Pete couldn't play this time around from a sprained calf muscle that happened in a soccer game a week ago. The boys had a great time!

don't worry-this is just dress up for school!

Michael and Allie had "spirit week" a few weeks ago. They participated boldly in each day's theme. (including michael wearing pony tails on crazy hair day!). This picture is from "I want to be a rockstar day". Scary how old they look. Notice in the next picture how short Michael's hair is compared to a few weeks ago.

A little catch up...

I know I've been quite the blogging slacker lately! Sorry. Here are some misc. pictures from the last few weeks, or days. Enjoy!

scroll down to read, these pics are a little out of order:)

Over the stadium

This one's for you, Michael

Tim and Sabrina

A visit to see my brother and sister in law in Pullman, Washington

Alex's speech

this is a little dark, but Alex is in the white shirt ready to give his speech for shool treasurer.

Allie's volleyball party

Michael in action

Kacia and a little bit of Kevin

pics from my birthday....

Michael in the new house

To catch you up....

We're all moved in, our sale closed last Friday....many thanks to the best agent in the world!!! We are excited for this new phase in our life. The kids have enjoyed playing in leaf piles,,,which we now have, and the weeping willow tree leaves a lot of fun branches to snap your brother with:). I have enjoyed the big neighborhood to run in(especially with all the leaves right now) and Pete and I are enjoying sleeping and exhaling after a very busy 2 weeks.

Allie finished volleyball, Michael finished soccer, and Alex starts soccer today!

I went to see my brother and sister in law in Pullman last weekend.It was a nice break for me after a busy week. The time down to sac and the flight gave me good reflection time. I had never been to WSU and it was fun to see their life, and where they both teach. It was a beautiful campus! Cold-but brilliantly sunny! We walked all over the campus, went to a Shakespere play, Tim cooked a wonderful gourmet dinner, we went to a "grad bar" that had amazing jazz music, and they gave me the VIP treatment at a restaraunt that their friend is a chef at. I got to see Sabrina's class and Tim's office and where he teaches. It was so nice to get a glimpse into their everyday life! and yes, I came back with red and grey surprises for the kids (he he, Pete:))

I'm home off this morning (the first in a while!) So.... a run, a little coffee, computer time and I think I hear the couch calling me to come sit and read.

Hope you all are having a great fall! Here are a few pics,,,,more later! Love you all, Bre

The Nomadic Golden Family!!!

Yes, sometimes I feel like we are nomads-despite my desire to have one house that I die in, God seems to have other plans. So, the official news is that the sale of our house is set to close next week! After much prayer this summer, Pete and I listed the house with Kevin (my brother in law) the house sold in a month, and has been in escrow for about a month. That time frame is nearly a miracle itself in our market! God has laid it on our hearts to try to pay down Pete's students loans and live debt free . After much prayer and advice, we decided to take advantage of the depressed market and rent for a year or so to do that. We have felt God asking us to submit to His leading. It has been a hard decision, in that we loved our house, and were so blessed by what it provided for our family. But we are excited to see what God has in store as we submit to His plan. Over the past year, Pete has felt a desire to be in ministry. We have no idea if that is where we will end up, but we are trying to put ourselves in a position to be easily used by God if He opens up that door. The California housing market has gone through a big down slide this year. We had happened to buy at the highest point of the market a few years ago. Good timing! We are hoping to be able to take advantage of the lower prices and end up in a cheaper mortgage. But for the next year, we are renting a house a few miles from the twins school. It is in a beautiful neighborhood, and provides a little more space. God even blessed us with landlords that go to our church. So please pray for us as we make this adjustment. Pray for God to move where He wills us to be, and for us to be obedient and have hearts that He will use. Pray for our emotions as we pull apart the roots we have to this world, and seek to place them solely in our King. As for now, you all have to pencil in our new address for a year or so......I'll post pictures later next week!

Happy Birthday!

We want to wish Pete's Granddad a very special birthday! Happy Birthday Granddad! We love you!

another quick update

Our computer should be done early next week, so I thought I'd give a quick update again. Next week, I'll put some pictures on the blog , but I wanted to announce that Alex made Treasurer this week. Yeah! He was so nervous to give his speech, but he did such a good job! He is really excited about performing his duties.....the one he seems most thrilled about, is helping out at school movie night.
We did find out that Alex needs to have a little surgery done in the next few months to help repair the hole in his ear drum. They have been monitoring it for the last 6 months and had been putting a paper like "band-aid" on it every few weeks, but it is not healing. He has not liked that office procedure, and even though it has not really been painful, his patience has definitely worn off. So, he is relieved that they will not need to put the paper in his ear anymore. The surgery will be simple, and the same doctor that did my thyroid surgery will do it. We love him! He is so kind and has become like a family friend to us all. We'll probably wait until January or February to do it, since there is not a real rush, except for needing it to be done before summer and being in the water! We'll keep you all posted.
Pete is at the men's retreat this weekend. He just left and is so excited to be with the guys and be in the Word together.
Last night we went to the Todd Agnew/Rush of Fools concert. It was awesome. A late night, but well worth it.
The kids and I are going to sleep in, stay home, and enjoy a little down time this weekend. Hope everyone is off to a good fall!

computer crash

yes! We are all still alive. Our home pc crashed last week. We lost everything on the hard drive. Weird! We are trying to decide if it is worth it to send it away and have it all recovered....could be a trip to Hawaii!!! Anyways, the computer is having a new hard drive installed, so I should be back up and running soon. Right now, Pete is being patient in sharing his lap top with me. I just wanted to give a run-down of some highlights for now though.

~Allie made the volleyball team last week
~Michael made the soccer team last week
~Alex is candidating for school treasurer
~I am spending more time in the car than if I drove to Sacramento each day(ok maybe a little exaggeration)
~Pete started soccer
~It's finally under a 100 degrees, and tonight I'm opening all the windows!
~Fall is busy, but lots of fun! Yeah for Routines!

Guess that's all for now. God has been teaching us so much this fall, I look forward to sharing soon!

First Day of School

Well, summer is over here. All three kids started school today. Luckily we have been getting up pretty early, so it wasn't too painful. God has really blessed us with wonderful schools and teachers. Alex got the teacher we requested. He had her for second grade and she moved up a few grades, so we are excited to have a teacher we already know. He loved his first day back and was thrilled about the class pet, a chinchilla. I'm glad it stays at school! Michael and Allie had a wonderful first day. They came home excited and had so much to tell me. I can't believe they were not nervous for their first day of junior high. I remember being terrified. They love their homeroom teacher and are excited about the music classes. Next week Michael has soccer tryouts and Allie has volleyball, so we'll keep you posted. I missed my kids. And as usual, the house seems strangely quiet. Truly, God has blessed our children. I pray this will be a year that they walk strong in Christ and help light this dark world we live in.

My prayer for them...ITimothy 6:11

"But you , man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.."

Some of you have asked to see the website for Michael and Allie's new school. It is: http://www.ups.suhsd.net/ You can click on photos and see the school.

Hanging out watching a movie

The Sundial Bridge

Crazy fun week

Well, it has been a crazy, fun week. We have been to Water Works Park, the Aquatic center, Whiskeytown Lake, the skate board park(numerous times), The Sundial Bridge, Sun Oaks, The movies, In and Out, The Castle Crags, and Mossbrae Falls. I think that's about it. We have had a great time getting to know Taylor all over again. He has been a blessing to our family and seems like "just one of the kids now". Although, I guess he's a little old to be lumped in as a kid! We will all miss him when he leaves tomorrow. More than all the fun places, and activity, it was just great to all hang out together. We have had beautiful weather this week, with bright blue skies-not a cloud in sight and 95-99 degrees. So thank you Jesus for keeping everyone safe, healthy and happy this week.

And next time around, I think we owe Taylor(and his family) a visit....but we all agreed, it should be at the "beach house"! Hey, next time around, he might be driving. Scary. That's all for now....

One more of Michael

Michael's baptism

More of Alex's baptism

forgot to post these

When we were at camp, Michael and Alex were baptized. It was awesome! Pete got to be right there, helping them go under. It was such a special time for our family. We praise God for the work He is starting in their lives!

A Great Day!

The Falls

hurrry and take it, we can't feel our feet

brrrr....It's cold!

Walking to Mossbrae Falls

A heart in the sky! Cool!

Allie identified all the plants for us!

On the trail

Pete and I

Mom and the boys

Beautiful!

At the Creek

More from Castle Crags

Showing off CA to our cousin Taylor!

Pete's cousin Taylor is here visiting from the East Coast. We have had a busy visit already, with lots of fun times. Today was "hiking day". We took off and ended up in Dunsmuir, CA for a hike around the Castle Crags. It is a beautiful granite rock formation. The hike was cool and beautiful and we ended up in a creek,,,,that was cool! Then, we got back in the car, ate pizza at a very small town pizza shop and ended up on another hike. We walked about 2 miles down some train tracks to get to Mossbrae Falls....Beautiful! 150 foot wide falls. The water was so cold that Pete said when he jumped in, he could barely breathe(I took his word for it). So, our feet are a little sore, but it was a wonderful day.

Happy Birthdays Trish and Sherry!

Happy Birthday Girls! Thanks for such a fun night!

my little author

This is the picture that Alex wanted me to take for "his profile". He is writing another book.(something he loves to do) So now he is working on his profile for the back cover. Allie is doing the illustrating, which makes for some interesting conversations. (with Alex as her boss) Pete and I are trying to find a way to get it published for him for Christmas. He is so excited about it, and spends every waking moment working on it, and telling us about it. Since every time he writes a new chapter, I have to read the whole thing over again, I pretty much know it by heart....:):):) Who knows maybe someday he really will be an author. He credits his Uncle Tim in the profile he wrote for being his inspiration and the author he wants to be like...So there you go Tim, you have a fan club starting.

the last tournament of the summer

Just in case you can't tell who is who in the slide show below.....Michael is pitching and Alex is catching. It was a great weekend of baseball. The boys gave us some memories that will forever be some of my favorites. One, definitely was watching Alex go to Michael for a pitcher/catcher meeting in the game. Even though we didn't know what they were saying, it was so sweet to watch them encourage each other without any prompting. Michael also made a lay out catch as shortstop....it was so sweet. Now I am bragging, but that's what moms are suppose to do, right? well, these will be the last baseball pictures for a while, so enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

Pete turns 21???

air soft gun war

Just in case some of you might not know what air soft guns are....they are guns that shoot little plastic bullets, similar to a bb, but far less painful. We now have hundreds of these bright colored pellets in our backyard. On Tuesday this week, it was unusually cold, and we had thunderstorms off and on all day. The temp was near 80, but my kids thought it was winter. Since they were SOOOOO bored and couldn't go swimming, I gave into one of Alex's wild ideas and let them go to "WAR" in the backyard. We got down winter clothes so they could arm themselves, ski goggles, ets. They brought the trash cans out, winter sleds, boxes, anything they could think of to hide behind. Here are a few pictures of them in action. Just for the record, they did clean it all up by themselves, and I got to clean the house for a few hours. So, yes there is something to be gained about letting them go all out somedays! And in case any of you think I am crazy for letting my kids shoot at eachother, no one got hurt!

Happy Fourth of July from our family ot yours!