Vacation Fun in the Snow

I admit it...I love skiing and so do the kids!  It is a trip we look forward to each year and Copper Mountain CO is our home away from home.  There are lots of other great resorts in the country but for now this is our pick.  Patrick and Eliana  are turning out to be great skiers.  It won't be long before we will all be skiing the hard runs together.  Below is a link to a video of the trip if you are interested :)

Until next snow year

Skiing Video

It's a Christmas Card !!

This Christmas Card in the form of a blog post provides a wonderful place to catch everyone up on the happenings with the Aliso Viejo Turners.

The importance of family cannot be underestimated, especially in these challenging days.  God gave us our family - we didn't choose it. He gave it to us as the best present anyone could ever have.  Nothing is ever perfect in life, and family is no exception, but to live life without family would be a tragedy.

As a family we love skiing and that love has been given successfully to the kids.  They are getting ready with anticipation for our ski trip after Christmas.  Skiing is a time to develop great family memories and enjoy some active time together and be a little goofy along the way.  Patrick has turned into the boy that loves skiing through trees.  Eliana has amazing balance and hopefully will learn how to stop this year.  Then, watch out world, here she comes. :)  It may be a blessing in disguise that this is an expensive sport otherwise we would want to try it every week in the winter time :)  We are looking forward to another Copper Mountain adventure in January 2016.

We do think there is much more of a chance for our kids to turn into beach bums rather than ski bums.  They absolutely adore the ocean and living in Southern CA gives us the opportunity to go to the beach 11+ months of the year.  There is, however, nothing better than sharing the beach with the cousins!  The yearly trip to South Carolina is brought up in conversation year round and looked forward to with anticipation.

Upon reflection we realized that some of the most important things in life might be taken for granted but we don't want that to be the case.  We appreciate the way God has provides for us.  We appreciate the church we belong to, the home fellowship group we are involved with, the school the kids attend and more.  There is so much in life to be thankful for and so little that is really worth complaining about but if I took the time to write it all down this blog post would go on forever, so please share in our year in review through our "favorite things" video at the end of this post.

While this is being finalized on Christmas Eve 2015, the kids are looking forward to enjoying the mounds and mounds of presents that are sitting under the tree.  These kids must be loved more than life itself :)  But the greatest gift of all was born 2020 years ago or so in a stall fit for animals, a humble beginning of the son of God, the Christ child.  The creator of the universe who was known by Abraham came down to earth to solve our sin problem.  He is the sole reason for the HOPE that we have.  His birth, death and resurrection gives us that eternal HOPE that we will carry with us forever.  We hope that you are able to experience it also.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2016!! (wasn't Y2K yesterday???)

And now the video.....

https://vimeo.com/149992555

Already 3 and 6...Where did the time go?

I have to admit that I am not good with this blog thing.  There are plenty of people I know that somehow find the time to update their blogs on a regular basis but such is not the case for this blog. So pardon any spelling or grammar mistakes as I strive to actually publish something!! I do hope that I won't wait 1 year for the next update but only God knows what the schedule will bring!.  So what is important to a blog.  I guess I should ask the readers, whoever they are or wherever they are but I suspect people follow this blog for kid updates and less about the parents, I could be wrong but there you go.  Along with kid updates there is our passion for adoption which is never ending but for now we use that passion to help others along with journey as we seek to raise Godly kids of our own.

Eliana is an amazingly beautiful, super cute and sometimes quite opinionated and stubborn 3 year old.  We love her immensely.  She is thriving in Preschool this year at Stoneybrooke in San Juan Capistrano and enjoying getting to go to her "brother's school".  She is excelling at Gymnastics weekly and doing things that her brother would have never thought of at this age.   She is as much a Daddy's girl as Patrick is a Daddy's boy but I am not worried about Patrick.  She and I on the other hand are in for a journey through life that I can only imagine for now.  File it under the Daddy/Daughter category :)

Patrick is a growing (soon to be taller than one of our adult babysitters) 6 yr old in Kindergarten at Stoneybooke.  He is learning to ride horses, enjoys playing the piano, and building Legos.   It is no surprise that after a Lego themed birthday party we have lots of legos to build.  Our play area might start to look like Lego city very soon.   He loves also getting his limited time playing Asphalt 8 on Dad's computer. He calls it "the hard car game" and we play it together on my computer.  I want to be very careful as we integrate his life into technology and I feel blessed to work in the technology industry as we raise kids in a very tech centered world so I can keep on top of it all.

Life and Family.  We are beyond blessed to have a wonderful group of friends and church family in Aliso Viejo.   Every once in awhile I wonder what it would be like to live in another state but at this time in life I can't imagine leaving what we have here.  And after all, the grass is always greener on the other side of the septic tank, as someone once said.  So 15 years after moving into our "Starter house" it looks to be more than just a starter house.

Remember this?:  This is one of Eliana's phrases she uses when she wants to remind me of a game that she wants to play with me.  Along that line, I often use pictures to "Remember this".  They keep me centered in that fact that not only is God in charge of our family but time is flying by so I like to remember where it all started.

So what's the point?!  There are so many blogs to follow, with amazing writers, talking about serious life issues, etc that I almost feel bad posting pictures and family updates. However, I realized recently that if I didn't ever write anything or post any pictures, these kids will be driving cars before the next posting.   Time is short and moving fast so enjoy the updates while I remember to post them.  Post a comment here or on Facebook if you enjoy reading this and seeing the updates.  Until next time ....

Eliana's almost 2

After a few months away from the blog we are back into the blogosphere just in time for Eliana's second birthday.  Not that there wasn't a lot to say, but life with 2 kids, a business, work, etc. has taken up all the available time.  I am sure those of you with kids can relate :)

On June 26th, 2011 this wonderfully cute bundle of joy came into our lives at 3lbs. 6oz.  She came home from the NICU in August and what a journey it has been.  Not only is she a wonderful, joyful and terrifically independent little girl, but she is a wonderful little sister to Patrick.  We love these kids in ways that can only be explained by God and parenthood.

This year we are having a lady bug birthday party with a NO GIFTS component (Grandparents excepted).  Evites will be forthcoming.  The reason behind this is twofold.  The first reason is that 2- year-olds don't need a ton of gifts.  The gifts from parents and grandparents will be plenty and won't overwhelm the play area with more stuff.  The second reason is that it allows us to ask you to help support our friends, Alison and Cheyenne Kroeker as they raise money for their second adoption.  Please use the money that you were planning to spend on a gift for Eliana (whether your propensity is to purchase from the dollar bin at Target or something much more extravagant!) and let it help the Kroekers adopt their second child.  Eliana was given to us by God as our beautiful second child through adoption, and we desire to see that blessing extended to our friends.  Adoptions are expensive (in the range of 20K - 30K,) so we would like to do whatever we can to help our friends raise the necessary funds needed.  Vivian and I are passionate about adoption and can't wait to see what little child is brought into the Kroekers' lives by God through adoption.  Below is the fundraising article from the Kroekers' blog which you can find at the following link.

Kroeker's Blog

We have chosen a PUZZLE FUNDRAISER to fund a majority of the costs for our adoption. (Domestic Newborn Adoptions range from approximately $18,000 to $30,000) We have two methods you can use to make a donation through sponsoring a piece of our adoption puzzle!  Will you please help spread the word?

We are asking for a donation of $10.00 per puzzle piece (puzzle pictured above).  You can, of course, sponsor as many as you would like... (if you choose $10 = 1 piece, $20 = 2 pieces, $40 = 4 pieces, etc...). When every piece of this puzzle is sponsored we will have raised $10,000!! Which is what our agency fees will be (not including birth mother costs).

We will then write your name on the back of the pieces you sponsor, and once our puzzle is completed, we will frame the puzzle in a double-sided frame.  We will be able to see the names of all the individuals who helped us bring our baby home! Each piece we put together will make this process come to life as we see the puzzle grow into the beautiful picture!

For both methods, in the comment or memo box, please put in the names for us to write on the puzzle piece(s)

To donate with a tax deductible receipt go to our Ordinary Heroes fundraising page:http://www.grouprev.com/kroekeradoption and click on the "Donate Now" button!! ***All donations through our fundraising page at Ordinary Heroes are charged a 2.9% processing fee***

To donate where 100% of your donation goes to our adoption costs, go to PayPal and send it via bank account transfer to Cheyenneandalison@yahoo.com ***All transactions through bank accounts are not charged a processing fee***

We are so excited to see with our God is doing and going to do throughout our adoption journey as we grow our family! 

Please feel free to share this with anyone and everyone you know!!!! Every little bit helps so much! Even if you can't sponsor a puzzle piece or donate towards our cause we'd cherish your PRAYERS most of all!!!!!!

Colorado Skiing February 2013

If your ideal vacation is one where the kids don't fight, kids eat perfectly and have wonderful manners all the time.  One where kids go to sleep the moment you tell them then this vacation wasn't it!!
BUT
If your ideal vacation is one where kids experience the beauty of God's creation, have a great time, learn to ski and enjoy the snow country at Copper Mountain.  One where the parents share the duties of kids and still get to ski themselves then this was that kind of vacation. 

Seeing Patrick learn to go downhill by himself was priceless!! (We will save stopping for another time :))
Seeing Eliana be our little snow bunny was equally priceless!
So all in all when you add up the costs, the effort, the situations you end up with only one thing left to say.  Thank You God for a priceless week at Copper Mountain Colorado.
Enjoy the video of our time here
Colorado2013 from Jim Turner on Vimeo.

Train Station

With thousands going to the mall the day after Christmas we decided to go to the train station.  No need to get on a train, the experience of seeing the trains and hearing them is good enough for us!  Patrick and Eliana love trains and the San Juan Capistrano train station is a very scenic place to visit.  It is a favorite among those who make their living taking photographs.  All in all it was a fun family day relaxing in the cool air.  No video this time, only a large collage of photos.

Enjoy

Chirstmas Eve 2012

"How it is."  That is the theme of the video attached to this blog posting.  It is a raw, (basically) unedited video showing life in the Turner household.  Lots of energy from two wonderful kiddos.  The video starts with Eliana in a gorgeous dress because she wouldn't stand still for a picture.  But with the world of smartphones these days all things multimedia are possible.  Patrick may or may not be a typical four year old, but he is full of energy and enjoys dancing to Handel's Messiah or Bach's Magnificat or any other high energy music.  I see Vivian and I as ring leaders of this circus.  Before Patrick and Eliana arrived we had many ideas of how kids would act, think, behave... and well, let us just say that kids will be kids whether you like it or not!  Unpredictable is a word that comes to mind.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Life with kids is priceless, especially during this Christmas season.  This is a time when we are asked to remember that the redemption plan began with Christmas.  For those who put their faith and trust in Jesus who died for our sins on Easter, the promise is that we will spend Eternity with God instead of without Him.  That is the meaning of Christmas and we look forward to our birthday party for Jesus tomorrow.  Bring on the cupcakes!!!

2012 Update from Jim Turner on Vimeo.