in the garden

i had a dream about Jesus the other night that i almost forgot about. it has been awhile since i dreamed about Him. the last time was almost four years ago... in that dream i had asked to see His face... and He stood next to me, shadowed, with a huge crown of thorns weighing His head down and bloodstained robe.

this other dream was different. we were just hanging out like friends. we were standing in front of a non-descript house, planning my escape. not sure why i had to escape from anywhere. i asked Him, 'motorcycle or car?' He said, 'come with me to the garden.'

this is the part of the story where gary interjected while i was telling him, 'which garden?!'

not the garden of gethsemane or anything. truly. we just walked around to the back of this suburban-type house and sat on the patio. i reached out and grabbed His arm. it felt cool and medium-sized, not overly-buff or scrawny. He was wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans, but barefoot. no angels or earthly tremors. He mentioned something about me getting into an old volkswagen hatch-back. then that was it.

on a hill

so we were at the agustin's backyard park trying to take the above picture. it was hard to get all four kids to cooperate. elijah and ethan were the first to calm down since they were sleepy. then isaiah succumbed to twinkle twinkle little star. last was luci. 'hey luci, look at my nose!'... 'um, see that bird?'... 'let's just look at the sky!'... all of this didn't work. then...

'hey luci, let's look up and see if we can see big daddy God!'

she was suddenly silent and attentive. i think i totally underestimated the gravity of that statement. she folded her hands in prayer and looked straight up. 'how come i can't see Him, mama? and where's Mama Mary?'

then i got excited. what if we could see God? would i look? i peeked with one eye. nothing but clouds and butterflies in my stomach. and an enromous feeling of love. i reminded luci how one of the Fatima kids had to keep saying the rosary before he could see Mama Mary.

'i do see Mama Mary!'

'you do?!!?' i remembered the time when she was around 14 months old and she could see angels. she would point to people's angels for them. and wave.

'just kidding.' she continued to fold her hands in prayer.

10 months and 30 days old

elijah took his first step. he's been trying to stand up straight without hanging on to anything. then he'll fall on his butt. on friday 11.3.06 between 5-6pm, he stood up. i opened my arms and said, "come to mommy." he took one tentative step with his right foot, then tumbled onto my lap. that counts, right?

the other day luci took lij's bath again. i was in the nursery undressing lij, when luci jumped into his tub. i ran into the bathroom to make sure she had actually taken her clothes off before getting in. lij came storming out of the nursery, crawling rapidly right up to the tub, ordering her out of his domain in his baby way. "huh? huh?" he vocalized.

i can't believe it's almost Christmas!