Please Pray

For those of you who follow my blog, I am asking for your prayers.  My father in law Peter will be having surgery this coming Tuesday 4/17 to remove 25% of his lung.  Back in November the doctors were going to operate then & it would have been only 10% that needed to be removed.  Whatever they saw has almost tripled in size since November.  They are not saying what it is, but it doesn't look too good.  Ed is very concerned and will be flying down to Florida on Monday to be with his parents.  His dad is going to be 85 in June & has many medical issues. 

Please pray for traveling mercies for Ed, peace & comfort for his mom & dad and most of all that the doctors can take out whatever they find on Tuesday and for a quick and uneventful healing.  Also keep the kids & I in your prayers as Ed will be away all week....I think it's going to be a long week.......

I am also asking for prayers for myself.  I need to go back for another mamogram on Monday.  In my most recent one they saw something of a concern with the tissue.  Just need to go back to re-check.  I know my God is in control & I know HE IS ABLE!!!

Thank you in advance for your faithful prayers for my family.  I will update soon!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Easter 2012

Peek a boo I see you....

Looking so pretty

Brianna taught her to do the serious face!

Looking so pretty in my Easter dress from grandma.

My first Easter Basket...





We celebrated Shiloh's first Easter with us on Sunday! Even though she is still too young to understand, we had fun watching her open her Easter basket filled with goodies. I also enjoyed dressing her up...lol!

The day went by so fast. My parents came to church with us, then over for dinner along with my brother & his family. It was a nice quiet day and everyone left by 6pm! Now we are eating the leftovers! They are always the best!

Back to School!

Congratulations to my husband on getting accepted to college. He will be continuing his education to receive his masters degree. Most of the work will be done online and 2 weeks being in Indiana at IWU. We have prayed about this & know that God has answered our prayers! He should be done in about 2 years. He has a lot of studying & reading ahead of him. Please keep us in your prayers as this will be another adjustment to our family life. He usually helps me out a lot with Shiloh, now he won't be able to do much of that. He will have to do most of his reading and studying at the church since it is much quieter there :).

Now I have 2 in college, 1 in HS and 1 in middle school!!! Maybe one day I will go back....I don't think so....lol!! I am happy being a "Domestic Goddess"!

Happy Easter Everyone!!

7 months today!

Today is 7 months that Shiloh has been with us! Our lives have changed drastically, but we are and have adjusted well. I am so proud of Peter, Brianna & Matthew for how loving & caring they are to Shiloh. They treat her like she is their sister! When we first heard about Shiloh needing a home we were a little hesitant at first. Ed & I prayed and then talked with the kid. The only one who hesitated a little was Matthew because he said now he wouldn't be the baby! I assured him he will always be my baby boy :-)!

Shiloh has brought so much joy into our home. She is such a good baby with an awesome personality. We are so thankful that God sent her to us & pray that one day she can become a "TORRES"! We will continue to pray God's will for that! As for now, as long as she is with us we are her family and are going to love & take care of her until God releases us (if he does)! I pray that never happens!

We love our little "Princess Shiloh" and are so thankful to God for sending her to us!!

A Lazy Saturday

I have felt so lazy all day. For starters, let me start off by telling you that Ed takes "Daddy" duty for Shiloh on Saturday mornings so I can sleep in a little! Since Bri is away at a youth retreat this weekend, Matt asked Dad if he can take him to Cracker Barrel today for breakfast. By Ed doing this, that means I don't get to sleep in!! So I decided to get up & go along with them. This was Shiloh's first visit to Cracker Barrel and she loved those pancakes :) and so did I. I ate too much that when I came home all I wanted to do was sleep. Well, that is impossible when you have a 1 year old running around. So Matt & I decided to bake some cookies and Ed made pizza for dinner. YUMMY! My honey is such a good cook :).

It was so dreary out & rainy today, maybe that's why I felt so lazy all day...and eating those pancakes didn't help. Hopefully I can work them off before my next weight watcher meeting next week :)!

It is so weird & quiet not having everyone home. Peter away at college, Bri away at a retreat, makes a home too quiet for me! I don't like it!!!

Enjoy your Palm Sunday Everyone!! Be blessed!!

She did it!

My Bri-Bri passed her driving test! I had no doubt she would, but her daddy was a little skeptical. She did fail one part of the test....parking up & down a hill :(. Tonight was her first night driving by herself. She said it was great because no one was telling her what to do...lol! and yes, she text me when she got there, and text me when she was leaving. For those of you who have visited us, she went down to the church, which is a mile away...haha! It's a start!

To celebrate her getting her liscense we went to Longhorn Steakhouse! We have been trying to go there almost every Saturday night, but by the time we get there, there is always an hour wait so we leave & head out somewhere else to eat. I am guessing our new night out will be on Monday nights. No one goes out to dinner on Monday nights :)!

Well off to bed....good night all!

The day of "LASTS"

Today was our last study on "Soul Shift"! We have been reading the book as a church, then meeting with small groups as we go thru the book for 8 weeks! I met with some ladies on Sunday evenings to do our Bible study together. Tonight was the last night. We met every Sunday night for 2 hours then had dinner together. What a nice time of fellowship! In those 8 weeks we have gotten closer & learned more about each other that we didn't know. In those 8 weeks we hopefully gotten closer to the Lord also! If you have not read the book yet, I encourage you to do so. It is not a big book & is easy to read! We shifted from "Me to You", Slave to Child, Seen to Unseen, Consumer to Steward, Talk to Listen, Sheep to Shepherd, & Me to We!!!! As you can see we did alot of shifting in those 8 weeks. Most importantly we got closer to knowing & serving the Lord!

Today was also the last day for our church to host the homeless families. We do this 2-3 times a year. It is specifically for women & children only. This time we had 2 moms & 6 children. Normally we sleep 1 night at the church for security as a family, but since we have Shiloh this year, we opted out and cooked a meal on Wednesday night for them instead. OK....we cheated alittle, they wanted PIZZA! So we bought them pizza & had salad with it. It was a great week for everyone. Not only were they blessed, but the volunteers who helped out all week were also blessed.

Today is also the last day my Brianna will go from passenger to driver (hopefully)! She will be taking her driving test tomorrow at 2pm! So if you remember, please say a prayer for her that she passes. And a prayer for me & Ed too :)! She hesitated for so long on learning how to drive. She kept saying she didn't want to grow up....neither do I I told her :). So, stay tuned I will post tomorrow if she passed or not. I am sure she will :)

Blessings till next time.....

First day of Spring!

Learning to play the piano....

trying to do the hand motions to a song.....

sitting pretty...

watching her favorite show.....BARNEY!

Happy 1st day of spring! It sure does feel more like summer. I needed to dig out the flip flops & shorts for everyone....I hear it's suppose to get up passed 80 this week! It's either going to be a long summer or snow in May :(

Since today is the first day of Spring....remember to go get your free Rita's Italian Ice today! I remember going last year & it was freezing...not this year! Enjoy!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

No I am not Irish, but once a year I like to eat corn beef & cabbage! So maybe I'm Irish once a year!!

Today, for the first time ever I consigned at a Consignment sale for spring/summer clothes. My girlfriend Melissa talked me into selling Shiloh's clothes that she has outgrown & making money for it. So after months of preparing I organized 100 items to sell at the sale. I make 70% of whatever sells....not a bad deal! I also had signed up to volunteer this morning from 7-11 am! That is a bit early for me on a Saturday, but we had a great time doing it.

Since I consigned, I got to go to the preview sale last night. I now have clothes for Shiloh for spring/summer and some cool outside toys for her. Bought her a Step 2 Buggie that she loves to ride in while I push and then a Little Tykes Coupe Buggy! These toys last forever and were in great condition. What a deal I got on them too...one was $8 and the other $15 and then tons of clothes!! I won't know for another 3 weeks if any of my clothes sold! I hope it was worth it!!

Since I was out most of the day, Ed cooked the corned beef, cabbage & potatoes in the crock pot. We invited my mom & dad over for dinner and it was delicious.

I was up way too early today, so I will say good night friends till next time!

Have a blessed Sunday worshipping the KING OF KINGS!!!

Spring Has Sprung 2012!

When you tell Shiloh to do "BIG CHEESE"....this is the smile you get! Gotta love her!!

Shiloh trying to play basketball!

Riding my caterpillar!

Matthew taking Shiloh for a ride on his skate board!!

It"s hard to believe that it is still tecnically winter!!! Grass is getting greener, flowers are budding, trees are starting to bloom and there's a nice spring smell in the air! We have been so blessed the past couple of days with this weather, I sure hope mother nature doesn't fool us with an "APRIL SNOW STORM"! That wouldn't be nice at all!

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone...

Till next time.....

A long week!

It's been awhile since my last post and so much has happened! The last time I posted my Peter had surprised me coming home earlier, today he left to go back to Canada to finish up school. He will be home again for the summer mid May!! We all had a great week with Peter being home. We of course went out to his favorite restaurants and I cooked his favorite meals that he doesn't get back in Canada. He had such a quiet relaxing week which is what he needed. He might of even been a bit bored at times.

On Thursday, our dear friend Bill went home to be with the Lord!! We are sad and happy at the same time. Bill was an awesome husband, dad, son and friend! I have so many great memories of Bill when we lived in Michigan that will always be treasured. I was suppose to leave today after service with Ed but had to cancel since our little princess Shiloh got sick on Friday and got worse over the weekend. I was torn to leave her and torn not to go to Michigan to be with my dear friend Nancy. But when you have a friend like Nancy who understands even when you don't understand things and why they happen....I consider myself blessed to have a friend like her. Although I couldn't make it to the funeral, we are planning a girls weekend away sometime in the near future. Then we can really spend time together.

Please continue to pray for Nancy & her family in the coming days & weeks. Also, keep Shiloh in your prayers as she battles an ear infection, cough & cold and a rash that keeps coming back. We need to take her to a pediatric dermatologist to see what's going on.

Enjoy the coming days....spring like weather has arrived friends!!

Till next time.....

SURPRISE!

I just love surprises...especially when they are for me!! Shiloh's mom & aunt come twice a week for visitation. As we were sitting down watching Shiloh play the front doorbell rang! I thought it was the mailman delivering mail or a box that maybe Ed ordered something....So I go down to open the door and to my surprise my PETER is standing on the other side with a big smile on his face!!!! Him & his friend drove through the night from Canada....thank God I didn't know because I would of worried the whole night long. I knew that Maine & Boston was getting hit with lots of snow and they drove through it! I am so thankful that Jesus protects HIS children even when we don't pray!!

We have been working on Shiloh saying Peter for the past couple of weeks and I think she is getting it...she says PEPER...it is so cute to hear her pronounce words!!

So my Peter is home & we are looking forward to a nice 10days together at the Torres home!!

Till next time.....

Another beautiful day in NJ!

WOW!! We are so spoiled here in NJ! I got to take a nice 50 min. walk with Shiloh. Coming up my hill was no picnic. At least I'm huffing & puffing a little less than I was last week. If you have ever been to my house, you know what the Hogback looks like!! I will sleep well tonight!

Ed was off today & worked on his paper for college. Yes, he is going back to school (if he gets accepted) for his master's in ministerial studies. He is so excited & I am so proud of him. He's like one of the kids now....well ok, he always was! Please pray that it all works out for him. He would be gone for 2 weeks straight & will have to do alot of homework and reading from home.

Speaking of college....my Peter will be coming home Saturday for the week. They have spring break there in March....crazy!!! We are so excited to have him home with us even if it's for a week!!

That's all for today...till next time......

It's been a long Week!

I thought this week would go by fast with Brianna & Matthew having Monday off, but it was a slow week. But I must add, it was gorgeous weather for Shiloh & I to go walking everyday this week. Well ok, I walked & she rode in the carriage. She loves going for walks. My Bri was sick with the stomach bug yesterday & today...poor thing. She just started working for the first time ever and she has already had to call out sick 3 times. She is so afraid of getting fired. Luckily she works for a daycare and the boss said, "don't worry, everyone else here is sick too"! She is feeling much better tonight Thank you God!! Praying nobody else gets it.

My Peter will be coming home Friday or Saturday of next week for Spring break...(Canada's spring break). He is just as excited as I am to have him home. This is a good sign!! It'll be nice to have everyone together again. Just wish he would of picked a college closer. Thankfully we get to skype alot!!

Today, I called my dear friend Nancy in Michigan!! Boy, do I miss that lady. We did so much together when I was in Michigan. So many great memories and more to come. Please keep her & her family in your prayers for the coming days. Her dear husband Bill is on Hospice & is not doing well at all. Continue to pray for stength for Nancy as she cares for her family during this most difficult time. Although Bill is deteriorating from his earthly body, once he is home with his Savior Jesus Christ there will be no more pain or suffering...OH WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY THAT WILL BE!! I love you Nancy, Bill, Jon & Jessie!! I miss you all so much!! Hugs & kisses always and lots of prayers!! I am so thankful to have such a special family in my life!!

Good night ....till next time!!!

Can It Be???

Can this really be winter? I am so much of a summer person. I love the beach, pool and of course suntanning on my deck! This 60+ weather we are having is such a tease to me. I only hope it will stay. I also keep telling Ed that I would love a big blizzard....yes I am crazy!! I just think it looks so nice and then we can get to put on our wood burning stove! We haven't even done that this winter. One of the reasons being having the baby we don't want her to get burned. Shiloh & I have been enjoying the outdoors taking walks all this week. I took her to the park for the first time today and she hated it....well, she hated the swing anyway. She started to cry the minute I put her in & pushed. Maybe she didn't like the feeling in her belly. I will have to try it again. So, I got the carriage out & walked the beautiful historic town of Clinton, NJ. That she liked and so did mommie :)!

If you are reading this blog, you most likely know that I have given up facebook for lent. I actually disconnected my account. Every year like everyone else I say I'm giving up, cookies, giving up ice cream, giving up sugar, but this year I wanted it to be different....something I know I can follow through with. It is so nice not looking at that fb everyday and hearing some drama. I have enough drama of my own.

I will try to post every few days & put some pictures up too!

Till next time....

A Day of Doctors!!

As far as I can remember, the Torres family has never been so sick as we have been this winter!! (Is this really winter?) It started out with Ed having pneumonia in December right before Christmas. Then Brianna got sick with a sinus infection. Then I was sick with a sinus infection. Shiloh had an ear infection 2 weeks ago along with a nasty diaper rash. Matt had pink eye and a cold. Oh yes, I had a stye in my right eye and pink eye in my left. Then Ed got pink eye. For the past few days Ed has had a nasty cough & sinus thing going on. I needed to take Shiloh in for a check up on her ears so I made an appointment for Ed to be seen also. He was in one room & I was next door with Shiloh. The verdict was....Ed had a sinus infection!! He is now on the zpack!! As I was sitting in the office with Shiloh, my Brianna texts me & says she has a severe headache and nauseau and couldn't remember where her classes were!!! UGH!!! You see, Bri played football with the guys yesterday and got elbowed really hard (was an accident) in her head. She fell to the ground, but did not lose consciousness thank God. So as I was asking the doctor about this...he immediately said get her out of school & bring her in. So in we went with Brianna now. The verdict is.....she has a concussion!!! Has to take it easy for the next 2 weeks. They also did a cat scan, I haven't heard back from the dr. yet. I am assuming no news is good news.
So dear friends, if you think of us would you please shout out a quick prayer for the Torres family!! We are never this sick!

We are sick and tired of being sick!!!

Blessings till next time......

Beautiful Winter Day!!

It sure hasn't felt like winter the past 2 days! Shiloh & I have been couped up in the house we needed to get out for some fresh air. Since it was getting late, I decided to bring her & the dog out on the deck. It was funny to watch her experience the deck with her slippers on. I hope she gets use to it quick because she will be suntanning on it soon with me!!!! Of course I will put sunblock on her Ms. Nancy :)

Oh where oh where are you winter?

How crazy is this winter? Not that I am complaining because I love summer, but we need some snow here in New Jersey!! I believe the kids need a snow day too! I am sitting here enjoying the patio and front door being opened to air out the house. I need to get rid of all the sicky germs that have been floating around for the past 2 weeks. I believe the temperature today in Pittstown, NJ is 65!! That is crazy!!! I am sure it will be in the 30's again in a day or 2!!

I realized this morning that today is 5 months that we have our little Princess Shiloh with us!! WOW!! How time goes by so fast!! Thank you for your continued prayers for us & Shiloh as we go forward!! I will post pictures soon.

Blessings....till next time!

Sick...Sick...Sick...

This weekend was our district pastor/spouse retreat in Lancaster, PA! I have been sick all week with a nasty sore throat, cold and a bad stye in my right eye! Shiloh has been sick also. Needless to say, I could not go with Ed to the retreat. This is the first one I have missed since being a pastor's wife!! I was really looking forward to the 2 of us just getting away by ourselves. Instead I wound up in the dr's office this morning. I now have pink eye in my left eye, sore throat, cold and body aches. I am on the zpack, Mucinex 12 hour relief & drops for the eyes!

I know my hubby missed me, he even said so in his text tonight :) I am hoping & praying I can sleep much better tonight without all the coughing.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

Till next time.....

Our new addition....Princess Shiloh!


Shiloh just turned 1 last week! What a blessing to our family!

3 years Later...

WOW! I cannot believe it's been about 3 years since I last posted on my blog! I guess facebook got a hold on me! I am not too happy with that facebook stuff, so I will continue to blog as much as I can to keep you all up to what's going on in the Torres family!

We have been in New Jersey coming up on 5 years in June!! I can hardly believe it!! God just continues to amaze us every day! Our kids are growing up so fast. Peter is now a sophmore at Kingswood University in Canada. He is studying Pastoral ministry & sings with the Chorale. Brianna is a junior in H.S. and just finished taking her SAT's. She plans to be a Social Worker after she graduates. She continues to look into colleges. Matthew is in middle school, 6th grade and plays on 2 basketball teams!! We now have an addition to our family of 5.....Shiloh our princess! She is our great step niece whom we have legal & physical custody of since September! She just turned 1 year old last week! She is such a joy to have with us. She is part of our family!

We continue to serve our great God here in New Jersey! God has been so good to us and I look forward to the blessings He has in store for us and the community we serve!

Till next time......