Welcome to the Family!

My sister's boyfriend, Wade, has been an honorary member of our family for years now. We have loved him since we met him and have known they are a perfect match. Just this morning, I'm happy to announce, Wade became an official member of our family when he and Nance got married! We knew it was coming, but had no idea when. We are all SO happy for them and thrilled that we have an official brother-in-law and "Wunka Wade" (as Daniel calls him). We love you guys!

Back to Bed...

It's been a strange week at the Orona house. Our two and a half year old has chosen to adopt the sleeping habits of a newborn the past few nights. Monday night (or Tuesday morning rather) he decided to wake up at 1:15 ready to start his day. He finally succombed to his need for sleep around 4:00 and was up bright and early at 6:30 in the morning. We assumed the noise of the storm woke him up. Tuesday was a bit better- no thunder. But he was ready to go at 5:45 am. Last night, he crawled into our bed at 4:15. Some parents may shrug their shoulders as if to say, "welcome to life with a toddler". But for Fernando and I, who have been blessed with a little boy who has slept until about 7:30 am since he was 4 months old, this is an abrupt change and one we cannot figure out how to remedy. Each night it grows increasingly frustrating. Especially when all attempts to help him fall back to sleep fail miserably. As a parent, and a pregnant one at that, there are few things as frustrating as leaning over the side rail of a toddler bed (or climbing into it) at 2:00 in the morning trying to soothe a little boy who refuses to give in to sleep. At 4:15 this morning, I found myself in this exact predicament- again. Tears of exhaustion began to well up in my eyes when something dawned on me.

I started to wonder if I have ever made God feel this same way and ever so subtly, the Holy Spirit answered..."yes". I began to think of all the times in my life when I've woken up in "the darkness" and thought to myself, if only I could get up and start doing something, it would all be better. If I could take action and start moving then the sun would come up. And God says to me, "just rest". I so often struggle with giving up control and do everything in my power to change my circumstances when all I need to do is close my eyes and rest- knowing that God will take care of everything in His time.

Darkness brings such fear and uncertaintanty. It's at those times when Satan chooses to bring the thunder. He knows our weaknesses and that, if he can just get our attention and cause us to be restless, we will do just enough to get in the way of God's work in our lives. But the Lord is telling us, that if we just get "back to bed" and rest in Him, the sun will come up a lot sooner. That doesn't mean that we won't have those "nights", that seem to last forever, when we just need to crawl into His arms and feel His embrace or be able to look up and know that our Father is right there beside us. But only in the darkness can we truly know what it means to rest...

When we come to God as a Father, while we must remember that He is Lord of heaven and earth, which obliges us to come to him with reverence as to the sovereign Lord of all; we are blessed to be able to come to Him with confidence, as one able to defend us from evil, and to supply us with all good. Knowing full well that He will embrace us, scoop us up, and lovingly carry us back to bed.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Life With a Two Year Old

Every day is a new adventure when you're the parent of a toddler. Toddlers are energetic, unpredictable, curious, and VERY resourceful. I am beginning to believe that having a two year old can be likened to having a miniautre neanderthal running wild through your home. Some days I can handle it. Others, I cannot. This has been one of those days...

I'm not sure what set the day off on the wrong foot. My gut tells me that it had something to do with Daniel bounding into the bedroom just after 6:00 a.m. singing the theme song to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Or it could be the fact that simple tasks such as putting on your child's socks now require the use of an octagon and a referee. Whatever the cause, I knew very quickly today would be a long day. As I was wearily making waffles at 7:00 am, I found my son hard at work organizing his magnetic alphabet letters... in the dog's water bowl. It only took about 30 minutes for the letters to be removed and placed on a paper towel to dry. The fact that Daniel was arranging the letters by color certainly helped to expedite the process.
















Can't wait to see what the rest of the day brings...

We have a winner!

We have finally decided on a name for the newest member of our family. Let me rephrase that. We have finally agreed to go with the name we chose 6 years ago. It has been a long process, especially for me. When we found out we were having a boy in 2005, we were shocked. We had been certain up to that point that our first child would be a little girl. Choosing his name, however, was not difficult. We knew if we were ever blessed with a boy, his name would be Daniel. That is, after all, Fernando's middle name. There were other names on the list that we liked, but we had always planned on using them for any subsequent boys in the family. His middle name took a little while, but was easily chosen. Our first thought was Joseph. To reconcile ourselves to the fact that we didn't choose to name him after his maternal great-grandfather, Ralph, we were leaning towards Pop Pop's middle name. But once Isaac popped into mind, we knew that was it. Thus, Daniel Isaac Orona was named. We hoped and prayed that he would one day have a sister so that we could use the name we had already chosen for her. Last month, we found out she was on her way. But for some reason, I was struggling to commit to what Fernando (and Daniel-quite honestly) were already calling her. I've prayed a lot for confirmation and received it. Thank the Lord!

For those of you who don't know, Fernando had an older sister (born the same year as my older sister) named Josephine. She was very sick as a baby and passed away when she was only 1 1/2. It was a heart wrenching time for his parents and older brother. He has always hoped to have a little girl and name her after his sweet sister. On the other hand, my paternal grandmother, Josephine, was not quite as sweet and innocent. Thus, the name does not carry the same connotation with my side of the family. Before we were married, we had discussed this fact and tried to come up with some derivative of Josephine- not an easy task, I might add. That way her name would still be special, but not conjure up images of a bitter, old, Italian woman (may she rest in peace). :) To add to the confusion, both of our mothers are named Margaret Elizabeth. So we set out on a mission to find a way to pay tribute to Fernando's sister, the two wonderful women who raised us, and hint towards her Italian background.

Over the last few years, however, the name we decided on has grown in popularity, which is why I have had such a difficult time committing to it. I have never wanted to choose a "trendy" name for any of our kids and because we put such careful consideration into their names, I have never wanted anyone to assume that we followed the crowd. I finally came to the realization (after attempting to call the baby every other name that popped into my head) that there was only one that was fitting. I also realized that I'm almost 32 and should know by now not to care what other people think. Something I should have come to terms with after junior high- one would assume.

At any rate, we are happy to announce that Sofia Margaret Orona is healthy and growing and will be here in about 16 short weeks! There, I said it. It's official!

What makes me smile...

...a nice, hot shower
...the smell of fresh coffee brewing
...sunshine and blue skies
...the sight of squirrels romping around on our back fence
...Daniel's happy voice in the morning
...shopping for my baby girl
...knowing the weekend is coming and Fernando will be home
...my son singing Jesus Loves Me at the top of his lungs in the grocery store
...talking to my mom on the phone
...dinner with friends
...cheesecake for dessert!

Happy New Year!

We hope and pray that your holidays were as special as ours were and that the new year brings many more wonderful blessings your way.

We celebrated Christmas with family in Arizona this year. Boy were we glad to get back to some warmer weather (there's a phrase I never thought I'd say)! After a couple quick days, we loaded up the car with suitcases, presents, and portable dvd players and headed to Anaheim, CA to spend Mom's birthday (and Christmas with the family) at Disneyland. Nance and Wade drove down from Flagstaff and Bill and Caitlin joined us too. It was the first time our entire family had been at Disneyland all together. Last time Nance and I were there with our folks, it was 1984. After a couple of whirwind days in sunny California, we headed back to Phoenix and made it just in time on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of our Savior at Palm Valley Church. We so miss our church family and it was WONDERFUL to see so many of them again.

We had such a wonderful time, but were happy to be back in Little Rock when we arrived home. Daniel was especially happy to be home and sleep in his own bed. He loved Christmas this year and had a blast opening all of his presents. He liked it so much, in fact, that every time I come home with any type of bag, he says, "presents?". Maybe we need to consider cutting back a bit next year. :)


Just two days after Christmas we got the best news of all when we found out that we have a healthy baby girl on the way! May just can't come soon enough! I've already been combing stores looking at pink clothes galore and Daddy is already coming up with ways to spoil his little princess. We can't wait to see our sweet little girl and see how Daniel reacts to being a big brother. He has such a tender heart and we know he will take good care of his baby sister (once he realizes he cannot hit her with his Little Tykes hammer). Please begin praying for us now. :)

Last year was such a huge year of change, we cannot even begin to imagine what God has in store for us in 2008. We are so excited to see what He has planned for us

A Year In Review

It's hard to believe another year has come and practically gone- each year seeming to pass faster than the one before. 2007 was no different. It's been a year FULL of difficult trials and temendous blessings, often simultaneously. Instead of typing up a letter, much too long for any of you to read at this busy time of year, I thought I would take a glance back at the last 12 months and hit some of our highlights.

To be perfectly honest, the first few months of the year are a blur- not a big surprise considering the last 24 hours are also somewhat of a blur. :) In January, I began taking on a few more hours at the office preparing for the biggest stewardship campaign in our church's history. The land had been paid off and it was time to break ground on our new campus. It's not easy being a portable church of 2000+ people. We hit the ground running with meetings, phone calls, and endless amounts of Excel spreadsheets in an attempt to keep ourselves organized. As one of the campaign leaders, a great deal of those responsibilities fell on my shoulders and I found myself with an additional 20+ hours of work each week. No surprise that I don't remember much between January and May. :)

Februay brought the celebration of our 4th anniversary, which was spent up in the pine trees of Payson- a much needed weekend away.


On April 1st we moved into a much larger home with the intentions of purchasing it when ours sold. Daniel adjusted right away and quickly learned how much fun it was to climb up and down the stairs- all day long. I wish I could say that we lost weight chasing him around, but we weren't that lucky. :)


May brought the close of our church's Seize the Moment campaign and a collective sigh of relief from our family. It was a tremendous time of growth personally as we committed to giving a substantial amount more to the Lord. We were humbled and amazed at the outcome and sacrifice of our church family and so blessed to be a part of what God is doing at Palm Valley. We were also very blessed to be able to spend Mother's Day with our families. We were thrilled that Daniel was able to celebrate, not only with his grandmothers, but with his great-grandmothers as well.

The month of June was a difficult one as we said goodbye to Fernando's grandmother, Nana Sarah. She was such a blessing to all who knew her and we rejoice that she has gone home, though she will be missed.

July brought with it a considerable amount of business travel for Fernando, which he is still enjoying- for the time being. :) In the meantime, I finished my training as a permanent cosmetic technician. I enjoyed the training process immensely and love having the opportunity to make life a little easier for so many people- myself included. We did manage to sneak away to California for a few days of relaxation in sunny San Diego. Daniel loved going to Sea World and to the beach. Fernando and I enjoyed just sitting on the back porch and reading. I wish I was there right now! :)
We also received some exciting news that a new baby was on his/her way. We were so thrilled, but that joy soon turned to sorrow when we lost the pregnancy a few short days later. It was so comforting to know that God is in control and we experienced such peace during that time. In spite of the bad news, we were able to joyously celebrate Daniel's 2nd birthday on the 21st. What joy he brings to our life! It was so fun to see him enjoy his cake, presents, and being the center of attention!

Fernando started the month of August with a trip to the Alltel Communications headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, to interview for a position as the national manager of sales and business recruiters. A few short days after his return, he was offered the position and accepted it. Preparations began immediately for a trip to Little Rock to find a home. We traveled to Arkansas in mid-August and were able to find a place to rent that is just big enough for our family, until our house sells in Arizona. The end of August is somewhat of a blur as well.....

We spent the first week or so of September, desperately trying to see all of the friends and family we could before it was time to go. We also had a very tearful Sunday as we led worship at Palm Valley for the last time. On September 10th, a crew arrived at the door and packed our entire house in 8 hours. The next day, the giant United Van Lines truck appeared out front and was loaded with everything but a few suitcases. What a strange feeling it was to stand in the doorway of an empty house and watch our belongings drive away. That was a very difficult day. We spent the evening with Fernando's family and cried as Daniel waved and said, "Bye Nana, bye Tata" as we pulled away. The next day, we loaded into one vehicle (my parents in the other) and headed east towards Arkansas. We were amazed at how well our little boy did in the car for three whole days. Thank God for the person who created the portable DVD player! Our trip was smooth and, dare I say, somewhat enjoyable. We arrived in Little Rock on September 14th and picked up our keys the next day. What a thrill it was to see our friends on the United Van Lines truck pull up in front of our apartment, after sleeping on egg-crate matresses for two days! We were blessed to have my parents there to help us unpack and get settled before they left. A few days later, we received another miraculous blessing- another baby on the way!!!

October brought with it cooler temperatures and the change of leaves- something we have only experienced in pictures for the last 30 years... We had such grandious plans of spending time outdoors, but unfortunately the nausea and mind-numbing fatigue that accompany pregnancy kept me inside most of the month. We did have the pleasure of spending a week with Fernando's parents who came to visit us at the end of October. It was fun to show them around our new town and watch them interact with Daniel, who was thrilled to have Nana and Tata around!


The first few weeks of November flew by as we enjoyed experiencing Fall and lighting our fireplace. We had to buy quite a few new clothes as we adjusted to the falling temperatures. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom and dad who came out for a fun week of fishing, eating, and shopping. We kicked off the Christmas season with them and have been going full-speed ever since.

We are happy to announce that as of today, December 3rd, we have a healthy baby and have officially entered our second trimester. We are looking forward to the next few weeks as we prepare for the holidays and, even more importantly, as we prepare for our first trip home. We are so blessed to be able to spend Christmas in Arizona with our families and can't wait to see all of the friends we left behind. We are also excited to be taking Daniel to Disneyland for the first time and can't wait to see the look on his face when we arrive.

The next few weeks bring so much to look forward to, but that is just a prelude to the coming year. We are constantly amazed and humbled at what God has done in our lives over the last twelve months and wait in eager anticipation of what is to come in 2008, including the birth of a new baby in May.

We hope and pray that you are blessed beyond belief during this holiday season.

With love,
The Orona Family