Dad Is Home!

Thank you for all your prayers for my Dad. He went home today and is so happy to be home after 5 nights in the hospital. He is feeling better and we are so thankful! Thanks to all the ladies in West Monroe who fixed a big meal for today and tomorrow for Dad and Mom. It means so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness. Please continue to keep Mom in your prayers. She will see a neurosurgeon on the 3rd. We serve a great God and believe that everything is going to be fine with her. She is feeling great and feels even better to have Dad home! Tomorrow afternoon Tom & Tim will be there, Mark is already there, and Steve & I will be home on Monday!! There's no place like home for the holidays!!! It is so great to be a part of God's family and to know that we have such great friends like you praying when we need it. Thanks again for your prayers. We love you!

Dad & Mom

Thanks so much for your prayers for my Dad. He is doing better. . . .still weak, but they are taking great care of him. He appreciates everyone's prayers.

Please be in prayer for my Mom as well. She went to the doctor yesterday to get the results of a cat scan and a couple of tests. They told her that there was an aneurysm on her brain. They have recommended her to see a neurosurgeon. She hopes to do that later this week. She feels great and her spirits are high! Dad & Mom live on a horse ranch about 14 miles out right off of I-20 and she is keeping the roads hot between there and the hospital as well as other running around that she has to do. They found scar tissue there that they thought was from a light stroke. Mom has never had a stroke. Mom is very positive about it all. Yesterday afternoon, I asked God to help me and to give me a peace being this far away from them. I felt his presence so strong and such a peace came on me. My brother Tim said he had a prayer meeting at his school in Stockton. . .just he and God! Of course Tom & Mark both have as well. Dad will be 81 next week on the 28th and Mom is 78. We have been blessed with both of them having good health.

We appreciate all of your prayers for Dad and Mom. We serve a great God who can do anything!! We will all be there together in West Monroe in a few days!

UPDATE

Dad is resting and glad to be getting help on his way to feeling so much better especially with all of us kids being home next week for Christmas! The pneunomia is in his left lobe of his lung. We are thankful that it was caught at this time before it spread. He and Mom are very appreciative to each of you for your prayers.

Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for my Dad, Fred Foster. He has not felt well the past couple of days and has been weak with not much of an appetite. He went ahead and taught his Sunday School class yesterday. He had to sit on a stool to teach. But if you know Dad, you are not surprised that he did that. This afternoon, after a call to his Doctor, they sent him to the emergency room at Glenwood Hospital. They found that he has a touch of pneunomia and admitted him. As of a few minutes ago, they have not put him in a room yet. He is in great spirit. Thanks for your prayers.

Singing In The Rain!

Being raised in the south where it rains often, I never thought that I would miss the rain, but I do! After living here in southern California for just a few months and no rain, I was talking to my Mom on the phone while it was pouring there. She went outside, raised one of the garage doors, and held the phone for me to hear the heavy downpour!! That is something that I used to take for granted, but now I love a good rainy day or night like today! It may go for months here with no rain. But right now, I'm sitting here hearing the rain and loving it!! There is something about hearing the rain splash on the window! I know to all of you who live where it rains often that this sounds so funny! A little while ago, I went to our front bay window and took the pictures above. I even went outside in the front just to watch it rain! This is the rainy season for us, but nights like tonight are few and far between. I will enjoy sleeping tonight hearing the rain! Back in September it rained very hard, the first rain in over 4 months! Our dog Bauer who is almost 3 years old did not know what to think of that kind of hard rain. He had never seen it! While home in West Monroe back in the summer, I found myself up in the middle of the night looking out the back of my parent's home watching the hard rain hit the pool and the pasture behind it. Before I moved here, that would have been just another rainy night! I never thought I would say this but I love the rain!!!! What does the song say. . . ."Singing in the rain!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK FOSTER!! Today is my oldest brother's birthday! Mark pastors my home church, The Pentecostals of the Twin-cities in West Monroe, LA. Mark is pictured with his wife, Paulla and their granddaughters, Jayden & Jesi. Mark, Steve & I hope you have a great day! We love you!!
This is a week of birthdays in the Foster family. Yesterday the 3rd, was my neice Cheyenne's birthday and Thursday, the 6th is her husband, Robert's birthday! Cheyenne & Robert live in Wheaton, IL. where Robert is working on his Master's at Wheaton College. Cheyenne & Robert are pictured below with their beautiful little Shiloh Grace, Cheyenne's Dad (my brother Tim), and Grandaddy, Fred Foster. Happy Birthday Cheyenne & Robert Johnson! Uncle Steve & I love you both!!

Thank You For Your Prayers!

I want to say "Thank You" to all of you that have been praying for my Mom through her surgery and hospitalization. She came home last night (Sunday PM) and is glad to be at home to recuperate there under the care of my sister Margaret who flew down on Thursday and is going to be with her and Dad for a few more days. It's great to have friends and family to rally with you in the time of need!

With much love and appreciation!

Steve

Nana's Miracle!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers for Nana. Nana is not one to let people know she is ever in pain. The pain became so strong on Wednesday that she had to leave during service that night. Afterwards, we took her to the hospital. While in the ER, just before seeing the doctor, Nana tells us that she has been feeling a mass in her lower right abdomen for quite some time, but has not said anything about it. They ran lots of tests all through the night on her. On the CT scan it showed a hernia that had one of the small intestines pertruding through it. All day they worried over her blood pressure. So many people from our church and across the country were praying. When the Doctor went inside, she found a much smaller hernia and no intestine pertruding in it!! She was very amazed because that was not what she had seen on the CT scan!! In fact, she wanted to run some dye today to make sure everything is okay! We know what happened!!! God did a work between the CT scan and the actual surgery!! To God be the glory!! Today Nana has sat up in a chair and has taken a walk. God is so good!! Thank you for your prayers!

PRAYER REQUEST

Please be in prayer today for Steve's Mom, Margaret Saiz, or as she is affectionately called, NANA. She will be having surgery later on today. She was in the emergency room all night and was moved to a room a couple of hours ago. Margaret, Steve's sister, will be flying in this afternoon. We appreciate your prayers.

A Comical Evening!

I had something really comical happen to me this evening. I had opened our sliding glass door in the den for Bauer, our boxer, to go outside in the back. I am sitting at the bar on my laptop. All of a sudden I hear something hit the screen door and turn around to see a bird flying into our den! He flies all over the den and the kitchen, then into the front room. I have the doors open trying to get him out. Bauer is all excited running and jumping after him. I had called Steve who was at the church, he tells me to open the windows and take the screens off. So now, the front door is wide open, the windows are open with no screens on, and the den glass doors are wide open! Bauer has the poor scared little bird cornered behind my curio cabinet, so I had to put him on his leash until I could get the bird out. Yes, it was quite a sight! Here I am afraid of what germs this bird has, praying and running around after him trying to get him out. Finally at last, he flew out the same door he flew in! I was so releived and had to sit down and just laugh at what I had just been through! There is not a dull moment in this life!

Today is Jeremy, my nephew's birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY FOSTER!! I love you!
Here is a pic of Jeremy with his 2 girls, Jayden & Jesi.

Steve's Birthday

Steve had a great day for his birthday! All of the Saiz family was together! That was a real treat! We gathered at Nana & Ampa's place to take a family picture. I brought my camera and set up the tripod to get the pictures. Amidst all the jokes and cutting up, we did get some good pics! I am used to this from all the Foster Family photos over the years! It was a great day!

After Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving! I love all the cooking, family getting together, the eating, and then what we are doing today. . .eating the leftovers!! We always spend Thanksgiving with Steve's family at our house. It is a fun time! Our first Thanksgiving married, Steve & I decided to start a tradition in our home for the Saiz family. We have cornbread dressing, green bean casseraole, sweet potato casserole, brocolli & rice casserole, turkey, pink stuff (my creation), rolls, & gravy along with pecan pie, cherry-o-creme cheese pie, pumpkin pie, & peanut butter bars! That first Thanksgiving, my Dad commented to my brothers, Mark & Tom during their Thanksgiving dinner in West Monroe, "Your Mom sure fixed a good meal in California today!" He was referring to all the phone calls that I made to Mom on that Wednesday and Thursday! I made a joke to her when I would call that I was calling 1-800-ASKMOM!!! I must say that the 800ASKMOM phone calls were not near as many this year, our 4th one married! Today we will enjoy the leftovers. Nana & Ampa, (Steve's parents) will most likely come by to eat some as well. This morning, I packed a leftover bag for Stevo to take to work for their Potluck at work. So he'll get his leftovers for lunch. This year, we missed Margaret, Joe, & Che (Steve's sister & family). The Apostolic General Convention was moved to Dallas from the L.A. area, so they were in Dallas. My brother Tim was supposed to come in, but his wife had doctor's orders to not travel because of her back. Steve & Stevo were disappointed because the three of them were going to ride horses in the hills on the pennisula of Palis Verdes, not too far from our house. Steve & Tim are already making plans for a later date to ride those trails that have an ocean view. Steve will go spend some time with his horse, Rocket this afternoon. As for me, I am hanging out here at the house getting some things done that I have needed to.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our family to yours! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We love and appreciate all of our friends and family!

The Saiz Family

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUSBAND!

My sister-in-law Paulla always told me, "God gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him." She was right! I always knew that one day the right man would come into my life. It was worth the wait! I'm glad I left the choice up to Him!! I'm thankful for such a loving, fun, awesome Godly man who is my best friend! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVE!!! I love you! You are the BEST!! I love life with you!!

Honoring Our Veterans

We want to say "Thank You" to all of our nation's veterans and active troops that serve around the world. Thank you for your sacrifice and courage in protecting and defending our liberty and democracy. We enjoy the freedom you have secured through your selfless and heroic efforts during your call of duty. We appreciate you and pray God's richest blessing on you and your families!

Debbie and I have two very special veterans in our family that we would like to honor this Veterans Week, EM3C Fred J. Foster (Navy) and Pvt. Paul F. Saiz (Army).

EMC3 Fred J. Foster



Bro. Foster served in World War II aboard the USS Vigilance (mine sweeper) in the South Pacific. His training brought him here to Southern California in March of 1943. He was in San Diego for "Boot Camp" and then went to Terminal Island Navy Base in Long Beach where he boarded the Vigilance and then sailed to Pearl Harbor and then on to the Marshall Islands.

USS Vigilance


After being on ship for over a year, they asked if anyone was interested in "Military Government Training" which he agreed to enroll. The training was in preparation for the invasion of Japan which was planned for November of 1945. He was learning the Japanese language. This training was held at the Presidio in Monterey, CA. It was here where the war ended after the Japanese surrendered. Bro. Foster was honorably discharged in April of 1946.

He joined his Father, John Wesley Foster, who was in the Merchant Marine Corp as well as with his older brother, Paul Foster, also in the Navy. John W. Foster had served in the Navy during WWI.

Pvt. Paul F. Saiz


Dad entered into the Army in April of 1951. He did "Basic" at Ft. Ord near Monterey, CA. He had only been in Korea for a few months when he was wounded. A mortar shell exploded about ten feet away as he was running up a hill on that cold January morning. Shrapnel from the shell hit him in the chest that caused him to lose half a lung, a kidney and ripped his liver into two pieces. Another fragment went through his right leg, grazing the bone. The doctors at the MASH unit sewed his liver back together and for the next two years he was hospitalized in Tokyo, Japan. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries.

Below is the newpaper article reporting his injuries.

Urgent Prayer Request for Bethani Roam

I am sure many of you have already heard that Bethani Roam was airlifted to a San Francisco Hospital for an emergency liver transplant. Please pray for her and Brian and of course all the family. The family has set up a blog to keep everyone posted of her progress!

http://bethaniroam.blogspot.com/

QUENCH Conference in Ashburn, VA.

Here's some pictures from the QUENCH Conference in Ashburn, VA. Thanks to Camille Harris for sending me the pictures.

The Universe

(Click photo to enlarge.)

I have always been fascinated by the expanse and the beauty of the Universe. These pictures taken by the Hubble Telescope, give us a closer look into the far reaches of space to help us get a better understanding of how stars are formed and how galaxies come together and even in some cases, interact with eachother. What is amazing to me are the distances between stars and galaxies to even our own galaxy, the Milky Way. It is more evidentiary proof of our Divine Creator. He just keeps blowing our minds the more we uncover and discover the incredible workmanship of the Universe.

The above picture: This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies. During the course of the collision, billions of stars will be formed. The brightest and most compact of these star birth regions are called super star clusters. The new image allows astronomers to better distinguish between the stars and super star clusters created in the collision of two spiral galaxies.

Two galaxies perform an intricate dance in this new Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxies, containing a vast number of stars, swing past each other in a graceful performance choreographed by gravity. The pair, known collectively as Arp 87, is one of hundreds of interacting and merging galaxies known in our nearby universe.Arp 87 is in the constellation Leo, the Lion, approximately 300 million light-years away from Earth.

With light traveling at 186,000 miles per second, it flashes through space

11,160,000 miles per minute,

669,600,000 miles in an hour,

16,070,400,000 miles in a day,

112,492,800,000 miles in a week and

5,849,625,600,000 miles in a year.

That's almost 6 trillion miles in a year's time. In the picture above it says that the Arp 87 constellation is 300 million light-years away......go figure! Smile!

The Spiral Galaxy

The Crab Nebula

Fire Update!

I just received word that Bro. Darin Sargent was able to return to his home today and there was no damage to his house or property. There was a lot of ash and debris, but no damage. Thank God!

See Bro. Sargents report! www.directiondefined.blogspot.com

On A Lighter Side.....

Thought we would share this funny story with you all as told by a friend of ours!



We had a "going away" party yesterday for a lady at our Little Rock claim office. One of the supervisors called a Wal-Mart and ordered the cake. He told them to write: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that write "We will miss you". As the picture shows, it didn't quite turn out right. It was too funny not to keep it.

Weather Helping, But Fires Continue

Edit: As of 9 p.m. tonight, Bro. Darin Sargent is not back into his house. They will spend another night at a local hotel. We continue to pray for a safe return to an undamaged home.

An amazing satellite shot of the fires in Southern California. We are praying for all those who have been impacted by the flames. Bro. & Sis. Gerald Buxton's house is ok. Bro. Darin Sargent and his family are still waiting to return to their house. They have been staying in a local hotel since being evacuated on Monday.

This report taken from KCAL9 News:

1 Million Evacuated From Raging SoCal Wildfires

(AP) SAN DIEGO Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters conceded defeat on many fronts Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased an estimated 1 million people away.Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that's not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react -- tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring."If it's this big and blowing with as much wind as it's got, it'll go all the way to the ocean before it stops," said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. "We can save some stuff but we can't stop it.

"Tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing one person, destroying more than 1,600 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes."We have had an unfortunate situation that we've had three things come together: very dry areas, very hot weather and then a lot of wind," Schwarzenegger said. "And so this makes the perfect storm for a fire."

In Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego, houses burned just yards from where fire crews fought to contain flames engulfing other properties. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, cabins and vacation homes went up in flames with no fire crews in sight."These winds are so strong, we're not trying to fight this fire," said firefighter Jim Gelrud, an engineer from Vista, Calif. "We're just trying to save the buildings."

More than a dozen wildfires blowing across Southern California since Sunday have also injured more than 45 people, including 21 firefighters. The U.S. Forest Service earlier reported a fire death in Los Angeles County's Santa Clarita area, but officials said Tuesday that information was erroneous.

The fires also forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 houses, most of them in San Diego County. With the area's average household size of 2.6 people, that means the evacuation could encompass nearly 910,000 people."It's basically a mass migration here in San Diego County. The numbers we're seeing are staggering," said Luis Monteagudo, a spokesman for the county's emergency effort.

President Bush, who planned to visit the region Thursday, declared a federal emergency for seven counties, a move that will speed disaster-relief efforts.

We've added more pics from our Italy trip!

Check out the new pics we have added to our Italy Trip post!

QUENCH Ladies Conference

This past Friday and Saturday I had the priviledge of speaking at the QUENCH Ladies Conference held at Capital Community Church in Ashburn, VA. where Chester Mitchell is the pastor. Marion Mitchell and her WOW Team hosted a great conference. Everything was first class. It was a neat experience to team up with Sis. Thetus Tenney, who has impacted my life since I was just a young girl. Sis. Tenney was at her best with her message on Saturday, LIFE JUST HAPPENS. I have had the priviledge of speaking a few times at Capital Community Church and it excites me each time to see the growth and all that God is doing there! Thanks to my friends, Chester and Marion Mitchell, the WOW Team, and Capital Community Church for your great hospitality and a great conference!

Fire Update

Got news today that my good friend, Darin Sargent who pastor's in Escondido, had to evacuate his home because of the fire. I had a chance to text him and he told me that they were fine and that his house was still safe from the flames. I told him we were praying for him and Duana and the kids. I don't know if any more of our pastors or people from our UPCI churches have been displaced. Our prayers are with them all!

Southern California Fires

We are experiencing several major brush fires here in So Cal. There are over 15 fires that I have heard of with 4 of them being classified as major fires with a lot of structures either threatened or already destroyed. Bro. & Sis. Buxton's home in Crestline is close to the Big Bear Fire. The weather conditions add to the voracity of the flames as the wind whips through the many brush filled canyons. Our cars here at home in Carson are covered with ash from the Irvine fire that is about 25 miles from here. We are praying for the Buxton's and for all the people who are impacted by the flames.

Italy Trip

In March, our family went to Italy on the SAM (Single Adult Ministry) Break-a-way trip to Italy. Debbie is the National Director for SAM. Our kids decided to go with us this year and we had a great time. Our trip first took us to Venice where we enjoyed the shops, restaurants and of course the gondolas. We then went to Florence, Pisa, Pompei and to Rome. Some of my favorite places in Rome: Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. The Vatican was very interesting and we were able to be in St. Peter's Square when the Pope addressed the crowd that had gathered. It was a great experience! I am putting together a slideshow of the trip that will be available soon. If you are interested in the 2008 SAM Break-a-way trip, it will be taking place on March 25 through April 1, 2008. The destination: London and Paris. For more information on the trip, go to the SAM website at : singles.upci.org.

First Entry

This is our first entry to our new blog. We have visited many great blogs and are going to try out one of our own. Life Saiz will be filled with events and happenings going on in the Saiz Family. We will have entries that we hope will be entertaining and just fun to follow. The Saiz family consists of Steve Sr., Debbie and Steve Jr. and our daughter Vanessa. We live in Carson, CA and pastor in the city of Torrance. Bayside Apostolic Center is the name of our church and we are excited about what God is doing here in our community. We love God and are in pursuit of fulfilling the purpose of God for our lives and church. We love our family and our friends. We hope to hear from you! Oh I forgot to mention two major parts of our family, Bauer and Chiquita. Bauer is our AKC Boxer who really doesn't know that he is a dog. Chiquita is my Mom and Dad's poodle with a "tude."

Our goal is to post regularly and let you all know what's going on with the Saiz's.

"You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman." Max Lucado