Savannah and her camera

Savannah loves to take pictures and videos of just about anything, the only part I do, upload them to the computer.  Here is some of her work ENJOY:

Isaac getting his first haircut

Her big sister, Taylor

Grandpa and her Aunt Liz, she did pretty good here

And of course on of herself

Just some thing silly to blog about today, they made me laugh, hope you liked them too!

Day 19

Thinking of all the sweet memories I have and there are so many, becoming a mother, each time I was blessed to have another child, moments with my loved ones who are no longer here, quiet times on the couch with my children, seeing a shooting star, trips and vacations with my family, there are so many sweet memories I could write about but I will pick one I had with my father, who is and always will be a great man.

We used to go to the reservoir a lot, to fish, to hike, to pick up rocks, and sometimes just to talk.  One night he woke me up I was still small maybe six or seven and he told me he had a surprise, the surprise was gathering worms at Urban Park in the dark with a flashlight, so we could go fishing, just the two of us.  It was so nice, I remember the moon was so pretty, and we just sat there fishing, we did not catch anything that night, which was strange, my dad always catches something, we just talked about the new school year, my friends, his dreams and hopes for me at that time and just had a great time.  I will never forget it, I hope he remembers it too!

Day 18

THE DREAMS AND GOALS OF HEATHER

Dreams and goals, I have so many, I hope I have enough time to complete them all, I probably wont but here are some:  to be forgiving ALWAYS, to  love unconditionally, to be a great mother, to be self sufficient off our land for food, to be a better cook, to always smile, to help others the very best I can, to be an example to my daughters of the kind of women they should aspire to be, to be an example to my sons of the kind of woman they should desire to marry, and of course to be a great wife, this area I am really struggling with right, but I have faith that it will get better, and will become a source of the greatest joy in my life.  How do I know this, it has been promised to me by Jesus!! 

I really just desire simple things out of life, happiness, joy, peace, and love and to be honest, I have most of these!  I am one lucky woman! 

Day 17

Let me be really clear, I am happy with my life for the most part, so playing Wife Swap does not really appeal to me, but if I had to I would love to go and be an Amish wife, any Amish wife, I am not particular, well she would need to be nice, and have a houseful of children, because I would totally want the whole experience. 

No, I am not crazy, I love the way they live, it is so beautiful, so peaceful, so surrounded by Jesus, and yes so SIMPLE, some may disagree with the simple part, but waking every morning to the chickens and candlelight sounds appealing to me, maybe a little better if we could push their definition of morning back a couple of hours to meet mine, simple MODEST dress, community living, peaceful evenings, rocking a baby, spinning wool, churning butter, baking bread and not hearing "you make your own bread?", for the record I grind my own wheat too, and just finding great joy in all that surrounds me and my little cottage full of children!!!

This would honestly be my dream, I am working towards this a little at a time, but in this society it is not easy!

Day 16

As previously mentioned, the closest thing I will post to a picture I already did, so good luck and go find it!

Day 15

I do not have an iPod, jsut an iPad and an iPhone,  I am in love with them both, I would probably get the iPod too, but my iPhone does what I need it to and my children might be really upset, that I have three toys to their one, so anyways shuffle on the phone and here are the first ten........

1. Secrets One Republic
2. Lie Here David Crowder Band
3. This is The One I Esteem Heritage Ministries
4. Apologize One Republic
5. Cut Plumb
6. Savannah Smiles, Brian Champion
7. In Everything Give Thanks Heritage Ministries
8. Far Behind Candlebox
9. We Are Loved David Crowder'
10. Teach Me Your Way Heritage Ministries 

Day 14

Yes, I am still behind, and I have no excuses, I guess my short term goal, should have been stay up with the blog, but then that takes all the fun out of being behind, todays challenge another picture of you and your family, so here it is a picture of my beautiful family, who mean the world to me, they are so special, unique, and awesome, I just love them to pieces!

I am even in this one, not sure how that happened, that weird guy is Doug Turner, he ran for governor, we threw a block party for him, so this picture really was for my son and his homework assingment, now the rest of you can enjoy one with the whole family!!!! P.S. In case you are wondering, he is a REPUBLICAN, not like there should be any questions ever!!!!



Day 13

FAVORITE FIVE BOOKS:

The Bible:  The only guideline for life

Into Solitary Places:  A heart wrenching story that honestly saved me from suicide, and just gave me a breath of new life, I have read this book 8 times now, and have given copies to several people.  It is a book about love, heartbreak, grief, joy, and most of all strength

Anne of Green Gables:  I love Anne, her life and how she lived, it makes me smile

I Love You Forever:  The book I have read to all my children since I received the book on Mother's Day 16 years ago, they all sing the song and I am pretty sure I do not need to even pull it off the shelf anymore as we all have it memorized, well maybe not Isaac....YET

Growing Kids God's Way:  Enough said, this is my goal, and this book is my manual!

Day 12

Write a love poem to someone you love, not a poem but a love letter nonetheless,

How, we missed you over the holidays, you were not here with us, there are brief moments in this life, where I can almost hear you speaking to me, and then I realize my mistake, you are gone, taken way to soon for all of us.  I wonder what you would think of your grandchildren now, would you be proud, how fun it would have been for Brandyn to take you a breakfast burrito on a cold morning, he drives now, how I wish you could have seen it, Taylor is dancing in her recital tonight, you would have loved it, and of course been the loudest cheerer, next to me of course; Savannah is reading, amazing since I was told numerous times, with you at my side she may never speak, and Isaac, well there are no words for his zest for life, he loves the ipad, has it all figured it which I am sure would make you laugh, and sometimes, I feel sad that he will never know you except through memories and photos, yet I wonder does that make it easier for him, not to know the grief that can overcome you in a moment!  The Hospice has been busy delivering daffodils, how I missed not getting one from you, remember how we used to stop by the side of the road and pick those freely in California, I told Brandyn about that the other day and he thought I we were totally crazy.  I guess there are no words, we just miss you, miss laughing with you, crying with you and having you with us.  We love you Mom!

Day 11

BUCKET LIST:



Forgive everyone, and know that I feel confident that it is done

Visit a foreign country, any really just to do it, although I have been to Mexico but I guess I want to go a little further :)

Celebrate 50 years of marital bliss

Run a marathon, again

Be 100% self sufficient with my garden, chickens, turkeys, preserving, dehydrating etc....

Stay in bed one day all day and read

Spend a week in Hawaii

New Years Eve in New York City

OK, the last two are silly, but really I have accomplished what I have wanted to, marriage, children, owning a home, raising animals, and learning to garden, I want a simple, quiet life!

Day 10

Songs I listen to when I am angry, mad, or frustrated......hmmmm mostly I listen to Christian Music so this one is tough, but I ususally go to One Republic or Linkin Park plus these are great to get on the treadmill with, something I do when I am upset!

Day 9

A little behind still, but trying to catch up, hahaha!  Something that I am proud of would be that I am working on my Day 8 goals, and seem to be having success!!!! I am so happy about this, it is hard for me, beyond hard, but the fact that I am trying and committed to working on this, and have not had a failure yet makes me well very happy and a little proud, but in a good way :)

Day 8

Short term goal, for this month:

   Work on letting go of my anger for the circumstances that have come into my life so tragically and unexpectedly

Not an easy goal, but I am working on it!

Day 7

Post a picture of someone who has had a big impact on my life, and here he is my grandfather, he was an amazing man!  I just wish he was still here with us, how I miss climbing into his lap for the best hugs ever and he NEVER let you get away without this, he was a humble, honest, family loving man, and his legacy follows us always! 

Grandma and Grandpa with their children, nice looking group!

Day 6

Talk about your favorite super hero, truth be told I do not have one, not one for too much to television, or fantasy!  I have four children and a real life, so I guess my super hero would be Jesus!  No he is not on television, nor does he wear a cape and tights but he is real to me!  He has saved my life, rescued me from myself, died on cross for you and I, and has performed miracles in front of my eyes, and in my opinion that qualifies him as the greatest super hero of all time!

Day 5

A little behind I know, so I am going to play catch up tonight and start with a place that I have been, Sea World, it was great too!  Our oldest son loved Free Willy, in fact obsession might be a better word, so here it is all my family in front of Sea World with what else of course, an orca!

What a cute bunch, just missing Isaac!

Day 4

And the challenge continues, and I must say I am very happy that I have followed through and kept up with this, however, it is only day four!  I have many habits that I wish I did not have, but thankfully, I only have to list one (phew), so here it is.......I wish I did not hold onto anger and hold grudges, meaning that I wish I was more forgiving!

Day 3

I do not have to many photos of me as a child on my computer, but here is one with some of my family from my dads side, there have been many more lovely additions added though!

That is me, front row third from the left, haha, what a great looking group of people! 

Day 2

The name of my blog is Ortega Family Times, the meaning behind this name is that when I first started it, I thought it would be like a family newspaper so to speak, that would keep friends and family updated on our lives and times.  Not too interesting I suppose, but there it is the reason behind the blog name!

Challenge Day 1......

FIFTEEN FUN FACTS ABOUT ME:

I will not post a current picture, I do not have one, I hate having my picture taken, but I love to take pictures

I am a rule breaker, see the first fact, always have been, someday I hope to change this 

I am a dreamer and love to just think about all the possibilities around me

I have four children, 5 chickens, 2 dogs, and will be adding turkeys and more chickens in the spring, so some days I feel that we live in a zoo

I am OCD about keeping my house clean, it is never good enough, yes I clean the grout on the downstairs of our house about 1200 square feet once a month and sweep and mop every day

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having a sixteen year old, having a teenager in our house has blessed me and taught me things that I never thought I could ever learn

During the Las Conchas Fire, I opened our home to our entire town to feed firefighters for about twelve days, two meals a day, and sometimes three, this was havoc on my OCD

I love to play outside in the rain, it makes me smile

I am scared to death of thunder and lightning

I dislike snow, I need to move to the desert, wait I thought I was here :)

I lost my mom on Mother's Day, she was 50

I dream of moving to the country and starting a homestead, with goats, cows, chickens, turkeys, and all that the work that comes with it

I like to dance in the morning while waiting for the coffee

I love my family wholeheartedly forever, even when they make me mad or frustrate me

I wash clothes, just to make sure the baskets are empty before I go to bed :)

Well there it is fifteen boring facts all about me!  Hope you liked them, and do not ask for a picture, it will NOT be forthcoming!

From a Friend

Blog Challenge




Lets face it..... I am not good at keeping up on my blog! So, I figure if I have something to follow, maybe it will help me get going again. Today is day 1 of my blog challenge. You can do it too if you like! (and yes, I got this from pinterest) Ready, set, BLOG!





The Challenge:

day 1-recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

day 2-the meaning behind your blog name

day 3- a picture of you as a child

day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have

day 5- a picture of somewhere you’ve been

day 6- favorite super hero and why

day 7- a picture of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you

day 8- short term goals for this month and why

day 9- something you’re proud of in the past few days

day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

day 11- write a bucket list of things you want to do before you die

day 12- write a poem to someone you love

day 13- your 5 favorite books and why

day 14- a picture of you and your family

day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

day 16- a picture of yourself

day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

day 19- write about a sweet memory from your past

day 20- write a letter to someone

day 21-a picture of something that makes you happy

day 22- what makes you different from everyone else

day 23- something you crave a lot

day 24- post your favorite quote or verse of scripture and why

day 25- what I would find in your bag

day 26- list 10 things that you are thankful for

day 27- my day job verses my passion

day 28- cruise a thesaurus and pick out 10 words you like the sound of

day 29 – favorite tv shows and why you like them

day 30 – movies you can watch again and again.