A Sunday drive

Yesterday afternoon we headed eastward to visit our kids. It was cold, but still no snow on the mountaintops.

It was so fun to see all the work that M&B have done on the nursery. Their Safari theme is so cute and they have done a wonderful job decorating.

The border was such a perfect match!

Krista and her parents had traveled to Nevada to visit her grandparents, so we enjoyed visiting both houses while we waited to see this little guy. Jayden was glad to see his daddy again!

And these two were happy to be together again also!

Krista had her Christmas decorations up, and we really enjoyed watching Jayden's fastination with the bright lights-
and also the pretty, shiney objects on the tree!

My favorite little boy!
Fun with Uncle Micah

"Hi, cousin Kylie. I can't wait to meet you!"
Learning how to "high five" with Jimpa.

Jayden's favorite toy
"See Grandpa, this is how you do it."

Everything on the table looked so fun that the big kids had to try it also!
"See you again soon!"

The tree is up!

The weather the past few weeks has been cold (I know that term is really relative...it always depends on where you live!). Christmas decor is all around us and we are in the Advent season when our thoughts turn toward the true meaning of this season.

We display not only this traditional creche-

-we also have this African creche. We rejoice in the message of Christ's birth. "Joy to the World, the Lord has come!" Last Sunday the boys came down and took their father with them to the LA Auto Show.While they were busy looking and drooling over new cars, I was decorating the house.The village is up and looking very festive and "wintery."

The little "snowpeople" have also found a place on the shelf.

The Christmas bear is back in his little chair...the Christmas trees are decorated......well, at least this one is up! And yes, the Christmas cactus is in full bloom! Both the pink and the white one!Happy decorating to all, and may you continue to rejoice in Jesus- the reason for this season!

Happy Anniversary

Today is my parents 60th wedding anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom!

I am so thankful for godly parents who have lived their faith daily and trusted in God even through hardships and loss.

Their example of faithfulness and love to God, to each other, to family, to their friends, their church, and to their country have been a blessing to us. We honor you today, Mom and Dad.

Thanks for your prayers and support over the years. May God continue to bless and use you where you are. Congratulations for 60 years of faithfulness in your marriage!

Happy Thanksgiving '08

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.

Let the whole world know what He has done.

Sing to him, yes, sing his praises.

Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

Exult in his holy name;

rejoice, you who worship the Lord.

Search for the Lord and for his strength;

continually seek him." (Psalm 105:1-4)

With thankful hearts, we have been blessed once again to celebrate this season.

We celebrated our family Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday, because Micah has to work on the holiday.

The smile on this little face expresses the joy that all of us feel about our family and friends!

What a difference one year has made in our lives!

We are so thankful we have been able to watch Jayden grow.

Soooo big!

At the rate he is going, Christmas will certainly be fun and interesting! I think that Jayden is going to be a climber.

Because he is now crawling, standing, and starting to climb on things, he discovered some wooden toys that his great, great grandfather made thirty years ago.

We are so thankful for the way that God has blessed our familiy through the generations.

And we are very excited to meet this little one in just a couple of months!

M&B have been busy preparing the nursery. It has been a delight to see them settled in their new home and preparing for their role as parents. We thank God for another addition to the next generation!

This year, we are thankful that we could celebrate our Thanksgiving with Becky's parents. They have been visiting the kids this week and helping to paint and fix up the nursery. Thanks Dave and Nancy for the blessing you have been in our lives!

Also joining us this year, were Terrell and Heather, with baby Elijah. They have been friends of Becky's family for many years. Since they are both from the midwest and far from family, we enjoyed having them celebrate with us. We even discovered more family connections--friends of friends--it is indeed a small world! We thank God for friends!

J&K were the clean-up crew.

A little one enjoyed some naptime...

Some of us enjoyed visiting, and others played games!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

in one week...

In one week, many things can happen. Emotions can swing from joy to sorrow- beauty can be reduced to ashes. Time can change many things. We are thankful that we worship a God who is always the same--He never changes!

A week ago we visited our kids north of here. M&B are now quite settled in their new home.

They have done a wonderful job of decorating.

When we walked across the street, we found these guys awaiting us!

Jayden loved showing us his newest toy!

Pretty soon he had JimPa on the floor with him, too! We had a great time visiting with our kids and our precious grandson. (It was so much fun to see him crawling around now.)

We went about our activities all week long, never dreaming what awaited our area of the state. On Saturday, about mid-morning, the skies darkened and we could smell smoke. Soon we discovered that the wildfires had broken out to the east and north of us. (this picture was taken about 1:30PM)

Because the winds were so strong, the ashes and soot soon covered everything. (This is our front step)

This picture was taken from our front porch at 3PM. The fires continued to burn throughout the day and night. Several good friends of ours had to evacuate their homes, some others chose to stay and keep guard while the brave firefighters battled the flames. The winds continued strong all night long and shifted many times.

By Sunday morning, new fires had broken out to the north of us. With 24-hour news coverage of the devastation, we watched as many homes were destroyed in the flames. During our morning worship service, we prayed for the brave fire fighters, for the many people that had lost their homes and property, and we prayed that God would have mercy on us and send rain to our parched and scorched land.

And in the midst of all of this grayness, I noticed that our Bird of Paridise was blooming!

On Sunday afternoon, we were invited to some friends of ours for supper and a time of visiting. Kathy and Harry (and their daughter Sigrid) were delightful hosts!

These good friends were the reason behind our gathering! John and Joanne are now living on the east coast, and had come to the area for a short visit. So Kathy organized an evening when we could all get together. The evening went by all too quickly! Thanks Kathy and Harry for your hospitality. We had a wonderful time!

In one week, many things can change. In one day, many things can change, even in one hour or in one minute. We thank God for His unchanging faithfulness.