A Fun Evening Out

 This past week, some friends of ours invited us to accompany them to a special banquet on the RMS Queen Mary. We arrived at the port of Long Beach to board this impressive, historic ship, now docked there in the harbor. 

 We had beautiful weather for this late afternoon event. It started with a silent auction to raise funds for the International Seafarers Center of Long Beach and LA.

 We were treated to a mighty display by the port fire department. 

 (Humans were not the only observers present!)

 Several of the law enforcement agencies participated in a speed boat race...

 ...followed by a tugboat race. Impressive!

 Here we are in deck.

 We took a self-guided tour of the ship.

 The ship is huge! (One view from top deck)

We enjoyed delicious food and a fun evening at the Maritime Industry Salute Dinner. It was great meeting new friends, and we even went home with a prize! 

Priceless

These pictures say it all! We love our boys...big and little!

Retreat

Two weeks ago, we held a mini-retreat for our women at church. We had great attendance and enjoyed such a wonderful time together around God's Word. Our theme was "Seaside Escape"

We tried to create an atmosphere of calm and "beach-like"

 The purpose was a time to get away, relax, make new friends and let God speak to us.

B came with the girls, who had a good time playing with friends while mommy made new friends!

 Time for chatting...

...creating projects

studying the Word together...

 ...and learning about issues in our life--like control! Have you ever tried to "keep time" like sand through an hour-glass? (We did in our little experiment.)
 What would your life be like if you truly could make time move faster or slower simply by pouring sand through your fingers either faster or slower?  How is our timing different than God's timing? 

To remember our time together that weekend, we put a message in a bottle, and also put in several small objects (sand, a beach bag, sunshine, shells, a pearl, a starfish) to remind us of the lessons that we studied during the retreat, and then a message to ourself to remind us of the legacy we wanted to leave to others. 

 The little girls enjoyed meeting someone smaller than them.

We made new friends

And we had lots of help cleaning up afterwards! The days were very hot, and the air conditioner worked extra hard. We were thankful for the excellent reception of this mini-retreat (a first for our church group)  and the good impact that it made in our lives. 

A touch of Life

 Ok, I'm really far behind on posting! So I'll try to make up for lost time.

We've had a fun, busy few weeks. M&B came to visit. they needed a date night... 

 ...so they went out, and we had the little girls all to ourselves!

 "Me take picture, Nana?" 

Oreo cookies, anyone?

And they learned very quickly that when the hour struck, the coo-coo clock would start, and they both came running and climbed up on the piano to watch. When the music was finished and the people stopped dancing, K would say, "now we have to wait for one hour, E!" And they would go back to playing and reading books!

There was a bit of "nastics"

 ...and sisterly love.

And just time spent together! It was a wonderful couple of days.

The following weekend, we had a visit from J&K! 

We played puzzles (which B, the 2-yr old is very good at!)

...and we admired two very strong Spidermen

...and we enjoyed the smiling faces as they watched the clock!

Later in the afternoon, we were entertained by these mighty roadsters!

They love that the parking lot is big enough to really ride around in.

And J learned to ride his bike without the training wheels! Bravo, great job!
We are so proud of you, J!

Life

 It's been awhile since my last post so....what have we been up to???

Angels game this past weekend. It was the 10th Anniversary celebration of the last time they won the world series.

 There was alot of red that evening...

 ...and the team started out so well, and then ended poorly. So sad!

Marilyn's cousin Brenda came from Minnesota with her niece to spend a week with her daughter who is attending school here. It's hard to believe that it was just a year ago that we met Brenda and her family. What a great relationship that has been!

 And then of course there are the wonderful visits to our sons and their families!

 Dancing with Grandpa

 Two little girls and their new tree house

And then the cousins came over to play also!

 I love this pic! Reminds me so much of the fun that I had when my cousins came to visit and we got to sit and eat at our own table apart from the "big folks."

It's hard to believe that this guy was once just a little baby in those swings! He is growing up so fast.

 Imagination in the playhouse

Enjoying her Poppi

 Cousins

 These boys love puzzles...and they are really good at them also!

 Such intense concentration!

J's new "bugman" outfit

Jim also took a trip back to Minnesota for our church convention. He was able to visit our niece and her husband (now attending Seminary) in their new home. 

And the highlight of the convention was the commissioning service for the newest missionary family. What a joy to see how God is calling the younger generation to serve Him abroad. May His name be honored and glorified through these lives.