Beautiful Sights

Here is what we have been able to see all around us since the storms of last week have passed:


We like to drive up a local hill to get a panoramic view of the mountains surrounding the valley. Here you can see the San Bernardino Mountains to the left and the peak of another straight out. I think it is San Jacinto.


Big Bear is a big winter sports area that we have yet to visit. You can see it here--the biggest peak, I believe, all covered in snow.


This gives another shot of the San Bernardino Mountains just further to my left. A family from our church lives up there and drives down to worship with us each week.


Here is where the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains meet. The Cajon Pass runs between them.


Zooming in on the beautiful San Gabriels


Same view, zoomed out


Driving back down the hill, I asked Kris to stop so that I could get this shot of the palm trees against the snow-covered mountains. Nice combination, eh? We have a lot of variety in this area!


Another view of the San Gabriel Mountains as we were headed home. The green you see here is only going to be like that for a short while. Normally everything is brown. This is our "green time" of year!

Works of God Monday

Ten years ago today our hearts broke with the news that Kris's mom had passed away. While there was deep grief that day, there was also a relief that we felt knowing that Mom was not going to suffer one more day. She went home to Heaven to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Knowing that God does not make a mistake and has a plan better than we could ever understand brought peace in the midst of a very difficult storm. What an amazing blessing to have God's Word, His sustaining grace and strength, a wonderful pastor who came right over and shared Scripture and prayed with us, as well as godly family and friends who were so loving and helpful during that time! Mom had been battling cancer for almost 3 1/2 years, but now she could rest. She was only 57 (5 days away from 58) years old. Emma was 7 weeks old the day Mom died. We are so thankful that Mom got to have Christmas with all of the family just weeks before passing away. She met Emma and gave her a beautifully crocheted "baby" blanket that she made and finished that week we were all together. The blanket is actually huge and is folded at the end of Emma's full-sized bed. We will treasure it always!

Today we made a special effort to remember Grandma Stephens with the girls. We shared fun stories and memories. We made some of Mom's delicious recipes, written in her handwriting for me to show the girls, and watched the little bit of video that we took of her during that Christmas trip. We had just bought a new camcorder because we were becoming parents and didn't want to miss anything. :-) I just wish we had kept it on more during those last moments we had with Mom. We are thankful though for what was captured on tape! The girls enjoyed watching Mom and Dad, as he is gone too, and getting a true glimpse of what they were like--hearing the sound of their voices speaking and laughing, watching them interact with different family members. It was a special day today, and I am so thankful that Kris can tell our girls of the godly heritage that they have. God is good, all the time!

What's Shakin'?

Well, there has been a little too much shakin' going on, in my opinion. I was awakened this morning at approx. 4 AM due to a 4.3 earthquake. Now I know that the veteran Californians think that it's no big deal, and I know that 4.3 is considered a "light earthquake," but it is the 2nd one we've had this week! This past Mon. during dinner we had a 4.3 as well. Thankfully the epicenter for both were not directly under us to make it scarier and/or have anything fall. I had trouble getting back to sleep and had to go check this site that gives excellent info. on CA earthquakes. I found out that I wasn't crazy. Btw, as you look at that map, are you surprised at how frequent the earthquakes are? I was when I found out last year. We have so many on a regular basis but most are considered "micro earthquakes."

Last Jan. we experienced a 4.5 quake that was within a short distance from us and it shook us pretty good. We watched our grandfather clock, CD towers, etc. just rattle like crazy! Typically though, earthquakes of this magnitude do no damage. A friend from church who has grown up here told me on Tues. morning that it sure seems like there have been more earthquakes over 4.0 since we moved here than she can last remember. Wonderful! :-) I haven't even talked to her about this morning's. We personally have experienced SEVEN earthquakes that could be felt since we arrived in SoCal. Two of those were under 4.0 though. I'm just glad that none were bigger than that 5.4 we experienced within a couple of weeks of our move. For this all still being so new, it is so unnerving to think of the earth shifting and shaking everything. I definitely struggle with that fear of damage, more specifically loss of life, that could occur from a strong earthquake. We certainly have seen what can happen, as we watch all of this coverage on Haiti's disaster. Thankfully we have strict building codes here though that would protect us better. But really, Who is our Protector? I just need to remember Who God is and claim His promises! Psalm 46 came to mind this morning. If anything else, being awakened suddenly with the rumbling sound and some light shaking of things, I was reminded once again to pray for the people of Haiti. That's a good thing!

Praying for Haiti

My heart (as I'm sure yours is as well) has been so heavy for the people of Haiti. I've watched the incredible coverage done by CNN over the last few days and cried over people's suffering, rejoiced at rescues, and prayed for these poor people going through unimaginable trials. We've also praised God for the finding of people we know who are in Haiti and their safety through it all.

I also think of the spiritual needs of the Haitian people and pray that they will hear the Gospel and trust Christ Who loves them and can heal them. We know that God is sovereignly in control of all things and is good at all times. I came across two things that I want to share with you this morning:

1. Please read this whole article.

2. I found this on Holly Straton's facebook today--Jesus is in your house of mourning, dear Haitians. "He is w/ you in your bereaved grief. He goes w/ you to the grave to weep. Spiritual blessings will bloom around that grave, far more beautiful than flowers w/ which you deck it, if your sorrow draws you to Christ, making you acquainted w/ Him, the weeping & sympathizing Savior, the loving Friend & Brother, born for this crushing adversity." -O.Winslow

Works of God Monday

Romans 8:28--And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ESV

I am thanking God today for these truths from His word. We started our family Bible memory for 2010 with this verse. God has given us good opportunities in the last week to be reminded of what this verse teaches us, as we have been challenged personally as well as heard of friends who are going through deep trials at this time. I pray that we all will have our confidence in God and remember that He makes no mistakes! He often sees and knows things that we know nothing of and is working His perfect will for our lives. We may think things are bad, or not how we would want them, but all of it works for our good (conforming us to Jesus Christ). That is the best thing possible for us. May God be glorified through every circumstance of our lives!

Our Start to 2010

Well, I hope 2010 has started well for you. We enjoyed New Year's Eve and coming into the new year by hanging out at home with the girls, playing some games, and watching a movie. We even went out front and took some pics before the Christmas decorations were to come down:





The girls were fading as the evening wore on, but they would get a burst of energy (probably from our laughing at Night at the Muse*m) and then assure us that they were going to make it until midnight. :-) Here they are trying to stay awake:




Well, they made it! Here is the first picture of 2010:



We enjoyed sleeping in and taking it easy on New Year's Day. Of course football was on, and I made wings for Kris, using the new Buffal* Wild Wings sauce (Caribbean Jerk) that I got him as a stocking stuffer. I enjoyed them too! The girls stuck with mild sauces. :-) Then as the weekend went on, we took the Christmas decorations down and started getting the house back in order. We had a great first Sunday of the new year with an introduction to our theme for the year--Love God! Love People! Kris took that Sunday to teach specifically on loving God and then today on loving people. Of course we want to grow in these areas and see these commands from Jesus lived out by His grace well beyond 2010!

A big step taken at the beginning of this year was putting an offer on a house! We still have not heard anything because it is a short sale (normally these take many months), but we did find out that a previous offer had been put on the same house in September. Those people pulled out, but it got the paperwork going. That means we may not have as long of a wait. We appreciate your prayers on this matter.

Before getting back into the swing of things with school, we took the girls to Disneyl*nd for a day of fun. I surprised them by asking our friend, Ruth, to join us. The girls didn't find out Ruth was coming until the morning we were going. They were very excited! Another exciting thing about the day was that Olivia got to ride Californi* Screamin' (an awesome roller coaster) in Disn*y's California Adventure. She's been waiting to be tall enough, and she finally measured up! :-) This roller coaster launches you so fast at the beginning and even goes upside down, but it is one of the smoothest roller coasters ever made. It is definitely a family favorite! I'll end with some pics from our day at Disn*y:


Emma and I always try to make a different silly face each time we ride. :-)


Olivia was NOT tall enough for the Maliboomer, so she and I watched.


Some of the Christmas decorations were still up!