Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have had a special time with our girls this Christmas season reflecting on the greatest gift of all, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Back at Grace Bible Church in SC, our pastor, Eric Sipe, introduced celebrating advent as a church by having Scripture readings and an advent wreath with candles. I had never really thought about doing it at home as a family. The idea came to me recently as I was reading from a booklet about starting family traditions during the holidays. For the last several weeks, our family has been enjoying celebrating advent with a wreath and candles that we bought at a local Christian bookstore, and reading the Bible passages that are listed for each day. We had great discussions with the girls about the verses and how our great God loved us so much that He sent us Jesus to be our Savior. We pray that you all have had a joyous Christmas season and have been able to be overwhelmed once again in the gift of Christ.

This is a very different Christmas for us. It is the first Christmas of my life that I have not shared Christmas in person with my family. We weren't always together on Christmas day, but we did have our own special time of exchanging gifts and celebrating Christmas around that time. Living in MI these last 4 yrs., we would drive down to SC to be with my parents and sister's family. Then Kris and I would go to NC for a music conference the first week of January and leave the girls in SC with my family. They always had a blast with them. Now that we live in CA, we won't be driving (or flying) to SC. Also, Kris is not a music pastor anymore, so we're not going to the music conference. My girls, especially Emma, has voiced her sadness about the change. I have had my own emotions for sure, but we are thankful for what God is doing in our lives. His leading has been so evident. The changes can be hard, but they are not bad. It's about God. I love my family and am so thankful that we have other ways of staying in close contact--phones, email, blogs, digital cameras, webcams, etc.! I especially am glad for those last couple of things now that I have a new niece that I can't see in person. :-)

By the way, I am excited to say that with gas prices so low, we were able to drive to CO to see Kris's sister, Karmen, and we are having a blast out here with her family. We are so thankful that it worked out to be with family at all this Christmas. Unfortunately Kris's three siblings are all spread out around the country and they have lost both their parents, so we don't have one gathering spot that we all go to each year. In fact we don't get all four families together very often, let alone a couple of the families, so it was really good for us to do this trip. Family is very important to us, and we know Karmen was really excited about our coming too, so this is great!

So, those of you who read my blog know the changes that have occurred in our lives this year. If you are just visiting, I will try to do a recap:

January started out cold and snowy of course, living in MI. :-) We came back from a wonderful time with my family in SC. Unfortunately I let my blog "slide" and didn't do much at the beginning of this year. There were several reasons for that. One is that I had surgery the second week of Jan.--a tonsillectomy and nose surgery--not fun! I couldn't think well enough through that to write, I guess. Then, I needed to catch up on things, get back into teaching, etc. I put off getting back to writing on the blog.

February is when we received an email about the potential pastor position for Kris in a church planting type work in Southern California. What a surprise! It was an exciting surprise, actually. Kris loves to study God's word and teach it. He loved teaching in our SS class in MI, teaching Prime Time classes there, and also working with some people in counseling situations. His burden for this kind of focus in ministry was growing. His love for the music side of ministry was still there, but the teaching side was overpowering that. God was obviously working in his heart for a reason. Basically we began earnestly praying, seeking counsel, and talking all the time about the possibility of going to CA. I really didn't write on my blog then either, because I couldn't say anything about CA yet, and it was about all that was on my mind. I just stayed silent for awhile. I know, who ME, silent?!

March was very busy with Easter being so early and planning for our cantata. Our plan was for Kris and me to go to CA for a survey visit at the end of March, but Kris got his appendicitis two days before flying out, then he had two infections, so his recovery was long and crazy. Thankfully he ended up healing and getting back to normal! We did go out to CA in April instead. It was a great visit, and we definitely felt that the possibility of God's leading us there was being confirmed. The church did ask Kris to candidate, and he accepted.

During the middle of May, in the midst of end-of-the-year school concerts, recitals, etc., we made the candidating trip! It was such a busy, crazy time, but it really was the best time to go. Calvary needed to know if they should start looking for a new music guy for the church and next school year. Also, the church in CA had been without a pastor since Nov. 2007, so they were eager to proceed with the process. We took the girls with us and had a full and exciting several days exploring Riverside. We looked at neighborhoods, Christian schools, the area in general, and enjoyed getting to know the people of Heritage Bible Church a little more. Candidating went well, the people voted, and Kris was called to be the pastor.

The months of June and July were spent preparing for the move across the country. Praise the Lord--we had a buyer for our house in MI 16 days after putting it on the market! That is unheard of in MI with such a bad economy, and it was just another sign to us that God was in all the change that was happening in our lives. We did get to go to SC in June for Father's Day and my dad's 60th birthday celebration. How fun! We got home from that trip and had less than a month until the big move. We had wonderful packing help from friends and an amazing, emotional send-off from our church in MI.

The first several months in CA have really just involved adjusting to a new life. God provided a great home for us to rent for this first year. Kris works from home. I am homeschooling the girls for the first time. We are learning the area and seeing we are in a new culture. It's a different world out here! :-) We are in such a huge mission field. Check out the sidebar link to LAhope. That gives some great info. We would so love for anyone who is burdened for church planting type work to come join us in what God is doing in SoCal. It would be especially wonderful if you spoke Spanish and could help us reach the largest ethnic group in SoCal. We have approx. 20 people in our church right now. Kris has gotten a church logo, business cards, a website, and doorhangers for area neighborhoods all made in the last few months. Also, we will be starting a neighborhood Bible study in Jan. to reach people for Christ. It has taken time and some roadblocks along the way, but we are now going to be able to get the word out more that we exist. :-)

We did get to enjoy a visit from my parents in October. Many of you know that two days after my parents flew home to SC, my dad ended up in the ER. A few days after that, he was having open-heart surgery. I did get to go to SC to be with my parents. I also got to see my sister and her family. She was due with her second baby, and we hoped maybe by the end of my time there that she would go into labor. That was not to be. Poor Sarah went 10 days OVER her due date, but we are excited that she had a healthy baby girl, and all has been going well over the last six weeks. You can read more about my dad's recovery and my new niece by going to the links on my sidebar from my mom and sister.

We look forward to seeing what God does in this upcoming new year and hope to see many people come to Christ. We appreciate your prayers for us as we continue to settle in out here in CA and serve God at Heritage Bible Church. We seek to see people, including ourselves, know God better this year. We hope to stay in touch with those we love and miss who are so far from us now. We also look forward to new friendships growing that God has already started and new ones that He will bring into our lives too. Keep in touch and let us know how you are and how we can be praying for you. Hopefully we will get to see some of you who have talked about coming out for a visit to CA in 2009. We would love to have visitors! :-) Well, until next time, Merry Christmas, and God's grace and blessings to you in the new year!

Love,

Kris, Andrea, Emma and Olivia

Birthday fun at Disneyland

Okay, I am up for the second night in a row, not able to sleep. I figured that this was a good time to do something I haven't been making much time for lately (months, really). I have had people, dear friends and family, "on my case" now for quite some time for not posting many pictures anymore. You've all been right. With homeschooling and all things new in CA though, posting pics and doing much fun stuff on the computer for me hasn't been priority. :-) Well, here are some slide shows of Emma's birthday weekend. I hope you enjoy!

Works of God Monday

I thank God for the most wonderful opportunity of being a mom--what a blessing!!! This gift was given to me almost a decade ago now, which is hard to believe. Our sweet Emma turned 9 yrs. old yesterday, and we just had a fabulous time celebrating her life.

Over the weekend we started our celebration at Disneyland. We enjoyed spending the whole day going to some of both parks--Disneyland and California's Adventure. Some new friends, Ruth and Elizabeth Fox, from church here joined us in the afternoon. Ruth is a teenager that our girls have really created a special bond with since we've moved to CA. She has helped me with teaching the girls Sunday school and plays with them after every service. Elizabeth and Ruth made the girls' stay with their family one weekend last month a blast. The sisters thought it would be neat to take the girls over to Disney the weekend of Emma's birthday, but they weren't going to be able to go until the afternoon. Well, Kris and I thought we would go ahead and take them in the morning and just meet up with the Fox girls later and let our girls go on with them for a while. We actually had a surprise character dinner planned for Emma that night where she would get to see the princesses. BTW, I know Olivia certainly didn't mind being the sister of the birthday girl. Hee hee Normally we've had some sort of birthday party with friends, but since we've not met many children her age here yet, the dinner was in place of a party. What a great experience for all of us! The food was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Of course the atmosphere and experience was tons of fun too! Oh, and I forgot to mention, but earlier in the day, when we first arrived, we took Emma to the Disneyland City Hall to get a birthday button. One of the cast members called us aside and asked if that is what we were in line for, and then he went on to surprise us. He selected Emma to receive a private meeting with one of the princesses that afternoon. He told her he would not know which one, and it could end up being two or three. We were given a special invitation with the appt. time. He asked about how many would be in our party, and we told him the Fox sisters would be joining us by then. He said, "No problem" and took each person's name down so that all six of us could go in. It was quite special! We got to see Cinderella and Princess Aurora--aka, Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose. :-)

Yesterday we had the Fox family over for dinner after church. Emma chose to have stuffed shells, which was a real hit with everyone! I had stayed up incredibly too late on Sat. night working on a cake, stuffing the shells and finishing some things around the house. The cake was a nightmare experience (breaking, frosting issues, etc.), but it tasted quite good. :-) I had been so sad and upset about it before I went to bed, thinking it looked terrible, but Emma made that all subside the next morning when she saw it and thought it was the best ever. I thought she was going to wonder what in the world happened to our little plan of how it would look, but no, she thought it was amazing. What a sweetheart!

Emma's ninth birthday is definitely one to be remembered--so many new experiences, new people to share it with, and her last year of being a single digit in life. How I praise God for her life and pray that she will grow into a wonderful woman one day. It's an awesome responsibility to raise a child, and by God's grace we are trying to raise our girls for His glory. May Emma have many more years of growing, having fun, being stretched, learning, and knowing her God more as time goes on. We love her so much!!!

Works of God Monday

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we ended up having! Kris's cousin, Rick, and his family were able to join us for dinner. They have four kids, the newest of the crew being only two weeks old. You can see her here. What a sweetie! There is nothing like a snuggly newborn. Rick and Kim's other kids range in age from 7 down to 2 yrs. old. Our girls had a great time playing with them. They were able to keep themselves occupied most of the time, but I did have some organized activities for them too. They did a cookie craft that looked like turkeys when they were done, and they also made turkey headbands out of construction paper. Fun times! I would show you pics, but my camera is not connecting with my computer right now. :-( I dropped the camera at Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, and I think I loosened the connector for our cable or something. We are still taking good pictures, but I can't get them on the computer--not good!

After we had dinner, Rick and Kim were able to take food to Uncle Dave and Aunt Carol--Rick's parents. Carol is adjusting to being home after months of being in the hospital and the rehabilitation center following her cancer surgery and the stroke that took place. She was just not ready to be out of the house and over to our place for Thanksgiving, nor was she up to having a house full of company. We are just glad that we could send some Thanksgiving dinner over to them and their other son who was visiting from Fresno, so that they could at least feel somewhat a part of the holiday. We thank God for how He is working in Aunt Carol's recovery!

Over the last several days, we have enjoyed reflecting on God's goodness and grace in our lives. Everyone was able to share something they were thankful for when Rick and Kim were over for Thanksgiving, but we also did more in-depth sharing with our girls and our new church family on other days this past week. Kris read most of Psalm 107 during our Thanksgiving praise service. We sang and spoke in between his reading sections of the Psalm, and it was wonderful to hear people giving testimony of God's working in their lives.

We enjoyed watching some home movies this weekend too and looking back over the last several years of our girls growing up and changing so much. Wow--time sure does fly, and we need to treasure every moment together! A big thank you goes out to Kris's brother, Kurt, and his wife for inspiring us to pull out our home videos. We called them this past week and heard lots of laughter in the background, and we found out it was from their watching their own videos of years gone by. We hadn't done that ourselves in way too long, and what a blessing it was to do together as a family.

Before I go, I have to say again how thankful I am for the homeschool group that God led me to here in Riverside. We moms met for our first Mon. of the month meeting tonight but made it a bit of a Christmas party at one of the ladies' houses. By the way it is weird to be having a Christmas party on a day that was 85 degrees! Decorating for Christmas in shorts and t-shirts these last two days is different for sure. Ha ha Anyway, what a wonderful time of fellowship it was tonight, getting to know these ladies better and being able to share God's blessings in our lives.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I am happy to say that while we were resigned and happy with Thanksgiving Day looking to include just the four of us here, God has given us an extra blessing. Kris's cousin, Rick, who lives only 45 mins. away in the high desert, is coming down with his family and having Thanksgiving dinner at our house. We are very excited! They have a new baby girl that we haven't met yet. They also have a daughter that's around Emma's age and two little boys. The kids will have so much fun playing together. The sad thing is that Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave will not be able to join us. While we are thrilled that Aunt Carol came home Friday, for the first time in months due to all that has happened with her physically, she is not doing so well with eating or being up out of bed. Rick and Kim are going to take food over to them though after we eat. They will spend a little time with them before heading to Kim's parents' house for the evening. We are just thrilled to be able to host Thanksgiving at our home and get to know this part of Kris's family better.

Some of you asked about our door hangers that we had done for the church. Here is a picture of the front and back:

You can see there is an address for our church web page. Kris is still working on the site, and a man from our church is putting Kris's messages on it for people to be able to listen to. Not all of them are up yet. The whole thing is a work in progress. Please pray that as we "get our name out there" now, that it would be Christ that is seen and exalted. This is His ministry, and we are excited to see what He will do in the surrounding community here in Riverside.

Works of God Monday

God knows just what we need and in the time we need it. This weekend we received some wonderful things in the mail--some expected and some unexpected. I'll tell you more about that in a moment, but let me share what I was struggling with first.

Last week was hard for me emotionally. I am missing friends and family quite a bit lately. I was able to talk by phone to three different friends from Midland in the last two weeks. That was so nice! It made me miss our times together though--family nights at each others houses, Bible study, coffee, teaching their kids lessons and talking "forever" afterward, etc. :-) It's slow-going in making friends here, and Emma also started really struggling openly last week. In addition to the friends thing, my sister had her sweet baby girl. I wanted so badly to be there with them to celebrate, but that is not possible right now. I've been a bit sad too with the holidays coming up and knowing that we will not be with family. Our first Thanksgiving in MI, my parents and my sister and brother-in-law all came up to visit. The other Thanksgivings we had in MI were spent with my extended family that are in the Detroit area, where I grew up. For Christmas the last several years, we have been traveling to SC to be with my family. Kris and I would then go up to NC and attend the WILDS Music Conference the first week of Jan., while the girls would stay with my family and have a blast. :-) That will not be happening this year. No one from either side of our family can travel to CA right now, and it's not possible for us to go anywhere to see them either.

So, I can have a pity party and stay "down in the dumps," or I can praise my sovereign, loving Lord for the amazing blessings in my life. He has called us to minister here in Southern CA--how humbling and exciting to be part of His work in this area! I may not have family and close friends living nearby or within a day's drive anymore, but I am grateful I HAVE a family and wonderful friends and that we have the technology in this day and age to communicate by webcams, cell phones, facebook, etc. :-) More than anything or anyone, I have my Savior. He has promised never to leave me or forsake me, to be a friend unlike any other, to teach me more of Himself through difficult times, and has given me so many other promises that I can cling to from His Word. I have His Word!!! He has blessed me with an amazing husband who put his work on hold to let me "spill" at the beginning of last week and cry on his shoulder. Kris just loved me and took me to Scripture, pointing me to the One I need most. Praise God!

By God's grace the rest of last week was refocused on His being enough for me and sharing these things with Emma too. Then we received our special blessings in the mail. One surprise was from a teenager that Kris and I both had opportunity to work with at our church and school in MI. She framed two pictures together, each one having her standing next to one of us, and put two quotes about people touching your life next to the pictures. It was so thoughtfully and beautifully put together, and let me tell you, we were touched! We are thankful for the people God has allowed us to minister alongside in ministry over the years. Another thing that was so touching was our dear friends, the Muths, sending us a large envelope filled with beautiful MI fall leaves, a card, and a picture from Aaron. :-) The most unexpected thing that came in the mail was from a man that we've met only once. He sent us a note that shared with us that he and his family have been praying for us and the church here in CA, and they included some financial support! We were stunned, emotional, and VERY grateful for this unexpected blessing.

The one thing that we did receive in the mail this weekend that was expected was a welcomed package for sure! We finally have some materials printed for our church. We had hit some roadblocks along the way and have been quite a bit behind schedule on our initial plan to get something in people's hands to tell them about our church, but God's timing is always best. Now we can blitz some neighborhoods and put our new door hangers out there. They look fabulous, thanks to our designer, Holley VanDenBerg, who helped us get a new church logo and designed the door hanger. Please pray that we will reach this area for Christ and that God will bring some strong, Christian families to our ministry as well to help us better serve at Heritage.

God is good, and I praise Him for these things that I could share with you today.

Praises and Prayers

I know that I haven't gotten back to my blog since my dad's surgery. Sorry! I believe most of you know what is going on through our talking on the phone, updates on facebook, hearing things "through the grapevine", etc. :-) We are all praising the Lord for my dad's successful surgery. The doctor came out afterward and told us that he only had to do 4 bypasses, instead of 5. That was good. He did say though that my dad had severe heart disease and definitely needed the surgery. God's hand in all this has been so clear. Thankfully the heart muscle was not damaged. The problem was major blockage in the arteries. What a blessing that this was found out and that my dad never did have a major heart attack, causing permanent damage to his heart, or even death! Thank you for your prayers. We appreciate them still as the recovery takes quite some time and the lung issue is still a problem.

I am so glad that I had a week in SC. It was a special time with my family as we went through emotions and trials together. Here are some pictures of my trip that Sarah posted on facebook.

As for another prayer request. . .my sister is STILL pregnant, poor thing! She was due on Oct. 31. Her first baby came 6 wks. early. Who would've thought that she would go overdue with her 2nd. We thought maybe today was the day, and that would have been cool because it's my grandma's birthday. Well, it wasn't meant to be. I'm still on the 8th on the West coast, but Sarah is already into tomorrow on the East coast. :-) There have been many signs over the last couple of weeks that labor is close, but it never really gets going consistently. Maybe tomorrow. . . .My mom's b-day is Wed., but I know Sarah doesn't want to wait ANY longer!

Surprises that are difficult

I am sitting in the surgical waiting room at a hospital in Greenville, SC. Right now my dad is undergoing quintuple bypass surgery. If you read one of my earlier posts, you saw that my parents were coming out to visit us. They did, and we had a wonderful time with them. They left last Tues., and Thurs. night into Fri. morning, life changed dramatically!

To give some background: My dad had an incident at the beginning of the year where he was making a delivery at a plant, a chemical vapor was released into the air right at my dad's level, and he was knocked to his knees. He was taken by ambulance to the ER, but he was told that the effects of the chemicals shouldn't be long-term. That has turned out to be not so. He has just been diagnosed with RADS. Over the last many months he has had episodes of pain, breathing issues, etc. when cutting the grass, walking around the neighborhood and other various things. He saw a pulmonary specialist who thought he may also need to see a heart specialist to be sure that not more was going on. He had a stress test about a month ago, had trouble finishing it (but did at the prodding of the techs and/or dr.). His heart rate/vitals were good, and they wanted him to press on through the "episode" he was having. They felt it was from his lungs, not his heart. The test result turned out to be "inconclusive," and the dr. suggested a heart cath. to be done just to be definitive that nothing was going on with the heart. Well, Dad told the dr. about his big trip coming up the next month, which included CA :-), and decided to hold off since the dr. was not thinking there was an urgency.

This past Thurs., Dad saw another pulmonary specialist for another opinion on the lungs. That dr. told him that he had reviewed my dad's records and said, "Let's cut to the chase, Mr. Johnson, you don't have a heart problem. I believe you have a specific lung disorder from the work-related incident." The dr. did a test that proved this and my dad was told to take 5 days off of work, take some meds., and come back on Tues. to discuss the future with work and stuff. Well, Thurs. night Dad had a terrible episode that came on so suddenly and intensely that he felt like he was maybe having a heart attack. He thankfully was not (it was most likely a reaction to Advair), but the ER drs. wanted him to have a heart cath. after hearing about all that he's been going through. My parents told them that just less than 24 hrs. before, they were told he had RADS and no heart problems. They did not dispute the positive diagnosis of RADS but believed the heart could still be involved. Praise the Lord for their convincing my parents to have the heart cath. There was obviously a heart problem! One artery was dead, which means my dad did have a heart attack sometime in the past. The other four arteries were blocked too badly to have stints put in--2 were over 80% blocked and 2 over 90%. Now, my dad has been all about nutrition and good health for years, so this just didn't make sense. The drs. agreed and said his cholesterol, blood pressure, heart muscle and vitals, weight all are good and this just must be genetic or something.

Obviously our great God has not been taken by surprise. He is sovereignly working in every part of this situation. What a blessing in disguise that Dad had this episode on Thurs. night to be forced to see he has advanced heart disease! God is always good and has a bigger and better plan than we ever could. As I sit here knowing what is going on in the OR, I am not without emotion, but I have a wonderful peace that only comes from my Savior. His grace IS sufficient and I rest in Him. I am so thankful that I found a ticket for a decent price yesterday morning and got here by 2 AM to Greenville this morning. I am sleep-deprived but do not care. I had a very special time with my dad before he went back today. That was priceless! Thank you for your prayers for my dad and our family.

It's Fall! (or so the calendar says)

Well, Fall in CA is just not the same as it is in MI. Where's the beautiful color around here??? Also, we've had so many days recently that have hung in temps. around 100 degrees--another clue that we've left MI weather behind. Today though, the high is only in the 70s here! Kris was out earlier today and said that people are wearing sweatshirts. Ha ha--Maybe I shouldn't laugh. Our blood will change too, and next year, we may be doing the same thing. I don't know though. . . On avg., since we moved here, we've seen temps in the low 90s for the high each day, and the lows have been in the 60s, maybe occasionally going down to the upper 50s.

I am still around. I keep thinking, "I have to get back to my blog!" I don't post current happenings (except the occasional "Works of God Monday") because I never really caught up on the story of our trip West, and that has been first on "my list" of things to blog. Well, that way of thinking just has made me further behind. Oh well! I continue to learn how silly I can be, and then I work on changing my thinking. :-) So okay, here goes. . .

The last month or so has been full of change still. We've had fun, exciting times and sad, difficult times as well. The growth of the church is very slow, but the people at Heritage have been a true blessing to us, and we are thankful to serve with them here. We are averaging in the low 20s for attendance. We've had as low as 13 and as many as 33 people on Sun. mornings. Soon we will have church brochures/materials, which we believe will make a huge difference for us. Only one other family that currently attends our church lives in Riverside. Most others drive 30 to 45 mins. away. We need to blitz this area with info. and get our name "out there" so people even know we exist. Kris has been working on a website for our church. It's in early stages of being developed. If you have any website advice, I know he would welcome it. :-) You can contact him through the site. We are certainly not about numbers and know that this is the Lord's work. We do want to reach people for Christ and would love to have a growing church body for Him.

One of the things that has been sad and difficult for us is Kris's aunt having a heart attack within a week of our being here, getting an infection and being in the hospital for a long time, and then being diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer a couple of weeks ago. She is still in the hospital and not doing well. She has suffered a stroke(during surgery), and so far she has not been able to speak, respond well, move all that great on her right side, or eat. There is a lot to the story, but we ask for your prayers for her. We know God is sovereignly working in the whole situation.

Another difficult thing that set us back for a couple of weeks is that Kris ended up at the ER a few weeks ago with diverticulitis. That was a shock! Hmmm, similar to the appendicitis he had in the spring--what is going on? He is doing fine now, but he was so sick and in terrible pain. Then, when the infection got better, he had the medication side effects to deal with for 10 days. The Lord allows all things for a reason, and we've trusted Him through this situation as well. I am really glad that Kris is better though!

The girls and I continue to learn the ropes of homeschooling. We've had a great time, for the most part. There have been a couple of difficult days. :-) I have been trying to find the balance of how to make everything in life run smoothly--teaching, cooking, cleaning, ministry, etc. God has been teaching me much, and I thank Him for how He continues to stretch and grow me. I am also thankful for the kind of support I have out here with our homeschooling groups. What a blessing so many have been to me with advice, ideas, etc.!

The girls and I went to the LA County Fair with some people from our homeschool group. That was a lot of fun! Daddy was supposed to come too, but that was during his time of being sick. I have never been to a fair that huge in my life. It was like farms, museums, shopping malls, amusement park and more rolled into one. I believe the website states that the whole thing is over 500 acres. I cannot believe how much we did in one day.

The girls are both enjoying gymnastics each week. They are in noncompetitive classes. Olivia is enrolled in Kindermusik here too, so I get to take her once a week to that. I am so glad we have a teacher somewhat near us--25 mins. away. I have missed teaching and attending Kindermusik with my girls. Emma is too old now. :-( I am teaching her piano though. We are on hold with violin. To take lessons here is extremely expensive--way more than in MI! Hopefully we'll get something worked out and get her back into it.

Well, I would like to post more, but I should get going. My parents are coming in this week for a visit. We are all so excited! I just have a lot to do to be ready for them. We will be having so much fun while they are here. A few things on the agenda are: going to Huntington Beach the day they fly in (we'll be so close), visiting Disneyland for the first time, going up to the mountains for apples, and possibly seeing the San Diego Zoo! I am sure I will have lots of pics to choose from for posting. :-) Off to cleaning I go for now though!

Works of God Monday

I am so thankful for a great start to this school year with the girls. Who knew I would be a Kindergarten and third grade teacher? I have taught music in schools for both of those grades, being an elementary school music teacher, but I have all of the other subjects now too. I am really enjoying the curricula we chose--A Beka for K-5 and BJU Hard Drive for 3rd grade. The girls would've done the same material at Calvary if we were still there.

God has blessed us with a homeschool group (out of a local church) that I am enjoying. This group is purely for support/encouragement and planning things for our kids to do together. I have been to two mom's nights now. I'm meeting new people, learning much, and am amazed at the support and huge community of homeschoolers that there is here in CA. We had a great field trip to a living history farm 2 Fridays ago. It was hot that day, but we were up in the mtns., so it only got to 92 degrees. By the time we got home, it was 102 degrees here. We had a park day last Fri. morning. We met for about an hour and a half. The girls and I just switched and did school in the afternoon. It's better to meet at the park in the morning because of the heat here. Funny thing is though, that morning was cloudy and cooler. We had not seen cloud cover since moving from MI. It felt like a MI day, and we enjoyed that for a bit. We have had a couple of days in a row like that, but we are back to normal now. Today it was 100 degrees, and that's a little much. The girls and I went to the pool after lunch though and had lots of fun.

We are also now members of HSLDA and Olive Tree Christian School. The first organization is national and provides legal cover, if there ever was an issue concerning homeschooling. The second organization is a network of homeschoolers in this area. The school takes care of our affidavits (needed for CA private educators) as well as paperwork and records of our children's progress in school. We first-time homeschool moms were given an advisor (seasoned homeschool mom) at our first meeting last week. What a blessing to have someone to answer our questions, get ideas from, etc.! The school also provides extracurricular activities for children of all ages. They also will offer some group classes at times. There is a picture day coming up next month. The girls will get IDs and I will have a faculty ID. We homeschool families make up the school. Our administrator has an office and office staff, but there is no school building.

Well, I wanted to share my thanks and praise to God with you for all of the ways He has worked to lead us to homeschool the girls and then bring the right people into our lives to help us on our journey. He is always good!

Starting School--at HOME!

Well, it's official. We have become a homeschool family. Tuesday of this week began our first day of 3rd grade and K-5 for our girls. I am happy to report that we have had two successful days of school and are all looking forward to more. We even have a field trip planned already. We are going to a living history farm this Fri. with a homeschool group that I have joined. I am excited about the girls meeting some children!!! Please pray that we really connect with some families and have opportunities for the girls to make new friends. We have Olivia signed up for Kindermusik, which starts this week, and both girls have started gymnastics, so we do have other avenues for meeting children their ages.

I wanted to share some pics I took Tues. morning before we started school. Some are a bit blurry for some reason. We thank the Lord for the donation of desks from San Bernardino Christian School, where Kris's aunt was administrator for many years. We also have had a couple of families pass on some wonderful teaching tools to us. God has blessed us with a great start to what I believe will be a great year!

Change

It is hard for me to believe that we left Midland, MI over a month ago and have been living in this house 6 wks already (this Tues). I have said that I would recount the events of our leaving MI and moving to CA. This last hour I went through tons of pictures, trying to edit and prepare them for posting. I currently have some uploading into my online albums at K*dak Gallery. I like to put them together for you at Slide.c*m after that. As you can imagine, I haven't had a lot of time to spend on that project. In fact, I noticed that it has been since Spring that I put a slideshow together. Looking back, it was around our Spring Break that life got really crazy with Kris's appendicitis, then trying to get a trip rescheduled for a survey trip to CA, planning recitals and concerts for the end of the school year, deciding on a candidating trip to CA, etc, etc. I really did snap lots of pictures. You just haven't seen them.

Well, preparing to leave MI and move across the country was quite a task, but this has all been of God, and we've seen Him working in our lives every step of the way. Our friends, Michael and Jenny, helped us soooooo much with packing several different days in the weeks before our move. We also had people help watch the kids for me different days, which was a blessing for me AND the girls. There wasn't much fun going on at home at the time. Matt and Sarah Bright came over the weekend before our truck arrived, and they, the Muths, and we furiously packed the last of our things. Sarah and Jenny did an awesome job getting our kitchen in boxes! The guys were amazing too, working like machines in all parts of the house. On the big moving day, Janet Kroon came and helped clean much of our house. The Forbes came over too and were a big help in cleaning that day. Of course, we can't forget the Muths again. :-) Thank the Lord for all of our dear friends who have such servants' hearts and blessed us tremendously!!!

Before we left our church family at Calvary Baptist Church in Midland, we had some very special "get-togethers." My wonderful friend, Deb Poupard, hosted a farewell for me with ladies from our church and others who joined us for Bible studies over the years. Another special time was with our Sunday School class at the Theaker's house, where we had dinner, enjoyed the outdoors, let the kids swim, and just have a wonderful time of fellowship. We sure miss everybody and treasure the memories we were able to make over the years! Our church in general gave us a farewell reception the last Sunday we were there at Calvary. I don't even know if I can think about that (sniff, sniff). Really though, it was wonderful--the people were wonderful! We were given a beautiful plaque and roses at the end of the service, and then we went down to the gym for food and time to be with each other once more. There was an open mic for people to say things to us, mostly sweet, but of course, some ribbing going on too. :-) We were showered with so many cards, gifts, and kind words. It was humbling and a time to be cherished for sure. The tears flowed quite freely! Pastor Dan and Pastor Reece prayed over us, and then a line formed "a mile long" for us to hug people, cry some more, and say our final goodbyes. What a privilege it was to serve alongside people from Calvary for nearly 4 yrs--to God be the glory, great things He has done!

Our moving truck came, and everything went well on moving day. We went to Rich and Deb Poupard's for dinner before we were to begin driving through the night. The Muths were able to come to dinner as well. After dinner, we went to the Browns house and said our first of the last "gut-wrenching" goodbyes. They're right around the corner (practically) from the Poupards. We took the girls back to Rich and Deb's because they graciously offered to let the girls get bathed and in pajamas while we went and finished last-minute cleaning up/packing the last suitcases at the house. Once that was done, we went back to get the girls and to say our difficult farewell to Rich and Deb. The Muths were at our house at this time, cleaning out the fridge/freezer, so that they could have our food that was left. We took the girls back to our house for one last walk through. We talked about memories made as we went through the rooms. Yes, the tears were flowing then too, but mostly from me. When we locked the house and walked out on the front porch, it really hit Emma. She burst into tears, and the four of us prayed, and sobbed together, thanking the Lord for what He had done in our lives while we were in Midland. Michael, Jenny, and Aaron, who had been woken up to go home, were on our driveway ready to say "see ya!" :-) The sobbing continued. The hardest part was that Olivia had really joined in, and my heart just ached hearing my girls cry like they did. Michael prayed with us, and then we got in the van to head out. Olivia was crying really hard, and Michael went over to her carseat and sang to her. Okay, I haven't recalled these moments so vividly in a while. You don't have to ask what I am doing right now. . . Well, we were off! The chapter in our lives that was lived out in Midland came to a close, and new adventures awaited us. I just kept remembering as we drove out of town how good God is and how thankful I am that His ways are higher than ours. His are perfect! I am thankful that He is my Shepherd and He will always lead us to what is best for us.

Yes, this was long, and is only the beginning of my story about our move. Probably more than anything, I needed to journal all of this for myself. I hope you can rejoice with me though!

Works of God Monday

Today I want to share birthday blessings. Last Thurs. was my birthday. Am I really in my mid-30s?!? It's fine, and I'm thankful for another year of life God has given me. People have been very sweet and gracious--lots of facebook messages, birthday cards in the mail, and several unexpected and wonderful gifts! My family was very sweet as well. I woke up to a wonderful "Happy Birthday" song and big hugs and kisses. I saw my new elliptical machine covered with balloons and bows. It's a piece of exercise equipment that is not really just for me. Everyone here is enjoying it, including the kids. :-) Kris also had a gift bag with some new speakers for our computer wrapped up for me to open. We are all enjoying those as well. On the topic of the computer, my biggest surprise was a webcam from dear friends. I've been able to see my sister and her family as well as my friend, Jenny, and her family, including her sweet new baby all right there on my computer screen. I am so thankful for this technology and the thoughtfulness of our friends to send it to me for my birthday! Some other great gifts that I am excited to use are Starbucks gift cards, JC Penny gift card, money to go shopping, raspberry loose leaf tea to try, and a devotional book by Beth Moore. Thanks to all of my family and friends for these wonderful gifts!

Now for the amazing sovereignty of the Lord to share with you. . .Kris and I always like to go on a date together to celebrate our birthdays. Well, we would have probably asked Kris's aunt and uncle to watch the girls, but his aunt is recovering from a heart attack and some other physical complications right now. We decided to see if another couple in our new church could babysit for us. They had us bring the girls to their house for the evening. One of the things they suggested to the girls was going to a little store up the road, but for some reason the girls didn't want to do that. Diana asked them if they wanted to walk the neighbor's dog with her instead, and they got excited about that. When they got to the house behind theirs, on the other side of the block, they saw some kids out playing. Diana knew of the grandmother who lived their, but had only spoken to her a couple of times over the years. Well, having my two kids with her gave Diana the opportunity to start a conversation with the family about our girls being new to the area and why we moved here. She told the lady and her grandchildren that I have been doing some SS lessons with my girls on Sunday mornings, but that we do not have any other kids coming yet. Diana invited them to join us on Sunday, and they did! The lady's future daughter-in-law came with her little girl, and we had five children for SS. All I can say is that this is a VERY needy family, and we have huge opportunities to help them in a variety of ways. The children have never been in a church before, and they knew absolutely nothing of the Bible, Jesus, etc. We had a wonderful time sharing with them the truths from God's Word. The grandma who came had been in church as a child a few times, and I don't know that the other women has ever gone. Please pray for us as we continue to share Christ with this family and seek to help meet some of their needs, even beyond spiritual ones. Isn't God always good? My girls weren't necessarily "supposed to be" at that couple's house, and Diana just decided on a whim to take them on a walk. God is ALWAYS working, and we praise Him for His ways being so much higher than ours!

Works of God Monday

Well, I am averaging once a week getting something posted on my blog. Yes, I do have tons more that I could post, but you know, when every aspect of your life is changing (new home and area to live, ministry, schooling), it's hard to find time to do it. Sorry to those of you who have asked me to post pics, to tell more about our trip out here and what is going on with us, etc. I promise--it's coming. We are feeling a bit more settled each week.

I decided to have everyone in the family tell me something for which they would like to thank God today:

Olivia said that she is thankful for how the boo boo on her foot is healing. She got a little cut on the side of her foot, and we prayed for it to get better, and God has answered that.

Kris said that He is so thankful for the hope that we have that Jesus Christ is coming again! John 14

Emma said that she is thankful that we can praise God openly and freely here in America. We have talked about the country in which the Olymp*cs are taking place, and how the people there can't just plant a church of their choice like we can here.

I thank God for bringing people across our paths. First, we met our neighbors a couple of doors down. They are Christians, and I am looking forward to getting to know the wife and having opportunity for us to ride our bikes together. She goes on a nearby bike path and invited me to join her. Second, we met some children across the street from our church this past Wed. night. There were two girls, both 8 yrs. old, and a little boy who is 7 yrs. old. One of the girls is the sister of the little boy, and the other girl lives next door to them. We played ball with them on the church property for a while after prayer meeting. I invited them to come to SS and/or church, but that didn't work out for yesterday. One of our church ladies was able to meet one of the moms yesterday though as they were pulling in their driveway. She said that the mom hardly spoke English, but an invitation was given for them to come to church. Third, God brought 3 different visiting families to our church yesterday. One we had met a couple of weeks ago. They have four young boys. One of the couples visiting came with that family. We are trusting God for the growth of our new church. Kris has a great idea to start a neighborhood Bible study here soon. Please pray that we would be able to do that. We need to find out the rules of using the clubhouse and the possibility of advertising/having an invitation put out to the neighborhood.

I must say that we are feeling the loneliness lately. Olivia woke up on Sunday morning, crying first thing because she was missing her friend, Madeline. She was having a dream that they were playing together. When she woke up, she wondered where Madeline had gone. Olivia then went into a list of the people that she misses, and I just snuggled her up and reminded her that God has called us here, and He has not left us on our own. He will bring new friends in His timing. I understand how she is feeling though, and I am "preaching" this to myself as well. :-) It was so hard for me this last week when my dear fried, Jenny, had her baby, and I wasn't able to go see her and the new little one. I am so excited for their family and praise God for how He has worked in their lives. We can still rejoice with them long-distance and keep up through phone calls and messages on the computer. For that I am VERY grateful!

We thank God for the grace that He gives us each day. These are times to grow closer to Him and remember that He is the One we should be going to first with all that is on our hearts anyway. It's easy when we have lots of friends and family around us to just tell them about our joys, sorrows, etc. Our relationship with God is the most important, and with most people I love and have enjoyed being with not nearby, I am especially reminded that Jesus is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. Even depending on phone calls or e-mails is not what should be most important to me. I think it's Beth Mo*re who says something like, "Oh, ladies! First, run to the throne and not to the phone." in talking about our tendency to "spill" to our friends and/or family and ignore our God.

I Peter 5:7--casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Works of God Monday

Today was a good day of finalizing what I need for Olivia for homeschooling. I was fortunate to have a lady from our last church give me some of the materials that I would need for K-5. That is helping us to save some money--whoo hoo, that's always a good thing! I have also had great advice and direction on what I need and don't need given to me from my friend, Marybeth, who used the same homeschool materials when she taught her son K-5. What a blessing she has been, both before I left Midland, as well as on the phone since I've moved to CA! I finally feel like I know a bit of how things will go this year. Getting the girls' materials figured out is a huge task that I can check off the list now.

Emma's boxes of books and materials arrived today. She was so excited when we were walking outside and happened to see a big brown truck in front of the house. I said, "Oh, Emma, I wonder if that's for us. Your homeschool things should be arriving any day." Sure enough, I saw the side of one of the boxes that the delivery man had put on his seat, and I knew we had our 3rd grade kit. I was encouraged to see Emma jumping up and down, calling for Kris to come see what had just arrived. How I pray her enthusiasm will continue once we get started and go through this year! :-)

We are so thankful for how God has led us in this area of homeschooling. We are finding out rather quickly how big the homeschooling community is here. The chiropractor that I found is a Christian, and his wife homeschools their children. Not only that, she helps to head up a support group right here in Riverside. She has given me great info. that I need to know for homeschooling in this state, led me to websites, and invited me to the first meeting last week that the support group was having. I felt a little funny going, not knowing anyone, and wondering what I was "getting myself into," but I left encouraged, educated on more homeschooling issues, and thankful that I had gone. We planned some field trips and park days for next month, and I am very excited about our girls meeting other kids to interact with.

God is good! He IS supplying all of our needs. He IS doing exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think. Our God is Who He says He is, and we can trust Him with all of our hearts.

Works of God Monday

So, I am going to make this short and sweet. :-) We are officially homeless. That is, we no longer own a home as of today. Thankfully we had our closing in MI (without us, of course), and everything was finalized. The check is in the mail. What a blessing to see God's hand in all that has happened over the last few months. Our house was one of our biggest concerns. The market in MI is not one you want to be selling your house in. We didn't really want to move across the country and leave a house unsold. We trusted God for what His best was in the situation. We knew that He has clearly been the One to lead us in everything concerning the ministry here in CA. The house was going to sell in His timing. After having the house on the market for only 16 days, we had a good offer on the table and were in the process of selling it to people who came to an open house our realtor did for us. Amazing! What an answer to our prayers. Many people came to us in amazement over this news, and they said that it was like an exclamation point on our needing to move to CA. Confirmation from God couldn't have been more clear to us, and we praise Him for how He has and is working in our lives.

One other thing--I was greatly encouraged in God's word yesterday as we looked at Psalm 46 during our worship service. I am so thankful that no matter what struggles we face, God is our refuge and strength!

EARTHQUAKE!!!

That's right, you read correctly. About 15 mins. ago we just had an earthquake. It's all over the news out here right now. They are saying it was approx. 5.8 on the scale. I was upstairs with the girls. I was sitting down watching Olivia on the computer, and all of a sudden, the windows were rattling. For a split second I thought, "What in the world is driving by." Then when I realized I was moving, and the house was swaying, I said, "GIRLS! Come down with me right now." Emma said, "Are we having an EARTHQUAKE???" Kris was running out of his office (laughing) and said, "Well, how'd you like our first earthquake?" At first he thought the girls were upstairs making some major racket above him, but then he knew what was happening. He was working at his desk and felt the ground shaking beneath him. The tall lamp in his office was swaying pretty good too. After we all were standing in the living room trying to process what happened, I said, "I did not like that!" Meanwhile Kris and Emma are jumping up and down, giving each other high fives. Olivia looked totally scared and not sure what to think. I am still having an adrenaline rush. It totally freaked me out! I must say I had a good adjustment at the chiropractor this morning, but I have never moved that fast down the stairs since we moved in. ha ha The news coverage was immediate. They are getting info. from people over in L.A. and down to San Diego and all the way up to Las Vegas saying they felt this. The proposed epicenter is in Chino Hills, only 30 miles from here. Thankfully this was nothing major and no damage seems to have happened. What an adventure. . . Welcome to California!

Works of God Monday

Well, Monday is almost over and I haven't read my friend Jenny's instructions well (just skimmed) enough to do this "right." Hopefully by next week I'll have it together. Part of the reason I haven't gotten it together is that I have been in really bad back spasms for about a week now. Everything caught up to me--packing to move, the emotion involved, the 2,600 mile drive, etc. With my fibromyalgia and certain other physical difficulties, I don't "hold up" well after all of that.

I have much to praise the Lord for though:

First, I haven't had this bad of a problem with my muscles/back trouble in over 2 yrs. I have my daily fibromyalgia issues, but that can be very minimal, and has been more that way in recent years, thankfully.

Second, I have found a chiropractor here in Riverside who is helping me. I have a story on how that worked out, but it's too late right now to tell. I just want to thank God for the amazing way it worked out for me to get in to see this chiropractor and how meeting him has led us to some other great info. and help in homeschooling and private lessons.

Third, we are in our new home, and we have things situated well enough to function. I have a wonderful husband and two great little girls who help make things easier. We are not set up to feel that "home sweet home" feeling, seeing that we still have lots of boxes needing to be unpacked around here, but we had a couple from church come last Tues. when I was getting really bad physically, and they helped unpack most of our kitchen. Kris has done what we need for our bedrooms/bathrooms to be livable, so we are doing fine right now. The rest will come in time. I have been able to do some as I pace myself.

Fourth, Kris's Aunt Carol, who lives nearby and goes to our church, had a mild heart attack over the weekend, and she is doing o.k. right now. She is still in the hospital, but we think she will be able to go home soon. We thank God that nothing worse happened to her. The doctor's believe the heart attack was due to high blood pressure that she actually didn't know she had. They did a test today that showed her arteries are fine, no blockage.

Fifth, we had a wonderful church service yesterday with 33 people in attendance. We focused on the holiness of our God as we sang and read Scripture pertaining to that attribute of Him. One family visited that lives about 25 mins. away, and then we had surprise visitors from Phoenix show up--Kris's Uncle Bob, Aunt Judy, and his cousin, Carrie, and her children. They were in CA at a vacation spot South of here by an hour or so. They knew we had just moved and wanted to come to our service. We were able to go to Applebee's afterward and catch up with them. It was nice to be with family.

Well, I must head to bed, but I realized that I had never made it up to the computer today to share these blessings. If for no one else, I wanted to review them for myself, as I need to make sure I focus on the greatness of our God, even in the midst of pain. God is good--all the time!

Works of God Monday

I am trying something that I have wanted to do for awhile, ever since my friend Jenny encouraged us to share works of God on Mondays. I need to ask her how to set it up to look like hers though. Technology/computers are not always my favorite to figure out. I am always a little slow on things, but I am now going to try to make this a habit on Mondays now. :-) Seriously though, I could go on and on about what God is doing in our lives. You know a lot of the recent things through the last couple of posts.

Today's blessings though include Kris's Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave helping us out with the kids while we worked on setting up life in CA. Uncle Dave took Kris to drop the van off for a smog check (over $50 for that!:-/ )and thankfully we passed the test. We all enjoyed lunch at their house, and Aunt Carol let the girls go in the hot tub outside, which was very fun for them. Kris and I went and set up our bank acct. here and had a good opportunity to talk with the young lady who helped us about our new church and Kris's taking on the pastor position there. She asked some great questions, and we had some time to share Christ with her. We invited her to come to our church. Pray that God would work in her heart to know Him! We were going to go to the DMV and get our licenses next, but when we saw the line wrapped around the building, we decided against that. There was a sign with the phone # and encouragement to make an appt. Ha ha Who knew you could get an appt.? Well, we called and found out the first available time for us is Aug. 7! Whew--we are getting in before we reach the 20 day deadline after establishing residency here.

Tonight we had a really nice time at the Jensen's house for dinner. They are one of the couples in our new church. Doug is a deacon and Kris looks forward to their working together. Diana is so thoughtful and caring. She baked a cake today and waited for our girls to come and had them frost it, decorate it and serve it. Also, she is a fellow musician that I am looking forward to working with. She has some great recording equipment that she asked us if we wanted to use tonight to make a CD of the girls singing. We played around with it and had a lot of fun doing a couple of songs. Both Diana and Doug have been an encouragement to us, before moving here as well as these last couple of days.

Tomorrow morning the truck is supposed to show up at the new house. We were excited to get the phone call about that today. We went to the house yesterday and were thrilled with the layout. Kris will have an office downstairs behind the kitchen. I will make one of the bedrooms upstairs a schoolroom for the girls. Everything will be happening from home now, at least for a time, so we are happy that it can happen with privacy when and where needed for us to accomplish all these things. Oh, another unexpected blessing we found in going through the house is that we have a washer and a dryer! We saw that that was not listed on the home's info. sheet, and we were planning on looking for a set. Praise the Lord--we don't have to now.

God is so good and has clearly been leading. We are looking forward to what He has in days ahead. Thank you all for your prayers for us as we begin this new chapter of our lives.

A Quick Update

Right now I am in my sister-in-law's kitchen starring out at the Rocky Mtns. How nice! :-) We are so happy to be able to visit with Karmen and her family. It's also wonderful to have a break from traveling. We've driven over 1,500 miles so far on our trek out to CA. Yesterday was the longest, most boring part of the trip--KANSAS!!! If you have never driven the length of Kansas, you are NOT missing anything. The first hour or so in the state is not bad. There's some variety there with towns/cities and landscape, but after Topeka, it's all about the same. It was about 7 hours from the time we entered Kansas until we made it into CO. Kris says that he always laughs because the sign over the border says, "Welcome to Colorful Colorado," and you're looking at the same landscape in Eastern CO as you just did for hours in Kansas. The colorful part of CO is almost 3 hrs. away, when you see the Rocky Mtns. appear. Kris says that Eastern CO is just an extension of the seemingly never-ending Kansas. Well, the point is, we made it! We are thanking God for safety, children who travel extremely well, my body holding up so far, and grace for such a long day yesterday. It was about a 12 hr. day for us.

So, basically, here is what has happened so far and what is to come this week in our travels:

Monday night--Had a very emotional time saying good-bye to the Browns, Poupards, and Muths, as well as our home there in Midland. Emma "lost it" when we closed the door to our house for the last time. Our whole family joined her, and we were all blubbering fools, praying and thanking God for our time in Midland. Then we became even worse saying good-bye to the Muths on our driveway, praying and crying with them before pulling out and driving through the night. Okay, (sniff, sniff) I need to go on. . . .

Tuesday morning--Arrived at the St. Louis Arch around 8:30 AM. We had a great time there. We went up in the arch. Emma was freaked out about this concept, which got Olivia a bit nervous too. Thankfully, they both did fine, and we all enjoyed looking out at the top. Back on the ground, we went to the museum there and the IMAX about Lewis and Clark's exploration to the West--Amazing! We got on a wireless connection and looked up Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, and found there was one in St. Charles, about a half an hour away. Needless to say, Kris was sooo happy to find his favorite restaurant for lunch. I love it too though. :-)

Tuesday evening--We arrived at our friends', the Spauldings, house just before dinner. We had a great time catching up with them. The girls had a blast swimming in their pool with Tara Spaulding. Brenna and Hudson were away at camp. It was sweet fellowship we had to share with Thom and Layna what God is doing in our lives and hear about their involvement in a young church plant there in Kansas City.

Wednesday morning--We left the Spauldings after breakfast and started the long trek across Kansas (which you read about above), but not before finding a Starbuck's and getting a grande white choc. mocha with raspberry! :-) Thanks to the Poupards for a Starbucks gift card before I left. They know Kris doesn't like putting his money there. Ha ha

Wednesday evening--We arrived safely at Karmen and Terry's just after 9 PM, Mtn. time (3rd time zone now for us on the trip). We enjoyed a little time with them before putting all the kids to bed, and then we stayed up until I was falling asleep in the recliner. :-)

Thursday morning--Here I am updating my blog after breakfast. It's fun just hanging out and hearing the kids play right now. It's a welcome break from the travel. We are thinking of fun things to do with the kids today. We do know we will be going to see the addition to Front Range Baptist Church and Academy (the church and school Kris's dad started) and going to Mom and Dad's graves today.

Friday morning--We will leave and start our beautiful drive across the Rocky Mtns. tomorrow, to the other side of CO, into Utah and to it's other side. Another long day of travel, but I am sure much more picturesque and beautiful!

Friday evening--We will arrive in St. George, UT and stay at a fun hotel.

Saturday morning--Hopefully we can go to Zion National Park for awhile and see more of God's beautiful creation. We aren't sure what all we will be doing yet. We will only be about 5 and a half hrs. from our final destination.

Saturday evening--We will arrive in Ontario, CA at our hotel. Sunday is Kris's first day as pastor at Heritage Bible Church, and Mon. or Tues., our moving truck should arrive in Riverside at our new home.

Well, that's the plan, if the Lord wills! Thanks for your prayers for us.