Skip to main content

Christmas 2010

By


Another year has flown by and it's already time for our yearly Christmas update, but first a story about our Christmas card!

This year for Thanksgiving, we did something a bit unconventional...we left town and went to stay the night at a hotel near the Calavaras Big Trees.  I thought there might be snow on the ground so I packed the kids snow gear "just in case".  When we arrived at the big trees there was over 12"!!!  This picture was taken on the "dancing stump" (called that because it's as big as a stage) done on the timer amidst two melt downs by the younger two kids.  I'm amazed everyone is looking at the camera and not crying!  What a fun memory, and it made for a perfect Christmas card picture...  and now for the "update"!




Aaron has been very busy this year handling the responsibilities of youth ministry, small groups ministry, taking graduate classes, and preaching a 12 week sermon series this fall. (You can listen to them on the Church Web Site!) The last part of October he traveled to Ethiopia again to help serve at the Preacher's Conference in Awasa. He took two teens with him, and led a young adults track of the program there.

I have had a very eventful year as I finally had my hip replacement surgery in September!  It was a longtime in coming, but I decided that this was the time to have it done.  I am so glad that I did.  I am almost fully recovered from the surgery itself and I'm amazed at how much more I can do for and with my family now that I am pain free.  What a blessing medical technology has been for our family this year! 

Grace is a big first grader and doing GREAT in school.  She is being taught at home (by Mommy!) and loves that each day part of her school work is done curled up on the couch snuggled up with books.  One of her projects this year has been to create a blog and chronicle the journey of Paddle to The Sea.  Based on her school book, of the same name, she and her Grandpa made a miniature canoe together that we will be putting in the American River this spring.  We hope it will make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean!

Noraa is an active four year old with an imagination that blows us away.  She has a Twitter account dedicated to her quotes that always make me smile.  If you are on Twitter, you can follow her @ noraaquotes.  She's doing school with us each day as well and surprises me with her joy of learning things beyond her "level".  Her daily selections of what to wear also keeps me in stitches.  There's never a dull moment with Noraa around!

Samuel, the "baby" of the family is hardly a baby anymore.  My big two year old likes to do things by himself, copy his older sisters every move, and work puzzles during school time.  He is always making me smile with his constant chatter about Woody Buzz (from Toy Story), his fascination with sucking his thumb and playing with his bellybutton, and his desire to "nuddle" (snuggle) any chance he gets.  He is a precious boy and a joy to our family!

We pray all is going well with you and yours this Christmas.  May the joy of Jesus Advent seep deep into your hearts and your homes! Much love from our family to yours!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Exciting New Opportunity

By
  The year was 1995.  It was a time when big bangs and perms were on their way out, when music and fashion were in a very strange transition and these three high school students formed the bond of a lifetime. In the picture with my sister and me is a young woman named Yuka. She had come to our home on a one month stay two years prior. We enjoyed hosting her so much that my sister Alicia traveled the following summer to Yuka's house in Japan. We kept in touch through writing letters and sending care packages, so when Yuka expressed the desire to come to the United States and study with us for a year we jumped at the opportunity to host her again. She arrived for the school year in August and by May had bonded with our family in a significant way. Putting her on the plane to go home was a tearful event.   I've been reflecting on these experiences over the last few weeks because I recently took a job with  CETUSA . It will be my pleasure and joy to help host families like mine
Post a Comment
Read more

Rena Moll; A Life Well Lived

By
October 4th, 2017 is a day that will be locked in my mind forever. The news   that my friend was gone didn't seem real. It seemed like a very bad dream and I wanted to wake up to find that it wasn't true. Even now, three months later, as life transitions into its new "normal" I find myself wondering how such a thing can happen. You can read about Rena's life here:  Obituary .  Rena had a deep and lasting impact on our community. I met Rena through school. Our kids went to Golden Eagle together. The very first time I met her I KNEW she was a dancer! It's something you can sense and see in her gracefulness and poise. My girls took classes with her for a semester when we first moved to Weed. Over the four years of knowing her I saw her love for Jesus shine through her love of dance. She never once shied away from sharing the gospel in her performances. As Grace began attending youth group, Rena and Danny were there making her feel welcome and included. At the f
Post a Comment
Read more

The Closing of a Great Legacy

By
Today I heard some news that truly saddened me. The college I attended will be closing at the end of this accademic year. For me the journey began back in 1986... my oldest sister Shawna started attending a small Christian college in Portland, Oregon. Our family would go visit her from time to time and I would get to stay in her dorm room occasionally. I played pool in the "lower JC" and ran around the campus as a young child loving the attention of all the really cool college students. I knew that someday I would attend this same school. The doors closing of Columbia Christian College was devastating to me, but as it re-opened a year later as Cascade College I was not truly affected by the transition. My turn came in 1997 when I finally stepped foot on the campus as a full fledged college student. This was MY school now! I will not be able to recount for you the knowledge, the memories, the friends and the spiritual growth attained in my four years there. If I were to try, t
3 comments
Read more