Snowy Indiana Day

Today the kids had fun helping Daddy shovel Grandpa and Grandma Rack's driveway.

Happy New Year!

Lehman Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family in Elkhart and then drove to Indianapolis to see The Lion King. It was amazing to see the costumes, vocal talent, and dances.

We walked around downtown after the show and then stopped at the South Bend Chocolate Factory for mint hot cocoa.

Amanda, we were missing you for the "sister's picture" here.

We went to OxBow Park for some sledding fun.  Clay was pretty brave and crashed into the bushes on a few occasions because of the icy hill.  It's been great to be with our families so much.

Christmas Treats

While we were staying with my parents, I had fun using my Dad's Canon Rebel to take some pictures.  These are the gingerbread houses Clay and Emma made with the help of Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Aud.

Tender Tennessee Christmas

We just spent a few days in Franklin, TN with Jeff's family.  It was wonderful to be together . . . jumping on the trampoline, playing outside, singing silly songs on karaoke, laughing, having a tea party, wrestling. . . 

Emma enjoyed helping Aunt Melissa make cups of hot cocoa.
Great Gram hand stitched beautiful pillow cases for her girls.  Jeff and Scott made a "Christmas tree" for our "hosts with the most" out of vines, berries, pinecones, and materials from their property.

We had a meaningful time talking about our trip to India, and the whole family gave money for us to take for the orphanage.  The Ries kids had raised money by doing extra chores around the house. We are thankful for their generosity in so many ways!

Road Trip across America

Last night we stayed in Albequerque, New Mexico at Jeff's Aunt Judy and Uncle Lyle's southwest style house and saw our first snow of the season. After walking around inside, Clayton said, "Aunt Judy, I really like your decorations!" It felt so good to be in a home again, and especially one decorated for Christmas.

Tonight I write this post from Days Inn in Oklahoma City. The kids are literally bouncing off the walls from bed to bed as I type.... As we were driving on I-40 earlier tonight, Jeff said that we needed to look for something fun to do with the kids. A little while later, we noticed thousands of lights on the side of the highway. Clay asked, "Can we go there?" We decided to be spontaneous and go on a drive through the lighted displays. It was a beautiful, fun way to spend a little of our time in Oklahoma. Some of the drive was even synchronized to Christmas music on the radio...

Hope you're having a beautiful Christmasy day, wherever you are!

Don't cry because it's over...

. . . smile because it happened!

Yosemite
San Diego
Big Sur San Francisco

Mt. Whitney
Joshua Tree

Palm Trees
Malibu

Things I’m going to miss about Southern California:
Sunshine everyday, no humidity
Mountains
Huntington Gardens
Outdoor jazz concerts at the park
Running and riding bikes at the Rose Bowl
Trader Joe’s
Maggie at the Fuller Post office, who is always so kind to the kids and gives them sweets.
Walking to the library, Target, the grocery store, City Hall, Paseo Colorado, and Old Town just a few blocks away with quaint cafes, shopping boutiques, courtyards, and cobblestone side streets and alleys.
Our church, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and communities we’ve been part of...there are too many people and not enough room for all their pictures... But we are so thankful!

Goodbye, 144 N. Los Robles, #3!

Moving Day

We started moving at 8 this morning. I was blown away at how many people came to help us…several from our Fuller community and church, and even a homeless man! We packed everything into a truck and took it about 30 minutes away to Danny and Suzanne’s garage. They have been so kind to loan us their garage for the next 6 months! I can’t believe our time here is over. We have such full, grateful hearts for what God has allowed us to be part of here, and how He has blessed our lives.

Jon's going away present to Jeff was a cool matching hat...Nice. :)

Emma says goodbye to her little buddy David.

We're thankful for the friends we've made. Here's Em with our downstairs neighbor, Melinda, and her daughter Ainsley. (Ainsley shuts her eyes to "smile for the picture.")

Thank you, friends! You are THE BEST!

Little things...

Clayton has recently gotten into recycling bottles and cans. At first, he was just excited about how much money he could earn for himself and how many new Lego sets he could buy. Jackie from our community group offered to give him some empty water bottles, but had one stipulation: Clayton could keep 50% of the money and then give 50% away. He agreed to the proposal, she brought over a few bags of bottles, and an idea formed: Jackie drinks clean water, Clay recycles the bottles, we use the money to help pay for a well to be drilled in Africa, the people drink clean water.

Clay even went to Jeff's class with a box and got more bottles there. These were his pictures on the box:

These are the happy people when they get to drink their clean water.

This is our amazing community group. We laugh, pray, cry, share, dream, and encourage each other. We're going to miss them so much. Monday night was our final time together before we move.

They brought loads of bottles and cans for Clayton to recycle. We are praying that this would be huge in forming his little heart to think of others as more important than himself.

So far, Clayton has raised about $20. It's not a lot, but it's a start. Mother Teresa said, "We can do no great things...only little things with great love." When we told Clay that quote, he said, "It's not a lot for us, but it's a big thing for the people in Africa."

If you're interested in helping drill a well, let us know.

When we grow up...

...I hope Jeff and I walk hand in hand like this couple did down Los Robles today. They were the sweetest thing. I saw them coming about a block away and raced inside to get my camera.

They were so in love, like two high schoolers, and not a care in the world. His hair was slicked back and even a little lavender (not sure quite how that happens), and she looked adorable in her skirt. It made me smile. I wonder what their story is...like when they met, or what they dreamed of when they were kids. Just for fun, what do you think their names are? :)

It all goes back in the box

I've been reminded of several lessons as I pack up our life's belongings...

1. It's just stuff.

2. You can't take it with you.

3. Be content.

4. The eternal is more important than the present.

5. Things won't have such a grip on you if you let them go.

6. John Ortberg says, "It all goes back in the box" (like in the Monopoly game, but also in the game of life).

Sometimes I focus so much on the material stuff...do I have the right trendy clothes, car, house...but then I'm reminded:

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor. 4:18)

On a side note, we're so thankful for Danny and Suzanne, a couple from our church, who offered to store our boxes for free while we go to India. They are a gift from God...they don't even know us, but they saw our need and met it. God is good.

Daddy's little girl

Jeff and Emma have been going on a date every Thursday night while Clay is at art class and I am at work. Usually they just play at the park or take a walk. This week was Clay's last class, so Jeff and Emma went out to a Chocolate Shoppe on Colorado Street. Emma told me later, "I unwrapped it and it was sooooo yummy!" :)

Before Jeff took Emma out, he told her that he was going to start showing her how she should be treated someday when she goes on a date with another man and maybe gets married. She got a silly face, laughed really hard, and said, "Nooooo. I'm not going to marry a MAN!" Jeff said, "That would be nice. Then you can always be Daddy's little girl."

Good friends

Some friends of ours from Elkhart, Scott and Kelly, came to visit us this weekend. We went to the Notre Dame/USC game at the Los Angeles Coliseum (even the Olympic torch was lit for the 4th quarter!) and watched Notre Dame lose pretty soundly. :( We were a little nervous as we walked through the USC campus wearing our ND apparel and got taunted for it.

We took them to our favorite beach in the area, Leo Carillo in Malibu, and actually spotted a whale! Kelly and I enjoyed leisurely talking on the beach while our husbands ventured off into the caves and came back with a few stories to tell....
Today happens to be Kelly's birthday too. Happy Birthday, friend! I'm so thankful for you.

Tuesday's Surprise

Jeff had the idea to surprise the kids on Tuesday morning when they woke up. Clay and Em groggily walked out to the dining room in their pj's and squealed when they saw Mickey Mouse pancakes. That in itself is a big treat. Then we asked, "If there was one place you would love to go today, where would it be?" Clayton thought a second and replied, "Disney." We answered, "Let's do it!" The kids went nuts...screaming, jumping, bouncing off the couch, etc. We gathered our things and headed off to the wintery wonderland.

We rode on a kiddie roller coaster and Emma wanted to be like Daddy and put her hands up. Here we are going click, click, click, click up the track.

Nothing quite like getting dizzy on the teacup ride. Clay is making the thing go fast and furious and Em's face looks like I felt... stop the madness! :) She actually loved going around fast too. I guess I was the only one trying to make it go the opposite way to slow us down.

All the characters were decked out for Christmas. Jeff joked that with Goofy standing in for my husband, this could be our family Christmas picture this year.
The castle glowed at night...so pretty. ..

...magical, wonderful, enchanting.