A Special Sunday

Last Sunday was a big day!  Our summer intern, who we have gotten to know and love, preached his last sermon about striving to be a unified body in Christ.  Then, perfectly and appropriately, our congregation commissioned Dave as the Lead Pastor and Pastor Patrick as the Youth Pastor.  Dave and Patrick were charged with questions.  Our church family made promises.  And we stood up front while the elders and deacons laid their hands on us and prayed for us and the church.  It was a moving day that was overwhelming and emotional.  I could write pages and pages about how blessed we've felt serving at this church the past 12 years.  And how honored we feel to be invited into a new leadership position. And how grateful we are for God's provision in giving us Patrick, who seems to be both a perfect partner for Dave and an awesome leader for our youth.  And how at peace and trusting we feel that, even though the calling seems daunting at times, we have the support of the congregation and we know with certainty that God will continue to be faithful in filling us with His Spirit and equipping us as we seek to glorify Him.

   

If all that wasn't enough, we got to spend a few hours in the afternoon with Dorina and her girls as she was passing right through town on her way home from a weekend in the Bay Area!  We had much to catch up on and celebrate in each other's lives.  This was a happy reunion full of Just Dancing, laughing, Mexican food, and every toy in my house ending up on the living floor (always a sign of a good time)!

This Sunday was also special because it was officially my last day of summer, as I went back to school the next day for in service meetings and prep for the big First Day on Wednesday.  I could not have asked for a better day to bring to conclusion one of our best summers ever!

Happy Birthday and So Long, Summer!

Since life was full of other stuff, like settling into Rehoboth, or JUST returning from Chicago, on the days of the girls' birthdays, I had promised them a special birthday outing that would take place at the end of summer.  We let them each pick one friend and we made a day trip to Monterey to visit the aquarium.  Working with the schedules of our friends, this trip had to take place on what would be the last week day of summer, so it was a great goodbye, as well.

We've been to the aquarium many times and we've shared it with many friends, but letting the girls each pick a school friend to hang out with for the day was another new experience.  It was so fun for Dave and I to sit back and take in their interactions.  Here are a few fun photos and their captions:

 Group shot in the octopus lair.

Wall of sardines in the Open Seas tank!

Jellyfish symmetry.

Admiring the seemingly hand-painted spotted jellies.

 The classic shot.

A perfectly beautiful Monterey day!

 Ocean selfie!

 Active otters, and our best spot ever viewing them right up against the glass.  We also saw a presentation in the auditorium about an otter pup the aquarium had rescued and rehabilitated.  I think otters won "Favorite Animal" of the day!

 Touching sea cucumbers, abalone, urchins and crabs.

 "I don't mean to alarm you, but there's an octopus right above you!"

Hiding in the kelp forest. 

 The penguins kept blocking my picture of Ella and her friend!

Laughing in the Wave Cave.

Cool sun beams shining through the kelp forest tank.

With a splendid summer drawing to a close and school starting in a matter of days, this was a great bridge between seasons.  This fun outing was something special to end the summer with. And the time spent with school friends, and learning who this year's teachers would be via email on the ride home, was just right for getting us excited about getting back into school routine next week!

More VM Family Photos

As previously mentioned, when we were all together in Chicago last month, we hired a photographer to get, what we hoped would be, ONE good picture of our family that we could frame and use for Christmas cards.  Welllllll, I think this was mission accomplished!  Our problem now is not knowing which ONE of these awesome pictures to pick as a favorite!  We are so pleased with how they turned out and love our photographer for capturing the fun our family has when we're together and for giving us CDs with the copyright to all 200+ images!

Pigs Join VM Fam!

Even over a month later, we are still sad about Lily.  Tears sneak up on the girls at unexpected times and we just miss having a pet to love and take care of.  Though the girls have been working very hard in their attempts to talk us into it, Dave and I are holding firm on not getting another dog for a long time.  But, we did agree to consider a smaller pet, and wouldn't you know?, a simple trip to the pet store "just to look" turned into us coming home with 2 new guinea pigs!  I am thrilled!  I had guinea pigs growing up and Dave and I had them as pets before the girls were born.  It feels just perfect to go back to this great pet and make these 2 adorable critters the object of all our attention!  

Sooooo, meet Sundae, the pig Ella picked out, named and is holding, and Twix, the pig Delia picked out, named and is holding!

Just for fun!  Check out this old pic I found of me holding my first guinea pig, Taffy...

Squaw Valley

Because of our location on the lake this summer, we decided to go home around the top of it and make a day out of visiting Squaw Valley.  It was fun to see new-to-us North Lake Tahoe, and then spend time taking in The Village at Squaw Valley, where some fun Olympic stuff is located.

 It was neat to check out the slopes.  I am barely a skier, but it looks like Squaw Valley may have a few runs I could actually do without dying!

The village had a whole area to just play-- slack lines, badminton, ladder ball and bean bags.  They also had lots of cute restaurants, shops, and places to sit around artistic fire pits.  Of all the ski villages we've visited in the summer (Heavenly, Mammoth, etc.) this one is my favorite and one I'd actually consider coming back to in the winter!

After lunch we took a hike along this path that runs parallel to the slopes.  It was SO beautiful!

Dave and I have been talking all summer, but this vacation was a good time to deeply discuss how different this year is going to look for both of us and what all our anxieties about it are.  We know that in both of our jobs God is asking more of us, but will equip us with His strength and Spirit.  Time to prepare for and face this reality is the main reason I am SO thankful for the sabbatical we've been blessed with this summer!    Here we are, at the near end of it, contemplating all that the past 2 months have given us-- the opportunity to serve, to worship in all new ways with the big body of Christ, and to reconnect with family back home.  Dave has read a dozen books about pastoring and been able to dream and plan without the daily distractions of being in his office (which we gave a thorough cleaning out and make-over to one week).  We've explored some lovely parts of creation, rested, and just had a ton of fun.  Most of all, our marriage and family has been fortified, allowing us to feel excited and as ready as we can be for whatever comes next on our ministry path!