Vacation, sickness, and parenthood, o my!

During our last week of vacation, we thought it would be fun to be the coolest aunt and uncle in the world and have our five year old niece stay over for one night. We went to the Stephen Birch Aquarium, the La Jolla Tide Pools, and our favorite Italian Restaurant, Lido's for dinner. We pulled out all of the stops and it was a blast!

Who would have guessed that in that same night both of Christina's grandparents would be admitted into the hospital. Her parents and sister spent the next day making trips picking up prescriptions and driving back and forth to the hospital. When her grandpa got to come home the next day, her dad got a stomach flu and was taken to the hospital for fluids and medication. That night dad got to come home, but sent with medication. Grandpa is at home alone (Grandma still has a few days in the hospital) and Christina's mom and sister are still making the rounds between hospital and the grandparents home. Today, it looks like everyone is feeling and looking a little better which we are so thankful for! For good measure though, we kept the kid at our place for a few more nights.

Anyone who knows us well knows we are adamant about not having kids. We absolutely love middle schoolers and the return policy we have with them, but the idea of having our own is nowhere in the near future. Though if anyone stopped by our house they would beg to differ. Disney movies and "Ninja-Bread Man" on the Wii constantly buzzing in the living-room, pull-ups and princess toothpaste in our bathroom, and our office couch is stacked with Pikachu Toys and other stuffed animals.

So today (day four), we are heading off to Balboa Park to spend the afternoon at the Reuben H. Fleet. One thing this couple has learned through this is that you never know what the day will really bring, so we seize the moments as they are handed to us. Tis' the Season!

Christmas Gifts!

Well this year Christina got two very special presents. The first is shown below...

The second is what she will be using her new bike to get to...A JOB!!

As of January first, Christina will be the new director of Middle School Ministries at Journey Community Church. We are so excited about this. This has definitely been a time of figuring out where God wanted both of us. This decision was a long and prayerful one, but we can't be more excited. Journey has been so welcoming and it is just incredibly cool to work and attend the church that is literally three minutes from our house. We can see the sign from our balcony!

This past year has been a year of major change and anticipation. We are just so thankful for God's provision in our lives and are excited for the year to come.

from all of us to all of you...

A day in Mexico

Every year YS holds an amazing, crazy, and beyond expectation Christmas Party for their staff. This year was no exception. In fact, this year it wasn't even held in the United States. Youth Specialties partnered with a ministry called Spectrum. Spectrum Ministries is a missions organization dedicated to working with the very poor across our border in Tijuana. Each YS employee was given a name and wish list of a child in an orphanage. So after a a morning of shopping at a Tijuana Market for the dinner to be cooked at the orphanage that night, and playing with the kids at another ministry Spectrum organizes, we headed to the orphanage and were able to present the students with their individual gifts.

It seriously was such a precious moment. Imagine Christmas morning at your house. Everyone gathered in the living room. One person is designated to pass out the gifts. When someone gets their gifts, everyone in the room waits patiently to see what that person got. There are a few oohhs and ahhhs and then the next person opens their gifts.

Now imagine about 20 or so kids crammed in a living room with the YS adults surrounding the edge of the room waiting the kids to open their gifts. When each of the kids name is called, everyone sits and waits eagerly for the child to open their present. When they open it, there are not "oohhs and ahhs", but loud cheers and hollars from every single person in the room as the child proudly hold their gift in the air. It was a celebration and such a sweet moment.

Each of these kids had a different story. Each of these kids had a hard start in this life and yet they were some of the sweetest, kindest, most adorable, and polite kids we ever met. It will truly be a day that we will never forget,

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So this post is a little over due considering we started decorating the day after Thanksgiving. This was partially due to our love of the Christmas Season and partially due to Christina's competitive spirit. We woke up late that day and began watching some TV when Christina noticed outside that our new neighbor's ten year old daughter was putting out Christmas Lights. Christina yells, "What?? Ian, she is beating us! GO! GO! GO!" In an hour and a half we had all all of the Christmas decorations out and Ian had the lights up.

This weekend though, we got our tree. This is earliest we have gotten one since we have been married. So it is complete. Christmas is here! We may not have been first, but we added an extra strand of lights for good measure:) 'Tis the season!