Thanksgiving

We started our Thanksgiving Morning by working up an appetite. Jay ,Valor, Ethan and Jadon participated in a 5K run. The Run/Walk was to benefit the Jesus Center in Chico. The Jesus Center serves the homeless in the name of Jesus. It was a great cause and something really neat to do as a family. We have so much to be thankful for it was great to give back to others. We had a great time. Breandan was a little to young, he wouldn't have made it all the way. So I stayed with Breandan and waited at the finish line to cheer everyone on. We saw lots of people from church, school, sports etc. It was great to see everyone come together. Ethan finished in 26 min, Valor in 27 min, and Jay and Jadon in 44 min.

After the run we went to my parents house for dinner and "sleep". Mom cooked a great dinner as usual. We had a great day.

We are so thankful for all of our family and friends. God has really blessed us. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving also.

A Visit From The So. Cal. Crew

I finally got around to downloading the pictures Mel took on their visit up to Chico. Will, Annalisa and Mel came up for their annual Chico visit in October. We love spending time with them and getting to catch up. This time the Book Family Farm was closed so we found some new things to do. We played disc golf, went to Bear Hole, went to the Kovacs' for game night, went to the Root Beer Shop and walked around down town. We are so blessed by great friends and fun times whenever they visit. Thanks guys for coming up to see us.

Way to go Valor!

OK so I have not been here in a while and I have been tagged twice, I am working on that. But I have some other news.

Valor was nominated by a teacher and invited to the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C.. Ten kids in 6th and 7th grade from his school were invited. We are very proud of him. The letter he got said. " You were selected for this honor based on your maturity, academic success and leadership potential"

Their web site says:

"Junior National Young Leaders Conference (JrNYLC) offers mature, high-achieving middle school students the opportunity to learn about leadership by studying the leaders of the past and by focusing on social advocacy to make a positive impact in their homes and communities. Through an examination of both different historical time periods and characteristics of leadership, students will gain a better understanding of what it takes to become an effective leader.
www.cylc.org/jrNYLC


So he would get to go to D.C. for six days and have conferences and go on tours and hang out with kids his age from all over the country. We don't know if he is going yet, we are looking into it more. We are also waiting to hear what other kids from his school may be going. But even if he doesn't go what an honor to be nominated and invited!!

Thinking of Donna

Well I have made the hard decision that I cannot go down for Donna's memorial, so I wanted to post here and let you know that I am praying for everyone. I pray that the service will be a celebration of life and that there will be joy and laughter along with the grief when remembering her life. In the time that I served with her in Children's ministry she was such an encouragement and so much fun to be with at Koinonia. My heart is with all of you even though I can't be there. Love and miss you all.

VALOR is a TEENAGER!!!!!!!!

Wow. Can't believe we have a teenager. We don't feel old enough :-) Not only is it Valor's 13th birthday but it is also his golden birthday, 13 on the 13th. Big day. While I was looking back at these pictures, it seems like another life time. I put so many pictures on here so I will try to make the words short.

We are so proud of Valor and the young man that he is becoming. He loves the Lord and is not afraid to share Him with anyone. He is our evangelist at school and with his friends. He stands up for what he believes in the classroom and is not afraid to speak out. He loves going to Youth Group Bible Study at Matthew's Cafe and Calvary Chapel .

He loves sports: soccer, baseball, hockey, etc. He would try just about any sport. When he is not playing sports, he loves hanging out with his friends. He has a great group of friends. He has been playing the bass guitar at school for three years now. He is also our book worm. We can't keep enough books in this house for him to read. He is a great student and loves school.

We used to jokingly pray for the Lord to come back before we had teenagers, but we are actually looking forward to this phase (most of it). We love being able to have "adult" conversations with him about politics, religion, and just everyday life. This is the age that they start making more "life" decisions for themselves and it is exciting and scary all at the same time.

Well Valor, happy birthday. We are very proud of the young man you are becoming. The verse we have chosen for you is:

I Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

Love you,

Mom, Dad, Ethan, Jadon, Breandan

2 Months old

8 months old

2 years old

Valor 4 years old, Ethan 2 years

4 years old

Daddy and Valor 5 years old

First day of kindergarten

Valor 6th Birthday, Joey Kovacs 5 years old

7 years old Space Camp

8 years old

Valor 9 years old, Jadon 4 years old

10 years old (Uncle Neil & Aunt Holly's wedding)

Valor 10, Breandan 1 1/2

Mommy and Valor (1o)

Valor 11 years old

Jumping off the rocks at Bear Hole - 12 years old
12 years old

Playing cards with Mema 12 years old

Valor and Joey 12 years old

Back Again finally

I can't believe it has taken me so long to post again. We have had some crazy weeks. Anyways, thanks for the responses about "Quality people". Lots of good things to think about. God showed me a lot in it but to make it short I think, the main thing is how do I see people. Do I look at people and and find them less quality then myself?, Do I compare them to me (or others) or do I compare myself to others and Do I look for quality in myself based on others or on Christ. Well I know where my flesh wants to go with this one but I know I need to guard myself against that. Christ should be our measurement for quality of ourselves (we are not to judge others) and as long as we strive to be like him (though we will not make it in this life) we are on the right track.

There are a few Casting Crowns songs that talk about the church, that this really made me think about. Some of the songs off their first album "Casting Crowns" talks about the church and what is the "church" really doing to reach people. Are we looking for comfort in where we are (or what church we go to)? Or are we reaching out to those that the world sees as less "Quality", the ones that might make us uncomfortable, the ones that need Christ just as much as those that are considered to have "Quality" in the world. Christ hung out with the people that were not considered quality in his day, very few times was he with the "Religious Leaders" and when he was it was not usually good. I guess where we are at is going to depend on our maturity in Christ and where we are in our walks with him. All of our needs are different and they are different at different times of our lives.

OK so I went a couple of different directions here and it was not exactly short. I hope this all makes sense, to you as I try to explain here what God was showing me with this.

"Qaulity People"

So I went out to a game night last night with some ladies, I only knew a few people most of them went to another church. We started talking about different churches and them being grounded in the Word, which is the most important thing in a church, Then I was thrown for a loop when one of the ladies mentioned other Churches and said they have "Quality People". Wow that got my wheels turning. I didn't say anything because I was new but I really started thinking. Is that what we look for in a church "Quality People". Quality people in whose eyes? Aren't we all in Jesus'. I'll stop there. I have so many thoughts on this and wanted to throw it out there, in blog world, and get your feedback before I spill everything that God showed me with this. It actually made me sad to think about. Any thoughts???

I need to add this point because of some other thoughts. I was/am in no way judging this person who said this. It just sparked something in me to think about and discus. And since I didn't ask what she meant by it I cannot judge, but what do I (and you) think about it.