Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Big Bear: Summer 2012

This summer, while on sabbatical, we scheduled in some time to see my mom and Jerry up in Big Bear Lake.  Big Bear is my home-town and I have some great memories of growing up in that little mountain town that I am thankful I can share with my family.

While in Big Bear we did some of the normal things that I love to do: eat at Teddy Bear, try to catch lizards with my girls, feed the ducks, hit the zoo and eat at La Montana.  Here are a few memorable pics from our trip.

Sophie and Leah looking at a deer
Sophie and Leah riding the animals!
Leah trying to pet a mountain lion who wants to eat her
This is how you eat a pancake!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Pondo Summer Camp 2012

While on my sabbatical, this last summer, I had a really cool opportunity to speak at my first summer camp.  I have done a couple winters at Pondo and have really enjoyed them but after summer camp I was so stoked on the ministry that Pondo has!  I loved how they format their summer camp; the time is great, the location is wonderful, the cost is doable and the staff is caring.

While I don't have any plans to write about what I spoke about or how Chapel went I do want to tell a story I will never forget.

My oldest daughter Sophie loves animals.  She would have every animal that she could get her hands on if I would allow her to.  Every time we see a dog she wants to pet it and she knows the breed of many dogs.

This summer at camp we saw a few lizards running around and Sophie very much wanted to catch one.  One day after getting our lunch, with my hands full, Sophie saw a lizard just outside the Chapel.  She asked me to help but I had my hands full.  Sophie started chasing the lizard around, who was no small lizard, and he almost ran into chapel but someone stopped him from doing so.  After that he ran under a small pile of wood.  Sophie started moving the wood and got him to run out from it.  Then it happened; when the lizard was in the middle of the walk area Sophie pounced on him and caught him!

Sophie caught a huge blue-bellied lizard all on her own.


For the next three hours Sophie held that lizard as her prized possession.  She pet the lizard and showed him to everyone she encountered.  She was so stoked on her accomplishment and enjoyed every moment she had with that lizard before we asked her to release him back into the wild so he could have dinner with his family.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Happy Halloween {2012}

New City, New Costume, New Neighborhood, Same Candy, Lots of Fun

That could describe what Halloween looked like for us this year.

This Halloween we spent with our great friends The Halls!  We went over to their house for some yummy dinner and then hit the streets to get our fair share of the candy that was to be had.  The weather held up for the most part but towards the end of our adventure it began to drizzle on us some.

Normally I haven't dressed up for Halloween but this year it changed.  Sophie dressed up as a lady bug and Charity chose to be a lady bug too.  Leah already had her Ariel (the little Mermaid) costume so I wanted to do something that could help me connect with her.  I decided to be a fisherman who was trying to catch a mermaid!  We had the best time with our friends going around the block.  Leah rode in her stroller while Sophie ran around with the big kids.  I had a great time shouting: "I'm a fisherman and I'm going to catch you mermaid" to which Leah would respond" "You can't catch me.  I'm in my stroller."