Thanksgiving with Community

Thanksgiving with our community group last night was so much fun! The food was yummy and the fellowshipping was great! I am so thankful for such a wonderful group of not only fellow church-goers and believers, but friends.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will for you in Christ Jesus."

- 2 Thessalonians 5:16-17

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."

- Hebrews 12:28

Clothing Swap!

Look at all the great stuff I got at last night's clothing swap! It was so much fun! It was so great to see Cristin (Hi Cristin!) and to find some cool new things. What a great idea! I got 2 sweaters, a few shirts, a purse, some shorts, a pair of jeans, and a few dresses. I look forward to next years swap! :)

We Have a Wall!

Randy, his dad, family and friends have all worked so hard to complete this project. We have a wall! We are now parking our trailer at our house which is so nice. The wall was our huge outside project and we are so thankful it is done. Now we just need a gate and some landscaping and we'll pretty much be done!

Best Buddies

Marley got a visit today from her best bud, Casey.

Diary of a Day Off

I had the day off on Wednesday for Veterans Day. (Thank you to our courageous and selfless troops. Your sacrifice has given us freedom.) Randy took the day off with me.

We slept in...

then took a walk with Marley...

to where else? It's been a long time since we just sat together with nowhere to go. We sat for at least an hour, just talking and enjoying our drinks. Ah...

Isn't she so good?

We saw a lot of Fall along the way.

At home we cleaned up, relaxed a bit and a few hours later we drove to

for lunch. Chinese chicken salad- yummy!

After lunch we got our

balanced and rotated.

While we waited I went to Michael's and we both wandered around Big Lots. When we picked up the car, we knew it was time for only one thing- a NAP!

When we woke up we drove to our foster care licensing class. We are now 2 classes away (and a whole lot of paperwork, a Dr. visit, fingerprinting and a home visit) away from being foster parents. Because... "...once our eyes are opened,we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know,and holds us responsible to act."(Proverbs 24:12)

For now we would like infants to be placed in our home. We are praying for the little lives we will be a part of. We know the road ahead will be a challenge, but we look forward to being used by God and to be able to consider our upcoming trials "pure joy."

What a great day off!

Lots a Stuff

We have been having our community group Bible study at our house for about 3 weeks now. I love it! I am so thankful the Lord has provided us our home to use in this way. I have loved getting to know the many different people in our Newbury Park area who attend our church. We are loving living life with them, studying God's word with them and taking care of each other's needs. We are truly blessed. On Thursday we will be sharing our testimony. I am a little nervous!

I am so happy to report that although there is no news on my work laptop, we bought a laptop for me about a week ago. Yeah! I love it! :)

We are SO excited for our upcoming cruise to Mexico! Over the week of Thanksgiving (and Randy's b-day) we will be going on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with Randy's parents and brother. I am so excited because I have never been on a cruise before! I am looking forward to rest and relaxation and the whole experience of it all!

I was thinking about this past year, and for many reasons it has been pretty difficult. Family stuff, personal stuff, blah, blah. My heart was feeling really heavy lately as I let these issues rise to the surface because if you don't deal with something, it always comes back until you do. Well, the message at church on Sun. was just what I needed to hear. Francis was speaking on 2 Peter and the passages dealing with putting forth every effort to build moral character. The thing that stuck with me the most was perseverance (or steadfastness.) There seems to be a disconnect between what my head knows (to "consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of any kind") and what my heart actually feels. When speaking with a friend at a baby shower on Sun. afternoon, we encouraged each other to persevere; that God is refining us and bringing us closer to Himself through our respective trials. We even said that maybe we shouldn't feel sorry for one another as a result of what we are going through, but instead be joyful that God is bringing trials in our lives to shape our character.

I am happy to have the day off tomorrow for Veterans Day. Randy is taking the day off and we are hoping to do something fun- like go to Santa Barbara for the day or something.

Ok- enough! We are off to run some errands! Love to all!

Breeders Cup

On Saturday we headed down to the Santa Anita racetrack to see the Breeder's cup with Randy's brother Ryan- a vet at the track. It was really fun and interesting to people watch (see the guy in the kilt? We saw about 5 guys in kilts. I'm telling you- the people watching was awesome)

and take in all the racing, betting and horses! It was all very exciting!

Spider Hats!

Spider hats are the coolest.