Trip to Kauaii

I'm PREGNANT

Here's the Scoop...I was heading home from work on Monday, August 14th, and I just had to stop at Target and get a test. I found this awesome one that had 3 in 1 so I decided to take one there!!! I was just so excited. Unfortunately the test was inconclusive (or so I thought) because the line was so faint but I bought 2 little bibs anyway; each saying "I Love Daddy," one in pink and one in blue. I decided to wait and tell John after I had taken another test. The next morning I took the 2nd and again the line was too faint (but there was a line). Wednesday, August 16th was the infamous day! I actually took the test on my lunch break at work and low and behold that second line was extremely dark!

I called John immediately but no answer- he was in a meeting at church- so for about 2 hours God & I were the only ones who knew :) So when I finally spoke with John I could barely contain myself and nothing that I said could convince him to come to my work so I asked him to go look in the car for something that I needed (the bibs happened to be in the back seat) and immediately he knew even before he found the bag. He showed up about 5 seconds later and we jumped around and laughed and cried a little. So I realized that if there is ANY kind of line on a test - it's positive!

Praise the Lord for His amazing blessing and miracle in our lives.

John's Birthday

John made some cool friends! We had so much fun taking the train down to San Diego with our two craziest friends, Ry Ry & Steph

Eskimo Kisses!

The HAPPY Birthday Boy!

My peeps!

The guys!

Found this seriously cute giraffe at the SB Zoo!

Me and John-boy at Stephanie's 21st!

Summer Lake Trip

Tubing, Skiing, Jumping from the Rope Swing (only the girls had the gutts), Cliff jumping, Laying on mats, eating, eating some more and all the while giving glory to God for who He is and all He has done in our lives. Passages studied John 17 "Christ's Prayer before the Cross" and Hebrews 6 "The Promises of God".

Go Bethany!

Oh Snap!

Our little Eskimos

Devotions on the Boat

It was a small group this time but we had a BLAST!

Clay & Lotte

Lotte & Clay, my new favorite couple. I had such a blast spending time with the two of them before Jenny's wedding 2 weeks ago. We went to San Francisco and ate at the Rainforest Cafe and walked arond Pier 39.

It was the most beautiful night and I was hanging out with the cutest couple; the two you see above. Clay, was such a breath of fresh air. He was very relaxed and at a much slower pace than Lotte and I. We were basically running down the street and Clay was just strollin'. My favorite part of the night was driving home and singing worship songs together.

It was a very memorable evening and I look forward to when John meets Clay. We are going to have a lot of fun together :) God has given the two of them so much to be thankful for!

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

-Psalm 37:4

National Energy Symposium

Jack had the opporunity to speak to Laurel Erickson on NBC regarding energy.

He knows what he's talking about!


To see the full Segment go to:
http://www.tci1.org/

Frontline

These past months of ministry have been so great. We are so humbled that God would choose us to be in this position in His church. Our young adults group is really becoming such a tight knit clan. There are a few fun events planned for this month.

FM Calendar:

1. Lake Trip at the end of June.
2. Dodger game in July.
3. Camping Trip in August.
4. BBQ's every other Friday night (FNL-friday night live)

The Lord has truly been blessing the guy/girl Bible Studies as well. We (the women) are in the 6th chapter of "Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney and it has been a huge time of growth and conviction in all of our lives. John preached a great sermon last night on 1 Peter 3:15-17- being ready to give a defense of the gospel. What an applicable message for us in this day in age; there are so many outside infulences that would try to rob the simplicity of the gospel and it's truth. I love the two questions John posed at the end of his sermon.

Are you living a life that other people would even ask you to give a defense of the gospel?

Would people come and ask you why all the things they hear and see from the media are so different from the way you live?

Wow!

Memorial Day BBQ

Hi Girls!

We had a really fun and relaxing time. It was nice to see everyone again!

As always the food was fantastic! Thank you to everyone!

There was a serious game of pool volleyball.

Chloe Anne

We went to visit the Rayners on Sunday. We had a lot of fun accept I woke Chloe up from her nap and it took a while for her to calm down. Woops! Another lesson learned.

She has grown so much! Praise God she gained a pound and a few ounces!

Awww...Baby Feet

Welcome Home Chloe

Welcome home Chloe Anne.

Katie and Chloe.

An updated picture of Chloe. She is too Cute.

It's a Girl!

Precious Chloe

Mommy & Baby

The Whole Family

First granddaughter!

Sweet Chloe Anne was born at 5:40 pm last night and it was one of the most unbelievable experiences of my life. I had the privilege of being in the room when she delivered and can I just say the anticipation was almost unbearable! Marianne, Tanya, Kurt & I stayed the night at the hospital the night before waiting for the contractions & dilation to come but unfortunately by 7:00 am there was no progress.

Marianne and I had tried to sleep on and off but that didn't work out so well. At about 7:15 am she and I left to go home for a little while (I took a nap). John woke me up and told me that the doctor had come by and things were beginning to happen. By 5:15 she was ready and it all happened so quickly. When I saw Chloe's perfect little head come out I was in awe of God's greatness. He allowed a smooth delivery and a completely healthy baby girl. The excitement in the room was unforgettable! There was screaming, crying, smiles and laughs! One of the sweetest moments was when Kurt was looking at Chloe and just started weeping. He said, "Now there are to very important women in my life." God is so good and so faithful.

Katie and Kurt are amazing parents and I know this will only continue to bring them closer to the Lord and each other. Katie is such a beautiful woman inside and out and a remarkable example in my life of a godly wife and mother and I am so blessed and honored to call her my sister. I will never forget these moments as long as I live. Praise God for this very good and perfect gift because Lord it's all from you.

Lazy Days

The guys.

Amy's Shower

Katie, Nat & Jen helped make the room look beautiful!

God knew that I needed to be around my sweet friends that day. I was so blessed by them and my adorable Amy looked cute as ever. Before Nat & Jen left they gave me a card that with little notes in it from each girl. It was so overwhelming and I thank God for the strength and encouragement he gave me that day. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Spring Retreat

Us

Stopping in Fresno.

Flat tire on the way up but the gus had it handled.

Beauiful Day at the Lake.

Looking out at creation and singing "God of Wonders."

Superbowl Party

The girls seem interested. Maybe not.

Burke was way into the game!

Amanda just happened to know al l the answers to

our game of "Battle of the Sexes."

Our goup at Superbowl.

Home Owners

This is the lay out of our second floor. (Click the layout to see a bigger picture).

We have now been home onwers for almost a month and we have had some exciting things happen! It all started off with our toilet overflowing for about 5 hours and our closet and half of our bedroom was flooded in about an inch of water. We are so thankful that John found the flood in time and it wasn't running for 40 days and 40 nights :) The second thing that we found was a little furry friend in our pantry. Yes, we found a very small cute mouse that we named bandit. We have been trying to catch this thing for about a week but with no success. Hopefully it will eat the disguised poison and die in a peaceful place OUTSIDE!! The final adventure happened this morning as I was getting out of the shower; the entire glass door shattered! No warning, it just hit the bumper going very slowly and shattered in to a million pieces.

Well you can imagine our surprise at all of these events and in the midst of them all God has brought us peace and joy. We have so much to be thankful for and even though these situations can cause us stress and frustration we realize now more than ever the difference in storing up our treasures on earth or in heaven. When faced with owning your own home we never thought about how much we would be bombarded with materialism; we have really prayed against this and have continued focusing on Christ and furthering His kingdom.

John had the priviledge of leading a Bible Study last night at Cal Lutheran and it was a blessed time. He preached on being immovable for Christ and fighting with the strength and courage that only comes from above.