Summer is over! Well, for us anyway. We are off to Hawaii tomorrow!! YEAH! We, being, myself, Rich, and Ellie. Jaron is staying here at Hume with some staff girls. We didn't think he would appreciate the trip or the plane ride. Well, the summer went really well for both Rich and I, very separate, but well.
Anyways, we are hoping to blog while in Hawaii, so keep checking. If you don't see anything then check Facebook, and if you don't have FB, e-mail us and remind us to blog. :-) HahA!
Much <3

At Last

Okay, so I know it has been forever since I wrote a blog, and I have three excuses for you. One-Very Busy, Two-Facebook makes me feel like I blog everyday, and Three-Everytime I've tried, I have not been able to get on the site. Lame, I know, but there you have it.

So to catch you up on the highlights of the last couple months: Running Huckleberry and Day Camp is a Blast! I seriously love my job and am having the best time! I get to bring my kids to work, and I have the best staff! Downside, Rich and my schedules are pretty much opposite, but we're makin' it happen.

Ellie is a big help at Huckleberry, when she's in the mood, and is doing really well at being there eight hours a day! She talks like a little grown-up, loves pretending and coloring, and her friends.

Jaron is our monkey. He climbs on anything and everything and loves to stand on things he probably shouldn't. He does pretty well at Huckleberry, gets a little sad when he sees me but can't have me. He can run, play, dance, sing, color and...wait for it...sleep through the night!
Our latest adventure was going down to Rob's for the 4th of July. Rich's parents and brother Steve flew up and so we decided to go meet them down there. Then, they watched the kids while we went wakeboarding, which made me a very happy camper. There are two things I ache to do, sing and wakeboard. I know it's weird, but I really do get almost queasy when it's been too long. And I'm not even that good, ha!

Ellie has been taking and loving swim lessons with her friend Hannah, so that has been fun.
Rich has been busy with Wildwood as usual and of course, putting on the traditional Pizzookie production at the end of camp. And he performed his third wedding yesterday for a couple who grew up here at Hume.

Well, hopefully I will find the time to jump on here a bit more often, if not I'm really sorry, I love you all just the same!

Ballet Pictures

Dedication and Ballet

This was a really fun week to be back with our kids! On Sunday Jaron had his dedication at church. It was really special, they read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 for us and then had the Joshua students recite the beginning of it in Hebrew. They do this at every meal, it is called the Shema. We raise our pinkies as a reminder of God's power, because there is a Hebrew tradition that God made the plagues with just the power in His pinky, so imagine what He could do with His whole hand. Jaron would have no part of sitting still or being quiet the whole beginning of the service but did really good when it was his turn. He just made one squeal while the elders prayed for him and us. But what would you expect, everyone stopped looking at him!
Then Monday was Ballet dress rehearsal for Ellie. Tuesday was Ballet Pictures, and Wednesday was the Recital. So fun and so cute all those little minis are! The older girls came out and "woke up" all the little ones, and they just got up and did free dance, precious! Then they were suppose to all come out to the front, hold hands, and curtsy. But Ellie stood in front of all the other girls and just smiled and curtsied on her own, it was awesome! She did really good too, at sitting still and watching the rest of the show, which was the part I was most nervous about. :-)

The Joshua students graduate on Sunday, so that should be fun!

Oh, I have to do the Ballet pictures in the next blog, because I can only do 5 at a time.

Israel Song

So I would love to tell you every single part of my Israel trip, which was AMAZING!!! But really, you'll just have to go. But I will give you one of my favorite places and moments and then I wrote a little song/poem that I put at the end.

Hiking Mnt. Arbel. Arbel is a mountain on the Sea of Galilee, it is in the city of Tiberias, it is very likely that Jesus spent time climbing it possibly to have some quiet time with God, maybe preach the Beatitudes or even feed the 5,000. When we were on the top there were several special moments. First, Rich talked on the feeding of the 5,000 and how in Jewish culture they think in pictures and how numbers represent different things, and so when Jesus asks His disciples to use the 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed them, readers could be thinking, hmm, 5=the first 5 books of the Bible, the Torah, and 2=The 2 Tablets, or Ten Commandments. And when there are 12 basketfuls left over, they could be thinking, hmm, Jesus is for the 12 tribes. And when he later feeds the 4,000 in the pagan area, there are 7 basketfuls left over, hmm, 7=7 Pagan Nations, Jesus is for the Gentiles too! Just a cool thought.

Then while we were up there, we heard an alarm that is set off all over Israel on the day of remembrance for those who died in the Holocaust. The whole country stops what they are doing, stands up and has a minute of silence, they pull over their cars and everything. It was really special to see how they honor their lost, they do the same thing the day before their Independance day to honor the soldiers, we got to do this as well, on the way to the airport. I pointed out that all we seem to do in America is have sales, in Israel, they close the stores all day to just be in remembrance.

The next super cool thing we did on Arbel, was to just spend time in small groups praying. This was a really neat time.

And to top it off, the actual experience of hiking up, and especially down, Arbel was phenominal! Almost the entire way day we walked on about a foot wide "trail" holding on to staples on the rock face. It was SO RAD!

Okay, I hope that gives you a little picture of our trip, I will try to write more, but I don't want to have it be too, too long, so maybe I'll just do another favorite on a another day.

But now, I will leave you with this:

Can’t Help
Looking over this valley, where a boy killed a Philistine, I can’t help but think of you.
You use the weak, oh you are strong, that is why I sing this song, I can’t help but think of you.
Walking through this desert place, kicking rocks a smile on my face, I can’t help but think of you.
To think how you provided, and to think how you provide, I can’t help but think of you.
Looking out from this Sea shore, thinking of a calming storm, I can’t help but think of you.
How your power made it still, how your power is unfathomable, I can’t help but think of you.
Climbing up this mountain side, where you may have come to sit and hide, I can’t help but think of you.
Praying over this sweet view, on my knees thinking of you, can’t help but think of you.
Standing in this garden of trees, picturing you on your knees, I can’t help but think of you.
Hoping I will not be, a disciple who falls asleep, I can’t help but think of you.
Walking on these city streets, taking in the smells and heat, I can’t help but think of you.
Walking where you surely walked, carrying that wooden cross, can’t help but think of you.
Watching prayers touch a wall, to be near you when they call, I can’t help but think of you.
So glad you are in me, and you hear my every praise and plea, I can’t help but think of you.
Israel 2009

Shalom

Going to Israel for two weeks! Keep updated with us on JoshuaWilderness.org
Love you all, keep us and our kids in your prayers!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Well this a tricky blog to write because it has been an emotional week. Last Thursday I was outside playing with the kids and one of our neighbors drove by and asked if I was coming to the meeting. I didn't know that there was a meeting, he said yeah, it's at 4pm and the wives are invited. This is very unusual and not usually good, so I made it happen. Luckily some of the older neighbor girls were up for last minute babysitting. The meeting started with one of our directors introducing the new chairman of the board of Hume. He proceeded to read the resignation letter of our Executive Director Jeff Lilley. Which included little details of why, but some conflict and struggle with the board for the past year and that he just realized he was not the guy to take Hume to the next stage. This was effective immediatly and Bob Phillips the 68 year old former Director was put in as interum director until they could find someone for the job. They made it very clear that, although this was very fast, that there was no moral or integrity issue, but that it was just time for a change. Jeff came to Hume as a Wagon Train camper, then came on staff almost 30 years ago, met his wife, Eugenie, here, and only left for a few years to attend Multnomah Bible College in Oregon. They had their 4 children here and adopted their 5th. We have absoutely loved working for Jeff and have admired both his leadership, his vision, and his integrity. His wife Eugenie has been an amazing example of a Godly woman, she has been helping in Ellie's ballet class this year, and having us moms over to hang out and play with the kids in her home during the winter months, which has been really special. We will miss them dearly and covet your prayers for the Lilley family, for Hume's staff, leadership, and board of directors. Thanks a ton!

Make Shift

Sorry, this is not going to be a long blog. Hopefully I will fill you all in soon on the latest, but I'm just not up for it yet. But I did want to show you this sweet video of our little chatterbox! Enjoy.

My Little Promised Land!

Okay so I know it's nothing compared to Heaven, but Jaron slept through the night ALL WEEK!!

I know I shared with some of you that when reading Deuteronomy I started comparing my pregnancy with Jaron to the desert/wilderness of the Old Testament, because it was just long and scary and a time that God brought us to our knees to trust Him to provide each day. Then, that the birth of Jaron was like coming to the Promised Land only to find Giants there and have it be really hard to conquer. (Since he was just a little tougher, okay a lot tougher, with the colic and the not sleeping or eating well, with his ecsema etc.) But I knew that God would be faithful to go before me as He would the Israelites and that He created the "giants" and could easily destroy them if He wanted to. Now I feel like I am coming back to the Promised Land and feel like God is providing blessings each day! Giant One: Eating-when I stopped nursing him and he learned to drink from a cup (skipped the bottle completely) and eating solid food, he seems much more satisfied and content as well as growing better. Giant Two: His Skin- Well after trying to cut out milk and wheat and that not working I finally discovered that carrots made his skin act up and got a prescription for trouble spots that works really well. Giant Three: Sleeping- After a year of getting up multible times a night to eat, last week I got really sick and Rich was leaving for Vegas, so I prayed and prayed and begged God to let him sleep just one night so I could get better to take care of them while he was gone. And he slept 8 Hours, it was phenominal! I praised Jesus all day and asked again that night and he slept like 10 hours! God just kept blessing and I kept thanking Him! He has now slept everyday this week since Sunday and I couldn't be happier!

Thank you all for the prayers through these last couple of years from miscarrying to getting pregnant to complications with the pregnancy to having Jaron to having Jaron get mean :-) It has been much appreciated and I am giving all Glory to God for His provision, care, comfort and strength to do it!

I know there will be hard times to come, and who knows this may be only a week of sleep and then back, but I don't think so, but how great to know How Great Our God is! He is So Worthy of our Praise!

One, Solitary, Step

Yeah, Jaron took a step today, yes, just one, and as soon as we try to get him to go again he curls his little legs up and refuses, so stubborn, ha! But he is pro at finding things to push around the house for practice! He's such a cutie, other new tricks of his are: giving an attempt to say "please" in sign language, getting a molar and a front tooth at one time, waving hi on occasion, drinking cow's milk, pointing the remote at the TV and stacking blocks! :-)

Ellie had a great morning, we had fun cleaning and playing, and she randomly told me she loved me, which is always a favorite, then a while later, (while she was in the bathroom) she told me I was her best friend So Sweet, I almost teared up. Of course, apparently she doesn't treat her friends that great because all through lunch she was naughty. But I have to give her the benefit of the doubt, it is super hard to stay with mom at the table or go with mom to the car, when there are all these fun Joshua student around showering her with attention. But...she should still obey. A nap fixed that and she was good the rest of the day.

Rich has been in Texas for the last couple of days and we are looking forward to his return tomorrow night! Unfortunetely, he leaves for Las Vegas on Sunday for a week, so we will be flyin' solo again. Thank goodness I have such a great community up here, that looks out for me.

I, am thinking of giving up laundry and dishes for lent, oh, is that not how that works, hmmm, I'll have to stick it out then. Boo. But really, I am trying to wear my hiking boots regularly to break them in for Israel. We just had Bible study here tonight and it went well. My partner in leading it was there for the first time after having her baby last month so that was fun.

Okay, that's all for now. Enjoy.

Horsey Ride

We just had the best couple days, we went to visit Rich's old college roommate up in Manteca. He is home from Israel where he now lives and goes to school. So you know they had a lot to talk about! Then we headed to Oakdale to our friend Bailey's house, and her family are so sweet, they just welcomed us in, made us home made lasagna and let Ellie ride their horse Lil. She was so excited and she wasn't even nervous to get on her. She had so much fun, Bailey just walked her around the property, and at one point Ellie started singing "Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up let's go, let's look at the show" She's a doll! Then she got to help brush Lil's hair and get her hay and everything. We slept great, despite a small bed and a cat in the house. I think God was just protecting our little family time away. We had a pancake breakfast, then got on the road to Fresno where I got to get a haircut and then we headed to the last Hume Vision dinner. It was really neat to see Hume's "vision" for the future of this ministry.

Silly Jaron

Oh, Jaron, he's so silly! He still has his moments, for sure, and he still doesn't sleep through the night, even though he will be a year in two days!, but he sure is fun when he is in a good mood. He cracks me up. Today, he was "dancing", and he is getting better at standing and pushing things around, every day. He was even "singing" the other day on the Kareoke microphone, and lovin' it! He also has developed a sweet tooth, immediatly after having his first cupcake, and grunts for the cupboard with the dried blueberries in it. (Those are his new favorite)

I'll leave Ellie out of this blog, because she has been a pill lately, and no one wants to hear about that. It's much nicer to picture her as the obedient, sweet little angel that is inside her, instead of the feistyness that has been shown lately. :-)

Hope you have a happy day!

Almost One!

Sorry it has been so long since a blog. We have had a fairly uneventful couple of weeks. Although, it was fun to have Dan and Kristen, Kaia, and new baby Elijah come to visit, it was great to have the little cousins playing together and meeting each other. And Jaron has been learning a lot. He has been standing for little chunks of time, which is so cute, and last night he finally learned to clap. We’ll see if he remembers today. He has been trying more table food, which is fun and usually kinda messy. We are busy planning Jaron’s 1st Birthday party. Him and his friend Corin, who is 3 weeks older, are going to have a joint party. We put out a ton of invitations, so we will see how big a turn out we have tomorrow. Rich has been in LA all week with the Joshua students, and we have been doing okay here without him, mostly just meal times are tricky. You should check out the joshuawilderness.org site for updates on his trip, they have added some cool features.

Ellie's 3 year old spoiling!

Our sweet Ellie just turned 3! It has been quite the week too. Tuesday morning we had her "friends" party here at our house. It was so fun, there were like 10 kiddos here, running around everywhere. They colored and decorated cookies, and ate their creations, and played with all Ellie's toys, it was so fun! Then Wednesday morning was her first Ballet class, and she had lots of fun there. And then Wednesday night was her Joshua Party. Now the week before the cooks had asked her what she wanted to eat on her Birthday and she said Macoroni and Cheese and Corndogs, so that's what they served. Then Rich asked her if she wanted it to be a theme night and have people dress up, and she said yes, like Princesses. He asked, what about the boys, and she said they should dress up like ducks. Ha! I think because in her mind she remebered Halloween when she was a princess and Jaron was a duck, so it made perfect sense to her. Well, the Joshua students love her so much and everyone dressed up. In fact, when we arrived at the building, probably half of them ran out to greet her and wish her a happy birthday! Rich played all her favorite songs, you know, Stuck in the Middle by Lenka, Are we Human or are we Dancer by The Killers, Glamorous and Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie, some Coldplay, you know, all the normal songs that 3 year olds love. BaHAhaha! She was so cute, she would get kinda nervous and shy, then she would here one of "her songs" and run to the middle of the dance floor and jump and dance, then run back to her seat. I don't think she even had one whole bite of her food because she was so excited and nervous. Then we brought out her cake, which I had attempted to decorate a crown on but ran out of frosting and I had forgotten the candle, so they just sang while I brought it to her, and then I took it and cut it. It was really yummy despite the unpolished decoration. Then as the students cleaned up and got changed for their meeting we had some family time (Rich's parents are up) and Ellie opened her presents. Thank you one and all, she absolutely loved everything! It was so cute as she opened them and would realize what something was, at least three times, she was like, "this is what I wanted". Well done! Then Thursday morning we had her 3 year old Doctor visit and she had to get shots, sad day, but she was a trooper, as soon as they gave her a sucker, she got over it. It was just her and me who went down together, so it was special. We went to Chevy's and they sang to her and brought her the sombrero and ice cream treat, so fun! She was very confused why they did not sing the normal Happy Birthday song, I told her it was complicated. Anyways, that was our week, well besides the baby shower I hosted on Monday night, Bible study on Tuesday night, a women's event and then Broom Hockey on Wednesday night, the Passover Sader at Joshua on Thurday night and dinner with the family at the Hospitality House tonight, whew! What a Birthday Week!

A Good Night Sleep

Rich and I got brave and decided to leave the kids here at Hume with some very sweet and willing Joshua girls, while we went down to LA for our friend's wedding. We had a great time and had a late anniversary dinner at the amazing Ruth's Chris. Yummy! Steak, Lobster, Creme Brule, and NO KIDS! Whoo Hoo! Okay, so we love our children dearly, but it was so fantastic to have a whole nights sleep, all in a row. It was very timely, since my brain had begun to quickly deteriorate with the little sleep I had been getting. All refreshed and back at home. Oh and the wedding was great too! The bride plays Belle at Disneyland and played Jasmine at Disney, Tokyo, so the special music was phenominal and of course, she looked gorgeous! If they made a "Belle gets married" Barbie this is the dress she would wear. And they are a very sweet couple who have been dating for several years. The groom runs Reflect ministry. A ministry to the poor children in Mexico. Very cool. Anyways, the girls survived and gave us hope for the future, particularly the Israel trip. No pictures, sorry.

So many things

Okay, so first, Happy New Year! We went to our friend's house and just ate and let the kids all play, while occasionally checking in with the ball drop. Pretty low key, we left before midnight, wow different stage of life. But the best part of the night was by far, when I randomly said "Happy New Year" to Jaron in this funny voice and he just thought it was absolutely hilarious! The next day, nope, he was over it, but that night he would just laugh and laugh. I hope you enjoy the video.
Well first event of 2009 for us, was going to Pine Valley for the week with the Joshua kids. The trip went fine for most of the students, but for our little family it was rather tiring. We were all sharing a room, which is always interesting, and our sweet little Jaron must have not felt very good because he spent most nights crying/screaming for several hours of the night. I took him driving one night and Rich took him the next. It was pretty sad and exhausting but luckily Ellie slept through most of it.
The students got a lot of work done at the camp and then had a free day in San Diego. I took that day to do a little shopping and then head up to mom's to visit with Josh and his family and mom. (And to let Rich get a good night's sleep before driving all day) Saturday, I met up with all the vans and grabbed a couple girls to ride with me. They were a big help in the car and the trip up went really well.
We are home now, and tomorrow should be interesting. I'm taking Jaron, hopefully, to the doctor, and Rich will be back in the office at Joshua. The whole class and staff start a fast tomorrow, so hopefully that will go smoothly. And it is the first "normal" week since the students Christmas break, so there will be a lot of catching up to do.
We are looking forward to having Rich's parents up next week and for Ellie to start Ballet and have her birthday. All very exciting!

Christmas Fun

Some of the fun times of our Christmas festivities