Big Weekend

It's been a while since I put up a post, so here's my large-ish Catch-Up Post . . .

This Saturday, Erik was baptized!

He had been baptized as a baby, but when he recently committed his life to Christ he made the decision to be baptized again as an adult. It was neat to have friends and family to celebrate with us. I didn't get pictures of everyone, but thought I'd start to introduce some of our California Family:

You've met our friend Bill in some earlier posts . . . Noelle & Andy came down from Sacramento for the weekend . . . and Theresa & Anthony came from Mountain View (in the Bay area).We're in a small group at church with Brent & Julie (David, Lily & Hannah)Little Allison's parents Chrissy & Ryan are also in our small group, and I've started helping Ryan with the youth group on Thursday nights (I don't do much, but it's sure fun to start to get to know the youth) Jenny and her mom Tammy (small group), Connie & Wayne, Don & BonnieJustice & Michelle are also in our small group Their girls were playing with a couple of Tim & Amanda's little onesPastor Jeff makin' coffee . . . somehow Kelly escaped the camera Aaron talking to Theresa over the plethora of desserts (his wife Starla was also camera shy) The jacuzzi was extremely popular with the kids :-) We had gorgeous weather all weekend--back to the cooler, beautiful weather after a flash of uber hot days.

Anthony playing with the dogsTheresa enjoying the hammockFOOSEBALL!!!Rosie completely passed out in the Spare Oom after everyone leftIt was a really good weekend and nice to spend time with folks. Wish we all lived closer!

Oh, before I sign off, I just realized I never posted pictures from Easter so here are "a couple, tree" ;-)

Bill & Ben joined us (Pei couldn't due to her work schedule) Dinner was followed by a rough and tumble Scrabble game And this is Sam's self-satisfied Smirk of Chair Stealing, which he did every single time Bill stood up. Ha!
Love to you all, and I will try to post more regularly again.
oxox
cmr

Sharp Veer in Direction

It’s been on odd week. Not a bad week, but a hard one. And yet good too.

Confused yet? We were. :-)

Have you ever felt like you were onto something? You made a decision and you felt good about it. Things seemed to be falling into place, confirming it in your mind. Stumbling blocks were ignored with confidence, and moments of doubt easily swept aside or buried in anticipation of this thing you knew was right.

And then WHAM! A seed of thought, perhaps unintentionally sown, becomes an inexorable, Rooted Thing in the middle of your Perfect Plan. And you are forced to stop and think. And pray and listen. And yield. And if you do it right, there is joy in it (if you’re like me, it comes after some kicking and wailing). And a peace. Right alongside the heart-wrenching letting go of what you wanted.

So the good, bad, exciting, sad, happy news is that we’re staying. We’ve decided (with help) that right now Bakersfield is where we’re supposed to be. Letting go of our plans wasn’t easy, but we’re also feeling encouraged about continuing to become more invested and involved here. Who knows what the future will bring?

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and encouragement this week. And please pray for us as we start house-hunting!

We love you. And we’re looking forward to a summer visit to Wisconsin!

A Walk in the Park

We've been enjoying a local park a lot lately, and I thought I'd post a few pictures from our recent excursions.

This isn't at the park. We leave the cats at home. But aren't they cute? ;-DOne of the things Hart Park is known for is a group of peacocks that hang around near the Ranger Station. Apparently some were donated years and years ago and they've become part of the park. They are not very shy and on one of our trips there was a male displaying for some Extremely Unimpressed Females. I, however, was definitely impressed!The Kern River runs through the park. The currents in the river are really strong and dangerous, so swimming is highly discouraged. We have let the dogs play in a semi-protected shallow area where we can wade, but only on the leash. Thomas is enthralled and likes to wade out and snatch at leaves floating by on the water. Pippin sat on a rock until we took him back to the shore. ;-D This cagey scrub jay didn't want his picture taken. Handsome fellow on the trail We've been having just lovely weather--this is truly the best time of year out here!MallardHorsetailHairy WoodpeckerGreat Blue HeronWe also saw a couple of turtles resting on logs, but they plopped into the water faster than I could raise my camera! May you find hidden treasures near you today!