Christmas

Christmas Dinner



Nice hat!



The kids on Christmas morning!



We played many games...



Christmas Dinner



Yes, we had three dogs here...Rob's dog Sammy and Mom and Dad's dog Rose were here for Christmas too! They both got along great with our dog, Trixie.



A random shot...our cookie decorating party.



Do you like my new jacket?? Oh wait...that was for Tim.



The whole family on Christmas Eve!



Well, here it is already New Year's Eve...I thought I'd post a few Christmas pictures (sorry they are in such random order). We had a great Christmas, with my parents and brother here for a few days. We're getting ready for our annual New Year's Eve party tonight; Happy New Year everyone!

San Francisco

Yesterday a group of ladies from our church took BART into the city to spend the afternoon and evening. It was chilly, but we had a nice time.

Weekend

Saturday evening we went to the annual Christmas dinner with Garratt-Callahan (Kenny's new employer). It was a really nice evening; we got to get all dressed up and have a nice meal (filet mignon and shrimp! Yum!) G-C also put all of the employees up in the hotel for the night, which was quite a treat for us! We had a great time! :)

Putting up the Christmas Tree

Just some pretty pictures...taken by Nathan and Kenny!

Thanksgiving and other stuff

Lizzy and her cousin Kyleigh. They have such fun together!

Thanksgiving - Lots of good stuff!

High school Youth Group - playing Pictionary

Helping Grandpa decorate their tree!

All of the cousins on Thanksgiving Day

Our family - November 27 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Black Belt

Saturday we found out some good news...and some bad news. First the good news...Nathan is now a BLACK BELT! We are very excited for him! And the bad news...unfortunately Tim didn't pass this time. So, he will be able to retest again after the first of the year. This was hard, b/c Nathan and Tim have passed every test together since they started TaeKwon-Do many years ago, so this is the first time only one of them progressed. Thankfully both boys are handling it well, and it's a good learning experience for us all.

Congratulations to Nathan!

Sorry...

Okay, no update for over a week. Sorry! Not much to update though. Nathan and Tim took their Black Belt test again on Saturday, but still no results to post. They aren't sure if they passed...so we will have to just wait!

Kenny is enjoying his new job; it's keeping him busy and he's learning all of the new little details that go along with a new job. His schedule is not really set yet, so the hours are inconsistent. But, he's encouraged and having fun too!

I'll post the Black Belt results when we find out about them... :o)

Starbucks and Voting

After you vote tomorrow, go to a nearby Starbucks, tell them you VOTED, and they'll give you a FREE cup of coffee!

November

Is it really November already? I guess so...Thanksgiving will be here before we know it! We are enjoying the rainy weather; rain which we really need.

Last week we went to a little Halloween "party" at Eskaton, where Kenny's Mom lives. They had a few games, and a costume parade where the residents there handed out candy.

We had a fun weekend, and I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their costumes. But we did take pictures of our pumpkins! Kenny loves carving pumpkins, so he did that with the kids. Nathan did one of an "emoticon smile" and the other one was a double sided pumpkin. One side was a butterly (for Lizzy) and the other side was a strange face. Tim roasted the seeds, which were really yummy! :)

Nothing much else is new here...don't forget to get out and VOTE tomorrow, if you haven't already.

A new job...

After 15 + years with the same company, Kenny has moved on to a new opportunity! It was somewhat sad, but on October 8th Kenny gave his two week notice with CH2O. He started working for them right after he got out of the Navy, in 1993. He enjoyed his job very much, but due to some changing circumstances within the company, he decided to seek new opportunities. His last day with CH2O was Friday, the 17th.

He was hired by Garratt-Callahan, and started working for them yesterday. We are excited for the new direction this job will take Kenny, and although it is the same industry (water treatment) this job will give him the accountability and growth potential he has been seeking. God is good to have opened this door for us very quickly, and we are thankful for His provision for us.

Thank you to all those who prayed for us during this transition! :o)

And the boys went camping

Kenny, Nathan and Tim went camping with a group of men from our church last night. They had a great time burning things, eating barbecued beef and staying up all night. They were all quite dirty and tired when they got home!

Here are a few pictures...taken by either Nathan or Tim.

Licensed Driver...

Congratulations to Nathan, who is now a licensed driver in California! He got his driver's license on Tuesday!

Pretty exciting...and a little scary for me! :)

Silly cat

Our funny cat decided that he wanted to sleep inside a tote bag. When we found him inside it, we hung the bag on the doorknob! :)

He looks slightly annoyed with the whole affair...and it drove the dog crazy b/c she could smell him, but couldn't find him! He stayed very still there...

Vacation

Big Basin State Park

The trees were so tall...

One of the many sand castles...this wasn't one of the best ones!

We celebrated Tim's birthday on Wednesday, October 1st! Happy Birthday Tim! (He's 14)

We had a great time on our vacation, although we all agreed that it went by way too fast. The weather was beautiful; sunny and in the 70's. We spent Friday afternoon at the redwood forest, at Big Basin State Park. God's creation is amazing...HUGE trees, some of which are estimated to be 2000 years old!

It's good to be home...but we missed waking up to sound of the ocean.

**Congratulations to our friends, Stef and Jason Arnold, on the birth of their baby girl yesterday! Kara Joy Arnold!