Going Away Party

With about 10 days from our announcement that we were moving, to Nathan actually flying out to Chicago to start work, there wasn't a lot of time to try to connect with friends to say good-bye. So we were thankful for a few friends who offered to put together a going away party so we could have a chance to see lots of people all at one time. Thank you to the Dragojlovic family for hosting the party in their beautiful home. It was the perfect place to have lots of people, including lots of kids. The kids had so much fun playing in the tree house, swinging on the tree swings, and tire swing, and running around the yard. Here's a few pictures from our evening...

LOVE this pictures with Micah and some of his closest friends. They had a ball playing around in the tree house on the night of the party.

Ashlyn was excited to get a special gift from Auntie Vonna... a new teacup for her tea party collection!

Zachary and Ashlyn had fun playing together inside

So grateful for God's blessing of friendship!

A Visit to Chicago

After much prayer, in September we traveled out to Chicago for Nathan to interview at Harvest Bible Chapel. We had a great time there and were so thankful for the time together to consider where God might be leading us.

This was the only picture we got of the two of us, as we were waiting to board our plane to return to CA

It was a busy weekend, but we had a little time to drive around and see the city. We were there at a great time of year - Chicago really is a beautiful city!

This is the HBC campus in Rolling Meadows, our new church

While we were away, our kiddos had a wonderful time with their cousins! Lots of playing and silliness with these four.

Man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps

When we moved to California, 13 years ago, we did so under the premise that it was temporary - just long enough to get Nathan through his undergrad degree. But once that was finished, the Lord led us on to seminary. And after that, a position at the Master's College.

Once we had been here so long, we just felt settled. A great job, a great church, and wonderful friends! Why would we ever leave? If you had asked us a year ago, we would have said we thought we'd be in California at least another 20 - 30 years. We were definitely planning our ways.

But praise God, that in His sovereignty, our path doesn't always go in the direction that we plan. The Lord used a number of things several months ago to cause us to start praying about what He might have next for us. It has been exciting to see God's faithfulness to answer our prayers specifically and with great clarity. As a result we are following the Lord's leading into full-time ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago. We had the opportunity to visit the church a few weeks ago and are very excited about what the Lord is doing there. We are overwhelmed at God's grace to provide an opportunity to join the team there and be a part of what He is doing in Chicago.


The joy is bittersweet though as it means leaving so many who we know and love in California. We have been blessed with many wonderful friendships here and that certainly makes leaving difficult.

Nathan will begin work on October 17, so we have much to do between now and then. We covet your prayers as we make this transition and trust the Lord for what He has next.

My Baby's Growing Up

It was a joy to celebrate Micah's birthday this summer! But I have to say, "I can't believe my baby is growing up!" He keeps telling me it won't be long before he'll be taller than me. And I'm sure he's right! I love to remember those days when I could hold him in my arms and everything was so new! But it is so much fun to have a 7 year old to interact and have fun with. Every day is filled with adventure and crazy new ideas. I love his imagination!

Anticipating our traditional birthday breakfast cake!

Wow! Look at all those candles!

Ready to EAT!!

Blowing birthday kisses

After breakfast, Micah was sent on a scavenger hunt to find his birthday present...

4 clues later he ended up at the front door to find his new bike!

It didn't take long for him to start trying new tricks

Daddy even got in on the trick action

And Ashlyn was eager to join in on the bike riding!

He was surprised to find out we would be going to see Cars 2 at the theater. He loved the movie!!

For his birthday dinner, Micah picked triple mac/quadruple cheese

We had a great day celebrating our special birthday boy!

She's Growing Up

I can't believe our little girl is growing up so fast. Ashlyn turned 3 last month and she had so much fun celebrating. Here's a few pictures from her birthday season...

She loves Minnie Mouse so we went with a Minnie themed party this year

Her favorite part of the cake was licking the icing off the feet of the characters

Daddy and the birthday girl

Yum! She much preferred ice cream over cake

Yay!!! Time to open presents!!

All Minnied up! Thanks to Joshie and Josiah.

Micah was an eager helper for Ashlyn

So determined to get that paper off.

We got to celebrate Aunt Bonnie's birthday too. Here the boys are quite eager to see the goodies in her basket.

It was fun to have both dads with us... a rare occurrence these days.

We were excited to have Miss Olewiler join us too!

So excited about some matching teacups from Aunt Bonnie! She was ready to use them that night.

Later we got to Skype with Papa and Nana while they watched Ashlyn open some of her presents. Modern technology is so much fun!

Ashlyn and Josh

Here's the birthday girl on her birthday... all decked out in purple. So cute!

Checking out some fun treats at her place setting in the morning.

Ready for breakfast birthday cake. Ashlyn loved blowing out her candles...

but she loved licking them off even better.

How old are you now?

A few more presents

We had a our homeschool group on her birthday so we took some little cupcakes to celebrate with her friends. They were a big hit!

Her favorite thing to do in the nursery is playing with a stuffed animal in the swing. She straps Mickey in...

and then swings him for a bit before taking him out and starting the process all over again.

Mama and the birthday girl

For lunch we met Daddy and work to eat in the caf. Ashlyn picked Froot Loops for lunch. What fun!

Ashlyn was quite surprised when the ladies who work at the caf brought over a special treat for her. They called everyone's attention to the little girl celebrating her birthday and then everyone proceeded to sing to her. We were shocked at how embarrassed she was. She just looked down at the table and her face got quite red. I guess she's not always too keen on being the center of attention.

Finishing off with an ice cream cone with Daddy

Back at home getting herself ready. (Thanks for the lipgloss Nana!)

Yet another round of singing for the birthday girl

We had Daniel and Andrew with us to celebrate that night. So fun!

Reading the Bible and getting ready for bed.

Ashlyn got a sleeping bag for her birthday so the kids were excited to try them out that night. She didn't last long in there though. I guess it takes a little time to get used to sleeping in a bag. She thought it was much more comfortable to sleep in her bed.