peace

sorry we've been so silent. we have had such a busy few weeks that have also been a roller coaster. i'll post photos soon of our lovely fun and whirlwind time with our dear dear aunt leanne...but for now, just wanted to share the latest on the job hunt...

so...when i say whirlwind, i really mean it. this past month we spoke with a church in the area about their vacant senior pastor position. it is a church that is also in our denomination. our pastor with whom ryan is super close and just finished serving under (ry is no longer the worship director at wilshire ave as of the last sunday in june...such an amazing 5 years and such a great transition out of employed ministry at wilshire) suggested to this churches search committee that they should look at ryan as a potential candidate. and so they did.

ry spoke with them on the phone a few times, sent off the application, answered their questions, they came and heard him preach (he ROCKED it in my biased opinion!) and then we visted their church twice. ryan then went through two pretty long and gruling interviews with the denomination as well as an interview with the churches pastoral search committee. i was there with him during his 2 1/2 hour interview. i personally wouldn't have known how to answer 1/2 of the questions they presented to him-i am so proud of his poise, thoughtful responses and patience with the committee as they asked question after question of him.

after all of this and some really great exchanges with folks from the committee, they came to the conclusion that upon review of his interview, application and experience that they were going to continue their search elsewhere and thanked us for our time.

i have to say, that was a kick to the gut at first. this all happened in a span of a month. how could they not want ryan?? are they nuts?!?!? however...upon calming down and pausing, we both feel such a great peace about this. the one thing that seemed sooo great about this church is that it was familiar. we knew the culture of this church b/c we grew up in simular environments and it was geographically close to our families. however, the Lord is soooo good. truly. i say that without any cheese or fakeness. he is. there was a lot about the church that we were unsure of, but willing to continue on in the process should we be called. it is also days away from the craziest month in ry's job...august. the RAs come back, training begins, students move in and the semester begins all over again...and to be candidating at a church, and possibly even moving is not how we wanted to finish our time at biola. biola has been and continues to be a gift to us in ways we can never describe and to just up an leave would be dishonoring to them. really, there is such a peace. our Lord is so much bigger than our expectations or assumptions. there is so much we really want to do in ministry that sometimes it is scary to think that what if what we want to do doesn't exist? how will be get by? being in the 'box' of a church is easy in that you consistently get paid, there are benefits, you sort of know the rythmn of things...but i am learning to trust in more than the box...and it's hard...but there is peace and grace (thank you LORD!) in the process of learning...

for now, we stay at biola. we greet our new RAs next week and greet the new semester with our 9th (yes, you counted and read correctly, NINETH!) staff...

so...thanks for reading the update...for allowing me to still process as i type this out...i hope it makes sense, i'm too tired to proofread and spell check (sorry!). so, we are still in the process of looking and praying for what is next...thank you for being family and joining us in prayer with us.

i'll post new photos of the kids (em lost another tooth! she is missing her two bottom ones!) and our time with family last week soon (we miss you leann!!!). in the meantime...i am truly thankful for the peace i feel in not being asked to continue on to candidate and we look for what is next.

much love to you and yours...

We have a big girl

Emily lost her first tooth today...she ran into the bedroom at 7:30am, jumped up to wake me up with tooth in hand "look mom! i just poked my tongue through my tooth and it popped out onto my pillow!" sooooo amazing and so cute. Sigh...she's so big now!

Esther and David

Me, Jenny and Esther-we've been friends since Ry and I moved here to Biola-2001. I love those two women so much and we have so much fun together...Esther, i'm so thrilled for you and David!!

Such a fun to day celebrate my dear friend, Esther. Since I had been sick all week, I just kept praying i'd feel well enough to sit at the wedding, and I did!! Jenny-can you believe she is married?!?!?!? Our Esther??!?!?! He is just the perfect fit for her...I love seeing how the Lord puts people together and I look sooooo forward to their journey ahead...love you all!

Update..

Ah...Utah..the virgin river where it begins...Ry climbed / hiked over to it

Part of the hike to the river

don't they look so small? they were so cute..."ooohhh..mom...it's sooo beautiful"

the fish ry, anthony and marty caught...later gutted and bbqed...not bad!!

outside at the playground where we were staying...em would later successfully make it across the monkey bars for the first time ever! such a big girl now!!

em enjoying the hike

cedar breaks-way more beautiful than this photo captures!!

Cousins hiking with their fearless leader

Twins!

William LOVING the pool. that boy cried every night we said, "time to get out"

ah...finally...sitting and giving you an update...

1) i've been sick for a week. i think my body decided it was done with grad school, done with parties, done with our family road trip to utah (photos forthcoming) and so it finally gave out. literally. i couldn't sit up without feeling faint for a good 4-5 days. i finally got better enough to drive myself to a dear friend's wedding. (yeah esther and david!!!)
2) OFBIMP has been curbed for me for this past week and possibly next week as i recoop i had strep throat and an ear infection. how did that happen???!?! needless to say, i was quarentined and now am better (thank you amoxicillian!) ry will more than likely post an ever witty post about his chronicled progress...i'm so proud of him for his continued pursuit towards his pants fitting better, but more importantly-i'm so very thankful that he is taking his health seriously and making efforts to live well. i'm so proud! i'm proud of us!

now...this does go without saying...we still don't eat great when we go out-but at home we are making such great strides and besides the occassional coke for ryan (this is his drug of choice!) there is much to celebrate by way of lifestyle changes. slow going-but changes occuring nonetheless.

3) we are back from Utah! we made it! we survived! we (my sis in law, her hubbie, their three kids and us four...yes...9...together in a tiny condo in utah's brianhead...) all cooked, cleaned, fished, hiked, ate, played for 5 days together...it was so much fun! i didn't grow up with young cousins...mine were all older, so this had to have been such a blast for the babes. they all seemed to have such a great time! it was worth it and the road trip was not that bad at all! AND...i worked a deal and got a KILLER amazing VW routan (their version of a minivan) for the week. needless to say, i'm tryingt to be content with our sturdy tried and true accord...but man, i LOVED having a minivan. LOVED. ... .... LOVED. ; ) someday...but do we really need all that space and low gas mileage for a fam of four? someday soon we will have to get a new car (both our beloved hondas are about 180k and 145k respectively...keep on truckin' guys!!!) and when we do, i hope there is a biodiesel/hybrid/solar minivan! otherwise, i might just have to settle for something else!!

okay...enough rambling...i'll post some photos of our expeditions!!
p.s. I GOT MY SEWING MACHINE!! i LOVE it! i made em an shirt and it fits and is super cute!! i didn't take photos, sorry! and i have skirt in the works that matches it as well...but i've been sick...maybe tomorrow i can work on that-ah...that'd be soo much fun! !!! THANK YOU ED and linda for my machine! THANK YOU!! yeah!!! soon i'll take photos of my machine and i'll learn how to monogram!! okay...enough!!

hope you are all well! love you!
the lows

Operation FBIMP update!!

Well we are nearing the end of four weeks in the operation. Do I fit in my pants yet? I have been asked that question. The answer is: "yes and no". What does that mean? just what it says bucko! I do fit better in my pants. But they are not swimming on me as I have hoped they would by this point. This has been a battle and test of wills and yet, for some strange reason, I am still finding that my belly is lapping over my belt....but not as much as before. That is a moral victory I suppose. Here's the big thing though: today I played tennis for four hours. This is not an exaggeration. I really played Tennis all morning! We went to Chik-Fil-a for lunch and I went into the bathroom and placed my head under their automatic faucet. Then I walked out with my dripping head and some lady who looked an awful lot like Kate from jon and kate plus 8, looked at me strange. I think it was because I was this big oafy sweaty guy with a beet red face sitting at the next table and I was dripping wet. I did it. Four hours of tennis? Four weeks ago, this was not possible. I probably would have dropped in sheer fatigue and you bet I am tired right now, but it just felt good to know that I could do it...I could hang in there and make it!

so operation FBIMP has been somewhat of a success as far as shrinking by belly so I'll fit back into my pants, but I have more stamina now. I also think my posture is better. And my pecs are awesome right now!!!!

Emily turns 5!!

Emily's Fifth birthday!!

Last weekend we had Emily's fifth birthday party...it was awesome!! It was a warrior princess theme...She LOVES anything to do with dressing up (just check out other posts from her blankie dresses!!) and she also LOVES karate, and this ninja warrior show we all watch where they do obstacles to become the next ninja warrior. So, we had the bright idea of creating an obstacle course in our 'backyard' (the hart hall courtyard) and having each kid go through it. Then Ry wrote a story for the kids to interact through...here is the story with photos from the kids doing each activity...enjoy!

Ryan reading the story to the kids (story begins below this photo)

Franklin is the most curious dragon you would ever meet and this has caused its fair share of problems. He always wants to know what’s out there. He always wants to find buried treasure. If you were to tell Franklin you saw a red tree, he would want to see the tree to see how red it is. If you told him your juice was sweet like honey, he would want to taste your juice to see if it really did…taste like Honey. Yes Franklin wanted to see places, do things and he always had questions…He was indeed a very curious dragon.

One day Franklin’s mother told him he needed to stay home while she went to the blue berry meadow to find them berries for their pie she was going to make. Franklin said “Yes mommy” but as soon as she left he pulled out an old map that his friend Bartholomew the dragon gave him (bartholomew is a dragon from another story adventure Ryan wrote for the kids, "The adventures of Ellie Mae and Daley aka emily and dave (will's middle name) ellie mae and daley is a play on their names). On this map was the directions to the secret hideout of yockopo the pirate, and everyone knows that yockopo was famous for finding the lost candy caverns…. Franklin wanted to see if he could find this lost Yockopo the pirate and find the buried treasure. Franklin gathered a tshirt, his pillow, a bottle of water and put them in his white backpack. He put his backpack on and set off on his journey, he left a note for his mom it said: “mom, I went to find Yockopo the famous pirate and to see if he’ll tell me where his famous buried treasure is… Franklin was a little ways from the house when he discovered he forgot the map but he didn’t mind because he remembered it very well.

When Franklin’s mother came home she found the map that Franklin forgot and now you are here and she needs your help to find her poor son and bring him home. Will you help her????

Yea!!!!! (the kids all screamed!)

the map leads over the ocean and we need to get on some boats to follow franklin. Here is the note Franklin left for his mom:



here is the map ry made to show the kids where there adventure would take them:


Here is the adventure:

Now, they need to take the boat through the stormy seas to the bubble forest, then go through the murkey swap which will take them to the pirate yochopo's hideout (aka the bounce house)

we had AWESOME parent involvment...thank you dads and moms (and mel!) for rockin' the sheets to create a stormy sea!

Sweet Haley and my nieces using their swords ($1 at the dollar tree! yeah for 40 swords and gifts for all so they truly could be warrior princes and princesses!)

The bubble forest...
(awesome photography provided by Charity Glaeser!!)

Slay those bubbles!!

Ryan reading the story to the kids on what to do next)

Emily beginning the murky swamp obstacle

Sophia climbing over the swamp to the next challenge (we used benches from our home and climbing rope, sheets and play sponge squares to make our course)

Here is a view of the course...stay on the squares or you'll get all murky muddy from the swamp, go under the tunnel, over the swamp, turn and go under the tunnel again...

Lucy climbing under the tunnel to then go around and climb onto of it to get to the climbing rope which leads them to the pirate's secret hideout...luc, you are super concentrating on your mission..way to go warrior!

my niece Alicia

using the rope to guide them through the swamp (we rolled up old picnic blankets to use as a balance beam in the swap)

Yeah! They made it to the pirate's secret hideout! Now, you need to dance to show you are trustworthy to be in his hideout...

Ah...our son...dancing to the pirate's favorite song 'jungle boogie!'

Sigh...it was a lot of work, but Emily loved every moment of it, and isn't that worth it??! They never knew that the obstacle course only cost $40 in swords and we could even have done without the bounce house (which, btw...the company is AWESOME! use them!!) We ended the time with cake and presents...phew...what a day! THANK YOU parents, friends, family, Ryan, Charity, Mel...we could NOT have done this day without your help

Emily Blowing out her candles with all her friends surrounding her

me and my five year old...my lu lu lamb is no longer my little lamb...i need a new nickname for her, she'll kill me for calling her that in public one day!

before the guests arrived, emmy and will testing out the bounce house

set back...

Hey all!!

So...aly here...there is a set back to my "FBIMP"...i hurt my back doing situps...my tummy is so out of shape that i hurt my back. I am still getting up and walking and stretching in the morning and hopefully when Monday rolls around, i can do arms and lunges...sigh...the body is getting old folks and it is high time to take care of it...i'm soooo sore!!! BUT i woke up every morning at 6:15 to meet my girl charity at the gym at 6:30...i've woken up to be there...now we just need to care for my back...

sarah-sweet comment/post, thanks for the encouragement and i'm sure i'll be contacting you at some points for tips and further pep talks!!

on another note...emily's fifth birthday party is this weekend...can't wait! it's a princess warrior theme. she LOVES all things princess, and LOVES all things kung-fu or obstacle course-y...so we tried to incorporate them both...and it also allows us to include boys in her party fun, so we'll talk lots of photos and post them next week!

now..off to write all those thank you note for all the thoughtful graduation notes and gifts y'all got me! i hope to get my sewing machine in the next few weeks...we are planning our family vacation to cedar breaks utah to explore some great national parks (all i've ever been to is yosemite!) and heating and stretching my back so it heals!! oh...and for those who gave me money for graduation, THANK YOU so much...i'm stock piling it so it can go towards a nikon 40 dslr camera... : )

have a great weekend! what will you all be doing?