So, it's been a long time since I have posted. I guess life just got away from me. Anyhow, I wanted to take a moment to mention an experience our family just had. We were fortunate to be able to take a road trip up to Montana for Art's family reunion last week. We had a wonderful time with the extended family - many whom we haven't seen since the last reunion two years ago.

Anyhow, on our drive home Saturday, our van began to overheat at the agricultural inspection there on the 15. For those of you who have driven the trek to So Cal from Vegas, you know where I'm talking about and that it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We were able to have USAA (awesome!) tow our van into Barstow, but it was about 9:00pm when we finally got in town and the repair shop wouldn't be open til Monday. Not only that, but there were no rental car agencies that would be open until Monday either! To top it off we had to have Art to the Orange County airport Sunday morning to catch a flight to Florida for work.

This is where I tell you of the Lord's tender mercies and how He goes before us and prepares the way for us to pass through the difficult times that we must face as part of this mortal experience. About a month ago, my youngest sister decided to purchase a minivan. They have an Excursion and a Civic - the only reason for them to get the minivan was really for the lower gas mileage for everyday trips. Or so we thought. See, because she only lives an hour away from Barstow, she was now in the perfect position to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in order to help us Saturday night. I'm so grateful that my sister was willing to help me in my time of need. . Because they had 3 cars, 2 of which would seat their entire family, she and her husband were able to drive out to Barstow to bring us their minivan to borrow until ours could be repaired

That was the "I will go before you" part (not to mention a HUGE tender mercy). But, there are other smaller, tender mercies that came our way. For one, the first towing company that was called had a large flatbed that seats 7 in the cab. The driver was willing to squeeze us all in so no one had to wait on the side of the freeway (scary!). Also, the driver dropped us off at Denny's to wait for my sister. The waitress was probably the kindest waitress I have EVER had. She made sure we knew that kids eat free til 10 so we got our order in quickly. 2 Free kids per adult. Plus, she made sure we had the menu for the specials that were $4-$8 instead of the regular meals that average at $10. We fed 8 people for under $30! To top it off, as I was signing the receipt, my sister walked up behind me "how's that for perfect timing?"

I'm sure there are other things I could/should mention but I am still completely exhausted from the past few days. We still have to figure out what the repairs will be on the van and what we're going to do. Just because we're living as we should doesn't mean that we will be spared problems, trials, or difficulties in life. These things are a part of life for EVERYONE. However, when we are living as we should, the Lord provides for us - He goes before us to prepare the way, He prepares us for the coming challenges, and He has mercy on us and provides a way for us to overcome the situation.

I am so very grateful for my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the Lord's tender mercies in our lives.

We spent Saturday in San Diego at a Model Train Museum. Levi insisted on riding the little train in Balboa Park, so here's everyone loaded on the train and ready to go:



Going through the tunnel was pretty exciting:)


back at the train station


Here's one of the huge model layouts at the museum. Different displays are built and maintained by various model train clubs and they are replicas of real train lines.
The San Diego & Arizona Eastern is the HO scale (1/87th actual size) layout of the San Diego Model Railroad Club. The SD&AE models the prototype railroad of the same name connecting San Diego with El Cajon and El Centro. The San Diego - San Ysidro and San Diego - El Cajon portions are now part of the San Diego Trolley. This layout features an impressive 10 ft. high model of the Carriso Gorge (north of Jacumba in eastern San Diego County) and the Goat Canyon trestle. The actual trestle was the largest timber railroad trestle in the world at the time of its construction in 1932. Because of the rough terrain, the SD&AE has been coined "The Impossible Railroad".


Here's the family watching the locomotives in the "toy train" exhibit.
This gallery features operating toy trains of "Lionel type" 3-Rail O gauge. The San Diego 3-Railers Club has recently completed a new 42 by 44 foot permanent layout that has four separate main lines, realistic scenery, and many operating accessories. Club members control the trains with modern remote control systems. The trains come equipped with realistic engine sounds, horn, whistle, and smoke. An operating camera car broadcasts a color image to a television screen to give visitors an "engineer's view" of the layout. Also, there is a coal mine section of the layout at "kid's eye level" where children can push buttons to operate the coal trains.

Josh at a display case in the toy train exhibit

All the kids in front of a real Southern Pacific Semaphore (or railway signal)

Back in September, we took a quick trip out to Flagstaff, AZ so we could have Art's cousin Mitch take family pictures for us (Sorry Rachael, it was closer than Colorado). I'm finally getting around to posting a few of them here. I think he did a good job of showing each of the kids' unique personalities.

Here is Josh - he loves posing next to trees or leaning against something (hence the big stick)



Here's about the only shot we got of all 6 kids together, Seth was less than cooperative at this point so even though this one isn't great of Josh, it was the best we got.


I love the lighting on this one of me & Art.


Brittney was all full of teenage attitude this day, but we got a couple shots, including this one, that don't quite scream teenager.


This has to be one of my favorites. I just love the lighting and how Seth seems to be looking at some heavenly presence that is unseen to our eyes.


Here's Joe looking all GQ. So nonchalant, yet we all know what a bundle of energy he is.



Elise had to pose with a handful of flowers, she is all girl.


Even though this doesn't really show much of Levi's face, I love that it shows him in full 4-year-old action.


And finally, the whole crew together. Once again, you can see the kids' little personalities showing through with the way each is posed.


Joe was fascinated by all of Mitch's equipment and he got to use Mitch's camera to take this picture of Mitch before we finished up. When I look at this picture I can't help but see Uncle Wayne even though I know it's Mitch...

Anyhow, thanks Mitch for capturing some great moments for us!

On April 10th, the Don Juan DInomites from Aliso Viejo's own Don Juan Avila Elementary were invited to compete at the State Championships of Destination Imagination (DI), a creative competition that brings the top creative winners from all participating schools and districts across California. The presentation consists of a central robotic skit challenge (that is worked on for over 6 months) and a super secretive Instant Challenge that the kids are introduced to and have to solve in just minutes. After winning the Regional competition back in March against 10 different schools, the Don Juan DInomites were now at the State level with 15 different schools bringing their absolute best performances and the competition was absolutely incredible. This was uncharted territory for our team which is doing this competition for the first time not only for themselves, but the first team created at Don Juan Avila Elementary. After a rough day at the instant challenge and having seeing the level of competition, the team was not expecting what would come next.

We are so excited for Josh and his team. Now, to figure out how to pay for it! They have a fan page on Facebook - please check it out.