Katie's Got Her License!

So it's official...Katie's now a legal driver in the state of California. The long saga is over. After two sessions (in two different states) of Driver's Ed, many hours behind the wheel, winter driving, summer driving, phone calls, visits to the DMV and Secretary of State, canceled driving sessions because of the sudden death of a driver's ed instructor, hours spent online...trying to figure out how to get Katie a driver's license. It's done! Katie flew through the challenges of driving through Banning under the watchful eye of the DMV official (or whatever they're called) in her dad's baby-blue car and passed with flying colors. (And thankfully avoided hitting that random swerving bike rider.) Anyway, it's done. Those readers who reside in Redlands, keep an eye out for the green machine!

We had a little surprise party for Katie.

Cool ride, huh? :)

She's official.

Soccer Begins!

This weekend we got to enjoy the first AYSO soccer games of the season. Scott and I were commenting on how fun it is to sit out and watch our kids play. Troy is just simply in his element on the soccer field. I think he could play all day if he were allowed. They play every recess at school and now he gets to play on the weekends too. Troy's team is called The Mighty Eagles and their jerseys are bright orange. They have boys with names like Richie and Junior on the team. Troy scored two nice goals, but then hung back and passed some nice balls to his teammates too. Kam's team, The Galaxy, is a group of preteen girls, some of who want to play soccer more than others. They hung tough out there for a warm 4:00pm game and pulled out a nice win also. Kamryn scored a great goal and played like a champ. Scott is helping out as assistant coach with Kam's team. The coach is letting him take more of a lead in the practices and games, which Scott tends to enjoy. :) We're looking forward to a great fall season of soccer!

Go, number 7!Only 80 degrees, instead of the 100's we've been having, but still warm. Love those white fluffy clouds we don't usually see either.

After the game, watching his friend Justin's team play.

The Mighty Eagles

Kamryn takes a shot.

Kamryn makes a run down the field.

The team cheer.

Katie and Mia cheering Kam on.

A Day Away

We continued Scott's b-day celebration this weekend in San Diego. Scott was asked to preach in San Marcos, so we headed down there Sunday morning and planned to spend the day at the beach after church. We had a great time worshiping at Crossroads Church and then had a fun time with the De Jongs at "coffee time." (We felt like we were back in Visalia!) It was wonderful visiting and getting to know some new people. We then made our way to San Diego. We enjoyed awesome hamburgers from Hodad's. (Great recommendation from the Nydams.) We got ours to go and ate on the beach. The day was a bit overcast, but it felt so good to cool down by the water. We packed up and took a driving tour of nearby Point Loma University for Katie on our way home. Hmmmm...college right on the beach?! I'm not sure if that's a good idea! We feel blessed to have some more wonderful memories of times together as a family!

Happy Birthday, Scott!

We celebrated Scott's birthday on September 1st. It was a busy morning with work and school, but we took time to have him sit at the "birthday table" and open some presents. I thought it was interesting how the background changed in just one year. Last year at this time we had just moved into our home and it needed quite a bit of work. We're getting there! Anyway, we had a great day celebrating Scott and the awesome father/ husband he is. We continued the celebration in San Diego this past weekend.

Sept. 1, 2011

Sept. 1, 2010

School Begins!

We began another school year this week. We were all well rested and ready to jump into the fall season. (Even though the temps. are still over 100 degrees!) Katie had her last first day of school as a Senior on Monday. She seems to be off to a great start and loves all the privileges being at the top of the school has to offer! Kamryn, Troy and I began at RCS today. It was great to see so many familiar faces. As Troy said, "It's nice not to have to be the new kid." Again today I was reminded what a blessing our Christian schools are. The kids have excellent teachers who love sharing Christ with them each day. Katie helped lead chapel time at ACA today and we had a great chapel/ worship time at RCS led by Mr. Mercer and friends. I love the last picture of all the kids getting into the song with their hands raised.

Troy-second grade, Kam-sixth grade

Katie-mighty senior!

Kamryn and her teacher, Mr. DeBoer. (Yes, I put it on the blog, Matt!)

Chapel time.

Troy and his teacher Miss DeDoes.

It's fun to see how the kids already are excited about their new teachers. We're off to a great start! (Now we're off to two soccer practices and youth group tonight!)

The Plunge

Meet the newest member of our family...Cobi!

So we took "the plunge" and adopted Cobi from some friends from church. She is an Australian Shepherd (mostly) with a sweet personality. She has made the adjustment well and seems protective of our family already. She loves to play and is helping us get our exercise. I was very hesitant to get another dog, but she is doing well. She is crate trained, very social, and does some neat tricks. She often tilts her head as she is doing in this picture.

Klavers

We were blessed to have some of our dear friends, the Klavers, come see us last week. They are from Grand Rapids, but were out in So. California for a wedding. We got to spend most of the day showing them around Redlands, swimming, sharing meals and playing a new game. It's such fun to continue friendships and show people our new area (even in the extreme heat!). Thanks for coming, Klavers!