Go A's!

 Baseball and Softball pre-season has begun.  This is always a fun time of year.  It looks like the kids are on good teams and have enjoyed getting to know new teammates and coaches.  Troy is excited to be on the Oakland A's because it is Boppa's favorite team.  He just got his uniform this afternoon and wanted to show it off.

Valentine's-A Little Late

A view into our Valentine's Day... It was fun being a teacher again and receiving fun things on this special day.  Valentine's week included a field trip, a Valentine's party, the Fine Arts Festival and Grandparents' Day (besides baseball, softball, and basketball practice, piano lesson, homework, youth group, etc).  These are all fun things, but make for an overloaded week at school.  

The Rivalry

I didn't get a ton of great pictures, but here are some shots of our gathering in Redlands to watch the Calvin-Hope game this afternoon.  It's fun to gather with friends who have a similar bond to Calvin.  (There were two Hope fans there, too.)  We had a little extra excitement this year with some nice prize give-a-ways.  The kids, as usual, were in and out between the game and the ever exciting video arcade in the next room. In the end, Calvin took a tough loss.  It was a good game, though.  Here's to next time!

New Pics

Thank you to Julie In't Hout for the beautiful new family pictures!  She snapped these for us while being 9 mos. pregnant even.  We love her and we love the new pictures!

Another Successful Season

Saturday morning Troy and I made the lovely drive through the pass over to a little town called Hemet.  His team made it to the next level in post-season play and the games this weekend were held there.  It was a rough, but exciting game.  Troy got knocked down a few times, but thankfully the refs were on it.  The Dragons won the game, but this would be their last.  (They had lost one of their Redlands games, so that must have put them down in the standings-not sure how it all works!)  Anyway, Troy was thankful to get a nice long soccer season after a tough beginning with his broken arm. The boys really played together well and there was lots of improvement.  We enjoyed meeting new families and watching Troy excel at something he loves!

Troy and his friend, Ian, were the captains for the last game.

Shinguard check.

 A last run through the ever-fun "parent tunnel."

Prayer Walk

Today some people from our church took part in a really cool thing.  We did a prayer walk through two of the schools that our church is connected to-one Christian and one public.  People spread out over the campuses and prayed as they walked.  We had a list of staff and teachers' names to include in our prayers for each campus.  It was neat that a member of the public school board was there to pray and does not even attend our church.  Also, what a neat experience to walk around Troy's campus with him and pray for each and every teacher and even the guy who takes out the trash after school.  (He also had to look in the window of his classroom because he was sure that his teacher would still be there!) What a blessing to be able to lift up these special places in prayer.

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Beach Time

Spent some time playing at one of our favorite beach spots, Avila Beach, on a beautiful, December day.  Can't beat California winters!