A Little Fun for a Friday Afternoon

He brings us such joy!! Happy Friday!!

Gretchen just pointed out that this week is kind of a Kurt-fest. Ah, well. The "witty banter" will return next week. (That's for you, Mr. C!)

8 Months Old!

Little Kurt is 8 months old! Can you believe it?? He is sooo adorable! Don't you agree?

A Reunion of Sorts

We had the wonderful, wonderful privilege recently to have some great old friends over to visit. Do you recognize them? Come on, most of you out there should!

Isn't it amazing when God orchestrates a special reunion of dear old friends in Christ? This was one of those times. We had sweet, sweet fellowship. We had new friends (Karen!) meet old friends. We shared stories and how God has worked in our lives. It was a truly blessed time!

A Smattering

So, this past Saturday Gretchen decided to use her birthday money to get her ears pierced. Since Gustav and I had no reservations, we headed off to the mall, just the girls and I. We had a great, great time!

Gretchen's other desire was to spend some more of her birthday money to sit in the little picture booth. So we did.

That was fun, too.

We are having lovely fall-like weather here (for SoCal!) I still can't say we have seasons here (sorry Karen!!), it's more like 110 and stifling OR 75 and sunny. But, we did have rain on Saturday....wonderful, thundering, sweet-smelling rain. It actually pooled in our front yard in the rose bed. It's feast or famine for those poor roses. They get virtually no water all summer and then they're sitting under 6 inches of the wet stuff.

Let's just say we all LOVED the rain so, so very much! It seemed to clean the air. Suddenly the mountains were crisp in the distance, freed from the dust that was shrouding them. Of all the things I miss about the northeast, I have to say I think I miss moisture most!

We are continuing to love our time at Grace Community Church. It's not the children's programs, the music, the notoriety of the pastor, the hordes of people, the many ministries, the bookstores, or the facilities that make it so awesome. It's the consistent, unwavering preaching of the Word of God that makes Grace Community Church such a God-honoring and, frankly, unique place. Don't get me wrong, our little Grace Church in CT is just wonderful, and very similar on a much smaller level. But Grace Community Church has been around for so long. It has remained faithful to the exposition of the Word of God so consistently over the years. It doesn't try to manipulate the message, or cater to the world in order to lure in new "customers." It. just. preaches. the. Word. Period. As Pastor MacArthur said last night, "If it's true, I say it."

And God has blessed.
And God has blessed us through it.

My Husband, the Cowboy

Well, here it is, just as I promised...my husband, the cowboy! I know what you're all thinking, but I promise it really is HIM. I did not steal this image from some ranching website or, heaven forbid, a PETA website (look at the poor creature's head!)

Gustav returned 2 weeks ago from a 5 day trip to Colorado to be a cowboy. Now, I know you all just got a vision of City Slickers in your head. Nope, it's not like that. These are real cowboys riding their real horses in the mountains of Colorado, and Gustav LOVES it. As a matter of fact, he loves it so much he threatens to go feral every year. (I love Wikipedia's definition..."A feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state.") Heh-heh. He's once again waxing poetic about owning property in Wyoming...

Gustav had a fantastic time, especially because his best buddy, Tom, went along with him. Finally, after so many years, Gustav was able to show Tom just what the Rooftop Riders are all about. The club was started by Gustav's maternal grandfather many years ago, and Gustav's Dad, brother, and brother-in-law are also members.

Of course, his name tag say "Gus." Cause no one's ever heard of a cowboy called Gustav. But a Gus can blend right in.

I am so glad that Gus returned wholly to his domestication, as we were all really missing him. I get a little lonely without my piano-playin', cattle-ropin', movie-scorin', technology-fixin', Lord-lovin' hubby. Welcome home, Gus.

Just a quick one

to let you all know we are still alive! Just flagging in motivation :-)

Look what Baby Kurt can do now!

I promise I will give a more thorough update later. I need to post pictures of my cowboy husband.

Piqued your curiosity, didn't I? See, now you'll come back.

Have a great day!

Tea for Two

Gretchen and I had a delightful date for tea on Saturday morning. Despite the fact that it was 113 degrees outside, we went forward with our plans anyway! My sister-in-law, Lisa, gave Gretchen and I The Secret Keeper Girl Kit for Christmas, which promotes discussion between moms and their daughters on the topic of godly beauty and modesty. Over the course of 8 dates, such as our tea party, manicures, and dinner with Mom and Dad, object lessons are presented, as well as Scripture and discussion questions.

We chose The Tea Gardens in Santa Clarita (thanks to Karen's recommendation on her blog!) We had a really, really wonderful time just chatting and discussing the questions. We laughed at some answers, we cried when we talked about missing friends, and we connected in a way that was a HUGE blessing to me. Gretchen is sometimes hard for me to figure out, I think because she is so much like me! This quiet one-on-one time allowed me the chance to get to see inside her in a way that I haven't in a while.

On our way out, I told her that she could pick out a tea cup to buy to remember our date there together, and to help her remember the object lesson and Scripture we had discussed.

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

She chose this adorable tea service for one. I thought it was so cute! Tomorrow is Gretchen's birthday. She will be 9 years old. She really is growing into a lovely little lady.

Thanks, Lisa, for giving us this great resource.