Latest Pics

OK, so I just thought it was time to post a couple of Claire photos. There are a lot more at Jen's flickr site if you wan to see more. In the mean time, at least enjoy these! :-)

"So, what's this orange-ish ball thingy?"

"Kaleb, I'm so glad you're my big brother!!"

And here's that big brother playing soccer.

Trip to Coarsegold

Friday evening Virginia and I loaded up the car and headed south and east to Coarsegold, one of those towns in the Sierra foothills not far from Yosemite. Our daughter-in-law, Amber, celebrated her 30th birthday on Thursday, and we met her and Jeremy at her folks house to extend the celebration a bit.



Steve and Gail are always great hosts and fun to be with, so it would have been a fun time even had it not been Amber's birthday. As it was, we had a great lunch at a restaurant on Beaver Lake, poked a little fun at Amber, enjoyed some cake and ice cream, and just enjoyed being together. I think my favorite card was from her dad (one I certainly would not have purchased... even though I did typo that it was Amber's 39th... sigh). Anyway, it said something like:

(front) Being 30 doesn't mean your life is over...

(inside) Just the young part!

Steve and Gail are building a new house, so we also got to go by and see it in its almost-getting-there stage. The builder told Steve it would be about 6 to 8 more weeks. Here are some birthday and house pics... enjoy!!

Steve and Gail lighting Amber's candles... where's the extinguisher?

I'll huff and I'll puff...

Amber with Mom and Grandma in Mom's soon to be kitchen.

In front of the new house

Heading Out

Tomorrow morning several of us will meet over at Doug Schinnerer's house to help him load up a U-Haul and get underway. Melody and Suzy have been in Oklahoma for over a month now and Doug has been painting, making repairs, getting the house ready to go, tossing stuff, and getting all the remaining stuff ready to load up.

So, after about 22 years here, many of them spent serving as a deacon and then elder, Doug will drive east tomorrow as the sun sets behind him. Many here will miss him greatly... and I think he'll miss us too.

The company Doug will be working for does audits of oil companies, so he'll be back out here at least a couple of times a year. My guess is we'll get to see him on some of those trips... hope so.

Marine Layer

In the Bay Area there is this climate phenomenon called the marine layer. Basically, it's when the cool air and fog move in from the ocean over land, cooling down all the areas it reaches. Where we live, it might be in the upper 90s on a summer day, but only in the 60s an hour away near the ocean. There are several sets of hills between the ocean and where we live in Antioch, so we usually only feel the indirect effects... that cool stiff evening breeze from the west. If the marine layer is thick (deep) enough, we can sometimes see it peeking over the last set of hills before getting to us. Check out the picture above, taken from our front porch looking west. As a result of the cool air blowing in off the Pacific, even here in Antioch our highs have been only in the upper 70s and low 80s the last few days. Fall is near... I love this weather!!

For those who check here to catch the latest Claire photo, I don't want to disappoint. Below are a couple of her one month shots. She looks pretty relaxed in the bouncer, don't you think. :) Of course, there are more shots on Jen's blog and the photo site. Enjoy!!

6 Years

I’m sure most of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing six years ago today when the first plane hit the World Trade Center Tower in Manhattan. As a result of that day things are different in our country, the world has changed, and each of us has been changed, in ways we perhaps don't even understand. Not everything that has happened in the wake of 9/11 has been positive, but a few really good things have happened.

Today in the news it is reported that there is a grass roots swelling across the nation to mark this day by doing good for others. What a wonderful response on the anniversary of a tragic event. What some meant as evil, others are finding ways to turn toward good.

I can’t help but think that as Christians we are called to live that kind of life… doing good for others… being the Body of Christ to those around us… every day, not just this day. Let’s remember the One who gave His life for us and live in such a way so as to honor His sacrifice.

Prayer Apples

When we came to Antioch almost 4 years ago, one of the ideas we brought with us from Sugar Grove was Prayer Apples. So, you're asking, what in the world are Prayer Apples? Simply, each is a red, perhaps laminated, tag-board apple with a magnet on the back and the name, grade, and birthday of one of our students (K-12) on the other. People who take one home agree to pray for that child throughout the school year, and perhaps also remember the student's birthday and make other contact throughout the year.

With school now in session, today we focused on our kids and handed out Prayer Apples to any who wanted to make the commitment. Doug Schinnerer talked about Sunday school teachers who influenced him growing and encouraged our members to be involved in the lives of our kids... Good job Doug!!

Here's a new picture of Claire that Jen posted on their blog. Enjoy!

Change in the Wind...

Yesterday I went over and helped Doug Schinnerer paint for a while. He's been doing a lot of work getting the house ready to sell. Melody and Suzy have been gone several weeks now, settling into a new school year in the Tulsa area... Melody as a Jr High teacher and Suzy in high school. We all hated to see them go, but we knew it was inevitable... they were going back home to OK someday, and this was the time. Doug is still here, but next Sunday, the 16th, will be his last one... guess I'm in denial... will really miss him. I know God will use them in OK (I think they'll be at the Park Plaza church), but we'll sure miss them here.

Monday we have a "process" meeting with some of our folks and some from Diane Ave to talk about how to go about moving to a Worship - Combined Class - Worship format as we share facility. God continues to surprise us.

Time is rapidly counting down to Brice and Neisha coming. They'll move their stuff the last week in the month and October 7 will be their first Sunday... beginning a new era, so to speak.

Have a blessed Sunday!

Where There's Smoke...

Fire season in California stretches from about May through October, but most of the most troublesome and destructive fires often occur in the September-October period... probably just because the brush is at its driest point. Anyway, even though there are no fires really close to us right now, there are several large fires burning in northern California, and the current prevailing winds (out of the north-northeast the last couple of days) have brought lots of smoke into the Bay Area. So, our usual blue skies are pretty gray right now and there's a hint of smoke smell in the air. A grass fire across the river near Rio Vista yesterday really smoked things up for a few hours. I guess one perk is the pretty sunsets.

The air may not be so pure right now, but Claire's 3-week old pic makes up for that, don't you think? Enjoy!

Labor Day

I know that Labor Day was established as a day of rest in honor of the working man, but I also realize that it's taken many forms over the years. I guess the stereotypical image is going to the lake or park, probably grilling, maybe playing some sport with that friends that involves using a ball, often being with family, and always sweating alot, because it's hot pretty much everywhere I've ever lived on Labor Day.

Well, Virginia and I broke with tradition this year. We caught up on yard work we had not gotten to because of time with Jen, Fok, Kaleb, and (OF COURSE) Claire. She trimmed back her roses. I did some fertilizing and trimming. We also did a little shopping at a local hardware/garden store that was running 10% off everything in the store, including a fresh tank for the grill. Continuing the mundane, I got a haircut while she looked to save even more $$ at Dress Barn... thankfully we saved on only one top.

On the way home, we decided to grab supper in lieu of grilling those chicken breasts in the fridge... they'll taste good another night. We decided on Jerry's Hot Dogs and Gyros in a strip center actually pretty close to that hardware/garden place I mentioned. Now I realize that few of you have likely even heard of Jerry's, much less eaten there, but I gotta tell you that I had the best gyro sandwich I've had in years. The meat was tender, the sauce was spicy, the onions were incredibly sweet, the pita bread was fresh and tasty. And, that sandwich was a full meal... VJ even brought part of hers home. It was my first trip, but I'll definitely go back. And then there was the homemade baklava... we split a piece and that was plenty... yummmmm!! I don't know for sure who Jerry is, if he still owns the place, or the hot dogs are any good, but I definitely recommend the Greek stuff. Come see us and we'll take you there.

In the mean time, hope you had a great labor Day... no matter how you enjoyed it. And, if you have a moment or two, click here or the link in the Leungs in Moscow link in the side bar to see some new pics of Kaleb and sweet little Claire. Blessings!

The Spirit and The Sting

Today was a really good day at church. New quarter of classes off to a good start... energetic crowd at worship... good spirit throughout our worship. We took some time to soak up readings and songs around baptism and the Lord's Supper... mostly allowing the words and the music shape the message. And then our time of communing together was a little more interactive than usual... a Spirit led morning!

Brad and Don and I met with the Diane Ave congregation during a congregational meeting at which their leaders shared the decision to move to a 2 worship service with shared Bible class format in the near future. It seemed well received by those who were there. More about all of this later...

Tonight Virginia and I found The Sting in the free On Demand movie list. I hadn't seen it in so many years that I had forgotten many of the details... barely remembering them as they unfolded. The 1973 flick starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford is a real classic, and we had so much fun watching it. Enjoyed it almost as much as when we first saw it 34 years ago. Definitely on my "highly recommended" list.

Hope anyone reading this has a great Labor Day holiday tomorrow... grilling or going to the lake or doing yard work or staying out of the heat... and just enjoying your day!