A new Christmas tradition!

Last night we bundled all seven of us (Grammy, Papa, Mimi, Moira, Ian, Collin and me) into the van to go look at Christmas lights. We decided to hit Krispy Kreme on the way there for some doughnuts and coffee for the road, and got to see where the magic is made! Then we hit the road and headed for Windcrest, an area of San Antonio known for their Christmas lights. For most of us, it was our first time every seeing Windcrest's annual "Light Up" and it was definitely a sight. The neighborhood was strung with all sorts of lights and decorations, and we were one of the many cars slowly winding their way through the streets to see it all. We found out that this year is the 50th year of the Windcrest Light Up and we enjoyed seeing all of the contest winning houses that we could find! The kids had a lot of fun (and the adults too) but were definitely ready to get home and to bed when we were through. We had so much fun that I think this just may become a new family tradition for us!

Papa holding Ian up to see the doughnuts take their dunk in the fryer - yum!

This was Ian's first time experiencing Krispy Kreme and it's yummy goodness!

Moira's had them before, but in no way did she mind "experiencing" it again! :)




Grammy and Moira on the way to Windcrest to see the lights.

Check out the size of the wreath on their front door!!

Can you imagine what their electric bill must be like for the month of December?!

One of my favorites... simple, yet classy!

Merry Christmas!!!

Home is where the heart is...

We've been so busy enjoying our family, the holidays and being back in San Antonio, that I'm afraid I've gotten a bit lax in my posting! So, here's a little update. We finally found a rental house that we like and got the lease signed this week. It's a little one-story in the new section behind Westcreek (Vistas of Westcreek) with 3 bedrooms, a garden tub in the master bath and a nice big office for Collin and me to share. One of the best parts about it is that the owners were willing to give us a 9 month lease with month to month after that - that way if we decide to buy or build in the near future, we won't be locked into a 12 month or longer lease. (I can't tell you how much I'd like to have my own home to decorate for the holidays next year! This is the second year in a row that we've been in the middle of a move and without a house during Christmas!)

We'll get the keys to our new home on January 1st and hopefully have our household goods delivered that week. Our new contact information will be sent out to everyone soon, but here's a sneak peak at our house on Mexican Plum:

For those of you wondering about the job search, all is well. Most companies have slowed down or stopped looking at resumes for the holidays, but we imagine it will pick up again once Christmas is over. There are two GS (government) jobs that Collin has applied for in the last week, that look to be good prospects, so please say a prayer over those for us! There will be more on all of that after the holidays. Thank you for your continued prayers!

We're here!

It's been such a long time since I've posted because of the move and drive to San Antonio, but we're here now and getting all settled in! Our move and drive here went well and we're happy to be among family once again, especially as we're gearing up for the holidays. We've kept ourselves busy with visiting loved ones, searching for a rental house and enjoying the city. It's hard to believe how much this side of San Antonio has expanded since we last lived here! There's not a whole lot to report on the job search, since it appears that many people are slowing down for the holidays, but please continue to keep us in your prayers now that we're here, and we'll continue to try to post when we have news. Meanwhile, we have the rental house search to keep us busy. We miss you all in California and elsewhere, so be sure to keep in touch! Much love to you all!

La Purisma Mission

We decided to take a break from all the moving preparations and go down to La Purisma, a mission just outside of Lompoc. Tonight we have dinner plans with our good friends Paul and Diane, and their two kids to go to A.J Spurs together - and it'll probably be our last dinner with them before we leave. :( Here are some of the pictures we got at the mission today:

Another one bites the dust...

I know it's been a while since I've updated our blog, but we're really starting to get busy with our upcoming move! I can barely believe Thanksgiving is next week, let alone that our packers/movers will be showing up the Monday after that weekend! Lots to do!

I wanted to take a couple minutes to share some good news with y'all though. We wrote out our last and final check to the last school loan we had today! Woo hoo! We've been trying to knock out as much debt as we can before we move back home, so this is something we're joyful about... I wish we would've done it sooner! So, we have the rest of the van left to pay-off and a tiny bit of our last credit card and we'll be completely debt free. Thanks to Dave Ramsey for the plan to get debt free and inspiration to do it. Oh, and thanks to Annie & Travis for inspiring us too with their recent "debt-free" status!! :) Thanks for letting me share our excitement with you!

Answered prayers

Some of you may remember my post from the 2nd of October about my dear friend, Gloria, from my Tuesday morning bible study. She was diagnosed with cancer, this time ovarian, for the second time this year, and had to undergo 2 rounds of chemotherapy. So, I wanted to share my praise with you all... Gloria told us at our bible study that she's finished her chemo and the cancer is gone! Praise God!! They're still carefully watching and waiting to see if it will return, but her Doctor told her that she has the lowest post-chemo levels he's ever seen and it's looking good. So, thank you to all that have prayed for her - and praise be to God, The Healer, for his mercy and love!

Beach Pictures

We went out to the beach today to get some family pictures for our Christmas cards. As usual, we ended up with just okay posed pictures (partly due to grumpy kids), but the candid pictures of us playing on the beach at the end were too cute! Here are a couple shots from the day: