Celebrating with Mickey

This year, instead of buying one another Christmas presents, Sophie, Jenn, Becca, Kernie (our stuffed monkey) & I decided to go to Disneyland for a day, which turned out to be a fabulous idea! Yesterday turned out to be the perfect day for Disney--not boiling hot (actually quite chilly), and school wasn't out yet for Christmas break, so the lines weren't bad at all--the longest line we stood in was for hot chocolate before the parade! Here are some of the highlights of the day captured for all the enjoy...

Of course Disney goes all out for Christmas decorations...

Kernie is all set--he wore his cookie monster t-shirt, his sunglasses, and of course, safety first--his seat belt!Becca and Kernie figuring out our plan of attack...Becca looks like her shirt is right--she needs a hug! Good thing Sophie is right there to fix that!And Kernie's ready to go...his aunts took turns carrying him, and other times he got to ride in his mommy's or his aunt sarah's purse--he made a lot of people smile as he wandered around the park! Our first ride of the day--Splash Mountain--maybe not the greatest idea, we got SOAKED and then were wet and cold the rest of the day. Post Splash-MountainBecca & Pocket ready to take on the Matterhorn"Bearian" on Thunder Mountain RailroadKernie and I riding Thunder Mountain--it was his first real rollercoater, he was so brave!

Pocket & I on Thunder MountainSophie & I flatly refused to ride the Teacups, but we had a great time laughing at Jenn and Becca as they didI'm not sure whether it was Becca or Pocket that was scared on the Haunted HouseI'm not really sure what Becca is doing....Kernie wanted to take some special photos throughout the day for his Uncle Sam who lives in Texas and really likes Pirates. Kernie said that he wishes Sam could have been at Disneyland with all of us, because as hard as us girls tried to be pirates, Sam just does a better job...so these photos were taken for him...Kernie had fun trying on clothes in the gift shop, but no matter how small of a shirt we found we just couldn't find one small enough. Kernie got VERY excited about riding on Pirates of the Caribbean.Kernie with his mommy & aunt Sarah--Kernie borrowed Aunt Becca's hat for the pictureBecca brought us Pirate tattoos, so here are mine and Sophie's....Pocket and Becca look absolutely authentic--I think they're ready for the high-seas...In fact, they looked so ferocious and authentic, that a real pirate showed up to tell them that all they had left to do was to drink a lot of alcohol...to which we responded "it's Disneyland, is he allowed to say that??!"They were a little afraid after getting the advice from the pirate, that we were going to cause a little too much trouble...so they threw us in jail....

Jenn got a little tired, good thing Sophie doesn't mind!

We ended the night at the Rainforest Cafe and because there was such a long wait, we opted to be seated on the "outdoor but heated patio"--which was fine for most of the meal but by the end, we were FREEZING! So the waiter moved the heater closer, but it still wasn't warm enough, so here are Becca & I hugging the space heater trying to get warmer....

My Church is Cool....

Last weekend, First Pres held its first Bethlehem Village, where we turned our entire church parking lot into a village, with canopy tents making booths, hay everywhere, live animals, and a re-enactment of the Nativity story every 1/2 hour. It was a fabulous event that involved most of our church community in some capacity, and drew people from all over Burbank. Really though, pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are some of the highlights from the two evenings:

Visitors to Bethlehem had to register with our census takers at the gate, and were given gold "Bethlehem coins" to spend at the various booths. There were 3 Roman soldiers on hand to make sure that people paid their taxes and didn't try to skip out on registering. I'm not sure I would want to avoid paying my taxes with folks like Michael running around! Once you made it past the census takers and soldiers, you could visit any number of booths. You could go and pay a visit to the Jewish rabbi and receive a prayer on a scroll and learn how to light a menorah. You could visit our wonderful book sellers--and receive a copy of the Christmas story...

You could go to the carpenter's shop and watch some of our wood workers actually make...well...I never did figure out what they were making, I think some stools....And of course, if you were hungry you could visit the bread and cheese shop--but only if the Roman soldiers hadn't taken away all your gold coins by the time you got there! Our fearless leader and Pastor, Ross, and his wonderful wife Kathy

Then, every 1/2 hour, the Nativity would be re-enacted. First, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus (Dave, myself, and baby Isabella) would come in, followed by a host of beautiful angels who danced to Joy to the World. Three of our high school students played the angels that would rise up on the scaffolding above the manger to announce that Jesus was born. Then Dave & I--sorry, then Mary & Joseph! presented baby Jesus to the villagers--notice the very authentic Bethlehem pacifier :) Baby Isabella was awesome, she made it through 4 performances a night for 2 nights in a row--she didn't cry at all until the second night, she was quite the trooper!The shepherds (with their live sheep and goats) came next to bow down before the baby, I think that they look a little tangled up in this picture...Then came the 3 kings, each with their own entourage--a banner carrier, someone to carry their robe etc. They each had a gift for the baby, which really were the spcies that the kings would have brought, so between performances you could go talk to the kings about their gifts and smell these spices for yourself, and they would explain why that gift would have been so precious in that time. It was a very educational evening!And of course, we got to pose for lots of photos! Don't they look angelic? :)

Ann-Marie--our new children's director and the dreamer behind the entire event--she did an incredible amount of work and I think managed to enjoy herself too! Here she is with one of our very kingly kings. One of my favorite angels, miss Stephanie, and a friend

A Friendly Holiday Reminder

Tonight I took my Christmas letter in to Kinkos to be printed. I knew when I headed into the store that this was going to be a rather pricy endeavor, since one side of the letter is a photo collage, which would need to be printed in color ink, not an inexpensive task when one is wanting to print about 90 copies of the thing! So I go in, quickly realize that the copy machines look a lot more intelligent than I am on the Saturday after finals, and go seek help from the man behind the counter. He's on the phone, so I wait patiently for him to finish and explain to him what I wanted done. He looked at me and just asked "do you know how much this is going to cost?" I smile and shrug and say "yeah, but I know that it will be worth it." (Besides, I'm not really Christmas shopping for anyone besides family this year, so I figure this could be my "Christmas fund.") So he goes back and says he'll do the copies for me. I wait patiently for the 10 minutes or so that it takes and then he goes to ring up my order. The total is less than half of what I am expecting to pay so I tell him that there must be a mistake, that figure was way too low. He winks (in a surprisingly non-creppy kind of way) and just says "I gave you a discount, thanks for being so nice." I just looked at him and say "wow, I've worked retail at Christmas before, and I know that December brings out the worst in people but you must have had an awful lot of rude and impatient customers this week." He just rolled his eyes in agreement and said "yeah pretty much everyone doing their Christmas shopping seems to have forgotten the meaning of Christmas joy."

The whole conversation instantly took me back to the year I worked at Aaron Brothers and I remember how many customers I gave "discounts" to--ok so I couldn't exactly figure out how to change the prices on the register, but I do remember cutting an awful lot of mats and glass for free for those who were incredibly patient and nice to us. I also remember almost leaving work in tears several days from having been completely chewed out by some angry customer who thought we were too slow, who didn't think his project was done right, who was upset because he couldn't find something on the shelves or whatever. (I say "he" because it was almost always the men who waited until the very last minute to do their shopping and then were angry at us because it was physically not possible for us to order their custom frame in 2 days--they apparently couldn't read the signs that say it takes 10 days to get anything custom ordered!)

So this Christmas, as everyone is out finishing up shopping, I think it would be wonderful if those of us who know what the real reason behind Christmas is all about could help spread some of that joy and patience when we interact with the customer service people? Looking them in the eye, asking them how their day is going, smiling, thanking them for their help, wishing them a Merry Christmas...things that aren't all that difficult or time consuming to do, but trust me, these are things that go a million miles to making a store clerk's day a little merrier! Happy shopping everyone!

Well I did ask for winter...

I just got off the phone with my mom, and she was telling me that I had better remember to wear my jacket ON the plane and not pack it in my suitcase next week....so I decided to check weather.com to see what exactly she meant by that. According to weather.com, when I leave Burbank on Tuesday, the weather should be a perfect 73 degrees, which I still think is a little ridiculous for being December, but I am starting to resign myself to the fact that this is just how life is here in LA. When I get off the plane in Minneapolis a mere 5 hours later, the HIGH will be 33 degrees. That's right, the HIGH will be 33. That is an insane temperature drop for my poor body to go through in 5 hours, but I do know that waiting on the other end will be a fire in the fire place, which is just the best part of Christmas in Minnesota anyways! My dad did recommend to me the last time I talked to him that I leave the flip flops in LA for break. Thanks for the tip, Dad, I'll have to keep that in mind when I pack!

Introducing Elizabeth Christine

Hi friends! Jean & Josh finally sent a few photos of their precious little one that I thought I'd share...most newborns aren't actually that beautiful, but this little one is an exception! (Which is not surprising seeing who her mother is!)

You Know It's Finals Week When....

Yup folks, it's finals week around here...and with that comes a few things that I have noticed around here that I find rather amusing which I thought I'd share with you....

You know it is finals week when you host a Presby social event and you have way more people show up than previous events....can we say procrastination??

You walk down the street and pass an individual who is pacing up and down the block proof reading his final paper out loud.

The library is FULL and you have to go hide in the basement to get anything done. The upstairs is full of people sighing, forcefully placing their books on the table, and whispering loudly to neighbors.

You pass a friend who is reciting the major players in American Church History out loud to himself as he prepares for his exam.

The line in the campus coffee shop is abnormally long.

The bookstore staff has switched this quarter's text books for next quarter, yet no one seems to be remotely interested in their next reading lists.

The number of people from Fuller signing up for myspace accounts has doubled this week.

I'm not sure I have ever checked my email this frequently in one day....(ok that may be because Jean is supposed to email baby pictures today & I am dying to see this little one!)

The word "exegesis" sends physical shudders through a person.

You are sick of the songs that you have on your ipod playlist of "study songs" because you have listened to them so much in one week.

You can't seem to remember what day it is, you only care that it is not Friday yet so that means you still have more time to work....

People who are finished with their work all of a sudden find themselves the most despised people on campus.

Happy Finals week everyone!

I LOVE 4 am phone calls...

No really! I do!! That's not sarcastic! My phone rang at 4 am last night and it was Jean calling to tell me that baby FINALLY came! AND, I have been right all along, it was a GIRL!! Elizabeth Christine showed up about 4 am New Jersey time and weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces. Both mommy and baby are doing great, and will be sent home from the hospital on Wednesday. She said that an email and photos will be going out to everyone then, so I am sure I will be posting those then, but I had to share my excitement! I was WIDE awake after I hung up the phone with her, so I lost a couple hours of sleep last night but it was totally worth it :) I'll be heading back to New Jersey to meet this new little "almost" niece of mine over Christmas, so I'm sure I'll have more pictures to share then, but for now, that is my exciting news of the day! What a fabulous way to start finals week! Ok, I'm off to the post office--months ago Jean asked me to mail something pink if it was indeed a girl because she wanted her little girl to have something pink right away, so baby isn't even 12 hours old but I've already paid Target's baby section a trip this morning...I'm going to go get this in the mail....praise God for healthy babies!!!