Fun in the California Sun

2 weeks ago, we flew down to LA for one big, warm, crazy family reunion. The reason? To be a part of Kimberly (David's younger sister) and Aaron's Wedding Day! It was a wonderful weekend, FULL of family, laughter, and sunshine!! As you can see from the picture above, it was a beautiful weekend, with weather in the mid-70's...I was outside as much as possible, trying to soak up enough sun to last another 2 months (at least that's when I think the sun will return to Seattle ;) We all had a great weekend--we were blessed so much by Kim & Aaron's church family, who provided housing for us (and the rest of the family) and did most of the wedding details, so we were able to really enjoy everything! The wedding was beautiful, and Kimberly made a gorgeous bride! Unfortunately, I don't have very many good pictures of the couple (I was in the wedding and David was videotaping), but hopefully these few will quench your curiosity!

Kim & Aaron rehearsing...can you tell she's excited? :)

One very crazy bridal party.

One of Kim's friends did the flowers--they were beautiful!!

The cutest nephew ever! :)

The kids did great through the wedding, but you'll notice
Faith didn't quite make it through pictures. ;)

James (David's brother) and Kimiko.

The Pichura Bunch.

A very large family breakfast!

Faith turned 5!!

We spent Friday morning with some long-time friends of the Parker family (who own the lovely pool in the first picture!)

Another large family picture...and 1/2 the family is missing! :)

David & his brother Andrew...partners in crime :)

Out with the Old, In with the New!

We're not usually a fan of big New Year's Eve parties, (our annual tradition is usually to play a game of monopoly), but we decided to spend our first New Year's Eve in Seattle in style by going to Mars Hill's Annual Red Hot Bash. "Red Hot" was the theme of the night, and they did a great job of dressing up the main campus...we really enjoyed ringing in the new year in our new city. :)

A Parker-Filled Christmas

Although it's been almost a month since Christmas (hard to believe!), I'm going to post these anyways--pictures of Christmas fun are never too late in my book. :) We made the short drive down to David's parents' house in Hood River, Oregon for 5 crazy days with the Parker-Pichura clan. It was great to see everyone--it has been about 5 months since we saw most of them, so it was a welcome reunion! All of the family made it up except James & Kimiko, so we had a very full house! We had a great time catching up, and playing with the kids, who are cuter every time we see them. God has blessed us with an amazing family (both near and far),
and we are so thankful for all the blessings He has given us this Christmas.

After about 10 tries, we finally got a keeper! :)

The annual Gingerbread decorating contest in full swing!

The 2nd and 1st place winners.

The very proud 3rd place winners--a 4 way tie!

Titus "the firefighter" showing off his creating with Kristin.

Grace & I opening presents.

Kim & Aaron...enjoying their first Christmas together!

We had very good intentions of sending out Christmas cards with the above picture on them (I tried, I really did), however, they did not arrive in time, so consider this our Christmas card picture to you! (to make me feel better, you could even print it and stick in on your fridge with the rest of the holiday cards, to make it look like I sent it ;)

After a very busy day, we are finally packing for our long-awaited trip to Hood River. We are really looking forward to spending Christmas with the Parker & Pichura families! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas remembering and celebrating what Jesus has done for us! We love and miss all of you!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Today being December 1st, I'm trying to make the transition into the Christmas season, despite the green grass and lingering leaves on our trees. I've been taxing my creativity trying to think of great present ideas, I've started listening to Christmas music, and I even managed to find the moving box packed with the nativity set. But I will admit, without typical Northeastern weather, it has felt a little less like Christmas...until this afternoon...when we got SNOW! Real, fluffy, cold snow! It is amazing how beautiful and exciting snow can be when you anticipate a snow-less Christmas season. And it was the perfect snow too--the heavy, wet kind that sticks to all the trees. So, we enjoyed an evening of snow-seeing, and it was the perfect way to begin this Christmas season--with a little taste of "home," and even more, a reminder of God's beauty, grace, and love.

Unceasing Thanks

This last week was a time of reflection for us--a time to look back at the last few months and see what God has done. We are so thankful for God's faithfulness and His patience with us as He continues to lead us on this journey.
We are also extremely thankful for our family, and the encouragement they have been to us, especially over the last few months. It was a great blessing to have David's parents spend Thanksgiving with us, and also to have my parents visit last month. We love introducing family and friends to "our" city, and so far, everyone has enjoyed the evergreen, though ever-rainy city.
We've been pretty bad at posting regularly, so I'm trying to make amends by posting a bunch of pictures...and maybe more random ones later. :)

WaMu's Halloween Spirit

Just thought this was pretty funny. Michelle and I were driving home tonight and noticed that Washington Mutuals office building had particular office lights left on. :-) It makes for a great Downtown night shot (of which this picture is borrowed).