whole lotta fun!

It seems like the days are flying by here. Which I guess is a good thing, except for when you don't get the things done that you are supposed to be doing.

Zayin got school photos done, and he did really well, considering the little girl in front of him was not having it. Her poor mom had to finally just settle on the best picture because the photographer said he couldn't do any more. Then Zayin got up, took 2 shots and I said good! The photographer took one more just to compare, and we picked out the 2nd pose and headed on our way, painless!

Thursday was a super busy day for us. Zayin had a school field trip to the pumpkin patch at Shasta University in the morning. He had a blast. We all went and Zoe never stopped smiling! She loves all the animals so much, I definitely think she is going to be a 4H girl! We got to see pigs, sheep, cows, goats, and then we had a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. Zayin even got to pick out a pumpkin, and he picked a pretty big one. Then we went home, had some lunch, and took a nap. That evening we had a birthday party to go to for Carrie. It was really nice. Zayin and Zoe had both made her cards, and I made some potato salad and green salad to take. We ate and then sang Happy Birthday and ate cake. Then they had worship in the living room. There was a cello, violin or viola, and 2 guitars. Carrie sang and she had a beautiful voice. It was really great to just sit and soak.

That night it started raining and rained for 3 days straight! Saturday night when we were going to bed, Eli looked up and realized there were 2 bubbles of pain on our ceiling, full of water. We had a leak! They came in and looked at it, but we aren't sure if they actually fixed it or it just stopped raining. I guess we will find out sooner or later, we will just keep the bowl out just in case. hehehe. They did however give us $100 off our next month's rent because of all the troubles we have been having with the apartment. So that is a huge blessing and we really appreciate it. Thank you Jesus!!

 Sunday we had our church service that was great. Zayin came out of Sunday school and he had drawn a picture of my heart. Who's 3 year old says things like that? Apparently mine does! Zoe even had some crafts she came out with. They said she finds the same baby doll every week and keeps it tucked under her arm the entire time. She feeds her a bottle and puts her down for a nap. Too cute! Then a couple from Eli's group invited us and Steven and Tiffany and their kids over to their place for lunch. we had salad, chicken and rice! Then finished it off with ice cream and Popsicles for the kids. Yummy!!  After that we went over to Matt and Kelly's to finish laundry, hang out and let the kids play! LONG DAY! But everyone had so much fun, and both kids crashed on the way home. Zoe was in bed by 7:45 which I'm pretty sure is a record.

Today has been a chill day. We did however clean the whole apartment because Eli had a friend, Dan who is also from Montana, coming over to play video games and hang out. I made a bean soup that turned out amazing! I was pretty impressed. Kelly bought us some groceries and this bean soup mix was in there. It turned out to be more like chili, but it was way good. Thank you Kelly!

That's it for now. Hope you have an amazing evening! Love all y'alls!
Crystal

not much news

Well...the condo is back on the market. That's good news, and we seem to be getting more and more of a routine down. It's almost starting to feel like home, or at least that we are staying here for a while and not just visiting. Gosh, I'm trying to think of what has been going on and I'm having a hard time. Everyone is still doing great. Poor Zoe is getting her molars in and she is not really enjoying that, can you blame her?! She hasn't been too bad, just real whiny and crabby. Zayin is being, well a boy. Ruff and tough, and all sorts of loud. Today he actually road a bike with pedals, a 2 wheel bike. It did still have the training wheels, but he got the pedals down. Just a little more practice I think.

Eli took Zayin to Friday night service this last week. He said Zayin was a little scared at first, but when you are always taught to be quiet and sit still in church, it's hard to realize that you can get up and sing and dance, and shout. Once he got a little more comfortable, he was dancing all over the place. He loved it. Friday nights is almost all worship, so I think he might go again this Friday. Maybe it can be Eli and Zayin's date night. It might be good for them.

I am keeping up with the detox, I have fudged a little here and there, but for the most part am doing ok. Like last night we walked to Baskin Robbins for their $1 scoop night. It's about 2 or 3 blocks. We each got a scoop, and then when we finished, we walked down about 3 blocks more just to get in a little more of a walk. Zayin road his bike and Zoe walked part way and sat in the stroller for the rest. It was a nice walk and the weather was great. I finished one book I was on and now am starting Pray, Eat, Love? So far I am really enjoying it. I should actually be reading it now instead of playing on the Internet. Oh well!

Still missing everyone really bad. But starting to settle in here as well. If you are reading this, please pray for our friend's dad. He is very ill and needs help. We don't want to loose him, and would be so sad if we did. I don't think it is his time yet. Pray for his family as well please. I love you guys!

So this is it for now I guess. I was going to clean and do some dished, but apparently our water has been shut off. That doesn't really make for a very fun afternoon, does it. I guess I will go read while the chillins sleep. Hope you all have a great evening, and rest of the week.

Loves
Crystal

Lots and lots of BBQs

Well the past few days have been busy, but I can't exactly tell you everything we did. Have you ever had one of those? Thursday we went over to our friends and did some much needed laundry, and Zayin got to play with his buddies. They did great and had so much fun! They played for about four hours! Friday we stood in line for some things and ended up being in the office for four hours, that is no way to start out your Friday! Lets see...well Friday night we went over to a girl, Carrie's, house for dinner with some of her friends and that was amazing! It was so much fun, and it was almost weird how easy it was for everyone to get along. I forgot that it could be that easy. Eli had met this guy Ryan at his retreat, they are in the same group, and invited him along as well. When he got to our house the kids just ran over to him and couldn't get enough of him. It was so unlike them, especially since we have gotten here. They are both just a little intimidated by others, which is totally understandable considering the situation. But not with Ryan, Zayin was even a little upset when he finally had to go home after our dinner. And both the kids loved being at Carrie's, and felt so comfortable playing there. It just truly blessed us. We met a girl from Brittan and a girl from Germany, and four others that are living here in CA, plus Eli's friend Ryan who is from South Africa.

Then to continue our BBQ adventures, Saturday evening Zayin had one for his school, a chili cook off. So we loaded up the kids and camping chairs and headed over to the school. It was so much fun! Tons of people and kids, Zayin went crazy and just ran almost the whole time we were there. We also met another couple from WA, who have two boys around Zayin's age. They have been here about the same amount of time we have. And they go to Twin View at the same time as us so it was nice to connect.

To top off the BBQs we have one tomorrow for Eli's group where we will get to see and meet everyone in Eli's group and their kids too. I'm sure we will have a blast!

So this morning at church was amazing! In worship we went long, but I'm not sure we actually even got through one whole song. It was pretty powerful. And Pastor Kris had an amazing message. It really hit me hard and it was hard to hear some of it, but only because I knew it was true. A lot of facts that I didn't know as well and were totally mind boggling! I was totally blown away! And Eli danced like crazy during worship, he said it was like God was standing right in front of him. Zayin had a blast at Sunday school, and Zayin got to make a project and a paper airplane which made his day. So all in all, an perfect day! Now we are all settling down and will soon be settling in. I have to go finish my 100 oz of water for the detox I started, which is going pretty well, except I didn't follow the food guidelines yesterday. But overall I do feel a little better. Now to watch a movie with my darling children and sweet husband, before we are tucked into bed. Missing all our family and friends!oxoxoxoxo
Crystal