Snippets of Our Lives

Friday nights

2012-01-13T21:07:00.001-08:00

Ahh... It's the end of the week.. All the craziness, all the stresses, all the pressures and deadlines are set aside and forgotten by the time I pull in the driveway.

Dad's manning the grill while the Kaylee and Heidi dance around, playing whichever imaginary game they're into today. I'm greeted with enthusiastic "Hi's" from every direction.. Tiffany and Charity are working on a piano piece in the church with the doors and windows wide open, and the kitchen is a hive of activity.

It's so nice to kick off my shoes and drop my purse on my bed. Justin and Becky were lounging on the couch before I came in, but now Justin's up and off to diagnose a check engine light in my car.

"Did anyone talk to Will and Nathan? They should be home by now." (This one from Mom)

"I just wish Weird Al would sue Delta Air Lines."

"I still owe you a shirt, Trevor." (This one from also Mom)

"Weird Al also sued Colorado, cause it looks like Wyoming."

"I think you need new jeans." (Yep, you guessed it.. Mom)

Friday night is family night at the Dortignac house. Its a new tradition we're trying out. We can stay in or go out, play games, watch a movie, invite people over or not, eat dinner together or skip dinner and just eat ice cream.

There's really only one rule to this tradition. "If you can make it home, do it."

The older we all get, the faster time flies and the more we've realized that every moment we have together is a gift to be cherished.

Our Reception (the end to our absolutely PERFECT day thanks to so many friends and family members!)

2012-01-12T13:10:00.001-08:00

A fun, "friendly" tunnel into the reception hall!

Announcing MR. & MRS. DORTIGNAC!!

Time to toast! Thanks, Uncle Mike!
(it's 7-up, btw)

Except for ours... Raw milk, baby!

Mmmm, cheesecake with raspberries!

Our drink table... Yes, that's a huge container for it, and yes, we never had to worry about refilling all night long! It may or may not be a water trough for animals with a few upgrades...I'll let you decide that one. ;-)

Joanna sang for our first dance together...I'd say she's such a sweet sister-in-law, but she tried to sing Taylor Swift! (big no-no...) Hence the silly smile she has on her face! ;-)

Father daughter dance... (almost made me cry!) I have such a wonderful father, and am so blessed!
It started out with just me and dad...

Then ALL the father's danced with their daughters!

The crazy mad dash for the bouquet toss!! So quick, it was hard to catch a clear shot!

And then...

The wild rush for the garter!

A balloon drop to send us off to our honeymoon!

To OHIO (Biggest roller coaster park!) or bust!! (I didn't know at the time...)

Family Pics and Portraits at the Wedding

2011-12-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

Both families, now united, together!

The Kalebaugh side...

The Dortignac side...

The kissing generations...

The Bride...

The Groom...

"Oh no! They're kissing! GROSS!"

Photo shoot with the bride and groom...

3 O'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, August 13th...

2011-10-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

While waiting for guests to gather downstairs, and pictures to finish up... some were feeling lazy and proceeded to do an ab workout while my flower girls and junior bridesmaids were busy messengers between Justin and I, and daddy got a glimpse of his girl all ready to head to the alter and some final words of wisdom...

A precious, gorgeous gift from Justin...

And then, "It's almost 3 o'clock!! It's almost here, it's almost here! Come on Becky, let's GO!" Came the shouts from mostly the little girls as the time to marry my best friend came closer. Surely excited, I waited for the coordinator to call me down, where I would soon enter the sanctuary walking arm and arm with my dad, to my future.

Chad Johnson did a wonderful job orchestrating the wedding ceremony...

AND the bride and grooms FIRST kiss...
Words from Chad: "...Justin had a very purposeful trip up North, when the Lord prompted his heart when he was going to pursue Becky. He needed to get the facts, as a wise man should, and he came up and he talked to her father and then they (Justin and Becky) had a very long conversation at that restaurant. (It went on for hours...) And they both had lists of things that they wanted to know about one another. And I bring that up because probably at the end of that night, I know you guys left that night much more aware of the desire to know one another better at that point. In our culture, many would've kissed the girl at that moment. But Justin, you were committed to what God had called you in this relationship and you wanted to know her emotionally, mentally and spiritually, so you set that physical aside. You continued to pour your heart into her and her family and getting to know her. On that fateful morning, I believe, on Smith Rock, where so much drama took place, and the story continued to unfold with the help of a lot of friends and family...you dropped to one knee, and you asked her to be your bride...in that special way that is so well documented. You, probably at that moment, would've loved to kiss the girl! Yet you said, nope, not yet, we're not ready for that. We're going to continue to grow, so you held that off. I say all this to say that that's neat, the way the Lord has such wonderful things in store the way He does things, and He was leading you, I believe. And He led you in such a wonderful way that allowed you guys to honor him in the way you conducted yourselves along that path. It's a neat testimony to me and a wonderful testimony to His work in your lives. It also makes THIS moment that much more unique and special in His eyes and in your eyes. Because we have performed this wedding ceremony, we have said vows, we all heard them say vows, didn't we? You saw them exchange rings. Therefore, I believe, it would be appropriate and fully a perfect time, would you not agree? For the boy to kiss the girl!!

At least he accomplished what needed to be done, we walked out of there married!:D

Now for the middle of August 13th, 2011...

2011-09-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

Once arrived at the church, everyone got dressed, and some dresses were glued, stitched, and taped to make fit right. By picture time, everyone looked pristine! Names (Left to Right): Naomi Zwonitzer; Allie Kasari; Rachel Zwonitzer; Tiffany Weathers; Alyssa Dortignac; Sarah Jantzen; Merrie Dortignac; Becky Dortignac; Rachel Kalebaugh; Mandy Booher; Joanna Dortignac; Kristi Simpson; Annie Dortignac; Kari Simpson (Bottom row L to R): Heidi Dortignac; Claire Kasari; Kaitlyn Wood; Charity Dortignac; Julia Wood; Kaylee Dortignac

We could see the guys as a big black mass moving from place to place taking pictures as I tried to catch a glimpse of Justin as we drove by the picture site. :) They all looked SHARP. *whistles* Names (Left to Right):Trevor Dortignac; Darrell Gramm; Caleb Naylor; Gabe Booher; Daniel Osborne; Tobin Kalebaugh; Will Dortignac; Justin Dortignac; Nathan Weathers; Chris Dortignac; Jack Dortignac; Mike Dortignac; Rick Dortignac; Tyler Kalebaugh; Michael Dortignac; Caleb Weathers

We had an amazing photographer that was very creative for such big groups. Best of all, she kept us entertained while standing in the beautiful weather shooting picture after picture and still getting a lot of great ones!

While everyone was looking mighty fine... nobody quite passed as the "cuteness factor"... which is where all our little people come in! And they did amazing with the ceremony, pictures and all the attention!

Let's start at the beginning of Saturday, August 13th, 2011...

2011-09-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the wedding!

Starting at 6 am, did the house take on a new smell... One of hairspray, nail polish, and make-up.

It was at this point that Dad decided to leave and go to a smell more his style- milking the cows. Yep, they still had to get milked, even though it was the day his oldest daughter was getting married.

Back in the house, breakfast done, did the smell of HSNPMU (HairSprayNailPolishMakeUp) increase to where there was a slight fog to walk through as girls ran from room to room stealing curling irons, hairspray, and bobby pins while there seemed to be a constant banging on the bathroom door.

I loved that chaos. (mainly because I just sat and got pampered)

With so many people to help, we were ready to head to the church early. So, why not have a snack? Maybe some ice cream?? Yes.

And now we're ready to go! Waiting on the van to take us all...

Justin & Becky's Wedding August 13th, 2011

2011-09-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

The post you've all been waiting for, I'm sure! Joanna asked me if I'd like to post about our wedding and I said, sure! Our pictures arrived and there are a ton... so, we'll try to cover the wedding in a few separate posts. Overall, we had the BEST wedding ever. True story. If it weren't for all our family and friends that helped out and stood with us, supporting us in our next stage in life, it wouldn't've have happened. Period. Even if it means they ALL wanted to stand on stage... ;-) JK! We felt more than blessed to have them all behind us. This- introducing to you- Justin and Becky's wedding of the YEAR!

Back to School.

2011-09-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

I woke up Tuesday morning to my phone vibrating under my pillow. This is the day that school begins. I climbed out of bed and began to get ready for my day. Nothing felt so very different, it was a warm morning, just like most of this summer. I could have simply been getting ready for work. Kicking past things on the floor I made my bed. I was excited. Excited about getting back into the regular schedule, excited about being up and home in the mornings, excited about the chance of Fall coming soon-ish, excited about what God was gonna do this year. The possibilities were limitless.

I'd spent quite some time thinking about how I was going to approach this school year. With teaching, finishing high school, and working it had become pretty hectic last year. But I was determined not to get stressed. Sitting down at the school table, the morning chores done, breakfast eaten and washed up, I bowed my head and gave the next few hours, the day, and the coming year to God. If anyone could make this go smoothly, it was Him.

So far we've been starting just about every morning outside at the picnic table. The air is still a little cooler and it's so beautiful out. Our day begins with prayer and a chapter of Proverbs. I think it's my favorite part of the morning. It gives us a fresh reminder of Who we belong to and Who we're living for. But not only is it a reminder, it's an inspiration to shine while doing it. After reading Proverbs we go inside to the school table. Every day focuses on a different subject and generally includes a cool field trip afterward. Maybe a trip to the library, an afternoon at the beach, or going to Disneyland. Does that count? =D Everywhere we go, we're either learning, or putting something new into practice. Life is a school, one of the best kind.

Sometimes I'm tempted to wonder, couldn't I be doing something big somewhere? Wouldn't I rather travel the world? Aren't their lives I could be impacting right now? And then I'm ashamed to realize that I am where God has placed me. Having the opportunity to impact the lives of my siblings is amazingly huge! And California...well, it's the place to be. Maybe one day I'll travel. But I don't intend to set foot outside this place until God clearly directs me in that direction.

We're doing things a little different this year, but so far I like it. So we don't fill out our books so much, and we don't work over time. But we're learning new things, important things, and we're having fun. Each day I can't help but smile when I realize that God is totally blessing every moment. Things may go wrong but there's a reason, I know. And behind that reason, there's a blessing. Each day I wonder if this is the limit. Can it really get any better? And each day I am humbled by the increase of His love. It never stops.

Taking out the Trash and Tying up Loose Ends.

2011-08-31T23:41:00.000-07:00

The wedding was great! The SoCal reception was pretty awesome too! Everybody has worked so hard to make all of this happen, we really feel that Justin and Becky should be filled with gratitude. They probably are. Well anyway, we are. I know I've been putting up only a very small amount of pictures but I promised more of the wedding at least, and I DO plan to follow through on that. For now we have a few pictures of the SoCal reception scattered at random through this entry. See if you can spot all five of them!

Our family has been in recovery mode for the last few weeks with the exception of the week before the reception. We take about one task per day. Monday: sweep the floor. Tuesday: Clean the bathrooms. Wednesday: Make the beds. Thursday: Clean up the clutter. Friday: Make dinner. Saturday: Take a break. Sunday: Go to church. Monday: Start over. Okay so it's not that bad, sometimes we sweep mop AND eat all in the same day. JUST kidding. We eat every day.

With all the wedding stuff going on many of our friends have been wondering -some even going so far as to ask or even assume- who's next. Some are sure that it will be Merrie while others stick their necks out pretty far by betting on Chris. A few think that Annie might be the runner-up and a very small amount of nut-cases reason among themselves that Jack might be the one. But I am here to let you know that:

Wait for it........

...wait...

NOBODY has made or is making any plans to tie the knot in the near future.

I'm glad we have that settled. Thank you for your kind interest and concern in this matter. :)

Moving on to more important things...

We are very happy to have the weather in the high 80's and low 90's after at least a week in the 100's. We feel as though we can breath without generating a constant stream of sweat. =D The beach has been our ever constant friend and we've really enjoyed making it out at least once a week.

And now that all the important and less important information has been covered I leave you with this non-informative blog post that will not teach you anything new or make you think seriously about life. But if it caused you to smile even once, then it was successful. Smiling is good. It makes your face look prettier. Or...eh...handsomer. So if you haven't smiled yet, Smile! There, now this blog post has caused you to accomplish at least one great thing. Thanks for reading. :)

Summer Days...

2011-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

It's a little hard to believe that summer is almost gone. The vacation is coming to an end and it's time to get back to work. I was just working on making a list of things I need to do before this next school year starts, it's going to be a busy year. I'm a little surprised by the fact that I'm totally looking forward to it. Who would've thought? I must admit though, I love Autumn and everything that comes with it.

But, before we jump into autumn...I'm still enjoying the end of my summer. :) August has been a blast so far. There was Justin and Becky's wedding --of course-- which may very well have been the best wedding I've ever attended. What I think was even cooler was the week before the wedding: it was so much fun spending time with friends working to get everything ready, playing, -because playing is fun and fun is good- visiting, preparing meals, dancing, sitting around, milking cows, watching movies, doing irrigation. It was just an all-around, really good time.

Kalebaughs + Dortignacs (More pictures are coming. I promise.)

We got home at 10:37am on Monday morning after driving all night long. [Correction: After Dad drove all night long.] There were 11 of us in our van which had only 12 seats in it at the time. Needless to say, our day was wasted. Some of us are still recovering. (i.e. sleeping in, taking several naps throughout the day...) But it was a peaceful trip home and I'm thankful for that.

Tuesday we got to work trying to be normal people again. Some of us didn't get that far very quickly, however we are slowly, yet surely, getting back into the routine of things. Yesterday we got the yard work done, mostly, and today we cleaned out the orange tree.

Anybody want some oranges??

Anyway, we still have a few weeks left of this summer and they're sure to be good. I'm looking forward to them, whatever they may bring. :)

"...forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13b-14

Beach Night is tomorrow!

2011-07-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, our family has put an indefinite end to our bi-weekly Pizza Nights. Though we've missed them and all the fun that they bring we have also really been enjoying the freedom, expanse of family time, and the over-all change. Some of us feel like God is bringing a new season, with a slightly different type of ministry, to our lives and we're excited to see how that unfolds.

Anyway, my reason for bringing this up is: since we have canceled Pizza Nights, we have started up our summer Beach Nights again, and although we don't have a weekly "day" set, we still try to go at least once a week. Dad likes to look over the surf conditions for each week before setting the day, and he has been working harder to have that "day" set at least 3 days before we go. (I on the other hand, still tend to wait till the last minute before telling anyone.)

So, tomorrow afternoon, Thursday, July 28th at Doheny Beach. Come with a smile, a hot dog with a bun, a swim suit if you care to get wet, flip flops, a beach towel, a chair, a sweatshirt, and anything else you feel you may need. We would love to see you there!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to email the address on our contact page and we will get back to you A.S.A.P.

On my way out...

2011-07-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here is where the challenge becomes challenging. This weekend a bunch of us are headed up to Bend, Oregon for Camp Dwight. The next week we are hosting guests while attending the Basic Seminar and co-hosting a wedding shower for Becky. The week AFTER that should be crazy with all the stuff we didn't do and need to do, because the week after THAT, we're heading up to Bend, Oregon again for Justin and Becky's wedding. So if I can manage to update you all during that time WITH pictures...well, then I'm doing good, and you guys are lucky. ;)

Our summer has already gone crazy, and I'm loving almost every minute of it. I've been really relishing the blessings God has given us as a family, both the material and spiritual. He is truly SO good when we can never deserve it. I am humbled as I realize that there is nothing that I have ever done to deserve even His attention, yet He calls me His daughter and treats me like a princess. I feel like I'm on top of the world! Try to beat that. :)

We are all rushing around in different places today, as we finish up all those last minute things we need to do before we go, which just for your information definitely includes going to the Beach this afternoon/evening -if you happen to see this before too late we'll be at Doheny. :D But anyway, I wanted to drop a little note to you all and so here I am....or was.

Oh! And I wanted to show you all something....

Drum roll please!!

Da-da-da!!!!!!

How do you like THAT??? Pretty rad, don't you think?

And one more thing before I go, we seriously LOVE getting comments on our blog. But, we'd love it more if you guys would put your names in the comments so that we could know who you are. It just makes it so much more personal, and it's really not that hard. Thanks! :)

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. - Psalms 37:4

Fun Facts for You

2011-06-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day, due to a very stubborn dad, we did not do much in the way of celebrating or honoring our father. In-fact, we canceled the holiday in our house. However, in return, he took the time to bless us publicly at least twice which heaped much deserved coals of fire onto our heads and caused us to be very ashamed of ourselves so that we eventually bestowed gifts and...money (yes, that's what he wanted) on his grateful self the next day. This story is partly true.

Julia isn't particularly fond of cameras yet.

Since we did not do anything very special that day I am going to mention something that I really admire about him.
Okay, something I really admire about my dad: his love for his kids. (Yes, me.)
I've observed a lot of parents interacting with their children, but hardly do I witness this kind of love. Dad's love for us wasn't touchy, it wasn't necessarily with lots of words about how great we were, it didn't include buying us all the things we thought we wanted, or giving us special treats because we were good, --not that he never did these things, Dad loves to be able to spend money on us kids. His treats were always way beyond what we would have imagined, but usually just because he felt like it at the time.

But Dad always took the time to instill important lessons into our hearts, it didn't matter if it completely interrupted whatever it was he was doing at the time. If we needed advice on something, he was there to consider the circumstance carefully with us and offer sound wisdom, when being disciplined he would show us how we were harming ourselves by doing whatever it was we had done. Everything he did was with our best interests at heart, which must be hard, because I have a hard enough time putting my own best interests at heart sometimes, and he does it for fourteen of us! Anyway, we think he's pretty spectacular and we truly are grateful to God for placing him as the head of our family. I honestly don't know of anyone on earth who could've done a better job. :)

Our guest room has been coming along quite beautifully. Between surfing trips Dad, Mom, Annie, Merrie and Alyssa have been making that happen...

...So if you are planning a trip to the SoCal area, make sure you put us on your itinerary. :)

I know it looks like we spend most of our time working, but that is totally not true. There are several of us who are dedicated to full time play, and every once in a while we are able to drag those hard working members of our family along with us. =D

A bunch of us took a trip to the Griffith Observatory in LA one evening.

Mom regrets that in all her growing up she has never been there before. It's totally free, and very educational yet fun at the same time.

She highly recommends taking your family there for a field trip or whatever you wanna call it. It's apparently a really cool place. Unfortunately most of the pictures I have from there are really blurry. :\

Those of us with Disneyland passes thought we should make good use of them before we got blocked out for the summer, so we planned a day, and went.


It was a loong day.

Nathan and Tiffany are realizing the benefits of being related to such a large family: there is always someone who is willing to babysit for free. Sometimes there are even some who are willing to pay for the chance to babysit. But who WOULDN'T want to babysit such adorable children? --There's no way I'm biased here. ;)

In other news, Justin found a house in Norco and moved out...partially. He is picking up random pieces of furniture from all over the place and getting the new home ready for his bride. --Don't you think that's sweet? I think that's sweet.-- Will, Jack and Trevor are excited about having more space, and are fighting over who gets what space in the trailer and in their new bedroom.

That should be plenty for now. If there's something specific you wanted to hear about don't hesitate to email us and ask. If it's worth mentioning we might include it in our next update, if it's not worth telling everyone about we might just email you back, and if we don't think it's any of your business we might just not answer at all. =P

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." - Philippians 4:8

An update! Really!

2011-06-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

So we've totally refurbished our website including making blogging easier just so that we could....forget about it? That's how it appears. :\ But not anymore. I, Joanna, have officially taken on the experiment of keeping this blog updated through the summer, and after that, well, we'll see.

Okay, here's the scoop:

Most of you guys should know by now that Justin is engaged to be married. And of course you should know that the lucky lady is Becky Kalebaugh. -But I guess I should say that Justin is the lucky guy. We are thrilled about this new development (we've actually been throwing up all kinds of hints in order for this to happen). Our family has a whole new respect for Becky, she is the first girl to choose to become a Dortignac since Aunt Nancy married Uncle Mike almost 20 years ago.

They plan to reside in the SoCal area for at least the first five years of their marriage which pleases us greatly. :)

Some of you also know that the Weathers have a new addition to their little family. Little Julia Kate came flying in on March 26th. The delivery was so quick that Nathan ended up playing "midwife".

Nathan and Tiffany live about 20 minutes from us and drop in often. We treasure every moment with them, knowing the time is coming when it will be Nathan's parents' turn to have their grandkids near.

In May most of us drove up to Idaho to visit Mandy and Gabe. We spent a week of fun at their house, coffee shop, and visiting all kinds of sites in Washington and Idaho. It was really nice to be able to spend so much time with them. We really miss having them around.

After a week with Gabe and Mandy we made our way home slowly, stopping in at several friends' houses. Staying in so many places has really inspired Dad who is now spending most of his spare time focusing on the guest room in our new house. Speaking of the new house, it is really coming along. Thanks to Dad, from the outside it now looks more like a house than a construction site. :)

Disclaimer: It's not painted yet, that yellow is just the color of the siding.

Late last year Mom started a children's choir in time to put on a special night of music for Christmas. That worked out alright so she got right back to work, this time putting on a play for Easter, which turned out to be such a huge success. And because of that they are going to do the same play again this Sunday at Villa Colima.

Annie has been spending a lot of time at Uncle Rick's house working on her CD project that she is determined to finish. I've been enjoying the fact that because Dad and Justin have been helping her with it, we get to hear more of her music around the house. :)

All the rest of us have been keeping pretty busy with work, school and other stuff. It's been so hectic that we have even taken a break from Pizza Night for a time. It's sort of weird not having a huge crowd of people at our house every other Friday, but we've been enjoying having more family time.

Alrighty, that's enough for now. Plenty, if you ask me. :) My goal for this summer is to put up at least two new posts WITH pictures each month, so chalk one down for June and if you wanna hear more, then keep watching.

Life here would not be the same without these two.

"Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ:...that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;"- Philippians 1:27

May 2010

2010-05-26T22:17:00.001-07:00

All my blog posts start out the same. I sit down at the computer and describe the sounds and activities surrounding me. Right now I'm trying really hard to be original.

I looked at the previous posts that were in the draft box and decided to post them.. the most recent one was over a year and a half old. =) Hopefully the people who wrote them forgot about them, and wont get mad at me! *shhhhhh!!*

So we just got back from camping at Leo Carrillo with a bunch of friends a couple days ago... And a week before that we just got back from camping at Doheny with the family. It was tons of fun!!

Here are some pics from Leo Carrillo:

Sooo many things to do..

We should make a zip line!

or maybe not

*you guys are weird*

*I agree with Jess*

*What on earth are you thinking Jack??*

Maybe we should go down to the beach instead

Yum yum!

It was love at first sight....

Parachute attempt

Come down here and try to hit me!

Yeah right, like who's the only one who knows illegal ninja moves from the government?

Oh snap, here she comes!

EVERYBODY RUUN!!!!!

Hmm... soo many choices

I pick these!

Kilroy was here (and now, so were we)

Soo yeah, we had fun!

2009-02-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Our last post said something like, "we're back in the blogging world!" But, according to my calculations, and judging by the time that's past between now and then, I'm pretty sure we're back out. So, feel free to read this post, or not. It may be a fake.

So many things have happened since we've posted last that I don't really know where to begin. I think I'll just update you on the big news and the most recent news.

Well, our biggest news would be that, we were all super blest, and excited to get a new brother on December 6th last year! Nathan might have made a record for being the sixteenth child and the oldest child when he entered our family.

Nathan And Tiffany Weathers

I'm not sure what the chicken's all about. He might have been keeping it in his coat incase he got hungery.

We we're so blessed by all of you who stepped in and helped out giving your time, energy, talents and so much more! The whole day was so beautiful to me! Thanks to every one who was able to come and share it with us! To see a highlight video of the wedding, click here.

It was really amazing to see how God had made Tiffany and Nathan for eachother and to watch as He brought them together in His perfect time. God is so good!

Well, that would be our big news.

These things are fun, and fun is good.

2008-10-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Well, this fun is good anyway. We had fun with the Wylie family, and with Nathan, who took me completely by surprise, showing up a whole day early! Thank you, Nathan!

And we had fun with several of the Gramm family. If any pictures make their way to my computer, I will put them up. Anyway, we now have the outline of our proposed new house neatly carved into our yard! Thank you, Darrell!

And we had fun with Gabe and Mandy home for a few days.

Will turned 20 on the 29th.

And we had fun with the Zwonitzers. The Zwonitzers and the Wylies went with us to have a lot of fun on the Gramm's house (the house no one lives in yet- or anymore). There are some nice pictures.

Again, Pictures, if you can find my computer, I can find you a nice little home on the web.

(Sorry. They're not on my camera. Ehem. I've let mine fall into sad disrepair.)

And now everyone is gone except for Tom Wylie. Nathan is coming soon. And we continue to have fun with the people who come in and out from not so far away.

We're eager to get some concrete into those neatly carved lines in our yard. Siemens is keeping Dad and the boys and Tom really busy. And we're trying to plan a wedding, to boot.

And Chris turned 27 two days ago.

Oh, playing Doubt It on the living room floor last night was really fun, too. I could tell.

Fun days! It's been a good life. And it's gonna be a good life.

Ooh...! P. S. The pine trees all got carted off to the dump, after, I think it was Justin, got the tie-down ropes out of the truck axle. =o And Alyssa cleared out the drain to the kitchen sink. And, I think all of our volleyball lights are working again.

We're up and running again!

2008-09-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

Here we are, back in the blog-sphere. (is that even a word?) anyways, Joanna set this up so that any one of us can get on and fill you in on what we've been up to! cool, huh? this way Mandy can update from her home in OR, and Tiffany will be able to tune in from wherever she'll be from when she gets married in Dec.

Way to go, Jo!

So.. what are we up to? well, dad and the boys have been slammed with work. they were working days AND nights for a while... but things are looking up! (or slowing down) and help is on the way... (i.e... Nathan)

We broke ground for the house, after getting permits last week. It'll be about another month before we get any further, because the soil was incredibly wet... the backhoe sunk up to it's axles. But the operator has some mad skills, and he got it out. =] great job, Darrell! we really appreciate your help.

We also took down two pine trees in the front yard. (actually, Justin did it, mostly and Jack. Then other people helped get it all into a couple piles with all the firewood stacked)

Annndd... tomorrow we're going to the fair!! I'm excited about that! (I haven't been in like...a year!) =]

So, Joanna says that hopefully we'll be putting up some pictures soon...and I'm going to get to bed.

Goodnight, and God bless you all!

August 8, 2007

2007-08-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2007

Home again!
After nearly two and a half weeks of vacation, it’s good to be home again! I always thought that vacations were supposed to be for rest and relaxation but it seems to be the opposite for us! Now that we’re back we can relax and recover from our vacation…
Pizza Night: For those of you who might be wondering, Pizza Night will resume next Friday, the 17th, at the usual time and place, in the usual manner…. For those of you who might not know what I’m talking about… YOU (and yes, I mean you) are invited to our house for homemade Pizza and fellowship on Friday the 17th of August. All you have to bring is yourself. Email us for details.
So, where was I? Oh yes… Let’s start with Saturday night, The Booher Family had their annual reunion concert. It was awesome to see three generations on stage, sharing the love of music that had been passed down to them by their grandparents and great-grandparents!

Mandy and Gabe, singing at the reunion concert

Guests began arriving Sunday afternoon…and Music camp began! With over 270 in attendance, mornings started at 5am for the kitchen crew (led by their fearless leader, Gabe Booher, and consisting of several of our very own Dortignac kids) and evenings went well into the next morning! Sleep was at a premium but food, fun and fellowship were very plentiful!

Apple turnovers!

Charity, helping

Justin and Merrie, after 'hand cubing' 15 lbs of cheese!

The day’s classes started at 9am and went into the early afternoon, then there was free time, and almost every night had some sort of activity! Monday night we heard the incredible Gimble family featuring Johnny Gimble on the fiddle, do a whole concert!

A late night run up to the local view point

Merrie's turning 'cowgirl' *shock*

Annie too!?

That's Alyssa!

A late wedding gift...'cold hard cash'. Yes, that's cash in a bottle of frozen water!!!

'Running sound' (Thanx to Paula for the picture!)

Dancing

The girls sing 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' with Ben on the bass

We all enjoyed getting to know the incredibly talented Voetberg family better, learning each others names (first and middle!) during meal times…and challenging them to a game of basketball! ;-)

The Bball crew! Back row: Chris, Justin, Mom, Will, Dad, Jack, Joby, Elisha, Joe and Lisa Voetberg Middle row: Annie, Mandy, Merrie, Kaylee, Joanna, Annie, Liddy, Lilja and Brice Front row: Charity, Tucker, Rudy, Heidi, Vance, Alyssa, Trevor and Deter

And yes, I typed all of those from memory!

When Sunday morning rolled around, it was hard to say goodbye to everybody! Justin and Will headed straight home from the camp so that they could be at work on Monday and the rest of us went back to Gabe and Mandy’s house for a little R+R before the reception on Sunday.
The reception was a blessing, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, hearing the Boohers sing some more…cake is always a good thing too! :P
One more sleep and it was time to hit the road for home! The bus ran great again and we drove all the way thorough the night, arriving home at 3:30AM!
Looking forward to seeing some (or all!) of you at Pizza Night!

God Bless,

The Dortignac Family

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12

July 29th 2007

2007-07-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

July 29th

...one week later
I can’t believe it’s almost been a week!!
On Monday, most of the family stayed at the camp to help with clean-up…Then on Tuesday, we joined the extended Johnson family for their annual blueberry picking escapade! Ah, the taste of fresh blueberries right off the bush (or do you say, ‘tree’…maybe it’s ‘vine’?). Whatever it’s called, it sure was a fun experience! All said and done, we brought home over 180 lbs. of blueberries!

Big 'n ripe

Tons of Bluberries

No update is complete without a picture of Heidi!

Once the picking was done (in other words, we had more blueberries than we could use) the next item on the agenda was the annual river freeze…I mean, swim.
Wednesday was spent sorting, packaging and freezing blueberries (and peaches that had been picked previously).

Assembly line

Then we took a break and went shooting! I mean, how can you go to Oregon and not go shooting! Seems to be a tradition now.

Firing line

Get that bird!

Thursday: The K family was very gracious to invite us over to spend the afternoon/evening with them. After serving us lunch, we all piled into the bus and headed to the S’s ranch for a swim in their swimming hole…what we didn’t know at the time is that it would take 15 min. on 4-wheelers over rough trails to get there! That was a blast!

The 'swimming hole'

We all (ok, not ALL of us but most of us) enjoyed jumping off of the 25’ high rocks into the water.

Tiffany, taking the plunge!

Merrie!

Will, diving off the falls

Dad shows us how to do a 'Swan Dive'

After we had all sufficiently cooled off, we rode back to the ranch for a tour.

Becky drove the bus from the ranch house to the Elk ranch...and we all survived!

Hunters paradise

Face off!

Charity!

Smile!

Look at those racks!

Super Chick!

Friends

Alyssa!

That's my gorgeous mom!

Photographer

Friday found us helping with set-up for the Annual Booher Family Reunion Concert which was on Saturday. All in all, we’ve had a ton fun!
And that’s all you get for now…stay tuned for more adventures…
Blesssings!

The Dortignac Family

July 23rd 2007

2007-07-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

July 23rd

On the road again!
I can’t believe it’s been one month since the wedding! Life in the D family settled back to ‘normal’ relatively quickly. With lots of help from our out-of-town labor force, ;-) clean-up was a cinch! Gabe and Mandy came back from the honeymoon in time to spend a nice relaxing 4th with us before they headed out to start their new home.
A week later, we packed up the bus and followed them. We left home Thursday night (9PM) and drove through the night. Praise the Lord for causing the bus to run perfectly! The only excitement on the way up happened around 3am when we were involved in a head-on collision at 70 MPH! Don’t worry, we won…
We arrived at Gabe and Mandy’s house right after lunchtime and enjoyed hanging out for a few hours and then we headed to Bend, Oregon for Camp Dwight!

The house is behind the trees

Charity on the bridge in the yard

The girls, making a peach cobbler!

For those of you who don’t know…Camp Dwight is a family camp for ALL ages (and there really are ALL ages in attendance). Once a year, for a weekend, people come from all over the states to enjoy a time of sweet fellowship with other believers! Starting Friday afternoon, the weekend is loaded with activities form good old fashioned camp meetings to volleyball…and everything in between! The best part about the camp is it’s completely free. If you want more information, send us an email.
…ok, I’m done with my commercial… Here are some pictures…

Looking down the hill toward the RV area

Back toward the hill the last shot was taken from...with the Slip-n-slide!

Trevor on the zip-line

Standing in line for the zip-line

Yep! That's mom!

Meeting time

Barn dancing

Lots of good food!

Serving line

Sunset

So that's the beginning of our vacation...we'll be here for two more weeks...one week of 'free time' and one week of music camp! Stay tuned for more...

Blesssings!

The Dortignac Family

July 16th 2007

2007-07-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

July 16th

And we have...an update
We are currently~ doing the dishes. (Well, for the most part. ;) )
"We should've sang this song at Mandy's wedding! 'Well I'm gonna miss her, when I get home! Right now, I'm out on this lake shore...' ""Guys! I'm sweeping the floor!""This is how Jack shoots...""That's what I call bad reception.!""...This is how Justin shoots..."" 'There's a hole in my bucket Dear Lizza, Dear Lizza, There's a hole...' ""Is that the Jazz station?""Alyssa, get the dust pan!"" 'Well than fix it dear Willie, You silly, Dear Willie...' ""...This is how Jon does a lay up...""Is that the radio?""Yep.""...This is how Willie shoots..."hmmm.... :,

********************************

The dishes are done now. Someone successfully found the radio station they were looking for. The little kids have migerated to the front porch where they're having jumping contests. Mom and Dad are listening to music in their room. The sprinklers are running. The screen door just slammed. A cell phone is ringing. People are chillaxin'.(?) Mandy's married. Life has, for a couple of weeks -you might say- gotten back into the normal swing of -life. And tomorrow we're gonna start getting ready to spend a few weeks with Mandy and Gabe up in Oregon! Yahoo! ~Back to normal. I don't know why I said "normal" 'cause it's more like new -this swing of life- now that Mandy lives in Oregon. I'd say we'd probably die with out her if it weren't for free mobile to mobile, emails, and a supply of postage stamps! ;) Okay, we'd be sorely depressed. No, God is good and full of grace for us all! I shouldn't talk like that! ~We're very much looking forward to visiting her soon!
Well, that's what I've got guys. So, have a nice evening everyone! And don't forget to enjoy it! :)

~The Dortignacs

June 28th 2007

2007-06-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

June 28th, 2007
Introducing #15, a boy!
Arriving around 5:30pm on Saturday the 23rd, with what everyone agreed was Mom's easiest delivery yet, Gabriel Owen Booher joined the family. At 6'3" he makes a record in height for new arrivals around here. We are all just as excited, (or maybe more) to gain the new brother as his family is to gain Mandy as a sister.

The newlyweded couple

Thank you all for coming to share in the most special day of our lives! We appreciate the time and effort each one of you put into being there.
A very special thank you goes out to our parents. Thank you for loving eachother, and for loving us! Thank you for teaching us in the ways of the Lord by your genuine examples. Thank you for all your encouragement and support through likfe. We love you Mom and Dad! Thank you to all of our wonderful bridesmaids and groomsmen. Thanks for being such true friends. You have each impacted us...(in a good way), and we are honored to have you standing with us today!
Thank You:Mr. and Mrs. Tim Lynch, for being our wedding coordinators, and so much more!Mr. Josiah Lynch, for dealing with the trash detail.Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Gramm for running the kitchen! And a big thank you to all of you others who were helping out there.Miss Aimee Weston, for making the wedding cake! And Mrs Meriwyn Thompson for doing the sheet cakes.Uncle Tim and Aunt Sarita for doing the photography! Also Miss Michelle Bracey, Mr Jeremy Naylor, Mr Philip Callis, Miss Eden Callis, and Mr John Fiala.Aunt Elieen, for the countless hours you spent making the bridesmaids dresses!Mrs. Nancy McIntire and Cristin, Miss Bethany Tiss, Mr. Nathan Weathers, Mr. Chris Dortignac, and Miss Annie Dortignac, for helping with the music.1st Jon Outhouse Rentals...yes, thank you...Mr. Paul deGrasse and Uncle Rick, for providing the sound system!Mr. Will Dortignac, Mr Ben Torkelson, Uncle Mike, Mr. Darrell Gramm Jr, Mr. John Naylor, Mr. Jon M-V, for doing the videography.Mrs. Nurys Nunns and crew for doing the doing the decorations, and the Pirelli family for providing most of them! Uncle Hardy and Aunt Sheri Laskey, for providing the wedding favors, and making the flower girl dresses! And more...All the flower crew. You guys did great for a first time!Mr. Parking Attendant, Flashlight Waving, Radio Carrying guy, and crew! We couldn't have done it without you!The list goes on and on, but the program doesn't.
We are so grateful to you for all your services, and thank you from the bottom of out hearts!Love,Gabe and Mandy
Our new address will be:Gabe and Mandy BooherP.O. Box 1969Redmond, OR 97756(541)588-6069Email us! gabeandmandy@inbox.com.

January 9th, 2007

2007-01-09T15:13:00.000-08:00

January 9th, 2007

January 9th already!
Time sure can fly by. Yet some of the events from the past two months seem like they happened just last week.
Introducing a living room and a dorm trailer for the boys! These two improvements have made living in this house so much more workable and comfortable for us! We especially enjoy having a couch to sit on when we read the Bible in the mornings!

Here Gabe is taming the monkeys by singing to them.

Sorry, no picture of the boys dorm

trailer...yet...?
Having company has definitely been a highlight for us! Since the last update we've had company from OR, CO, AZ, PA, Northern CA and Taiwan, not to mention our dear friends who live locally, and who we enjoy seeing on more of a weekly basis! Very fun times!

Dad, captivating a bunch of young people

Our friends from AZ came by one Sunday and we stayed up until about 2 AM discussing scripture with them and playing volleyball and air soft wars.
Gabe Booher came by on his way back home. He stayed a few days and I think we only let him sleep a total of 6 hours. (Maybe a slight exageration). We went out to his sister's house one morning, arriving at 6 or 7. She served us all breakfast and we used their yard for shooting! That was a "blast!" Amazing hospitality by the Thompsons! (Thanks guys!)

The best shooting range in So Cal! ;)

Go buddy! Shoot dat thang.

We got together with some friends from Taiwan in December. The Suns, and Aunty Christina and Minna got a real kick out of shooting guns for the first time, and we got a kick out of watching them!
The Currans family came and stayed with us for a few days and we had a fun, jam packed time surfing, contra-dancing, going to a tea party, visiting Trader Joes, touring the dump/transfer station, cooking, eating, reading, singing and just visiting together!

All of us girls in one shot!!

L to R, Heidi, Hannah, Kaylee, Hillary and Tiffany

Dad and Mr. Currans heading out to sea

Yeehaw! (Hey Currans, don't forget to come back to practice!)

Wid Lyman was here from Pennsylvania last week. He drove his big orange rig, which really is beautiful no matter what you might think! It was great seeing him again! We met the Lymans in OK, and Wid used to come over every afternoon to spend his free time painting with us. They are very generous, kind hearted people!
Can't get the picture yet, it's on somebody elses computer
The Johnson family from Oregon didn't stay with us but they came over 3 times and we were glad to see them! If you ever need some energy just look at them and you'll feel rejuvinated. :-) We wish they didn't have to move up to Oregon. They are missed by everyone down here.
Some of the highlights from this month besides seeing out of town company...
At the beginning of December Dad and Justin flew to Minnesota to take a class in granite installation. Justin did his first granite job shortly after that! Having an in-house granite installer will be a huge help to the business since we can at least speak the same language and know where our granite guy is if he doesn't show up.
We celebrated several birthdays in December. Trevor shared a party with Sean Bracey. We all met at the park to go frisbee golfing and then we went to the Bracey's house for dinner. That was a memorable party, we're still enjoying the discs that the Bracey's gave to everyone who played!

The birthday boys

Waiting to surprise Sean

No, Chris, no! Don't jump!!! It's just a frisbee.

For the girl's birthdays in December we all went ice skating and then spent the rest of the evening playing games. I think we've gone to more parties this month than ever before.

Playing Mennonite Manners

I think these guys have some issues

On Christmas eve we had a special evening service where every family who came had to share something. Afterward we shared refreshments and volleyball, and appreciated the fire pit that Jim F. left at our house several weeks ago. In fact, we've been using it at least once a week...

Go little Dortignacs!

Christmas day, Dad, Will and Mandy started early and headed out to the beach. Mandy took pictures while Dad surfed and Will used his fins and boogie board. After a big breakfast at home we wandered over to Papa and Grandma's house to visit, and then headed to Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy's house, where Dad's side of the family was, to visit some more and eat. We were really happy to see Great Grandma O'Malley! She looked amazing on her 93rd birthday! That evening we visited Pastor Sam to wish him a happy birthday too. (He and Grandma share a birthday.) We sat around in his room and sang for about an hour. All in all it was a great way to spend the day!

Papa!

Tiffany, Dad and G.G. O'malley

Dad turned 50! We had a small party of about 60 people on his birthday, which was the day after Christmas. Dad finally broke down and got a short board and after 3 days of being pounded around in the surf he was able to stand up! Persistance paid off! He hasn't been surfing since... ;-)

On December 29th we went to the Creighton's Christmas ball. We were glad we had some

practice at dancing before hand.

Um, doesn't look too graceful there

On New Year's Eve we had a spur of the moment pizza night that lasted well into the new year. Most of us kids stayed up and went straight to the Rose parade to view the floats before it started. We met with a bunch of friends first to carpool down there, and then went back to our friend's house for a big huge breakfast and a great game of football afterward. Around 2:00 PM a few of us were more than ready for bed so we headed home, but the die hards stayed on and watched their first college football game and ended up going 38 hours without sleeping since we all had to visit and talk about the weekend when they got home.

Most of the group at the Rose Parade

Singing to keep warm drew quite an audience

This week Chris and Justin are up in Lone Pine, somewhere up by Mammoth, doing an electrical controls job. Everyone at home is kind of wandering around missing them. JK! It's not quite that bad! They are missed, but our schedule is keeping us so busy we don't have much time to sit around and cry in their absence.
Last Sunday we were all encouraged to catch a vision, set some goals and move forward. "Where there is no vision the people perish..." Proverbs 29:18 It's amazing to see it play out in daily living... Set some goals and take the first steps, the rest follows through kind of the same way a car will go where you steer it much easier once you get it moving.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

August 23rd 2006

2006-08-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

August 23rd, 2006
Oh boy! Where to start?
I know I've talked about this before but for some reason the Lord has been stressing this lesson to our family again lately:"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Proverbs 16:9.Two Saturdays ago we set out in the bus, hoping to go to San Diego to a family get-together/birthday party. It wasn't more than 30 minutes later we were sitting on the side of the road, (actually we pulled into a parking lot), because a belt broke, causing us to lose power steering. (Not good in a big ol' bus!) We sat in that familiar silence as the boys opened up the engine compartent and began to assess the situation. We needed some new belts that were somehow not in our onboard stock. A few minutes later a truck drove up, a man called out, asking if we needed a ride to get any parts or tools! A few hours later we were back in operable condition, but barely, so we felt the Lord's direction to head back home where we spent a quiet evening together with just our family.

Justin went with the man who offered a ride, in search of some belts while the other guys took the old ones off.

Another way the Lord is directing steps, differently from our plan has been with the house plans. Many people have been asking about them. We're asking too! Dad and Mom went to the county this morning and discovered that they won't accept the plans the way we have them, Mom had been working on the design for well over a month, and we all liked it a lot. The county said we could pay them $5,100 to have a hearing and they might reconsider their decision possibly. We opted out of that since they're already requiring us to pay $5,100 for the CUP, plus $1,400 to get our lot re-divided. It's looking like Dad and Mom will be spending yet more time drawing up another idea.
Since the last update we've had two pizza nights. The next one is scheduled for Friday, September 2nd. The last two pizza nights were blogged about already by some family members here and here.

Visiting on pizza night...

Find a seat and eat! With 89 people that can be harder than you think. ;)

Jim's ministry at pizza night, smoothies and frappaccinos for everyone!

Where the real fun begins!

Can life get any better then this? ;)

We had the pleasure of seeing our friends from up north last week. Uncle Tony and Aunt Barbara have been such a good example of a joyfully married couple, and we've always admired them for that. Over 12 years ago their family generously opened up their home to our family of 9 kids to stay as long as we needed to since we didn't have any other house available to us at the time... Now they have 9 kids! (But they still have a house to live in.) ;) It was great spending time with them and getting to know their kids better!

Uncle Tony: "Hey hon, what do you think about moving to Africa? Aunt Barbara, "Sure babe, whatever you want!" (That was an old old old quote, but we've never forgotten it because it's a perfect example of how willing Aunt Barbara is to cheerfully follow Uncle Tony to the ends of the earth. Isn't that sweet?

About a week ago we were busy doing little odds and ends that needed to be done and the phone started ringing. Next thing we knew there were 4 kitchens waiting for us to remodel so it looks like we'll be busy for awhile. We started the first one yesterday. It's been neat to see how the Lord provides work for us without our help! Each job brings in one or two more just by word of mouth referals.
We've been enjoying playing instruments together since music camp. It's a new favorite pass-time. Maybe we'll work on playing the same thing in the same key at the same time together so that other people can stand listening in. ;)
This week we have a small family of 10 in the evenings because Tiffany is attending the Basic Seminar with Jack and Joanna, while Annie, Will and Merrie are working in the childrens program. It's amazing how quiet the house is, even though Kaylee and Heidi are running around and bouncing off the walls, while Trevor crawls, stomps or wanders around wondering what to do with himself. Alyssa is stretched across a bed trying to learn how to do graphic designing, while Charity hangs out in Dad and Mom's room where Mom is working on house plans and Dad is playing the guitar. Justin is using his laptop up on his bed, it's a relaxing thing to do after a long day of work. Chris is actually off taking pictures at the seminar tonight, and I'm sitting in the middle of everyone, typing...and listening. (That's why it takes me so long to update!)
Edit: I typed that last paragraph yesterday. The rest of it was edited today.
Hopefully I will post again soon with pictures from the seminar and of some kitchens we did... but I'm trying not to make any promises!

August 7th 2006

2006-08-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

August 7th, 2006
On our way home from Oregon two weeks ago we discussed the possibility of going back up for the Booher Family Music Camp. There was several things that we had to figure out first and it wasn't until about four days before the trip that we were sure we could go. It was exciting to see the way the Lord opened all the doors for us to go! Including things such as putting it on somebody's heart to donate $1,000 towards our whole family going, and prompting a satisfied customer to give us a bonus...
So off we went last Saturday evening. We drove straight through again, very grateful for the bus, and the comforts it provided on the trip. We arrived in good time and watched as hundreds of firemen worked on bringing a huge fire under control that was burning 6 miles from the church that hosted the music camp. The road was closed from there on out due to the fire. There was some talk of the whole town possibly being evacuated but the wind changed and the fire went from being 5% under control to being 30% under control the first night of camp.
Last week we had 110 degree weather so we packed very light for camping. Boy were we surprised when the temperatures got down to the 30's Sunday night! We learned more than one thing this week! (i.e, it gets cold in OR even during the Summer).
Dad and Merrie took guitar classes, Chris took a piano class and Mandy and Annie took fiddle classes. The rest of the family enjoyed visiting, playing and working during class time with others at camp. There was a lot of things to do including indoor basketball, an awesome climbing place nearby, an elk farm across the street to tour, jam sessions to join in on, people to talk with...

Willie, leading for his first time!

L-R, Alyssa, Ruth K. and Charity, and the view at Smith Rock State Park.

Justin, Joanna and Jack enjoyed hanging out while we took classes.

Some of us took off one evening after dinner to go shooting with some others.

Probably one of the highlights of camp was working in the kitchen! We enjoyed washing plates, coffee mugs, bowls and silverware for over 200 people each meal! Or flipping pancakes, scrambling eggs, slicing fruit, baking cinnamon rolls, making homemade chicken pot pie... It's always fun to do other people's work, right?

You can see mom on the far right side.

On one evening they had family band night. It was fun to hear so many families get up and bless others with their music. The fellowship at camp was so sweet. We met a lot of really neat families!

It was a pleasure getting to know the Voetberg family! We're looking forward to hearing them sing in January, okay Mr. Voetberg?

The Engell family from Washington playing a song.

Another night was scrambled band night. Every student, no matter how skilled, or unskilled, was assigned to different groups that were led by the teachers. They had to make an arrangement and perform it that night. Some of the groups were hilariously funny!
Here's a picture of the first bonus performance of the night, and a few other pictures

These guys were imitating their older sibling's band!

A band called "Kitchen Krew" singing, "Hey, good lookin', Whatcha got cookin'..."

Charity's big moment with the famous Booher Bros. Band

Annie (in stage center) with her class during the graduation benefit concert.

On Friday after the last concert there was civil war style dancing for a couple hours, then Chris played the piano while a bunch of people gathered around singing hymns, groups sat around talking and laughing, and we stayed up until well past 2am... It was just too sad to go to bed knowing that it was the last night at camp.

Here's a picture of who was left after 2am.

We set our bus toward home at 2pm and drove straight home with no problems. Tiffany even got her first experience as a bus driver! We arrived home at 6am and most of us didn't even get out of the bus until about 8am when we began getting ready for church. Dad moved the bus so that the Chinese church congregation could use the parking lot. After he moved it he couldn't get it to start again. Today they discovered that something is wrong with the alternator. It was another proof of God's control over every circumstance. He obviously wanted us to make it up to Oregon for the music camp, and he wanted Dad to be here to preach in the morning. After the morning service Dad went to bed where he stayed for the rest of the day with a fever and headache. He's feeling better today thankfully!
We've decided to have pizza night this week and next week since we missed one last week. So if you're feeling hungry for some pizza or fellowship you're welcome to stop by!
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is for bretheren to dwell together in unity!"~Psalms 133:1

July 19th 2006

2006-07-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

July 19th, 2006

We just enjoyed an incredibly fun trip to Bend Oregon where we attended a family camp, (Camp Dwight), at our friend's house. There were over 300 believers gathered to fellowship together. We met so many precious people and got to see several dear friends who we hadn't seen in a long time!
Unfortunately we were having such a good time we didn't stop to get very many good pictures. We do have a video of the talent night... So many good memories! Now we all feel like we left something in Oregon and there's serious talk about possibly going back up for the Booher family music camp... we're still seeking the Lord's direction on that.
We're praising the Lord for a super smooth trip! We left our house at 9:15 pm Thursday night, and drove straight through, arriving at 1:14 pm Friday afternoon. Bus travel with the family is always an exciting adventure!!! It was neat to drive all the way through the night, we had so many drivers we only had to take 2 or 3 hour shifts and then we were free to sleep the rest of the time. It was also nice that the little ones didn't have time to get bored because they slept most of the time, and when they were awake they were free to move around, and one more added plus, we didn't feel like we wasted an entire day traveling!

At camp Dwight we enjoyed...

...tons of food...

...overwhelming talent...

...beautiful scenery....

...profitable fellowship...

...hilarious entertainment...

...encouraging meetings...

...lines to practice patience...

...challenges...

...adrenaline rushes...

...group pictures...

...a moment of rest...

...good music...

...ways to get around...

This is starting to look like a serious plug for Camp Dwight! LOL! Did I mention how much fun we had? ;)
On our way home, we had to go over the "Grapevine"(a pass through some mountains that's really steep, up to a 6% grade!) which our bus's record speed over is 20 mph on the steep side! (We set the record at night when it was about 60 degrees outside) When we climbed it on Monday afternoon at 2:30, it was about 105 degrees. We were having a hard time not overheating even when we kept our speed down to 15 and then 10. We discovered that turning on the heater drew the heat out of the engine compartment and helped to cool the engine!!! I wish we had a picture of us, with the door and emergency exit windows open, sweating our eyeballs out! We tried soo hard to think that there was a snowstorm outside and we were comfy cozy warm inside our bus... Yeah, it could have been totally miserable but it made the trip so much more memorable, and it was a great test of our endurance. Definitely a bonding experience!
We got home on Monday evening, (about 5pm) and it's back to work for everyone! Tiffany is teaching her english class at Home of Christians Summer school, Mom is doing paperwork at the office, and Dad, Chris, Justin, Mandy, Annie and Willie tore into another kitchen today. We hope to have this one totally completed by next Tuesday!
The week before our trip we had the opportunity to visit with some friends from Arkansas. They came to pizza night on Friday and spent the day with us at the beach on Monday. The waves were totally awesome on Monday just for the record! (I threw that bit of information in for free!) ;)

That's all for now. We just said goodbye to our last guests at pizza night. It was a fun evening all together. We were expecting maybe 3 families and ended up having 10 not counting ourselves!!
Have a great week, and may God richly bless you as you live for Him!'til next time,The Dortignac Family
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."~Psalm 27:14

July 7th 2006

2006-07-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

July 7th, 2006

San O' Sunset.

Hi everyone!
Guess what! we have some exciting news to tell you! We are finally updating! (But you could probably tell that from the moment you recieved the update email).I've been having a hard time updating this site because I feel like everything is old news, it's already been told, blogged about and retired into our memories, only problem is most people don't read all of our individual blogs. (We don't even read all of our individual blogs.) And besides, who wants to go searching for pieces of news in 5 or 10 different places when they should be able to just come here and find it all? I'm going to try to be more faithful to our family blog and you can help keep me accountable!
A few weeks ago we kind of got onto a schedule that has been very helpful! We've made Monday a day off since Sundays are so full. We've noticed that we can usually get more work done during the rest of our week when we have at least one day of rest!
We try to get up around 5:30am and go to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 on Tuesday throught Friday. It's amazing how much more time we have in our day to do things that we wanted to do, or had to do.
We finished a kitchen last week that you can see pictures of here. Since then we've started and completed another kitchen and hope to start another one in 2 weeks. We also have a few other jobs so we've been occupied with work quite a bit lately.

On Sunday the 25th, we celebrated Mom's birthday. After the morning service our family headed to Villa Colima, (the assisted living home where we do a service every Sunday). We were all shocked when we came home to see the house decked out with streamers and balloons. We tried to convince Mom that we did it for her when really we knew nothing about it! She didn't know what to think! As we walked into the house we were met by the M-V family! We'll let you guess how they got into our locked up house without a key!
On Tuesday we picked up some friends from OK. They spent almost a week with us! Yep, we had 18 people in our house with one bathroom and one shower and nobody complaining too much! (Actually, I don't remember anyone complaining at all!)
Sarah and Anna Naylor arrived at LAX on Tuesday. We had so much fun with them!!!
On Tuesday we went to the beach.

Dad, taking a left.

Chris, doing what he loves best

Charity, Kimmy, Anna and Mikki, playing in the sand.

We discovered that Sarah had never been to an amusement park, and she had just gone on her first ride the night before she came here, so we got up Wednesday morning and decided that it would be a great day for Knott's Berry Farm. The majority of our group got there in the morning when the park opened and we had a fun time which only got better when Tiffany brought the little girls and the boys joined us after work.

The first group.

Trevor and Charity enjoying the airplane ride.

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!

Supreme Scream was a definite favorite of ours. We went on it 5 or 6 times!

Sarah, Alyssa and Anna on the log ride.

This is Merrie's favorite one....to ride with Heidi and Kaylee!

I guess people are curious because we're often asked what it's like living in this little house, and if we're all ready to kill each other, and if we like it here, etc... It may be hard for some people to believe, but we don't think about it much. We're happy to have a place to live, and it doesn't seem much different from any other place we've lived in because in each new dwelling place we see that God has provided all of our needs including space to live and function! We fit in an 1,300 sq ft house, we fit in a 2,500 sq ft house, and we fit in a 900 and something sq ft house!
Tiffany has been keeping busy teaching piano lessons and English lessons. She accepted a part time job teaching English for a Summer school at a nearby church and she seems to be enjoying it a lot. She's also keeping the younger kids busy with school assignments, and piano lessons.
Chris is excited to have some opportunities to practice photography. Somebody recently asked him to take product pictures for him. He's been trying a little of everything with his camera. He's been taking pictures of kitchens for our cabinet manufacturer, and earned a car for that work.
Since we returned from OK our bus hasn't gone anywhwere except for when we limped it over the hill to the church parking lot. I say "limped" because there wasn't enough, if any, air in the suspension so the bus was riding really low, and the speedometer wasn't budging which was interesting... but anyways, Justin has been working diligently towards finding the little problems and big ones and fixing them. Just the other day they took it for a test drive and came back very triumphant. It seems that Justin has been making some good headway which is happy news to us because we're really hoping to take a trip up to OR next week for a family camp. But even if we don't make it to OR it's nice to have an operable bus again!
We could update you on everyone personally but that might take awhile and this update has already been 8 days in the making!
I hope that this update finds you and yours well! We would love to hear from you! (I bet you already know that though because we say it every time!)
Talk to you all later,Mandy and Merrie for the family
P.S. Because of our new schedule I don't think we'll be having beach nights on Thursdays anymore. We'll probably change them to Tuesdays, but this week we're having it on Monday,(today). The best way to find out for sure is to drop us a line.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1Corinthians 2:9

June 1st 2006

2006-06-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

June 1st, 2006
Quick beach night update...
Hey Everyone! We are all getting ready to head off for the beach to spend the day, enjoying good food, tons of sun and fun, and sweet fellowship. We would love to have you join us!
We will be at Doheny State Beach. (See below for directions)

Come on in! The water's fine!

From Los Angeles and Orange Counties: Take Interstate 5 south to the Pacific Coast Highway/Camino Las Ramblas off-ramp (approximately 15 miles south of the Interstate 405 and 5 Interchange). As soon as you exit the freeway you will come to a fork; bear right. You are now on Pacific Coast Highway (northbound). Dana Point Harbor Drive is about 1 mile from the Freeway and is at the second traffic light. As you approach this intersection, Denny's restaurant will be on your right. Turn left onto Dana Point Harbor Drive. The State Beach entrance will be to your left at the first traffic light.
Even if you aren't going to make it, we hope that you have a great weekend.
Click here to send us your comments, we would love to hear from you! God bless you!
The Dortignac Family

May 26th 2006

2006-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

May 26th, 2006
On May 11th we recieved the sad news that one of the Creighton's sons, Alex, was killed in the Army. He was in a vehicle that rolled and burst into flames and he was not able to escape. I'm sure the family would covet your prayers for them! You can read more about the accident here.
We went to his funeral yesterday and were encouraged by the strength and peace of the family. They were considerately making sure everyone was comfortable and cared for at the reception in their home afterward. What a testimony they have been to so many people!

Safe in the arms of Daddy

Life in our little house continues. We were hoping to complete the conditional use permit before going on vacation last week. Shortly before we left we discovered that our new house plans will never be approved by the county because the plot map shows that the current street is actually 10' narrower than the proposed street, which means we must begin our measuring from the imaginary 10' wider point, which put our original drawings across the setback allowances. That was a little dissapointing but Mom didn't let it stop her. She's already coming up with a new plan that sounds and looks even better! Isn't it wonderful how the Lord brings good out of every situation!?

Entering the park

On Mothers day we headed up to Yosemite with 5 other families. We had a very blessed time there!!! The weather was perfect. And the waterfalls were incredible, beautiful, awesome, inspiring, powerful! "The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters." (Psalm 29:3) The families we went with made the time all the more special. We did many hikes, saw lots of bears, took hundreds of pictures, enjoyed the meal prep and dishes with everyone, ate too much good food, did some rock climbing and just had a great trip!

Running to catch up.

These kids had too much fun!

Saving the dirt for later ;-)

Willie with his new toy

The conquerors of the Yosemite Falls trail

"The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handy work!" (Psalm 19:1)
The hymn of the week was "How Great Thou Art!"

"O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,Consider all the world Thy hands have made,I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

A view of Glacier point from our campsite

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,How great Thou art, how great Thou art...

Nevada Falls, one of many we enjoyed!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,When I look down, from lofty mountains granduer,and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze,

This was before the water level rose!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,How great Thou art, how great Thou art..."

Half Dome

Justin, Willie, Darrell and Abby are the specs on the top of Half Dome as seen through a super tele-photo lense

In other news:
When we got home we were saddened to see new graffitti on our property. Dad has really been hoping to catch the taggers in the act. Click here to read about an exciting adventure that happened the day after we came home.
Since we didn't have a washer and dryer hooked up we were able to get all the laundry done and the unpacking finished rather quickly. 1 family of 16 + 7 days= Lots of laundry! We're really excited that Dad made us a laundry room this week!!! We've also been tremedously blessed by some new cabinets and closet space, thanks to Dad and the boys, and our cabinet making friend! Doesn't organization make life much easier?

After the laundry mat

Last pizza night we were getting ready to cook the crust when we discovered that our oven wasn't functioning properly. In fact it had been giving us problems for a few days. To make a long story short we ended up making a spaghetti dinner and were amazed at how much smoother things ran. While discussing the evening afterwards Dad encouraged us to serve whatever we wanted, "it doesn't have to be pizza", he said. So since we didn't want to just call it "night" we're keeping it as "pizza night". Just don't be surprised if the food doesn't look or taste anything like pizza! (See post below to find out when the next one is).
Click here to send us your comments, we would love to hear from you! God bless you!
Until next time,The Dortignac Family
"O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:3-4

May 4th 2006

2006-05-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

May 4th, 2006

Hey Everyone! We are announcing the beach night calendar for the months of May and June. We would love to see you all there!

One of many beautiful sunsets we enjoy at the beach!

This is an official open invitation. Bring all of your friends and join us for an afternoon of playing at the beach and an evening of fellowship around the campfire! Bring your own hot dogs and buns, or whatever you and your family likes to eat. Fire is provided.

Creative cooking on an open fire!

Where: Doheny State Beach. How to get there... From Los Angeles and Orange Counties: Take Interstate 5 south to the Pacific Coast Highway/Camino Las Ramblas off-ramp (approximately 15 miles south of the Interstate 405 and 5 Interchange). As soon as you exit the freeway you will come to a fork; bear right. You are now on Pacific Coast Highway (northbound). Dana Point Harbor Drive is about 1 mile from the Freeway and is at the second traffic light. As you approach this intersection, Denny's restaurant will be on your right. Turn left onto Dana Point Harbor Drive. The State Beach entrance will be to your left at the first traffic light.

From San Diego County: Take Interstate 5 north to the Beach Cities/Camino Las Ramblas off-ramp. Once you leave the freeway get into the left lane. After you pass through the tunnel you will be on Pacific Coast Highway. Continue about 3/4 mile to the second traffic light which is Dana Point Harbor Drive. As you approach this intersection, Denny's restaurant will be on your right. Turn left onto Dana Point Harbor Drive. The State Beach entrance will be to your left at the first traffic light.
When: Thursday, May 4th, May 18th(canceled), June 1st, June 15th, and June 29th.
For more (and updated) information on each of these dates, email us before noon of the day in question and we will get back to you ASAP. (Leaving us your phone # would be helpful for a early response.)
What to bring: Lawn chairs, warm clothes, surfboards, boogie boards, rollerskates, and anything else you think might be fun.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Lots of fellowship in an awesome setting!

May God richly bless your week!
With love,The Dortignac Family
P.S. If you were wondering, Pizza Nights are held on Friday on the opposite weeks of beach night. Email us for more info.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
Click here to send us your comments, we would love to hear from you!

April 24th 2006

2006-04-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

April 24th, 2006
I guess it's official now. We've moved. We now live in our 935 sq ft house. It's a challenge, but it's fun! If you haven't seen our house yet you'll have to stop by. Since moving we have had lots of company.
The other night as we were all getting in bed, Jack and Trevor were hovering around the girls room since that's where all the excitement was happening, (try putting 3 little girls to bed in a room full of bigger girls, all of whom are a little too happy to sleep at the moment). Jack stated that he hopes we don't build a new house. He likes it when everyone is so close, and we're forced to do things together since there's not much room for anything else! "If we build a new house it shouldn't be more than 1,000 sq ft!" He said.
Somehow living in close quarters seems to increase our family harmony.

Heidi turned 2 on Friday!

Okay, so we moved, what else? We don't have internet access at home so we've been finding new things to do with our time in the evenings. One of the favorite pasttimes is playing Dutch Blitz. We've also been finding more time to play instruments, sing, play basketball and volleyball! It's almost like we're on a luxurious extended campout! ? ! ? ! ? (I say "luxurious" because we have an oven, running water and light fixtures, not to mention a private shower!) Oh, and it's definitely a new experience to have people walk through our yard day and night, or pace around the field talking on a cell phone, or walk around our house looking in the windows...
It's kind of strange to think that at this time last year we were wondering if we would ever get to Oklahoma... It seemed like one thing after another was detaining our trip. Now, one year later we've gone and come again, we've completely renovated 2 houses, we've moved from our house of 13+ years and we're looking forward to building another one as soon as we can, which won't be until we get permission from the county.

Laying the driveway at the 2nd house we fixed up.

Time for our siesta

This is how we really work!

If any of you are still wondering about the Creighton family you can read an update on them here.
Pizza night is going to be this Friday! (Again). We'll see some of you there!
Have a great week!
With love,The Dortignac Family
"Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me." ~Psalm 25:1-2

March 24th 2006

2006-03-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

March 24th
Hello again,
Since our last update we've been debating back and forth as to whether or not we can/should move before the end of March.On Monday we said, "No way! It's not going to happen." On Tuesday, "There's no way! On Wednesday it was the same story. On Thursday Dad said, "Looks like we're going to do it!"
The Lord brought a bunch of things together that seem to indicate such as providing a place for us to rent a shop/office in an ideal location for our work! It also will have enough space for us to store our extra stuff that will not fit in a 900 square foot house!
Since the debating started we stopped packing boxes, so next week is promising to be crazy!
In the meantime we started our one week kitchen renovation on Monday. Day 1- Demo'ed everything and did most of the rough electrical and plumbing Day 2- Finished the rough ins', patched all the drywall and mudded and textured everything Day 3- Went skiing while Dad and Mom primed the kitchen (Short day) Day 4- Laid a stone floor in a diamond pattern and grouted it Day 5- Installed the cabinets
On Wednesday Dad and Mom met with the county workers again and obtained permission to live at the church property while we build. They gave us one year, which they said was very generous. It's supposed to take 3-6 months still for the conditional use permit to be finished, and then we can start getting our drawing approved which could also take 3-6 months...
Last week 11 of us hit the slopes and went skiing for the first time. We're looking forward to going 2 more times. (It was a 4 week package!) Some of us are getting hooked! Dad says we're on our own with snow skiing.

(L-R)Merrie, Annie, Mandy, Sarah G., Joanna, Chris and Trevor.

Trevor and Jack ride the lift.

A new grinding technique!?

Willie gets some air!

Annie

Trevor tops the jump...

Jack shows us what it's all about.

While we were returning our skis and boots a lady was sitting in the room where we were putting our shoes on. She watched us with open curiosity, and finally asked, "Are you brothers and sisters?" We all smiled and said, "Yep". She asked, "How many?" "14." She gasped! "All from one mom and dad?" We laughed and said, "Yes!" Her next question was almost answered before she asked... "Are you Mormon or Catholic?" We said, "No, and we're not from Arkansas either!" She laughed and continued grilling us with questions, "All from one mom and dad?" was asked at least 3 times! A few minutes later her husband walked in and she turned to him and enjoyed telling him all about us! He had a hard time believing it too! It's so much fun being in a big family!!!
We've been enjoying having some company lately. On Friday we saw John Fiala and his family from Houston. This week we had one friend from KY and one from main land China. We're hoping to see another friend from Oregon soon. Thanks for stopping by guys!
May the God of all peace bless and keep you,With Love,The Dortignac Family
"They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them."- Isaiah 49:10
Click here to send us your comments, we would love to hear from you!

March 14th 2006

2006-03-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

March 14th, 2006
Please pray for our friends the Creighton Family. They are missing their son Zachary. They haven't seen him for almost a month now. For more information, click the link on the left.Edit: Zachary has been found. He is OK. Please continue to pray for the Creighton family as they sort out what happened.
Last week we started packing up boxes. It's an exciting time for our family! We haven't permanently moved for over 12 years, so as you can imagine, we have accumulated an incredible amount of stuff...I guess our 1,300 sq ft house was too big for us because we're planning to downsize to a 935 sq ft house while we wait for permission to build a new one! It will be fun... I think...right? Of course right!
In the meantime we're hoping to move before the end of the month! (I think we'll need a miracle to meet that deadline!) But there are several reasons why we think we should!
On Sat we met the Duggar family from AR. They have 16 kids and their oldest is 18! You've probably read about them or seen them on TV. They came on Saturday with a video crew from the Discovery Health Channel. It was so neat to line up our two families and have a total of 30 kids!!! You can read more about their visit here.
Could you imagine what the Christian population in our country would be in two generations if all Christian families trusted the Lord to give them the amount of children He wanted them to have?
The Lord has blessed southern CA with some beautiful weather lately. Here is a picture that Chris took on Saturday.
Work has been keeping us very busy as well as preparing to move, and continuing with beach nights and pizza nights, and Church all day Sundays. This week it looks like we're going to be seeing friends from northern CA, KY, TX and AR!!! We're looking forward to that! We'd love to see y'all too if you happen to be in the area!
We'll probably start updating this more frequently after I (Mandy) learn how to do the html for it.
Hoping that all is well with you and yours!
With love,The Dortignac family
"...I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it." De 30:16

February 20th 2006

2006-02-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

February 20th, 2006Wow, it's February already! Hmm... where to begin? There's been a lot of big news around here lately. The biggest probably being that our little house in Whittier, that we've been living in for over 13 years has sold! We have less than 90 days to move...
The house in OK is still for sale, even though we don't have it listed anywhere right now. (Is that faith or procrastination?)
We've made good headway on our recording! You can look for it in 2008!!!

Our first concert went... eh, yeah, it went! We enjoyed it, and it was miraculous that we were all well, since we had sick ones up to the day before, and sick ones the whole week after!

We're still working on a house renovation, and we're almost done! It's very rewarding to see how pretty things can become with some labour and materials.
A new business opportunity is in the making. We've been wanting to focus our energy and efforts toward one area of work, i.e. electrical, flooring, roofing, etc. After doing several kitchen remodels we saw a need for an efficient kitchen remodel that would only take 2 weeks as opposed to taking 2 months! So, that's our goal! Anybody want a new kitchen? {=^D
Our church proposed that we build ourselves a house on the church property, so mom has been diligently working on drawing up plan after plan after plan after plan, trying to think of every detail. It's been really interesting to see how many people have been praying about us moving there for the past 2 years without telling anybody else what they were thinking.
The Lord has blessed us so much! Isn't He sooooo good?!!!
With love,The Dortignac Family

January 21st 2006

2006-01-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

January 21st We are back! It sure has been a while since we last updated. Here is a recap of the what we've been up to. Today we are celebrating Jack's 14th birthday by relaxing and doing some much needed tasks around the house.We did our first concert on Sunday the 15th, in San Diego and we would appreciate all of your prayers as we have also begun a weekly recording session for our first CD.In the mean time, we, (Dad, Chris, Justin, Mandy, Annie, Willie and Merrie), are renovating a house here in the Los Angeles area. Dad is considering going into the business of doing strictly kitchen remodels. We would like to focus on one line of work and become proficient at it. Anybody want a new kitchen? {=^)We've also been working on building this website, and transferring everything to our new domain name. Merrie and Jack have dedicated many hours of work on this project!And we're looking for a new place to live, as the house we have rented for dirt cheap from our very gracious landlady for 12 years, must now be sold due to circumstances beyond her control. Have you ever met a landlord who was willing to rent to a family of 16?It's an exciting time for us! We're looking at a lot of new beginnings. We pray that whatever happens, it will be for His glory!
"A man's heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps"~Pr 16:9
"As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him."~ Ps 18:30

With love,The Dortignac Family

December 19th 2005

2005-12-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

Decemeber 19th On Saturday morning we said goodbye to Steve and Dawn Anderson. It was fun hosting them. They're so full of lessons and stories learned in over 40 years in the jungles of Brazil. Our elderly neighbors brought us breakfast Saturday morning! The neighbors had wanted to surprise us the night before by ordering pizza and cooking up carne asada, (one of our all time favorites!). But when they saw that we had company they cancelled the order and brought us the carne asada to take home with us. They were so sad to see us leave. What a neighborhood! We're so used to having neighbors who drive home and disappear into their houses... (Besides our grandparents!!!)After our company left we began packing in ernest. We had to stop and enjoy the snow for a while. Fortunately it wasn't too cold, so none of the snow stuck! The Lyman family brought us lunch, and we said goodbye to them{=^( About two hours after they left we were ready to go. We set off at 6:00pm. and drove, and drove, and drove, and drove, and drove... The roads were fine. The bus ran. We had plenty of food and drivers to drive straight through. We arrived here in Whittier 23 1/2 hours after leaving OKC.While driving late into the night, Mandy was talking to Kaylee on the radio...or so she thought!M: Kaylee, do you know where we are?K: We're in TX![pause] Wow, Kaylee's right on top of it...K: Nobody lives in TX!Where in the world did she come up with that idea?M: What!? A lot of people live in TX!!K: Anybody who lives in TX is nobody.No way! Where did that idea come from? She's starting to sound just like her brothers!M: What about John F....? K: Nobody lives in TX except John F...Willie!!! He had been coaching her all along.We're grateful for all of your prayers! The Lord was definitely with us the entire trip! At the last stop for fuel the boys decided to check the oil in the bus. When they opened up the engine compartment they discovered a loose bolt. If we had lost that bolt it could have been a LONG trip home!Grandma and Grandpa brought us dinner, which included 8 whole chickens! While we were cleaning up dinner Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy came to welcome us home! Hmm... let me see, we had a total of 21 people come by last night! The Lystrup family brought us 3 breakfasts, and two lunches worth of food. They also brought us live flowers, and a welcome home banner!
Today we worked on unloading the bus. We actually finished unloading it, and the van, and washed them, and did about 14 loads of laundry, cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, and several dressers, looked at the overgrown yard and sighed, and washed down everything that was in the bus, please don't ask us why we had to do that... And we had company today too!It's 11:35 according to my computer and I'm dead tired.Over and out!

Dad gives the van a bath.

Deember 16th 2005

2005-12-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

December 16th We've been thrilled to be able to have people over everyday this week, to a house that looks decent and clean! All the work over the past 7 months is paying off! Only problem is, the house looks so nice to us, it's really hard to motivate ourselves to finish all the detail work. We like to just walk around and "ooh" and "ahh" over everything. ;-)Alyssa turned 10 on Tuesday, and Trevor will be 8 tomorrow! The little kids love the spaciousness of the house, there's lots of room to run around inside, when it's too cold to play outside.Tonight we're looking forward to hosting some missionary friends from Brazil.The biggest news of the week is that Dad and Justin listed the house for sale on the internet. Click here to see the add with LOTS of pictures! Anyone wanna buy a house? ;-)We've got some more before/after pictures. It was fun looking at these together the other night!This past week, as we're enjoying the nicest house we've ever live in, we've been reminded to invest in that which is eternal, not laying up treasures on earth... but storing up treasures in Heaven. Think about what you're doing today, and what's it going to profit 10 years from now? More importantly, what's it going to profit for eternity?

December 8th 2005

2005-12-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

December 8th Yesterday we watched the sky anxiously looking for clouds. They said it should snow around noon...We were scheduled to go ice skating at noon, so we hurried to get ready and also to clean and apply the first coat on the library room floor.

Looking to the west on our street.

Let's build a snowman!

The beginings of our very first snowman ever!

Ice skating was a blast! And we're all sore as a result, but when asked whether the raw sores on her legs were worth it, Annie replied, "definitely!" I'm sure we'd all jump at a chance to do it again. Thanks again to the Lymans! (What will it take to get you to come to CA?)After skating we walked outside and it was.... Snowing!!! (As I'm sure you can tell by the pictures.)

Uhh... What can I say? Too much fun!!!

The Naylors followed us home from the ice rink. At our house we all thawed out while we played some games and nursed our aching muscles... Later in the evening, Wid and Izzy joined up with us again, and we had dinner and dessert, and lots of fun!

Joanna Alyssa and Trevor in front of a really good dessert!

~Arriving home in the snow!~

Today we did get some work done. We've got the first coat on the dining room floor, and the second coat on the library. We're hoping to finish all the wood floors by tomorrow. Then the only floors left will be carpeted and the entryhall will be tiled. We also got the heater vent duct re-routed so that it's no longer right in front of the front door. Thanks to Justin! (Good job, Justin.)

Heidi Malia

December 5th 2005

2005-12-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

December 5th This post was going to be comprised of words and pictures cut in half, thanks to all who responded to my question in the last update! But, fortunately for all of you, (not to mention myself!) one person replied requesting more pictures, instead of half words, half pictures!Happy Birthday to Joanna! She's 12 years old today. We're looking forward to celebrating 3 of the December birthdays on Wednesday at an ice skating rink, thanks to Wid and Izzy Lyman!We're hoping to see snow on Wednesday. There's a 60% chance which means nothing in OK. But we're hoping...

What Wid Lyman does with his afternoon off

We got to see Wid III play again on Saturday

On Monday some friends came over and helped us work all day! We not only had a LOT of fun working with them, we got a lot done too! They came back on Tuesday and spent another day working with us, and we almost completed all the painting, and we installed all the window frames.On Wednesday we had to roll all the walls again. :-( (Don't ask.) And we had to go around cutting in the edges.

How would YOU paint the wall above your stairwell?

Caleb Naylor

Chris cleaning the paint sprayer

On Thursday Dad and Mom set out to buy some laminate flooring. They ordered some, but it wouldn't come in until December 12th. When they got home that afternoon we stood around discussing all the options again. Dad was telling us all about a distressed pine flooring that was the most popular at all the stores they went to. It was selling for over $4.50 per sq ft. Dad has really wanted to try sanding the floors down since the beginning, and now that he'd finally ordered flooring he was able to convince some of us to at least try to refinish some of the floors.

Scrubbing the floors

He rented a floor sander that afternoon and we began sanding away. The sanding was the easy part! What we didn't think about was the hours worth of scraping, scrubbing and cleaning that we would have to do on our hands and knees. It was a LONG two days, since we worked longer hours than usual wanting to get all the use out of the sander that we could. Thankfully Dad decreed that we would carpet the other two bedrooms upstairs.We're thrilled with the finished product!

Don't worry, they aren't that slick!

We spent Sunday in Blanchard, Oklahoma at the Bible Study Center. The Naylor's did a concert in the morning, and we enjoyed a late lunch/dinner with the Wilsons and Naylors afterward. We had a lot of fun playing games, and instruments, and just talking.

Kaylee Jo

November 26th 2005

2005-11-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

November 26th We had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday! It didn't feel exactly like Thanksgiving since it was the first time that we spent it without our relatives. But it was a special day anyway, and we enjoyed beautiful weather, and a feast outdoors, counting our blessings, lively discussions, good music, and lots of volleyball!

The dinner table

We woke up one morning to find frost covering everything outside! It was kind of pretty looking. According to our neighbors, it's usually very cold and miserable weather in November, with ice storms that cut off electricity! We've been really blessed with mild weather so far! In fact the weather has been beautiful lately!Believe it or not, we've finished with the drywalling! And we sprayed texture on the rest of the walls and ceilings on Wednesday! (We can put those tools away now.)We're looking forward to getting it all painted soon! Then we'll have to do something about the floors... I think!?Today we worked on the trim work upstairs. We want to get it all primed before we spray the walls and ceilings. We didn't get very far, we got too caught up in patching dings and knicks in the wood, but we should be able to spray after one more day of work.Last Thursday we were invited to Brother Sam and Sister Mary's home for authentic Indian food, and more fellowship with them and our friend Pushpan.We took a tour of their beautiful house, and we enjoyed getting to know them better, and learning about Indian culture and their state in India, (the state of coconuts.)
Sam, Mary, Pushpan

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35

November 17th 2005

2005-11-17T17:06:00.000-08:00

November 17th Hey everyone! We're moving... downstairs. We've pretty much completed the work downstairs, except the floors, so we decided to empty out the upstairs in order to work more efficiently. It's going to be interesting living conditions for awhile. :-}There was a weather change here. It went from sunny and warm, to sunny and cold! (Cold to us anyway.) We're so grateful to have a good heater, and a well insulated house!We've been doing school every morning, translated; Bible study, and law and government study... It's been a profitable time for all of us.The other day Dad headed out to rent a drum sander. Three Home Depots later he gave up when none of them had the right sand paper to go with the sander.This happened on the same day that we finally got some more of the white paint we've been using for all the woodwork, when we began applying it we discovered that it was mixed wrong... how many whites can there be???We decided to skip sanding the floors for now. And we're thankful that only one of the three gallons of white paint was bad, so far!Dad took some pictures the other day, and they pretty much sum up what we've been up to. Instead of wasting my time typing, I'll just post the pictures.

Justin, measuring for the window frames

Tiffany, priming door frames

Trevor, putting up glass tape

Chris and Merrie, working in the backyard

Mandy, sanding drywall in the entryway

Chris, building custom window frames

Annie, cutting in on the ceiling in library

Heidi, building custom window frames!

Hey everyone!

November 12th 2005

2005-11-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

November 12th Oops! Two Fridays have passed since the last update. Sorry about that. We delayed updating for the past three days because we kept seeing huge progress on the front of the house, and we wanted to post a picture of it. (We still will do a little more detail work, and rake leaves, and cut the grass, but we like looking at the house, and thought you might too.)

Dad and Justin

On Friday, the 4th, we were invited to a college basketball game because Wid's son, Wid III, would be playing. We had a great time, yelling our hearts out for Wid's team. They didn't win, but Wid played really well, and we all enjoyed the game. The next day we finally broke down and bought a basketball... :)We put an hour or two into the house late Saturday, after playing with our new ball down at the school.On Sunday we celebrated Annie's 19th birthday! We spent the day at the Naylor's place with the Naylor and Russell families. We had a precious time of fellowship around the Word of God, some sweet worship together and a great lunch. Then we stayed the night! not on purpose- we just did! It was past midnight before we finally left them alone... (See Picture Above.)Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday found most of our crew working around the front porch area, or on the roof over the porch. We were really motivated to finish what Wid had started before he came back to check up on us!On Wednesday five of us had the opportunity to do some outside work. We helped to paint the fence we had helped prime a couple weeks ago. When we got home, we spent the evening gazing at the front of the house. ;-) I guess hours and hours of scraping, priming and painting really do make a difference.Friday we did fun stuff. We mounted the mailbox, and the address numbers, and installed the porch light, and we moved all the tools around so we will be ready to start work on the upstairs when the time comes. Mandy also hung some drywall around the base of the entry hall, where some really wide baseboards had been. Meanwhile, we baked fifteen pizzas, made a few phone calls and cleaned up the house for company. Three families who had never been here before came over, and we had a lot of fun getting to know them better.Our neighbors are starting to see a pattern. Kim, from down the street asked if we had people coming over."Yes- three families, that we know of."She responded in complete Okie, "Do they'all have a bunch of kids?" Today we enjoyed a brief visit over lunch, with Brother Pushpan Pappu, missionary from India, to India, by way of Santa Clara, California. He came over with the couple who is hosting him here, and we hope to see them all again this evening at their church. Thank you, Sister Arja, for sharing Brother Pushpan and for the almond roca!

Heidi longing to go outside!

November 3rd 2005

2005-11-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

November 3rdWe've had a busy week. It's been good.In the last update I mentioned our new friend Wid, who brought us dinner and helped us paint. That was only the beginning! He's come back everyday after that to work with us. We're so grateful for all of the time he's investing into us and our project. Thank you Wid! We appreciate your help!Since last Monday we have painted every single day except Sunday. Sadly enough, it looks like we're going to continue that tradition for awhile yet. It's nice to see the improvement paint makes to the house though!We finally finished the downstairs bathroom, and dining room, except the floor. As I worked on putting up the new pictures on the website, I realized that I had completely run out of space... That's why it's such a late update.

The Downstairs Bathroom

Last Thursday six of the Naylors came to help us work. We were excited to see that by the end of the day we had the library room almost ready for primer. (You might remember the library room as the room we had our temporary kitchen set up in)- it has tons of woodwork, and lots of cut in work. We were surprised to find that we could have fun while scraping paint, thanks to the Naylor's lively fellowship, and hard work!We enjoyed having company for pizza night! That was refreshing to us in a way, we love having people over!On Saturday we helped Wid prime 800+ ft. of fence. It was an interesting job considering the wind, the oil base primer, and the rotting dead cows that the neighbors seemed to keep in a pile toward the end of the fence. Some of us turned pretty white, no, not from the smell, from the primer!We drove straight from the fence painting job to a concert, scraping the paint off of us the best that we could. When we arrived we felt a little embarrassed at our sloppy appearance, but it was nice to see the Naylors again... until they asked us to sing for everyone! (JK, Sage!)It was akward standing in front of everyone in jeans and tennis shoes, and our only sweatshirts we had with us, hands, arms and hair all decorated with the white paint, but we enjoy singing for people, so we quickly forgot about what we looked like... until afterwards, when somebody complimented my grey highlights!

Naylor Family Band

It's definitely fall here in Oklahoma. We can't believe how quickly all the trees are turning colors, losing their leaves, the grass is turning brown, and the weather has a definite change from the summer months. It's so different, and I think it's actually kind of prettyWe're looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us, whatever it may be. It's exciting to be in His service!

We Saw This Sign Out In The Country...

October 24th 2005

2005-10-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

October 24th
Wow! What a week. On Monday the Callis family, from CA, called to say they were coming to visit on Tuesday.
We were blessed to spend time with them again. It's been over 6 months since we've all seen their whole family. We used to see them at least once every other week!
"Thanks for coming Callis family!"

Unfortunately several people in our family were sick and had to stay upstairs the whole time. :- (

The Callis Family

Our company left on Wednesday and we continued scraping paint. All the woodwork has to be stripped down to bare wood in order for the new paint to actually stick. By Friday we were kind of tired of scraping paint. We went to the Naylor's house for their Music in the Meadow night. We played volleyball until 1am!

I won't tell you what we did Saturday, in case you can't guess. ;-)

On Sunday morning we were laying awake in our sleeping bags, trying to stay warm, when the phone rang. It was a family we had met through a fellowship directory on the Internet. We had them over for lunch and had a nice time.
Sunday evening found the brave members of the family at a symphony concert. The rest of the family stayed home to hang out in front of the stove! ;-p

The Lord used our neighbors to bless us again when they brought over 8 heavy jackets, and several warm outfits for the little kids.
Our cousins also sent a bunch of sweaters and sweatshirts. (Miss you guys!)
So, yeah, we didn't get that much work done on the house this week, but as we discussed it yesterday we decided that we want to be home for Thanksgiving at the latest, but with the amount of work we have left Thanksgiving is the soonest we'll be getting home. We decided to put on the after burners!

Dad got the heater up and running just now!!! Justin was in charge of the woodworking prep, and we finally started priming it today! Chris was in charge of caulking some critical things, Annie and Mandy decided they were through with the cold outside air blowing on them when they tried to sleep, so they insulated and hung drywall under the bedroom windows. Tiffany supervised cleaning the house, and gave reading lessons to Trevor and Charity. Mom worked on preparing delicious food for us, cleaning the kitchen, and doing the book-keeping.

Shortly after noon we got a call from a man we met 2 weeks ago. He asked if he could bring us Kentucky Fried Chicken, and help us work. Who could resist an offer like that?
Not only did he provide a delicious, hot meal, he also painted the crown molding in the dining room!
Thank you Wid and Izzy!

A while back we received a huge package in the mail. Written around the outside of it were the words, "And Jesus said... 'Go home to thy friends!'" Mk 5:19 As we were reading the Bible together last week we came across this verse in 1Th 2:18 "Wherefore we would have come unto you...but Satan hindered us."
We are glad to be in the service of our King. And we're grateful that He's giving us grace to be content wherever He wants us to be. But it sure is getting cold here! ;-D

New Porch, and Beginning of the Lawn

Painting the Window Frames

October 17th 2005

2005-10-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

October 17th Okay, okay, I'll update then! Sorry for "slackin" I guess I just got too caught up in what we've been doing, where we've been going, who we've been meeting and seeing...On October 12th we were celebrating Christopher's birthday by painting the living room, dinning room and library!!! It was an exciting step forward in progress.If you'd like to read more about what we did on that day< href="http://www.xanga.com/Loveisnumber1/366579182/item.html"> Click here (It's my blog.)
On Thursday we were invited to dinner at Mr. and Mrs. Ben Manis' house. We had an exciting visit with them. They live on a beautiful 8+ acres that include part of a lake. They let us do pedal boats, they had a zip line for the little kids, and they had STORIES! We enjoyed hearing about some of their 61 trips to Africa, and hunting stories, among others. =D We had a great time with them! (Oh yeah, the lasagna was delicious too!)

Riding the pedal boat

On Friday the Macdonald family we met at the concert, (that's the story you can read about on my blog), came before noon and helped us clean house, grade the front yard, and put up the rest of the vinyl siding over the front porch. They also helped us cook the 17 pizzas we made, with the oven in their converted bus. You can visit their website at: www.macdonaldfamilysingers.com
Over 50 people showed up for Pizza Night! We were so blessed by each one who came. Most of the people there were very musical and we had fun playing and singing for each other.On Saturday we planted the front lawn. It's going to be so nice to see a lawn here. The rest of the day we spent just talking about Pizza Night. ;-)
Sunday we went to the really big church with over 70 homeschool families. After church we came home and hung out until 5:30 when we headed off again, this time to visit the Burk family.The Burks have 13 kids. They are an extremely talented family both in art and music. One of their sons played The Stars and Stripes on the guitar, after we sang it. Wow! I wish you all could have seen his fingers fly.
Today we were all getting started to work when Willie came running in the house."Someone is breaking into the house across the street!" he said. "Get the cell phone." Dad said, as he headed out the door.We all watched out the window as a young man, dressed in black, was attempting to enter somebody's house through a side window.He saw Dad watching him and ducked down. Next thing we knew he was running. He hopped the back fence and disappeared.
"I already called the police." A neighbor told Dad."Did you get a good description of the guy?" Dad asked her."Oh yeah, he lives in the house on the other side of us."
Not more than 3 minutes later a little white car pulled up to the corner and two men in suits stepped out. We could see they had their hands on concealed guns. As they walked past the house where the criminal lived they saw the neighbor lady on her front porch. One of the men moved to pull his gun and she called out, "No, no! It's me, I'm the one who called you guys."After 3 more cars arrived the men surrounded the suspects house. We could hear them knock, and then knock louder. Nobody answered.As we watched and waited the police all disappeared for a while, and then they re-appeared with a man wearing jeans and a white shirt. Looking closer we spotted another officer carrying the black shirt we had seen the guy wearing as he attempted to rob the house.Needless to say it was an exciting scene to witness. And now it's over and we have to get back to work.
So, we've had a fun week. Lots of fellowship with some really neat people! As we thought about it we realized that we wouldn't have had the privilege to meet all of the friends we've made, or go to the events we've gone to lately, or help the victims of Katrina if our bus hadn't had the fire back in KY. What a blessing it's turned out to be. We don't know the bigger picture, but we know Who does, and we know that He's promised that "all things work together for good to them that love Him..." Romans 8:28

Leveling the dirt with the MacDonalds before planting the lawn

*The man who attempted the burglary is our neighbor. His name is Daniel, and he's 20 years old. He has a habit of breaking into homes while people are at work. Please pray for him as you feel led. He's in serious bondage.

October 11th 2005

2005-10-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is another very special day!!!Today was special too, we finally poured the concrete slab, and steps for the porch! We have a very optomistic plan to paint the living room, dining room and library, finish the trim work and have it all done in time for Pizza Night on Friday. =-D (Hopefully someone will take us seriously on our "open house" invitation!)

Pouring the porch steps

Watching through the window

The Boss

Like I mentioned in the last post, we went to see Lew Sterrett at the Lazy E Arena. We were so blessed the first time we went back every night. We took two neighbors with us, and they liked it enough to want to go again too!We met a family there one night after the program. The Naylors agreed to "trade" songs with us. They sang together, and then we sang. Hopefully we'll get to see them again before we leave. On Sunday we enjoyed the opportunity to sing for Western Hills Church. We were doubly blessed to hear Lew one last time since they had asked him to preach there! He asked if we would come to PN if he could find a house there for us to fix up...After church we were invited to the Linzey family's house. They have 8 little kids, the oldest being 10 years old! We had a nice time visiting with them, playing in their big yard, and singing together.

Lew On Spark

Winning a Rebellious Mare

Nolan (15), and once wild mustang, Bravo

October 7th 2005

2005-10-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry for taking such a long time to update without even saying a word about it... How ironic that my last email update said that I would try to post some more "tomorrow"!Thursday we celebrated Willie's 17th birthday! We decided to work late so that we could spend Friday at the lake.

We had to go to the lake Friday because we weren't sure if our company that was scheduled to arrive soon, would want to go to the lake or not, and we knew that warm days at the lake were soon to run out! It's been our substitute for the beach, some of us think we like skiing even better than surfing!

On Saturday we went to the Pound's house for a day of fun and fellowship.

Each family that came was asked to bring an activity so there was volley ball, football, a game with little balls that's kind of similar to marbles but on a much bigger scale, it sounds like botchie ball, but I don't know how to spell it, foosball, ping pong, lawn mower tractor rides, and even a horse to ride! (Can you guess which activity we brought?) We've been really blessed by the Pound's friendly hospitality.

Kaylee, on a beast she once feared...

The Martin-Vegue's, or Martin-Veggies, or Martin-Vagues, or Martin-Vaggies, or M-V's, (They said it doesn't matter how you say it!), arrived around 8:00 Sunday morning. We ate breakfast together and then took the bus to Western Hills Church. 5 hours later we left WHC and went sight seeing, first to the OKC federal building memorial, then to the Bass Pro Shop, and last but not least the canal! We had such a wonderful time with them.

They were probably totally wiped out after driving straight through from CA!

Thanks for spending your "vacation" time working with us!

On Monday we worked on mudding the drywall in the dining room, library room, entry hall, and living room. Chris and Tim worked on preparing the few places on the front of the house that we're actually going to paint, while Dad and Mr. M-V worked on the forms for the front porch.

Mom and Mrs. M-V, and some of the kids washed several windows and cleaned the kitchen and prepared the food... We made progress, and had fun at the same time.

Tuesday morning we went to the lake, and even though the lake wasn't the smoothest, in fact it wasn't very smooth at all, Jonathan, Kristina, and Tim all got up on two skis. An awesome addition to the day was when Daniel Pound joined us with his 2 Jet skis. It was great to see even the most timid people lighten up when they saw those jet skis! Thanks Daniel!!! The only problem is we're all hooked now... except Dad.

Tim on a jet ski

Tiffany

Trevor's first time behind the boat!

DANIEL

Wednesday morning dawned and we got a very slow start but we did get work done. It was warm all day until around 4:00pm. The weather changed in about 10 minutes. It's now fall here. Yesterday it was 50 degrees, with wind chill at 45 degrees. It only gets that cold about two times a year in So. Cal.

Around 5:00pm a dump truck of sand was delivered so that we could finish filling the front porch. It took about 20 minutes for us to move all 4 tons of sand to where we wanted it with all of us working together! Then we had a great time playing in the sand... The first real sand we've seen in 5 months!

Half Dome in the sand!

The M-V's left Wednesday night and we've been sleeping ever since. {=^ )

Not really, we did do all the laundry yesterday, and we put on another coat of mud, and mopped some floors, and went to see a master horse trainer saddle and ride an unbroken 2 year old horse while preaching a powerful two hour sermon, drawing analogies between the relationship between him and the horse and the relationship between us and our Heavenly Father. It was so neat, we hope to go again tonight. God really spoke to us through the way the horse was always looking out of her little corral, seeking fulfillment, and peace from the outside, never turning her face toward the one who could help her. How often we find ourselves looking for help, or joy, or peace and contentment from the world, instead of from our Creator! We're afraid that if we yield to His plan it might be different from our own and so we refuse to trust Him. It sure does make things more difficult for us, and for our Master.

We were encouraged to seek His face, and surrender to His will, especially in the area of where we happen to be living. It's so easy to think about "home" in California and how once we get there we'll be totally content...(Which I'm sure won't be the case), but that may be the main reason why God has us here, to break our idol of a "home" and cause us to realize that this world is not our home, it's just a mere speck in eternity, and the more time we're distracted with the thought of it, the less time we spend thinking about our Saviour, and the things on earth which count in eternity. He wants us to rest in the fact that whether here, or in Pennsylvania, or Montana, or Africa, or even California, we are to seek His face and rest in Him. There's a peace and joy in knowing that we're exactly where He wants us to be when we have faith in His promise that, "No good thing will He withold from them who walk uprightly."

September 10th 2005

2005-09-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I had just updated like, yesterday... I guess I'll go back a little and tell you what happened since the last time.

Well, the truth is we didn't do very much while we had company, we used it as an excuse, and took it easy. By Wednesday we started thinking about home again, and so a few of us kept working past the quitting time. We got some of the drywall hung in the entry way, it looks so much nicer!

This week we insulated the whole house. There was a race on the inside to patch all the torn up walls before the insulating crew, (Dad,Chris, Merrie, Jack, and Lincoln while he was here,) got to us. There was a few remarkable incidents, like when we were all working upstairs or outside so we didn't notice the library room closet filling up with insulation! Or when we had to pull the drywall off the stair wall to close off the outside wall so that we didn't end up filling the whole bottom of the stairs with insulation. I think that has been the messiest job yet!

Lincoln, our guest from Kentucky, left on Thursday. Thanks for coming out to see our project. And thanks for letting everyone use your ipod. : )

On Friday we had some people join us for Pizza Night. We had a nice time, and GREAT pizza!

Today Dad, Uncle Rick, Chris, Justin, Mandy, Willie and Jack worked on the house a little while, we're getting ready to start installing the vinyl siding. Dad hopes we'll be done with the vinyl siding in 1 week!

Pray that we are able to stay focused, working for God and not man. The Lord has been more faithful to us than we deserve, and we are grateful for His constant provision, and His everlasting promises.

We're off for a little family outing. More later!

Dad insulating...or insulating Dad? He says he really liked it!

Merrie Loading The Insulator Blower

The Beginning Of Vinyl Siding

On The Lighter Side Of Things...

We had too much fun this weekend! One evening we were waiting for Dad and Mom outside of Sam's Club and we were looking at this boat all equipped for skiing. Naturally we were drooling over the thought of water-skiing and the owners were very humorous. They allowed us to pretend to ski behind it!!! See Pictures

He Always Wanted To Pilot A Boat!

Ever tried skiing in a parking lot?

September...

A Change Of Plans...

Remember we were hoping to finish the siding in one week? Well...

On Sunday Afternoon we were relaxing at the lake when we recieved a phone call from a friend in Houston Texas, who is helping with the hurricane relief effort. Apparently there is a group of 2,000 children who have been seperated from their parents since being evacuated or rescued. They need these kids to be transported back to Baton Rouge LA. Where they will be reunited with their families.

Dad, Justin and Mandy are planning to drive the bus down there tomorrow and do whatever they can to help.

We would appreciate all your prayers this week, as we do hope to continue work on the house... You can imagine it won't be the same without Dad and Justin...

For those of you who know that I (Mandy) am the one who does the website, never fear, updates will continue, Lord Willing! Tiffany says she'll do them. (So if you don't get any updates you know who to talk to!)

In route from Houston to Dallas

Waiting for passengers, Reunion Center

Status of the Hurricane Relief Shuttle Service...

(and of the vinyl siding installation)

By dusk Tuesday, we were nailing up the last vinyl siding on the back of the house- one side down, three to go. If the rain will let up long enough to take the scaffolding down, we'll have a picture.

EDIT: Have you ever tried to take scaffolding down in the mud and rain!?

We sat out front for about an hour that evening, enjoying one of the most spectacular thunderstorms we've ever seen. Once, no less than forty forks of lightning came off the horizon at once!

By midnight, Dad, Justin and Mandy were on the road to Houston. (No, they didn't drive through the storm- it was behind them.)

They called us this morning at nine. They had just arrived, at exactly the right time. Everything was ready for them to fill the bus. They were on the road again in short order, carrying people who were sheltered in the Houston Convention Center, but have parents/family members waiting for them in Dallas.

Justin and Brandon, the on board Comedians

Entertaining a little friend

The rain finally stopped and we moved the scaffolding to the west side of the house. Sorry about the shadows on the picture.

While it rained, Willie, Merrie and Annie started putting up drywall. They put a ceiling on the diningroom and finished patching in around the stairs. Uncle Rick and Chris worked hard to prepare for installing the siding. They managed to put three rows of siding up between the rain drops. Everyone else pitched in where needed: "Uh, could you put a screw on this tip?", Willie asks, standing on the table, with a screwgun in one hand, holding drywall to the ceiling with the other.

With a significant part of the crew in Texas (and two of our cameras!), there was not much picture taking today. :(

In Texas...

Our bus left Houston for Dallas this morning carrying 1.) a mother with four children, looking to join the father and a fifth child in Dallas 2.) a single mother, separated from her family since the hurricane- her father and four-year old son had gone to Dallas, her mother is in Baton Rouge, 3.) a fourteen-year old boy whose family is at a shelter in Oklahoma, and eight other people, including one other family group, and all the worldly belongings they were able to carry out. The bus was filled to capacity.

Mandy shared how little their efforts were, compared to the need. But the difference they made to each family is tremendous. The single mother was a changed person when she recognized her son across the Dallas convention center after being told repeatedly by officials that he'd already transferred somewhere else.

The Thomas family

We enjoyed a visit from the Thomas family over Thursday night. They are moving to Kentucky, and they stopped by on the way.

We were visiting with them around midnight when we got a long letter from Mandy...

The bus was kept hopping all day yesterday, shuttling people around Texas, to places where they hoped to make a new start. They brought one really grateful party of four to an apartment, shuttled a family with six children around town on errands- they had been recently "adopted" by a well-to-do family, but needed transportation to gather things for housekeeping. And they connected two homeless men with a friend north of Dallas.

By the end of the day, the recently bustling convention center had been emptied for a scheduled convention. Anyone who didn't make other arrangements, was deposited at the Reunion Center. Dad offered transportation to people wanting to make a break from there today. (Would this be the third or fouth shelter for some of them?)

Then Dad found a nice motel room with free Internet and Mandy and Hannah had a good night's sleep. Dad and Justin slept in the bus, after a trip to Walmart for some bug repellent and itch remedy.

Today they shuttled people around to fill out rental applications for apartments.

Meanwhile, besides visiting the Thomases, more and more of our house is turning blue! Chris and Annie are installing the soffit. Uncle Rick is attaching vinyl window framing as fast as he can, trying to keep ahead of Mom and the others who are putting the blue stuff up. They have blue all the way up to the windows on two more sides of the house. And Willie has changed the shape of the ceiling over the stair case to accomodate taller people (like Dad and himself).

This morning Kaylee was going around singing, "Dump, dump, dump..." I caught her eye, and gave her a questioning look. "That guy, who fell or something", she explained. :) Oh! Humpty Dumpty!

September 5th 2005

2005-09-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Justin, last Saturday!!! We celebrated the day by being lazy. :) In the evening we walked down to the school to play football. After playing for a while we stopped and posed for different pictures. Justin deffinitely got the award for the most dramatic shots!

When it started getting dark we headed back home to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat the best brownies with ice cream that we've ever had!

Ooh, yummy!

Here's some pictures just for fun. Hope you enjoy them as much as we have

In Honor Of Darrell Gramm Justin dives for one.

Ooh, Love The Granite Counter Tops!

Don't Make Him Mad, He Can Spit!

The Birthday Boy!

Alyssa...Flying!

"Open Your Eyes Heidi"

Working The Brake

We celebrated Labour Day by working... and even though it was 94 today, the lower humidity makes the hours spent on the scaffold, in the direct sunlight, not so bad.

We've been working on replacing/repairing the eaves, and preparing the upper side of the house for Tyvek and siding.

There is supposed to be another pizza night this Friday... If you're interested in joining us, send us an email request for directions. We really would love to have you come!

Today we have another visitor, all the way from KY. He came to do whatever he can to help out. Today he entertained us all with his dramatic way of speech....

"What is wrong with you Alyssa? You aren't talking enough"

"Now how often do I get a compliment like that?"

"Way to go, what team work!"

"Are you laughing at me?"

"I think you should vote for the best person on the ballot, and that's me!"

Justin and Jack have all the lights and outlets wired up in the upstairs part of the house. Now there are lights in Mom and Dad's room for the first time since we've been here.

New Lights... Don't Worry, Justin's A "Real" Electrician

Here's The Eaves, Notice The "L" Brackets

Here's What They Look Like Today

Hopefully those pictures give you a little idea of what we're doing to prepare for the vinyl siding.

August 31st 2005

2005-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to look like they have real potential! We even had homemade cookies this week for the first time since April! Now that's potential isn't it?

Dad spent the past 2 days working on repairing and replacing the rotted eaves on one side of the house. We're trying to get as much done as we can while we have the scaffolding.

Justin and Jack formed an electrical crew. They've been replacing all the nob and tube electrical with real wires and solid outlets. (No more of those dangling outlets and switches for us, thanks.)

Uncle Rick headed up the window crew. Today they installed the last of the 25 new windows. Yippee! That's potential for sure! (Potential for disasters. We only ripped 23 screens!) Just kidding!

Joanna has been Heidi's monitor. Sometimes it can be a thankless job, but usually they're seen running around, exploring all the tools and projects and having fun.

Merrie spent most of the day sweeping. "And picking up trash!" She adds. She has earned the title of OSWMT(On site waste management technichian)

Everyone who hasn't been mentioned has been working hard too, it's just that their jobs are too boring to write about. =D

Justin and Willie are seriously trying to convince everyone we NEED to buy a ski boat. We do want to go water skiing at least once...

Saturday is a very special day. I don't know what we're going to do that day, but you can just know that it's special. We'll tell you more about it after it's over. But if you really want to know what's so special about Saturday you can email us before and we'll tell you.

Almost 10:00, I'd better get to bed. Goodnight!

Charity Rose

August 30th 2005

2005-08-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we were pleasantly surprised to hear from Mrs. Medina, she said that her and the girls were in OKC. They arrived at our house shortly after.

They set to work upon arrival, and boy, did they ever WORK. Their cheerfulness and their diligence spurred us on, and we accomplished a lot while having sweet fellowship and lots of fun! Thanks for all your help Mrs. Medina, Kathryn, Victoria and Elizabeth!

The Medina's helped us tear off siding, clean up the yard, wrap the front of the house in Tyvek, clean up, clean up, and clean up, secure the 80 year old ship-lap to the side of the house on one side, and make dinner too!

Mrs. Medina, (who is afraid of heights) working like there's no tomorrow!

On The Roof

August 25th 2005

2005-08-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Announcing Open House Pizza Night In Oklahoma City!

Coming tomorrow, August 26th. You're all invited! Just send us a quick email if you're interested in joining us for some homemade pizza and fellowship, and we'll send you directions! We'll be eating around 6:30. We would love to see you then!

August 18th 2005

2005-08-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Uncle Rick and Trevor working on the windows

Enjoying The New Kitchen!

Hi Everyone!
It's been so much easier going since Dad instituted a daily stop time! We have energy to get ready for bed now. =D

We have time to spend doing something else besides construction in the afternoon.

We can play with the neighbor kids.

We can feel rested the next morning.

We can update the website.

And we can start work with a clean house!

Today we...

Installed 5 windows.

Grouted the laundry room and bathroom floor.

Moved into our NEW kitchen.

Had a 3 hour meeting.

Worked on the sanding down the stairs.

Finished an electrical circuit so that we have some more outlets.

And ran 17 loads of laundry.

August 16 2005

2005-08-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alas, the long awaited for pictures! Check out the kitchen!!!!

Today Dad made a decree that at 4:30 we have to start cleaning up, everyday. It's hard to work late at night until you're too tired to even clean up your work mess. And it's discouraging and inefficient to start a new day with yesterdays mess! So we are all happy about this new arrangement.

The Greers left last night. Here's a picture of them on the stairs.

Thanks for all of your help guys!

August 13th 2005

2005-08-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, where should I start?

So much has happened since the last update... I can't begin to tell all of the stories, adventures, games, jobs, conversations...

Friends

She worked hard!

Thanks Paul!!!

On Monday, Paul the cabinet builder, left. But not before he built us a dining room table (see picture above) out of scraps in about 1 hour! It's stronger than our table at home too. We'd almost forgotten how nice it was to sit down to dinner together as a family.

On Wednesday the Greers arrived! We've been enjoying working with them. They are trying to leave today, and we are trying to keep them here!

The stairs are looking so pretty!

Stair Masters At Work!

Can you believe we've been sharing one bathroom between 21 people for the past almost week???!!! Yep, that means we haven't finished the other bathroom yet...

One of the simple blessings of this week was when somebody built us a shelf, for some of our tools, with discarded lumber. (All on his own initiative!) Thanks Ben! It's so nice to be able to walk through our living room/garage.

We enjoyed showing the Greers around Oklahoma City. We only made it out late at night though, so they never really got to see the city. But they did get to see Home Depot, the Bricktown Canal, (that was really wild!), The Super Wal-Mart, the State Capitol Building, and Heritage Hills in the dark.

An Almost Midnight Outing.

Entertaining the canal boat riders

The kitchen is not done yet, but almost! I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of it up sooner!

The weather this week has been unbelievable! As soon as our guests arrived the weather cooled down. We'vebeen having thunder storms and rain showers, and wind which got up to 50+ MPH on Saturday. We're not complaining about the cooler temperatures.

We sure miss everyone. Sometimes it seems like this project is going to take forever, but we're learning so much, and growing a lot, and enjoying good family time, and we're grateful for all that this whole adventure has taught us so far.

Chris and Mandy Laying Tile

Trevor, Cleaning Out the Grout Lines

Chef Mom!

August 6th 2005

2005-08-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

We did it!!! (By God's grace)

The kitchen was ready for Paul to install cabinets when we picked him up from the airport Wednesday afternoon.

(A quick note about the last post, Paul did not build the cabinets in L.A. He only cut them out.)

It's so nice to have company! We've been learning a lot from him. He's definitely a master at cabinetry! What a blessing it's been to just watch and learn.

Our Livingroom/Garage/Office Note the light fixture!

The Carillos arrived around 9:00pm Wednesday with their moving trucks, which also had our cabinets, granite, all our stair parts that were made by the Greer family. and some other things from California, (thanks to all involved in getting the things from home that we left behind!)

We were happy to see Mr. Callis and Phillip twice this week! (Actually it would be 3 times if you count the time they had to come back to get their cell phone they left behind.) That was a nice surprise! (They were driving one of the moving trucks for the Carrillos.)

By Friday we were ready to start installing the granite. That was quite a project being as nobody here has ever installed it before. Our neighbor came by, who installs counter tops for a living, and said, "All I know about granite is that I stay far away from it! It's way to heavy and fragile." Uh...thanks!

It sure is beautiful! The whole kitchen is going to be soooo nice.

Today the guys finished putting the doors, drawer faces and hardware on Then we all watched as Paul put up the crown molding. Wow! He's so fast. In honor of Paul we went out for pizza, since the kitchen won't be ready to make it before his flight leaves on Monday.

We had more company this week. The Johnsons from Rancho Cucamonga, CA. came by and spent the day with us. We enjoyed showing them the house, and I think they enjoyed watching Paul do the crown molding. It's been so encouraging to visit with friends from home. We're looking forward to seeing many more! One thing in common with all our visitors has been that we have to sing for them, which we really don't mind at all. So if you find yourself in the area and want to hear a song, stop by, we'd love to see you.

Oh, did you know we gave a virtually live tour of the house? Uncle Rick, Grandpa and Grandma saw the whole house Thursday on live video via Instant Messenger. That was so fun! Aww, we miss seeing them.

We thought you'd all be excited to know that we have a sign on the front of the house... (see below picture)

Our "For Sale" Sign

Cutting The Granite

Installing the granite countertops. None of us have ever done this before.

The Johnson Family

Thanks for stopping by!

Now you have it in a nutshell. That's what we've been doing this week. Thanks for keeping up with us!

August 1st 2005

2005-08-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

1-1/2 days left before...

We are looking forward to having our friend come out from California. He built cabinets for our kitchen and he's going to install them. We plan to pick him up from the airport on Wednesday.

We've been working madly toward getting the kitchen ready for him. Running all the rough plumbing and electrical for the laundry room, bathroom and kitchen, framing out the walls, insulating and finally hanging drywall which we had hoped to do by Friday. Will we make it? Can we have the kitchen drywalled (mudded and textured), and painted by Wednesday?

It will be a huge step for us to get the kitchen done! It'll seem so luxurious too.
Since we completely gutted our kitchen we had to make a temporary one. Here's some pictures so you can enjoy Mom's amazing organizing skills!

We are so eager to finish this whole project. But we are also eager to have God's best. He's deffinitely the One who directs our steps.

We've been extra grateful for the cooler weather last week. What a blessing that has been. A family that went on a mission trip also invited us to use their pool while they were gone. That was nice treat for us Saturday evening.

So much to do... I'd better get back to work. I can hardly wait to see the before and after pictures for the kitchen! And to institute a pizza night here, Lord willing.

July 6th 2005

2005-07-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Charity, relaxing on the Fourth

Thunderbirds at Tinker AFB

Though we left in May and this is July, we've only put in 15 days of labor on the house. Now it's starting to sink in. But we are making good progress.

On Thursday we started digging a trench to replace our water main. The whole trench ended up being 95' long x 2' deep. We had to finish the job on Friday so that we could go to an airshow at the local AFB on Saturday.

As we were digging the trench, we were discussing the benefits of trench digging. You get free excercise, you build muscles, you get sun, you get work done and if you become a professional trench digger you can get paid for it all at the same time! Could you imagine the time you would be saving?

On Sunday we went to a church that was full of big families. There was one with 13 kids, 2 with 12 kids, several with 11, a few with 10.... It was really different! We went to the 4th of July picnic with the church Sunday afternoon. It was a lot of fun!

Volleyball is definitely the sport out here. If you ever plan to come out here you may want to brush up on your volleyball skills. (Some people around here think that it's all we do in CA!)

4th of July with the Pounds

Alyssa takes aim

Dad and Mandy (and Willie and Chris)

Justin relaxing on the Fourth

At the church, we encountered a family that had stayed with us at our house seventeen years ago! They invited us to spend the 4th at their house. They shared their shotgun cartridges and clay pigeons with us, and shot some great fireworks.

We also enjoyed their fellowship, homemade ice cream, potato gun, BBQ, and games.

Since the Fourth, we have plunged into the upstairs bathroom project, and hope to have it finished in about three more days! Stay tuned for some before and after pictures.

"Like waves in the sea..."

On Tuesday we had a catastrophe! It all started when the boys cut out the concrete in the cellar to replace the drain. We knew it had a problem because of the horrible odor that came from the cellar and infiltrated the house through the air ducts. As the boys dug away, their hole suddenly began filling with raw sewage. They quickly shut off the water and stopped the flooding, (By making the decree that nobody was to use any drains!) but not before it became a very unpleasant mess! I think I'll leave out some of the gory details. I'll just say that upon finally being able to make an inspection of the pipe they discovered that it was totally rotted out all the way through the cellar. After a LOT of hard work, which included digging a 5'+ deep hole on the outside wall of the cellar, we rejoiced to learn that we would not have to replace it beyond the cellar, that part of the pipe was still okay!

We were extremely grateful for the bus during this time! The little bathroom in it proved invaluable to us!

Dinner was LATE that night. Fortunately nobody lost their appetite because it was a good dinner!

Can you see Chris?

We were out of water for more than 5 hours, in which time the girls were upstairs priming and painting the upstairs bathroom.

It took us just over a week to remodel the whole bathroom but it sure looks nice! And we learned a lot too!

The paint crew.

One evening, while we were gathered for Wisdom Search, Dad reminded us of Peter's walk on the water.

As long as Peter kept his eyes on the Lord and trusted that God would care for him he walked just fine. But as soon as Peter looked at the waves that were surrounding him he began to sink.

Dad likened people and circumstances as waves that were trying to distract our attention from the Saviour. He encouraged us to recognize the trials and tests to be the waves that they were and to keep looking to Jesus to carry us through.

The very next morning we had a chance to practice! Alyssa went down to the cellar and reported that the trench containing the sewer pipe was filling up. As I surveyed the situation and realized the nasty things that may need to be done to fix it, I was immediately reminded of "waves". It enabled me to thank Him and not worry about what was going on. Thankfully there was no leak, it was just a clog in the system and everything has worked perfectly fine since then.

We were really blessed this week to see the Carrillo family from So Cal! They came and saw what we've been up to, and shared with us about their amazing trip around 14 states over the past 2 months, and what God has been doing in their lives. We are looking forward to another visit from them in 3 weeks!

It was fun to have a family over to dinner. That's one of the biggest things that we miss doing.

The Carrillo Family Hearty Adventurers!

On Sunday we visited a little church out in the country. They met in a "house church" type setting. The house was built with church facilities on the bottom and a house above where the pastor and his family lived.

We met some more really neat people. They are all over the place! One family invited us to their house for lunch! (Can you imagine meeting a family of 16 people and inviting them over an hour later? Now that's bravery!!!)

We really enjoyed our time at the Cole's house. Getting to know them was fun, and we were blessed!

Charity, Annie and Katherine at the piano

One nail closer to completion!

The time was 6:00 pm. The place was our gutted kitchen, the task was to remove all the nails that had once held thousands of pieces of Redwood lath to the walls and ceiling.

As each nail was pulled we were ready to quit for the evening. Our muscles ached, sweat dripped down our faces, our masks were miserable to wear, the dust had settled into our hair and skin and had become like cement from the moisture in the air. But alas, the thought of home beckoned us on. We would finish the job before dinner.

No! It's not that bad. We really are having fun! Like when we are asked to get up and sing Sunday evening. Dad whispers to us to sing the Bright Arrows song. We all pile out of our pew and assemble on the stage. Looking out at the congregation we begin to sing. As we get to the part about storming the enemy we look over and see a cloud of dust rising from Jack's pants. (Why did he wear his work jeans to the evening service!?) It put a new aspect on storming the enemy. Desert storm, right?

Or when we have a race to see who can tear all the plaster and lath off of their wall the fastest. Dad won, with a record speed of 7:22. (But not without a fat lip and several cuts on his legs.) Warning!!! Please don't try this at home, it can be very dangerous. =D

For those of you who are recieving our email updates, you should remember about our language studies. We are learning something besides the Okie language. We are learning about their neighborly kindness as well. Here are a few examples:

Thursday night we were all working together trying to remove all the concrete forms. It was still really hot and we were tired. Mrs. Cardenas, (Mother of 6 kids who lives across the street), came over with 16 popsicles. She stood and chatted with us while we enjoyed the cool refreshing treat. She helped give us the boost we needed to finish the job in good spirits!

A man from one of the churches we visited has been bringing us all kinds of groceries. He stopped by today and asked us if we needed any bread. He had a trunk full of different kinds of breads. He's also given us, milk, muffins, 50 pounds of potatoes etc...

While we were pouring the concrete footings for the porch, and the sidewalk in front of the house we attracted a lot of attention. After the major part of the work was done 2 men came walking up the street. They were city workers. They stopped and talked for quite a while. When they were ready to go they asked, "You wouldn't want a fan would you?" We actually really wanted another fan!

We came home from church on our first Sunday here and we were approached by 2 different neighbors offering us 3 fans and 2 window air conditioners. We accepted the fans with thanks! They've been a lifesaver! =D

One evening our elderly next door neighbors came over with a full meal that they had prepared. They said, "The Lord told us to make you some food."It's been one thing after another, we're like, WOW! This is neat!

We love all the frequently asked questions that large families get.Last week a man was talking to Mom. He was wondering at the size of our family and finally asked, "Mormon?"

"Nope!"

"Catholic?"

"no."

"Oh, you're from Arkansas!?"

We laughed. Poor guy! What would he say if he knew of all the families we know with 8 or more kids in Califronia?

We worked really hard Saturday and Monday just getting all of the trash moved from the backyard into the front for big trash day. It was so rewarding to finally see a backyard! We didn't realize how big it actually is!

Here's some of the trash from the backyard

Here's the backyard for the first time for us

Working on the sidewalk

Working on the porch

On Tuesay we moved our kitchen into the library room and began work on the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room as I mentioned above. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of our temporary kitchen up so you can all enjoy Mom's creativity and organization skills.

Today we started filling in the porch with dirt and plaster from the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom we gutted this week. We also picked up our windows finally and cleaned 19 loads of laundry. Then, due to the 104 degree weather, we decided to take the rest of the day off and go to a lake for the evening. We had a great time swimming, eating hotdogs and talking to the rangers. =D

June 28th 2005

2005-06-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

"Now for the rest of the story."

We are actually back in Oklahoma. We never would have taken the liberty to stay so long in Kentucky. Instead the Lord forced us to, and we enjoyed our time there.
God's hand was very evident during the whole month that we were there, and we are very grateful for all He has done and is continuing to do in our lives.

Happy Father's day Dad!

Here's a quick summary of what happened since our last update:
June 17th, We were supposed to go test drive the bus, and leave. Instead we recieved a call from the mechanic. He told Dad not to bother coming because he had started the engine and the radiator burst.

June 18th, We went to a graduation party for 3 of the Thompsons friends. Met some really nice families.

June 19th, For Father's day we visited the White family, and had a Bible study and sang together. Then we drove to Cumberland falls and hiked up to Eagle falls. It was very beautiful.

Cumberland Falls

Chris with his Cannon

June 20th, We waited for the radiator

June 21st, We waited for the radiator

June 22nd, Dad and the boys helped the Thompsons finish the vinyl siding on their house. And we still waited...

June 23rd, We waited for the radiator and we went to a tiny little town full of antique shops. Then we went to the Myers house for dinner. We can't see the Myers without somebody having an arm restling match...

She won!

The Myers Swing...

Annie in the Papa Chair. Glendale, KY

June 24th, Dad went to test drive the bus... The engine shut down after 1/4 of a mile. There were problems, problems and more problems. Dad and Justin spent the whole day working with the mechanic, and finally got it into drivable condition that night. We brought the bus home to the Thompson's house.

June 25th, Mom's birthday!!! Dad hired Lincoln, and they worked on the bus all day, fixing some other problems. The mechanic did a good job, he was trying to keep the cost down for us. In the evening the Myers came and there were 8 guys working on the bus at the same time. It was spectacular! Lincoln was totally black! (There was a debate about whether he got sooooo dirty on purpose or not. He said he didn't do it on purpose though.)

Looks like a hard worker.

After the Myers left we packed up the bus, and finally pulled away from the Thompson's house, just hours short of being there for 1 month! It was midnight. We drove about 1-1/2 hours down the road before we had to stop for the night because there was an electrical problem.

June 26, Dad called Mr. Myers and the mechanic early Sunday morning and we ended up limping back to the Myers house. We really enjoyed their air conditioned house, and later their company, (When they got back from church.)

Once again we had 8 guys working on the bus. They did a great job too!

June 27th, The mechanic came and resolved the electrical problem. After spending the night with the Myers, who treated us royally, we said goodbye for the 86th time. =D We left Kentucky at 2:30pm central time and drove straight through.

June 28th, We pulled up at 3am. What a trip it has been!

I came across this verse yesterday, not even looking for it. How fitting!

1 Peter 4:12-13 "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

June 7th 2005

2005-06-07T21:36:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying the beauty of Kentucky. Lots of trees and green.

As you all know, we went to 2 different weddings May 28, one in L.A. and one in KY.

Shortly after the family left the Thompson's house on their way back to Oklahoma, they were driving along, talking about a smokey smell and telling each other that it came from the truck in front of them.

Tiffany wandered into the back of the bus to use the sink and saw a wisp of smoke come through the back wall. She yelled a warning and Dad instantly pulled off the road. The bus was unloaded in record time!

Dad and Chris were at the back of the bus with the fire extinguisher, but not before 2 others who had been watching the smoke pouring out of the back while we were still driving.

A lady across the street, who was having a yard sale, said she saw flames and she went running after us hoping we would stop.911 had already been called by 2 different witnesses before we even knew there was a fire!

The kind lady across the street offered her yard and her house for our family. She even provided lunch for us while we waited for the Thompsons, and Mr. Myers. (The Myers have been a tremendous blessing to our family, we just met them at the wedding.)

The 3 who went to L.A. flew to OK. on Tuesday and were well taken care of by the Pastor and his wife there. They even delivered donuts for breakfast the next morning.

On Wednesday Dad told the threesome to go ahead and head for KY and they arrived on Thursday morning.

After much debate we finally have come to a conclusion of what we wanted to do with the bus, and it should be finished soon.

In the meantime we've been enjoying the Thompsons company, and working with them on Benji's house. (Benji is their oldest son, and he's been building his own house on their property.)

On Sunday we went to the Myers' home church. We had a very special day with them and the other families who were there. We ended up staying all day. And are possibly going to join them next Sunday before heading back to OK.

God is so good, He's been with us every step of our journeys. On Sunday we were encouraged to rejoice and give thanks in everything. Our God is definitely worthy of all our praise!

Fire Damage

Willie in a Cessna 172

Country Mechanic

A view from the diesel shop

What we saw instead of the wedding

"Saviour like a shepherd lead us"

BREAKING NEWS!!!
The bus engine started today!!! Then it promptly blew a hydraulic hose...the mechanic says that Friday afternoon will be the soonest he could be done. With many delays caused by rain, indecision and other difficulties, we have been "stranded" in Kentucky for 20 days. The time is drawing near for us to withdraw our feet and get back to work. "Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee." Prov 25:17 The Thompson's have been very gracious, even going so far as to elude to the fact that it was their fault that the bus caught firebecause they prayed we would stay longer!!! And now, pretending that they enjoy our company to the extent of looking forward to Christmas Caroling with us! Despite the kind considerations of the Thompson family, God seems to be calling us back to the work He has for us in Oklahoma.

Over and over again during these last couple of weeks, the Lord has been showing us why He has been delaying us.

We were blessed by the introduction to several wonderful families:
The Myers family lives about 45 min. from the Thompson's. When the bus caught fire they were summoned for advice concerning local mechanics. Mr. Myers not only had advice, he came to the scene of the fire, secured a tow truck and lent dad a car!

We were the recipients of some very generous hospitality given by two of those families and of course, the Thompson's, with whom we are staying:
On Sunday we were invited to a local "home church", hosted at the Overholt's home, there we received an excellent lesson in Christian hospitality. Then, we were welcomed to the same fellowship last Sunday, this time hosted at the Myers home. We were overwhelmed again by gracious hospitality and another excellent demonstration of brotherly love "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35

We were able to assist a young man in his construction company:
Jonathan Myers (24) owns a contracting business. Due to a basketball injury Jonathan was falling behind on his work. Dad, Chris, Justin, Willie and Jack, really enjoyed helping him and his father and brother, on a couple of his projects.

We were able to help Benji wire his house:
Benji had been building his own house on his father's land. When we arrived he was just getting ready to start the electrical portion of his project. We had a lot of fun working as a team to prepare for drywall.

We were able to investigate a local property that some friends in CA are buying:
This is the most amazing of them all. On Monday the 13th, 18 days after we arrived here in Kentucky. We got call from some friends that go to our church. "Are you still in Kentucky?" "You're not going to believe this but, we just bought a house and some land in Kentucky, is it near where you are?" After some discussion we discovered that the Thompson's not only knew where the property was, they knew the family that was selling it!!! Coincidence? I don't think so. God placed us here, if for no other reason, to go and investigate this land for our friends.

Now you and I both know why we are STILL here. These last 20 days would have been agonizing if it were not for all of these awesome opportunities to see God's hand, and to take part in His perfect plan!

Group Shot

Abraham Lincoln's cabin (inside the memorial)

Merrie and Heidi

Mandy and Annie in front of Benji's house

June 1st 2005

2005-06-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a trip!! What a couple of trips!!!

The bus left for Kentucky at 3:00 am Thursday. They had 2 major setbacks but made it to the Thompson's house in God's perfect timing.Despite Mom and Tiffany's sufferings from terrible allergies, they've been enjoying their time there.

The Kentucky Thompson wedding was very nice!

On Monday they set out to return to OKC, (So they could pick us up at the airport on Tuesday). They didn't get very far before a fire broke out in the engine compartment. It took 3 fire extinguishers to quench the flames.

Thankfully we have a roadside service that gives us free towing!

Today the bus is in the shop of a mechanic who really seems to know what he's doing. Since the repairing of the bus may take a few days the 3 of us are heading out to join our family.

It's so strange being split up like this, we don't like it... We've all decided that bus problems are fine when we are all there to deal with it, and to keep eachother company.

After talking with everyone at home we realized that we need to set something straight. It's not that we HATE Oklahoma, we just prefer good ol' southern California, if for no other reason, it's because that's where most of our friends and family live.

Our whirlwind trip to California was very refreshing in a way.

We spent a lovely day, on Monday, with Grandpa and Grandma, Great Grandma O'malley,(What a treat it was to see her again!), Uncle Rick, Uncle Mike, Kimberly and Michael.We hear the wedding was nice, though Mandy was the only one who sat through the ceremony, Justin and Annie had to go help make the salad for 800+ people! (Only reason Mandy stayed was because she was too sick to get up.)

We also enjoyed a special time of fellowship with the Callis family and all the others who were at BBQ night.

And last but not least it was great to visit our church of 15 years... We miss it soo much.

So now you know the next part of our story. We would love to hear about yours!

Ben and Jennifer Torkelson, Congratulations!!!

May 25th 2005

2005-05-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

It's your lucky day! Another update! (Thanks to Miss Judy's encouragement.)

The weather here cooled down really nicely now that we are leaving... We are really enjoying the birds and trees in our neighborhood. We decided to collect all of our pictures of birds and bugs and maybe we'll put some up here for you all to look at.

Today, Dad and the boys worked on making RV hookups. (There's some stories to tell about that...)

The guys have also been doing their best to reinforce 2 major sections of the house that had serious sagging. (More stories!)

Heidi has found her niche. She loves construction work!

At the moment there's a team of 6 people working togther in this nice big kitchen to get some chicken and salmon wraps made up for the road tomorrow.

Sagging upstairs floor

Fixing 1 1/2 inches of sag and rotted out wall/floor

Washing the bus was a fun job in the hot afternoon on Tuesday. The kids had a little bit too much fun.

Check out Jackie's new boots! Instant boots, just add water! and they can't get dirty.

Thanks for all your prayers! One answer to prayer has been the jewel weed that Mom found for poison ivy. If you thought those last pictures were bad you should have seen the rash yesterday. It was twice as bad! (We decided the new pictures were to gross to post here.) After we started applying the jewel weed there has been a marked improvement. PTL!

May 24th 2005

2005-05-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

We are all looking forward to a little vacation. Unfortunately only 3 of us are going to CA. and the rest of us are going to KY. We have 2 weddings to attend Saturday!

The bus is supposed to leave Thursday morning and the airplane leaves Thursday afternoon.
We've been experiencing different problems with the bus. It definitely keeps things interesting! Ever since we had the new engine installed we've been having starting trouble. Basic (tool-less) diagnosis told us that it was either 1. The battery/charging system, 2. The starter or 3. A wiring short...

On the drive out here the problem seemed to get progressively worse, every time we stopped it was harder to start. Late Saturday night we made a final fuel stop just outside of OKC, the Lord gave us wisdom...we decided not to turn the bus off. When we pulled into our driveway and shut off the engine early Sunday morning, we never would have guessed that it would be days before it would start again!!! The Lord does love to show his strength!!!

So, what was the problem? First guess was the batts. Upon examination they were totally dead!? When we charged them the bus still wouldn't start, when we took the charger off they were dead again within 3min. It must be the batts. After a few phone calls, a trip to the store and the loss of a large sum of money we had two brand new batteries installed and ready to go...nothing. Hmmmm, maybe tomorrow.

Next day, after much fiddling and wire tracing, we got it started...but weren't sure why (the best kind of problem ). Dad and Annie took it to Home Depot, did their shopping and guess what...it wouldn't start! After another hour of head scratching dad called a friend in Texas who proceeded to explain, in detail, exactly how the starter works and how to bypass/isolate different parts of the system . Viola, it started right up! (Thank you John!)

Now we knew what the problem was, all we had to do was find it. The fun begins (see picture). After several more hours of searching we discovered a sloppy wiring connection on the engine...a five minute fix! Thanks to all of you who expressed concern and support on this issue and also thanks to all those who were praying for us...not that it would go smooth but that the Lord would give us the strength to get through.

We found it!

It's been one week and one day now since we arrived here in Oklahoma and so much has been accomplished. Everyone has worked so hard at the different tasks that need to be done.

Here in OKC they have a "Big trash pick-up" at your curb once a month. (You can put out trash equal to the size of 6 washing machines). We just happened to arrive the day before, and with the neighbors help we got rid of all the junk that was left in the house along with all the carpeting. They brought over empty trash cans, and encouraged us to put some of the big stuff in front of their houses.

After tearing out the carpets all the floors had to be stripped of every nail and all the tack strips from the old carpet in preperation for sanding. This has become a tedious job.

Jackie, pulling up nails and staples (no, he's not sleeping on the job)

All the tools, enough to run a construction business, had to be moved out of the bus and the trailer and into the house, so the livingroom was chosen as the temporary "garage".

The yard, which was bare and brown when we first saw the house in late January, (see The House ) was now beautiful green, but terribly overgrown. For two days the kids worked at cutting, chopping, trimming, and cleaning up the yard. There were many plants growing right up against the foundation.

Here's Annie and Merrie digging away.

The celler entrance had to be torn down because it was all rotted out. Then the whole cellar had to be cleaned out to make it useable, (just in case a tornado decides to come this way). Chris spent several days heading up this project, working on cleaning it all out, patching the cement floor that had been opened to repair the sewer main (before we bought it), and building a new secure door so it can be used for storage. this also gives us easy access to the furnace, hot water heater, and all first floor plumbing which are all in the cellar.

Here's Chris, working in the cellar.

May 23rd 2005

2005-05-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

We had a very blessed day yesterday. We visited a small church that was full of friendly people. The Pastor had heard us sing, (They snuck up on our house while we were all wildly singing and working, to welcome us to Oklahoma!) so he invited us up before he preached and the quartet sang Mercy. The congregation demanded more so they sang the Brother Sister song.

The pastor and his wife had us over for dinner after the service and we enjoyed getting to know them better. Neat people!

We did a little site seeing between services, including checking out the pretty canal that runs through Bricktown. (It's less than 10 minutes from our house.)

At the evening service they convinced Dad to get the whole family up to sing. We also heard a young handicap boy, who could not speak, sing Jesus Loves Me in front of the whole church! Wow!

On Saturday we learned a VALUABLE lesson! Being from Southern California we never thought twice about poison ivy... Remember all the weeds we pulled on Monday???

May 19th 2005

2005-05-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

We left our house on Thursday and had all the adventure we never desired over the next 62 hours!

Several times we wondered just what everyone who was praying for us were praying for... As I sit here typing this Justin is trying to hook up internet with some rented equipment. He plugged in a transformer and modem and went to get something else, when he came back he saw smoke rising from behind my chair... we soon discovered that the innocent looking outlet (sitting on the floor!) was charged with 220 volts! So much for the modem and transformer... That is a typical occurrence now days!

Not more than 3 minutes after we started out on our trip we heard a CRASH. As we turned a corner a crate of food slid off the ice chest and fell to the floor, breaking the jar of jelly. It took a good 45 minutes with 3 of us working together to get the glass and jelly all cleaned up. In cleaning it up we found out that the water pump on the sink was broken. So Chris spent the next hour working on that.

About 100 miles into the trip we had to pull over because the bus was over heating. This soon became a regular event. We were really bummed that the bus wasn't running better, but we were glad that we were still making progress.

At midnight we were near the Grand Canyon, so we pulled over on an on ramp and settled down for our first night in the bus. Around 5:00am Dad and Chris drove the last few miles while most of the family slept. Friday we spent 10 hours looking at the Grand Canyon and hiking around. It was really neat answering all the questions people asked about our family. We joked about starting a ministry of riding the shuttle buses around and talking to the people at different national parks...

The Grand Canyon was awesome and majestic. It has a beauty of its own. Dad said, "So many people miss the point. This is a giant scar left from a punishment God gave us." It's really comical to hear some people try to explain how it all got there.

We left the Grand Canyon around 4:30 and drove until we hit Flagstaff, AZ. There we took a little detour and saw the house that Mom lived in for 4 years when she was little. We also saw deer, elk, buffalo, and coyotes. After dinner we headed out of Flagstaff and got about 20 miles down the road when Justin pulled the bus over. He knew that something was wrong because the engine was overheating again but this time he couldn't get it to cool down. Chris had spotted something hanging down from the engine while following in the van, and they discovered that it was a broken belt. We had an exciting time pulling a U turn across the median of highway 40! We all survived and the bus hobbled to a lonely looking Shell station. It was quite run down to say the least, but nobody minded that we spent the night in their parking lot. So passed the second night spent in the bus.

Saturday morning Dad and the boys assessed the situation. They discovered that the belt that broke was behind all the other belts, so they had to pull all the rest of the engine belts off to access the one that broke. They also saw that the mechanics forgot to put one of the belts back on... Dad and Mom drove the van back into Flagstaff and got new engine belts. After they got the engine put back together they still weren't sure if they had solved the problem, but by 1:30 we had decided to try it and see how far we could get.

We were thrilled to see that the bus never over heated again all the way to OKC.

New Mexico was nice. Very scenic and we noticed how friendly everyone was that we talked to. We encountered a severe storm while driving through NM. The rain was so hard the windshield wipers were bogging down. There was hail too, and the best lightning storm ever! We could see it all around us. After driving through what we thought was the worst of the storm we stopped for dinner outside of Albequerque. The storm was far from over. We later heard there were 15 tornados in Texas and New Mexico from that storm.

We arrived at our house in Oklahoma at 4:00 Sunday morning. Several people ventured into the house, and soon came back out with looks of horror on their faces. It was a disaster!!! It's a living example of what Proverbs says about slothfulness.

Sunday was spent tearing up the carpet complete with animal droppings, (big and small.) and trying to clear all the nails and staples in the floors to lay out our air mattresses. It was a hard smelly job, but we felt much more comfortable when it was done, even though the house still stank! We took the evening off, sort of.

On Monday we started really working. Each day we've been putting in 8 or more hours of hard physical labor, and then the rest of the evening we've spent doing different things such as visiting with the neighbors, going shopping or going to a lake.

On Sunday we are going to visit a Pentecostal church with our next door neighbors. They have been very friendly and have given us a warm welcome.

It's been the toughest week of our lives, but "in all labor there is profit."

I'd better close for now, there's sooo much to tell, but there's not so much time.

May 12th 2005

2005-05-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

Finally hitting the road today!!!

After loading up the trailer with all the tools we took it on a test drive and had to come back and unload some of the stuff from the bus and transfer stuff from the bus to the trailer and repack everything. That's about how all our packing has been coming along. (JK!)

Well, good-bye California, for a while, (Lord willing!)

May 10th 2005

2005-05-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Finally, we are done with the bathroom remodel that was holding us up. Our taxes are finished, the electrical job is done, the bus tanks are no longer leaking, and we have an awesome door to the bathroom in our bus, thanks to a friend!

God's ways are not man's ways, and as hard as we tried to complete things by our deadlines, they've all seemed to fail. He has been testing our faith and trust in Him. It's been a long 1 1/2 months since we had planned to leave, but He had a better plan, and we are glad He gave us the grace to see it.

As we sat around discusing whether or not to drive straight through to Oklahoma, or to stop somewhere on the way, everybody had their own opinion, plan, desire... and it was obvious that we couldn't follow everyone's idea. We were again reminded that God is testing us. He wants to see if we really believe that He's in total control over every circumstance of our lives, and if we will rejoice and thank Him in whatever He has for us.

Here's a couple songs that kind of sum up where we're at right now:

"It may not be on the mountain height, Or o'er the stormy sea.

It may not be on the battle front my Lord will have need of me.

But if by a still small voice He calls to paths I do not know.

I'll answer dear Lord with my hand in Thine,

I'll go where You want me to go."

"My Jesus as Thou wilt, Oh may my will be Thine,

Into Thy hand of love I would my all resign.

Through sorrow or through joy

Conduct me as Thine own

And help me still to say,

My Lord, Thy will be done."

"Loving Shepherd of my soul,

Keep me safe, I love You so.

Lead me where the waters flow,

In Your rich green pastures.

Be my guide I'm in Your care,

Keep my feet from every snare.

I will follow anywhere You call me to go.

Thank You Lord, Thank You Lord,

I will thank You Lord. In Your will I'm content,

I'll not wish for more.

I will seek Your Kingdom first,

I will trust all that You do.

Thank You Lord, Thank You Lord.

I rejoice in You."