Their growing up was no more obvious than at Keziah's Bat-Mitzvah where we celebrated her owning her place in the world of women and the body of Christ. Five amazing mentors spoke into her life and then the ladies welcomed her into their fold as a mature young woman. The test of our belief in that reality came the next day when we had a clash on ideas and we had to decide if we really trusted what we prayed for the day before that she was old enough to make her own decisions. Yikes. Thank you for everyone who participated. The one rainy day of the winter happened that day so we crammed into our living room.
Nathan's maturity showed up in his grades this year. He isn't a talker, so getting a grip on how his projects are going for school was a bit scary, yet his grades defended his silence. It is scary, but he has proved his trustworthiness.
Keziah decided to try out for Cross Country this year, much to our surprise, but she did great. Of course if you know Keziah, everything is social, so she even convinced a few friends to join with her. This spring they all are joining the Track team, but that will be in next years update.
Nathan decided to try out for the Basketball at MCS this year. Again, that too will be in next years update as they begin in January.
Nathan and Ric travelled to Washington DC and Gettysburg and New York with Nathan's 8th grade class. Such a great trip. The faith of our forefathers is literally written in stone.
Keziah earned several academic awards at Foothill in her freshman year as an athlete scholar, musician and was on the leadership team of the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and being nominated to the All District Orchestra.
Nathan and Ric did a lot of camping with scouts including a week on Catalina Island where they got to SCUBA together for Nathan's first time.
Carolyn- She is the glue of the family, serving everyone else selflessly as well as continuing her long tenure at Coca Cola. A few health problems have slowed Ric and Carolyn down this year.
Ric - On invitation with NAB Ric travelled for a year with Alan Hirsch's Future Travelers to study best practices among . In a moment of lunacy, he agreed to run the OC ½ Marathon and raise money for World Vision, then preach immediately afterwards. Now the kids want to do it next year.
We help lead a worship service with some dear friends at an assisted living home here in Orange. They bless us so much. We were also able to return to the Voice of Refugees center for Christmas to serve them and give them a taste of how we celebrate the holiday. It is a way we can serve together as a family.
Our summer vacation begin in Sacramento for the NAB Triennial meeting and continued through California Gold Country where we went white water rafting. We visited Lois Hudson in Nevada for a day and then spent almost a week exploring San Fransisco. Then we slowly meandered down the beautiful Central Coast, camping at Big Sur, visiting the Elephant Seal colony near the Hearst Castle and visiting Solvang on our way home.
After returning home the Beacon Youth Summer Camp was at a Refugee help center here in Anaheim.
Pantages Theater- For its 85th anniversary, the Pantages theater in LA is posting blogs about the inner workings of the building. Turns out the one blog that got mailed to me was about a giant famous chandelier that my Great Grand Father once used to be the electrician for. My Grandma used to hang out there with her dad after school, so they invited us up for a backstage tour. So fun!
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| The famous chandelier from on stage. |
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| My Great Grand Father's work station backstage, though now modernized. |
Here is the Pantages blog that got it all started.
So many new things happening as the kids grow older. We are so grateful for a great congregation to worship with and great friends and family. May God bless you and fill your life with hope and joy this next year!
Love,
Ric, Carolyn, Keziah, Nathan and Malibu!
