Cool September Stuff

It's been a while since I've posted, but there were some very cool things that happened this month, so here's a run-down!

Dan's school (Calvary Christian Academy) started on Aug. 27th, and so far, it's been going amazingly smoothly. He worked really hard to have everything in order this summer, and God has blessed his efforts! His teachers and staff are great and the kids have good attitudes & behavior so far. His only constant challenge is that the cheerleading advisor stepped down, and no one else volunteered, so guess who got the job? Don't get any weird pictures in your head of Dan in a skirt with pom-poms (haha! I did that on purpose - you can't get it out of your mind now, can you?). He's just the final decision-maker for the team on things like uniforms, out of town schedules, fund raisers, etc. But it's way out of his comfort zone and he's already recruiting other people to take it on next year!

One of my co-workers, Oz Sanchez, competed in the Paralympics in Beijing from Sept. 12th-14th, and he came home with the gold medal in the Handcycling Time Trial and the bronze medal in the Handcycling Road Race! He's pretty much the coolest person I know right now.

Oz Sanchez, the fastest man in the world on a handcycle!

I got to walk and raise funds for the American Heart Association at the START! Walk on Sept. 20th with a group of my co-workers. It's the first time I've done a charity walk, and it was fun to hang out with everyone and represent our company for a good cause.

The Epsilon Systems Solutions Team at the AHA START! Walk

Our friends have been on a mission to increase the American population recently! There have been nine beautiful babies born to our friends this year (one couple had triplets, so they bumped up the number!), and there are at least three more babies due before the year's over! We got to visit two baby boys in the hospital who were born on Sept. 18th & 20th - one was born several weeks early and weighed 5.5 pounds, and the other one was full-term and weighed 9.5 pounds! They are both so cute! There's nothing like holding a newborn to remind you that God performs miracles every day!

Dan went to the Chargers vs. Jets game with his friends, Eric and Dave, on Sept. 22nd. It was his first pro football game, and he enjoyed it a lot. They had decent seats, it was a high scoring game, and the Chargers won!! He said he could've done without the halftime band and the drunk people, but it's all part of the experience. :)

Last weekend, I went to our church's women's retreat, which was phenomenal. We studied what Scripture says about our identity as God's children, and talked about how we often act like we're still spiritual orphans (feeling unloved, trying to be self-sufficient, etc.) even though we know that we're adopted as sons and daughters of God through Christ. The retreat was at the Murrieta Hot Springs Conference Center, and it was beautiful and relaxing.

The Kaleo Church Women's Retreat

So that's what's been going on with us! It's been a fun month!

And They're Off!

We went to the Del Mar Fairgrounds ("Where the Surf Meets the Turf") today to watch the horse races with our friends Eric, Jenn, Paul, and Ann. This was the first time any of us had gone, even though the races are held here every summer. I was a little nervous that one of the horses or jockeys would get injured, because I've heard that they will euthanize a horse if the injury is bad enough. There was one moment when a nervous horse reared up inside the starting gate and got its front legs hooked over the top of the gate. Of course some of the other horses got upset and started getting crazy, too. They had to get all the horses out of the gates until everyone calmed down again. Two of them were either mildly injured or too skittish to run that race, and one of the jockeys came out limping, too. But everyone else was fine to run, and there were no incidents after that.

It was a gorgeous day, and we all enjoyed picking a horse to cheer for during each race. The names they come up with are pretty funny. One of our favorites was "Return of the King," who was 7 years old (I think he was the oldest horse we saw run all day) and he won his race! We didn't gamble any money, which was a good thing for me because I chose LOSERS every time! My strategy of picking the one with the craziest name didn't work out so well. Jenn, on the other hand, could've been a millionaire by the end of the day - so next time I'll stick with her!

San Diego Visitors

The Total Church North America Conference was held in San Diego last week, and our church, Kaleo, helped to organize it and host church leaders who were flying in from out of town. Dan and I had the privilege of hosting Murray McLellan and Sammy Whitehawk from Grace Fellowship of Saskatoon, which is in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since we weren't able to attend the conference, it was nice to be able to discuss the session topics with Murray and Sammy at the end of each day. And Dan actually had someone around the house who could talk hockey trivia with him! We also introduced them to one of our favorite foods - the Chipotle burrito! They only have one fast food place like Taco Bell in Saskatoon, so it was definitely a step up in quality, despite not being quite "authentic."

Midway through the week, we got an e-mail from Dan's cousin, Jon, saying that he was in Los Angeles for a missions conference. So we got to meet him and his pastor, Shane, for dinner on Sunday afternoon after church.

It was really fun to have visitors in San Diego! Keep it up! :)

We went to a Padres game with Murray, Sammy, and Michael from Grace Fellowship of Saskatoon, and Fox, who attends Kaleo with us.

Eating dinner with Jon and Shane.

"The Greatest Show on Earth"

Dan surprised me this weekend by taking me to my very first Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus! It was so much fun! We went an hour before the show started so we could meet some of the performers and animals. The circus was really fun, and we were surrounded by lots of young kids in the audience, which made it even better! Dan remembers the "three ring" circus from his childhood, where they had three acts going on at the same time, and you had to choose one to watch. At this one, they usually only had one main act going on at a time, which was better for me since I didn't want to miss anything!

We make pretty good clowns, don't you think?
The elephants were my favorite part of the show - so adorable!
This was the grand finale with most of the performers out on stage - you can blow up the photo if you click on it

Fun Weekend in Denver

Last weekend, we flew to Denver and stayed with our friends Molly and Jeremy. It's the first time we've been back to Denver since we moved 3 years ago! On Saturday, we visited Debby's mentor from Mission Hills Church, Norma, and her husband John. Debby also ate lunch with a couple of girls she used to work with, Rebecca and Gina. On Saturday night and on Sunday, we got together with groups of friends from our old "20-something" church group at Mission Hills. It was so fun to get the gang back together and reminisce about old times. It was like no time had ever passed. We also got to meet several new members of their families, too, since there's been a baby boom among our friends recently! It was definitely the highlight of our summer, and we really miss everyone. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Debby with Gina and Rebecca, who Debby used to work with at the College for Financial Planning

The "boys' table" at Matt and Kristina's house on Saturday
The group is multiplying!
Kristina and her beautiful girls, Hannah and Chloe
A sweet picture of the two littlest babies, Audrey and Charlotte
We spent lunchtime on Sunday at the Haas House

Florida Road Trip

From July 4-19, we took an awesome road trip around the coast of Florida. We flew into Panama City Beach and drove down the west coast all the way to Naples. The beaches and the water on the gulf coast were amazing! I discovered on this trip that I don't hate the ocean ... I just hate the Pacific Ocean!! Serously! As much as we love living close to the beach in San Diego, we never go swimming in the ocean here. The water is always freezing cold and murky, and there's monster-sized seaweed everywhere! In contrast, the water in Florida was warm and clear, the beaches have gorgeous white sand, and if there's anything floating around you in the water you can see what it is! This was awesome for me, because I always think that anything touching me in the ocean is JAWS!!

From Naples, we drove over to the east coast and spent several days in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami/Keys area. We loved driving down to Key West - it was gorgeous on the long bridges in the middle of such beautiful colorful water! Key West was a fun town, too. They have a Sunset Celebration every night where they put on a street fair with performers and vendors and live music and everyone gathers by the piers to watch the sun set. We also went snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, which was amazing! It felt like we were in the middle of an aquarium, swimming with the most gorgeous colorful fish and coral! They have a statue of Jesus in the water called "Christ of the Abyss," and you could swim down and touch his hands.

After we left the Miami area, we spent a day touring the Kennedy Space Center. And of course we had to have our DisneyWorld fix! We spent our last couple of days at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom before driving back up to Panama City Beach to fly home. We were fortunate to find a condo to rent just 5 minutes from DisneyWorld, because it POURED both days we were there! So we could go back to the condo and throw all our clothes in the dryer before getting back out there again.

We had a blast, and we still love spending every day together for two weeks straight - especially when it involves a road trip in a beautiful place! Here are a few of our favorite pics.

At Panama City Beach

Our rental car and the fireworks on the 4th of July
Dan remembered how to get to his grandparent's old house in Port Richie! His memory & sense of direction never cease to amaze me, since I am perpetually lost!
Collecting seashells on Sanibel Island
Eating frozen chocolate-covered key lime pie on a stick in Key West. MMMMMM!!

Dan got his first taste of Waffle House on this trip. He will never eat there again.
Making a serious fashion statement while snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Dan is wowed by a Moon Rock at Kennedy Space Center
In front of "Mt. Everest" at DisneyWorld's Animal Kingdom
A beautiful sunset in Pensicola

Just a Day in the Life of a High School Principal

Now that the school year's almost over, Dan's life has suddenly become a lot busier! It's easy to forget how many end-of-the-year performances, award ceremonies, and other special events there are in high school - and guess who gets to be involved in everything? That's right - the principal!! So I've been seeing less of him recently and we both can't wait until summer break. This past weekend, we went to the high school's musical, "Uncle Phil's Diner," which was a fun performance. And we also went to prom! Ha! I got all kinds of grief from my co-workers about going, but the guy who asked me was sooo cute, I just couldn't say no! :) It was at a really pretty conference center/marina, so we took this picture in front of the boats. We ended up having a really good time, although I do not miss the drama and awkwardness I experienced at that age. Makes me wonder what all my teachers were thinking about me and my friends when I was in high school. Hmmmm. Maybe it's better not to know! :)