We Are Here

We are here for obedience and adventure.



Where is here, you ask?

We are transplanted to Mountain View, California for the summer and possibly beyond.

Jason and his business partner have been accepted to a program called Y Combinator for their product Mongo HQ.

On May 18th, Jason and all our necessary belongings headed west with a U Haul and our minivan.

On May 22nd, the kids and myself boarded an airplane and headed west.

The whole company; 4 adults and 5 kids are living together to make a serious attempt at making all this thing work, and to see just what adventure God has in store for us.

The Lord's provision has been amazing. The house, travel, amazing help from family and friends all have been remarkable.

Now we learn how to make a new life here. To live together, to meet knew people, to go new places, to build a company, but more than anything to live in the Lord's will at all costs.

Super Heros for the Day

I wish Batman and the fireman were more effective box packers and closet cleaners. {Life is crazy, but good.}

Outside

There is much going on inside our home and inside ourselves.  Big changes afoot.  Good changes, with much encouragement, but still hard.

Dirt isn't hard or challenging.  It is simple and easy.



A quick escape to the backyard is more than welcome.  To run and play and dig and chase and laugh and jump and just be in the peace that is outside.



Being in this family is a full contact sport.





Until tomorrow.  And another blissful break from all the inside, to the outside.



{Part of Beth's You Capture: Outside} {I am most proud of the first picture}

Easter 2011

Easter is not about the eggs, or chocolate, or bunnies, or any such things, but they are fun traditions.

Starting off with matching plaid shorts and an impossible to get group shot.


Well anyway, one day we will still know that we had them in adorable Easter outfits, even if the picture doesn't quite capture it.


Walker only picked blue eggs, and Eli only picked green. We may have a slight compulsive disorder going on around here.


Colin was indiscriminate. He was pretty sure they all had candy, and that was the goal.



And he knew exactly what the candy was all about and how to get to it.





He will never tell how much he ate. But I counted the wrappers, and well, oy. {I really didn't think he could unwrap the candy himself!}



And I'm so glad that I can virtually wipe my kids faces, even if I didn't before the picture was taken.

Self-initiated hand holding. "Awww"


It was a happy Easter weekend.  The joy is from Christ and through Christ and I will praise Him for these little moments of glory He shared with us.

To the Science Center We Shall Go

The crowds were crazy. I've never seen so many people there.  The boys got the, "there are lots of people here today. STAY CLOSE," speech and they agreed.

They spent the first 45 minutes playing with trains on the train tables.  You know, much like the one we have at home. But, they were happy.


Walker was just about the oldest in the kindergarten and younger area.  He was such a good leader.

You see those trains in the middle of the table? He had set those up separate for when the toddlers came to play (and they did, and then he would set them up again).  He even calmly brokered a couple of train disputes between children he did not know. {Maybe the 4 years of, "share kindly" are finally getting us somewhere}

Eli was filled with inventiveness.  He used all the machines in his own unique ways and crafted new uses for the tools and toys.






Colin "helped," and Eli was gracious anyway.


Colin wanted to play the toddler golf, only the golf balls (as they usually are) were all missing. So, being the resourceful and strong young lad he is, use the giant golf ball holder (which does look like a ball) as his ball.



It didn't go very far, but he was satisfied.


We spent more time than ever at the life-sized light bright wall.  Eli lined up all the green ones.


Then he counted them (bonus math lesson!).


And, they are only sort of "stay dry aprons," but hey, it's just water.


Every day is an adventure, and this was a good one.

Just Shy of 300 {Our Bowling Adventure}

Bowling Night with the cousins.

A first for the boys and the first in a long time for me. {I almost beat Jason, almost}



Walker lasted about 5 frames before he lost interest.


But, initially, there was lots of interest. {and yay, Aunt Ally}


But it was convenient that Walker lost interest, because Colin had waited patiently and was VERY interested. {Eli and Daddy on the assist}


And he had figured it out.


And Eli was quite the encourager.  Eli was also the best bowler of the bunch, even if his bowling looked a bit more like the shot-put. {and he was far to fast to capture on film}


The pile of family shoes. Our family pile of shoes. {That is all}


And rented shoes, which is a difficult idea to explain to the kiddos.  They were ready to bring them home. {How fashion forward of them}


Walker's favorite part - icees and conversation.  He made 3 new friends (all grown ups) hanging around the snack bar.  I love my little politician.  Never met a stranger and educating the world on all manor of things.


A fabulously fun time with family and if you add all our scores up, you would end up just shy of a perfect 300.

This Moment of Focusing On...

On being present. On being thankful for this moment so much so that I do not squander it.

"I will not desecrate this moment with ignorant hurry or sordid ingratitude" (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, p.70)  

On listening and sharing and guiding and answering.



On climbing and chasing and encouraging and catching and carrying.



On being home, and really being here.



On fighting the urge to worry and fret over the plans for the future. God is sovereign and his plans will be accomplished.  On being prayerful and obedient and not worrying about the rest.

"The slower the living, the greater the sense of fullness and satisfaction." (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, p.76)

Her words leave you seeing God's beauty in the daily living He has given us.   

I will be slow in these moments in the backyard.  I will savor them.

James 4: 13-15 13 "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" - 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."