Catching up...

As we approach the beginning of February, we have celebrated several milestones. We have been official Californians for a month and Anna Kate turned 3 months! 

Since our first lifegroup, we have continued to grow and spend time with more people. We got together for several Chargers games even though their time in the playoffs was cut short by the Patriots. Jonathan has met many new people through his time on campus and in the neighborhood around us. Last week, two 12th grade guys came to know Jesus as he shared with them in the City Heights Park! On the weekends, we have been exploring more of our new city. We spent time at Pacific Beach

& Mt. Soledad in La Jolla
Jonathan has started surfing and even got a wet suit to keep him warm in the chilly ocean water as he rides the waves. Suzanne has become a couponing shopper! She comes home with many grocery bargains and enjoys her weekly CVS trip usually totaling $3 or under. If you are interested to know more about this, check out www.moneysavingmom.com.
 
What a website! Anna Kate moved into her own room two nights ago. Once she celebrated her 3 month birthday so we decided the time had come. She has done great and is gradually expanding her nighttime sleep. Anna Kate has become more and more smiley and now loves to look out the window while she is riding in the car. She likes watching her Baby Einstein DVD and is mesmerized by the ceiling fan. She is still not wild about "tummy time" but we try to get some every day anyway. She loves shopping with mom while snug in the Baby Bjorn carrier and prefers being outdoors to inside. 

We really feel like California is becoming like home! We like our In and Out Burger, but still enjoy some Chick-fil-A from time to time (there is only one in all of San Diego!) With reports of frigid weather in Texas, we are happy to report our sunny and 70s forecast in the middle of winter!

We have launched!

Wednesday we had the very first Life Group of All Peoples Church.  It was incredible to see 14 people (not including our team) of all walks of life come together to share a meal, receive teaching on who God is and worship Him together.  What was almost more amazing is that these people found us!  Nearly every person there was someone who approached our team about our group or someone who just fell in our laps!  How incredible! 

Jonathan and Joel ran into Alan, an exchange student from South Korea, outside of the SDSU rec center.  After Jonathan briefly shared about why he moved to San Diego and about the small group we were starting, he immediately interjected, “may I join this group?”  
Thank you to everyone who prayed for our first group.  To God be the glory! 

A Day at the DMV

Jonathan and I are proud owners of California driver's licenses! We had to pass a fairly difficult test and wait through a barrage of lines, but at the end of it all, we did it. We said goodbye to our Texas plates and gave our Camry a new Cali look.
 
This week Jonathan's parents have stayed with us to help put together our house and love on Anna Kate. We have loved having them here and were sad to say goodbye.
 
Jonathan and Jon got to go to the Chargers playoff game on Sunday and Maria and I have explored many of the shopping venues San Diego has to offer. 
 
Anna Kate now has a nursery that is pretty in pink. We got her crib all set up along with a new changing table! She has taken a couple of naps in there, but still spends her nights in her bassinet in our room. Anna Kate still sets her own nighttime schedule, so until she is sleeping through the night, she will be in with us. She does a little something new every day! She loves to watch her mobile and coo at it. Her most common sound is "ah-goo" with a little gurgle attached. I cannot help but smile every time I hear her. She is so precious!

  This Wednesday we will start our first lifegroup with the friends we have met in San Diego so far. Pray for us as we gather together for the first time!

Happy 2008!

Today is the first day of 2008 and I can only begin to imagine what this year will hold. This past month has been a time of big transition for us! We packed up our house in Waco...

...and Jonathan took off with a close friend, Brad Jones, for the cross country drive with the Penske truck and car trailing behind.
 
 Anna Kate and I flew to meet him and saw our new house for the first time.  We settled in for about a week before returning to Texas for the holidays with our families. We had such a fun time in Amarillo and Austin celebrating Anna Kate's first Christmas. She was very blessed with so many fun gifts and lots of love!   

Two days after Christmas, we packed up our remaining belongings in Texas and flew out to our new home on a one way ticket. Since then, we have unpacked a little and found the grocery store and Target...must haves for me.We cannot believe we are a California family! We love our time here so far.

 We have been planning to buy a second car for some time now, but have been waiting for the funds and the right one to come along. On New Year's Eve, with the help of Craig's list, we found it! We are now the proud owners of a VW Passat wagon. The perfect cool Cali mom car!

What a whirlwind of a month...maybe January will be a little slower. Thanks for thinking about us even during our hiatus from blogging. Blessings and Happy New Year!