Ketchup...to "catch you up" on the last few months

Well, so much for my goal of blogging twice a week! Since I haven't done a single entry since I started my new job August 1st I decided I better do a Ketchup Post. Here are the key events:

• In July Craig and I both started interviewing for new jobs. I found a job posting on the marketing page of the Reno craigslist that described him perfectly. After a 3 year stint of commuting to Carson for work we were both really ready to be living and working in the same city. And after 16 moths of having the house on the market we were started to think that God had other plans for us right now that didn't include moving to Boise. I also decided to apply for a newly vacant position at our church leading the children's ministry.
• On July 31st I got a phone call from the church telling me that they would like me to start work the next morning.
• About a week later Craig got the official offer from CLP (a skilled trade service provider with their headquarters in South Reno) that they would like him to start the end of August. This meant that for the first time in his adult life he would have 2 1/2 consecutive weeks off work!
• The timing couldn't have been better because Craig and I went to Kona for a week during that time for a vacation/family reunion. It was our first "real" vacation since our honeymoon and we had a wonderful time. My parents came up and stayed with the kids while we were gone making sure that Noah & Max were well-entertained and Josh & Annie got to dentist appointments and school. For a complete account from the Kona trip look for Craig's Trip Diary in a separate post.
• The weekend before going to Kona we held a dedication service for Max and Noah. The service was performed by family friend Reverend Steve Wren and was held in our backyard. Joining us from Boise were very dear friends whom we asked to be godparents for our children - Debbie & Larry Kreidler and Matt & Johanna Dempster.
  
• September brought our last big gigs for the business this season - an out of town wedding and a huge fundraiser for a local foundation. My work was also in full-swing with the start of the new Sunday School year and the after school Kids Club I lead each Wednesday.
• If you've known me for any length of time, you know how we love to celebrate Halloween with a family theme that is usually being planned over the course of the whole previous year. (Yes, the kids are already busy planning for Halloween 2008!) This year we had decided to go as a Full House, Kings over Queens with Noah as the Joker. Craig did a beautiful job with the costumes. The only difficulty was that they weren't very comfortable. And when we planned them months before we had no way of knowing that I would be in charge of our church's first Fall Family Festival! It worked out fine with the costumes, and thanks to an incredible committee of volunteers, the Festival was wonderful!
• In November Josh and Annie spent a week with my parents while they were off-track from school. While they were gone I tried to find time to work on my Kona album (which I did finish the first week of December!) My parents brought them all the way home to Reno (often we meet them in Sacramento) and stayed for a few days. During that time my dad painted a wall in Josh & Noah's room and we all attended a big (HUGE) Thanksgiving dinner at church that weekend. We are so thankful for our church and our many friends who make up our church family.
• Thanksgiving Day we got up early, loaded the car, and started on our way to Boise. Our target arrival time was 3pm for dinner at 5pm with the Kreidlers. Unfortunately, I managed to veer off the road, over-correct, spin us completely around, and take out a reflector post on our way into a ditch full of sage brush. We met a very nice tow-truck driver and a wonderful mechanic who opened his shop up just for us. We also met a not-so-nice police officer and I got my very first ticket...After a 5 hour delay in and around Winnemucca, NV we were back on the road - in our own van - with Craig driving.
• The rest of our weekend in Boise was WONDERFUL. It still amazes me how at home we feel in a city where we haven't lived (yet). We stayed with Debbie and Larry's family, spent all day Friday with the Dempsters and all visited with dear friends the Herberts, "Grandma Judie," my former youth leader Becky Lee, a former co-worker & friend of Craig's, and our pastor and friend, Mark Coffin. Much to be thankful for that weekend, but mostly thankful for an uneventful drive home.