Canyon Life

We have been living in this canyon for a few years now. I was pretty sure that there wasn't much left that could surprise or scare me. We have snakes, rats, mice, bobcats, tarantulas, bunnies, squirrels, owls, vultures, and numerous other wildlife. Half of that list has at one time or another wound up in my house, thanks to my cats. I won't go into detail about how I find the critters and what state they are in. My cats are killers. I just wish they'd keep their prey outside. Anyway, a few weeks ago my husband comes home talking about this headless angel he has been seeing around the corner. It's just before the turn off to our street. If you blink, you miss it. I missed it a a lot, the statue blends very well into the surrounding trees. I finally pulled over and took the above picture. I have to admit, this thing is a tiny bit creepy. I don't think I'd want to go see it at night. So strange. There are no houses in this little area, it is a fenced off property, but there's no one around. How long has it been there? What is it? I posted it on Facebook, and my ex-brother in law saw it and told me that it's a replica of the Nike of Samothrace statue from the Louvre. Soooo.... Why is it in my canyon? 

I've researched a bit, and I haven't found anything as to why it's just sitting there. My kids think it's awesome. Mostly because it reminds them of weeping angels from the Doctor Who TV series. They love all things BBC. My husband thought it would be hilarious to get a picture with the older boys running away from the headless angel on the way home from church one morning. Very funny. Good thing it's not a weeping angel. They'd be toast.

October, 2013

The first summer I went to the Middle East, a year and a half ago, I only learned a few words of Arabic. Mostly words you could yell. We worked with kids most of the time, and speaking softly to Jordanian children is not very productive. They don't respond to quiet talk. So I learned to say (yell) "Stop!" and "Let's go!". I'm not sure how to spell them Arabic, but one is pronounced like "hallas", and the other is "yella". When I went back to Jordan this last June, I picked up on quite a few more words. Even a few sentences. My favorite phrase was "mish lazzim". I'm sure I'm not spelling that right, but it doesn't seem to matter to people as long as they can see what you mean. It means, "not necessary".  I love that. Melani, the sweet woman who housed us in Jordan, used to say that to me all the time. I guess I needed to relax and let things go in certain situations. She would say, "Beth, it's fine, it's mish lazzim!" And I would always tell her, "Nooooooo, it IS lazzim!" Because I'm stubborn. Of course, Mel was always right, and I would usually back off of whatever it was I wasn't getting my way in.

So I was thinking, this blog, it's becoming mish lazzim to me. It seems like I don't have enough time to do a post that stretches beyond the updating of a few pictures. And I only do it because my dad and mom come look at it sometimes, and my husband reads it when he's bored at work. I see that I get other visitors, and that's nice, but there's really not much here that's of interest. I'd like to change that. I'm going to make the effort to do something productive here. I have a little idea of what I'd like to do, but we'll see how it goes. 

I'll leave you with this awesome picture right here, I took it a few weeks ago. My eleven year old son is obsessed with all things Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings. He's loves all things fantasy, stories that talk of the struggles between good and evil. He's my reader. We live in a canyon, full of trees and hills and rocks, and while I was out watering the other day, inspiration struck. I dropped the hose and ran off in search of my kid. It didn't take more than a few minutes to convince Matt that he should dress up like Frodo and act like the Nazgul were chasing him. He LOVES this picture. It was so fun, he's such a good sport. These are the things we do in the canyon. These are the kind of things I'd love to share on my blog.

September, 2013

I got back from the Middle East a week ago. I was blessed enough to be asked back this year to do another camp. It was a little different, I got to plan and oversee the whole program, and then create teams to man all the stations. It was insanely fun. It took months of preparation. Lot's of meetings and research, creating a camp that would translate well into Arabic. It's just like the camp we do here, but on a smaller and less formal scale. Because you never know what you are going to get when you travel thousands of miles to a foreign country to set up a big event. Plans change. Locations change. Help changes. There are translation issues. Two hundred more people than you estimated for show up. All kinds of nonsense! You have to be ready to roll with the punches. And we were ready. This camp was fantastic. It worked out so well, like it was meant to have that many people the whole time. That's because God already knew, and God had a plan. He made sure we had all the resources we needed, the people we needed, the location ready, and every other tiny detail figured out. There were some sketchy moments, some scary times, and my patience was tested many times. But as I look back, I can't believe how awesome this trip was. And I hope our sister church there sees much fruit from the work we did. 

Of course, we worked hard, so we played hard too! We got to visit some fun places, Mount Nebo, Bethany, Madaba, the Citadel, and a wonder of the world, Petra. We had dinner with many families, they cooked traditional dishes for us, showed us how to dance. Much Turkish and Arabic coffee was consumed. No wonder I never slept! Neighbors dropped of numerous baked goods filled with dates and spiced with cardamom. Cardamom is in everything. Semolina is prevalent in their sweets. Flat bread is a staple. I also discovered that crispy little chickpeas make a great snack, and zataar toasted on flat bread with olive is better than pepperoni pizza. Jordanian food is fresh, simple, and delicious. 

My husband once again, was awesome enough to hold down the fort, and I would often stay awake til 2am to talk with him. Then when I woke up, he'd be going to bed so I could say goodnight. He took the kids camping at the beach with lots of our church family for the fourth of July. He's a great support to me, and if the opportunity to go again arises, he had better go with me. 18 hours in a plane really isn't that bad.... if you have good earplugs and one of those weird travel pillows. Those things made the difference this year! 

Here's some highlights from the trip, totally out of order, because I am lazy.

This right here is a Bedouin tent. Bedouins have their own society within a society. They are nomads. They farm, sell, barter, raise livestock, do odd jobs. They make a lot of the souvenir knives you find in the little shops. This one was camped right outside the mall, and he had some sweet baby camels. 

This was night two of camp I think. Standing room only. We had over 330 kids registered at this point. I was ready for 150. Oops. The first night we went through two days worth of craft supplies!

This was a day trip to the Citadel in downtown Amman. Home of the Archaeological Museum of Amman and the Temple of Hercules. And a great view. You don't know how big the city is until you see from up here. This is a great photo of our STM group this year.

Another day trip to Madaba. This is Diana, she's a sweet girl I met last year. Her dad, Samer, is a tour guide. He towed us around to all the sights and he knows lots of history. Madaba has a church that houses the oldest mosaic in the world.

Fireworks the last night of camp. Funny story about that, but I can't tell you about it. Ha!

This right here was one of my favorite life moments, a first glimpse of the Treasury at Petra. Think Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail. Oh my word. I had goosebumps. You can't know til you see it in person. It's a little over a mile hike to this point, through a pathway lined with tall rock walls like you see here. It's beyond awesome. And the whole park is huge! It's a city, many many buildings. Many tombs. Takes a few days to tour it all. Also in the vicinity, and you can hike three hours straight up to get to it, the memorial tomb of Aaron, brother of Moses. He was said to have been buried on Mount Hor, but who knows how accurate that is. We didn't have time to hike there.

The Jabbok River, where Jacob wrestled with God. It's dirty.

The ancient city of Jerash. We were here last year. Still one of my favorite sights.

These are some of the kids from camp, most of these girls were here last year. So fun to see them again!

The mosaic at Madaba. It pictures the Exodus. Madaba is an old city, it was mentioned numerous times in the bible. Lots of Jordan is mentioned in the bible. Says wikipedia about this mosaic: The Madaba Mosaic Map is an index map of the region, dating from the 6th century, preserved in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of Saint George. With two million pieces of colored stone, the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns in Palestine and the Nile Delta. The mosaic contains the earliest extant representation of Byzantine Jerusalem, labeled the "Holy City." The map provides important details as to its 6th-century landmarks, with the cardo, or central colonnaded street and the Holy Sepulchre clearly visible. This map is one key in developing scholarly knowledge about the physical layout of Jerusalem after its destruction and rebuilding in 70 AD.

This was really awesome to see, it's huge, this picture is but one little area of the map.

Oh my. Favorite night out right here. We went to Abu Omar's for dinner. He taught us the traditional way to be served and drink Arabic coffee. It was confusing. I'll show you sometime. Then he served us mansef, the traditional dish or Jordan. IT WAS SO GOOD. It's made with yogurt from Kerak, very hard to find and expensive (and comes hard, in the shape of a huge egg), lamb, almonds, rice, and parsley. I cannot describe. But we did get to bring some of that yogurt home. It has a shelf life of a few years. Yes, its weird.

The Treasury at Petra. First major building you see as you come to the beginning of the city. Awe struck. You aren't allowed to go in any more, but I am ok with that. I have found that if there's a cave or open tomb like this one any where in Jordan, people use it as a bathroom. Sucks. But it's true. And yes, I did bring a tiny Holy Grail, and I did strike a pose with it. I'm not posting it here.

This was the day we left Orange County from church. Great team. Great time. These people worked so hard, and I love every one of them. It's so fun to spend two weeks with people you only know a little and are then able to create lifetime bonds and memories.

I still can't put too much detail into why we do this camp, but you can message me if you want to know. One of the biggest things I take away from going is the history. The history of the people, the land, the culture. It's such a conundrum to me. Boggles my mind. You can ask me about that if you want too. I wish I could just write it all out here, but sometimes things just can't work that way.

Yeah. It's February. Wow, mom was right when she said time goes by in a flash as you get older. I'm already planning my summer. It'll be a repeat of last year, God willing. Summer camps and missions. Maybe some trips to the beach if there's time. This blog is dumb. I don't know who reads it, besides my dad sometimes. That's ok. It's my husband who likes to come see the pictures when he's bored. Which is not often, since he's the busiest man in the world. I grabbed a bunch of pictures from the end of December til  now, all out of order, of course. 

January saw some milestones, my oldest son turned 18, and I turned 38. I can't even believe I just said that. James is 18! Holy moly. He's such a good kid. He's very obedient, good with his brothers, spends most of his time serving at church, and is so mature for his age. Not like I was at all. I have no idea why God was merciful and gave me an excellent son after the way I treated my parents in my teens. It's like night and day. James gave his life to the Lord two years ago and the way he lives is proof of that. I have to give most of the credit to my husband in how he was raised, even though Brett is not James' natural father, he has been there since James was 2, and has been an awesome dad to him. Where I am lax, Brett is strong in disciplining the boys. Which is most areas. Ha! That's ok, we have learned to balance each other out over the years, and will always continue to do so. Marriage is always a work in progress, isn't it?

Turning 38 is not such a milestone, so says my grandma. She said I can complain when I turn 88. I agree. I have never cared much about aging. But this year I did stop and think about maybe making some goals for myself in terms of work and my walk with God. I don't think it was necessarily my age that prompted my thoughts, but the fact that my kids are getting older and are not as dependent on me every second of the day. My free time can be more productive. I have some ideas and we will see if they come to fruition after summer.

This was date night with Brett for my birthday. He took me to the new Carthay Circle Restaurant at Disney's California Adventure. It was alright, we had duck, lamb and pasta. The decor and ambiance were beautiful. Brett is so picky about eating out, if you charge $30 a plate, it better be good. He agrees that Club 33 was about the best he's eaten in the Disney parks so far. I'd eat here again, but I don't think he would.

See? Picture's are so out of order. Brett eating duck at the Carthay Circle. They were really good. 

This is my cousin Mike and his wife Heather and their baby girl, Gia. Gia was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer a few weeks ago and is currently undergoing chemo at CHLA. Prayers for them would be most appreciated. She's responding well, but it's a long road to recovery.

 This was the Christmas picture we gave out to people. James, Tyler and Matthew. Photo credit goes to Brett. I told him to go find a fence in the neighborhood and take a good picture. He did it very well.

NYE in Arizona. Brett's mom recently relocated back there, so now we can go visit that disgustingly hot state sometimes. Seriously. It's like Hades. We lived there when we were first married for a few months. I thought I was going to melt. Everyone was telling me its tolerable, you swim everyday, you get used to it..... No you don't. The pools are always warm and everyone hides indoors for three months. We did travel up north to Prescott for the day, and that was snowy and beautiful. Reminded me of Reno. I would live there.

Last night my friend and I babysat another friends four kids. So fun. We gave the baby a bath, laughed hysterically at our fumbling because we hadn't done that in awhile, then laughed harder when the baby's older sister got mad for making her baby cry. She was seriously angry, so cute to see her protectiveness. 

Went to a Muse concert in Los Angeles last week with my childhood friend Julie. We meet up once a year and go to a concert. We went to Muse last year too. Julie and I went to junior high together and kept in touch over the years. Julie and I had a love affair with lame heavy metal music.  Her brother was always in a band and we always swooned over all his friends.  As a matter of fact, her brother went on to be sound engineer for Green Day. Now he travels all over the world as their photographer too. I still love big hair bands.

I can't have a blog post without my favorite girl Sharon. Love her with all my heart.

Muse for a second time in San Diego, on my birthday. Got real close to the stage, got beer spilled all over my shoes and came home deaf. Was sooooooooooooo great.

Got a new batch of pictures from our Jordan trip from a fellow who went with us, thought this one was cool. We were in the ancient ruins of Gerasa near the Syrian border. 

I forgot I had a blog. Here's the last two months in pictures. And we'll be going backwards in time, since that's the way my pictures loaded and I'm too tired to fix them. Blahhhhhhh.

By the way, today was disgusting. This world is awful, I'm glad we only have to live here for maybe 80 years or so. Maranatha.

Have you ever seen a baby camel. Oh my word. They are really cute! Eight week old right here.

Highlight of the month, my friend won tickets through PBS to go see a preview of Downton Abbey Season 3 and meet the cast. It was fun, there were only about 350 people there and it was neat to see. We got to meet them and get some swag. Fancy fancy.

Cody might not bounce back and walk again, so we are letting him try his wheels out a bit.

Candice, my super weird niece and friend. She lives close enough to hang out regularly now.

Also came back from Thanksgiving to my dog becoming disabled again.

Came back from Thanksgiving and plucked a tree from the earth.

Thanksgiving in the desert. A week of bikes, fire pits, dirt and fun.

King of Schematics. Dislikes Disneyland. Loves me enough to take me there.

See these beautiful lines? Brett made them. He is the king of creating schematics and maps for such things. This is Fall Fest, we put on this even with our church every year. This year we had about twenty thousand people show up to our completely free event . It was crazy!

My younger, dressed more normally. Harry Potter.

Halloween. These are my two older boys, clearly dressed as........ ??

These girls. One of God's most awesome blessings would have to be friends. The ones that will call you out on your nonsense. Tell you when you are being ridiculous, wrong, mean, whiny, cranky, lazy, rotten, emotional.... you know. All those lame things we girls do sometimes. And then they'll walk you through the issue with love. Because these girls care more about my walk with Christ than they do my feelings, even if it means causing pain, even if it means making me angry, even if it means walking away from a friendship with me. Their main concern is my relationship with a holy God. They're more fearful of God than of man. Sacrificial, unconditional, not based on emotion. That's love.

It seems like every year I get all cranky about the fact that it's almost October and the weather is still pretty warm. Then I remember it's always like this. Even when I think back to school clothes shopping a long time ago in elementary school, everything in the stores was geared towards cold weather. So that's what I would buy. Then I would wear it to school on the first day, determined to look cute in a new fall outfit, and sweat my butt off. The next day I was back to shorts until well into October. That was northern California. Here in the southern part of the state its even worse, I can wear flip flops almost year round. I do miss the changing seasons of Nevada, but then I remember driving (sliding) around in snow, freezing to death in my car every morning, and I think, eh, maybe I don't miss it THAT much.

Summer was so busy, I thought Fall would have us slowing down. Nope. The calendar is full, and I can't keep track of all our commitments. A few trips are in the works, lots of ministry, and then there's the holidays. Yikes. We are creeping up on Christmas again. Ugh.