God's Gracious Hand

God's hand has been so evident throughout this whole housing process.
A few weeks ago I went down to Santa Ana and found doors for way less that what Lowe's and the other home improvement companies charge. I even found our front door for $400 vs. the $2,500 that we were having to prepare ourselves to spend. While down in Santa Ana I drove past a Habitat for Humanity store and decided to stop. I found 3 cases of this concrete adhesive that we were going to have to purchase selling for $10 a tube (retail is $30). I decided to ask if they would give me a discount if I bought all 3 cases. They gave it to me for $5 a tube! $250 for the whole batch. So many have said 'Oh that is so lucky'. Random doesn't just happen...
On Tuesday My Gentleman was supposed to meet with our engineer at Building and Safety, but Aldo's secretary called to cancel. We figured that it would be another week delay in getting in. On Wednesday Aldo called and said that he could meet the same day at 3:30. He ran home, got the plans, and headed down to the meeting. The last two pages of the plans and Title 24 were done in a few minutes. When Aldo worked up the permit tax sheet he decided that the amount was way to high ($12,590). He took it back to his desk and reworked the sheet. He handed it to My Gentleman. The new amount was $3,290. Aldo had removed all of the school tax from the total. When Tom took it to the counter to pay the lady was surprised to see the amount. "Ooh, you are so lucky" was her comment. This was so NOT luck.

God bless Aldo Udua!

Our plans are now approved and the building can begin!

First Swim Meet

After a fun and enjoyable summer in swim lessons and water polo we decided that this school year the kids would be in a swim program through County Parks and Rec. As a part of the swim schedule they each get to participate in swim meets throughout the semester. The first meet was held in down town LA. They both were in the 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. Mr. Cool got 3rd in his freestyle heat and the Lovely Daughter placed 1st in her breaststroke heat. Unfortunately, Lovely Daughter and the rest of the heat were disqualified because their kick was wrong. The coach has since been working on the strokes with the kids.

Outing with Friends

Before school started up again Lovely Daughter came to us and requested that we go on more field trips. "School was soooo boring last year. Nothing happened." (no, nothing exciting at all save our house burning) So, since school started we have made it a priority to be involved in more of the field trips when they fit into either our calendar, what we are learning, or both.

LA County Fair

Children's Hunger Fund
(we packed pretzels into smaller bags)

Hiking and Nature Center in Burbank

Leaving Beverly and going back to the Hills

The life of 'ease' is over. The insurance company believes we should be done with the house by now and have decided to stop paying for the apartment. Part of me is actually thankful to be leaving the posh place. The temporary living arangements with furniture and items that are not your own make for stressful times. If something spills - oh no! If something breaks - oh no! If something....was always at the forefront of any action that was made within our home. Granted, we didn't not take care of the things we owned but there is something to be said about not worrying when something did happen whether you would get your deposit back or have to pay extra for damage.

 

The two things that will be missed...the heated pool and the amazing view of the valley.

I do pray that we remain content with where the Lord has us and don't mimic the Israelites and wish to be back in Egypt.

It comes a tumbling down

One Saturday morning we had a wonderful crew of friends come help tear down, tear up, and pull off parts of the house. God's hand was evident throughout the whole day.

At 8 am the Backhoe was ready to begin working on tearing up the driveway and concrete slab that needed to be removed so the trucks can take it all to the dump.

8:30 ~ Backhoe gets two flat tires

9:00 ~ Call is made to postpone the trucks till noon.

9:30 ~ Truckers drive by for a visit and suggest that the job will take longer and to just give them a call when the whole project is pulled up and that way we aren't charged for them to just sit around and wait.

9:45 ~ Repair truck arrives and fixes both tires and only charges $100 vs the rental company charging us $250 per tire.

10:00 till the cows come home~ Fabulous friends help get the remaining demo work done.

H2O Polo

The kids have been able to participate in Water Polo this summer.  Lovely Daughter and Mr. Cool have been playing goalie and love it. Lovely Daughter's age group had enough children participating so they were able to play in several matches. They did rather well even though it was their first season. Don't you just love the little caps?!

Oh, the things you can FIND!

For the past 3 days we have been busy tearing off the drywall and removing what little insulation is found within. Surprisingly, the giant task hasn't been as daunting as first imagined. All that is left are the bathrooms and the ceilings. Then begins the fun task of rewiring the rooms that aren't being touched and placing insulations in every wall.
It has been entertaining to see all the stuff that was left behind by those who did the original build. To date we have found: a milk bottle, old newspaper, small matchbox car, old figurine toy of Thumper. The surprising finds have been a bird carcass, lizard skeleton, mummified rat, giant wasp's nest, and the final item discovered so far is the skeleton of a cat...head only (we're guessing that the rest of him is somewhere in the bathroom ceiling). Just goes to show that when you build the stucco should go on before the trim is applied to the outside of the house.

Fourth of July

Dinner at the Fickett's house to break in the new BBQ and Fireworks at the local park.

To help the loosing side feel better.

Fun with the Cousins

We had the opportunity to watch J. and B. for a few hours. It was crazy hat day.

Out and about

While Becky has been in town our weeks have been a flurry of activities. I think we get more done in the three weeks she is here that throughout the rest of the year. I love it! For the first several days we spent our time at Resolved having our brains stretched and our hearts convicted then encouraged. Sin was the topic and the approach that each of the pastors took was wonderful. As Piper stated "Have sentences for your life" here are the ones I gleaned from the conference:
~The Enemy is you.
~The goal of parenting is not to keep them pure and protected. It is to show them their sinful heart and a need for a savior. (I know. The conference was for college age, but this random sentence was a good reminder of what my parenting goal needs to be)
~What associates of Satan are found within my heart?
~Am I an expert in knowing my sin?
~I am what I am by the Grace of God.
~Only God's power makes godly pursuit possible.
~Do I see God's work in me? It is not always apparently spectacular but is always miraculous.
~Conviction of sin is evidence of God's work of grace in us.
~Live your life in such a way that your example can lead someone to the Lord 50 years later.
~The display of Christ's glory is our purpose.
~Do you preach the gospel to your soul?
~Troubled souls can't be trusted and circumstances lie to us.

The day after our return from Palm Springs we went to Disneyland. Quite fun and a wonderful culmination to our year passes. Boy was the parks packed with people. The only way we were able to ride the number that we did was through the wonderful single rider lines.

The gang went down to see the Hollywood stars and China town.
We did a group hike in Malibu Creek State park
Saw a movie
Swim lessons for the kids every day
The Flower Mart
Camarillo Outlets
Santa Barbara, etc...

And we still have 5 more days till Becky goes home. Oh, the fun!