Part 2 March 6th
Part 3 March 8th
Part 4 March 17th
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Portland Pictures!
Here are some scenes and videos from our trip to Portland the first weekend in March:
Melissa holding Naomi. The Paces came over for game night. :-) We stayed with Erin and Jayelle (and Dave).
One of the Thomas' mugs Naomi had been enjoying. She felt how much everyone else there missed Virginia's cookies!
Asleep on one of the chairs in the Seminary lounge. Naomi was a real trooper - she took naps where we let her, and let us pack her around and meet hundreds of people happily.
Melissa holding Naomi. The Paces came over for game night. :-) We stayed with Erin and Jayelle (and Dave).
One of the Thomas' mugs Naomi had been enjoying. She felt how much everyone else there missed Virginia's cookies!
Asleep on one of the chairs in the Seminary lounge. Naomi was a real trooper - she took naps where we let her, and let us pack her around and meet hundreds of people happily.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Smooth Move
Sorry, hubby, I couldn't resist.
Pretty much everything went better than expected this weekend. The truck was loaded in less than two hours, we enjoyed one more lunch with our helpers, then came up and had everything unloaded again in less than an hour! Not only that, several folks from church brought food and supplies to help us survive until we have time to make a trip to Chico to stock up.
I'm sitting at the Starbucks right now enjoying free wifi. Our favorite location in Roseville didn't participate in the plan here (as far as I know). As long as you have an active gift card, you have free access 2 hours a day. Woo hoo! With dial-up in our home for the next couple months, no internet at the church office, and our favorite independent cafe out of business, we're appreciative.
In Naomi's world, life is not very different. Same car seat, same pack-n-play. BUT, some things are new. We got out some new toys and feeding supplies. She can now sit up like a champ. And we've started making her fall asleep on her own when she wakes up at night - the crying lasts less than 5 minutes already! (Why didn't we do this before?) So she's back to being a champion sleeper.
Matthew and I are both working on establishing good routines in our new place and situation. And lots of logistics are coming together: Naomi has a doctor, prescriptions are transferred, I have spring clothes again, we're signed up for Netflix, etc.
Thanks for your prayers for us! God is showing himself powerful to provide again, and Matthew and I are wondering how we still worry how he's going to take care of the next thing.
Pics and a new video of Naomi coming soon!
Pretty much everything went better than expected this weekend. The truck was loaded in less than two hours, we enjoyed one more lunch with our helpers, then came up and had everything unloaded again in less than an hour! Not only that, several folks from church brought food and supplies to help us survive until we have time to make a trip to Chico to stock up.
I'm sitting at the Starbucks right now enjoying free wifi. Our favorite location in Roseville didn't participate in the plan here (as far as I know). As long as you have an active gift card, you have free access 2 hours a day. Woo hoo! With dial-up in our home for the next couple months, no internet at the church office, and our favorite independent cafe out of business, we're appreciative.
In Naomi's world, life is not very different. Same car seat, same pack-n-play. BUT, some things are new. We got out some new toys and feeding supplies. She can now sit up like a champ. And we've started making her fall asleep on her own when she wakes up at night - the crying lasts less than 5 minutes already! (Why didn't we do this before?) So she's back to being a champion sleeper.
Matthew and I are both working on establishing good routines in our new place and situation. And lots of logistics are coming together: Naomi has a doctor, prescriptions are transferred, I have spring clothes again, we're signed up for Netflix, etc.
Thanks for your prayers for us! God is showing himself powerful to provide again, and Matthew and I are wondering how we still worry how he's going to take care of the next thing.
Pics and a new video of Naomi coming soon!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Moving Day
Tomorrow is moving day. We'll be loading up the U-Haul and heading North to Willows. Matthew starts work on Monday. We've been enjoying our final days in Roseville and also had a great trip to Portland. Sorry, we haven't been updating the blog. We've been busy but we are taking pictures and video of Naomi and hope to post some of the highlights soon.
Our 971 area cell phones are no longer valid. Our new contact information is as follows:
Home (until around May 1st)
857 N. Plumas St.
Willows, CA 95988
Phone # 530-934-8264
Matthew's work
Faith Bible Church
403 Vine St.
Willows, CA 95988
530-934-3259
Matthew also has a new e-mail address: FBCWillowsPastor@gmail.com
Look for highlights of our trip to Portland, our move and of our transition to Willows in the coming weeks.
Our 971 area cell phones are no longer valid. Our new contact information is as follows:
Home (until around May 1st)
857 N. Plumas St.
Willows, CA 95988
Phone # 530-934-8264
Matthew's work
Faith Bible Church
403 Vine St.
Willows, CA 95988
530-934-3259
Matthew also has a new e-mail address: FBCWillowsPastor@gmail.com
Look for highlights of our trip to Portland, our move and of our transition to Willows in the coming weeks.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Florida Pictures
Our vacation to Florida was pretty relaxed. We spent most of our time relaxing, visiting with family, sleeping in, eating great food, going for walks, etc. The only real touristy thing we did was go to the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. It was a nice trip though. Here are some pictures.
Naomi traveled really well. If it hadn't been for our flight from Salt Lake City to Orlando getting canceled resulting in a 6+ hour delay we would've made it to our destination long before any serious fussiness set in.
Due to some thrush related diaper rash Naomi got lots of baths while in Florida. Fortunately she learned to really enjoy them and we were able to pretty much enjoy them as well.
Naomi traveled really well. If it hadn't been for our flight from Salt Lake City to Orlando getting canceled resulting in a 6+ hour delay we would've made it to our destination long before any serious fussiness set in.
Due to some thrush related diaper rash Naomi got lots of baths while in Florida. Fortunately she learned to really enjoy them and we were able to pretty much enjoy them as well.
One of the highlights of our visit was getting to see Emily's cousin Sarah and meet her family. Sarah and Emily are about the same age and were close growing up but hadn't seen each other in more than 8 years. Matthew had never met Sarah and neither of us had met her husband (Matt) or two daughters (Cameron & Natalie) prior to this visit. This is a picture of Emily and Naomi with Sarah and her youngest daughter, Natalie.
Our favorite part of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was the 3-D I-Max movie we saw about the international space station.
Naomi got a little sleep deprived for part of our time at the KSC but she had some really happy time as well. During one of her more cheerful moments though she decided that daddy's coffee was just what she needed for an afternoon pick me up. Are we already teaching our daughter to become caffeine dependant?
Our favorite part of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was the 3-D I-Max movie we saw about the international space station.
Naomi got a little sleep deprived for part of our time at the KSC but she had some really happy time as well. During one of her more cheerful moments though she decided that daddy's coffee was just what she needed for an afternoon pick me up. Are we already teaching our daughter to become caffeine dependant?
The shuttle launch scheduled for the end of February was still on delay so we got to see the shuttle with boosters all set up and ready to go on the launch pad.
We also saw all kinds of cool space hardware. Here Emily and Naomi pose in front of an actual engine used in multiple NASA launches.
This is the actual lunar module taken up on the Apollo 13 mission. Emily and I were both surprised by how flimsy it looked.
This is the actual lunar module taken up on the Apollo 13 mission. Emily and I were both surprised by how flimsy it looked.
We are hopeful for a less stressful travel day tomorrow than what it took to get here. Next up is a trip to Willows (leaving Wednesday returning late Sunday of next week) after that we have a few days at home before taking off to Portland, OR the following Saturday. We'll post pictures from those adventures when we can.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Crazy Times
Since getting the news about Willows our lives have been pretty hectic and the coming weeks look to be just as crazy. Most of the hecticness of life has been self induced but we've also been experiencing some of the less desirable excitement of parenting recently.
On the night of February 7th we took Naomi into urgent care because the cough and wheezing from her "cold" had gotten so bad. They checked her out, took a swab to check for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and gave her a nebulizer treatment gave us a prescription for an ear infection she had. The next day we missed church to follow up with her pediatrician who got us our own nebulizer machine and wrote another script to help with her cough. The following week was pretty interesting as we discovered that Naomi did in fact have RSV, made yet another trip to the pediatrician and did our best to start preparing for the transition to Willows and maintain our regular responsibilities while taking care of a sick little girl.
Naomi has recovered well from the RSV and her breathing has returned to normal. Thank you all for praying. This Tuesday Emily figured out that Naomi had developed thrush (a kind of yeast infection affecting her mouth and diaper area). This meant that Emily had to get a same day appointment at the Dr. to get two more prescriptions that same day since we were leaving for Florida early the next morning (more on that in a bit). At first the thrush didn't seem to be affecting Naomi all that much but the diaper rash she has developed as a result has become very severe. It is bad enough that it is impacting Naomi's overall disposition and it doesn't seem to be healing very quickly. We would certainly appreciate your prayers for her and this pesky and now painful condition. It also makes caring for her a lot more work.
Yesterday was a marathon day for us and a milestone for Naomi. We left the house a little after 4am where Matthew's mom dropped us at the airport and we got a plane to Salt Lake City in route to Orlando, FL for a visit with Emily's and aunt and uncle and their family. We were supposed to catch a direct flight from Salt Lake City that would've had us in Orlando by 4:15 Eastern time but our flight was canceled. We fortunate enough to get rerouted the same day through Memphis but it meant that we didn't get to Orlando until after 10:30pm, we were than delayed further by the car seat we had checked not having arrived yet. We finally got to the "Florida Hallsten" home at about 11:30pm.
Naomi actually handled things very well. She was wonderful for the first two legs of our trip and for most of the time waiting at the airports. If things had gone according to plan it would've been a wonderful experience but about 20 minutes into our flight from Memphis to Orlando the fatigue and over stimulation finally caught up to Naomi and she became inconsolable. It was a very stressful flight but we suspect someone was praying because about 25 minutes before landing she calmed down again and our transition off the plane went fine. Today was spent sleeping, relaxing and visiting with family. Naomi has been a bit fussy and it is hard to know how much of that is from the thrush and how much is her recovering from yesterday but we're glad that we've still had some good stretches with our happy, smiling baby girl for our family to enjoy.
We are in Florida until Monday when we fly out early and should land (Lord willing) in Sacramento around noon. Tuesday Matthew will work and Emily will unpack and re-pack and then on Wednesday (Feb 25th) we will drive up to Willows where we will stay with the outgoing pastor and his wife (Bob and Joyce) until Sunday afternoon. We're looking forward to this time to prepare for the transition and get to know these dear people who we see as future mentors. We also plan to meet with some of the other church leaders, explore the community a bit more, get oriented for our future house sitting gig and hopefully look at some houses for sale.
Upon returning from Willows Matthew will work two more days at Health Net (extending our benefits through the end of March) and than after a few more days to rest and prepare we will get on a plane once again this time for a trip to Portland, OR. We'll be arriving in Portland the afternoon of Saturday March 7th and leaving first thing the morning of Wednesday March 11th. We're really excited about the chance to see dear friends from our three years of living in that city while Matthew was in seminary and to introducing Naomi to some of the people have loved and blessed her from before she was born.
After that trip we will have two final days to prepare before moving to Willows on March 14th. It should be a fairly move since most of our stuff will be going straight from storage in Roseville to a garage in Willows as we'll be house sitting for the first 6 weeks or more in Willows. Matthew will officially start work as pastor on Monday, March 16th and preach his first sermon on March 22nd.
As you can see our lives will be pretty full over the next few weeks but we are excited about and looking forward to almost everything on our schedule. We do hope to say some goodbyes in the Roseville area but are glad that we will be close and should be visiting frequently. We'll do our best to keep you all updated with pictures, news, etc. but may not be posting all that consistently until we get settled in Willows.
Thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes. We appreciate you all.
On the night of February 7th we took Naomi into urgent care because the cough and wheezing from her "cold" had gotten so bad. They checked her out, took a swab to check for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and gave her a nebulizer treatment gave us a prescription for an ear infection she had. The next day we missed church to follow up with her pediatrician who got us our own nebulizer machine and wrote another script to help with her cough. The following week was pretty interesting as we discovered that Naomi did in fact have RSV, made yet another trip to the pediatrician and did our best to start preparing for the transition to Willows and maintain our regular responsibilities while taking care of a sick little girl.
Naomi has recovered well from the RSV and her breathing has returned to normal. Thank you all for praying. This Tuesday Emily figured out that Naomi had developed thrush (a kind of yeast infection affecting her mouth and diaper area). This meant that Emily had to get a same day appointment at the Dr. to get two more prescriptions that same day since we were leaving for Florida early the next morning (more on that in a bit). At first the thrush didn't seem to be affecting Naomi all that much but the diaper rash she has developed as a result has become very severe. It is bad enough that it is impacting Naomi's overall disposition and it doesn't seem to be healing very quickly. We would certainly appreciate your prayers for her and this pesky and now painful condition. It also makes caring for her a lot more work.
Yesterday was a marathon day for us and a milestone for Naomi. We left the house a little after 4am where Matthew's mom dropped us at the airport and we got a plane to Salt Lake City in route to Orlando, FL for a visit with Emily's and aunt and uncle and their family. We were supposed to catch a direct flight from Salt Lake City that would've had us in Orlando by 4:15 Eastern time but our flight was canceled. We fortunate enough to get rerouted the same day through Memphis but it meant that we didn't get to Orlando until after 10:30pm, we were than delayed further by the car seat we had checked not having arrived yet. We finally got to the "Florida Hallsten" home at about 11:30pm.
Naomi actually handled things very well. She was wonderful for the first two legs of our trip and for most of the time waiting at the airports. If things had gone according to plan it would've been a wonderful experience but about 20 minutes into our flight from Memphis to Orlando the fatigue and over stimulation finally caught up to Naomi and she became inconsolable. It was a very stressful flight but we suspect someone was praying because about 25 minutes before landing she calmed down again and our transition off the plane went fine. Today was spent sleeping, relaxing and visiting with family. Naomi has been a bit fussy and it is hard to know how much of that is from the thrush and how much is her recovering from yesterday but we're glad that we've still had some good stretches with our happy, smiling baby girl for our family to enjoy.
We are in Florida until Monday when we fly out early and should land (Lord willing) in Sacramento around noon. Tuesday Matthew will work and Emily will unpack and re-pack and then on Wednesday (Feb 25th) we will drive up to Willows where we will stay with the outgoing pastor and his wife (Bob and Joyce) until Sunday afternoon. We're looking forward to this time to prepare for the transition and get to know these dear people who we see as future mentors. We also plan to meet with some of the other church leaders, explore the community a bit more, get oriented for our future house sitting gig and hopefully look at some houses for sale.
Upon returning from Willows Matthew will work two more days at Health Net (extending our benefits through the end of March) and than after a few more days to rest and prepare we will get on a plane once again this time for a trip to Portland, OR. We'll be arriving in Portland the afternoon of Saturday March 7th and leaving first thing the morning of Wednesday March 11th. We're really excited about the chance to see dear friends from our three years of living in that city while Matthew was in seminary and to introducing Naomi to some of the people have loved and blessed her from before she was born.
After that trip we will have two final days to prepare before moving to Willows on March 14th. It should be a fairly move since most of our stuff will be going straight from storage in Roseville to a garage in Willows as we'll be house sitting for the first 6 weeks or more in Willows. Matthew will officially start work as pastor on Monday, March 16th and preach his first sermon on March 22nd.
As you can see our lives will be pretty full over the next few weeks but we are excited about and looking forward to almost everything on our schedule. We do hope to say some goodbyes in the Roseville area but are glad that we will be close and should be visiting frequently. We'll do our best to keep you all updated with pictures, news, etc. but may not be posting all that consistently until we get settled in Willows.
Thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes. We appreciate you all.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
We Got the Job!!!
Faith Bible Church in Willows, CA held their vote tonight and officially invited Matthew to be their new pastor. We happily accepted and look forward to putting down roots and investing in a new community. We are very excited about the future and can't wait to see what God has in store for us and for the people of Faith Bible Church.
We still have to nail down the details but right now our target move date is March 14th with Matthew starting work on the 16th. We have a lot to do between now and then. We want to spend a few days up in Willows in February with the outgoing pastor and his wife to get to know them better and help prepare for the transition. We already had a trip to Florida scheduled to visit family and we're hoping to squeeze in a short trip to Portland while we still have limited Sunday obligations.
We'll try to keep you all updated on the details as we transition into the next phase of life. Thank you all for all of your encouragement and prayers during this period of uncertainty and searching out God's will. Thanks especially to Aunt Miriam and Mom & Dad Brooks for providing us with free housing and to all of you who have provided for us and for Naomi in countless ways.
We were told when we started this process that it takes a year on average to find a pastorate. Matthew started sending out Resumes on February 1st of 2008 so that is just about what it was for us. The eight and a half months between graduating and getting tonight's news have actually been quite wonderful but we are glad to have some direction for the future and look forward to having our own home again.
Blessings, Matthew and Emily
P.S. Emily wanted to title this post "Matthew is Jobful!" but Matthew wouldn't let her.
We still have to nail down the details but right now our target move date is March 14th with Matthew starting work on the 16th. We have a lot to do between now and then. We want to spend a few days up in Willows in February with the outgoing pastor and his wife to get to know them better and help prepare for the transition. We already had a trip to Florida scheduled to visit family and we're hoping to squeeze in a short trip to Portland while we still have limited Sunday obligations.
We'll try to keep you all updated on the details as we transition into the next phase of life. Thank you all for all of your encouragement and prayers during this period of uncertainty and searching out God's will. Thanks especially to Aunt Miriam and Mom & Dad Brooks for providing us with free housing and to all of you who have provided for us and for Naomi in countless ways.
We were told when we started this process that it takes a year on average to find a pastorate. Matthew started sending out Resumes on February 1st of 2008 so that is just about what it was for us. The eight and a half months between graduating and getting tonight's news have actually been quite wonderful but we are glad to have some direction for the future and look forward to having our own home again.
Blessings, Matthew and Emily
P.S. Emily wanted to title this post "Matthew is Jobful!" but Matthew wouldn't let her.
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