Happy Thanksgiving from John and Cindy

John and I are going to La Crescenta with our friends the Moore's for Thanksgiving. All we are bringing are the place cards. My job was to find perfectly matching feet. John did all the rest. It was a variation on those we have seen before. We are grateful for all of you who love us and have cheered us on. We are especially grateful for Jesus Christ who gave his life for us and has blessed us abundantely.

Pilgrims in North Hollywood

My special friend and photographer Christine Choi invited me to come to her 5th grade class room. I played Patience Whipple who found herself lost in North Hollywood. It took me 2 hours in traffic to get to her all dressed in my Pilgrim outfit.

"I was harvesting corn with my friend Squanto and I woke up with you"

Afterwards, Christine took me to The Grove for dinner. It was snowing!!! Yes, fake Hollywood snow. So much fun. The funny part is that we grabbed a guy to take our picture and someone yelled that's Jordan Farmar of the LA Lakers. He has finished and was off took. So how is that for a twist. I got a clebrity to take my picture. We had no clue who he was. It was a very funny moment.

Lambchop comes to Torrance

OK, this show was so much fun. Shari Lewis' daughter Mallory has taken her mom's place and performs live on stage with Lambchop. I took this picture because I volunteered John to go up on stage for audience participation. They wouldn't let you take pictures. She was performing about five minutes from our house. Shari died of cancer ten years ago at the age of 65.

I couldn't resist. This is Margarit's Lambchop that she lent me to take to the show. Take a trip to the past and listen to her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogpm8lPJgCA

I always loved her show. Remember, "This is the song that never ends"? You can listen to tons of them on You Tube.

Bryon's Birthday Surprise

Margarit has been on my blog many times. She is the wonderful adopted daughter and friend God gave me here in California. We have had the joy of getting to know Bryon (a family therapist) as we have watched their romance unfold.

Last night was Bryon's birthday, so we surprised him all wearing "Bryon" masks at a local restaurant. Needless to say, it was a hilarious evening. The waitress was a littled freaked out. John is so good at making my crazy ideas come true. This was original, last minute and a big hit.

Margarit will graduate in May from Cal State Northridge. She works as a sign language interpreter for a highschool in Hollywood. John is doing their premarital counseling and we will both fly back to California in August for their wedding. John will perform the ceremony in Long Beach. They both love the Lord and bless us each time we are with them.

Special Family - Special Evening

The first Christmas we were at Redeemer, the Dixon family were the cast of my Christmas Eve play. A few weeks later they moved to Florida. That just about took out our children's department. They have moved back to California and are attending another church. They had us over for dinner and a delightful evening of family fun.

Visiting Corrie and Sean in Virginia

Mount Vernon with my granddaughters

Corrie and Sean are at Fort Belvoir until December. I got to go and see their life there and experience Washington DC (30 minutes away). The leaves were beautiful and quite a contrast from my beloved beach. We visited Mount Vernon. The girls enjoyed the grounds much more than the house. It was such a fun day.

Museums and Parking Problems in Washington DC

One of my favorite places to visit is the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. When Corrie was 15, we we went there on a family vacation. I remember John walking through the museum pointing out all the impressionist painters. So Corrie and I decided to revisit that beautiful place. We looked, ate ice cream, and were quite pleased with ourselves for bringing two toddlers into this museum in the busy traffic on a rainy day. We had found a parking place right across from the gallery and were thrilled. However, when we returned, to our shock , our car had been towed. We had stayed into rush hour and discovered that that was a big no-no.It was getting dark and the girls were hungry. God gave us a wonderful little restaurant that served macaroni and cheese. It must have been the only kid friendly place on Pennsyvania Ave. There we were able to meet a wonderful black lady named "Angel" on her coffee break. She worked for traffic control and was a huge help in helping us locate where our car had been taken. She hailed a taxi that took us to a scarey towing company on a dirt road way off the beaten path. There was Corrie's silver Honda Pilot with a few other cars waiting patiently for us to retrieve her. Corrie and I were praising God he kept us from being really scared that he had protected the four of us. The $100 ticket was a relief.It could have been much bigger. Beware when you find a parking place in Washington DC. It is probably too good to be true.
By the way, Sean was at the premiere of Quantum of Solace and knew none of this until we were safely home.

Sophie's Second Birthday Party

Prince Daddy builds a birthday castle

Playing by the stream at Ft. Belvoir

This is the view God gave Corrie and Sean from their living room.

Goodbye California -Hello Texas

After two years in California, we are moving to Dallas in January. We are moving into the same apartment complex where Heather & Troy (and Susannah ) live, and John's parents live nearby.
John felt it necessary to resign as pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church due to a difference in philosophy with some of the leadership as to what constitutes pastoral ministry. The church has given us a generous financial settlement so we are in good shape as we search for our next church.
The ministry successes of these two years have given us even greater confidence that we are right about God's calling to pastoral ministry. We gained 20 new members, established a strong young adult fellowship, and a growing children's ministry, along with weddings, baptisms, conversions, and a hospitality mindset that built unity and community. We look to the future in anticipation of discovering his next church assignment for us.
I have not lived in my birth state for 33 years. We will also be only hours away from my three brothers and my mom. I'm pretty excited about that.
We appreciate your prayers.


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McKenna

Every Friday, I have the joy of tutoring McKenna. It is a little job that I started in August. She is only in kindergarten but her parents want her to enjoy learning, to stay inspired and focused!

This is our classroom. It is a turet with a garden view. We sit at this little green table and do math, reading, puzzles and what ever else I come up with.

This is the ceiling of my incredible little classroom of one. They are generous to even pay me.

I love it.

A visit at the Getty Villa

John and I very much needed a day just to relax and be together. The Getty Villa is on the way to Malibu. The lily pond was our favorite.

59 times around the sun

59 times around the sun is what they called my birthday Oct 4th!
This is my adorable flip flop birthday cake made by one of my dear "much younger" friends. It makes a lady feel pretty special when a bunch of 20ish,30ish friends throw you a surprise birthday.

The girls -Susy, Susanne, Keiz, Margarit and Lisa

The guys - Mike, Aiden, Aaron, Chris, Patrick, my John and Alan

New babies born in the last 6 weeks

I was thanking God today for all the babies I have prayed for in the last 6 weeks. They have all been born with no complications and are healthy and thriving in godly Christian homes. Each one means so much to us, so I wanted you to meet them.
Kalei was just baptized in our church. Her parents have joined Redeemer since we have been here. Remember the post about the horse race? That's Kalei's dad Crecencio.
My awesome nephew Sam and his beautiful wife Cherie, gave birth to Jolly Samuel. Jolly was my dad's name. Sam and Heather are three months apart and now their babies are three months apart. They live in Fort Collins where Sam is a dentist. Sam is my prayer partner in evangelism. He has the gift.
Parker Kim was born to another family in our church. They live here in Torrance. You have seen pictures of Parker's sister, Lauryn. Out of the five babies born in our church since we arrived, Parker is the first boy!
Mary Gibson Greene was born in Mississippi to Eric and Katy. Eric is a PCA pastor and Troy's brother. Katy was pregant at Troy and Heather's wedding with Grayson and now has given birth to a beautiful little girl. We not only got a fabulous son-in-law when Troy married Heather but his incredible family too. Bailey Rudy was our latest blessing. Patrick was part of our youth group in Colorado. When John left to come to Torrance, Pat and Stacy spent almost everyday for three weeks helping me clean out 27 years of treasures! They live in Colorado Springs. I could have never made this move without them.

So there you have it. My cup runneth over!