Family portraits

I have a wonderful friend who took some amazing pictures of the family! She took some great candid shots too that I included. Some of them aren't in the right order but you can get the point. I highly recommend hiring her if you ever need a photographer.





















We are doing pretty well adjusting in fresno. I made a friend at work who works in the OR at my work and she invited us to her church. Afterward we hung out at her house and the guys went and played Basketball. It was a lot of fun!

I really enjoy my work. People are really nice there. One of the hospital educators, who isn't into the Christian religion, stated she could tell there is a Christian spirit at this hospital. And then she stated, "You can tell the difference between people who believe in Christopher". She thought Christ stood for Christopher. I loved it! Right now I have been in a room a lot of the time studing and policies and procedures that I have to learn. Tomorrow I get my feet wet for at least half the shift. Woohoo! I have been burning the candle at both ends. I get up early for work and have several moments throughout the day where I am exhausted. My last time is right before the kids go to bed, but I am in need for the bedtime routine. And just as they fall asleep I get my second wind. Oh well, I'll get some sleep, hopefully....

Russell is adjusting to staying home with the kids. We are still waiting for his transcripts to come in the mail so we can get him on a waiting list. It will help the more we get out and get into a routine. We haven't quite figured that out yet.

Christmas time is here

We got our tree up! See isn't it pretty. Yes it isn't exactly like the trees I have done in the past but this maybe took all of 1 hour to put up and together with of course the help of a little girl who put the decorations at only her eye level, no higher and no lower. It is a little more then the 3 foot tree I wanted to get that already had the tinsel on them. But those trees were really 1 foot at best and had a total of 3 decorations on them. So instead I got this. It made a little girl happy. Who, by the way, has been talking about a tree all this season. We might have to do a new Christmas tradition now that she seems to be old enough to help out. Austyn has been asleep so he hasn't seen anything yet but the lights, which he of course wanted to hold so we couldn't place them on the tree. At which point we took them from him to decorate the tree and he cried hysterically.







Penelope posing before the tree! LOL.




Here is the official picture of the tree:


Not a whole lot to report. We still have a little bit to unpack. But it's not been unpacked more out of procrastination then anything. We both love the new apartment. I think it is slightly bigger then our old place by maybe 100 or so more square feet but it seems bigger because we are all on one floor. Fresno has been treating us well. They are really nice here. The people I've met at the hospital are really nice. I'm just doing hospital orientation so far, but I'll start getting my feet wet on monday when I get to start orientation on the unit.

We tried to go to church wednesday, but the service was canceled for the holiday time. We ended up stopping by another church but haven't really found our new place to call "home". With the holidays around the corner it's going to be hard to get an idea on whatever church we "try out". Oh well....

In the mean time, Russell is learning his way around town a little. At least finding the grocery store, home depot, best buy, target, stuff like that. I am just learning my way around the hospital and probably just as confused as I was before going to the grocery store. Though I did find a Fresh and Easy. I love that place!

Journey

I am recently reading a book called "One in a Million: Journey to your promised land" by Priscilla Shirer. At least reading several pages a week when I am have a moment of careless activity where I can just put my nose in a book with nothing else I can accomplish at the moment. However every time I pick it up it resonates within me. In one of the passages she elaborated about how God had promised a land of milk and honey. She thanked God of course for the milk. One of the choice "drinks" that could sustain infants and toddlers. Something that has so much nutritional value in one tall glass. However she was glad that God didn't stop there. That He didn't leave the promise land to simply a description of "milk". Because there are a lot of joyous things that honey bring. Honey, though it does carry some nutritional value isn't taken for its supplement to the diet. But merely for the outlook of flavor or enjoyment. He promised both a sustainability and a enjoyment. Bounds. Overflowing milk and honey.

With that said, as I enter into this new phase of my life. New town. New job. New people. New church. I follow God's leading to a place that He has for me. That from this vantage point seems as if the land I am to enter is flowing with milk and honey. The idea of all it has to offer I am holding onto with both fists. But when it comes to the 12 spies that went into the promise land. I would like to think that I am like Joshua or Caleb, firmly planted and sure of that providence. No wave in my faith. However, I fear I am not that firm. I don't think I am cowering away like the other 10 (which, sadly, for the most part are known as the other 10 spies). But somewhere in the middle. Somewhere in the middle, moving forward but all the time scared of the unknown and then scared of losing the unknown. So here I come LORD. The wavering one of little faith. The one who seems too scared sometimes to move forward but too scared to move back. Let me have faith like Joshua and Caleb. Let me be sure. Make me remember that one more assurance you already gave me. The so many answered prayers. The clear lighted path I am still scared to trot upon. Let me move forward, without being scared of the unknown or scared of losing it. Not in the middle, but standing firm like the two did that got the promise land for all it was, flowing with milk and honey.

We're moving

(Above is one of the pictures from our annual family photos. But it seemed appropriate for the title of the blog.)

We are officially moving December 11th to the Fresno area (Central California). My parents have moved to the mountains above Fresno (Auberry) for about 4 years now, living there permanently for about 2. They offered to help us get into owning our own house up there. There the cost of a house is significantly cheaper then anything we could find in the south bay. After lots of prayer and people praying for us we decided to move forward and just see if something works out eventually. We debated waiting a year, waiting till spring, waiting till next summer. And in the end we decided to just put it out there, apply for some jobs and see what happens. It took me 2 months to find a job after being on maternity leave from Austyn and about 4 months to get a full-time position so Russ could go to school. But with this it was all a matter of a month. It all happened very quickly. But fairly early on it become apparent to us and several people around us that this WAS God. And I am not about to argue with God and His timing. So off we go.

Overall, this is so much more than I thought we would be able to do at this time in our lives. I didn't even imagine that we could buy a house right now. I know God is blessing us so abundantly. It's so much more then we could ever ask for ourselves. God is so good! We, of course, have always prayed down the road for God to let us buy a house and stuff of that sort. But it was far from do-able in the stage we were, in our minds at that time. When this came about. I was almost scared that my hopes would get ripped out from under me and I had to hold onto anything I could. As time has gone on I know that God is so providing this. I need to just stand and have faith. On our current trip up to the Fresno area we were trying to find an apartment (that we could stay in for 6 months to get our bearings on the city). Finally I was able to say on our trip up there that I KNEW God was going to provide our housing like He has provided in everything else. And sure enough within the first day of looking by early afternoon we were filling out the application of the apartment that we are going to move into in 2 1/2 weeks.

In the end I KNOW God has wonderful plans for us! Plans to prosper us, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). It is so wonderful to know and be faced with God's perfect present to us. To say that, "Yes! Our God is so GOOD." All of this at times feels so surreal. The pure idea of this happening to us blows my mind. I'm just so thankful that God cares so much about me, about my family, and about anyone who truly seeks Him.

Austyn turns 1!

Austyn is 1! Already! Can you believe it? Time surely does go by fast. We had his birthday party the saturday after his birthday at Eastview Park in San Pedro. It turned out to be a wonderful day, despite my concern of having an outdoor party in the middle of November.

Halloween

For Halloween Penelope and Austyn dressed up like Minnie and Micky Mouse. : ) I'm going to try to dress them alike as long as possible. I think it is just too adorable! And Penelope wanted to be Minnie Mouse so that made it easy enough for Austyn. Here is a picture of them together. Afterwards we went to the Riviera with Travis, Sonya, and their son Evan. Then went door to door trick-or-treating in Redondo. It was Penelope's first time Trick-or-Treating or being exposed to any of that stuff. But it went quite well. I think it is tamer in some areas then in others.

Corn Maze

(Here is my reckless attempt to get my blog up to date with the pictures in my camera)

Our family plus Russ' parents and our nephews and niece made our way to the Big Horse Feed Corn Maze. It's an annual tradition in our family. It's a fairly large maze. I believe it is the biggest one in southern California. You are trucking your way through corn fields with corn up to the top of your head. Trying to make it through the course. This is the first year we didn't finish, which is disappointing. But at least the crew gave it a try.

The kids had a lot of fun. Afterward we headed over to a restaurant and had a nice lunch before we took the 2 hour drive home.




There are a lot of fun activities there for kids. As you could see. : )







And of course the Stade clan goofing around.




the girls went on pony rides








Here are some pictures of the corn maze. I think we gave up looking for station 6 out of 10. The group made a quick decision and found the biggest break in the corn for an emergency exit. And then to take a break from walking the kids went in the jumper and then got their face painted. : )







The cousins minus Austyn who wouldn't sit down for his picture.