Revenge of the Laundry Monkey!

I knew there was a lot of laundry build-up, but I didn't know it was this much...

A Big Helping of Pumpkin Pie!

Three Little Pumpkins...

...and a Jack-o-lantern!

Westmont College Fire

My sister-in-law,Rebecca, sent this prayer request (yesterday) and update (today) about the fire situation at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. (a sister college of Taylor University). Until a couple of months ago, Rebecca was the women's soccer coach at Westmont. Carter and Rebecca have since moved to the cornfields of Indiana, but have friends, colleagues and students who are and will be affected by the fires.

I, personally have a special place in my heart for Westmont, as 1) it was one of my top college choices, 2) my music teacher and my best friend convinced me (for approximately 18 agonizing hours) that I had been requested to give my testimony to their entire student body for chapel, and 3) I was personally sung to by the Westmont Ensemble! :)

Will you pray for them?

Nov. 14

Hey all,
Some of you have heard, but a fire started in Santa Barbara that hit Westmont pretty hard. Because of sun downer winds coming over the mountains (70 mph gusts), there was not time for Westmont students to evacuate. Fortunately, Westmont has an emergency fire plan in place and all students made it to the gym for refuge. One of the dorms was burnt (half of Clark hall) and the Science building. Some other buildings burned down, but they were all going to be demolished by the end of the year (Westmont is in the process of building some new buildings.)

One of the sadder things that happened is that 14 faculty members lost their home. Westmont has "Faculty housing" that only faculty at Westmont can buy. Three of my former coaching colleagues lost their homes, along with 11 other faculty members that I worked with. I am sure they are devastated right now, and would appreciate any prayers. Below is a link to a "post fire" video that shows the Science building. This is the building that had a GREAT view that I would take recruits to at the end of our campus tour. Anyhow, I am just sure they would all appreciate prayers in this hard time! I know they are all thankful that there were no deaths, but it is still a large pill to swallow.

http://disaster.westmont.edu/www/system_status/

Nov. 15

Things seem to be settling down at Westmont, as all the danger of fire is away. Westmont has posted pictures of the aftermath on campus if you're interested...

http://www.westmont.edu/

...seeing these pictures were a good reminder for me to continue praying despite the danger being gone.

Love,
Rebecca

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time!

On Sunday, a certain 7 1/2 year old attempted to make a plastic character fly by placing it on the handle of a shovel and stepping with all of his might on the head. It worked...sort of!

It's Good To Be Three!

For a special "half-day of school/Veterans Day" surprise, I took Colby and Ian to Eileen's Colossal Cookies store before we picked up Isaac from school yesterday. The cookies there are fantastic...as well as huge! Ian and Colby (surprisingly) chose red cookies and picked a blue one for Isaac.

Salute to our Veterans!

To: Our Veterans
From: Ian

Thank you to all who have served our country over the years in times of war and peace! We are proud of you!
Love, Isaac, Ian, Colby and Zane

Grandpa Jay Shaw- Army
Great Grandpa Arnold Shaw- Army (WWII)
Grandpa Steve Balyo- Navy
Great Grandpa Edward Balyo- Navy (WWII)
Uncle Rick Balyo- Navy
Uncle Marlin- Navy (Vietnam)
Ryan Kenneda- Marines
Samuel House- National Guard (Afghanistan)

To: Our Veterans
From: Isaac

Where's John Wayne?

So, Thursday a piece of our dog run blew off. Yesterday...the whole gate blew off in the wind.

The November wind has trespassed!

Crazy wind and tumbleweed infestation! I feel like we are on the set of a wild west movie! :) Here's the updated tumbleweed story from our local news!

http://www.kgwn.tv/_videos/pages/200811074657.html