Here's a video of Kaylin working on her dribbling skills. My favorite part is how, in typical easily-distracted toddler fashion, she stops to throw a leaf over the fence, then goes back to what she was doing!
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Most of you loyal OlsonWeb readers already know about our big news. However, since that news has now gone public, I wanted to blog about it!
Here's some of the email announcement we sent out recently:
Amy and I are excited to announce that after much prayerful deliberation, we are following the Lord's leading to... drum roll please... Southern California! I let my boss know late this afternoon that I will be leaving Mission Springs in mid-January in order to begin taking seminary classes at Talbot School of Theology (part of Biola University) in La Mirada, CA. The coming weeks will be spent finishing up my time at Mission Springs while looking for a ministry opportunity or other job in Southern Cal, figuring out where to live, preparing to move, etc.Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers and support over these past months as we have sought God's direction for us. We'd appreciate your continued prayers for our transition planning. Also, if you have any leads for either housing or a ministry position, please let me know!
I am writing to let you all know about some exciting developments in my life. After much prayerful deliberation, Amy and I became convinced of God's call for me to begin seminary training. So, in order to prepare for whatever ministry He calls me to in the future, my family and I will soon be moving to Southern California where I will be enrolling at Talbot School of Theology (part of Biola University) in La Mirada, CA. My last day here at Mission Springs will be sometime in mid-January and school starts on January 29th.
We are stepping out in faith to follow His call, not yet knowing where I will work or where we will live. That's the adventure of being obedient! My hope and prayer is that God will lead me to a ministry position that will allow me to provide for my family but have enough flexibility to attend classes as a full-time student. My family and I are excited to see what God has in store!
Of course, it is not without sadness that we leave Mission Springs. As you all know, Mission Springs holds a very special place in my heart… I received my call to ministry and met Amy while on summer staff here and have had innumerable amazing "God moments" while serving with all of you at Frontier Ranch. I have truly enjoyed every aspect of my job here and God really stretched and grew me while I was here. We will miss this place and, more importantly, the people here.
However, all that said, I am very excited to see what the Lord has in store for the future here at Mission Springs. Next summer, Mission Springs will celebrate 40 years of youth camp ministry at Frontier Ranch and I am so glad that you all have been, and will continue to be, part of God's work there. Thanks for your partnership in the Gospel!
I would appreciate your prayers for the transition time that lies ahead for both my family and for Mission Springs. PLEASE feel free to call or email me with any questions you might have. I’ll be in contact with all of you at least a couple more times via these lovely mass emails before I leave and I look forward to seeing many of you at the reunion!
Amy has been working really hard (and having fun too =) being a crazy seamstress, sewing all kinds of purses, totes, etc. Her business, Sew On and Sew Forth, just launched a website to showcase all her merchandise and allow people to order online. She's already had to raise her prices based on increased demand!
Amy and two friends, Robyn and Hannah, spent this weekend selling their wares at a local craft fair. They were pleasantly surprised by their sales success! Amy sold 15 of her purses, which was more than double her goal for the weekend. For those of you who haven't heard yet... Amy is sewing up a storm these days, creating various purses and tote bags. Besides selling at this craft fair, she'll be selling at 8 more days of a craft fair in December and she's taken many holiday orders from friends and family. A new blog site for her new business, "Sew On And Sew Forth," will be coming soon to feature her merchandise!
Here are some links to various items found around the web. Some I found while "surfing" and others were forwarded from friends. Enjoy!
Cabrillo Basketball - For the 5th season, I'm the Cabrillo hoops webmaster... season starts soon.
Big West coaches have picked my UOP Tigers to win the league title for the 4th straight season. Tiger center Michael White, who I coached at Monte Vista, is now a senior!
"Free Hugs" - video story of the Free Hugs Campaign - thanks to T-dub
"Can" - cool video about Team Hoyt - thanks to Mindy
"White & Nerdy" - Wierd Al's latest spoof - thanks to Jenna
Bindi Irwin's tribute to her dad, the late Crocodile Hunter
Even though I swore off the NBA over a year ago, here's a funny article from The Onion, a spoof online newspaper.
Other sites that I frequent and thought might be of interest to some of you...
Rocky Bayou Baptist Church where my Uncle Carey is pastor
Prayer First - my Uncle Dana's ministry
River Ridge Covenant in Olympia, WA - Brian Wiele, who was my pastor at Escalon Cov, is now the pastor there.
Oh, and by the way, my team (4th & Inches) is 5-2 and in 2nd place in the fantasy football league that I'm a part of with some friends...
That's all for this random post... peace out!
This spent this past weekend visiting family in sunny SoCal. We enjoyed "camping" with Amy's parents in their motorhome for the weekend. We got to see all of Amy's siblings and spouses on Saturday while celebrating a couple of family birthdays. On Sunday we visited with our friends Brent and Lynelle, Amy's Grammy and then headed out to Mindy and Jason's house for the evening. Monday we went by Biola Univ. to visit with my cousin Rachel (who is a student there) and her mom (my aunt Rynette). It was a busy but fun weekend! Here are some pictures...
A few minutes ago, Amy fed Trevor his first bites of "solid" food. Eating from a spoon for the first time, he attempted to eat a bowl of watery rice cereal. If you look closely at the photo, you'll notice that at least half of the cereal ended up on his bib! But he sure seemed interested in trying to eat it!
My Olson grandparents, who currently live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, are in California staying with my parents for a few days. So we spent Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon up in Pittsburg visiting with my parents, grandparents and Jaron's family.
It was great to see my grandparents and we were glad that they could meet Trevor and interact with the 3-year old "version" of Kaylin! My grandpa is a retired pastor... so I was particularly blessed to hear more stories from their 50-plus years of ministry together.
I hung up signs all over town and Amy posted this ad online:
MULTI-FAMILY GARAGE SALE THIS SATURDAY, 10/14
Don't miss out! ***LOTS of great stuff, including baby equipment, kids stuff, books, maternity clothes, house decor, picture frames, purses, board games, videos and way too much more to list!! Come check it out for yourself!***
After the party and after Kaylin's nap time, she opened her presents from Mommy and Daddy. She got some educational / interactive / electronic books that will help teach Kaylin her numbers, letters, shapes, etc. Then, she unwrapped a helmet before walking outside to discover a scooter! So we went for a "ride" down the street to get the mail. She's gonna need some more practice because she did more walking/pushing it down the street than riding! =)
Today is Kaylin's 3rd birthday! Since she loves wearing flip-flops, her mommy threw a flip-flop themed birthday party.
LEFT: The birthday girl with the cool flip-flop shaped balloon!
(NOTE: You can click on any picture to view full-size version)
Kaylin kicked off her birthday by opening some presents from Grammy and Grampa while she was still in her PJs... her birthday party and presents from mommy and daddy will be later today!
With Kaylin's 3rd birthday coming on Monday we headed to San Jose to celebrate with Jenni, Jaron, Avery, Grams and Papa...
Trevor John is 5 months old today. Yep, another month gone by already...we can hardly believe it! He is so much fun, such a smily boy! He LOVES his big sister, Kaylin. She makes him giggle all the time by playing peek-a-boo, tickling him, giving him kisses, etc. Today I've been asking him, "Where's sissy?" or "Where's Kaylin?" and alot of times he looks over at her! Not sure if this is a coincidence or intentional, but either way it's cute! Trevor is now sleeping in his crib in his own room...still not a super sleeper, but he's definitely improving with age. His current favorite activities are blowing raspberries, playing in his exersaucer (fun to watch him using his hands!), listening to sissy read books, and nursing (of course!! :). This past month he started being able to roll over from his tummy to back. He's truly a CUTE boy!!!
Amy and I were excited about an opportunity to go "out on the town" last night for dinner and a show! A couple that we know from church generously treated us to dinner and then shared their theater season tickets with us to see Sweet Charity starring Molly Ringwald at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. It was very cool to take in the show from the 2nd row! Amy said, "It was so cool to be close enough to see when the actors were out of breath and where their 'hidden' microphones were."
I am so excited, so I just HAD to show off my latest creation. :) My wonderful friend Robyn is teaching me how to sew and I am LOVING it!!! I first learned on a diaper bag we made for my sister Dee Dee (not shown here...I shipped it Friday and she won't get it until tomorrow. I want her to get to see it in person first :). I just started sewing this (my first solo project...although I did have to consult Robyn a few times) bag yesterday morning, and I finished it today. Fun, huh? The inside fabric is a little hard to see in the photo...it's a fun red with little white polka dots. Robyn just ordered a new sewing maching (a b-day gift from her parents), so I think I might buy her old one. It's the one I'm learning on. In recent years I've really been wanting to learn to sew...mainly for practical reasons....like being able to hem my own pants, etc... But now I'm getting into all of the fun stuff I could make...like purses!!! Ya know, a girl never can have enough. :)
I (Derek) use a very cool Google feature called Google Alerts to keep track of news that's of interest to me. You can input search terms and Google will send you an email whenever those terms appear in an online newspaper, etc. However, that's the point of this entry... I mention Google Alerts because that's how an article about UOP Men's Basketball coach Bob Thomason came to my attention. Coach T has been the Head Coach at Pacific for 18 seasons... so that of course includes my year's working in the basketball program. Anyway, I was excited to read this article and then I thought I'd share it... you can read it here: "Finding Solace" - lodinews.com Go Tigers!
