Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We trust that you and your family have had a joyous Christmas Season! This year has been one of the most amazing times of my life! We give the Lord Jesus all the honor and glory He so richly deserves.

We continue to enjoy this week of Holiday fun. Last week, "Uncle"Greg was off and we had a blast with him. Not having any other family out here makes his presence in our lives so wonderful. We are thankful for his heart for us and the church. The kids and Greg spent some time off from school at the Zoo, shopping, movies, trains, the OB Christmas parade, etc... On Christmas evening we had around 14 people here to share a meal with us. Many folks who didn't have family, others were military,singles and neighbors. It was a great time. I used all my Christmas dishes and Jim gladly cleaned up!

Thanks to generous grandparents and my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Marlin, my kids had a great Christmas from Santa. We now own a Wii...which is the coolest game ever!! Finally, someone came up with a way to "play" video games that actually require you to move around!!! We adults are a little sore from the bowling, tennis, and golf. It has been really fun for all of us. Santa brought me a new pale pink beach cruiser bike which I am anxious to hit the beaches with! We had a lot of rain and it has kept us inside but the sunny skies are back and we are ready to get out again. Katie our golden pup is also ready to be back at the park!

We had our first Christmas Eve service at the school. We knew many of our church family would be out of town but to our surprise, we had a packed house! I was able to sing and did a children's corner in the service. Jim's stepmom, Pen, gave us a book @ Thanksgiving called, "Father and Son", so good! It is about Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus and his "thoughts" on how could he ever raise the King of all time? We also had the amazing privilegde to hear the testimony of a member of our church who has been homeless for a long time but is now sober and now has a place to live but continues to minister to the homeless. We all wept with joy as we heard of God's amazing faithfulness and goodness. These stories are becoming more and more frequent in our congregation. Go GOD!!

Jim and the kids enjoyed an afternoon and evening at Sea World thanks to Courtney and her employee passes! She spent a week back in AZ. We missed her and we are glad she is home. Please continue to lift her up in prayer. The Lord remains good by faithfully providing more and more healing in her life. She plans to leave the Huster nest in February. It will be an adjustment to all of us! Isaac does not do well with change, especially when it involves Courtney!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Fifteen Year Anniversary

Jim and I have been married for 15 years! Wow! Time goes by so fast. We could have never imagined what life would hold for us when we were just 21 year old kids. Life has not been easy but God has always been good!

Here are a few reason why I love Jimmy...

* his never failing love
* his never failing grace for me
* the best friend I have ever had
* when Jim befriends you, he is your friend forever
* he loves his children
* he sacrifices so much for our family
* his heart for Jesus is amazing
* he loves the unlovable
* he sees conflicts as an opportunity to grow
* he doesn't have a lot of money to give but he gives something more valuable...his time!
* he is a visionary
* he inspires people to do great things
* he has a true heart for the fatherless
* he is a PTA dad!
* he has led this family to live life as normally as possible throughout my illness
* he cooks
* he has given my children their baths since they were toddlers so he could spend time with them
* he puts family above ministry, school, surfing, etc...
* Jesus is Lord of His life
* he admits when he makes mistakes
* he asks his children for forgiveness if he disciplines them out of frustration and not out of love
* he knows how to apologize
* he is willing to go the extra mile for you
* our children think is "superman", their real hero!
* his possessions are not his own, if you want to borrow it or use it, he joyfully offers it to you
* he is so goofy
* he gets so crazy at sporting events
* he has fun with his kids
* he teaches them everything he knows...Jesus, surfing, swimming, riding a bike, soccer, serving others, how to be a good friend, how to share Christ...
* he is a good son and son-in-law
* he loves his parents
* he loves all of his siblings
* he doesn't gossip
* he is an eternal optimist
* he is not afraid to cry
* he knows how to make you feel important and special
* he sees no situation as impossible, just an opportunity to see how God will "show" up!
* he admits when he fails or falls short
* he has shared in all my pain and joy
* we make beautiful children together
* he never gives up on people even when they have given up on themselves
* he loves Kahli as his very own and lovingly takes the responsibility to be the father she never had
* he loves Caroline as his very own and shares in her pain even though he has never personally met her and she lives in hiding in Africa
* he opens the doors of our home to anyone who wants or needs to come in
Last but not least....
HE CHOSE ME TO BE HIS WIFE!!! I AM SO BLESSED.... I LOVE YOU JIM!


*

East Coast Trip

We had a wonderful time going back East over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our 13 day "tour" consisted of visiting family and friends in Deland, Fl, Jacksonville, FL, Hickory, NC, Lincolnton, NC, Statesville, NC, Six Mile SC, Easley,SC, and Walterboro, SC. Wow! We shared at Lincolnton First Wesleyan Church and at our home church, Covenant Presbyterian in Easley, SC. The amazing thing about all of this is that I was feeling good and able to be back in the game. Our immediate family has not been able to participate in many activities that include mommy so this was a great time for the 4 of us. It was so great to see family and friends.

Once Again!

Wow! The past two weeks have really been a roller coaster ride for me. A friend from Alabama called me out of the blue because she felt the Lord wanted her to pray for me. As many of you know I have been suffering with chronic diarrhea and back pain for months. I have been hospitalized 3 times and they were able to find nothing. From the beginning of all of this, Jim and I both felt like my illness was a spiritual attack.

Pam began to pray and I literally experienced an amazing touch from the Lord. I knew it was not my destiny to be confined to a bed for the rest of my life. Just like back in March, the Lord delivered me from sickness, depression, and despair. When I injured my back and the gastro problems began, it made me worship and praise the Lord even more. I want to thank everyone who has prayed for me. It was your prayers that God heard. I am so thankful that He had compassion on me so I can be a mother, wife, and a better friend.

OK, now for my warning for those of you who will see me in a few weeks. The medications they put me on for my back made me gain 30 lbs in 2 months. This has been very hard for me but I have had to put things into perspective. I would much rather be overweight than stranded in my bed any day!!! Sorry for being so vain. I should not let it bother me and give thanks for what the Lord has done!

Prayer Requests:
1. I have been without my Growth Hormone for 3 weeks which is very unhealthy for me since I am very deficient. It also controls my body composition and overall well being. Please pray that it will come soon and my insurance will cover it. A physical therapist has been coming to the house to do reconditioning exercises. My muscles have atrified and I have lost bone density. All of this is being in the bed for so long and I desperately need the Growth Hormone to help build my muscle and make my bones healthy again.

2. Please remember our dear friend in Rwanda (Benjamin). The Congo and Rwanda are in turmoil because of the genocide killers who have been hanging out right across the border. 2 thousand people are dying everyday because of these evil men. Also, 40 thousand Congolese die every month. As Ben said, only God can save us.

3. Our church- We are so thrilled and the Lord is blessing Harbor OB! We are running around 65 on Sunday Morning and we have a new children director which has been a huge blessing. The Lord continues to bring us the hurting, homeless and those who need Jesus.
Go God!

4. Please also remember our trip back east. We leave Nov. 19th and return Dec. 2.

5. Please pray for God to call other believers to intercede for me specifically. We are living in a very "spiritual" place and the enemy is very upset. I need prayer coverage as well for Jim, Faith and Isaac

Finally, Isaac turned 5 Oct.30th. Grandpa Huster's was the 29th
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!!!

Turning the Corner

Good news - I believe Michelle has turned the corner. I called her yesterday afternoon on her cell and she answered and she was at a pet store with the kids. Michelle and Courtney picked the kids up and headed out on an adventure to the grocery store and pet store. This was the first time since late July( 4 monthes), Michelle had out and about. We know that this is the result of the many prayers that have gone up before the Lord. The Lord is so good and faithful. We have seen some dramatic answers to prayers this week.

More pictures and stories to come!

A New Huster

We are proud to introduce you to Katie Huster. She was born July 12 and is now twelve weeks old. For a few weeks now, the kids and I have been visiting different litters of Golden Retrievers around the San Diego area. We found a beautiful little puppy who is so smart.

In just one day she is walking in correct position with a leash and is well on her way to being potty trained. Faith and Isaac are on cloud nine and wonderful care takers.

Not So Fast

Well... I wish I could bring better news, but things blew up on the floor of Presbytery. There is great animosity with a few toward Harbor and what we are doing in San Diego. It is a minority but very virulent few. My sermon and exam on the floor went well, it was other issues concerning exceptions to the confession that caused a blow up for me and two other candidates. The other two candidates caught it big time.What ended up happening over a two hour period is that the examination for all purposes ceased and people began fighting for their doctrinal positions. The forum just happen to be our examination? This had been brewing for quiet some time and it finally blew up.

In the end, the Candidates Committee and process will be over-hauled and I will be able to go through examination again in January.The official response to me was they wanted me to become sharper? I met with the moderator yesterday and he apologized to me. He told me that I just walked into a loaded time bomb. My written exam, sermon, and all other paper work, were officially approved. All I will need to do is go through the floor of Presbytery again. Glory!

It was a tough experience. On a funny note: the sermon I preached at Presbytery was "Grace In Unexpected Places", with two main points 1) Grace in Pain 2) Grace in Rejection. It was approved and warmly received, I did not realize at the time it was written for my benefit.

Michelle's health has not changed much in the past month or so. Still having lots of digestive issues leading her to be extremely weak. Monday, we went to her internist and were encouraged. He is going in a different direction now that everything in her digestive track seems to be normal. We should have results in a day or so from their latest labs. His logic seems to make sense, pray that they find something.

Thanks for your prayers!

HE PASSED!!

We are giving thanks and praise tonight because Jim passed his oral ordination test! After almost 3 hours of questions he is so close to being ordained. On Saturday he will go before Presbytery to preach a sermon and then the floor will be opened for 10 minutes of questions. Thank you for your prayers!!! Please continue to lift him up.

Tough Day For Michelle

Michelle had her colonoscopy and endoscopy today. Add this day to the list of medical procedures gone bad. We infadicaly told her doctor that Michelle has a high tolerance to pain meds and sedation and that she needed extra. Well, to get to the point, Michelle was completely awake during both procedures. They had to restrain her during the endoscopy so she would not pull out the hose. It was horribly traumatic. To make thing worse, they did not find anything abnormal that is causing the chronic diarrhea. Thank you for your many prayers.

Mile One

We have made it to mile marker one. I must confess, I should be enjoying this first mile more, but my impending ordination exam has cast some scattered clouds over this season. I go before the committee next Wednesday (24th) in the afternoon. I am actually on a study break from the "Doctrine of the Church" to type this blog.

Well, how was the second service? Church planting math says you should divide the first week attendance by two, then you will have your starting congregation. Week one you get lots of well wishers who are already committed to other local churches but wanted to encourage us. We had around 85 week one, so with the above formula, we should be in the mid- 40's? Well, we had around 65! It must be the dynamic preaching, right!?

Funny Story: After the service, one of my good friends Mikey, came up to me to ask a question, "what is repentance?" Fare question right? Well, my sermon Sunday was on the Parable of the fig tree, on repentance from Luke 13. My three points of the sermon were 1) The Need for Repentance 2) What is Repentance and 3) What does Repentance Look Like Lived out? I just spent thirty minutes breaking down repentance with analogies, illustrations, and scriptural support and then he asks "what is repentance?" All this to say it must be something else than my preaching bringing people to Harbor Church. Actually, I know what that something else is. God's sweet Spirit has defiantly been visiting with us.

Michelle is still in the middle of the storm. I would not say she is any worse, but not much better either. She will have a colonoscopy on Wednesday morning. The preparation regiment for it is not going to be pretty. Please pray for her as she has to take the prep milk shake. uggg... My sister Cameron is holding her own and doing much better than she was a month ago. A couple weeks ago she was able to record her senior recital for her Masters in Harp Performance. They reviewed and accepted it and mailed her diploma last week! She is about half way through a 30 week cycle of chemo and radiation.

Well back to the confession... Blessings!!!

We Have Lift Off

What a day! What an adrenalin rush! What a good God! Our grand opening mailer went out on Tuesday to over 20,000 homes in the Ocean Beach community. All week I received calls from folks who received the mailer inquiring more information about our new congregation. Due to the calls I received, I was optimistic that we would have quit a few first time visitors. I was blown away by how many actually came. I would estimate that we had about 50 folks who came just because they received our mailer. All told we had around 85 for our first public worship. Everyone seemed to interact well and enjoy the worship and fellowship. The praise team knocked a home run. Their spirits ushered our new congregation right into a powerful time of worship. I had a strong sense of the Holy Spirit helping while I preached. There is nothing more fun than preaching the Word of God when you have been filled in an unusual way with His spirit. Courtney Hall, our good friend who has been living with us on and off since April, shared her testimony. It was soooo good. You can download my sermon and Courtney’s testimony online at http://www.harborob.org/.

Michelle was not able to make it to our service this morning. She had been up most of the night with multiple trips to the bathroom. By morning she was completely wiped out. She tried to shower and get ready but she was so weak. I am so thankful for Lois Swagerty, another Harbor pastor’s wife, who came and laid in bed with Michelle during our service. They cried and laughed together. Michelle needed some well timed encouragement. The Lord was so gracious to send Lois today.

Tomorrow starts a two week cram season for my ordination exam. Thankful, I was able to put off the exam a few weeks. Looks like I will go before the committee on the 24th or 25th. But for today, I will celebrate and this amazing new chapter of Harbor OB.

It's Coming Together

We are two days away from our fist public worship service! We had a preview service last Sunday morning, to do a test run of setting up and breaking down the OB Elementary auditorium. For the most part it was smooth. Of course there are a few minor things that go wrong like the projector screen not being left down for us or not being able to turn on hall lights. But overall, it was a great service and Lord meet with us all. The worship team has come together and did an excellent job in leading worship. The children’s team was zipping around and the children loved our new children’s church.

This week our “Grand Opening” mailer went out and I have received a dozen or so calls, most of them positive and encouraging. Of course living in a place like OB, you are also going to get some creative and highly descriptive calls to remind you why God has called us to OB. I’ve clapped my hands and rubbed them together numerous times today. I get so exciting thinking about our opportunity. I’ll give a complete run down Sunday evening.

Michelle is doing a little bit better. She is no longer having to go to the bathroom 20 plus times a day, but has slimmed her visits down to 3 or 4 times. This does allow her to retain some fluids and food. Earlier in the week she picked up a UTI infection and started breaking out in boils. I told her that she is starting to look like Job? In the midst of feeling rotten, Michelle’s spirits have been joyful. She has been singing and worshiping more in the past few weeks than I can ever remember. Having her good friend Katrina from back in SC visit this week has been such a blessing for our entire family. It is hard but there is a joy that only comes from being close to God in the midst of suffering. We are actually incredible blessed!

Faith and Isaac are both back in school and loving it. Well, Isaac loves his new class and friends but misses his sister and wants to go to her class. Thanks to grandma Lees, they have been dressed in the best of back to school fashion. I have some good looking kids.

Surf Camp

Will you pray and fast with me? Scripture tells us that these two spiritual disciplines should be practiced when seeking divine guidance, intervention, protection, and to break through spiritual strong holds. I am looking for prayer partners who will pray and fast for the spiritual strong holds here in Ocean Beach and for our impending launch. Isaiah 58, which I call the OB chapter, challenges me, "Is it not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?" Isaiah 58:6

Our goal is not to manipulate God (See Acts 23:12,14) or to impress people but to be drawn deeper into the presence of our Abba Father. Fasting reveals the things that control us and actively demonstrates repentance, grief, humility, and wholeheartedness. These attributes are rare attributes for me. Please join me in the season of seeing God's kingdom advancing and captives being set free.


Update on Michelle – Michelle came home Saturday evening and is still feeling cruddy. Today she is a little stronger, so I do believe there is some progress being made. Tonight (Tuesday), I am going to have a dedicated time of worship and prayer over Michelle. I would like to invite all who are able to join me. I am going to start around 9 pm, after I get my kids to bed. Call if you need directions
(619) 221-0034.

Well, we are just a few days away from our first Sunday morning worship. I was so encouraged today meeting with OB Elem. Principle Margaret Johnson. I could not have dreamed for a better partnership. She is rolling out the red carpet for us.

Twists and Turns

I wanted to let our good friends and ministry partners know about Michelle's health. Michelle started having a IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) fare up about five weeks ago. Some of you may remember that Michelle suffered for almost at year with these kinds of symptoms back in 2002-3. Over the past five weeks her tummy issues have progressively deteriorated. She went to her internist three weeks ago and he ran a few test and referred her to a GI specialist. Unfortunately the fist available appointment was not until the 28th of August. Mean while, Michelle got weaker and weaker. On Tuesday of this week, Michelle blacked out and I took her to the ER. She was severely dehydrated and they gave her IV fluids and where able to get her GI appointment moved up to this afternoon.

We went this afternoon and her GI and he decided to admit Michelle into Green Hospital. He felt that she has suffered enough and they need to get to the bottom of things immediately (GLORY). The thought is that when Michelle was healed back in March from her pituitary disease, she stopped taking corteff (a steroid). It was most likely this steroid which she has been taking for her pituitary disease, was also suppressing her IBS.

It has been frustration for Michelle to be sideline with so much happening with the church plant. In the midst of Michelle's health struggles, things with the plant are taking off. We are less than three weeks away from our "grand opening" service. Our leadership team has taken shape and we will have a "launch 101" meeting this Saturday. I will post pictures of a water safety and surf clinic we did for neighborhood kids last Saturday in the next day. Please continue to pray for Michelle health and God's grace for our Church plant. Oh, by the way I and to sit for my Ordination exam in the next two weeks. Gulp!

Living the dream

Thirty three days and counting until our official grand opening worship service! Things are really starting to come together. Please add me to your daily pray list over the next few weeks. As things are ramping up with he OB church plant, simultaneously I am working on ordination in the PCA, Michelle's back and stomach have been flaring up, and I will be flying back to Florida for a quick two day trip (Aug. 12-14) to visit my sister. Pray that I would be so immediately aware of the Holy Spirits presence and work in my life.

The last few launch team/worship services have been amazing. The diversity of our congregation along with our passion to worship has been prefect. I could not have dreamed of a better group of people in OB to worship the Lord with.

When we began meeting at OB Elementary back in June, we had 15-20 homeless folks join us for a "family meal." Most of them bailed before the meal. This created tension for some in our launch team. "How could they eat and then leave without coming to our service?" We had to wrestle with what grace looks like in a ministry context like OB? Our hearts changed and we could love unconditionally. Then on the first Saturday in July, it started to happen. Our homeless friends started joining us for worship. One man wept through the entire service and stayed for prayer after the service. The Lord invaded this mans heart and he asked for two of our men to drive him to the police station. He had an outstanding warrant for parole violation and he was tired of running. We have also had a couple guys earn their 30 day AA coin of sobriety!

Prayer Requests
1. Pray for us to find just the right children's director.
2. Michelle's back and stomach have had a flare up in the past few days.
3. My studying for ordination

Kat and Kahli leave Cali

Since June 25th Kahli has been with us. It has been a marvelous time and her mom Katrina aka Nana, joined us on July 11th. These are just a few things Kahli did while here in sunny southern California!
1. Took at least 30 dance classes
2. Horton Plaza...an amazing mall
3. The Island of Coronado
4. The San Diego Zoo
5. Sea World from 2:30-9pm with only Faith, Isaac and Kahli pushing a stroller
6. 6 church services
7. Fed the homeless
8. Went to LA
9. Saw Hollywood, the Kodak Theater, Mann's Chinese Theater, the Walk of Fame
10. Went to the beach 5-7 times
11. Watched fireworks on the July 4th and had a marshmallow fight after
12. Went to see the movie Wall - E
13. Ate at least, well I really have no idea, but a she ate a ton of corn quesadillas.
14.Went to Beverly Hills
15.Ate at a Wendy's restaurant on Sunset Blvd.

16.Experienced LA traffic...going nowhere fast!
17.Saw the Red Carpet for Mariah Carie
18.Actually drove in California
19.Toured a Coast Guard ship. A friend of ours is the Captain of the ship and he and his crew were heading for Alaska but stopped over in San Diego.
20.Had her eyebrows waxed
21.Had a pedicure
22.Rode in a convertible
23.Rode rides at Mission Beach
24.Surfed
25.Went boogie boarding
26.Hung out with Uncle Greg
27.Did 30 loads of laundry
28.Emptied the dishwasher 20 times
29.Saw a diabetes specialist

30.Had lots of laughs with her Mimi

31.Went to Old Town San Diego and had dinner with our friend Annie
32.Met a ton of people
33.Watched and recorded,"So You Think You Can Dance" every Wed. and Thurs. night and then we all watched them over again to "critique."
34.Received hundreds of hugs and kisses from Faith and Isaac


35.Lots, and lots of tears at the airport as we all said our goodbyes.

We love you Kahli and Nana and thanks for your awesome visit!!!!!

Harbor Church OB Worship

We had a wonderful time of Praise and Worship this past week. We are quickly out growing our room but it actually makes our times together so special with the Lord. God continues to bring the hurting to this place. We are seeing many reaching and searching for the truth. They have told us they feel led here even though they have no understanding of God or Jesus.

We thank our Heavenly Father for His faithfulness to bring His lost sheep home.

Pray that we will continue to be obedient to the Holy Spirit's leading. Many of our new friends are homeless and have many wounds and scars. We count it a privilege to feed them and mostly love them and share how crazy God is about them.

Congratulations to Andrew and Rebekah! Our church body was so blessed to observe Andrew asking for Rebeka's hand in marriage!!!

We are also thankful for how God is working in others lives to bring them to freedom from addictions. This is a hard road but they are hanging on so tightly to their Saviour.

Work Day At OB Elementary

Back on Saturday, July 12, our launch team gathered to show love in a practical way to the community of OB by painting and cleaning around OB Elementary. Our family has loved this school all school year. It was so encouraging to see twenty five folks share in our love. It was amazing what you can get done in one day!

Let's Get Started

She's Here!!!!

My best friend Katrina Hubbard who lives in SC finally made it on Friday night!!! We have not seen each other in six months. Her daughter Kahli has been with us since June and we've had a blast! Faith and Isaac have been literally counting down the days for her arrival on a specially made calendar. My kids call her "Nana". Isaac thought she and Kahli were here to stay forever, so he was a little upset when we told him for only 2 weeks.

Katrina and I are going on a girls only outing on Tuesday. We are renting a convertible and heading up the coast. It will be 24 hours (a little more actually) of kid free fun and six months of catching up conversation. We are suppose to spend the night in Santa Barbara but the wild fires may prevent us from going that far.

My back has not gotten much better. The physical therapy has only aggravated my nerves but I am still pushing through it. They have me on nerve medication and I can hardly fit into any of my clothes which is so sad since I have a lot of weight to lose anyway. At least I feel good. Still no sign of pituitary problems. I go to LA next week. I am really interested to hear what my doc says.

Please be in prayer for Kahli. She is seeing a diabetes specialist on Monday. My friend and pastor's wife Karen Klein is an Endocrinologist and has set Kahli up with an appointment. Karen and Bob are church planters for Harbor La Jolla and Mira Mesa. She has been such a blessing and help to me during my illness. Kahli is a very brittle diabetic and having some new eyes to look at her case will hopefully be beneficial.

Fireworks, Marshmallows, Oh My!

Last night we had a blast! Our church had a BBQ at our community pool then we were heading out to see some fireworks. About 500 people paddled out by the OB pier to view the fireworks and then the rest of the beach and streets were filled with thousands of people. Jim viewed the fireworks from his surf board of course but we found out at the BBQ that people were actually selling their parking spots for $40-$100. So, Kahli and the kids and me set off in the van to view fireworks from wherever we could. I was just curious about the whole selling of parking spots so we drove downtown OB. They were right! People walked all the way from our house! But, in a moment of divine intervention, an elderly couple got in their car and left only a few blocks from the beach. We quickly took their space!!!! WE were so excited and couldn't believe it!

So we grabbed our chairs and headed for the beach with the masses. Almost every spot on the sand was taken but we squeezed in. We watched all the surfers making their way to the ocean in a long line.

The fireworks were great! They lasted about 35 minutes and the finale was incredible. Now for the really freaky, cool part! OB has a Marshmallow fight after the fireworks. We had heard about it but you really had to be there to believe it. I guess Southern Californians know they are never going to see snowfall and just decided to use the closest thing that represented snow.

The people started chanting, "Marshmallow Fight" right after the fireworks. There were marshmallows going every direction! Faith and Isaac didn't bring any but it didn't matter. Marshmallows were landing at their feet. It was more like an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. Isaac was doing the army crawl to avoid being hit but grabbing up all the marshmallows for his arsenal. We found marshmallows of every size. I even had a whole bag thrown at me! Kahli couldn't resist, she jumped right into the fight and I sat in my chair collecting the ones that came my way to hand off to the kids. We stayed until most of the crowd cleared out and then headed for our car.

It was a great way to celebrate our nation's independence. I'm pretty sure our founding fathers never dreamed marshmallows would be used to observe July 4th. I guess it is better having Marshmallows "bursting in air" than bombs any day, at least on American soil.

Happy Independence Day! by M. Huster

You can definitely tell that summer is here because of all of the extra people in San Diego...i.e. tourists. Last weekend OB had it's annual chili cook-off and street fair. Thousands showed up and took over our little community. We couldn't meet at our school because of the festival so we had our meeting at the park across the street from our house. We had the OB pause...planes flying over head but it was a good time.

Tomorrow, we are having a July 4th party at our pool and then heading for the beach to see the fireworks.

Kahli has been such a treasure and we have had a blast with her. Today, she and I got out and did a little girl time. She has been taking dance classes and lovin' it! The kids adore her and Katrina is counting down the days until she arrives!

A few prayer requests and praise...
1. Jim's dad had ear surgery this week and all went well.
2. Please continue to pray for Cameron ( Jim's sis with Leukemia).
3. Courtney...she is in AZ getting help with her anxiety and OCD. She will be back in August.
4. My side of the family which has lost a brother and a brother- in- law.

Have a great Holiday!

Back from Mexico, Kahli is in Cali

We had a nice time in Mexico for our vacation. We were on the Baja peninsula in a beautiful community called Los Gaviotis. The surf was great for Jim and me and the kiddies enjoyed the ocean front pool. Uncle Greg joined us for a few days along with some of Jim's surfing buddies. It was never boring. We are all tan and ready for summer.

Just as we arrived back on Wednesday, Kahli came in from SC. Wow! We have missed that girl so much! She will be with us for a month and Katrina will arrive in less than two weeks. It is so good having Kahli here. She is such a gift from the Lord and has so much energy and love for everyone. She starts some dancing classes tomorrow and she is very excited about it. We checked out her studio this week and the folks were so nice. The kids are so stoked to have her here. Her mom is not fairing so well without her so say a prayer for Katrina.