Today was an exciting day for all of us at Grace Evangelical Free Church of La Mirada. After quite some time of prayer and planning they held a groundbreaking ceremony. We are so excited as we wait in anticipation of what the Lord has in store. After the annual business meeting we all walked out to the future construction site and sang and shared the Lord's Supper together. It had been raining very hard most of the day but thankfully it cleared up for us to celebrate this memorable event outdoors.

"Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills." Psalm 147:7-8 NIVWe have been blessed this week with a good amount of rain. I really love to look out after the rain and see how clean and beautiful everything looks. This was the view today from up on the hill. You can see Catalina in the distance.

Wonderful Weekend in Arizona

This weekend Grace, Jon and I drove down to Yuma, AZ to spend some time with Donna, Greg and the kids. We picked up Mom and Timothy on the way. It was so nice to see Alyssa and Joshua. Joshua entertained us with his reading of Dr. Seuss' Fox in Socks. Both were celebrating birthdays this month. Alyssa is 10 and Josh will be 8 this week. After lunch they couldn't wait to open their gifts. After a nice long walk along the canals and citrus orchards we geared up for our dinner get-together. Sara and Patrick also drove down to join the party. We all had a wonderful time together having fun together, playing horseshoes outside, eating all the delicious spread, great conversations and meeting new friends. It was a memorable evening. It was a lot of fun taking the group photos! You can see more pictures here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/ Sunday I was still trying to get over a really bad sore throat and cold. So after a quick run to Algodones for some medicine we made it to church. It was great to see Greg playing in the worship team. We headed back home after church and Donna made some delicious homemade pizza for lunch. I really enjoyed watching the F-16's and Harriers doing all their flying maneuvers as we took another walk that afternoon. It makes me proud of our wonderful men and women in uniform. It was time to say goodbye much too soon. But after a lot of hugs and kisses we were on our way back home. The kids were sad but maybe Auntie Ruth can make it down there again soon for the upcoming Yuma Airshow!

It's snowing!! No, not here in sunny southern California but in Georgia =) The kids were on the phone last night to tell Aunt Ruth all about it. Looks like they had fun!

One of the nice perks we get during January are "short Fridays" and today it seemed even shorter. We began our morning with a potluck breakfast to celebrate a co-worker's graduation. Today was also the day some of the office cubicles were getting reconfigured and remodeled so we didn't get too much work done by the time noon came around. For lunch the Intercultural Studies department was putting on a special luncheon celebrating South Pacific food and culture. It was very interesting and of course the food was great! After lunch we enjoyed a variety of traditional Hawaiian, Samoan and New Zealand dancers. The fire dance was quite exciting!

Check out all the pictures here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

A surprise visit from an old friend...Yesterday afternoon my friend Abiodun dropped by the office to say hi. He played basketball for us some years ago when he was going to school here. Naomi and I had a nice time chatting and catching up.

12th Night Lozano Girls Christmas Party
For the last two years Grace and I have celebrated our annual Christmas party on the 12th day of Christmas (Epiphany). This morning I found a link that has some pretty good information about the 12 days of Christmas http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html This year was our 9th annual get together. I was glad to be back at my place where there is plenty of room to celebrate with our friends. Grace, Jon and I worked on putting on quite a spread of yummy appetizers and a delicious meal. After dinner we handed out Christmas crackers (a traditional English party favor) and then we all donned our paper hats for a group picture. Happy New Year everyone and many blessings! More pictures here:

http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

Here is the view from my place this morning as a storm begins to roll in. An excerpt from today's headlines reads: "Fierce Arctic storm lashes California... Homeowners rushed to stack sandbags around houses lying below fire-ravaged hillsides in Southern California, while Northern California residents — like those along the Gulf Coast before a hurricane — scurried to stock up on last-minute provisions. Forecasters warned the high wind and other extreme weather would last through the weekend." As I was getting ready for work and listening to the news this morning I began thinking about all the preparations some people are making for what they are calling the "biggest storm since 2005". I began to ponder about how unprepared we sometimes are for the storms in our lives. Am I prepared? What have I done to weather a storm? Then the reassuring words come to mind... "So do not fear, for I am with you... I will strengthen you and help you..." Isaiah 41:10 I am so thankful that through the storms of life I have loving and caring Heavenly Father that will be with me every step of the way.

The first sunset of 2008...

what will the rest of the 365 sunsets bring... Happy New Year! I pray that you will be blessed in a wonderful way this new year. May the Lord be always present and first in our lives and may we strive to always serve him with all our hearts.

A Wonderful Christmas in Georgia...
On December 23 Grace, Jon and I flew to Georgia to spend Christmas with Timothy, Monica and the kids. They knew I was coming but having Aunt Grace and Uncle Jon come along also was a big surprise! It was a hard secret to keep but worth it when we surprised them all arriving after they had all gone to bed. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful family to share special Christmas memories with. Seeing the kids faces as they opened up their gifts, sharing a special meal together, and laughing and playing was the best part of the trip. Grace and Mom tried boiled peanuts for the first time, yum! We made several trips to Mayfield Dairy to sample some of their delicious ice cream. On Wednesday, drove over to Chateau Elan, a local vineyard and winery. It was a beautiful day and almost looked like we were in Europe! We then took the kids shopping and also bought them each some books. Christine's was about Italy as she prepares for a trip with us in the Fall. Abby's was about Math, her favorite subject and David's was about guns and rifles which he loves. Thursday we drove to a little town called Social Circle to eat supper at the Blue Willow Inn. We sampled some authentic Southern cooking and enjoyed seeing the beautifully decorated mansion. Friday we stayed in most of the day because it was raining. That didn't mean we didn't have fun though. It is always very entertaining when you have the four kiddies around! We took the dog on walks into town and around the neighbourhood. The weather wasn't too cold! Soon it was Saturday already and we drove into Atlanta to visit the Natural Museum. It was our "Afternoon at the Museum" as we walked around the gynormous dinosaur skeletons and many displays. Margie's favorite was the frog exhibit! We all enjoyed our afternoon together and the fun questions Aunt Grace asked to make our "road trip" more fun! Everyone was up bright and early on Sunday for church. I stayed home since I had been fighting a stomach bug for a few days =( That afternoon it was raining again so we entertained the kids by making instant sorbet with a bag of ice, salt and some juice. They all had a fun time shaking the bag and eating the yummy results! It was time to go home way too soon! We were all sad when Monday came around. Margie kept asking why we had to leave! The whole week was a really wonderful time that we will remember always. To see all the pictures of our week click on the different albums for each day here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/