Oh summer, I love you. Come quickly.

We were asked by a friend of my parents named Lisa to participate as models for the upcoming advertising campaign for the Picture People. The Picture People are family photo studios in malls across America. Lisa is the main photographer and in charge of the photo shoots. We took the four of us and my parents because they wanted shots including grandparents. It was at this trendy looking photo studio up in downtown Los Angeles/Hollywood area. That area always makes me think because it’s the crappiest place on one corner and then a super cool film studio, restaurant, or in our case, photography studio on the next.

We had to all have our hair and make-up done by them. Yes, I did wear make-up, but she didn’t change my hair. I figured that either meant my hair was just that good looking or there was no hope in trying to improve such a train wreck. Even Grace and little Ella had their hair and make-up done. They were super cute. Be had her bangs straight down and tons of make-up. She was different and very pretty, but I think I like the way she does herself better.

We took all these winter themed pictures for about two hours with different backgrounds and props.

So this fall or before Christmas, be looking for us at your local Picture People. We just might be on a giant poster or in an ad that comes in the mail. Or we might just be rejected and be in nothing. We’ll see.

And yes, I had that song, “I wanna be a supermodel” in my head the entire time.

I’m looking forward to remembering what surfing feels like, what a Friday day off feels like, and what it’s like to not set an alarm for 5:30am every day

Bea left me for the weekend to go to Palm Springs with a couple of her girlfriends. I love my girls but when it’s just me and them for a few days I start to go a bit stir-crazy. Then this afternoon, Ella wakes up with a fever and is hyper-needy. She is really sweet but she can never be put down or she just starts crying. Right now at 8:45 Grace is still fighting going to sleep and just came out saying that her pajamas are itchy. So we changed them, but now I hear her voice.

All this to say…I appreciate and love my wife. I’m so happy to be on a team with her in raising our kids. Single-parents should be respected and given tons of support. It’s a tough job. Well, here’s hoping Ella doesn’t wake up 10 times tonight.

Then we had lunch with some friends and family and asked them to write down traits of a Godly woman on a rock. Then we put all the rocks in a vase that we will have Ella keep forever and she can read the rocks to teach and remind her of what it means to be a Godly woman. Bea had a great post about it on her blog. Check it out here.

The service in church today was incredible. I will post more on that later. I was proud of our church today.

We had a mellow New Year’s Eve night with a delicious feast of fondue. A classic Swiss fondue with Gruyere and Emmenthaler and then a Pub Fondue with Extra Sharp Cheddar, Mild Cheddar, and a little beer. We dipped with bread, apples, carrots, steak, chicken, Louisiana hot links, and Chicken & Apple sausages. Kevin and Michelle (Bea’s sister) came over and we enjoyed the feast and then the boys dominated the girls in a game of Scene It Squabble edition.

Happy New Year’s Everyone!! Enjoy the parade and football! We are going to have some Swedish pancakes and relax while watching the parade and playing with the new Christmas presents.

First Marilee lit the candles of Shabbat or Sabbath because it was Friday and shared a prayer and we broke Challah break and passed it around and drank the fruit of the vine. They do an incredible job of bringing Christ into the Jewish traditions and rituals. It’s almost hard not to bring Christ into it because it’s so obviously pointing straight towards Him.

Then Matt shared the Hanukkah story with all of us, including the 10 kids present. Then they lit the servant candle representing Christ who then lights the other four candles which represents sharing the Light of the World with others. Then we enjoyed some tasty latkes and other great food. We also learned about and played some dreidel games. Hanukkah is a great story of God’s faithfulness to His people and to preserving the line of Christ who is the Light of the World. Awesome. I love that myself and my family have friends like this with whom we can celebrate the richness of this tradition.

See Erin’s blog for pictures of the kids. She took the pictures in this post.

Who else loves the man who changes shoes and sweaters every day?