Not Pictured: The Delight of My Heart

On May 14th, Salem Communications held a dinner at The Four Seasons hotel in Thousand Oaks. The key-note speaker was John, and Salem gave a copy of his latest book, A Tale of Two Sons, to each person. The president of Salem is Ed Atsinger, the father of my college friend, Ted. (We were on the same short-term mission trip to Italy in 1996. Ted finished at TMC and went on to study at Oxford where he met his wife. Now he's working for the Department of Defense doing undercover missions in Iraq.)


John's 25 minute message was on being a slave to Christ. It was foundational...and one of the best messages I've ever heard.
As wonderful as it was to hear John, I think the best part of the evening was being with Jay. He is so proficient, so masterful and adept at his work, and truly admired by fellow workers; I was bursting with pride and love for him. I mean, I've always known how amazing he is; I was glad to see how many other people are aware of it, too.

MOPS Mother's Day dinner

Pictured here are my table leader, Bonnie, and me, and my mentor mom, Debbie. Bonnie's husband is attending The Master's Seminary; they have 2 preschool-aged boys. Debbie works in the medical field and has 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren. We've had a wonderful time ministering to each other this semester.


This is my friend and college dorm-mate, Joy. We were both surprised to find ourselves reunited at MOPS and sharing most of the same trials and triumphs of raising preschoolers. She and her husband both attended The Master's College and still attend Grace Community Church. They have 2 beautiful children.


Our key-note speaker at the Mother's Day dinner was Pat Holt. I was shocked to discover that she was a former employer of mine! When I was a senior in college, I wanted some substituting experience in a Christian school. I interviewed with her at West Valley Christian Academy in Winnetka. She not only hired me the same day, but asked me if could serve in one of the Kindergarten rooms...right then! She'd had a teacher call in a few minutes before I had my interview. So I can't say for certain that she hired me for my potential; she was just desperate! Anyway, she is an outstanding speaker, funny and poinant. We had a great time that night.

Blue-eyed Boy

Jay took this picture of Mason while we were playing outside. Mason wasn't too happy about having to stop what he was doing (destroying) to look at Daddy.

Misc. Pictures of Madeline

I just love this picture of Madeline and Aunt Connie at Ruby's Diner in Cabazon! Madeline was just elated to be there...and was soon to indulge in that chocolate milkshake. That always makes me smile, too!


Madeline decided to dress herself this particular morning. She was upstairs for about 20 minutes and came down just bursting with delight. Notice how well everything matches! :) And she didn't forget to accessorize. That's my girl!


Jay and I were impressed with Madeline's representation of Gramma on the white board. She concentrated much of her energy into drawing the glasses and curly hair. I was concerned that there wasn't any nose, but that didn't seem to bother her.


We had a record-breaking heat wave pass through Valencia this week. With 103 degree heat, water play was almost necessary! So, we had some water balloon fights and ran through the sprinkler that we set up in our cul-de-sac. Madeline is pictured here with our friend and neighbor, Jadin.