Year End Review

One of my favorite things about the end of the year is watching all the shows on tv documenting this past year.....ok enough with Obama. I also love looking at magazine with the year in pictures. So, I thought I'd share my top 10 happenings in the Rehurek family in the year 2008.

10. Israel Missionary Conference
We never thought we would make it to Israel in this life time. Jon always joked that the only Israel he would see would be the "new Jerusalem". It was amazing to see the Holy Land. I love reading my Bible now because it really comes alive!
9. 8 Years Of Marriage
I have to say that I have been blessed with the best husband in the world. I am so thankful for Jon's love for me. I really
don't deserve such an incredible husband.

8. Good Health
Praising God for our good health. Lately so many friends have been experiencing some serious health trials and even though I know that any day it could be any of us, I choose to praise God today for keeping us well and out of the hospital!
7. Ministry
It has been a great year of ministry, not only for Jon but also for me. I have enjoyed being able to serve my family first and foremost but so blessed for all the other outlets of ministry. I love it.
6. Samara
We are coming upon 3 years of living in Samara. This fall I have to say that I really have found my groove living in Russia. Sure some things still drive me nuts but now they are almost comical to me.
5. Josiah's 5th Birthday Party
I am such a horrible mom! This year is the very first "real" birthday party I have given Josiah. He had such a blast. Now all he talks about is his 6th birthday party. Gotta start planning now!!

4. Nathan's Wild Personality
Nathan is crazy. He makes me laugh all day. I can hardly keep up with the kid! By the end of the day I am pretty much exhausted. But isn't great that he loves life so much, even at 3 in the morning. This kid wants to party in the middle of the night every once in a while, especially lately which explains the dark circles under my eyes.

3. 30 Years in America
December marked our journey from Argentina to California. 30 years ago the Lord brought us to the USA. At that time we had submitted Visas to Australia and America. My father had said that whichever country gave us the Visa first would be the country we go to. Thankfully the USA won!!!!
2. A Ton Of Traveling
I think this is the year that we have traveled the most. Here are the places we have been in order. Russia (of course), Egypt, Germany, Israel, California, Oregon, Iowa, and Alabama. Not to mention all the States we did all our transitions in and drove through. During a 2 month period during the summer we had stayed in 13 different hotels and /or homes. Kinda crazy. Welcome to the life of a missionary!!
1. 22 Years of God's Grace
It was 22 years ago that the Lord saved me. It hasn't been an easy road for me but the Lord has poured His grace on my life. I remember being in Jr. High and loving ministry so much. I recall that I told God that I loved ministry so much that I wanted to one day marry a pastor or missionary. Praise God that He answered the desires of my heart!

Here's to another year!!!! Here we come 2009!

Christmas Morning

On my side of the family we really don't celebrate on Christmas day so I thought after we were married it would be a good idea to start some traditions of our own. So, I make a big breakfast, Jon reads the Christmas story, and then we open presents from each other.

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve we celebrated with my family at the place we are staying in. Our tradition has been to do appetizers and desserts. We had a ton of food, we played games, the kids opened way too many presents, and the adults had a fun round of white elephant gifts. Thankfully there was no drama this night and my family behaved very well.




Grandma Maria and the grandkids


Grandma Judy and Jojo




The Three Sisters

Another fun lunch.

To our friends in Russia, Kevin and Jill Edwards say "hello". We had the opportunity to have lunch with them and we had a wonderful time. For everyone else, can I just say how great it is to have a former missionary (to Samara) as your missions pastor.

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Jon and I were able to get away for the whole weekend without our two boys. We have not done anything like this since I was pregnant with Josiah. We stayed in Three Rivers, California at a bed and breakfast called the Log House Lodge. The owners actually go to our church and as a part of their ministry to missionaries and current Master's Seminary students they do not charge for the stay. We had a wonderful time. It was really weird and quiet being without our two boys but they were in great hands since our dear friends Keith and Rita Smith took care of them for us.

The Log House Lodge Bed and Breakfast



Kaweah River



Me in our room.



Our room.



Cute German candy shop in town.

Ornaments

The first year we were married I had all my ornaments that I had been collecting as a young girl stolen out of the trunk of my car. I was so devastated because all those ornaments meant a lot to me. Once friends and family heard about my stolen ornaments I began receiving ornaments as gifts which was just great. Jon and I also decided to start our own tradition of buying a special ornament for each year. The ornament we pick has to mark a special occasion or special place we visited that year. Sometimes it just happens that we end up with 2 - 3 special ornaments each year because we want to remember these events in our lives. As I hang each ornament I am reminded of these special memories. I can only hope that one day our tree will be overloaded with these traditional ornaments.

2000 - Our first Christmas together as husband and wife.



2001 - Showing our patriotism after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.


2003 - Trip to Mt. Rushmore with Jon's parents. This is probably one of the best memories that we have with Larry before losing him to cancer the following year.


2003 - Josiah's First Christmas


2005 - Visit to Terry Redlin Art Center in South Dakota


2008 - Visit to Crater Lake, Oregon

Lunch Date with Diane

Last week I got to go out to lunch with a dear friend of mine. I met Diane when we were both on high school staff at Grace umpteen years ago. We had a great time catching up. I especially enjoyed hearing about the special man in her life right now. Getting together with friends is one of the highlights of being back in the States. Sometimes we are so busy that it doesn't happen enough.

The Annual Granada Hills Christmas Parade

The Granada Hills Christmas parade has become an annual tradition with my sister Monica and I. Of course I can only attend if I am in town. This was Josiah's first year and he really loved it, probably because he got to spend time with his favorite cousin, Madison. When I was a cheerleader at Patrick Henry Jr. High I got to march in the parade, a very exciting moment in my Jr. High life. It's fun to see the community come together and enjoy the day. One thing that was different this year is that more and more people were saying "Merry Christmas". I guess it is the politically correct thing to say "Happy Holidays" and so it was nice that it seems some people don't care to be PC during the Christmas season. I also noticed that this year there weren't a gazillion boy and girl scouts marching so that was a pleasant change.



MY HIGH SCHOOL, THEIR BAND GETS SMALLER AND SMALLER EVERY YEAR. GO JFK COUGARS!!!

Joy to the World

Master's Chorale + Grace Community Church congregation = WOW!

We got our tree!

Yay, we finally got our tree and it is a beautiful noble fir. Our first year of marriage we also got a noble fir but it was quite a sorry tree. It was a typical Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Every time I hear Steven Curtis Chapman's "Christmas is in the Heart" (not sure if that is the right title), I always think of our first Christmas. To make matters worse my Christmas ornaments were stolen from the trunk of our car that year so not only did our tree look really scrawny but it barely had any ornaments on it. One day we came home from church and the poor tree had fallen over. We just had to laugh! But this year it is a different story. Jon found a great tree at Home Depot. He and Josiah picked it out. In Russia we have a fake 3 footer that we put on a little table so that it looks taller so this is quite a nice change for us. Not to mention how great it smells.

Let the Christmas season begin!

I love this time of year and this year it is real special being back in the States with family and friends. We kicked off the holiday with our fellowship group's Christmas dinner this past Saturday evening. We had a great time. Lots of good food and even better fellowship. Josiah tagged along with us since there was a special "children's program" during the dinner. Nathan stayed behind with Grandma Maria at our place.

THE CREATIVE CENTERPIECES


THE CHILDREN'S PROGRAM WHICH JOSIAH DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH


THE GREAT FELLOWSHIP


JOSIAH SUPER HAPPY AFTER CHOWING DOWN HIS DINNER. IF THE PLATE WERE EDIBLE, HE WOULD'VE EATEN THAT TOO!


ANOTHER CREATIVE CENTERPIECE, BUT THIS ONE WAS IN THE ROOM WHERE WE WALKED THROUGH TO GET OUR MEAL.

Thanksgiving

As many of you know we are back in California due to visa issues. Even though we would all rather be "home" in Samara at least one nice thing is getting to spend the holidays with family. This past Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving a few days late with my family. Some of the differences between our celebrations here in California vs Samara..........we ate real turkey, it is easier to bake and cook here, and it wasn't freezing cold outside.