Breaking News on our New Home (^_^)

This past week had been a Roller Coaster week! 8 days ago we bought a brand new, 3600 sq. feet Cul-de-sac, Standard Pacific Home (with view) in San Clemente, which is set to be built in November 2009! Well, the Late-Breaking news is that we will be BREAKING the contract and RETURNING the house (above) ~ ~ (^_^) ~ ~

We listed our home for the past 7 days, and enjoyed helping with our church's 5-days of Vacation Bible School. Last nite, as we were driving home, hubby and I both felt touched by the Lord to return our dream home! Yes, it's good to have a dream home, but we realized it's even more fulfilling to sow seeds and lead others to a more important Home ~ our eternal dwelling!
Our home here is a temporary place, where moths (and ants, and burglars) can destroy ~ but our Heavenly Home is somewhere we will spend our lifetime with our Father and loved ones in the Lord ~ and no one can take it away from us.

So that's where we're headed..... a new Adventure! FAITH ~ is a Fantastic Adventure In Trusting Him! Thanks everyone for your prayers! So we'll just enjoy views of San Clemente from afar!
So today, we will go to the Stella Mare sales office, and apologize profusely to the sweet agent who labored over our purchase, then gingerly (and quickly) take our deposit check from their hands and run.... (^_^)


Thank you for your prayers, love, care, and encouragement! Serving the Lord brought us joy and contentment that is beyond words! We are blessed with His Grace and precious friends like you!

VBS ~ Our Most Memorable Adventure this summer!

This is the first time that I've ever attended VBS event (in my whole life)! Hubby was busy this past two months preparing, planning, and coordinating this year's week-long Summer Vacation Bible School program for our church. This Year's Theme is ~ Rome ~ Paul and the Underground Church.


It was incredible to see how God helped gather the whole church, everyone serving according to their unique talents! We had the Praise &Worship team, who led the 50 kids in singing and dancing each day!





There is also "Family Circle Time" every day, and the group gathers as leaders share about God's love for Paul and every person He loves and came to this earth to die for. This is a special time of sharing, learning about the Word, and prayer!

The drama team had Paul in prison, chained to the prison guard Brutus! It was touching to see them each day, getting to know the Lord through their daily encounter with Paul in prison, and finally witnessing Brutus accepting Jesus as his Savior too! The kids bowed and prayed along with Paul and gave their life to the Lord as well.






In the Underground Church where Christians hid and shared the gospel, the children learned about how dangerous it was for the Christians in Paul's times to believe and follow Jesus.



The kids enjoyed playing several games at VBS each day!






The Marketplace was a fun place where kids learned to make beautiful crafts. They also bought delicious food (provided by our beloved and talented mommies) from "food shops" with Roman coins and ate heartily!



Finally, on the last day of VBS, children invited parents to see presentations they've rehearsed during their adventure here!





The big finale was a festival including lots of delicious chinese food and carnival games! Thank you all for attending, helping, participating and praying!


Hubby and I learned so much in this VBS. Our kids and their friends loved this experience! Please keep praying for the kids who have come to know the Lord. (^_^) We hope to see you next year!!!!

Denver Zoo & Coors Field Rocks!

Today we decided to divide and conquer Denver, by splitting into two teams. Hubby and son went to Coors Stadium to watch the Colorado Rockies battle it out with Arizona Diamondbacks. Daughter and mommie went to the Denver Zoo, one of the 5 biggest zoos in the U.S.! The admission here is much better, just $11 for me and $6 for Abbie!

The Denver Zoo is big and beautiful, less uphill walking compared to San Diego zoo! Abbie and I watched many shows and fell in love with the zoo! We definately have to come back! During the first show, Abbie touched a skink. {Not skunk}

The peacocks boldly roamed the zoo, making "meowing" sounds.

It was really hot at first ~ so Abbie requested a big cone!

Here are some bisons....snoozing.....

Yeay! Abbie found her favorite ride ~ Merry-go-Around! Coincidentally, she adopted a baby elephant she named 'Ellie' at the end of the day!


At first she was very scared, then she had a blast feeding the Lorikeets some nectar!

Strangely, at 4pm it started to rain hard! So we ran for cover!

Rocky Mountain & River Crossing

Today we went to the Rocky Mountains National Park. It was a 45-minute drive from our cabin to the park, and the scenery was gorgeous! We drove around looking for trails, and we discovered Colorado river too! We all ended up 'crossing' the Colorado river, and had a blast! We hiked two trails, one of which was very, very steep. The 15 minute hike up the Alpine trail resulted in an elevation os 12,100 ft. above sea level! I almost gave up!



Looking around, we saw a magestic view of unmelted glaciers and flower-covered tundras and we sat down to savor the fruit of our labors!

We also went on the Coyote River trail, a 1-mile hike alongside of Colorado river which boasts of wildlife and moose crossing. Well, what I ended up getting was mosquito feasting on me and no sight of a single mammal. That night, I itched and itched and became "Sleepless in Colorado".



The kids, mama and baba had a blast walking and playing in the Colorado River, and Caleb even had a little accident using his treking pole! We had to 'baptize his knee' in the river!

Moses had his helpers Aaron and Miriam to assist him in crossing the Red Sea. Here Papa Mark also has his faithful sidekicks "Abigirl and Caleboy" ~ and the 3 of them crossed the Colorado River!

Denver's Museum of Nature and Science

Today we drove 1.5 hours to Denver to visit Denver's Museum of Nature and Science! Abbie was very excited to be visiting, as she calls it, "A Night in the Museum". It is a big, beautiful museum and we took our time strolling the different galleries!

Colorado is known for its love for nature and wildlife, and we could see the displays of lifelike animals in the displays!

We loved the spectacular real (but dead) dinosaur displays ~ it reminded us of the movie, "Night in the Museum"!
The real (but dead) butterflies and insects were very fascinating too!

Caleb liked the gem displays and asked me to show this post to his teacher, Mrs. Nowell, who taught him and classmates about rocks and gems in 2nd grade.

There was a gallery called, "Health ~ The Mysterious YOU", in which we learned about the human body. It is very interesting to learn about our bodies and how they work together to regulate temperature, move about, and relate to our surroundings!

We had so much fun at the museum!

Colorado ~ Here we Come!!

Last night we finally arrived in Winter Park, CO! It was a long and slow drive...as we crossed the hot, blazing 111 degree Nevada desert. I finished all 12 of my chinese soap opera dvds within the first 10 hours of our 14-hour drive!

Thank goodness for portable DVD players....the kids didn't fight or whine in the 2-day drive and enjoyed all their cartoons! The rock mountains are so beautiful and we couldn't help but give praise to the God who created such awesome works of nature. People were river rafting down Colorado river as we drove alongside them. One day, we will be like them, going down rapid water and holding on to dear life!




When we arrived, 9110 ft. above sea level, our 2-story cabin welcomed us. Inside, the furnishing was cozy and cute! We stepped into a virtual model (cabin) home, and everything from chairs, TV stand, table, to fireplace mantel, dressers and beds were decorated with a spectacular "Big-Bear" theme! This was a dream come true!




This place had little dust (due to high elevation?) and looked brand new! We could consider retiring here! The air is so fresh....the trees so green! The kids watched Spongebob Squarepants all day long and enjoyed the board games generously provided by the owner. We cooked our own chinese-style noodles too! Mmmm........




Forgetting all I learned from my chemistry class, PV=nRT happened and I popped open Abbie's formula...and powder flew everywhere! Then we opened the luggage and hubby screamed, because Abbie's jar of lotion exploded and 'moisturized' hubby's King James Bible. Now we open everything from yogurt to shampoo gingerly...as we learned that there really is more pressure when you're high at the top!