Posing

Life these days is crazy, but we are very blessed! The Lord has been working on our hearts and teaching us more about Him, His Word and our character than ever. Just wanted to share a quick passage of scripture with you that has been very helpful to us lately, it's Philippians 4:4-9, which says:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Good Stuff...Hope that helped you where you are today.

MaryMayes' poses these days when we ask her to take a picture, so cute.

Unfortunately, sometimes she poses like this. We have no idea what this is...other than hilarious.

MayMae actually saying "Cheese"

She wanted you to see her turtle

This is the picture where we knew she was tired of posing.

Newsletter

Sorry everyone, I thought you could view the newsletter, but it turns out you have to have an account with Constant Contact to do so. If you would like a copy of the newsletter, let us know and we will add you to the list.

Thanks for your patience.

We survived the fires!

We got several calls during all of the fires that were going on, checking to see if we were OK. The answer was a resounding yes, we never even smelled smoke.

I (Brett) started school the last week of August, which is exciting since this is the last year at Talbot. I've got a good schedule this year, Hebrew 3, Old Testament Survey, Field Internship, and Biblical Leadership & Management. Along with the help of a good friend, Phil Jensen, I am starting a ministry called "the Door." It is a sexual integrity ministry for men at Talbot and in La Mirada. We are very excited about the ministry, and our first meeting is the upcoming Friday. We are also still serving as the chaplain to the Biola Athletic Ministry, which has more students involved than ever before. This year should be very interesting.

A sad thing happened in our family this past week. My aunt Kevelynn Durham, wife of my dad's deceased brother, Bob, passed away on September 5, leaving behind three children (Jessica, 31, Susan, 28, and Donovan 26) and two grand-children (Kaylan, 10, and Andrew, 4). Kev was 54, and passed away from complications from a disease called Scleroderma.

I flew up to Maryland to officiate the service last week, and arrived last night. It was a difficult funeral since my cousins now have no living parent, and also because my father was in Columbia and was the one who officiated uncle Bob's funeral service. Please continue to pray for my cousins that the Lord would heal and comfort their hearts and draw them closer to himself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANNY!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR NANNY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! We love you Nanny and we can't wait to see you soon!

Funny Story...

So...
Yesterday, the whole family went down to the pool, and had a great time. We came upstairs and Holly took MaryMayes' swimsuit off and let her run around necked...because she was up to something...and then she went and peed on the ground. We laughed, and went and cleaned up the mess. As daddy was cleaning the tee-tee up with the spot shot, mommy went to get some clothes for MaryMayes and throw the dirty stuff in the dirty clothes. Holly then turned around, and there standing in front of her was MaryMayes, looking intensely at her mom with her arm outstretched to her mommy...with a large log of poop in her hand!!! Holly and I both freaked and took the poop out of her hand and frantically looked for any other that may be on the ground, walls, or carpet. We cleaned up what we found on the ground and on the Nooni. We then went and sat on the couch, thinking everything was cleaned up. About five minutes later MaryMayes come back up to us and points to her foot, where there was more poop smeared on her and her stuffed animal, ironically, Winnie the Pooh. We found the little bit that was left on the floor and again cleaned up MayMae...and needless to say, she wore a diaper the rest of the day. And Thank You.

Just up the 101.

We took a mini-trip up the 101 to visit Santa Barbara and Solvang this past week. I got two words for you...Awesomely Gorgeous. We went up on Thursday and came home late Friday night, but we were able to get some sand between our toes, water over our feet, witness some absolutely beautiful scenery, enjoy some delicious food, and then to top it all off, we got to witness our friends Owen and Molly Smiley get married.

The Nooni wanted mommy's sunglasses...we're glad Mom let her wear them.

I'm going to go on record and say, I (Brett) am the luckiest man alive! Look at those beauties!!!!

Got to love this pic, sitting on the beach, palm trees and the mountains in the background.

Mommy trying to persuade MaryMayes to get in the water. Not gonna happen.

Hiding under her protection, daddy. The Nooni was not a fan of that loud water that kept coming up on the sand.

Daddy trying to persuade MayMae to step into the wave. It should be noted that she did let the wave hit her feat...then she immediately screamed and fearfully dove into daddy's arms. I'm thinking sermon illustration...

Right in front of where we parked. Quite beautiful.

The sun setting on Santa Barbara, and our trip.

One of the cool windmills in Solvang, a beautiful little Danish town about 45 minutes North on the 101 from Santa Barbara.

Cool little phone booth in Solvang that Brett made Holly stand in...doesn't she look so happy!?

Sunshine and The Nooni

The Durham family took a trip up north to visit our aunt and uncle in Rancho Cucamonga. We had a great time visiting with Lynda and Bill, and of course, Lynda made a great dinner.

Here are some pics...no captions, just pics.