August has been a month FULL of family fun for the Condits, and boy have we been busy! We had Carrisa's birthday party shin-dig at our house on the 7th. It was 80s theme, and we went all out! Our front porch became a "time-machine" when we covered it with black paper, splattered with neon paint in hot pink, green, yellow, and blue. Multi-colored guitars hang from the ceiling as you entered our front room, and a huge screen was set up outside for guitar-hero face-offs! We played the original mario-brothers in the living room, and ate cake in the dining room - a huge, awesome, yummy guitar cake, the actual size of a fender, made by Carrisa and Jen Robbins! It was fun! Even James dressed up, with bleach-splattered jeans and the whole bit.
I shot a wedding on 8/8/08 in Willows, and it was a beautiful day...couldn't have gone more perfectly... Later that week, we went to Kristen and Erik's apartment in Chico for dinner. We've been so busy with the house and everything that we hadn't seen their apartment yet! We went swimming in the common pool area at their complex (where they have a large pool, a kiddie-pool, and a hot tub!), and then we enjoyed a delicious vegetarian BBQ dinner with them in the outdoor BBQ area. After we were stuffed, we sat and watched the Olympics with them in their apartment and let our tummies settle before eating strawberry shortcake for dessert! It was lovely, and we can't wait to have them over for dinner at our new house next time!
Then, that weekend we headed to Santa Rosa with my parents, where my dad played in a show with "the old band," Seth ran the sound for them, and my mom, James, and I went to a park where James got to ride a carousel for the first time, and a train, and he got to play in a water fountain. He had fun watching the other kids run and jump around in the water, and he was a little bit scared to get too close to where it sprayed out of the ground, but we think he was pretty brave for a little guy :) Then, we went to Old Town Healdsburg for shopping, wine-tasting, and to share a dinner at a local brewery... well, James obviously didn't do the wine-tasting thing... he had his grape juice! Then we stopped at a produce stand and got all kinds of goodies, like cheeries, figs, and chocolate-raspberry covered almonds... It was a fun trip. Not too much barf from James... which always makes it good.. haha. And it was fun to see so much of the wine country... it's truly breath-taking.
Just a few days after that, we took our BIG vacation for the summer. We flew from Chico to Ontario, rented a car, and drove all around Southern California visiting friends and family that we barely ever get to see! First, we went to Orange, where the Dunkerlys live - long time family friends of the Condits. They took us to a park where we rode a train again, fed the ducks James' graham crackers, and James got to ride a pony for the first time! He kept saying, "real horsies, real horsies..." It was soooo cute. Then we drove to Hemet and stayed with Seth's Uncle Bob (his mom's brother) and Aunt Cheryl. We went to the care home where Seth's grandma lives, and James got to meet his great grandma for the first time! He kept repeating, "grandma Waner, grandma Waner..." even after we left, and even after we were back in Paradise. Awwww....he loves her!
We left Hemet on Saturday and drove to San Marcos where whe went to a surprise 30th birthday party for Joey Clark (a good friend of Seth's from college, and a groomsman in our wedding). He was totally surprised and it was so great to see him and his family. Joey and Kayce have had 3 kids since our wedding, four years ago, and we got to meet them for the first time! It was awesome! After the party, we went to the beach and Seth took James in the water and let the waves hit him. James loved it! He would just laugh and laugh! He said, "more waves, more waves, more waves..."
We stayed in a hotel, and on Sunday we went to Joey and Kayce's church, and then Joey and Seth got a chance to go surfing together that evening, while James and I checked out San Marcos and the surrounding areas... (Kayce had gone to Texas with their kids to visit Joey's dad after the party). On Monday morning, we met my mom, my grandma (my mom's mom), and my mom's cousin, Sandy for brunch at a French bakery that had an outdoor patio by a fountain, that was just lovely! My mom had been visiting her mom for the weekend, and we were taking the same flight home, so we met them for lunch, and then took her with us to the San Diego airport to return the rental car, and we flew to San Francisco, and then right into Chico. It was nice to be able to do that, and not have to find a ride from Sacramento after a long day of travel.
During our trip to Southern California, we had a lot of fun times, but Seth and I also encountered a series of small trials that made the trip very difficult for us as well. James threw up a lot on this trip, and a bunch of little things kept happening to us, like forgetting James' diaper bag at church, and making wrong turns on the road, and the exit right by our hotel was under construction, and things like that. We believe that it was a test for us, that we need to learn how to have self-control and godly attitudes under pressure and during difficult circumstances. After reading the first chapter from The Case for Faith, I realized (again) that trials are actually for our good, and they produce character in us... and I realized that we sure have a lot to be thankful for, so the difficulties pale in comparison to all that The Lord has blessed us with! It was a learning experience, and we suspect that God meant it for more than just a good time, or a nice little family vacation... He meant to make us more like Himself, through hardship and through blessing, all wrapped up into one. It's a mystery how He works...
I shot a wedding on 8/8/08 in Willows, and it was a beautiful day...couldn't have gone more perfectly... Later that week, we went to Kristen and Erik's apartment in Chico for dinner. We've been so busy with the house and everything that we hadn't seen their apartment yet! We went swimming in the common pool area at their complex (where they have a large pool, a kiddie-pool, and a hot tub!), and then we enjoyed a delicious vegetarian BBQ dinner with them in the outdoor BBQ area. After we were stuffed, we sat and watched the Olympics with them in their apartment and let our tummies settle before eating strawberry shortcake for dessert! It was lovely, and we can't wait to have them over for dinner at our new house next time!
Then, that weekend we headed to Santa Rosa with my parents, where my dad played in a show with "the old band," Seth ran the sound for them, and my mom, James, and I went to a park where James got to ride a carousel for the first time, and a train, and he got to play in a water fountain. He had fun watching the other kids run and jump around in the water, and he was a little bit scared to get too close to where it sprayed out of the ground, but we think he was pretty brave for a little guy :) Then, we went to Old Town Healdsburg for shopping, wine-tasting, and to share a dinner at a local brewery... well, James obviously didn't do the wine-tasting thing... he had his grape juice! Then we stopped at a produce stand and got all kinds of goodies, like cheeries, figs, and chocolate-raspberry covered almonds... It was a fun trip. Not too much barf from James... which always makes it good.. haha. And it was fun to see so much of the wine country... it's truly breath-taking.
Just a few days after that, we took our BIG vacation for the summer. We flew from Chico to Ontario, rented a car, and drove all around Southern California visiting friends and family that we barely ever get to see! First, we went to Orange, where the Dunkerlys live - long time family friends of the Condits. They took us to a park where we rode a train again, fed the ducks James' graham crackers, and James got to ride a pony for the first time! He kept saying, "real horsies, real horsies..." It was soooo cute. Then we drove to Hemet and stayed with Seth's Uncle Bob (his mom's brother) and Aunt Cheryl. We went to the care home where Seth's grandma lives, and James got to meet his great grandma for the first time! He kept repeating, "grandma Waner, grandma Waner..." even after we left, and even after we were back in Paradise. Awwww....he loves her!
We left Hemet on Saturday and drove to San Marcos where whe went to a surprise 30th birthday party for Joey Clark (a good friend of Seth's from college, and a groomsman in our wedding). He was totally surprised and it was so great to see him and his family. Joey and Kayce have had 3 kids since our wedding, four years ago, and we got to meet them for the first time! It was awesome! After the party, we went to the beach and Seth took James in the water and let the waves hit him. James loved it! He would just laugh and laugh! He said, "more waves, more waves, more waves..."
We stayed in a hotel, and on Sunday we went to Joey and Kayce's church, and then Joey and Seth got a chance to go surfing together that evening, while James and I checked out San Marcos and the surrounding areas... (Kayce had gone to Texas with their kids to visit Joey's dad after the party). On Monday morning, we met my mom, my grandma (my mom's mom), and my mom's cousin, Sandy for brunch at a French bakery that had an outdoor patio by a fountain, that was just lovely! My mom had been visiting her mom for the weekend, and we were taking the same flight home, so we met them for lunch, and then took her with us to the San Diego airport to return the rental car, and we flew to San Francisco, and then right into Chico. It was nice to be able to do that, and not have to find a ride from Sacramento after a long day of travel.
During our trip to Southern California, we had a lot of fun times, but Seth and I also encountered a series of small trials that made the trip very difficult for us as well. James threw up a lot on this trip, and a bunch of little things kept happening to us, like forgetting James' diaper bag at church, and making wrong turns on the road, and the exit right by our hotel was under construction, and things like that. We believe that it was a test for us, that we need to learn how to have self-control and godly attitudes under pressure and during difficult circumstances. After reading the first chapter from The Case for Faith, I realized (again) that trials are actually for our good, and they produce character in us... and I realized that we sure have a lot to be thankful for, so the difficulties pale in comparison to all that The Lord has blessed us with! It was a learning experience, and we suspect that God meant it for more than just a good time, or a nice little family vacation... He meant to make us more like Himself, through hardship and through blessing, all wrapped up into one. It's a mystery how He works...
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