celebrating Jesus's birth...

because he gave He gave His life for us...

we celebrate new life in Him.

praising Jesus for this year:

in prayer,

in fellowship,

in fun (for those of you wondering, this is St. Basil's Cathedral in candy),

through song ("Go tell it on the mountain!")

through creation,

and the enjoyment of creation!,

in hidden places for quiet times,

and joyously for all to see,

we worship you Jesus,

thank you for our family,

but most of all, thank you for YOU and YOUR love!

And on the more composed side...

It has been a while since we all had a photo together, but here we are as a family for Thanksgiving: The Hoffmans. What a blessing!

we thank the Lord for laughter...

We enjoyed a very fun Thanksgiving with lots of laughs!

Evan told us about a game called "push." This entailed two people standing with their feet planted and only their hands can touch. You try to push the other person off balance using only hands.

This literally provided hours of entertainment...

...and laughs!

It was so great to have all of the family together in one house for an extended time! We look forward to many more years like it!

russia...

We are pleased to share that for our one year anniversary, we would like to remember our marriage by service. God has called us to lay down our lives for Him and also for each other. After our first year of marriage, we are excited as to what the Lord has already worked within us and through us. Lord willing, we are excited that this is only a beautiful beginning to what the He has for us. Because of the love Jesus poured out for us, we desire earnestly to pour out His love onto those around us.


Therefore, on this note, July 2nd, we will have a great opportunity to spend seventeen days in Russia ministering to Russian children at a Christian Camp. The pictures are from when Sandra served there in 2007. Above is the river that the camp sits near. From July 2 through July 18, a small team of three will be in Russia helping Mark Piester of Far Reaching Ministries, who will be leading our team. Our team will help assist the local church in Rybinsk (located 180 miles north of Moscow) with their ministry to children at their annual summer camp.

This summer camp will minister to 90 children between the ages of 7-14. Children come from many different family backgrounds; some have attended Sunday school, and some are fortunate to be brought up in Christian homes. Most are invited by friends and grandparents and come from broken homes and/or have alcoholic parents. One thing that they all have in common is that their families cannot afford to send their children to camp. The cost to send a child to camp is $90.00. If you would be interested in providing a scholarship please contact us for additional information. Below are some of the kids from the camp that Sandra got to know when she was there a couple years ago.


Above all please keep us in prayer. Pray that God will give us a willing heart to follow Him in all that He has called us to do. Also pray that out of our life, God will receive all the glory. Thanks for taking part in what God is doing in our life.

update on God's plans...

Well, I know everyone says they want to blog more, but this time I mean it! The last few months have seen a change of residence, foreign travel plans, and more scheduled events than we thought possible.

Sometimes the Lord has to take away something good before we will look and be blessed with something better. Although we loved our little house in Los Osos, being forced to move allowed us to find the blessing of things we didn't really realize were lacking. We found a cozy house within walking distance of church, which yields relaxed weekends and great fellowship with our friends who live in the neighborhood. We get to stroll around Morro Bay for almost-daily walks, sauntering through the quiet streets and to the peaceful beaches by the Rock. We also have a yard - and this time it even has grass!

We have also been preparing for our trip to Russia - filling out applications, writing prayer letters, and shopping for odds and ends. It is amazing that the trip is almost here - I guess you can never feel fully prepared. I know the Lord has prepared this trip for us as we get to serve together - as He has called us, so He will also equip and provide.

...no not the macerena...

Yes, that's right, an OCARINA! Our friend Tom asked me to play violin for a competition he is entering on YouTube. It is a competition for the instrument that he recently acquired called the Ocarina. There are two pieces on his entry and I am playing the violin in the second one. Although it is not my best performance ever, it is fun. We actually recorded this one in my living room/kitchen while I was sick! The piano was recorded earlier and therefore wasn't there for me to tune to, so my E-string is slightly off! But, nonetheless we had lots of fun and the results are posted in YouTube on the below link.
Raglan Road and The Blue Sky of Ljubljana

...and we're back!

After a 2 month break from sharing our lives with all of you, we have returned (along with my fixed computer!) While I am rejoicing in having my little computer space back, I figured better fill everyone in on the missing time :). Here is a quick synopsis.

A Hike up Bishop's peak in the cold air...it froze my lungs! :)

The Yearly Gingerbread House (/ice scating rink) building party, hosted by Joe and Kristen. This was a commemorative experience for Josh and I since last year's party marked one of the first hints of interest that we had in each other.

Christmas with the Hoffman Family.

A date to San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker! What a treat! (Found out later that you weren't supposed to take pictures in the Opera House! oops!)

Little Lewis' first Christmas ever! He was very festive!

So now, we are in the midst of February! It is cold and... finally raining here in the central coast... we thought it would never come this winter! And then "it" showed us... by SNOWING in Atascadero! It also has been hailing here in Los Osos quite a bit. Most everyone around here has gotten very sick because of the weather's indeciciveness. However, we won't let it stop us! Sick or not, here we come!

Doug and Shannon...Murphy!

As the sun cascaded upon him, Doug sang to Shannon, the song that the Lord gave him for the woman he would marry. This time, instead of asking her to marry him, he affirmed his love in front of all of us at his very own wedding.

Josh and I had a wonderful time at Doug and Shannon's wedding. It was decorated beautifully in the form of traditional Christmas, complete with lights and greenery with bright red vests under every tuxedo. One of those fancy tuxedos was worn by my handsome husband as you see below! He made the best best man ever!

Another treat was to be able to see our friends that now live in Israel, John-Michael and Abra. They were here visiting and had the pleasure of attending this wonderful event as well!

You can't forget the altar picture... I just love how the greenery frames the picture with scattered holly berries. It couldn't have been more festive!

I had to include this picture too! It is our friend Judy Cole, who took Shannon into her home for the month or two that she was back in the States from Azerbaijan. Judy pretty much looks like one of those Zoolander models in this picture!! :) Style!

We are blessed to have been able to attend this wedding. It was a treat to see such a couple who is united in God, be joined together.

Elf Yourself...

Since this is the ongoing fad right now... We would like to share with you what someone made for us :) Enjoy!
Us as Elves...click here!!

The Arctic North...

As I have learned to lovingly call it, the Arctic North (i.e. Sacramento) was home for Thanksgiving. Actually, the below picture is of Los Gatos, on our way back. It was a beautiful night to stop and have Pizza My Heart and Dolce Spazio (a local gelato shop). Still chilly, we parked a couple blocks away and bundled up for our short walk to dinner and dessert. The town was lit up for Christmas and it was quite romantic.

While in the arctic, we saw many adorable kids that I am proud to say I am now related to! The below are my sister-in-law and cousin-in-law's kids. Luke (left) is my nephew and to be honest, I have no idea what that makes Nola (right) in relation to me. Does anyone know? Is she my second cousin or my cousin once removed? Who knows!

There the two are again only this time they are joined by the other cute little ones in the family. Rockwell (bottom right) is Nola's brother and Micah is my other sister-in-law's child. Pretty much the cutest kids EVER!

It was our first time meeting Micah and we couldn't stop holding him. He is SO cute! Also, he is a very well behaved child. Mostly, he slept and made cute noises (all the time).

And of course, there was turkey! That is Josh's dad by the barbeque, making it delicious in every way!

Here I am holding Micah. (I told you I couldn't resist!) Isn't he just the best?!

One of the more wonderful things about the Arctic north is that they actually have trees. Yes, T-R-E-E-S. They DO exist! I, for one, LOVE them! In fact, I would go so far as to say that I DESPERATELY miss them. (You can tell how passionate I am by all the capital letters!)

Here is cute Luke again with his dad, Tom on the swing in the park. This park was an attempt to get some of the wiggles out before sitting inside all day to eat food on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, some kids had gone ice blocking down the grass (and the slide) so it was super muddy! We ended up at a different park.

All in all, it was a very fun trip, reminding us of all of the amazing people we have surrounding us for family. We are truly blessed!

Josh turned ---- ...

For Josh's birthday, we took a sort of pre-vacation getaway. After an evening at Thai food with friends, and the subsequent morning helping Josh and Laurie move, I took Josh for his surprise. I had reserved an evening in a suite at the Cambria Pines Lodge. We even had a deck that overlooked the beautiful pines towering for miles before the sea.

There was a pool and hot tub that was a fabulous after dinner retreat.

And in the morning, we took a walk on Moonstone beach in the fog. God has created this planet as such a masterpiece. His creation continually testifies to us of the love that He has for us. What an amazing God that would sculpt such beautiful landscape for us to enjoy. It was absolutely beautiful; the perfect break from all of the pre-holiday rush to get everything done!

When we got home, we had Tom and Chloe over for some dinner in order to have them meet Lewis (the cat). They will do a wonderful job caring for him during Thanksgiving...and I am sure that Tom will be itching thoroughly afterward (what a sacrifice!). At this point, I finally remembered to give Josh his cake that I had bought him on Friday! It was a chocolate truffle cake from the Cakery in San Luis Obispo. What a treat!

a fuzzy addition to the bursons...

...you guessed it... This is no rabbit paw; it is the paw of the Burson's very first pet! A kitten that we call "Lewis."

The proud new cat owners affectionately named their cat after one of their favorite authors: C.S. Lewis. It is yet another experience to add to the list of adventures we get to share! Little Lewis is a darling little kitten... see how innocent and sweet.
That is...until he gets this devious look in his eye!

Then you know he is going to go for the plant or perhaps chase his tail. Or, one of our favorites, climb up the door jam. (I wish I had a picture of that one) Another devious game he likes to play takes place when I take a shower. He likes to come and stand in the bathroom and meow and then attempt to climb up our glass shower door via Josh's towel. Since when do cats beg to get in the water?

One not so devious, but quite endearing maneuver that Lewis loves is when I work at home, he likes to get as close to me as possible. You can't get much closer than this...

This picture is of Josh napping on the guest bedroom bed while I was sending in my timesheets for work. Lewis decided to join him.

All in all, we have lots of fun. Lewis was completely trained for not only the litter box, but a scratching post when we got him, so we have had no accidents. Hooray! He is pretty much the cutest cat we've ever had! Hope you get to meet him soon!

Family Wedding #4 for the year...

Amongst the beach aspiring flowers, we settled in the Scotts Valley Community center for Uncle Dave's wedding. Dressing for the occasion, my cousin, Sean, classically glanced at the camera. It was one of the very few pictures that the kids let me take! He could easily be a young member of the rat pack, I think!

There they are... the newly-wedded couple. I think that Liz is happy! She is Greek and really enjoys a good Greek Wedding!

I have no idea who this little boy is, but he had one of the cutest little faces. The jarring scar on his forehead took some 15 stiches!

My mom, enjoyed the ceremony, the candles, the fall leaves, the crisp air... and the Peet's coffee that we brought her mid-reception!

I wanted to get some outdoor pictures of the couple, but they were not quite as enthusiastic as myself. The tree turned out to be so fascinating. I love how it towers above their heads with two commanding branches that unite at the bottom.

My husband is so strong... strong enough to break even the most durable of fake metal silverware!

Wow, a serpant around the bride and groom!

This is my cousin Cole (Sean's younger brother). He clearly has a gift.

We think this will be the last in the series of family wedding posts for the year. Let me tell you about this tree... Climbing up was fun. Jumping down, in heeled shoes... not quite as free-spirited! However, I did manage to land without a broken bone. Hooray!