The Lemons Tree

Photo Card

2011-11-18T13:40:00.001-08:00

Christmas Snapshots Christmas

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Rainbow Promises

2011-08-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

This poem stems from the intense challenge of raising three young children at the same. You love them more than anything, but love hurts.

Purple- Like the emperor’s robe, covering the penitent’s bruise are my little ones upon my soul.

Blue- As the remorseful tear and the expectant minutes before dawn, so is my child that scrapes his shin and longs to be large like me.

Green- The day-old shoot of a blade of grass, and the tart lip smack of a granny smith, are my newly born lives as they jealously long for their rival sibling’s boring toy.

Yellow- Like the sweating sun turned up too high to squint wandering eyes and my honest ones when they are certain the mountain lion will eat then on today’s hike.

Orange- As a neon big stick, sweet on the lips, but grainy off the ground, like my little pumpkins that please the senses while exhausting all parental energies.

Red- Like a blacksmith’s furnace, aglow with life that melts unyielding structures, like my little flashes of flesh, that break down all social structure, and yet melt my heart.

Colorado Vacation

2011-08-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time visiting my sister and brother and nephew in CO earlier this month! Here is a poem about the house that we stayed in (which they are renting), and a poem about my studly nephew, who is going to turn two on my birthday.

Poem on the Grange

Like a presumptuous pauper sits the grange on top of the agrarian landscape
The white house’s presence is announced miles before the rocked dirt road scratches tired tires
Sentinel raindrops welcome dusty travelers as swallows spin on aerial trapeze above

Mr. Manly’s air-aided layout leaves room for a wide walrus to slide across the great room floor
accompanied by his friend the elephant
Usually the hall settles for energetic elves motoring around the expanse with three-wheeled, two-footed power

The grange patio extends eleven miles over wheat, Denver and the Rockies
It swallows sauvignon vistas through its clear window eyes and sheds tears in two leather laz-e-boys
The fire department expects to alarm occupants of daily conflagrations igniting the clouds

Home, home on the grange,
Where the flies and the antelope play.
Where alone on the farm, stands the eccentric white barn
where the cousins can play all day.

I Spent a Dollar Today

2011-07-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture and a poem from this weekend's lovely beach day with my family.
I hope you enjoy it :)

I Spent a Dollar Today

I spent a solitary dollar to secure a spot for my blue minivan by the sea.

I could have spent five to capture the comfy close spot, but I would have missed the white humming foam between the upright palms as I walk down Surfrider Drive.

My dollar procured a thousand smiles from my red, ginger prancing boy. No tanned olive skim, or bronzed right physique here, but to my eyes it brought a tear.

For five dollars I could have had a cup of coffee de' jour to help quicken my mind, but the icy cold dip on my toes and the brisk wind on my forearms worked fine.

My dollar provided twelve square feet of dark crystal sand, with a bum named Tom on the side. He slept, we played, shared mutual peace and exchanged the occasional high five. For five, hundred thousand dollars that is, I could have owned a San Miguel Condo with splotchy pink paint behind, and I could sit on my porch, grow old with my vested pup, and drink wine.

My single dollar unfolded. And opened an expanse of ever growing wonderous green waves. It purchased the warmth of star kissing skin, of family smiling in time.

For five, million dollars

I couldn't have received more.

Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls

2011-07-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a poem I wrote and a picture I took today. I don't know if it is quite done. It was inspired by difficult changing seasons of life. There is a significant season of life that is coming to an end at our home, which I wrestle with. But I believe something will come of it in the end. I thought about having the opening line be "I hate life, because it dies." But I decided otherwise...

Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls

Spring shoots blossom delicate, purple promises of perpetual sunshine.
Dancing heat mixes deep greens in the cauldron of synthesizing leaves.
And then the soft carpet caves.

Falling spheres bring visible breath, and shivers to tanned skin.
Healthy trees release martyrs screams in vivid reds and orange.
Blue fingers reach from grievous clouds to squeeze the veins of landscapes gray.

Tears from heaven ice earth's dying bones and crystallize its pain.
Coldest tears float on angels' breath and shape precise paintings.
Soft snow sends us close to warm the hearth with fire that thaws our divides.

Cheeks will wet, and biceps ache, pain pierces fingertips.
But Cycle of end, has brought us again to the circle of life and delight.

Christmas 2009!

2009-12-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Faithful Friends!

We are still waiting to get internet at our home so we could begin blogging again. For the meantime, here are a couple of picts & explanations from our wonderful Christmas *(es)!

Our Favorite Stocking Stuffer!

"Jordan, what is your favorite part of Christmas?" "Presents... and a candy cane!"

The cousins! (From Left) Grace, Emma, Josiah, Jordan and Ian

First Christmas! (her b-day is Jan 5)

And if you want a glimpse of our family/community life at Lakeside Community go on Cameron Lemons facebook and click on the video tab.

We are living in intentional community with other Christians in our first home in Lake Elsinore!!! (A lot has happened since our last blog!)

He is Risen!

2009-04-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll. Hear our some picks from our Lenten and Easter seasons with accompanying explanations! Enjoy.

This is DAD's first date with Grace! It was a Father/Daughter dance at church. It was a little slow starting off, and dad made his date cry, so they went home, but it was still a night to remember.

Some exciting news! Cameron's sister Alana is pregnant! How fun. I can't wait to be an uncle. Alana and Cory came down for Easter and we were able to celebrate together.

Here are our winning Easter eggs. Jenelles' is on the left and mine is below (You probably could have guessed that!).

Here are our dear friends Pastor Armando, his wife Stephanie, and their son Keith (KeeKee). They went with us to see the butterfly exhibit down at the zoo. Great time!

Josiah was excited to have a butterfly land on him as well!

Her is our little cowgirl! She was actually wearing pink John Deere boots as well. That'll make a father proud!

We went on a great hike up at the Santa Rosa Plateau with our neighbors John and Melina. They have a boardwalk extending over some seasonal Vernal Pools... Cool.

JORDAN spotted a couple of snakes for us! Just Gardner snakes (they don't usually kill you).

And here are our two fellas. They have become the best of buds (Praise the Lord).

Lemon Tree Movie

2009-04-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

For Jews Only:

This morning I was reading Joel 3 and praying for the nation of Israel. I came home and saw there was a new Israeli movie entitled, "Lemon Tree," about the conflict in the West Bank which I am excited to see. I realized our blog would get some hits from people looking to hear about the film. So there is a preview below.

But I also wanted to share with the beloved nation of God the following prophetic Scripture from the Hebrew Bible. The prophet Isaiah said in the 53rd chapter (I encourage you to read the whole chapter! :),

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

I believe that Yeshua of Nazareth fulfilled these prophecies and dozens of others, and that He will come again to deliever the nation of Israel. I challenge you to ask God to confirm that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, if it is true. I have Jewish friends and family that have done exactly that, and God has answered their prayers powerfully through miracles and Divine providence. You do not have to leave your Jewish ethnicity to beleive in the Jewish Messiah. Jesus was Jewish, and He does not expect you to leave your culture to follow Him. He desires to be the fulfillment of the hopes of your nation and for you as an individual. Trust Him and see what He can do!

2009-03-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

Despite another round of colds, these last weeks have been full of people and fun events. I like to categorize so...

#1. The Rod Run- My relatives Hoppy and Sharon came to town and we spent a fun afternoon with them at the annual "cool" car show in Temecula. The boys loved it as you can see. Here's a picture of Hoppy and Sharon stayin young!

#2. The Tennis Tourney- Cameron and Matt haggled for some great seats at the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament in Palm Springs where they got to watch some of the top tennis stars battle it out.

#3. Spring Planting- The boys had a blast as we played in the dirt practically all last weekend renovating our front planter and planting a small but satisfying vegtable garden in our back yard.

#4. Open Mic Night - Cameron brought a "spoken word" (a combination of a rap and a poem) to the young adult open mic night.. enjoy :)

Long Blogger Silence = Long Blog Update

2009-02-10T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family!! As many of you will be excited to know, we have become reconnected to the cyber world. We now have Internet - Hurray!! So forgive me, but I am posting an extremely long blog to fill in all of the things we've been wanting to share the past couple months. Since it is so long I decided to group it into categories.. Enjoy!! We'll start with the main attraction:

#1) Grace She has had a little cold, but is eating and growing wonderfully. She is really starting to coo and smile. She really likes to talk to people and I have a hunch she is going to be pretty social.

In this shot she is wearing an outfit that I used to wear when I was a baby

#2) The Great Outdoors

Last month Cameron took Josiah on his first father/son camping trip at Lake Skinner. Josiah's favorite part of camping was, hands down, roasting s'moresCameron and Armando (friend and co-worker) take all the boys hikingThe Three Amigos : Keith (Kee Kee), Josiah and Jordan

#3) Mommy and Daddy

Though we have had our hands full, we have been blessed to be able to sneak away for some "mommy and daddy time." For Valentines Day we (along with Grace of course) went to the Getty Museum. It was a VERY cold day, but it was fun to have a little adventureThis sculpture cracked us up... What would you title it? My favorite part of the Getty ironically was not Van Gough's Irises

or even the lovely Monet's, but the spectacular view:

FYI- the Getty at night is enchanting and makes for a very romantic date

For My Birthday Cameron took Grace and I for a splendid picnic on the Santa Rosa Plateau

#4) Church Life

Our church has been so supportive during this exhausting season.

Many brought us meals and cute girl clothes when Grace was born.

It has been exciting and fun to develop and deepen relationships there:

Above are some of the young men Cameron has been meeting with for the last year. They have become close friends It has been an exciting 'Spring season' for Cam at work. The youth ministry is growing and many students have made significant life changes in the past several months. This shot is from a recent retreat in Palm Springs that has brought a great deal of new life to the team.

#5) Family Fun

On a normal day, much of my time is spent either out in front of our house

supervising Josiah and Jordan speeding around on their trikes or here,

watching them be excavators and road builders Here are the boys decked out in their rain gear:
Though the rain kept us inside for a while (the boys were going crazy!), it has brought many beautiful blossoms. Here is a shot of the Magnolia's from our front yard:
Lastly, but by far the most entertaining, the boys got into a bit of trouble a week or two ago (you may have to click the play button twice):

Okay, I couldn't resist, one more... this is Josiah singing. He loves to make up his own songs which are sort of a compilation of what is floating around in his head. And just to help translate, his first words here are "Ding Dong 'tar" which means he is strumming a guitar and it is making the noise 'ding dong'. It is accompanied by some air guitar attempts as well:

BABY GRACE IS HERE!

2009-01-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

OUR LITTLE BABY GIRL ARRIVED JANUARY 5TH AT 2:30PM.

Actually, she wasn't too little! She came in weighing 9lb and 4oz (much bigger than her brothers!). She has beautiful auburn hair, and she is already breaking here top four teeth! Ouch.

Mom and baby are doing great. We have been delighting in our time with the little one, and realizing that we are now outnumbered. God help us. For more pics, check out our facebook.

New Addition to the Lemons Family!!!

2008-11-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

Ha, Ha, Fooled ya! This new addition isn't a little baby girl, and actually isn't so new. We wanted to introduce you to Chris, a young adult from our church who has been a part of our family for the last few months. It has been a gift from God to be able to get to live with Chris and we will miss him as he will be moving out near the end of the month. And here are a couple picts from a recent camping trip we took with our fabulous neighbors.
It was so cold, with near hurricane level winds that we actually spent most of our time in their trailer playing cards.
This is a shot of one of the many campers in our site that got impaled that weekend.

We love you all and don't worry, we WILL post pictures when the baby comes. HAPPY ADVENT!!!!

Recent Stuff

2008-09-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Faithful Followers!

I just wanted to give a little update on the fam. Jen is healthy with our little baby GIRL! Praise God- Jen was shouting loudly at the doctor's office when we found out. We are so excited; We were hoping that we would be blessed with a girl and sure enough the Lord sent us a little gift of Grace (which is her name by the way, Lord willing! :)

The video above is a little glimpse of somethings that are going on with the youth at Mountain View. This is Anthony. Our first winner of our, "Can You Live It?" Awards. The group is growing both spiritually and numerically and I am enjoying my work more and more as we have got the ball rolling and have some momentum to enjoy. Glory be to God...

More to come later.

Hose-anna!!!!

2008-09-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Trying to beat the heat :)

Update at Last!!!!

2008-09-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

If you are reading this you are probably a one of our faithful friends who have been begging us to update our blog...so here you go: We are still lacking internet at our house, but we will do our best... because no, we have NOT abandon the blog! Hopefully a longer post will be coming soon... We love you friends!

Top Ten Cooest Things that Happened to The Lemons This Last Month

2008-04-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Number 10:

The Lemons Family finally had their first family portraits taken...enjoy!

Number 9: A Bountiful Easter Celebration!

We had treasure hunts to find easter baskets and as you can see from the "egg cam" we had a fun easter egg hunt at the grandparents' house. Number 8:

Cameron got to be a chaperone for the highschool retreat weekend for the students at our church. We joined with a couple of other churches in the area to have a rockin' time at Forest Home. We've been having a blast getting to know the kids........and as you can see, we are gettin' our worship groove on. Below is one of the worship times at the camp (not even one of the most energetic ones!). Towards the end you will see a group of students in a coordinated dance.. it is of course the Electric Slide.

Number 6:
Spring has dawned in our neck of the woods. I especially have been delighted to find that our house has all sorts of plants that have unexpectedly burst forth in bloom. I love it!

Number 5:

We watched the movie "Saving Sarah Cain". Wow. We give it two huge thumbs up. It is a Christian film, so a little b-rated and cheesy at times... but all the important scenes are done very well. We were BOTH moved to tears (don't think that has every happened before in a movie), and not because it was a tear jerker, but just because it was so beautiful. It was a not only an eye opening critique on culture, but it also inspires you to live more simply... since watching we have been considering ways we can incorporate more of an amish lifestyle in our very sub-urban life. The trailer doesn't do it justice, but here it is:

Number 4:

We were able to go into a butterfly exhibt where there were approx. 10 thousand butterflies flappin' around. It was like a fairy land.

Number 3:

Start reading "The Year of Living Biblically". Reading it is definately one of the coolest things we've been up to this last month. It is not what you would think. It is about an agnostic Jewish man in New York who decides to try to take the Bible as literally as possible for one year of his life. The outcomes are hiliarous and illuminating. We promise if you pick this one up you won't be able to put it down. We're in stiches every couple of paragraphs.

Number 2:

My sister (right) came down and we took a day trip to Anza

Borrego Desert. It was amazing to see a place that is usually a waste land in full bloom because of the recent rains.
It was one of those days that the Lord clearly hooks up. In the same trip to the desert as we drove away, right as Cameron was telling a story about a snow storm, a storm rolled in and it began snowing on us (a completly unusual and unexpected phenomenom!) and we all got to play in the snow for a few minutes. (I know all of you New Englanders are just shaking your heads, you have just finally gotten rid of your snow! But it did my heart good to get to frolick in the cold white.) Below is our neighbor Melina who joined us. Which leads me to...

The Number 1 most amazing thing that has happened to the lemons family this last month:

Josiah is Potty Trained!!!!! These were his first pair of underwears and as you can see he was a fast learner; he quickly got his head around the whole underwear thing-

The Rains Came

2008-03-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you all who were praying, it has felt like the past few months have been sort of an uphill battle, but in the recent weeks we have felt the Lord working victory on our behalf. We have been so encouraged and are so thankful for all of your support and prayers.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of highlights from the last couple weeks:

1) For My birthday Cameron took me to Coronado for the weekend... the first overnight getaway without kids in three years- Praise God, and thank you mom and dad!!!

Also, we were able to get to see Tim Dunbar (a pastor for Scum of the Earth Church) as he was in San Diego that same weekend for a conference. It was so refreshing to get to meet with you Tim, and thanks for finding Spiros Gyros!!

2) Our church had a really wonderful service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. It was a beautiful time of story telling and music where racial reconcialiation was the theme of the hour. Here's a snipit of the worship:

3) My parents came down from Ventura to spend the weekend with me while Cameron was up in Seattle visiting Jon Annett (which was fabulous like fresh avacado) . My parents watched the boys while I went to a movie that our church played and when I came back...everyone was knocked out:

4) Lastly, we have had a lot of rain recently and so this desert town is BEAUTIFUL! It has been so green and we have been trying to take advantage of it, going on walks as much as possible. Soon summer will kick in and it will look like the wasteland once again, but for now we get out the ole jogger stroller and push the kids around... or as it so happens- they push the stroller around:

Blog for Prayer

2008-02-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

My main desire in the blog entry is to ask for prayer for our family. The boys in this family have been sick on and of for about 2 months now and we are pleading with the Lord for respite. Please join us in this petition.
And on a completely different note, here are the boys and willow with their hot coco:

Happy New Year, Happy Birthdays, Happy Hiking and... an "Experience"

2008-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Finally the Lemons post a 2008 Blog! Brace yourselves, its a long one! As you can see, we rang the new year in with many of our friends and famliy, playing games until the wee small hours of the morning. One of our new favorite games is demonstrated below by our dear friend Tricia. It is a video game called "Eye toy" and it has no controllers- you are actually in the screen (via web cam). Gregg and Bird, this is the game we talked about for years but never had a playstation to play it with (or television for that matter :) As you can see it is a good workout, and fun to watch others play. Tricia is battling for the boxing championship below.

We were fourtunate to have Tricia out here for her Birthday. This is her meditating over her birthday wish :)' With Grandma in the background (probably thinking it is treacherous to have those candles burning so long).

Also in the past weeks we went on a hike with our friends Allison and Bret Baughman. Afterwards we had a big dinner over at our house with the Baughmans, and the Roberts (Laura and Brandon and their 4 boys... all under the age of 5!)

We did dinner and then sang worship into the night with Cameron's uncle Chuck leading us all.

Watch this video to see all the little guys jammin:

And lastly a fun update about our church. Cameron had quite and eventful weekend. Friday night we had a Lock-in with the high school and middle school students (read: no one slept and everyone had a good time). The theme was "Preparing a Way for the Lord." We first had a time of preparation of the student's hearts (times of prayer, psalm writing and sharing etc.) and then we had a time of preparing a physical place for the Lord- ie. revamping the community center to be a youth room. The students assembled tables and chairs, created bulletin boards and painted canvas' to decorate. Below you can see how the paintings turned out. You can't see it well, but a gold strip unites the smaller canvas' to form a cross.

Sunday was Youth Sunday and Pastor Wells asked Cameron to preach at all three services. It looks like we will now be having a "Youth Sunday" once a month where Cameron will share the word and the students will get to participate in leading worship and shairng their testimonies and talents (dramas and dances).

Then on Wed. we kicked off "The Experience". Mountian View's Community's mid-week youth service. Victor Marx came to speak (you've got to google this guy!) who has more black belts then I have fingers. And the student had a great time watching his moves and hearing his Powerful testimony. What a January!

Season of Glory

2007-12-31T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Lemons Family Christmas 2007. What a season of celebration!!!

There was feasting and present opening at Grandma and Grandpa Lemons House:Then there was the infamous Christmas program with Jen's Family in Solvang:

There was the party at our house with the Youth from our church where we had a gingerbread-man/women cookie making contest:

(thank you Kerry for making all the gingerbread men!!!)

and played games, exchanged gifts, and did caroling around

our neighborhood.

(The video clip is a little pre-caroling practice)

Also, our friends Bret and Alison Baughman invited us to spend a weekend with them and their family in a cabin in Big Bear. I think the cabin max. occupancy said something like 8, but we managed to pack it out with 20 people the night we were there!! As you can see we got to spread the gingerbread cheer in big bear as well.

And lastly, we got to romp around in the snow! Jordan wasn't much of a fan, but Josiah loved it- especially when the thermos of hot coco came out :)

Thank you grandma for the mittens!!!! It kept these little paws warm.

Camping... In the DESERT!

2007-11-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

Last Weekend the Lemons Family (Cameron, Jenelle, Josiah, Jordan, Bebe, and Dede) went camping in the Anza Borrego Desert. I (jenelle) must admit, I had large reservations about camping in a desert- why not go camping near a lake or in a forest- Can anything good come out of the desert?! I found that the awnser is yes!
We ended up having such a blast- hiking to a hidden oasis, climbing through "the slots", and giving Josiah and Jordan all the time rolling in the dirt they could handle.

We were blessed to have some friends (The Baughman duo), and neighbors join us: Richard and his daughter Ella (ella is above with the boys) and John and Melina below.

October- Fest!!

2007-11-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy and a very fun past couple of weeks. As you can see the boys got decked out for a harvestfest that our Church (read Cameron) organized. It was the first major event that Cameron was in charge of and it went spectacularly. It's hard to see much in the picture below, but there were games, jolly jumps, cotton candy, hotdogs, a rock climbing wall, a talent showcase (which Cameron's uncle and I won second place in!!!!), pony rides and a petting zoo!!!! All for Free!!! It was the best Halloween evening I have ever had.
And for all you Bob the Builder fans, or Bob the Lemons fans..... here's a little treat- Grandpa Lemons in rare form decked out as Bob the Builder:

Bebe (as Josiah likes to call him) helped out at our harvestfeast troubleshooting all of our electrical and lighting issues. We couldn't have done it without you Dad! Thanks!

We also enjoyed a fun night of pumpkin carving at our

neighbor John and Melina's house. The four of us tried to win the pumpkin carving contest at our church but alas, a middle schooler with better marketing abilities than all four of us put together took the cake, but here's a peek at what they turned out like: (Cameron carved the Lion and I carved the Racoon but I used a pattern :)
And Last, but certainly not least... a dear friend of mine, Kimberly Catlin from MA, was able to come and visit!!!! She and her mother Cheryl made the trek down here and helped celebrate Cameron's birthday with some Chinese food and a rowdy game of Hoopla (a new favorite). Thanks for driving down Kimberly!

Thank you all for your comments and love! For all of you who requested, we will be sending you copies of Cameron's sermon soon!

Pumpkin Pickn'

2007-10-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

This week the whole Lemons clan went to the pumpkin patch!! -

The Pumpkin Pickin' Crew included Willow (Josiah's best friend who I watch during the day) , Cameron's Mom and Dad, our neighbors John and Melina and... a cameo appearance by Cameron's Uncle Tim and Aunt Jeannie (who drove 600 miles to come be here for Cameron's first sermon!!!- Thank You for your Support!!!) And Thank you all for your prayers, the sermon went so well. Let us know if you want a copy (leave a message in our comments with your address).

Our time at the farm inlcuded wheelbarrow rides for the munchkins.... (Jordan was so small we had to make sure the pumpkins didn't "squash" him :)

Tractor rides for the young at heart....This was Josiah's favorite part of the trip And there was lots of Pumpkin Play time....
the kids knew just what to do with the pumpkins- climb all over them!!
My Favorite part (Jen writing) was the Gigantic 'Big Mac' Pumpkins:I've got to try and grow some next year!
All that pumkining can really wear a person out.
I've always thought that pumpkins would make a soft smooth bed-

Dancin' up a Storm

2007-09-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks yielded a few showers in our neck of the woods and that was quite exhilarating for our Josiah:

After the rain dance we warmed up inside with a nice cup of tea:

Most of my days (jen writing) are made up of running after these three little ones. Jordan is in the back, Josiah to the right and then there is the very photogenic Willow up front who we get to hang out with during the weekdays. Though some days can be exhausting, I couldn't imagine it any other way. These kiddos steal my heart.

Ok, I know I already posted a video of Josiah, but this one just cracks me up! It is some kind of funky dancin':

And here is Josiah helping me make pancakes....

This Blog has mostly been pictures of Josiah, so I thought I should

add one of Jordan (who turns ONE on Oct 4th! ) just to balance it out a bit :)

Cam has been doing a lot more teaching in last couple of weeks, which has been exciting and challenging. He is going to preach his first sermon at all three services on October 14th! Please pray for the Lord's presence and blessings and if you are in the Temecula area come on out and support him! :)

They Say It's Your Birthday!!!!

2007-09-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!
Here's some birthday love from your grandson:

Wish we could be there in person to celebrate with you! We love you so much.

Good Bye Summer, Hello 108 degree days!!!

2007-08-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

As voted on in our last blog, here is a short video of Jordan's first steps:

We've been enjoying the last few weeks of summer out here in Temecula (more like trying to beat the heat!!!!- it's been 108-106 for the past week with 100% humidity!).

Here's the family at "Movie in the park night"

And here is a little pre-movie dancing... Josiah found another little redheaded friend and they were groovin' toigether. I put it in here because how often do you see two dancing redheaded two year olds?

Jordan dressed in his best.

Here is a picinic with the young adults at our church.

And the boys pretending to be Super Heros...

Alright that's all for now, more to come soon....

Home Improvement

2007-08-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally moved in and.... WE LOVE OUR NEW PLACE!! We thank God everyday for giving us such a wonderful home to live in. We are still not totally unpacked, but we're workin' on it.

Dad and Josiah have been busy helping mom baby proof the new house as you can see by the pic above. Josiah is protecting the cupboard with a hatchet until dad can get in there and secure a clip. Actually this was one of the few moments that I (Cam) was smiling during the process because those darn baby clips didnt fit right with our cupboards!

On another note, our dear friend Grace Chisolm came down to visit us. She enjoyed coming to our early morning church service and catching up with Jen and the boys while dad finished his day at 'work'. Thanks for coming by Grace! We trust the Lord will guide you in the upcoming decisions for your future!

It still feels funny for me to call church my 'work' because we would spend most of our Sundays involved with church stuff anyhow. I thank God for it! Sometimes it feels like I get a three day weekend. There has been a lot of administrative work lately, but all in all it has been a great experience and I have already learned a ton.

Here the boys are fixing up the house again! You can see Josiah is even more helpful with the yard work than he is with the repairs. What a blessing (most of the time- he shows his 'terrible twos at times ;) to have an extra set of hands to assist with the cores.

Another highlight was having our new neighbors cook us up a Mediterranean feast! They were even so kind as to have the dinner at our place so we could stay up while the boys slept. The meal was delicious and the company was even better. Along with John and Melina (the chef) we also had over Richard (our English neighbor) and Lynn from across the street. It was a great time! What a privilege to move into a community where people actually enjoy spending time together!

Finally, last but certainly not least- Jenelle and I (and Jordan...) were able to celebrate our third wedding anniversary down on the San Diego Harbor. It was beautiful. We got to see a stunning sunset over the water from our 19th story room. Plus the hotel messed up our reservations so the sent us up some chocolate strawberries and champagne! Very romantic. We had a wonderful time. And as you can see- I am a blessed man- my wife is even more beautiful now that she was when I married her three years ago! I thank the Lord for his goodness to us. And thank you for all the joy you all send us.

By the way, you guessed it! Those were Cam's 6 year old dreads! Gross...

PS check out our new survey under this blog entry... (Thanks to Bird and Gregg).

Bearing Hearts and Botttoms

2007-07-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

As the title promises, here are a few "after bath- roaming free" bare bottoms:For the last few weeks we have been missing that handy little gadget which imports pictures from your camera to your computer, so sorry for the deliquent blog. To catch ya'll up a little....

The boys and I (Jen) went to Ventura to visit with Hannah and Alex (my cousins visiting from Seattle)(which by the way it was wonderful to get to hang out and shop and waterballon fight with you two), and to get to see my dear friend, and twice roommate, Mariah. Our time together was like a much needed summer shower- quick but refreshing and delightful.
A huge perk to the visit was getting to be aquainted with Mariah's boyfriend (oo-la-la) Matt- who I instantly loved. You guys are perfect for each other!!!

Another friend I was able to get to hang out with during her brief time back from Israel was Andrea Warren. She is starting a ministry hostel in Bethleham and was it was such an encouragement to get to see her and hear all about her plans for the new hostel and her passion for the Lord. The website for their hostel is: noroomattheinn.net

And now last, but certainly not least (!)... We moved this weekend into our house !!! We are just renting, but the house is just PERFECT for us. It is only a mile away from the church

and has lots of space in the back for a garden (and compost pile!) and is on the end of a cul-de-sac. The kids love it and so do we. As we were going through boxes at his parents house we found something, lets say, noteworthy.... Can you guess what is in the bag Cameron is holding? Leave your answer in the comments. :)

Our new address is:

42680 Las Violettas Ct.

Temecula, CA 92592

World Changers and Cam's Week Away

2007-07-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

Can you spot Cameron? :

Last week Cameron helped lead a team of high school and middle school youth on a missions trip to .... Fresno?! Above is a pict. of the crew that Cameron was a part of.

Through and organization called World Changers, these hard working kids worked for a week repairing and building houses in low income areas during the day, and fellowshipping and hanging out with youth of other cultures and denominations during the night. It was gruelingly hot and it was good physical labor, but as you can see demonstrated by some of the ladies from our church in the pict to the right, the youth had a such great attitudes about it.
Though I missed Cameron immensly, it was wonderful to get to hear from him each night about how fabulous the program was (we are now sold on World Changers and think it is and excellent program), and how blessed he was to get to know the youth and staff on the trip.

Below is a picture of the whole crew that Mountian View Community Church (our church) sent:

What a dynamic group. What a life changing week.

On the Temecula end of things, we had a big change this last week: some of our dearest and closest friends Mimi and Papa (Cameron's grandpa and grandma) and the Dinsfriend clan (Our aunt, uncle and cousins) moved from their homes in Temecula to... Oregon!!! - We miss you so much already, I can't write this without tears in my eyes. But we love you and can't wait to visit!

"Please Ocean, Please"

2007-06-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

This last week the Lemons Family was on holiday! Well actually, Cameron started his first week of work, and so had to commute each day, but Jen and the boys were able to stay with Cam's parents in cute little beach cottages in Oceanside. So every morning at 6am I (Jen) awoke to these two wide eyed boys, and to Josiah asking me (before anything else) "Please ocean, Please ocean!!"

The picts to the right are the boys doing their favorite beach activities: Jordan eating sand and Josiah romping naked (actually, rolling naked in the sand is his favorite but I didn't have a good picture of that). Our time included a few walks on the pier, many a sand fortresses built and all the peanut M&M's you could handle. Thanks again mom and dad for such a memorable week.

We had such a great week with Dede and Bebe and uncle Evan and Cameron (when he could come down)...and it was wonderful to get to have some visitors! Below is a picture of a dear friend of ours Brigitte and and new friend Jeb.

Thanks for making the trek- it was great to get to re-connect.

Also, we celebrated with our cousin Scott as he just GRADUATED Highschool! Way to go Scott- we are so proud of you!!! Below are Cameron's cousins from right to left Scott, Brian and Eric. It was a treat to have Brian and his family down from Oregon along with Eric.

Here's Cameron's Aunt Judy at Scott's graduation party (note Josiah in his favorite Superman costume).

We were able to celebrate Father's Day together (left) with Cameron's whole family at Joe's Crab Shack. What a great picture of the two fathers below!

And to top it all off (above), Grandpa Bebe took Josiah on a trian ride up the coast... can you see the shear delight in Josiah's face?!!

On another note- Cameron is in Fresno this week helping lead a trip for the junior high and high school youth at our church. They are working with World Changers to help build and repair homes. Please take a moment to join with me and say a prayer for their saftey, and that it would be a time of growth and real relationship building for both the youth and the staff.

I miss you Cameron and can't wait to see you this weekend!!

Hellos and Goodbyes

2007-06-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

To start this blog off right here is a video of Jordan who just this week learned how to wave "Hello":

This week we said Goodbye to many dear people -

Grace Chisholm left to go to England and then South Africa, but before she left, as you can see to your right, we got a chance to meet at a park and let Josiah and Jordan play as she and I caught up. You're in our prayers Grace.

Also, we said goodbye to Chris and Meredith Labonte (Friends from highschool) who are heading out to..... Gordon Conwell Seminary!!! Of course, right as we get back, they head out! The irony of it. Well, watch out all you on the North Shore, here comes a fun bunch- we are going to miss you four.

But before they headed out we were able to get our groove on (as demonstrated to the right) as we listened to Chris' band get groovy at Daily's in Orange County.

This week, on Sunday, we will say our official "hello" to our new church community (at all three services), and Cameron will get to say hello to his new job the day after.

Rocky Mountian High

2007-06-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I (Jen), with Jordan in tote,took a trip to Denver, Co. to visit our dear friends Jess and Tim Dunbar. It was so refreshing to get some fresh mountian air (above is a hike we took to St. Mary's Glacier), AND to get to see the beautiful lives that Jess and Tim lead. Their lives are tangible parables of Christ in the middle of a city that has great need.One of the highlights of my time there was getting to visit the church that they pastor at - Scum of the Earth: http://www.scumoftheearth.net/

Composed predominately of a ragamuffin crew, and ministering and opening their doors to many who might feel outcasted in a more traditional chruch setting (like mohawked punk rockers and weatherd homeless friends), Scum is able to fill a unique and oh so beautiful role in buliding up Christ's body.

Jess is pregnant with a baby girl and we're pretty sure that their new little bundle and our little Jordan are soul mates.
Below is a picture of Jess' cute pregnant belly growing, and Tim with... sympathy bloating :)

Thanks so much for having me out guys!

And... on a completely different note:

When I got back, Grandpa Bebe took us out to see Josiah's to his first live baseball game. It was only a minor league team, but to Josiah the whole event was eye popping wonder and, ironically, Josiah's favorite part of the eveining was getting to watch the mascots who would come out and dance. As you can see below it was "Wild West" night. Too Fun.

Signing the Deal

2007-06-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I promised to give a little update on how the Lord called me and my family to this particular church. I guess I should start with a little back ground. Almost a year ago, Jenelle and I started to seriously ask ourselves the question, "what next after seminary?" We spent some time praying and seeking the Lord for guidance and we were prompted by a Psalm which says "Delight yourself in the Lord and you will have the desires of your heart," to ask ourselves 'what are the desires of our hearts!' As we sat down and wrote out our desires we developed a short list of priorities that we believed were consistant with His Word. This list included the following:
1. A chance to be near family while the boys were young so they could be known by their relatives.
2. An opportunity to serve cross-culturally and grow in that way.
3. Find a church that we could lay our roots down at for a number of years and eventually be sent from to start a new church or to serve over seas.
4. A job were I could serve in a visionary/leadership role that is consistent with my personality and giftings.

In addition to this list we went and prayed with our neighbors Robert and Maryann who prayed over us that we would find a job that would provide for us financially and would be a great joy as well. We did not expect that God would fulill all of these specific desires, but we still made our requests known nevertheless. It has been amazing to see how God has exceeded our expectations.

We first saw Mountain View Community Church when we were driving around town a couple of months ago. We mentioned that we would like to check it out and it wasn't a week later when we had got together at my aunt and uncle's house for worship that the church came up in conversation. My aunt mentioned Mountain View was where a mutual friend was attending and she had heard that the music was amazing. We decided to check it out. Sure enough the church was hopping, filled with life and energy and wonderful music. We had a really good time and I left thinking that was the type of church I could see myself serving at...

The church is predominately black, and one of the themes emphasized by the pastor and staff the morning we attended was a desire to be a church where everyone could be at home, no matter what race or culture a person comes from. I took them at their word and decided to call the church office to see if they would consider hiring a white pastor onto their (then) all black male pastoral staff. I wasn't sure how my frank questions would be received, but ironically it seemed to be exactly what they were looking for. They wanted to continue to grow multiculturally and they needed someone who was not affraid to talk about issues of race openly and honestly. My risk had paid off and I was able to go meet with their executive pastor, Lamonte Lawson, a couple of weeks later. The more I learned about the church, the more I desired to get involved. The have a very concise and clear model for discipleship, which is a key to a healthy church in today's world (check out the book Simple Church for more on this). But more importantly than that, I was convinced that the people I would be serving under were sincere men of God, who were seeking Him and His will for their church and loved His people.

At that point we began a fairly extensive one to two months of interviews, meetings and the like. I met pastors. I met staff. I met parents. I met students. It was intimidating at times, but the Lord kept showing me little ways that He was with me: through a song, through a psalm, through an encouraging word or prayer from strangers, even through very specific symbols that He had given me as signs of His blessing... I was impressed by the involvement of the families at the church and the character of all the people I met.

I finally signed the papers last week. It was a perfect match. I couldn't believe how God had orchestrated everyone of our desires into His plan! What a loving Father. He listens to His children. Not that there won't be hard times and conflict between myself and others- but it was the match the Lord had ordained. I had a very clear sense of that and so it is easier to hold on through the hard times when I can remember that. I have already starting meeting with people within the Student Ministies department and am excited by what I see. I cannot wait to get started full time on Friday. Please pray for God's blessing on our time at MVCC. We are thankful for this opportunity and even in this long entry I feel as if I have only scratched the surface in telling of how faithful God has been to us through this whole process. Bless Him.

Time to Celebrate!

2007-06-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

What a joyous time in the Lemons' family! Of course we continued to celebrate Josiah's second birthday for the second week as you can see in the picture above. Papa (Cam's grandpa on the right) was in classic form ready to share in the delight. My favorite part of the day was when he shared how he climbed a two-story high organ pipe in delight after he received the Holy Spirit some sixty years ago. I wish I had his story telling on tape. He is such a performer!

The birthday party was a fire engine theme as you can see from Jenelle's impressive creation below. That fire engine cake was complete with ladder, sirens and windows. Josiah's favorite was the front windshield!

We had a great Memorial day BBQ with our friends Danny and Jen and some new friends Brandon and Laura (she is pregnant with her fourth- hopefully a girl this time! :). Oh how wonderful it is to be back in the land of Carne Asada and Guacamole!!!

Another exciting development was the return of Cam's brother Evan. He is home for the summer from Fresno State where he is studying Kinesiology. What a joy to be laughing together in person again. He has been a huge help with the boys and as a bonus he brought the Nintendo Wii and PS2 Guitar Hero with him! Always a blast.

Finally, last but not least.... Cameron has a job!! How exciting and a long time in coming. Cameron will be serving as Pastor of Student Ministries at Mountain View Community Church in Temecula. You can check out the website at www.mtvcc.org. Thank you all for you prayers and concerns. We have greatly appreciated it. I cannot wait to start serving with the wonderful staff at mvcc! They have a large growing student program (ages 5 to 25) and I am honored to be able to work to see these students grow in the Lord and be used as his agents of love in this world. I really feel like this is the perfect position for me at this time. I will be officially starting June 15th. At that time I will be meeting with the many different ministry leaders to learn how I can support their service and help introduce new ideas and opportunities. Because this blog filled up with other celebratory news I think I will save our testimony of how the Lord opened up this opportunity for us for later this week. Until then God Bless and keep in touch.

Memoirs of a Holiday

2007-05-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Friends!!! What a wonderful and exhausting week it has been! We had a laughter filled (but unfortunately not sleep filled) trip up to the Ventura area. Thanks to everyone for their prayers, Cameron's interview on Saturday went wonderfully- we are waiting for some final details regarding the job to come through later this week and we will be excited to share more as it develops.

After the interview we promptly drove up to my parents house and had a birthday party for Josiah.

The theme was the "Cars" movie (one of Josiah's favorites, and a cute movie I might add). You can see Josiah below with his cousin Ian in their matching Cars' attire. We had a great time re-connecting with family. I (Jen) was especially blessed to get to see my dear friend Tricia who was visiting from Atlanta

We also had the joy of hiking near Solvang (the pic on the right is Cam and JB sitting next to the trickle that is Nowoqui Falls). Grandma and Grandpa Olson were in their top hospitable form. Grandpa Olson taught Josiah how to ride a stick horsy and picked up a future walking stick that he is in the process of sanding and equiping for the little guy.

Here is Kanga-Jen with little Jordan-Roo in her pouch at Josiah's birthday. We had a great time seeing the little ones bouncing up and down with excitement over presents, treats and just plain fun with the cousins.

Below is a video of the cousins- Emma, Ian and Josiah- all working on fixing the Bball hoop together!

We also had the pleasure of seeing our good friends Brie Talbot and Mark Marzov get married in Ventura. The ceremony was beautiful with butterflies landing on the bride's dress and birds flying overhead in idyllic wine country. We had the pleasure of contributing some music to the ceremony and inspite of some techinical complications beforehand the music turned out great. We really enjoyed being a part of their celebration.
We also got to meet up with our friends Dan Ramming and his wife Steph. We had such a great time catching up and sharing our kindred spirits for God's work among the poor and oppressed. We also got to stumble upon a renaissance festival which included grown men who during the week store up their aggression in their cubicles so they can blast each other with heavy swords and sticks on the weekend. It was quite entertaining!

Bedhead and Baseball

2007-05-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

The above we like to call "Quintessential Josiah."
Well thank you all so much for praying for us... Cameron's interview went great!!! The Holy Spirit was orchastrating every detail. We will let you know as soon as we hear back. We are enthusiastic about the possibility!

Last night, with Jordan in tote, we went to a minor league baseball game with Cameron's dad. Hot Dogs, Cracker Jacks, Foul Balls right next to us, our feet on the dugout... what more can you ask for?? Today we head to Ventura for a week... Can't wait to see all you loved ones up North!!!

2007-05-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but... the Lemons family made yet another trek to the San Diego Zoo.
Like I said, we're addicted.
This time we saw exhibits that we had never seen before- namely the polar bears and the frolicking hippos. Cameron and I agree that our favorite sight was the otter exhibit where the monkeys and the otters were playing together

Speaking of which, We've got a couple of monkeys of our own!!!!

Mischievous monkey:and Thoughtful Monkey :

One of Josiah's favorite exhibits was the turtle aquarium:

Thank you all so much for checking our blog, we love and miss you all. Please pray for Cameron- he is going in for another interview for a church we are excited about here in Temecula. The interview is this Saturday at 9:30 and afterwards we are.....
Going to Ventura for a week to celebrate mother's day, Josiah's 2nd birthday (can you believe it!) and Brie and Marks Wedding! We can't wait!

S'mores in Doors?

2007-04-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

This week was Cameron's Mom's Birthday.

To celebrate we went out to Cosi's Cafe where we were able to feast on delicious hearth baked goodness... and (as Grandpa Bob demonstrates for us to the right) we were given real fire at our tables to roast s'mores! (*the boy giving the tumbs up in the back is our cousin Scott)

Another higlight was getting to have Danny and Jen Scott over for dinner. Their daughter Savannah (video below) helped break in a play structure we recieved for free from our neighbors.

And last (but in no means least), Cute Chub-a-wub-a below (also known to some as Jordan) broke his first tooth, learned to scoot forward on the ground and learned how to sit on his own this week!!!! Somebody slow this kid down! I'm not ready for him to grow up so fast!

A Belated Easter

2007-04-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

At last, here are some picts. from Easter at Alana and Corey's house (Cam's sister and her hubby).

Josiah was in heaven with tractors, horses, dogs, cats, a pool... and easter egg hunts!!!

Below is a picture of the whole Lemons crew out devouring crispy tacos, and other mexican delights.
Thanks for putting us all up Alana! We had a great time.

Welcome to The World Hannah Noelle!!!!!

2007-04-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry Guys, this blog is mostly for the Ladies, especially all you pregnant ladies (Jess Dunbar... and others I am not sure I should name -*wink wink)!

We wanted to invite you all to celebrate with us as our friends Danny and Krista (Maine) welcomed their second child into the world. Hannah Noelle (6 lb. 14 0z.) was born on April 7th at 10:30 AM. She was delivered by her Daddy in the BACK OF THEIR FRIEND'S CAR, only two hours after labor started! Congratulations Steeles on a job well done!!!!

Camping in Yosemite

2007-04-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Above is the beautiful Yosemite Valley, sparkling gem of California and home to the Lemons' family for the last week. Below is the whole camping crew: starting on the right is Bebe (Grandpa Bob) next to his bride Dede (Grandma Dhana). Next over is Evan (Cam's brother) and his girlfriend Sarah. Then of course the little Lemons- Cam holding a squirmy Josiah and me with Jordan on my back.
One of Jen's favorite moments was a peaceful evening bike ride through a medow where she got to watch a sunset in stormy skies which illuminated Half-Dome in pink lighting.

Some of Cam's favorite moments were playing horseshoes with his brother, throwing leaves off the bridge into the waterfall with Josiah, and the morning walks with Jen and the boys.

Josiah's favorites include the bus rides (he would cheer and clap as the shuttle approached) and the hikes to the waterfalls and the powerful mist they created.....but you don't have to take my word for it:

And to crown the week we were able to spend easter at Alana and Corey's house (Cameron's sister and brother-in-law) where we did an Easter egg hunt, had a huge Easter feast (I seem to remember large chunks of ham for multiple meals during that day) and Josiah got to ride on tractors and on Auntie Alana's horse.

Giddy-up!

And for you viewing enjoyment, here's a little Ansel Cameron:

Where is your favorite camping spot?? Tell us about it!

2007-03-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Me (JEN) : "Do you want any help putting on your glasses 'siah?"
Josiah: "NO."......

The past couple weeks have been full. Some of the top highlights have been:
1) Getting to meet up with old friends! Kristin Schwabauer came out from Mass. helping to lead a Gordon College missions trip down to Mexico. After the week long trip we were able to rendezous in Coronado, CA (a little island off the coast of San Diego that has a bridge to the mainland). Also we were able to reconnect with Grace Chisholm (forgot to take a picture!) when she drove down to spend an evening with us last week. How refreshing it was to get to spend time with my sisters.

2)Cameron got some guy time- Picture one is Cameron as a co-pilot in a small plane with his dad and his dad's friend Ron. Picture two is Matt Wiggins scoping out all the tennis moves at the Pacific Life Open in Palm Springs. Cameron and Matt got free day passes to watch the Pro's hit it up. It was televised live and so Josiah and I listened as Cameron shouted "I love you Jen" and other fun things to us via ESPN2. Too fun.

3) We celebrated Cameron's Grandma's (Mimi) 80th Brithday with a big family celebration including a couple rounds of cribbage, poetry, and strawberry shortcake. (You've got to love strawberry season in California!)

2007-03-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dad!!!! Today is Jen's Dad's Birthday! Since we couldn't be there in person to wish you a happy birthday Josiah wanted to send a little birthday greeting via a video blog.

We love you Curtis!

Camera at Last!

2007-03-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here we have a photo montage of recent weeks... enjoy.
Sweet Sisters (Jenelle and Claire).
Soul Sisters (Jenelle and Becky).
Cousins (Josiah and Ian).

Villa Vista (the view from our Valentine's patio).

Lovers in love (the inside of our Valentines villa).

Operation 'O' (Jen's dad's band- O stands for old)

Team Tennis (Jen has been honing her skills).

Missing Camera

2007-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

Well, these pictures really have nothing to do with our week because our camera fell out of my purse at Toppers Pizza in Ventura... but thanks be to God some honest person turned it in and it is being shipped to us as I write.

When we get our camera back we will have to show you our wonderful week which includes our first romantic getaway w/o our oldest boy, Jen's b-day up in Ventura, the Lord's healing of Cam's eye and the completion of the house painting. Until then, may God's richest blessings be with you. Talk to you soon.

2007-02-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

What can we say, we're addicted to wildlife! We got season passes to the wild animal park and the San Diego Zoo. So this week we took a field trip to the zoo. One of the best attractions in my opinion were the peacocks they let roam around . We got lucky, it is spring time out here so all the male peacocks were strutting their stuff (above). But before we go any further we must announce the winner of the best monkey-poser (2 blogs back). Though everyone got voted for... (drumroll please) "Pregnant Jenelle" took the cake, with "Booty Matt" coming in a close second (thanks to all of you who voted!!). Below is an encore from the defending champ herself, it's called "Baby in Tote".

Besides our eventful day at the Zoo, we've had a busy week: We visited our dear friends Brie and Mark (Yeah!), celebrating a couples bridal shower with them and their rowdy family. Cameron and Matt finished up painting the house (pictures to come next blog).

We got out and played tennis a few times, and we also introduced Jordan to the wide world of solid foods giving him his first taste of rice cereal. Which doesn't seem very eventful but from a mother's perspective is monumental. Finally, the other eventful part of our week was... RAIN! The picture below is Josiah all decked out and ready to go play in the mud puddles with Cameron.

Romance is in the Air

2007-02-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Just a clip of our valentines day: Cameron and Scott (his cousin) cooked dinner for me and Brittany. It was a candle lit dinner and we were all decked out in formal attire and it was DELICIOUS- Chicken Parmesan with asparagus , an exotic salad and some fun drinks. The kicker was enjoying chocolate dipped strawberries (that they hand dipped), and bubbly drinks in front of a cozy fire and then finishing the night off with the always exciting (thank you Margarita and Marcos) Puerto Rican Scattagories . And tonight the Valentines fun continues; thought up by Cameron and sponsered by his parents we will be leaving Josiah with the Lemons and spending the night at a local vineyard- our FIRST overnight getaway without Josiah- Amen!

Hey, Hey We're the Monkeys

2007-02-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

This week we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (one of our favorite places to tromp around) with Grandma Lemons.
What a blast!

Here he is with Cameron feeding the white spotted deer. We rode the train, fed the birds and got to see a baby rhino. It was probably Josiah's favorite day of his life!

Ironically, one of Josiah's highlights was the construction going on in the park. We got to get up close and personal with cement mixers, dump trucks and the always pleasing back-hoe diggers. Usually I would be irritated with all the construction ruining the ambiance, but Josiah had so much fun admiring all the big machines that I was actually glad that there was construction! It's fun to see things through the eyes of a child again.

Here are a couple of pictures from years in the past. Let's have a vote. Who's your favorite monkey impersonator?

1) Normal Jen

2) Pregnant Jen

3) Evan (Carmeron's bigger, younger brother)

4)Regular Cameron Lemons

5) Adventure Cameron Lemons

6) Grizzly Matt

6) Booty Matt

Back to the Future

2007-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a mug shot of a couple of the roughest riders in the west. They are teaming up and keeping all the local parental authorities (both standard and Grand) here in California busy with their creative capers. Keep an eye out for them and keep them in your prayers as their many travels have left them with a variety of sicknesses (although nothing serious). We want to see them safe behind baby gate bars, but we want them alive and kicking as well...

Among other mishaps, Cameron and his longtime friend Matthew Wiggins (aliases include: Teo; Wig; Wiggy) tried to drive the Lemons 4Runner back across the country from MA through some of the worst weather the nation has seen all year. We will spare you all the gory details, but I will share this brief clip of driving though the Guatelupe mountains in Texas. This was shot the day after we had seen dozens of cars sprayed across the Texas highways including 12 semi's. It was definately the worst conditions I had ever driven through. Remember- this is driving on the highway and only moments before a semi-truck had passed us on our left!...

Praise God we survived the trip! Thank you all who were praying for us. We certainly needed it.

We don't have space to recount all our exciting adventures but I will mention a couple of highlights. Thanks to a Christmas gift from Jenelle we were able to stay in Manhattan and see a broadway play, which was amazing (note: don't EVER bring your car into Manhattan. Our $90 traffic ticket was the least of our worries!). Next we got to brush shoulders with some bigwigs down in DC with our friend Kristin Bailey. She brought us to the Capital to see the Senators vote on a Lobbying ethics bill. It was quite a treat. In this picture we are helping her move her bed into her first house. With the size of the stairwells and the number of bungies we had (namely one) it was quite a process to move this bed across town! But we enjoyed ourselves nevertheless.

From left: Billy, Shanna, Bonnie, Summer, Evelyn, Cam, Tim, Helen and Vet
One of our favorite parts of the trip was getting to meet my relatives in Arkanas, many of whom I had never met before. Of course Little Rock was getting record rain, but the rivers running down the streets didn't deter our visit. My dad's sister and her children graciously gathered from all over the state to come meet us. The Rapers are a sweet bunch of people and made sure to take us out to a hearty southern feast at the Dixie Cafe. We enjoyed plates of fried catfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, sweet tea and even some fried okra! We enjoyed the food and the experience. We got some great stories about 'Uncle Bobby' (Cam's dad) as well. And if we ever want to come back and hunt some 9 point bucks or some Razorbacks we have plenty of friends ready to take us in! Thanks for the hospitality family.

While Cam and Matt were slipping across the country. Jenelle was holding a stakeout for our two little wiley cowboys up in Ventura while she stayed with her folks. They survived through illness and insanity and even had a special visit from Kristen all the way from MA who was attending a mission leaders conference in L. A. We are now safely back in Temecula, CA and starting to get settled with new driving licenses, health care, and addresses and the like. Cam is helping around the house while we continue to search for what the Lord has in store for us next. We appreciate your love and support. Many blessings. The Lemons.

On the move

2007-01-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

While Cameron and Matt are making their trek across the country (they stayed in Little Rock with relatives last night), bringing our car to California, I took my own little journey with the boys: a 6 hour jaunt from Temecula (where we have been staying with Cameron's parents.. picture above) to Ventura (to visit my family). En route I was able to stop and see my dear friend Tricia (Picture below, although since our digital camera is traveling with Cameron I had to post an picture from a year ago) in Santa Monica. It was quite a treat for me since Tricia is residing in Atlanta where she goes to graduate school for public health. We had lunch (thanks for making it for us Trish!) and let Josiah run wild at a near by playground. Also, it is Tricia's Birthday this week on the 20th, so all of you who know and love Tricia (for to know Tricia is to love Tricia), make sure to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

A New Year

2007-01-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

We celebrated New Year's Eve with Cameron's family and some friends at the Lemons household. It was a blast. The highlight was our traditional make-your-own stirfry and fry it on griddles the middle of the table.

We have been enjoying our time wih Cameron's famly as you can see... (Picture one is Josiah playing with Cameron in the front yard and the second one is of when we went to the children's museum in Temecula)

Tomorrow Cameron takes off for New England with his good friend Matt. They will be driving our car across the country, making a few fun stops along the way. Please pray for their saftey and that everything will fall into place as they go. Also pray for me as I will be without Cameron's help with the boys.

A Silent Christmas

2006-12-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Greetings Friends and Family.

If you would prefer to watch a 9 minute video of our Christmas adventures rather than read the next blog down- here it is. Unfortunately the sound on our video recorder was having problems so all you will hear is music. Bummer. Josiah is the star of video and it includes his wrestling antics, first hair cut, shots of Jordon, our train ride up to Ventura, the annual Olson (Jen's mom) Christmas program, and some present opening with both sides of the fam. Hope you enjoy it.

Long December or Christmas X (You Pick)

2006-12-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of celebration. It was the age of frustration. It was the end. It was the beginning.

It's been a while since we blogged; Gauging by the number of significant events that have passed in our family's life I would say it has been a long while- like maybe a year. I do not have the energy left to paint the complex picture so let me use the most beloved literary tool of our time: the list.

A Christmas list if you will (in chronological order):

1. Cameron finished his career as a landscaper.
2. We said goodbye to all our dear friends in New England (you know who you are!)
3. We finished Cameron's 50+ page final project on spiritual growth (I'll add a link to it later for the brave and desperate...)
4. Josiah got the croup.
5. We spend two days moving out of our 2 bedroom apartment.
6. We broke down.
7. We pleaded for help from God and our friends.
8. We gave away over half of all that we owned.
9. We broke down again.
10. In the last hour before we had to leave for the airport (5 pm eastern) an army of friends, neighbors and strangers showed up from Lord knows where to help move and clean everything.(This was a true miracle to us!)
11. We praised God. (And we would like to give a special thanks to Clay- who packed our whole truck- The Bakers who watched our kids- Kristin- who cleaned and drove us and Jodie who cleaned things I don't even want to talk about)
12. We barely made our flight and got nearly no sleep on our 12 hours of travel.
13. We partially moved back into Grandpa Bebe and Grandma Dede Lemons' home in Temecula.
14. We rejoiced to be back with our wonderful family.
15. We took our first train up to Ventura (picture above) and rejoiced with more family.
16. Josiah began throwing up (once in dad's mouth!!!) and flooding diapers.
17. He passed this plague onto 12 family members in the course of 4 days!

18. We celebrated the annual Olson Christmas program with Jen's family and the boys started opening gifts (Picture of Josiah with cousin Ian below).
19. We returned to Temecula and the boys kept opening.
20. We saw nearly every Todd in the western USA at the Lemons, and yes, the boys are still opening presents.

We are now in the middle of Operation Recuperation and moving on to Operation Reschedule. Josiah is finally getting over his diseases, praise the Lord. The boys are spending a good deal of the night crying for their old familiar home, so we have a long way to go to get back on a steady schedule; but with the help of family we are starting to feel rested. We are enjoying beautiful California and are excited to be here. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers (and patience with our blogging!).

Video Much?

2006-12-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

A video is worth a million words, right? All right; It depends on who is writing I guess. In my case it is worth several million maybe. We are going to try this YouTube thing out. We would like to show you the good and the bad of being parents of 'Irish Twins' as our boys have been called. It may take a couple of edits before we get everything up and going but enjoy nevertheless. How fun to be able to share this online!

The Good...

This is the two boys looking forward to going for a trip to the store today. Fortunately mom decided to take them to the park while dad went to the store... What a releif!
The Bad...

The Beginning of the Goodbyes

2006-12-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

Goodbyes are like sour candy: sweet but leaves the mouth puckered. We've had a lot of puckered lips this week. One of the challenges of making a lot of wonderful friends at a transitional time in our lives like seminary is that we have to say a lot of goodbyes. In this picture we are having a special Christmas dinner with (from left) Brian and Jody Goldie, Gregg and Birdie Jennings and some new friends- Krista and Jason.

The evening was wonderful. We were laughing until my head ached late into the night. Birdie made some legitimate Rigatoni pie and Gregg pitched in with some homemade strawberry cheesecake. Yes, please! We played a game the Jennings made up, which we really enjoyed. Everyone is divided into two teams of four and then asked one question such as, "If you could make the next type of Barbie what would it be?" The teams break apart and everyone comes up with their own individual answer and has one person from their team write the answers on 4 individual index cards. Each member then holds a card with one of their team members answers. The other team is called back into the room and they have to rearrange the cards to place them on the people who actually came up with those answers. It gets funny when you are debating whether someone wrote 'Spelling bee Barbie,' 'Primordial Slime Barbie,' or 'Ghetto Booty Barbie.' It really tests to see how well you know someone! Ghetto Booty- that must be Brian!

We also said farewell to our friends Danny and Krista Steele and their little son Isaac. Krista came all the way down from Maine to see us one last time and Danny stayed up in Maine studying hard in medical school at the university. Thanks for coming!

Our neighbors the Bakers- God bless them- they took our two little boys for us last night and sent us out on our first date (with just the two of us!) since Jordan was born. We had a wonderful time. We went and saw the Nativity Story. It was wonderful. The angel Gabriel was a bit cheesy- like Casper the friendly ghost- and the picture was a little stiff and 'B' quality at times; but nevertheless it was reverent and moved us to tears on a number of occasions. It is just such a compelling story. A young family put to shame because they were chosen by God as the parents of the Messiah... captivating.

And of course, as you can see, our boys continue to grow into a pair of delightful characters. Josiah continues to grow in his affection for Jordan and the little one has really began to express himself through smiles and little cute noises. Once we have some time to figure it out, I will have some YouTube videos on here of the little guys. (My final project and our move are on Dec 19th- so it will definately be after that!) We would appreciate your prayers that our time here would finish well. We have a lot to pack, Cam has one last huge project and we need to get everything in order for graduation as well. Please pray God's blessing over us during this transition. Thank you so much! We love you all.

Cam and Jen

It Only Happens in December...

2006-12-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

We forgot to take pictures over Thanksgiving so we made up for it here at the beginning of this Holiday season! Thanks to everybody out there who is reading and commenting on our blog. This has helped us feel more connected to family and friends this year than any other time in our marriage. We are so thankful for it. I had no idea the title "Captain Butt Bomber" aka CBB

would be such a hit. I'll have to think of a use for "Captain Tannenbaumer" now... If you have any ideas let me know.

We couldn't help but to go out and get a Christmas tree for our little apartment this year. We have officailly begun our move back west (In case you haven't heard we are moving to Temecula, CA December 19th to be with family while we search for our next job- Hopefully serving as an assistant pastor somewhere out near our loved ones!). And while we were mailing off all our books and clothes and finding homes for our all our garage sale furniture we realized we needed some encouraging object of consistency! Our bargain Home Depot Christmas tree was just the thing! It came fully equipt with seven different points where our angel could sit... What options!

Jenelle has been busy packing up our home, planning final get togethers, helping our little ones flurish (Jordan is already 13 lb 8 oz!) and of course watching for any more CBB's that might be flying our way. Cameron is working on his final integrative paper, which has been a joy and a time consuming project. The project is on Pursuing Spiritual Vitality and is an exciting way to draw together many of the different classes and experiences of seminary into one final reflection/project.

Josiah is walking his plastic dog around our apartment to keep himself occupied. The cold weather means that he doesn't get outside quite as much as he once did. It is cooling off but we still haven't had our first snowfall of the year yet. This is the first year we've been out here when we haven't had a snow before Thanksgiving! If it doesn't snow in New England in December, what's the point!? We are hoping to have a beautiful snow and then we will be more than content to return to the warm California weather where our son can play with Granpa Lemons' real dog outside. We are going to miss all our wonderful New England friends but we are getting quite exciting to move back home and celebrate Christmas with our families...

Thanksgiving?

2006-11-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

(These are the boys trying to finish up their New England studies- Cameron reading Messiah in the Old Testament; Josiah reading Goodnight Moon)
I know this blog is supposed to be about our wonderful thanksgiving holiday, but we forgot to take pictures! Doh. We had an enjoyable evening with the Goldies, Jennings and Bakers and the food was great. Jen and I cooked our own turkey for the third year in a row; It's a family tradition :)

(By the way- This is Josiah showing his affection to his little brother with a Captain Butt Bomber.)

Jen and I wrote our first Thanksgiving song together. We decided there was not enough Thanksgiving music. Its too early to play Christmas music and it is way past scary Halloween music... Where in the world is all the Thanksgiving music!!? Well, we started the first official thanksgiving album and would appreciate if all you out there started writing contributing songs so we can have it on the market by next Thanksgiving- Thanks for you support. I wish we could share the song with you, but I dont think this blog does that...

There is one other noteworthy happening that I would be in trouble if I didn't share. The three Seminarians played their wives in a friendly game of Bible Trivia after dinner. (Who thought up those teams!!). Well, guess who won? You got it. The wives soundly beat their professionally trained husbands. Ouch... but if you want to know the details of the post exilic Samaritan nation and its relationship with Jerusalem, I'm sure any of these seminarians could help you out :)....

That was a shot of Ruth Perry holding our cute little Jordan.

This is mom with our bedheaded monster. More details to come on our upcoming move...

One Month Left!

2006-11-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Well, here is our plump little Jordan. What a little gem. I could stare at him for hours; and I do. He has been eating like a race horse. He was born an average size but has quickly jumped up to the 90% percentile for weight. He is starting to be able to follow movement with his eyes and has been sleeping great for his age: up to a 6 hour stretch in the evening! Praise God.

I just started using Google's free Picasa program for editing our pictures. It is a lot of fun. I recommend it. If you think the pics look great, or our skin looks really tan- don't worry and don't feel threatened- it has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with free technology downloadable for free on the web. Technology- filling our lives with endlessly delightful triffles!

I'm getting behind here by running my mouth- or my typing fingers I suppose. That was a shot of Josiah throwing a tantrum in the apartment hallway. He is impressively advanced in his tantrum throwing for a tike his age! :)

This is a shindig for our neighbor Brooke Baker's b-day. That is from left Derek (Brooke's husband), Bobby, Bridget, Brooke, Julie, Jen, Alicia and Jordan. We had a great time with Guesstures, brownies and some fine ol' cheak-hurting conversation.

Finally Josiah blowing kisses with dad's hat danging. I can't believe we are going to be back in California in a month! Unbeleivable. We are still focusing on finishing classes, graduation, getting rid of our stuff, enjoying our last couple of weeks with dear friends and surviving two young boys , so we have not really even started thinking about moving. The time will be upon us in a blink! We are really excited about it... More to come later.

Leafworks, Sticks and Pain

2006-11-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Yet another painfully enjoyable week! Isn't it a wonder that parents still have enough of their wits left about them after their first two children get out of diapers to help their kids with fifth grade math! What a challenge. I think I spent more time changing diapers this week than sleeping. We had a couple of break downs, but it was just enough to bring us to our knees and find enough help and strength to continue on and even a little extra to laugh in the process.

Jen just had to take advantage of this fleeting New England fall with her creative powers. With Jordan dangling from her shoulders and Josiah doing his best to undue all her organizational effort, she cleared a path in the leaves to create a beautiful scene I like to call Pathway to the Next Season; Or you can call it 'leaves next to grass' if you want...either way. We thoroughly enjoy our leafworks and delight whenever these moments of inspiration actually meet the energy required to make them happen.

Her is Jordan snuggled up next to mama during a walk we took this week. How precious. After a sacrificial diet change by mom, including cutting out her sacred daily allotment of milk, the little guy is doing much better with his digestion. For a while there every fart and burp was like passing a kidney stone... or a kidney. But its much better now. Thank you Lord.

On our walk we went to visit our friends Birdie and Greg, but unfortunately we did not have the key to get into their aparment building nor a way to call them. We thought we would be sneaky and throw sticks at their window to get their attention. Well the good news is that Jen's aim was
accurate at the window which we were aiming at; the bad news is that we were aiming at the wrong window! A cute little Asian girl peeked her dark eyes over the window sill to look at what was running into her window and then turned around to report to her parents. We were so surprised and excitable by that time, we just turned and ran! Our laughter probably gave away our escape route. We only realized later upon reflection that our friends must live on the third floor instead of the second! Well, we continued on our way to the tire swing because we didn't want to enter back into the county where we were 'wanted' criminals! Yet another chapter in the escapades of the Lemons...

2006-11-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

This last week was such a delight. For Halloween we dressed Josiah and Jordan up as loins. Wait, I meant lions. As you can see in the picture, neither one of them were that excited about wearing their outfits. However, Josiah quickly warmed up to the idea once he walked outside our apartment and joined a small army of seminary kids walking up and down the apartment halls, filling their bags with goodies. I've got to shout out a "thanks" to the grandmas for providing cute little Jordan's costume and Josiah's treat bag.

Another highlight was when Cameron came home an let me take an hour off from "kid duty," to let me go to Gordon Conwell's Chapel. So while I got to listen to one of our favorite professors/preachers (Hadden Robinson), Cameron and Josiah carved a pumpkin together... I'm proud of how it turned out!:

Fallfest!

2006-10-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

Are these the saddest Jack-o-lanterns you've even seen or what?!

There is an explination for these deformities, but you'll have to read on to get the full story...

Okay, let's just take one minute to give a high-five for grandmas. Okay, good. My high-five went to Jordan, because he was the only one currently in the room and it included thanks for warm meals, getting out of the house, up-lifting conversation, clean floors, good advice and a partridge and a pear tree besides. As you probably guessed we had another grand-visitor this week: this time from the Lemons side of the family.

The Lemons boys were filled up with a whole lot of affection this week as you can see by Josiah's contented gaze whether taking a bottle or riding a dump truck (which incidently has a smaller race car squished between JB's rear and the truck because one piece of heavy machinery just isn't enough for that boy!:)

Well, here's the little secret. Jen threw me a smashing good B-day party with friends gallore, great leafy decs, cider, pumpkin pie and several funny games to enjoy. The highlight was the blindfolded pumpkin carving contest. Yes, that's right- 15 minutes, one knife, one blindfold, teams of two with only one person allowed to touch the pumkin-and that being the one who can't see! Fortunately everyone finished with the same number of digits they started with, but they were lighter a couple of laughs! What a great time. It could not have gone any better. Thank you Lord for good friends.
By the way Jen and my pumpkin was the second from the left and we lost the vote to the 3rd and 6th pumpkins! I demand a recount (but I must admit I was using the secret orange pumpkin carver rather than a steak knife). Maybe justice was served after all...

Epic Fall Chaos

2006-10-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

We found a babysitter for the little one already!... Okay, not quite; but it is a funny story how we got this great shot with Josiah holding little Jordan. Josiah had been flailing his arms everytime he got anywhere close to the little one. He would just get so excited that his arms would shoot out energy like firecrackers. In spite of this minor detail Grandma Cheryl kept asking for a picture of Josiah holding Jordan. Well, I just looked at her like she was suggesting dangling our little one over the rim of the Grand Canyon. Are you serious!
Well, it turns out that Josiah just needed someone to give him a little responsibility and trust him- Fortunately Grandma hadn't been around Josiah enough to know better than to do that. He has responded like a responsible older brother as we have allowed him to start to embrace his new role (while HIGHLY suppervised!).
Well, we promised some fall photos from New England and we have more than we could share. It was quite a process this week to trim down our blog to JUST five photos to share. We've been busy with our family of four and our camera during this glorious season. I love that shot of Josiah playing the piano with me; Notice his single little finger pushing down the key and his blue boots with orange PJ's... It reminds me of a Dr Suess character! Oh gosh- I must be a dad!
This was some fall earthworks we did this weekend. It was REALLY windy out so the leaves kept flying away while I was trying to get them to stay in place! Chaos. Not the best day to choose for this type of art... Our inspiration is Andy Goldsworthy. You can Google him. Leaves would dance for the man if he asked them to; And his knees never end up in the pictures either (notice the bottom left of the pic! Oops).

This is Jordan's first bath! He took it like his normal thoughtful self. No crying, but some disgruntle frowns when he got a little cold. I've never seen anyone who likes the heat like Jordan. I think he would appreciate it if we moved his crib into a dry sauna.

Jen continues to rebound magnificently. I mean just look at her! She looks great and athough the sleep is scattered between two crying children she has been taking it in stride. We would appreciate your prayers for patience and gratitude in the midst of all the chaos. We're going to pick up grandma Dhana later today which we are so excited about. Blessings. Cam

Week #1 of Having #2

2006-10-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our first family photo! It really captures our lives these days... Baby peacefully sleeping, beautiful New England fall scenery, mom with her hands jammed full, dad trying to keep a smile and Josiah bouncing off the walls! Wow, a family of four. What a challenge; what a delight!

Jordan has been a little saint in green pajamas. All of Jenelle's dreams came true of a child who actually sleeps, breathes quietly and keeps some of his emotions internalized. Josiah on the other hand has been boiling over at full temperature. He loves the little baby and helps out trying to comfort him occasionally which is adorable, but all the excitement and change has led to his already passionate temperment tossing him around rough seas.

Fortunately Jordan wasn't the only saint in our home this week... We had a heavenly visit from our mom Cheryl! Ohhh to be free again to study, work, and tend to our newest addition! How sweet the time when a grandmother comes bearing warm pumkin pies, savoury chicken pot pies and groceries galore- when all of our laundry is washed and folded, and Josiah has a favorite companion to swing with at the park. Suddenly life with two children is as a stroll through a blooming garden, not without thorns, but beautiful to the heart and senses. It makes one long for a time when such visits never end...

Celebrations!

2006-10-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Jordan's Oth birthday party (or is that Ost?)! We have been recovering back at home for the last couple of days and doing all we can to get some winks of sleep and discover how to raise two boys simultaneously. Josiah has been a bit weary of the transition as his parents keep gawking over some other child. Fortunately we have been getting some help from some friends: Thanks so much for all that have come to visit us and support us during this time! It has really refreshed us and given us energy to pour into our boys and each other.
Special thanks to Kristin Schwabauer (did I spell that right?) who has been Josiah's surrogate mother the last couple of days, and Clay and Larissa Proctor (to be...) who have been such a support. God bless you all for your generosity at a time when we have little to give in return.

Jordan's Oth birthday was a kick. Along with Kristin, Clay and Larissa, our friends Ruth and Logan Perry and their son Josiah (not a typo!) came down from Maine to see us and we were able to enjoy a delicious meal, talk and watch a room full of boys fight over a John Deere toy tracter together. What a delight!
Jen is doing well and recovering quickly. Nevertheless we eagerly await the arrival of Jen's mom Cheryl who is graciously coming out to help us for a week starting Monday. Thank you all again for joining us in this special time of joy and celebration. It would not have been complete without you all!

¡Es un muchacho!

2006-10-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

The day finally arrived! Wednesday evening Jenelle started having a couple of strong contractions while finishing her grocery shopping and she knew; This was it! After a mad rush to eat dinner for dad, getting Josiah ready for our friends the Bakers and grabbing everything we had packed up we were off to hospital. It was just in time! Jenelle body only knows one speed for having children: !Rapidamente! We barely had time for Jen to get an epidural, but it kicked in just in time to slow down the sprint. Unfortunately it did not completely work; But Jen labored wonderfully and though she experienced a lot of pain she made it through with an aura of grace- as you can see from the pictures! Our friends Birdie and the Goldies (that sounds like a band name doesnt it :) were there to witness the miracle and the nurses were quick to inform them, "Do not think this is how it really is! Birth is supposed to be much more complicated that this!" Praise God- everythingcould not have gone gone better. Thanks for your prayers and joy!
This is the precious little one! We are so excited! He is so beautiful. Jordan Nathanael Todd Lemons is his name...Wow, thats the first time I have ever written it; what a delight! He was 20 inches, 7 lbs and 13 oz. He only took 4 hours from start to finish to be born (and it would have been sooner if Jen didnt have to wait for me to return to start pushing because I was making some phone calls!). He truly 'descended' as his name implies in Hebrew.

This is the first time the brothers ever met! Josiah was so delighted that he was giving Jordan kisses and hugs (along with pats on the head). They are as unique as can be. Jordan's head is about half the size of Josiah's 99th percentile whopper. Jordan seems very serious and 'stately' as our friends the Gonzales put it as opposed to our passionate little tike Siah. I can't wait to see them continue to blosson into their own persons. But for the meantime we are overjoyed to savor each moment of these precious times!

September's End

2006-09-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Jen's still pregnant! No little number 2 yet; but its getting close... We had a false alarm this week while we were out on a date at Barnes & Nobles! It turned out to be something Jen had eaten apparently :) The due date is not until October 13, but Jen is considered full term now and the way she feels is that the little guy is coming any day. (Father's Note: These seem like the longest weeks of a family's life because you are hoping and hoping that the baby will come but the little one seems in no rush to leave his snuggly home...)

The top picture is from a little Sunday drive we did last week through New Hampshire. Some of the trees were in full glory already! There is nothing like fall in New England. We will have to try to snap some pictures this week to include you in the fun. The restraunt is Craker Barrel, a southern brunch extravaganza! I had been trying to get the family to Cracker Barrel for about 6 months and it finally happened! AHH...

These pictures are from an excursion to Patton Park with the boys this morning. Mom has been needing lots of rest these days so the fellas have been getting some quality 'water and mud' time.

After our little scare this week the place is suddenly ready for the second little one to arrive! The house is spotless, the storage is full, the space is clear and now all we need is a little peanut to fill the void! Maybe next time we blog we will have some news to share!....

Party Week!

2006-09-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

New babies can put the party life on hold for a time, and since little Lemons' #2 is expected any day now we've been livin' it up while we can. Here's a glimpse into our fun, friend filled week:
Margarita's Birthday
Though it took until 9:20pm to get seated at the Cheescake Factory (we waited 2 1/2 hrs!!), and then we found that they only had about of a third of the entrees that we ordered, nothing could stop the roaring laughter of this spirited crew. It was a fun excuse to get a baby sitter and head into Boston with Margarita and Marcos, and Camilla and Kelvin.
Bible Trivia and Dutch Babies
Of course here at seminary we have to get in our weekly recreational allotment of Bible Trivia. Our neighbors, Brooke and Derek, triumphed over us this time, but luckily nothing could dampen our spirits after Cameron made "Apple Dutch Babies" with some of the apples left over from apple picking. Here's a taste of the excitement:'How many Books of the Bible do not contain the word "God"?' (answer will come later in comments)
The Vicarious Birthday Party
After we were taken out to a hearty dinner at Outback, Larissa, Clay, and Kristin came over to celebrate Ruth Perry's Birthday (who just happened to be in Maine at the time!)... But we had a great time singing to her over the phone and blowing out her birthday candles!

The Bumpy Road
Playgrounds can be quite trecherous for a boy in hot pursuit. Josiah took a spill while chasing a little gal up the slide this week. Oh the heart breaks of being a parent!Speaking of hard knocks, the whole Lemons family is going through that joyous and hair pulling experience of finishing school and looking for work. We are hoping to be able to serve at a church back in CA near family and friends come December so please keep your eyes open for opportunities and pray for us when you think about it.

Snapping Away

2006-09-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

What a joy it is to capture the Lord's beautiful handiwork with a photo! Unfortunately most of the time I find myself looking at my photos and thinking, 'that does not look anything like the actual moment!' It is quite a process to start to manipulate your camera in a way that starts to do justice to the profound events we desire to capture in a picture. For a novice like myself a digital camera goes a long way in bridging the gap and a little inspiration from the documentary on Ansel Adams helps as well.

The Lemons are just starting their journey of photography thanks to a wedding gift from the Olson aunts and uncles on Jenelle's side. It has brought us more delight than we could have ever expected! We appreciate your feedback and tips as we share some of our attemps at this newly discovered craft.

Weekly Update

2006-09-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins out from California last week! We got to explore all the history around the Boston area, eat seafood fresh off the ocean floor, visit a museum full of creative kids stuff, hike around the beautiful Northshore and best of all we had lots of time to hang out and talk and laugh together. Thanks mom and dad for coming out~! It was a joy to share our lives out here with you.

In less significant matters the Lemons set a couple of family records this week: We found history's largest Zuchini (I'm sure of it:) at the farms market this week. We have been brainstorming ideas of how we can eat it. We already sauted it and we have so much left I think we are going to have to cut it into Zuchini pancakes for breakfast and Zuchini burgers for dinner!

Count those 38 levels on Jenga! All while watching Ben-Hur on our computer! Can anyone compete? It was the first game of Jenga we had played in years...who knew we had such potential lying dormant without an outlet...:)

Apples and Things

2006-09-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up early to enjoy an annual Lemons tradition; Celebrating fall with a cup of hot cider and an apple donut at Russel Orchards in Ipswich, MA. The farm is a traditional New England homestead with farm animals, a country store and hay rides out to pick your own apples in their orchards.

Josiah remembered how to say "duck!" from his time with grandpa in CA; It was adorable. He loved all the chickens, rabbits, sheep and tractors. (Any large machine that makes a lot of noise overwhelms him with delight:) He was not as impressed with Big boy- the 800lb pig- as I was!

The morning was filled with laughter and praise as we enjoyed the beautiful country atmosphere, sipped our warm, sweet cider and watched our son run in circles with enough stimus to wear him out in just an hour. Jen's favorite part was showing Josiah how to pick apples. As she demonstrated how to pull an apple from the tree Josiah dived forward and took a big bite out of her apple! He then proceded to eat half the apple with the juice running down his chin all by himself! What a pure sight to see a boy with his freshly picked apple. Praise God!

Poem from Josiah to Baby Brother

2006-09-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

From Number One to Number Two

My peeps tell me I'm havin' a "brother,"
but the truth is I just figured out how to call my mother,
I'm much more interested in important things like tee-tee*,
and loud trucks and waking up to listen to the birdees.

I like other kids and I wish I had one of my own,
then I wouldn't have to pound my preludes on the piano alone,
but as usual I ask for one thing and get another,
I wanted a friend but instead I'm getting something called "brother."

*Josiah's word for whatever we find in his diaper.

Cameron

FALL!?

2006-09-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

I wrestle with the changing seasons of New England. The summers, though spectacular, seem too short and the winters always seems too long, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what spring is (usually by the time the snow melts summer has popped up). And yet something in me craves the rhythms of this wild place. If I’m honest, deep within, there is a longing for these patterns. Somehow it feels appropriate and healthy to shift gears with the unstoppable, changing earth around you.

As we arrived back from California we found the first sprinklings of Fall awaiting us. In the two weeks we had been gone the air had already abandoned its relentless humidity, and in its place received us with the type of crisp autumn air that makes my eyes open a little wider and makes me breath through my nose and, if its not too cold, makes me feel a little more alive. And now as we drive around, (we took a Sunday drive to visit the town of Lexington where the first shot of the Revolutionary War was fired) we get to see splatters of vibrant color everywhere. My favorite trees are these ones that are turning yellow. I don’t know their name but they aren’t changing in big chunks or in a gradual manner, but in tiny patches and I think it looks like God took a yellow paintball gun to them.

Anyways, the fall atmosphere seem appropriate as we knuckle down into this next semester of school and work, and begin making preparations for Josiah’s little brother to come join us. So, even though it feels like summer was taken from me too quickly, like when a waiter takes your salad away before you were finished, I am glad for the fall, and look forward to making a pumpkin pie to celebrate it soon.
Jenelle

A Blog at Last

2006-08-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
After a wonderful weekend of camping in Yosemite for Eric and Carolyn's wedding (what a great reunion of friends!) we were inspired to begin a blog. We hope that this will be another avenue to keep in touch with our world traveling friends and our dear families.
Peace,
Cameron and Jenelle