More pictures of Victorian Christmas

Pretty building.



This was our Christmas card picture.

Uche and I spent the afternoon in Nevada City with our friends checking out the festival. It's a small town that's right in the gold country of California. It was super crowded, so it was kind of hard to see everything, but it was a festive Christmas activity.

Victorian Christmas in Nevada City

Yay! Mochas are a good thing.



The street was closed off to traffic and lined with vendors selling everything from fudge to fortune readings.



Uche having fun.



There was quite a crowd to wade through.



Locals dress up in Victorian costumes and tons of them had their little dogs with them.

Ice Skating

Uche on the rink.



Uche showing off using no hands to skate.



The one picture of Sarah from our day ice skating.

Uche and I decided to head up to Mt. Shasta City to go ice skating the day after Thanksgiving. We had been up early shopping and didn't feel like stopping the fun. So we headed north to the outdoor skating rink. We had a great time and it was a perfect day for ice skating.

Party for Uche

Some friends from our church organized a party for me at their house. They wanted me to have not only a Nigerian party but also an American party. So we had, among other things, some "jumbo" size hot dogs and beans (for tradition). They also made me wear the captain's hat to represent American traditional clothes.

It is amazing to see everyone around here so happy for me, people still congratulate me even till today. I thought it was going to be a personal/family experience, but boy, was I wrong! It became a community experience.

A day after I became a citizen someone asked me if I feel any different. I told him that I'm still the same person. Nothing has changed; same old same old..

This whole experience reminds me of when I first became a citizen of Heaven. I didn't have to go through some hurdles; Christ did that for me. All I had to do was realize and accept that I'm a sinner, believe that Christ died for my sins, and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. There was far more jubiliation then. There was a big party in heaven, and folks in Manila were also happy for me. Luke 15:7. I became a changed man, living with a purpose.. to worship and honor God, to love Him and love my neighbors.

I am far more excited that I'm a citizen of heaven. 1 Pet. 2:9

More Pictures of Uche's U S Citizenship/Naturalization

After the oath taking ceremony



Uche with his Naturalization certificate.

Green House Emission

duu

Party Pictures

Cooking for the party. We had a couple of Nigerian women friends of ours come and cook the food. The big pot has the stew. It's a tomato based stew with onions, chili pepper and spices with goat meat that's eaten over rice. The other pot holds fried goat meat. Tastes like chicken! Just kidding, I thought it tasted like pork.

This just shows the food on the table outside. I had bought a couple tablecloths in Nigeria that have African scenes on them, so we had very festive looking tables. The other table (sorry, no picture) had the American food (hotdogs and chips) for those who weren't quite ready to deal with the goat meat.

This was the drink and cupcake table. Cupcakes translate in any culture.

We set up everything outside. We strung lights in the trees, so it wass really cool looking. It did get a little cold, but we dealt with it.

Uche looks very Nigerian here, but the American flag is the reminder that he's a man with two countries. :) We dressed in traditional Nigerian clothes. A few people borrowed from us since they didn't have their own outfits.

This is the group in our living room.

Here's the lovely women.

And the handsome men.

Poor Eugene

Eugene was a goat Uche purchased a couple months ago with goat pepper soup in mind. So, last night poor Eugene was prepared for pepper soup. I do have other pictures of this process but I won't disgust you with them.
This Saturday we will be having a party at our house to celebrate Nigerian Independence Day (October 1) and Uche's successful citizenship application. We'll be having goat pepper soup, goat stew (cooked Nigerian style) and other goodies. I'll post pictures from that after the party. Anybody want to come over and eat goat??

Ahoy, me hearty

That's how we're supposed to greet each other on Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 19, today. I'm not kidding. Check it out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Talk_Like_a_Pirate_Day

Camping in Tahoe

Last month we were able to go camping at Lake Tahoe with our friends. If you haven't been to Tahoe- you must go. It's gorgeous!! The weather was fantastic and we had a great time. Here's some pictures of our fun weekend.

This, of course, is the lake. I think sailboats look really pretty on the water.

Uche posing on a rock. You can see how clear the water is. Just beautiful...

Here's pretty much what our plan for the weekend was. Sit next to the lake. Enjoy some snacks and just relax....

Ok, can you see that little chipmunk? It was fearless. While we were sitting in our chairs reading that little guy (or girl) kept running over trying to steal our food. He food start nibbling on the bags thinking he could get some of it.

This picture is blurry. But you can at least see our bbq filled with yummy food. Uche brought some yam to roast in the coals of the campfire. He's scraping the blackened part off so he can eat it.

I needed to read this today.

This morning I opened my Bible study book thinking I needed some reassurance from the Lord. Yesterday was kind of a sad infertility day. Most of the time I go along fine and don't really think much about not having babies, but yesterday I got sad watering my garden- random things bring on the sadness. I was sad because I wished the baby we lost was here, or even the hope there would be a biological child for us someday.
So, anyhow, I was doing my Bible study lesson (Beth Moore, A Women's heart, God's dwelling place) and I'll quote a little here. "If He has been forced to say no to you lately, rejoice! He is directing you to a point at which He can extend to you a resounding yes! Keep driving in His direction. A better yes is just around the corner."
I guess I'll just have to wait for His better yes.

Rom 8:28
28 We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. (Amplified Bible)

Random pictures from my kitchen this morning

Isn't that a crazy looking zucchini?? I picked it from the garden a couple days ago. It's now being baked as muffins. It smells pretty good right now in my house.
It's amazing how a "crazy looking zucchini" can taste so good in a muffin. Though our lives may look crazy, our perfect Father still desires to transform us into a sweet smelling aroma to the world around us, for His glory.

So, this is kind of a weird picture, but I'm quite proud of my dish rack stacking ability. Seriously, that's a lot of dishes stacked just perfectly.

The happs

Just thought I'd share what's been happening with us lately...

• Last weekend we went to Family Camp with our church. We had a really nice time. Got to take a nap Sat. afternoon, enjoy camp fire talking and I didn't have to cook all weekend.


• We went and saw the Bourne Ultimatum on Tuesday. We're fans. In the middle of the movie the sound went out for a couple minutes. People started yelling- nobody was happy till we walked out at the end, and we were all handed tickets to come back to another movie. Sounds good to me!!


• Last night we went over to my parents and had a little dinner celebration for my brother, Joel, who just returned from teaching English in Russia for 6 weeks. It was a beautiful night to sit out on the patio and eat tasty food.


• The weather has been beautiful which makes everything nicer for everyone. I'm in such a better mood when it's not a million degrees outside.


• Most importantly we bought a bike for me this week, so now I have my own and don't have to borrow. It had a minor repair to be done, so it's at the bike shop now. I'll post a pic of it later. The guys there said I got a steal. Thanks Craigslist!!

Biking

Last month my uncle gave Uche a bike. So, I borrowed my sister's bike and we've been trying to bike regularly. I've decided I really like to ride around on bikes- you're getting exercise, but you're having fun too! That's how I like to exercise. The other day we spent an hour on the Sacramento River Trail. At one point my legs were burning and I thought my lungs would explode, but then we made it to the top we got to come down. That was fun. Now we're looking for a bike for me, so we can do a lot of biking.

Trip & pictures

I've been wanting to post about our trip up north, so here it finally is! When the plans for a Multnomah reunion were being made we decided we'd not only go for that, but we'd also take a whole week and do the whole Pacific Northwest.
I went up a few days early to visit with friends, and Uche flew up to Seattle to meet me. Actually that was a great way to do it as I spent the days without Uche talking A LOT to my girl friends- he's glad he missed that!!
Uche and I went to Vancouver, B.C. for the day, so now Uche has been to Canada. We also spent a couple hours downtown Seattle. It was a definite whirl wind trip and we packed in as many visits with friends as possible! We enjoyed the Multnomah reunion. It was great for me to see old friends and Uche enjoyed meeting new people there.
It was great catching up with my friends in the NW. I don't get to see them very often, so we had a lot of catching up to do! As I get older and move around a lot, I really appreciate the friends I've made over the years. It's great to meet new people, but having history with someone is irreplaceable.
All in all it was a great trip, and I slept the whole way home cause I was so exhausted!!! Here's a few pics to enjoy...

So, I can't remember the name of this elephant at the Portland Zoo, but elephants are huge. Going to zoos always makes me appreciate God's creativity in his creation. I don't think I could've though up an elephant in a million years; all he did was say let there be elephants!

These poor little monkeys (or chimps, or whatever they were...) look how I felt. A Californian in the Northwest. We're all a little chilly all the time, and we're all looking for friends to huddle.

This self-portrait was taken by Shelby. Nice. We know how to have a good time! Actually, anytime spent with Shelbs is a good time!

Vancouver, B.C. This was taken from Stanley Park.

Fortunately there lots of tourists around to help take pics.

We set the camera up on the rock post for a timed picture, not bad, huh?

This was taken from the other side of Stanley Park.

Uche really like this bridge. It's the Lions Gate Bridge.

It reminded us of the Golden Gate, just green.

Music + Brownie= FUN

Uche and I went out tonight for a night on the town. We enjoyed some fun live music and a brownie sundae at a restaurant by the river. We sat outside in the patio area while enjoying the music and watching the crowd.

If you didn't already know, Redding has the world famous Sundial Glass Bridge. Yes, we're very proud... The restaurant sits at the end of the bridge. It's a great setting for a cool evening.

As we left the restaurant we ran into my aunt and uncle who were babysitting my niece and nephew. The kids were having a great time running around.

It was just a cool evening! Here's a picture of this world famous bridge! If you come visit us we'll take you there.