LA For A Weekend

I feel like some kind of jet setter or something: "Hey, let's fly to Los Angeles for the weekend." "Okay, let's go." Well, that's us. Sorta. The trip to LA was planned a couple months ago and the only way we could do this was because Allegiant Airlines has cheap (really cheap!) prices from Medford to LA. Oh… and back to Medford also -- that's somewhat important. The reason for all of this is that Josiah was in a community production of the Wizard of Oz. He was one of 3 guys in the Lollipop Guild in Munchkinland. He didn’t have a speaking part but grandpa and grandma just had to see his debut as an actor. He did very well and the whole production was great. The weather was rainy and cold (by southern California standards) but the weekend was terrific.

Ginger drove down to Lebanon Thursday and we all went on down to Grants Pass. Friday we drove to Medford, caught the plane and two hours later we were with Josiah and Lilly. Today (Monday) we flew back and drove back to Lebanon. But a lot happened during that time. I have pictures of the family but perhaps I should have a picture of the lack of water we had at our house in Grants Pass. We have had real cold weather – 9* in Lebanon, 15* in Grants Pass. I don’t know if our system froze up or what. We stopped today to check – it has warmed up to the low 40s. Still no water. So we locked the house and left. Deal with it later.

Friday with no water (we bummed a couple buckets full from the neighbor to wash up and flush the toilet) I went to McDonalds for coffee and a McMuffin. While I was eating, it started to rain. Remember, the temperature is about 20* -- that means freezing rain – on the roads – slick – we’re supposed to drive to Medford in an hour. So we left immediately. We made it okay but learned that later it was really bad with lots of accidents.

In LA, it was a whirlwind of activity. Jana had our time planned perfectly. We saw Josiah’s play Saturday afternoon. The brag pictures are below. Ginger and I took Lilly to see “The Princess and the Frog” because she likes princesses. Bad idea. Actually, she enjoyed it. But it is very heavy into voodoo and spells and magic charms, etc. All of that went right by her fortunately.

We celebrated Ginger’s and my birthdays. We celebrated Christmas. We went out to eat all the time (except for two meals). We attended church. Lilly attended a birthday party. We all shopped. And of course the play. All of that in 2 ½ days. It was great.

Now for the week ahead. Enjoy the pictures.

In the top picture, Josiah is the one in the center in the red pants. The girl in back on the right is Dorothy. She has her arm around Toto. Kind of cute -- he was played by a small child. In the bottom picture, Josiah is on the end in the front row. This was a cast picture.

Our LA family!

For the last two years Joyce and I have given gifts in the names of Josiah and Lilly. Last year it was goats and rabbits to help the underprivileged in Kenya. This year we gave 2 dozen chickens to families in Cambodia. We did this through Samaritian's Purse. I wrote a story about some children in those countries receiving the gifts and what it means to them. I print it as a simple book, with pictures, a map, and a picture of the national flag. Here Josiah is reading the story while Lilly is playing with a toy chick -- something to help them remember. The purpose is to help them become aware of needs in other parts of the world.

Ginger and Lilly