Happy Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving, with Silly Goose coming anytime, we couldn't travel to Magdalena to relive our engagement week and celebrate with all our friends there. It was so bittersweet to send off the group from Altadena without us, but we really did have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family here in L.A.!

Empty plates, and full stomachs!

Before Thanksgiving services at church on Wednesday night, we stopped by Little Tokyo in the afternoon for a fun date! We got the idea after a conversation about all the fun things we haven't "fit" in yet and should before Silly Goose's arrival. So now we have a list.  That's right.  And every day that our little bundle of joy puts off making his grand entrance is another day to enjoy doing something fun "just us". Hopefully having all this fun will help distract us from the mounting anticipation too!

Slurping my ramen (totally acceptable in Japanese culture, I'm told).

Jonathan's extended family and a few extra guests enjoyed a fantastic meal (see satisfied faces in the photo above) Thanksgiving Day.  There was turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, creamed onions, homemade caramel rolls, bread with homemade jam...WOW! Delicious!

Nathan enjoying his turkey leg! 

Beyond the amazing food, we enjoyed a glorious afternoon and evening of fun, laughter, singing, and great conversation!  And of course after we'd let the turkey settle a little...

PIE TIME! Mmm, nothing like pumpkin pie, whipped cream, and coffee! 

Overall, this Thanksgiving was perfectly wonderful! So much to be thankful for! As we sat watching the Hanukkah candles burn down the other night (Hanukkah began on Thanksgiving this year!) Jonathan and I counted our blessings--among so many other things, we're glad to have the job question answered and a healthy baby boy expected soon!

We stayed in Pasadena last night and spent a cloudy, rainy morning apartment hunting in Monrovia. It's so strange to think of leaving the Beach Cottage, but it will be so nice to have more room as we settle into a new normal once Jonathan starts his job. More change, here we come! 

We haven't found anything yet, FYI, this is just one of many we looked at.

In all the upcoming changes, there are so many emotions--everything from excitement to nerves. And lots and lots of unknown. Where will we live? Will we be moving with a one month old or a one week old? How will that go? And as we arrived back home at the beach after a few days away, I was struck by a kind of sadness. While I'm thrilled for the new and exciting days ahead, of course there's a hesitation to leave the familiar and comfortable.

We went for a walk along the beach this afternoon marvelling at the GIANT waves!

and talking through the mixed emotions of all the daunting changes ahead.

Good thing God is faithful! I remember thinking that as I packed up my things to move from Magdalena to California. Good thing He's still faithful!

News! News! News!

Finally! The job search is at an end! While it was a wonderful season of waiting and seeking out not only the different options, but also what God wanted for us, I'm glad the decision has been made. I don't think I can adequately describe those few weeks where God mightily revealed His power to open doors! He is the One who

"opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens." Revelation 3:7 

At first, Jonathan only had offers in Portland and Central Illinois, and while they were wonderful jobs, with great people, in locations that we love for different reasons, and lots of things seemed to make sense about either of them, we began to see God point us in the direction of staying here in California. So began the test of faith as we waited and watched in awe as God opened up two miraculous opportunities in the LA area. First, Mattel, in the middle of a complete hiring freeze, contacted Jonathan about interviewing with them. And through some connections at USC, Jonathan found himself presenting his dissertation and interviewing at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. After much discussion, prayer, an extension on our decision time, more prayer and discussion...Jonathan accepted JPL's offer.

So much feels "right" about our staying here (although this does mean a move to the Pasadena area), and we're confident God still has plans for us to be used here in LA. We're especially thrilled to be a part of Altadena church for awhile longer. We were blessed during this whole process of decision making as the church faithfully prayed for us, encouraged us, listened to us, and gave us so much Godly advice. I think they were pretty thrilled with the final decision, too!

While it's a great load off our minds to have the job decision made, we're facing some big, big changes, kind of all at the same time, so keep those prayers coming. In the next few months we'll be transitioning from the Beach Cottage to somewhere nearer Jonathan's work (moving), from the academic scene to "real life" (starting the job), and from being just us to a family of three (parenthood).

Speaking of that last major transition...

abundantly blessed by another baby shower, we are now ready (as ready as we'll ever be!) for Silly Goose's imminent arrival into our lives!

Part of preparing for becoming a family of 3 included

becoming a family of 2 cars!

Yes, the car seat is now installed, and we're ready to roll!

Great story about our new-to-us Mazda 5, Jonathan went to look at it the very evening we were in the middle of making the final job decision. While we were pretty sure what we supposed to do, I was feeling rather doubtful and struggling with the weightiness and semi-permanance of the whole thing. As I went out for a walk, once again chatting with God about the whole thing, I also reminded Him how I'd been praying for Him to provide us with a car for months and how nice it'd be if this was it! Jonathan called not too long after I got home.

Jonathan: Guess what! I think we got our new car. And guess what!

Me: Great! What?

Jonathan: The guy works at JPL.

Me: No way! Seriously? No way!

Yeah. Did I mention I'd been asking God for months for the right car to come along! Months! And all along, He had it worked out to happen at just the right time as to provide a little assurance when doubt started to creep in. He's just wonderful like that. And it's things like that that give me confidence as we're about to leap off a giant cliff of unknowns. He's been faithful, and He will be faithful. 

Which reminds me, I had the same sort of feeling right before saying "I do" and becoming Mrs. Sauder. And Jonathan and I had a good laugh then at this pretty right-on description from a favorite cartoon:

I guess as long as I'm tied to the same tree as Christ, I'll say, 

"Bring it on."

A taste of fall, breathtaking peaks, and lots of thinking.

By way of introduction to this post (and to get it over with!), I'll start with the baby bump photo.  Actually, this photo shoot wasn't planned, so it's not the best angle for showing off Silly Goose, but you get the idea.

Last week, we spontaneously up and drove off to Yosemite, partly because neither of us had ever been, partly because right now we can be spontaneous if we want to and that won't always be the case, and partly because we had a lot to think and talk about and a few days away was just the ticket!

It was a wonderful trip!  We got a taste of fall color and crispness as we took in the spectacular sights!

Cheesy smiles!

This was on our hike walk up to Mirror Lake.

Unfortunately, there was no lake.  Nor were there any waterfalls. Apparently it's been rather dry.

I found a cozy tree.

Here we are posing with Half Dome off in the distance.

We had to go see the dam, of course.

It was the geeky engineer's highlight, I think.

My favorite view of Half Dome (from Glacier Point).

No, we did not hike Half Dome. This time.

And, check that off the bucket list!  I've always wanted to see the giant trees!

This is one they used to drive through, but it's slowly fusing back together, healing itself.

We stayed at a neat little cabin just outside the park.  It was cozy with rustic decor and a sweet little fireplace/heater (confession: we used it to heat up our breakfast the second morning, probably not one of its intended uses!).  Yosemite is definitely all it's made out to be!  We'll for sure be back!  I can see where it would be crowded in the summer, since it was still pretty full.  That said, we did stick to the more "typical" tourist-y type places since I couldn't do much hiking this time.  There were tons of day-long hikes which I'm sure were less crowded!

Enjoying the sights and the crisp autumn air, we cruised all over the park with the top down, talking, planning, wondering, praying.  And even now, a week later, we're still waiting on God with those same questions on our hearts.  Isn't it amazing, all we learn through times of waiting?  Having to be patient and wait for God to move us in whatever direction He chooses, we're discovering all kinds about ourselves.  I love how His divine revelation so often starts with the attitudes and motivations of our own hearts.  His timing is perfect; I have no doubt He'll answer the questions we have about where we should live, where Jonathan should work, but first we'll let Him have His way, teaching us more about who He is and who we are.