Beach Boys

It was great spending time with Michael down in LA this last weekend. Here we are on the pier of the beach near Balboa. As we were walking along we saw these people who caught a tiger shark. It was bigger that this picture shows. Michael took the picture with his cool iPhone and then emailed them to us.

Dad (Bill)

freedom...

Wow, I don't even know where to begin, but then I don't want to write to much... Bill said... "blog for 10 minutes people like reading it".

What a week and a half we have had. I literally feel like the Lord has put this family through... I don't know, something like a Grape Press??? I guess I am trying to say, it has been excruciatingly painful but only good has come from it!

To be in the middle of the complete stress, and I mean complete, of Operation Christmas Child and to have your son call you with the harsh reality that his life is immediately unraveling right before his eyes as he is speaking to you... O.K. beyond stress, I do not know a word to descibe what happens to your heart, soul, being.... I suppose despatate descibes where I have been for the last 4 to 5 days. The funny thing is, I can only praise God. He is so faithful, beyond all we can ask or imagine. I thank Him in this trail that we have been thorugh and are going through. He is right here with us directing the way. I am so thankful!

I guess what I can say is.

I am thakful for my children. For all 6 of you. For your love for one another. Your encouragement to me, your brother, your prayers, your wilignness to do whatever it takes to make things better.. You are wondeful. I love you all so much. My husband. What a dad. To just drop everything to be there for his son. He is a fine man and a finer father. It was eye opening to go through one of the most difficult weeks of my life and not have him here. I appreciate him so much more. I made it, but barely.

I resigned with OCC half way into the week. Don't get me wrong. I finished my commitment for this year. We got just over 5300 shoe boxes! Woo Hoo! I will just not be serving in the ministry at the capacity I have any longer. Of course I will still do as many shoe boxes as I can!!!!

Anyway...for two main reasons. I simply can not stand the Area Director and the way he lords over me Collection Week. This bratty little Lawson girl does not need am incompetent leader telling her how to handle the responsibility she has been given.

Secondly, I want to be available to my family. You mean the world to me. The way OCC ties up my calendar from Oct - Nov is so frustrating to Bill because it is a good time to visit our kids and such. Lord willing we will have Grandkids someday that are not dogs and I want so desparately to be involved in not only your lives but theirs.

So I am free, atleast feeling free! (o: Exhausted from almost no sleep but free and humbled at God's hand on our lives. I wish I could write how this whole chain of events has been so carefully orchastrated. It's just to much to write. I can say that it has been a week of seeing the hand of God move in our life and I am thankful.

LGC

Tired

I came into work this a.m. to do a few quick things. So I am taking a minute to post.

I am really tired (have not been sleeping well at all) and I am really discouraged. If you think of me, could you pray for me, please. I am on the verge of tears going into the Collection Center today. I do know why but I won't go into. Please just pray for me. I am only 2 days in to 9.

Thank You!

-L

Dad's Weekend

I wanted to do a very quick blog, highly driven by pictures!

We had a GREAT time with Laura this weekend at OSU.

My goodness, what a beautiful campus Oregon State is and we were blessed with the most awesome Autumn Weather! We just enjoyed getting to know her life, her campus, her home away from home, so very much. You will find pictures of her room, us on campus, us going to the game, at the game, etc...

(Which was so exciting!!! 2 fights, 4 ejections, several bad calls, Huskies almost taking it over in the last 2 minutes, GREAT Band Shows, DRUNK PEOPLE, REALLY HIGH (ALTHOUGH) GREAT SEATS, etc........ it was a blast! Frezzing, hence fouth the muppet picture of me, BUT A BLAST)

We ended the weekend with a crazy fast trip to IKEA. (The last pic) With Laura's bike and all the IKEA in the car (we decided to bring her bike home because she is just walking evrywhere and we don't want it ending up like Michael and Alyssa'a ahve )o:)
We are trying to get 2 rooms cleaned up for houseguests on Tues & Wed this week. It's insane!

I have Operation Christmas Child this week, so you will not hear from me for days. I really do get sick to my stomach just thinking about how busy I am going to be... I am so unprepared )o:

Please pray for shoe boxes and for GRACE!

Enjoy our weekend o.k. Sorry they are so random and all. I just need to get a decent nights rest before the a.m.

Love You and God Bless.

-Leila















-Leila xoxo

my everyday / night....

Well what do you do on a cold Tuesday night.... Blog your life I guess! So this is my house, right now tonight. I love technology in that way!

My husband, he is in 'fix up the house' mode. Here is what he is doing right now, painting, again.... I admit I am just watching (o: , oh and having a glass of wine and blogging.....


I DID help paint this room, Michael it is yours if you don't recognize it. I know it's not that hard, SINCE THE COLOR LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME!!!!! Why we get our arms so sore for a shade change is beyond me... but the floor looks nice don't you think? We are Sophey proofing most of the floor upstairs.



I also helped paint your room Wil (floor goes in tomorrow). I know you are all aware of the extreme lack of color change here also... It is fresh paint though, believe it or not!




So where is everything? Everywhere, it's such a mess. Laura's room has somehow become the largest 'Holding Spot'. Sorry honey, now you can see why I keep telling you, "Don't come home this weekend". We have told Laura we will not touch her walls, so we have not. One of the perks to being the baby I suppose....



Boys here you go, this is your bathroom. I think everyday to myself, "Gee I hope Griffey can get in there easily enough to do (you know what)". Who knows the last time that box was cleaned, uck! It's been like this for weeks.




Laura's bathroom is a bit more accessible. You just have to work your way around this cabinet somehow... We just go downstairs.



This is the good news! This is the 'completed project'. I like it, it's cool, swanky, yet warm and fun! Welcome to the entry into the 'Loft / Media' room!




I guess you would call this the Loft part of it. That is my very own desk back there, I like it a lot. I LOVE my red chair. It's even comfy, you just gotta love IKEA.



The part Bill loves... The Media. He LOVES his TV. Honestly I am still scratching my head..... that he actually really did set the surround sound up all by himself. Go figure, after 21 years of marraige, who would've known? I guess with the boys moved out he has decided it's time to take things into his own two hands. Way to go Bill! Good years of training him sons! (o: Sadly though... BILL HATES THIS RED CHAIR. I picked it, cheap and cute I thought. So if anyone loves it, it's yours. He wants to replace it with something call a "Barcelona Chair."



So you've seen what's going on here tonight... This is my everyday too. My lovely Laura. I do talk to her everyday (almost). Michael, imagine that! (o: She is pretty dang cute. Still trying to be like her big bro Wil, even in college, in her halloween costume..... Quite fetching, don't you think.


I will end tonight with this photo, taken at my feet. I call it a "Zonkapooh". Sophey is not handling the time change so well, she is a little confused. She is thinking, "it gets dark and we don't go to bed yet????"
Poor doggy!

Hope your everyday / night is at least a tiny bit as interesting as mine.
(o:
-Leila

Yuri

I have so wanted to get on here. I really want to try and be consistant with the blog thing....

I was in the paper today..... I was surprised with it and so wanted to post the link, well with the Bend Bulletin you have to have an online subsciption to read it online )o: I was sad, it was just a little but I thought you may enjoy it. It was about Operation Christmas Child. Since you can not read the interview they did with me, maybe just consider doing a shoe box or two o.k. Cuz that's is what it's all about anyway.



Anyway... This is Yuri, Yuri Sbandati. Dr, Juri Sbandati is actually correct... Juri or Yuri (like I say) is a personal chef... Funny part about that is I actually cooked for him last week, I admit, "I WAS SO STREESED ABOUT IT" anyway he also has a PHD in History (Itailian History) and Juri is a full blown, the real deal Italian. He has been here in the states 3 years (his thick accent shows that clearly) and he and his wife Kinley host trips from Central Oregon to Tuscany.

We met Juri and Kinley in a round about way and now... We are going to Italy! I have always dreamed of taking Bill for his 50th next year but know so little about anything past Disneyland, I have always wondered how on earth would I figure this one out. I mean NYC scared me to pieces but I had George Lange helping me out so I new I could pull that off pretty well with his assistance. It was a smashing trip! Anyway Italy!!! ???? Then along came the Sbandati's!

http://www.sbandatipersonalchef.com/

Somehow amazingly, Lord willing next May we are off to the Chianti region of Tuscany. We are staying in this Villa.

http://www.parkervillas.com/villas/villadetails.cfm?sid=90220620050601064829&villa_ID=5979&occ=18&year=-1

With other couples we do not even know... I know that sounds insane, but Bill & I greatly enjoy getting to know different people and the Villa appears to be quite large and spacious. Juri & Kinley are the hosts. Juri will be giving cooking lessons and Italian History lessons, Kinley: Art lessons. Almost every day we venture either to Florence, a winery, a cheese factory, for the guys the Ferrari Museum, girls Parda & Gucci outlets, a spa, bike rides, or just chilling at the beautiful villa and even a full blown, who knows how many couses, lunch with Juri's entire family. I am hoping it will be an experience of getting into the culture of the Tusacan countryside! It sounds amazing and I will really belive we are going when we are seated on our plane. Until then, it really doesn't seem real, it's just such a big dream of Bill & I's.

Juri and Kinley returned the favor of a meal and cooked for Bill and I this week. Honestly I was blown away, I have never had food prepared so amazingly. It was delicious and beautiful. I took a couple of pics. That first one he is pulling out our "Main Course" of four. It is a Pork Loin wrapped in an entire slab of bacon, skin and all. The taste was.... just awesome.

This is a salad, well obviously... with duck that he smoked that day. Pretty and yummy...



Then we had a pasta dish, even better than Grandpa's. The meal ended with a dessert that was savory not sweet that was so intense and paired with a very strong red wine you could only take a tiny bite at a time but it was fabulous. It was simply an incredible meal, none like I have ever experienced. I am humbled that I will be learning to cook under Juri this spring.

Yuri & Kinley are an EXTREMELY funny and entertaining couple. We know that we will enjoy the knowledge, humor and experiences they bring to the trip.This is them with one of the other couples going. (The only one we 'kinda' know, [kids you may recognize them... Asley & Ryan Blakes parents...]) I just wanted you to be able to see Kinley, she is a very talented and fun person.



We had SO MUCH red wine at the dinner, oh my! I am scared... there will be a cask at the villa (is cask the correct word?) It was fun to get to know them and have a small taste of our trip in May. Bill feels such a stong bond with Juri because... "He is a real Italain". So much so it is very hard to understand him at times, but his heart is enormous, his knowledge for is age... impressive and his cooking.... almost to die for (but I hate that phrase)





Anyway, I am excited and thankful that we have this wondeful opportunity! Now I really need to try and learn at least a little italian!

CIAO
-LGC