Home sweet home

As promised, here are some pics of the apartment where we are staying...and it turns out we DO have a mailing address!  Yay!  We were told that there was none for us, but then today the apartment manager said we did.  Nice!

So we park our cars in a parking space in front of the apartments and then we open an outside door with our keys which leads to the court yard.  We have our own palm tree!  Love.  The apartment kids (there are tons!  The apartment manager alone has six!) ride their bikes and scooters around and around and play all kinds of games.  Our kids are eating it up.  :)

                                            Here is the kitchen....

                                            living room...

Boy's room...

            our room... (no more bunk beds, we just put two twin mattresses together!)

                     and the bathroom. The boys' room also has a half bath.

We just love our little place.  It was fun unpacking all of the boxes and seeing a few familiar things to set out and use.  We are settled and comfortable and praising the Lord for providing for all of our needs.  We couldn't ask for more and He is so gracious beyond anything we deserve.
Love from California!

Becoming local

 So here are a few pics of the area in which we are staying.  We are near Santa Clarita off Newhall...for those of you that know the Cali area.  I still can't get over how you see mountains everywhere you go.  Here is our McDonalds...behind the pine trees.  :)

This is the view of the street we drive down to access most things...

Near The Master's College there is a production studio.  It's called Melody Ranch and it has seen people such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, and Dennis Quad.  Kind of cool.  This is all we saw as it is private access, obviously.

Then we went to John MacArthur's church to check things out for Brent's classes and where to take the kids on Sunday morning.  We met the security guard, Tom, who showed us all around.

We got to see the sanctuary and the kid's classrooms.  This will help things to run a little more smoothly for us come Sunday.

Yay!  We finally found a Walmart.  We got to stock up on groceries and get some other things that we needed after our long trek across the desert.

I still can't get over those mountains!

Andy Kirk was so nice in letting Brent drive his truck for the summer so I don't have to take Brent to class everyday.  Thank you, Andy!!  Brent is already having a great time driving around a pick up with a stick.  :)
I will take pics of the apartment soon...we are waiting for them to deliver a bed for us.  They gave Brent and me a set of bunk beds.  Lol

Day 4

 May 28. Day 4. Final Day!  We woke up early to drive...and drive.  

By today the kids were getting a little stir crazy and it was harder to entertain them.  Even the fun of  movies (usually a treat in the car) was wearing off.  But we kept driving.  We listened to a lot of Jungle Jam - a HILARIOUS kids cd series (thank you, Medleys!) and tried to get the kids interested in I-Spy. 

Woohoo! The sweet Cali state line!  I was so disappointed that there was no welcome center or pretty sign to take a picture in front of...just a slight nod to the fact that we made it.  Oh well...I tried to snap a pic and this was the best I got. 

Then we kept driving.  In one town we passed it was a little too early for lunch...it was about 10:45...so we decided not to stop for food and we would stop in the next town.  Little did we know that the next town was on the other side of the Mojave Desert....about 2 and 1/2 hours away.  So we drove, and drove, and had mini melt downs.  We finally hit a Dairy Queen that was literally in the middle of nowhere and attracted everyone from motorcycle convoys to traveling families.  This was probably the hardest day.  On many occasions Brent and I prayed for God's grace and patience.  And He always provides....

....because soon the countryside began to change and the highway began to wind through huge, beautiful mountains.

Almost there!  We just kept following the signs for LA....

 We passed LA on the west side...there she is.  We missed the rush hour, praise the Lord!

  Check out the view!  Everywhere you go, it looks like this!  Mountains, beautiful mountains, at every turn.
So we are here, and settled in.  I will take pictures of the town we are staying in, Newhall, and the apartment that God has provided soon.  Thank you , thank you for all of your prayers and love.  It means so much to us! :)

Day 3

We started out the day with Brent reading out of Psalm 19 to prepare our hearts for the glories we knew we were in store for today.  

Then we got in the car and drove.  And drove.  And drooooove.  We got a little stir crazy but in the end we made it to the Grand Canyon!  

The first time you walk up and see it all in person, it is literally breath-taking.  Really.  I just stood there with the breeze blowing on my face and letting my eyes slide from left to right, taking in the depth and the colors of the canyon.  No words.  It was....captivating.  Pictures just do not get it right. 

 There were little pockets were you could see the Colorado River peeking through the layers of the canyon.

 

 The boys brought their binoculars.  :)

 Brent and I stood (as much as the kids would allow...) and just let the majesty of the art work sink in.  If God could make such a beautiful place, then how much more glorious and beautiful must HE be?!

 They had faucets of fresh spring water around that you could use to fill up your water bottles.  It was so cool and refreshing.

 There was a small geology museum that told about the kinds of rock and some of the history of the canyon. Here is Peter at the end of the scale model.

 Display of the rock layers....

 We almost made it to sunset, but we wanted to get out of the park (which was huge!) before dark.
We had a wonderful day looking at our Creator's handiwork and marveling that He is in control of such things.  What a God we serve!
We are going to travel to Cali tomorrow if the Lord wills.  One more day of the journey then more adventures begin!  Stay tuned for more Osterberg happenings.

Day 2

There are three telescopes in the Davis Mountains.  They are positioned on the summit of Mt Locke.  You can see two of them up there in the distance in the white domes.  

Like I said, there are three telescopes.  One of them being the Hobby-Eberly... the third largest telescope in the world!

 There she is, behind the glass.  This particular telescope is unique in the way it uses a grouping of 91 mirrors to track the stars.  Science, especially Earth science, is my THING!  It was fun to see the kids getting excited too as I explained the workings of the telescope.

 We bought space ice cream......mmmmmm.

 Then we drove.  We got a good chuckle out of the warning signs....lol

 We made it to New Mexico....

 ....and drove some more.  Jane likes to give her toys baths with baby wipes.  It entertains her for a while.
We are having a wonderful time being together and enjoying a part of Creation that we normally do not get to see.  Thank you for your prayers as we continue to travel.  We can feel the love and prayers of the saints as we travel.  More postings soon!

Day 1

So as I write this, it is actually day 2 of our venture across the dessert....but I want to give my readers as accurate a play-by-play as possible. :)

 We left Uncle Randy and Aunt Tobin's house early on May 25.  We drove and got to Ft Davis around 3:00.  We got to explore the mountains a little at the state park and see some of the town.  My parents brought to this very spot most summers of my life until I got married, so there are so many memories that I have in this place.  It was so special for me to be able to bring my family back here and have them do some of the very things that I did myself as a little girl....here are pics of a few nostalgic moments:

 We drove up to the scenic overlook.  Here is Peter shouting to God how awesome He is from the mountain top.  :)  Go tell it on the mountain!

 We were up on the over look to watch the sunset.  Nothing like a Davis Mountain sunset!

 We also drove around the state park....pictures by the flood gauge...

 ...and the Indian Lodge's court yard....

 ...and the main entrance.

 We even found some very pretty specimens of volcanic glass.

 Something so captivating about driving through the mountains...

Dinner at the local drug store.

More to come on day 2....stay tuned for more Osterberg Adventures!