I love messing with Brayden's mind

My new coworkers loved my latest project with Brayden. It is a joint project between myself and Grandpa Derr. We have Brayden believing that he is a human remote controll. It started the other night while Chris (Grandpa Derr) was trying to keep Brayden from seeing the remote as he changed channels. I started getting Brayden to raise his arms and Chris started turning the TV on and off in response. Finally he started getting the correlation. Then we stopped doing it. He was so upset when we stopped doing it, but we obviously couldn't keep it up. It was almost like when Moses had to keep his arms up in order to win the battle in the Old Testament.

I love kids. It reminds of the old Jack Handy quote - "I can imagine a world that is sweet and pure and innocent. Then I can imagine us going in and taking over that world because, hey, they would never suspect it."

Anderson Farewell Slideshow

Farewell Andersons--a slideshow put together by our friends at BTBF...thanks guys!

In Cali

Well, we crossed over into California last Thursday. We made it here in two days thanks in large part to a lot of help from our community. Here is how a lot of people helped us:

Loading the truck - Folks from our Life Group (plus several former members) came out and helped us load the truck. While we were unloading it into public storage my brother Ricky continually asked me how many people we had helping us load - I said ten or twelve people throughout the day. Needless to say it took us a lot longer here. Our neighbors took us out to eat one last time, and Page helped with technical advise and safety wire. Always a good combination.

TCB (Taking Care of Brayden) - My whole family (especially Mom and Dad) helped out a lot here by taking Brayden off our hands so we could pack. And then they saved us a bunch of time by Patrick and my Aunt (or as we say it "Aint" ) Pappy taking Brayden to California as a lap baby via American Airlines - huge help. Patrick thought of it, and we are very thankful. Katy's Mom and Dad (Chris and Wilna Derr) took care of Brayden on Thursday as we made our way to Sunnyvale. That enabled us to get to California in two days instead of four - which is what we thought it would take with Brayden in the convoy.

Truck Drivin Man - Ricky (my older brother) not only drove our Penskie truck halfway across the country, but was a huge help unloading it when we got here. Chris and Wilna helped us with the heaviest items, but had a meeting and had to head out at noon. Ricky helped us unload until about 8:00 that night, a day after two straight days of driving us across the country - all the while saying all he need was "MORE HIGH-WAY". (I might add here that we recieved enough from the money tree at our going away party that all the diesel was pretty much paid for - thanks guys!)

I don't think I've ever been as dependent on others. It was really humbling to know how interdependent we are. It was a great example of community. We are thankful and blessed by the community and family that God has provided us with. We pray that God will see fit to expand that community here in California.

To anyone else we missed...thank you! This move has been possible through your prayers and help!

We'll be homeless for the next few weeks. We should close on our Texas home this coming week and our new home the next week...in the mean time, we thank everyone putting us up!

Leaving

Tomorrow is the day. The truck will pull out sometime around noon. We are in escrow on our house and a home in California. I can't believe the time has come.

We leave with mixed emotion. On the one hand, we are so excited because we are confident that God is calling us on this journey. He has orchestrated so many details in ways we would not have expected. I am returning "home" to my sending church, dear friends, and family. On the other hand, we are so sad to leave. We are both leaving amazing friendships, jobs and bosses that we love, family, and the most amazing neighborhood. The move still feels so surreal. As I sit on the floor typing this, I feel like I'm headed out on a vacation...when some friends return from their honeymoon, I'll be there, I'll walk outside and my neighbors will be out with their dogs, on Tuesday I'll go back to work. I guess it will all hit when I'm on the road.

We've been saying goodbyes for the last few weeks. Our friends from church threw us a huge BTBF going away party...it was a blast. Our neighbors (the old bad backs) celebrated us by putting together a delicious meal and a great time of hanging out. We've had many meals with friends and family. A bunch of friends helped load up the truck. We have a TON of stuff!!

We feel so loved! We will miss each of you...our house is always open! REALLY!

We'll be in touch when we get to California. We'll upload some pics from the fun times we've had and our new house.

Please pray for our safe travel (Greg, Katy, and Ricky by car, Brayden/Patrick&crew by air) and for our homes to close quickly!