Our Three Praises to God!

We praise God for:

1. Providing a church for us to call home.
2. Benita Bike DanceArt Company for Jess to dance with.
3. The PEF grant Jess just received for the PHS dance program.

Our first and greatest praise is for God's provision of a church! Jud & I visited about four churches in the area over the past three months and became quite frustrated. We were having a hard time finding a church that put its primary focus on the Scriptures and Jesus Christ. However, through prayer and waiting on God...He faithfully provided and led us to Calvary Bible Church in Burbank. We are so excited about their focus on the Bible and their contagious love of Jesus Christ. We are meeting more and more people each week and I am so enjoying the woman's bible study I just got involved in. We are studying the book of Joshua now and are on to Judges next! Jud & I also go to the Young Marrieds group on Sundays. The following picture is from the Young Marrieds Christmas Party we went to last Saturday night. It was a white elephant gift exchange...notice the IV stand, puppets, and other random gifts. It was absolutely outrageous. Although Jud did walk away with a real set of bagpipes from Ireland that someone brought and had no use for...how appropriate for the Camerons! =)



Secondly, I've been wanting to share that God provided the most unexpected opportunity for me to perform again. I'm having so much fun with it. A friend of mine texted me one morning recently and asked if I'd be interested in dancing with this dance company as a part time dancer. I prayed, I tried out, and they asked me to join. It is much different from the last company I danced with...it only consists of five female dancers and the movement is more classical modern and conservative. The girls are so great and I'm being challenged as a dancer again. I love it. Plus, it inspires me in my teaching and gives me an outlet to relieve my own stress as well as reminds me of the love I have for dancing. We practice in Studio City and perform locally. The uniqueness of this company is that its focus is on educating the local community about modern dance by exposing them to it for free! The company has so many sponsors/donors that all but one of our performances are free to the public and we perform almost twice a month. It amazes me how God had this planned when He led me to say no to becoming the school's dance team advisor and to say no to doing my master's right now. Hmmm.....I see now that He had this planned. =)

Lastly, speaking of God's plans...He also had plans for me to put on our very first Spring Dance Concert this year for the high school dance program. I have dreamed of doing this since I was hired three years ago, but never did I think this was the year to do it. But, as I began this year, He definitely starting laying things in place for it. Literally overnight, a couple months ago, the joy and excitement just came for putting on a full show. The ideas flooded my mind, the energy to fundraise came, the excitement from the students came, the resources started falling in my lap. It all started with the $2,000.00 grant I applied for in November. I applied for this same grant last year but did not receive it. However, with the help of my teaching mentor, we rewrote my proposal with a clear vision and plan and by God's grace, I got it! I couldn't believe it. The money is to purchase a safe marley dance floor for the kids to perform on, costumes for the show, and a practice curtain in the dance room. Since then, I have met some key people in the Pasadena area and district connected with the arts that have shown a great interest in supporting what I'm doing. It is soooo exciting, encouraging, and overwhelming all at the same time. All to say, I praise God for opening the doors to do what I love and have always dreamed of. May God be glorified through the whole process.

I not only wanted to share these praises with you guys, but also ask for prayer. Yesterday Jud got laid off from his job. We know God is faithful and will provide as always. Please pray with us for God to be glorified through us in this time as we wait on Him and seek His will.

We love you guys and thanks for sharing in our lives.

Bark...Bark...

So, here we are, April and I, for our annual baking of peppermint bark! For the past three years we've gotten together, ordered pizza, and spent hours melting chocolate and stirring in crushed peppermint. And family, yes, you will be getting some, don't worry. =) Our new flavors this year besides the original, were dark chocolate with espresso, and milk chocolate with heath crunch. If you want an easy recipe for making something that looks pretty and tastes good for the holidays...this is the one! Let me know if you want it!

The Tures/Cameron Thanksgiving!

Yep...you read that right! Both of our families spent Thanksgiving together at the cabin in Big Bear. It was so much fun. We are definitely blessed for being able to do that. I think my dad found a new friend in Bob. They seemed to have hit it off, hangin' outside talking, and shooting their pellet guns out back. (Well, Kellie did join them...and shhhh...she's the one that hit the bull's eye). =) Jud and I introduced them to the Moonridge Zoo and took them down to the village where we all walked, window shopped, and enjoyed the Black Friday buzz of Big Bear. It was absolutely beautiful weather the entire weekend. Mostly in the 50's and below freezing at night; great for mittens and scarves, but yet still sunglasses with the sun out.

Every one brought up amazing dishes to contribute to our combined tradition-filled meal. We also had fun taking family pictures of each other for our Christmas cards. The Cameron's headed back to San Diego Friday night and the five of us headed to 29 Palms on Saturday to visit my grandparents. It was a joy giving my grandpa a blanket I had made, to help make him comfortable in these last days of his. We're all waiting patiently, praying for the Lord to take Him home. He wants to be with the Lord so bad. I praise God for allowing us to see him on one of his good days. He actually recognized us and was able to say "I love you too" back. That, I will remember always.

We have so much to be thankful for! I pray that we continue to be thankful, praising God for our families, our friends, our spouses, our children, our health, and most of all...the gift of salvation, through Jesus.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with your family or friends!

P.S. Kellie's sandwich is now known as "the" Thanksgiving Sandwich! (mash potatoes included...) =) Oh yeah...and if you were wondering...that is Pumpkin Cheesecake next to the Red Vines. =)

Celebrating Carolyn in CA!

So, all of us from Hill House (the old crew and the new one) celebrated Carolyn's birthday with HER in person....yes, she came into town yesterday from Nashville, TN. It was so great to see her! We first hung out at the house, catching up on our lives, and then after eating a chocolate tart the girls bought, we were off to the movies...we saw the Disney movie, Bolt. It was hilarious. Simple girls night out...and special to be with Carolyn again. I definitely miss her! So, here of some pics of our dear Carolyn Miller.

Olly's New Spots...

Olly has his quirks like any pet, but his are adorable. His two new favorite spots are at the top of the couch in the evening and then yes, right next to me, his head on my pillow right next to mine. It is too cute. He is the cuddliest cat I've known. It definitely doesn't beat cuddling with my husband, but Olly is great comfort when Jud is out of town for business training.

Stepping Foot on "Sacred" Ground...

This past Saturday, Abie Curry (now Abie Bacon) and her now husband, Aaron, held their SoCal Reception at no better place than Abie's work...the Rose Bowl! So, you might be guessing, what is the "sacred" ground? well, despite the rain, Abie took us out on the field so we could walk on the grass in the Rose Bowl stadium, which I learned that night is the oldest football stadium in our country! Pretty cool, huh?! Then, the other "sacred" ground we got the privilege of walking on was into the UCLA football players' locker room. I knew my dad would be jealous, the big UCLA fan that he is. =) After spending a few minutes in the locker room, taking in the aura of it, an alarm started to sound....you should've seen the look on our eyes....and I was with Don Allen! We thought we were little kids caught in trouble, but needless to say, it wasn't our fault, it was the smoke alarm set off by the smoke machine in the room where the reception was going on. =)
That was a memory I will remember for a while though.

WILMAAAAAAA!!

So, here I am as Wilma Flintstone for Halloween. It was a lot of fun. Nice and cool, easy to move in, and hard to miss me with the orange wig. In fact, some of my students said I should dye my hair that color! Ah! The other comments I got were, "Oh, I thought you were a student Mrs. Cameron..." and "Is your husband dressed as Fred Flintstone?" I thought that was cute. That would've been fun, but unfortunately Party City did not have that one. Well, all to say, this ones a keeper, along with my lion costume from last year. I only need two more good ones before I can start rotating them every four years! =) Hope you all had a great Halloween!! Love, Wilma

Go Bears!

If you hadn't heard, the Cal Bears beat the UCLA Bears in football this last weekend! We got to be there live for the game. Jud & I flew up to Berkeley (thanks to my parents' anniversary gift of the plane flights) to see Jenni's half-time show she charted (or choreographed). It was so great to be there! I miss her so much. We spent Saturday on Berkeley's beautiful campus, sweated like we never have before sitting at the top row of the stadium for the game, heard my sister's name announced throughout the stadium before the half-time show, and then saw where my sister lives off campus. We got great time with my parents, laughing and talking, as we camped last night about 30 minutes from campus at Arthur Chabot Campgrounds. It was a lot of fun! We then got up this morning, Jenni drove us near the airport, and we had breakfast together before flying back home. I'm so proud of my sister...she is doing so great up north at Berkeley! Hope you enjoy these pics.





This is where the band plays for the fans on their campus steps before then marching up to the stadium...


This is the band out on the field during the halftime show!


Jenni's second from the left of the pic, closest to us...

Are YOU ready for Halloween?!!

We all know that clowns are not Jud's favorite...but, you'll never believe it, that IS Jud in the store of Party City as we stood in line for my Halloween costume today. For me this year it is...Wilma Flinstone (that's right, the whole orange wig and all). =) There will be pictures to come!

We found our new "Fish Tale"!

So, Jud and I had this favorite place to go to for happy hour called Fish Tale in Long Beach. They had the best calamari, clam chowder, and drinks for an amazingly cheap price. But, we found our new 'Fish Tale' in Pasadena...its called the Dina House! Wednesday night we went out to dinner and a movie on our official anniversary night. They had amazingly fresh sushi, delicious spinach soup, calamari, and drinks. It was so much fun! Just wanted to share a couple pics of our time. We also went to see Eagle Eye at the theater. If you haven't seen it, its a good one! Good plot and great chase scenes.

Jud's Birthday Hike!

Eaton Canyon's Waterfall we hiked to...

Our group hiking...

Sibling love...

Nick and Jud

Alayne & Val

Jess & Mom

Singing to the Birthday Boy, celebrating the Big '30'!

Ed's Playhouse

Our 2nd wedding anniversary is coming up on the 15th, so this last weekend we took off to Julian (a little mountain town just outside of San Diego) to get quality time together and celebrate. Ed's Playhouse was the name of the adorable cottage we stayed in for two nights. It was so much fun! It had an old fashion wood burning furnace, pedestal sink, and a Balinese bed, even with fresh coffee and muffins for the mornings. It even had a private deck for us to enjoy. We were just one block walking distance from the main street of shops and restaurants. I love Julian's quaintness and history all throughout its buildings and shops. In our last picture and last night there, we ate the best Italian food ever at Romano's Dodge House. We also enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet with retired soldiers at the American Legion up the street. That was random and fun. And of course, we picked up some of our favorite homemade candles, potpourri, and bars of soaps for our home. Lastly, much to our surprise, it was Octoberfest up there, so we enjoyed bratwurst, beans, and homemade potato salad next to a live band as kids got their faces painted and balloons made by the clown (Jud didn't watch that of course). God really blessed our weekend and multiplied our time there. What amazing design God put into marriage...we look forward to the next many years of marriage God has planned for us!

Weekend in SD!

A Margarita Birthday Celebration at Casa de Pico Mexican Restaurant

We visited Summers Past, an adorable nursery in San Diego...

A bridge and pond that Jud and I would like to build one day

Just one of the many beautiful flowers at Summers Past

A Cheesecake Birthday!

Okay, so the best friend ever (that's Val) took us out to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday (and my favorite dessert of course)! From the surprise cute orange bag she disguised as her own until I figured out it was mine to the Red Vines inside and then a yummy dinner, not to mention with loads of fresh parmesan...all in all it was a great night, as you can see in these pictures! Oh, by the way, if you want to know more about our fun night out, check out Val's blog!

Now that's flexibility!

Now, that's impressive, wouldn't you say?! As a dance teacher, I hope my students can do a strattle as good as Olly's by the end of this year...!

A little fun captured!

I just remembered we had this fun video we took when my old camera was new out front of my parent's house on their driveway. I forget why we were out front, but Jud and I some how wound up in a "Championship Handstand Contest," hosted by my sister Jenni! =) Check it out. Back from our dating days...what a fun guy I fell in love with and had the privilege of marrying.

Alligator anyone?!

Hey guys! Okay, so my parents treated us to dinner at the Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamunga (if any of you have heard of it). We had never been there and this place is massive! It is basically the world's largest outdoor store...if you can imagine how Jud was feelin! =) It was a lot of fun. I just had to share a few pics because we ate alligator for the first time, visited the gun room, dressed in camoflauge, and played laser shooting. If you ever have a chance to go, its 4x the size of Costco, it has two stories, and a full fish restaurant inside. It's pretty much awesome!!