E.P.I.C. Student Ministry Update- Feb 2013

Opening night of "The Hobbit" with students, after the E.P.I.C. Christmas party at our house!

Parents & students- It’s been a few months since November’s “Backpacking Elk Meadows- High School Guys” post.  An E.P.I.C. student ministry BlogSpot update is WAY overdue!

Family time, WPC Homecoming weekend, prep for my sermon/lessons, and speaking twice at Faith Bible School this week have all kept me fairly busy.  While I don’t currently have time to compose a thoughtful, inspirational post about our student ministry at Aloha Church of God, be assured that God is doing great things!

To tide us all over until our next ministry update proper, here are some photos from a few of our Fall 2012 youth events:

Kenny and Derek play with Lena, 13 1/2 months old, after an E.P.I.C. ministry session.

Patricia, Eleanor, Wendy, and Allen serve Halloween refreshments with Lena, our little 13 1/2 month old ladybug, at Aloha Church of God's Trunk or Treat.

Cameron, Derek, Garth, and Lyle rock out to Red's pyrotechnic-filled performance at Winter Jam 2012 @ the Rose Garden, also feauring TobyMac, Red, Group1Crew, Capital Kings, Newsong, Chris August, Jamie Grace, Jason Castro, Dara Maclean, and speaker Nick Hall.

TobyMac and the Diverse City Band headline Winter Jam 2012

Our AChoG Christmas Extravaganza audience gets competitively loud for the shout-along song "Grandma's House."

Dirty tactics: Daddy uses baby Lena to force a smile out of Derek in "Honey, if you love me."

Dirty payback: The gang pulls out the ultimate weapon (Kenny) against Garth to coax a smile in "Honey, if you love me."  Not fair!

Kenny and Garth bust out the PS3 Move guns during an E.P.I.C. Playstation 3 gaming night at our house.  Blessed are the peacemakers?

Coming on the next E.P.I.C. ministry update… 

News about our upcoming Mexico missions trip!

And coming later this week on BlogSpot… 

A Wild Wedding in Sunriver, featuring guest blogger Kathy!!

Fever for Lena, Pt. 2

2/8/13 Note: This blog post is from last night.  A ton of additional pictures were added today!

Lena's first jam session

As Fever for Lena, Pt. 1 (link) assured everyone, our 16 ½ month old Lena is all better now!  Tonight is another Daddy-daughter night, and Lena is lying on my lap as I type this blog.  We’re thankful that she’s back to her normal, energetic self again.  How energetic is she, you ask?

Even after just waking up from a nap together with Daddy after work, we could barely keep the camera on her!

However, the rest of us are still burning with a fever for Lena photos from 2012.  Feed a cold and starve a fever, right?  Well, we’re flipping that old adage around tonight to make sure that fever gets fed.  Let’s pick up where we left off at the end of Tuesday's “Garth’s Blog” photo-fest:

In November, Brent and Cheryl invited us to their house in Bend for Thanksgiving dinner...


The next day...

...The grandparents watched Lena so we kids could have some grownup time —Hiking, skateboarding, a live music festival at 10 Barrel, and dancing!

As November came to a close…

….Lena relished Daddy’s final moments of scruff by nestling her face against his “No Shave November” beard.

In December, we made sure to set aside some time for Daddy and Mommy to hit the town…

… But the most exciting thing about the holidays was celebrating Lena’s second Christmas!

An early Christmas Eve with the Easons

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my parents’ house

...And Mommy and Lena drive to PDX Airport to visit Daddy at work on Christmas Day!

Christmastime with Lena was even better this year, with our baby girl becoming more aware of the season!  Still, we couldn’t help but wonder if emphasizing the birth of Christ while pushing Santa Claus on Lena is sending mixed messages…

Too soon?  Lena, nearly 15 months old, isn’t quite sure what to make of our AChoG Christmas Extravaganza’s Santa Claus.

Maybe Santa will get a warmer reception next year.

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Aside from some recent sleeping problems, Lena seems to be feeling much better these days.  Hallelujah!  In fact, I just took a break from blogging to finish rocking that precious little girl to sleep a few hours ago.

Daddy-baby nights like these are something to be treasured…in sickness and in health!

Coming next week on BlogSpot…

I twist Kathy’s arm for her to blog about Brent and Cheryl’s fabulous wedding in Sunriver!

And then… 

...an E.P.I.C. Student Ministry Update!

Fever for Lena, Pt. 1

Spoiler:  If talk about illness gets you down, feel free to skip ahead to the happy part below!

Daddy nurses a feverish, 15 month old Lena back to health.

The first 15 months of Lena’s life were so healthy and carefree!  That streak ran out during the end of December when Lena rocked her first 101 degree temperature.  So heartbreaking.

Lena was down again last week, this time with the flu.  Next, Kathy came down with a mild case of something else.  Finally, I got hit by a ferocious but puzzlingly brief bout of norovirus a week ago.  We’re all thankful to be back to our normal healthy selves, but there’s still something going around...

                                       ...It’s something in the air.  

It’s an affliction...

...An affliction that can only be cured by a collection of previously unseen Lena photos from the tail end of 2012!

It’s…
A fever for Lena!

We've begun sharing our grown-up food with Lena at restaurants.  Note: a previous BlogSpot entry included an even cuter Lena shot from that night!

Lena is conquering her fear of the loud, scary vacuum cleaner that Daddy pitched in one of his TV commercials.  Our weekly ritual of Daddy rushing Lena outside to preempt an Electrolux-induced baby screamfest is a thing of the past!  We have plenty of other excuses to get her outside… more on that during our upcoming hiking blog!

At Buffalo Wild Wings with my parents

Kathy, Lena (our little 13 1/2 month old ladybug), and Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan hold down the fort at our church's Halloween Trunk or Treat...

…And later, Lena shows off her ladybug costume at home.

Lena plays in Grandpa and Grandma Eason’s front yard leaves, and everywhere else!

This was supposed to be one long, mega blog post.  However, it's time that I got back to studying for this Sunday's Valentine's Day sermon on "The Five Love Languages."  I'll post more photos here tomorrow on Thursday!

Coming Thursday on BlogSpot...

The adorable conclusion to "Fever for Lena!"

And coming soon...

A Wild Wedding in Sunriver!!

Lena Photo-fest: Down Again

Sorry, folks. We didn't leave tonight's wedding rehearsal party quite early enough for me to finish this (as promised in the "My Jeep, the Tank" blog post.).  It was so worth it, though... we are so excited for Brent and Cheryl!  I had to pull this blog post again, mainly so I can finish adding the rest of the photos.

The rest of this weekend is toast. But when I get a chance, this note will soon be replaced followed by my original BlogSpot entry that I drafted earlier.


Check back here soon for the rest of those adorable Lena pictures!

My Jeep, the Tank

Current scores: 

Crashes/unscathed Jeep Wrangler- 5  Crashes/unscathed cars that smash into it- 0

My at-fault accidents: 0  Other accidents: Ummm...

It must be hard to resist crashing into my Jeep, especially with the soft top down.  And especially when I'm innocently stopped at red lights.

The latest guy to obliterate his front end on my tailgate got off easier than some of the Jeep's past victims, but it was still pretty bad.  His truck is no longer truck-shaped anymore.  I'm glad he was okay, but I feel so sorry for him.  What a horrible way to start out his new year!

Aside from a slightly pinched spare tire, the Wrangler got a clean bill of health this week.  Barely a scratch, as usual.

Why is this not surprising?  Here's why:  My Jeep has been hit in parking lots.  My Jeep was accidentally rammed on Superbowl Sunday.  And my BlogSpot post from July 2009, A Week of Jeep Smash-Ups (link), tells of the 72 hour window in which my Jeep got rear-ended TWICE while I was stopped at red lights. The first accident resulted in a totaled-out Taurus.   In spectacular fashion, the next crash pinned the Jeep near the front of a seven car pile-up!

Seven car pile-up by the Nike World Campus in Beaverton!  My Jeep Wrangler was the fourth vehicle hit by an out-of-control U-Haul van.  This was the second time that my Jeep got hit in 72 hours!

Let's save the Jeep retrospective blog for another time.  After all, you BlogSpot readers need to build up some stamina for the upcoming Lena picture-fest that I'm gonna drop next week.


Suffice it to say that Jeeps take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.  So far, my Wrangler has been rugged enough to:

Navigate rocky, snowy and icy roads to the mountain for hiking, backpacking, camping and skiing

...carry surfboards to the ocean, skis to the slopes, water toys to the lake, and gear to the trails

...trek offroad through mud, water, and an array of obstacles

...haul around middle school, high school, and college students

...appear in parades for WP College and the occasional TV commercial

...and survive the daily commute to PDX airport, church, and various photo studios/sets.

It's been said that Jeep Wranglers have nine lives.  How many lives does this Jeep have left?

Coming next Friday on BlogSpot...

A blog starring 15 month old Lena is long overdue!

Next Time- Central America

Several friends who read last weekend's post about leaving for Ecuador (link) on Friday have been asking left and right:  What's up with the Garth sightings all over town this week?

The answer:  My plans to climb Mt. Cotopaxi over the weekend were foiled by full flights out of PDX.  Plan B, a Chinese weekend in Beijing, also hit a snag due to last minute troubles with documentation.  Such is the life of a standby traveler.

No regrets.  The weekend was freed up to catch up with friends, groove to some live music, and go on a couple of local hikes/trail runs.

When a bachelor weekend of climbing Ecuador's Mt. Cotopaxi falls through, sometimes you've gotta settle for a treacherously icy trail run on the Lower Macleay trail up into Forest Park.

But I also stayed home and knocked out some of those travel-time projects I mentioned on Friday, like a responsible adult?  Right?  (Coyly clears throat).

The only bummer was the timing.  Kathy and Lena were out of town for our sister Cheryl's bachelorette party, so I was a bachelor for yet another weekend.  This cute little face was desperately missed:

Lena bangs on an old laptop keyboard, makes a mess, and flashes another variation of her scrunchy-faced smile of excitement for Daddy.

Rescheduling another international weekend getaway will be a breeze.  My extra vacation days (for flight "bump protection") at Delta were easily cancelled.  Who knows where in the world my next mini-trek will be? Central America? Asia? Europe? South Africa?

If it's South America, then Ecuador or Belize would really hit the spot.

Coming this Friday on BlogSpot...

Crash! Do Jeep Wranglers really have nine lives?

Ecuador or China?

Dobro jutro, 2013!!

That's right, some of you know who I'm talking to.  I'm coming for you later this year!

This is Day 2 of my attempted weekend getaway to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, Ecuador.  Each of the flights out of PDX have been too oversold to accept standby passengers.  China is my backup plan.

Climbing Mt. Cotopaxi is my first choice, but mountain biking through the volcanic national park might be a good fallback if I run out of weekend in Ecuador.  Although I plan my own tours, thanks to http://mundo-nativo.ch for this photo!

En route to the actual South American adventure, I could use my Galaxy Tab to knock out so many projects during the plane/bus/van rides:  my three full-length sermons for February, the student ministry teaching for next week, a few more credentialing book reports, and a Warner Pacific Alumni Council meeting agenda for Homecoming weekend.
**********

Yet another flight has departed this morning without open seats.  Beijing, China is looking more and more appealing.  There are open Business Elite seats on our Tokyo flight, tonight's connection to Beijing, and the return trip on Tuesday or Thursday.  My pre-approved "emergency" Delta vacation days (a backup for getting stuck in Quito, Ecuador this weekend) could stay on the books.  Since the additional days fall on Kathy's and my scheduled workweek, childcare for baby Lena is already covered.

The unknowns about Beijing:  Conflicting information about the January 1st kickoff of China's new 72 hour visa waiver program... and pretty much everything else.  I accidentally fell asleep last night without doing a lick of research on Beijing, so I'd better start downloading some free maps and guidebook samples to my tablet ASAP!

10:22 a.m. update:

My original itinerary to Ecuador has been scrubbed.  I'm now listed for today's flight to Beijing, via Tokyo.  Clarification on that 72 hour visa for China still needs to happen, though.  Even when improvising, breaking international law is never on the agenda.


The list of travel time busywork (above) excluded the biggest thing of interest to our readers:  new BlogSpot posts for 2013!  Blogging about some of my unmentioned 2012 overseas trips should keep me busy for a while.

Whatever happens on my trip this weekend, I'll make sure to publish a post or two next week to kick off a new year of Garth's Blog!