This was not Faith's first trip to California, but probably one of her most memorable thus far. She fully enjoyed some time at the beach, hanging out with her grand parents, great grand parents, and so many more. Even better than that, she got to see her future home. That's right... Bethany and I just found out that we will be moving to Southern California next July. I picked up verbal confirmation of orders to work with the Marines out of Camp Pendelton. With that, we spent a day in San Diego to start looking at potential homes to purchase.
It's a good thing that I took Bethany back to California during the Summer months. I finally sold her on how great the weather is in Southern California. So even though I am taking her far away from her side of the family, she will be closer to my side of the family. We're not quite sure where life will go for us beyond this. The orders I am taking are two year orders. After that, I anticipate getting out of the Navy and going into full time ministry while I finish up my Masters in Divinity. While I imagine that will keep us in San Diego County, it really can take on many forms. Please be in prayer for us in the years to come as we seek God's direction in the decision making process.
After returning to Maryland from our trip out West, we made preparations to celebrate Faith's first birthday. After 12 months of life, she's crawling all over the place but not quite walking yet. She has taken a couple of steps on her own, but not all out walking yet. We had a few of Faith's friends over for her birthday and she experienced cake and ice cream for the very first time. It was a messy adventure... but, nothing that a little soap and water couldn't take care of.
With that, we wrapped up the month of July. The Brigade of Midshipmen returns to the Naval Academy in the middle of August, and work is going to pick up pace a bit more. After that, Bethany and I plan on taking a trip up to New York State and spend some time without the baby girl. It will be a good time for us to celebrate the last two years of marriage and get some much needed rest.
