Orientation At H2H

Monday we left Ottawa so that we could head over to California for our orientation with Heart 2 Heart. On the way to the Detroit airport we stopped and visited Rebecca's Oma, who also lives in Canada. She is 100 years old and is still very sharp. She is always a joy to visit because she often has very funny reactions to things people say. Rebecca's Aunt Jenny was also there from up north in Canada. It was great to visit them both. After our visit we drove to Detroit and stayed the night there. We flew out in the morning and arrived in San Diego California in the early afternoon.

We went up to the 40th floor of a hotel to take in some views of the city. The weather has been steady 70's and has been very nice.

We went to see the ocean and enjoyed the beauty of the area there.

Our crabby friend in one of the tidal pools that we went to. After we toured the oceanside and the city we went up to Ramona which is where the H2H office is. Jim and Jodi are the founders of H2H and they are such incredible hosts. It is a great joy to stay with them. Wednesday we started our orientation, which consists mainly of going over what to expect when we get to Romania. We are talking a lot about how to be effective in ministry and avoid some pitfalls that are common for first time missionaries. Wednesday night we went and talked with Anna (J&J's daughter) & Austin's small group about what we will be doing in Romania. We talked a lot about how God brought us to this point. It went great, the group was very friendly and asked lots of questions. We ate Caribbean food for dinner which was very good.

Thursday after our orientation sessions we ate Mexican food and then went out kayaking on the ocean with JT (J&J's son). It was hard work but the scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

The cliffs were awesome, but the best part of kayaking was being able to see these sea lions up close. We also saw some bright orange fish which are the California state fish.

After kayaking the family met us on the beach and we had a cookout and played some games. Jodi and a Romanian friend had fun walking the dogs on the beach.

We are having a great time staying here and are also learning a lot about what things will be like when we move to Romania. The time we're spending here has been quite refreshing as it is very laid back, which is a nice change of pace from all the busyness that we've been experiencing in the last few weeks. We have a couple days left here and then we'll go up to Sacramento to spend some time with more friends. Then we'll come home for a week and a half before we leave for Romania!