Tag: family

Two months in and still no post

Ok I admit I have been slacking on the blog. With Twitter and Facebook being the dominant way I have been keeping in touch with people I just have been ignoring the blog. Let me see if I can cobble together a brief summary of what has transpired so far in 2013.

Jesse came home for a few days at the start of January. He is still at the LA Dream Center serving in the kitchen as an intern feeding over 300 people every meal. He applied for and received a full internship scholarship for the next year. He has started back at the Angelus Temple Bible Institute with a 3 year scholarship there also. He enjoys being in LA and keeps very busy working at the ministry there. We might see him sometime soon, but for now he is there and blessing others through his service.

Renee and I both celebrated birthdays this month. We didn’t do much other than go out to eat. Our anniversary was another story. We took a flight to Portland, Oregon and were hosted by my brother Chris and his wife Paloma. We had not been to visit them since they moved from Texas to Oregon. We had a great time catching up and enjoyed their beautiful home. We went bowling thanks to a Groupon gift card from one of Renee’s clients. Paloma schooled us in the first game and I hung on to win the second game. They took us to Stanford’s for our anniversary dinner. One of the main destinations while in Portland was the great used bookstore, Powells. It was great to see so many Star Wars novels in one place. I brought home many hard to find novels that are waiting to be read.

Well, that’s the latest from our neck of the woods. If you want more recent info and photos, send me a friend request on Facebook.

The end is coming, the end is coming…..

You read that title right, the end is coming. No, I am not referring to some Mayan prophecy hooey. The end of another year in the Zeliff household is coming. Jesse has lived for the last year at the Dream Center and still enjoys what he does there feeding the people that live and work there along with the homeless as part of their Adopt-A-Block program. As far as what has transpired since I last posted, we did go back to LA and take Jesse and his new roommate Justin to dinner on Veterans Day. We have plans to see them again to go see The Hobbit when it comes out.

On Sunday December 9th, I will be “The Great, Late Potentate” for our church’s Christmas play. I have been rehearsing with the children for the past two months and hopefully won’t flub my lines or hurt anyone’s ears with my singing. We don’t have any travel plans set for Christmas so we will most likely be spending it at home with just the two of us as we did with Thanksgiving. Jesse chose to stay in LA and all indications are that he will again for Christmas.

As thought’s turn to family and friends, we hope this year finds you all well, loved and enjoying your holiday. We acknowledge the Author and Finisher of our faith for humbling Himself in the form of a servant and being found as a babe in a manger. May you know His love and care for you and our love and care for you as well this Christmas.

Download our annual holiday letter.

September Sierra Soujourn

We returned on Wednesday from a trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains with our son Jesse, his roommate James and their friend Tim from our church. They are all interns at the LA Dream Center and wanted to enjoy some time off together before James returns to Texas at the end of the month. We picked them up on Friday and brought them home to do a little laundry before heading out on our trip.

Saturday morning, we picked up our rental van from Hertz for which we got an amazing deal. We left around 10 am and headed north on US 395. We stopped in Lone Pine at the Interagency Visitor Center and ate a few sandwiches. We stopped a few miles later at Mazanar National Historic Site. Manzanar was a Japanese internment camp where Japanese-Americans were forced to live after World War II began because of fear that they might sabotage their own country. It is a sad part of our history, but one that everyone should know about.

After leaving Manzanar, we traveled north to Big Pine and headed up into the White Mountains to see the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. We stopped on the way up the mountain to see rain falling along the Eastern Sierras. At an elevation above 10,000 feet, the temps were quite cool when we arrived. We were able to see the newly reopened Schulman Grove Visitor Center. We left the visitor center and headed back down the mountains and north on 395 to Mammoth Lakes, CA where we had a condo reserved for two nights. Jesse and Renee cooked us dinner.

We enjoyed a great breakfast prepared by Renee and Jesse before heading to Devil’s Postpile National Monument just a few miles away. It was great to see it again after last seeing it when I was only 12. Tim and James wanted to see Rainbow Falls, so I joined them for the 2.5 mile trek. It was a little warm hiking back through a deforested area recovering from the Rainbow Fire. We returned to the condo for lunch and the guys changed into their Steampunk attire for our trip to Bodie State Historic Park.

Bodie is a ghost town from the gold mining era of California history that is now a state park. It has been preserved in a state called “arrested decay.” Which means, they don’t allow it to fall down, but don’t make improvements to it either. The guys enjoyed this place a lot as they posed around various antiquities and explored the abandoned town in their Steampunk garb. We managed to capture plenty of photos before they closed the park at 6pm. We stopped along 395 on the way back to the condo to take photos overlooking Mono Lake.

Monday morning, we cleared out of the condo and headed back north on 395, turning left crossing up and over the Tioga Pass into Yosemite National Park. We stopped at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center before heading to Yosemite Valley for lunch. We ate sandwiches at the base of El Capitan with Bridalveil Falls across on the opposite side. We headed south and stopped to take photos of Half Dome and also of the whole Yosemite Valley before taking CA 41 south out of the park toward Fresno. We made our way through Fresno and stopped briefly in Clovis for gas and groceries. We arrived at the beautiful Victorian-style home in Squaw Valley a few miles from Kings Canyon National Park. It was a magnificent place to stay and quite a peaceful respite from our travels.

Tuseday we were off to see the Giant Sequoias of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. We stopped at General Grant Grove to see the General Grant Tree, the 3rd largest tree in the world. Tim remarked that the size of the trees was “stupid”. We traversed the winding road over to see the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world. Jesse decided he would wear a paper bag over his head for the remainder of our time at Sequoia National Park drawing plenty of strange looks from other visitors. We climbed the 350 steps to the top of Moro Rock before stopping at Giant Forest Visitor Center. We relaxed that evening in the hot tub at the rental house.

We traveled home on Wednesday and took the guys back to the Dream Center on Thursday afternoon. Jesse had a great time as did James and Tim. Renee was outnumbered by all the testosterone in the van, but coped with it well. It was a great trip and something we will all remember fondly.

There and back again

We traveled down this past Saturday to pick up Jesse and bring him home from the LA Dream Center for the first time in over 3 months. He has been working non-stop and has a lot going on there. Besides the work in the kitchen and food ministry, he completed his 1st semester of Bible School at Angelus Bible Institute. He works on Sunday mornings in the 4-5 year old class at Angelus Temple. Sunday afternoons, he works with a church in South Central ministering to 9-13 year olds. He was ready for some down time and brought his laundry along for the ride.

We stopped at Panera on our way back home to enjoy our favorite “Pick Two” combinations. Afterward, we hit Target and Michael’s looking for a few things he wanted. We arrived home and his Grandma Z was pretty happy to see him. He quickly unpacked and we watched some shows on the DVR that we had saved for him. After watching Tron: Uprising and Walking Dead episodes, he was off to game in his room.

We were up early Sunday and off to church where he spent time talking with his former youth pastor about the Dream Center. I taught the Adult Discipleship Class and then joined Renee in the Nursery as we had a lot of babies to take care of. We went home and grabbed a quick bite to eat before going to see The Amazing Spider-Man at the theater. Upon returning home, Jesse got on his computer and got his gaming fix met as well as his Nick’s Pizza fix.

Monday morning, Jesse and Renee did a little shopping and enjoyed a mother-son lunch for the first time since he graduated high school. That night, I picked up Chinese food to satisfy another of his hometown cravings. More gaming was done as he played DC Universe for many hours.

Tuesday morning, we headed to DMV in Victorville to replace his stolen Driver’s license. The only difficulty was finding where the office had moved to. After searching for it for a half hour, a hunch led us to the right location and he was able to quickly get a replacement license. We returned home for a few more hours of gaming and packing. Grandma Z returned from her overnight trip to San Diego and we were off to LA.

It was great having him home for 4 days and we do miss having him with us. However, we are grateful that he isn’t sitting in his room playing games and finding it difficult to get work in our hometown. He enjoys the work he is doing and has a heart to serve others. While our home is always open to him, he may never do more than just visit from this time forward. We are always grateful for time he has now and cherish the time we had together.

Last year as a teenager

Earlier this month, we traveled to Los Angeles to pick up Jesse, his roommate James and friend Sean to celebrate his 19th birthday. They dressed up in Steampunk attire while Renee and I wore our usual jeans and t-shirts. We dropped off his birthday presents and cards at the Dream Center and then traveled to the Americana at Brand in Glendale. We stopped at the Jewel City Diner for some delicious burgers and seasoned fries. Afterward, we made our way to the Pacific Theaters to see The Avengers. It was starting its 2nd week of release, but there was still a line and a full theater. It was a great movie with the Hulk having the best scenes. Renee and I even went to see it a 2nd time this past Tuesday.

It is amazing to see the young man our son has become. We are happy that he has found a place where he can do something he loves. He has been at the Dream Center for 9 months now and enrolled at Angelus Bible Institute since January. We talk to him on Skype once a week or more. We went to a baby shower for my goddaughter/best friend’s daughter this past weekend in San Diego and saw many little ones running around. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we had a little one, but now he is a grown man chasing his dreams. We couldn’t be happier for him. We are grateful for the time the Lord gave us with him and look forward to the day we can spoil his kids though not anytime soon. 😛

Lakers, Angels and Jesse…Oh my!

It’s time for another not so frequent blog post/update on the Zeliffs. We have been able to attend a couple of sporting events this month thanks to the kindness of others.

On Friday the 13th of April (insert creepy B horror movie music), we went to see the Lakers defeat the Denver Nuggets. I entered a drawing at America’s/Discount Tire while getting a flat repaired. A week later, I was notified that I had won tickets to a Lakers game. I have been a fan for over 30 years and this was my first time seeing them play in person. We were far up in the top section of the Staples Center, but I yelled and cheered the same as if I was on the couch at home. Afterward, we stopped by the Dream Center to drop-off/pick-up some things for Jesse.

The following Monday the 16th of April, we were treated to an Angels game. It was pretty cool as we were in an All-You-Can-Eat section and were able to make repeat visits to get nachos, popcorn, peanuts, soda, ice cream and hot dogs through the 6th inning. Best of all, the Angels won which they seem to be having a hard time doing of late. Thanks to First Assembly, Apple Valley for a great time at the ballgame.

The biggest news of all is that Jesse has raised enough money to cover the $900 he owed on his internship which runs through January 2013. He is still doing well and enjoys the ministry he is part of. His bible school studies are going well. He turned in a paper fearing it would be docked because it was a page short only to find out that he received a 99.9 on it. In addition, his teacher wanted to take it to the school administration to demonstrate what quality work the students were doing. Thank you to all who offered financial and prayer support for him. He will be turning 19 in a few weeks and is doing very well.

As the summer temps arrive, it’s time to get the cooler running and make sure the ice cream is stocked up. We hope that all of you are well and that life is going great. Blessings on you and your family.

Two months away and what to say?

I haven’t posted to my blog since January when Jesse came home from LA to visit. Let’s see….what has transpired in that time? Well, both Renee and I got another year older, so that’s a plus I guess. Sure beats the alternative. We also celebrated 22 years of matrimony which is also a plus considering the alternative. Mom Zeliff came out for a visit as did my goddaughter Christina and her family. It was fun having her little guy Derek running around the house and playing with my old toys with him. Jesse requested that we retrieve him for the weekend and then return him to LA.

On my health, I had a resolution to my ongoing heart drama. The doctor detected a bigeminy(double heart beat) at my regular checkup. He referred me to a cardiologist for further tests and evaluation. These tests included an echocardiagram, 24 hour EKG monitor, bubble echocardiagram, and a treadmill stress test. After all of that, the cardiologist declared it benign and told me to come back in 6 months. So my heart is just a little off beat, but then again so am I.

Renee is still enjoying working from home in her business and in the nursery at church. I am enjoying teaching the adult discipleship class at church as well. Jesse is still at the LA Dream Center and enjoying the ministry he does there. Thank you to those that donated toward the $900 he needs for his internship. Every little bit helps him continue the great work he is doing. Additionally, he has enrolled in the 3 year program at Angelus Bible Institute and received a full sponsorship for his classes and books.

We hope each of you are well and that you are enjoying life. Feel free to drop us an e-mail or contact me via Twitter or Facebook.

January: Challenges may come, but we can overcome them.

Well the holidays came and went at our home pretty quietly. Renee and I spent the holiday as a couple minus our son for the first time in his life. He stayed at the LA Dream Center to allow many of the other interns a chance to visit their families. We missed him, but did call him later in the day. It is always good to talk to him on the phone as we are usually exchanging brief e-mails. He still loves what he is doing there. So much so that he applied for and was accepted into the one year internship program which will start at the end of his 4 month internship the last week of January. He was granted a $600 scholarship, but still needs to raise the remaining $900 to cover his room and board for the year. Several family members and friends have already donated to help him. If you want to help, just contact us and we can make sure he gets any donations.

On New Year’s Eve, my truck refused to start when we were headed to church. We had it taken to the shop the next day to have a fuse and relay replaced. The following Friday, it refused to start again and had it taken back to the shop. They determined that the PCM(Power Control Module) had a short and needed to be replaced. Due to it being a special order part, it is still in the shop as of this writing. Monday morning there was some seepage coming out of the trap in the back yard. I ran a snake up into the house and down into the septic tank to no avail. My next thought was to check to see if the line had disconnected from the tank as this occurred when we first moved in due to settling of the dirt around the tank. After digging down to the line and following it to the tank, I discovered no leakage or disconnection. So I set to digging up the tank. I found the first of two covers immediately as it was just past the junction. I unearthed it and called for a truck to come pump the tank. While waiting for the truck, Renee and I attempted to unearth the second cover. Three hours and a twelve foot trench later we gave up finding it. We decided to let the septic guys dig it up and pay the extra charge. They used a probe and found that the tank was installed at a 15 degree angle meaning we missed finding it by a mere 3 feet. The guys took care of the tank and we proceeded to fill in the hole/trench we had dug since they filled in the one they dug.

I hope your year hasn’t had as interesting a start as ours has. If so, don’t lose heart. The greater the opposition, the greater the victory. Challenges may come, but they don’t determine the final outcome. Hope each of you have a great 2012 and that you overcome any and every challenge that comes your way.

And another year nears its end

We were grateful to have Jesse home from the Dream Center over the Thanksgiving weekend. He wasn’t sure until a few days prior whether or not he would be coming home. We drove down Wednesday night to get him and stopped for some Panera on the way home. He brought all of his laundry with him and enjoyed sleeping in his own bed. Thanksgiving day we gathered around the table to enjoy the feast that Renee had prepared. I spent the day watching NFL and Jesse got reacquainted with his computer and online friends.

On Friday, the Christmas decorations were brought from the shed. Mom Zeliff arrived as we began setting up the tree. Jesse took care of the Nativity, placing it under the Christmas tree. He also raided the decorations, taking some back with him to LA along with several strings of lights. He and I were both up early on Saturday to begin our marathon day of Beta testing the online game Star Wars: The Old Republic. On Sunday, we took him back to the Dream Center so he could return to the work he is enjoying so very much.

He has said that he plans on staying in LA through January so we will most likely be spending our first Christmas at home without him. As is our tradition, I have typed up our year end newsletter. If you care to read it, you may download it here: http://zeliff.net/Christmas2011.pdf. We wish each of you a blessed Christmas season and happy new year.