MrAndrewBradley

After an early Christmas at the Bradley Lodge last weekend, my parent's and I headed down to my grandma's house in Lodi to celebrate Christmas on the correct day, open more gifts, play Wii and of course, eat more food. Beyond the food, playing cards and Wii Bowling , we also took a few minutes to remember a grandfather that I never knew, but whose memories and accomplishments live on to this day.

It might not be your "typical" Christmas service , but it drew over 30,000 people to a church building (and made the news ), was watched by hundreds around the world through live streaming and shared the "reason for the season" with many who had never heard it before. With concert style lighting, LED panels and a 15 minute instrumental piece (inspired by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra ) that included a spinning drum solo, it was amazing, groundbreaking and meaningful. Ray Johnston took the opportunity to preach the full message of Christmas, not a watered down version that other churches might give when they have thousands of people come into their buildings once a year and when thousands of candles were lit at the end of each service it was breathtaking. Just think how your light can shine, one light may not seem too bright, but when that one light joins with others, it can light up a worship center, a room or the world. Picture's from BaysidePictures.com

The Prime Rib dinner was great! Also before I forget, the deck and roof did get repaired a day or two after we came up to clear the fallen tree , everything looks great and we are very happy with the work the contractor did. On our final full day as a family we made sure to use our time wisely. We started the morning off with a fabulous French Toast breakfast (complete with mimosas ), then headed to a nearby snow park , where Luke got to sled (for real) for the first time, he loved it and even took the time to build a snow man with his dad and "pop" (aka grandpa). After sledding we went to Stevenot for some wine tasting in Murphys and headed back to Arnold where we ate at one of my childhood favorites ... Giant Burger (think mountain version of In-N-Out ). While my brother took his wife out to a nice dinner in Arnold, the rest of the family got to spend time with Luke and we watched the season finale of Survivor (Natalie won, but Russell did get fan favorite) and a...

Since my brother got married, it has made it more difficult to celebrate Christmas as a family on Christmas Day, so we got our shopping done a little early and celebrated Christmas at the Bradley Lodge a few days early. We watched Luke open tons of gifts, mainly Cars related, and my parent's got a Wii from their loving son's. So what have we been doing since "Christmas?" Well we have been playing Wii, I am pretty good at bowling and golf , everyone else seems to be good at Tennis also (guess I didn't get the Wii tennis gene). Today my brother, dad and I went to Bear Valley for some skiing (and a little "dessert" to end our day). Tonight a Prime Rib Dinner a waits.

After a great open house with friends and family at Fort Bradley, a birthday dinner at Zocolo and watching Blind Side , I did not think the day could get much better ... but then it started to snow. Fort Bradley is looking more and more like the Bradley Lodge and is becoming a " Winter Wonderland ." Or maybe it's beginning to look a little more like Christmas .

Fort Bradley had a great turnout for its official open house this afternoon. Below are a few pictures of the food, the people and the house. A big thanks to everyone who was able to make it, if you were not able to make it, but want to see my house in person sometime, just let me know. As a side note, if you would like to "Experience Christmas at Bayside " get your free tickets on-line now , some services are already filling up.

After an emergency call from the people that clean the Bradley Lodge last night my parent's and I are now at the Lodge to survey the damage from a 56 foot section of tree that came crashing down, most likely during the strong winds last Saturday. The lower deck railing as demolished and there appears to be some minor (yet incredibly expensive) damage to the roof, but nothing too major. We will be working on clearing most of the fallen tree today and have a contractor coming up to work on the deck and roof. Sadly we will need to buy a new bird feeder. During and after photos ... we will have a lot of firewood to use in the next few years.

Although there were some amazing things presented at InterAct2 , a dessert at Bayside to celebrate 2009 and look ahead to 2010, a few stuck out with me in particular. First the highlights of 2009 … - Amazing guest speakers including: Luis Palau , Nick Vujicic , Franklin Graham , Louie Giglio and Francis Chan - More than 500 active small groups throughout the Sacramento region - Nearly 800 Jr. High , High School and College/20's at weekly events - Breakaway Summer Kids Camp sold out in April ... 2010 will offer a special needs program - Bayside Gives Back (garage sale) raised over $102,000 for 24 Sacramento region charities - Semi's were filled with food and donated items for the Salvation Army What's ahead ... - Jim Caviezel - who played Jesus in the Passion of the Christ will be speaking this weekend at Bayside - Experience Christmas at Bayside - Bayside's Christmas Eve services start on December 18th, they are amazing and you can get your free tickets begin...