Welcome to CoddingtonTribe.com. We hope you enjoy visiting our family and learning a little bit about each one of us. We can’t promise that this site will always be up to the minute accurate, but we can tell you that it will always have snippets from our family life and adventures together.
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Karen had been asking for a few days to go to the beach in the evening to watch the sunset. We went on Monday night and just watched the sun set. The kids eventually got bored and decided to play tag in the sand which gave Karen and I a chance to just enjoy the time. If you leave our house and make 3 rights and a left you arrive at the beach in about 7-15 minutes depending on traffic. It’s a four mile trip.
Our niece Lauren came with us. The kids LOVE playing with their cousins!
Below are a couple pics we snapped. I took some of just Karen and I silhouetted, but you’ll have to wait for those.
Thanks for Reading,
wes©
I took this one from the back of the truck using a tripod and timer. We are sitting on the seawall.
Lauren took this one for us! She is eight years old and is already a fairly accomplished photographer!!
Click here for more of Lauren’s photo work.
In late October of 1995, this beautiful gal married me…
I can’t believe she agreed!
17 years, 3 kids, 8 moves, 4 major surgeries, 7 automobiles (and 1 motorcycle), countless friends, 1000+ miles biked together, a few serious conversations, 4,369,019+ moments I needed forgiveness from her later, she is still with me! That is a miracle!
Thanks Karen.
And thank you to all of you in our lives who have helped make ‘us’ who we are.
wes©
Just over 2 weeks ago we had our first visitor, my sister Linda. It was perfect timing. Just prior to her coming our kids were missing their friends in Philly and were wishing school would start sooner.
The kids stood on the curb holding these signs that they had made waiting for the arrival of their Aunt.
Linda arrived on Tuesday Aug 21st and left late on the the 28th. The first night she arrived she watched the kids while Wes and I went to LA for a friends book release party. Look at that, only here for a few hours and already put to work! 
The week consisted of shopping, Froyo Love, Legoland, the Wave (a water-park), our neighborhood pool, miniature golfing at Boomers, the Ocean (finally), more Legoland, and souvenir shopping. We also hung out at the house putting together puzzles, playing football in the street, and watching H2O (Kasey’s favorite show). It was a very quick week! Thanks Linda for coming we look forward to your return. 
Karen
Our friend Steve Gibboney is turning 30. His wife Tirzah (also our friend) asked for friends and family to contribute stories of Steve’s awesomeness for him. Our family submission is below. Please be patient while it loads. Alternatively, it may load faster for you here: http://toontube.launchpadtoys.com/34455
Our kids have really enjoyed biking. We have been teaching the kids how to ride on the road so they can ride their bikes to school, to the nearby bike trails, and to Froyo Love (their favorite frozen Yogurt shop). From where we live, everything is a nice downhill ride, its the getting back that is a little more of a challenge. We are still looking and waiting for Wes to get a bike so we can ride together as a family, for now we share one bike and take turns.
A few weeks ago, we explored the bike trails. The boys have gone numerous times with either Wes or I and often with Uncle Dave and Lauren along. There are a few challenging areas and we are starting to venture off the trails we know to learn new trails. One day, Kasey joined the boys on the bike trails.
Karen
Smooth part of Trail around the lake
Exploring new trails.
Great place for a rest stop!
See the flat, round, brown water tower in background? That’s near our house.
Resting at the entrance of the trail. After two laps around the lake, Kadin was exhausted.
Yesterday was the first day of school!!!
The elementary and middle school are on the same campus, starting and ending around 15 min apart. One thing our kids do like about their school is that on Mon – Fri school begins at 8/8:15 and ends at 2:20/2:48 but on Thursdays school begins same time but ends an hour earlier.
Today we had our first day of biking to school. The kids did great and want to continue doing it everyday. The ride down is wonderful but the coming home… well that’s a different story.
Karen
PS: We have not been affected by the earthquakes.
One month ago today, we arrived in Carlsbad, CA. What have we been doing?
Week One…
We arrived on Monday July 16th at Dave and Lana’s house and Wes started first thing in the morning with scheduled work back east. The kids made many friends in the neighborhood, spending their days biking and hanging out. Through out the week Wes and I went looking for a place to live. We visited houses, condos, duplexes and apartments. Thursday, we found a place we both liked and put in our first application. On Friday, Wes went to a video shooting with Dave and the man who was to play the father did not show up so, they asked Wes and he got his first role in a movie and was asked to be the “father” figure in any other videos they create. (He was so natural:)) Saturday we took the whole family (Wes’ brothers family and parents and our kids) to see the condo to which we sent our application. Beautiful place, but after a second look we were not sure it would meet our needs.
Week Two…
Wes continued working with clients back east and we continued to look for a place to live. Feeling more certain that the first place was not for us, we called the owners to tell them to take our name out of the 20+ applicants, which they replied, “We were just about to call you to tell you, you were approved and are our first choice.” We expressed our concerns and they kindly made the choice for us and took the next applicants of choice. By Wednesday, we explained that we were done looking (feeling we were maybe wasting our time) when Lana came to us and expressed that a house just one street over from theirs put their house on craigslist this morning. So we made a phone call and the realtor said that she was coming that evening to look the house over and that we could meet her there. After going through twice, we filled out another application. Friday morning, we got the call that we have been approved and we could meet and sign papers that afternoon. Phew! what a whirlwind of emotion. Can we afford this? How were we approved? …. Since moving in I have talked to one neighbor who has been looking to move out of her house into the smaller style that we just moved into and in her words, “That house was meant for you! In 8 years I have never seen one of the smaller houses open up for rent.” In the meantime, our kids continue to hang out with their cousins and neighbors. They went to the beach once this week and set up a freshly-squeezed lemon aid stand at the playground around the corner. They are having a good time!
Week Three…
August 1 move in day! Didn’t take much to move our belongings out of the trailer. Wes’ brother Dave, Wes and myself along with the kids unloaded the trailer in just one hour. Unpacking, well… that’s a different story. For the first few days, we didn’t all have beds. So Wes and I slept on an air mattress and Kadin slept on a bunch of foam toppers. We had 2 chairs shared between office and kids room, and no dressers. Just days before we moved in, we got Kasey a bed on craigslist that was perfect for her room and guests. Clothing is either hung or stacked neatly in closets, or still in containers. We are on the hunt for dressers, kitchen table, chairs and a couch.
Week Four…
Between running back and forth between Walmart, Target, Goodwill, and Thrift Stores, we got a good number of basic needs. However, sitting on the floor is getting a bit old. One day we were at the pool in the neighborhood, when our next door neighbor (who moved in a day before us) asked if we would want their kitchen table and chairs. It was too big for their house but fits perfectly in ours. Yeah! we can get off the floor. Also a neighbor and friend from back east gave our kids gift certificates before they left, so we took the kids shopping and they picked out 3 round comfy chairs for the living area. Thanks Malcolm! This week the kids went to the beach twice, once to see Lauren baptized in the ocean. Congratulations Lauren! They also had a volleyball tournament created by the kids in the local park.
Dakota has been getting involved with the youth ministry. He spent the night locked out of the church building with 20+ other kids on Wednesday just to see what it would be like to be homeless. It was a great experience for him and he is really excited about being involved with the leadership team. Read his blog here.
Week Five…
Two kids are finally registered for school and the third will be registered next week. The kids have been biking the local trails that are fairly rough in terrain in areas. (Pictures of that in upcoming post). Wes and I have been biking the kids down to their school everyday, trying to get them ready. It is a great downhill to school but a bit difficult coming back up. Also they need to cross one major road, which according to the locals, is very congested when school starts. Maybe we will just start off by walking for a while. Wes and I drove around to Thrift stores, Consignment shops, and Goodwills looking for dressers. No dressers however, we did get a very comfy loveseat, chair and ottoman so now no one has to be on the floor. Not even our guests! The good news for this week, is that we sold our trailer and it is no longer in our driveway. The best news is that the people who bought it, we may have built a relationship with them both professionally and personally. They were a great couple and share many of the same values as us. The wife may use Dave and Wes to help kick start her business which helps children all over the world.
Here are some pictures I took of the house in our second week. Also, there is no picture of the front yard because it was mostly of the trailer. It took up the entire driveway.
Back yard
Kasey’s Room
Wes’ Office
Kitchen
Dining/Living Room
Boys Room
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Thanks for all the prayers and support.
Karen
Today we are moving in. Here we are having lunch at our coffee/kitchen table for the time being. Aunt Lana and Cousin Lauren brought us Chick-fil-A, yeah!! This is a sign of good times to come!
It has been a nerve racking week, looking at houses and trying to figure out where God wants us to be. As Wes noted yesterday we have settled on a place around the corner from Dave and Lana. It is a single story, 3 bedroom home with a lot of kids in the neighborhood. It is walking distance from the Elementary, Middle and eventually High School (currently being built). We have been here for two weeks tomorrow and have met many of the families. The kids are getting to know the neighbors and playing outside regularly. The boys have been biking almost everyday and timing each other to see how many times they can go around the neighborhood in 15 min. Yesterday Kadin made it 8 times and today he increased it to 10. Wes is researching getting himself a bike so we can hit the bike trails and ride together as a family (his Mt. bike was broken on a bike trip a few years ago and we never replaced it…Craig’s List here we come!). There are trails close by our house that we look forward to blazing together.
Today is Wes’ moms birthday, shared with one of the neighbors here, Brogan. Brogan has turned 8 today and her brother Patrick will turn 9 on Monday. Brogan’s mom made brownie cupcakes for the kids and they were delicious. Happy Birthday Mom!
The kids eating cupcakes.
Wes and I took the kids to IKEA to get an idea for furniture. We left most of our furniture in Philly. After arriving home, I checked craigslist and found a great bed for Kasey. It is a full size trundle bed on top with a twin mattress below and 3 drawers below that. We are so excited! Not only will Kasey have a bed and drawers since she has no dresser, but we also have a place for anyone who may want to visit. Her room is not very large, in fact, the bed will take up most of it, but at least it can hold 2 to 3 people who may choose to visit (any takers?)
We are excited to see what God does here. Just in the short time we have been here, we can see him working and helping us build relationships that prayerfully will glorify Him. Thanks for your continued prayers. We are being stretched, but we are determined to remain faithful.
Karen