LOUIE

we sat next to "Louie" from "Remember the Titans" last night at an Argentinian Restaraunt on Ventura Ave. He was my favorite actor by far in that film. He was in Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Blow, and now he is on "My name is Earl".

CHRISTmas in Hollywood again......

This my friends is the "Hollywood Nail". I found it on the floor of the Warner Bros. studio where they build the sets. Why the double headed hollywood nail you ask? Since they change the sets so much, the double sided nail allows them to pull them out with the claw of the hammer quickly so they can refigure the set for the next scene.


Stained glass in the back of the sanctuary.

The Smiths in Encinitas

We went down to see Jamie and Kimber Smith outside of San Diego today. The Ocean is beautiful with the mountains in the background. We saw the their church and youth building...it was a good time had by all.

a random visit in Hollywood

My mom says that the Cross of the church lies directly in the middle of the HOLLYWOOD sign if you stand in the middle of the intersection on Sunset Blvd.
I tried to stand there....and was nearly killed. So here is my best attempt at lining up the cross and the sign.


Cousin Marko came down from Santa Barbara for the afternoon.


Kim requested I find the "Bing" star amongst the 8 Jillion other stars.

The four of us were in the Sanctuary of the church and 3 people were singing in the corner, preparing for Christmas Eve. I was watching one of the young men sing and as I got closer, it was our friend Matt Lutz from Wilmington who is an actor and Kim and Matt lead Young Life together in college at UNCW. He was in Bringing Down the House, End of the Spear and Walk to Remember to name a few.

We also had one of my parents friends from church take us through the Warner Bros. facility. We walked around and ate lunch. We saw the set for Oceans 13, ER and other stuff.

CHRISTmas in Hollywood II

This is the church where they have filmed 7th Heaven for years and it's down the street from my p's house.

La Casa De Deb and Gar

This is mom's lemon tree in the back alley that she makes lemonade from

CHRISTmas in Hollywood

..so I have a confession to make....I am intrigued or maybe even obsessed with famous people! Kim has acused me of this....and now I admit it. But in my defense, I am not enamored with the glitz and the glamour....I am intrigued by these people who are unique and obscure....and I feel like i'm best friends with most famous people due to Entertainment Tonight and the first 10 pages of People Magazine in the Harris Teeter shopping line.
Having said all that...I saw Hillary Duff and her mother walking outside of the Disney Building. I met a man who ran in the Olympics and shook hands with Hitler. We saw one of the lead actresses from The Practice outside of the Curves on Ventura Ave. where my mom works. I met a man who was Roy Rogers and Dale Evans pastor for over 30 years in the Apple Valley. This was all in one day...more to come!
Here is the website of the church my parents are serving: www.hollywoodpres.org
This is a "Bird of Paradise" outside my p's house.

some random, wet plant outside the house.

This is one of the many Christmas lights that were left on my parents porch from an independent film that was shot at their house in October.

Kim in my parents small living room next to their huge Christmas tree.


The Kitchen

O Tannanbaum

our new tile floor in the bano

got a new pooper that is taller and is a nice ride.

a baby wreath made out of diapers and toys for little Ruthie from a mom in Kim's class.


All the boys bible study groups built these letters out of 2x4's and wrapped them in lights and stuck them on the roof of the HUB. "Dad, you taught me everything I need to know about Exterior Lumination"- Clark Griswald


Kimmie Gibler dressed up the Bungalo for the coming of Christ.

The Legacy

My glorious nephew "mr. benners" woofing down his first birthday cake. His passion and commitment to the culinary arts brings a tear to my eye. This young man will carry the Namtart Banner with Pride!

My Red HOT SMOKIN' Pregnant Wife

(i'm a little concerned that our unborn child is 8 inches away from a 400 degree oven. But Kim looks real nice like checkin' that corn bread...dont' she?

Kim has begun building "pillow fortresses" at night so she can get comfortable. Jake and I used to do the same thing when we were little...and then it turned into "KING OF THE BED" and one of us would fly of the bed onto the floor....i don't think Kim is interested in playing this game.....yet.

Thanksgiving Coon Feast

This past week I went down towards Shallote,NC for a Deer Hunt, Coon Hunt and Bluegrass pickin' at a friend hunting camp. Doing the "Lord's Work" has caused me to be resourceful in terms of feeding the family. This thanksgiving we will have Coon Souffle and Mint Julip Coon Croquettes. The boys tell me that coon meat will be good for our baby girl who is due in March. Rumor has it that rapid coon intake will give our baby some shiny hair and dark circles around her eyes so that she doesn't need to apply mascara.

(i'll put some pictures of Kim and the Pooch on the blog this week)
happy thanksgving;
God is Good,
nate

It's a TRUDY!!!

Here is a picture of Trudy's "undercarriage"....turns out Darryl didn't have a weenie!

Trudy chillin' in her momma's belly.

Kim and I as Poppa Smurf and Smurfette at our annual 5 Dolla' Prom for the youth group. Next year we will paint Trudy blue and she can be a smurfling.

Barbarian Weekend

Every year I get together with the guys that I meet with each tuesday morning for our BARBARIAN WEEKEND. This year instead of heading to the OBX, we went to N.Topsail Island and rented a huge house on the sound and 50yds from the beach. We eat, surf, fish,play rummikub,sit in hottubs and we talk about Jesus. Eddie Stuart, David Massey and I got into a huge "pod?" of shrimp and threw our castnets for 3 hours. Needless to say...we ate lots of shrimp that night. Here is one of the Redfish from the weekend that i caught under a dock on live mullet.

KIM REPORT- Kim has almost completely stopped barfing and she is feeling much better. Little Darryl Wayne is 4 months old (womb age) and we find out the Darryl is a HE/SHE in a week. Kim looks pretty with her little poochy-pooch. Now I don't feel so guilty about my poochy-pooch when mommy has one too!

"Deb gone Wild"

For those of you who don't know my mother, she is a simple
preacher's wife who has recently been uprooted from the
Ozark mountains to the bright lights of Hollywood. She used
to buy her smocks at TJ Maxx and her decorations at Big Lots..
but now Deb has gone Wild. She's hanging out with movies stars
and painting the town red while Dad try's to preach the word.

Deb has tickets to go see Dancing with the stars this week.

Here's a picture of Deb at the "spa" getting ready for Sunday church meetin'.

ERNESTO

Over the past six years living on the east coast, 2 things always happen when a big Tropical Storm/Hurricane gets near....1) We come down to Wrightsville Beach to stay with the Rippy's..watch the storm...eat lots of food...play games..and tie up the boats on the pier etc. #2) Jim Cantore gets swept along the beach on the Weather Channel near Wilmington and every friend or relative we have ever met , calls to ask us if we are alive or not and when are they going to put us in a FEMA trailer.

I LOVE IT.

It is kind of scary due to the raw power of the ocean and a hurricane ...but there is something pretty fun about it as well Tonight we have had over 11 inches of rain and it's supposed to get to 15 inches. We have had gusts of wind tonight over 75mph. The ocean is super high at low tide (not good....when high tide comes and we get a 5 ft surge...piers,docks, and boats are toast) and having said all that....this is mild.

It's a good excuse to come down here and eat some local shrimp,okra, brussels, and cornbread.

We'll keep you posted!

Kim is still getting sick quite often, but she is being a real trooper. Cousin Timm came down 2 days ago with his www.roadtripmcdonalds.com crew and we had a good time. Youth group stuff started big last week and we had more kids there and in SS than I had ever seen.

To God be the Glory great things He hath done-
nate

FRUITY

I felt a little artsyfartsy one day at the Rippy's
house and decided to take photos of
their fruit. The name of this photo is
"fruitopian galaxy". It tells me that I can be
bumpy like a lemon peel or distant like a
tomato on a ledge.....yet I still am
worth something. Maybe bananas don't taste as
good in a salad like a tomato, but that
banana is VITAL to "nanner pudding".
We all have our place in the galaxy,
hence the name "fruitopian galaxy"

Nancy and I dressed up for the annual
6th grade "Wakey Wakey" event.
I am featured here in a pink, cashmire
"ONESY" with attatched footsies at the bottom.

Darryll Wayne Stratman's 1st photo shoot

Got Daddy's lips and beard.
Got Momma's head.

The Girly Doctor

(this is not ours...but it is a 9week old lil' feller)

Kim and I went to the girly doctor today, which was more painful for me than it was for Kim. Every man in that place was as nervous as I was. I was doing ok until we walked in the room to wait on the Doc...and there they were......the dreaded stirrups. Googily Moogily they gave me the willies....but I hunkered down and took one for the team.
When things got too intense for me I went back into the lobby to wait on Kim. The nurse ran and got me because they found the baby's heartbeat which sounded like a rabbit's heart. It was a pretty neat experience and it has finally sunk in that Kim has a living gift from God inside of her.

This is the first of many stories about the birth of "Darryl Wayne Stratman".

God is Good
nate

Mommy don't feel good

This is one of the many pieces of art
we have hung recently in our new youth

building, The Hub. This is a 4ft tall, glazed
canvas photo on a box frame. This head of
Christ is an actual clay sculpture that sits
in our main building and was made by a man
in about one hour with clay from his backyard.

Go to www.foldier.blogspot.com for the rest of the stuff.

Mommy Report-
Kim has been feeling pretty bad every day.
She is being a trooper through all of this.
Keep her in your prayers.

Peeved about Ricky Blobby

Dang
Shoot

Saw Talladega Nights last night on the opening night.(that's a ton of nights)
What a let down. I was so jacked up to watch some Ricky Bobby and it didn't deliver.
There were a couple of funny parts...but those were all on the trailers and previews I have been watching for 8 months. Wait till it comes out on DVD!!!
..while i'm not a prude or wound tight...I do question the PG-13 rating on this flick...
some of the humor was definitely "R'ish".

under construction,
young nathan

Quit Hatin' !!!

I have recieved many comments that Kim doesn't have any pictures on our bloggy thing or that I put random pics of large Asian men in tu-tu's or militant groundhogs.
#1- Kim hates Cameras #2- Kim thinks that if her picture is on the site that someone will steal her identity.

so...............
I am posting a picture from 2 years ago for tha' hatas!
ps... Kim is about 7 or 8 weeks pregnant and we have discussed several names: Darryl, Jimmy, Angel Dawn, and Cougar.
She isn't barfing....but feels a lil' queezy!
Keep her in your prayers.
word to ya momma,
the namtarts

There's a bun in the OVEN!

Take Cover!! Protect Yourselves!!

The Stratmans have PROCREATED!

Our guess is that little Fritter/Darryl will
step foot in mid-march.

Kim is feeling so-so and I'm eating for 2!
Keep us in your prayers.

Fun in the Son 2006

On stage at Jekyll Isand as Johnny Sparkle and Chuck
in our nightly show "Matinee". The fog machine
was working overtime this particular night.
Our morning characters were Laser and Gemini
in "Fitszercise".
Here is the group. Kim is in the front row
2nd from the right.

Rex Kwon Do

My friend Pete who lives in Frisco,CO snapped this picture of
a Rex and Starla at a 4th of July party.
I had to steal this from his blog because
i literally wet my pants looking at "Rex".

While I firmly believe God loves us all
and calls us to accept one another,
He also gave us friends and family to speak TRUTH
in our lives.
But my hat is off to this man!

Keep on Rockin' in the Free world brotha'!
Any fella who has the confidence to sport
Jordache jeans up to his Belly Button,

Rock a Kentucky Waterfall haircut,

while wearing Tevas is A OK in my book!

In the words of Lee Greenwood, "I'm proud to be an American"