Merry Christmas!

Long over-due update

I'm sure you all thought we'd left the planet, right? Well, almost! We've done some changes in our Internet service and I don't have as much time to blog as I did before but its ok, its saving us around $40 a month so I can adjust! :)

We are still in Texas. =( Its with very mixed feelings that we are here. Our heart are FOR REAL in Mexico but its so dangerous to travel in and out of there right now, that after praying and getting wise counsel we've decided for the sake of the safety of our children we'll stay here until God leads otherwise. Jonathan has been able to find some work here and we're thankful for that! We also need to stay put for a few months to take care of some responsibilities we have on the property we are renting. I don't claim to understand God's will, we just want to be willing followers of whatever that entails for our lives! Being a missionary doesn't always mean going to a foreign field. Jonathan's had many opportunities to witness to co-workers the past month or so and its exciting us! We've wondered if maybe God's placed us here just for those people! We want to be willing and happy vessels wherever God leads us!

I started homeschooling Kylie this year with the Abeka K4 program. I've always liked it and I still do after using it for 6 weeks. She's doing really good and we're trying to work extra hard and get caught up since we started about 8 weeks later than most schools. Most days its a real challenge to get school done with 2 toddlers that still need attention, but we are working it out!

Our dog Copper had 7 puppies at the end of September! One of the benefits of us going to PA in July! ;) 3 died, but the rest are healthy and doing good! We were able to get rid of all but 1, so we are keeping her! She's a cutie and loves to play! Jonathan named her "Peanut Butter"...I think we'll be coming up with a nick name! She's that color...so it was a good name for her!

I've got some real camera issues so no pictures for tonight! :( Hopefully they will be fixed soon!

At Grandma & Pappy's ~ part 1

We were very busy the 2 week we were in PA ~ with all the last minute wedding details and the cooking and cleaning, plus normal things like laundry for a house of 8 people ~ it was very busy but also very fun! The kids were great and it made for an easy week. Then add in the wedding and the few days we took to relax afterwards...it was a great trip!Eating grandma's chocolate pie!Playing football with pappy! Korey talked about playing football with pappy for weeks before we left! And they did ~ LOTS!!

North Carolina visit ~ July 2010

Well, I wasn't planning to wait over a month to blog! Our lives have been very busy!! We are still in the great state of Texas! I'm picking up where I left off last time! We just got our battery charger back and are able to get the pictures off the camera, so I even found some Mexico pictures I never blogged! ~ After our quick trip to Nebraska for Wesley and Teresa's wedding...And I do mean quick - less than a week, driving straight through both ways, plus all the crazy busy days of right before & after a wedding...we arrived in back home here and started getting ready for our 2nd trip north for my sisters wedding in PA at the end of July! On our way to PA we were able to stop in NC for a few days and see our family there! Here's just a few of my favorite pictures.Kylie (4), Korey (3) & Kamryn (2)

July 2010At the North Carolina Zoo with GrandmaWalking to the playground at CCA ~ Thomasville, NC

Wesley & Teresa's Wedding

I'm not even sure where to start on catching up with this blog! I guess I'll start with Wesley & Teresa's wedding in June! For some reason all my pictures are not on the computer and I'm not sure where they are!

Its been too long...

since I've updated our blog! Since the last update in June, we've gone to Nebraska for Jonathan's brother's wedding, back to Texas, worked lots of hours, made dresses, buried a dog, went to North Carolina, then to PA, attended and participated in my sister's wedding, and are now getting ready to leave this week to go back to Texas...where more work awaits us! I'm not going to make any promises about updating soon!! =)

Texas

We arrived safely in Texas on Tuesday around 3:00 PM! As much as we didn't want to leave Mexico it was a relief to know we made it safely without any problems! Our kids had some different reactions to being here and I thought I'd share those with you all.

Kylie: "I'm so excited to be in Texas!" and then the next time she says, "I want to go back to Mexico and see our friends. They were sad we had to come to Texas." (She's little mixed up about it all.) She is very happy though and is thrilled to see her toys and dogs!

Korey: We had just barely crossed the border and we told them they were in Texas, he thought about it for a few minutes and then said, "please, please, PLEASE, daddy, take me to Haiti!!!" Yesterday, he was very sad and said, "I won't see Mario ever again." On Sunday we spent the day with our friends in Vera Cruz, during church in the morning, he told Jonathan, "I can't like this church." Jonathan said, Why?, He said "Its not the right place"

Kammy: well, no profound words from her...unless you want to count the screaming that comes from her bed at night. But I'm sure by the time we need to leave to go to Nebraska, she'll be adjusted to Texas! =) So goes the life of a young missionary!

We do have continual praise in our hearts to God for His goodness & mercy in protecting us as we traveled back! There were several close calls with accidents but other than that it was a good trip!

Remember the green material from this post...and I promised it would be back...well --
I have Kylie's to finish yet, and I still have some left so who knows what else I'll do with it. =)

Fun times

Last weekend we had lots of company! =) I love to have friends to visit my house, but I was sick and having trouble keeping up with the schedule! =) It was great fun though. Friday night a family from the church came for supper, later that evening I met a family in the park across the street who were Christians that spoke some English, so they came over that night, Saturday the young people from the Mountains came down for a real fun time of games and also some serious moments when Jonathan talked to them about making sure they were saved. Sunday was busy with church and company for dinner! It was all good, but by Sunday night I was wiped out!

Please pray for these young people that one day soon they will accept Jesus as their Lord!

Morning Routine's

The past month or so the kids have been enjoying 'drinkin' yougerts'! Since they are only about $.30 each here, compared to $1 each in the USA, we've made them a breakfast routine! They wake up and all come downstairs and starting asking for 'drinkin yougerts'! Even Kammy knows!!

Sewing fun!

The week before Mother's Day, 3 of the ladies from the church in Tapachula came to the house and we made rice bags. It was a Thursday evening, so Jonathan had to go to Santa Domingo for Bible Study. A few minutes before Jonathan left I was starting to get the dough made for homemade pretzels and while that was rising I mixed up a batch of banana muffins. I turned the oven on and found out I was out of gas! It was a fearful moment for a while, realizing that I wasn't going to have food, and no way to get gas to make food. But God helped me and I had some taco meat already cooked in the fridge, so I just went to the little store here in the development and got some tortillas, and we had American tacos! There wasn't any left overs, so I guess they liked it! =) Bro. Antonio also came to babysit all 7 of the kids! I didn't have a chance to get a picture of them. But they had fun playing in the park.

I didn't count how many of the rice bags we made, but it was quit a few. They were planning to give them to family members for Mother's Day and even to the ladies of the Santa Domingo church. BTW, how do you like that green material? I feel in love! So...look for it to show up again! (Hopefully soon!)

Mother's Day

I'm just a few days late with this post, but I am thankful for my mom! Whatever I need, she usually comes up with a way to find it!! =) For example, I am looking for a suit for Korey. I mentioned it to her and this morning I woke up with about 8 emails from her with links to places to find the exact suit I needed! Thanks mom!!

And my mother-in-law! She has taught me so much. If I'm half the missionary's wife that she is I'll feel 'accomplished' in life! She also raised an incredible son for me to marry!

My Mother's Day was just another busy Sunday! It was a good day with my family, and like always, I'm so thankful for the little people who make me a mom! I wanted to be (or thought I did) a lot of things growing up - but a mommy was always at the top of the list!

A birthday party

Monday evening, Jonathan was invited to preach at a birthday party! The granddaughter of Bro. Benjamin in Santa Domingo turned 3. First we had a service. Jonathan brought a good message about training our children in the ways of God. The poor little girl was so tired and sleep though the whole service. The brought her out at the end of us to sing Happy Birthday (in Spanish of course!) and for Jonathan to pray for her. There was alot of people there who don't attend church with us, so pray that somehow God will use something in the service to draw them to Him! Then they brought out some good tamales! Jonathan was a very happy person...especially since they brought him some coffee too! They grow coffee in this area, and Jonathan absolutely loves it!

Special prayer for the birthday girl & her parents

Road Block

Last Sunday afternoon, there was a road block on one of the main highways!

Volcano

Finally we were able to get a picture of the Volcano that's close to Tapachula! Usually it's been either cloudy or else hazy from heat and you couldn't see it. Its actually half in Mexico and partly in Guatemala. They say its an active volcano, but the top blew at one point and it spews mostly on the other side.

New Books

Saturday, the pastor of the HIM church about 2 hours away came to Tapacula to visit, and he brought some copies of Joy Budensiek's book 'Jesus, My very Best Friend' in English and Spanish. There was enough of them we were able to give all the kids one who were in Tapachula in the morning and also in Santa Domingo that evening.

3 little monkeys

I seem to have 3 little monkeys who love bananas! Good thing for them they are very cheap here!

A day out with the youth

Last Saturday we took 7 young people from the church in the mountains to the River for the afternoon! We all had a great time. It was a beautiful river in the jungle woods (that's probably not the right way to say it, but there was trees & woods, like I would know in PA and also some more jungle greens too). The water was SO COLD! But it was very hot, so it was perfect! I forgot to take the camera down there, so no pictures of that part of the day...but after we were done there, 3 of them came home with us for home made pizza, popcorn, cookies & Coke. We played in the park here by the house, looked at pictures, ate & talked! Please pray for these young people. They have been coming Sunday evenings for the past few weeks and I know the one service God was really talking to them.

Kids!

Good reports from Sunday!

God gave us a good Sunday this past week! (Every Sunday is good, but we were especially encouraged!) Sunday morning in Tapachula Jonathan spoke to us about "Looking to the Hills, whence cometh our help" Well, that very easy to illustrate here since the mountains of Guatemala can be seen from here on a clear day!

Sunday evening we had a good service in Santa Domingo. There was 26 people there if I counted correctly. Its kinda hard when kids are moving around and maybe a few more came in after I counted. =) There was a good group of young people there and God was talking to them, so please pray that they will come to know the "Peace" Jonathan talked to us about!

Hope you enjoy the few pictures from the day below! Kamryn with her 'church family'! They keep her during church for me, which is a huge blessing!

Kylie, Korey & I were outside since it was a little crowded inside, they decided we didn't sing enough and they needed to again! =) (Notice Kylie's had on his shoulder!! )

Jonathan preaching



The mountains of Guatemala in the distance, at least I'm pretty sure it is...if not its really close, since the line is near here. (this is on the way to Santa Domingo)

Korey

Korey's the only one who got his picture taken on Easter Sunday! He's growing up so much. He thought he was 'hot stuff' (which I think so too) in his new outfit! He went into Jonathan when he was dressed and said, "Look at I"! He has recently memorized Genesis 1:1 in English for preschool. He'll be 3 in June and I can hardly believe that!!

Kamryn

Kammy always makes us laugh! A few days ago, she was climbing up the back of the dining room chairs, and laughing saying "Monkey"! She also knows when she's 'on display' because she really hams it up! Wednesday night after church we were visiting with the people and she was running around playing, and of course everyone was watching her laughing, when she stopped and saw that, she really put on the show! She has finally started talking more here the past few weeks and also has been saying some Spanish words. She loves Korey & Kylie and always wants to be with them.Here she is just after she woke up yesterday morning, in her new night gown! (Excuse the wild hair, she just woke up and always messes it up anyway!) Its fun sewing for little girls. I've been able to use up some small pieces of material that I had for a long time!I gave her these crackers to eat, and when I came back this is what I found! She'd eaten the filling out of them and put them back together, and lined them up on the table!