~Our week, in a few words~

I just got an email saying to Please pray for my Grandma (My Dad's Mom, that lives with my parents) that will be 100 on Friday, she's in the hospital with very high blood pressure! She's never had this problem before. They think it was the stress of the move from Canada to Indiana. My parents JUST got to their new home Thursday, and on Sunday (THEIR FIRST SUNDAY AT THEIR NEW CHURCH) they had to take Grandma to the hospital. She is in the BEST heart hospital there in IN! Please pray that God will help her and Daddy and Moma during this time. They have planned a special 100th birthday party for her on Friday! GOD IS ABLE!
~These are the pretty flowers that Amparo brought to me when I was sick last week!~

On Tuesday, Sarah and Phillip arose early and went to the Prayer and Fast that is held every Tuesday, from 7:00-12:00 at one of our churches.
Pastor Jimmy, that used to pastor in Cartagena, moved here in May and he and his wife are in charge of the new ACE school (started by DeWayne Joslin and Helbert) that is above one of our churches. This school is free for the students, and they have 17 students attending that have never been schooled before. Pastor Jimmy also started a church a month ago, and has been wanting us to visit one of their services. So, on Wednesday, Amparo took charge of our normal service, and we went to visit Pastor Jimmy's church, and God helped Phillip to preach. The next day, Pastor Jimmy told Phillip that GOD HAD LED HIM TO PREACH EXACTLY WHAT HIS CHURCH NEEDED! Glory to God!
~Phillip preaching at Pastor Jimmy's church~

On Thursday Phillip went calling in one of our churches areas, then there was our normal Thursday evening service. Thursday I got a rare treat, and got to call my dear sister Laura, in Romania. They have had the TLC team with them for the last 3 weeks, so it was fun catching up on all that had happened. Then my kids begged me to take them to the park. It has been raining almost every day...and they were SICK of being in the house. So, we went to the park, and as we were wallking there, IT STARTED RAINING! So, we ran back and got our raincoats...and PRAYED, AND ASKED JESUS TO PLEASE HELP IT TO QUIT RAINING, FOR OUR KIDS NEEDED SOME FRESH AIR. HE STOPPED THE RAIN FOR ABOUT A HALF AN HOUR, AND THEY HAD FUN PLAYING, THEN IT STARTED RAINING AGAIN, AND WE CAME HOME! THAT'S MY GOD...I LOVE IT...that He cares about the smallest detail, and LOVES TO ANSWER PRAYER FOR HIS CHILDREN!! =)
On Friday, my friend Neyla, from the fruit market, came to practice her English and my Spanish. I do get to practice my Spanish, for when I talk in English, it's HARD TO TALK SLOW enough for her to understand. So, I say the sentence in English, and then say it in Spanish to make sure she understood what I was saying. We had a good day together. We made a yummy Colombian dish called, "Arroz con Pollo"..."Chicken with Rice"! We made enough to feed the whole Barrio (neighborhood) but it was delicious, and makes great left-overs too! =)
~Neyla and I and are HUGE pan of "Arroz Con Pollo" ("Chicken with Rice")~

Please continue to pray that I can touch Neyla's life for Jesus!
~The YUMMY Chicken with Rice and fried platano that Neyla and I made. My kids LOVED IT..they ate 4 plates EACH!~

Phillip was able to fix my vacuum cleaner. YEA! You see, our stairs in our house are carpet (which is RARE, for there is not a lot of carpet here!) So, after trying to sweep those stairs with a broom for 7 or 8 months, we finally were able to buy a vacuum. But....I had only used it 5 times, when it rolled down the stairs and quit working! UGH! I was beyond SAD! But, thank the Lord, it looks like He helped Phillip to be able to fix it up good! YEA! "Phillip, the vacuum man"! (Did I ever mention that Phillip is a SMART, DEAR husband?! (`~`) Neyla was here from 11:00-4:00 and after she left, I mixed up 140 oatmeal raisin cookies (and decided that I'd add choc. chips for a new taste...and we really like them =). These cookies are to pass out at our churches on Sunday (with some extras to bake up on Monday...for the AMAZON TLC team that we are to meet again. They still have some things for us, that they were unable to get to, when they first arrived.) Friday evening , while I was baking cookies, Kimberly and Phillip went to have the house service that he has every Friday night...and there were 13 there, and God helped! Today (Saturday), we went to the fruit market, got to talk to my parents and I was happy to hear that they are safe in their new home in Westfield, IN (after a LONG move!) Now we are getting ready for our BUSY Lord's day tomorrow! And there you have it...We thank God for His help this week!

~Happy Anniversary Daddy and Moma!~

(Just talked to Daddy, and they are safe at their new home in IN...Thanks for your prayers!)
I know you may not get to read this on my blog...since you have just moved to Westfield, IN., but I want to wish y'all a VERY HAPPY 46th wedding anniversary! Wow! That is Great that y'all are celebrating that many years together. In a day and age where COMMITMENT...FOR Marriage, (Shacking up is the "norm" now =( and COMMITMENT...IN Marriage is not found too often, it is even more SPECIAL that y'all have been FAITHFUL TO EACH OTHER, TO YOUR VOWS, AND TO GOD for 46 years!

Though Phillip and I have only been married for 12 years, I know by now that MARRIAGE IS WORK! Of course Marriage is wonderful, fun, awesome, etc. when one has a Godly mate, but one has to WORK at:
1. Not dwelling on the faults of your mate,
2. Remembering your own faults that your mate has to put up with in you,
3. Not trying to change your mate,
4. DWELLING ON THE GOOD QUALITIES OF YOUR MATE,
5. And staying in Love with your MATE and GOD too! Just like serving God...Love in marriage is a CHOICE...not just an emotion!
For our wedding, my good friend Kimberly got us a neat wedding calender that is called, "Love for a Lifetime" by Dr. James Dobson. I love it, because each day I read either a Scripture, a neat saying, or a CHALLANGE about marriage. The one for today was, "Guard your relationship against erosion as if you were protecting your very lives." AMEN!
I have just been thinking about how much satan does NOT want HAPPY marriages, and HAPPY Christian Families and Homes! That makes me MAD at satan, and makes me want to stay on my knees in prayer, be the BEST WIFE AND MOMMY I can be, and determine to celebrate 50 years...PLUS of Marriage with the one that CHOSE ME OVER ANY OTHER LADY IN THE WORLD!! =) ~Daddy and Moma with their 15 precious GRANDchildren!~

Thank you Daddy and Moma for your wonderful example to us. Loving, Forgiving, Asking Forgiveness, Giving, Taking, Praying, Kissing, Hugging, and Staying in Love for 46 wonderful years. I know that it's not always been easy...there have been times when y'all were raising we 4 kids on $25.00 a MONTH...if you even got that, but because your Faith was in God...He brought you through, and those times showed we children how to have Faith in God too! Thank you for loving each other, putting each other first...and making God the HEAD of your Home! Thank you Moma for being a wonderful, loving, submissive, Prov. 31 Wife! Thank you Daddy for being a caring, Godly leader of our home, and trying to love Moma as Christ loves the church! We love y'all both and hope that you have a WONDERFUL day...in the midst of your boxes that need unpacked! =)

~Our "PICNIC" with Diana~

Haven't heard from Daddy and Moma...but I'm assuming that no news is good news, and that they have arrived in Westfield, IN by now. They have no phone in their home yet, so can't call me.
~Phillip, Heather, Erika (Diana's niece on her right), Diana, Angie (Diana's daughter on her left), and our kids in the back ground.~

For a couple weeks we had planned a picnic to try to reach out to Diana (my 19 year friend that lost her 2 month old baby!) We had planned the picnic, and then woke up to RAIN on that day! UGH! But, later on, it quit so we went ahead with our plans. But while we were in the taxi to go to meet her and her daughter at the park...it started raining again. So when we got there, we headed to the mall that was right across the street from the park to get out of the rain, and then called Diana to let her know where to meet us. Our kids were disappointed that we could not take our picnic to the park, but it all turned out OK. We took our picnic and ate in the food court of the mall. While we were eating our "Gringo" picnic of ham sandwiches, chips, Pop, and my homemade cookies, I asked Diana what kind of food the Colombians bring to a picnic...and her answer made my heart SAD...She said, "I don't know, I've NEVER BEEN ON A PICNIC!"
~Our precious kiddos, that are DAILY learning to be FLEXIBLE in life. =)~

After we ate and since the kids couldn't play in the park, (for it was COLD AND STILL RAINING) we let the kids ride the little carousel there in the mall.
~Kimberly and Sarah Fixin' to get DIZZY...going around and around after they ate!~

~Diana, her daughter and her niece~

~Kimberly, Sarah, and the 2 men in my life~

Diana really seemed to appreciate our reaching out to her.
I would love to have her come to my house, but her house has no walls except the outside wall, just blankets hang to divide the rooms, her floor is the DIRT, and there is no real roof, except pieces of tin laying loosely on top. One day when Phillip was visiting her and her family there (she lives with her sister and family) it was raining and the RAIN WAS RUNNING INTO THE HOUSE AND ONTO THE DIRT FLOOR! So, It's not possible (for right now) to invite her into my home....for though it's simple, and not very fancy...to her it would look like a mansion, and it could intimidate her, and put barriors between us. I don't ever want our people to feel SAD or embarrassed when they invite us to their humble shacks. Please continue to pray for Diana that God will help us touch her for HIM! THANKS!

~Take your lemons, and make lemonade!~

Summers here...let's serve up some glasses of........~Fresh fruit juices~!

(Well...it's summer for y'all, but we don't really ever feel like it's summer here. I have to remind myself that it's June...and not November with the rain and the chilly air. I'm burning candles and drinking hot choc. while y'all are outside in the sun...drinking your iced tea. =)
I started learning how to make these fresh fruit juices in Costa Rica...and have learned more here too. Since Colombia is blessed with lots of fruits, we make more juices, but I don't think that y'all have the same fruits there. Latin Americans make fresh juices A LOT!
Lemonade: I just squish about 4 whole limes or lemons in the bottom of a gallon pitcher, add about 2 scoops sugar and fill up the pitcher with water (and ice, if you desire, I'm tooo cold here to want much ice. =) This is not the MOST LEMONY lemonade...but we love it. I just don't like to add tons of lemons...so that my lemons last longer. =) You may want to use 6 lemons for a more lemony taste. Can put some strawberries and water and run through a blender, and add to lemonade...to make Strawberry lemonade. (can dip the glass edge in water, and then in sugar, and put a lemon wedge or strawberry with a stem on the edge of the glass for a fun touch and TASTE!! =)

Orangeade: Use about 4-6 oranges, and juice them, add water to make a gallon and add sugar to taste...can add some ice cubes to make it cold.

LEMONADE/ORANGADE: My sister, Laura, put this comment on my blog, and I made this same juice in Costa Rica and it was yummy...so I just added her comment to my blog!
"Dearest Heather, I do the same lemonade and when I was in Russia, the Russian's LOVED IT. While Lenita was here, she gave me the idea of doing 2 oranges and 2 lemons to make about a 3 liter pitcher of lemonade... and I can't tell you HOW YUMMY it is and PRETTY TOO. A check-out lady from a grocery store in FL gave her that idea... and it is YUMMY and a keeper for Sure. Love Laura in Romania."


Pineapple juice:
Put glasses in freezer! Can add a tiny wedge of pineapple on the side of the glass for fun.
I just take about a half of a pineapple, peel it and slice it, and chop it smaller to fit in your blender. Then blend it with water...and run it through a strainer or colander and add more sugar and water to make a gallon....YUMMY! (can put the other part of the pineapple that's been peeled, and sliced in a freezer bag and freeze...for more juice later if you want!)

Mango juice the same way:
Blend pieces of mango (from about 3 ripe, softer mangoes) with water, strain, add more water and sugar to make a gallon.

Raspberry or Black berry juice: Blend some black raspberries, or black berries with water(about 2 cups or so of berries)... strain, add more water to make a gallon and sweetened to taste. (or for a snack you can blend with milk...but the milk is harder to digest with a meal!)

Strawberry Milk:
Blend strawberries with milk and add sugar and there you have a yummy treat. (Can use Frozen strawberries...or add some ice cubes to make it more like a Fruit smoothie...or a shake!) (If you want to add a couple Tablespoons of that red already-made-up strawberry glaze for pies that they sell...it gives it a fun touch!)

Banana Milk:
(May sound gross, but our family loves it!)
For a quick treat, just blend some riper bananas, milk and sugar (and if you want to add a couple ice cubes to make it cold) and serve.


******E*N*J*O*Y!!!******
I got an email last night saying that due to some road construction, my Daddy and Moma (in their moving truck) didn't get to cross the border of Canada, into the USA until 2:00 AM Wednesday morning. UGH! They drove all day Wednesday, and got a motel last night. They are doing OK, but exhausted! Lord willing they should get to Westfield, IN today...Thursday...sometime! Thanks for your prayers for them! They and I really appreciate them! =)

~Bryan, my nephew, turns 4..I think!~

~Best Cousins...Noah is on the left, Bryan is on the right. Canada 2006! Poor Bryan must have had a skid on his nose while riding a bike or something!~

Happy Birthday Bryan! I hope you have a great Birthday there in Romania with your family, and the TLC team that is there with y'all right now too! We love you and your family bunches!

~More "Shabby" than "Chic"~

With all the talk today of "Shabby Chic" (Usually white, but old, or a little worn)...furniture, picture frames, etc. I have to tell you of my WONDERFUL FIND!! The other night, the NIGHT BEFORE THE TRASH PICK-UP, our family was walking past someone's trash and we saw a seperate bag with 2 Big picture frames in them, and so I snagged them (YES, I DUG IN THE TRASH, DADDY!) We got them home, and one has glass and is about a 8x10 size, and the other is bigger, and had no glass, but still works out fine for me. They were "SHABBY CHIC" for sure...probably a tad more SHABBY than the norm...but I'm happy. You see, I had no frame for Daddy's "Words You Love to Hear" that he printed off for me...and I cannot find big frames at the stores. So, I cut pretty scrapbooking paper and placed it around the "WORDS" and it turned out CUTE! I used the other frame to frame a pic of Sarah in her graduation cap and gown. I'm happy with my SHABBIER THAN "SHABBY CHIC" frames. =)

(I got another nice email from a dear friend in CANADA last evening, saying that they and others helped my parents finish loading my parents truck and trailer and they left CAN. last night. So, Lord willing they should arrive in Westfield, IN some time today...Wednesday, or tomorrow...Thursday! I am soooo glad for the dear church people of Kingston that helped Daddy and Moma, when we could not and wanted to sooo badly! Praise God for answering that prayer! Please continue to pray for them to have a safe trip. That's a lot of miles to cover with a large truck pulling a trailer. THANKS!)

~Can I come to your house to practice my English?~

I have been going to the Fruit and Veggie market right in front of our street almost every Saturday for 11 months. At that market there is a fruit stand and the 2 ladies there (Aunt and niece) are very sweet and I've gotten along well with them. Well, a couple Saturdays ago, the younger of the ladies (Neyla) asked me if she could come to my house and practice her ENGLISH! I teasingly told her that we could practice English AND Spanish. =) ~Neyla and I~

So, I told her that the only day that would work for me was Tuesday, for Mondays are our family days, we have church on Wednesday, and Thursday nights and have to leave at 3:30 for those services, and Fridays and Saturdays I'm getting ready for Sundays...baking my 100 cookies, ironing all of my clean laundry, etc. Also, as a wife and Mommy of 3, school and piano teacher, and pastor's wife... I HAVE TONS in life to do, and can't just spend hours sitting down visiting.
~Neyla and I~

She came last week and stayed 5 hours, and we had a good visit. She told me that when she first SAW ME...she wanted to ask me if she could practice her English with me...but it took her 11 months to get up her nerve to ask me. =) She told me that when I said "YES"...SHE WAS VERY HAPPY AND EXCITED!! She knows her English in her head...but needs to practice speaking it. She is a single girl (that lives with a man), and her parents died when she was young. I was excited for she had mentioned that she wanted to learn how to make cookies, for that would give us something to do, while we practiced our English. But when she got here, I found out that she has problems with her sugar so cannot eat fruits, cookies, breads, pastas, very much meat, etc. Poor lady! Sooo...last week I mentioned to her that I'd be interested in learning some Colombian soup recipes...MINUS THE STRANGE MEATS (cow and chicken feet, cow gut, etc!)...for we Gringos don't eat that kind of meat. =) She is to come again TODAY, with a recipe...please pray that we will have a profitable time together...and please pray that I can touch her life for Jesus.

(An update on my parents packing...God is helping. As their kids, we would LOVE To be helping them...but we all live so far away, and cannot just fly home when we want...so we have been asking God to send them some help! We got a nice email last night saying that God had sent a lot of their dear church people to help them load the truck and they are 3/4 of the way done, and will work again on Tuesday, TODAY. PRAISE GOD! That means a lot to my heart! Please keep them in your prayers. Not that they are old...but they aren't getting any younger...and packing and moving is HARD ON EVEN A YOUNG PERSON!! Thanks! And Praise the Lord, I'm feeling better! =)

~An Update!~

~Mommy reading a story to Noah~
This week has been SAD for us for we could not get on the Internet for 6 days! We thought that it was JUST our Internet company that was having trouble...but we found out today that...I guess a lot of Colombia must have had a problem with the Internet for those 6 days...for my sister-in-law Vonnie heard about it on the news all the way in AK! (I was able to get on to post on Saturday, and right after that, we lost connection again!) When your long-distance phone line is hooked to the Internet, and that and your email are your only sources to contact family and friends in the USA...and you know you have tons of important email to read...just can't get to it...one feels TRAPPED in a foreign country! But...praise the Lord...I was able to get on the Internet Sunday at 1:00PM! YEA!!!
~Noah "washed the dishes" for the first time...and he LOVED IT! It was a BOY'S DREAM...TO HAVE YOUR MOTHER ALLOW YOU TO PLAY IN THE WATER...HOW COOL IS THAT?! =)~

Since I'm still not feeling well (fighting an infection, and drinking the Colombian cure for it...BOILED DANDELION LEAVES IN WATER =), I did not get to go to church on Sunday. The kids went with Phillip this morning and they reported a good service with 23 people there, and that God is really helping. Our friend Jason, was going to invite our family home with him for a meal...but since I was sick...they post-poned it until next Sunday, Lord willing. ~Phillip snapped this pic of the kids while he and they were walking the MILE home from where the bus dropped them off! Kimberly and Sarah got to wear their new skirts we made last week, and that made them happy!~

Phillip and the kids came home and I told them the GOOD NEWS that we finally have Internet! Then we ate lunch, and Kimberly and Phillip went to church Sunday night. Noah and Sarah were too tired to trek the whole way to church, so they stayed home with Mommy. Since our good friends, PD and Sherri Wolfe, were being installed as Pastor and wife of Hobe Sound Bible Church (on Sunday night)...the kids and I got to watch that service live! The Wolfe's used to attend our Christian Nation Church in Ohio, and Bro. Wolfe was our Senior Assoc. Pastor (to Pastor Carl Eisenhart!) Bro. Wolfe was also our missions treasure and handled our missions money. At first we were SAD to find out that they were leaving and moving to Florida, but now we are happy that they are there in God's will! The service on-line was very special! We love them and pray for them daily, as part of our church in Ohio, and we pray daily for their new Hobe Sound church too. =)
Please pray for my DEAR parents they are packing their moving truck today and tomorrow to move (Lord willing) on Wednesday, June 27th.
~My parents, and my Grandma!~

They will be saying SAD goodbyes to their dear church people in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, to move to pastor some new, dear church people in Westfield, IN! Lord willing Daddy will pastor the "Union Friends Church" there, right across from Union Bible College. We wish we could be there to help them move, but that is not possible, so we are praying HARD for them from here! (God did work it out that Daddy was able to take their van and his Mother, who will soon be 100!! down to Indiana earlier, and a dear lady is keeping Grandma, and Daddy was able to catch a ride back to Canada. This made it sooo much easier on my Moma, who would have had to DRIVE the van, with Grandma, for that LONG way.) We're excited that they will be living in IN, for when we get to come back home on deputation....our home base is Cinci, OH...only 2 hours away! YEA! (That surely beats the 12 or more that it was before!) Thanks for your prayers for them!
Check out Phillip's blog...he's being goofy!

~All in a week's work!~

~First the girls went and chose their own material to make their skirts! ~

~This is what Kimberly chose!~
~This is what Sarah chose!~ =)
Then the next day we started making their skirts...WITH NO PATTERN...and God helped us.
~Kimberly cutting out her skirt!~
~Kimberly sewed a lot on her skirt. It was the first time that she had sewed on a machine, and she did a great job.~
~If you can see him...Noah is sitting on my lap...SMILING at you...through the hole on the sewing machine!~
~Since Sarah wanted to help sew her skirts...but was too short to push the pedal and the material through at the same time, she just ran the pedal...and I pushed the material through. =)
I was helping Kimberly cut out her skirt when I got to thinking that a friend had just given me a hot pink suit coat...and that the hot pink dots in Kimberly's material...just might match...so I checked and it did match...so I made me a skirt too. =)
~Us and our new skirts!~

The next day I surprised the girls while they were gone...and made them some bloomers out of the left-overs of Sarah's material. For those of you who may not know what bloomers are, here's a pic.
~The girl's bloomers.~
~The girls showing the tip of their bloomers. =)~
Our girls wear these, so that they can be girls...climb trees, and do flips in the park...and still be ladylike! =)
We had A LOT of fun using my new machine...it works wonders and works wonderfully too!! We sewed some designs on some of the kids jean skirts and Noah's jeans too. That was FUN!
~We embroidered a string of these "candies" on the bottom of one of Sarah's jean skirts that I had made (for Kimberly) while still in AZ.~

~We did a train on Noah's jeans!~

~We sewed hearts on the bottom of one of Kimberly's skirts.~

In the midst of sewing...I have been struggling with an infection, so have not been well. We also had several visitors come to our house, (2 who stayed until 12:30 AM...and one who stayed for 5 hours!!=) and we also ran and had a picnic with my friend Diana...the one that lost her baby. BUT...all of the visitors and pictures will have to wait until next week! =) We had a lot of fun sewing and using my machine! Thank God for that nice sewing machine, and for His help to us as we sewed (without patterns! =)

~Happy 17th wedding Anniversary Daryl and Laura!~

This is late for our Internet company has been having problems the last 3 days, so I could not get on to post this. =( BUT...PRAISE THE LORD WE ARE RECONNECTED WITH Y'ALL AGAIN!! HOPEFULLY THEY HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM...WE'LL HAVE TO SEE! =0) (Seriously, I cannot tell you how SAD, and trapped I felt, for our long distance phone line didn't work, nor our Internet...talk about missing hearing from family and friends! But, we count our blessings...for years ago, missionaries didn't have Internet, and couldn't make phone calls either! =)
~Laura and her man June 2006~

Today, June 22nd, my dear sister Laura and her dear man have been happily married for 17 years! Laura, I love you tons, and Daryl, we are soooo glad to have you a part of our family, and we love you, and y'all's kids too bunches! I hope that y'all had a GREAT day!!!

~We've been in Colombia for ONE YEAR now!~

One year ago tomorrow...we moved to Colombia!! A lot has happened in 1 year...and God has helped us to have a good year. Of course, there have been the rough times, but we have a lot of good memories from this year too. Here are a few of the highlights...of 2006-2007
JUNE 2006 We got to meet our dear church people in both of our churches. They are excited to have us here, and love us.
JULY 2006 DeWayne Joslin and Helbert came to visit. We met our dear Colombian friends Carlos and Gloria. They have been a life saver in helping us get settled here. We are sooo glad to have them as our friends/"family" in Colombia!
AUG. 2006 We got to move into our OWN home...after living with a gracious lady for 2 months and 3 days.
SEP. 2006 Phillip turned 33. God helped us in our churches. Our dinning room table, chairs and china cabinet FINALLY came. YEA!
OCT. 2006 "Grandpa" Darwin Edwards came to see us!!

We got "Christmas in Oct." from our dear Gospel Center church in AZ.

NOV 2006. Miss Janet came to see us and we got Christmas from our dear Christian Nation Church, and our dear friends in CA, and dear Miss Janet herself! We had a blast having Janet here! Heather turned 33.

DEC. 2006 Phillip got to dedicate 3 babies to Jesus! Seeing our church people growing Spiritually! Sarah turned 6. Due to not to having our Colombian visas yet, we had to leave Colombia and got to be in the USA for Christmas... YEA! =) We had a wonderful Christmas and were VERY LOVED by friends and family alike!
JAN. 2007 Kimberly turned 9, and Noah turned 3. Returned to Colombia, and the CNC work team of 6 people came with us. (Our director, Mark Becker, his daughter Kelly, Bro. and Sis. Carter, and son Gary, and Bethany Mills).
~The team from CNC and us in front of a neat salt mine here that is now opened to the public and has a Cathedral built inside it.

We really appreciated having them here, we had a blast, and they got a lot of work done in our churches here! Right before they left, we finally got our living room furniture. We had lived in the house for 5 months without any thing in our living room. We were THRILLED to have a place to sit down, and it was (is) comfortable too! =)
FEB. 2007 We finally got bedroom furniture after sleeping on a mattress on the floor for 7 months. =) DeWayne and Renee Joslin and Helbert and his family came. They set up the school and did a lot of work while they were here. We loved having the Joslins with us. I enjoyed having an American friend to talk to, and be with.

MAR. 2007 Phillip started his ministry in Medellin!
APRIL 2007 We had "IHC" here in Colombia...for we got to listen to all the services through streaming audio. We also got to talk to Moma on the phone Live, during the IHC International Service. That was very special to us.
MAY 2007 AFTER WORKING FOR 11 MONTHS, AND PAYING LOTS OF MONEY...GOD GAVE US OUR COLOMBIAN VISAS AND ID CARDS TOO!!! YEA! God is working in Medellin and in our churches here in Bogota!
JUNE 2007 Sarah's kindergarten graduation, Phillip and I's 12th anniversary, our Medellin trip. And that wraps up a year! Thank each of you for all of your thoughts, care, concern, financial support, and prayers during this year...We could not make it without y'all! We are a team...you there, and us here. =)

~Our grill-out!~

~Phillip putting our new grill together...WITH THE "HELP" OF OUR KIDS!~

We invited our friends Carlos and Gloria over for a grill-out (to try out our new grill =). We decided to celebrate 4th of July early, for it won't work with their and our schedules to get together on 4th of July! Since Carlos had just come back from his FIRST trip to the USA (he plays the piano for a music group) we had a lot to talk about. We had a really nice time.
~Us eating in our backyard~

We had a yummy meal too. Phillip grilled the hamburgers, and I made homemade hamburger buns.

Phillip was able to find our first jar of dill pickles that we've eaten here in Colombia. (Not the same taste, but at least they were pickles!) Here was our "Red, White, and Blue" fruit and pineapple center piece. (the pieces of fruit were sooo yummy!)

I made this Americana Flag cake too. (I normally use coolwhip, so it's WHITE, but I knew that Carlos doesn't like coolwhip, so I used vanilla pudding this time...sort of an ANTIQUE white look to the flag. =) And I normally used blueberries for the stars, but have none here in Colombia, so used grapes. =)

~We had to move inside when it got too chilly outside.
(I took my curtains down to get them cleaned...due to the "DEPOSITS" that the bird put on them while we were gone to Medellin. UGH!!! (`~`)

We had a very fun time with Carlos and Gloria, and also enjoyed getting to use our grill too!

Happy Birthday Laura!

(Laura and Daryl are hosting a TLC team right now, so I really don't expect her to see this, but just in case she gets a minute to view my blog, I want her to know that I was thinking about her in Colombia! =) Laura, I hope that you have a great day. Wish we could be together for your birthday! I love you tons, and AM THRILLED THAT YOU ARE MY SISTER! You are a dear!
~Laura and I in the Castle on Heart Island, in 1,000 Islands N.Y., June 2006. Daryl, Laura, Phillip and I took a double date!~

~Laura and I being "Twinkies" (twins!)~

Though we had interesting times growing up: cleaning our room, and throwing it all under the bed...that is until Daddy looked under the bed and found the mess...than we had to spend lots more time putting it all where it went. =( Me using up all of your bubble bath that was a gift to you. (But, remember, I got you some more to replace it, just a couple years ago. HA!)
~Laura, Lenita, and I in Canada~

You and I got on each other's nerves when we were growing up...for you were nearly born sanctified, and I was nearly born without a conscience. =)
~We had a double date, Laura, & Daryl, Phillip & I in Canada 06~

But...now we are the "BESTEST" of Friends...and I wouldn't trade you for the world! So glad that we both love Jesus, and love to play the piano, bake, cook, sew, scrapbook, be good wives and Mommies, etc. We'd love to come and visit you and your family over in Romania, and have y'all visit us here in Colombia...but since that's not possible right now, just know you are in my thoughts.
~Phillip and I on our double date with Daryl and Laura~

I love you!!
Have a wonderful birthday, dear sister...you deserve it!!
~Laura and her man!~