~School Daze~

Our dear friend, Bro. Edwards, who was with us for 27 days, was actually supposed to fly out on Sep. 18th, but the airport caused problems with his ticket and a EXTRA $130.00 had to be paid and he had to fly out the next day, Sep. 19th. (Nothing is done easily here, everything is complicated, and you have to go through 40 people, stand in lines, etc.) So, Bro. Edwards came back home with Phillip, when he was supposed to already be in the air on his way home to his dear waiting wife. That night, we decided to make it a "family time" and erase the ACE Paces that Kimberly did in first grade, so that Sarah can do them this year. We were all erasing except Noah, so we had him stand on a chair and take this picture of the "erasing party!" It was hilarious watching a 3 year old take a picture. Phillip would help him get the camera all ready to take the picture and then tell him to WAIT until he sat down to take the picture. So, Noah would keep his eyes on the camera screen, and then ever so slowly shift his eyes to watch Phillip walk back to the table and the SECOND Phillip got sat down, BAM! Noah would take the picture. We were howling laughing at him! =D~Here's Noah's famous picture~ =D~Mommy and Sarah on her first day of first grade.~~Noah doesn't really know what to do with himself while the girls are studying. So most of the time he hangs out around Sarah and I and listens to me read the stories that go with her letter sounds.~~Kimberly and Mommy on her first day of 4th grade.~~We made the girls these little skirts with cute little bears on them, and also made them matching bloomers and both of their dolls a matching little skirt too.~ School, violin and piano practice is all going pretty good, Thank the Lord! =)

~Happy Birthday~

Today, Sep. 26th is my dear niece Heidi's birthday! Happy Birthday Heidi, I can't believe you are getting so big. I hope that you have a wonderful day, we love and miss you and your dear family all the way up in AK. (Yes, Heidi's hair is naturally curly, pretty isn't it?! =)


Tomorrow, Sep. 27th is my dear sister-n-law, Vonnie's birthday! (Heidi's Mom) I hope that you have a great day, Vonnie! We love you tons and are SOOOO Glad that you joined our family!! Happy Birthday to both of you, and may y'all have many more.....=)

~WHAT! YOU ARE GOING TO SHUT OFF OUR WATER FOR A WEEK?!~

Well, I'm back, after a brief commercial break! =) I've been BUSY...and I bet you'd never guess that I've been sewing. =) Last week I made 13 skirts. I decided that I wanted to make some skirts for some girls in our one church, so on Thurs. and Friday I made 10 skirts for those little girls. ~Some of those little girls are 1 and 3 years old, thus the tiny skirts. =)~
They don't have much for they are sooo poor, and several of them want skirts, but can't buy them. I also wanted to show them my love by making them some skirts. More about this down the page.
On Thursday, our doorbell rang and we saw that it was the water man to read our meter. So, we let him read it, and then he left...or we thought he left. 2 seconds later, he rang our doorbell again, and wanted to see our last water bill. Phillip went searching all over the house, (while I was washing dishes) and finally found it HIDDEN among some papers on Phillip's desk, UNPAID, and the date to turn off our water was days ago. UGH! So, the guy had come to shut off our water FOR A WEEK! HELP! So, while Phillip was talking to the water guy, he yelled to me in English to fill up water containers, so Kimberly and I were RAPIDLY filling up all the containers with water as fast as we could. I came out and Phillip and I both were talking to the man and asked if there was ANYTHING we could do to not get our water turned off, and told him that we have the money, just didn't realize that we didn't pay the bill. He looked at us and said, "You could give me some money, and I won't report it!" IN OTHER WORDS A BRIBE, which is common here, but isn't right, but tempting when you think of not having water for a week! So, Phillip came inside got money to go and pay the bill and walked out, told the guy he was going to pay the bill right now, and LEFT the guy standing in front of our house, WITH NO BRIBE MONEY!!! I was inside praying, and Phillip was praying as he RAN to pay the bill, (here you can't pay by mail, you have to go to a bill paying place) that God would PLEASE have mercy on us and not let him turn our water off! Thank the Lord, it's 3 days later, and we still have water...but I still have those containers full, just in case. =D
Saturday mornings, I always go to the fruit and veggie market in front of my street, but I don't normally get there until around 11:00 or so, and the market closes at 2:00. Well, this Saturday I decided to try to get there earlier and got there at 10:00 and I noticed that they were taking things down to leave, but yet still selling. So, when I got to where my friend, Neyla works she told me that there was going to be a Soccer game in the stadium right beside the market, so the police told the market that had to close early. So, Neyla, knowing that I wouldn't know about them closing early, tried to get together all the fruit that she knows that I normally buy, and was going to bring it to MY HOUSE, if I didn't show up in time. WOW! It pays to have friends in the High places. HA! That was very thoughtful of her! She has started taking college classes, so doesn't have time to come to my home to practice her English, but we get to see each other every Saturday at the market. She's sweet.
I went to a store in the mall, and they are selling BEACH TOYS, TENTS AND CHRISTMAS TREES ALL AT THE SAME TIME!! You see, they start decorating for Christmas here in Sep. and in December is when a lot of people take their vacations and go to the coast to swim, etc. It was funny seeing those things sold all in the same area. =)
We had a good Sunday today, with 2 good services. A little girl in our Sunday morning church turned 1, and her mother had expressed to us earlier that she really wanted to celebrate her birthday, but didn't have the money for a cake. Cakes here aren't that expensive, so on Saturday we bought (2) cakes, some chips and pop and took it to church and fed our whole church after church in a different area. ~Happy birthday, Melissa! Yes, you are seeing right, SHE HAS CAKE ON HER SHOE! =)~~We gave Melissa this sippy cup and the little skirt I made her. This is the smallest skirt I made, and we all LOVED it, it was sooo cute and tiny and the little cuts to make the raggy look on the hem were only about 1/4 " instead of the normal 1" or so.~
Melissa's Mommy was very happy, and everyone else was too! ~Some of the people that were there for our service.~ I passed out 8 of the 10 skirts that I had made. The 2 new little girls that weren't here to receive their skirts today (they'll get them next week) ...Phillip just told me the other night, that their Mother died a year ago. They are around 4 and 6 years old. Poor little things, how sad to not have a Mommy. =( It made me want to cry and I PRAYED HARD FOR THEM while I was sewing their skirts. All the girls were very happy with their skirts, and I'm glad that the Lord helped me get that project done. Lord willing, next Sunday, all the girls are to wear their new skirts I made them, and we will take a picture. Believe it or not, I've put away my sewing machine...but we'll see how long it stays put away. =D We ran down the mountain in a bus, walked our mile home in the sprinkling rain, (but God held off the downpour until we got into our house) and then we made dinner, gobbled and ran to our evening service. There were no birthdays there, but we took treats (the 2nd cake, and other things that we purchased on Saturday) for that church too. So here we are in a small taxi with our normal piano, stand and suitcase and we 5, PLUS a large cake box, holding a cake, and 2 bags of food, napkins, plates, etc. and then on the way up the mountain, there was a wreck and no one could pass the wreck. Since our taxi driver didn't know the area, he drove around ROBINHOOD'S BARN for awhile, trying to find his way up the mountain, but to no avail, so, we finally got out and walked for awhile hauling all of our things, until we passed the wreck and then God sent us another taxi and we arrived RIGHT on time for church. Praise the Lord! We had a good service tonight and everyone was glad that we had thought to bring refreshments. Part of our congregation~
~Another part of our congregation. This is mostly one family, they have about 10 kids, I think. The 2 oldest attend our ACE school.~
Who knows when some of these kids that attend our churches have eaten last?! It's fun touching their lives with some love for Jesus. On the way home in the hour long bus ride, we counted 71 dogs this time. =D (When you've seen the route a BILLION times and you have an hour ride there and an hour home, AND IF YOU DON'T LOOK OUT THE WINDOW SIDE, AND LOOK TO THE OTHER SIDE, YOU ARE FACING TONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STANDING IN THE AISLE, it's just better to look out the window...and you got to do something while you're looking out to help you not go crazy. HA!) Thanks for praying for us, we had a good Sunday, and plan to SLEEP all day on Monday. =D I wish!

~I have been TAGGED!~

I have been tagged by Valorie, so I will write 7 random things about myself and tag 7 other people, by leaving them a comment on their blog, and then they do the same by writing 7 things about themselves and tagging 7 others.

*I was the baker at GBS and once made a cake for camp meeting that took 96 eggs.

*I started playing the piano when I was 4.

*When I was 3 I went to visit my Grandmother who had been sledding with we kids and had hurt her back. I told her that she was too OLD to be out playing with us kids and she needed to be more careful. She replied that she was NOT OLD, to which I responded, "If you aren't old, what are you doing with those CRACKS in your face!" =D
Needless to say, I left her house that day, without my normal CANDY TREAT! =)

*My hair touches the floor when it's down.

*All of my life I always wanted to marry a preacher and be a pastor's wife, and now I'm the pastor's wife of more than one church here in Colombia.

*Our 2nd apartment in Cinci had 65 steps leading up to it, for it was on the 3rd floor. It was QUITE THE MOVE, and then quite the exercise when I was pregnant with our first baby. =)

*I LOVE FALL AND CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!!

I "tag":
Vonnie at http://www.onebighappybryanfamily.blogspot.com/
Beth at http://michaelandbeth.blogspot.com/
Tara at http://tara-bleperson.blogspot.com/
Leah at http://fultonfamilyfunnyfarm.blogspot.com/
Janie at http://janieeisenhart.blogspot.com/
Kim at http://www.matlockmkj.blogspot.com/
Deanna at http://robanddeannakennedy.blogspot.com/

~An update~

We are doing well. We had our first day of school yesterday, and I'll post pics later. Our dear friend, Bro. Edwards from AZ flew home today. We surely enjoyed having him here for the 27 days he got to stay with us. He loved his time here too, but of course was ready to get home to see his dear wife! =)
~Our family bought this HUGE bone and little stuffed animal (that our kids are holding in this pic) to send back with Bro. Edwards to our kids' dog, Bridget, who lives in AZ with our Grandpa and Grandma D.~

Noah got a new semi truck toy and he pointed to the 2 exhaust pipes sticking out the top in the front and said, "Here is where the DUST comes out!"
~Our family and Bro. Edwards having our family devotions. We have some sweet times during our family devotions...filled with God's presence as we read the Bible, Phillip reads a catechism to us to teach our kids more about God and His Word, and we sing some ENGLISH hymns and kids songs.~

Kimberly was eating some soup from a restaurant and made the comment that she didn't like it. So, Phillip informed her that we don't say that at the table, and that she needed to try to eat all of it, for saying that, for she knew that she wasn't allowed to make comments like that. A few seconds later, Noah said, "This is yucky, I don't like this!" And Phillip said, "Noah, I'd be careful about saying you don't like something, for that is why Kimberly is having to eat all of her soup." To which Noah promptly CHANGED HIS MIND AND said, "OHHHH....I LIKE this!!" We all howled laughing. ~The other night Kimberly made us this choc. covered strawberries. She said they didn't turn out pretty, but they were sure yummy!~
The other night Noah was sucking on a half of a lime. He wanted to take it to bed with him, but Phillip told him that he could put it on the dresser and eat it in the morning. He then got concerned and said, "BUT THE ANTS WILL GET IT!" Phillip assured him that ants only like sweet things but that they don't like lemons, to which he asked, "Why, because it burns their lips?" Phillip and I cracked up thinking about the ants holding their burning lips. =D

~Some little happenings in our lives~

Last week we went shopping and bought material to make up several patterns that are new to us, and we've wanted to sew, before school starts this coming Tuesday, Sep. 18th. I made these nightgowns and matching pillows for Kimberly and Sarah, from a pattern my Moma sent us. Then I combined 2 patterns that Julie Miller sent me and asked Jesus to help me and made these jammies for Noah.
RIGHT AFTER I TOOK THIS PICTURE, NOAH WENT UPSTAIRS AND PLAYED IN KIMBERLY'S RED PAINT FOR HER SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS, AND TURNED HIS NEW JAMMIES RED!!! HELP! THANKFULLY, MOST OF IT CAME OUT, BUT THEY STILL HAVE A TINGE OF "PINK!" =) I took Martha Goings advise and made "jammies" (I sewed tubes) to hide our electrical cords, now you don't see cords going everywhere under our table, Thanks Martha. I made 4 jean skirts for a family I know, and want to make 4 more for another family in our church. Kimberly and I made these blue skirts for she and Sarah, and we had fun making matching skirts for their babies too!~
We have a few more things we want to sew tomorrow, on Monday, then our dear "Grandpa" Edwards leaves early Tuesday morning to go home to AZ, and we start school. We surely have enjoyed having Bro. Edwards with us. He's such a dear man to our family, and he is just like our family. PLEASE PRAY THAT HE HAS A SAFE TRIP HOME ON TUESDAY! THANKS!
We had a good Sunday today. This is the first Sunday we had communion, and there were 8 of us that took communion. (then lots more people came later!) I made homemade grape juice and hauled it in a new thermos that someone had given us, and we'd never used. We just used saltine crackers for the "bread." It was a sweet time of remembering and Thanking Jesus for all He has done for us.
Here's Kimberly's class (11 today) doing their craft, after Kimberly told them the story of God destroying Sodom and Gomorra. Kimberly made up the craft and drew a man, with fire behind him (like lot leaving the city, with fire in the background) and she made him sort of like a paper doll, and made 2 sets of clothes for them to put on him too. =)~
God's presence was sooo NEAR in our morning service...that even Bro. Edwards shouted and he couldn't understand what was going on, since the service was in Spanish. We LOVE it when God makes His presence known to us in our services! After service, one of the young men of our church, John, wanted us to give him some money so he could go to the internet cafe to get his homework done that is due Monday morning at 6:00 AM. Phillip told him that he could come home with us and use our internet for free, rather than spending money on Sunday. So, he came home with us, and we had a yummy dinner together (and he ATE AND ATE.=) Kimberly made homemade choc. chip cookies for our Sunday dessert and they were yummy! John found what he needed on the internet, and he left for his home (with some groceries that we sent with him for his family) and we and Bro. Edwards headed to our Sunday evening service. John and his family live in a SHACK, it is the most pitiful "house" you've ever seen! When it rains, it rains on their beds! We took them some sheets of metal to put on the roof, to help a little. There are sooo many needs around our churches, that we sometimes feel helpless as to HOW we can help everyone at the same time, with the little that we have. But we Thank God for the privilege to do something little for Him. We had a good service tonight and God helped us. Here, EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK you see TONS of dogs, so we decided to count dogs on the way home from church. We started late, half-way down the mountain but still counted 51 dogs before we got home. God is helping our people grow in Him. Phillip was thanking God for all He has done with our churches and people in the 15 months that we have been here. We praise Him for His help.~Kimberly and Sarah wanted to have communion this morning, but since there were some of their friends there at church that aren't really living right who wouldn't understand them not getting to take communion if our girls did, we told Sarah and Kimberly that we would give them communion at our home tonight. (for our girls are saved and are living for Jesus as much as they can and know at this time.) So, we came home and our girls had changed into their little Princes play dresses to play dress-up, and then after they played, they asked Phillip to let them have communion. So, I took this picture of those 3 having communion, Phillip reading Bible and praying with the girls, and them kneeling and praying in their princesses dresses. =) After they got done, Phillip said, "Wasn't that a special time, girls?" And Sarah giggled and said, "Yea, I want to do it again!"
We do have a VERY SPECIAL URGENT UNSPOKEN REQUEST, if you don't mind praying about it. THANKS! Trust y'all's Sunday was special too.

~God is the same yesterday, TODAY, and forever~

On Saturday, the Lord helped me to make 72 banana muffins to pass out to our 2 churches on Sunday. While I was making the muffins, Bro. Edwards and the kids and I watched the International IHC service DVD that my parents had sent us, and we listened to 2 good sermons from IHC too: Bro. England and our Dear Pastor, Bro. Eisenhart. God's presence was here in our home while we listened to those sermons and we adults were all getting blessed. It was sooo good to hear some good sermons in ENGLISH! =)

On Saturday God gave Phillip good Bible classes in his every Saturday Bible Institute and he had 4 in attendance, and a possibility of more students next week. God also gave us a great Sunday in Him! We woke up to RAIN, and I began to pray that God will please take away the rain, for I didn't want our dear Bro. Edwards walking in the rain and getting more sick. God did stop the rain and it was Sunny the rest of the day. =) YEA! I forgot to tell y'all that last week on the way down the mountain in one of the buses, the bus driver decided to RACE another bus behind him, and he was driving like a maniac, swerving around buses and cars! It was very SCARY! I was nervous (and I'm not normally nervous, for I've ridden in 100's of buses both here and in Costa Rica too)...then all of the people on the bus started yelling and told him to stop or he'd kill us! Thank the Lord, he did slow down and the rest of the ride was fine! =) Bro. Edwards felt weak Sunday morning, but wanted to go to Church anyway, so we took a taxi there, and then we prayed that God would send us a taxi afterward, for it's RARE to see an empty taxi in our area. We had a good service and God helped Kimberly teach her Sunday School class of 13 children. I usually go in to help with "CROWD CONTROL" since she feels dumb telling kids older than her what to do. =) She did a cute foamy, flower for a craft and then after her class she and her kids came into the main service and quoted the verse that they had learned, and sang a song. ~Here's part of the girls with their flowers. (4 more kids came in after I had taken these pics!)~
~Here's the boys with their flowers.~ PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL HELP US FIND A TABLE FOR KIMBERLY'S CLASS ROOM, THAT WOULD HELP US A LOT! THANKS! After church, we passed out the banana muffins and our people LOVED them and wanted seconds. =) Then we walked out to find a bus or taxi, AND OUR GOD HAD AN EMPTY TAXI COMING RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD TOWARD US AND HE TOOK US, AND BRO. EDWARDS HOME. (BRO. EDWARDS WAS TOO WEAK TO WALK THE MILE HOME THAT WE HAVE TO WALK IF WE TAKE A BUS HOME...SO GOD PROVIDED US WITH A TAXI THAT TOOK US TO OUR FRONT DOOR! =) GOD IS AWESOME! We had a yummy dinner of Baked chicken, LA rice, steamed cauliflower, yummy strawberry/fresh Spinach/almond salad, quick rolls, fresh grape juice, and strawberry/raspberry cobbler.
Sunday night we had a good service too. Bro. Edwards took our advice and stayed home, and listened to sermons of my Daddy preaching. Thank you for praying we had a good Sunday. Sunday night, on the way home in the bus, I was thinking to myself of what I was going to make for breakfast in the morning, when Kimberly happened to mention something about the book "Green Eggs and Ham", (by Dr. Seuss) so without saying a word, that is what I fixed for breakfast, and my family and Bro. Edwards were quite surprised. (I just used green food coloring to dye the eggs! =) I served leftover quick rolls, and leftover LA Rice with the Green eggs and ham~.
~This is a cute picture I took of "Grandpa" Edwards and Noah!~

~I have ALWAYS LOVED Coca Cola things!~

We don't buy Coke (or other soft drinks) to drink for they're not the most healthy drink you can find, but like I said above, I have ALWAYS LOVED Coke things to decorate with.
~A few days ago, I was looking at Valorie Q.'s decorating blog, and she was talking about decorating her laundry room. Well, I left her a comment and told her that my "laundry room" was outside, so I didn't have much to decorate. Then,....I got to thinking that I had some NEAT COCA COLA things that I wanted to put somewhere, but didn't really have a place to put them. SO...I went to work (while Phillip and the men were gone,) and "decorated" my "LAUNDRY ROOM", which consists of a washer...
and a "DRYER"....that is... 6 clothes lines! My "Dryer" may not be the latest model...but I'm happy for Phillip just hung me 6 NEW clothes lines. =D

I'm happy with the "New Look" of my "LAUNDRY ROOM", and Phillip loved it too when he got home.~ =)
~When Phillip went to Ecuador last April to get our Colombian visas, he heard that some of the Ecuadorians were making a BIG FUSS saying that "Coca Cola" was making money off of what THEY are known for, the Coca leaf (the drug!) So, Coca Cola started showing their history in Ecuador and REALLY promoting Coke to sell more. They made 6 neat replicas of historical bottles. When Phillip was in Ecuador, Coke had put out the first 4 of the 6 collectible bottles that they were going to make. (The last 2 came out after Phillip left.) SAD!! =( Phillip also saw a neat poster advertising the 6 collectible bottles, and asked where he could buy one of those posters. He was told that they were not for sell to the public, but for store owners to use to advertise COKE. But, one dear man, in a store, took down his poster and GAVE it to Phillip.

~This is that neat COKE poster that some store owner gave to Phillip. I just got it framed while Phillip was gone. I took it to get it framed on Tuesday and they told me that it would be done on Saturday. Well, I began to PRAY that God would PLEASE help them get it done by Thursday night, for I wanted to have it hanging before Phillip came back from his trip. BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT HERE, NOTHING GETS DONE EARLY... MOST OF THE TIME, IT'S LATE!!! So, on Thursday evening, the girls and I ran to the store just to SEE if by any chance it was done, and when I walked in, there it sat against the wall.... all DONE! Before I knew it, I had squealed with Joy right out loud, and embarrassed my Kimberly to death. =D But, I explained to the store people why I was soooo excited, and that I had prayed and soooo hoped that it would be done early, and the store people were glad that I was Happy. =) The Collectible COKE bottles are replicas of the following years:
from L. To R. in the poster:1915, 1913,1889, 1900, 1905, 1923.
Phillip was able to buy all but 2 of them, the 1900, and the 1923 ones.~
~I have been storing our neat water filter (that Bro. Edwards bought us before we came here) on 2 cardboard boxes, but they were getting pretty warped looking. I needed more space to store things, yet I didn't really want to spend money on yet another piece of furniture...so my mind got to working and I decided to find some of these neat old wooden crates to use as my "cabinet". All of the fruits and vegetables here are shipped in these crates, so you see them all of the time, out with the garbage. =) So I went to a store and they gave me 3 of them. We used 2 for my "cabinet", and one to hold my fruits and veggies. I'm happy, and it was for FREE! =)
~This BIG box in our living room, is trying to HIDE something. You see, my piano has to have an amp and speaker to run it, so I have those 2 hiding in this "box table". I'd prefer not to have my "box table", but it's better than trying to hide an amp and speaker themselves. =)~
~Excuse all of the CORDS going everywhere under this little table. Here in these houses they put ONE outlet per ROOM, so extension cords are our Best friends. =)~
We had a good Sunday today, Thanks for your prayers. A Sunday report will come soon, This post was already ready. =)

~A few pics with captions~

~Bro. Edwards, Noah, and Phillip leaving for their ministry trip. God really helped them. Phillip preached on the street 3 different days. Bro. Edwards is feeling much better, Thank God. Please pray that he can get rid of his cough that he still has. Thanks!~
~While they were gone, the girls and I got LOTS done. We spring cleaned, rearranged some things in the house, redecorated a couple spots in the house,(pics coming on another post), I did all of my ironing (Yes, I like to iron all of our clothes before they go into the closet =) we Scrap booked and I made Kimberly this skit. I decided I wanted a RAGGY hem, so I zig zagged up about 1 1/4 " from the hem, and I sewed some dark blue and orange/white rick rack on it, then I cut little slits about 3/4" deep, and about 1/2" apart all around the hem, then washed it, and I got the Raggy look that I wanted. =)~
~
~We had to go back to the USA in December 2006, because we didn't have our Colombian visas yet. We had one of the most special Christmases that we ever had. Since in one month, (Dec. 18th-Jan. 17th) we visited 5 different states, and 2 different countries (Can. and the USA) I had TONS of pics to scrapbook (this week) from all the family and friends that we got to spend time with. I started Scrapbooking on Wednesday afternoon and finished on Thursday night, and the Lord helped me get 44 pages done. I scrap booked our trip back to the USA, so I've posted some of my new Scrapbook pages below for you to see. Our first stop on our trip was Miami Florida. (And that is where I slipped and fell and landed on my nose in the airport. UGH!) We had an overnight lay over, so Uncle Scott Sutherland came and picked us up and took us to their home in Hobe Sound and it was GREAT spending a few hours with their family, AND seeing the neat ocean!~
~Our pastor and wife, the Eisenharts, are just the BEST. They, the Beckers, and Michael and Beth let us stay in their home, and made us feel like it was our HOME away from Home! We LOVED our time with everyone!!~
~Our Sweet Christian Nation Church family showered us with love and gifts at Christmas time, Dec. 2006. The Eckerts had a lot of the church and us over and we had a delicious snack and then they gave us our NEAT gifts. Thanks again everyone, we love being loved by ya'll! =)

~Our dear friends the Ryans. They had us over for a yummy dinner in Jan., just before we left Ohio. We always have a BLAST with the Ryans, and laugh our heads off when we are together. Before we went to the mission field, Sarah and Kimberly owned neat matching Winnie the Pooh strollers and car seats, but we couldn't bring them with us, so we sold them. OUR SARAH HAS BEEN SAD EVER SINCE AND HAS REALLY MISSED THEM! Well, the Ryans' girls had a Winnie the Pooh stroller and car seat exactly like Sarah used to have, so when we were at their house, Sarah enjoyed playing with those. (You can sort of see the stroller behind Sarah and Samantha in the pic.) Later, those 2 sweet little Ryan girls GAVE our Sarah that neat Winnie the Pooh stroller and car seat to bring back to Colombia. Sarah is THRILLED with their gift and plays with it almost daily! Thanks girls, May God richly bless you for your SWEET GIFT!~

~Our dear friends the Shirks, and the Pilmores gave our children a surprise Birthday party in Jan., and this is Noah blowing out his candles on his yummy cake that Susanna made.~

~A page of one of my DEAR friends, Roseanne Evans, and I. We have a blast when we are together. She's one of the ones that just sent us our NICE "Christmas in August!"~

~When we left for the mission field, one of the hardest things for Kimberly to leave was her doggie, Bridget. Thank the Lord, that Grandma and Grandpa D. have her in AZ, so we know that she is WELL TAKEN CARE OF!! This past January Kimberly got to see Bridget for the first time in 3 years, so it was a JOYOUS occasion.~

~This page is about our girl's first day of school last year, and it was Sarah's first day of school ever. Roseanne sent me a cute kit for School days, so I had fun making this page: using the kit she sent, adding the rope, and stickers too.~

~The guys got home safely. This morning, Bro. Edwards and Sarah were playing the game, "Candy Land" (with Sarah coaching Bro. Edwards on HOW to play it). Bro. Edwards beat and he said, "WOO HOO! I won, I'm so GLAD. I won, with hands down." It was sooo cute, Phillip and I had to laugh.~