~Maria, "Tooth Fairy on strike" and Noah

~We found Noah asleep in our bed like this the other night. The way he put his hands under his head...It looks like he couldn't handle life anymore for that day. =D~
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PRAYING FOR MARIA!!! GOD IS HELPING! Her Daddy took her to her eye exam appointment on Wednesday, and explained to her doctors that her nose has ALWAYS run, and asked them to please put her asleep anyways so they could do the eye exam. So the doctors agreed, she was put to sleep, they did the eye exam, and she woke up fine, no problems! THANK THE LORD! The Daddy and Maria went to the hospital today (Friday) to find out how much everything else will cost and when the doctors can do the surgery. (The doctors don't know that the money to pay the bill is coming from the USA, or they would charge TRIPLE THE PRICE, which the bill is already A LOT OF MONEY!!!) Phillip will be seeing the family tonight, Lord willing. We don't know how much of improvement there will be in her one eye until she has the surgery and gets glasses. PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR ALL TO GO WELL!! THANK YOU!!
~Noah, fixin' to play cars outside in the nice warm sun that we are loving having right now!~
On Wednesday I mixed up a batch of cinnamon rolls, which delighted my family, and the friends that have received some too. Then on Thursday, God gave me a good day, and I made Lasagna, salad, and iced tea for lunch. My family and the friend that was here visiting were THRILLED with my lunch I made, and delighted NOT to have sandwiches again! I've been too sick to cook real meals, because I couldn't handle smelling everything, so we have lived off of sandwiches until my family is SICK of them. HA! And then God helped me to be able to ride the hour to our second church, and we had a good service, I was glad that I could be there, and everyone was glad to see baby and I. I'm going to see if I can go to our one church on Sunday mornings, and then our 2nd church on Thursday nights, for I KNOW I'm not yet up to 2 services on Sunday, which involves 4 hours travel time, walking at least 3 miles, etc. per Sunday. But for now, if I can go once a week to each church, I'll be happy. Thanks for your prayers for baby and I, I'm thrilled to be having some good days!
Sarah has had 3 VERY loose teeth for awhile, but one finally fell out the other night...and so she put it under her pillow to see if "Mommy tooth Fairy" or "Daddy Tooth King" would put some money there. BUT...the next morning, Daddy Tooth King had to leave very early and didn't think of leaving money and Mommy tooth Fairy is pregnant and sleeps in now-a-days, so poor Sarah, the "toothless princess" awoke to just her tooth under her pillow, and no money! =( Just when I woke up, I remembered that we had forgotten her money, so I quickly collected some money, went into her room and told her to please get out of bed and go do an errand for me...and she looked at me with SAD eyes and said, "I don't have any money under my pillow!" and I said, "I'm sorry, Sarah, it's because your Mother forgot!" I quickly put her money under her pillow while she was doing that errand, and when she returned to her room, she was THRILLED with the money she got! =)~Her 2 top middle teeth are very loose and should fall out any day...so soon we will have our very own CUTE "jack-o-latern!" HA! Poor Noah, who has 2 sisters loosing teeth quite often and getting money for them, goes around YANKING on his teeth to TRY to make them loose! =D~
We have our tree up and there are several gifts wrapped and under the tree. Poor Noah keeps telling me that he REALLY NEEDS to open his Christmas gifts RIGHT NOW...for there is NO WAY he can wait until Christmas!! =D
~Kimberly playing with her "Kelly" dolls out in front of our home.~
Yesterday, after giving Noah a bath, (but per his request, leaving him there to play in the tub with his toys for a little while and then Kimberly would get him dressed later)...I laid down for a quick nap, warning all of my children to PLEASE be quiet so I could sleep before we left for church. A few minutes later I heard Noah doing LOUD ROARING GROWLS...so I yelled to him, "Noah, I need you to be quiet, for I'm trying to sleep...! To which he replied, "It's not me, Mommy; it's my ALLIGATOR!!!" We all had to laugh at him!
~SARAH, AND NOAH AND HIS HOWLING-GROWLING ALLIGATOR THAT KEPT MOMMY AWAKE!~

~Perfect Sunday dinner crescent rolls!~

~This is the only picture of my rolls that I could find (at bottom of picture). This is Sarah's Graduation party, and I made rolls and then made them into sandwiches.~A friend asked me for my crescent roll recipe, so here it is. Years ago, while my sister Laura was traveling with a Hobe Sound trio she got this roll recipe from her good friend Becca! (Thanks, Becca! =) Since I have had my own bread business in 4 states, was the baker for God's Bible School, and made these for our Camargo Camp in Ohio several years...I have made these by the 100's, and I still LOVE this recipe! It's pretty simple, so go ahead and try it. I tried to write detailed explanations in case a person wants to try it that isn't used to making bread. =) (Although a lot of you may already have the same recipe, just a little different version!)
~Perfect Sunday Dinner Rolls~ (YIELDS: 32 YUMMY rolls!)
In a small bowl, place 1/4 c. WARM (not too Hot, not to cold. It should not burn your finger, but should be pretty WARM) water and one small package of yeast, or if you buy it in the 1 lb. bag at Sam's or Costco, use 1 HEAPING Tablespoon! Set aside to for 10 mins or so.
In a large bowl microwave for 2 mins or so:
1/2 c. sugar
1 stick margerine or butter
1 cup water
1 t. salt
Bring out of microwave and use mixer or by hand (using wire whisk for the first 2 or 3 cups of flour, then a spatula) stir in 1 cup of flour and MAKE SURE THAT YOUR WATER MIXTURE IS NOT TOO HOT, BEFORE YOU ADD YOUR YEAST MIXTURE! IF IT'S STILL VERY HOT, YOU COULD ADD A 2nd cup of flour,THEN, add the yeast mixture. And then add:
2 eggs, beaten
4 1/2 -6 cups flour. (Add flour 1 cup at a time, for you may not need all 6 cups of flour.) The last cup or so of flour you should try to knead it in. Kneading is just taking the dough in the bowl (that has some flour on the bottom of the bowl) and pulling a part of the dough into the center and pushing down, then turn the bowl and grab the next section of dough and pull it into the middle and push down. What you are doing is forming the dough into a nice round, smooth, ball. (of sorts!) (When dough doesn't stick very much to your finger when you touch it, your dough doesn't need any more flour.) Cover in that bowl and refrigerate overnight. (You can let it rise on the counter for 2-3 hours, if you want to make them the same day.)
Then take the dough and you may need to add a tad more flour so it's not sticky. (I take a spatula and pull the dough away from the bowl, and add a tad of flour in the bottom of the bowl, then I knead it a little until it's sort of a smooth ball, then divide it into 4 even sections.) Take each section and roll it out on a floured surface into a nice circle (About the size of a pie). Butter with soft butter, or marg. and then take your pizza cutter and cut into 8 pie shaped pieces. Roll each piece of dough LARGE END TO SMALL END and place POINT DOWN on a greased cookie sheet, and cover. Do the same with the other 3 sections of dough. If the dough is COLD, let rise about 4 hours or so (while gone to church on Sunday morning, and bake when you get home!) If the dough is NOT cold, let rise just an hour or so, and then bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes or so. I like my rolls barely brown, like to where you have to glance TWICE to make sure they are not raw! =) Butter the tops of them when they come out...and THERE YOU GO! You have just made some very light, delicious rolls!
~Sarah made these cinnamon rolls like the first version I mention below!~
Cinnamon Rolls!
Use the same dough, and you can do it one of 3 ways.
#1 Divide into 4 sections and then roll each section into a pie shaped circle. Then butter with soft butter, add cinnamon sugar, and nuts or raisins, or whatever you like then roll the dough JELLY ROLL STYLE from SIDE TO SIDE and take a sharp knife or a piece of dental floss and cut them into 7 or 8 rolls and place them LAYING DOWN on a greased cookie sheet (WITH SIDES! so as not to have a mess in the bottom of your oven.) Let rise an hour if warm dough, 3 or so hours if COLD DOUGH and bake at 350 for 12-15 mins or so, for with the stuff inside they take a little longer to make sure they are done. Once they are cooled off, I make a quick icing and put on them. You can make this icing RUNNY, or more thick, however you want.
Icing: Melt about 3 T. of butter, and add about 1 Tablespoon of Milk and 1 t. of vanilla and how much ever Powdered sugar that you want. (like maybe 2-5 cups more or less!) Less makes a more runny icing, more makes a thicker icing. If you add too much powdered sugar, and you wanted the icing thinner, just add more milk. You can't mess it up!
#2 ~OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD CINNAMON ROLLS~ Make these same cinnamon rolls in the jelly roll style like above and slice the jelly roll into 32 cinnamon rolls and place 16 cinnamon rolls each in 2 greased 13x9 dish. Cover and let rise 1-2 hours if COLD dough, less if dough is warm. Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins. or until golden brown. Meanwhile in a saucepan, combine:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipped cream
1/2 cup butter, cubed
Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 mins. Remove from heat. With a hand mixer, Beat in the following until creamy:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Frost rolls. Serve warm.
#3 "CINNAMON LOVE KNOTS!" is a little more work, but I love them this way too! Take your dough and divide it into 4 equal section. Then divide each section into 8 small BALLS! Take each ball and roll in between your hand and make a snack-like rope. ABOUT 6" LONG. Dip each rope into a bowl that has melted butter, and then into a bowl that has cinnamon and sugar. Place the rope on a greased pan with SIDES and TIE INTO A KNOT, making sure that the ends are tucked under! LET RISE 1 HOUR if warm, 2 or 3 hours if COLD DOUGH and then Bake at 350 for a good 15-20 minutes or more, to make sure they are done inside. Cool, and can add icing if you want, but they are delicious just like they are.
Enjoy...and if you have any questions, just leave a comment, and I'll try to respond to you! =)

~My first Sunday back in Church~

The Lord helped me and I was able to go to church on Sunday morning, for the first time in weeks. I did my hair on SATURDAY MORNING, and sprayed it Saturday night before I went to bed, and then DID NOT DO IT ON SUNDAY MORNING. =) I knew I wouldn't have the energy to get up, eat breakfast, help my kids, get ready myself AND DO MY HAIR and be ready to leave by 8:45 AM or so. Thank the Lord He helped my hair look like I had just done it. =D Phillip had invited a pastor friend to preach for our Service Sunday morning, so he and his wife came and they drove us to church in their car...which was very nice for baby and I.
~Our visiting friends and our family~

We had a good service, and everyone was HAPPY to see baby and I! Little blind Maria came to church wearing a really pretty little dress, BUT she was CRYING because her eyes were hurting her. So, we prayed for her and Phillip anointed her and at the end of service she told us that her eyes were feeling much better, PRAISE THE LORD! HOWEVER, HER LITTLE NOSE IS STILL RUNNING, AND THE DOCTORS CANNOT PUT HER TO SLEEP AND DO HER SURGERY WITH HER IMMUNE SYSTEM LOW. SO PLEASE DOOOOO HELP US PRAY THAT GOD WILL TOUCH HER RUNNY NOSE AND THAT SHE WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE HER EYE SURGERY, IF IT IS GOD'S WILL!! THANK YOU!
~Diana, Sarah, Noah, Heather (and baby) and Maria...these 2 little girls from our church wanted their picture taken with baby and I.~
We had our friends over for Sunday dinner...such as it was, and we had a nice visit with them, and they seem to enjoy their time here too. After they left and Phillip, Kimberly and Noah left for our evening service, I CRASHED into bed...EXHAUSTED!!
We had a pretty good day on Monday too...but I was still exhausted and stayed in bed most of the day. I finally got out of bed and got dressed and we walked to the mall and a little market beside the mall, ate and then came home and I went to bed again. I guess Sunday just wore me out.
~Last year we walked into OLD NAVY and found these "Tis the Season" blouses for 50 cents a piece. We tried to have Noah take a picture of we 3 ladies with our blouses, but he kept cutting our head off. =D So, we had a friend snap this pic of us.~

~Our Happy Thanksgiving~

We had a different but fun Thanksgiving. We slept in, ate breakfast, had family devotions and thanked God for our MANY BLESSINGS, then put up our Christmas tree, and put the lights on it, then left for McDonalds...where we had Thanksgiving dinner. I know that sounds like a gross Thanksgiving dinner, but our kids were THRILLED to get to play at the playground, and we had a nice time. (You have to know that here, a lot of McDonalds save their playground ONLY for the birthday parties that they have...so our kids were glad to find a McDonalds where they could actually play in the playground!) ~Our family on Thanksgiving~

On the way home I told our kids, "I'm sorry, kids, that Mommy didn't feel like cooking a normal Thanksgiving dinner!" And Sarah said, "Oh, Mommy, that is fine!" And Kimberly said, "I think that I liked this Thanksgiving better than the rest!" =D Thank the Lord I wasn't very sick on this day either. After we ate we came home and I took a nap, and Phillip left for our Thursday night service. Then when I got up, the kids and I had fun and finished decorating our Christmas tree. I'm sooo glad that the kids and GOD helped me have the energy to decorate for Christmas...for it's all done now, and I'm glad. I LOVE CHRISTMAS and decorating for Christmas, just don't have tons of extra energy right now to do it all. But with God and the kids help, it's all done and the house looks really pretty and festive. I'll try to post pics later of our home!
~Our kids had a GREAT Thanksgiving, playing in the playground.~

Please Keep little blind Maria in your prayers, we'd love for her to be able to have her eye surgery if that is God's will.

~Family day, and little Blind Maria~

~Saturday night, Sarah was trying to climb in the narrow space on the end of Noah's twin beds, but she hit the back of her head on the top bunk, and which caused her to hit her nose HARD on the bottom bunk. OUCH! It appears that she broke it, but thank the Lord it broke straight. I've been putting ice and a WONDERFUL cream on it that healed me when I fell down the stairs in Costa Rica and bruised my face really badly. Sarah plays and acts fine, just doesn't want us to touch her nose, so she puts the cream on herself. Her nose is black and blue, but it's hard to tell in this picture. =)

Well after having a VERY NAUSEATED DAY on Sunday, I was THRILLED that God gave me a good Monday yesterday. I REALLY LIVE for these good days...and Thank the Lord that I'm having more and more of them. I'M SEEING LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL (of nausea)...I JUST HOPE IT'S NOT A TRAIN! HA!
Mondays are our family days, when we try to do something special and fun together. However, we had a different type of family day yesterday. There is a sweet little blind 9 year old girl, named Maria, who attends one of our churches. She went blind when she was 6-9 months old.
~This is little blind Maria. She is such a sweet girl. She always closes her eyes for pictures, for she is embarrassed about her eyes. When Phillip asked last week in church who would bring flowers for church on Sunday, Maria raised her hand. Another lady saw her, and was afraid that she would forget, so she brought the tall flowers. But, true to her word, Maria showed up during service with a pretty little hand picked bouquet, and so after church Phillip took a picture of her with it.~
However, after doing some tests, the doctors give hope that maybe one of her eyes can be saved. Some of our dear supporters sent in the money for her to have this eye surgery. We thought that the eye surgery was yesterday, but it turned out that they just wanted to put her to sleep to do an eye exam to see what all they needed to do when they perform her surgery. Phillip left early yesterday to go and be with Maria and her Dad, for what we thought was going to be the surgery. But after arriving there early in the morning, they were told to come back at 1:00 PM. Since there is a nice park near the hospital, Phillip called me, asked me how I was feeling and if I wanted to bring our children and join them at that park. So, we got ready and took a taxi THROUGH LOTS OF TRAFFIC and got to the park just in time for our kids to play with little Maria a little while before we had to take her back to the hospital. Our kids and Maria really had a nice time playing together. ~Maria and our kids in the park.~
~Maria and our kids in the park. I had made a jean skirt for another little girl in our church, but she has never been back since I made the skirt, so on Sunday Kimberly gave little Maria that jean skirt, and she was VERY happy to get it, wore it yesterday and looked really cute in it. =)~
~Phillip and Maria's father watching our kids playing in the park~
When we got back to the hospital, they saw that Maria had a runny nose and said that a runny nose meant that her immune system is not strong, and so they didn't feel comfortable in putting her to sleep. Maria's father said that she ALWAYS has had that runny nose. Phillip is quite sure that her immune system is low because of how they live. They live in a SHACK in the COLD mountains, and hardly have any money, so they probably do not have very nutritious meals, and live off of sugar water and bread, etc. Maria turns 10 on Dec. 10th, and the doctors have told her that THEY CANNOT DO THE EYE SURGERY AFTER SHE TURNS 10!! So, please pray that with the children's vitamins and BUNCHES of fresh fruit that we bought for little Maria, that she can kick this runny nose and they will be able to do her surgery before it is too late. Her one eye is too far gone to be able to fix, but she is REALLY excited about being able to see a little out of the other eye, if she can have the surgery. GOD IS ABLE!! ~Phillip snapped this picture of me eating corn on the cob in the park. I was just eating it for the SALT! Right now I LOVE salty things. I must take after my grandmother for when she eats a hamburger, she puts 7 packs of salt on it! UGH! Please know I'm being CAREFUL not to eat too much salt, I know it's not good for baby and I.~

We went shopping at a nice American type grocery store that we only get to once a year or so because it is in the North. We went to buy a turkey TO PUT IN THE FREEZER TO MAKE FOR CHRISTMAS...for I'm not quite up to cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year, but the store doesn't have any turkeys yet. It was fun finding a few other things that we like. I'm craving CHEERIOS...just plain Cheerio cereal, but I cannot find them anywhere here. If any one wants to email me a bowl full, I'd be grateful! =) Later, after Maria and her Father went home, we took our kids back to that same park and let them play a little longer and ate some ice cream together and just relaxed as a family. We had a good day.

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! GOD IS AWESOME AND WE ALL HAVE TONS TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!
~I'm thankful that God saved and sanctified me and is allowing me to serve Him.
~I'm very Thankful for the world's best husband, Phillip. He treats me like a queen!
~I'm thankful for the privilege of being a Mommy to my 4 sweet children; Kimberly, Sarah, Noah and baby! =D
~And I could list 1,000,000,00 other things for which I'm thankful...and I still would not have listed them all. God is WONDERFUL, life is GOOD.
~Me and my baby bump. I'm 3 1/2 months along now! Oops! I didn't realize that when I took my jacket off for the picture, I pulled up my collar.~
THANKS FOR PRAYING THAT MARIA CAN HAVE HER EYE SURGERY SOON, AND THAT GOD WILL HELP IT BE A SUCCESS!

~Cappuccino shakes, choc. cake, and a flying drum stick.

Hey! I'm just going to post a post to let you know I'm still alive. Our computer is having trouble, and overheats and turns off a lot, so I haven't been using it too much! Sorry, I won't post any pics today, for fear that my computer won't be able to handle it. Thanks to everyone for your nice comments and prayers. I've had a pretty good week. Still nauseated, but I've been stronger and have been able to get quite a bit of things done around here, which I haven't been able to do in a while. YEA! Thank the Lord! I'm able to teach Sarah 1st grade right now, so she is THRILLED to be back in school. Thankfully we can catch up easily for the month or so when I was too sick to teach her. The other night Kimberly made us a Cappuccino shake that would have put STARBUCKS out of business. HA!! No, it was delicious and I loved it so much that I had to make us another one the next day. =) Colombia is KNOWN for their coffee, and it is delicious...but we do find it interesting that we haven't seen any Starbucks here. Last night, I made a choc. cake for my family, and for my Noah. When I told him that I was going to make a cake he jumped and squealed for JOY!! =)
Today, I'm dressed up in maternity clothes. (After being soooo tired and nauseated for over a month now, my family thinks it is a miracle when I can get up and get dressed in normal clothes and am not in my robe all day! =) Thanks for your prayers for baby and I. Baby is wanting the world to notice him/her...and my "baby bump" is getting bigger. I'll post pics of baby and I in a couple weeks. Until then....on the following post...I'll post a recipe for the BEST and Quickest choc. sheet cake that I have probably ever made or eaten.
~~~A funny story!~~~
When we have family devotions...we always sing a hymn or 2 in ENGLISH so our children won't forget all the English hymns. So, today, I went to the piano and played for that hymn. Kimberly grabbed her violin to play, which inspired Noah to grab his guitar, and Sarah to grab her drum that Phillip had purchased her in Ecuador. So, poor Phillip was going to have to sing alone. I told him to bring the hymn book to the piano and I would help him sing. So...here we are...QUITE the family devotions, with QUITE THE BAND. Well, Sarah was sitting on a stool in front of the couch and playing her DRUM for all she was worth. Noah was faithfully strumming his guitar behind her on the couch. Sarah's drum only has one large stick, with a wide ROUND handle. Well, she got carried away beating on her drum...and the stick FLEW OUT OF HER HAND...FLIPPED UP INTO THE AIR AND CAME DOWN AND SMACKED POOR UNSUSPECTING NOAH ON THE HEAD!! Since I was playing the piano, I didn't see this happen, but poor Phillip did and he was trying not to laugh, but couldn't help it. It was such a coincidence that that stick would fly through the air and land on Noah's head... and it was soooo hilarious too. So, here is Phillip explaining to the rest of us what had happened while we were HOWLING LAUGHING, and here is poor Noah weeping his eyes out. We all tried to hide our chuckles and comfort him, but it WAS NOT EASY. Sorry, I was playing the piano so couldn't take any pictures of our BAND! =D Later, as we told the story on the phone to Grandma, Noah was laughing too. Our family devotions are always fun and interesting, never a dull moment. =)

~Quick, DELICIOUS, and easy Choc. Sheet cake~

(I don't know if I should keep posting all of my favorite recipes, for someday when I move back to the USA...the whole world will have all of my recipes. HA!)

~Quick, Delicious, and EASY Choc. Sheet cake~ ~Heather~
Mix in med/large bowl:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar (I used 1 1/2)
1 teas. salt and 1 teas. baking soda. (set aside!)
Heat to boiling in microwave:
1 stick butter
8 T. cocoa
1 cup water
Pour over dry ingredients.
In small bowl beat:
2 eggs, 1/2 cup buttermilk, and 1 teas. vanilla
Mix together and pour into a greased jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for about 30 mins.
Frosting:
Mix the following ingredients in a pan and bring to a BOIL.
(I always have a little extra...)
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 cup evaporated milk (I used reg.)
3 cups powder sugar
1 teas. vanilla
Spread on top of HOT cake.
Top cake and icing with 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts if you desire. This can be cut into about 16-24 pieces so is great to feed a crowd.
NOTE: You need to know that my Phillip is NOT a choc. cake eater...but that he told me last night...while helping himself to another piece... that this choc. cake was very good! =)

~Still nauseated...but loving this baby!~

Just a quick update. Saturday, the Lord helped me to get up and get dressed and go to my fruit/veggie market in front of my street. I haven't been able to go for weeks. On the way walking to the market, Noah asked me if his face was clean? I told him that he looked pretty good. To which he replied, "Good, for when I get to the market all of the ladies are going to say to me, "QUE LINDO.... interpretation...How CUTE!" He acts like he does NOT like their attention, however, he wanted to make sure his face was clean so they would still say he was cute. =D Everyone at the market was happy to see us again. Later that day our friends Carlos and Gloria came over and told us ALLLLLL they have been through here recently. They have to be modern day "JOBS"....for they have really had some HUGE trials here recently. (Their house and most of their things were flooded the other day when their roof FELL IN the other day when it hailed and rained!! Carlos who works as a taxi driver was robbed. Gloria has been SICK for weeks now and can't kick the sickness. Their car broke down. And their NICE piano and other things were stolen from their car....JUST TO NAME A FEW OF THEIR TRIALS!!) If you think of them, please pray for them, they are pretty discouraged. We had a nice visit with them, and they left here a little encouraged.
Since I had a pretty good day on Saturday, I was encouraged that maybe I was getting some better. Well, Sunday morning, I got up and put chicken in the oven to bake, and went into the dinning room and ate my breakfast, and got some green beans ready to cook. I brought those green beans in the kitchen and THEN I SMELLED THAT CHICKEN BAKING AND RAN OUT OF THE KITCHEN AND LOST MY BREAKFAST! UGH! When we first moved here, we thought it interesting that our kitchen had a door on it. NOW, WE KNOW THAT GOD KNEW I WOULD NEED THAT DOOR TO HELP BLOCK FOOD SMELLS DURING THIS TIME OF MORNING/ALL DAY SICKNESS WITH MY PREGNANCY! Our kids and Phillip had 2 good services on Sunday and God helped them. Kimberly and her class started practicing for their simple Christmas program. I was able to watch the Hobe Sound services for my church.
~Sorry to re-post a picture, but I didn't feel like taking any new ones yesterday. Our family, May, 2007~
On Monday, our friends, Jimmy and Farly invited us over for dinner. On Sunday Jimmy had called me to ask me what they should make for lunch so that I could eat with them. I told him that I was sorry but I honestly DID NOT KNOW what I could eat! I told them just to cook what they wanted and I would try to eat what I could. Well, I was sooooo DYING to tell him that I couldn't handle rice right now, but I knew I couldn't tell a Colombian not to make rice, for THEY ALWAYS have rice with almost every meal. (I was afraid that they would make "Arroz con Pollo"...or "Rice with Chicken" and THEN...what would I be able to eat!) So, I just prayed that God would help them make some food that I could eat. When we got there and I sat down to eat, there were some creamed potatoes with some cheese,(that tasted similar to the potatoes I'm used to eating in the USA =) a YUMMY fruit salad, and some good juice that I could drink. They made me some chicken too, but I couldn't eat that. But...I LOVED the potatoes and salad and ate and ate. THANK THE LORD....AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE OR SERVE RICE!!!! THAT IS AMAZING for Colombians. So, God totally Guided them what to make so I could eat. YEA! God is awesome! We had a nice visit with our friends.
I'm 13 weeks along now, so hopefully I can kick this nausea in the next few weeks. If I'm not better by Thanksgiving, we'll just do something else that day, and I'll made a big dinner for Christmas. I just don't want to get sick on turkey and the trimmings and not want them for many Thanksgivings to come. =( Thanks for your prayers for us. God is helping our people and our churches too. Also, Phillip's Bible classes that He teaches for 3 hours every Saturday are going really GOOD and the students are LOVING learning more about God, the Bible, the Christian family, etc.

~BRAGGING ON MY SWEETHEART!~

The other day, Phillip and I were talking to Mom D. on the phone and I was telling her how Phillip has told me time and time again since we have been married how his Mom had trained he and Michael to CLEAN a bathroom VERY WELL!!! However...I added that Phillip had NEVER cleaned ours that I could remember. =D Mom D. said, "Yes, Beth tells me that Michael helps her, and when he cleans their bathroom...HE CLEANS THEIR BATHROOM!!!" ~I am posting some pics of our kids in this post, just for fun. I LOVE this pic of our Kimberly, 2006~Well, I didn't know it, but Phillip got off of the phone inspired (BY HIS BROTHER MICHEAL) to help me and clean our bathroom sometime while I'm soooo sick with this pregnancy. ~I LOVE this pic of our Sarah, 2006~
On Thursday, the lady was here helping me. We only let her clean on our first floor, for though I think we can trust her, it's just better that she doesn't have the full run of our home. I went and talked to Phillip and told him (not knowing that he had plans to help me by cleaning our bathroom) that it would be WONDERFUL if she could at least go upstairs and clean our bathroom, and I'd have Kimberly stay near here to make sure she didn't take anything while she was up there. (The only other lady that cleaned our home, was invited here by a Christian Colombian staying in our home while we were in the USA for Christmas 2006. The Colombian staying here thought she could trust the cleaning lady, and left her ALONE in our home, and that lady stole A LOT of our things!! Not huge things, just smaller items, like NEARLY ALL OF MY CREATIVE MEMORY SCRAPBOOKING PENS, ETC. SAD!) (Praise the Lord, A dear friend sent me more pens!!=) So, Phillip told me that he didn't want our cleaning lady upstairs, but that he had plans to clean our upstairs bathroom for me. ~I LOVE this pic of our Noah, 2006~
So, the other night, Phillip TACKLED our bathroom. It had mold on the walls above the shower...not anymore. The shower needed cleaned badly (something I cannot stand on my head to do right now, I'm too nauseated) and now it shines. The supposed-to-be-white floor was pretty much black, and now it is a glistening white! And the sink and the toilet are spotless too! WOW! Phillip, you get husband of the year award...! You would have gotten that award even before you cleaned the bathroom, but now you really do!!! =) THANKS BUNCHES for helping me, I love you!!!
~Phillip cleaning away!~

~Prayer Requests~

Thanks for all of the nice Birthday wishes!! I had a fun day. I'm still fighting nausea, but hoping and praying that I can kick this sickness before Thanksgiving time. I soooo want to make a nice dinner for my family and some of our friends if I can. However, I don't want to buy a turkey and make a huge meal, and then get SICK over the smell of everything and not be able to eat turkey and trimmings for years to come. =( Please help me pray that I can be over this nausea by then, if it's God's will. THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS! I'm trying to take good care of our precious baby whom we LOVE tons.
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Please pray for some PRAYER REQUESTS of some NEEDY people around us. Our churches and neighborhoods are FULL of hurting people!
1. The lady who has been cleaning for me 2 days a week, she is suffering persecution from her Mother (whom she lives with) and her neighbors because of her walk with the Lord. Please pray that God will protect and encourage she and her 2 small girls!
2. A lady in our church is dying with cancer leaving 2 young daughters and a teenage son. Their Father already passed away! HOW SAD!
3. The little 8 year old girl that fell and landed on that piece of Rebar (piece of round metal that they use to pour concrete) and it went through her chin, through the roof of her mouth and then pushed a bone into her brain....the doctors are wanting $10,000 DOLLARS to do her surgery to help remove the bone from her brain and fix the other holes left by the rebar, but of course no one has that kind of money. That rebar shoved a bone into her brain, and infection is setting in...So, unless God heals her, she may not make it. =( Please pray for her and her family.~The little girl who fell on the rebar is all the way on the Right!~
4. A little girl who has been blind for years with cataracts and glacoma on/in her eyes, and possibly other problems. She became blind when she was about 6-8 months old. The doctors are pretty confident that she should be able to see after surgery. Some of our dear supporters have given money for her to have surgery, which she plans to do soon. Please pray that God will help her family to get all the paperwork done so she can have the surgery and that God will guide the doctors and that her surgery will be successful and she will be able to see soon!
5. A Christian brother Jimmy and his wife, who are in charge of the ACE school, have had some discouraging times here recently. He was robbed at GUNPOINT in a crowded bus. Someone broke out almost all of the school windows. One of the main couples in their new church just left. =(~Jimmy and Phillip~
6. Our friends Carlos and Gloria (parents of little Donna Sofia, who's hips seem to be fine now after she got that cast off), pastor a church in a poor area, and they have had some tough trials too. Their keyboard for their church was stolen out of their LOCKED TRUNK OF THEIR CAR! The other day, it hailed A LOT here, and the hail tore up the roof of their home that they were living in, causing A LOT of water damage too. They have had to move out and are staying with her parents until they can get that home repaired. They are pretty discouraged. ~Carlos, Gloria and Donna Sofia.~
THANKS FOR PRAYING...PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!!

~Happy Birthday to ME~ =D

~Look who is 34....and 3 months pregnant with our 4th precious treasure from Heaven! You can't see it much, but I do have a small "baby bump", although I've been soooo nauseated this last month I haven't gained much weight.~
On Sunday evening, our Christian Nation Church called us and had a live conversation with us during their service. It was a very sweet phone call and we enjoyed talking to them. Near the end, the whole church sang Happy Birthday to me. How thoughtful! THANK YOU CHURCH FOR ALL YOU DO TO SHOW US YOUR LOVE, YOU ARE THE BEST!!
Phillip had to be gone all day long on my birthday, today, Nov. 6th, so we celebrated my birthday on Monday, Nov. 5th. We walked to the mall, ate lunch, and I bought some dressy boots with the money that Dad and Mom D. had given me for my birthday. Here it is so chilly and rainy that most ladies just wear boots most of the time. My family bought me a small CD player to put beside my bed so that I can listen to Bible CDs, for I'm too nauseated and sick on some days to sit and read my Bible. They also got me some nice knives and a couple CDs of some neat Indian flute music. I was going to try to make myself a cake or pie for I knew that my family would want me to have some kind of dessert to celebrate my birthday, but then both Phillip and I happened to remember that Baskin Robins in the mall would probably sell Ice cream cakes. So, Phillip checked and they do. He was looking at the cakes and the sells lady told him that if he bought a HALLOWEEN cake that she'd give him a discount. So, that is what we did....the cake we got had a cute smiling pumpkin on the top. =D Hey...It tasted just as good, and was cheaper! =) I was sick most of the day, but still enjoyed the day out with my family. Kimberly sewed me this cute jean purse that I am holding, and Sarah made me some fun treasures too, she just couldn't find them before we took the picture.~The kids and I and all of my nice gifts! My family loves me and takes GREAT care of me, and I LOVE THEM TOO!~

Today, on my birthday my Kimberly made me a fruit salad for breakfast and my parents called me. (They send me Taste Of Home magazine for my birthday gift...a PERFECT gift!!) I have hopes of another phone call today too...my dear sister Laura. =) I'm having a Happy Birthday, and Thank God for another GREAT year He has given me!

~Family Fun Day~

~The other day, Phillip was in a taxi, and they took him by a mall, a McDonalds with a playground (which most of them don't have playgrounds here), and another American restaurant that we didn't know was here. So, since I've been so nauseated and AMERICAN food (like mashed potatoes) sounds a lot better than Colombian food, Phillip decided to take our family out to eat at this American restaurant on our family day last Monday. But, when he had been in the taxi, he hadn't realized how far the American restaurant was from that mall. So, our taxi let us out at the mall, and we walked, and walked, and walked, stopped and asked a lady where the restaurant was, then walked and walked some more. We must have walked 2 miles or MORE to get to that restaurant. We've never eaten at that restaurant in the USA, so really didn't know what we were getting into. Thankfully we arrived at a quiet part of the day, but it was still too noisy for our liking. Our food was pretty good, and though I was sick I was able to eat a lot of my food. It was also neat to hear a couple ENGLISH words from our waitress who was trained to say "THANK YOU", although she of course had a strong Spanish accent. =D This restaurant was RIGHT BESIDE the American Embassy.~
~Kimberly and I with our fresh fruit drinks. Mine was good, but was making me sick, so I was THRILLED to see iced tea on the menu, and happily ordered one...WHICH IS TRULY AN AMERICAN THING, for iced tea is never sold in the typical Colombian restaurants.~
~Sarah and Noah with their fruit drinks.~

~I gave all our kids some of my noodles, and Noah ENJOYED having a long noodle to eat...and yes, that is a noodle hanging out of his mouth. =)~Afterwards, we TOOK A TAXI the 2 miles back to that mall and had fun walking around and looking at things, then came home. We won't be spending the money to go back to that restaurant, but we did have a nice family afternoon. (Besides, our kids drooled as we WALKED PAST the McDonalds with a playground to head to that other restaurant...so, we'll probably eat there next time...for it is much cheaper. =)

~Phillip blogged about my blog~

Phillip, my sweetheart, put a post on his blog about my blog. If you want to check it out here is here is the link.