~HEATHER'S HIGHLIGHTS~

~Part 2 of our fun trip to Tigre~

2012-02-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Here's the 2nd part of our FUN day that "Uncle" Charlie and "Aunt" Jolie planned for our family. (On the way to Tigre I gave Aunt Jolie one of my FOUR Taste Of Home magazines. Since I had four I wanted to share one with her, since she can read English. =)
It was funto see more of Argentina since we only have about 34 days left here, (until we go back to Colombia for a few months, then return here again, Lord willing) and most things tourist see here, we haven't seen.
~While we were in our boat ride we passed lots of these sculling clubs, most of them dating back to the 1800's.~

~Here are some older men sculling.~

~This was a pretty art museum that we passed.~

~Elijah enjoying the passing scenery while enjoying his boat ride.~

~This was the old Ship "junk yard." The one on the right reminded me of "Scuffy the Tugboat" in the Little Golden Books series. =)~

~Kimberly and Mary enjoying the boat ride.~

~U. Charlie took this pic of Mary. Love those blue eyes and smile.~

~Our boat captain with Elijah, Sarah, and Noah.~

~U. Charlie took this picture of us.~

~We grabbed someone to take this picture of all of us right before we got off our FUN boat ride...an ANSWER TO LITTLE ELIJAH'S PRAYERS! =)~

~Little Mary got off of the boat EXHAUSTED! =) Then they took us to that "Fruit" market that we had been told to go to in Tigre. They told us that they are not sure why it's called Fruit market, for there's not any fruit...it's more like a "Flea market". =) I failed to get pictures of the market, but we did buy a couple souvenirs which I'll show you later.~

~Then...we left Tigre and they took us to their favorite ice cream shop! It was probably the best ice cream we have ever tasted. Delicious!~

~We pray that Jesus will RICHLY BLESS "Uncle" Charlie and "Aunt" Jolie for their KINDNESS to our family! They are such DEARS!~

~They bought 1/4 kilo for 2 people to share and we each chose our flavor for our half. =) This is Noah and Elijah sharing their ice cream.~

~U. Charlie, and A. Jolie, and Phillip, Mary, and I ENJOYING our ice cream. What a TREAT!~

~Here's the outside of the FUN ice cream shop. I think it's over 50 years old. The men who worked there wore red stripped shirts and red bow ties. (There's one in the very edge of this picture to your right!)~

~Mary "wearing" my sunglasses.~

~Then at 8:00 P.M. U. Charlie and A. Jolie took us to eat a Chinese dinner! DELISH!!!! This restaurant doesn't open until 8:00 P.M.! (Buenos Aires is known for being "the city that never sleeps!" They normally have TEA around 2-5 in the afternoon, and then dinner at 8:00 P.M. or so. The restaurants start serving dinner around 7:30-8:00 here! The couple that own this restaurant attend the Chinese church that we attend.~

~On Sunday Phillip snapped this pic of A. Jolie (L), Me, and Clara (R) the restaurant owner's wife.~

It was such a SPECIAL day with U. Charlie and A. Jolie and we feel strongly that God has let our lives cross. In many ways they have been/are like FAMILY to us here, helping us not to be SO lonely! Please pray for them and the church here as God brings them to your mind.

~Our trip to "Tigre" part 1~

2012-01-31T15:27:00.000-08:00

Some lady here told Phillip about a place called "Tigre" (Tiger) where you can ride a boat and go to a "fruit market". A few days later we were talking to "Uncle Charlie" and "Aunt Jolie" and telling them about what the lady said, and they said that THEY were going to take us there. So they planned the trip for last Saturday. I packed a picnic lunch (enough for all of us) and they picked us up and Did they ever have a SPECIAL day planned for us?!!! =) It took us probably about 45 mins. to get to Tigre.
~Once we arrived we found a perfect spot to eat my picnic lunch. It was under a shady tree right next to a water canal where we could watch all the boats going by! =) U. Charlie took this picture of our family during our picnic.~

~Two sweet boys! I had asked Elijah to pray for our picnic lunch and he bowed his head and "THANKED THE LORD for the BOAT RIDE we were going to take!!!" HELP! We didn't know what U. Charlie and A. Jolie had planned and if we were going to take a boat ride, but Elijah had just been watching all of those FUN boats pass and was just "having a little TaLk with Jesus!" =)~

~Our 5 children...who bring so much JOY to our lives! =)~

~A. Jolie, Sarah, and I.~

~Eating lots of goodies.~

~Elijah eNjOyInG the No-bake cookies that Kimberly and I had whipped up that morning. =)~

~Just hanging out and enjoying the munchies and cool breeze.~

~U. Charlie and our kids over by the canal.~

~Sarah, Noah, and Elijah by the canal.~

~Sarah, Noah, Phillip, and Elijah, and U. Charlie.~

~Watching one of the MANY boats go by.~

~Then after our picnic lunch...we were surprised when we all got in their car and they took us to the boats and bought tickets for us to take an hour boat ride together! Elijah's prayer HAD BEEN ANSWERED! =D Here we are standing in line to get on the first wooden boat closest to us.~

~Phillip snapped this quick picture of some of us on the boat....before it got full~

~Our captain. Phillip was taking a picture of his "Argentine Mate" (hot herb drink) cup, his one-eye burner to heat up his water for his Mate, and his wooden canisters which hold the "Herbs" for his Mate. =)~

~These wooden boats are like boat taxis. There are a series of canals all around this area which lead to people's vacation homes, clubs, lodges, and cabins.~

Part 2 of our FUN trip coming up!

~FUN FOOD FRIDAY...Grandmother's Chicken-N-Dumplings~

2012-01-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is late...I had no internet over the weekend.
(This post is to show my Grandmother and my Moma a picture of my dumplings, but y'all are welcome to read over their shoulders. =)
Dear GG, I made your Chicken and Dumplings and here is a picture of them. I'm curious if yours have less broth than mine do? (I wanted to make sure I had enough broth so that my dumplings didn't stick together.) Anyways, they turned out delicious and we all loved them! Thanks for sharing your recipe. =)
(Mrs.Carol Clapper, can you PLEASE show GG this post using your phone? Thanks!! =)

Background story: Not too long ago Phillip told mehe was wanting some Chicken and Dumplings. I searched online for a recipe but wasn't happy with what I found. So, I said to Phillip, "Tomorrow, I'll call Moma and ask her how Grandmother makes her Chicken and Dumplings." Phillip said, "Why not just call GG herself?" So, I did. I called my sweet Grandmother in Tennessee and we had a delightful chat. She told me that she really didn't have a recipe, but could try to tell me what she does. So, here's what she told me and here's what I did.
~Grandmother's Southern Chicken and Dumplings~
Chicken:
Cook a chicken on top of the stove like you would normally, making sure you have plenty of broth to drop your dumplings in. When chicken is cooked, tear it up in small pieces and add back to your broth. When you have dumplings ready, heat broth back up to rolling boil. (You could cook your chicken the day before if you wanted to and refrigerate it overnight.)
Dumplings:
2 cups self-rising flour (or add 1 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. baking powder to 2 cups of flour.)
An "egg sized" amount of shortening. (I LOVE this measurement...TOO CUTE!! =)
Cut shortening into flour as you would for pie dough or biscuits.
Then slowly add and stir in some cooled Chicken broth. (I ended up using about a cup.)
Mix together and roll out onto floured board about 1/4" thick. Cut strips (With pizza cutter) and then you can cut into 1" pieces with pizza cutter, or pick up each strip and tear them into pieces.
Drop pieces of dumplings into BOILING Chicken broth. Cover with lid and let boil (High enough to boil, but LOW enough to not boil over) for about 20 mins. At the end of 20 mins. you can cut a dumpling in half to see if it's done.
I hope that if you try this, that they turn out great. My family Loved them!
And as always...Enjoy!

~I'M BACK!~

2012-01-30T09:33:00.000-08:00

WHEW! Our internet quit working on us Friday morning early and we didn't get it back until today!
Talk about a LONELY weekend when you can't receive email nor calls from home, check on your VERY sick 104 1/2 year old Grandma (Please pray for Her and Moma as she takes care of her! THANK YOU!),
post a Fun Food Friday post on your blog, etc.
But, PRAISE THE LORD, it's fixed now, so I'll be updating here soon. But FIRST THINGS FIRST...my family is hungry...so I'll be back after I get them fed! =)Thanks for your nice comments on my Taste of Home post. =)

~Our Door bell rang and guess what arrived?~

2012-01-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

~A make that....Four...yes, you read that right....4!!!!!!!! December Issues of Taste of Home!!! Not sure how I got 4, but I was just GLAD that some of our mail had arrived! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!~

~Everyone of us love this magazine...even down to Baby Mary! =)~

I was SO encouraged...for I thought that now our mail would start arriving (for My Moma has sent us A LOT of mail)...but the lady that handed us these magazines said that it was NOT the mail man that dropped it off....it was just SOME MAN in some truck! =( So, I guess that means that maybe our mail might have been delivered to somewhere else in the city and these are the only mail that they decided to bring to us?! Only the Lord knows what has happened to the REST of our mail, =( SNIFF, SNIFF, WEEEPPPP!!!!!
but I'm HAPPY to at least have one of my Taste of Home magazines! =)
~Mary is REALLY studying that T.O.H. page and asking...Now...what does this recipe call for? =D~

Thank you for your sweet comments on my zoo post! My sandals were a gift from Mrs. Nancy from our church in Cartagena, Colombia.

~An Argentine zoo trip~

2012-01-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

~We found out that the zoo was within walking distance...well "45 min. walking distance" =)...of our house so decided to take our kids there for a field trip. We were delighted to find out when we got there that all children under 12 were FREE! Yea! So we only had to pay for Kimberly, Phillip and I. =) This is the pretty pond/fountain we saw when we first got into the zoo.~

~A seal. Poor one...it was blind in one eye.~

~Here we are watching people feeding the seals.~

~Sarah and Noah enjoying watching the Polar bear.~

~3 Lions. Can you imagine what Daniel felt like being put down in the den with these "kitty cats?" I'm SO GLAD we are serving Daniel's God!~

~Mr. Elephant~

~Phillip and I with Mr. Elephant behind us.~

~A camel. Not one of the best looking animals that God created. ;-)~

~Elijah really liked these Reindeer.~

~A pretty colored Toucan.~

~Our family in the zoo!~

~Mr. Giraffe~

~2 animals locking horns.~

~We purchased pizza and empanadas for our lunch and we had some snacky items with us too. Here Mary is enjoying a choc. cookie. =)~

~These animals are kin to the rabbit only with longer legs. They were EVERYWHERE in the zoo.~

~Then right before we left we bought some ice cream to cool us off...~

~And Phillip and the kids played with the bubble blower that our land lady had purchased for our kids! It was a very fun day. Then we walked the 45 mins. back home. =)

~Special prayer needed~

2012-01-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you to each of you ladies for your sweet comments on my last post "On Being a Wife and Mommy". To me, life isn't about comparing one another, or competition, it's about CHEERING each other on in our walk with the Lord and sharing fun and creative ideas to help our "jobs" as keepers of our homes more delightful! =)
~On Sunday at the Chinese church we attend we met this tiny newborn baby boy. I believe his name is Fabricio. We were SHOCKED to find out that he has heart trouble and has to have HEART SURGERY in February!!!!!!!! I Cannot imagine being his Mommy and having my baby face that kind of surgery! They asked Phillip if he would be willing to donate blood to help this little guy! Phillip got tears in his eyes and said that it would be an HONOR to help him. So, will y'all join me in praying for this PRECIOUS little baby?! THANK YOU, I KNEW I could count on y'all! =)~

~Each Sunday at the Chinese church after the morning service they serve a delicious Chinese meal to all who attended service. So, each week we get the privilege of eating yummy Chinese food! =) This past Sunday this older lady below fell in love with Mary and was feeding her. After service I had changed her into an old stained t-shirt for I figured she'd get dirty crawling/walking around and eating. It's a good thing, for the front of her was COVERED when this precious lady got done feeding her. =) This lady came up to U. Charlie, Kimberly and I and was telling us something about Mary in a big way, talking very FAST!
U. Charlie started laughing so I asked him, "What did she say?" to which he replied, "I have NO CLUE for she speaks a different dialect than I do!" =}~

~This is Sarah and her new good friend Valentina. There's several years difference between them, but they get along great!~

We are still waiting for an answer from the Chinese church about Phillip holding services. We are going to take their answer as God's will. Another church has asked if he would be willing to preach to them if it works out. Please pray for us as we try to be shining lights wherever God places us!

~On being a Wife and Mommy~

2012-01-21T16:02:00.000-08:00

~As I was writing a blog post...my little blonde headed boy fell and got hurt. I told him to come to Mommy. He came running over to me and I pulled him up on my lap and asked where it hurt? He showed me his foot...and I bent down to plant a "healing kiss" on a Very ~~D.I.R.T.Y.~~ PRECIOUS foot. =) He quit crying, said, "Thank you, Mommy," and ran back to play. As he left I remembered once again...the privilege that is mine to be a wife and a Mommy!
Wives, there is nothing better that we can do for our children then LOVE God and their Daddy with all of our hearts! If at all possible make times to be with your husband as often as you can. If you cannot go out for a little date, then at least plan some time chatting together on the couch just the two of you! If you can go out, dress up for your DATE, get something cheap (an ice cream cone to share if need be) but HAVE SOME time to chat, share your heart, discuss the kids, the future, etc. These times are so helpful to continue building your relationship as husband and wife.
~ Phillip took me to a fun little homey restaurant that we found here. It sort of reminds us of a Cracker Barrel's atmosphere. (There's even a little country type store in the back too. =)
(Cracker Barrel is one of my favorite USA restaurants).~

I was reading in The Ladies Companion and I read a neat quote from Sarah Fry. She said that she was making a meal for ANOTHER family and she felt like she was ministering. Then she realized this...
"Every time my family sits down to ahot, healthy meal on clean dishes I have been aminister." Sarah Fry
Due to having a WONDERFUL Moma who loves being a homemaker and has many talents in that line... I L.O.V.E. decorating our home for each new season and cooking and baking. Ladies, our meals don't have to be a 7 course meal, and you don't have to be kin to "Martha Stewart"...but the PRESENTATION of our meals makes a lot of difference!
Now there are times that I put the pans on the table (SHHHHHHHHH!!! Please DO NOT tell my Moma! ;-) but when I have a little extra time, I like to put the chips or rolls in a paper-lined basket, take the jelly out of the jars and put them in little bowls, take an extra minute to arrange the fruit or cookies on a plate, etc. This cheers up not just my heart...but my sweetheart and children take note too and love it!

We are making memories!

Our little Elijah and Mary are still in the age to where they LOVE to imitate what they see. It's so cute to see little Mary trying to wipe off the table, or Elijah cutting up vegetables like they've seen Mommy do. (Actually our other 3 children are imitating too...just not as obvious!)
Children are imitators...So that means as Daddy and Mommy we need to make sure their "heros" are ones we/God wants them to imitate!! Whose blogs/FB pages are they surfing? Who are their close friends? My children are only allowed to go to certain blogs...for I've seen so many things on even "Holiness people's blogs" that I don't want our children to imitate!
May God help us as we LIVE THE JESUS LIFE, STICK TO THE BIBLE, and form their lives for HIM.

So....wives and Mommies...let's hold our heads up...For ours is a HIGH QUALITY JOB!
The pay is "out of this world!" =)

~Fun Food Friday...Sour Cream Scones~

2012-01-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

A BIG Thank you to each of you for the SWEET comments you left me (and I even got some emails too!!) Y'all are the B.E.S.T!!! =)

I found this easy yummy recipe for sour cream scones here!

This is what she had to say about them.

"Scones, at least for me, were always a vehicle for butter and sticky, fruity jam! And not all scones are the same, either.

As a young girl at a Scottish boarding school, scones became my most coveted tea time treat. They were not at all like the light, flaky, little bundles of deliciousness served today. They were more of a dense, dry biscuit... and a vehicle to eat butter and jam!

I like these Sour Cream Scones because they are very basic, yet so light and yummy... and a great vehicle for butter and jam."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~I have made these 2 or 3 times now and we really enjoyed them! They are just perfect to go with that little spot of tea. ~Heather~

~My sweetheart Phillip got me this fun tea pot back in the fall. It has made us MANY cups of yummy tea! =) ~

~Here are the same sour cream scones cut into snowmen. I hope you'll hop over to her blog and get the recipe.~

~My Chalkboard's new saying...~

2012-01-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

~"My Kitchen is the heart of our home!" ~
My family knows that when I go into the kitchen it's meal time and goodie time too. =) When Mommy is in the kitchen...life is exciting! A lot of time I have so many kids in the kitchen with me that I can hardly move. I love it! =)
Making memories...one meal/goodie at a time! ;-)~

As you know I L.O.V.E. to Bake! I mean I LOVE baking so much...that when I have one new recipe in the oven, I'm already thinking of the next new recipe that I want to try! =) I have always loved baking...started making homemade bread when I was 11, and had my own bread business when I was 13-14. However, when I am on the mission field I REALLY love to bake. You see, when I see all of these fun projects and craft ideas on Pinterest and blogs...I know I can't do most of them.
#1 I don't have a Goodwill where I can find things for cheap to re-do.
#2 I don't live in my own home to repaint, fix up, etc.
So, the way I "help my heart" is finding new fun recipes and baking away! =) My family is VERY HAPPY with this arrangement!! =) Phillip says that we make a great couple. He loves to eat, and I love to cook!
(And my treats help us not to miss our USA, family and friends quite SO MUCH!)
Phillip and I were talking the other day that life is so BUSY in the USA that most people don't email. As you can expect missionaries get LONELY and need/want to hear from home, but we know that everyone is too busy there for us to email them. That's when I realized that that is why I LOVE my blog so MUCH and love to update it! It's like I got to email all of y'all and when you visit my blog and especially to those who leave a comment, it's like you've "emailed me back" and that makes my heart SO HAPPY!!! =) THANK YOU!!!

~Our Starbucks treat!~

2012-01-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

~Our first full day in Argentina as we were walking around downtown, our eyes spotted THIS...!~

~Kimberly said, "Oh, Mommy! There's a STARBUCKS!!! Can we please go there for my birthday in January?" I told her that Lord willing we would try to make that happen. So, on their birthday, we ate supper at home then we boarded a bus and went downtown. Here's Kimberly and Mary on the bus.~

~Noah, Elijah, and Sarah on the bus.~

~Then Phillip took Noah and Elijah to McDonalds got them a sundae and let them play while He worked on mission business.~

~And my 3 sweet girls and I went to Starbucks. (A treat that we haven't had since before I had Mary!)~

~How fun!~

~The birthday girl and Sarah.~

~Kimberly, Mary, and Sarah. We had a nice time sipping "Happiness in a cup." ;-)~

~On the way back to meet Phillip and the boys we saw this man who is supposed to be dressed up like a "Argentine Cowboy". He is acting like he is pouring hot water in the Mate cup (Argentine Herb drink) that Sarah is holding. He dresses up for people to take his picture...thus making a little money. This is very common both in Colombia and here.~

We had a delightful evening being together. It's hard to believe that my Kimberly is 14. I'm trying to enjoy every minute with our 5 blessings (children) for it seems that before we know it they could be out on their own. Recently I've been telling Elijah a lot of stories. 2 of his favorites are The 3 Little Pigs and the 3 Bears! As the Mommy of the "3 little pigs" warned them...we are trying to teach our children that there is a BIG BAD ~~wolf~~ DEVIL out there that would love to get them too busy for God, or sidetrack them to follow the world! May God help us as we try to teach them HIS WAYS!

~Kimberly and Noah's fun birthday supper~

2012-01-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all your sweet birthday wishes!!
We planned Kimberly and Noah's birthday supper earlier in the week so that Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jolie could come. As you recall we had had a "high tea" party the day before...so we were RUNNING to get everything done for this birthday party. Jesus helped us and we had a very nice evening together. (But the next day I was so weary that I stayed in my gown and took a long nap. =)
~Since we were going to make a cake for Noah, Kimberly wanted a Bumbleberry pie. She ended up making 2. (Sarah did the lattice top on the pie on the right. =) The pies were delicious. (I linked to the recipe for a Bumbleberry pie in case you want to try it...for FUN FOOD FRIDAY! =)~

~Kimberly planned and set up her table. I thought it turned out really cute. She had "finished the table" and moved on to finish Noah's cake. I was taking pictures when I realized that she had forgotten the glasses. So, out of habit I went and got the goblets and put them on...and took pics of the table...then later realized that we had purchased other red cups to use. So, the 3rd picture of the table is the "finished look".~

~I thought her idea for the newspaper runner was clever. And I liked the ribbon tied around the plate and silverware. The 2 napkins were fun too.=)~

~Kimberly did a great job making a pretty table!~

~We were RACING the whole day to get everything done. One time consuming thing was that we didn't have any cake pans. So, we had to bake 4 layers of cakes in our 2 pie plates, then pop out the cakes and start on the pies.
Right before U. Charlie and A. Jolie walked in the door I found the bag of balloons that we had forgotten to blow up for Noah's table. =( I felt sooo badly for him. So, when U. Charlie got there I asked Noah to ask U. Charlie to help him blow up 4 or so balloons for his table. =) Nothing like putting your company to work. ;-) U. Charlie and A. Jolie are sooo GOOD with kids... Our kids LOVE them!~

~Noah's Lightening McQueen table~

~Noah's Lightening McQueen #8 Race track Cake that Kimberly made (With a little behind the scenes help. =) We RAN OUT OF TIME to put the white lines on the race track...for when they rang our door bell, Kimberly and I dashed to change clothes and she to fix her hair. =)

~Noah and Elijah's table. (U. Charlie and A. Jolie got Noah this little t-shirt that says "Argentina" on it...so he asked if he could change into it for the evening. It was HOT in our house due to one AC not working, it being near 100 degrees outside and all of our baking.)
A. Jolie made and brought this yummy fruit salad. =)~

~Noah and his table/cake.~

~Kimberly and Noah with his cake and her pie (which we served with ice cream.)~

~They each had a neat "firework candle" that we brought from Colombia. (But we've found them here in Argentina as well.)~

~So fun~

~Kimberly's menu request was simply "Skyline!" We wouldn't have had time to make any other more complicated menu. =)~

~Our kids Love A. Jolie and her fun phone. =)~

~U. Charlie told us a touching story of how his parents came to know Christ through an accident that he had when he was younger!! His parents are the ones who started the Chinese church here!~

We had a very special evening! We took the kids out for a fun evening tonight. I'll post pics later. Kimberly and Noah have had a good "birthday week!" =)

~Happy Birthday, Kimberly and Noah~

2012-01-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that 14 years ago Jesus entrusted our first little baby into our care. WOW! Where in the world has the time gone? I remember making her first pair of bloomers and getting her all dressed up in pinks and lace. She loved it when I would read books to her and she would play with her little toys. Today, we have traded those times of "story time" for "Girl's time out" shopping and sneaking a fun coffee together. =) Her toys have been packed away to pass on to her children some day and now her violin and piano are her interests. She, Sarah, and I have a lot of fun talking, laughing, cooking, working, and being together. I'll never forget when she prayed at a children's service at 3 years old and both Phillip and I saw a BIG change in her little attitude and life. I'm SO GLAD that she wants to serve Jesus with her whole heart!
~Kimberly, Daddy and I LOVE you and are so glad that Jesus saw fit to send you into our lives! Happy Birthday!~

~Then 6 years later our 3rd child was due on Jan. 1st. But, that baby decided that HE didn't want to leave his Mommy until 12 days later...arriving as a BIRTHDAY PRESENT on Kimberly's birthday! Kimberly was so HAPPY to have a little baby brother named Noah! Our whole family was SO GLAD that Jesus had sent us a BIG 10 1/2 lb. baby BOY! Little did I DREAM that when Noah turned 4 weeks old, my Phillip would tell me that Jesus was calling us to leave everything familiar to us and go be missionaries. At that time Colombia was still considered the Kidnapping Capital of the WORLD! WHEW! You can imagine how my heart trembled as I thought of taking our 3 little ones to that unknown country. But, I told Phillip that if God was calling us, He'd go with us...and HE HAS! We have wonderful memories of our years there! =)~

~Our little Noah is a quiet, tender-hearted little boy who LOVES Jesus, cars, puzzles, and playing with his little brother Elijah and his big sister Sarah. He likes to wrestle with his big sister Kimberly, but she still wins! =) Noah likes to help others and he thinks his little baby sister Mary hung the moon and stars! =) Noah is an early riser. Sometimes if Mary awakens early, I'll feed her a little breakfast and then let Noah play with her while I rest a little longer. =)~

Noah, you are our very sweet 8 year old and we are thrilled that Jesus placed you into our family. Happy Birthday!
Pics of their birthday party (that we had a tad early) coming soon. =)

~Our "High Tea" Party~

2012-01-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

~About a week ago Phillip had told the pastor at the Chinese church that we would like to have him and his family over before they go out of town for 3 weeks. This past Sunday they told us that they would like to accept our invitation to our home and the only day that would work for them was the next day...Monday. They mentioned that they wanted to come for TEA so that neither she nor I would have to cook. =)
BUT YOU KNOW ME...I L!O!V!E! to cook, so I got all excited and planned and served a "High Tea" at our house! Here are some pictures of when the pastor and his wife and their 2 teenagers and Aunt Jolie (Uncle Charlie was at work) came to our house for TEA this past Monday.
~Since I don't have all the "FANCYS" to have a Victorian style tea party....I decided to use my fun snowmen cloth napkins that I got on a HUGE after Christmas sale at Hobby Lobby and sort of had a snowman theme.~

~Our table~

~We made our sour cream scones into "snowmen" and served 2 kinds of jelly, and Kimberly made up these yummy Choc. Crinkle cookies.~

~Our centerpiece.~

~But when someone is coming to your house for TEA...you should have some tea cups right? =) All that are in this apt. are just a few LARGE every-different-color-mostly-CHIPPED mugs. =( So, on Monday before our tea at 4:00 PM Phillip ran out to try to find some tea cups and saucers and some bowls (the only places that sell Styrofoam bowls are party stores and they were closed for some reason.) Phillip and I had no way of contacting each other so I was PRAYING that God would help him find the things that we needed and get back here on time before our company arrived. He arrived home just 10 MINUTES before they got here!!! So, we quickly took the tags off of the new dishes (that Jesus helped Phillip to find for good prices) and washed them up and got them on our table...RIGHT before they rang our doorbell. Here's our tea cups and saucers Phillip found. He found some other more fancy ones, but the stores didn't have 12 alike like we needed. I was happy with these. =)~

~Our table with the tea cups added. =)~

~Besides the snowmen scones and choc. cookies above, we made yummy cream puffs...

~And we also served my homemade winter squash soup topped with toasted pecans, sandwiches, fresh cherries, hot green tea fixed like the Chinese like to drink it, and they brought some good Argentine empanadas (like a meat-filled baked pie). The empanadas are setting right in front of Kimberly.
The girls' table. Kimberly, Connie, and Sarah.~

~The boys' table. (I ran out of time to make their table fancy.) ={~

~Our table. L to R: Heather, Pammy, Pastor Aaron, Phillip, Mary, "Aunt" Jolie, and Solomon.~

We had a very nice visit together! They seemed to enjoy their time and we surely did.
I quickly cleaned up and tried to get to bed...for the next day we had a double birthday party to get ready for. =)
(Which we had already planned and invited guests to...before we knew about our TEA PARTY! =)
Pics of our birthday party coming soon.

~We went on a train ride~

2012-01-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

~The week after Christmas we were pretty lonely and missing family and friends. (Our closest friends from the Chinese church were out of town.) So, we decided to do something fun to help our hearts!
Like I mentioned earlier there are 6 different trains that run daily here in Buenos Aires. Our kids have been really WANTING to ride a train. So, one evening we told them to get ready that we had a surprise for them...we were going somewhere fun. Here is Mary...ready to go out the door. =)~

~When our kids were all ready and we were outside we told them that we were going to ride a TrAin!!! THEY WERE H.A.P.P.Y. =)
We stopped by and got some fun snacks to eat and here we are buying our train tickets. It cost around $3.00 for all 7 of us to ride the train both ways! =)~

~Waiting for our train to come.~

~This train past us as we were waiting.~

~My sweetheart and I. It was a nice windy evening. (U. Charlie and A. Jolie got me my fun purple purse. =) ~

~Sarah and Noah on the train.~

~Phillip, Elijah, Kimberly, Mary, and I on the train. We bought tickets and just relaxed and rode the train as far as it would go both ways. It was a fun evening seeing more of the city that way...and enjoying the train and each other.~

~We passed this fun bridge.~

~Elijah really enjoyed his first train ride.~

~This is Noah's 2nd train ride...but he was only 2 so doesn't remember when we rode the train in Costa Rica.~

~Fun Food Friday...Coffee Bonbon's~

2012-01-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

You know you are having a GOOD day when one of your 5 children asks you, "Mommy, were there cars around when you were a kid?" =D
I made these cookies last night and they were a yummy light cookie, similar to a short bread. I didn't have unsweetened choc. (and have NO clue where to find it here) so instead of making their glaze... I just melted sweetened choc. and put it on top of the cookie with some white choc. chips as an accent. I'm sure the glaze in this recipe would be yummy too.
(I just baked up enough for us each to have 2 or 3 cookies each (I make my cookies small) and saved the rest of the dough in the 'fridge. That way we have a treat for later and aren't tempted to eat all the cookies at one setting.=)

~Coffee Bonbons~
from Taste of Home

Ingredients

1 cup butter
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Combine coffee and flour; stir into creamed mixture and mix well. Chill. Shape into 3/4-in. balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes. Meanwhile, for glaze, melt butter and chocolate together. Add melted mixture to sugar along with milk; beat until smooth. Frost cookies while still warm. Yield: 5 dozen.

And as always...ENJOY!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~Mary got a hold of a pencil and did some "modern art" on the green wall in the kids' room. ={
In this picture she was pointing at her artwork and saying, "No, No!" =)
(Thankfully I was able to get most of it off!)

~We appreciate your prayers!~

2012-01-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

This trip into Argentina was to "scout out the land" and try to get to know the culture, and begin working for Jesus where He opens doors. Phillip and I were talking about our lives as Christians being like puzzle pieces. Sometimes we feel like we've been handed a bunch of DARK pieces that make no sense. Thankfully we have a Great Big Heavenly Father who puts the puzzles of our lives together as we walk in His will...making a beautiful picture in the end.
We've been asked if we would consider holding church services in Spanish in a local Chinese Church here in Argentina. After praying, talking to our mission, and giving our consent, we are awaiting the answer from their church board.
Please pray for God's will to be worked out in this.
We had a Happy New Year! On Sunday morning we attended an Argentine Christian church nearby. We came home and ate Sunday dinner ... then at 4:00 we attended the Chinese church (for they didn't have a morning service on New Year's.)
~Here's some pics of our New Year's table. Grammy got me these fun place cards with snowflakes. When I saw their silver, white and blue colors, I knew I wanted to use those colors for our table. =)~

~Our table. (We drank a flavored sparkling water.)~

~Our dinner was a yummy pork roast, garlic m. potatoes, broccoli with cheese, sliced tomatoes for our "salad", my rolls and jelly, and since we were full and wanted to catch a quick nap before heading to our evening service (at 4:00)...we had our dessert later in the evening.~

~After the evening service at the Chinese church in our neighborhood, we invited "Uncle" Charlie, "Aunt" Jolie, and another family who has 2 children (6 and 8) over for a snack.~

~We had a nice evening together and enjoyed visiting with them.~

We appreciate your prayers as we try to show Holiness and brighten the corner where God has placed us.

~HAPPY NEW YEAR to you..(from Mary and us too!=)~

2012-01-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

Mary's new "Uncle" Charlie and "Aunt" Jolie gave her this cute jumper for Christmas. =)
When I'm taking my younger kids' pictures I don't make them "Cheese". Mary and Elijah are SO SILLY that if I try to get them to smile they'll "play the clown and move all around" and I'll not get good pics. =D
So, I don't always get a smile...but I enjoy their pics of "the natural them." =)
~In this picture Mary is doing her best impression of "Uncle Sam"...saying...
"Jesus wants YOU to serve Him this year!" =)~

~Our Mary is walking. (She has been for awhile, but I've just kept forgetting to tell y'all.=)

My girls and I were talking and our New Year's Resolution is that we grow closer to God in 2012!

~A note from us...Just for GG~

2011-12-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

Dearest GG, (Great Grandmother)
Moma told me on the phone last night that you would be looking at my blog today. When I told my family that, Kimberly had the idea of writing a little hello from us to YOU! We are SO GLAD you get to be at Daddy and Moma's house. The only way it could be better...is if WE could be there too. =) Have fun with (Great) Grandma (who's 104 1/2 years old =) and Daddy and Moma and know that we LOVE and MISS each one of you! Sending lots of hugs from Argentina to Indiana! =)

~Fun Food Friday...easy breakfast "muffins"~

2011-12-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

~Several weeks back Phillip saw a picture of these on-line without a recipe. They looked interesting, so I "invented" the recipe.
Just use your muffin pans and spray/grease each muffin cup.
Place a piece of sandwich ham in the cup to act as your "muffin cup", add some grated cheese, carefully break an egg inside the ham, and add salt and pepper.
Bake at 275 for about 20-30 mins. (Near the end, I just keep checking them to make sure the egg is done by testing it with a toothpick.) (You can try baking them at a higher temp for a lesser time. It's sort of hard for me to gauge with my low/med./high oven. =) With a high temp, I find that the edges of ham wants to dry out.)
They make a fun fast breakfast with a sweet muffin, or a scone, some fresh fruit, and something hot to drink. =)

And as Always...Enjoy!

~The Lord gave us a good Christmas...part 2~

2011-12-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

~Our Silly Elijah.~

~We now have a "Fireman" who lives with us. (And that's his "Tennis shoe firetruck." =)~

~Gram got this "It's Always Christmas at Grandma's house" shirt for Elijah a couple Christmases ago...so it was fun that Mary got to wear it this year! =)~

~Our Christmas tablescape.~

~Each place setting looked like this.
(I had found these cloth napkins on sale years ago but this is the first time I got to use them.)
Grammy got us the fun place cards. I LOVE to use lots of plates...but since I couldn't bring my Christmas chargers with me (that we got on sale back in the US!!!!) and don't have any other plates here, I just used a green plastic plate for another layer.~

~For our centerpiece I decorated with the extra 2 cloth napkins, elevated candles, my little gold Christmas tree, pictures of our family (since Christmas is all about Jesus, family, friends and love!), and I threw in a gold key to represent us giving the keys of our hearts to Jesus for Christmas. =)~

~And since we had had turkey for Thanksgiving, and the hams that Phillip found in the grocery store were $200.00!!!! I just made a new, simple, fun menu I found called "Chicken a la King!" You make "crowns" out of bread...(I got this basket for Christmas too =)~

~And fill them with this yummy Chicken gravy. We also served a big salad, sparkling juices, and my homemade apple pie and ice cream.~

~Mary says that with 2 brothers that got handcuffs for Christmas...she is needing SpEcIaL prayer. =D
Elijah put these on Mary...but she had fun playing with them. When Daddy took them off, she put her hands back in the holes. =)~

~Kimberly got a Mate cup and 2 straws for Christmas (along with some money towards her camera she is saving up for.) You see in Argentina "Mate" (an herb drink similar to a STRONG tea) is a VERY cultural thing. You see it everywhere. And you know you are "in" with a group if you walk up to them and they share their Mate with you...using THEIR straw! =)~

~The blue thing is a straw...but on the end it is a filter so that you don't drink the dried herbs up in your straw.~

~Noah got a fun car ramp. Noah's dear CNC SS class got him one like this back in the US...but he didn't get to bring it with him.~

~I made a fun recipe for Eggnog Punch to drink Christmas night. We have never been able to find eggnog in Colombia nor did we find it here, so we really enjoyed having eggnog again! =)
(Pardon the "punch bowl"...it's the only thing I could find to use in our rented Apt. here.)~

~Everyone is enjoying Noah's 240 piece puzzle that he got. The only thing is...we need a BIGGER puzzle, for the kids put it together so fast it's unreal! =) (We thought Grandpa would enjoy seeing the fun details on Noah's car puzzle. =)~

~Sarah got lots of nice presents too. These 3 pieces of wooden doll furniture were among them.~

Thank you for each of your thoughts, gifts, and prayers for our family this Christmas! Even though we were SO FAR from familiar surroundings and family, the Lord helped us to not be too lonely. We poured ourselves into doing lots of fun baking and making Christmas special for our children. This Christmas made the LONG TRIP that Jesus made from HEAVEN to earth...and the "culture shock" he must have faced...even more real! Wow! What a Savior!

~The Lord gave us a good Christmas...Part 1~

2011-12-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all the nice Christmas wishes! It was fun hearing from each one of you!
~We found out that on Christmas EVE in Argentina...every.one.sets.off.fireworks! You have NEVER seen or heard more fireworks in your life. It made "Fourth of July" look like a couple kids with sparklers! =D It seemed like EVERY one of the over 13,000,000 people in our city of Buenos Aires was setting off HUGE fireworks! Every.where.you.looked. there were beautiful lights and LOUD sounds! =) It was really neat. Phillip bought a few to do on our roof with our kids. (I didn't get a picture of the Bigger ones that we shot off.)
It was COLD so please pardon Noah's pink coat that Sarah loaned him. You see Mary was already asleep in the room where his coat was. The amazing thing was that our Mary WHO AWAKENS at the slightest sound...SLEPT through the HUGE LOUD fireworks that were going off on top of our roof, RIGHT beside our windows, and ALL AROUND US... and that lasted for 30 mins. =) She slept nearly all night that night! Wow! Let's do fireworks every night. HA! It's supposed to be VERY HOT right now...and has been in the 90's but Kimberly WISHED for some colder weather for Christmas and Jesus sent us some. We enjoyed drinking hot choc. and watching fireworks on our roof. =)~

~Now...The ~~stockings~~ socks were all filled!~

~CHRISTMAS DAY!!!! 4 of our children with their stockings! (Pardon their "square eyes"...they had just awakened. Sarah saw this "hat" head band and loved it. =)

~We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of eggs, (with cheese and ham), grape fruit which we haven't had in YEARS, and my homemade cinnamon rolls. After we enjoyed a good service filled with God's sweet presence...it was picture/gift time.=)~

~Sweet little Mary. It was like it was her "first Christmas"...since she was so tiny last year. It was so fun to see her cute little smiles when we were opening gifts. She loved all of her gifts.~

~Me playing some fun Christmas carols! We had fun singing some Christmas carols together.
(Do you like our "2 stool piano stand?" We couldn't bring the stand to our keyboard with us. =)~

~Our family~

~My sweetheart and I. (My fun skirt was a gift from him to me. It's a double sided wrap skirt/outfit. There's about 6 different ways you can wear it. We've seen several ladies here in Argentina wearing these.
= )

~Before opening our gifts.
(Explanation of our gift wrapping: If you know anything about my Moma...you know that I grew up in a house that could easily be in a Victorian Magazine! =) Each year her gifts under her tree are wrapped beautifully and with matching paper!
So, it took some adjusting for me to find no Christmasy wrapping paper sold in the stores here in Argentina, or when I finally did find some paper it was TINKY rolls of paper...that weren't my style. Thankfully, the big grocery store we shopped at for gifts had rolls of FREE gift wrapping paper for each customer to tear off some and wrap up the gifts they'd purchased there before they left the store. The only bad thing was...that it was a different style/color of wrapping paper every time we went. =)~

~We got these 2 adorable chairs for Elijah and Mary. (They don't have a lot of keepsake type things to one day pass down to their children like our other children do.)

~Sweet Mary~

~Elijah and Mary enjoying their chairs.~

~Our 5 wonderful kids.~

~Do you think Kimberly needs BIGGER glasses? It was just a fun "white elephant gift" for her to open.~

~Elijah and his glasses.~

~Mary loves her little stroller she got!~

A couple silly quotes from our kids:
One day Noah was sitting at our dinning room table eating with us and he was dreaming of some small toys that he had just seen at a store that he wanted to buy. So, in his little mind he was trying to figure out HOW he could earn some more money to get them. Out of the blue he said to Sarah, "I could PULL MY TEETH OUT and play Spanish Rosetta Stone to make some more money." It struck us funny when he said he could PULL HIS TEETH OUT (to get some money under his pillow)!
(By the way...He got all of those small toys for Christmas...plus more!)

Daddy was brushing Elijah's teeth...and when he opened his mouth...his throat made a noise. To which Elijah told Daddy..."I have a Kitty Cat in my mouth and it just meowed!"

Part 2 of our Merry Christmas coming up soon! =)

~Christmas wishes!~

2011-12-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

~A VERY Merry CHRISTmas and a Wonderful New Year ~

...from our family to yours! =)

~Fun Food Friday...Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip cookies~

2011-12-23T13:53:00.000-08:00

~"Thank God for dirty (& clean) dishes they have a tale to tell...While other folks go hungry, we're eating very well." =)
(My Moma has a plaque that bears that saying hanging near her sink. I grew up washing dishes reading that. It's so true!)~

~Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies~

from The Sisters Cafe.com

2 sticks softened butter (1 cup)

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 1/2 -4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag of chocolate chips
1 package of Double Stuff Oreo Cookies (I just used reg. Oreo cookies...~Heather~)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, place a scoop of dough on top of the Oreo Cookie. Now take another scoop of dough and place on the bottom of the Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed in dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk and enjoy!

Makes 2-3 dozen large cookies.

~We made these yummy Oreo Stuffed Choc. Chip cookies last night.~

~We enjoyed dipping them into a glass of milk.~

~Good to the last ~~drop~~ crumb.~

~Elijah...with his "Got milk mustache"...and a little "Oreo cookie beard"! =)~

~I was so HAPPY to find a good recipe for Toasted Salty Pecans. When I was a teen my Daddy pastored a wonderful church in Louisiana. I was the only one left at home and being a PEOPLE PERSON I LOVED it when the families in our church invited us over. One of the families that would invite us over was Miss Nellie and Miss Cleo. We always enjoyed our times at their house. I well remember the yummy salty pecans they served near Christmas. Just the other day I found a recipe that tastes very similar, and I'm sharing it with you. I like spicy pecans/almonds too, but I really enjoy munching on these simple toasted pecans.
~Sea Salt Roasted Pecans~
from epicurious
2 cups pecan halves
3 Tab. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 teas. fine sea salt (NOTE: After making these twice, my family and I think they would be better with only 1 TEASPOON of salt, for they are a tad salty. ~Heather)
Preheat oven to 325 F. Toss pecans and melted butter in med. bowl. Sprinkle sea salt over the pecans and toss well. Spread pecans in single layer on rimmed baking sheet.Bake until fragrant and slightly darkened in color, about 15 mins.
Cool pecans on baking sheets.

Happy eve...of Christmas Eve! =)

~Our evening with our new friends~

2011-12-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

We were invited to a dinner with our new Chinese friends. I wanted to share some photos of our special evening with you. There were 3 different families plus ours.
~It has been fun getting to know a little more about the Chinese culture through our new friends Jesus has sent us here in Argentina. William told us that Chinese love to eat. That when a Chinese meets a fellow Chinese he doesn't ask him, "How are you doing?" ...he asks him, "Did you eat?" =D
Charlie told us that the Chinese don't like a lot of sweets...so I kept that in mind while making a tray to give to each family of Christmas goodies from our family. I included my pumpkin filled crescent rolls (and left off the icing), a new recipe for Delicious Southern Roasted salty pecans (that I was SO HAPPY to find), and Laura's shortbread cookies with a drizzle of choc. on top.~

~When Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jolie picked us up...they surprised us with Christmas gifts for each one in our family! =)~

~We ate in a room in an apartment building...so that there would be room for all of us. Here U. Charlie was trying to teach Phillip how to say, "I am Phillip" in Chinese with just the right tone inflection. WHEW! That's a HARD Amazing language I'm telling you!~

~U. Charlie, Phillip, and the pastor visiting about the Lord, our testimonies, where all all of us have lived, etc..~

~They treated us to an Argentine grill-out! It was Delicious!! (The grill is the black wall to your right.)~

~Here's a picture of the table where we ate our first Argentine grill-out. Argentina is known for their meats! We were served Chorizo with bread, pickled eggplant, a big salad, Chicken, Flank steak, and ribs! Our wonderful meal was ended with YUMMY fresh melon and Cherries, and then some ice cream. =) ~

~The pastor's children and ours playing a game. (Poor Elijah had had no nap and was EXHAUSTED! We laid him down after this picture.)~

~Aunt Jolie has the right touch...and she got Mary to sleep, then Elijah. I told her that she can come to my house every night about that time to rock my babies to sleep. Ha! =)
We got home after midnight after a delightful evening!~

~YOU'VE GOT MAIL...BUT WHO KNOWS WhErE!~

2011-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

I talked to my Moma the other day and she told me that since October she has mailed lots of letters, my birthday card (w/o $), and some of my Better Homes and Gardens magazines here to our address in Argentina...but we have received NOTHING! We are hoping to go to the Post office and customs and try to track down our mail.
COULD YOU PLEASE HELP US PRAY THAT GOD WILL HELP US TO FIND OUR LOST MAIL...if it be His will! Thank you!!!

~SILENT Night!?! =)~

2011-12-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

~We didn't press this tape on to their skin...and took it RIGHT off after these fun pictures. Elijah and Mary were enjoying taking these pictures and making goofy faces!=D~

~More Touches of Christmas~

2011-12-18T08:33:00.000-08:00

~The ~~Stockings~~ Socks were hung ~~by the chimney~~ on the old wooden box...with care
In hopes that ~~St. Nicholas~~ Daddy and Mommy soon would be there! =)
I was WANTING some stockings to hang, but didn't want to buy them (for we still don't know where we are going to store the things we already have!=)
Then I remembered that years ago I had been at a bag sale (everything you can fit in a bag for $3.00) and I had found these fun Christmas socks with the Kohl's tag still on them!
Voila'...I had the stockings that I had wanted! (And I used one of Mary's little knee socks for hers. =)~

~I found this fun box on which to hang them. =)~

~I wanted something little to put on our front door, but didn't have anything and didn't want to buy anything.
One of our children saw these stars here and made us some.
I thought they did a great job!
I was happy for now we had something fun to put on our apt. door! =)~

We are enjoying the wonders of this beautiful season...all because we know Jesus...the babe in the manger who became our soon coming King! =)

~Fun Food Friday...Fudge and choc. dipped Apricots~

2011-12-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

Hello! Hello! Hello! I trust that y'all are having a Very Merry Christmas season!!
~I'm sharing a yummy easy fudge recipe with you today. Mocha nut Fudge (which is on the bottom of the red plate.) (And I included another fun fast treat at the bottom of my post.)

15 15 ~Mocha Nut Fudge~

Taste of Home

36 servings 15 mins.+ chilling.

Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons Spice Islands® pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

In a heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved; boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat; stir in chocolate chips, vanilla and coffee granules with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring until mixture is smooth and thick, about 5 minutes. Stir in walnuts.
Shape into two 9-in. logs; wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Unwrap and cut into slices. Yield: 1 pound.
When I make this recipe I just pour the fudge into a greased 9" pan and chill it for 2 hours. You can do either method. ~Heather~

~Dipped Apricots~
Better Homes and Gardens

Melt 2 ounces dark or semit-sweet choc. Dip dried apricots 1/2 way in the choc., then press an almond on each. (I think it would be nice to toast the almonds!) Place on waxed paper on plate and set in freezer for 2 mins. or until set.
I made these yesterday and they are so YUMMY!

~These are a few of my FAVORITE things!~

2011-12-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

~CHRISTMAS! It's my all-time favorite! I love the feelings, the family time, the reflecting, the memories, the smells, the lights, the decorations. =)
But most of all...I love it that Jesus left the splendor of Heaven to be born in a lowly Manger (And then he gave His life)...just so that little ol' me (and you) could know Salvation and live for Him!
~Hats and shoes!~

~BAKING LOTS...and then Sharing my homemade goodies with others.~

~Playing the piano...Christmas songs are my FAVORITE songs to play!
(Our keyboard was "decorated" with Noah's crayons.=)~

~5 wonderful fun Children that Jesus has loaned to us!
(picture taken back in Colombia. I used a big pair of men's socks on Mary's legs so that Mary wouldn't kill her legs and clothes as she crawled around the house.=)~

~Drinking teas, coffee, and hot chocolate...especially when we made decorated choc. dipped spoons to stir it with. =)~

~This little Mischievous (chocolate-covered-faced) blue eyed boy.~

My pin that my Grandmother from Tennessee gave me years ago that says "Jesus is the reason for the Season"!~

~These cute little jingle bell-clad shoes...and the cute tiny girl that wears them. =)~

~MY WONDERFUL MAN...Holding his hand still gives me butterflies in my tummy. =)~

~Baking fun treats with our kids~

~Spending time out with my girls. (We were leaving to go Christmas shopping.)

I'd love for you to leave me a comment about some of your favorite things. =)

~"Mary" Christmas~

2011-12-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

~ It's hard to believe that when I took our little Mary's Christmas pictures last year she looked like this...~Now...here's this year's Christmas pictures I took of her! Mary brings so much DeLiGhT to our family! I was SO HAPPY when I found her this little coat at Goodwill last year!
(She cracks us up how she squats when she stands. =)~

~Precious!~

~She makes our days "Mary" and bright =) (as do our other children =)

~We plan on having ourselves a "Mary" little Christmas! =)~

~Our Trip to Uruguay...part 2~

2011-12-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

PLEASE PRAY! Phillip talked to Bro. Jimmy in Colombia last night and they are having so much rain that there are FLOODS in Bogota...and the waters are only 3 blocks from Jimmy's house and 5 blocks from ours!!!!!!!! Please pray that God will protect both of our houses, and help those who are suffering there! THANK YOU!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thank you for your prayers for our trip to Uruguay, the Lord really helped us!! There were several times that Jesus put us in contact with people and we tried to touch their lives for HIM! Others are WATCHING each of our lives (your too! =)...may they see the DIFFERENCE that Jesus makes in us! =)
When we rode in taxis, we had to ride separately; the guys in one, and us girls in another. In one of the taxis Phillip's taxi driver asked him what he did and Phillip told him that he was a pastor/missionary and the guy said, "That's what I thought you were!"
On our boat ride home a couple older ladies were watching our family and near the end of our ride one of them started talking to Kimberly in English. She asked Kimberly if we like to travel a lot and Kimberly told her, "Yes, my Daddy is a missionary"...to which she replied, "That's what my friend thought y'all were!" =)
Here's lots more pics of our trip.
~Phillip making a "castle" with the boys to try to help Elijah to not go out in the water and get his hurt ear wet. =)~

~Mary loved the sand and water!~

~Elijah getting a bath with his "plastic bag shower cap"...to keep his sore ear from getting wet. =)~

While walking around Montevideo we met a couple and the guy was wearing a shirt that said, "Cartegena, Colombia" so I told him that I liked his shirt...and our family stopped to talk to them. Bless his heart, the guy was missing part of his face due to a cancer surgery he had had earlier in Miami. We noticed he got very quiet when he found out that Phillip was a pastor. Though we don't know his name, our family is trying to pray for him when he crosses our minds.
~Elijah, Sarah, and Noah eating our last meal in Uruguay...before we got on our 2 1/2 hour bus ride.~

~Kimberly, Heather, Mary, and Phillip eating lunch.~

~Our 3 "men" pulling our suitcases. It was so CUTE to watch Elijah try to help this time. HE WANTED TO DO IT BY HIMSELF! Sometimes he would completely fall over while pulling his suitcase, but he'd get back up and try again. (Always before he would ride in the stroller...but now he's getting big enough to want to help! =) He got a lot of smiles from passer-bys.~

~On our bus ride home Kimberly sat beside a nice lady named Nancy. They chit-chatted at first then the Nancy started to rest...but when Kimberly pulled out her Bible to read it, that pricked her interest. She started asking Kimberly questions and they chatted the rest of the time. She was raised a Jehovah's Witness. She was interested in hearing what we believed, and she didn't try to argue with Kimberly at all (Which we as parents really appreciated). When she left she commended us on our sweet daughter. We trust that God used Kimberly to be a blessing to Nancy!~

~Before we got on the boat to go back home we had purchased some candy to eat with our supper we had packed. We got some M&M's and some Nerds. While our 3 year old Elijah was trying to eat his sandwich, he kept getting distracted by the thoughts of the CANDY that was awaiting him! =]
Finally, when he was done he told me that he wanted some of that...,that..."What do you call it? 'NERVOUS?'" (Nerds =)
[The name he called Nerds was more truth than poetry for our very ACTIVE Elijah! For when he has sugar he gets even MORE active/"nervous".=)]
Then when we opened the M&M's he looked at one and asked me, "Is that a "M" on there?" And I said, "Yes, it's a "M" for Mommy!" To which he said, "No, it's a "M" for ME!" We thought he was quite clever! =D~

~Noah eating "Nervous" too!~

~Mary, Kimberly, Elijah, and Mommy on the boat. We met a couple from Colombia who now live here in Argentina and we surely had a nice time chatting with them and sharing the things that we all MISS about our beloved Colombia! We exchanged email addresses!~

~The sun set taken from the deck of the boat.~

~Phillip and some of our kids up on the deck.~

~I took this picture of Elijah and Noah up on the deck...and if you look closely you can see Kimberly and Sarah through the window behind them down at our table inside the boat.~

~2 people who fell in love...and have gone MANY places together for Jesus! Uruguay made country #10 for Kimberly, Sarah, and I, #15 for Phillip. =)~

~Kimberly snapped this neat picture of the Uruguay flag and the moon.~

~A fun picture that Phillip took from the deck of the Uruguay flag, the moon, and the water.~

~There was a duty-free (tax free) store on the boat, so the girls and I went down to look around. I was DELIGHTED to find a BIG bag of Mini Reeses cups for only $22 Argentine pesos...being just a tad over $5.00! YEA!!! I was SO excited!
I quickly ran back up stairs and asked Phillip if we could buy them to save for a Christmas treat. He agreed and came down to buy them...but when he went to pay for them he found out that that price was the US dollar price...$22.00!!!! for that bag of Reese's! UGH! ={ We left it there!
A fun picture that Phillip snapped of a pretty boat at the dock back in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We arrived back at our home at 11:00 PM!~

~God brought us home safely by taxi, bus, and boat...and how we PRAISE HIM! Now our Argentine visas are good through March, when we leave to go back to Colombia for some classes in our church there, and to work on some important papers.
The next day...we all were TIRED and felt like what Mary looks like in this picture. =)~

~Our trip to Uruguay...part 1~

2011-12-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

[Explanation: It's expected that when a non-citizen visits Argentina that they have a ticket to GO OUT of that country within 90 days. =) So, we had purchased our tickets to Uruguay before even coming to Argentina. This trip renews Argentine 90 day visas.]
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~I told you earlier that I would tell you what we did on "Black Friday"...the Friday after Thanksgiving. Before we moved to Argentina, our children were SO EXCITED thinking that we we would have an ocean in our city of Buenos Aires! Then, a few days after we moved to Arg. they were "devastated" to find out that it wasn't actually the "ocean" that bordered Buenos Aires, but a rather L.A.R.G.E. River called "Plata River" which mixes with the ocean! (In that part of Buenos Aires...they don't allow people to swim in the river. =( ) It's the second biggest river in South America...#1 being the Amazon. (Whew! I hope my brothers and Daddy read this...I'm amazing myself with all my Knowledge. HA! =) But, we did find out that there was a park beside the river, so on the Friday after Thanksgiving we took our kids to see the river and play at the park. Though they were SAD that they can't swim here in our city...they were happy with the park there and we had a fun day!
(Can you find ~~Waldo~~ Elijah? YES, I KNOW where Elijah is in this picture!!! Our Elijah is always a flurry of Activity...so he does need YOUR extra prayers. =)~

~So, all that background info to say that our LARGE boat ride that lasted 3 hours was to cross the Plata River! (And then we had a 2 1/2 hour bus ride after that, which still followed that same river! It's HUGE!)
After celebrating Sarah's birthday on Monday, Dec. 5th, and packing LATE, and getting LITTLE sleep that night, the Lord helped us to make it to our boat on time Tuesday morning, Dec. 6th. =) On the boat we were able to get some tables with a nice view out the window where we ate breakfast that we brought along with us (Knowing that the food on the boat would probably be pricey.)
Here's the kids at their table!
(With an Elijah who thinks now-a-days he has to SLAM his eyes shut for. every. picture. =) ~

~And us at ours. Our boat was the cheapest boat to Uruguay that there is, but it was still very nice. It's 6 stories high and has a restaurant, a store, an elevator, etc.~

~It's hard to see but behind Noah, Sarah, and Elijah in the port...is another large boat similar to the boat we were riding on.~

~Here's a better picture of the other boat.~

~This very EXHAUSTED Mother was DELIGHTED when not too long after we got on the boat Mary went to sleep. So, I went and got a MUCH-NEEDED nap in the comfortable airplane type seats! =)~

~Some fun sailboats we passed as we were leaving Buenos Aires, Argentina.~

~Our 3 younger kids looking out the window.~

~Kimberly and I.~

~Phillip took our children upstairs on the deck...and it was quite WINDY as you can see.~

~Mary and Mommy on the deck.~

~A fun lighthouse picture that Kimberly snapped.~

~Once our boat docked, then we had a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Montevideo, Uruguay. We had run out of water and I was SO THIRSTY! It seemed like a VERY LONG 2 1/2 hours without water to drink...what will eternity be like in the bad place?
This is a picture of our first meal once we got to Montevideo. This is a very typical meal that I had wanted to try ever since Phillip had eaten it when he visited Uruguay in 2010. A piece of lamb or beef covered with ham, cheese, bacon, a fried egg, red peppers, and an olive...and it comes along with that big salad, fries, and a type of Russian salad.~

~Our family eating.~

~Then we walked around and took our kids to this park.~

~The next day...our only FULL day in Montevideo...we were getting ready to take our kids to see what we thought was the ocean (but found out it is STILL THE SAME HUGE PLATA RIVER =)...when we heard a BLOODCURDLING scream. Phillip ran out of our hotel room to find out where it was coming from and met Noah carrying a bleeding Elijah. Elijah had crashed into a coffee table..KILLING his ear!! Poor little one, I know it had to have H.U.R.T SO BADLY!!! It made me want to cry looking at it!
This picture is much later after he had calmed down some and everything was patched up. =)
We thank the Lord that it was not worse!!
So, after it was all cleaned up, Elijah fell asleep...thus we didn't go to the river until about 3 hours later!~

~After he woke up we got some lunch items and walked to the river and ate lunch.~

~Then we let our kids "dip their toes-ies" (and more) in the water. =)~

~Elijah and Phillip (with our other 3 in the background). Phillip was trying to build a sand castle near the shore...just to keep Elijah from going out into the deeper water and getting his head / ear wet.
(But...for a little boy who LOVES water...it was nearly an I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E. task!=)~

~Mommy and Baby Mary...before she crawled out of the stroller and found the fun wet sand...~

~She LOVED the wet sand and water!~

Stay tuned...Part 2 coming soon! =)

~Fun Food Friday...Nutella Hot Chocolate~

2011-12-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

Have yourself a Merry ...Cup of Cocoa! =)
The other day I found this recipe and we tried it and really enjoyed it. Since we were making enough for our whole family...we did half water and half milk and it was good. I thought it was going to be ICKY sweet...but it was delightful!

~Nutella Hot Chocolate~
Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe.com
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons Nutella
Whisk milk and nutella in a saucepan over medium heat until combined and frothy. Serve with whipped cream or marshmallows.
(This recipe is one serving. You can easily double, triple, quadruple the recipe depending on how many servings you want to make)
And as always...Enjoy!
We had a nice trip to Uruguay...getting back LATE last night. Jesus was with us. Thank you for your prayers! I'll post about our trip later!

~Sarah's HAPPY Birthday~

2011-12-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

It is time for us to leave Argentina to renew our tourist visas for here. We leave early this morning to take a 2 hour boat ride to the small country of Uruguay. We'll be coming back near the weekend, Lord willing. Please pray for us. Thank you!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sarah had a wonderful birthday...Thank you for all your sweet comments! =) I have ~~a few~~ LOTS of pics to post really quickly before we leave for Uruguay. Enjoy!
I wanted a cake stand, so we made one. We took this plate, and this bottle and...~

~Hot glued them together. (I would recommend a wider base, but this is the only thing we could find.)~

~Sarah (with her silly brothers) opening up one of her gifts.~

~Sarah Strawberry Shortcake cake that Jesus helped us to make. =)~

~Sarah loved her cake!~

~We used a strawberry to hold a place card at each place setting.=)~

~At first we were having trouble finding Strawberry Shortcake things for her party, but Jesus helped us to find a store that had a lot of things. =) ~

~Sweet Sarah and her table~

~One of the gifts she received was a neat Strawberry Shortcake booklet from Kimberly that had this poster in it...so we had her open it early in the day so we could use it to decorate with. =)~

~Sarah was HAPPY with her gifts.~

~A "My Little Pony" that "bakes"...with a lot of fun things to make cakes, cookies, pies, etc. When Sarah showed me this in the store earlier, I knew I wanted to get it for her. (I wonder who Sarah takes after? =)

~Opening her gifts.~

~Sarah came up with the idea to make lemonade and make strawberry ice cubes...so that's what we did and it was delicious.~

~Getting ready to eat yummy Skyline Chili!~

~Daddy (and the rest of us) praying a special birthday blessing over Sarah.~

~Another one of Sarah's requested gifts. A baby with a bathtub that plays music, lights up and sprays water. =)~

~Then, after eating her birthday supper we all started packing for our trip to Uruguay. But I soon discovered...that WHILE I WAS BUSY PACKING...a certain busy 3 year old was in my kitchen making his own version of "Strawberry Shortcake"...using vitamins, onions, bananas, honey, water, and nearly all of my red sugar to make Christmas goodies! (`~`)
I had to take his picture with it...for He was SO HAPPY with his "CAKE"! =]~

~And then a few seconds later, I heard it HIT THE FLOOR! HELP! So, I whisked him off to the bathtub and cleaned up the mess...then went back to packing! Life is never dull around our house! =)~

~Sarah and her cake. It was late at night, and we had A LOT on our minds...so we COMPLETELY FORGOT to put her candle on her cake! =(~

Sarah had a special day...and now I am off to finish packing and get out the door so we can get to our boat on time. Thank you for your prayers that all will go smoothly with our trip!

~Sarah...our birthday girl!~

2011-12-05T06:04:00.003-08:00

Back around Christmas 2000 God sent a special bundle to our home. Kimberly (who was nearly 3 years old), and Daddy and Mommy were THRILLED to have little Sarah join us! =) Sarah is a very caring girl who LOVES to help and is always trying to do things to make others happy! Often I come back into my room to make our bed (after Mary has awakened and is out of my bed since she has no bed of her own here Argentina =) and my bed is already made up. And I know that my Sarah has been at it again...being her SWEET self! =)
~Sarah loves Strawberry Shortcake and her dolls! I love it that our Sarah still loves to be girly! =)~

~Sarah (like all of us do) LOVES her baby sister Mary, so I threw her into some of her pictures. =)
In this picture Mary was trying to lay exactly like Sarah...it was too cute!~

~Sarah in her Strawberry Shortcake night gown, with her Bitty Baby in her matching Strawberry Shortcake night gown (THANK YOU, SHIRKS!!!) with a baby Mary on her back!~

~Sister time =)~

~Sweet smiles~

~Mary wearing her Strawberry Shortcake jumper (from the Shirks as well. =)~

Sarah is our HAPPY girl who LOVES parties, decorations, and life in general. It doesn't take much to make Sarah smile! =) Sarah loves Jesus with her whole heart!
How we thank Jesus for sending Sarah into our home and lives!!!
~Sarah coloring in her fun Strawberry Shortcake coloring book given to her by her DEAR Colombian friend Gaby!~

~Sarah has added a lot of special-ness to our family. She and her big sister Kimberly are close as well. They have a great time being crazy and laughing together! =)~

~Sarah, we hope that your day is VERY SpEcIaL...we are GLAD you are our Girl!~

~Fun Food Friday...Pumpkin Pie Latte~

2011-12-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Move over Starbucks! This easy recipe brings the yummy goodness right from your own kitchen to your table in just a few minutes. Our family loved this recipe! It was Delicious!

~Pumpkin Pie Latte~
Taste of Home
Recipe 2 Servings Prep/Total Time: 15 min.
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup hot brewed Easy Espresso (or I just used reg. coffee we had made)
Whipped cream, pumpkin pie spice and ground nutmeg, optional
Directions In a small saucepan, combine the milk, pumpkin and sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat until steaming. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla and pie spice. Transfer to a blender; cover and process for 15 seconds or until foamy. Pour into two mugs; add espresso. Garnish with whipped cream and spices if desired. Yield: 2 servings.Recipes with Base Mix: Easy Espresso

Like I mentioned above I just used reg. coffee we had made and then poured it in the cups with the pumpkin pie mixture, gave it a stir, topped it with whipped cream, and spices...and Viola we had a YUMMY breakfast drink! =)
And as Always...Enjoy!

As I told you in my last post, Sarah tells about the Christmas tree that Jesus sent to her HERE!

~It's beginning to look...~

2011-12-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

~~a lot~~ A LITTLE like Christmas all around our house. =)
We decided to get a few Christmas decorations...for I knew that the kids and I would have some SAD hearts if we didn't have some touches of Christmas here in Argentina. (Now could you PLEASE help me PRAY that we can find someone to store a couple boxes of our stuff for us while we are back in Colombia? =)
So, come on in, grab yourself a cup of the pumpkin pie latte that I just made and lets look around. =)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~Near my birthday Phillip and I were in a nice kitchen store downtown. I saw some trays like this and fell in love with them...that is...until I saw the price. =(
We were ready to leave the store when I happened to look in the back and saw a "Dent and Bent section!" YEA! Just down my ~~alley~~ aisle. =) So, I found the EXACT tray that I had LOVED...but the background was a tad faded (which adds to it and makes it look "antique" to me =) so I was HAPPY to get it for around 1/5 of the price! =D

~Here it is decorated for Christmas. =)~

~I brought these with me to use here in Argentina. We spent Christmas 2006 in Costa Rica (where we studied Spanish) with Zach and Sarah R. We became very close to them that year and have many wonderful memories. "Aunt Sarah" (as she became to our kids) gave me these potholders for my birthday that year. =)~

~Yogurt comes in these little jars here. Phillip bought me some to help me when I was so ill. As soon as I saw those jars, I knew that I could find some kind of cute use for them. So I put some rice in the bottom with a red candle and have it on a red and white kitchen towel that was here in our Apt. =)~

~I added a couple touches of red to our bedroom too. Our picture in a frame I found here...~

~And a fun pillow to add some red to our bed for Christmas.~

~Isn't it cute? It's hard to see but there is a little church in the picture up in the right hand corner of this pillow.=)~

~Our Christmas tree. I found the wide ribbon in Colombia and knew it wouldn't weigh much so bought it to tuck in my suitcase to help decorate our future apt. in Argentina (not knowing WHAT I would have to decorate with when I got there.)
I was THRILLED to find that it has probably 8 or more yards and I only paid $4.50 for it! =D
We didn't want to buy a lot of things here (not knowing where we are going to store them yet)...so that ribbon adds a really nice touch to our tree . =)~

~We sat it up on our coffee table...to it makes it taller...and to keep a sweet little Mary from un-decorating it for us. =)~

~Some more yogurt jars...with some green lentils and some tea lights in front of my chalkboard.~

~I hot glued some pine cones (that the kids picked up at a park) to some ribbon to add a fun touch to my chalkboard. =)~

~For our table centerpiece...I used the last of the wide ribbon (on our tree) for our table runner, used goblets up-side-down (Thanks for sending me that idea, Dee =) placed candles and Christmas balls on them, and in the center I placed the cute little gold Christmas tree that I bought here.~

~A close-up of the tree.~

~I'm going to let Sarah post about this simple little tree in the kids' room. It's known to our family as "Sarah's tree!" =)~

~Since there were 2 different graters in this kitchen when we arrived, I decided to add some ribbon (and a jingle bell on one) and place tea lights inside to add another fun Christmasy touch to our kitchen.=)

~It's fun to see them all lit up at night.~

Thanks for visiting us and letting us take you on a tour. We've loved this time with you. =)
(I plan to post Fun Food Friday LATE tomorrow evening, Lord willing.)

~Our HAPPY Thanksgiving~

2011-11-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

God gave us a wonderful Thanksgiving! It would have been fun to have someone over, but since most of our Argentinian "friends" are just "Hi, How are you doing" type friends at this point =), we just celebrated as a family.
On Thanksgiving eve Phillip had to run out last minute to get a few more groceries to make our meal, and he had fun wishing several of our new Argentinian friends "A Happy Thanksgiving" and then using it as a witness to explain what we do on that day. =)
God has been continually touching me and I'm feeling lots better! Thank you again for your prayers for me! My family and I had fun working together to make our Thanksgiving meal.

~Kimberly made our Crumb Topped Apple Pie (See post below for recipe)~

~I made our Pumpkin pie (I cheated again and used a store bought crust. Like I mentioned in the post below the crust here are smaller, so there's no room to flute the edges. =)~

~Elijah helped cut up the dressing! He did great! (It was late at night, for you can see Sarah behind him asleep on the couch.)~

~As you can see on my chalkboard...our Menu was:
Turkey, M. Potatoes, Gravy, Corn, Green beans, Rolls, Dressing, Ceasar Salad, Sweet potato casserole, Apple pie, Pumpkin pie, and Ice cream! (And Peach juice to drink.)~

~Our fun centerpiece.~

~I made an arrangement of real fall-ish flowers and wheat and used a green squash for the "vase" . And with that I used the orange pumpkin that I had decorated earlier, and the butternut squash that Phillip wrote our initial "D" on. =)~

~I brought some pretty fall napkins with me (from Hobby Lobby last November), and bought the gold-ish plates here.~

~The table runner and goblets were in this apt. when we arrived and I was so excited! =) So, we dipped the tops of the goblets in sugar and served cold peach juice in them.~

~Our first Thanksgiving in Colombia (2006) Aunt Libby S. sent us these adorable place cards (We just lacked one for Elijah and Mary since they weren't born back then. =) We tucked them down into a walnut.~

~Sweet Kimberly was my right-hand lady in the kitchen (while Sarah helped entertain the other kiddos =). Kimberly made our Thanksgiving rolls.~

~We used our coffee table as our "SIDE BAR" to place all of our yummy food on to serve it. (Excuse the pans...this apt. doesn't have many serving dishes. =)~

~A picture of our family saying the Blessing over our Thanksgiving meal! (Noah is hiding behind the big pumpkin.)~

~Little Mary was napping. (So I got a picture of her after she awoke.) One of the things we were so thankful for...was our TURKEY! =) You see, we had been told by a man at a meat store that he couldn't get turkey for us until Christmas time. =(
But we found the LAST turkey in the freezer at our big grocery store...and we couldn't help but think that God SAVED THAT TURKEY FOR US. YEA!
God is soooo Good!~

~A close up of the pretty fall flowers that Jesus helped us to find for our table.~

~I had fun using a knife to make little details on the leaves and acorn I placed on my pumpkin pie. =)~

~Little Mary (after she woke up from her nap) said that she thinks that she should have eaten MORE Thanksgiving dinner... so that her skirt would stay up! =)~

~Mommy and Mary. After our meal we had a special time of Thanking God for His MANY blessings to us as a family!
I trust that each of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving too!~

~Fun Food Friday...Crumb Topped Apple Pie~

2011-11-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is a day late. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving rejoicing in God's blessings. On Friday we weren't "Black Friday shopping" =) but we did take our kids on an excursion ...which I'll blog about later!

I wanted to share this recipe for a pie I made a couple weeks ago. I guess for some reason it seems easier or faster because it doesn't take a top crust. I cheated and used store bought crust. (Which here in Argentina these crusts are a tad smaller [so I couldn't flute the edges] and are made to make quiche or something, but hey, they work when one is in a hurry or has been ill. =) It was a good pie.

~Crumb Topped Apple Pie~

Taste of Home

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup cold water
FILLING:
5 large tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2/3 cup sugar
5 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
TOPPING:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until easy to handle.
Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges.
For filling, place apples in crust. Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples.
For topping, combine flour and sugar in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; bake 50-60 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.
And as Always...ENJOY!!

~Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours~

2011-11-23T17:05:00.000-08:00

~THANKING GOD FOR:
~Hubby's hugs
~All my our children
~Never leaving us alone
~Kisses and snuggles
~Salvation
~Great recipes to make!! =)
~In-laws
~Very pretty sacred music
~Itty Bitty fun things like candles, coffee, and closeness (and c-shoes -- I HAD to include shoes! =)
~Nice parents, my siblings and their families
~Giving us Jesus
-Heather, Nov. 2011
~We had fun taking some pics of our kids last night. We dressed them in all shades of green and took a bus to a park. We Loved Mary in her 2 little pony tails!~

~Before we got on the bus we took some pics in front of this fun purple door...except...you can't tell anything about the purple door.=)~

~Elijah was his normal fun self! It was FUN trying to get him to try to smile right and get Mary to JUST look at the camera!~

~Two boys who love to climb trees!~

~Five fun kids...on loan to us from God!~

~This is the last pic we took and you can tell by their smiles that they were DONE with pictures. =)~

~Shoes and feet...love little Mary's little legs. =)~

~One of my favorite pics!~

~Another favorite.~

Have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING...Enjoying God's blessings!~

~Thanksgiving reminder~

2011-11-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

~Growing up my Daddy and Moma were always careful to celebrate Thanksgiving day. We never decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving dinner nor did we listen to Christmas music.
~In our own home [when we are on the mission field] since we are so FAR away from our Culture, Country and Family we have made some exceptions with Christmas music.
[But we haven't listened to it since coming to Argentina =)...we're saving it for after Thanksgiving dinner when we will decorate (a little) for Christmas. It's just SO FUN to turn on the first notes of the Christmas tunes while putting up the decorations! =) ]
~I'm not saying that it's a sin to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving day...but it's sad to me when nearly all of the stores jump from Halloween decor to Christmas ... totally skipping over fall and Thanksgiving decor.
~I just wanted to write a little something to help us to be careful to not Skip over a day/week/MONTH in which to be THANKFUL to God for His MANY Blessings! =)

'Twas a few days before Thanksgiving and all through the land
Hardly a person did notice or seemed to understand.
Each house was already bedecked with Christmas lights then
Few focused on God's blessings...only on eating the hen. (Turkey)

Let us be so careful to guard this special day
Lest the pomp of Christmas come and take it away.
Thanksgiving is lots more than all the yummy food
It's to reflect on our Bounty from God...He is SOOO GOOD! =)
~Heather November 20th, 2011

Thank you for your prayers...the Lord is touching me and I'm feeling MUCH better!!! =)

~Once upon a time...

2011-11-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

~There was a little lady who moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. She fell in love with the fine little restaurants on every other corner. They serve hot teas/coffees, hard breads, handmade pastas, meats, salads, ice creams, etc. and in front of each one is one of these...~

~Every.where.I.go. I see one!~

~Last Friday, I decided that I would like to have one for my kitchen. So, I began to pray for one....

~THAT SAME EVENING...we went to this little ice cream shop (see chalkboard below) and bought some ice cream to take home to eat with my fresh strawberry pie. I said to the man behind the counter (In Spanish of course =), "All the restaurants have these chalkboards. Where can I BUY one of them?" He held up a finger and told me to wait a minute....went to the back...and came out with a chalkboard in his hand and GAVE it to me!! =) (God is Awesome!!) Now, I was SOOOO HAPPY with my chalkboard...and was THRILLED that Jesus had given me a chalkboard after only praying about it for ONE afternoon!~

~Now my chalkboard didn't have a frame around it. So, a certain WONDERFUL artist I know drew a border on my chalkboard.
(It was a rather HOT day in our house.)~

~I thought he did a GREAT job.~

~My Chalkboard says a few lines from our song that the girls and I wrote about Fall while on deputation 2009.

"Cinnamon and Spice

Make the Season nice

So count your BLESSINGS TWICE

And Thank Jesus Christ!" ~Heather~

~That is who my pumpkin crescent rolls went to...the man at the ice cream shop. Our family walked over and gave them to him to thank him for my chalkboard and he was so surprised and happy.
He and his wife really enjoyed them!=)~

~I am happy with my fun chalkboard that Jesus gave me.~

I want to Thank each of you for your concern and your prayers. I'm doing my best to take care of myself and get better...[and I didn't go outside today. =)] I appreciate your continued prayers.

~Prayers Still Needed!~

2011-11-18T17:56:00.000-08:00

I really appreciate y'all's prayers and comments. I'm still struggling with my allergies. There is some tree in bloom here that is killing me. I've never had this problem in my life. I just step out of my house and my eyes fill with pollen which feels like SAND, and ITCH me to DEATH! They swell nearly closed and get blood red! The only thing to do then is to GO home and try to wash them out. But, my eyes are so swollen, and filled with tears that I can hardly SEE to get home.
I had Phillip take this picture of me tonight.
~After being outside only 20 mins. this is what my eyes looked like! So, Kimberly had to walk me home.~

So, I really appreciate your prayers as I try to figure out what to take to kick this and my UTI! Please know that I realize that there are others with problems LOTS bigger than mine. So, I'm not complaining, just asking for prayer!

~Fun Food Friday...Pumpkin-Filled Crescent Rolls

2011-11-18T05:37:00.005-08:00

Bro. Rigoberto from our Colombian church in Cartagena needs your prayers. His Mother passed away this week. =(
~I made these the other day (and in this pic they are packed up to give as a gift to someone that did a nice thing for me...but hey that is for another post =) My family and I really enjoyed these.

Note: This is an old world recipe derived from my grandmother, who didn't use traditional measuring cups. We figured out this recipe, which must date back to 1900 or earlier. Other fillings that work well are cranberry, peanut butter or lemon. —Gary Wanosky, North Ridgeville, Ohio. ~Pumpkin-Filled Crescent Rolls~
--Taste of Home-- (I just made my Perfect Sunday dinner roll recipe and then used the pumpkin filling from this recipe. But, I'm sure this roll recipe would be yummy too. ~Heather~ =)
Recipe 36 Servings Prep: 40 min. + chilling Bake: 15 min./batch
Ingredients
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
FILLING:
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Directions: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in milk. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups flour, sugar and salt; cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Add the sour cream, egg yolks, lemon peel and yeast mixture; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Let dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide into thirds. Roll each into a 12-in. circle; cut each circle into 12 wedges. Combine filling ingredients; spread a rounded teaspoonful of filling over each wedge. Roll up wedges from the wide ends and place point side down 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 13-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen.
They didn't add a glaze and pecans but I did. They were good both with and without the glaze and were best eaten the day they were made or the next day.
Here's the recipe for the butter cream glaze.
1 Tab. melted butter
1 Tab. milk
1 to 2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 teas. vanilla
Top with chopped pecans.
And as Always...ENJOY!

~Our Sunday~

2011-11-15T14:38:00.000-08:00

Friends are amazing pieces in the puzzle of one's life. ~Heather

Time after time Phillip and I have felt the LOVE and Friendship of our big circle of friends and we feel sooo BLESSED! As you know I'm a People person...so that is one reason I LOVE my blog. It's a place where I can sit down and share my heart with y'all. I get excited when it's time to post another post. =) As you know I love to have company over...but that's sort of hard when we have just moved to a new country. So, y'all are my "company". =)
The comments that y'all...my family and friends leave on my blog...help my heart sooooo MUCH! Like Stephanie put it they are "fuel to my soul". =) It's like I get to sit down for a chat with each of you. =)
Thanks bunches!
This past Sunday we went and visited a church that Phillip went to when he came to visit Argentina back in 2010. They remembered him and were happy to have us in their service.
~Phillip, the pastor and his wife, and Heather~

~We had to take 2 buses to get home. Here's half of us on the bus...~

~And here's the other half. =) (Noah's doing a funny face for his cousin Bryan =).~

~Then we had to walk about 10 blocks from where the bus dropped us off to get home. We had to cross this train track and the kids were ExCiTeD when they heard a train coming, so of course we had to stop and watch it to go by! =)~

Thank you for your prayers. I'm feeling a tad better.

~Prayers Needed~

2011-11-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually an "Eeyore" (Eeyore is an unbelievably loveable donkey who is dismally gloomy for almost eternity =) but I'm needing your prayers! It's spring in Argentina and every bloomin' thing here has my allergies going CrAzy! My eyes are so swollen and blood shot and are itching me to death and I'm sneezing a lot!
I'm also fighting a serious infection. Up until today I was told there was no medicine I could take since I'm a nursing mother. But, today I was able to get some Benadryl, and am PRAYING it helps me kick this!
If I cross your mind, could please breathe a prayer for me that Jesus will give me a special touch. It's hard for our home to keep going without Mommy. I've trained my girls so that they could run our house...but I hate for them to quit their schoolwork to help me. Thanks for your prayers...I'm hoping to report that I'm as "good as new" soon. =)

~Our Thirty Things for which we are Thankful~

2011-11-12T13:26:00.000-08:00

Since November has 30 days...we made a list of 30 things for which we are thankful. It was rather HARD to narrow it down...since God is SO GOOD to our family!
1. Jesus dying on the cross for our sins
2. The Bible...God's "Love Letter" to His children
3. Our Holiness Heritage
4. God's presence in Our lives
5. For my Sweetheart! He's the BEST!! =) [He ~~spoils~~ LOVES me!=)]
6. For our dear Kimberly...she's my right hand lady. She's so FUN to be around. She has a contagious laugh that she's had since she was tiny. =)
7. For our sweet Sarah. She's a huge help too. She's always looking around to see how/who she can help.
8. For our precious Noah. Just a faithful quiet boy who LOVES to play cars...and still gives Mommy hugs!
9. For our adorable Elijah. He will always be our "baby boy" and makes us laugh a lot.
10. For our surprise little Mary. Jesus knew that she would bring a lot of joy to our lives! She's so ornery and makes us laugh too!
11. Phillip is Thankful for ~ME~ his Wife =) and Our kids are thankful for their Mommy.
12. For Mommy's homemade goodies and good food to eat!
13. For Good health
14. For this nice breezy apt. to live in here in Argentina that Jesus provided for us RIGHT ON TIME!
15. For Kimberly's violin
~Elijah looking at my fresh strawberry pie with white chocolate...and a bucket of yummy ice cream. ALMOST more temptation than a little boy can handle. =)~

16. God's constant provisions for our family
17. For our PRECIOUS Family / Friends in the USA
18. For our PRECIOUS Friends in Colombia
19. That we get to live close to an Ocean here in Argentina
20. For our dog Bridget
21. Sarah is thankful for her family, and friends, her Bitty Baby, and toys.
22. Sarah is grateful that she got baptized.
23. I'm Thankful for our camera. It's not very fancy, but Jesus helps us to take nice pics with it! =)
24. Noah is Thankful that he has a birthday each year.
25. For Sunshine
26. For my birthday pillows, another neat thing I hope to post about soon, =) and for a HUGE answer to prayer that Jesus just did for our family!
27. For each time that Jesus touches little Elijah and he gets better! (when he gets a cold it normally goes right into asthma problems. If you've never seen a little child gasping for breath...it's beyond description!)
28. For Elijah's toys.
29. For Christmas...the celebration of Jesus' birth.
30. For my blog...and all y'all...my faithful readers, pray-ers, and commenters. =)

~Fun Food Friday...Apple Dumplings~

2011-11-10T07:13:00.001-08:00

~Seek the Lord and His Strength, seek His face continually. I Chron. 16:11~
I received this recipe in my inbox from my daily Taste Of Home recipe that comes my way. I tried it and it was yummy! It was fun making the "dumplings"...it was even "fun-er" to eat them. = )

~Apple Dumplings~
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water
2 cups chopped peeled tart apples (about 5 medium)
For the syrup on top:
2 cups packed brown sugar
I added some cinnamon and it was yummy! [ I didn't have any brown sugar at the time so my "syrup" is lighter.]
1 cup water (I would probably use less water next time.)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
Vanilla ice cream or Coolwhip
Directions In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt; cut in shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 12-in. x 18-in. rectangle. Cut into six squares. Place 1/3 cup chopped apples in the center of each square. Brush edges of dough with water; fold up corners to center and pinch to seal. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, water and butter; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Pour over dumplings. Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream. Yield: 6 servings.
And As Always...ENJOY!

~The making of my Birthday Cake~

2011-11-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

My birthday was on a Sunday. Elijah had been struggling with a cold/asthma and had been really SICK, so I stayed home from church with Mary and Elijah on my birthday. (And with Noah, for he only owns tennis shoes right now...until we can find a store to buy him some dressier shoes.=)
On Sunday, Phillip took Kimberly and Sarah and went to find a church (with the word "holiness" in the title)... that Eric Kuhn had found on the internet and had sent us the address.
Bless their hearts, Phillip, Kimberly, and Sarah came back after finding that there was NO church at that address (it must have moved or something). [Phillip had tried to call the phone number the night before and got no answer either!]
Then they tried to go to 3 other churches. One was just closed with no hours, no explanation as to why it was closed. The other 2 only have night services! =(
So, they came back home after being gone for 2 or more hours looking for a church.
Thank you for your continued prayers that God will guide us.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After they got home... we had a lovely birthday meal and family time together!
For MONTHS or maybe even years I have wanted to make a cake using Fondant. But, when I asked a store in Colombia (that makes those kinds of cakes) where I could buy fondant, I was told that I would have to make it! I had looked on-line and had found a recipe, but for some reason in the midst of cleaning, organizing, sorting, packing, and helping to move our family of 7 to another country...I hadn't been able to try that fondant recipe yet. =)
Before my birthday, I had gone on-line and had looked at fall birthday cakes trying to decide what I wanted to make for my birthday. I had seen one that was fondant and thought..."Oh, I'd LOVE to make a fondant cake for my birthday...but I don't even have a mixer so can't!"
On Saturday afternoon before my birthday, I went to a store to get some paper doilies (for I don't have a tray to put a cake on...so was planning to use a round piece of styro-foam that came with a store brand pizza we bought, as my tray =)...and while in that store I FOUND FONDANT FOR SALE!
I nearly SQUEALED. WITH. JOY. right there in that store! =) =) =)
So, I bought some and came home and had a BLAST making my fondant cake. (I didn't have time to figure out where or what kind of food coloring to use with it, so just made a white cake this time. "Color fondant" will be for our next cake project! =) I thought it SO SPECIAL that Jesus had seen the desires of my heart and had given me fondant to make my birthday cake! =)
~With the paper doilies under it, my cake sort of looks like it was a "Hat Cake" but it was just a round cake!
We cut out little fall leaves and little acorns and put them on top and around the side of my cake. We used melted choc. to make my "H" for ~Heather~ and on the one acorn. We had planned to use more melted chocolate on my cake for some more color, but the choc. was WAY too runny, and it was late on Saturday night and we were tired, so we didn't.~

~Fondant is soooo FUN to work with. It's addicting! =) Kimberly and I had a BLAST making my birthday cake.~

~ Before we left Colombia, I had told my family that it would be nice if I could have some WHITE PLATES to use when we got to Argentina, for white plates go with any color of table decorations and with any festive table (ie; Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, etc.)!
Wouldn't you know...Jesus "must have heard me" for there are WHITE PLATES in our apt! YEA! =)
Here's My Birthday table.~

~My Birthday cake in the center of the table.~

~I have no round cake pans...only have one PIE plate that is round. So, to make 2 round layers for my cake...I baked one half of my cake in the pie plate, flipped that out, then baked another layer in the pie plate. So, it was late on Saturday evening by the time both layers were baked and cooled and we could start decorating it. =) We spread a thin layer of caramel (dulce de leche) in between the 2 layers, jam on top of my cake, and caramel all around the edges underneath the fondant. And then I served each slice with fresh strawberries over it! Yummy!
So, as you can see...I had a very Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the fun comments y'all have left me! =)~

~My birthday pillows...an answer to my prayers! =)~

2011-11-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

Before we left the USA to become missionaries, our master bedroom was always Victorian...using lots of white. But since then, I never could find the right "Victorian type" comforter/things for our bedroom. I've adapted fine, and enjoy the decor that God has given us for our Colombian bedroom. However, when we got to this apt. here in Argentina, and I saw the white bedspread...it made my heart want to have some Victorian touches again! Knowing that my birthday was coming up and that my DEAR in-laws always send me money for my birthday, I started dreaming that I could purchase some fun pillows to go on our bed. (For after all, I could un-stuff those pillows...and pack the pillowcases in my suitcase in March! =) But, then when I started looking around...the pillows I was seeing for sale were $40.00 to $80.00 PER PILLOW! UGH! So, I began to PRAY that God would guide me to some pretty pillows for cheaper. (MANY THANKS to those of you who helped me pray...you know who you are ! =)

Isn't it great that our God...who is running this big universe, answering VERY IMPORTANT prayers, Meeting Great financial needs, helping a sad person's heart in a special way, touching a sick body, etc....isn't too busy to answer our "little prayer requests"?! I LOVE that about our Heavenly Father! =)

So, long story short...after walking LOTS and praying L.O.T.S. I was able to find some pretty pillows for LOTS cheaper...and I'm Happy with our bedroom. (Phillip thinks it's beautiful too!)
~My "birthday month" actually started 6 days before my birthday. That is when the Lord helped me to find a pillow for $5.00 and another one for $10.00! I was sooooo HAPPY! Then, while walking the mile home we met a man selling these fresh white Jasmine flowers for CHEAP. Phillip bought us a bunch...and They MAKE OUR ROOM SMELL DELIGHTFUL! =)

~At the Adorable Victorian store "Miracles" where ones' heart just STOPS and DROOLS =)...is where the pillows were SO expensive! But, Phillip bought me this adorable frame and antique tea cup and saucer for my birthday from there. =)~

~My pretty pillows that Jesus sent me! (The lighter beige pillow belongs to this apt. and I just tied the ribbons around it.=)
(You can click on pic to make it a tad bigger!)~

“Tis the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.”

~Laura Ingalls Wilder~

~This is the pillow I got for only $5.00! =)~

~There are no "Hobby Lobby's" around the corner from me...and no material stores near-by either, so I "took what I had" and that was a white kitchen tea towel and cut it into 2 pieces...and hand-sewed 2 simple little pillows. I had planned to use mother pearl buttons on one to make our initial "D"...but the only button shop near me sells buttons that she must have cut off of clothes from the 1960s...from a missionary barrel. They are Dirty and Dusty and she's charging ONE DOLLAR per button! =[
So, then I decided I would embroidery our initial...but the only embroidery thread she sold would have made initials on 500 Pillows!!...and she didn't sell any less. ={
So, I came back home...dug around and found 5 buttons that were running around in the bottom of my small sewing bag and used those on my little pillow. =)~

~A little closer view. As Aunt Nesi just commented on this post...
"can't get much 'cuter than a button!' "~

~These little white cube seats at the end of our bed had been in the living room, and I thought they'd add a fun touch, so took them to our bedroom. =)~

~When one uses suitcases to take everything to move to another country...once they've unpacked...WHERE do they put the suitcases? ( They won't fit under the beds, and the closets are needed for clothes!)
So, I stacked up our suitcases, and then used mine at the top for a "night stand." =D~

~Fun!~

~Here's my other pillow that I made. I used the LITTLE BIT of scraps left over from cutting my tea towel into 2 pieces...and made a little flower...and found one more button to use for the center! =)~

~A close up of a couple more of my cute pillows.~

~Isn't God Good?...ALL THE TIME!!~

~My sweetheart surprised me and brought me these beautiful roses home on Saturday before my birthday on Sunday! They weren't quite as cheap as Colombia's...but they were still a great price!~

Next up...in my birthday month =)...I'll post pics of my birthday cake!

~It's a Girl...

2011-11-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

...That's the news that my parents received on the day that I was born. (Sorry, couldn't resist. ;-)
It's my birthday (tomorrow), so we had fun taking some pics around our neighborhood, to show you some more of the culture here in Buenos Aries, Argentina.
(Thank you, Sweetheart, for my fun dressy coat that you bought me in Colombia!=)

~In the area where we live there seems to be one of these neat restaurants on every other corner. They put out tables, chairs, table clothes, and make everything look so neat. We haven't eaten here yet (we had planned to have something hot to drink but it was sprinkling so they were taking the tables in), but they let me take some pictures.~

~There are some really neat bicycles here. (On the day we were moving in, this one was outside the apt. below us. I got permission to take my picture with it...and placed some crusty bread in the basket. =)~

~We saw this fun car. It has the name of the restaurant [behind me] painted on it.~

~(These pics are for Dad D....we thought you'd like the car.=)~

~Most people take "train pictures" in the country...but God hasn't called us to live / minister in the country...so I took some with the city in the background. =)~

~I'll never forget when Phillip told me (while we were still courting) that he felt called to work in BIG cities. Sure enough...We started out in Cincinnati, Ohio, then to Phoenix, AZ, then to Bogota, Colombia, and now in Buenos Aires, Argentina. [Every city keeps getting bigger!=]

~Now, we had to take these pictures fast...for as you can see to your LEFT...while we were taking them a train came! These are passenger trains that are used similar to subways here...and they come by every 10 mins. or so!!! Elijah and, Sarah, and Noah L.O.V.E. to watch the trains and CANNOT WAIT to ride one!!~

~There are lots of NEAT old buildings here, lots of vines growing up the sides, lots of neat doors, etc.~

~This is an ADORABLE Victorian shop near us called "Milagros" (Miracles). There is a very good artist there that paints neat roses on lots of things! She painted the big ole gates going into their property and that Volkswagon car behind me too.~

~Me....with A Certain, Amazing, Handsome Man that "happened to walk by" while I was taking my pictures. ;-)
[Actually, he was the man TAKING my pics...except Sarah took these last 2, and I thought she did great! =] ~

I'm so GLAD that this is just the Beginning of my "BIRTHDAY MONTH!" =)

~Fun Food Friday...Cheddar Mashed Cauliflower~

2011-11-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you for each of your sweet comments and your prayers! Well, I've been dying to blog, but have been kept busy with an assortment of things. (I'll post about some of those things later!=) Oh, how I wish that I had some of my beautiful fall decor with me [that I got at Hobby Lobby for 80% off]...but alas that is in our house in the USA. So, I decided to add some fun touches to my real pumpkin and butternut squash. [Am I calling it the right name? This yummy squash is my source of "pumpkin" for making all of my Fall recipes both in Colombia and here in Argentina. =) ]
~Here's the BEFORE pic......... ~

~And Here's the AFTER pic. =).~

~Thank the Lord that I brought these Fall ribbons with me...and I hot glued them onto the pumpkin. (Obviously I can't get a fake pumpkin here, so used the real one that Jesus helped me to find. After I bought this one, I 've not seen anymore pumpkins like this here in Argentina!)~

~Then my wonderful sweetheart who is an artist did some calligraphy on the butternut squash for me. Thank you, Phillip, you are the best!=)~

~I'm happy with my "new" fall decor.~

I wanted to share a recipe with you. I made it for our Sunday dinner and it was yummy. I've eaten cauliflower with cheese all of my life, but it's hard to get the cheese to stay on every piece. But this way makes it easier to get cheese in every bite!
~Cheddar Mashed Cauliflower~]
Cook 3 med. heads of cauliflower broken into florets in 1" of boiling water until tender.
Drain.
Mash with 1/3 cup milk, 1 Tab. of minced fresh rosemary {which I didn't have}, and 1/2 teas. salt.
Stir in 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.Serves 6. (our Sunday dinner of a fresh green salad, cooked carrots, baked chicken, Cheddar Mashed Cauliflower, and my fresh homemade bread. =)~
And as always...ENJOY!

~This is the Day that the Lord hath made...~

2011-10-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

...Let us R.E.J.O.I.C.E. and be Glad in it! Like Pollyanna...let's play the GLAD GAME. Whatever you may be facing...let's find some reason to be Thankful...even in the midst of hard times. That's what our family is doing today! =)
In praying on Saturday as to where we should try to go to church, Phillip felt like we should have a home service. If any one is FAITHFUL to gather at their local church, my husband is. But, when one doesn't HAVE a local church, that's a different story. =)
~Here's Elijah "preaching" before we started our service.~

~We all got "dressed up for church".
Phillip snapped this picture of me doing last minute things in the kitchen before our service started.~

~And the kids before service.~

~Phillip asked me to lead some songs. We opened our windows, Kimberly played the violin, and we sang several hymns in Spanish. We were hoping that some passer-bys heard us singing. I'm sure they did for...!!!

~Some of us Sang VERY LoUdLy ...
(Please note Elijah's TIE that he insisted on wearing with a knit shirt.=])~
(Moma and Laura, Doesn't Elijah look like his cousin Drew in this picture?)

~Especially the little blonde haired boy in the middle...he gave it all! he! had!!~

~Phillip holding an active little boy while he was preaching. We had a very nice service that lasted over an hour.~

God's presence was very close. Hasn't He promised to be..."Where 2 or 3 are gathered together?" =)

~Fun Food Friday...Spice cake~

2011-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

~I'm so grateful to the Lord (and our nice landlady) that I now have a rack in my oven. =) I'm slowly but surely learning how to bake cakes in my oven. You see it has no temperature gauge, it's just like an dial on a gas stove...high, med. and low. =}
When one has just moved to a new country it takes awhile to stock up the pantry. So, I was looking through my October Taste of Home trying to find a recipe for which I had at least most of the ingredients. I found one on p. 21 and I made it yesterday. It's yummy. It called for powdered sugar (of which I had none) so I drizzled white choc. on top. (Don't you hate it when you get a lump in your white choc. and it squirts out messing up your pretty design? But, one of my family asked if she could have her piece from THAT side?! =)~

~Greek Spice Cake~
1 Tab. shortening
2 Tab. PLUS 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 Tab. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract (I didn't have this)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves (didn't have this either)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. confectioners' sugar
1. Grease 10 in. fluted pan (Or whatever pan you find in your apt. in Argentina ; -) with shortening and lightly coat with 2 Tsp. flour, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the sugars, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and extracts until well blended. Combine the remaining flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda; gradually beat into the sugar mixture until blended. Stir in pecans.
3. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake at 325 for 50-60 mins. or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
4. Cool for 10 mins.before removing from pan to wire racks to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar or drizzle with white chocolate.
And as Always....ENJOY!

~All in a Day's work~

2011-10-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

Thank y'all for all your prayers, and sweet comments. Phillip is praying and fasting and asking that God guide us as we try to be his SALT in Argentina. One thing we have noticed is that there aren't a lot of children...at least in the area where we live. We get lots of looks and people counting our kids as we are walking down the streets. But, thankfully, we get a lot of nice comments and smiles too. =)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Today, Wednesday, Oct. 26th, was our kid's first day of school in Argentina. Kimberly and Sarah didn't quite get their goals done for today...since they had "HomeEc 101" and helped me hand wash and hang dry a TON of dark clothes, jeans, and towels. =) Thankfully God gave us a good sunny day.
~Last night we got to see some of the Union Bible College missionary convention. Here's Mary watching Bro. Hight as he was speaking. =)~

~For our breakfast this morning I made a cinnamon swirl coffee cake. The pan was way to BIG for the cake, (and even Noah asked me if I was going to put more in there to help fill up the pan =) but it was the pan that was in this apt. so I used it....~

~And the cake baked right up and FILLED that pan! You can tell that I'm used to baking in Bogota...where as my friend Kathyrn teasingly said, "Is 28,000 ft. above sea level" ;-) for I wasn't expecting this to bake up so high. It was yummy!~

~This evening we finally found a park to take the kids to. This was a funny looking baby swing, but Mary loved it. =)~

~Phillip pushing Elijah on a swing.~

~Noah and Sarah on the teeter-totters.~

~Little Mary. As you can see behind Mary...you can see lots of graffiti. Sadly, that is common here.~

~Come spend a day with me in Argentina~

2011-10-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

~I thought you'd like to see how one of my days goes here in our new country of Buenos Aires, Arg. =) First, we'll get up early (it was 5:00 AM our body time...for we are still on Colombian time) and Kimberly and I will go upstairs and hand wash a bunch of clothes. There is a laundry mat close by, but we haven't found out if we pay them to wash our clothes, or if we use their machines to wash.~

~And here is our dryer. =) Thankfully, right now is windy so the clothes dry pretty fast!~

~Next we make breakfast (I made quiche this morning and a fruit salad) and then we'll bathe a baby Mary. Then she lays beside Daddy (who is reading his Bible) while I find her some clothes...and we can tell that she is ready for a nap....~

~Yep...thought so!~

~After she gets up we do several attempts of trying to get a picture of Mary...to show Gram that her hair is getting long enough to put in a little barrette.~

~Next we realize that the house is QUIET...so we must go and find Elijah...who was waiting to get into the tub. We found him...he had climbed up into my closet and was playing in Mary's hair things. =)~

~Now, we'll go on a walk in our neighborhood, so we can see what kind of stores we have around us. WOW! That's exciting...look at all the fruits and veggies in that store. YEA!...And look what else I see....~

~YUMMY Strawberries~

~Now...we'll walk a little over a mile to the main grocery store. Look at all this variety of fun crusty breads for sale.~

~And lots of different types of pastas too~

~And a HUGE long cooler full of every kind of cheese one kind think of. We haven't found it, but hopefully they sell cottage cheese here too.
[And right after we take this pic, the guard comes and tells us that we are NOT allowed to take pics in this store.
(I thought to myself...Really...WHY NOT?...this is just a grocery store.)
But, I obeyed and put our camera away...and felt sad. =( ]~

Now, we'll go back home and heat up some pizza for supper. Just after we get it on our rackless oven, and Phillip goes on a walk...the lights go off...and baby Mary starts wailing. The lights stay off for about 45 mins. THANK THE LORD we had purchased a fun candle as part of my centerpiece for our table...for that is how we were able to see when to get the pizza out of the oven and help Mary to stop crying. =)
We make a phone call to Thomas [who helped us get this apt.] to tell him that we'd like to continue living here, if they could please fix a few things...like the CD player, the internet which only works every 3rd day, etc. =)
Thankfully, they are VERY NICE and helpful and just left after spending about 2 hours here trying to fix everything. They plan to come back tomorrow to continue to make sure that everything is fixed...for I think they want us happy, for they seem happy to have us here. =)
[Before the owner left, she went and bought me an oven rack. YEA!!!!]
God is GREAT...ALL THE TIME! Thanks for coming to visit me, grab a piece of lemon cake sprinkled with BLUEBERRIES, and WALNUT as you leave!
(YES!!!!! We were THRILLED to find blueberries and walnuts here!!)
Please come again REALLY SOON! =D

~Today...being the Lord's day...~

2011-10-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

She rested! =) Phillip let the younger kids and I stay home this first Sunday...to get some more REST on the day of rest and he and the girls walked for 2 1/2 hours through the city trying to find an evangelical church. YES! You read that right. Wow! We love this culture, but where are the churches? Please continue to pray that God will guide us.
When I first saw our new apartment here in Argentina...there were no decorations in the kitchen and only one chipped vase with some artificial springy flowers in them in the living room. I knew I wanted to decorate a little in my kitchen, but didn't want to buy a bunch of things that I'd have to give away in just 4 1/2 months. So, after our first day out in the city of Buenos Aires on Friday, I decided that I would use FOOD to decorate my kitchen. It is inexpensive and we can use it up before we leave. =D
Like I mentioned earlier hard crusty breads, cheeses, olives, hot teas, hot coffees, etc. are a big part of this culture.
~So...in a tiny grocery store we dug in a big open bin and found some hard loaves of bread. I was wanting a basket to put them in, but on a Saturday night none were available. In that same tiny groc. store we saw this neat old wooden box in the veggie section...and asked if we could buy it. They sold it to us for a couple bucks...but I would have loved to have heard their conversation after we left, for I know they couldn't figure us Americans out! =)
My old box of crusty breads on top of the refrigerator.~

~Just some things that were already in the kitchen along with some garlic and onion.~

~I was delighted to find these 2 matching containers in the kitchen and knew I could put some pasta in them. I used the one chipped vase for the "Foratini" (round hollow noodles similar to Spaghetti. =)~

~More fun crusty breads~

~Olives and Olive oil...~

~And at night~

~My nice kitchen (We were happy to see a hot water heater in the kitchen for that meant we wouldn't have to have cold showers!=) There's also a microwave, an oven (with no rack=), a blender, a coffee maker, and a nice 'fridge.~

~Such a nice breeze comes through the window in front of our kitchen sink when we're washing dishes. =) [pic taken at night.]~

~Love the nice tile floor and the granite counter tops.~

~Our nice bathroom...with a nice little Mary in it.~

~We love the clay sink.~

~The walls in the bathroom are a beautiful tile. The dark "tiles" are actually squares of wood.~

~The most exciting part of the bathroom is that we have a BATHTUB and not just a shower. We've not had a bathtub in any of the countries we have lived in since we left the US in 2005! With 2 babies...bathtubs are HELPFUL! =)~

~The couch that makes out into a double bed...which is where our girls normally sleep.~

~Fun fall-ish colored pillows that were here. =)~

~I was so happy to find a REAL PUMPKIN to decorate with...along with my beloved Taste Of Home magazine that arrived THE DAY BEFORE I LEFT COLOMBIA!~

~I'm sure that those of you from the US have seen these adorable pumpkins made out of material, a stem and a roll of toilet paper but I had never seen one until last year at our church's home school group Thanksgiving dinner. When I walked in and saw these...I fell in love with them. So, afterward I told "Aunt Nesi' how ADORABLE the pumpkins were and she gave me one! =D She didn't know it...but it made my heart soooo HAPPY...for I knew that the material and stem would weigh NOTHING and I would be able to take it to Argentina to decorate for Fall. Thank you, Aunt Nesi! =) (And since I was bringing the Scrabble game anyways...why not have fun with some of the letters? =)

~Jesus gave us a nice table to seat 6 people...and the chairs have a vinyl covering...so easy to wipe off! =)~

~Our dinning room and our living room. It's a nice, airy, fresh, and bright apartment and we are very happy!~

~The fun orange light in the living room.~

~Our bedroom. We have a king sized bed that we share with Mary for now. =) We've never even had a queen sized bed.=)~

~Mary's little dresser in our room.~

~The kids' fun colorful room. (with a fun CoLoRfUl Elijah!=)~

~The mirror in the kids' room...that has the same purple and green in it.~

~We are on the 3rd floor and a have a balcony right outside our living room. There are elegant restaurants on every other corner it seems. They all have tables outside with table clothes. You can see 3 of them from our balcony. Here's one...~

~And here's another one. Fun!~

God truly went before us in finding the perfect Apartment for our family! =)

~This, that, and I'm TIRED!"=)~

2011-10-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

With our suitcases...I'm almost done!

I've nearly unpacked every last one! =)

We went grocery shopping for some food...

We found quite a variety...it was good!

(All except a small jar of peanut butter for $10.00!!! UGH! We left it there!)

Argentina reminds us of Europe you see,

Lots of cheeses, hard breads, and hot tea.

We are slowly getting settled in here...

But...I'm feelin' that I could sleep for a YEAR! =)

~Our first afternoon in our new apartment here in Argentina...we all laid down for a nap. But Mary didn't sleep long...for she was "all rested up". =) So, she went and dug in Sarah's suitcase. Mary LOVES putting things over her head and rubbing her face on soft clothes. =)~

~Our boys didn't want to lie down but once they went to sleep they slept for a long time. Noah slept all afternoon, and all night and awoke at 5:00 the next morning...13 hours or so! =)~

~Sarah and Kimberly lying on the couch in the living room that makes a double bed.~

~Then on Friday we went to get some groceries and supplies. We were happy to see flowers for sell for a good price! We didn't ask, but would not be surprised if these flowers came from our BELOVED COLOMBIA! =)~

~We didn't know what kind of vegetables / fruit we'd find here, but we're finding a good selection Praise the Lord!~

~We didn't splurge, but we were happy to see a Starbucks coffee shop here. =)~

Then Phillip took us to a restaurant that is right in front of the hotel where he stayed the first time he visited Buenos Aires last year. It was special eating where he had eaten alone several times.
~Of course every country is going to have some different words for things. So, when Kimberly ordered her pizza, she didn't pay attention to one VERY IMPORTANT word...and it arrived with ANCHOVIES! =)~

~We are loving the culture here. It reminds us a lot of our own culture back in the US (the uppity side) and of a European culture. Lots of hard breads, cheeses, hot teas, and coffees, and quiet classical type music! This is the plate of hard breads they brought for us to enjoy with our meal.~

~Our family eating our lunch/supper. We didn't have many groceries in our apt. and had waited all day to eat, so we were starved. =) The boys got a crossiant sandwich, a fruit salad, and hot tea. We got meals and fresh juices. Yummy!~

~Then we went and got some groceries. We were happy with the selection we found.

Of course, we could NOT buy any other kind of coffee but COLOMBIAN coffee [which Sarah is showing you!] =)
Sarah is standing in front of our water filter that our Dear "Grandpa Edwards" [whom Phillip pastored in AZ] purchased in 2004 for us to take to Colombia. It has been a LIFE-SAVER! Phillip was drinking a nice fresh drink of water last night and teasingly said,

"With a good water filter and a good wife...one could go anywhere in the world!" =D~

I'll post pics of our apt. as soon as I can. Can anyone tell me WHY I'm still dragging? Hee! Hee! =)

~Because you Prayed...~

2011-10-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

God has worked so many MIRACLES! This post will be a BOOK...but there were so many times where "God was There" ...that I just HAD to share! =)
The Long, Long, L.O.N.G. night is past…andI can blog at last! =) Wow! Where do I begin? I guess…I’ll start at the beginning. =) The Lord helped us as Kimberly,Sarah, and I got all the laundry washed, hung up, dried, and packed or foldedand put away before we left. (The Lord heldback the rain so things could dry and we got lots of laundry done! Things that could not wait for 4 1/2 months to be washed...like the boy’s comforter, etc. ) We were able to get everything we wanted totake, packed and ready to go by 3:00 P.M. JUSTTHAT MORNING Bro. Jimmy had “just happened” to ask for the cell phonenumber of the driver of the van in which his girls ride to school each day. Soon after that is when Phillip called totell him that our van had cancelled on us and did he have any suggestions. His van is the one who ended uptaking Bro. Jimmy, Sis. Farly and our family and all of our luggage to theairport. Coincidence? Hardly! =)

~ONE HOUR BEFORE WE LEFT FOR THE AIRPORT Phillip decided tocheck email before packing up our computer…and that is when we got an email sayingthat there was a furnished apartment that we could rent if we were interested!! (The owner hadn’t wanted to rent to us since“we are so many”, but the Lord must have moved on her heart and she decidedthat she would let us rent her apartment for our first month if we liked whatwe saw when we arrived!) Isn’t God awesome?!!!!!!!!!!!

We got to the airport and were a tad concerned thatevery thing would weigh in ok. (I always breathe a SIGH OF RELIEF when thatpart is done!) Come to find out the website AND our travel agent had given usthe wrong info. We could have packed 20more lbs. in each big suitcase!!!! So, theylet us check 5 of our 6 carry-ons as well. That made it SO MUCH easier to travel with 2 babies!! =)~Bro. Jimmy, Sis. Farly, our family and our luggage outside the airport.~

We then headed to McD’s to have a quickbite and last minute time with Bro. Jimmy and Sis. Farly. Each time we say goodbye to our DEAR Colombian friends it gets HARDER!

~We left with tears in our eyes and lumps in our throats.~

After we ate we were running to get in line togo through customs when the lady who had checked us out met us and told us thatwe had to go and pay taxes for Baby Mary. Phillip ran to do that but due to a problem with their system it took quiteawhile. He then came back tome…concerned that we HURRY as to not miss our flight! As we were walking very fast toward our gate,that same lady arrived to call ahead and tell them we were coming and escort usto our plane. =) (God takes GOOD CARE of His people!=)
God gave us a GREAT 5 hour and 20 min. flightwith an airlines called TAM. They gaveus service with a smile! Before theyserved us the first of 2 Delicious HOT MEALS and drinks…they passed out HOT WETWIPES for us to wash our hands first. =)
Baby Mary "visiting" with the people in the row in front of her.=)

~Phillip, Mary, Elijah, and Noah.
(Phillip was giving me a break and holding Baby Mary, for we knew that the rest of the night I would have her on my lap.)~

~Kimberly, Sarah, and I.~

~Thank you for praying…Mary and Elijah both slept some on bothplanes!~

~We arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazilat midnight our time…only to discover that it was 3:00 AM their time! So, we had just lost 3 HOURS of our night! =(We waited our 3 hour layover here…on seats that are NOT made for one to liedown. So, I made myself a bed on theHARD floor hiding behind some seats and this tired Mommy slept whilePhillip and Kimberly took turns watching a VERY AWAKE Mary! =)~

Our second flight went beautifully as well and we arrived inBuenos Aires, Argentinathis morning at 8:00 AM their time (6:00 AM our time.) We went through customsand found out that we had to pay $140 US per person entrance fee into Argentina!Whew! We weren’t expecting that! (Thankfully you only have to pay that entrancefee once every 10 years!)
Then Phillip took the kids and I and our 3 carts ofluggage (which all arrived safely!=) to sit down while he ran to do verynecessary business like withdrawing money, exchanging it, checking email to seeif he had heard back from that apartment, finding transportation for us,etc. We waited there for 3 HOURS…thelongest 3 hours of my life. =) Itwouldn’t have been so hard if there had been a playground or something toentertain some VERY tired children. Thankfully towards the end Phillip startedtaking a very active Elijah with him where ever he would go.
~Here's where we waited while Phillip did everything he had to do before we could leave the airport.~

Phillip called the realtor named Thomas from the apartment and he said we could come and see it and meet the owner. Phillip found us transportation…but we had to ride in 2 separate vehicles. The girls and I in one, and Phillip and the boys in another…a 45 min. ride in a VERY LARGE unknown city…having NO CELL PHONES to keep in contact…HOPING that we arrived at the same destination. Thankfully we did. The girls and I arrived first, and then shortly thereafter Phillip and the boys arrived. =) The apartment is very nice and very roomy for a 2 bedroom apartment.
I had been praying that if it were God’s will that we could go straight to an apartment rather than camp out in a hotel for days, for I only wanted to have to settle ONCE. After the owner met us she told us that if we want to rent her apartment for the full time we are here…we may!!!!! God worked a miracle and they are taking our word that we will finish paying them as soon as we can. (For...Remember that we weren't prepared for the nearly $1,000 in entrance fees that we had to pay at the airport!)

Have I mentioned that we serve an AWESOME GOD?!!

I'm posting this from a table in our new apartment...We have internet too! (Which means we won't have to drag our kids to dirty internet cafes.)
I’ll post pics of our apartment later!THANK YOU FOR PRAYING! We’re here safe and sound and we like what we have seen of Argentina so far. Now, we hope to get settled in…AFTER we get some sleep! =)

~Today..........IS THE DAY!~

2011-10-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

Listen to what Jesus did for me yesterday...My October Taste of Home magazine arrived! I haven't received one of those for over a YEAR...and I think that Moma cancelled my subscription per my request. So, I have it packed in my suitcase to enjoy in Argentina. Isn't God awesome?!
I'm still praying that my BHGardens magazines arrive TODAY before we leave! =) (NOTHING is impossible with my God!)
~One never knows what they might find in their refrigerator when they are busy packing. =) [My sweet Elijah put that in there!]~

With just 6 1/2 hours until we leave for the airport...I'm feeling like singing that old song,
It's me, It's Me, It's Me, Oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer =)
I thought I'd give y'all some specifics to pray for concerning our trip to Argentina.

~That we get everything done by 2:30 PM to leave for the airport.

~That we find a van to take us...our van cancelled on us last night!

~That our suitcases check in fine with no extra charges...AND THAT NOTHING GETS STOLEN OUT OF THEM, and that they all arrive safely!

~Our airplane leaves at 6:00 PM to fly during the night.

~We arrive in Brazil at 3:00 AM, have a 3 hour lay-over, and then head to Argentina at 6:00 AM arriving at OUR NEW COUNTRY at 8:00 AM on Oct. 20th!

~Please pray for our kids ears, they always have LOTS of pain when flying.

~Please pray that our babies will be able to sleep on the plane and on our lay-over.

When I promised to "Stand by My Man" I never DREAMED what all that would entail...but life is exciting...No? =D
Thank you tons for your prayers! We'll try to blog again (once we're in Argentina) as soon as we can. Y'all are the BEST! =)

~Sarah's Baptism~

2011-10-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately how AWESOME all of you are? THANK YOU for all your prayers (we can feel them) and all of your sweet comments! =)
Thank you, Valerie, for your address...your card is in the mail though sadly it won't make it in time for your WOW meeting tonight. =(
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Well, I have just a thing or two to do today, but I decided to write a post about the baptisms while I'm bouncing a sleeping baby Mary on my knee! Thank you for praying, we had a very special day! I'm posting a picture or ~~two~~ twenty for you to enjoy. =)
~Praise the Lord, Bro. Jimmy was able to get the price to go to the baptisms for only $15.00 per person. That included the nearly 2 hour bus ride there and back, the entrance fee to the plantation where we had the baptisms, and the yummy lunch! (children 3 and under were free.)
We had the entire bus to ourselves. We had a fun time riding on the bus as a church family (and some visitors), listening to beautiful hymns, and seeing pretty scenery...going to the baptisms.~

~Our DEAR Pastor and Wife...Bro. Jimmy and Sis. Farly!~

~Noah and his friend, Sarah and her friend Gaby.~

~Phillip, Mary, and very sleepy Heather...I finally got Mary (who has a cold) to sleep at 11:40 PM, and she woke up again at 2:00 AM, again at 3:00 AM and we had to get up at 4:00 AM to get everything packed and ready to be at the church by 6:00 AM.~

~Kimberly, her friend Nataly, "King" Elijah...sitting in that big bus seat by himself =)...and Bro. Edgar and Sis. Joanna.~

~Bro. Jimmy and Sis. Farly are always thinking of others! They bought suckers (which is a VERY BIG thing here in Colombia) and passed them out to everyone on the bus!! Here are Gaby and Sarah enjoying theirs.~

~Some beautiful Colombian scenery that we saw on the way.~

~Everyone walking down the hill to get to where the baptisms were going to be held.=)~

~The people sat on the steps while we were getting ready to start the service before the baptisms.~

~We sang some songs and the Lord helped Bro. Edgar to write a song for that special occasion.~

~The Lord helped Phillip as he gave a challenge to the ones getting baptized.~

~Our Special Sarah, and Phillip, and I. (The red thing on my arm was the paper band the people at the plantation put on us to show that we had paid the entrance fee to be there.)

~Sarah and Gaby before they got baptized.~

~Sarah and Gaby with their Daddies...who got the honor of baptizing them.~

~The group of 7 who got baptized. There were 2 couples in the group. Some are very new Christians.~

~Sarah giving her sweet testimony before she got baptized. One thing she said was that she didn't want Jesus to have just part of her but ALL of her. (Of course Sarah is all smiles...for she is "all smiles" in everything she does in life. =)

~III John 1:4 I have NO GREATER JOY than to hear that my children walk in truth!~

~Gaby giving her precious testimony.~

~The view from the plantation where we were.~

~The plantation had lots of fruit trees. The fruit that Phillip is holding is a yummy fruit that is called "Guanabana" (Sour sop in English). The Lord gave us a beautiful day and beautiful baptisms.~

~Thank you for your prayers as we try to get things done in these last few hours!

Moma and Laura, I wish y'all could come and bring a 1/2 dozen of the sweet ladies who read my blog to help me by:

helping with baby Mary, making sure I've used up the things in the freezer and refrigerator so they don't go bad (I usually give lots of things to Sis. Farly, but there's always things like cornmeal, whole wheat flour, and yeast in my freezer that are more for American recipes), making meals while I pack, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, hanging it to dry, etc. =) Lord willing, Tomorrow is the day...~