~Our week in pictures~

Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm 33 weeks along now and I went to my midwife today and she has basically put me on bed rest. (Do you have ANY CLUE how HARD that is for me? That is NOT my personality to just lay around. =) She wants me to be VERY CAREFUL the next 2-3 weeks so we can at least keep baby inside until he's 36 weeks...and then after that it should be fine for him to come when he's good and ready. I've had some HEAVY DUTY contractions, so I'm trying to obey her orders and take it easy! I still have plans to go to IHC...in the wheelchair...and the balloons and streamers sound like a fun idea. =) Thanks for your prayers and Please continue to pray for baby and I.
~Our kids during our deputation service at my parents' church, Westfield, IN, Sunday, March 30th.
~My dear girlhood friend Laura Quackenbush. It was so fun seeing her at the Union Friends Church.~
~Dear Amber Cassady bought us this basket full of baby gifts for our baby boy. THANK YOU, AMBER!~
~Us and our display~
~Our kids and us provided music for the nursing home service that my Daddy preached at on Sunday afternoon...Westfield, IN.
~Our Sunday night service was at the Joseph Smith's church, Shelbyville, IN. We had a yummy snack and a lot of fun visiting after church at the Smith's house!~
~We got to stay the night with our dear friends Trint and Janette Castle. Here's a picture of Janette and I (and my baby bump!)~
~Trint and Phillip got to play some basketball together. It was nice for Phillip to relax and unwind.~

~Some of the Smith children and Phillip visiting about their Spanish work there in Shelbyville, IN and our work in Colombia.~
~My sister took me to Target and since I'm not supposed to be walking much she pushed me around in a wheel chair. By the end of our time in that store my belly was covered up with things that I was going to buy, and so no one could tell what was even wrong with me. With Laura and I laughing and my belly covered...The people that saw me probably thought that I was the happiest "handicapped" person that they had ever seen.~ =)
~My niece Natasha had her 15th birthday, and so we had a nice celebration at Skyline!~
~We were to hold a revival at the Kemp's church with Phillip preaching and our family singing. However, The kids and I couldn't go the first 2 nights due to my condition, but Thank the Lord we got to go for the weekend. Here is Kimberly and Noah riding the 4 wheeler at the Roops house.~
~Sarah and Cherish Roop riding the 4 wheeler.~
~Weston and Noah on the go-cart.~
~We had such a nice time with the Kemps and the Roops. The Roops provided us with 2 nice apartments for our family to stay in. Sis. Kemp stocked our apartments with yummy treats and made us wonderful meals too. Here we are enjoying a meal out with the Kemps and the Roops!~
~It was so nice to be with the Kemps at their church. God is helping them and their people.~
~Our dear friends the Kemps and our family.~

Thanks for "tuning in"...that's all folks!~

~Prayer Needed~

I'm 32 weeks along, but due to the extra fluid that baby is making I'm measuring 40 weeks...which could make me go into labor 7 weeks early. EEEEKKK! I had some pretty heavy duty contractions last evening that scared me. I'm trying to take it easy right now so as not to bring on early labor, and I may not be able to be with Phillip and our children for some of our deputation services. That makes me sad, but I have to do my part to keep baby safely tucked inside until nearer my due date of May 24th. I'm still hoping to come to IHC...but my husband and others are determind that I should use a wheel chair to get around if I come. Can you imagine how mortifying that will be? Oh well, at least I will get to be at IHC, Lord willing. =D So, baby and I would really appreciate your prayers. Thanks!

~A picture update!~

I forgot to tell my Colombian friends what our baby is...so...excuse this next sentence in Spanish.
Si Dios Quiere, vamos a tener otro niño...y Noe esta MUY FELIZ!!!~
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~Waiting in line at the Bogota airport before we flew to the USA. Some dear lady brought me a chair! =)~Jimmy and us eating breakfast before we boarded the plane.
~The stewardess let our kids go in and talk to the pilot and co-pilot and look around the front of the plane. They loved it!~
~We finally arrived in the USA...This is our nice Welcoming crew!~
~Our family at my parents' parsonage in IN. It snowed that day...but didn't stick.~
~Our kids and their Easter basket and other gifts around the basket. We gave them more "things" rather than tons of candy.~
~Our kids on Easter Sunday. Our dear friends the Shirks got our girls their beautiful Easter dresses. THANK YOU!~
~Our Christian Nation Church Jr. Church. They asked us to come and speak to them.~
~Our Jr. Church gave us some really nice gifts! THANK YOU Jr. church for all your love, prayers and goodies that you give us!~
~Our dear friends Sherri Patton and her twin girls came to Christian Nation Church to see us on Easter Sunday.~
~Our family on Easter!~
~The Shirks and the Carters put together a YUMMY Easter dinner and invited us over. Thank You! (My poor sister was still VERY sick with that horrible flu!)~
~Kimberly and Bryanna coloring eggs.~
~Sarah and her colored eggs!~

~Our dear pastor and wife, the Eisenharts and our family at SKYLINE CHILI! YUMMY!~
~THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR OUR NORTH CAROLINA DEPUTATION SERVICE. GOD GAVE US A NICE TRIP DOWN THERE AND A GOOD SERVICE. WE ENJOYED GETTING TO SEE ALL THE DEAR FOLKS THERE. OUR FRIENDS THE MILLERS HAD US OVER FOR A YUMMY SUPPER BEFORE CHURCH, AND THEN THE JOHANSENS (See pic below) HAD US OVER FOR A NICE SNACK AFTER CHURCH.
WE ARE BACK HOME IN OHIO AND MY SISTER AND FAMILY ARE FEELING BETTER NOW, SO WE ARE HAVING FUN VISITING AND CATCHING UP SINCE WE HAVEN'T BEEN TOGETHER SINCE JUNE 2006! OUR NOAH AND KIMBERLY AREN'T FEELING TOO WELL, SO I WOULD APPRECIATE PRAYERS THAT THEY GET BETTER SO WE CAN DO OUR SUNDAY DEPUTATION SERVICES!~

~Baby update~

Yesterday when I saw my midwife...she said that instead of my measuring 31 1/2 weeks...I was measuring 39 weeks! I knew my dates were right, but she said that my measuring big could mean: 1. that I had twins, 2. I was due next week, or 3. that I had extra fluid. So, she scheduled me for an ultrasound today, and I just got back from having one. The ultrasound confirmed my feelings...~WE ARE HAVING A BOY, AND I'M ONLY HAVING ONE~!!!! Noah is DELIGHTED!! After he found out that our baby was a boy...He stood beside me while I was having the ultrasound and asked, "It's a HE for ME...and we get to take him Home?" =) The ultrasound revealed that I'm still due when I thought I was...May 24th or 25th...but that baby is making extra fluid. Baby tested to be just fine, and they are planning to do non-stress tests on him twice a week, just to keep an eye on things. The doctor said most of the time extra fluid does not mean problems, which was comforting to hear. Baby and I would appreciate prayers that God will give us the strength to do the deputation services that we need to do in the next few weeks. We are heading out to have our first service tomorrow evening in North Carolina. Since it is the furthest service away we scheduled it for this first week, so we could get it done before I get any further along. Also, I'm getting so uncomfortable...that I don't know how my baby bump can get any bigger...I think I will just pop. It would be nice if the extra fluid would go away on it's own, which they said doesn't happen often...but God is able! Thanks for your prayers!

~An update!~

Hello! Due to running non-stop and not having computer access, I haven't been able to update my blog! God gave us a WONDERFUL trip back to the USA and we arrived safely last Wednesday night. THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS!! We were met at the airport by my parents, our mission director Mark Becker, my brother-in-law Daryl, and my neice Natasha, who was holding a nice welcome sign that she had made. (My sister Laura and her other 3 children were too SICK with a horrible flu and so they could not come to the airport to see us, which was disappointing to them and us. We haven't seen each other since June 2006.)
We've had a wonderful time so far seeing DEAR family and Friends, and are loving being in the USA. We had a Happy Easter Sunday, with our Christian Nation Jr. church giving us some nice goodies...our Christmas a tad late. (However it DID SNOW on Easter Sunday...so it felt like Christmas! =)
I just went to my OB/GYN today and everything went great. Our kids got to come in and hear our baby's heartbeat, which they LOVED hearing! I'm scheduled for an ultrasound tomorrow at 1:30 PM. So, I'll try to let y'all know as soon as possible what we are having! =)
So long until then....=)

~Thanks for praying for our Sunday~

Like I mentioned in my last post...with having company for supper Saturday night, baking cookies to pass out to the people in both of our churches, and attending our Sunday morning service, having company over Sunday afternoon for dinner, and then leaving around 4:00 PM for our evening service...I didn't know HOW baby and I could do it all. It looked like the uncrossable red sea for me. But...God helped and I felt y'all's prayers! Thanks bunches! We had a good Sunday; here are some pictures!
~Out of the 6 pregnant ladies in one of our churches, 3 have already had their babies. Here is one of the new precious babies with Kimberly, Sarah, and me and my baby bump. =) This is one of the little outfits we got this baby!~

~The new Mommy and her precious little gift from God!~
~In Kimberly's Sunday school class the kids made "wiggle worms" (Gusanitos) out of egg crates.
~The 3 little boys with their little worms!~
~Our Sunday morning service...God gave us a nice and encouraging service! After dismissing, when Phillip announced that I had made cookies to pass out, the people were so happy that they clapped! =)~
~If you'll remember the couple that lost their little baby boy last April...this is that couple on our couch. She is due to have another boy this April! They and their little girl Angie, and another friend had Sunday dinner with us, and we had a nice visit!~
~Little Angie, and Noah and Sarah playing!~
~Our Sunday night service, again God helped! These people were happy with their cookies too!~
~Phillip leading the service!~

Since we are to fly very soon we would appreciate your prayers, for a safe, uneventful trip. And if you have ever flown international, you know the headache it can be to collect all of your luggage and go through the long customs line, and then try to get to your connecting flight...with 3 children and a VERY PREGNANT LADY! =) SO...IF YOU COULD PLEASE HELP ME PRAY THAT THE CUSTOMS IN THE AIRPORT IN HOUSTON, TX WILL BE CLOSE TO OUR NEXT CONNECTING FLIGHT TO INDIANA...for I can hardly walk, let alone RUN to catch our next flight on time! THANKS TONS!!!

~Please pray~

While we were in Costa Rica for one year, God helped us to find a WONDERFUL kids dentist there. Then when we told her that we were moving to Bogota, Colombia she told us that that is where she studied and gave us the name and number of her teacher. In the last 2 weeks we've just gotten to meet her teacher and she is just as WONDERFUL of a dentist as the one in Costa Rica! ~Our kids at a last minute dentist appointment.~

With us not having much more time here, we had our dear friends Jimmy, Farly and family, and their parents over for supper tonight to say goodbye for a few months. We had a nice time with them as we usually do. ~Jimmy and Farly's daughter, Gaby will have a birthday soon, so we got her a gift.~
~Here is Gaby and the rest with her new baby stroller!~

~Our kids singing for Jimmy and all his family.~

~Jimmy and family got this adorable baby outfit for our baby. =)~
Today I baked sugar cookies and butterscotch and choc. chip cookies to pass out to the people in our churches tomorrow.
Tomorrow baby and I plan to try to go to both of our services (AM AND PM) plus have company for Sunday dinner. In the human I don't know how I'll have the energy to do it all...but I want to be able to say goodbye to our church people. If you wouldn't mind praying for our services, and that God gives me the strength to do it all, I would appreciate it. And since we are to fly soon, would you please help us pray for a safe, UNEVENTFUL trip. THANKS BUNCHES!

~Noah learns to ride his bike without training wheels!~

I was upstairs doing Sarah's hair when I heard Phillip tell Noah that he was going to take off his training wheels...and my heart did a flip. MY BABY...riding his bike on the road in front of our house...with parked cars on both sides...EEEEKKKK! In my minds eye...I could just see him crashing!!! Was he ready? WAS I READY? So, I came downstairs and watched Daddy take off the training wheels...and I wasn't the only one watching...there was a VERY EXCITED NOAH watching too! Our girls were excited about this event...another stage in their baby brother growing up. So, off came the training wheels, and Noah sat on his bike and sort of walked out of the garage with BIG SISTERS Kimberly and Sarah on either side to "protect" him. Then they took him to the road, held on to his bike seat until he got started...

...and OFF HE WENT, on the first try, with his little tongue stuck out in concentration! =D

He did a great job, and we were all happy that he survived his first day of riding his bike without training wheels...but no one was more happy (and relieved) than this MOTHER! =) (Sarah was so excited she was skipping and jumping, and so was her dress...it's a good thing that she wears bloomers! =)

Here's a cute little video of him.

~Marking things off of our list~

First, Thank you ladies for all your sweet comments on my shoes!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We have a long list of things that we need to get done within the next few days before we leave for the USA...and God is helping us get things done and marked off...slowly but surely. I LOVE the feeling of marking things off a list...and even find myself adding things that we have gotten done...that weren't originally on the list, just so I can mark them off. =D (Don't laugh, you have probably done that too! =) One of the things we needed to do was visit with our good friends Carlos and Gloria. Both of our lives have been soooo busy here recently that we haven't had time to be together. If you know anything about the Latin American culture, you know that FRIENDSHIP and SPENDING TIME TOGETHER JUST CHILLING (as often as you can) means A LOT to these people, so it was a needed but FUN visit. We always have a lot to visit about with these our dear friends, but since Gloria just found out that she is also expecting a baby, that gave us even more to chat about. =) So, we spent a few good hours together, eating supper and catching up on each other's lives. And when we got back home...I added that visit to our list...just so I could mark it off! =D
~Our dear friends Carlos and Gloria, and my sweetheart and I eating empanadas and pizza together!~

~The story behind the shoes that Phillip bought me!~

I have always liked this shape of shoe and heel. I remember when I was 9 or 10 my childhood friend Rebecca Pack had some shoes in that shape and I loved them. Anyways, when we lived in Costa Rica (2006) I started looking for shoes like this. I wanted this type heel, but I only wanted it about 2" high and not the 4-6 " heel that ALL the stores were selling. I also wanted an enclosed shoe, without a strap tying around my ankle. When we visited Nicaragua in 2006 (having to leave Costa Rica to renew our visa) I found the exact shoe that I wanted...however, the store that had it didn't have my size! =( Then I looked in the Good ole USA when I was back home to get our things 2006, and found nothing but the HIGHER ones, which I didn't want. (I'm pretty picky aren't I? =) I had looked in Colombia too. Well, this past January when my parents and us were in Medellin, we were riding on the Metro Train and I happened to look down and the lady standing in front of me had the VERY shoes on that I wanted! Needless to say I was thrilled, and asked her where she got them from and she told me the GENERAL direction. However, the only night that we had to look for them, the shops started closing at 6:00, and so thus went my hopes of finding any since we had to leave early the next morning. So, my dear Phillip told me that if I would tell him my size, and where that lady said to look that he would look for them the next time he was in Medellin. He did and since they were sooo CHEAP he bought me 3 pair in the size that I told him. However, like I mentioned before, here shoes sizes vary GREATLY...what fits you GREAT in one store is HUGE in the next! Since Medellin is 9-10 hours away, I couldn't be with him to try the shoes on, and the ones he bought were huge on me.) So, long story short, he exchanged the first shoes for a smaller size this week while he was in Medellin and these fit me perfectly! YEA! I was praying that since the other shoes that he bought were too big for me, that these would fit me nicely and not be too small...for he will not be back to Medellin for awhile! God answered prayer and I'm thrilled to have these shoes...after a 2 year search in 4 different COUNTRIES! (And I'm singing Phillip's praises for getting them for me! =D)
~For those of you who have asked...Here are my shoes finally! Since each pair has been tied in their individual bag to keep them clean, they look sort of scrunched. I'm happy with the colors he got me; Choc. brown, white, and beige/Kacki. (He was consulting me over the phone before he bought them, explaining what my choices of colors were! Thank you, Phillip, YOU are just the BEST! =)

I HAD TO POST THIS HILARIOUS COMMENT FROM MY DEAR S-I-L, VONNIE, ABOUT THE RECIPE OF SOPPY CHOC. AND BISCUITS. (SEE POST BELOW!)
Blogger Vonnie said...

Don't take a poll, don't think about it, just TRY it. It is awesome. When you call it chocolate gravy it makes it sound disgusting. It is chocolate pudding and biscuits. It is enough to make me want to die and go to heaven so I can kiss Andrew and Heather's great grandmother. :) And that's all I have to say about that...... :)

~Looking for something new to serve for breakfast?~

OK...I'm going out on a limb and am posting an old family recipe. Now when I say that this is a family recipe...it TRULY IS A F-A-M-I-L-Y RECIPE. You see...from what I understand my Great Grandmother who lived in Tenn. INVENTED this recipe (from the ingredients that she had on hands) as a way to feed her 7 children during the Great Depression. (Believe it or not, I just saw a request for this recipe in the latest Taste of Home...from a lady in Tenn. who had tasted it years ago and wanted the recipe.=) When my husband first got into our family and tasted this, he wasn't sure he was impressed (his family is not really a choc. eater...and my family is!) However, he tells me now that he has acquired a taste for it and really likes it. This is something that our family makes anywhere from once a week (My brother Andrew makes this for his family every Sunday morning) to once every 2 or 3 months or so. We love the salty taste of the biscuits, with the sweet, but not tooo sweet chocolate pudding.  If you try this and your family doesn't like it, I'm sorry, just mark it down as a new experience... that you don't want to repeat. =D  But if your family falls in love with it like our family has, then you can Thank my dear Great Grandmother who is probably making Soppy Chocolate in Heaven about right now. =D
~Soppy Chocolate and biscuits~


~SOPPY CHOCOLATE~
Mix together dry in a large pan:
1 cup sugar
4 Tab. cocoa
1 cup flour
Add:
2 cups water
2 cups evap. OR plain milk
1 teas. salt
Boil until thick. stirring frequently (it likes to stick). TURN HEAT OFF...and Add 1/2 stick of butter (OR marg.) and 1 teas. vanilla. Stir until butter is melted and mixed in well. Serve HOT...over HOT HOMEMADE BISCUITS...OR you could buy the frozen biscuits and bake them.
I like to serve sausage or bacon with Soppy Choc., and a glass of milk...it helps balance the sweet choc. (though I think you'll find that the choc. pudding is not as sweet as you will think it would be.) For those of you who know Bro. Steve Hight (and know he LOVES CHOCOLATE... you might be interested in knowing that he got this recipe from our family years ago, and from what I understand likes to make it every now and then. =) If you try it and like it, please leave me a comment, so I'll know that our family tradition is being enjoyed elsewhere. =)

~A loose tooth, tea party, friends, roses, pizza and Sunday~

~I have never had a desire to pull one of my children's teeth. Daddy is a GREAT dentist...so I leave it all in his hands...I just put the money under their pillow after they loose their teeth. =D I just didn't think that I ever wanted to deal with the blood, maybe hurting my child while taking the tooth out, etc. Well, last week Sarah was telling me that her tooth was VERY loose, so I just wiggled the tooth once to see how loose it was...and wouldn't you know that it fell out in my hand. So, now I can say I've pulled a tooth, whether I ever desired to do it or not. =) ~

~We went to the dollar store and Sarah found this cute little tea set and Sarah had a fun time making a tea party for she and Kimberly.~

~Months ago, I met this dear Colombian lady at the mall near our home. She was walking past where I was and had a cute long jean skirt on, so I told her that I liked her skirt. (There aren't too many ladies here in Colombia that wear skirts ...most women dress with SKIN TIGHT jeans...so I always make it habit of complementing the ladies I see here with skirts on. =) Well, after I told her that I liked her skirt, this lady stopped and we had a nice long chat together. She told me that she had seen the kids and I in the mall MONTHS AGO... and she was so wanting to talk to me, but didn't have the nerve to just walk up and start chatting. She said that ever since she first saw me, she kept hoping that that one day she could have the opportunity to visit with me. We just hit it off and I was soooo glad to find a sweet friend (named Marisol) that lives within walking distance of my house. One day in December when she was at our home, I had just made my French Bread, and she ate and ate that bread and LOVED it. So, I told her that when she had time she could come over and I would teach her how to make that bread. She told me that though the Colombian ladies are good cooks, hardly any of them know how to bake. So, Marisol came over the other night and we made French Bread and a coconut pie together. She was soooo excited that I was willing to teach her how to bake! We always have a GREAT time when we are together, and I'm grateful to God for sending me this friend, she's such a dear!

~Last night my sweetheart came home from teaching at his Saturday Bible class with these beautiful roses in his hand...just for me. He knows how to get extra hugs and kisses doesn't he? =D

~Please pray with me that God will help our baby stay in "the oven" until I get to the States. As you can see by the pictures (posted earlier on my blog) baby is getting quite huge, and I just want to make it to the States before he/she decides to make his appearance. I'm not due until May 25th, but with all of the walking we have done here, I don't want baby to decide to come early. Due to the socialized medicine here in Colombia I would not feel comfortable having our baby in the hospitals here...besides I just heard the other day that here the husbands still are NOT allowed in the delivery rooms with their wives! HELP! I would DIE without my Phillip. Another thing, is that if our baby were born here...getting his/her paperwork would be SUCH a hassle...and we couldn't go back to the States until we had all of that paperwork for our baby. So...all of that to say that Phillip and I have made the decision for me to stay at home and NOT go to church during these last few services that we have here before leaving. If you know anything about living in a foreign country...you know that even the BEST LAID plans are subject to change. Even when we plan to take a taxi to church and all the way back home, then there is a car accident or something that causes us to have to get out of the taxi and WALK quite awhile until we can find another bus or taxi to finish taking us to our destination. Phillip doesn't want me walking very much right now, so that we get to the USA (which will be soon) with baby still tucked safely inside of me. =) So, today being Sunday, baby and I stayed home and watched/listened to several services from Hobe Sound camp. In the sermons that I watched/heard...The Lord helped Marc Sankey preach. While I listened to the services, I made 3 homemade pizzas for our Sunday dinner, which my family was delighted to eat 2 of them when they got home, and we have this last one for a snack tonight.~

One of the quotes that Marc mentioned in one of his services was so good. So I'm closing with this quote.
Wesley Dewell said:
"The devil would love for us to take on more (in life...business) than we can saturate in prayer."
Let us be sooo careful to take time to be with Jesus each day.