~Random pictures~

Phillip leaves tomorrow to go and visit our other 2 churches for a few days. Please pray that God will keep him safe, and us too while he is gone. And please pray that God will continue to help the people in our churches to grow in Him.
The kids and I plan to MAJOR on schoolwork this week. Hopefully we get LOTS done. God is helping. We are working hard to finish school as soon as possible.
Also, our roof is STILL leaking! Please pray that our landlady will FIX it soon! Thanks!
~During IHC week we were busy listening to services, or something and then we noticed that things were a little QUIET. Which means that Elijah is either sleeping, or VERY BUSY! =D We found him playing in the Desitin. UGH!!~~Edgar at church with little David and Elijah.~

~Elijah's birthday!~

~Elijah says, "Thank you, Everybody, for your nice comments and birthday wishes." =D He had a nice birthday.
Elijah LOVES to sing and sings all the time! It's so cute to hear him "sing" in church. He amazes me how often he sings on tune, for such a young child. He sings "Jesus Loves Me" all the way through. He LOVES microphones because he saw all of his family using them during 4 months of our deputation. After our services he would go and get a microphone and start "singing" too! =)
~Sarah was a huge help in blowing up all the balloons that we used to decorate for Elijah's birthday.~
~A happy Elijah eating his birthday lunch.~
~Our family enjoying yummy Skyline chili.~
~We were debating what to put on Elijah's cake. A microphone, "Jesus Loves Me" and music notes, or an airplane. He loves Jay Jay the Jet plane book. When he sees an airplane in the sky he'll say, "Bye-Bye Jay Jay Airplane!" =) So, we decided to do a Jay Jay on his cake. Our family prefers lighter/less sweet icing, so I used Cool whip and vanilla pudding. I was going to decorate the side of the cake, but the icing was too soft. Here, Phillip is planning to start drawing Jay Jay airplane on Elijah's cake.~
~Phillip did a GREAT job in-spite of the icing being too soft to really be a "decorator's icing." When Elijah woke up, he was soooo excited with his Jay Jay airplane cake.~
~His gifts on our piano and music stand.~
~I just missed him blowing out his 2 balloon candles.~
~He LOVED this noise maker. The only problem was that he could only blow it hard enough to make it go out, but not make a noise. So, he would just HUM in his. =)~
~Opening his gifts.~
~His little "Jay Jay airplane" that plays music. (It wasn't really Jay Jay, but he calls ALL airplanes, "Jay Jay.")~
~His guitar. He LOVES music. Now, he strums his guitar while singing, "Jesus Loves me."~
~His face after enjoying some yummy cake.~
~The boys all dressed up on their way to church last Sunday.~
~Here they have a custom that when you have a birthday, you come up front and they sing to you and pray for you. I was behind them playing "Happy Birthday and cracking up because when they clapped for Elijah, he clapped too.~ =)
~Farly got me this pretty red sweater for Mother's day. Here I am with Farly on my left, and her Mom on my right.~

~A quick fun dessert~

~While we were in Costa Rica in 2004/2005 we were served a yummy simple dessert. You make a large box of Jello...or 2 small boxes. Instead of using 4 cups of water add an extra 1 1/2 cups-2 cups of water! This will make your Jello more runny. (This time I added an extra cup and a half, and the Jello here (NOT Jello brand) must be more thick, for the gelatin wasn't really as runny as I wanted it.) You then dish up your ice cream, and pour a little jello over it and then place a fun cookie sticking out of your ice cream. It's fun, light and easy. Enjoy!~

~Can you believe he's already 2?~

~We got a birthday suit for Elijah for his birthday! Here the little boys suits often come with a long coat and scarf to match the vest, due to the weather being a bit more chilly year around. We were taking these pictures of Elijah and he lost his balance and fell and hit his head on the railing. So, if you look closely, there is a sad little tear under his right eye. =( [You can double click it to bring it up closer.]
There are a lot more pictures below my poem. I was happy with how these pictures turned out of our little Elijah -- our birthday boy!~

Where has time gone? Can it be that our Elijah is 2?
Our little baby...now 2? What are we going to do?
These past 2 years have surely flown by FAST!
Two years filled with memories, we've had a BLAST!

God knew that we needed a little blond haired boy...
To fill our lives with EXCITEMENT and much Joy!!
He is hilarious, makes us laugh a lot...our family clown!
He LOVES his brother and sisters and is caring if they fall down!

He loves to share and give us a lick of each treat! =D
His first word every morning and after naps is "EAT!"
He's our special gift sent straight to us from above.
He's our little "why'd-ya", filled with kisses, hugs and LOVE!

~Heather (Mommy) 5-14-10

~He looked soooo cute from behind too. He looks like a little man in a tux. =)~







We thank Jesus for sending Elijah to us!

~I had a special Mother's day!~

I had a doctor's appointment this week for baby! The doctor was very pleased and said that all seems to be going great! Praise the Lord! I'm happy for I have only gained 8 lbs. so far and I'm 5 months along! =) The doctor said that it appears that I don't have diabetes right now. YEA! He will do the sugar test at a later date, for it's too early to do it yet! I'm trying to be careful of my carb and sugar intake!! Baby is moving all around and I'm loving feeling he/she doing it's "stoutness exercises." =D I'm soooo glad that God healed the problem with the placenta and that baby seems to be doing great! Thank you again for all your prayers!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~I hope that all of my blogging buddies had a wonderful Mother's day! I had a delightful day with my family! I am a very blessed Wife and Mommy! =) We had a very good church service and the Lord really helped Bro. Jimmy to preach an excellent sermon on keeping the joy of the Lord in ALL circumstances! It was good!
So far I haven't been able to find blueberries here. But some parts of the year this little tart berry is in season. So, we got some on Saturday and I used them to make these "blueberry muffins" for our Mother's day breakfast and we loved them.~~Five Reasons that make me smile!! (The 6th reason is my sweetheart, pictured in our family picture above! But he was actually the FIRST reason that I smiled...and then came the other 5. =)~
~Our Sunday dinner was steaks, baked potatoes, a yummy cabbage/pineapple/peach salad, fresh pineapple juice to drink and later we had dessert! ( I was too tired to make rolls!=)~
~This was our Mother's day dessert! Very simple, but light and DELICIOUS! I just baked a white cake in 2 layers, mixed up vanilla pudding and coolwhip for the frosting. Then I put some frosting and sliced bananas and sliced strawberries in between the 2 layers. Put more frosting on top and the strawberries. Then Phillip wrote "Mom" with cold choc. syrup. And you can serve with more choc. syrup if you want to. It was soooo fresh and yummy, that you just HAD to have a second piece. =)~
~I got several nice gifts for Mother's Day! Here is one of them! =)~
~Occasionally when I bake cookies or something, I take a plate to our single lady neighbor! On Mother's day, she remembered me and bought me this nice little orange flavored cake. It was very good! How sweet and thoughtful.~
~Phillip wrote me a VERY touching blog post on our family blog (Dickinson Journey, which is also linked at the top of my blog to the right!) Reading it brought tears to my eyes! I am blessed by God with such a wonderful husband! He bought me the long white skirt that I wore on Mother's day (you can see it in the picture of the kids and I above, and in our family picture!), the flowers for our center piece on our table, and 3 yummy Reeses candy bars! I plan on sharing those candy bars with my family for baby and I don't need all of that sugar. =) God has given us 5 precious children! All 4 kids (who can write now) wrote me nice cards! A lady at church gave me the rose! My Moma called me and we had a nice chat Sunday night. (Our internet is not strong enough for me to call out, so she had to call me. =) Laura also called me, but I was napping and missed her call. =(
So you see, I had a very wonderful day!
~Being a Mother is one of the highest Privileges that God ever gave anyone!!~

~A yummy recipe~

~"Chef" Elijah! Elijah saw me wearing a apron in the kitchen the other day and he wanted one. I have to wear a plastic apron now, for if I don't my baby bump gets wet when I wash the dishes. =) ~The other day I saw this recipe on Vanessa's blog. (She signs my blog occasionally.) I tried it and it was yummy! (Sorry, I forgot to snap a picture of a plate of this!)
I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe since I can't buy canned spaghetti sauce here, but I'm sure this recipe is just as delicious! So, I'm sharing it with you! It was a great easy Sunday dinner and my family really liked it!

~Super Simple Chicken Dinner~
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce.
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cooked egg noodles or spaghetti

Place chicken in slow cooker; Add sauce, water, and salt.
Cover and cook on high setting for 4 hours. Shred chicken. Spoon shredded chicken and sauce over cooked noodles.

Serves 4

Serve with a fresh salad and homemade rolls. Viola...Sunday dinners on!

~Happy Mother's Day!~

I LOVE the privilege that God has given me to be a Mommy! Thank you, Jesus, for Kimberly, Sarah, Noah, Elijah, and baby! =)

~My Moma!~
Oh, where, oh where would I be without my Mother?
Now I know you just rolled your eyes and said, "OH BROTHER!" =)
But, hey you need to keep reading this you see...
To see where I'm heading with my poetry!

Of course, it doesn't take a genius to know
That without her I wouldn't be on this earth below.
But I was referring to all that she has taught me.
Our home was a sewing center, a culinary art school, and a bakery!

When God was passing out talents, He gave her quite a few!
Others have called her "The Martha Stewart of our movement" too.
Anything that Moma touches turns to pure Gold.
God even gave her a hair color where she'll never grow old! =)

She taught me how to be a good wife and Mother!
And to put Jesus first and then comes others!
She showed me how to set a pretty table.
And to depend on God...He is more than able!!

She's great with her 17 grandchildren who call her "Gram"
She loves "PORKY THE PIG" in forms of bacon and ham!! =D
She's gladly stood by her man..wherever God led
Winning the hearts of their people with her homemade bread!

She's touched lots of lives in several different states
And through it she's learned to cook all kinds of plates!
So you see her life lessons have been invaluable to me!
I love you Moma, you're the BEST!...signed...your baby!
~Heather May 2010~


~My Mother-in-law~
Now my 2nd Mother I haven't known as long
But she's still special to me, don't get me wrong.
I first met this dear lady 18 years ago.
And we've had many special times I want you to know.

She's the Mom of the wonderful man whom I married.
My Phillip near her heart--for 9 months was carried.
She (& Dad) raised him to love Jesus, and taught him to pray---
Knowing him like I do-They did a great job I'd say.

His parents taught him to work and work hard too.
He's a HUGE help around our house I'm telling you!
I'm sure it wasn't easy to raise a son to "give away"
Dad and Mom, I THANK YOU!! We'll have to do it too someday!

Thank you for accepting and loving me like your girl.
You are the best and sweetest Mother-in-law in the world.
Mom, I love you and hope your day is as special as you are.
I wish we could be together- but Col. to AZ. is a tad far! Smile!
~Heather May 2010~

~Ouch!~

Could you please help us pray for a couple special unspoken prayer request. Thank you for all your prayers, they mean a lot to us!! Another prayer request is that our ceiling in our apartment is leaking in several places. (Including on our bed!) We have talked to our land lady about it, and she says she is going to fix it, but that could mean weeks from now! We just started seeing that our things are molding from the humidity in here. The mold is not good for our things, but is worse for us!! Our apartment is new, and has another open floor up top (which is where we hang our clothes to dry), but it appears that they didn't seal the concrete up top, for it's leaking through to our apartment and to our neighbor's as well! PLEASE HELP US PRAY that our land lady will fix it right away! Thank you!!
~Poor little Elijah. He got his tiny little thumb shut in our metal door the other day. It was SAD!~

~A yummy Colombian food~

~This past Monday Phillip came home from visiting our 2 churches away from Bogota. He brought several gifts for our family from our church people there. One of the gifts were these plantain (large bananas). They gave them to us so we could make a Colombian food called "Patacones".
~You peel these plantains (above), and fry them whole in oil until they are tender. Then you squish them between 2 wooden cutting boards, dip them in salty water (which helps them be salty) and then fry them a little longer. Then you place them on the plate and top them with chopped ham, grated cheese, a special white sauce, a pink sauce, and then top them with crushed potato chips. I know they sound interesting, but they were delicious.~
~Phillip helped me make them, for I knew that I wouldn't have the energy to do it all by myself.~Behind us you will see the 3 hanging baskets that Phillip put together and hung for me to store fruit in the bottom one and other things in the other baskets.