~Prayer request, Company, and Flowers~

SPECIAL REQUEST!! We are having computer and internet trouble. With next week being IHC, I am PRAYING that God will help us to be able to hear/see all of the services. However, with the trouble we have been having...it will take a MIRACLE! I have always LOVED IHC and since we cannot be there, watching services on line really helps our hearts! Please help us pray that we will be able to watch IHC. Thank you!!
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~I went to church on Sunday and the Lord gave us a good service. Bro. Jimmy preached a wonderful needed sermon. After church we invited Felipe and Paula home for Sunday dinner!~~We bought this cute hat for Kimberly. When we bought it, I told her that her Mommy will probably want to wear it some too. =D~
~This week my friend Marisol wanted to go to a neat flower market that we went to a year and a half ago. So Phillip kept our boys, and the girls and I met Marisol about 8:00 AM and went to that HUGE flower market. You can't tell much about it in this picture, but there are Thousands of flowers for sell and for GREAT prices. We got there around 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. In Colombian we can normally buy flowers for CHEAP...but since the sellers had been there since 5:00 AM they were ready to wrap up and gave us BEYOND CHEAP prices.~
~I got 3 packs of Cali Lilies (the white flowers) probably about 21 flowers or more, for just $2.50! I used those in my wedding bouquet and my Moma told me that when we got married, Cali Lilies cost $25.00 a Flower!!! WOW! I gave Marisol one pack of these flowers that I bought.~
~Marisol bought me these beautiful yellow roses.~
~We thought that these flowers were beautiful. They don't look real. I love them in the vase that Juan Martin made for me out of bamboo.~
~Kimberly bought me these gorgeous choral-colored flowers for an early Mother's Day gift. She got them for 50 cents a pack!~
~I got these peach roses...14 roses for 50 cents! Needless to say, with such good prices we have lots of beautiful flower arrangements in our home right now. =)~
~We think that these white flowers are Narcissus. They have a beautiful smell. In the middle are 2 miniature pineapples. After buying flowers, then we pulled our cart into the HUGE market there and bought some fresh fruit and veggies and then we ate a cheap but yummy breakfast with Marisol before saying our goodbyes.~
After getting home and making all of my flower arrangements, I took a nap. I had planned to get up and get lots done. Little did I know that when I got up I'd be hit with either a reaction to something I ate, or a virus. UGH! I had a horrible long night last night. I'm trusting Jesus to help me get better soon.

~The Hausmans' last day with us.~

~While Daryl and Natasha were here, the guys were so busy with their classes at church, that they didn't have time to do much sight seeing. So, on the Hausmans' last day with us, we wanted to take them to a neat mountain where you ride a train up the mountain and have a nice view of the city of Bogota. I did not want to lay in bed while my family went out, so Phillip and I decided that I could go, if I didn't do a lot of walking. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, they found out that they could go inside and see Simon Bolivar's house for free until 11:00 AM (normally it's pretty costy). Simon Bolivar was some important political guy here in Bogota. So, I sat at the bottom of the mountainl and waited for them for about 30 mins. or so, for there was A LOT of walking to get down to his house and back up the hill. Then, we got into the train to go up the mountain. Here is Elijah holding on to the bar in the train that we rode up the mountain.~ ~Uncle Daryl and Elijah.~
~Kimberly, Sarah, Noah, and Natasha in the train.~
~It was a STEEP ride up the mountain. Here we had just left the station!~
~Elijah loved holding onto this bar....~
~And then dropping into Uncle Daryl's arms.~
~Another train that just passed us going down as we were going up...thank the Lord for the extra track. =)~
~A neat tunnel that we went through. I say neat...normally I would have loved the tunnel. However, when I'm pregnant I get very claustrophobic!!! I nearly had a panic attack coming back down the mountain, knowing that we would have to be in that tunnel for quite a long time. I had to sit down, close my eyes and PRAY HARD, and God helped me!!~
~Coming out of the tunnel heading up the mountain.~
~I snapped this fun picture of everyone.~
~Phillip and I decided that when there were long distances for me to climb or walk...that I would get into Elijah's stroller and ride! (I haven't seen any wheel chairs for rent here!) So, I did! I tried not to look people in the eyes, but when I did, I would just laugh. At least I was getting to be out with my family and not on my couch. =D~
~Natasha, Daryl and Elijah with some of the Andes Mountains behind them.~
~A neat shot of Bogota that Kimberly took.~
~What I did a lot that day. I sat and waited when there were steps to climb or long distances to walk. I would just sit and wait and let them go and see the sights, since I have seen them before. The Lord gave us a BEAUTIFUL day and a lot of us got BURNT by the hot sun. We're still peeling, 10 days later. =)~
~Looking over the wall to the city of Bogota.~
~Noah, Elijah, and Sarah with a Llama.~
~Then, Uncle Daryl surprised our kids and took them to McDonalds. ~
Thank you, Daryl, we had a yummy lunch and a fun time with y'all! (Sarah moved the camera when she took this picture...so it's a little blurry.)~
~Then we took the Hausmans to a market to get some souvenirs and then back home for them to pack and run out the door to fly home to Ohio. I was sooo tired, I felt sorry for them having to get on a plane and travel all night. Here are Natasha, Kimberly and I looking like lobsters.~
~Saying those goodbyes as they left for the airport! We purposely did NOT let Elijah see them leaving, or he would have cried for a long time! Thank you again, Daryl and Natasha for allll you did for our family and the churches here in Colombia. We loved having y'all here! May God richly BLESS you both!!~

~Baby Report and Easter Sunday pics~

Well, I went to the doctor today and baby is fine! He/she was moving around, and I got to see the heart beating, just precious. Babies are such miracles from God! PRAISE GOD...my placenta is completely healed. Praise the Lord and Thank you for your prayers for baby and I!!! I do have a partial placenta previa (which basically means that my placenta is lower than it should be). Right now, this isn't much of a problem, but we hope and pray that this will move...for nearer the end of my pregnancy it can cause serious complications. God is able!!
~I had Phillip snap a picture of baby and I on Resurrection Sunday, so you could see my baby bump. =D~
~On Saturday night the kids and I were making "Backs of Bunnies" rolls and "Resurrection cinnamon rolls" for Sunday. Phillip, Kimberly, and I sang "I know who Holds Tomorrow" at church on Sunday, and then went into "Because He Lives". I had asked Sarah to get a picture of us singing, but she forgot. She was trying to watch Elijah, but looked up just in time to see him WALKING UP TO THE PLATFORM TO P, KIMB. AND I AS WE WERE SINGING... CARRYING MY BAG OF CRACKERS OUT OF MY PURSE SO WE COULD HELP HIM OPEN IT. HELP! =) No wonder she forgot to take a picture. HA!~
~Here's a close up the "Backs of Bunnies" rolls we made for our Sunday dinner! This is before they are baked.~
~And after they were baked.~
~We had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday. We had a good service and God helped Phillip as he preached. God's presence was very close. Praise God that Jesus is ALIVE!!! For our Easter Dessert we made "Reeces Cupcakes." We used choc. cake, and then frosted them with yummy homemade Peanut butter icing. ~
~Then to make them look Springy we colored coconut green and made little "nests" with a couple jelly beans on each cupcake. They were delicious.~
~This is the kids waiting to see their Easter baskets. Easter isn't all about gifts and new clothes, but we rejoice in this day and celebrate because Jesus AROSE from the grave!~
~Their first glimpse of their goodies.~
~My dear sister, Laura and her family sent us some yummy Easter candy with Daryl and Natasha. Thank you, Hausmans!! Since some of our kids don't have the strongest teeth, we didn't want to give them tons of candy. So, we bought a little more candy to go with what the Hausmans had sent, and then bought each of our children a gift. Sarah loves ball caps. We were glad to find this cute feminine pink and lime green pocka dotted one for her. She takes after her Grammy Eisenhart. =D We got Kimberly a nice black purse. Elijah got a duck for his bath time and a ball. And you'll see a picture of Noah with his gift below. I put some candy in the cup and bowl for my sweetheart Phillip too! =)~
~Here's our "Resurrection Cinnamon rolls" after the large marshmallow melted away leaving "An Empty Tomb!!!"~
~Here's a picture of the kids after half the day was gone. Elijah was one tired little boy. His new outfit (given to me at one of his baby showers) was black, his new shoes scraped...he's allllll boy! =)~
~Noah was thrilled with his hard hat full of tools, screws, etc.~
~"Mr. Noah the builder" hard at work. =)~
You Ask me How I know HE LIVES...HE LIVES within my Heart!

;

~Jesus is ALIVE!!~

The early Christians used to greet each other on Resurrection (Easter) Morning with this greeting! One would say..."HE IS RISEN"...and the other person would respond, "He is risen INDEED!!!" Praise the Lord that we can still say this today. I have always loved Easter and still enjoy it today. I enjoy going to church and singing the Resurrection songs filled with hope for Jesus is Alive! I like to make resurrection rolls for breakfast, and I enjoy gathering some Easter goodies and watching our children open their treats. Sometimes if we look at the changes going on around us, the future can look scary. But, we Christians have HOPE that the world does not have! We know WHO holds the future...and we Know who holds our hand!!

~What...you served your guests worms?~

Some of you have expressed concern that I still be careful and not do too much. Thank you for your concern and prayers. Although I am not completely on bed rest, I am still being very careful! I am not lifting anything heavy, not climbing up and down our stairs, not cleaning, and not doing things that I know could be too hard on baby and I. I am basically doing some cooking, washing dishes, teaching Noah Kindergarten and helping Kimberly and Sarah with their schoolwork when they need it. My family is helping with the cleaning and laundry. I was supposed to go to the doctor today, but when he told me to come back in 15 days he forgot that today and tomorrow are holidays and that they wouldn't be in the office. So, I will go see him next week. I'm trusting Jesus for a good report. I'll let you know what the doctor has to say. Thankfully I still have enough nausea/hungry spells, etc. so I feel that baby is doing just fine! I've got a cute little baby bump that I cannot hide now either. =D
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~Before the Hausmans came to visit us Sarah and Noah saw a recipe in their kid's cookbook for "EWWW Gross dessert." Basically it was dirt dessert in individual cups with gummy worms. So, we put that down to make one day while the Hausmans were here. Well, things got switched around on our menu and the day that we were going to make that dessert, was the evening we were going to have Pastor Alberto from Medellin, and Bro. Rigoberto from Cartagena over for a snack after the classes. I told our girls that those poor men would NOT know what had come over us or THEM if we served them that dessert...but we decided to be brave and do it anyway! Here are the kids making the dessert cups.~
~Here is one dirt dessert cup. I know, you normally mix the coolwhip IN with the choc. pudding so that everything is DARK, but when you live on the mission field sometimes you have to be flexible and adjust recipes. We can only get pudding that you have to cook here, and our pudding was still nearly HOT, but we needed to hurry and make the desserts. So, we seperated the warm pudding from the coolwhip by the oreo cookies, that way the warm pudding wouldn't melt the coolwhip. Then we put the desserts in the refrigerator right away and they were just fine!~
~Phillip, Bro. Rigoberto and Elijah, and Pastor Alberto.~
~Us adults around the table. We had my French Bread snack, cheese ball and crackers, apples and a warm caramel dip, homemade grape juice, and the dirt dessert.~
~The men visiting...in 2 languages! =)~
~Our dessert cups...right before we presented them to our UNSUSPECTING guests! =D~
~We weren't sure how they would react or if they would just quietly smile and eat it. But...they didn't disappoint us. They laughed, pointed to it, showed each other and Loved it! Pastor Alberto told me that when he talked to his wife the first thing she would ask him was what Sis. Heather had served them for a snack. He said, "I'm going to tell her...Can you imagine she served us DIRT AND WORMS!!" Hee! Hee!
~Another picture of Daryl and Phillip teaching! God blessed their efforts and our people are so happy with what they have gleaned.~
More pictures to come.