Birthday Girl #3!

At the beginning of this month, we celebrated Leah's birthday -- we've seen her face a lot already in this first year of her life, and she's proved to be quite the trooper -- we're excited to see her continue to grow, develop, and tackle more of life's struggles with faith, hope and love!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL!

Coming Soon: Travis' birthday!

Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

We love you so much, and are so proud of the big girl you are becoming.

6 years old and you are getting more and more awesome each day!

You're a doll!

God is Good...

We were away for our annual Field Forum last week, and it was an encouraging time with our team, with other international workers in different countries, and we were even able to relax a little bit -- bonus!  Upon our return, now, we've hit the ground running and are trusting the Lord to provide the strength, wisdom and guidance we need as we continue ministry here.  We've got a busy summer coming up, with lots of visits, Camps, interactions and preparations -- we'd appreciate your prayers!

Only 8 days until the 2014 World Cup!  Our family has changed a little bit since the last one...

June 2010

It's already May!

Hello Hello!

We can't believe that May is already here -- 2014 is moving at a pretty swift pace, it feels like, and we're enjoying seeing how the Lord is working in and through our family, in our lives and ministry here!  So far this year, we've seen: the Lord heal Leah; more and more doors open up for us to deepen our connections here; new friends we've made helped us staff our English Day Camp; and the Lord continues to guide us and our team through exciting and challenging times...

We're approaching more solid preparations for our full summer -- 2 English Day Camps, 1 English Retreat and a visit from family -- fun times!

Thanks a bunch for keeping up with us -- more/consistent/fun updates to come!

Leah!

Thank God for His healing hands, in how He has brought full restoration to Leah's hips (hip dysplasia) at a time in her development where we were starting to prepare for a possible surgery.  Her age and growth were at a point where the brace she was wearing would not be doing anything for her anymore, yet a couple of weeks later, the doctor gave us the all clear -- thank God!  She continued to wear the brace only at night (to get her legs/muscles used to the transition out of the brace).  We just took her again for a final check last week and Leah looks good!  No more brace, no more hip concerns, and we're hoping to see her moving all over the place very soon!

Please pray for her continued growth and development.  She still has some progress to tackle, and she is already bigger and longer than babies normally are when they learn how to roll over and crawl, and so she gets frustrated due to the difficulty.  We're praying for her determination and stretching herself to feed her curiosity in exploring her new world and opportunities, and hoping to see her make some decent strides in the coming days.

Thanks for thinking of us and checking up on us!

Fun February

February played host to our English Day Camp here in Waren, and it was fantastic!  We had a great time spending the week with children from our hometown here, teaching them English through songs, sports/games, art projects and fun lessons.  It was a great experience to cooperate with the local community center and after-school program, even having some of their helpers working on staff with us.  We value getting to know many of the kids better, meeting some parents and getting to know some of them better, and most of all, serving them and meeting some practical needs in His love.  Thanks for thinking of us and praying for us...

Emma celebrated her 3rd birthday this month as well, and Sarah celebrates later this week -- fun times partying!

Thanks a bunch for checking in on us -- sorry for the delayed post!

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recently watched: Monsters University

We watched this fun one for family movie night this past weekend, and really enjoyed it!  Pointed out to the kids how working together is key, and seeing how even though some people (or monsters) are different, we all still have our distinct talents or important characteristics.  Recommended!

Funny Funny

We love our kids a bunch, and they do/say some pretty funny things -- here is one of them that we caught on video, and it makes us laugh so much -- you'll probably laugh too...

Emma doing her finest Batman impersonation

 

The Newest Year Has Begun...

We enjoyed all the Christmas lights, reflecting on the Christmas story, the giving and receiving of gifts with family and friends, and celebrating the reality of welcoming Christ to live among us...

Looking back on 2013, we are encouraged to see how our family and ministry has been blessed in so many ways, and how God has opened up so many doors -- our trust in Him has been stretched/exercised, and we've seen how He has moved us along the 2013 path -- in His wisdom, His provision, His timing, His ways...

The year ahead?

New endeavors, adventures, changes, challenges, hurdles, hopes, ideas and intentions...

It's gonna be a good one!

And some pictures...

 

I know it's not the amount many of our family and friends have received, but the kids have learned to be content...

We've got some cute kids -- I know...

 German Christmas markets are the best!