So Long Ordinary

Where did last week go? For that matter, where did January go?! Well, I totally dropped the ball on the whole daily picture thing last week. Luckily, I have a photographer husband and I can steal some of his pictures! I'm still determined to record 2010 in pictures. Some weeks are easier than others, though! (This was not a very exciting week...) Wed. Jan. 27 : Madison dragged out the baby bouncy seat. Both Madison and Paige had fun bouncing in it - especially Paige who is still light enough but also strong enough now to really get it going! Thurs. Jan 28 : Today we put our house on the rental market. We're hoping to get it rented before the market gets flooded in the summer. We'll miss living here but at least it will technically still be "ours," though now it will be more of an investment than a home for us. It's hard - very hard - to imagine leaving this house. Have I mentioned that we love it here? But we also know we must move on and that it'...

I had to let you know about an awesome opportunity to help out a ministry in Haiti. I've been following this blog for a long time. This ministry, run by a family with a testimony that would blow your mind, just has a special place in my heart. It's a God thing - I have no other way to explain my passion and love for this ministry, especially since I've never met them in person or been to Haiti. Good grief, they aren't even with my mission organization! I've done some communicating with these ladies via email and I'll tell you that their ministry is incredible and they are the real thing . They've been in Haiti for years working outside of Port-au-Prince with a medical clinic, a rescue center for malnourished children, and lots of community projects. After everything, they are still there. Still working...and now helping even more people under conditions you and I can't imagine. I wanted to give you the opportunity to download an incredible song (...

With snow covering the ground again, we've now been seeing a lot more of our old friend "Rudolph." Our yard is chock full of seeds and grass and trees and what have you that must seem awfully tasty to a hungry deer in January. So glad those trees are protected now! Walking around. The garden! This is where we throw our table scraps - the chickens eat what they like and the rest gets composted. Rudolph found quite a few treats in there. The chickens peered out of their cozy coop trying to get a handle on the four-footed animal in their garden, eating their leftovers. The buck glanced up now and then - probably wondering what kind of birds get to live in a house that nice...and why would they leave behind that delicious squash? I must admit, our backyard is really my favorite part about this house. What a view! Not to mention the wildlife (and chickens) always roaming around looking for treats. I savor every moment I get to look out our big living room window. (Sa...

Sean took Maddie with him to take some pictures of the sunset. I made him take her. She was exasperating her sisters (and their mother) to an extreme degree and it was either take her out for fresh air or lock her in a closet. You think I'm joking. (Okay, maybe I am. But if Sean didn't take her out of the house for a while I might have locked myself in a closet.) That girl is wild when she doesn't take her nap. Sadly, we're reaching that in-between stage where naps are no longer a daily occurrence. God help us. It is a good thing she's so cute. I love the energy and silliness of this three-year-old. Someday, God's going to use that strong little personality in amazing ways, I just know it. Sean got this picture when Maddie was hanging out of the window in the freezing cold evening air. No, not even the frigid temperatures could dampen her energy.

Sledding! We had a great time sledding at Beaver Creek. The three cousins really had fun....even if it was a LOT of work getting through that snow for the little people! By the end of our time on the hill, all three were sitting here on the "sled bench" all tuckered out eating snow. Maddie got her head dragged through the snow on her first run down so she really didn't have much desire to sled after that. We made her go down one more time just to prove to her that it really was fun. She still preferred, however, to just sit around and eat the (white) snow. Audrey and Brooklyn both did several runs and had a blast. Grandpa Ben and I each took a few turns down the hill too. But nobody went down as many times or had as much fun as Sean! (except maybe the dog) Sean and I took a ride down together. I sat on a tube in front and held on to Sean's legs while he sat on his own tube. It was fun...except that I got all the snow in my (open) mouth and couldn't breat...

We got some good snow last night, which makes for some fun! Amazingly, Brooklyn still had school and we were busy running errands all day so we didn't get to play in the snow much.... Here is our backyard. We got about 8 inches of snow but it melted fast. Don't you love how you can see the morning cartoons playing through the window?! Also, you may notice our poor "baby" trees surrounded by fence. We caught the local buck deer chewing on them. Those are some costly trees...BAD DEER! We really love having him in our yard - but not if he's going eat Sean's "birthday" tree and my "graduation" trees. We haven't noticed him around lately but better safe than sorry. Brooklyn wanted to play outside after she got home from school Unfortunately, Maddie was still napping so she missed out. But Duke was a suitable playmate. It was pretty cold, so the whole thing lasted less than 2 minutes.

Guess who's walking? Paige has really been taking off the past few days. It's just plain cute! Here's a video of Paige walking. Brooklyn was quite impressed (as you can tell by her giggling and expressions in the background). Maddie just wanted to share in the spotlight.

What does it take to get a visa in Indonesia...for a family of five? A lot of paper. A lot of ink. Some paperclips and sticky notes. Copies of birth certificates, high school diplomas, log books, pilot licenses, police clearance letters, college degrees, a marriage certificate.... We finally got our visa applications together today and sent them off to MAF headquarters to be finalized and then sent to the Indonesian Consolate for approval. We've heard it can take up to six months to get the visas, so we're starting now...seems surreal to actually be working on this right now! Are we really going to Indonesia?! Wow. This makes it feel a little more real. Please pray with us that these applications will be accepted (hoping we dotted every "i" and crossed every "t") and that we'll get our visas in a timely manner. I distinctly remember applying for our visas to Ecuador about 4 years ago. We were in Costa Rica and did the application there. I was s...

We had a five minute blizzard today. Out of nowhere it got windy and stormy. The snow was really coming down! And then it ended just as suddenly as it began. Bummer. This has been a pathetic winter in the Valley as far as snow is concerned. The chickens didn't know what to do. They finally hid out in their coop when it got too windy to stand up. A few moments later, when the flurries stopped, they ventured back out again....looking a little bewildered.

Brooklyn had the day off from school. She was sooo bored. We tried giving her things to do but she didn't like our ideas (funny how that happens). Finally, she got out her paints and started creating. I think this entertained her for a whole ten minutes. Poor kid. She was restless and whiny the whole day. School is a very good thing!

On the road again! We drove north an hour and a half to Poncha Springs where we shared with a church that has supported us and prayed for us for the last five years. We had a great time re-connecting with that congregation. Our drive home was leisurly and quiet. We enjoyed some really fantastic scenery and decided to take another way home. We love our drives :-)

Time to catch up on these pictures! Sean and I had a great time on Saturday night. After my niece's basketball game (they won, by the way) we went and dropped the girls off at Sean's parents house for the night. Since we had plans to leave early in the morning to visit a church on Sunday, it worked out really well for us to leave the youngsters with their grandparents for a slumber party. We don't always take the girls with us to visit churches - it's just much easier for us to focus on what we're doing and actually be able to talk with people when we aren't chasing three girls. Plus, it's more fun for the kids and gives them some quality time with the grandparents. Anyway, turns out Sean and I got to have a date Saturday night! We went out to eat at the local Thai restaurant and then walked around downtown. They were having an ice fest over the weekend with ice sculptures all over the downtown area. The one below was our favorite! It was cold walkin...

I mentioned before that HCJB sent a team to help with relief efforts in Haiti. Here are some pictures from their past few days there. Some of our friends from our Ecuador days are on this team, so please keep them in your prayers as they work very long - and I'm sure emotionally exhausting - hours. MAF's hangar in Port-au-Prince has become a logistics base for 16 aid organizations trying to bring relief to Haiti's earthquake survivors. 3 pilots and one IT guy, in addition to our Disaster response man from HQ in Nampa, are still in Haiti. All non-essential staff (namely women and children) are in the States debriefing and waiting for word that they can return to Haiti (which may be a long time in coming as it is not a safe place to be right now). Keep the 7 MAF missionary families in your prayers as they heal after last week's ordeal, even while trying to help the country that they love and serve.

I'm really having fun with the daily photo project! But it means I don't write much so here's a quick update: Our ministry support is coming in. Seems like we haven't heard much in the past couple of weeks. Little bits here and there are always encouraging but we're hoping things pick up soon. God is so good and this is His process...even without huge news, we know He is providing and will provide. It's that patience and timing thing that I seem to have to learn every year or so! We've been tickling 20% for both monthly and one-time support needs for a few weeks now. Our travel plans are still very tentative but we're really praying that we are able to finish up raising support by the end of May, giving us plenty of time to plan, pack, and prepare before leaving at the end of July for Indonesia. The main reason we want to leave during the summer is so that Brooklyn's school schedule isn't totally screwed up by our leaving in the middle of...

Latest article from MAF about MAF's work in disaster relief in Haiti. Another blog from a missionary in Haiti that I highly respect and have "followed" for over a year. (not an MAFer) A team of HCJB missionary doctors from Ecuador are in Haiti right now. They can be followed here . The latest word on non-essential MAF staff evacuating to Florida is that the MFI DC-3 was able to take off - they should be in Florida by now.

I haven't heard much today, but did hear yesterday that they were only keeping a few pilots and an IT guy in Haiti and sending the rest of the families to Florida. The airport in Port-au-Prince was closed for a while yesterday and so the MAF staff heading to Florida weren't able to go. I haven't heard yet if they made it to to Florida or not today....keep them in your prayers. I can't imagine all that they must be feeling right now. Here is a great re-telling of the events of the past few days from an MAF wife in Haiti... The Krul Family Recovery will be a long, slow process. Keep praying!

We're watching my precious, precocious niece Audrey today. Maddie and Audrey are just a few months apart and seem to play so well together...as long as they don't see each other too often :-) Sean plugged his amp into our computer and so we're blasting the music today. We love music in this house - many different kinds of it - the louder, the better. And what can be done when music is playing? Why, dance of course!

One of our favorite juices in Ecuador was jugo de mora . Purple heaven in a glass, I tell ya! I made mora juice on an almost weekly basis (if not more) in Shell. I had a "mora man" who came by my house each week selling mora and strawberries. I usually spent about $2 dollars on a pound or two of strawberries and a pound or two of mora . Then I'd make juice concentrate from the mora and freeze it for later use. (The strawberries were usually washed and cut and frozen as well). We also loved to order mora juice when we went out to eat. Somehow, the Ecuadorians made it even better....they probably used twice as much sugar! Anyway, it never really occurred to me that I could make it here. I don't know why (well, yes I do - because somebody told me) but I though that mora was something only available in Latin America. I had a light-bulb moment, though when I noticed that blackberries look exactly like mora . South American mora are blackberries...they are s...

Is this month not flying by at an alarming rate? This picture is kinda fuzzy. Sean messes with the settings on my camera. Yeah, I'll blame him! Paige stole this apple from Brooklyn. She crawled all around the house, dragging along that poor apple until we finally had to steal it from her and throw it away! Gross! But this was before the apple got too dirty - she was enjoying it so much!

Many of you may have heard that Haiti was rocked with a major earthquake today. Our MAF staff there are all safe and for that we praise God. But many, many people are scared and hurting right now. Please pray for the safety and security of MAF staff in the midst of the chaos. Pray that MAF and other missionary staff there will be able to minister and help in the upcoming difficult days and weeks. Pray for God's hope and peace for those who have lost their homes and/or loved ones. Please pray for Haiti.

Clementines. They're awesome. Healthy. Tasty. Great fun too. I've got to stop taking pictures in the big girls' room. What a wreck that room is! It's embarrassing. (We do clean it...though it never lasts long.)

I know. I missed Sunday. I forgot my camera when we went to speak at a church and we spent the rest of the day just napping and doing nothing! I remembered late last night that I needed to take a picture but at that point I was too lazy to do anything about it ;-) But yesterday went very well. Our time at the church was great and you can never go wrong with some good, old-fashioned rest on a Sunday afternoon. The picture below is from tonight. Brooklyn and Madison were playing in the living room...but Paige was having the time of her life playing in her big sisters' room! For once she got to play with whatever she wanted and nobody was bugging her. She was quite pleased with herself when I found her like this.

Sean had some night flying to do with a student tonight so the girls and I played card games until bed time. Both girls are really good at Crazy 8's and Old Maid. I love, love, love this time with my girls giggling and having fun!

Woke up this morning to a frosty, foggy morning. So pretty! The bunnies were out in force enjoying whatever it is they eat in our yard. Then the sun came out and it was truly breathtaking! Sean went out and got these pictures around our home....

Homework time before dinner time.

Some friends of ours need your prayers. The LaBouefs have been missionaries in Ecuador for many years. Their 2 year old grandson, who also lives in Ecuador, nearly drowned over the weekend. Thankfully, MAF was there to fly him up to Quito where he is now in intensive care. At this point, nobody knows if he will survive or what effects being under the water for so long will have on him. As you can imagine this is very hard on the family, as well as the entire community. Please pray.

We made homemade crackers today. Maddie loves to help!

Maddie came out of her room this morning dragging a laundry basket behind her. She pulled it into the living room, plopped down inside the basket, and asked for her morning drink and cartoons. It made her day when I not only complied to her wishes but also gave her a pillow to lay back on. Truly, I cannot imagine what it must be like to live her life!

We had a busy day today. Sean had a flight student, I caught up on laundry (okay, sort of), I went grocery shopping, Brooklyn and Maddie had a neighbor-friend over, and I took Paige to the doctor when she woke up from her nap acting real sick (no strep! Praise God).....I'm so tired of paying for these doctor visits. Hopefully, our healthier eating will eventually mean better immune systems and less illnesses. Which brings me to dinner. We enjoyed some tasty coconut rice and veggie kabobs tonight. Yummmmm......

After church we had a quiet day at home. Brooklyn created this pretty flower with her play-dough all by herself and then took the picture of it. This girl is very artistic!

We took a drive today. It was another beautiful day in the Valley, so we went to the Sand Dunes. We had a good time walking through the Visitor Center (hadn't ever done that) and, by the time we were done, it was snowing! I love snow in the mountains. Everything turns still and quiet. So pretty. Sean got this picture of the dunes as we entered the park. He took more, but I'll let him share those. Maddie tasting the snow outside the visitor center. Weird camera issues going on.... We came across lots of deer. It was still barely snowing and soooo quiet. Love it.

New Years Day! We took a little walk around the neighborhood. It was chilly, yes,but in reality rather balmy for the first of January in the San Luis Valley! It must have been nearly 40 degrees out! After our walk, we stopped to play at the park. Great fun was had by all....

Wow! It's 2010. Un-bee-lee-va-bul. So, I hope you've had a joyous holiday season. It's a bit of a let-down to jump back in to ordinary life isn't it? At the same time, it's good to get back into some form of routine. I'm finally catching up on laundry and, well honestly, being a responsible mother again. I'm sure my family appreciates it! I fully enjoyed the little "break" though. Brooklyn returns to school tomorrow. I'm dreading it. We've just had so much fun with her at home and Madison has loved having her sister around to play with. They've played very well together. It's so fun to watch them! For once, they're getting along. This is huge! I'm sure all the new toys to play with have helped ;-) 2010 is sure to be a big year for our family. I've spent a lot of time lately reflecting on what's to come this year, God willing. The completion of our support-raising. A move to Indonesia. The start of a y...