...the precious life of our oldest son!

9 years old today!!!

You've grown in lots of ways this year!  

Physically you've grown 3 inches this year!!

Academically you learned about carrying & borrowing

 (in math) and read your birthday cards about as fast 

as we can!  Spiritually you've grown in the area 

of respecting authority!!  That's a lot in one year!

This year one of your good friends and his family 

was in from the tribe so they were able to come and 

celebrate with us!

Fried chicken, oven-roasted potatoes, broccoli with cheese 

and chocolate pudding pie were your meal choices this year.

We all had a good time!

  Your little brother had a hard time understanding

the gifts were for you and not him!  Thanks for letting

him help you unwrap them!

One of our favorite things about you is your smile

and your willingness to help!  Whether it's helping me 

in the kitchen, helping your little brother get 

dressed or working alongside Dad when he is 

fixing something.  You are a blessing to us!!!

fruit!

I walked into the kitchen the other day and just couldn't get 

over how much fruit we had! 

(There's more in the fridge!) 

Watermelon (we bought it for $1.50 

from a man that stops by each morning with his 

motorcycle pulling a trailer full of fresh veggies and fruit), 

plums (we bought from a man that walks by our 

house every other day with two baskets full of fruit , 

oranges, 

lemons (a guy from our church 

pulled them off his tree for us), 

grapes (my language helper brought them 

from her vines as a gift when we had her family over),  

Brazilian mangos (my language helper saw them 

on the way to our house and picked some for us) 

and bananas!  

It still amazes us when we see fruit hanging 

on so many trees here!  And if they are hanging 

over the sidewalk, they are free for the taking!

 We saw TONS of watermelons on the way to the creek

last week.  Out of the city you can find them for $0.50 each!

Fruit is so refreshing in this hot weather -

thank You, Lord, for fruit!

a FULL day of Spanish!

 We began our day at church!  Once a month we've 

been teaching the kids.  We've been going through 

El Cordero, or The Lamb, a chronological approach
to the Gospel.

After church the boys and I hurried home to finish preparing 

lunch and my husband ran to get one of our language helpers 

(the lady 3rd from the left) and her family. 

 We had a good visit with them over lunch and UNO!

 We had an hour to rest before we went to pick up

another of our language helpers, who loves music.
We went to a local Mennonite church and enjoyed a
Christmas concert together!

We're thankful for days like this, when we are emerged 

into the culture all day, because it helps us speak 

smoother and faster!

...new family members!

 We have gained 4 new family members since we've been in 

Paraguay!

My "baby" sister was married in May! 

 Next, my brother and his wife added a little baby boy 

to their family!

We can't wait to meet this cute little guy!

 Then in August my "baby" brother got married!

And finally, in November, my grandma got married!

We're looking forward to getting to know 

everyone better on our furlough/home assignment!

...a day at the creek!

Another missionary family took us to the Piribebuy Creek today!

That is Guarani (Paraguay's 2nd national language) 

for "Fish Country"!

It is about 2 hours away but so worth the drive!

Especially since we were the only people there today!

The water was clean and cool, 

the landscape around us was beautiful!

 

 (Above: Our oldest son is on the right.)

These boys had fun climbing the rocks and exploring!

 (Above: Our middle son is on the right.)

These boys dug themselves a seat in the sand!

And we all enjoyed the miniature rapids!

 I'm not sure what was better: 

being out in the country for a day,

watching the kids splash and swim,

the juicy watermelon we ended the day with 

or the fellowship we had with our friends!

Thank You, Lord, for a good day!

...new teammates!

This missionary family just arrived in Paraguay last week!

It's very fun to get new missionaries - 

it's like we're getting new family members!  

 The NTM missionaries who live in town, including us, 

had a Welcome/Thanksgiving Feast for them!

One of the single missionary gals made this very cool veggie turkey!  

Can you see it?

 If you think of this family, 

could you pray for them as they adjust to their new life here?

Moving to a new country is exciting...

but it's also emotional, challenging and exhausting!

 

...a day set aside to give thanks!

This tradition started last year and it's something we ALL

love doing!  We put up a poster board, lay the markers close by

and write down things we are thankful for all day! 

It's incredible how many things we can be thankful for!

(And it was so fun to get out last year's poster and read it!)

"...giving thanks always for all things to God the Father 

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ..."  

Ephesians 5:20

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!