2013!

 We spent New Year's Eve with this fun family

from our church!  We ate like kings and queens!

 

A new year is like a fresh start for me!  This year the Lord has impressed upon my heart to turn my focus toward my husband, my children and my home.......and I'm so very excited to learn in all these areas!!  The years 2010-2012 were difficult years of caring for my family while learning Spanish.  But the Lord helped me finish my studies this past fall!  So, with a joyful heart I'm very ready to begin this new year and spend more time ministering in my home!!!!!!

"...that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."

    Titus 2:4-5    

...special Christmas memories!

 

 

 

...Christmas cookies!

This year we decided to do a little more 

cookie-making than the last couple of years and 

we just had a blast!

(I had to come to terms with the fact that our

Buckeyes were NOT going to look like they do 

in the magazine!)

We were able to find pretzels this year and

state-side missionaries brought down 

candy canes to share!  It was a real treat!

We also enjoyed making "American" ornaments from a kit 

that was sent to us!  We attached them to plates of 

cookies and shared with our neighbors!  

The delivery went like this: once the boys and 

I were all ready and standing outside at our gate, 

my husband would pull a plate out of the 

freezer and we would all walk quickly to a 

neighbor's house...otherwise everything would melt! 

Next year we may have to do something a bit more 

Paraguayan but this year was a lot of yummy fun!

things that remind my family and I that CHRIST is the reason for Christmas!

The manger scene that sits on our fireplace.

Special Christmas tree ornaments.

Nativity scenes we see around town.  

 (We saw this life-size manger scene at the mall.)   

 Christmas programs and Christmas hymns!

This movie, which we watch every year on Christmas Eve.

It's special to all of us, even our young boys!

Newborn babies.  

We had the privilege of bringing this little guy

home from the hospital with his parents on Christmas Eve!

I love seeing newborns around Christmastime!
When I look at them it just amazes me that God
Himself also came into this world as a helpless little babe. 

A true sacrifice for Him.  

An amazing miracle for us!

an awesome retreat!

 Every year we look forward to our missionary retreat! 

All the NTM missionaries, whether studying Spanish,
working in the city at the office or living out in the tribe,
we all gather together once a year for 5 days of
fellowship and encouragement. 

 

Here we are in the air-conditioned chapel where we 

were very encouraged and also challenged by 

two different speakers this year.  It was good stuff!

The pool is where all families with kids spend most of the

afternoon!  It was SO hot this year that the pool felt more 

like a bathtub!  Our middle son (above & below) started
swimming and going under water this year!

The boys had a blast with all their friends!  

They don't get to see some of them very often!

One mom made a huge tub of dry beans and rice for the 

little ones and they loved it!

 

The boys had a lot of fun hunting for frogs and 

cicadas this year and found a cool spider!

 We really enjoyed the fellowship with our coworkers!  

 By the end of the week, the busy days and late night

talks caught up to us!  We were all pretty tired
but very content!

...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!