bonfires and long distance phone calls!

Here's how it was:
every single one of my 5 siblings were all together
having a bonfire on a summer evening in Ohio.
We were the only family missing. 
It made me homesick! 

So, we made our own bonfire, our first bonfire!
It was even on the chilly side that evening, just
like in Ohio!  I don't know - it just helped!
Plus I got to talk to a lot of them throughout that
week on the phone.  It made me feel not so far away!

Thanks, Lord, for bonfires and long distance phone calls!

P.S. To my husband's family: we also felt homesick 

around O.S. fair time!

...a great trip!

 In our new ministry, we have the privilege of visiting

our co-workers who are working among the unreached 

tribal groups.  Last week we took a 5-day trip to help 

mainly with the construction of the missionaries'

new houses, but also to be a help and encouragement 

in whatever way we could! 

 The men did the construction work.

We wives watched the kids, cooked the meals, and 

had a fun time talking!

 The kids had a blast playing together...

altogether there were 10!

 

 

 

  Here are some of the views we got to see while traveling.

 

 

 

 We had an incredible week!  

We thank God for the opportunity to go out and visit

our co-workers and pray that one day the tribal

group they live close to will have the Word of God

in their own language!

the good daddy my boys have!

All these pictures were taken on Father's Day, but

they were NOT once a year happenings...

they are very normal occurrences here in our

household!

 Fixing together

 Playing together

 

 Cuddling together

TEW...thank you for leading, teaching, training, hugging, 

tickling, correcting, and loving our sons! 

You are the best daddy EVER!

"Come, you children, listen to me; 

I will teach you the fear of the Lord."  

Psalm 34:11

I'm also very thankful for my father-in-law! 

outside creatures.

OK - honestly I'm not a big fan of bugs and such but I 

love how they intrigue our boys!
They get so excited when they find them,
they spend time watching and learning,
and they take pictures! If you looked on the boys' camera,
here is what you would find:

They love to try to catch the little lizards that run around

on the outside walls.

Our dog didn't like this super huge worm/caterpillar 

thing and killed it later in the day.  The boys watched
the whole process - they didn't let the dog lick them for a while!

I saved the best for last:
this "cute", "little" tarantula was in our driveway!

...a visit to the country!

 There is a single missionary gal who has been studying Guarani 

(the 2nd national language of Paraguay) about 2 hours away 

from the big city and we got to go visit her!  

The boys got a day off school, 

we were off to the country with our picnic lunch 

and we were all happy!

We left the heavy traffic and smells of the city and 

all breathed better as we began to pass farmland 

and sugar cane and cows (watching out for those that wandered 

onto the road).  The countryside of Paraguay is beautiful 

and the way of life so simple. 

We got to see our friend in her classroom and meet her classmates.

We got to see where she's been staying and meet her neighbors.

We ate together while watching sheep and chickens

and talked while our boys explored.  

We also got to hike up a mountain!

(I was not prepared for that - I wore a skirt and flip flops!).

The boys were in heaven!

And speaking of Heaven: while at the top we decided that 

Heaven was probably going to have mountains that we can climb 

and that if we fell we would either be able to fly or bounce!

  It was seriously amazing - these pictures are not giving the 

Lord nearly enough credit for how beautiful he made this area!

And one more thing...we got lost!  

My husband took our youngest son and went in one direction 

while our friend, my two older boys and I went off in another, 

walking in the general "down" direction. Well, what we 

found were little cliffs that were too steep to climb down!  

We kept trying different routes but none of them worked! 

Thankfully we were all together and 

I'm SO thankful that the Lord is with us where ever we go!  

I have to admit I was a bit frightened, thinking, "What kind of 

shelter can I make for us if we have to sleep out here?" 

and "Please don't let the boys slip and hit their head on a rock!" 

and "Why did I wear flip flops?"

In the meantime, my husband had easily found his way back 

and started yelling to us from the bottom.  We retraced our steps

back to where we had parted ways and followed his voice!

After we safely arrived, our middle son looked at me with, 

what seemed to be, frightened eyes, and said, 

"Mom, that was the best adventure ever!"

our loveable, squeezable 4-year old!

It's such fun to celebrate the life of someone you love so much!

He's been counting down the days for quite a while now! 

Here's some pictures of a little party we had 

the night before his birthday. 

The next day was his actual birthday.

 Because he loved Wendy's SO much while we were in the states, 

we created a Wendy's menu for him:

 "chicken nuggets, fries, chepit (ketchup), and frosty"!  

Have you ever made a homemade frosty?  Delicious!

Thanks for the recipe, Mom!

 Not only did he leave Wendy's, 

but he also had to leave his "rocket bike" in the states.  

You should have seen his face when he saw his new bike!

Later in the day we went to the park so he could 

try it out better!

 Birthday boy with his cute brothers!

We ended our day by playing legos altogether.  

The only bummer about the day was that daddy was sick!

Thanking the Lord for the time we have with this little guy!

grandmas!

We are blessed with two very special grandmas!

Today we were able to spend time with both of them;

we helped my mom decorate her house for Christmas,

then my husband's mom came over and baked 

Christmas cookies with us!

We're thankful for all the love they both show to

our boys and the different gifts they have that add

to our sons' lives!