APRIL INTERNS

For the full month of April Dr. David Thomas, his wife and 2 children spent time with us in Paraguay.  David is currently a second year resident at the same residency where Jeff attended, which is how he learned of the opportunity to shadow Jeff and learn about rural church planting/medical work.  

We had a wonderful month together. 

The guys saw some great clinical cases and we all had some great discussions regarding culture and mission. 

They came along on visits and Bible studies and church. 

We fun times singing together and some fierce games of chess and Settlers. 

The loved Paraguay food and threw themselves into learning Spanish.

And I don’t think they cringe anymore at the layers of dirt caked on their kids.

 Hammock hang out

We were so thankful for the rain and the break in the hot temperatures.  The kids had a blast playing in the rain in the pool.

 We found kindred gaming spirits in our interns

We found kindred gaming spirits in our interns

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEFF!

April 6, 2014

To have a big birthday party….or not to have a big birthday party….that is the question.

And just when we had decided to keep it small….well, it turned into a 5 family.

Which is great because we love hosting, love parties and love our team mates.

After church Jeff grilled a yummy lunch (which I think is funny because I always opt to not cook for my birthday and he always wants to cook for his).

He loved the gift from his family – a water balloon launcher.  A target was immediately taped onto the plastic kiddie pool and the launcher was tried out. 

 lunch preparation start pretty fresh....the doctors become the butchers...

the water balloon launcher was a hit!

JOSIAH at 12 MONTHS

1 year already?  Incredible.  Ginny said to me just last night that she can’t wait for Josiah to see what Josiah looks like walking around.  Yes, I suppose that is the next mile stone….sniff, sniff.   

With his 4 teeth…two on top and two on bottom (all of which came in all in the last month…ouch!) Josiah’s looks are changing from baby to toddler. 

He has learned to get off of beds and sofas by backing down feet first.  This skill was perfected on our recent Brazil vacation because he so desperately wanting to get into the swimming pool.

Josiah loves the water….a pool, the bath tub and especially puddles.  With a huge grin he flaps his hands across the surface sending water everywhere.   

He’s putting more and more sounds together and is coming up with quite a noise repertoire.  The kids love to interpret his noises.

He gives his right hand to greet, he gives high-fives and kisses.

Julia and Josiah are interacting more and more now that Josiah is mobile.  It is fun to see her as the big sister taking care of “her baby”.  She gets concerned when he cries and pacifies him by bringing him juice and toys.  She gets distressed and bossy when Josiah is doing something she thinks he shouldn’t – like getting into the bathroom or eating something inedible.  She loves to help feed and dress Josiah.  She makes games with Legos or stuffed animals for him and invites him to play with her.  She plays mommy with him.  She looks at me and says, “I mommy and he my baby”.  Then she’ll hold her arms out to him, he’ll go toward her and she’ll smother him with a big hug or she’ll pat him on the back and say, “shhhh, shhhh, shhhhh, shhhhh”.     

We had just a little home birthday for him (the Howell’s were also here staying the weekend).  The kids picked out his cake and Ginny and Joshua helped me put all the frosting dots on the dog.              

VACATION HIGHLIGHTS

Finding (thanks to Jeff’s research) an awesome hotel to help break up the 22 hours of travel to Brazil.  It had a little for everyone – the pool, tennis courts, and pool tables were a hit.

Staying at the same “unsafe” waterpark as last year because our kids requested to go again.  Having a blast speeding down the concrete slides (have you ever heard of such a thing?) and Jeff ripping through 2 pairs of shorts – that’s how rough the slides were.  But they were exciting!

God providing a wonderful place for us to rent for the week with lots of space inside and out – a pool, soccer court, fishing ponds, hiking trails, and plenty of good hide-and-go-seeking hiding spots.

Seeing Micah discover a love for fishing…..digging for worms was an added bonus.  I loved seeing Micah and Jeff doing something just the two of them.

Relaxing at the beach, playing in the surf, digging in the sand. Julia calls the ocean “the pool”.

Laughing at Josiah who loved his first beach experience and though that being covered in sand was pretty cool.

Checking surfing off my bucket list. It was fun, exciting, challenging and tiring. Thankful my sweet husband and my brave daughter did it with me (and a patient instructor).

Spending time together over games and movies and meal times. 

Hearing the kids laugh and invent games while playing in the pool ever second we weren’t athe beach.  My kids love the water!

A beautiful hike.   

Taking our kids to a real waterpark our last day in Brazil.  Loved seeing them conquer fears and go down the biggest and fastest waterslides.

Stopping at a go-cart track on our way home.

Feeling incredible blessed for the finances to go on vacation.  I love that we love to be together and we always have fun (even when in the car for 13 hours at a time).  

CUZCO (the second) and GYPSIE

Ginny loved loved loved her first goat, Cuzco and was heartbroken when it was stolen.  After a couple months she said that she was ready to love another, so in November we let her pick one out and her daddy graciously bought her another Cuzco.

This month, Ginny announced that Cuzco was lonely.  She had been saving her allowance and was ready to invest in a friend for her goat.  I love that she spends her money on animals and not typical pre-teen things.

We paid a visit to our friend one afternoon and came back with Gypsie.

Ginny is fun to watch with her goats.  She loves them and they love her. 

 Looks like Julia takes after she big sister in that way too.

Julia loves spending time with the goats.