Around Here

Obviously there are a lot of things that have happened around here since I last posted! We've had birthdays, vacations, lots of everyday activities and lots and lots of growing up. Our children are now 11, almost 9, 6, 4 and almost 2 -WOW!  Just this week we started homeschool again, with a 6th grader, 4th grader and 1st grader. Our boys have the blessing of having a teacher (not just Mommy) this year and I am excited for them. They are excited about it and I am confident that they are going to have a great year.

Lucas' First DIY project

 

Abby - 23 months

Love it!

Micah's photo shoot for Daddy's birthday

6th Grader

4th Grader

First Grader (FYI - he was 1.5 years old 

when we moved here!)

Caleb's Baptism

On the first of this year we had the wonderful blessing of seeing our oldest son, Caleb, be baptized. Caleb was so excited about this! About a year and a half ago we went to the sea to baptize him, but he got sick on the way there - I think from nervousness. This time he was both nervous and excited. Before his baptism he prepared a short testimony that he gave in both English and the national language. We are so excited to see what the Lord does in his life.

Thanksgiving and Christmas

Abby thought the Thanksgiving meal was yum!

Thanksgiving Crafts

We were blessed this year to have company for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. For Thanksgiving were able to have good friends come to visit. We had a nice, encouraging time with the Wolf's and their "ladies" (as Micah calls them).






This Christmas we had a special treat in that Nana was able to be with us. The boys also appreciated the long distance gifts from Grandma Tricia and Grandpa (Caleb actually shed a tear over his Tim Tebow jersey) and the NFL jerseys from Uncle Rob - do we see a pattern here? Celebrating Christmas overseas has its pluses and minuses. Living in a country where very, very few people celebrate Christmas means that we do not get wrapped up in holiday programs and parties and we are able to spend more time as a family focusing on Christ. We do, however, miss being able to celebrate Christ's birth with other believers in our heart language. This year we did have the privilege of worshiping in another language along with some who, for the first time, celebrated the birth of their savior.

Josiah's Birthday

We celebrated Josiah's 8th birthday on the 16th of October (yes, that long ago). Honestly, Josiah is a boy with very few interests. He likes video games, sports, thinking math thoughts, and breakfast! This year he received a few games for the Wii and was especially excited about the Madden football game from Nana. He was also blessed to receive a large box of goodies from friends in the states. I tried to capture his excitement as he opened the large box and looked through it. He moved too fast and was way too excited for me to capture his reaction to his favorite thing - a large box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Thankfully Josiah is a very generous boy so he shared with his brothers. There are many neat things about Josiah's personality - he is funny, smart, easy going, and loveable. Though he has grown so much since we moved here over 4 years ago, some things remain the same. He still hops up and down whenever he is excited about somethings, still rises early, still likes to snuggle up, still loves math and still loves to eat breakfast.