Saturday, March 29, 2008

Last Post Before We Leave! :)

Sooooooooo...............we are leaving tomorrow on our grand adventure!

Please pray for traveling mercies for us. We have an almost 24 hour flight ahead of us. We will have a layover in Paris Monday night (Paris time) and then arrive in Madagascar Tuesday night (Madagascar time) which is approximately 10:00 a.m west coast time.

Madagascar is roughly 11 hours ahead of the west coast of the US.

Hopefully I will be able to post while we are in the country. If not, then I will have several to do when we get back!

Ttfn!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Excited...

That's the only word to describe my children yesterday.

Yesterday was "d-day" so to speak. I had to put them on an airplane to my sister's home. I was a bit nervous because they've never been on a trip alone.

The airline attendant was really great. He escorted them down the jetway right behind them and didn't let anyone walk between him and the kids (is that proper English????).
Sileena was gracious enough to go with me. I figured I would be a basket case of tears and would need a shoulder to cry on. Instead of crying I decided to take massive pictures of the airplane and the workers. I know, weird. But that's how I dealt with it. I did get choked up once but only when we got to the gate. After that I was fine. Phyllip wanted me to cry (what a brat!). He was looking forward to making fun of me! But I didn't let him have his desire! *smile* I was very strong!

As Sileena and I were watching the plane waiting for it to leave we were watching the guys loading the plane and we got a kick out of it. Hence the following pictures.


Their job looks so difficult!

Chilling out on the job!

Phyllip would definitely love this kind of job!


The jetway being pulled away from the plane.


The plane backing up




De plane taking off!

I am happy to report that the kids arrived safely and are now settling in at my sister's!

Oh, and as a side note, Lyndsey didn't think it necessary to take a heavy coat to the good old northwest. She thought a jean jacket would be enough. I assured her that was wrong thinking. She reluctantly took her heavy coat. And when they arrived in Seattle, guess what! It was freezing! And the following picture is the weather that welcomed them.

That's right! Snow! And at the end of March! Weird!
Lyndsey was really glad I made her take her heavy coat! *laugh*

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

We are so Blessed!

Last weekend our church was so blessed as to host the Spring Tour singing group from West Coast Baptist College. Our family was even more blessed to spend the day with all 4 of the girls as they went soulwinning with our church and then to have 2 of them stay in our home Saturday evening. Lyndsey was on "cloud 9" the entire time! We had a blast getting to know them (time goes by so fast and we cram as much as we can to get to know each of the girls). Each one has a great sense of humor.
From left to right is Kayla, Jennifer, my Lyndsey, Laura (Jennifer's sister), and Bethany.

So many people said that Bethany and Lyndsey look like sisters. They really hit it off well. Oh, and I found out that Bethany knows the Kitson family. I used to babysit their 2 oldest kids 20 years ago (they now have 12 kids)! I haven't seen the Kitsons in that long, either. Anyhow, yesterday I was able to get in touch with them
. The Lord is so good to us!

Bethany and Lyndsey! They do look like sisters!

We got to spend Easter Sunday morning with them at our church. Our family was even more blessed (I know I keep using that phrase but that's exactly how we feel!) because the girls did their warm up in our house around our piano! It was fantastic! The pianist, Jennifer, is incredible! Her fingers just glide across the piano and makes it look so easy! I could sit and listen to her play for forever!


The girls warming up at our home.


Lyndsey and Kayla.


Lyndsey and Laura

Lyndsey, the social butterfly that she is, managed to remember to get all of their addresses so she can keep in touch with them!

Some silly pictures of Bethany and Lyndsey.


Oh, I forgot to mention that I was deliriously tired Saturday night because of lack of sleep. The girls were getting ready for bed. I was making cinammon rolls for breakfast on Sunday morning. Lyndsey decided that she HAD to make a skirt for Easter Sunday (I had bought the material and pattern for her a month ago and we just never got around to making it). I told her that I didn't really want to sew because I was exhausted. Well.....she had gotten most of the skirt done and needed the zipper put in. I'm really not that great with zippers but...I ended up putting it in at 11:00 p.m. To my amazement, I was able to sew it in in one sitting. I didn't have to rip part of the stitching out and redo it! I couldn't believe it! Finally I could say that putting a zipper in is easy! That is until..........I realized that I put it in BACKWARDS! I told Lyndsey that's what she gets when she asks her deliriously tired mother to put a zipper in a skirt at 11:00 p.m.! *laugh* So needless to say, her skirt did not get done!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

WE NEED PRAYER!!!!!

I just wanted to give anyone that reads our blog a better idea of what the country of Madagascar is like.

First of all, it's nothing like the movie "Madagascar."

There are approximately 19 million people that live on the island.

It is the 4th largest island in the world. It is 250 miles off the east coast of South Africa.

It has been classified as 1 of 2 fourth world countries. The poverty there is astounding.

The people mainly live on rice and beans for their food. They live in one-room huts. They have no plumbing, no electricity, no stove or oven, no refrigerators, etc. They cook on something that looks like a camping stove outside. The people work and usually only earn enough wage in one day to provide food for their families (around $1 a day).

We will be working with a missionary that our church supports - Ja Pritchard and his family. They have been in the country for 3 years now. They have seen many, many souls saved and continue to give out the Gospel through soulwinning, church services, and other outreach programs. They are discipling them through learning centers that they have established to help teach the people basic education (reading, writing, math, etc.).

There are several missionaries that should be moving to Madagascar within the next year or so. One just recently got to the field to start an orphanage.

While there, we will be teaching the people several classes. Walter will be teaching the men about creation from a biblical perspective and I will be teaching the ladies cleanliness in food preparation as well as some basic recipes (pancakes, etc.). Believe it or not, they don't know what a pancake is! That just blows my mind! I thought everybody knows that! We're not exactly sure what else we will be doing there, but we have been preparing for these classes here at home. I know that we will be kept very busy, though!

One of my prayers has been answered in the last week concerning our trip. Bro. Pritchard has reserved 2 different apartments for us. One with indoor plumbing and one without (yikes!). I really don't want to be in the one with outdoor plumbing and no hot water. I have asked the ladies of the church and some other friends/family to pray that we could get the apartment with indoor plumbing. We found out last weekend that the one with outdoor plumbing and no hot water is already being rented. Praise the Lord! I know He loves me! *gigantic smile*

We really covet all of your prayers as there are many unknowns that we are facing with this trip. But our God is a VERY BIG God and I know that He will answer all of our prayers for this trip. Please pray that He will reveal His will for us concerning becoming missionaries to this country and that He will make it very plain to us. We just want to do what He wants us to do.

Also, if you would remember our children during this. They will be with my sister in Washington. We will be away from them for 4 weeks. That's an incredibly long time and I'm not looking forward to that part.

We are leaving on March 30th.

For a look into Madagascar click here. There are a lot of pictures of different cities on the island. I must tell you that we DO NOT endorse the theory of evolution on this particular website. I put the link in so you can look at the pictures!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Happy Birthday, My Love

Today marks the **st birthday of my Mr. Wonderful! I just want to say, "I Love You."

Here are a few pictures down thru the years.


Our wedding day - November 4, 1989


Our family with one child

Two children



and child number 3!







Gorgeous!!!!


My three men!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Siblings

Thought I would share a conversation between Lyndsey and Phyllip this morning.

Phyllip goes into Lyndsey's room. He looks at her shoes.

Phyllip: You need organization with your shoes.

Lyndsey: (irritated) You're the one who needs to be organized! Not me!!!!!

A little background on Phyllip is that he is a total slob. When I passed by his room this morning it looked like a tornado had gone through there (not that he doesn't know how to clean).