Off Line

We have no home phone and no internet at home either . . . hence the lack of posts. My gratitude to those of you who have kept checking our blog. We are all doing well. We are loving the weather, and Christian is really enjoying his job. We just mailed out a newsletter last week that gives a few more details on that. If you didn't receive one just let us know and we will add you to our mailing list.

There is a block party scheduled for our neighborhood today so the kids got out their littlest dirt bike and all took turns zipping around the streets. It was fun to watch them ride. They love it.

We have gone to some very interesting churches over the past few weeks. We attended a baptism at one last week. It is always so amazing to watch people commit their lives to Christ. I didn't know anything about the people professing their faith in Jesus in the pool, in the parking lot outside the cinema. I am sure they were just like the rest of us. They have a story to tell. A life full of trials and heartache with a scarred heart to prove it. Yet, in that pool, the hope and peace that washed over them because they know God now was almost tangible. God is so amazing, the way he has chosen to love us, and know us, and change us. But most of all, I am so thankful for the hope gives.

We have a new address!

God is amazing!! Christian made it to SC Tuesday night. He made some phone calls the next day and found a condo for rent only 3 miles from the office. It has some woods and a stream to play in and a community pool (our kids prayed persistently for a pool!)

Our new address - as temporary as it may be . . .

2149 Midnight Blue Ln
Fort Mill , SC 29708

Thank you to all who have been praying for us. They land lord was very nice and gave us a good deal on the rent and a very short-term lease and we can have Maggie (our dog) come with us!! God is faithful. The plan from here is to pack and leave next week-end. Christian will be home Saturday night and has to work his last week here in CT. Packing is proving to be the most trying aspect of this move. It looks like a bomb has exploded in our rooms. Well, I will just pray and keep plugging away . . .

The song says it all

Something changed inside me,
broke wide open all spilled out,
till I had no doubt
that something changed.

Every word I believed in,
'til I felt it in my own heart
in the deepest part
the healing came.

And I cannot make it
and I cannot fake it
and I can't afford it
but it's mine.

Something so amazing
in a heart so dark and dim
when the walls fall down
and the light comes in

And I cannot make it
and I cannot fake it
and I can't afford it
but it's mine.

I thank you, Lord . . . .


-heart/life: Amy
-words: Sara Groves

The Latest . . .

Christian leaves on Tuesday to go a look for a place for us to live in the Charlotte, NC area. He accepted a position at the SAM home office and will be working there TEMPORARILY until we leave for Peru. We are still waiting our full support to come in but in the mean time we thought this job would be a great opportunity for Christian and our whole family. Pray for him, Finding a rental with 5 kids and a dog at an affordable price is not as simple of a task as I had once thought. We will be coming back up to CT in early May and we still plan to travel to MI. Our address is changing but that is all - we are still raising support and will leave for Peru as some as we are at 100%.

Other noteworthy news:
Max lost his first tooth (ripped it out himself)
and
We are officially finished with our history book!!! (it has taken us 2+ years to get though world history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the colonization of North America - Story of the World volume 2)

Table Games

Our kids have always been very creative and they become more even more so as there minds are opened up to the realities of other cultures around the world. It is interesting to see how their minds process and accept the idiosyncrasies of other cultures. People who eat bugs for lunch is not really gross anymore. It is a matter of fact.

For lunch today we had pasta. I didn’t have quite enough penne so I broke up so angle hair and through it in the pot, too. While eating, Gavin and Beth had some sort of game going but I couldn’t quite tell what it was. Then Beth blurts out, "We are playing American and Indian!" It took a second to put it all together, but they meant Indian: a person indigenous to the rainforest, and not American Navaho. I had a pretty good idea what was going on but I had to ask for an explanation of the game. Just to hear it in their own words.

One person is the Indian and the other person is the American. The "Indian" gets to make up what they are eating - for example, the angel hair were the skinny worms and the penne were the fat worms/grubs. The "Indian" acts like they LOVE the food while the "American" sheepishly puts the "worms" into their mouth and tries not to get grossed out.

I allowed them to continue the game as they were still remembering their table manners. Then Gavin(who was the "American") looks at Beth and asks pleadingly, "Can we stop this game, my belly is really starting to hurt." I guess he got into his role a little too well.

Chocolate cream pie

We scheduled several small group presentations about Peru for this month. We had great turn out at the first one, great turn out at the second, and zero tonight. Two families couldn't make it and the others never RSVP'd. So, admittedly, tonight was a bit discouraging but over all, four new people have joined our support team in the last week. That is AMAZING!!!!! God never ceases to astound us with his goodness and his foresight.

Having no one show up tonight actually was a blessing. We were able to take our time with dinner and eat chocolate cream pie for dessert. Gabe had gone to my mom's for a birthday sleep over tonight and the three younger ones went to bed as usual which left us with just Emma. We let her stay up late and played a great game of "Settlers of Catan". It is always exciting to spend time with the kids one on one or when they find themselves in a new roll (ie. oldest sibling for the day).

To Infinity and Beyond!!!!

Well, we didn't quite make it to infinity but we did travel to/through 13 states and 1 Canadian province in 20 days. We are all a bit sick of the car, but it was a fun adventure none the less.

We stayed in Ontario with our friends the Harris family. God blessed us with their friendship shortly after moving to MI in 2004. They have 6 kids - what a house full. It was such a blessing to reconnect and spend time with them. We were able to see their new home in Canada. That is good because I like to be able to picture where someone is standing in their house when I talk to them on the phone and to know little things about their everyday life . . .like the fact that they by milk in a bag. (Its a Canadian thing.) Bobby took us all bowling one night. Most of our kids have never been. Of the 15 of us guess who won . . . . Gavin!!!! He scored a 155 and beat us all!!!

In Michigan our wonder friends, Jim and Natasha, opened their home and let us invade their basement. We always wanted a large family so we would always be a big group of people doing things together - unfortunately . . .we are a large group of people every where we go. It is hard to be discrete in another's home when you are like the invading Saxon horde moving onto their land. J and N - you guys are saints!!!

The kids (and us too) had a great time with baby Max. Natasha is an amazing first time mom. She was patient and calm as my 5 hovered over Maxon James like vultures. They had more fun with his baby toys than he did. Maxon also got a great work out as the kids helped him do lap after lap around the house helping him walk.

We had fun catching up with friends and renewing acquaintances. It was great to see everyone at Impact. We plan to travel back to MI in April, so if we missed you this time we hope to catch up with you then.

Apart from fellowship, our main purpose for this trip was to raise support. We are at 40% of our monthly support and are praying we see that double in the next month or so. We hope to be fully funded and leave for language school by the end of the summer. After language school we will be church planting in Peru. All of this is in God's timing . . it always has been. I just forget sometimes.

We went south after 9 days in MI. We drove through OH, KY and TN. KY is beautiful!!!!! We stayed in this place called Pigeon Forge, TN because the hotel room was dirt cheap. Little did we know we were staying in a mini, less risque version of Las Vegas! As we headed south off the highway in the direction of the Microtel we were accosted for miles by lights, signs and shows. It was crazy - tacky to be more precise. Turns out we stayed right near Dollywood. (It was closed for the season.)

The next day we drove through Smokey Mountain National Park. The mountains were beautiful. We hit Asheville, Morganton and Hickory, NC on our way down to SC to visit the South America Mission office in Fort Mill, SC. We stayed with friends and enjoyed beautiful weather.

God has opened some doors and placed some great opportunities in our lap during this trip. Pray that God's desire for our family and our remaining time here would become our desire as well.

I will try to post pictures later.

We're Headed West

Tomorrow we pack up and head west. (Yes, we will pack tomorrow. I am still doing laundry) We are going to visit with some dear friends, formerly from Alto, who now live in Canada. We can't wait!!!!! Then it is on to the Lowell area where we get to visit more great friends and stay at Baby Max's house. God has been doing amazing things through a lot of different people. It is so amazing to watch God unfold the story of your life.

Gabe's first blog entry

Gavin and I went out to play in snow. He fell and hurt his leg so I teased him and said,"Want me to bury your leg?" He said, "Yes." So I buried all of him.

Good idea . . in theory

We were making lemonade today: lemon juice, real maple syrup, and water. As usual, we weren't measuring anything. The "Guess and Taste" method works pretty well in our house. Well, the first attempt was rather sour and we were out of maple syrup. I went to the cabinet to find some stevia packets when Gavin shouts, "I know, through some flax seed in it!"
Ah, I have taught my kids well. They love their Omega 3's.

(I know what some of you are thinking . . . . No, I did NOT let him do it.)

Musician Max

This really needs no explanation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Max . . . .

Key Change

In the aftermath of Christmas morning presents Max and Gavin find their way to their instruments and begin to make magical tunes. Gavin thought the guitar needed a bit more tuning so watch closely and you will catch him giving big brother a hand.

Holiday Fun

We had a great holiday and we pray all of you did, too. We took advantage of family time on Christmas eve and the seven of us opened our gifts while L&L went to church. It was so fun watch the kids exchange gifts with each other. Gabe, Emma, and Beth used their own money to buy gifts for their siblings. Max and Gavin had a little parental help. The smiles, hugs and kisses we witnessed that night among the five of them was such a blessing.



We have always had this rule: one gift per kid. When you only have one shot to get it right it had better be the perfect gift. This year I don't know who was more excited about their gifts, us or them.







Beth opening earrings from Emma (Clip-ons Emma had gotten from Nana and saved for Beth)








Emma showing Gabe a little gratitude for the mood bracelet he bought her.







Max has wanted to learn guitar so he finally got his own.





Gavin was so excited for his eye-patch from Gabe - he didn't even seem to notice the tag on his nose.



All-in-all it was a musical Christmas. Max got a guitar, Beth got a how-to harmonica book (she has had the harmonica for a while), Emma got a sustain pedal for her keyboard, and Gabe can practice drums while he listens to his MP3 player. Gavin, well, he got an eye patch and he's missing a tooth - the perfect front man for the band.

Lexicology with Gavin

The other day the kids stumbled upon a really bad video recording of a musical I did in high school with the church youth group. The kids thought it was hilarious to watch. I was a bit embarrassed to hear for myself that my singing wasn't as good as I had thought back then. Emma was glad that I am not as large as I had been and glad I don't wear that much jewelry any more. Gavin just wanted to know what a youth group was. With his face a screwed up he demanded, "Mommy, what IS a youth group?" I answered very simply, "A group of youth who get together and do things." Annoyed he asked again, "What is a youth?" "Oh, a youth is a young person." Annoyed and exasperated he finished the conversation, "Uh! Why can't they just say young people!!"

Biology II with Gavin

Gavin complimented me on a dress I was wearing yesterday. I thanked him and told him Daddy liked my dress, too, and that I have had it along time. I even had it when Mommy and Daddy were dating.
"You mean like crickets, Mom, when they meet each other for the first time. You had that dress when you were mating?"

Biology with Gavin

The other day I was assisting Gavin in the bathroom when a discussion ensued about the differences between boys and girls. I pointed out that he and Daddy were boys, to which he quickly corrected me. "Daddy is not a boy. He is a man!" True enough. I then pointed out that he and Daddy were males, to which he responded, "Oh, we are males and you're a she-male!"

It was quite cute.

More Lovely Locks

Beth just got back from Grandma's shop . . . minus 10 inches of hair. We LOVE her new do. We will mail her ponytails off to Locks of Love this week.

We are proud of you, Beth.

For those of you who noticed - yes, her ponytail fell apart. The elastic fell off when she was shaking it around. We had to pick some of the hair up off the deck. She also managed to stab herself with the back end of an arrow yesterday - hence the mark on her neck. (That happened yesterday while we were on the phone, Nancy.) She is an apple that doesn't fall far from this tree (mom).

The Goat Kart

The kids love playing with the new go-kart they built with Daddy. The neighbor kids and the cousins like it too. Max mistakenly spent several days calling it a "goat kart" in stead of a go-kart before we realised the miss understanding.

A Day at Home

So, today was the first Saturday in months that we have not needed to attend a soccer game (or two or three). We ate in our jammies - well, mom did. Read stories, played Legos and cars, made jewelry, planned a birthday party and best of all . . . helped Daddy make the neatest go-kart/soap box derby car ever. I made three meals, finished the laundry and never set foot outside (it was raining and cold.) Tomorrow the schedule is full again but that fact only leads me to appreciate today all the more.

Lovely Locks

In the Spring of 2004 our girls had some very lovely long locks. Beth was not quite 4 and Emma was 5.

They each cut off 10 inches to donate to Locks of Love.

Well, here we are in 2007 and Emma did it again. Last week she cut off 10 inches of her hair to donate to Locks of Love.

It was a hard decision for her this time. She didn't have to do it but she chose to. We think she made a good choice. We are proud of you, Emma!!!