Hello Friends,
Sorry we´ve been so silent. You probably think we´ve fallen off the planet! I assure, we have not. I don´t think I´ve ever gone a month without posting, though. Truth is, we are in Bolivia for the holidays. Most of you probably know that, but for those of you who didn´t know, I wanted to assure you that all is well.
I have internet access here, but when I´ve tried to download pictures onto my blog, it has taken TOOOOO long. Hence, this post without photos. Rest assured, when we return to good, old, snowy Indiana, we will have many photos to post!
We are enjoying our time in Bolivia. It´s been beautiful to see Jayden getting to know his Bolivian family and really getting attached to them. It will be hard to say goodbye. It´s also been amazing to see God at work in the youth we discipled. The seeds the Lord allowed us to plant have taken root and bearing much fruit! We praise the Lord for what is happening here and look forwad to sharing more with you in the days to come.
Thank you for your prayers. We will be returning home on the 8th of January. Please pray for safety while we are here, safety as we travel back to the US, smooth going in customs in Miami, and health for all of us as we are here during the summer months and it is HOT and there are many mosquitos. Jayden has suffered from heat rash, but is doing much better now.
We love and appreciate all of you and look forward to sharing more about our trip in the days to come! Hope you had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to incredible New Year!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Beautiful, Historical Savannah
On our trip South, we had a couple of days between meetings. After Virginia, we headed further south to Georgia. We had to make it to St. Simons Island by Thursday, but we had all day Wednesday with no committments. So, we decided to spend the day in beautiful Savannah!
Rather than driving in our car and battling traffic and trying to find parking spots, we opted to use a local tour company. For a small fee, we got a 1 1/2 hour bus tour through historical Savannah. Then the bus would drop us off at any of their drop-off points and we could enter the buildings, go to the museums, and walk around town. When we wanted to go to another place in Savannah, we just had to catch the shuttle that belonged to that company. It was WONDERFUL!
We saw historical churches. This is actually a huge Catholic cathedral. We didn't make it inside, but it was absolutely gorgeous from the outside. The city is full of historic churches. We saw several that were connected to John Wesley. Very cool.
We saw many historical buildings. It was incredible to think of all the history that has happened in these streets, these buildings. Our bus tour guide gave us all sorts of fabulous information. I couldn't believe how much he had to memorize for our tour! I was impressed! Too bad I can't remember it all to share it with you!
There are also many museums open to the public. We didn't make it to any of these by foot, because we found that with a baby, everything was a little more time-consuming and tiring!
There are also many historical landmarks and tombs. It's mind boggling how much history there is in this city!
After the tour, we headed for the river walkway. The ship behind Gerson was built in Brazil. We thought that was interesting. It reminded me of ancient pirate ship!
We had a beautiful day to walk around. We enjoyed the sites, the history, and the sunshine. It was a fabulous day to just be a family and enjoy each other.
When we ran out of steam, we headed back to our hotel and enjoyed the hotel pool. It was Jayden's first time to go "swimming"! He loved it, as did Daddy! All in all, a super day!Thursday, November 26, 2009
A Thankful Heart
As I reflect over my life, especially the last year, I realize I have much for which to be thankful. Today I want to focus on my family.First of all, I praise the Lord for my wonderful husband. He is a godly man who loves the Lord, loves me, and loves our son. Although he's not perfect, he desires to be the husband and father that God wants him to be. I thank the Lord for bringing Gerson and me together and helping our love to grow the longer we are together. Gerson may silly sometimes, but he's all and more than I ever dreamed of in a husband! I love you, Honey!
Secondly, I praise the Lord for his miraculous healing of our son. Last year at Thanksgiving, Jayden was in an incubator in the St. Vincent Women's Hospital NICU. He was fighting for his life. Although it took more than four months in the hospital, Jayden gradually got better and was able to come home on March 27th. What a day of thanksgiving that was! He has grown, gained weight, and developed at a rate that has thrilled his doctors and therapists. We know God has a special plan for our little boy! Jayden, Mommy loves you and is so proud of you!
Thirdly, I praise the Lord for my parents. What a heritage I have! My parents made their share of mistakes, just as I will as a parent. But, my parents have also been amazing parenting examples in many ways. One thing they did well was give me unconditional love. I never questioned their love for me! They also taught me about Jesus, and lived lives in front of me that backed their words. In addition, they taught me the delicate balance parents have to have in giving their children freedom, but that freedom needs to be within boundaries. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for being awesome parents! I love you!
Fourthly, I praise God for my siblings! We have a bundle of fun when we're together! My older brother Peter is in Texas today. He is serving our country in the military. Pete, I love you and am proud of you beyond word!My younger brother Andy and his wife Elissa and their two boys are in Wisconsin today. We were supposed to go to their house for Thanksgiving, but our nephew is sick. We're praying Joshua will begin to feel better soon! Andy and Elissa, we love you! Joshua and John, we can't wait to watch you grow up and be the men God wants you to be!
My little sis Jamie is with us today. I thank the Lord for answering the prayer of a 4-year-old girl when she prayed for a little sister. Jamie is one of my best friends, and I feel privileged that she is here celebrating God's goodness with us today. Jage, I love you and so appreciate your prayers for me and our talks. Thanks for spending Thanksgiving with us. (Of course, it will be interesting as we try our hand at cooking today!)
And lastly, I'm thankful that my husband, my baby, and I are together today. Last year, Gerson was in Bolivia during Thanksgiving, I was in Indianapolis, and Jayden was in his incubator. Although last year's Thanksgiving was tough, I learned that no matter what our circumstances, God is still worthy or our praise and there is ALWAYS something for which to be thankful. This year is especially special since, even though our plans have changed and we can't be with Andy and his family, Gerson, Jayden and I are together. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! Today may you reflect on God's goodness and faithfulness in YOUR life.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Expressive Expressions
I'm a happy boy. All is well with my world! Full tummy, clean diaper, warm, and a mommy and daddy who love me! What more do I need?
How can you expect me to smile when my teeth are coming in and my gums hurt?
Hmmmm. I'm in a sea of leaves . . . I wonder if they're yummy?
Daddy, you are sooooo silly! You make me laugh!
I'm so excited I can't contain myself!
Have I stolen your heart yet?
Oh, I'm sleepy. May I say goodnight and go to bed?Saturday, November 21, 2009
Pumpkin Patch
See the Pumpkin? He's not for sale!
A few weeks ago we traveled to Radford, Virginia to visit some friends of mine from college. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with them! While we were there, they took us to a pumpkin patch. This was the first time Gerson had seen such a thing. It was a dreary, overcast day, but we didn't let the rainy skies dampen our fun.
We took a hayride down to the pumpkin patch . . . another first for both daddy and son.
And Jayden had a photo shoot amidst the pumpkins. Sadly, it was late in the season and there weren't many nice pumpkins left.
A tired boy . . . Are we done with the pictures yet?????
This place had all sorts of fun activities. Gerson decided to "milk" the cow! There was also a petting zoo, a band, an ice cream store, and all sorts of fun things to do! We really enjoyed our time in Virginia with the Christy, Barry, and their kids. Thanks for your hospitality!Thursday, November 12, 2009
Happy Birthday, Jayden!
Yesterday, November 11, 2009, Jayden turned one year old! What a joy it was to celebrate God's faithfulness in our lives as we recalled where we were a year ago. Praise God for healing and strength as we face trials.We are in Florida right now, and we spent the day yesterday with my parents, Jayden's grandparents. Since it was also Veteran's Day, everyone had the day off work. My aunt and uncle opened their home for us to have a party, and they invited some of their friends who prayed for Jayden. It was a lot of fun! I'll have to post some of those pictures later when I get them downloaded onto my computer.
We also plan to have an open house for Jayden when we get back to Indiana for all of you who have been so involved in praying for Jayden and being so interested in his life. We'll let you know when that is as soon as we have time to plan it! We want all of you to celebrate Jayden's life with us, as you have stood by us during all the difficulties of the last year. We appreciate each of you!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Frankenmuth or Bust!
During one summer break from Indiana Wesleyan University, I worked at a camp in Michigan. Three other IWU students also worked there -- Melissa, Angela, and Steve. We called ourselves"The IWU Funheads." Silly, huh? But, oh, were we fun! On our weekends off from camp duty, we would pile into Steve's car, pull out a map of Michigan, and randomly choose a city to visit. I remember we chose Frankenmuth because it had a funny name! Little did we know that it was a tourist town! On our way, we made signs on notebook paper that said, "Frankemuth or Bust!" and taped them to the back window of the car. Don't you think "Funheads" was an appropriate name for us?
In October, I returned to Frankenmuth with Gerson and Jayden. On the way I shared my Funhead stories with my husband. He laughed! When we arrived in Frankenmuth, we were astonished to find that the sign outside our motel welcomed us! Of course, they spelled our name wrong, but we knew they meant it for us! We felt very welcome.
We had the opportunity to visit the biggest Christmas store in the world. I had been there before with the Funheads, but it still was overwhelming! Bronner's is so huge that even though we browsed for 3 hours of so, we probably didn't even make it to more than 1/4 of the store! Gerson was just amazed that a store that size existed! It was incredible.
It was quite chilly in Michigan and we had to bundle up. Jayden got to wear our garage-sale find --- a snowsuit for a baby! Doesn't he look handsome in brown? This picture also shows his beautiful two teeth and his light-up-the-room smile!
Our purpose for going to Frankenmuth? To speak in at the Holiness Missionary Chruch. I spoke there when I was a single missionary, and it was wonderful to be back and see old friends and make new friends! On Friday night we had supper with the former pastor of the church and her family. What a joy to see her again and catch up with what God has done in her life in the past 6 years! Then on Saturday we attended the Fall Family Day and watched kids color pumpkins and participate in games. We also had a wonderful potluck meal. On Sunday we spoke twice --- Sunday School and the main service. It was a blessing to share with them what God is doing in Bolivia and where He is leading us next. After the service we were invited to a family's home where we ate an amazing meal --- it was just like Thanksgiving!
We enjoyed the beautiful autumn colors. Jayden got his first experience with fall leaves! He did try to eat a leaf at one point!
On our way out of town, we stopped at some local shops in Frankenmuth and did some Christmas shopping. All in all, it was a wonderful trip! Can't wait for another opportunity to visit this quaint, unique town.Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Nurse Joy
Several weeks ago, Jayden had a doctor's appointment in Indianapolis. We were able to make arrangements to go by and visit Nurse Joy on that same day after his appointment. Nurse Joy was Jayden's main nurse while he was in the NICU. She met him when he was a week old and promptly decided he was going to be her primary patient! We thank God for Nurse Joy; He used her to bring healing to Jayden's body. She is an AMAZING nurse! It was so much fun to see them together again, and she was thrilled to see his progress.
Just for fun, I threw in this picture. Nurse Joy wanted Jayden to crawl to her, however he didn't feel so inclined. Gerson had the idea of putting the remote control in front of Joy to lure Jayden over to her. Sure enough, it worked! As you can see, he crawled over to her and picked up the remote control triumphantly. That's our boy! Joy, it was so good to see you again. Each time we see Jayden do something new, we are again amazed at his progress. Thanks for YOUR part in making it possible for him to come home and for giving him such good care in the hospital. God truly used you to help our son. Thanks for rising to that 4 1/2 month challenge, loving him, and never giving up on him! We love you. We need to get together again before too long.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
Hello Friends,
I'm so sorry I've once again slacked off in updating my blog. Some of you who check every day must be very annoyed with me!
We have been super busy and I've found little time to spend on the computer. That's no excuse, I know, but it IS an explanation! I actually have all sorts of photos and posts I want to do, but simply haven't had time to put them all together.
We traveled to Michigan last weekend, arrived home on Monday, spent Tuesday working on getting Gerson's Indiana driver's license (and succeeded!), and spent today doing paperwork and laundry to pack for another trip! We leave tomorrow for southern Illinois. We will visit with my dad for a few days, then head to my uncle's house on Friday evening or Saturday morning. We have two church services on Sunday morning near my uncle's home.
Next week we begin our LONG trip South. We will leave next Friday for West Virginia. We will have some services there, then head so St. Simon Island in Georgia for Southeast Celebration. Then we head to Florida for some home meetings and one church meeting. We will return home in mid-November. Please be in prayer for us as we travel, visit with friends and family, and speak in churches and homes. Especially pray for our health as the flu bugs are everywhere. So far, the Lord has protected us and we trust He will continue to do so.
The good news is we will take our laptop on our trips. Maybe along the road somewhere, I will have time to post more pictures and tell some fun stories. Jayden has taken off and is doing some amazing things! Of course, I'm his mom, so I think ANYTHING he does is amazing! But, I'd love to share all that with you. Thanks for you friendship and your patience! I love you all!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Special Sunday
On Sunday morning, we dedicated Jayden to the Lord. As I told our pastor, we have placed Jayden on the altar many times. We prayed for him before he was conceived; we gave him to the Lord as soon as we found out I was pregnant. Then, while he was in the hospital those 4 1/2 months, we again told the Lord the Jayden was His. However, we felt it was important that we publically, in front of our church family who has prayed fervently for Jayden, promise to raise him in a godly home and teach him the Word. It was a very special time for us.
Afterwards, we had a family photo taken outside. Jayden was NOT in the photo-taking mood, as you can tell from ALL the pictures.
Aunt Jamie was able to come for the dedication. Jayden was super glad to have his auntie here for his special day! Of course, during this picture he was more interested in the flowers than anything else! Thanks, Jamie, for taking the time to come to this special occasion.
After all the photo shoots, we finally put him in "comfy" clothes, all decked out to watch the Colts game! Aren't all you Colt fans proud????? :) THEN he was all smiles!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Hubby's Hobbies
You all know that Gerson loves soccer. Do you know what else he likes?
He loves to be outdoors. When we were at my grandpa's farm, he helped out by mowing the grass. He enjoyed learning how to use the John Deer mower! (Don't worry -- he didn't mow with Jayden on board. Jayden just joined him for the photo.) He also loves bike riding, beach volleyball, fishing, and boating. If it's outside, he probably enjoys it!
Gerson also loves to grow things. He has lots of potted plants, but during the summer he really enjoyed gardening. He planted cucumbers, cilantro, parsely, carrots, melons, tomatoes, and lettuce. He had a HUGE tomato harvest!
He also had a wonderful lettuce harvest. We were traveling when most of the lettuce was ready, so we gave a lot of it away. It was delicious!
My husband also likes to cook! Lately he's been cooking about once a week to help me out. He's been able to use some of our fresh veggies from the garden to spruce up his dishes. This is a Bolivian dish called Asado a la Olla. It's kind of like a beef/veggie stew. Delicious!
He also made a dish called Majadito, which is a rice dish with a beef jerky type meat in it. It's served with fried eggs and fried platanos, which is a type of banana. YUMMY! Do have an amazing husband or what? Know what he's doing now? He's in the kitchen washing dishes from last night's supper company. Yup. Then he's going to make homemade bread! What a blessed woman I am! :)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Crisis in Communication
Gerson and I, like most married couples, have a hard time communicating effectively sometimes. Not only are we a man and a woman, which we all know brings its own set of challenges when it comes to communicating, but we also speak two different languages. Although I am bilingual, my heart language is English and I find myself often at a loss of words in Spanish to really say what I want to say, exactly.
We found out early in our marriage that is better to laught rather than get mad when one of our communication blunders happens. When we would misunderstand each other, we began to say, "We have a crisis in communication" and laugh and try to work it out rather than get angry about it.
Well, this week it happened again . . . a crisis in communication. Only this time it was not between Gerson and me.
So, what happened? One of my best friends, Kelly (who was also a missionary in Bolivia with us -- in fact, she was my boss at the Learning Center), is now attending Asbury Seminary. We'd been trying to pin down a date for Gerson and me to travel down there to speak to the college/seminary students, as well as have a service in her church since she attends a Latin church. I had it in my calendar that it was this weekend that we were scheduled to be there. Yesterday I called her and left a message on her voicemail asking for more details about our trip south this weekend and asked her to call me back.
Several hours later, my cell phone rang. Yup, it was Kelly. I answered, "Hello, friend!" and I heard laughter on the other end of the line. Now, that is not unusual, for Kelly LOVES a good laugh! What was a surprise, however, was when she followed up with, "I got the idea from your voicemail that you THINK you're coming to Asbury THIS weekend."
Of course, I responded with, "Well, yeah. Isn't that what we had discuessed?" To which she reponded, "I have you down for the last weekend of OCTOBER!"
Oooops. Even though we both speak English fluently, we hadn't really communicated well! Instead of using the dates for the trip, we had said things like, " . . . the Sunday at the end of the month . . ." or "We'll travel down on Saturday . . ." This is a good lesson about REAL communication!
But, truth be told, (and I told Kelly this as well), I'm so thankful we're NOT traveling to Kentucky this weekend and that we found out PRIOR to arriving at Asbury that this is NOT the weekend of our meetings! We are tired and it will be nice to have a weekend at home.
How do we feel about having time to just put our feet up and rest rather than packing a suitcase, tearing down the Pack 'N Play, loading the car, and heading out on the road again?
Just look at that picture of Jayden at the top of this blog. (I tried to put it down here, but it wouldn't cooperate!) His face says it all!
BTW --- Kelly and I are now using more specific words to nail down another time to get together! :) This goes to show that a crisis in communication doesn't happen just between husbands and wives!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Milestones and Mishaps
See that happy face? Jayden knows when he does something amazing and he always looks at us when he attempts something new just to see if we're watching. He now has two teeth we see when he smiles, although they aren't showing up in pictures very well yet.
Jayden has now gotten permission to start on Gerber 2nd foods! This is a huge milestone for him. He loves eating baby food and he's even started on some juices. (His favorite is still milk, however.) As you can see, he's quite independent and wants to have control of the spoon. He's still not very coordinated yet, though, and ends up getting baby food everywhere!
One of his mishaps . . . He was trying to pull himself up into a standing position. As you can see, his weight and strength were more than the wooden toy could handle! Thankfully, Mommy was there to catch both before they toppled over!
He's already learning, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again"! Now when he pulls himself up, Mommy is on the other side evening out the weight!
Crawling is another milestone. Jayden is into EVERYTHING. At first, he just tried to crawl but didn't get very far. However, one day I was in the kitchen and had left in the living room on the floor playing. A few minutes later I turned around and saw him at the entrance of the kitchen! He had crawled all the way across the living room and into the kitchen where I was. I couldn't believe it and knew we had moved into another stage!
So, what is a mom to do? This was the find of all finds! At one of the many garage sales I've gone to this summer, I found this plastic play-yard --- and bought it for 10 dollars! What a buy! Now I can place toys in it with Jayden and corral him! It's wonderful when I need to go into another room for a few minutes. I don't have to worry about him getting into something he shouldn't.
Daddy seems to think I want to corral HIM, too! :)
Hmmm. Maybe I can keep them BOTH under control? :)
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