New Friends at the Orphanage

The Night at the Orphanage

We had a party with the orphanage. It was so much fun. We did some fun skits and they did some major break dancing!

Ethan and John Chill'n at the Cafe

Hard Work!

Don mowing the old fashioned way. Those ladies are just amazed at his skills!!!

Face Painted Guinea Pig

The oprhans weren't sure they wanted their face painted so Mr. V. assured them it wouldn't hurt. Ha

Monopoly!

Nertz Anyone

We played a lot of Nertz! A fast pace game of solitare with partners!

Roommates!!

The Custom

The custom was to remove your shoes before entering the house so when we entered the house we left a lot of shoes at the doorway. Can you see Svetlana's Boots?

Once a woman to be feared...now to be loved!!!!

Everyday We Waited for Bus # 22

Make sure you have your yellow ticket!

All 23 Must load Bus # 22

The bus ride

ride the bus

Macedonia and Lakeview Together!

Here are our high school Macedonia Friends at their school.

Cutest Couple!!!

Svetlana's Boots

Here are Svetlana's boots that scared us at first! These boots gave her the look that she meant business!

Hayley and Svetlana

Here is Svetlana our interpreter that everyone was so scared of at first but then we got to know the softer side of her and we all fell in love with her!

Me, Rachelle, and Shelli

Here is Rachelle the director of the English School. She was such a sweetie! We loved her right from the start and had a hard time saying good-bye so instead we just said see you later! She is an amazing teacher!

Andy and Megan

Here is the little guy that we tutored at the English School. He was sooo cute as you can see. The next picture is the picture we took at his house with his family except for his dad who was away.

Andy's Family

Jump Rope Contest

This guy smoked me in jump rope! He jumped 79 times to my 10 in a row!

My Nertz Partner and my guitar caddy! Thanks David

Good times in Macedonia

Airport or Hotel

We tried to get as much rest in the airport as possible before we arrived in Macedonia

Here is a view from the mountain that we climbed

We made it to the top! It was at least a three hour hike straight up. It was a huge accomplishment for me but for others it was a piece of cake. The view at the top was worth it all!

more time to write

Today Megan, John Alcock and I are helping a little boy with his English and math at the school. The rest of the crew are at a local elementary school working with the kids there. We had a great time yesterday visiting the various churches. The girls who went with me to an International Evangelical Church enjoyed the worship in English. We were all homesick to hear our praise and worship in our language. We also enjoyed teaching a preschool class at the church. It was also awesome to go to the cafe next door after church. The cafes here are amazing! We certainly don't know how to relax in America! The kids are doing great and I am so proud of them. Each of them brings something to contribute to the table! It is amazing to see God work through them . Well ...ta ta for now! Chow!

A Quick Check In

i am in an internet cafe right now and thought i would blog a few lines. i cannot capitalize on this keyboard..not sure what the problem is but anyway...i am doing fine....its says my time is nearly up so i guess i will go for now....i will try to check in later....God is good!!!1

Made It!

Hey just a quick note to say we made it and are doing well. We went to the High School today. The kids were great and enjoyed getting to meet other teens from another country. We don't have much time to write but just wanted to check in.

Macedonia Here I Come

• Macedonia Mission Trip April 27-May 9
• In just a few short days I will visit the country of Macedonia. No, I haven't had a vision of anyone asking for help for me to come. Our high school seniors picked this for their senior trip and as one of their sponsors I have the privilege of going with them. I am looking forward to it but ,have been stressed at times trying to prepare to go. We are only allowed one backpack to take all we need for twelve days. Any ideas? We are teaching the students that you can live with less. I'll TRY anything once. Please pray for us in this way:
  Pray that we can be a blessing to the those working there and that we will strengthen the bridge they have been building to the Macedonians there.
  Pray for our spouses and children we leave behind.
  Pray our seniors hearts will be soft and pliable for God's shaping and molding.
  Pray for strength and wisdom for us sponsors as we lead this group.
  May His light shine through us!

PRAY

Today I continue to pray for a little girl at our school who is very sick. You can read her story at the end of this post. I continue to pray for healing for her. Some days we have news of a praise for a step in the right direction and other days it seems her condition steps back. I continue to feel led to not loose hope but to trust in a God who is our rock our shield and our fortress in times of trouble. Please, please join me in praying for Chrissy. She is precious!
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrissybriles

Where did it go?

Well, my last post I was praising the Lord for the wonderful weather and the hope that spring had finally arrived! I am not so sure today! They are predicting snow for tonight...please say it isn't so! Here are some old pictures of spring to give me hope that it is on its way! Enjoy!

Don't loose heart! Spring is showing signs of coming!

Feeding Frogs!

Steve, Hannah and Christie

Stephen a few years back by the pond. What a handsome guy.

Spring Arrived!

Wow! What a beautiful weekend! I was in heaven with all the sunshine! I feel like it has been a really long winter. Does anyone else feel the same? Thank you God for such a beautiful weekend! Would it be too much to ask if we could have some more of that sunshine this week?

I would also like to ask any of you who are prayer warriors to please pray for a little girl named Chrissy Briles who is a fifth grader at our school. She is in Riley Hospital. You can read her story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrissybriles

Grant County Encounters

Well, Keetha I know you will be shocked that I am posting a blog....actually my friend Shannon inspired me to write this one. You will probably be the only one to comment because I am sure the rest of the bloggers out there have given up on me... Well, back to my post. Shannon commented on her encounter at the BMV here in Marion and well I have had loads of those let me tell you. My son, who is 17 never wants to be seen there with me again. I guess I became a little vocal when they sent me home for the third time because I didn't have the proper papers which I called about the day before I went and was given no information about what to bring...I just guessed. what to bring...but anyway today I will comment on my Grant County Encounter at the Health Clinic downtown. I am leaving in a few weeks on a mission trip to Macedonia with high school seniors which I am looking forward to and feel blessed to go. However, I needed to get a few shots before going and decided to go to the health clinic. I was told it was at the court house most of them are in Indiana at least in the counties I have lived in prior to Grant. As I walk in the door I see NO CELL PHONES...so I promptly walk back outside to my car and put my cell phone in the car. I walk back into the court house through the security screen and ask where the health clinic is located. They said oh it hasn't been in this building for 25 years ...its across the street in the pretty building on the corner (part of the jail) ha ...so I walk across the street, walk in the door and try to find my way to the health clinic...I ask a lady at the first office I see and she directs me to the clinic....I walk in fill out papers ....and she says that will be $55.00 ....no problem do you take debit I ask...no she responds....cash or check...you can walk across the street to the bank there is a ATM there...at this point I almost don't want to go through with this because I really don't like getting shots anyway but I know I need to get this done ....so I walk in the bank and the lady greets me and says may I help you ....I respond yes I am looking for your ATM Oh she says it is outside in the drive through....you can walk outside and walk through it.....so what can I do? I walk up to the drive through and get $60.00 dollars and head over to get my shot...the lady promptly takes my cash tells me to have a seat,, a few minutes later a nurse comes out calls my name...I'm the only one sitting there...and in a few minutes it's all over....I know this sounds like I am rambling but I have had my share of encounters like this in Grant County......its always seems so difficult to get a simple thing done...you'd think it wouldn't be a hard thing to do in such a small town. I do love the people in our town and if you are reading this blog you are probably one of them! You make living in this this county a pleasure for me and my family...thanks for making my encounters seem so small in the grand scheme of things like friendship.....

Happy New Year!

You may be wondering how this picture says Happy New Year. Well ever since my kids were preschoolers on New Year's Eve they had the bright idea of making their own confetti. About an hour or two before midnight all the cousins get together and tear up little pieces of construction paper then at midnight they throw it up and shout Happy New Year! Although the older ones are so excited anymore to participate because they don't want to pick it up....teenagers!

New Year's Pick Up

Then after the confetti is thrown everyone pitches in to pick it up.

Rachel's Sweet 16

Here is Rachel, Evan and Emily with one of Rachel's Birthday Celebrations. She had three cakes this year. Since her birthday is Jan. 3rd it seems the celebration goes on and on....I'm not quite sure how she manages to get us to do that....probably her charm.