Kids Corner: Adeline is 6 months!

 Since we are a bit behind we will start with her five month pictures.

 As you can see from these pictures, she is quite active; hands and feet are always moving.

 She was still  happy baby even after getting her second round of vaccinations.

 The nurse apologized for having to use Batman bandaides, but I thought they were cute.

She loves her walker and sometimes when you like to move so much you just end up hanging out under the table!

And now she is 6 months.  How the time flies.  She is enjoying starting some rice cereal, avocados, bananas and sweet potatoes.  So far the bananas are her favorite.  She is working on getting her first teeth, causing her to be fussy and not sleep well at times but nothing has come through yet so we shall continue to patiently await those cute little pearly whites.

July in Review

Time just continues to march on and it amazes me that although it feels like I just updated the blog, it has been since June.  July was a busy month for us in the fact that Chris, along with 4 of the Peruvian pastors and one of the pastors wives went to the States for the Mennonite World Conference in Lancaster, PA.  Chris was gone for 20 days which was the longest time we have been apart as a couple.  It was difficult, but I was thankful that two of the English teachers at Promesa, Brook and Eleanor helped me with the girls.  My friend Gloria also came on Tuesdays while Chris was gone to help out.  I had many fellow missionary friends offering to help if I needed anything as well.

But before Chris left, we got to celebrate the fourth with other missionaries in a nearby town called Pisac.  It was a dreary, unusual day with rain most of the morning but it turned out to be a fun time of fellowship despite the weather. (And I say unusual because it is dry season here so normally it doesn't rain.)  Here are a few pictures of our day.....

 We made cupcakes and our sweet friend Shawna O'Kelley sent us these cute little flag toothpicks.

 Our four little fire crackers.  They were all dressed in red, white and blue for the special day!

Below is just a small part of the group that gathered to celebrate our Independence Day.  We prayed and said the Pledge of Allegiance followed by singing the National Anthem.  It is wild to think our children might know the Peruvian national anthem better than their own.  For that reason especially, we felt it was important to celebrate our home country's holiday.  To top off the day we had some really good cookout food that we miss like potato salad and grilled hot dogs along with watermelon and other yummy desserts.

Fast forward to the Friday before vacation time.  The girls all had programs at school the last Friday before the two week vacation.  Here they are:

 Katie and Hannah, along with their classmates both explained how to solve math problems.

 Danica did a jungle dance again.  Thankfully she was the only one that needed to rent a costume this year.  And God blessed me tremendously when my friend Sandy was able to rent the same costume for Danica that her daughter that goes to a different preschool needed as well.  She picked it up and returned it for me.  Just another reminder of how the Lord takes care of our needs!

Right after the program Katie left for a Christian camp for the weekend with some Peruvian friends.

 Finally July 28th came and we dropped Hannah off for the youth camp and went to the airport to get Chris!  The girls made a welcome home sign and a fruit pizza for him.  Oh and BDE stands for 

"Best Daddy Ever!"

We are thankful that Chris could take the pastors to the States, but we are even more thankful to have him back home with us!

Kids Corner Part 4: All about Adeline

Adeline, our sweet baby girl is growing fast and starting to bud her little personality too.  I think the last post of her was at 1 month, so I will start with her monthly photos.....

She is also getting a lot of attention and love from the Peruvians.  They love babies and they love to offer advice such as her hands and feet must be covered at all times or she will get cold.  And if she gets cold she will get sick.  I was also told by a very well meaning Peruvian grandma on the flight from Houston to Lima that the reason Adeline was crying was because I had ice in my drink, and that is upsetting to her little stomach.  Again, it is different, but that doesn't mean it is all bad.  I know they are well meaning and want to help.  This picture below melts my heart!

She is growing fast and wanting to see more and do more.  We just recently found a walker for her and she loves to be able to sit up and see everything going on around her.

She loves bath time!

And really her favorite thing is to just be held!  It's a good thing we have lots of helpers here :)  

Please pray for us and Adeline as we parent her in this very early stage of life in a different culture.

Kids Corner Part 3: Days with Danica

Now on to number three, our sweet little Danica.  Her personality has seemed to really blossom lately and she has grown up tremendously since her baby sister arrived.  She is a wonderful big sister!

She is now going to Promesa five days a week and loving it.  There aren't tears everyday as there were last year.  She is ready to go and ready to learn.  She is in the four year old class again this year since the cut off is at the end of March.  Her day starts at 8:15 and ends at 1pm.  I don't remember having homework in the states with preschool, but here it is the norm.  They also do testing every month and Danica is usually in the top six.  I know this because they post it monthly which is also very different from what we are used to.  Although there are many differences Danica is doing well which is an answer to prayer.   And just yesterday as we were walking up the hill to the mall a little boy behind us yelled, "Danica!"  It was one of her classmates.  I love that she has made new friends this year and is enjoying learning.

 The picture above is her costume we rented for her dance at the school program for día de la familia which was basically a program celebrating family.  Below is a picture from her 5th birthday.  She is full of flair and full of fun just like in the picture.  I tell Chris often that out of all the girls her personality is most like his; she is outgoing and loves to tease and joke around.

We are so thankful for the love and compassion Danica already exhibits at a young age.  She comes to me often just to get a hug and say that she loves me.  She knows that both of her grandpas are in heaven and asks many very good questions about heaven.  And there are even times she will come and say that she is sorry that I don't have a Daddy anymore, which leads to more discussion about Jesus and heaven.  We feel blessed to be able to parent these precious daughters God has so graciously given us.

Kids Corner Part 2: Keeping up with Katie

We are trying to do better on updating about what is going on in the lives of our girls, so today it is Katie's turn.  She is a very busy girl with lots of energy.  She loves to get up early, like 5:30am early.  Trust me when I say she gets that from her father.

A few months ago we attended a special ceremony at Promesa because Katie was chosen as a líder escolar, which means a classroom leader.  She helps with keeping order in the classroom and at times outside the classroom.  It is somewhat of an honor and so they had a ceremony where Chris got to go up and put the official things on Katie's uniform to identify her as one of the classroom helpers.

 Oh and did I mention she has to wear this on her uniform everyday and it hasn't slowed her down.  Needless to say, we have had to work on this little braid thing quite a few times.  It really isn't made for the kind of activity and movement Katie engages in on a daily basis.  We are thankful Chris is resourceful in fixing things!

Katie is also my go to girl to help with baby sister Adeline.  I am amazed at how well she does with her!  She rocks her often and sings sweet songs to her....

We are so proud of the sweet young lady you are becoming Katie.  Keep your eyes on Jesus and he will lead your steps!  Please pray for Katie as she continues to maneuver through life as a missionary kid.  It is not always easy, but she sometimes makes it look that way!

Kids Corner Part 1: Hannah's Happenings

We realize that many of our blog posts are not about what is going on with our children, so here is a new update on how they are doing.

Since Hannah is the oldest, we will start with her....

It is hard to believe our little girl is already 13 and not a little girl anymore.  We are so thankful for her and her caring heart.  She has been so brave and courageous to come with us to a new country and culture and learn a whole new language.  Below she is sporting her new school uniform for this year.  She now wears this everyday except for PE days when she wears her old uniform that is more like a gym suit.  

Back when we were in Indiana Hannah told us how she really wanted to be baptized while we were there.  We talked to her about it and what baptism means, an outward sign of an inward change.  Hannah accepted Christ as her savior years ago, so she was very excited to be baptized with friends and family in attendance.  Chris was also excited to be able to be the one who baptized her.

I don't know if the picture does Hannah's face justice.  Her smile was glowing....

Please keep Hannah in your prayers as she continues to live her life for the Lord.  Life is difficult when you are always missing someone.  She has wonderful friends here in Peru as well as back in the States.  Missing friends and family no matter where you are is part of the life of a missionary kid. 

Stay tuned for updates on the other girls.....coming soon!

May in the Mountains

Hi all! This is Chris writing the blog for May. We didn't do very well w/blogging in April, what w/getting resettled in Peru and back to our lives/work, so I'll try to get you up to speed and maybe make things doubly good for this blog!
Hannah & I went w/PROSIM, the Mennonite church medical outreach here in Southern Peru, out into a very new area in the Apurimac Province. There has been some evangelism here, and the particular town we went into, Chuyllullo, has a leader, Ronald, and a small body of believers. The main focus of these trips are to help w/physical & health needs, and then use these to open the doors for spiritual healing and the message of the gospel.

These pictures are just some of what it's all about.  The first is one of getting the truck packed and ready.  I don't think I've ever included or posted on FB one of these, but the preparation is a huge part of the whole endeavor.  This preparation includes packing everything from medicines and food, to extra diesel and shovels/picks in case we run into a landslide on the way.  I think many of you know this already, but these trips are literally HOURS on dirt roads, often times meeting few, if any, other cars.  The bottom picture is of a special needs child named Claudia who became my buddy quite quickly, as you can tell. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  Matthew 25:40

The top picture here shows Hannah helping w/some of the health teaching to the children on Saturday.  Much of these teaching includes things as simple as hand washing, general cleanliness, and nutrition, which can be forgotten out in the mountains sometimes and can then cause major health problems.  Included w/these health themes are ALWAYS teachings on the bible and the soul-saving gospel of Christ.
The second picture is on Sunday morning, May 3rd, of this small group of believers out in Chuyllullo.  Please keep them in your prayers!  If you are reading this, & Jesus Christ is your Lord & Savior, one day you will worship around God's throne for all of eternity w/these brothers & sisters in Christ from Peru! "...for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."  Revelation 5:9

Here is a picture of the beautiful Apurimac River & the new bridge we now have over it.  PTL!  Believe me, we are very grateful for this new bridge, you should've seen the old one!  ;)  The sign I'm holding is one of my favorite verses, Matthew 24:14, and what I believe should be the central part of any christian's life.  His gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world!  What are you doing to take an active part in this?