Happy Birthday to Layla!

Today our sweet Layla turns 3!  I feel like I begin all of my kids' birthday posts by saying how fast the time is going...but it is so true!  How can Layla be 3 already??

 

Layla brings tons of joy to our family.  She has bright blue eyes (where did she get them?) and a head full of hair (ever since she was born!).  She has the most adorable way of talking and a pretty cute way of sucking her thumb (it won't be cute much longer though!).  Her favorite color is blue.  She LOVES to hug and kiss us.  She LOVES Daisy (and calls her "Dais"...so cute!).  She has a huge smile that can cause us to want to give her anything:)  What a little love.  (That's what we like to call her..."Lay-love").



 

 

(Just for fun, here is Layla when she was about 18 months...what a cutie!)

Happy Birthday, Layla!  We are so in love with you, and so thankful that God has blessed us with such a sweet daughter.  We praise Him for the 3 years He has given us with you!  Happy 3rd Birthday!

Christmas before Thanksgiving...

I know many people don't like the idea of celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I do!  (Don't worry...I also love and value the Thanksgiving holiday, too:)  ).  Actually, I would listen to Christmas music and keep up some Christmas lights all year long if my dear hubby would allow it!(he doesn't). 

 

But this year, we did put up our Christmas tree and decorations a little early, because we will not be here all through the Christmas season (we will be spending it back home on our Christmas break).  So Nathan was more than happy to start celebrating early!  It was lots of fun this year, because our kids are getting older and they were really getting into it. 

 

Here is Nathan telling our kids a Christmas story right after we decorated.  (notice Kaine in his underwear...yeah, that happens a lot around here).  Thanks for leting us borrow a tree, Keen family!

On Friday, we went to a Christmas parade in Jackson!  It is their tradition to hold it every year the Friday before Thanksgiving.  So this year, we all went with some good friends.

 

Daisy looking cute in her eskimo coat:)

 

Layla and Daisy were pretty mesmerized the whole time:)

 

And all the kids thought the sirens were way too loud!

 

Me and my sweet Dais:)

 

All the kids...and Nathan:)

And just for fun, Kaine's good buddy Jon-Wiley shot a chipmunk the other day!  He was so excited about it, and his whole family came up the 3 flights of stairs to show us.  So cool!  Kaine thought that was awesome--he is motivated to start hunting, too!  Maybe his uncle Aaron can teach him someday:)

Merry (early) Christmas!

third culture kids

Our 4 precious kiddos.

If we didn't have any kids, this whole missions thing would be sooo much easier!  Like, a thousand times easier!  While we are super excited to have our kids involved in such an amazing ministry, and we are also glad that our kids will be growing up with such a great perspective on life, I do wonder often how it will affect them.  In good ways and bad ways.  I know there will be many advantages for them, such as:

-a global perspective
-they will most likely see God working in some very tangible ways in our lives
-they will be bi-lingual
-they will hopefully grow up with a burden for the lost--especially (hopefully) seeing firsthand the effects of a spirtually lost people group coming to Christ!
-hopefully the chance to help us with teaching and discipling an unreached people group! 
-lots of knowledge of the world, missions, etc that most of their peers won't really have.

And I'm sure there will be many more advantages.

However, today in Nathan's married men's chapel, a man from New Tribes (who headed up an NTM department dedicated to missionary kids) came to talk.  It is such a hugely important topic that NTM has now integrated it as part of the missionary training, which is so good to hear. That means that in our next phase of training, Nathan and I will be taking a full 15 credit hours on this subject!  But he talked to Nathan and the guys today about "Third Culture Kids."  This is a topic that I wanted to blog about, for 2 reasons:  First, because these thoughts are so fresh in my mind and I don't want to forget them--so this is a good place to record them:).  And also, because we think it is so important for us to be real and open with our family and friends about these real-life issues.  So here are a couple of things that he talked about today:

-A missionary kid is a "Third Culture Kid."  This means that our kids will not truly be a part of the American culture.  They are also not truly a part of the culture of the country we are serving in (they may speak the language and get along well with the people, but they are not truly a part of the culture.  They will think differently than the people in that country and have a different worldview).  This results in this"third culture" which is somewhat of a mixture of both cultures.  The missionary kid could have trouble ever feeling "at home" anywhere...in the world.  (I think since we are aware of this and we will be trained in this area, there will be potential for our kids not to struggle with this.  But it is a reality with many missionary kids).

-While we (as parents) will be so excited to come "home" for our furloughs, to our kids it may actually seem kind of scary to come to this big place called America.  (For Kaine and Halle, this may not be as much as an issue, since they will have lived in America for quite a few years of their childhood by the time we go overseas). 

-It is so vitally important for our kids to have some people in America who they feel comfortable with.  Of course, their grandparents will have a HUGE part in this!  But for example, when we come home on furlough, we will walk into our "home church" and be so excited to see everyone!  But to some extent, our kids won't know people there.  So it is hugely important to have some core people whom they feel comfortable with. 
 * a note on this...yesterday Kaine (and I!) was so blessed by his sweet friends Carter and Hudson.  Carter and Hudson are Kaine's best friends back home and together they sometimes call themselves the "Three Amigos"...so cute!  But anyway, yesterday, Carter and Hudson were playing together at Carter's house and they had the idea to skype with Kaine.  I was so glad they thought of that, and I think these 2 are going to be KEY relationships in Kaine's life (hope you are okay with that, Jess and Amy!!).  Anyway, Jess, thanks so much for setting that up!  It really meant a lot:)

-for the grandparents:  The guy talked to Nathan's group today about the IMPORTANT role of grandparents.  He said it will help our kids so much as they transition back to the States someday if they have close relationships with their grandparents (which we are so thankful that they already do!  Our kids have some very amazing grandparents, so this doesn't seem like it would be an issue).  However, one thing I thought made a lot of sense was how important it is for the grandparents to come and visit us on the field (in whatever country we end up in).  In that way, they have a MUCH closer connection to their grandkids, as they will have "entered into their world".  They will know what their grandkids' home is like--they will have seen it, experienced it, etc.  This is huge in helping the missionary kids out.  And again, I am sure our parents are already planning to visit someday! 


I am so glad that New Tribes trains their missionaries in this area.  They have years of experience, and they have come to know that this topic of missionary kids is just huge.  So we are very thankful that we will be receiving lots more training on this subject!

I know this is more than I usually write, and a bit more personal...but like I said, we just think it is important to be real about stuff.  We appreciate each one of you who is involved in our lives and our kids' lives!  God bless your week!

babysitting adventures...

I know I have said before how much we love having Aaron and Jill here at the school with us.  We realize this is such a blessing, and I'm sure I take it for granted many times.  But it is sure nice to have family here!  This past weekend, Nathan and I met our friends from Bluffton to eat at a restaurant in Angola...so we were gone from 3:45--10 pm!  And Aaron and Jill GRACIOUSLY watched our kids for all of that...putting them to bed and everything.  THANK YOU SO MUCH, A AND J!!!

 

The weekend before, Aaron and Jill went out to supper with friends (but they were only gone for around 2 hours...we definitely still owe them!!), so we got to keep their sweet kiddos!  It was a lot of fun--our kids love having their cousins come over.

 

Nathan does an amazing job playing with kids.  He is so great with them!  He spent a lot of time taking turns with the babies, bouncing them on a pillow.  They LOVED it! 

(Abel could hardly contain his excitement:) )...he is such a sweet baby.

 

Israel loved it too!  He is fun to play with, because he is such a tough, little boy.  Nathan bounced him much higher than Abel:)

And Ivy is amazing.  She literally sat on the couch for an hour, just playing with a chapstick and a little cup.  She is so easy!  I kept asking her if she wanted to get down and play, or do other things, but she would just sweetly say "no"...what a sweet girl!

Daisy joined her on the couch some, too...

And then Layla...

Such affectionate little girls:)

 

Abel makes me smile...I was taking pictures of him and he just kept making this face...he is so cute!

Thanks for letting us watch your kids, Jill and Aaron!  Ask us again anytime:)

Quick update:)

So....

Some of you might remember my post a couple of months ago, when I said I was going to put the blog on hold for awhile?  Mostly because we had just started our amazing class on Romans, and I wanted to get as much out of it as I could.

 

Well, we are done with Romans!  As of Monday, I am now an expert on the book of Romans.   Haha!  Just joking:)  I am nowhere NEAR an expert, but I do feel like I understand the book about 100% more than I used to.  So that was such an awesome class.

 

I was thinking I would start blogging again after that class was over, but on Tuesday we started Thessalonians and Ephesians...wow!  Two more amazing classes!  My mind is just bogged down with so much information it's hard to know what to do with it all!  So we shall see about the blog:) 

 

For now, though, here is an update on our days lately...

 

Nathan and Aaron played a game of softball last weekend, against the other NTBI (located in WI...they traveled to Jackson to do "Tribal Cup" against us).   It was a lot of fun to watch them play!  I was so proud of my hubby--he was the pitcher and he did SUCH a great job! 

Nathan, Aaron and my dad played ping pong in the evening and they all came back so hot and sweaty:)  Here is Nathan's way of cooling off.

On Halloween, we were able to dress up our kids for childcare.  You know kids, any chance to dress up and they LOVE it!  Halle was a princess (big surprise there) Layla wanted to be batman--so funny!, and Daisy was a little black cat.  So cute!  Kaine wasn't allowed to dress up at his school, so he was bummed.

However...that evening, our friend and fellow student, Camilla, came and asked if our kiddos would want to go trick or treating.  We had 10 minutes to get them ready! 

Kaine was spiderman, and this time Halle wanted to be a ninja and Layla was a "cowgirl princess"...so funny!  I stayed home with Daisy, because it was dark, cold and rainy.  We had a fun time bonding here at the school, though:)  And our kiddos had such a fun time getting candy!  They thought it was the coolest thing ever (their first time trick or treating!).

Halle is creative in the afternoon...she took her "double stroller" and a purse filled with stuff, and just played quietly in the hallway outside our apartment for about 30 minutes!  She is so cute:)

And a super cute picture of Layla and Daisy...they were watching Boz one morning and I thought this was soooo cute that they were holding hands...love my girls!

So there you have it!  A super quick update, because I am almost late to class:)  Have a great weekend!!