soaking it in...part 2

Once again, our time here in Indiana is packed!  In a good way, of course.  We have been able to spend so much time with family and friends...we are grateful.

We have had suppers at my parents' house...and I love that Grandpa and Grandma have been able to join us.  I can't put into words how much I adore this picture!

Can't stand her cuteness!

On Thanksgiving night, we had a 1:00 AM double date with Michael and Jane :)  What a fun tradition!

Thanksgiving tradition with my family--BINGO!  We have played this with my grandparents for almost as long as I can remember!

Showing off our cute little Christmas tree ;)

We went to Jordans to celebrate his birthday...we all love Uncle Jordan!

Our good friends from our training visited us!  Craig and Sara's family lived in the same building as us during our 8 weeks in Oklahoma--it was so good to catch up with them again!  

Sister bathtub time is always fun :)

We also had a weekend with our church family in Detroit.  We were graciously hosted overnight by two different families, and we also had the church Christmas caroling that weekend!  It was a very full and VERY good and encouraging weekend!  The first night we stayed with Lucas and Crystal's family...

And the second night we stayed with Jason and Carrie's family...

And on Sunday night, we went to Brett and Laura's for the evening!  We are blessed with so many friends up in Detroit.  So thankful :)

Cherise, me and Laura

I better stop!  I commend you if you enjoy looking at all of these pictures :)  And there just might be a part 3 coming...

adam y jenna

A couple of weeks ago, Nathan's sister Jenna and her husband Adam came to visit from Mexico.  It was so good to hang out with them, knowing it would be our last time for a few years :(  They are some of our biggest cheerleaders though--they are so excited and passionate about missions and the unreached.  I remember back about 6 years ago, when we first started thinking about missions, Jenna was so excited about it and supported us so much.  What a blessing!  

We spent a couple of full days with Nathan's family.  Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous!  Unheard of this time of year, right?  Notice Halle in her short sleeves...

I love this pic...Adam and Jenna cuddling in the background. They are such lovebirds! Love them :)

Kind of a blurry picture, but 4-square is a family favorite over there :)

Adam is such a great guy.  We are so thankful that Jenna married him!  He's a great uncle--always wanting to wrestle and play with the kids, tell them stories, etc.

Of course, our kids always LOVE being with Uncle Kyle!  They think he's pretty cool :)  We do too, of course!

We also celebrated Christmas with Nathan's family while Adam and Jenna were home.  Our kids are ready for the flights!  Yay for practical gifts!

This was so hilarious, and very unexpected.  Kyle actually made Adam an ugly Christmas sweater!  Ha!  What a hidden talent!

Another unexpected gift...Kyle gave Kaine a very expensive and VERY sharp knife.  Much to the delight of Kaine, and much to the alarm of his mother ;)   I guess Kaine is a pretty responsible and calm kid though, so I think he will be careful with it.  He can't wait to chop in the jungle with it...and I told him he could use it to kill any unwelcome creatures that come near our jungle house :)

Part of the kids' gift from Dave and Terri was a gift card for Amazon, which they immediately wanted to redeem.  :)

We also had a baby shower for Adam and Jenna!  We are so thrilled that they are going to give us another sweet niece or nephew--can't wait to face time with the baby ;)

We love these guys :)

Adam and Jenna, we love your family!  So glad we could spend some good time with you before we go to PNG.  Can't wait to visit you guys in 3 or 4 years!

soaking it in...

I started writing this post about a month ago...and then I never posted it.  So here we go--the pictures are a bit old, but oh well!

The title says it all.  We are seriously loving being back home for these couple of months before we fly to PNG!  Our days are packed with getting many details done for PNG, but also spending so much time with family and friends!

We have had some great family times...

God has blessed Indiana with some amazing weather this past month!  We are loving it!

Kaine had his first mowing job--thanks for trusting him with your Grasshopper, Dad M!

Also, his first siding job!  Nathan spent a lot of time working with Aaron on their garage, and Kaine helped a lot one day.  I love any opportunity he has to learn his daddy's skills!

          

We also have made sure to fit in some important American cultural activities...Nathan was my hero one night as he carved pumpkins with the kids (and I went to a ladies' night out!  He's so awesome!)

That one snow that we got in November...we had to make sure to enjoy that!  Our kids are now praying for a blizzard--haha.  I just hope their prayers don't get answered on, say...January 19!  Not sure we could fly to PNG in a blizzard!

We have spent a lot of time with Aaron and Jill's family...

A good American birthday party for Layla, at Chuck E. Cheese :)

I tried and tried to flip this picture, but I gave up :)  Oh well! 

We have loved time with grandparents...

And still working out so many details for PNG.  Like...more vaccines.  But thankfully our vaccines are all done now!  I hope they are worth it--let's just say they were NOT cheap!!

one of our vaccination days...waiting and waiting...

I might just have to do a part 2 to this post, because we have done so much more since I started writing this last month!o  Stay tuned...

"Would You Rather..."

My kids love to play this game.  "Would you rather do this, or that?"  The choices are usually pretty silly (normally including things like poop, eating/drinking gross things, or death).  Daisy and Layla do easy ones:  "Hey mom, would you rather jump off a cliff and die?  Or would you rather go to grandma's house?"  Haha!  Theirs are my favorite, because they are so easy!

Kaine's are much more difficult.  "Hey mom, would you rather sell Daisy as a slave?  Or would you rather sell Layla?"  Ha!  Oh brother.  I rarely answer Kaine's questions!

Halle asked me one earlier today, and it totally melted my heart and also I praised God because it was an answer to our recent prayers.

So earlier today, we were listening to music in our van, and Halle comes up with a "would you rather" question.  "Hey mom, would you rather listen to your favorite song?  Or would you rather die and go to Heaven right now?"

Oh, boy.  As I was contemplating how to answer this deep question, Halle saved me and answered it herself.  She said, "Oh, it would definitely be 'listen to your favorite song'.  Because you wouldn't want to die and go to to Heaven right NOW!  After all of that training you have gone through, and all the people in PNG that we need to go and tell about Jesus..."

I just love her.  Her sweet and sensitive heart is just amazing.

You see, lately Nathan and I have been praying that our kids would have SUCH a vision for what our family is going to do in PNG.  Our kids are on board, for sure, but we really want to them to have the vision.  We want them to be as passionate to reach the lost as we are.  So this was such a confirmation from the Lord that He is hearing our prayers and answering them!  By working in the hearts of our children.  Praise Him.

We are going to keep on praying for these four!  They are such blessings to our family and we are so pumped to do ministry in PNG with them as a family!

join us tomorrow night!

Tomorrow night, we will have the privilege to share with our church.  We would love for anyone to join us!  This is not a fundraiser, but it will be a night to share the big picture vision of making JESUS famous, as well as invite you all to pray along with us!  Because we CANNOT do this without the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  

Sunday, November 8

6:30 pm

Bluffton Fellowship Hall

"Declare His glory among the nations, 

His marvelous deeds among all peoples!"

Psalm 96:3

"For the sake of the gospel...just throw it away!"

If you would have been hanging out in our villa this past week, you quite possibly would have heard me or Nathan say this :)  Seriously, though.  We have been married for almost 14 years, and even though we have downsized quite a bit over the past 4 years, we still just have a LOT of stuff.  Too much stuff, considering we will be moving across the world in just 2.5 months!  So this past week we have been weeding our stuff out, and really, it is hard to get rid of the stuff we have accumulated during our marriage!  That's why we tell each other:  "Just don't think about it!  Throw it away [or put it in the 'donate to Goodwill' pile]...for the sake of the gospel, just throw it away!"

It's been a busy week since returning "home"!  We were greeted by a villa stocked with goodies, from multiple people!-- cereal/milk/eggs, an egg casserole ready to bake, a loaf of HOMEMADE bread (that was a treat for this non-baking woman!), home roasted coffee, and lots of other homemade yummy food.  And...this:

a pineapple whip, frozen since Street Fair!  Seriously, do we not have THE MOST THOUGHTFUL friends??  Wow.  The texture was a bit different than it would have been fresh, but the taste was exactly how I remembered it!  So good!  Thank you, Jane! 

We love being in our villa :)  Trying to really enjoy it for just 1.5 more months...

Would you believe that we still had food to harvest in this dead, neglected garden??  Haha!  We haven't been here since the beginning of August, and there was still some good food there!  Along with lots of rotten tomatoes :) 

Kaine trying to shoot a squirrel :) 

We were also reunited with cousins...

And good friends...

We had fun with one "last" Halloween before we head overseas...

I just LOVE those three amigos!!  So cute! 

 morning-after-halloween-breakfast:  pixie sticks :)

Two of my favorite things:  frisbee golfing with my family, and Indiana fall.  So. Gorgeous!!

I love these people :)

We are starting to feel settled, and trying to get into a good homeschool routine!  This time is going to absolutely fly, I just know it!