Aug. 19, 2008 Arel One Year Older!
Here he is! 9 years old! Happy Birthday Arel!!!
On Sunday for his birthday we took him to "the trampoline restaurant" as the boys call it. It's only open on Sundays and is just a nice relaxing place to have lunch in an open air dining area with a playground that includes a trampoline and a swimming pool with a water slide. (with FREEZING cold water)
They all tried dipping in the pool. They had fun but were shivering. As you can tell, Liam is into making wild and crazy faces these days. He's always pretending to be something. |
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Jul. 31, 2008 Water filter fun
What are these kids doing you ask? The other day before we headed off to yet another birthday party (I may hide next July...SO many birthdays!!) the kids were all in the kitchen making faces in our water filter.
Oh the fun you can have with a water filter!  |
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Jul. 29, 2008 An anniversary
Ok, so this is not a Peruvian or Quechua event but it's a special day to me!!
Today is Shane's and my 13th wedding anniversary!!
Happy anniversary my Shane! I love you!!
P.S. It is also my Grandma's birthday today! She reads my blog so I want everyone to know it's her birthday and that I love you very much Grandma! Have a wonderful day! I don't have a recent picture but here is one of the two of us that last time we were together.
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That's right! Liam turned 5 just a couple weeks ago!
Here's the boy in on his party day with a party hat he picked out for the occasion.
We don't usually do piñatas but we decided to this time since there would be lots of kids. This is the popular style these days...the kind you pull and the bottom falls out. (Yes, those are Shane's hands at the top holding up the box)
Going for the loot!
Lots of food, fun and fellowship. Thanks for turning 5 Liam so we could all get together! :)
Oh yeah and have you ever seen this before? Pin the tail on the....Liam donkey! Hee hee! Everyone was doing a double take when the first saw this on the wall.
Happy Birthday Liam! We love you!
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May. 31, 2008 Been gone but here now
Howdy all!
I was taking a break from blogging and other internet things while our family got away for a week's vacation. It was great to get out of here and do things we normally don't do everyday. A total change of scene.
We went to the capital city of Peru...Lima. It is a BIG city so it has it's fun things to do and see (like shopping and big buildings) but it's also a big dirty city full of people.
Since it was time to renew Liam's passports (yes, he's our little American/Peruvian) we decide to get that done and take the rest of the week for me to get some much needed shopping done (everyone in the family needed new socks!) and to do some fun things as a family.
The passport renewing took us two days. One to apply for the American passport at the embassy (the kids love going to the embassy...such an impressive building!) and one at the immigrations building for the Peruvian passport. That one takes longer since there are several things to do there and each thing requires you stand in line. But we got in the special preference line since Liam is a kid. It took us most of the morning but we were happy it went so smoothly. The good news is that whenever we need to go renew Liam or Heidi's passports again both parents don't have to be there so the entire family doesn't have to go stand and sit in lines next time. Good to know.
We got to go see the new Narnia movie "Prince Caspian". We all loved it even if they did change or leave out too many things. (there should be SO many more animals don't ya think? Lucy and Aslan were great though!)
For the first time we also went to China town in Lima and ate an amazing Asian meal at a restaurant recommended to us by some friends. Mmmm! Lots of fried wantans, chicken fried rice and chicken and veggie dishes and Oolong tea. Yum!
The kids liked watching the fish in the fish tank there. Shane and I got a kick out of a table full of Chinese/Peruvian ladies out for a birthday lunch. Boy could they eat!
I enjoyed some of the booths in the china town area but we kept getting sucked back to the ONE tiny little store/booth that sold legos. Sigh. Any gals out there want to go back with me (just girls!) and shop for flowing scarves, comfy cotton skirts and fun bangle bracelets and other jewelry at really good deals?? I just keep reminding myself I am not going to be a mom of young kids forever. :) I did get a great deal on a package of curry powder and some chopsticks!
Later I'll post about our trip to the zoo in Lima. That needs it's own post.
We stayed at a missionary guest house and it was comfy, quiet and provided a great place for us to relax. With all the doves that live in the neighborhood and in the yard it really gave it a nice calm feeling with them cooing all the time. Liam is our kid who can mimic most any sound and really had the dove coo down by the time we left.
Sadly there were no other missionary kids there until the day we left but three little girls and our three big boys made the most of it and had a great time for a couple of hours! Heidi was nervous about the new people as usual but liked watching the kids have so much fun.
It's good to be home again. |
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We found a tiny rose and some dandelions in the garden and Heidi was just enthralled with them in their little vase.
"Heidi Wayta" is the name our Quechua friends gave Heidi...it means "Heidi Flower". |
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May. 7, 2008 Birthdays and Blue Skies
Yes, it's been all blue skies lately around here. It rarely rains now and most of the time there is not a cloud in the sky. Really!
The last week of April was birthday week around here. Shane and I have birthdays just 4 days apart. He is exactly four years and four days older than me. :)
Shane's came first and we had friends over for Indonesian food (spicy! slurp.) and gingerbread cake with whipped cream on top! Actually there were choices of cake...gingerbread or chocolate because a young friend of ours who lives with us had her birthday that day too. I made her a chocolate cake to take on her camping trip but the first one flopped....right out of the pan into 4 pieces. Waa! So I made her another one that did NOT fall apart and we had choices that evening for those who did not want gingerbread. So it all worked out!  
I spent most of my birthday talking on the phone. It was so great to talk to my parents and other family and friends who live far away and hear their voices and know how they are doing. I also received many wonderful emails and greetings from friends and family! I am so blessed!
The boys all helped me make pizzas. Shane tossed some crusts for me and those were the best! 
Here we are posing with our pizza and notice Liam saying "cheese" while he eats it? And you thought you were being sneaky little guy....we caught you! Oh and right beside Arel is his pizza dough creature...he says it's an alien. He had olive pieces for eyes with squares of salami as flippers or something and cheese for fur.
Here's Liam and Heidi trying to wait patiently for their piece of blueberry cheesecake dessert. |
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Mar. 28, 2008 Show and Tell Friday: Field Trip!
Last Friday we went on a little "field" trip with some friends to some property they own outside the city about 1/2 hour away. I thought I'd share some of the sights we saw on the drive up.
Our kids and all the other kids who came along had a blast running around, playing catch or volleyball and climbing on the truck. :)
Heidi enjoyed it but only if I didn't leave her side.
At one point Liam found a nest of biting ants that started crawling up his socks and into his pants. Thankfully we were able to get things off in time before he got too many bites. As I was picking ants off his pants he said to me "Be CAREFUL! Those things BITE!"
And look at these amazing flowers I found out in the fields! Many of these I've never seen before and so tiny! Sadly they didn't last being so fragile, hence the picture.
Check out more Show and Tell Friday posts by going to
Canada Girl's site.
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Heidi's favorite breakfast...chocolate oatmeal!
She's also my first kid to insist on using silverware to eat at her age. Such a lady...well, a lady with a messy oatmeal beard. |
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The is what Liam was up to before breakfast this morning.
He's really a car boy and can be found most days playing cars. This reminds me of what my Grandma used to tell me about my Uncle at this age. He would line his cars up somewhere in the house and move them along with a ruler. The ruler would go out in front and the cars in the back would come to the front and that is how they would progress through the house. |
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Feb. 19, 2008 The lights went out!
The lights went out last night right before supper. We pulled out all the candles and flashlights and enjoyed a candlelight dinner.
After supper Shane played guitar and the kids and I play "Chutes and Ladders". Dane won with the ladder that took him right to "WINNER" on the board. Sadly most of us were sitting at the bottom of slides. :)
The lights came back on in the middle of our game but it was fun to enjoy the quiet and the candlelight for a while. |
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Feb. 18, 2008 Monday Mumblings
I'm a little tired today because I didn't get much sleep last night, so "mumblings" seem to fit for a title today. :)
Last week was like a whirlwind!
Not much school because Dane and Arel were sick. Liam and Heidi kept me on my toes though!
On the ministry front things were pretty full. We are working on the house again since we were given some gifts of money around Christmas time and with some of what we saved we are able to have the rest of the fill work done, the brick walls laid up to ceiling level and a few other first floor things!!
Our prayer is that we will have the money to finish the house this year. However we know that God's plan is the best. After a rocky start to the week with the workers either not working or taking advantage of us in other ways, and the materials that were ordered not being delivered when they were suppose to, Shane was able to talk with the each person involved and get things rolling again. I'll try to get over there with the camera to show you the progress.
Also this week we had Quechua visitors. A lady and her kids who worked for us before as "work site sitters" came by several times as they make preparations for her and her son to go to another town to work for a while and her daughter to stay here with family and attend school this year.
Also a young couple and their little boy (just 2 months older than Heidi) came by to ask us to be godparents for the little boy's first haircut in Aug. We aren't sure yet if this means we will be his godparents for life or if that's just for the actual haircutting event and that's all. We told them we have to think about it and get back to them. We want to find out as much about this as we can before we make a decision. Sometimes they make it sound like being a sponsor for something is for just that event and then we find out later it's for much more than that! I must admit it's kind of overwhelming to be asked to do things like this all the time. We are asked to be sponsors for one thing or another at least 2 times a year but usually much! On the one hand why not help with this one thing? But on the other hand are we willing to do more if it means more than just this event? And what about others who want help too? Do we say yes to everyone who asks? If we say no, who do we say no to? And how do you say no without causing a problem in your relationship with these people? Or will saying no actually be good for the relationship in the long run? No easy answers and for sure something to be seeking God's wisdom...no, BEGGING! God for wisdom for these things.
Shane started teaching "Firm Foundations" in Spanish to some young ladies (and a few of their care-givers) two weeks ago. Once a week we have them all over to our house for this class. The first week was just an introduction explaining that the Bible is God's message to man. He talked about how God used many men to write the scriptures over many years and in several languages. He explained what scrolls were and how they wrote on them.
This past week the main theme was that God existed before anything else. No humans or angels existed before Him! God was before all things!
We'll meet again on Thursday this week. Before Shane teaches the girls in the afternoon in Spanish he teaches our boys in the morning in English. This teaching starts as I stated with God and continues on through creation all the way through the Old Testament laying the foundation for why God sent Jesus to be born, live and die and then the rest of the story of his resurrection, return to heaven and sending of the Holy Spirit. This teaching sometimes known as "The Chronological teaching" by some missionaries is what we plan to use when it comes time to teach the Quechua people. It lays a firm foundation to understand the gospel and then to build on their faith as they go on from there to learn more from the Bible and grow in Christ.
I plan to keep you up to date on our progress with the girls and with our boys too so you can be praying with us for them and so you can see what this kind of thing looks like. (I plan to share pictures when we have them!)
What a week! What does God have for us this week? Not sure but I do know HE can handle it and not me! Something I'm learning about these days. HE can, I can't. But I can rest in HIM to anything He wants done or not done as the case may be.
In other news, Heidi is growing up and learning to do new things. She loves to wash her hands now that she can stand on the stool up to the sink. Such a big girl!
  This is her "CHEESE" face. |
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Yesterday evening Heidi just decided to start roaming around the room. First it was back and forth between me and a toy. Then it was chasing kitty. Then she decided to go a little farther to visit Daddy in the office. Our friends came by for a visit and she just kept on walking around the living room and meandering into the office to see the guys. Very cute! I tried to post a little video clip of it here but I can't figure out how to do it. Rats. But here's a picture as proof.
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