Little Boys

On Sunday nights I teach the 3-6 year olds. It is a bilingual class since mine and Joy's little ones don't speak much Spanish yet. So for the past few weeks I have had a new little boy in there who is about 5 years old. He is very cute, but very talkative! The other night was a very hectic night in class, I had a class full of kids and was having a bit of trouble keeping up with them all. It was one of those nights that I felt like I would rather be somewhere else (admit it, we all have those days). Then this little boy walks up to me and starts whispering in my ear...."Tu eres la mejor profesora en todo el mundo" (you are the best teacher in the whole world). Of course my heart melted and I realized I was right where I was supposed to be.
Here at home, one of my sweet boys had quite the experience today. Seth and Jesse were playing and Jesse accidentally kicked Seth in the mouth. He hit him right on his loose tooth and it came out, and Seth swallowed it. When he came up and told me, I didn't believe him at first because Delayna had been teasing him about losing it while he was eating and swallowing it, so I thought he was joking. But, no, he really did swallow it. :)

School

I started the boys in Kindergarten two weeks ago and was not looking forward to it. It has been going ok, but yesterday Jesse was having a rough day. He couldn't seem to concentrate or do anything right. He kept getting frustrated and upset, and then I would get frustrated and upset. At one point I guess he couldn't take it any more and he burst into tears and said, "I want my Nanny!". It was so sad and cute at the same time. :)
We were hoping that Delayna's school work would come in our our mail flight yesterday, but it didn't. She now has another week with no school and is getting further and further behind. Please pray that it comes in next week. We are not looking forward to doing school all summer, but I guess it could be worse. Although I am trying to figure out how it could be worse. :)

Our Comedians

Our boys keep us laughing and I have tried to make it a point to keep a record of the funny things they say. This blog is where I have been keeping it, so here are their latest antics.
Stu had to fix a pipe and in the middle of cutting it his saw broke and water started pouring out everywhere. He was frantically trying to get it stopped and Jesse walked up and said, "Dad, what were you thinking!?". You can't tell what we ask him all the time, can you?
Then we have Seth, the quieter one. He was praying for lunch the other day and in the middle of his prayer said, "Lord, please help Jesse to close his eyes while I am praying.".
As you can see we are never at a loss for laughter in our house.

Furlough is finally over!

Well after a very exciting 7 (turned into 8) months on furlough, we have made it home. I know most of you have kept up with everything that happened on either Facebook or through Stu's letters, but for my own personal record (this is the only journal I keep) I want to recount what happened. 

The kids had been counting down for months, ready to be home. Actually everyone was ready to be home, to our ministry, people, and to our own beds! It was close, only 3 days to go! We left my family and headed to Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 25th. We arrived at the motel after dark, I had a sick headache, it was cold and windy and everyone was ready to get inside. We opened the U-haul trailer and just grabbed what we would need to get us through the night, and dressed for church the next morning. My head was hurting so bad that all I could think about was drugs and a bed! We closed up the van and trailer, backed it up against a light pole and went inside. It was a very nice motel and seemed to be in a decent area of town (although it was dark, so I guess I couldn't really tell). 

The next morning we were close to being ready to go and Delayna had forgotten to bring her church shirt in, so Stu and Juls headed out to the van to get her shirt and carry a few things out on the way. They came running back in a few minutes later, Stu frantically asked me if I had moved the van. Of course, I hadn't and when I answered he said, "It's Gone!!!". The van, trailer, 10 suitcase and 6 carry-on's were gone! We immediately went to the front desk to call the police. I called the Pastor we were going to be with and explained why we were' going to be there and then called the man who owned the van and told him what happened. We spent a couple of hours talking to the police and trying to remember all that was in the van, At the time I couldn't think of anything that was in the van! Ever since then, I have been remembering things one by one. In the middle of the night I will sit up and remember something new that we "lost". We lost Passports (11 of them, Canadian and American), Canadian citizenship cards, Dominican resident cards, a checkbook,  laptop, a projector, a GPS, a camera, a video camera, books, DVD's, pictures, School curriculum, toys, a guitar, clothes, shoes, stuff for our church, etc. We still start looking for something and realize, "that was before the robbery". That afternoon the man who runs Baptist Missionary Transportation Ministry (which is where the van was from) came and picked us up to bring us back to Harrisonville (about 30 minutes from where we were). We went to church there that night, which was the original plan anyways. The next morning a lady from the church took my kids out shopping for a few clothes and undergarments and also took them to a fun place to eat pizza and play. They had a great time. Meanwhile back at the mission apartment, I was on the phone ALL day long, with the police, airlines, US passport agency, Canadian consulate, etc. I felt like the phone was glued to my ear! After all of those calls, we realized we would have to go to Dallas to get our passports replaced. The airlines were kind enough to change not only the date of our ticket but the departing airport to Dallas and only charged us the $30 fare difference per ticket (which he worked hard to get that low) and not the $150 change fee per ticket. Someone from my dad's church in Ada, OK came and picked us up on Tuesday and took us back to my parent's house. We spent the next couple of weeks there, getting our passports replaced and replacing any necessities we could. Finally on March 16th we flew home! We have spent the last two weeks here cleaning, unpacking and getting the house back in order.  We are almost back to normal except we are still waiting on Delayna's school work to be replaced. This week is a big holiday here so we have no mail flight until next Thursday. The kids will be doing school all summer but we hope to be able to start next year on time. 

Please continue to pray for us as we still have some things to take care of. We still have to replace our Canadian citizenship cards (mine and the girls) our Dominican resident cards and a few things that were stolen. I have to redo all of my tax information, I had already had it all totaled up and ready to go, but it was on my laptop that was stolen, so I have to start all over. Please pray for the kids, that they work extra hard to get their school work done.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement and love offerings to help us replace stuff. You have been a tremendous blessing through all of this. We have such awesome friends and family!!!

November and December overview

I'm just going to give you a quick overview of what has happened in the last few months. The last time I wrote, Stu and the girls had gone to Canada to visit Stu's grandma. She did pass away on Thanksgiving, so they were thankful that they got to see her one last time.  She was a tough one to the very end. She was alert and trying to offer food to everyone.
We spent most of December in Oklahoma with my parents. We were trying to get caught up on medical and dental work. The kids got all of their shots, Jesse got tubes put in his ears, and Seth got all of his dental work done. When we get back to Oklahoma the end of this month I have to finish my dental work (root canal and crown) and Jesse has to have dental work done. Please pray for him on Feb. 1st. We had all the kids dental work done in the Dominican but all the fillings fell out so they both had to have it all redone. It was very traumatic for them there because the dentist didn't use gas or even numb them. We had to hold Jesse down as they worked on him. He screamed and fought the whole time. Because of that we need to put him to sleep and the insurance won't cover him being anesthetized in the hospital. So he will be given oral sedation in the office. Please pray that it works well and they can get the work done in as few visits as possible. Praise the Lord his dentist is giving us a 50% discount. That helps some.
We enjoyed Christmas with my family. That was the first time in many years that we were all together. It was both fun and chaotic. There were 18 of us at my parent's house. Most of us shared only one bathroom. 5 of them were kids 5 and under. My mom and dad both got sick on Christmas day. My mom didn't get to eat and they both threw up that night. Thankfully the rest of us stayed healthy.
We have spent the last few weeks in Charlotte, NC with Stu's parents. The kids have sure enjoyed spending time with the grandparents. We have been freezing here though. We are ready to get back to the tropics to thaw out. We are also ready to get back to a normal routine. We have about a month and a half before we head back.
We took a new family picture this month. I will post it here, but if you would like one, just let me know and send me your address. The only condition to me sending you one is that you pray for us. :)

On the road

Yes, I know it has been so long since I posted and I am sorry. We have been traveling non-stop for the last few months. It has been almost impossible to keep up with office and online stuff. We are now in Charlotte at my in laws house. Actually right now it is only me and the boys. Stu, the girls, Martin and Bonnie (Stu's parents) all went up to Canada to see Grandma Schepers (Martin's mom). She fell and broke her spin in two places, has pneumonia in both lungs and has a bowel obstruction, so she has not been doing well. They did not expect her to make it long, but so far she is hanging on. Stu and Juls are on their way back now and Martin, Bonnie and Delayna will head back in a few days. So I am happy that I don't have to spend Thanksgiving alone. :)
We have been all over the place the last few months. Me and Stu flew up to Seattle and then drove to Vancouver, BC and on to Kelowna. From there he flew to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and I flew to Winnipeg  Manitoba. We then flew all night back to Oklahoma, picked up the kids and started driving to Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland (with a few days touring Washington DC) and then here to North Carolina. We have been able to visit many friends along the way. Some from College, some from back home in Texas and we have made many new friends. We are now seeing family here in NC. My brother lives here and I got to see my nieces and nephew , two of them for the first time. I also hope to visit my aunt while we are here. The Lord has also blessed with several new churches picking us up for support. We will be heading back down to Oklahoma early in December and I get to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in many years! If we can get my brother down there, we will all be together! I am hoping to get a family picture, because this doesn't happen too often.
No funny stories to report this time, but I do have a horrifying story. Since everyone left I was left here with only my mother in law's BMW to drive.  I hated driving it because I didn't want anything to happen to it. I had to go to church and then I had to go to the store to get some things. While in it I was constantly telling the boys not to touch anything and not to move and not to breathe. :) I was driving overly cautious. So I got home from the store yesterday and pulled into the garage, shut the door, and got my stuff and the boys out. I then shut the driver's side door (not slamming it) and as I did the passenger side window exploded! I stood there horrified and shaking. The boys stood there with looks on their faces of, "I didn't do it!". I just thought, "she is going to kill me!" So I guess I will be getting coal in my stocking this year! :)

Heart Attack!

We have been staying busy traveling. We have been to Oklahoma, Texas and are now in Arkansas. We got to visit Victory Baptist in Wichita Falls, where we worked for a while before going to Canada. While there we were able to go to an MSU football game. The boys loved it! Even Delayna got into it.  Ever since then they are asking to listen to or watch football. Just wait till we take them to a hockey game, since we know those are so much more exciting. :)
The boys, or maybe it's just Jesse,  sure keep us entertained. Jesse points out every stop sign now and when it is a large sign, he yells STOP. He also points out all the "oil pumper" things (oil wells). He gets very excited anytime he sees a train and tells Stu to make sure and tell him when he sees one. He also asks, "how many more aisles (miles) until we are there?".
We were also able to be with my mom on her birthday. While we were there the boys about gave her a heart attack. I was in the room packing and I thought the boys were playing with Delayna outside. All of a sudden my mom started screaming, "SOMEONE HELP THE BOYS, HURRY!". I took off running, not sure what was wrong. What happened was that Delayna had come inside and the boys had gone up to the top of the hill and gotten in my mom's utility wagon and were riding down the hill in it (through a maze of trees with a ditch and a road at the bottom). Somehow they had stopped halfway down and Seth was about to give a push to get them going again when I got out there and stopped them. My mom was sick the rest of the day. I told her that now she knows how I feel daily. Also while we were there we were killing scorpions daily. The boys were sleeping on the floor so after finding many scorpions around where they were sleeping we decided to move them to the couch. As I was carrying their blankets to the living room, I jokingly said to Stu, "I'm not leaving a trail of scorpions behind me am I?". He looked and sure enough there was a big scorpion that had fallen out of the blanket. Praise the Lord none of us were stung while we were there.
The boys are always telling Stu, I love you more and most to try to be the one that loves the most. The other day Seth was trying to make it more and he said, "I love you more and most and 5 + 5". Stu let him win on that one. :)

I will attach a few pictures, I have several posted on Facebook if you want to see more.