December 2007

Well, we have had a busy couple of months. Our Ecuador family left on Dec. 10. It was hard to say good-bye. When they arrived home, Santiago (Ariana's dad) recevied Christ as his Savior! He said, "My heart is at peace." Ariana and her dad both received new hearts!! We praise the Lord for
that! What an awesome experience we had with them.
We introduced Ariana to paint! The kids each painted their own Christmas ornament.





Avery and Ariana were like sisters together. They loved to each take their own bean bags and jump into them from the stairs, and Ariana tried to do Avery's hair while Avery watched t.v. I introduced Alexandra and Eunice into the world of scrapbooking! They loved it!! I think they had one whole suitcase full of scrapbooking stuff by the time they left.



The night before they left they played hockey in the kitchen with race car tracks and the top of an ice cream cone (one of Avery's kitchen toys) for a ball. They had a blast!! The kids also gave us one last concert with Logan on the banjo, the girls on the drums, and Tyson reading the Christmas story.










All three of our kids were in the Christmas program at church. They each sang two songs with their Sunday School classes in front of the church. They all did a great job!










My high school girls small group had a christmas party. We had them meet at my house with a small gift to exchange and $10. We didn't tell them where we were going. We took them to Savers (it's like a Goodwill) and told them they had to purchase the most hideous christmas sweater or outfit they could find and then we put them on and went to Shari's for dessert and to exchange gifts. It was so much fun! They loved it!

We spent Christmas in Iowa with Darin's family this year. It was great. The kids loved being with their older cousins. Before we left Darin made our annual swedish pancakes we eat every year. Yum!

We are looking forward to a new year and all that God has in store for our family. We have much to be thankful for!

Thanks for your prayers!

Our family is hosting a two year old little girl named Ariana along with her mother (Maria) and interperter(Eunice) from Ecuador. Ariana is here through Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project for heart surgery. They arrived on Nov. 4 to our home and Ariana had a successful surgery on Nov. 8. She will be released from the hospital on Nov. 13 to come back to our home to recover until Dec. 10 before flying back home.

Maria met Mel Graham (cousin of Franklin Graham) while Mel and Franklin were in Ecuador. Maria works at a hotel and was cleaning Mel Graham's room when she started telling him (through lots of sign language because neither of them speak the same language) about her daughter needing heart surgery. Well, Mel got an interpreter and told Maria that he would do what he could to help Ariana. Ariana was not expected to live longer than three days after she was born. Maria and her husband, Santiago, were expecting to take her home with them from the hospital after she was born to die. They prayed for her constantly and put her in God's hands. God placed Mel and Maria in the same room at the right time. A month after Maria and Mel met they were on a plane to Rochester, MN for a surgery that would save little Ariana's life. Praise the Lord!!

We are having a great time getting to know them. We are practicing our spanish and learning some new words too. It is such a blessing to be able to be a part of helping Samaritan's Purse and all they do. Thank you for your continued prayers for Ariana and her family.

New School Year

Well, we are off to a good start with the school year. Darin is going strong with youth group. He is starting up small groups for the high school students in Oct. I will be leading a group for the girls. I had a get together last night at our house for the girls and had 14 show up. We ate ice cream sundaes and played the game Apples to Apples. It was a lot of fun. I decided to post a picture of all who showed up.

Tyson is in first grade now and loves his teacher. He has a great class and is slowly learning the names of his classmates. I think this will be a good year for him. He also has a new hairdoo that he is proud of and has learned how to fix his own hair. This week he has learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. He does a great job steering and stopping without falling off. It seems like he has grown up so much just in this past month.

Logan has started preschool at a church nearby. He loves school and has a friend from our church in his class. He is still the same goof ball he has always been. One of his favorite things to do lately is to draw pictures on the magnetic board and have us take pictures of it for him.

Avery is into dress-up lately. She has found her snowboots and loves to wear them around the house or outside along with her t-shirt and shorts. Last week Darin put her to bed then later when I went in to check on her I found her asleep with her snow boots on. She is also becoming a little mommy with her dolls. She is fun to watch.

We are doing well and getting ready for Fall- which I hear is beautiful here. We'll see. :)

Summer's End

We are getting ready for a new school year with two children in school now. Tyson will be in first grade and Logan will start preschool. I will have to keep holidays for two different schools straight. I am looking forward to a couple of mornings a week when it will just be Avery and I at home.

Darin has started filling in as a line judge for volleyball games. This gets him connected with the high schools and also gives us a little extra money. I will be starting a small group with some of the high school girls in Oct. This will get me more involved with youth group. I am looking forward to it.

We had a great time with my parents while they were here visiting. We went to Amish country one day, drove to the Iowa State Fair (which is 3 1/2hrs. away) another day to hear Darin's dad sing with his quartet, and visited a free zoo in St. Paul before taking them to the airport. They had quite a time getting back home. While they were waiting for their plane to take off in Minneapolis they watched Air Force One land. They saw the motorcade come and take him off the plane and drive away. President Bush was actually on his way to Rochester to see the flood damage. My parents flight was delayed a couple of hours which made them miss their connecting flight in Denver. Unfortunately they had to spend the night in the Denver Airport and catch a flight the next day. This flight was also delayed due to mechanical trouble. By the time they got to Spokane to visit with Brenda and Miles before going home, it took them almost 27 hours to travel what takes us 3 hours to fly to Washington. My dad said that he could've driven there faster than it took them to fly. I told him that it isn't every day you get to see Air Force One land though. Maybe they will appreciate the experience in a few years when they can look back on it and laugh.

It seems as if summer has left us for a couple of weeks. It has been very rainy and overcast the past two weeks. I am hoping for a few more days of sun before Fall and Winter hit us. You can pray for me this winter. I am nervous about how I will deal with the freezing cold temperatures.

We are looking forward to what God has in store for our family this school year. Looking back over the past year He has provided so much for us and has carried us through a lot. I can't imagine living a life without His grace and mercy. We are so blessed.

Home Again

Well, we made it home after a nice long vacation in beautiful Washington State and Oregon. The kids and I got to spend some good time with my family in McMinnville before Darin flew out to join us in Yakima, WA. Darin officiated in two weddings both outside in the mountains. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting.

Funny story...while we were in Lake Wenatchee for the first wedding Darin and I drove to Leavenworth (a beautiful mountain town)to enjoy before we needed to do wedding stuff. While we were walking through the cute stores I heard a familiar voice and turned around to find my small group leader from our church here in Minnesota. She was there with her sister also attending a wedding later that day a few miles from the wedding we were there for. How amazing is that?!!

The entire vacation was wonderful!! We got to see a lot of people, enjoy the mountains a little bit, relax, swim in the Novobielski's pool, and the kids loved helping Ray walk the horses down to the pasture everyday. We also got the opportunity to meet with our former pastor and associate pastor and talk with them about our leaving and the way it was done. We are so blessed to serve a God who is in control of all situations!! After Darin and I met with them we felt like all is well again. We had a difficult last 9 months with the transition process, but God is faithful in taking care of His people and His church. I can't even begin to explain the burden that has been lifted and the love we have for Memorial Bible Church. God continues to bless them in their ministry as He is blessing us here.


I have realized this past month how much God has taught me and stretched me as a person. I feel excited about what God is doing even though it is hard at times. I am learning that God doesn't forget you in your pain, He has a purpose if we allow Him to use us. I wouldn't have chosen for myself to leave my family and so many people I love, but when God is in it I can't think of a better place to be.

So now we are back in lovely Rochester, MN. Last night we watched an awesome thunderstorm and was reminded again at how powerful God is. I've learned that if you let God lead, He may not take you where you want to go, but you won't regret where you end up.

More pictures

The first picture is of the boys playing around on their jeep. It wasn't raining, but they were sure having fun with those umbrellas. The second and third pictures are of our living room and kitchen upstairs. The last picture is of the kids playing in their "hideout" under the stairs. We are enjoying all the space this house has and welcome any visitors to come stay with us for a fun vacation!

Our Home

Here are a few pictures of our house. I took pictures of Avery's room and the family room. There are no pictures of the boy's room or our bedroom yet because I have not finished painting or decorating them and I wanted to wait to show the final stage.

We transformed Avery's crib into a toddler
bed because she can climb out of her crib.
Surprisingly she has done a great job staying in her bed. We do put a gate in front of her door just in case.

Here is our family room downstairs. The office is behind the french doors, and the kids hideout is the door next to the stairs. There are more pictures on the next post.

Where's Spring?

It snowed here yesterday. Today it has almost melted. The sun was out and shining. It is 36 degrees but feels a little bit warmer than that. It is supposed to be in the 50's by this weekend.

Well, the builder told me last week that we should be able to move into our basement be this weekend. I think he was wrong again. They still need to lay the carpet, touch up some paint, and put in the toilet for the downstairs bathroom. Hopefully next week it will be completed. Darin and I decided yesterday that the storage area under the stairs will be for the kids. They put a light in there yesterday and it is a really big storage area. They can have their own hide-out in the house. It will be fun for them. We will store our things in the garage and the guest room closet. I've never had so many storage options before!! I'll post some pictures of the finished basement as soon as it is completed. We are so close. The inspector came today and all is o.k.

Settling in

We are slowly settling in our new home. Darin is having fun with the youth and I am getting the kids and I acquainted with new friends. Our basement is nearing completion. The painters come next Monday then the carpet! YEAH!! I am anxious to finish unpacking and feel settled in our home. I started a Thurs. morning bible study at church to try and meet some women and I take Logan and Avery (Tyson is at school) to the church on Wed. mornings to ride bikes in the gym. We are starting to meet some people.

Avery is very spunky. She tries to do everything Tyson and Logan do. Darin put her in the drivers seat of their jeep (graciously given to them by a good friend in Yakima) and she drove them down the street like she knew exactly what she was doing.

God is blessing us on this new journey in our lives. We finally have a guest room for all who are dying to take a vacation in Minnesota. We welcome all who want to experience life in the middle of our beautiful country. We've got cool shopping and Amish. Who could ask for anything more?

We're here

I don't have much to say right now. I am nervous about this new adventure we are on, about making friends, getting my kids connected and adapting to a new culture. I know I will be fine. It's just scary when you're at the beginning of something new and unknown.

I'll post pictures of us in front of our new home soon!!

House