October Family News - 2015

I am hoping to start a new thing here on my personal blog where I share family news highlights to give everyone a better idea what is happening specifically with our family. Also, with our daughter leaving for college next summer, this will be a good way to record our memories of her last school year. 

So, we oddly begin in the month of October. October was a busy month. There were quite a few activities major events that I was really ready to have checked off the "to do" list. 

First up was the MK (missionary kid) Harvest Party. One of the other missionary ladies and myself have planned and hosted this every year for the past five years. 

It has become quite the event with lots of decorating and hours of preparation but, it is really worth it to see how much everyone enjoys the fun. We just get a bit anxious about how we are going to pull off all of our big ideas! I will post some more about that when I get all the photos from the other ladies who took them. 

Dessert table at the Harvest Party

A more important date on the calendar was for a dentist appointment with an orthodontist and possibly the oral surgeon to discuss whether or not our daughter needed her wisdom teeth extracted.I have to admit I was a bit nervous for her to have this "operation" done here in Russia. We have great private dentists who are very professional. Every now and then you can find a not so good dentist but we found a great clinic with wonderful staff.  Although Beka was even ready to have them removed, the orthodontist felt that they are not pushing on her other teeth nor hindering her in any way. So, it was decided that she would not have them removed. Beka was disappointed, believe it or not. She feels that they are bothering her and are the cause of her headaches and ear pain. As we were leaving the dentist's office I started remembering how they are here about removing tonsils. They do not like to remove them and hardly ever deem it "medically necessary". So, maybe removal of wisdom teeth is also considered unnecessary. Guess we will wait this one out and see!

The other big "event" this month was the tragic death of my laptop. This wonderful piece of equipment has served our family well through two furloughs and years on the field. Our home church helped us with the purchase of this laptop years ago. 

It became mine after my husband purchased a newer one back on our last furlough when we found some great "Black Friday" online deals. We knew this laptop was probably near death and wanted to replace it while we were stateside. So, we gave my laptop to the service guys who we trust to fix our electronics. They had it for weeks! Even through the Harvest Party when I had lots of planning and e-mailing to do, I was without my "right hand"! My laptop has most of the photos, e-mail addresses, and other information that I use every day in correspondence and ministry. I felt lost. Worst concern of mine was photographs. Would I lose all of our photographs from the last five years? So, for Beka's first dentist appointment back in September, my husband dropped us ladies off while he drove to check on the laptop. Still no news. Weeks more passed.
Finally, when we were in town for the orthodontist appointment we stopped by the repair shop again.They gave us our laptop back, not repaired. Turns out they were waiting so long to see if they could find the part that was needed but since it is so old, they were not able to find it. Sad day. But, the great news is that my husband can take out the hard drive and recover all of my information and photographs! Yeah! That was a big relief to me.
So, the bright side is...I have now almost made it to another Black Friday! We shall see what deals we can find this year. I am praying God provides a laptop asap. And, yes, there are now actually a few stores here in Russia that have special sales for Black Friday. So, I hope I can share really good news in November's update.

Thanks for reading!

A '12th Man' birthday party!

 Months before September 25th (his birth date), Timothy had decided that his 12th birthday needed to be a Seattle Seahawks '12th Man' party (if you don't know about the 12th Man, ask Google). He is definitely one child in our family who plans out his special days from beginning to end, or better yet, from breakfast to dinner!
He knows what he would like his cake to look like and he has a menu plan for all three meals. This year, we had such a big breakfast that no one needed lunch. So, we enjoyed two meals of his choosing. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches will just have to wait to make another day more special!

Breakfast Menu: Pancakes with eggs and bacon

Dinner Menu: Pulled pork sandwiches

Cake Order: A peanut butter Seahawks football jersey cake.

Can you tell he loves Legos?!

The next Sunday, immediately following the teen service, we held a party for Timothy and his friends. This time I took the easy way out and made some cupcakes. My SS kids love them anyway! With the leftover icing from the cake, we were able to swirl the frosting and make some cool cupcakes in Seahawks colors!

Love these kids!

We were excited to find these "Little Smokies" which were newly available here, just in time for Timothy's football party! Perfect party food!

We also enjoyed tortilla wraps with ham and cheese.

 One other fun thing for the kids were the blue icecubes in the Mt. Dew. The kids loved them. We don't drink Mt. Dew but when it coordinates with your theme...it just works.

It was a wonderful day for everyone. Timothy was so happy that most of his friends were able to be here with him to celebrate his special day.

We ended the day with Timothy closing devotions in prayer.

We love our "12th Man"!

Happy 11th Birthday to Timothy!

Today we celebrated 11 years of life for our youngest son, Timothy! Here is a peek into our day. First of all, we took the day off of school which Mom needed as much as the kids wanted! It was a nice, relaxing day just being at home and preparing the meals Timothy special ordered for his birthday.

First up on the menu, ham, egg, and cheese biscuits for brunch.

While big sister and big brother played a long Monopoly game with the birthday boy, Mom was able to wrap the presents, put the finishing touches on the cake, and prepare the evening meal of lasagna.

Timothy is very specific about details and his birthday meal choices are no exception!

His birthday cake of choice this year was the caramel toffee cheesecake that his sister has chosen for two birthday cakes in years past. One perk of your children getting older is them choosing more adult desserts which Mom and Dad also enjoy! 

This is a very specific recipe that requires attention to make but, overall, it is much easier and less stressful than a buttercream icing cake!

"Happy Birthday to you!!"

And a dramatic blowing out of the candles!

Love our kids!

Caramel toffee cheesecake time!

Timothy is happy!

One of the sweetest parts of our birthday celebrations is when our daughter presents the card she has spent much time creating for the birthday boy or girl (Mom and Dad included)! She has done this since she was a little girl. It is always so special to watch her choose a theme carefully and put extra love and care into each one.

Since Timothy loves Legos so much, this year's card included Legos pieces to make up the number '11' on the front. She punched holes out of colored paper to make the blocks. So creative!

Timothy loved reading his card this year which said,

"To our,

Lego-building,

sneeze-repeating,

puzzle-making,

bacon-loving

11 year old!

We love you!"

He loved it and read it over and over again!

Then it was gift time! 

The part of the day he has been waiting for all day long!

His larger Lego set came with a small comic book which kept their attention for a while, allowing me to get these sweet photos of them so close. 

Love them but hey really need to stop growing up on us!

The next birthday in our family is #13 for Ryan!

 Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to create these special memories in our family. 

We pray our children never forget the love and provision of our Heavenly Father on special days and all the other days He cares for us in between.

Running to Jesus

A few weeks ago our family received the news that a favorite family member had been taken to the hospital due to very high blood pressure and dehydration. 

I read the news to the family once I had read it from a Facebook post. 

Within a few seconds I turned my head and started to call out to our son, Ryan, to ask him something about his school work.

This is what I found him doing, with tears streaming down his cheeks...

He ran to Jesus.

What a huge wave of gratefulness swept over me! 
Praise the Lord! 
He gets it! 

Then I thought about it...
we as missionaries could work ourselves out of a job if we could just get people to grasp this concept! 

We see spiritually hungry people turning to 
drugs,
alcohol,
sadly, even suicide.


Why do we worry,
why do we struggle,
why do we fret,
why do we search endlessly for someone who understands our problems,
why don't we just run to Jesus!?

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

A Date with my youngest little love!

Our youngest son, Timothy and I were able to go out on a date. He was so excited to get to spend some time alone with Mom. I have really enjoyed these special dates that we planned after making the kids these DIY scratch off Valentines last year. We have enjoyed a year's worth of dedicated time spent with each of them. It has been so fun and we have made great memories in the process which was exactly the results I had hoped for in using these Valentines!

Timothy had been anxiously awaiting his first trip to our newest American restaurant in the city, TGI Fridays.

Timothy anticipating his meal coming soon!

Mom and her wind-blown hairdo! 

Timothy had it all figured out by the time we arrived at the restaurant. 

He wanted to order barbecued ribs, french fries, a hamburger, onion rings, a banana milkshake, and an ice cream sundae! That was it and nothing more! Ha!

I talked him down to barbecued ribs with french fries and a few of Mom's onion rings that would come with her sandwich. For dessert one of us could order the milkshake and the other would order the sundae for us to share. He agreed! 

Don't you love his hat hair!?

Boy, did he enjoy those ribs! 

He ate every one right down to the bone!

Our TGI Fridays has a motorcycle out front too!

On these special dates I try to answer,"Yes!" to as many "May we do this"s I hear! So, to my surprise my giant little boy was SO excited to ride a Christmas train the mall had set up for the holiday season. I was excited that the Grandpa conductor let Mom ride for free!

Special memories!

He is my "baby" and will be too big to ride this next year so why not!?

The next activity on the agenda was for Timothy to be able to play on the pirate ship playground in the mall. He played all by himself, checking every now and then to be sure Mom was watching, and enjoyed every minute of it!

My brave pirate at the helm!

As his brother and I did on our date, Timothy and I went to the arcade and played a few games for some more fun. He enjoyed all of it except Mom beating him terribly at Air Hockey! Sorry, I just can't let you win, even if you are adorable! 

Next was a stop at his favorite fountain. I am not sure what it is about this fountain but Timothy has loved it ever since he first laid eyes on it.

Recently, they placed a restaurant around the fountain so it is harder to sit next to it.

A growing boy gets hungry quickly so we had to stop and buy a little more ice cream. Mom was still full from lunch! He enjoyed sitting in Santa's chair while munching on his "snack".

Beautiful tree and a nice set up for Santa, but we never saw him there!

This was the funniest impulsive event we did together to complete the day. We sat in the massage chairs that are placed in the middle of two halls in the mall. Timothy thought this was great fun!

The best part is that I caught his reaction of video. 

Hope you enjoy it.

Praise the Lord for a fun and safe day. I pray he will never forget the memories we made together!