Friday, December 7, 2012

Program in Kansas

He Knows My Name
 
Cristo Yo Te Amo

The Bench Skit
 
Pebbles Skit
 
 Echo System Skit

Last week, we traveled up to Kansas and presented a program for a fantastic and fun-loving group of people in the community where Jon grew up.  They invited us to present our story, so we shared through speaking, skits, and singing.  Many of the songs and skits we did were used on our mission trip to the Dominican Republic (pictures hopefully coming soon).

 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Orphan Sunday - "Children of God"


November 4, 2012 is National Orphan Sunday. As a family, we sang "Children of God," which explains the great truth of how Christians are all adopted into God's family through believing in Jesus.  John 1:12 - "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God."

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Mission Trip Movie Night

We just returned from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Christian International Fellowship, Inc. While there, we (Jon, Christi, Blaize, Brodie, and Anna) stayed with our dear friends, Bill and Peg Pearson, who run the mission from their apartment in the middle of Santo Domingo. Their home is an open door to people from all over the city. It is quite common for them to feed 20-30 + people on a given afternoon and/or evening. We had a wonderful trip with many great experiences, both in Santo Domingo and out near the border of Haiti.

One evening after we ate supper, the kids went back to brush their teeth and get PJs on for bed. After a little while, I went to check on them since it was very quiet. Upon arriving, I saw the door closed with the light off and thought, "Wow - they must really be tired if they went to bed on their own already!" As I quietly cracked open the door, this is what I saw: all three kids perched by the window watching a movie from the open window of a room in the adjacent building, sound and all.

The "guilty" party - thoroughly engrossed.




The view out their window to the next building.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Brayden describing his accident . . .


We recently returned from a family vacation in Williamsburg, VA.  Jon's parents and Christi's parents (from Kansas & Michigan) met us on the east coast, and all stayed together for a fun week of learning about the founding of America.  On our drive back, Brayden had a bit of an accident in his pants before we could whisk him into a restroom.  After this little episode was rectified, I took a short video of him as he came back in the van.

Following is a bit of history on his informative monologue:
You will hear him recounting how he kept dropping a golf ball.  This happened at the beginning of the week while playing miniature golf.  I told him he could carry his own golf ball to the course, as long as he was careful not to drop it.  Well, the poor guy just couldn't keep hold of it as much as he tried, and he kept saying how silly it was that the ball wouldn't stay in his hands.

Next, he reflects on dropping a sandwich.  This happened while eating a picnic lunch outside.  All of a sudden, half his sandwich popped out of his hand and found the ground.  Sheepishly, he recounted how the other day the same thing was happening with the silly golf ball.

Finally, he couples the whole thing together to include the recent "potty" accident.  Well, it delayed our trip a few minutes, but it was well worth the joy of being entertained by his quizzical explanation!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

It's shower time!




Shower time is ALWAYS a highlight for Brayden and Brennan.  You should see their smiles and excitement when the announcement is made, "Get ready for your showers!"  Each time, they never fail to have some new and exciting activity.  This day after we finished, I sent them to get dressed.  Well, upon hearing snickering and the all-familiar sounds of "up-to-no-good", I turned around the corner and found this - a proud new hat design.  The "little boys" (as we call them), provide loads of entertainment for us, and them!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Welcome home meal


Aliyah, Anna, and Brayden had a doctor's appointment this morning.  Upon arriving home, Blaize, Brodie, Ava, and Brennan were excited to present them with a special "meal" they had put together.  Brayden was especially proud of his blue tongue from a lollipop he received at the doctor's office.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Sing for Your Supper


Each day, someone is assigned to pray and pick a song to sing before we eat.  This day it was Anna's turn, and she picked "Doxology."  On Brayden's day, he usually tries to get away with the Baroche-era classic: "I have a little turtle, his name is Tiny Tim, I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim ..." 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

"Typical" days at our house . . .

Brayden describing a "very mean" Satan.
It has been fun to see how the seven kids have grown close together as a family. Especially fun to watch are Brennan and Brayden. Those two act like identical twins. They play for hours together, with conversation at some point shifting toward spiritual matters. It usually has to do with one saying that Satan is very bad and the "mean guys" on earth follow him. The other will then talk about how Jesus is "too much more powerful" and will "bonk" Satan on the head. The last time Brayden went to the dentist, the first words out of his mouth after exchanging pleasantries of how he was doing were, "Satan is very, very mean but Jesus will squash him with one hand." If only I had a video to capture the flabbergasted look the sweet and innocent hygienist had, not knowing what to say. I think she finally said to me, "Okay then, Dad, I guess we'll get started."

Brodie tends to liven up the moment with his words as well. The other day we were driving through the Japanese section of the Botanical Gardens. Upon seeing all the Japanese signs pointing out various portions of the garden, Brodie suddenly exclaimed, "Mommy, why are they here; Japanese people are not allowed in Texas, they are taking our land!"

The supper table is another source of cheap entertainment. New bits of information about what went on in Ethiopia always tend to pop up. Last week, the subject shifted to how they would occasionally get sheep and chickens in the orphanage. Aliyah and Anna initially had pictures in their mind of furry little sheep and clucking chickens as cute pets. These thoughts were quickly shattered as Blaize, Brodie, and Ava went into detail about the method of killing the sheep and chickens and how they would help do this and then wash, cook, and eat the sheep's tongue. We were laughing hard enough for tears to come.

So, anytime you pass by our neck of the woods, we would love to have you stop by and join us. You never know what you may experience.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Valentine's Day


Anna thrilled about her gift.


Aliyah excited for her turn.


Ava is all smiles.

This year for our annual Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Day dates, we experienced the following fine-dining establishments:
Breakfast - Anna chose "Ma's Cafe";
Lunch - Aliyah wanted to try out the new "Taco Mayo" in town;
Dinner - Ava was thrilled to partake of the buffet at "Mr. Jim's Pizza".

Tuesday, February 21, 2012