Praise for Protection and more

There are 2 girls on the trip taking all the pictures, so when they get back we will load them on the computer and share with everyone. Here is another email from Kaely. She is having so much fun.
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Good morning! We are about to leave for the beach - and will then head to Santiago where we will work on the farm tomorrow and head out first thing Saturday morning. It is really sad to leave here b/c this is where the school and all the beautiful children are. It is amazing to see people who have no material possessions, yet more joy than most people I have ever met. They also have their priorities straight - family and community are the things that they value. Everyone takes care of everyone else. It really is a lesson for me. It'll be exciting for me to share when I get home. There are 2 girls who have been in charge of taking pictures, and they will share w/ all of us.

Although God has definitely been seen throughout this entire trip, yesterday afternoon was the most evident. Our guagua (van) caught on fire last night and burned completely. Just wait until you see the pictures - it really is devastating. But SO MANY praises, b/c it just happened to be parked outside of the garage - something that they NEVER do. I'll have to tell the full story in person, too many details to write. So now our church will start fundraising for a new one - that is how they carry groups when they come to work.

I love y'all! Although I am excited to come home and share - I really don't want to leave. I LOVE it here.

-Kaely

Kaely in the Dominican Republic

In case some of you don't know, Kaely is in the Dominican Republic this week on a mission trip with our church here in Austin (Westlake Bible). The ministry is Markarios. Here is the website if you want to check it out (http://www.makariosinternational.org/).

Here is the email that she sent out today about her trip so far. I just thought I would share it.

Today was such a wonderful day. We started with church this morning. Although it was entirely in Spanish, the people were so wonderful and it was great to see them praise the Lord. For lunch we went to a restaurant. It is the same one where we will eat each day this week. We had rice, beans . . . and chicken!! It was all very delicious. And they were wrong about us having rice and beans for every meal - Ann (the missionary from Austin) makes wonderful meals for us every night. This afternoon we went to the village, Cihcihgua, and played with the children for a couple of hours. It was amazing to see how content they are with so little. We brought 3 jump ropes, some yarn, and one ball. You would've thought we were Santa Claus. There were a lot of pictures taken - maybe I can figure out how to send one later. I love y'all! Thanks so much for the prayer. I'll send another update tomorrow.

Wonderful Time Spent with Friends

Last week I was blessed to spend time with 2 of my former roommates, and very cherished friends, Jessica and Jamie. It seems like just yesterday we were all living under the same roof, but so much has happened since those days . . . marriage, children (well, child), and even cancer. How neat to see the Lord growing our friendships much deeper than we ever imagined. I am so blessed to know that no matter what lies on the road ahead I will have such precious souls to share the journey with!

Jessica and Daniel have one adorable son, Josiah Daniel. He is 8 months old – and the perfect kid. They said I would get to see both the good and bad, but I’m pretty sure it was ALL good. He is so cute!! He has such a personality and it was neat to be reminded how simple life is through the eyes of a child. I think as grown-ups we often make it too complicated. Below are just a couple of pictures from the week. Enjoy!




Josiah loves to look out the window.


Too precious! He immediately fell in love with her.




Can you believe this?? 8 months old, and already using the big-boy potty!

Blog Makeover

Will and I decided a couple months ago that we should start a blog. We have so much fun catching up on others, and it is a great way to share news and pictures. Well - for those of you who know me well - I'm kind of a perfectionist. I didn't want to send the link until I had the chance to have someone fabulous makeover our blog. So . . . here it is. THANKS SO MUCH to JENNY with Pink Armchair Designs for our amazing design. We love it!

Babies . . . Babies . . . Babies

We're told it's just our age - but it seems like everyone we know has or is having babies. NOT US, but it sure is fun to get to play with them and then hand them back when their diaper needs to be changed. :)

This past week we were able to visit some dear family friends in Kansas and their first baby boy, Wyatt Steven. And then yesterday I went down to San Antonio to visit another dear friend and her two children, Elaina and Madalynn. All of them were so happy, just filled with joy. (I really hope our babies are that way some day. ) I just wanted to share a couple of pictures of them. Too precious!

Wyatt Steven

Madalynn Kay

Elaina Jean