Of rats and flies.....

I've decided that our cat, Mrs. Sippy, from the states of Mississippi, is worth her weight in gold. We sat down to eat one day last week, and I heard her making a rucus in the living room. Went to check out what was going on. She was trying to get behind the computer. I watched for awhile and realized that she had a mouse back there. Richard came over, pulled out the computer, and out came a 5 inch rat! Yikes!! It was bigger than the cat could kill, but we managed to get it out of the house. If the cat hadn't gotten it who knows where it might have made a nest or ended up.

Then there are the flies. It is rainy season, and we live in a town with hundreds of cows, pigs and chickens. We try to keep the doors closed, but they seem to get in anyway. We can take the fly swatter and kill 20 or so, and still there are more. Oh the joys of life.....

Summer Happenings

Eduardo and Mattias Buldain, the speakers


In the kitchen


Nancy, helping serve


Our family in the dining room


It was a very beautiful place to visit and meet


Wow, these days are flying by. OK, what else is new, eh?

Two weeks ago we attended a conference for pastors and church planters. The speaker was Eduardo Buldain, Lancy's old boss from Argentina. We enjoyed being there. It was especially good to see so many young couples getting started in church planting in this area. I was in charge of the food for about 40 people. Not a big deal, until I saw the kitchen, and what it DIDN'T have. It was pretty dismal. I ended up making quite a few things ahead of time at home and doing as little as possible there. Here are a few pictures:

God's Masterpiece

Another cute picture of LiAnne.


Taylor, getting ready for the Olympics next month.



Janelle, who was glad to finally have some "America clothes".

Amanda Off to Thailand

Amanda leaves early Saturday morning to fly out to Thailand. She will be working with a missionary couple there for a month, as well as spending a week or so with Lancy. Please pray for her as she travels, and that she would be a blessing to the family she is visiting, and a witness to those she talks with.

Amanda, we are praying for you. Listen to the first song on this blog....it is my prayer for you. Love you, Mom

Happy 4th!

We are having a quiet day at home. Hamburgers, no school, and just resting after a busy week. More on that later. Hope you are having a good day!

Puppy Love

Janelle loves animals. Here she is with our two doggies--though Oyuki is now living in Missouri with my folks. She is a bit of a nervous dog, and didn't really do well with having a young girl always trying to make her do what she wanted. Our house was a bit hectic for her. She will do better living in a peaceful house and being spoiled. We still have Belle here, as well as Mrs. Sippy, the cat. One kitten has already gone to her new home, and the other will be going next week.

News from Jeff in Thailand

We went through this kind of stuff in Panana, so we aren't worried. One just needs to use common sense and stay away from crowds. Still, we ask for your prayers for Lancy, Jeff and Jessica and kids in Bangkok.

Thai Politics


For many years, the political situation here in Thailand has been anything but stable. There have been several coups, mostly peaceful, and corruption is rampant. The most recent coup of just a few years ago has not brought about the stable democracy that was hoped for. The government that took control after the coup has never gained the trust of the Thai people and has been under severe political attack almost from the day it took office little over a year ago. Over the last few days, those attacks and protests have become more serious, to the point that many here believe we are on the brink of another coup, or worse, anarchy. While we do not believe we are in any physical danger, we would ask for prayer that whatever happens with the government, that peace would remain and the Thai people remain committed to freedom, specifically religious freedom.

I would like to reiterate that we have no reason to believe that we are in any danger. Unfortunately, these types of political battles are the norm in Thailand, and most confrontations end without shots being fired. Whatever happens we know that "God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne"! (Ps. 47:8)

Taylor

Two Wonderful Years!

This week we celebrate two wonderful years with our Taylor. What would life be like without him?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Earings

Janelle got earings for her birthday back in December, but we couldn't find anyone here who would pierce her ears. In Mexico, girls have pierced ears. All girls. And they get it done when they are a day or two old. Everyone. If a baby doesn't have pierced ears, it is a boy. Doesn't matter if it is a girl wearing a pink dress, people will ask if it is a boy if it doesn't have pierced ears.

My mom borrowed a friends ear piercing "gun" and brought it down with her, so last week I got it out to pierce Janelle's ears. First my friend Martha wanted a second set, so I did her first so that Janelle could see it was no big deal. Martha didn't even flinch. Next was Janelle. For some reason the no flinch thing didn't work. After doing the first one she looked at me like I was trying to kill her. And we still had to do the second. Thankfully she sat still long enough to get that done too. Now that they are done, she is quite happy with them.

Summer time fun

The kids had so much fun playing baseball the other day. No t-ball for these guys, they did a great job hitting Richard's pitching. Both Janelle and Taylor were good hitters while LiAnne just watched.

Layout credits:
3's enough template, Scrap Girls TKA

My Basketball Boy

My folks arrived yesterday to visit. The kids were so excited about them coming. Of course they brought presents, and what kid doesn't like that? They brought a bunch of mail that we had up in Missouri, and in that was a flyer from Holt Adoption Agency with this flyer in it. They used a picture of Taylor to make a flyer encouraging special needs adoption. We didn't even use Holt, but Taylor's picture was in their magazine a couple a months ago in a story about last summer's reunion of he and his best friend from the orphanage. One of their artists saw his picture and wrote and ask if they could use his picture. If just one more family decides to bring home a little boy, then Taylor will have helped bring about a miracle! The miracle of adoption!

The funny thing was that the night before we got the mail I had scrapped this picture....