{Nessie lives in our back yard!}

and she has a little one...

They have been having a blast in the snow!

{Haiti, Hungary, Snow and other miscellaneous things...}

{Haiti Update}

I wanted to say THANK YOU for all the fleece blankets we have received for my mom to take to Haiti, right now the count sits at about 45 that she and I have collected. She is excited and thankful to be taking them to House of Bread!

And the winner of the "Jesus~Haiti's Hope" necklace is....

JULIE & EDEN!
(email me your mailing address)

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped out!

{Hungary Update}

Another huge thank you to everyone locally through the churches and friends who helped us collect candy, cookies and ziplock bags along with meds for Shawn's mission trip. 

He left Friday morning with Eli & Abigayl.

They made it there safely and hit the ground running. So far, it has been an awesome week for all of them.

{Nate}

Couldn't resist adding in this picture of my wounded soldier!

I am happy to report he has healed up just fine!

 I love his creativity!

 {Snow, snow & more snow!}

What a huge blessing in this dry land!

Last week and this week we have had huge snow storms!

This was the drifts in our front yard when I went to scoop the driveway on Monday!

It made our front porch look pretty!

Yes, my Christmas evergreens are still up... but they still look beautiful and the cross is perfect for Easter.

{Other random pictures from my camera this past week...}

 Hope you are having a great week!

Book Review

Congo Dawn

By Jeanette Windle

When I saw Congo Dawn on the list of available books for me to review by the publisher, Tyndale House, I wasn't sure if it was one I would like. I had not previously read any book by the author, Jeanette Windle.  Jeanette grew up on the mission field and has a true to life understanding of many of the issues she writes about in her books.

Congo Dawn is an international suspense story that takes Former Marine Lieutenant Robin Duncan to the jungles of the Congo as a translator for a private security firm that is being paid to provide security for the mining industry there. Along the way, she runs into an old friend that she had served with in Afghanistan not seen or heard from in the past 5 years. Their parting then had been painful and both carried anger, sorrow and pain from the events that had taken place. Dr. Michael Stewart, has now returned to the Congo to serve in the community where he grew up as a physician at a small hospital that had recently reopened. Meeting again brings back many emotions and much heartache as they must decide who they can trust and what is really happening in the war between the mining industry and the local tribal people.

Robin is brought face to face with her struggles with faith and discerning who to trust as the plot thickens and she becomes suspicious about their mission. Her initial goal is to get her job done as quickly as possible and get her pay so she can help with the costs of an expensive surgery that he niece is needing. Yet she is a woman of compassion and truly desires to help the Congolese people as well. Robin wrestles with understanding God's love and protection as well as His will. As she meet people along the way who have suffered, she also finds strength in their stories and their faith in God.

Though this novel was long, I found it to be suspenseful and kept my attention. The plot is complex and challenging to read as it is full of loss and pain. Yet I feel is carries through out the story much of the reality of many places in the world today. 

I truly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to others.

I received Congo Dawn free from the publisher to review in return giving my honest review of the book.

Anna's T-shirts
***UPDATED***
I have ordered the shirts, I will have a few extras in some sizes if anyone is still interested. They should be to each of you in about 3 weeks.
Thank you for all your support of Anna and her family! We were able to raise over $1000 for Anna's medical account! Once I have all the shirts out I will be able to give a total amount raised.
Go check out their family blog as well, Amy is keeping it updated about Anna. 

I will take orders for t-shirts for Anna through noon on Monday and will be putting the order in after lunch. The shirts should arrived to each of you who have ordered in about 3 weeks.

Can't wait to share with you about how much you have raised to help out Anna and her family.

Please be praying for Anna, she will undergo her surgery on Monday in Italy which will be during the night here tonight. You can check out their family blog for updates.

{Snow Day Snuggles...}

{Almost Wordless Wednesday}

Polly's Photo Shoot...

 Can you tell we are in love?

{A Busy & Blessed Weekend}

Part 2- the gymnastics meet

The meet this past weekend was the largest we have been to this season. Both did a great job.

Here are a few pictures from the meet.

Lenna...

Abigayl...

 Awards...

 Our team placed 4th...

{A Busy & Blessed Weekend}

Part 1~friends

Friday evening we headed to the city to meet up with friends who were passing through.

They are friends who love us are and we can be real with, it is always a joy to spend time with them.

For our kids, it seems like they have never been apart...

As you can tell, we spent a few hours at the hotel pools having fun...

Lots of laughter & splashing...

some snuggle time in between...

These two had fun just sitting in the hot tub for awhile....

I couldn't resist snapping a few more pictures of these smile...

After swimming, we headed to Panera for lunch.

We found a little corner to take over and enjoyed more time together that included a lot more laughter...

 Thanks for taking the time to laugh and spend time together friends!

***Please continue to pray for Anna, today she is admitted to the hospital in Italy to prepare for her surgery. Amy is keeping their blog updated here. We are also still taking orders through Friday for the t-shirts to help raise funds for her medical account.