Furlough #1

Posted by Stacy on August 12th, 2011 @ 8:27 am under Mission South America, The Newest News

We had an excellent time for our first furlough experience!  What is furlough all about for missionaries who work overseas?  For us it is all about reconnecting with loved ones, friends, and supporters.  Our expectations were met, because we not only had a lot of fun and time to relax, but we had great quality time with many of you who care about us.  We are so thankful!

We were very intentional about trying to make our two month furlough during the Texas summer.  Here are the reasons why:

  1. Wes and I have always enjoyed hot summer days that drench you in sweat.  We’d prefer that over shivering in the cold any day, so you did not hear us complain one bit about the 100 plus degree weather of Texas!
  2. Summer time is when cousins and Gran are on their school vacation!
  3. Now that Jake is in school, summer time furloughs work out great with his school schedule, too.  At ICSL the students get at least one month off for the Peruvian summer (January) and at least one month off for the American summer.

So here’s a quick overview of our time in Texas:

Our first three weeks were spent with our supporting church in Kaufman and we were SO blessed by this time with them.  We love our church family there and we are super excited about the new couple they just hired to work and serve in the role of Senior Minister–Doug and Lana Page!

While trekking across Texas, we were able to spend some time in Houston, College Station, Corpus Christi, Kaufman, Fort Worth, Levelland, San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Chapel Hill.  Great times with family and friends!  I know there are many of you that we didn’t get to touch base with, but know that we think of you often and appreciate you, and we would love to try and meet with you on our next trip down.  OR you always have a place here in Lima if you get a hunch to see the Peruvian sights!

We spent time with both of our families and were able to do almost everything you could possibly do in the summer time–went to the pool, went to the beach, went to the lake, went camping on the river, went to a water park, the Ft. Worth Zoo, and a Ranger baseball game!  The boys had a blast and so did we!  And thanks to some dear, sweet friends in Kaufman, we were also treated to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science.  Thanks again, Sandra and Lisa!  The boys will cherish their time at the dinosaur exhibits, children’s museum, imax, and the planetarium (and so will we, because those are great memories)!

We also got to celebrate Derek’s 3rd birthday on July 4th weekend! (I’ll write a whole other post for that one).

Stay tuned.  My vacation is over, and I apparently have a lot to say, so many more updates to come.  (And eventually Wes will get pictures ready to go with this post and the ones to come.  He’s been busy being the “Intern Coordinator” for our team.  We got 4 new interns a week after we got back, so I’ll introduce you to them soon!)

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Jake started Kindergarten!

Posted by Stacy on August 8th, 2011 @ 9:32 pm under Everything Derek, Everything Jakob, Parenting, Peru, The Newest News

Well, furlough is over and we got back to Lima on July 29th.  We hit the ground running as usual, because we only had a few days to unpack and get Jake ready for his first day of school!  Here he is:  School uniform? Check.  Transformer backpack? Check.  Star Wars lunch box?  Check.  Batman water bottle?  Check.  My cute 5 year old ready to go?  Check.  Sweet little brother, Derek, happy for his big brother?  Check.

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So last Wednesday he went to his first day of Kindergarten at the International Christian School of Lima!  He was very excited and walked right in like he had been there a hundred times already.  His teacher’s name is Mrs. Mysheel Kerekes.  She is very sweet and can relate to the kids in a lot of ways, because she is a “third culture kid” herself.  She was born in Ecuador, but spent at least 18 years in the States going to school and working, she’s also travelled to other countries like, Hungary, where she met her husband.  There are 9 other kids in Jake’s class, and they also come from different parts of the world–Korea, Mexico, USA, Australia, South Africa, and Peru!  How cool is that?!  When we picked him up after his first day he said, “Do we have to leave? Can I stay here?”  I smiled and told him not to worry, he would be coming back the next day (and the next day, and the next day…little does he know he’ll be going back for the next 12 years at least).  :)

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On his way to big kid school!

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After school: Jake and James, his friend from Australia that we met several months ago.

On furlough we got to visit my good friend, Kimberly, in San Antonio.  She has three little boys and her sister-in-law made her a sign that she hung up in her house, and I absolutely love it!  Because the sign says it all,

“There’s these boys who stole my heart.  They call me Mom.”

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There’s no way to describe how proud I am of my boys and how thankful I am to be their Mama!

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In Texas and a Special Event in Dallas

Posted by Wes on June 12th, 2011 @ 3:25 pm under The Newest News

Yes, we’re back in Texas and we’ll be here until the end of July!

We’re up in Kaufman now and will be traveling all over Texas in the coming weeks making stops in the Lubbock area, College Station, Corpus Christi and Houston before heading back home to Lima.

Also, this Tuesday there will be a special night in Dallas.  Our team is conducting a fund raising event with fine-artist Rolando Diaz (www.rodiaz.com) in an effort to raise awareness and funding for the work in Peru. We still have some spots available.  So, if you live in the Dallas area (or are willing to drive in), please consider supporting us by attending this event or helping financially.

Click here for the info on facebook.

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Whirlwind weeks ahead!

Posted by Stacy on May 24th, 2011 @ 8:14 pm under Everything Derek, Everything Jakob, Mission South America, Peru, The Newest News

Hello blog.  If there are any of you out there still reading this blog, then thanks!  We are still here and still doing well.  I have not been blogging much in the last few months, because every bit of extra time I have had has gone to preparing for an event that we had this past weekend.  I felt God leading me to organize a missionary women’s retreat here in Lima, and so after stalling for about three months, I gave in and finally obeyed Him!  Eleven english speaking women here in Lima got together for a weekend getaway where we had time to relax, re-connect with God, and rest in His presence.  The focus for the weekend was on Intimacy with the Lord through Worship, Study, and Prayer.  What a HUGE blessing it was to organize this retreat.  Words are not enough to say thank you to our special sponsors, some dear friends, who made this weekend possible for us.  It is my prayer that God will continue to prepare me, our team, and our growing family of believers here, because I’m looking forward to the day when we will get to have a retreat like this all in Spanish!

Well, as the title says, there are whirlwind weeks ahead!  TONIGHT as I type this we have some short-term AFCers who are arriving here to work with our team for about two weeks.  Among other things, they will be doing some service projects and a VBS for all our kids next week when we go to the Peruvian Missions Summit in Arequipa.  Yeah!  We are so excited to have them here!  When we get back from Arequipa our family will have just a couple of days to pack, because visiting Texas is on the horizon!  It is time for our first furlough!  Wow, August 19 will be the 2 year mark of us living here in Lima!  We are looking forward to time spent with our supporting churches, family, and friends.

The next several weeks are going to FLY by.  And on August 3rd Wes and I will enter a new stage in life–kids in SCHOOL.  Like for real big kid school.  Jake starts KINDERGARTEN!  What?!  I know, I can’t believe it, either.

But let’s not focus on that quite yet.  We have a Texan summer to enjoy before that happens, and a little Derek who will be turning THREE on 4th of July weekend!  Fun times in these whirlwind weeks ahead!

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