Merry Christmas!

I can't believe we are only 6 days out from Christmas. So exciting to be able to spend the next few days with family! We will visit Great Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandmas! This past week we were able to visit Crown Center with Mylee and Evie to see the lights and of course to visit Santa in crayola land! The girls had so much fun playing on the crayon slides and tunnels. When it came time to see Santa, Mylee cried alot for a bit but then she saw that her sister wasn't crying at all on Santa's lap, so she calmed down enough to stand next to him for a picture and to talk with him for a minute. She also gave him a high five as well. Evie whimpered for just a minute and then stopped to watch what was going on with Mylee. So she was okay on his lap but we made it through none the less with a pretty decent picture!

We also played a little bit at Crown Center inside as well as outside. We all had lots of fun as you can tell by the cherub faces you see in the above pictures.



We also celebrated Aaron's 30th birthday on Sunday the 16th! We were able to pull off a surprise party very well. However, anyone that knows how clueless Aaron is to details, this may not surprise you. He had not a clue that we were scheming together a party! I had our former next door neighbor come and perform his magic show and was very impressed by his talent. We would have had a longer show but his music wasn't working on our system at church so he had to cut about half of it out. Oh well! I was still very impressed by what we did get to see. I had Feliz Cumpleanos written on his cake which is Happy Birthday in Spanish. It was a very wonderful time spent with friends and family. I think it is funny he just happened to be wearing a sweatshirt that has the number 30 on it that night!

Click on this link to view more photos of the events mentioned above. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabesmission2414/December2007

Are we in Mexico yet?

Our Backyard....................................................................................Costa Rica's Backyard!

I think these two pictures say it all. I was so hoping to be out of here before all the bad weather hit. Oh well, I guess I can deal with it since it'll be another 4 years before I see it again. We're getting a little bit of cabin fever already, and ready to get out of the house. What a week to get used to staying home with the girls again. But we'll make it. I think the sun is supposed to come out tomorrow. At least I'll pray for it to come out! Trying to stay warm...

This is actually a picture of the administration building at the Language School in San Jose, Costa Rica that we will be attending.  BEAUTIFUL!

New Prayer Card

Hello everyone! This is our brand new prayer card we are waiting to receive in the mail. We are so excited to have this to give out to our friends, family and Prayer Partners. A BIG thank you goes to Troy Smith who graciously took our picture and then put the post card together. Be looking for yours in the mail soon, if you have signed up to be a prayer partner. If you are not sure you have done this please click on our profile and then the email link provided. Shoot us an email to be added to this. We would really like to go with all the prayer support we can get.

This past weekend we drove up to God's Mountain in Rushville, Missouri to hang out with our youth. Us and the girls had a blast. The weather wasn't too cold and the girls were really good. We were able to work on a Human Video that I am directing and Aaron is playing the role of God. We will perform this for our youth on January 9 and then in the morning service at Maywood Baptist on January 20. We are hoping this drama will speak to a lot of people. We pray that it will. Aaron was able to play paintball with the youth and some other adults and I played a very violent game of spoons. But so much fun none the less.

It became official on Monday, December 3, when we mailed off our last payment to make us DEBT FREE! We are so excited to have met our goal and look forward to leading other families to experience the same freedom we are feeling right now. For more information you can email us or click on the Dave Ramsey link at the bottom of our page. We are so excited to be good stewards of the funds you provide us through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Don't forget to give this Christmas.

Don't get too busy this Christmas season. Remember the REASON!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We drove down to Eureka Springs and spent time with Aaron's family. One of Aaron's cousins rode with us from here in Kansas City. Another one of his cousins had flown in with her family from the Air Force in Belgium. We shared a condo with Aaron's brother and his family and the girls had a wonderful time playing with their 4 girls. Praise God we had a safe trip and made it home all well on Friday.

On Saturday the girls "helped" Grandma and Grandpa put the tree up and decorate it. Evie just doesn't know what to think of all this. Sunday morning I noticed Evie was pretty quiet for a bit and went in to find she had pulled 4 ornaments off the tree and was very proud of her work. You can't help but to laugh for a minute and then tell her NO, NO! So I guess we are ready for the Christmas season and we even have a couple gifts under the tree from some extended family and it is killing Mylee to not open them.

But among all the trees, presents and busyness we are going to remember and celebrate the real reason and I hope your family will too. Be sure to say Merry Christmas as much as possible! Next weeks post will come with stories from God's Mountain this next weekend. Enjoy the last week of November. Can you believe it!

We made it!

Aaron and I, after receiving our appointment certificates Wednesday morning at a separate ceremony.

Standing behind us is John Floyd, IMB Trustee Chairman. For a full story click on the IMB link at the bottom left of our page.



Hello everyone! We made it home safe and sound. What an amazing week we had. I don't think I can say that for my parents because they drove and had my kids all week. But they all barely survived.

I am having a hard time coming up with words to convey how much this trip meant to us. We were able to see all our friends from Candidate Conference in July, that we have been keeping in touch with since that week. We were also able to meet 3 other couples and another lady who will be joining us at language school in Costa Rica. They are all very special people and can't wait to see how God will work in our lives as we spend a lot of time together.

During the week they gave us time to prepare a "testabyte". Because there were 82 appointees we were only allowed 75 words per couple to tell a piece of our call or testimony. We also had to have it memorized. So we practiced on my parents which was a pretty good time. We spoke it in front of 1500-2000 people that evening. We weren't nervous at all. Maybe I should speak for myself (Gabe).

We played lots of Farkle (dice game) and Nutsy (card game) with all our friends and had a blast. After playing the first night I woke up the next morning and couldn't extend my arm and it was in a lot of pain. So everyone was saying I had "Farkle Elbow". But the only think I can think of was that I pulled a muscle while getting the luggage on the bus. Who knows. But it was all the way better after 4 days.

On the flight out there we sat across the aisle from 4 members of a Mexican Band who was touring in the US. I tried my minimal Spanish on them and it gave them a pretty good laugh. But I told them we were going to be missionaries in Mexico and the lead singer said he was from Mexico City and his uncle lives in Puebla. We were so excited to have had this opportunity to speak with them and who knows, our paths may cross again someday.

Aaron was able to witness to a homeless gentleman in Subway on Sunday after church. He shared his sandwich with him and spent about an hour with him talking about the love of Jesus. This meant as much to Aaron as the Mexican band did for me. God is once again confirming our call even as we are appointed.

We will now just enjoy our time with family and friends for the holidays up to February. Thanks for all your prayers during our trip and if you have any questions feel free to ask. We would be glad to tell anyone about our week that changed our lives forever.

Ready to Go!

We are a day out from leaving for Appointment Ceremony in Springfield, Illinois. What a week we have had with Halloween stuck in the middle. We helped with Trunk' n Treat at Maywood Baptist Church in Independence. We were the Woods Pumpkin Patch. I was hoping to post some pics but we didn't get any good ones and forgot to have someone take a family picture of us. But us girls were pumpkins and Daddy was the farmer of the patch. When asked what her favorite part of the night was Mylee replied, "Um...Lucas, Caelin, Carson, and Brennan." Here we go again with the boys. It was a pretty big deal before we left about the scary faces. She was real worried about this, so we prayed that Jesus would protect her and help her to not be afraid of them. So after asking about her favorite part she piped up with this: "there were a lot of scary people there. But I wasn't scared of them. I just faced them!" Where she gets this stuff I don't know, but we were pretty proud of her.

I have the girls and myself packed, which puts me more ahead of the game this trip than for any other trip in my life. So tonight should go real well just getting those last minute items together. As we have been praying for this trip we asked that God would keep us safe and to continue opening doors for us as he has done the 2 and a half years in this process. We feel truly blessed to have such a clear answer as to what God's purpose is for our lives. Thank you for praying us through it and know your prayers are being answered. Also pray that Satan would be defeated this week as he tries to get us down. We are already seeing his work the week before so are prepared for the attacks to come. Hope you all have a blessed week and will see you when we get back-Thursday, November 8.

God Mountain's Fall Festival

We visited God's Mountain Youth Camp for their Fall Festival and enjoyed a beautiful fall day to be outdoors. While there we had a complementary picture taken of our family by volunteers working at the Fall Festival. It has been fun to find places we can visit with family before we leave. It was a blessing to have my sister (Mylee and Evie's Aunt Lauren) in town as well to hang out with. God's Mountain is a camp that has been built from ground up just by donations and volunteer labor. This is one of Mylee's favorite places to visit because she can run and play all day. We will be returning to the mountain for the last time, November 30, before we leave for the mission field.

Getting Excited!

We have ten and a half days before we leave for the Appointment Ceremony Week in Springfield, Illinois. You know you are excited when you have had a countdown going for a month. Both of the girls haven't been feeling well this past weekend, but are doing lots better today. I saw Evie cutting a molar on the bottom so that equals 4 molars coming in at the same time. The child is messed up at this point. But we will get through just as every other kid has done. The good news is they may feel better before time to leave for the Appointment Ceremony.

I am due to be done with work on November 30. Please pray that the girls would be okay with daycare for a couple more weeks. We tell Mylee constantly "just a little bit longer". Aaron has planned to be done December 31st. So just a little bit longer. Pray that our minds will stay in these jobs even though our hearts aren't here anymore. I have been finding small mindless mistakes in my work that I have no excuse for making. I am not getting in trouble or anything just frustrated when I have to go back to fix them.

This past Friday we took in a little bit of Mexico when we went and watched Bull Riding down at Kemper Arena. Dad had won four tickets from work. We had a really good time watching and cheering for the different riders, and the girls had fun making googly eyes at the cowboy down the row from us. OH Boy! It is already starting. Lord help us!

We had a late Friday night and an early Saturday morning as Mom and Evie cleaned up the church nursery, and Aaron cleaned and pruned the church grounds. While Mylee, Dad and I cleaned up Van Horn High School grounds. Except one time I looked over and Mylee was eating a doughnut in one hand and digging in the dirt with the other hand. Then looked over and watched her log rolling in the dirt. I couldn't believe it. Good thing baths were after and not before the work day.

So there you have a run down about our weekend. Continue to keep your eyes peeled for those Volkswagon beetles, and shoot a prayer for us and the people of Puebla, Mexico every time. May God bless your week.

Finally Settled!

Congratulations! You have found our new website and a new way to keep up with what is going on with us. So, to bring you up-to-date, we have sold our home, sold everything in our home, and moved in with my parents, to ready ourselves for the mission field. With a little adjusting we have finally fit into Mom and Dad's home, stuff, kids, and all. However we only have a little bit left from our 4 garage sales this summer. We are also about a month and a half out from being debt free. Then I get to stay home with the girls as well.
We are 19 days out from the day we leave for the Appointment Week in Springfield, Illinois. We will be flying out on November 3, and Mom and Dad will drive with the girls on November 5. Pray that this week will be an uplifting time not only for us but for family as well.
Please list this sight as one of your favorites, so that you remember to check it weekly. I will be able to put pictures on the page as well as updates on where we are in the process. Please know your prayers are being heard and we are definitely feeling the affects of them. May God bless the rest of your week!