Friday in the DR

 This is what we woke up to

 spending a few minutes on the beach before our bible study

 the kids and jeremy

 Family picture

 Heading out towards the bus

 this was our transportation for the week. it was such a blessing to have air conditioning on it..I was surprised about that but excited. most of the people drive motorcycles in this area of the DR. they are everywhere!  we saw whole families riding them (no one wears helmets) with four people loaded up. two year olds would be riding on the front. brian saw a man with a mattress on the back of his and another person holding a 100 lb bag of rice while riding.  since gas is $6 a gallon I can see why motorcycles would be more prevalent.

 Las Palmas School

Each class has a Dominican and a American teacher so they are learning in both Spanish and English. They learn math, reading, and science in English then History, Bible, and  ? something else in Spanish.   Most of the younger students only spoke Spanish making it for an interesting morning of teaching art. The school is walled in and has a locked gate at the front with a guard 24 hours a day. 

 They go to school from 7:30-1:30 each day. Schools there don't have cafeterias so the kids bring breakfast to eat but go home for lunch.

 They enter here to go in the school or courtyard

 some of the kids were having recess while we were there. they had this swing set, a batting cage, basketball court, and balls to play with.

 The girls and women were in charge of teaching 14 classes from preschool to fourth grade an art project. We decided on rainbow loom bands (before we knew there would be preschoolers) then these girls organized it all.

 playing tag while we prep

**funny note: we had extra time with the little ones and played duck, duck, goose. they knew a similar game but wondered why in the world a goose would chase a duck..lol. such a great point! their game was called "cat, cat, mouse"...much more appropriate!

 We split up into two groups. Dawn and I worked with Cailey and Cora while Michelle and Lora worked with Emily and Julia.

 There are around 40 children in a class in a room that's about 10 x 12. As Cailey pointed out,
it's about the same size as her bedroom. We walked in and introduced ourselves to these happy kiddos who were excited to get started. Some of them already knew how to loom but most were able to learn that day.

 By the smiles and sweetness of the children, one would never know the hardships they face daily. It was so much fun to love on these children!

 ** the school doesn't have air conditioning (as no place there does) but they keep the windows and doors open so the breeze felt awesome.

 Cailey and I loved all the sweet kiddos!

 While we were doing art with the kids the men and boys were outside doing hard labor. They worked on landscaping the yard area (which is something they needed help with). They spent hours hacking away at a tree stump that would not budge. The tree had been cut down because it had giant fruits that would fall on the kids and could actually really injure one. We left with the stump still there but not because of effort. The men and boys were so nasty and sweaty that we let them have their own seats on the bus back to the church for lunch:).

 I just had to take a picture of this sweetness!  These were the two and three year olds we made bracelets for. Their faces would just light up and they'd say "gracias" when they were given theirs.

 After saying goodbye to the awesome teachers and students we went to wait for the bus to come bring us to the church for lunch.

**I met some awesome teachers whose stories of how they became missionaries there were so amazing to me. They were just normal people who left everything and went as a single person to teach English to the kiddos. They need three teachers for next year, including a first grade one. I have to say that I immediately looked at Brian and said we had to move:)

 sweet Cherie is pregnant and spent the morning feeling yucky but she is SUCH a trooper and a great servant

 we thought this tree in the middle of the courtyard was beautiful

 After lunch we were given a tour by the Pastor Gary. We learned about their heart for missions, church planting, and serving the community. As I sat and listened it seemed like the same thing JD would say at church. Even though this is a very poor area they still support missionaries they've sent out in different countries. They also support their own church with funds from the members. This map was made with a magnifying glass and a piece of wood. It took 30 hours for the artist to burn the world onto the wood just by using the sun!  It was gorgeous up close..the picture does not do it justice!

 Next up was the sewing shop that Alison (Gary's wife) runs with another lady. They employ women who had been on the streets and give them a way to support their family by selling or renting out hundreds of dresses. They do all the altering there as well. They have a great vision and would eventually love to have a bakery, hair salon, and jewelry shop to employ many more people. I can't wait to see what happens!  (They are very wise with funds and will only start something that can be self supporting).

 These pictures were taken from the bus ride out to visionland. It fascinating me that people used power lines to hang up their laundry!  They did this all over the streets as there were so many power lines.

**Apparently the power goes out randomly several times a day but we didn't notice it while we were there.

 I wanted to take a picture of the firetrucks for Ephram:)

 The church owns these 42 acres of land that they have named Visionland. In the coming years they hope to build a professional academy baseball field similar to the ones used in major league baseball training facilities (as baseball is LIFE over there) a highschool, some safe houses for women, etc. Again...their vision is amazing. They really want to reach the people and have servants' hearts.

 a hammock on visionland...apparently they wanted to all sit together

*they put a wall up around visionland and have built a house so that someone can live there and make sure nothing gets stolen.

 As a part of our tour they took us to see where the Atlanta Braves training facility was...Brian was thrilled:)

 Julia and Cailey were much more interested in the stray dogs all over. Drove me bonkers! She would come back with flea bites all over her legs!

 After the tour, us girls/women were dropped off at the safe house so we could teach the girls how to sew a pair of shorts. Really Lora, Michelle, and Dawn were there to teach while the rest of us were just there to assist:).

 The first day was craziness because they thought there were five working sewing machines but it turns out that only ONE worked. Dawn was amazing and was able to get everyone started.

The girls were learning how to cut out the pattern for shorts.

 many times I found this girl outside...with a stray. sigh..lol!  she sure felt sorry for the animals!

 While we were at the sewing workshop, the men were back at the church moving boxes down with a pulley system. More physical labor..they were amazing!

When we got back to the hotel we were ready for showers and CRASHED into bed. 

God started tugging on our hearts this day...we sure did love the people there!

Serving at the School and....

   The second day we started studying 2Timothy.  Each day a dad led the bible study before we went to serve for the day. The verse that stuck out to me the most was 2Tim 1:8. "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." Even though Paul was in jail he was still teaching about God. I know that if I was in jail it would be hard for me to be rejoicing. I learned that I need to rejoice in all situations..even ones that are hard.

     Our mission team went to Las Palmas, the school, to serve in the morning. The girls and women taught the school children a cool rainbow loom bracelet and the boys and men did some landscaping in the schoolyard. I got to teach six or seven classrooms how to do the pretty bracelets. The moms, other girls, and I split into two groups so we could have time to teach every class from preschool [including two and three year olds] to fourth grade. It was kind of hard to communicate with the younger children but the older ones spoke English since it's a bilingual school. I liked helping them because it was fun to see the look on their faces when they finished the bracelets. We let the preschoolers play with some bands while we made the bracelets for them. They would put down their bands and smile really big when they received their bracelet. The kids chose their colors and helped us pick them out.

     God gave me a special experience realizing that what they called a private school was children learning in classrooms the size of my bedroom or smaller. I was surprised how many kids were in the small rooms and that their desks were twice as small as mine and very old with paint peeling off.  Children there considered that rich and didn't know that classrooms in America are about three times the size of theirs. I am thankful that God brought me there and showed me the differences of rich in the Dominican Republic and in America.

     After teaching at the school and eating a delicious lunch at the church, the girls, women, and I headed to the sewing workshop while the guys moved some boxes from the church to this empty space called 'vision land'. After hearing a short bible study in Spanish led by a sweet young lady named Madeline, Cora's mom and Xander's mom started teaching the girls from youth group how to sew shorts. My favorite part was talking with Madeline and learning some new Spanish words. I really loved getting to know her.

    While they were learning to sew, all the machines broke except for one!  Even though there was only one working all the girls were very patient and didn't seem upset at all. That taught me that I could wait my turn in a line of four people with my siblings and be patient after watching them wait for a couple of hours before it was their turn. Some people didn't even get to finish their shorts until the next day.  The girls were all so super sweet and I got to talk and get to know them while they were waiting.

Ready Heart for Day One

 
a picture of our whole team ready to head off

We were all packed, hoping we remembered to bring everything, and that our one shared suitcase wouldn't go over 50 lbs.  I fell asleep by 9, knowing we set the alarm for 4am the following morning. Brian set two alarms...both of which he somehow turned off in his sleep. Knowing he did the same thing when we went to Korea in the early morning, this time I set one as well (thank goodness!)

I didn't really know what to expect from my first mission trip.  This made me increasingly nervous. What if I wore the wrong thing and offended someone? What if I said something wrong or didn't understand something important?  What if we got sick?  SO many What if's that made my stomach turn at the thought of going early the next morning.

I am so thankful I went with Cailey because it forced me to step up and not show that nervousness (that I knew she shared). I wanted to be strong for her..but Brian and Laura knew I was a wreck inside:).  I don't like the 'unknown' in any situation but knew that I'd probably come back wanting to leave and go again...so we crossed the first hurdle and woke up in time to leave:).

I also beyond thankful that Brian came. I can't imagine going without him...we were able to experience our first mission trip together and process each day together. He was able to see WHY I would say, "So...we are selling everything and moving here?" (Don't worry...no plans for that...just a heart full of love for the sweet people we met in the DR)

We met with our team at least four times before the trip but everyone was pretty quiet during the discussions so we didn't really 'know' anyone before going in. Cailey knew Cora, Xander, and Will from Route 56 but not very well. Two of the other families were from the Durham campus...so other than being familiar with their faces from the meetings we had barely talked to each other. Good thing I'm a talker:).

 I'm not going to post any of the same pictures that Cailey does. This was her first (that she could remember) plane ride. She was SO VERY excited and made sure everyone around her knew it. We were able to sit together (after some switching) but she was with friends for all the other 'legs'.

 We flew into Miami where there was a 3 hour layover. Perfect for getting to know people better, eating lunch, and playing games!

 Cherie with Cailey, Julia, and Cora

After switching seats so the girls could sit together I ended up sitting next to Dawn. I'm thankful God placed us together because we were able to talk and get to know each other during the two hours. They went on a mission trip to Africa last summer so I was able to hear all about that and their amazing time. She also told me that we would ALL be processing this trip for months to come. For some reason I had it in my head that Cailey would come back 'changed'. Dawn told me that her kids spent months processing and changing..it didn't just happen overnight. That REALLY helped put it into perspective for me and made total sense. SO so thankful I was able to sit with her on the way down!

 Cailey was able to sit with both the girls on the flight to the DR. It was only a couple of hours then we went through customs, got luggage (YAY!!) and met up with Miguel, who was our driver for the week.

 The first ride on the bus was pretty comical because it was stuffed FULL of luggage and baseball equipment to donate. We drove to San Pedro de Macoris, where we would be serving during our stay.

 We went to the resort long enough to drop things off then meet back up to go over to the church for dinner. Now...we did stay in a resort but know that this resort is very different than what you would think of in the US. Yes it was great...but had some quirks too:).  Like...

1. of course you can't drink the water but that's the same all over the island
2. the shower water was either scalding or freezing...and would switch back and forth during the whole shower. there was no in between. good times:).
3. very basic bedding...a mattress with a sheet (no mattress cover, etc.) BUT the mattress was super hard which I LOVE...Brian...not so much.
4. there was a pool. it was green. but the kids did swim in it one day...and so far have been ok.
5. you can't flush the toilet paper (true all over the island)

I'm SO very thankful we stayed there on our first mission trip though. It's a great way to ease into it.

 beach pictures

 It was cool the first day so I wore my long sleeve most of the time

 i mean...these TREES!

 We loaded the bus and went over to meet and have dinner with the missionaries who are serving there. We met with Pastor Gary and Allison, Steve and Julia Griffin (and their three sweet children), Miguel and Deomaris, and their children.

I was able to talk with Steve and Julia a lot the first night. They had a huge impact on my outlook of missionaries. Their story of going on a cruise, seeing poverty, then selling everything and fundraising was amazing to me. They are just normal people. They had twin two year olds and a four year old at the time they moved to the DR two years ago. Normal people...so neat.

We were graciously served a hot lunch and dinner everyday, prepared by sweet ladies who cooked in the heat (of course there was no air conditioning) for us.

 Cailey is amazing with younger children and was already loving on Julia's girls the first night. All the kids had huge smiles on their faces (both ours and the ones who lived there). It was neat to see how a smile works in any language and helps bring people together. Such a blessing and gift from God!

 After dinner and lots of talking we went back to the resort for a bible study and team meeting

 more beach pics

We gave our first impressions that night and everyone started to really open up. I loved hearing from everyone..we all had such different thoughts about it. Some of our team had been on mission trips before so they had different perspectives.

this was how we got drinking water in our room.

Take off..by Cailey

   On Thursday morning mommy, daddy, and I had to wake up at four o' clock in the morning to meet our mission team at the airport by five. After going through security and eating a quick breakfast I stepped on an airplane for the very first time ever (that I remember). The airplane ride was exciting but the only part that I didn't like was descending because it hurt my ears. When our team landed in Miami we had a three hour layover before our next plane. I talked with some sweet girls my age named Cora, Julia, and Emily who were on our mission trip and ate at Nathan's Hotdog before getting on the plane to the Dominican Republic. On the second flight I was able to sit with Julia and Cora on the plane!

   After landing a kind bus driver named Miguel drove us to our resort. Next he drove us to the Dominican church for a delicious dinner of spagetti, bread, and salad provided by some generous ladies who went to the church we were partnered with. We also got to meet some of the missionaries who were at the church permanently.

     That night after dinner Cherie told us to get our Bibles and notebooks and meet at the beach by seven. Before going to  bed our group had a short bible study and shared our first impressions out loud. My first impression was that there were so many stray dogs all over the streets. Soon after taking a shower I was fast asleep, tired from a long day traveling to the Dominican Republic.
 

Bikers!

 We just have to get daddy a bike so we can go on family bike rides because we LOVE riding together!

check out that boy with no training wheels:)

Happy 10th Birthday my Braden boy!!

9 was Star Wars

It doesn't seem like it's been a year since you turned 9 but the day has come! Today is your 10th birthday and I'm sure Nonny is spoiling you like crazy while we are in the DR on our mission trip. I was hoping your surprise party would've already happened by now but because of sickness and schedules it has to wait. I'm sure you are suspicious... as any child of a 'surpriser' would be, but I hope you will still be surprised.

You love a good surprise just like your mama:) and Oh you LOVE a themed party for sure. You plan a year in advance of what it will be the next year. So fun:).  I gotta say I was sad that we didn't get to make all the decorations and pick everything out together this year since I know how much you love working together on all the plans. But I think you will love it all when May 3rd rolls around.

I wanted to show you how much you've changed and grown through the years and look back at all your fun parties. I love a good cake picture (of you eating it:) so I tried to use a lot of those. You.Love.Chocolate! But you know that of course.

 Legos for 8

 7 was a robot for your 'Science Craze' theme

 6 was a monkey..you have a love for monkeys and i call you my monkey boy with super sweet kissing cheeks

 5 was race cars

 4 was firetrucks..complete with a field trip to the station

 3 was bugs. Oh how you loved (and still love) everything about bugs

2 was a bunny. It was near Easter and Nonny wanted to make you a bunny cake
so we had an egg hunt and played all kinds of games outside.

 1 was balloons. You loved balloons and constantly pointed at them and wanted to hold them.

and this was the day we met you for the first time. our sweet baby boy

I had so much fun going back and looking at pictures of your life. (And I MAY have wished I had a better camera for the first few years AND that I took more pictures of your party:).

Happy Happy 10th birthday, Braden! I love you to the moon and back times 555!

Fine Arts Night

 The kiddos all participated in this year's Fine Arts Night with co op.  Ephram showed the book he wrote.

 kinsey and lilly bug

 Braden and Matthew

 Braden learned a hard Star Wars song for the night. He'd been working on it for a while and it was perfect the night of the performance!  He wore his Yoda shirt to go along with the song.

Cailey and Kinsey sang, "This Love" while Kinsey did gymnastics during the verses. (They sang the chorus together). It was super sweet and so many people said they had never heard the song before. Cailey choreographed Kinsey's gymnastics routine. It turned out super cute..but best of all, I LOVE that they did it together!

magna bar date!

I love spending one on one time with my kiddos and one night (back in February) Kinsey came home from gymnastics and I snagged her for a date. We got Magna Bars, locked Kinsey's door, and hung out in her room just talking and laughing. I'm so thankful I get to be this girls' mama. She is fun and full of joy. She's SO different when I'm one on one with her..and after talking with her I always feel like she has SO much to say. She's a funny girl!

I love you my Kinsey girl and treasure the time we spend together!

Even spending 20 minutes of uninterrupted time with each other makes all the difference.

Random thoughts about today.

By the time you read this Cailey, Brian, and I will be headed to the Dominican Republic for our first mission trip. We'd love for you to pray for us while we are gone.

We are flying to Miami then on to the DR.

We will be working with children in a sewing shop, a baseball ministry, landscaping, running two church services, and teaching art in schools. Basically we are going to an existing ministry and helping out wherever we are needed.

'Flexibility' has been the main word we've been given to focus on. As a type A person, I don't always to well with flexibility but since we've been praying about this word for months I feel like I'm prepared. (famous last words...ha ha ha). Being there with Cailey is going to help me SO very much because I want to be strong and an example for her.

Cailey will be teaching a bible lesson on Daniel in the evening church service on Sunday. I'll be leading the craft...lion puppets. Neither one of us can picture how it's going to work with an interpreter so it'll be completely new for us both.

I know very BASIC Spanish but was sure to review, "Donde esta el bano?". Girlfriend needs a bathroom:).

Pollo. Yall pray for the food situation. I want to be open but know I'm SO very picky. Brian and Cailey are looking forward to the new foods which I LOVE.

Aqua.  Yall pray no one gets sick from the water or anything else. We will only be there for five days and want to be able to serve and be healthy the entire trip.

Pray for the people there that we really WILL be a help. Pray for the kids, that they will see Jesus in us. Pray for our hearts, that we will be open and flexible. Pray for logistics and safety.

Pray for Cailey. Pray that it will be life changing for her and she can be open to what God has to show her there. Pray that it will give her a new perspective...and a thankful heart. Pray that it will light a fire in her...well in all three of us...to share share share the Gospel!

Pray for Brian who will be spending his time establishing a website for them down there. That all the technology will work and he will be able to really help them while he's there. We are thankful that they needed someone who was computer savvy and that Brian can help out in this way.

Pray for my mama who will be here watching Kinsey, Braden, and Ephram. I know they will be super sweet but a nonny can always use prayer:). Oh..and pray she doesn't get lost!! I get my sense of direction from her:).

Pray for my Braden boy who will not be with us for his 10th birthday. It's on Sunday. I pray he will know how much he is loved even when we're far away. I have NO doubt that Nonny will spoil him like crazy but it still makes me sad.

Pray for my Ephram boy. I'm pretty sure he'll be fine since Braden and Kinsey will be home too but one never knows how it's gonna go for the 'baby':). Pray that he will stay WELL and not have any sickness (which would make for a hard night on Nonny).

Pray for my Kinsey girl. Just cuz.

Thank you. Thank you for supporting us financially and in prayer. It was such a relief to know that so many people (even those we don't know) are supporting us.

 Thank you to Pam, who will be taking our kiddos to awana on Sunday.

Biker boy!

 It was time to teach my littlest guy how to ride a bike. He wasn't too excited about it but thankfully was VERY brave and did great..even when he fell over and over again. There were no tears, just cheers. The kids were SO very excited for him!

 I spent about 30 minutes playing the balance game with him then following him around and 'letting him go'. When he was DONE we went inside and just talked about how exciting it was.

 Fast forward to a WEEK later when it was warm again (after snow/rain/ice, etc.) and all I ever saw him doing was riding a scooter. The time had come to take him out on his bike again (because I knew he wanted to be riding it with everyone else). He would have gladly accepted his training wheels back but this mama wasn't giving up.

 

Ephram was nervous about riding and wasn't really looking forward to it when he got on the bike. I just encouraged him to try and told him I wouldn't let go and would stay with him. After 5 minutes he was ready (even though he didn't know it) so I let go. And he was balanced! And could ride by himself!  We were SO excited for him!  He still wasn't too sure about it but after going back and forth for 10 minutes he realized that he no longer needed me. My baby could ride a bike by himself!  Brian and Braden were out on a run so he wanted to ride until they got home so they could see him. They were also shocked and excited for him. 

A ton of neighbors were outside too (since the weather was gorgeous) and they were cheering him on as well. He celebrated with ice cream breaks but kept wanting to go right back to riding. He needed a boost to start the bike and I figured it would be a few weeks before he was able to do that by himself but boy was I wrong!  He learned how to do it and as Brian pointed out he "no longer needed his mama". Sniff Sniff. 

I have now taught all four kiddos how to ride their bikes...and they all learned on the same bike. These days they have balance bikes for kids but I think they are silly. Just a waste of money...kids can learn without those! Kinsey told me that I was an awesome mom because I taught them all how to ride. It made me smile:).  

Ephram and I went out to get a prize today and he picked another tool set. He spent all day outside riding his bike or using his new tools. 

I have a feeling he'll be out bright and early tomorrow morning riding more. He loves it so much!  Now we just gotta get him swimming and then I can breathe easier:). My boy is growing up!