Family Fun Days

For the last 5 years, Jared and I have been attempting to balance our family life with ministry. It becomes difficult when we don't go to an office from 9-5 every day. So, our latest attempt at carving out family time as come in the form of Family Fun Saturdays. In spite of the relentless teasing and mockery we receive from our teammates (in love and possibly jealousy), this has turned out to be one of the best things we have done for our family. We don't answer cell phones or e-mails and for the most part we don't even discuss work. We just do something fun together as a family. We live in a pretty small town, so our options are a bit limited, but we try and get creative every now and then. This last Saturday, we decided to head down to one of the rivers near our house. It is about a 40 minute drive but definitely worth it. Caleb got to play in the sand and the water (although the water was pretty cold!). He had a great time and I enjoyed watching him and Jared play together on the shore. We took a picnic lunch and just enjoyed the afternoon as a family. Here are a few pictures from our Family Fun Saturday.

This is my favorite shot of the day! He was so cute and filthy with sand and loving every minute of it.

He is such a curious little boy. He stood for long periods of time just watching nature.

We brought one of his trucks. He took it with him everywhere and gave it several baths in the river.

He kept pushing over the chair Jared was trying to build for him.

He didn't sit for long at all that day, but I did manage to get a picture of him sitting in the sand.

Mothers please tell me that your kids liked to throw sand too. And even if they didn't, fib and tell me they did so I feel better about his penchant for throwing sand!

Jared dug a hole for Caleb to play in while he was making a chair for him. Of course...Caleb wanted to see what was IN the hole. I am sure you can see where this is going.

He slid down into the hole. You can see Jared tried to rescue him but he went in pretty fast!

After that he decided it was best to sit on the edge of the hole rather than stand!

Here is a short video of Caleb in the water with his Dad. Watch closely at the end as he blows you kisses! It is priceless!

Team Retreat - Jaipur, India

We have a really amazing team of dedicated followers of Christ working to see Light push back darkness in the Buddhist world. Two of our teammates are getting ready to return to America in a few weeks. We all really wanted to take some time and get away from our daily lives here and just spend some time relaxing and fellowshipping with one another. So, we went on a retreat to Jaipur, India. Although traveling in India isn't the most relaxing experience, it was completely worth it once we got there. Jaipur was amazing. The culture and history there are incredible. However, much more than that, the fellowship we had as a team was indescribably wonderful! We had a chance to hear from one another's hearts and see what God had been teaching us. God certainly renewed and refreshed our spirits while we were there. I learned a great deal about my teammates and the passion God has given them for the lost. We are so blessed to serve alongside such an amazing group of sons and daughters of the most High God. Their reward will be great!

Here are some pictures from our retreat.

Our "guide" at one of the forts wanted to take a picture of our family in a mirror. While he was doing that, Brittany took our picture from the side. Obviously Caleb was more interested in her than the guide.

Brittany and I were posing like some of the tourists there. The ladies were taking some pictures with some pretty interesting poses.

He really is in awe of this amazing fort! Or contemplating how he can get more cheese balls.

Once again, our team felt the need to act like a big group of Korean tourists and take a picture while jumping in front of the fort!

The pictures really can't do this place justice.

This is the Amber Fort in Jaipur, India.

We rode camels down the street of Jaipur on the way to the fort. I was so grateful we decided to do that instead of an all night desert ride....camels are NOT comfortable!

Caleb had just woken up and wasn't really sure what to think of the whole experience. He never did seem to care one way or another about the camel. Which is funny because he loves animals!

Caleb wants to be like Chuck when he grows up. He decided to get a head start by rocking his white sunglasses!

This is one of those pictures that will be kept for posterity and shown at his wedding!

We spent over an hour in a store filled with pottery. Fortunately Caleb was napping during this outing. But the guys were scared enough about breaking things without Caleb running around.

Chuck relaxing on a bench waiting on us to finish touring the fort. He kind of blends into the wall with his amazingly cool sunglasses.

We couldn't get Caleb to stand by these guys on his own so Jared had to go with him. They really wanted their picture taken with the white boy though!

Britt and Jenn hanging out in front of one of the most ornate doors I have ever seen.

Coty was shooting Brittany with the canon. Can't take these kids anywhere!

The Kid's Got Faces

Caleb wears his feelings on his face instead of his sleeve! His faces are ever changing and oh so telling of his current emotional state. Our good friend, Brittany, took these photos of him on the roof one day. They are amazing and really capture his many expressions.




Oh the wonder of the those creatures that fly through the air and swoop down to say hello! He loves to watch the birds fly through the sky. We have a lot of crows at our house and he loves to watch them fly from tree to tree.



Just pure enjoyment of running free outside!



"Hey...I'm working, don't take my picture!"



"Wait don't go...you need to stay and watch me work!"



"Ummmm.....whatcha doing?"


We spent a few days with Nathan and Kari and their kids. Caleb had fun having other kids to play with. He and Hannah were on the roof with Brittany when I came up. I am pretty sure their conversation went something like this...




Hannah: Ok, when we play with these rocks we can't throw them.



Caleb: So I shouldn't do this...?



Hannah: Yeah, that is what I said NOT to do.
Caleb: Oh, sorry! (hehe)