neglect

It's what I've done this month...I've neglected to keep writing in the blog. There's no real reason for not writing, just that life keeps on moving and day by day I haven't found the time. There are always things to share, always things to say and always the desire to write...but for whatever reason I've been silent. I apologize and thank you for your grace...

We've had a great month, really. This is our down time, as it is summer vacation for the kids. But it always seems to be one of our craziest busiest times of the year, as we prep for the new year and catch up on all that has gone to the wayside throughout the year. There have been so many different projects around our home and the mission house, and we are thankful to have the Bearden family here to help.

The girls and I took a quick trip to Chepe (San Jose) for a few days and it was a fruitful trip, as we accomplished what we set out for. We went with Joanna and Jamie and had a gerat girl time. We also got to visit with New Life Church Los Guido for a Sunday service and that was so wonderful! Surprised Doug and Karen with a quick hello and that was super sweet!

The Lord blessed us several months ago when we found out about super cheap tickets leaving from Liberia - the airport closest to us. We've never flown out of there due to the higher ticket price. We were due for a Visa trip in January, so we began looking for destinations within the sale price. Crazily enough, we wanted to go somewhere where there would be snow and the possibility of skiing...and ended up finding tix to Denver for cheaper than we've ever found them in the years we've lived in CR. It 'just so happened' (more like the Lord was totally guiding the whole thing) that our friend that lives in denver was on Skype while we were searching for tix...and thus began a conversation between him and Matt about the tix search and the invitation was offered for us to stay at their Denver home...so tix were purchased...and many conversations enused about our stay there...

We of course, have no winter clothing, coats, ski stuff, etc. But we waited and trussted the Lord, believing this was all a blessing from Him and He would provide.

We left Monday for Denver and arrived safely that night and were welcomed by our friends. the kids ran around all evening and then next morning chattering and having fun. The adults talked about how wired it was to be together again after such a long time...but how great it felt at the same time. Then they filled us in on the things they had planned and the ways the Lord had provided for our family.

We were given a sweet condo to stay in for a night by a family in their church. We had been given a car to use for our week here. There were several pairs of boots, coats, etc...for us to choose from to use during our week here as well!

The Lord has so blessed our time here. We spent one night in an amazing condo then took off the next day for a day at Loveland ski park and hit the slopes. All of us totally enjoyed the day! Then we took off and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and a small cabin we rented for the night. It was a beautiful drive, even at night. We arrived quite a bit later than we had imagined, but felt at home right away. We were exhausted and went to bed shortly after arriving. We all had a great night sleep and decided that we'd stay another night, so booked the cabin for one more night and then prepared to go to RMNP for the day. We headed into Estes Park and were amazed at God's masterpiece - His beautiful creation here. We've simply never seen anything like what we are seeing here. We LOVE it here! After spending most of the monring in the park, we drove to Estes and shopped a little.

I was so proud of the kids, as they all found things they thought their siblings would like and then decided to use the money their Ging-ging had given them to purchase things for each other. It was fun watching them pick out things.

The coolest part of all this is that the Lord has provided for it all along the way. This is our first vacation as a family. We've taken our Visa trips over the years, but never spent more than we had to for the four days. We've never done anything over the minimum.

This trip is a vacation for our famnily- and we do not fail to recognize God's blessing in it. He provided for the entire cost of our day of skiiing, friends purchased and sent clothing for our kiddos, others lent us items, the condo, even down to money gifted us for 'souveniers.'

We are so thankful for this week. We've enjoyed some much needed family time these past few days and look forwward to the rest of the week with our friends.

We thank God for this time and know that we will always remember Colorado.

(Sidenote- the people here are so super friendly! We love the mountains and the small town feel that comes with them!)

January 2012 Prayer letter

Read this month's prayer letter here!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!!