Sunny Arizona

We spent two wonderful weeks in Arizona. Even after living 3 years in Texas, the Valley of the Sun still holds our hearts. As we drove through the cactus, we felt like we were coming home. We spent time with so many treasured friends, catching up on their lives and filling them in on our plans to move to Central America. Our friends are catching the vision for God's work in Honduras, and many are joining us as partners in prayer. Others feel God leading them to join the team with financial gifts, and others plan to encourage us by visiting us. In Phoenix, we stayed 4 days with our friends Mike and Cristina and then we spent a week at Mark's parent's vacation home. My sister, Tonya, and her 7 month daughter, flew in from Montana to be with us for a few memorable days. We were also able to go to Grace Bible Church in Tempe, the church that we helped plant 10 years ago. Not only did we get to hang with those who are near and dear to our heart, we also ate food that is near and dear to our stomachs. We ate at all our old favorites. (And in 9 years of Phoenix living, you collect a lot of favorites.) To name a few, we managed to feast at Nello's Pizza, T.C. Eggingtons, Honey Bears BBQ and Arriba Mexican Grill. Mmmm. Mark chose to combat all of these calories by riding his bike on many of his favorite routes through the desert.

Astros Game

We wanted to go to a professional baseball game. So we went with some friends to see the Astros. As we looked for our seats, we kept climbing, climbing and climbing. Apparently we had purchased seats in the very top row of Minute Maid Park. Wow, it's hard to carry a 30 lb. kid up all those steps.

Giddy Up!!!

One of Mark's co-workers at Voss Lighting invited us out to his acreage so that Reagan could ride their horse. When we arrived, Larry was wearing a cowboy hat, so Reagan instantly called him "Cowboy." Reagan fed the horsie a few carrots and even spent a few tentative seconds sitting atop the massive horse. Thanks for a wonderful morning, Larry and Debbie.

Vroooom

The kind owner of this motorcycle let Reagan check out his machine for a bit. Pretty exciting for a 2 yr. old who points out every motorcycle that he sees or hears.

The Houston Zoo

We spent a wonderful day at the zoo. It was one of the last beautiful days of spring before the summer humidity arrived. Reagan loved all of the animals including a huge komodo dragon. But the thing that made him most excited was watching the zoo keepers give a bath to an elephant.

Chicago

We traveled to Chicago to meet with Grace Pointe Church in Naperville. We have known their missions pastor, Dan Harder, for 25 years. And he has been recruiting us to be missionaries for 10 years. While in Naperville, we enjoyed meeting the other pastors and elders, and we were exuberant about their history of supporting and sending church planters all around the world. Grace Pointe is going to be our administrative church when we leave for Central America as Church Planters in August. Juan Carlos and Emily Tellez and their two children spent a lot of time with us giving us advice on Honduran culture and sharing their experiences of being missionaries in Latin America. We appreciated their input and Reagan fell in love with their daughter. My sister, Jodi and her family also live in the Chicago area, so we had a wonderful time seeing them. The kids had a blast playing together and the weather was shockingly gorgeous for March in the Windy City. We even spent an afternoon hiking at Starved Rock State Park. Pictured below you will see the crazy antics of Reagan's cousins.

Birthday with Grandma and Grandpa

My parents came to Houston for Reagan's 2nd birthday. What a treat to have them here to celebrate. We kept things simple and ate lunch together at Chick-Fila. Reagan loved his frog cake (which was actually 2 cupcakes smothered by a mountain of frosting.) That evening he went to a train museum where Reagan watched model trains smoke around the tracks and through tunnels. We also enjoyed hiking at Huntsville State Park and eating gelato together at our favorite dessert shop. Happy Birthday, buddy! Thanks for coming to see us, Dad and Mom.

Christmas 09

Christmas started out with a bit of a shock this year, but ended up being a very memorable time. A few days before Christmas, Marks parents, brother and nephew were loaded in a car to drive to Denver. But only a few blocks from town a girl who was texting while driving ran a red light and wrapped their car around a light pole. God kept them safe using air bags, but the family gathering in Colorado was not an option. We had already purchased airline tickets, so we flew to Denver for a few fun days with Leafgreens. Reagan saw his first snow and went sledding for the first time. We hit the slopes at Breckenridge. It the coldest day of skiing we have ever had.........4 degrees when we arrived and only 6 when we left. We sang Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve and Toby roasted the most delicious turkey we have ever eaten. We then piled 3 adults and 4 cousins in a suburban and drove to Lincoln to see the rest of the family who were recovering from their car wreck. It ended up being a sweet time together and as a bonus, we got to spend a few evenings in Lincoln with my parents.