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.

Montana with the Girls

Our trip to Great Falls was cold on the outside but warm with love on the inside. With 2 two-year-olds and a 2 month old we still managed to go the a children's museum, dye Tonya's hair, repaint a dresser, hang shelves in the bathroom, play at McDonald's play land and meet some of Tonya's friends. These are the things that you do when it is negative 12 degrees. Reagan and Charlize played nicely together (most of the time), and Michaela is an angel baby, sleeping for hours at a time. She's even sleeping through the night already. When we arrived at the airport, we deplaned on an outdoor exit stairway. Our coats were conveniently packed in our suitcase, so we ran across the tarmac in the frigid night temps. Yikes!