The guy's trip to Ethiopia

A couple weeks ago, Jarod and Matt took a trip to Ethiopia to help Gary and Peg Ifft on a school. They were wanting to take a one room school house and make it into two rooms. So Jarod went as the mason and Matt went as the carpenter.

Here they are the morning after they arrived. On their way home from the airport, they stopped at this restaurant, owned by a good friend of Gary's (second from right).

Here they are on one of the first days on the job. At the end of the day, the men in the background would figure out their wages. They would get paid depending on how long they worked and how hard...reminded them of the Parable of the Laborers.

Here Matt and Jarod ate their fish that they were given. They thought they ate it pretty clean, until Peggy said, 'you better give the rest of that to someone', so they gave it to some children who ate the rest of it.

Matt on his coffee break. I love this face, because he doesn't like coffee, but Jarod said politely drank it every day.

This is the donkey cart that the man with the blue shirt would deliver materials on.

Here is Gary's 'taxi'. They ran out of gas while they were out this night and had to have someone bring them gas.

The same night, they were taking crutches to this little boy who had just had surgery on his one leg and the family couldn't afford crutches, so he had no way of getting around. Isn't he so sweet.

Here are the guys that they worked with all week.

Then they were able to go to church on Sunday. Peggy sent this picture to us and said, 'Here are your guys with their new Brothers'. So neat!

All aboard!

A few weeks ago Dad Rink emailed me about a old co-worker/friend, Mr T (nothing like the real Mr. T), who had been asking Dad to bring up his grandkids for an afternoon train ride. We set a date, and yesterday after church, we drove to a Mr. R's house for a train ride. When we drove up to Mr. R's house, I thought, 'it must be a little kiddie train that you just ride in tiny circles'...which still would have been awesome with Will, since he is infatuated with trains. But when we got there, he had real rails and a train, little, but not really that little that went all over his back yard. It was so amazing. He then also had a small 'kiddie' train that went all around his side yard...his property is very large. Will could hardly contain his excitement. As you can see from the picture below. Mr. R and his son, Chuck Jr. keep all these hats for the kids that they give rides to, it was all very fun and quite impressive.

We went with Brandon and Mindy and their kids too, and Austin and Kyle look a little unsure here on the 'kiddie' train, but all had a blast.

Here is Chuck Jr...who was like a kid himself, they said. When we got there, they kept saying, 'where is Chuck Jr?'...we figured maybe he was the only one who knew how to run the train, but Mr. R gave the first ride since Chuck Jr. wasn't there yet. When Chuck Jr. pulled up, he was so disappointed that we had gone on one round without him already. He loves to give the kids rides...such fun people. He said the horn wasn't working right, and instead of just going like most adults, he had to fix it real quick before they took off because, 'you can't ride a train with no horn'.

Another joyful face of Will's on the big train, where everyone got to ride.

Mr. R Sr. and Chuck Jr. with all the kids. Chuck Jr. made sure he had his hat on for the picture.

Jarod and Will in front of the fabulous train.

I said I think this was Will's highlight of his life so far. Thanks again Grandpa R, Mr.T, Mr. R and Chuck Jr.!

Why Aunt Tami is so fun

Will always looks forward to seeing Aunt Tami. I've never wondered why he loves her so much, because anyone who knows her would agree she is a fun person. But yesterday I got a sneak peak into an afternoon with Aunt Tami. She watched Will for a couple hours and when I got home, I found these on my computer.

My kid LOVES popcorn.

Thanks so much for a fun afternoon Tam...Will woke up this morning saying in a very sad voice, "Tami, all-gone!" We all love you!

Couldn't ask for better

I can't say enough about these three, Tara, Whitney and Kaitlin. They have been so dear to me and my sisters our whole lives...I guess cousins are supposed to be that way, but these three were special. We grew up having slumber parties, making home movies, making green pancakes, scaring our babysitters with haunted houses, chasing their dog on occasion, loving on baby Kait when she was little, and thinking Whit was the cutest little sister anyone ever had.

And since, they have saved me on many a babysitting emergencies. We live right around the corner from each other and I can see them coming and going, so they can never say they are busy because I can tell if they are home or not. The nice thing too, is they always act like they don't mind and even seem excited about it.

I love my own kid to death, but it is even more fun when others love your kids too. And these girls have such soft hearts and are so sweet to Will. He thinks they are great!

And not only are they all such sweethearts, but hey also reflect the light of the Lord and you can see the love for Him in their lives so evidently.

Well, this beautiful girl, Whitney, is getting married next May and she and her fiancee', Isaac, asked if Will could be their ring bearer. I was so honored that out of all the little kids they know they asked him.

Aren't they cute?

(all photo compliments to my sister Tami)

You guys are the best. We love you so much and thank you for being the great family you are and loving us back!

My baby is 3!

Well, a couple days ago Will turned 3! I can hardly believe it. I have been sort of sentimental and watching old home video clips of him when he was a baby...it's probably the pregnancy.

Here he is trying to hold up three fingers, which he still hasn't gotten down. He also still says he's two if you ask him.

This is the face he gives me anytime he knows he has disobeyed me and is trying to get out of it. I have to shamefully admit that it actually works more than it should...such a stinker.

I can't believe how the time flies. It seemed like forever since we had him, but now that we are going on to no.2 it seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital with this little guy.

Boy oh Boy!

Looks like we are going to be a family of all BOYS...well, at least two boys come October. (Yep, we had our Doctor's appointment today and she said it looks like a little boy in there.)

Made me happy

To all Moms, are you always looking for good snacks for your babies with your on the go schedule? Well, my brothor-in-law's company makes these handy dandy (and quite tasty too) organic yogurt snacks for your toddlers and babies. Brandon brought them to our last family get together and we were all able to taste test them. He brought the Mixed Berry flavor, which we all agreed were so yummy...Jarod kept asking for more all night. All the babies loved them too. I found them at www.organicdirect.com if you want to try them out!