peru

Stopping to stretch our legs in the Sacred Valley

We are home from Peru and we had an amazing trip. We have been so blessed with the prayers and support given, and we know this trip would not have been possible without the many people who stepped up in so many ways while we were gone.

Machu Picchu

Our time in Peru seemed to go so quickly, from the moment we arrived in Lima, where we spent the night in a missionary guest house. From Lima, we flew to Cusco where we traveled by bus through the Sacred Valley to a town called Ollantaytambo where we took the night train to Aguas Calientes. The next day we took a bus to Machu Picchu. This portion of the trip was intended to allow us to acclimate to the altitude, but was so much more as we toured the ancient Inca ruins. We would be spending most of our time in Peru at elevations of 11,000 to 14,000 feet. The mountains in this part of Peru are especially beautiful. That afternoon we returned to Aguas Calientes where we took the afternoon train to catch our bus back to Cusco. Toured Cusco the next day, visiting markets and historical sites, (and a huge parade) and then caught our plane back to Lima. Our 8-hour bus ride (a neat double decker) to Hauraz went safely, and it was nice to stretch the legs again. We were now in the hometown of our missionaries, Ade and Rachel Yanac. Ade took us on a practice hike in Hauraz up to the cross overlooking the city. It was a bit of a tough hike coming off the bus ride. The day ended at Ade and Rachel’s home, where they served us a meal as a group and we were able to spend time with their family.

Life on the trail. Good sleeping!

Tuesday started our trek up the mountain to our first village. The next five days proved to be amazing and humbling as we worked with the children in each village. Our team was working alongside the AWI missionaries who had translated the New Testament into the Quechua language. Together we would do a children’s program in the school (passing out children’s Bibles, teaching, and coloring) and then we would spend the afternoons playing with the children. In the evenings, the families would come and watch the Jesus Film and then we would share testimonies and pass out the Bibles to each family. 

Such pretty colors

The Quechua people are so beautiful, and their traditional clothing is very colorful, with the full skirts and tall hats. The stars at night were so clear and the sky full of their beauty. It was the first we had ever seen the Milky Way that clear and so close. Nights were cold as we slept in our tents (around 30 degrees), but as soon as the sun came over the mountains in the morning, it was again hot. We were incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful team, and each day of the trip we were reminded of what a special group we were with!

Lunchtime on the trek

With the AWI missionaries. (Ade next to me.)

new work

Summer time is upon us and at our house that means work is in full gear. And one thing I greatly admire about my husband is that he is an incredibly hard worker. He really embodies that verse in Colossians where it says to work at whatever you do with all your heart - like you are working for the Lord, not for men....it is the Lord you are serving. Sometimes I take for granted that he is a hard worker, and the Lord shows me again how rare a trait it is, and encourages me to appreciate what a great husband I have. (He really is pretty awesome).

His latest adventure is in asbestos abatement. (He saw a market for this line of work with the current green movement, but we still have our other two businesses keeping us busy as well.)  He and nephew Blake started an abatement-demolition company last year and they are now in full swing. They suit up and remove asbestos from buildings and homes, then many of the buildings get demolished, which they also do. This line of work doesn't really allow for the family to help, but the kids do get to ride along for site inspections and errands. I also get to rummage for vintage or antique items - and architectural salvage items. Very fun!

All the gray siding is asbestos. Blake on right suited up.

After asbestos removed.

And it's gone! There was less than a foot between buildings.

going retro

Jeremy and I have a few outfits from when we were kids, and we let the kids wear them if they want to. Elauna has been taken with my little "sailor" dress from when I was her age, and she really enjoys wearing it. The hat is one my uncle brought back from Japan for me, and my mom recently brought it to my house and Elauna was elated that she could now match my picture. It was her idea to get matching pictures.

I found one of Jeremy's shirts for Frederick to wear, but I couldn't bring myself to put him in the knee-high red socks and short white shorts. (So 70s though). Wasn't my hubby a cute little boy? :-) I did not have a picture of me in the green dress with the white eyelet bodice that Claire is wearing. I added leggings and a white sweater since it was a little chilly that day.

Elauna in my outfit

me age 4 1/2

Frederick in Jeremy's shirt

Jeremy age 2

Claire in my dress. I didn't have a picture of me in this.

for my handsome hubby...

Jeremy and I were in Cincinnati for a homeschool convention this past weekend, and it happened to fall over his birthday. He is so good about making time to go to this event even though sitting through talks/lectures is not his highlight.....though talking with Todd Wilson always brings smiles. He was a good sport about everything and very supportive. He treated me to dinner at my favorite restaurant downtown: Rockbottom Brewery. We stayed downtown near the convention center at the Hyatt, and walked everywhere all weekend. I love visiting the city, but my heart is definitely a country girl.

What to get a guy for his birthday? On the opening week of his favorite baseball team? Whose stadium is a couple blocks from the hotel? Hmmm??? Tough one! :-) You guessed it: I bought him tickets to the Reds game, 3rd row from the field next to the Reds dugout. He was stoked! He looked like a little kid who got locked in a candy store overnight. The game was amazing with 8 home runs, two of which were back-to-back pitches, and the Reds won 15-0. Jeremy lost his voice from cheering so much. I don't think I will ever see a game quite like that one again. It just never was boring. I was able to get some really neat pictures of the team because we were so close. These are just a few:

birthday boy

great american ball park

Joey Votto (19) and Jay Bruce (32)

Chris Heisey (28) and Zack Cozart (2)

Todd Frazier (21)

Brandon Phillips (4)

game summary: we whooped 'em!

Votto and Bruce

Reds dugout

first base coach Billy Hatcher (22) with Phillips

some good pitching

Votto at work

Hatcher with pitcher Manny Parra on first

Shin-Soo Choo (17) with young fans

yes we did!

happy LOVE day

My sweet hubby surprised me when I arrived home today by having these lovely roses in the kitchen for me.  These light pink with yellow are my favorites, and he had them in my white pitcher - nice! He had cards (which I love) on the table for us too. My mom and dad also had sent the kids cards in the mail, and my Elauna was very excited to open hers.

The co-op we attend decided to let the kids share "valentines", so I designed some today and assembled them. I pasted the kids pictures on the back side of the card. My family has called Valentine's day "love day" for awhile as we have a friend whose last name is Loveday and February 14 was her special day.

I was making valentine bags for my co-op class to put their cards into and take home. I took brown paper sacks and used scalloped scissors to trim the top of the bag. Next, I folded the top over and and punched two holes and ran a red ribbon through. My mom had been cutting hearts out of a paper towels to amuse the kids and I loved the way it looked. She cut out some more for my bags.
Thanks, Mom, for all your help!

superman and the pink balloon

Call us crazy, but we thought it might be fun to relax Saturday evening by going shopping as a family at the Jeffersonville Outlet Mall....with three children five and under. :-) The kids were pretty patient as we perused through Pottery Barn {found a giant pillow for $9.00 - score!} and looked at things that were mostly uninteresting to them. Frederick did find a box of soccer balls and wanted to play a game in the store. Time to go. Next, we stopped by Old Navy because the outlet store is 40% off everything, even clearance. Awesome! We found coats for next year for $6.00 and under. That is cheaper than Goodwill, and they are brand new.

As we were checking out, the cashier gave Elauna the last balloon he had...and it was pink. She was so excited. The cashier must not have known too much about children, because when you have 2 sets of eyes staring at you, you can't give just ONE balloon. Poor Frederick. He came running to me with those big eyes full of tears, wondering why they didn't have any more balloons. Thankfully, there was this sweet girl who works at Old Navy standing nearby. She quietly told me they had balloons in the back, asked me if he would like one and what color. I said that would be very nice. She returned with three different colored balloons and gave Frederick his choice....blue. He was ecstatic! You would have thought he had won a special award. His face beamed and he and Elauna danced in the checkout line. These balloons were their prized possessions!

We headed outside because it was getting late and Jeremy had one more place to stop. Elauna stopped quick and said, "Oh no, Mommy, my balloon." Apparently when they blow them up they do not tie them. They simply loop the end through the holder on the stick. I tied a knot in the balloon and reattached to her stick. Then I tied Frederick's balloon too. We trotted on down to the next store. A lady asked Elauna if she wanted to share her balloon.....no, she didn't. At least she was polite when she answered the lady. :-)

All done shopping. It was freezing cold and windy and we were ready to head home. We walked across the parking lot towards our pickup parked in the last row. Blustery....brrr. I was pushing the stroller, Frederick on my right, Elauna on my left. The wind was so strong and I looked at Frederick holding tight to his balloon. I asked to hold his balloon because for a half second I had this horrid thought of losing that precious balloon. Shame on me for thinking that, because as I turned to get Elauna's balloon.........away it went. In a flash, it was floating across the pavement with a big gust of wind. Her little heart stopped. "NO!" Her eyes welled up with tears. There was no way I would ever catch it. I looked up and there was my superhero husband running......very fast.....across the parking lot to save his daughter's pink balloon. He caught it. I am STILL amazed.

take heart

Like many other women, I have enjoyed the works of Jane Austen, particularly "Persuasion" and "Pride and Prejudice." She captures so perfectly what is elegant and proper to ladies, and describes the yearning of a heart to be loved. She speaks of grandeur and estates and maids and groundskeepers. As I was reflecting on this the other day while I was weeding my garden, I started to have this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I was about to get a lecture, sometimes known as my time with the Lord. He had something he wanted me to think about.

Who has deemed this to be proper? A love story written by a woman who never married. Have women been duped into thinking they have a husband less than perfect because he does not have the social clout of Mr. Darcy? Or that he is lacking because he cannot sit through an hour of Brahms without thinking that it is his own lullaby and sleep away?

At the time when Austen wrote about the finer things of life, there was a different breed of man across the pond in America fighting for a different way of life. These men looked and acted differently. They were fighting for freedom, for their faith...they were fighting to live to see the next day. They loved their God and their family and the right to see justice for every person.

The Lord asked me, "What do I say is important in a man?" My mind was flooded with the character of a Godly man: honesty, obedience to the Lord, caring for others, generous, hard working, just, and wise. Those things matter. Ripped jeans and proper etiquette can take a second row. God looks to the heart and judges a man as such. I have looked to my husband's heart, and do you know what I have found? A good man. And in that I can be so very thankful!

last man standing

Yesterday was a special day in our family as our daughter Claire was dedicated to the Lord. Our family was there too, which meant so much to us. I am so blessed to have a God-fearing husband who desires to raise his children to honor God. He was able to speak before Claire was dedicated, and I was very proud of what he shared.

“Over the course of the last couple months my wife and I were able to see a movie that really touched our hearts. We watched it as a family and then we had the opportunity last night to share the movie [at The Gathering Place]; the movie is “Courageous.”  At the end of the movie it mainly speaks to the men of God and asks them to be dedicated to live a life worthy  of the Gospel, to honor God in everything you do; that is our mission. In my upbringing, dedication wasn’t talked about. It was just something that was supposed to happen. I want Claire to know who God is, before there is a chance that Satan knows who she is. I want all my children to know God before that happens. We have dedicated Frederick and Elauna; now it is our desire to dedicate Claire to the Lord. But that just doesn’t mean dedicating our children to the Lord, it means dedicating our entire family life to God, to make sure that Claire has a clear understanding of what God wants for her life. So my intention is simply to let God know that we will honor Him no matter what, even if we are the last people standing."

a grateful wife

Jeremy had the opportunity to go to Whistler, BC for his birthday and ski where the 2010 Winter Olympics were held. He had such a wonderful time. Jeremy was powder skiing and had fresh snow on some of the mornings; the mountains looked amazing. (I'm not the world's greatest skiier, so I am glad he enjoyed himself.) Jeremy makes it look so effortless. 

Today is rather a quiet day, as I have just Frederick with me. Elauna was invited to help her Daddy deliver mulch today. She gets so excited about being Daddy's helper, and it is such a help to me as well. She is very proud of her Daddy, and is the only 3 year old I know who can name construction equipment and farm machinery when she sees them. My favorite is when she says excavator, as it comes out "es-cuh-bay-dor." What a doll.

I so appreciate all the hard work Jeremy does for our family, and the countless hours he puts in working. It is special to me that he takes our children with him, to teach them the value of hard work...which is best learned first hand.  Thanks honey, for being a great hubby!