Wehrley World

Make that two referrals to Doernbecher's

2012-02-13T12:32:00.002-09:00

I've been wanting to give an update on Elias. Most people know that three years ago, we had him seen by a children's behavioral pyschologist who diagnosed him with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (a disorder on the autism spectrum) and with Sensory Integration Disorder. At the time, Elias was four years old. He rarely spoke intelligibly, did not respond to his name and was constantly engaging in risky behavior (checking out electrical outlets, running away and into the street, climbing on top of things and jumping off). The diagnosis was a relief (more information is always helpful!) and frustrating (now what do we do--we were living in a third world country after all.)

God provided, as He always does with just what we needed right when we needed it. He was able to receive weekly help with a special education teacher at Natasha's school. We were able to find an English speaking Occupational Therapist nearby--who even came to our home at first, a real help since he did not transition well at the time. Over the next two years we focused on building up his weak arm and hand muscles, challenging him to speak, working on letters and numbers, getting along with his sisters and maintaining eye contact among many other skills. He was unable to write more than one or two very poorly constructed letters before becoming fatigued and melting down. We continued to homeschool, thankful for a curriculum that was based on auditory learning.

Zoom to current day. Elias is now attending first grade in public school. He entered this year a full grade level below his classmates in regards to reading, writing and math. I struggled with feeling like a failure as a homeschool parent. But when I remembered where he was two years ago, I knew we had focused on what he needed at the time. This year we, along with his two wonderful teachers, have witnessed an incredible growth in areas which formerly seemed impossible for him to grasp. Literally. He couldn't grasp a pencil correctly. Now he writes out self-composed short compositions (Why I want to be an Army Man when I grow up) and is working happily addressing 44 Valentines for his classmates tomorrow.

In October, we met with the special ed. team at his school to approve testing to see if he qualified for special help. We met with them last week after they finished his evaluation. Not to brag, but he's a smart kid! His results were impressive and encouraging. The team decided, and we concurred, that he currently has NO learning disability. His teachers both said that reading the report from three years ago, they both thought, "this isn't the same kid!"

I am so thankful for his progress, for his OT in Bolivia, for the opportunity to homeschool and focus on where he needed help most instead of him getting frustrated with academics. He still has a bit of a way to go before being at grade level in all academic areas, but he loves school. He is making good progress. He has two great teachers who see his potential and invest in him every day.

Some may look at where he is currently and think, "if this boy had been in formal school the last two years, he wouldn't be below benchmark." But I know that is not true. I looked at last week's evaluation report as a badge of honor. It took, sweat, prayers and tears to get to where we are today. I'm thankful and optimistic.

That said, we are still looking at getting Elias help with some medical concerns we still have. So, we will be making an appointment for him soon at Doernbecher's Children's Hospital. Just another aspect of his health, but we are hoping for more answers and more progress.

For those of you who pray for us and especially for Elias, thank you! God has done so much for us. Thank you for lifting us up in regard to Elias's health!

Happy Birthday Ana Sophia!!

2012-02-02T20:10:00.003-09:00

This is a day late, but we celebrated Ana's fourth birthday yesterday with a well-child check-up, pizza and a pink butterfly cake. In retrospect, getting five separate vaccine shots wasn't a nice birthday present, but she did amazingly well.

Ana is our bright eyed, sweet, curly haired dimpled princess. If it's pink or princess-y she likes it. If it isn't, then, well, it should be. She even thinks her hair is pink. I mean if you love pink so much and you love your hair, then it only serves that said hair is pink, right?

Speaking of hair, we finally got the phone call today about a referral for her to see a dermatalogist. The balding has increased greatly with half a dozen new spots and the original spot now 3-4 inches in diameter. The LNP we have been seeing wants to do some more blood work soon, but the big hit came today when the referral was for Doernbecher's Childrens Hospital.

My stomach sunk and my heart raced. I knew we would have to take Ana to Portland if we were referred to another doctor, but I guess I wasn't expecting Doernbecher's. I'm thankful that we will be going there. But after raising money in school and hearing so many stories of the work they do there for kids with very serious illnesses it was a shock to hear. That said, I'm thankful for so many things and we have had a great week of seeing God work, even in the small things.

He is good. He provides for our needs before we know we have a need. His gifts are good. He has blessed us greatly with a funny, sweet, curly-Wehrley-girly, Ana Sophia.

Hair Update

2011-12-28T11:37:00.002-09:00

We had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. In fact, we are still having one. We will have our final family get together this coming Friday with my parents.

I just wanted to write an update on Ana's hair. She is still losing hair. The first spot is now a silver dollar size and a new spot has started. We are taking her back to the doctor Friday morning. I will be asking for blood work and to make sure we check for anything serious or treatable. But I am resigned to the alopecia areata diagnosis: untreatable, but livable.

A mother's heart

2011-12-18T18:33:00.008-09:00

My heart is heavy tonight. It's full of wonder and hope during this advent time, but that special mother's heart of mine is heavy with unknowing and sadness for my dear Ana-girl.

It seems silly in the grand scheme of things. I know so many others who are suffering much worse, but I'm still sad for my girl. Last Monday I noticed a dime-sized section of her hair was missing. MISSING! At once I began the third degree. Did someone pull your hair? No.
Did your hair get caught in a toy? No.
Does it hurt?
Is it itchy?
Adam, do you remember anything happening to Ana's hair?
KIDS, do you guys know what happened to your sister?
No, no, no and no.

The skin looked a bit dry and scaly, so we massaged some olive oil into her scalp and left it overnight. Adam's theory was "if it's good enough for Jesus..." The next morning the dry and scaly part was gone. It did not, however, regrow my poor girl's hair while she lay sleeping.

By Tuesday night, the patch of missing hair had enlarged to the size of a quarter. By then I had decided to seek medical help. I got an appointment for that Friday.

We are now treating Ana with anti-fungal in case it is ringworm--highly unlikely given it's appearance. In fact, the doctor wishes it to be ringworm because we can at least treat that. More than likely it is alopecia areata. Hair loss with an unknown cause and varied outcomes. It could grow back. It may be permanent. It could spread. It could stay the same.

I'm thankful that we have ruled out scarier diagnoses. It's not lupus or a nervous disorder. We're going at this with all guns blazing: treating her for ringworm at several angles, increasing her protein and iron in case it is a deficiency in either area. I have hope that she'll regrow the missing hair.

But tonight I am sad for my girl who has to hide a bald spot at age three. Who has always been complemented on her beautiful curls and now may be noticed for a different reason. Who has such faith in me that after I applied some ointment the other night gave me a hug and said, "Thanks Mom for fixing my head."

Life and Death

2011-12-15T11:45:00.002-09:00

In the wake of two recent deaths in my scope of acquaintances, I have been thinking about this time of year. How I have always rejoiced in the wonder and mystery of Christ come to earth; but how others struggle through the holidays grieving loved ones or not able to cope with life as they see it. Especially now as so many Americans are out of work. I'm right there with you!

I was thinking earlier today about something I learned in college. Not in class, but during a prayer and bible study meeting. We were talking about different levels of friendship. I can't remember everything, but basically there are three levels of people we know. Acquaintances (we know who these people are), people we call friends (we have things in common and hang out with these people), and friends who are our heart friends. I remember especially how these friends were described.

"These friends know the song of our heart and sing it to us when we forget."

I have been more than fortunate to have several heart friends through the years. They have often sung to me and reminded me of so many truths that I tend to forget or refuse to believe on my own.

My mom reminded me over and over that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Jeana reminded me that I am God's beloved.

Adam reminds me of my talents and strengths and loves me with a phileo love.

It was the love of these friends who have dragged me out of the depths many times. I can't thank God enough for loving me through these people.

At this time of year and after seeing so many people hurting from loss, I want to encourage you to sing that song that someone needs to hear. Has someone you know forgotten that they are loved? ...that they matter? ...that they are capable of more than they know? Let's remind them.

Here is my favorite Gaither song--(yeah, yeah...I know, but my grandma loved them and it wore off a bit). Make sure you get all the way to the last stanza. It will be worth it!

A new direction

2011-11-30T15:17:00.003-09:00

Hello once again.

I'm back on the blog, hopefully for awhile. I've been wanting to write more than the occasional Facebook status to update people about our life. Some things seem too personal and heartwrenching for public perusal; but I feel the need to have a place to show others our life with honesty. Not to try to impress or even provoke sympathy, but so that we can all sit back together with anticipation and watch God work.

Since the last post, we have been keeping a sporadic blog via Avant Ministries at http://www.avantteam.com/wehrley/. There you will find some posts about life in Bolivia, some health issues I dealt with there (endometriosis) and then it kind of leaves off.

Let me fill you in:
We had plans in order for a short return to the United States during the Hebron Seminary's Christmas break so I could have surgery and seek care for my endometriosis. Then I got pregnant. A great way to put endometriosis on hold for awhile!

We made our planned trip to Oregon, but then hit a snag. We didn't receive our needed re-entry visas to Bolivia. The Bolivian Embassy needed more paperwork from us. So, we hurriedly rescheduled our flights, filled out more papers, paid more money and then, once again, we were not granted the visas. This time their requirements included more paperwork from the seminary in Bolivia. The time was too close to my delivery date and we had to wait for our daughter, Elsie-Mae, to be born before reapplying again.

After Elsie's birth in May we found out that all of the many ways we had worked on for getting the needed paperwork from the seminary or another sponsoring ministry in Bolivia would not work. It would take a year of continuous work and extra money for the seminary to "register" and get the documents in order for our successful visa application. After so many months of struggling, waning financial support and being in limbo, Adam decided that the door for us to return to ministry in Bolivia was closed. Our family and our sanity were falling apart and we needed to move on.

It has been a time of fear and trust.

Of craziness and peace.

Of scraping by and of plenty.

We are still looking for full-time family supporting work for Adam. We have settled in Beaver, Oregon next to the church I attended throughout my college years. We are blessed with wonderful friends, both here and in Alaska. We are enjoying being close to family for the first time in our own home.

I wanted to start writing here again because of one main thing. It was the topic of a sermon given the first Sunday of Advent.

Hope.

It's been easy for us to lose hope over the past year. Hope that we would return to ministry. Hope that we would get this job, or that one, or even hear back after sending off so many applications.

With the coming of Christmas, I was reminded that I am not to live like those who have no hope, but to be ready to give a reason to all that ask about the hope I have.

So, here it is: My hope is in Christ. He alone can provide for us so mysteriously, miraculously and lovingly. He has provided for our every need through our poverty. And I don't just mean finances, or food or clothes. He provided a way out of my sin. A way to be justified when I face a just God and have to give an answer for my sin.

My hope is not only in Christ--my hope IS Christ.

A Quick update regarding the seminary

2009-05-06T04:06:00.003-08:00

Exciting things are happening here at Hebron Seminary. The second term started this week and the student population has grown some more. Many of my fellow professors are moving forward with their own education, and making progress in their own preparation to train others for decades to come. The seminary is reaching out and partnering with a wider variety of like minded churches and institutions both in Bolivia and beyond.

I am very excited about the focus on the fact that depth of love and depth of knowledge are not contradictory, and knowing Christ’s Word and lovingly serving His people never have to be pitted against each other. I sat in on the first Masters of Arts in Theology class, a two week modular on the History of Theology. It was informative, entertaining and great for my Spanish progress. These same men will be my students for several classes next year, along with the MA in Bible students and everyone taking Hebrew.

Molly and I are continuing to learn Spanish. I plan to teach Greek III in August. Next year I know I will be teaching Hebrew I, II, and III, an MA course on the writings of John and the book of Amos. Please pray for us in the next couple of months as we hope to finish our Spanish tutoring and pass our proficiency exams.

Same planet. Different Worlds.

2009-05-01T13:33:00.002-08:00

An oft-quoted phrase regarding our son, Elias. Today I decided to see if he could answer some basic anatomy questions.

Me: "Elias, what do you smell with?

E: "A DRAGON!"

*hmmm...let's try this again.*

Me: "Elias, what do you use to smell?

E: "A nose."

*phew!*

E (now getting the hang of our Socratic game): "What do you pick the boogers with? .....Say 'a pinky.' A pinky."

*uh, yeah. Thanks for the demonstration with that one, bud.*

A makeover

2009-04-29T18:52:00.003-08:00

So, the ol' blog is about to be revamped, spiced up and pretty-fied. Well, not pretty-fied since Adam sees it as representative of himself and he doesn't like to look all girly.

I am layout shopping this week. I don't like what I'm finding though. After cruising around and reading blogs and blogging for awhile, I have an idea of what I like and don't like--but no clue on how to make it all myself. So, I'm left tweaking something that is as close to what I want...which takes a lot more time than the kids want to give me. It may be awhile in the making, but I'll get there.

In the meantime, does anyone have suggestions on where to find free layouts? I've checked with Pyzam, blogger and Lena.

I would also love (when there is time) to put in links to friends' etsy shops. I'm just so impressed with everyone's creativity. If you'd like to be included, send me your info. and I'll see what I can do.

Chau for now.

What would you do?

2009-04-29T12:09:00.002-08:00

I compulsively bought an 8 oz package of cream cheese a few weeks ago. It was the first I'd seen it since our move down and I couldn't help myself. I won't even tell you what I paid for the imported goodness of Philadelphia.

Now, nothing seems quite "worthy" of such a purchase and I need your ideas.

What is your favorite, tastiest, most scrumptious way to use cream cheese?

I'm going to talk honestly about...

2009-04-28T09:51:00.004-08:00

Diapers.

So, that's fair warning for anyone not interested in that kind of potty talk, or has too much of it in their lives already to waste precious free time on the computer to read about it too.

When we headed down to Bolivia with a five month old in tow, I was stocked and almost mentally prepared to cloth diaper her little hiney. After we settled in, I realized that I didn't have a good way to wash all that cloth goodness. EVERY laundry detergent here contains perfumes and additives which will eventually cause the cloth to stop absorbing--not a result I was going for! So, I was relegated to hand washing them in very hot water with laundry bar soap. This worked well enough but was obviously time-consuming, back-breaking work. Which is fine, but there was a better way.

We ended up returning to the states for a couple months last fall. While it wasn't our primary purpose for returning (those pesky visa requirements and a potential political coup are responsible there), I saw it as a prime opportunity to stock up on homemade laundry soap ingredients. (I won't go into a "how to" post here, it's all been done very well by my friend Jeana at "Frugally Green".) already.) I'm sure Adam loved that we ended up bringing back an entire suitcase of Fels Naptha soap, Borax and washing Soda! But it has been truly a blessing and the cloth diapering fell into full swing upon our return.

Until...I just got tired of it. It was frustrating.

But not for the reasons you might think. Once I figured out how to fold and "pin" (which you don't do these days because we have snappies.) the actual changing of the diaper wasn't any harder than a disposable. It wasn't a big deal to take the diaper into the bathroom, rinse it out and put it in our diaper bucket. I loved the satisfaction of knowing I wasn't putting *another* diaper in the trash! It smelled a lot better than several dirty disposable sitting in the garbage too. Plus it was kind of therapeutic to see all those white diapers hanging out on the line.

Relaxing and energizing almost.

No, the worst part of all was that I was the only person who would use them. I guess I forgot, as I told Adam about my beautifully environmentally friendly plan, to ask him if he'd like to join my on my cloth diapering journey.

So, we've had a few weeks of disposables recently. But now I'm ready to go back to cloth. I'm looking forward to that next freshly laundered load of whites!

2009-04-27T10:52:00.002-08:00

My brain is running circles around me today. (Not that the two cups of coffee had anything to do with that!) I have thought of quite a few things to write about, but mostly my thoughts keep returning to two things:

1. My parents are coming to visit!! We've been trying, literally, for months to figure out how to get our homeschool curriculum here from the States. Well, Mom and Dad decided they'd just bring it down and stay a couple weeks. A great air fare from Miami to Santa Cruz and free tickets to Miami helped a lot with that decision. God bless air miles! So we are super excited. Now we just have to figure out how they will pack everything since they graciously gave us their larger suitcases when we moved down last summer. Anyone have an old duffle lying around they can borrow? We'll throw in some Bolivian gift and send it back to you!!

2. We have prayer meeting tonight. Every other Monday a group of missionaries "of like mind" meet and pray together. Tonight it is at a home across town from us. I've been there before, but Adam was with us and gave directions. I'm a bit nervous going solo this time, especially since I do not know the landmarks (or their Spanish names!) very well. So, I'm off to find the place on my map, translate my directions into Spanish and look for cab fare (oh, and the kids would appreciate being fed somewhere in there, I'm sure!) Chau!

more pics

2009-04-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

And some more fall photos from November in Kansas City.

2009-04-25T10:57:00.003-08:00

Fall is approaching here in the southern hemisphere. It's hard to tell. It's almost as if trees are neither deciduous or evergreen here. There are no leaves changing colors or falling to the ground. The weather has changed only slightly, though we are not acclimated enough yet to really appreciate the change. In remembrance of fall, I'm posting some photos of the kids from last November taken while we were in Kansas City.

Ever have one of those days?

2009-04-24T12:17:00.002-08:00

It's not horrible, terrible or very bad. It just is.

The baby refuses to sleep (cutting the last canine, I believe).

The boy refuses to use the toilet.

The girl refuses to be nice to the boy.

Both toilets are broken (the seat on one and the innards of the other).

I have no idea what to make for dinner.

Just another day. I think I'll have some ice cream and start over.

2009-04-23T17:21:00.002-08:00

Saturday we visited our landlords (also our friends!) who live two blocks away from us. They had five one-month old cocker spaniel puppies. Elias has been talking about "his" black puppy since then. He is really stuck on having a black dog. Poor guy. Our pup is white and brown.

Playing in the sandbox with their daughter. Elias came to me afterwards just filthy! I asked him what he was doing. "I made sand angels, Mommy!" Oh, right.

Ana with one of the cute little black pups.

Having a bit of tea. Well, more like grapefruit juice and chicken salad sandwiches.

Oh, yes and Elias with the jaguar skin. He was VERY impressed with this! (We were too. Edgar bought it from a friend, but it was a Bolivian jaguar before it's demise.)

The Exterminator has come

2009-04-22T06:03:00.003-08:00

The fumigator was here yesterday. It was a very long day. Adam basically had to take the day off, though he studied quite a bit in the neighbor's yard. But, he had to let the guy in, let him out, wait two hours to open up the entire house to air out, then wait another two hours until he could let us and the dog back into the yard. By that time, the kids and I had been out of the house for over four hours--Ana had completely skipped her morning nap by then. And then we had two hours of cleaning: sweeping all the floors, and washing every unprotected surface.

It was quite a chore as I was already sore from exercising at 5:30 that morning. (Why, oh why did I pick that day to start exercising??!!) Thankfully, Ines was here to help otherwise it would have taken me three or four hours. While we were cleaning, Adam took the puppy to the vet for his shots and to get rid of his ticks, fleas and niguas (little sand fleas that burrow in his feet, lay eggs and form a painful, white pustule). We didn't want him to bring all those insects right back into our de-bugged yard.

While I knew the fumigation was necessary. I hate chemicals, but when there are harmful insects around it's a requisite evil. The funniest moment was when the fumigator arrived. He had just finished our neighbor's house, so he was already "in gear."

Elias did NOT want him here! We were waiting by the gate for our taxi, when he arrived. Something about a guy in full gas mask, backpack full of chemicals and gesturing with his bazooka as he spoke muffled Spanish just didn't sit right with the poor kid! The dogs didn't really like him either!

The biggest blessing has been a day without ants in the kitchen! I'd gotten so used to them I didn't think I really needed them exterminated. But now I realize how stressful it was to not be able to prep a meal without ants crawling on the cutting board. ...to not be able to leave a dirty dish near the sink without being covered in the little guys when you washed the dishes after the meal. It is truly a blessing!

Oh, good, it's a Stihl.

Ow!

2009-04-21T03:35:00.002-08:00

I have two words for you: OW-wwwww.

Okay, the words are really: Krav Maga.

It's good stuff.

But, boy, am I feeling it right now.

Again, let me just say "Owwwwwwww."

Thanks, I just needed to whine.

How to eat my mom's lasagne, by Ana Sophia

2009-04-20T06:45:00.002-08:00

Ana would like to show everyone how to eat her mommy's yummy lasagne. She realizes that her plate is clean. This is just for demonstration purposes only.

"Watch Closely"

"First You Stab"
She likes to stab her fork repeatedly until something sticks. This way you ensure you eat all the yummy pasta first, then mommy has to help with the cheese, meat and tomatoes left on your plate.

"Then you eat"

"Don't be afraid to lick your plate if you need to!"

"Good Stuff!!"

The Exterminator has been called

2009-04-19T16:09:00.003-08:00

It is a moment I've been anticipating and dreading for months now: calling the exterminator.

As mentioned in the previous post, I don't like bugs. And we have a lot! The worst offenders to me have to be the ants, scorpions (we've only had one, but the fear remains), and the very occasional cockroach...oh, and the ticks. The fleas aren't so fun either. Okay, they all bug me!

So, the line has been drawn and the exterminator is coming Tuesday. Now for the part I dread. I hate chemicals! I was loathe to call them any earlier from the thought of my sweet baby crawling around in nasty chemically badness. But, the baby is walking and I'll have someone to help me clean up after the guys with the spray guns leave.

I also have this horrible image of them spraying down the drain or somewhere sinister and a hoard of cockroaches (we've really only seen three in the last four months) comes spilling out only to die a twitchy death all over my kitchen counters and floor. Bad things man, bad things!

That said, there is NO WAY I'm going to be here when they let their spray guns blast forth. I will be taking the puppy to the vet to be de-ticked. Then I'll take the kids out to lunch. Then I just might stay in a hotel until I'm sure the bugs are dead. And cleaned up. Perhaps a week will do the trick. Let's just hope there's internet access.

A bit on bugs

2009-04-18T16:10:00.003-08:00

Here's the thing about bugs: I don't like them.

And when I say I don't like them, I mean they give me that leg hair growin', heebie jeebie givin', creepy crawly icky feeling that makes me want to scream and climb the nearest piece of furniture.

But the darn things LOVE me! It's like if you don't like cats and you visit your great aunt and twenty of her cats are purring and kneading your lap the whole time. It's like that, except the bugs are trying to eat me alive.

Even the strictly vegetarian ones will give up their lives of veggie-eunichism to come have their fill of my sweet, sweet blood.

Oh, and if you've forgotten, I live in the Amazon rain forrest. We've got bugs.
Current population is: Ants (so tiny you can barely see 'em, pretty tiny and completely invading and devouring anything remotely sweet or protein based in my kitchen, regular U.S. sized ones that live somewhat peacefully in the yard until they are on my sandal clad feet (then the biting commences), larger leaf cutter ants that love to show you how unproductive your life is as they cut, carry and devour an entire hibiscus flower... or bush, and these huge purpley/brown ones with ginormous heads and mandibles that look like tin snips, weird brown mole-like half mutant termite/ant crosses from a misguided bio-engineering program.....and that's just the ants. We also are trying to break the Guiness Book's record for largest number of Daddy longlegs in a single habitable residence (our ceilings are really high, so they're difficult to reach). We've seen so many beetles that we really only notice them if they have big rhino horns. One of those stayed on our screen the entire day last December 25th.
Natasha now asks, "Will we have a Christmas beetle visit us again next year?"

Oh, let's not forget the other arthropods: scorpions, silver dollar sized spiders that come out at night and crawl through the grass (or under our front door), a plethora of moths and butterflies (finally something fun!), ticks, fleas, centipedes, millepedes. If you've seen it on Discovery Channel, we can probably find it on our 4,000 square foot bit of land here in Santa Cruz.

Here's your sign

2009-04-17T11:39:00.002-08:00

A friend, Kristal, has a cute etsy shop where she sells customized handmade distressed affordable signs. I love them! And now if you leave a comment today on her blog, you might win two of them. Or, you can just buy one!! There affordable, like I said.

Wishing I was in Clatskanie

2009-04-17T08:40:00.002-08:00

This weekend a lot of people I really, really love will be gathering in Clatskanie to talk, laugh, remember, cry and mourn Todd Howard. Oh how I wish I was going to be there!

Todd has been like a big brother to me for over 20 years. His family graciously--almost scandalously!--took my dad in as a border when we made the move from Woodburn to Clatskanie in the late '80s. Houses were really hard to find and Dad had to report for work, so instead of living in a hotel for a few months, Todd's mom, Jeanette, offered an extra room at her house. I felt really weird and uncomfortable about this. After a few visits to Clatskanie as a family, however, it was clear to all that we were destined to be surrogate extended families.

Todd was ten years older than I was and a nineteen year old to a nine year old makes for a strong impression! The same went for my brother. If I was at my parents's house I'd dig up photo after photo of us together for countless Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas celebrations--along with just as many hunting trips.

Todd was like most big brothers to me: relentless teasing, hugs, fun, driving too fast, words of advice, the occasional misunderstanding or disagreement, but most of all I knew that no matter what, He loved me like a sister and always would. I knew that he was proud of me. I knew that he cared.

It is strange and surreal to be over 5,700 miles away when someone you love has passed away. The hardest part is knowing that so many people I love are hurting and grieving together. I wish I could be a part of all the story telling, photo sharing, service planning and hugs. I don't always know what to say, but I always have a hug ready. I'd give one to Jeanette and Tracey, Mom, Dad and Mike, Don and Fran...and there's no way my eyes would be dry as they are now because my heart can't seem to accept that he's gone.

One thing I do know is this...he is not here. He is with our Lord.

I love you, Todd.

Snapshots

2009-04-17T07:30:00.003-08:00

I wanted everyone to see this girl's beautiful curls. They are such a foreign idea to me that I'm constantly touching them to make sure they're real. And apparently, she really liked my lasagne.

Ah, a clear picture of Elias. He decided to dress himself today. This is such a step in the right direction--He wanted to get dressed. He did it himself. He was very proud of his humorous choice. I decided to just go with it. Backwards uniform shirt, spaceship pajama pants and all. And I do mean all....as in commando.

After an afternoon of playing "makeover" with Mommy, we had a little photo shoot. I labled this one "Daddy, Get your gun."

And this is here to remind me that through all the craziness and mayhem we have travelled and have yet to traverse, there are lucid and clean moments. I cherish them. (Even if they're all squinting and the taxi is honking outside our gate waiting for us.)

First things...

2009-04-17T07:11:00.002-08:00

First things first: I am so sorry. For the few out there that actually read this blog, I have been a very poor contributor. Should this ever happen again (and you even care) please email me a very chastising, accusatory note...reminding me that this is the only way I will ever journal for posterity (i.e. my kids's future curiosity) what life was like for us.

There, I said it. Now let's get on with life!

my day

2008-10-01T14:50:00.002-08:00

While we've been experiencing life upheaval, it's seemed inconsequential to blog about everyday stuff--I've also had a hard time putting words together in English. So, I'm going to cheat here and paste in part of an email I just wrote to a friend. (Sorry my friend, you get to see this twice.)

I was going to call you earlier, but I was driving and trying to be a good citizen. I wanted to share my day with you. Since our clothes are all summery, I decided to go and find some layering pieces for the kids to wear under their tees and dresses to make them work when the weather starts to change. My first thought was to head to Old Navy, but I thought I'd try the thrift stores first, then pick up what I couldn't find at Old Navy. I also needed to buy groceries and thought I'd save gas by planning out our day on Google Earth and do our errands intelligently.

So we headed out into a somewhat unknown city... At the thrift store (I found three long sleeve tees for Natasha, one for Ana and a very cute jumper outfit for Ana all for under $10! yay!), Ana got her finger stuck in the cart. She cried out, but before I could figure out what was wrong, she'd yanked her finger out and was screaming in pain. Her finger was indented and starting to swell. I asked a worker if there was ice anywhere, but had to settle for running her finger under tepid water (in a GROSS bathroom.) Her finger is still a bit swollen, but she can move it and doesn't fuss when I touch it or move it.

Next, we stopped for lunch at you-know-where. I thought since we'd be gone all day, letting them play at the PlayPlace would be a good way to let out some energy for the kids. But, then I read "Socks Required" and knew that, being a good rule/law abiding citizen, we had to go--Natasha and Elias had both worn their crocs sans socks. So, we headed to Old Navy where I just wanted to get tights for the girls and couple tees for Elias--some yoga pants for myself if I could find some I liked. We shopped around for awhile, found the tights, the tees and even replacement yoga pants; but not before Elias had set off the alarm by pushing the "Emergency Exit Only" door open. I thought the whole store was going to evacuate from the shrill fire alarm sounding.

We found the manager-like guy with rattling keys headed for the door and apologized. I explained to Elias not to open doors, had him apologize to the guy...we both laughed it off. I got over my embarassment, strapped Elias in the cart to keep him from mischief and set off to the checkout--only to find that the only check out was our manager friend with the keys. A cheery hello later and I realize I do not have enough cash or any of my credit cards with me. I, again, apologize; put back my yoga picks and head out shamedly to the car. Groceries and gas saving pushed aside as I head back home.

Oh well. I had also forgotten the grocery coupons from the Sunday paper, so hopefully when I head back to Walmart tonight I can save enough to make up for the gas I wasted?? :-) Just another boring day with the Wehrleys!

2008-09-17T10:20:00.002-08:00

If you read our previous post or keep up on your South American news, you know that Bolivia has seen its share of turmoil the past couple of weeks. We have made the decision to leave for a little while. The decision was essentially made for us because our current visas run out very soon. We need to renew our visas outside of Bolivia before we can re-enter the country; but with the political situation the way it is right now, we aren't sure whether or not we will be able to get the visas we need or if the current peace will continue.

We will fly out next Tuesday to begin work on our visas, while we continue our Spanish tutoring (isn't Skype great!?), and Adam continues his studies. God has provided so much for us and we are extremely thankful to be able to keep our house here and have a wonderful sister in Christ live in it and "cuidar" for our things (take care of them for us.) It seems like a miraclulous provision for us since you normally have to pay someone to live in or watch your home for you. We are encouraged that the door to Bolivia has not closed permanently for us.

We do not know what the next few months will bring us--nor even where we will be after debriefing at our home office in Kansas City. We hope to be somewhere affordable where Adam can continue his Master's program with Tyndale Theological Seminary and possibly do an internship or assistantship related to his studies--or even head back to Bolivia with visas in hand and peace in Santa Cruz!

God is good, all the time and we are thankful for our health and safety. We realize that "we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" and we accept that whatever God has planned for us, it is good and for His ultimate purposes. We are also excited to see the Bolivian church stand up for righteousness, knowing that these trials bring about the perfecting of our faith.

Unrest

2008-09-13T10:54:00.003-08:00

If you receive our emails, this will be on the way to you shortly (and hoping makes my lack of communication here self-explanatory.)
Hello from Bolivia:

For anyone not keeping up on the news, the political situation here is tense. Pro-Santa Cruz protesters have taken over some government facilities. A region north of here had one serious conflict earlier this week. While the international news sources discuss the diplomats fighting and expelling each other, life feels pretty normal in Santa Cruz; stores, banks, buses are still open and running. The perspective here is quite different from the rhetoric being thrown around the international media.

We’ve spent a lot of our time this week making sure we are up-to-date and in contact with as many other missionaries and Bolivian friends as possible. So far we are stocking up on groceries and gas for our stoves, and gathering all our papers, but no one we’ve talked to feels an evacuation is imminent. One friend who has been here much of his life explained the situation saying, “It’s September” (this is when and how Bolivians express their political opinions, but historically there has been little actual violence, especially in Santa Cruz).

In the meantime, Molly and I continue our work on Spanish, and I add in as many hours of Greek and Hebrew as each day allows. Last week we celebrated Hebron Seminary’s 55th anniversary and enjoyed the excitement of Hebron’s continued growth in both depth and scope as we train servant-leaders to proclaim and live the Word of Christ. The new Masters of Bible and Masters of Theology programs have Hebrew language requirements, which I am going to be teaching in the near future, along with Greek. So language study is a major area of prayer.

In a couple weeks we are planning a brief trip to the Brazilian border to work on our visas. Our largest concern with the current political situation is the it will trickle down to the immigration department and prevent us from obtaining visas, please pray for this also along with the costs involved in travel and fees (out of Bolivia, into Brazil and back into Bolivia long-term).

Natasha is loving kindergarten, Ana Sophia is crawling all over everything and climbing up onto her feet whenever she can. Elias enjoyed his fourth birthday last week. I am working on a backyard playground for his birthday in my free time.

Your continued encouragement and prayers for our ministry and safety are appreciated and felt.

In Christ’s Sovereign Hands;

Adam & Molly Wehrley

P.S. For those of you who do keep up on the news, please contact us if you have questions or concerns. We will be keeping you updated on our status as things unfold. We trust that God has brought us here for His purposes and we are still joyfully serving Him amidst turmoil.

Luke 10:2-3 “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

Mat 10:16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Thankfulness

2008-09-08T08:08:00.002-08:00

Today I am thankful that:
no one is puking (we've had seven days of illness)
the sun is out (we've had four days of cold!)
the party decorations are still up and we're eating cake this afternoon (we had to cancel Elias's big birthday party yesterday because of the puky sickness)
I can do laundry (because we have to line dry our clothing, crummy weather and puky sickness are a bad combination!)

2008-09-02T16:28:00.002-08:00

Elias's prayer this evening (you have to give an affirmative noise after each item so he will continue praying):
Dear Jesus,
thank'em for our food
(He always says this)
and for Natasha
and Mommy
and Daddy
and grandma
and Uncle Mike
and grandpa
and grandma Pam
and fish
and dragons
and applesauce.
Amen!

Molly: Very nice, good night, Elias.

Elias: I want to pray again.

Molly: Okay, go ahead.

Elias: Thank'm Jesus for our food
and Mommy
and Natasha
and baby Ana
and Daddy
and fish
and stickers
and shots

I'm not sure about the "shots" either, though he'd been puking sick yesterday and he felt better this evening. Perhaps he remembered that shots help you stay healthy?

I don't like scorpions in my bathroom

2008-08-30T11:49:00.003-08:00

We knew when we moved here that there were the occasional scorpions around. Our neighbors had told us about a three inch long one they found one night on the way to bed. While that didn't thrill me, I knew that as far as scorpions go, the bigger the better. It's the huge, scariest looking ones that, supposedly, are the least dangerous. For some reason, the little ones are the guys you have to watch out for.

The week after we moved into our house, our Bolivian friends, Oscar and Cristina, confirmed my thoughts in this regard. Adding, however, that the most common scorpions here are small, the same color as our tile and cause a three day fever if they sting you. I was a bit frightened by this news and thought about praying every night for God's protection against all things creepy crawly. (I haven't been all that faithful in doing so.)

Last night, at an inopportune time, I saw this guy in our bathroom. I called Adam (calmly), stood on the toilet (I didn't think they could climb up porcelain), and told him to get shoes on. My self appointed job was to watch him so we could seek and destroy. He must have decided that the crazy lady on the toilet was frightening, I suppose, because he made a run for it. (Aren't we all glad I was watching him?) I'm glad Adam brought big, heavy boots with him. The photo here is after a successful smashing of said scorpion. In fact, there are bits of scorpion goo to the left of him.

brick henge, dirt coffee and hibiscus...a day in the life of the hijos

2008-08-29T03:36:00.004-08:00

It wasn't too hot, or too windy or too cold. It was just right. A perfect day to make dirt coffee, pour dirt on your sister's head and make brick henge for your Mom. Don't you think?

The brick henge. Natasha told me, "I made you triangles."

The dirt pouring and "coffee" drinking. Well, you can't see the actual dirt pouring, but I watched them out the window. The admitted to it later--especially when a 1/4 cup of dirt came out of Natasha's ponytail at bathtime. Oh, and the hair "do" is her wild girl version of curls.

One of eleven hibiscus that were in my yard this particular day. We have yellow, orange a few different pinks and this red one.

This is my favorite part of the hibiscus--the velvety stigmas.

Ana has started to sit on her own...though she still falls on her own too.

Natasha loves to climb our trees--which are actually huge mulberry bushes.

Birthday planning

2008-08-27T14:44:00.004-08:00

"What did you say? It's my birthday?"

Elias's birthday is coming up quickly. He will be four on the seventh of September. I have been busy the past couple weeks brainstorming ideas and questioning locals on cultural expectations. I knew from attending a b-day party here last year that birthday parties are big. I've already learned that social manners are different here: you don't ask what someone wants to drink (ususally), you pour choices and serve an assortment of drinks on napkins on a tray--that's just one of many lessons.

So, I wanted to do this right and have fun at the same time. We are inviting three different families we have gotten to know and a few adults too. We'll probably have an even kid to adult ratio.

I'm planning on making a bunch of colors of playdough for the kids to play with and to take home (goody bags are a cultural must here!)

If you're in the area, here's your invitation. Just call for directions!
(Do you like the envelope I made?)

The best part of waking up...

2008-08-26T16:07:00.004-08:00

...is GOOD coffee in your cup. Right? I love good coffee--even if I can't drink it straight off in the morning without wanting to wrench out my intestines later in the day. That said, and some of you may already know this, we have had a very difficult time finding good coffee here in the heart of black gold country. I mean, is it like people who make hot dogs for a living or something? You make it so you don't drink the stuff? That can't be because there are set times for coffee breaks across the city. The only thing is, those unfortunate people are all drinking INSTANT. AAAAHHH (covering my eyes and cowering in horror!)

We were determined not to let this happen to us. Some of our standards have to change as we adapt to a foreign culture; but this is not an area we were willing to compromise.

So, after much research and planning, trial and error, we have arrived at a very satisfactory solution to our caffeine habit: Cold pressed coffee. (Actually, I have to credit my grandparents who have been doing this for years. It just took me awhile to figure out I could do it too.)

The beautiful aspects of this method are as follows:
1. It's just as easy as instant to prepare. You can make one cup or several at a time; make it as strong or weak as you want; make it hot or cold, etc.

2. It doesn't use any power to make, for those greeny Oregonians out there this is a great plus--for those of us in third world countries with unpredictable power outages this is a must.

3. The thick, rich coffee liqueur it produces is a beauteous thing to behold.

Oh, and I didn't have to buy a thing to get set up. (We already had a good coffee grinder.)

Here's a brief tutorial for those who've kept reading up to this point.
Grind or purchase a pound of coffee beans. Pour the ground beans into a container large enough to hold 1 1/2 gallons.

Next, slowly pour in 4 cups of cold water. Wait five minutes. After this it will look like a chocolate souffle. Gently pour in five more cups of cold water--some people even recommend ice water.

Let sit for 12 hours. After twelve hours, strain the grounds from that liquid black gold you have made. I use a fine mesh plastic strainer. The liqueur, if you can call it that, will last for two weeks in the fridge. Just add 1 part coffee to 3 parts water, more or less to taste. I think my grandparents would use 1-2 ounces in a mug of coffee.
Here is my setup: an old Tupperware container to soak everything in, a strainer, a ladle for pouring everything through the strainer, the measuring cup with all the strained grounds (headed for the flower beds), a pitcher to pour the liquid into the reused 2 liter bottle. Isn't that bottle of dark, rich liquid beautiful?

It's quiet...too quiet

2008-08-22T04:01:00.002-08:00

Worse things have happened when it's been quiet at our house, but when it grew very silent this morning, I knew I should grab my camera and investigate. Usually, Elias is reading a book quietly, but I knew he was in the kitchen. This is what I found:

Did you know that you can eat an apple with a spoon?

Did you know this is how many spoons you need beside you on the floor to eat an apple with a spoon?

I let him continue, though finding food for yourself is frowned upon for the five and under crowd around here. He pretty much obliterated the apple. I'm hoping he actually ate as much as ended up on the floor.

He also got to learn how to wash the floor.

The Electric Slide

2008-08-21T05:06:00.005-08:00

I wrote earlier that I would have an electricity story and here it is.

The power down here is 220v. I couldn't tell you exactly what that means, but I'm sure a great many of you already know. My gut tells me it's stronger than the 110v we have at home. So, my brain tells me "don't mess around with this stuff!"

That said, you kind of end up "messing" with it whether you like it or not. Nothing here is grounded. The buildings are all made of brick, mortor and concrete so they're not going to burn if something bad happens. For this we are very THANKFUL!

Now, you need to know how our showers work. We do not have plumbed hot water, so if you turn the shower on, it will be cold. We do, however, have an electric shower...any red flags go off there??

Water...
Electricity...
Seems like a bad idea, but that is the norm and it doesn't kill the locals, so we should be able to figure this out.

There's a shower head with an inline heater. The water goes into the shower head, heats the water and then showers you, hopefully, with warm water. To turn on the heater part, you have to add in the electricity. You do this by flipping the circuit breaker located somewhere near the shower, above your head.

But, and this is key, you have to let the water run for a minute before you flip that switch so that you don't burn out the heater element. If you're thinking this through, you'll realize that you are about to flip a circuit breaker full of that good ol' 220v power...while there is water on the floor and most likely on your hands.

If you make it that far without getting a shock (I have so far), you might then want to adjust the water pressure because the more water you have running through that heater, the colder it is (there just isn't enough time to heat it well.) The way to do this is to turn the METAL knob. And that is where you will most likely get that oh-so-refreshing-wake-you-up-quick jolt of 220v. Remember how nothing is grounded? Well those electric wires and your metal plumbing are a little too close for comfort and YOU, being the wet, showering person make a fine ground for that power.

My solution to this is to adjust the knob with a bit of rubber tubing. So far so good, for me at least.

Still, none of these seemingly dangerous possibilities are what caused our scariest electrical moment so far.

A few Sundays ago, Adam was performing his morning rituals. We are all thankful, of course, that this includes a shower. Amid my own rituals of getting all the kids dressed and fed for church, I heard distressed yelling from our bathroom. Adam was hollering at me to flip the main circuit breaker. (Note to wives: You should know where this is for a moment like this!) After I do this, I go to see if he is okay.

He is.

The shower and circuit breaker are not:

Like I said, we are very thankful our house is not made of wood! Oh, and the picture doesn't show you all the lovely gray smoke pouring out of the circuit breaker. Our very gracious landlord had someone come and replace the breaker and our fried shower.

Sick babies

2008-08-19T17:11:00.003-08:00

Ana has a cold. She just has upper respiratory congestion really (a.k.a. a snotty nose); but I kept thinking over and over today, "There's just nothing more pathetic than a baby with a stuffed up nose." Especially nursing ones. When you can't breathe through your nose, it sure makes eating difficult. She didn't eat much yesterday because she felt so crummy, but she was feeling better today, yet still stuffed up. So, she'd get kind of frustrated trying to eat, but having to stop and take a big gulp of air to continue.

Well...I realize there are things far worse than a stuffed up nose. God reminded me of friends and people I know who have been there and are there right now. I thought of my little Adriana who I cared for in South Africa, away from the the other kids when they were sick, in order to keep her healthy...only to lose her to pneumonia a few months later. I thought of Rachel and watching Joy go through so much for so long and how we get to rejoice with her in heaven for her new, perfect body. For Jeana's cousin's daughter who is going to get her own perfect body soon.

Many of us know that mama's love that grieves for her child when he or she suffers...and yet, we know our heavenly Father feels our suffering even more acutely, with even more love, patience and empathy. Thank you Lord, for pricking our hearts and keeping us empathetic when it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day.

My sleepy sick baby (she was snoring, by the way!)

Last night at bedtime...

2008-08-18T09:22:00.003-08:00

Elias (pretending to fly instead of laying down in his bed): I'm going to Oregon
Molly (waiting patiently for said boy to calm down and give her a goodnight hug and kiss): Do you like Oregon?
Elias: Yes!
Molly: Why do you like Oregon?
(silence)
Molly: What do you do in Oregon?
(silence)
Molly: What is in Oregon that you like?
(silence)
Elias: Toys! There are lots of toys at Grandma Pam's house and I play with them.
(I guess he doesn't realize he has more toys here than Natasha or Ana--and he considers their toys his as well!!)

Update on the homefront

2008-08-18T09:09:00.002-08:00

Ana has a cold. Natasha is enjoying school. Adam is attending a planning meeting of the academic council for next year's classes this afternoon. Elias is his usual happy, inquisitive self. I would like some more sleep, but what's new?

Ana hasn't been sleeping well for a week now. Waking during the night after sleeping through for months. She's been working on learning to sit up by herself--actually getting into a sitting position from a crawling one. We've read before that babies sometimes sleep poorly before acquiring a new skill because they are practicing in bed instead of sleeping. Well, it's either that or teething or this cold. She's pretty clingy, fussy and sad. I know it might be par for the course for other babies, but it's rough on me because she's usually so happy.

Elias and Natasha are busy pretending to be Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books--though it's a convoluted mix of Jack and Annie, VeggieTales, and pirates.

Welcome to Portland, Paper Source (I'm there in spirit!)

2008-08-15T04:29:00.003-08:00

"Do something creative every day" has been a motto of mine for some time now. Whether I cut the kids's sandwiches in a new and interesting way (narrow strips are fun and easier to eat, by the way), or make a pencil box from a recycled cereal box, I like to do something to get the creative juices flowing. It gives me energy. It makes me happy. It's fun and entertaining. I think it's a nod to our Creator...and it's an idea that I totally ripped off these guys: Paper Source. I could go on and on about my love affair with paper, this store, etc....but the big news is they are coming to Portland, OR!!! (Which I suggested to them years ago...even specifically to the Pearl District!)

Grand opening is the 16th. Sure wish I could be there. I command all Portland vecinity dwellers to grab a mocha breve and browse the aisles for me. Smell the paper, touch the tools, Breathe in the creativity and take a class or two. (Grand opening class schedule) I certainly will the next time I'm in the area! Cheers!!

Today's project

2008-08-14T18:10:00.003-08:00

I was inspired by friends on frugally green to use some of the things I would normally throw away. I also needed to find a pencil box for Natasha to use in her classroom at school--Adam wasn't having luck communicating that to the guy at the school supplies kiosco near here. So, here's what I came up with:

I started with this cereal box. I wanted the final product to stand up to a year of kindergarten, so I folded and glued and reenforced every side.

Natasha then picked out some of my scrapbooking paper that I brought with me. The 12x12 sheet wasnt' quite big enough to cover everything, so I added the strip of blue on the edge of the lid. My favorite part is the magnet closure I made by stealing a magnet from a pad of paper on the fridge. I attached it to the inside of the flap and put a strip of metal under the paper facing it (stolen from the cutter on my aluminum foil box.) I covered the entire box with contact paper when I was done--hopefully it will last the year. And it was pretty much free!!

Good Day/Great Day

2008-08-13T10:04:00.002-08:00

I was wondering what made a day a good one for you? ...what made it great?
For example, a good day for me is that the house wouldn't be dirtier at the end of the day than when we started, a GREAT day would be getting all the laundry done.

Or, a good day would be if Elias didn't have any accidents (the potty kind), a GREAT day would be if he actually went by himself.

So, it looks like I'm being overcome by housework right now--at least mentally. What's happening in your life? What would make your day good and great??

Kindergarten, Frogs, and Spanish

2008-08-11T06:05:00.003-08:00

Natasha began her first day of kindergarten today. We went to her school last week to visit her classroom and meet her teacher, Mrs. Jackson, a missionary from Billings, Montana. Natasha looks so cute in her uniform, don't you think?

It's been a bit on the rainy side lately, though a warmer 86 degrees is forecasted for today. We had one whole night and day with thunder and lightning on Friday. Adam was at the Seminary visiting classes and attending chapel while the kids and I hunkered down, unplugged all the appliances (see further blogs for more info. on idiosyncratic electrical things) and played. When I opened the door to shake out a cleaning rag, a froggie jumped on in. Yes, I did scream...actually it was more of an excited squeak of some sort--though mostly because our keys were hanging above our door and fell on my wrist when I opened the door and then somethings started hopping all over the place.

We like these little guys. After rain, they hop onto the outside of our windows and eat bugs. YAY for frogs!!! This guy was about 1.5 inches long. He was accepted into our frog relocation program and has made a successful reentry in to outdoor, civilian froggie life. Congrats, little guy!

Settling down...

2008-08-03T16:30:00.003-08:00

The super short version--as to leave room for photos--is that we have arrived safely in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (the 17th of July); we've moved into our rental home (the 24th of July); we've figured out almost all of our appliances/showers/stuff; and we're working on Spanish language aquisition and visas.

Ana hanging out in our tub...used right now for everything: baths, laundry and of course, the pirate ship!

All the kiddos hanging out on our bed. They were all watching Clifford on our laptop.

One of our neighborhood friends...can you find him? It's a huge, green macaw that really likes the tree in the block in front of our house.

One of our friendly house geckos. This guy was about nine inches from nose to the tip of his tail. He was spotted in the living room one night.

Castles for princesses and family time

2008-07-02T09:49:00.002-08:00

So, today we are building a castle and spending time with family in Clatskanie. The castle is a float for the 4th of July Heritage Days parade in Clatskanie this Friday. Natasha and our niece, Madeline, will be "Princesses-To-Be" in the community talent show tonight and in the parade--think dressy dresses, tiaras, sashes and princess waves. Should be fun and super cute.

We're Moving!! (finalmente!)

2008-06-16T16:17:00.002-08:00

We have purchased our tickets to Bolivia. Praise the Lord!! We leave Oregon July 15th, stopover in Georgia/Florida for two nights, then fly to Santa Cruz on the 17th. We are very excited and overwhelmed with all that needs to happen before then. Please pray with us! ...for great fellowship with our families and supporters. ...for all the goodbyes. ...for all the packing and logistics! ...for remaining one-time and monthly funding we still need (We are moving by God's leading on faith and waiting on God for the remainder of our financial needs.) ..for wisdom in preparing our children with goodbyes, moving, new home, new church, new friends etc.

Thank you for walking this journey with us!

Back from cyber purgatory

2008-05-31T15:23:00.003-08:00

Okay not that we believe in purgatory, but in a completely cyber-techno-web way that's where we've been. Two words: DIAL UP. AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!

BUT, now we have high-speed....wireless...on the Oregon Coast no less! (And we thought we'd have to wait to move to Bolivia to be back in touch with the world.)

So, what's new?? Well, we've had a baby! and we hope to leave for Bolivia this summer.

Hopefully pics to follow--said baby is now crying.

Bye for now.
~Molly

Satan loves to discourage us...

2006-11-20T13:50:00.000-09:00

...and I'm sure feeling it today. Please pray for me. The temptation for me right now is to list out everything that is going wrong, but that is too close to complaining for me. I just need to lean on God and trust Him to help me out of this funk--regardless of circumstances. So, I could really use your encouragement through your prayers. Thanks!
Molly

Not quite techno-phobes

2006-11-16T10:57:00.000-09:00

Adam and I are struggling this week with computers. We've been trying to get a newly formatted, beautiful newsletter out to everyone, but these machines might be the death of us. Not really, but I had to learn a new software program to write and format the letter on and Adam is trying to finally get our mailing lists formatted and completed in a program that will work for us----which equals a gigantuan number of hours. So, if you are on our mailing list and if we don't die from pure frustration and exhaustion and if you receive said letter either by email or post, please promise us you'll ooh and aah silently or aloud. And if you can't read said email once received, please let us know and we'll try to groan quietly. ;-)

packing, moving, snow and separation

2006-11-13T10:03:00.000-09:00

What a busy, tiring time this is! The kids and I (Molly) will be moving down to Oregon on Dec. 2. Before that happens, I have a lot of sorting, packing, and house fixing to do. Elias is just getting over a cold and I am convincing myself that I don't have it.

Pray for us! We are getting very run down. Adam will be staying in Juneau into January (except for a couple weeks over Christmas. Pray for our health, strength and diligence--also our spirits/attitudes as this is our last 2 1/2 weeks together as a family in our own home until we get to Bolivia.

Oh, and we're supposed to get another 8-9 inches of snow today.

...back to packing

We're back

2006-10-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Well, 32 days and about 3300 miles later we're back home in Juneau. We had such a good time visiting and reconnecting with friends and family all over Oregon, Washington and Montana. Thank you again to those who hosted our family and took time out to see us. We were truly blessed to spend time with each of you! We only wished we had more time and that our van hadn't broken down and forced us to scratch the Seattle leg of our trip (We'll be back in December, Lord willing!!).

So, it's back to the grindstone for us now. We're working on getting the house ready to sell, packing, studying Spanish, along with all the normal work, ministry, and Adam's studying. This could potentially be a hectic and stressful time. Please pray for God's peace, joy and diligence for us during this leg of our journey!

Oh, and my purse was stolen a few days after we returned to Juneau. I now have to go through the hassle and expense of replacing all kinds of paperwork--including my and the kids' birth certificates which I had in case we ended up going through Canada. Thankfully, my driver's license wasn't in the purse when it was taken. That's another story, but a praise nonetheless!

Cheers!

Oh yeah....a bear

2006-08-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

A few posts ago I said that I usually waited until something interesting happened before posting. Then something interesting happened and I'm just getting to posting it today. oops.

Adam and I and other youth staff were out in the woods last Monday night preparing for a game of Nero with all the Jr and Sr high schoolers.

Nero??

Oh, yeah...um, two teams of kids, one tree with flags on it, youth staff in hiding with squirt guns and water balloons = tons of fun.....until a staffer gets spooked by a huge mamma bear

That would be ME!!

I had just gotten settled in a *perfect* hiding spot and figured out where I could crouch unseen and step unheard. The game was about to start and I turned when I heard a noise behind me to my left. A little bird landed in a bush about four feet from my face. I was amazed that I was that close to this little bird! My thoughts from here on:

"I wonder what kind of bird that is...I've never seen one with that coloring...hmmm it doesn't even know I'm here...I'm pretty sneaky...What is that thundering noise behind meAAAGGGGHHHHHH a HUGE BEAR!!!!!! She doesn't know I'm here either!!!!"

Well, the huge black bear (about as long as the breadth of my arms) thundered (literally, you could feel the ground shake) away from our playing field. Vic, another youth staff said he saw a cub climb a tree about the same time I yelled "BEAR"--yeah, a cub on the other side of me. Just what you don't want: cub, You, big mamma bear.

Fortunately the sow was probably just trying to draw our attention away from her cub and they soon left the area. Needless to say, it was a good way to get my adrenaline going for a really fun game!

visitin' the states

2006-08-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

In honor of our upcoming trip down south (that's the Northwest for all of you in the lower 48), here is a map of states we've visited. Here's mine first:

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

...and here's Adam's. I think he needs to get out more, don't you???

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.
Thankfully we'll be adding Idaho and Montana to Adam's map in the next month and a half. Thanks for the link, Krista!

We are headed your way!

2006-08-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

...if your way is in Oregon, Washington, Idaho or Montana! We'll be travelling through those states mid-September through mid-October to speak to churches, small groups and friends about our upcoming ministry in Bolivia. We would love to see you! Drop us a line if we haven't already contacted you.

You know your kids are Alaskan when...

2006-07-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

... they say, "there's our glacier" almost every time you drive somewhere.
... it is 64 degrees outside, slightly windy and overcast and all they want to do is play in the water--you know that glacier fed water.
... when your 22-month old goes under water unintentionally in the lake and you calmly pick him up, slap the water out of him and then wonder if he's going to get "Beaver Fever." (He hasn't yet :-)
... your three-year old spots wildlife before you do. "look mom, the beaver's swimming."

That's what has been happening this past week...besides that we had a garage sale, Juneau's favorite sport. There are strict rules: Sat. only from 8 to noon, Everyone tries come before 8, a price is just a pretty little sticker added to an item for decoration.

On my birthday...

2006-07-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

I'm 27 today. Not exactly a milestone for most people. 23 and 27 have always been my favorite numbers. I can't even tell you why, they just are. I really expected something significant to happen when I was 23; it did--that was the year Natasha was born. I wonder what will happen this year? We could be headed to Bolivia within the next year, that would definitely be significant.

I've been more introspective lately (which is of course, a sign of getting old--I'm in my late twenties after all :-) I don't write here much. I guess I wait until something humorous happens and I have a few moments to write it down before I forget it completely. Sorry about that. Sorry that I feel like I can't be honest or sincere with all the normal stuff too.

So, here's a snapshot of me today:
I just got the kids down for their nap. They are actually quiet, hooray! We just got back from a birthday party (no, not for me). Our friends, Eric and April, have a son who was born on my birthday three years ago. Birthday parties can be overwhelming for me since Natasha can't eat any of the food or touch all the cake and ice cream covered kids. I almost wish I could just throw every party we're ever invited to. Then I wouldn't have to worry about her allergies.

I came home to two packages on our doorstep. Sadly, they weren't birthday presents (okay, I might be feeling a little sorry for myself here...I'll tell you about my lack of birthday bliss in a second) The packages were 1) a soy milk maker so we can stop spending $45-80 a month on soy and rice milk for the kids. The machine will pay for itself in a couple months and then we'll only be spending about $6 a month for soy milk.

Okay, back to birthday bliss or lack thereof. Since my birthday is in the summer and at the beginning of the month it tends be forgotten and I'm sad to realize that I'm probably getting to the age when I need to just forget about it too. That probably sounds a little fatalistic, but think about it. Are adults supposed to expect others to make a big deal about their birthday other that the biggies i.e. 30, 40, 50, 80?? I'm thinking that I should just be happy that Adam remembers and that I can go out to dinner with my family and enjoy an evening not having to cook dinner.

P.S. I'm going to go watch Alias--my lastest obsession and recently bought with birthday money from my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad!

1-800-222-1222

2006-05-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Yep, some of you may recognize that as the number to poison control.

I got to make my first call there yesterday. I was at the computer when I heard a strange sucking/slurping sound. I turned around to see Elias happily sucking away at a tube of Elidel (Natasha's non-steroidal ezcema cream). I don't know how he got it, but that doesn't really matter. Poison control just had me wipe his mouth out--it was a used sample tube that was still at least half full, so he probably didn't even ingest any. They even called back later to make sure he was doing fine which he was.

Heads, shoulders, kneeballs and toes...

2006-05-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Natasha was in the bath last night and said, "I'm going to wash my kneeballs."

I guess they are kind of round like balls. I got to thinking how life might change if we adopted this new word.

"Heads, shoulders, kneeballs, toes, kneeballs toes." Come on sing along!

"I just knew he was going to propose...He got real quiet, fumbled around in his jacket pocket, got down on one kneeball and said those magic words..."

"Yeah, my dad has to have kneeball replacement surgery. I hope we can play a game of catch once he's recovered...maybe we can use his old kneeball."

Flooring and other projects

2006-04-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

Adam and I have been working on flooring in the living room today. I just have to say that I love working with my husband in this way. We make such a good team. It's fun to do something constructive (sorry, for the pun) together that we both enjoy. If I could find our digital camera, I'd show you our progress. We're about 4 feet into our 14 foot (by 30 feet) room.

This is project time. We are working on the floors as time allows. We thankfully don't have to rent the tools we need since Adam's work just received the nailer we needed as a mis-shipped item and decided to keep it as a rental. God is so awesome. We can work on the floors as needed, not try to kill ourselves and totally ignore the kids just to save a few bucks on renting the tools.

When the weather is nice, we plan on working on building a retaining wall in the front yard abutting the ditch. Both neighbors have one so ours will just join the two. It will make the yard much cleaner and neater and also get us out of the house this spring/summer!

Oh, and Natasha's shocking new discovery

2006-04-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

I was continuing a maternal tradition in our family by washing Natasha's hair in the kitchen sink the other day. She was streched out and relaxed on the counter with a towell under her neck as I massaged her scalp and we chatted. (This is definitely a girl tradition!)

She suddenly looked up and said, "Mom! You have hair in your nose!!"

(laughing) I said, "uh, yeah. Most people do."

(thoughtfully) "Is that to keep the boogers in?"

The worst blogger ever?

2006-04-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

No comments on that please! Our blog is our homepage, so I cringe whenever I get on the internet and see the date of my last post. Yi-yi-yi!

Well, here's life with us:
Nat and Elias are on antibiotics, which means I'm loathing every diaper change. They're both feeling 400% better than a week ago, so I'm really just thankful that the "pink medicine" worked. Elias spent four whole days lying on my bed not eating or talking with a 101-102 degree fever which then turned into bronchitis. Natasha just had her per anum antibiotic run to help with her allergic rhinitis. Her skin looks fabulous--just in time for Easter pictures too.

Adam and I are working on the flooring in our living room today. We're putting down unfinished 4" rustic hickory. I've also been getting things together for a garage sale and thinking ahead to when we'll be headed down to Oregon (hopefully for a few months) before going to Bolivia. You can be praying for God's direction as we prepare to leave Juneau (timing, finances, getting our house ready to sell and selling it.) Just how does a person go from one home to the next? The logistics baffle me at this point in time. Meanwhile, I am just going to continue to work on the painting, flooring, yardwork etc and also try to get the laundry and dishes done at the same time.

Sugar high

2006-03-15T09:21:00.000-09:00

Adam and Natasha had been eating a snack together the other day. I went in to see them in the play room and Natasha was jumping up and down singing and came right up to me and was talking to me about three inches from my face moving constantly.
I said, "Did Daddy feed you a lot of simple sugars?" (while giving Daddy the LOOK)
Natasha, "No, I did it myself!"

Do YOU know where Bolivia is?

2006-03-04T23:30:00.000-09:00

It's not in Eastern Europe (that's Bulgaria).

It's not exit 30 off of I-5 (that's where someone once thought Haiti was, but I digress...)

It's in the very middle of South America.
It's land-locked and the poorest country on the continent.
It's where only one in ten churches have a trained pastor.
It's where churches have been exploding in number and people are hungry for some solid Bible teaching.
...and...it's where the Wehrley clan is headed.
We've been appointed as missionaries with Avant Ministries. Adam has been accepted to be the New Testament Professor at Hebron Theological Seminary in Santa Cruz.
We are VERY excited because:
1. We LOVE Avant. Short-cycle, native-run church planting is what they're all about.
2. Adam LOVES to teach especially the New Testament, especially Greek! Yeah, now he just has to learn Spanish so he can teach Greek. ;-)
3. I LOVE Spanish! Ole' Habla espanol? Mi hija, Natasha, dice 'Mama, yo quiero hablar espanol como mis amigas de Peru.' Yo tambien, Natasha, Yo tambien!
4. We've been talking about missions since before we got married and now we're going...well, as soon as we raise our monthly support that is. SO, please pray for that. We are kicking off our support raising efforts this next week. We will probably be coming to a city near you at some point and would love to hook up with as many churches, friends, and just plain people as possible.

appliance coup

2006-03-03T23:10:00.000-09:00

In a matter of thirty minutes last night, four major (i.e. expensive) machines/appliances had malfunctions. Adam was working on his papers for his Greek class. I was doing laundry when the dryer started to smell like fire.

"It smells like a good fire," Adam quipped.
Sorry, there is no such thing as a "good fire" in your dryer.

I decided to give the lint trap a good, thorough cleaning with the vacuum. (Side trip to the bedroom to put a movie on for the kids...the volume is stuck on 40 and won't budge. After restarting all AV units, the volume worked again and we didn't have to have Little People blaring through the house.)

I turn on the vacuum and it begins to smoke and smell like burned rubber. Yum...there goes the "good fire" smell!

Turns out the belt broke. No big deal. I fix that and then clean out the dryer vent. I decide to make sure the outlet outside is not plugged with lint. I go around the house to find Adam's car with it's lights on....very dim, but on. It won't start, of course.

Well, the tv resolved itself, I fixed the vacuum belt and Adam jumped his car easily this morning. The dryer is kaput, and Adam wouldn't let me near the computer last night! He kept resaving his paper every time I walked by.

An update on Natasha's health

2006-02-17T11:23:00.000-09:00

For those of you who know of our continual battle with Natasha's allergies and skin, she has been doing well lately. Her hands haven't looked this great in ages. Her attitude is exceptional. Now you can pray for my energy level! She is a spit-fire, crazy, do-anything-for-a-laugh kind of kid. Man, she keeps me busy...and in stitches. Good thing too, because her brother has been going through a cruelly slow teething process that has just about killed us all....perhaps I exaggerate...hmmm.

Chocolate....my drug of choice

2006-02-17T11:19:00.000-09:00

Preferably dark, 60% cocoa or more.
Ghirardelli, some of the west's finest.
That is what I shared with Elias yesterday for his first taste of the dark stuff.
His reaction? (besides wanting more of my Valentine's present)
He kept repeating, "Wow!"
Ditto.

Natasha on Frosted Mini-Wheats...

2006-01-30T08:11:00.000-09:00

Nat: "Mom, there's white stuff on this side."
Molly: "I know, honey. It's supposed to be there."
Nat: " Oh"
Nat: "...and there's HAY on this side!"

Ahhh...Sweet Sixteen

2005-12-01T23:00:00.000-09:00

...a phrase that was not coined because someone thought that was a good temperature for it to be outside. Our Fred Meyers automatically puts your gallon jug of milk in a plastic bag so it doesn't freeze to your hand as you put it in your car. Yeah!

Memory Verse

2005-11-23T09:11:00.000-09:00

The children's program at our church just started putting out a monthly newsletter. It has quotes from the kids along with other information. Natasha was asked what were three things for which she was thankful. She answered (unprompted), "Jesus, songs and my birthday."

We are working on the memory verse for this month (say it and you get a prize!). It is Philippians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." We put it to music and she kind of sings along with me. But the funny thing is now when she counts, she says, "4, 19, 4, 19." (And I think that's the hardest part!)

Mommy? Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, MOMMY!!!

2005-11-18T16:20:00.001-09:00

Well, I was at the end of my mental note the other day. I was soooooo tired of hearing my name, answering and not getting a response. I told Natasha, "Okay, enough! I'm not "Mommy" anymore. Call me something else."
She was quiet for a few moments before half-whispering, "Hannah?"
So, now when I'm starting to lose it, she starts to call me Hannah. It's a little better.

Bath time

2005-11-17T13:05:00.000-09:00

Bath time is a huge hit at the Wehrley house. This picture is from Monday night. I wish I could do a video for you because these two were hilarious. I've never heard Elias laugh so hard (and that's saying something!). Natasha would get a mouthful of water and spit it at him--in his face--and he would just crack up...over and over and over.

Paper Dolls

2005-11-17T12:52:00.000-09:00

Natasha and I had a little art/creative time together this morning. She was cutting paper with her special ladybug scissors. I was making snowflakes and paper dolls. I made the little girls holding hands at left. Natasha said it was a mommy and daddy. I said, "No, silly. It's two little girls. It's Natasha and Katie." Natasha continued to cut and look at the little girls. Then she picked up the girls and said to one of them, "STOP holding my hand!!!" She then proceeded to give one a bit of a hair/head cut.
Boy, those pesky dolls just aren't very cooperative, are they?

Kewpie doll or punk rocker?

2005-11-13T22:27:00.000-09:00

Going to Oregon

2005-11-13T22:15:00.000-09:00

Natasha is really excited to be going to visit our extended family in Oregon over Christmas. About every day she'll say something about it, like who we might see while we're there, "I'll see Baba and Erika?" but mostly she pretends to go there on an airplane. "Abby and me are going on an airplane to see Baba. A big airplane and a little one."
Molly: "Okay, honey. Who's picking you up when you get there?"
Natasha: "Baba is going to pick me up in a car."
Mollly: "Okay. Be good for Baba and don't eat any peanuts on the plane."
Natasha: "Okay, Mama. But I need a kiss and a hug."
*kiss* *hug*
This happens, seriously, everyday. Then the other day we were driving past the Bed and Breakfast that Baba stays at when she comes to visit. Natasha says very excitedly, "We're in Oregon! Mama! We're in OREGON!"
Um, no...remember you have to take an airplane to get to Oregon??
Oh, yeah.

Please pray for us...

2005-09-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since my last post because every time I sit down to write something, I feel like all I have to say is negative. No humorous quips or quotes, no funny kid happenings. So here's the reality of life this past summer.

Natasha has been a sick little girl since March. She has had allergy related eczema since she was three weeks old. The first year was okay with no huge worries, just a stubborn rash that never really went away, but didn't seem to bother her a whole lot, except when she was in the sun. Last year things were worse when she was in the sun and she had confirmed allergies to any form of milk, eggs, peanuts and cod. If she was in the sun for even five minutes, we paid for it with a miserable, itchy little baby for the next week. This year has been horrible. I am so exhausted and Adam and I are emotionally burnt up. Since it was first sunny in March, Natasha has been itchy, whiny, impatient, irrational and otherwise completely high-maintenance. I know that this is not just because "she's two", because there have been days when her skin has been better and she is very polite, articulate, understanding and helpful girl--we hear "Mom, may I have some more juice, please?" and "Here you go Elias, here's your toy."....much better than the if-I'm-not-whining-I'm-screaming-and-crying-at-the-drop-of-a-hat girl!!

We, of course, have been to all the doctors--even the chiropractor and audiologist. We just found out the week before last that she is also allergic to: dogs, cats, dust mites and American Elm. We were extremely blessed to spend this past week with our friends Jon and Jenny McElwain while we removed the rest of the carpet and put Kilz primer on the subfloor to kill all the nastiness down there. We are hoping to be able to more back in today.

Then were are leaving on Thursday for Oregon to be with Adam's family--His dear grandma, Alvista Steele just passed away. We will also visit my grandparents while in the area.

Please pray that we find some answers for Natasha's health! Also that God will continue to give us the strength, patience and grace to help her each day without letting her rule the roost. Pray that this trip will not be stressful for her--her skin always gets worse when there is any kind of stress in her life.

Thanks,
Molly

Visitors

2005-07-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

My parents are arriving in two days. Dad will stay for a week and Mom for a month. YEAH! Our first official houseguests...and they're missing part of the sub-floor in the room they are to sleep in. (Adam's working on that right now)

Kid Quotes

2005-07-27T10:15:00.000-08:00

...from a local source (that is, Natasha.)
We have (outside our house) a healthy population of spider mites (the little red dots that zig-zag around and bite you) and the largest Daddy-longlegs anywhere. The Daddy longlegs really kind of freak me out. Natasha immediately wants you to kill a bug when she sees one and the outside bugs are no exception. We (against my natural inclinations) have decided not to kill the Daddy longlegs because we know they will eat the more vicious spider mites. Anway, on to the quote...

Natasha looking at a Daddy longlegs: "Kill the spider, Mom."
Molly: "Honey, we don't kill Daddy longlegs spiders."
Natasha looks up with her eyebrows raised and asks in a sad, litte voice: "You kill the baby ones?"

If you only knew...

2005-07-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

...what we've been going through. I really can't bring myself to go into detail on the internet, but it has to do with our 2 1/2 year old and a little phrase called "anal retentive." Literally. I've never been more happ to see poop. Okay that's enough.

So, yeah. We're all moved in to our new house, though not all unpacked. Not even remotely. We decided to tear out our carpet sooner rather than later once Elias started a runny nose and coughing at night upon arrival into the new house. We know the previous owners had an indoor dog and possibly a cat as well. So pretty much everything that belongs in the kids's room and the office is stacked up in our living room until we finish patching the walls, repainting ceiling to floor and put down new flooring. It's all fun and Adam and I both enjoy doing it...but projects take a lot longer when life has the gall to continue on and needing us to do the same.

We're having a party!

2005-06-29T14:33:00.000-08:00

A Moving party, that is. I can hardly fathom that we are actually going to be in our own house, with our own teeny-tiny yard. That is, we will be there after we move all our stuff (why do we have so much STUFF???? oh yeah, we have kids--goodNESS!), fix a vehicle (or two) and clean our apartment--all before the first (MY BIRTHDAY!)

I am just in awe over how God has provided for us with this house. The housing market in Juneau is so tight and we are poor (well, at least in Juneau-where-the-median-income-is-87K-per-annum-and-we-are-trying-to-be-fully-supported-missionaries meaning of the word poor.) We had our offer accepted without haggling, the seller paid almost all of closing costs, we received a mighty chunk of down payment assistance, and the seller paid to fix a ton of stuff that needed done for the house. Amazing.

The deer

2005-06-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken the same day as the previous post. These are two yearling does whose mommy hung out around our house a lot last summer. These two are not skiddish around people as you can see. I was not using any kind of zoom, just my little digital camera. This particular doe just kept walking toward me--until I got a little spooked and moved. She was within 10 or 12 feet from me.

Only in Alaska...

2005-06-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

...are the full-grown deer smaller than the skunk cabbage!

Redneck Swimming

2005-06-14T11:09:00.000-08:00

That's how Adam referred to it. It was hot, okay? (You know, like 70.)

You'd think...

2005-06-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

...that from the silence that we'd have been moving, setting up our computer in the new house and waiting for our internet service to get set up. And you'd be wrong. Hmmm. Still waiting to move with half of our house packed....but our house is looking good. They just finished residing the exterior.

One week to go...Part 2

2005-06-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

Hurry up and wait. That seems to be the motto of home buying. Hurry and get your offer in before someone else bids higher--we gotta get it off the market! Wait for a response...Hurry and get an engineer's report or it'll be "As Is" for you! Hurry and get bids for the 12 (count 'em TWELVE) things that need repaired. Wait while everyone mulls over the whole deal, find bids for the work, see what their second cousin once removed, who built a birdhouse once so he must know a thing or two about carpentry, thinks about Contractor #2 and see if they still want to go with our offer or not.......Wait, wait wait (here my eyes start to glaze over and my tone becomes low and drawn out as if I'm being played back in slow motion) for the repairs to be done...wait some more....HURRY and get all the papers from point A to points B and C, sign a paper from Point C, take copies to points B and D, return original copy to B, rush over to C and sign 3 more papers in triplicate, but you make changes the next day and they have to be resigned...all with two kids who always need naps.......and Mommy does too.

Okay, all that to say that we aren't moving today...maybe not this week. Next week perhaps???

Come cool off...

2005-05-31T10:03:00.000-08:00

If the weather is too hot where you are, Natasha shows how you can come cool off by eating part of the glacier!! That's right, for millions of years **eyes rolling** this snow and ice has been ever so slowly forming, moving and calving just for you to enjoy on a warm summer's day! Come on over, it's free!!

I'll help you pack, Mom

2005-05-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

So, Natasha's excited to be moving to the new house. I guess she thought she'd speed the process along by packing up her toys....right on top of her brother!

He didn't seem to mind, though!

YES??!!

2005-05-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

Natasha has a new, misguided way of saying "yes." If you ask her if she wants something that, to her, is particularly appealing--say, a ride on the city bus, or anything orange, or to play with our neighbor upstairs--she will answer with three words: "Yes. Sure! (and this last word is said very excitedly as if to cinch the deal) MAYBE!!"

One week to go...

2005-05-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

We are scheduled to close on our new house in one week. This is only an event that God can finish. There are so many things that have to happen before we can sign papers that it just seems impossible. But then, the whole thing has seemed impossible so far and God has made everything happen up to this point, so I just trust that He will continue to work things out. Meanwhile, I still have to pack! That's not going to happen without some effort on my part!

Brotherly (and sisterly) love

2005-05-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

Natasha and Elias really just enjoy each other immensely!

Those pearly whites

2005-05-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

I realized that many of you might not have officially met our son, Elias. Here he is in all his toothy wonder. Adam says that for Elias, happiness is not an emotion, it's an attribute. I'd have to agree.

Elias, the paraplegic Marine

2005-05-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

Elias is definitely crawling, well...um, make that scooting...no it's more like slithering except it's not side to side. Okay, think inchworm meets Marine. Got that? No legs involved except for the occasional bear crawl manuever when he seems to be inspecting every fiber of the carpet for those sneaky, yet oh-so-yummy pieces of gravel (helps with the digestive tract, you know.)

Intelligent Design and acid rain...

2005-05-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Dr. Dixy Lee Ray's book Trashing the Planet. I realize that acid rain isn't the hot topic that it once was, but this book has got me thinking a lot about what an awesome God we have. It's amazing to me how interdependent and resilient this world is that He created. Living in Alaska as I do, I often think things like "what in the world do we need mosquitoes for? They are of no use at all!" Well, this book hasn't answered that question, but it has made me realize that all of creation was created for a purpose that is good and needed. Dr. Ray (who happens to be Adam's great aunt) wrote how the desert and barren places in the world help to neutralize acid rain because they are alkaline and the dust gets into the atmosphere and mixes with all the acids (many or most of which are naturally occurring), effectively neutralizing what could be acidic and potentially harmful. Places that I would look at and think of as useless are intelligently designed for a purpose.

Picture of the Day

2005-05-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

Natasha and her friend picked dandelions today. I had to take a photo of her in my favorite spot in the yard before we move in a couple of weeks.

Elias's latest

2005-05-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday he was clapping. Today he's made actual bonafide forward crawling movements....then he was sitting up in his crib after naptime. Natasha started walking at ten months. He seems to be on his way too.

Playing with Pictures

2005-05-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

I'm just trying to figure out how to do photos from a Mac. Anyway, if you know Adam, you'll understand how hilarious this photo is. This was taken a couple of Thanksgivings ago (before kids). I can't remember who in their right mind let Adam touch their guitar.

Stuck in a well with a goat and a slinky...

2005-05-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

I was filling out my profile and my random question was” “You're trapped in a well with a goat and a slinky. Describe how you will escape.” It was too interesting and practical of a question to give a short pat answer to.

Let's just assume it is one of the old fashion metal slinkys, because if it is one of the new platsic ones, I'd be toast.
Plan A
So I take the end of the slinky, sharpen it against the rock walls of the well, and use my new knife to euthanise the goat, skin it and cut the hide into long strands which I weave into a rope, While this is going on I eat the goat, I have plenty to drink, but water quality is going to be a problem soon. Fortunately I'd be using my urine to cure the leather. If the goat had horns, I would bind them together to form a grappling hook and pull myself out. There are only a few problems with this plan: I am not strong enough to pull myself out of a well using a thin leather rope, I can't weave rope or make leather.

Plan B:
Scream like a scared little girl until my wife finds me and helps me out. This is really the best plan, because I excel at screaming like a little girl. The goat and the slinky are really inconsequential at this point.

Up and running

2005-05-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

Ok. A Blog. A family blog. When I think about it, it really doesn't sound extremely exciting except for those immediately affected (like, say our families) and they might not be into the blog format. So...we'll see how this goes.