As we were looking over our blog's we became very aware that we have been very poor communicators over this whole last year and that we have missed out on sharing with you a lot of what has happened over the last seven months. As you all know from the few blogs we have written we have had a very busy and some times very difficult year. But as we look back over all that has happened it is exhausting and very exciting all at the same time. We decided the best way to catch you up is with pictures, so here is a look at some of the events in our lives over the last several moths.
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| Back in January my (karen's) cousin Travis came for an overnight visit. It was great to get caught up as it had been many years since we had seen each other. |
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| Gabriel lost his first tooth in Feb. and his second a few months later. |
My Parents came for a visit while Douglas was away. Mom stayed 2 whole Months!! What a blessing!!
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| My mom and I redid our front garden area while Douglas was away. |
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| My mom also finished the mosaic she and I had started the year before. | |
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| Gabriel participated in a small competition at his gymnastics gym and got first place in his age group. there were only two others his age in his group but he was still very excited. |
On the 4th of July we celebrated Zachariah's 4th birthday. Some of our closest friends here in CR recently moved to the coast so we went and celebrated with them. We got to go to a fire works show at a resort near their house that caters to Americans. It was the boys first real fireworks show and it was great! Riah thought they were all for him. |
| July also brought the start of the school for Douglas. |
In August we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of YWAM here in CR we hosted the event for all of central America. It was a great honor and a lot of work for every one on the base. Loren and Darlene the founders of YWAM were here to lead the event and it was an amazing time of remembering God's faithfulness in the first 50 years and looking forward to the next 50.
The last weekend of Aug. we took part in a retreat for the bcc students. They spent the whole weekend reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges. They read out loud and at one point Gabriel got to read a chapter or repeat what someone else read.
Douglas and I and the the two other staff members did all the cooking so the students could focus on their reading. It was great to be able to help out and be part of the weekend.
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| September brought Gabriel's 6th Birthday and a new skate board! |
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| Dress up day at school."I'm King Daved" This year Zachariah is in pre- kinder and Gabriel is in Kinder. School here runs Jan.- Dec. so we are coming to the end of the year in just over a month. |
Just a week ago After all this craziness, God blessed us with a whole week to just get away as a family ! we spent only the first night of our trip in a hotel and then spent the next 7 days at a condo on the other side of the city from where we live.  |
| we went out to eat, |
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| We played in the pool, |
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| or laid in the sun. |
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| Zachariah learned to ride his bike with out training wheels and Gabriel who had just learned got more comfortable on his. |
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| We spent one whole day at an amusement park just outside of San Jose and the rest of the time we.... |
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These few pictures don't tell even half of the story but they fill in a few of the holes.
In truth it has been a very trying year as we are just starting out full time with YWAM and we feel how we have been under attack as a family as we try to start this new bible core course and as i step in to my role at the base working with the staff and doing a lot of logistical stuff.
We Thank God for all his protection and provision over the last months and trust him for the future.
Thanks to all of you that have been praying for us and supporting us in so many ways we could not do what God has called us to with out you.
