365 Pictures week 5 & 6 29 Jan - 11 Feb

Hello,
I miss not seeing everyone's pictures last week.  My trip to Haiti was wonderful & rewarding.  I wish everyone could go to a third world country for a week & see how blessed we are in the US.  This was my 2nd trip to Haiti, the first being 2 months after the earthquake, & it was still an eye opener & humbled my spirit.  So here are my pics for the last two weeks.

Sunday 29 January

Okay two pictures today.  After I saw Sara's rustic apple pie, I had to make two for my husband to have while I was gone, so here is one of my pies

Also here is my cross-stitch progress.  I'm going to miss this while I'm in Haiti

Monday 30 January

Today is my birthday!!!

This is the Precious Moments my husband surprised me with.  I'm a member of the club, so when I get a catalog, I circle all the ones I like & then he picks out the ones he wants to get me.

I also recieved this lovely bag from the lady that I work for.  She made it for me.  This is the front.  The striped area is three pockets

This is the back.  I love it!!!

Tuesday 31 January

No picture, too busy packing & going to bed early

Wednesday 1 February

My Haiti trip started today, so I'm going to give you a little taste of my trip.   If you would like to hear the whole story please go to my blog at this link http://servingthelord-semperfi.blogspot.com/.  I have blogged about 1/4 of my trip & will be blogging more about it this coming week.  I had a little sad feeling as I left but I didn't know why.  

Sunrise as I fly from Missouri to Texas.  The trip has begun

Thursday 2 February

Grade school girls at Mission of Hope.  Mission of Hope has 3,000 students between the grades PreK - 12th.  The kids favorite thing was to ask "Photo" & pose.  Then of course they had to see their picture when you were done, giggle & pose again for another one.  They could do this all day

Friday3 February

We visited the village Kaliko today.  This is a very poor village.  As we got off the bus & made a circle to pray for our day, these children came up from the village to greet us.  The young man told us he wanted to know Jesus, so Brian led him to the Lord.  What a great way to start the day.

Saturday 4 February

This picture was taken March 2010.  It was the first boy I met at Mission of Hope - Jerry.  He is 10 years old.  His parents are vendors at the mission.  Jerry became my buddy & ran to greet me every day I saw him.  It broke my heart to leave him.  

Two years have past - This is Jerry today.  His parents are still vendors & he goes to school at Mission of hope.  At first when I saw Jerry he wasn't sure if he knew me, but when I called his name his face lit up & he said "My white Momma".  We were able to visit the mission three more times & every time Jerry saw me he came running.  Jerry will always have a special place in my heart.

Sunday 5 February

We stay at Kaliko Beach Resort which is on the beach.  It was nice to go to the beach in the evening & reflect on what God taught me that day.  Here is one of the beautiful sunsets that I was blessed to enjoy.  The boat is a water taxi.

Monday 6 February

Today was beach day.  A day to relax & get caught up on some sleep.  I went down to the beach with my room mate & discovered the water's edge were covered with huge jellyfish.  There were hundreds of them.  The resort owner said he had never seen anything like this before.  The resort staff were scooping up the jelly fish & throwing them on the beach.  Later in the day the jellyfish were gone & it was safe to swim.

Tuesday 7 January

One last visit to Mission of Hope.  This is Pierre.  He was born with a brain tumor.  Since his mother couldn't afford to get medical help with him or take care of him, he was abandoned at Mission of Hope. Some time (days or months not sure) his mother returned & signed papers giving Mission of Hope custody of Pierre.  We found out on our last day that Pierre will be coming to the USA, Indiana to be exact.  He will be getting the medical help he needs & the brain tumor removed.  Then when he is well enough a family from Indiana that adopts special  needs kids, will adopt Pierre.  Pierre is holding a little stuff animal I gave him.  He kept smiling at the animal & saying "Hi".  Another piece of my heart was left in Haiti with this little boy.

Wednesday 8 February

It is 4:43am & I sitting on the beach with my room mate & her dad.  We are saying good-bye to Haiti.  This is the moon which was full slowly setting over & reflecting over the Caribbean.  What a way to start a very early morning & end a wonderful trip.   Breakfast is at 5:00am & we leave for the airport at 5:30am.  This was a great trip & I hope the Lord will allow me to come back again.

Thursday 9 February

I started putting away my items I bought in Haiti.  This is a conch shell I bought from one of the Haitians that sells things at the hotel we stayed at.  I've always wanted a shell like this & found out after I got home, my husband did too.  By the way I also at conch while in Haiti.  Anything that says "Seafood" like a soup or sauce, means it has conch in it.  It is good tasting but a little chewy, like eating squid or a old piece of bubble gum.

Friday 10 February

More items I brought home but these have a special purpose.  At Mission of Hope they have a ministry called 3 Cords.  Here is an explanation about 3 Cords from there web page

3 Cords employs amputee women & mother of amputee children, giving them hope that they are still whole, valuable, & precious.  Our vision is to love & serve these women, teach them valuable skills & provide them with dignity that they can still work & provide for their families.  In Haiti, many people do not believe amputees can do anything, let alone work.  3 Cords is disproving this cultural stigma for sure!

This is a purse I purchased from 3 Cords.  All handmade.

And Look!!! It is reversable!!!  Didn't know that when I bought it.

I also bought a cell phone cover.

My phone fits perfectly!

Saturday 11 February

Yes, this is a picture of my laptop.  This is where I have spent most of my day blogging & uploading pics for my blogs & facebook along with two videos from my Haiti trip.

Well, it was a fun two weeks.  Glad to be back home.  The things we take for granted like being able to drink water straight from the faucet & a glass of milk.  We are sooo blessed in this country, running water, free public education & the list could go on & on.  Hope all of you had a good week.  Can't wait to see your pics.

In His love,

Kim

365 Pictures week 4 22-28 Jan

Hi,
Another week has come & gone.  I didn't get a picture taken everyday, even though I thought I did.  I guess time went by too fast.  Here is my week......

Sunday 22 January

Okay, this is becoming my normal weekly pic for Sunday, how far have I progressed on my cross stitch project.  It is getting there & I'm enjoying my relaxing time while doing this.

Monday 23 January

No picture.

Tuesday 24 January
I did take a picture today, but decided to post the following instead -

This picture was taken March 1991.  In the picture is Bethany Rogers, her three kids & my oldest son Wood. They are from left to right the kids - Courtney (now 25), my son Wood (now 21), Daniel (now 22) & Timothy (now 24) & of course one of the most loving, wonderful example of a Christian lady Bethany.  Tonight Bethany lost her battle with cancer & went to be with Jesus.  The last time I saw Bethany was in 2001.  She lived in California & our course I live in Missouri.  I will miss her greatly.  God used her in my life at a time I need a loving, understanding & wise Christian "Big Sis".  This is what her daughter posted on Facebook when she passed - 

Freedom has never felt so sweet. She is free. She is free. Free from pain, free of tears, & free of sin.  She is free to worship, free to sing, free to praise & walk with God.  She is whole, she is happy, her future is eternal.  She is in heaven with Jesus.

Wednesday 25 January
I have refilled my bird feeders to help them out during winter time.  Of course the squirrels have found them too & are very happy for a feel easy meal

Hummmm lets see what is for lunch today???

Found something good to much on.

Thursday 26 January
No picture

Friday 27 January
 Left last night with this sweet girl Paytience Markle to go to College of the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri 4 1/2 hours south east of us.  She had an interview this morning at 8:30am & a tour of the college at 3:30pm.  Her mom couldn't make time take her, so she asked me since my son goes there.  I said sure & the road trip began.  We had a good time & the interview went well.  We will know if she is accepted in March.

Paytience sitting at the fountain outside the Keater Center at College of the Ozarks.

My son Josh & one of his favorite dairy cows.  My son is a sophomore at College of the Ozarks.  He works in the dairy barn.  At College of the Ozarks, there is no tuition instead all of the students work 15 hrs per week plus two 40 hour weeks during breaks at  work stations around the college to pay for their tuition.  C of O (short name) has 80 plus work stations, like maintenance, administration, dairy barn, cake & jelly shop, child development center, their lodge/hotel & restaurant to name a few.

Saturday 28 January
No picture tonight, instead I came home from my weekend trip to deal with a dryer breaking (it died completely) & my oldest son's car breaking down on his way back to work tomorrow & to his college.  Praise the Lord, he broke down 3 blocks from home.  I gave him my jeep & we called AAA to tow his car.  Haiti is really looking good tonight.

Well, that is my week.  I leave for Haiti this coming Wednesday so will miss posting next week but will be back for posting on 12 Feb.  Talk to ya in two weeks.

365 Pictures week 3 15-21 Jan

Another week....

Sunday 15 January

Another peaceful, restful Sunday.  We went to church, took the guest pastor out to lunch, who happened to be one of our son's professor from this last semester.  Didn't know that until we were head to the restaurant. Had a great meal, nice visit, then the pastor headed home & so did we.  The stress of this week must have caught up to me because I took an hour & a half nap.  That is not normal.  Then back to church & then home, cross-stitch time & a little Netflix to relax before bed.  Here is my progress on my cross-stitch.  Not as much as last week but did add some more.

Monday 16 January

I started my walking goal today.  I was able to walk 15min on my Bowflex tred climber. YEAH!!!  I do get board walking & listening to music sometimes helps pass the time but sometimes doesn't.  So I decided to watch a little TV.  This past week I received the following DVD set in the mail for me to try. 

I LOVE Women of Faith!!!!  This DVD has six 30 min. devotions from the speakers from past conferences.  So this DVD will be come my walking DVD for a little while.  Since I'm going to keep this, I pay for it & will get another one in about 4 weeks.  Today was Pasty Clairmont.  Listening to her talk, joke & teach really made my walking time go by quickly.  Thanks Lord, I needed this

Tuesday 17 January

I woke up this morning around 1:00am to the sound of an ice storm.  It iced off & on, little pellets & enough to make the streets slick, so I'm staying home this morning can't get to my tutoring job.  This also means my high schooler that comes in the afternoon for tutoring will not make it either.  So today's project is getting ready for my Haiti trip.  I'm in charge of our traveling VBS.  For 4 days the team will travel to 4 different villiages & have VBS in the morning.  One of my main jobs is crafts.  These gloves will be come wordless puppets.  It is like the wordless books using a glove & pom poms.  I'm putting the eyes on the pom poms today because our VBS will be outside on the ground & though it would easier for the kids.  They will get to attach the pom pom to each finger as I explain what each color means.

Wednesday 18 January
Today I spent the day as substitute secretary at our church.  That means I sat all day in an office & answered the phone (if it rang), messed on the computer, read, cross-stitch & anything else I could find to keep me busy for 9 hours.  It is nice to have a day like this where I can relax, do nothing & not feel guilty. (he, he).

Here is one of my what I call my "Growth" books (books that make me grow spiritually) Catching fireflies by Patsy Clairmont.  I'm really enjoying this book. 

 By the way it is on my new Nook Color I got for Christmas & Anniversary (two days before Christmas).  I love it!!!  I'm reading 4 different books & they are all on thing.  It is sooooooo nice.

Thursday 19 January

I tried a new chicken recipe & we like it.  The recipe is at http://goodcooking-semperfi.blogspot.com/ It is called Honey baked Chicken.

I also saw these cupcakes on Pintrest.  They have an Oreo cookie in the bottom.  I thought I would make them & we loved them.  We used the new Triple, Double Chocolate Oreo.  Basically put one Oreo cookie in the bottom of each cupcake paper.  Make a white cake mix according to the package, then add some crushed up Oreo & bake according to package.  Frost the cupcakes when they are cool & sprinkle some of the crushed up Oreo on top.

Friday 20 January
My oldest son & I went to Winter Jam in Des Moines to help work at the Teen Missions International Booth.  It was a lot of fun & the concert was great too.

My son, Wood,  telling a lady about Teen Missions

Me at the table

Our crew of volunteer workers

Group 1 Crew

Peter Furler & Phil Joel

Sanctus Real

Toby Mac

Saturday 21 January

Kids getting their supper

Our Teenage helpers

Parents Night Out at church.  The parents at our church can drop their kids off for 2 hours for free babysitting tonight.  We feed them supper & then they get to watch a movie.  Supper was hot dogs, chili, pop & ice cream.  The movie choices for tonight were Apple Dumpling Gang & the 3rd Narnia Movie Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I was on of the baby sitters.  We had about 15 kids & 6 youth (to help babysit).  It was a great night.

Well that is my week.  A lot better week than last week.  Can't believe we only have one full week left of January.  That also means in one week & 3 days I will be heading to Haiti for a mission trip.  Can't wait. Have a great week.

365 Pictures week 2 8-14 Jan

This past week started out good, but then we had a small tragedy, that broke my heart.  Wednesday, a little 6 year old boy Jeremiah Lamm who was in my Sparks class in Awana at church died.  It was really hard because of how he died.  Well, here is my week.

Sunday 8 Jan

 Okay, here is a week's worth of cross-stitching.  Besides going to church, taking a nap, & washing dishes, this is what I did today, cross-stitch & relax.

Monday 9 Jan

Deer Cam pic - Great pic of turkeys at our corn feeder.  I love my trail/deer cam

Tuesday 10 Jan

Okay it is 54 degrees in January, in North Central Missouri & we are grilling hamburgers.  Not normal baby, but will enjoy it as much as we can.  My head where I had surgery is hurting, so it means big change is on the way.

Wednesday 11 Jan

Yeap the head was right, weather change.  Top temp 5.9 degrees is outside & 66.4 is our house temp at 5:51am.  I'm glad I took this picture, because this was the day that I found out about Jeremiah & I was not in the moved to take any pictures.  Jeremiah was 6 & died in a trailer house fire.  I spent the rest of the day getting ready to deal with our Spark kids in Awana tonight.

Thursday 12 Jan

We got a dusting of snow on the ground & the deer came pouring into the deer feeder.  There are 4 deer in the picture.  I'm doing much better about Jeremiah's death, moving on.

Friday 13 Jan

This picture was taken in Sept, 2011.  This is little Jeremiah.  My heart was torn open again today because it was announced on the news that Jeremiah's dad strangled him to death, then set the trailer on fire to cover up the murder.  The dad is in jail awaiting his trial.  Next to Jeremiah is Katie.  Katie is down syndrome.  In school & in Awana, Jeremiah always looked out for Katie, took care of her, made sure she was where she was suppose to be, doing what she should & making sure she paid attention to the Bible stories in Sparks.  No one was going to hurt Katie when Jeremiah was around.  He will be greatly missed, but I know he is in heaven with Jesus.  I can't wait to see him again.

Saturday 14 Jan

Baking day.  I made baked pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast.  My husband hates pumpkin, but says this doesn't taste like pumpkin & he loves it.  The recipe is at http://goodcooking-semperfi.blogspot.com/ I also made two pumpkin breads today but forgot to get a picture.  Maybe next time.

Well, that is my week.  I'm sorry if it was depressing.  But you can learn a lesson.  Love your kids, no matter how old, give them a hug, tell you love them, spend time with them because, make sure they know Jesus as their personal Savior because in a blink of an eye, they can be gone.  Talk to ya next week.

365 Pictures week 1 1-7 Jan

Wow, this first week of 2012 is done.  It went by pretty fast for me.  I did manage to take 5 out of 7 pictures this week.  So here is my first week of 2012

 Sunday 1 Jan

Today was a nice relaxing day.  Church in the morning, nap in the afternoon, family time together in the afternoon & evening.  I started a new cross-stitch project.  When my grandmother passed away in 2005, you can say I inherited a van load of cross-stitch material, floss, & patterns.  I was the only grandchild of 19 grandchildren that cross-stitch.  So I've decided to start going through some of the projects she left me & get them done.

 Monday 2 Jan

Today was the last day of muzzle loading (black powder) season.  Time to clean the black powder guns, since the next season will not be until December.  This is my husband & youngest son, Josh.  Josh is cleaning his rifle.

 Tuesday 3 Jan

1st batch of muffins for the new year.  These are bran muffins with blueberries & pecans.  You can find the recipe at http://goodcooking-semperfi.blogspot.com/

 Wednesday 4 Jan

My son, Josh, took these pictures as I was busy cooking.  Something I do not do unless for special occasions, fry food.  I'm making my home made fried chicken for my boys before they go back to college at the end of the week.  They were both very, very happy.  Josh told me this had to be my picture of the day, Mom's fried chicken.

 Thursday 5 Jan

I didn't get a picture taken today but wanted to share this one from 31 Dec.  3/4 mile north from our home in my husband's distant cousins corn field was a dead deer that had been hit by a car about 10 feet from the road.  As my husband came home from work & passed the area, he called us & told us there were 4 American bald eagles eating on the deer.  I grabbed my camera, & my son Josh & I hopped in the jeep to get some pictures.  I was driving, so Josh took this picture of one of the eagles flying away from the deer as we got parallel with the eagles & deer.

 Friday 6 Jan

Happy 75th Birthday to my Uncle Jimmy

This picture was taken in October 2011 when I went to Texas to visit my family.

Saturday 7 Jan

My son Josh is going to Germany with Teen Missions International as the male assistant leader for the Germany Camp teen team this summer for two months.  This will be his 3rd trip with Teen Missions.  He went to Zambia & Tanzania, Africa, & Sweden when he was 13.  His 2nd trip he was 15 & went to Samoa & Australia.  Both trips were close to two months long.  I spent today getting his support letter together & ready to mail out.  I'm very excited & proud of my son being willing to give up his summer to serve the Lord.

Well, that is my week.  It was fun & fast.  The boys are back at school, so the house is quiet again.  Funny a small part of me is glad, hubby & me time, but a very large part of me is sad.  I miss my boys.  Can't wait to see everyone's pictures from this week.  God Bless