On our way to the USA
Arrived safely in LAX! Kelsie's Dad and Step-Mom greeted us and Kelsie's Mom was waiting with dinner!
Hannah's first bath in a tub! Loving it!
We have had a tremendous time visiting family and enjoying all the ease of the well working machine here in the States. It's easier to check in and out of anywhere, easier to clean, easier to stay clean, easier to communicate, drive... etc, etc! But, we feel the struggles. We feel the cloud that has been pulled over the nation in many ways. But I'm not going into that in this blog!
We have so many amazing things God has done for us. From the moment we arrived til now. His provision is never anything less than amazing! We had a great Thanksgiving at Kelsie's moms house! We had her family all around including her Dad and Clyde's Dad too! We spent the entire month of November with family in California. We met amazing friends that are now just apart of our rich family!
We also were blessed to spend time with The Springs Community Church in Temecula! The folks there were very real and sweet to welcome us home. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with the missions team there! We thank God for their support and love!
Clyde shared about the work on the Iriri River and Pastor Bob gave a call for Salvation! It was a very special moment and the presence of the Lord was very present during this service!
After Thanksgiving weekend, we traveled in Poppy's motorhome all the way to Oregon! It was nice to have the freedom to move, watch movies and draw or eat a snack whenever we wanted to. We are so thankful for our Poppy!
Once we arrived in Grants Pass, the family reunion was amazing and emotional. The cousins all came over with Aunts and Uncles! The older cousins picked up where they left off 3 yrs ago and the younger ones had to learn all the cousins names and meet Aunts and Uncles again. All in all, they have learned who everyone is.
Maddy surrounded by new friends and her miracle gift, an "American Girl" doll!
Clyde shared about the work on the Iriri River and Pastor Bob gave a call for Salvation! It was a very special moment and the presence of the Lord was very present during this service!Clyde's Dad driving our family back to Oregon in the motorhome!
Makenna celebrated her 11th birthday with a special dress up brunch with her older girl cousins, followed by a horse back ride with her closest cousin, Carissa. It was a extremely cold day, but Makenna didn't complain one bit! She loves horses! I think we may have to consider that for our return to Brazil. It would work on the river, but need a lot of inspiration to go for it! Ha ha!
Cousin Carissa and Makenna at her birthday brunch all dressed up!
Christmas tree hunting with the entire family is tradition and this year they waited for us!
We also enjoyed a spontaneous sibling reunion on Kelsie's side of the family! It was with her step siblings and their spouses and kids that she grew up with from one marriage on her mom's side. It was so fun to see everyone and watch old videos from the early 90's and laugh about hair styles and clothes we thought were so "cool"!
Kelsie and her crazy family
Christmas was special. We spent time with Kelsie's Grandmother and Uncle Denny who are here in Grants Pass. I(Kelsie) call my Grandmother, Nonie! She has been a major part of my life and each day I can spend with her is so special to me. She is in her late 80's and we know that her days are not forever.
Clyde made a spectacular Christmas breakfast with homemade cinnamon rolls, omelets with the works, hash browns and real orange juice! It was perfect with presents to boot!
Kelsie and her uncle and Grandmother, sister and nephew and the kids on Christmas morning!
Later that day we went to Clyde's sisters house. Charity and Matt are a solid couple. Matt is pastoring Edgewater Christian Fellowship and visited us last December on the Iriri river!
The family is very large on Clyde's side. So there were his 3 siblings with their families and a few extended family and friends there. Over 50 people! Food galore and I was full from breakfast!
The evening was fun with christmas carols, games and wrestling matches and ping pong games! And the movie "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry"! A must see!!
A family game of Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light!
Traditional song of Father Abraham in a train around the kitchen and living room!
Long time family friend and supporter, Lily Morgan leading in Christmas Carols
The day of Christmas, our sister in law, Tia, which is Clyde's brother's wife, was in the hospital with her mother, Paula who had stopped breathing on Christmas eve and was taken to the hospital. It was determined that she had a heart attack and she didn't recover. Tia and her family had a heart wrenching holiday. We missed Tia on Christmas and her mother as many times we would include her mom in our holidays. Paula went to be with Jesus on Wednesday the 28th. Tia and her family are grieving and this weekend they are spreading her mom's ashes on the Oregon coast.
On a lighter side, we had a last minute decision to put the 3 older kids in public school. The house we are staying at is 4-5 houses away from one of the best elementary school in Grants Pass. We were also blessed to know that Makenna would have a family friend and supporter as her teacher and many of the teachers there are strong Christians. So Jan 4th was a huge, emotional day for us as a family! But after this week, each day proves to be amazing for each one of the kids.
Maddy loves Music, Makenna loves Music and PE and Nate is still deciding, but his teacher says he is doing very well.
All the teachers are very sweet and communicate with us about the kids during the day to reassure us they are doing great!
It will be a good thing for them as they have had so much time together and with Mom that it has been challenging to do anything that seperates us. Sleep overs, time away, outings have not happened and we feel it important to include this in their experiences to make them strong and test out their faith a bit.
We plan to continue our homeschool journey when we return to Brazil. This will catch them up, give them routine and understanding of what it means to work longer hours to get things accomplished . We are grateful for the amazing opportunity to be the cheer leaders this time!(Pictures to follow)
Thank you for your prayers and love! We are staying in the Haiku House that we lived in last time we were home! It's so relaxing and all the amenities are nice and work well! The house is warm and we are so blessed! Thank you to the Hamann's and most of all, Thank you God!
We'll be in touch!
