Piano and melee performances

I had to get back in the groove - and the cold weather!The kids played piano at church and Brenner played in the Ravens Futsal Melee. Nola was a bit bummed that she didn't get to play but they didn't have enough girls. No fear - spring soccer starts next week!

I can't recall if I posted this picture last week but I liked it so much here it is again!

Nola with her first piano solo at church. She played Jesus Loves Me.

Brenner played his first duet - Amazing Grace. Both did excellent!

Brenner's class earned a compliment party of movie and snacks. Here was his choice. Ugh says me - makes my stomach hurt even looking at it!

Brenner played up on a U13 boys team. They hadn't practiced together much as a team. And well it kinda of showed. Matt and I go back and forth about the coaching, lack of intensity - but Brenner doesn't seem to mind. We do like that he doesn't feel intense pressure to win, win, win. Don't get me wrong - he is hard on himself but doesn't mope around when the lose.

Nola had the camera for a while!

Nola took some pics of the first game - most were blurry. Great game - the boys lost 7-6. Brenner had a goal and PK point. He had another PK kick at the end to tie it but it got blocked- that led to a more lengthy convo about that shot didn't lose the game for them!

We did encourage Brenner to watch other teams play. He listened! I caught him peeking through the door to watch the game before his.

Beef 1 and 2. These two knuckleheads are funny. Both stepped up this weekend to play in goal when other teammates wouldn't. They got clobbered in goal but kept their chins up.

There was some physical play but Brenner could hold his own - even without a pony tail :)

Nola asked me to take this picture of her and Baylee.

Some of Nola's awesome school work!

Brenner is crushing it too - great job kids!

Called to serve: Vieques

Most of you know that I went on a mission trip with my church. The Missouri Conference of the Methodist Church has somewhat adopted Vieques after one of their pastors (Pastor Alex) spoke at general conference last summer. When some fellow church members said they were planning a mission trip, I knew immediately that I was in. My job with USGS had led me to a project overseeing hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico earlier in 2018 and my mission trip to Houston was cancelled after dad got sick in February. So it was truly God calling me to take this trip. Along the way, He kept prompting me to invite my mom and sister. I eventually listened and they decided to join me. The first mission trip for us all! That is the thing about God - He just waits patiently until you decide to listen - and I am certainly glad that I did. I have been home for a few days but am honestly still processing the trip. No grand epiphanies but if you took the time to notice, the Lords hands were all over the place. Mark Batterson noted that the best work is when all that is seen is God's fingerprint. I pray that is what we left behind in Vieques!

We headed out Friday night. Nola had been begging me all we not to go. It was hard to see her tears but she is a trooper. Brenner just told me not to die. Yes - he keeps it real.

A very early flight out of St. Louis made for a long day. We flew to Orlando then to San Juan. We then caught a ferry to Vieques. We went from 14 degrees F to 80 degree F - that was nice change.

A rainbow as the ferry left the port. A friend of mine sees God in rainbows. This made me think of her!

Our group ready for church on Sunday morning. The church was down the street from our camp.

Our group with Pastor Alex. The service lasted 2 hours 15 minutes but none of us seemed to notice! We couldn't understand all of the words but the message of clear. God's love is universal.

Our camp was in Esperanza which means Hope. Another sign in a sign!

The view of Esperanza from the pier.

On Sunday afternoon, we had some down time. The group voted to go to a beach - I loved the clouds.

Our camp - little hot water, bunk beds with small "friends", and some A/C. The men and women were separated into different sides. Our meals were delivered from a local food truck.

Mom and me down by the water.

Horses were everywhere. Can you spot the one in this picture. They roam the island like dogs - eating the trash, wondering down the street, and getting hit by cars (luckily that didn't happen to us).

Such beautiful sunrises on Vieques.

Many, many chickens. Guess what kind of meat we were mostly served?!

Sunday night we went on a kayak tour of Mosquito Bay, a bioluminescence bay. It was amazing - those dinoflagellates really know how to glow! This particular bay is in the Guinness Book of World Records for its concentration of those little guys!

Monday we started on the Maria Project. Maria acquired the house from her parents. The home wasn't damaged in Hurricane Maria but was just neglected for many years. Our first task was to clear a second story made of concrete blocks that never was finished. We had quite the pile by the end!

Maria didn't hang around too long but we had foreman John Carlos (left) and interpreter Orlando (right) to help us out. Orlando was with us all week. He was around my age so we hit it off splendidly. You can tell how much he loved his Vieques.

The house was all concrete so we did a lot of patching. Here I am putting red oxide on exposed rebar.

Next - blue bonding agent had to go up so that the new concrete would hold. I am sure Orlando was telling me that I missed a spot. I will admit that I was a little judgemental of Orlando. He was my age, had just gotten the interpreter gig, worked at a restaurant in the evenings, and did tours. Why didn't he want more. He shared that he was already living the retired life now and was enjoying life. There are few pictures where he wasn't smiling - he was enjoying life. I don't do that enough - just enjoying the present. He taught me to think about that more!

Molly and me - we were both chatty Cathys so got along great!

Tammy was our host. One day, I inquired about her daughter who was in the hospital and she just started talking. Talking for 30 minutes. I felt bad about not "working" when I realized that being a good listener is "work" that God presents to us. Yes my mouth is running (I am chatty) but we had a nice conversation! Maria was also there - and boy was she cooking up some fantastic smelling food and blaring out some Latin music. What a way to work!!!

Our team on the last day - so much work got done (of course we wanted to get more done!). We were able to complete Maria's bedroom but all other projects were not complete at her house. That will be for the next team! Maria did tell the project manager that she was so happy because she could now sleep without worrying the ceiling would fall on her bed.

A 350+ year old ceiba (pronounced sayba) tree. Truly breathtaking. Up close it has epiphytes that are sharp - don't touch them!

Mosquito Pier that was built for naval ships entering during World War II.

One evening Lynn and I went with some others to a black sand beach. Mom was too tired to go!

Our team with our volunteer shirts on!

Mom, Lynn, and me in Old San Juan. We weren't on the same work team during the week so it was nice to get to tour together before getting on the plane.

Lynn and Mom out and about while we were souvenir hunting. 

Marilyn, Molly, and me - nice bunch of Methodist ladies at the camp in San Juan near the airport :)

My favorite picture from the trip. Brenner thinks this looks like a tornado. But I see God. He creates life, give us light, and guides our days. Let us not fail to see His path for us each day.

Winter time

I got to go back to work and all is well! With the new schedule it appears that I forgot to take pictures! We are all well except Matt's back is out of whack. Poor guy - we are hoping he gets back to normal soon!

Nola getting ready for futsal. She is very ready for hair to be longer so that she can put it in a ponytail without any hanging down :)

Um - ouch!

Some of Nola's work. She told me "I live this picture of me!".

What will you do in 2019?

Nice answers!

The 100th day of school was this week. This is Nola's self portrait.

Some of Brenner's work. He loves practicing cursive - and it is so neat!

After many months and delivery debacles, the new couch and chair arrived today. The delivery truck slid off of our road because of the ice, the drivers didn't speak English well (one not at all), the truck rutted up the neighbors yard, had to be towed out - thank goodness Matt and the kids were home because I was working from home and had conference calls!

My new chair - ahhh. Need to rearrange the other furniture a bit but we really like the way it looks!

Sibling truce?!

My sweet girl. She is already fretting about my mission trip next week - not wanting me to go because she will miss me too much. Such a sweet soul - love her beyond any words that I can express!