Fres-yes

we still have qualms about what we are actually up for here, but we do love the decision to stay because it means practicing our grace walk with Jesus and ourselves. so here we stay until mid-sept and then we'll go from there. life is good as we play in the pool and relax and restore and get more training just before we go off to indonesia where there won't be a whole lot of breathing time there...actually that is not true...we must learn to breathe all through life...that is what we have NOT been doing and so we are also here to learn to breathe while being pressed. does anyone have that question answered? we would love your insights :D

Hazel loving on her little man, Kenneth

yes! this is our life group from Colorado in a boat white water rafting...a great time was had by all...and what a practical way to build "team" :D

potato sack races never get old

Home run!

He's growing up too fast!

i love this kid!

she is a beautiful little lady...

Bear Trap Ranch. A good took some pictures of us so this is the most recent we have of all five of us. This was not a day that Paul was excited to have his face in a camera...he had things to do.

Orville Reddenbocker

is that how you spell his name? well...i think he would be extremely proud of this new popcorn we have discovered through KJ and Kelly...it's microwave caramel popcorn and it's soooo yummy! we love it and yes...we are leaving the states soon so we will not be able to sit and eat it whenever we want so i thought i would pass on the info so that all of you could do the taste test...it's simply good and necessary to have things like microwave popcorn in your pantry. :D

Fres-yes or Fresno?

hey everyone. we have arrived in Fresno...or Fres-yes as Chrissy likes to call it. it's hot here. but we are in the nicest place we have ever rented (by ourselves...nothing can beat the park house with the budds :D) 3 bedrooms and get this...TWO bathrooms! the kids are so excited about that feature...and the fact that we live right by a playground...maybe 20 steps away! it's a nice little community of about 20 families????

life sure is interesting...we have had this "mountaintop experience" in colorado with God showing himself to us in fresh ways that blew us out of the water...and now we are here in this new chapter wondering what is up? our first impressions are not so cool so we hope to keep an open mind about it all here but we were expecting a lot (because of our BEST SUMMER EVER with OCI) and this just isn't relating to Greg and I as we expected. i know we are only on day 3 but COME ON! we will save more opinions and thoughts and enlightenments for future blogs...this one is mainly to let you avid readers know that we have moved again and we are OK.

we can check our email and we still have our cell phones...so all is well! THANK GOD FOR COMMUNICATION!
you can pray extra for us in these matters:
gavin has swimmers ear and a pretty nice bill that just came in from when we got his tonsils, adnoids, and tubes put in his ears in March...the medical billing teams are not on my "good" list for giving us our bills on time...
paul and greg have stomach issues
martha has been dizzy with headaches and stomach stuff for awhile now...wierd!
hazel is doing fine for the moment so pray that she keeps up with herself...she just goes constantly!
our visa work is being done but indo always has nice little quirks to their procedures...and today Chrissy had to help us out with copying and scanning and emailing our passports... i just hope that our visas go through and plane tickets can be bought soon for the beginning of OCT!!!!

so the night is cooling as i sit outside to type...pretty nice actually! thanks to you all for being our friends...we love life because of YOU! and i talked to Larissa last night and she told me that God has not brought us all the way here to just drop us...He is still working and He is still in control and He still sees us...all of which is true and deep in our hearts! so we just need to let Him work and believe that He is bigger than our best outcome...

hey mark

this post is for my brother, mark, all the way over in australia!
i am here! my email is marthacopeland@oci.org
our email and other info is at the bottom of all of our prayer letters.
if anyone needs a prayer letter out there...just let us know!
love you mark and anne
martha

"home" again

we have arrived back to the area in which we call "home" and life is good. we have been able to catch up with friends every day...be it by phone...cuz we can use it again!!!!!!! Praise God! or by email cuz it's so fast and fun...or in REAL LIVE PERSON! friends are a blessing that we treasure and it is important to us to connect with people so this time has been rich and rewarding to share what we have learned and gleamed from God. we have also gotten in some creative mural work. this new mural is moving along really fast and fun because we were ready to use our hands again. the topic : 7 days of creation... in a church nursery...a pretty big project. our days are good here, but we do miss our mountain community we grew so much with in Colorado. i would send pictures in this but we have not found our camera since we returned. i am sure it's here with us but when we aren't really able to fully unpack...we feel more like a tornado has unpacked our belongings and everything is everywhere! poor grandparents(Greg's parents)...we have over taken their house...but only for another week. this week is going to be a great one! tomorrow is my (martha) birthday!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm still 29 years old :D (forever!) and we are going to the beach and then a double baby shower for some friends and then out to eat with more friends...tuesday and wednesday we will be finishing up our mural and then eric comes home...we have missed his presence here in sunny Cal...then on friday we will be leaving with all the copelands for san diego to a family time share to hang out for the weekend. monday the 13th we will leave for Fresno, CA for 30 more days of training and growing deeper with God. so we will return again to "home" mid- sept and have a target date of leaving for Indo. early October. we realize that timing is hard to put on paper when we are leaving it all up to God, but we are confident that He has the PERFECT timing for us and it's fun to live by the seat of our pants (most of the time :D)

the kids are great...gavin is enjoying playing with all of Greg's old legos that grandma found and he is building castles and rockets and helicopters and being alone and creating is a big thing for him (we have realized this summer) so this is GREAT! paul is constantly full of energy and we just have to direct that so he doesn't get in trouble with Gavin or Hazel...he loves to dance and hold poses and make faces at the ladies using his eyebrows and he is really creative with is excuses why he can't go to bed at night. hazel is strong...nothing she does is half way...if she is happy...she lights up the house...if she is mad...the whole neighborhood knows it! she doesn't talk fully yet...words come out randomly...but she knows how to boss...i mean, get her point across without words. :D we love her spirited nature and she brings life to our family even at a young age. we love all 3 kids so much and it's just plain fun to have them around. each one is so different and we are all growing together to understand what "family" means and how to help each other be the best for God's kingdom. we see strengths already in them and praise God for seeing us where we are and giving us hope for our futures! Go El roi!