"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!