Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever.
Protect them so all who love your name may be filled with JOY...
Ps 5:11

Hey Everybody! Hope you're enjoying Spring as much as we are!

We are busily wrapping up our schoolwork and activities and trying to tackle a whole lot of details for summer plans and just plain details of life that have been put off until summer -- can't believe it's almost here!

Tonight Matt and I met with some of our friends and a couple from Indonesia, who gave us a presentation about the works there, etc. It was neat to hear about their experiences and some of the pluses and minuses of that particular field. We are still considering the possibility of going there, but also heavily considering China, the Amazon, and Africa, all while remaining completely open at this point! It is exciting to see what God is doing in so many areas, and the great need everywhere leaves so many viable opportunities to be used!

We are very excited to announce that Chloe, Matt and I will be heading to the Philippines this summer for a short term mission trip to the Bicol region. We have been considering and praying about the idea of going since last August. It became apparent to us earlier this Spring that we should definitely take the opportunity to serve and learn, and we really feel this is what God would have us do despite the seeming financial irresponsibility and the many details that still need to fall into place. We are thrilled to be able to help friends Steve and Jen Hagen with practical needs and encouragement while also getting a taste for what a tribal missionary does as well as hopefully meeting several support missionaries in the field. After the devastating typhoon last November, there is still much work to be done, and we hope to free the Hagens from some of that work so they can progress in their ministry! Please pray for us as we prepare for and make this journey, late July -Aug.

Other happenings around here include getting Chloe's passport, Matt studying for his CDL (Yes, he IS going to be a bus driver! Chloe is hoping he'll get to drive her route!) ... A new baby across the hall (which means we get to experience all those cries in the night and extra tantrums from brother and sister, too -- but sometimes also get the pleasure of watching her while her Mommy does laundry, etc.) ...Packing and organizing what we'll need for the summer in all our various locations ...Oh, and Matt now has to go to another floor to go to the bathroom, as they have ripped out one of the other girls wings' bathroom and the overflow is using ours...

We feel so blessed lately, despite all the craziness. Emma won a $75 grocery card in a Mother's Day contest (3 weeks worth of groceries!!!). Chloe got into the dental hygiene clinic at the Technical College, where she's been on the cancellation list for a couple of months. She was so good during the super long appointment and so proud of the sealants she got! We've had the chance to get involved in church and get to know our wonderful small group. I have been checking out preschools for Emma, about which she is very excited! I've been doing pilates as regularly as possible with a single girl on our floor, which is a huge help for my hip and back after my car accident. Matt will leave with the little girls in only two weeks, and I will have a busy week of packing, cleaning, wrapping up some church activities, having Chloe's (early) birthday celebration at school and accompanying her on her class field trip!

Everything is going well and we are so looking forward to the next few weeks, going home, and to the Philippines! Please pray for our transition as we head home, especially as our family will be apart for several weeks this summer, that details will fall into place for our mission trip, and that Matt will be able to work! Also, please pray that time spent with loved ones at home will be profitable!

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Prices

Chloe, like the rest of us, is enjoying the post-thaw weather ;) Once the thermometer breached 55* it was hard to even keep her in long pants! (She is her mother's daughter...)

The school had a "rummage" (garage sale) this past weekend and Chloe and I decided to have a bake sale fundraiser for the Philippines. I put in a lot of hours of baking, but it was definitely worth it for her to have such a great time AND get excited about our upcoming trip and helping people! Plus she enjoyed getting to help prepare!








Here's Laney at a party at the house of some friends from small group. It was such a great chance to relax and spend some time getting to know them a little better... plus we got some family time on the trampoline! Our small group has been such huge blessing.

We have been loving everything about the abruptly Spring weather! ...But one of our favorite things to do is visit "Mama Guck" we have actually found several nesting mommies lately, but this was the first and we have adopted her and love to stop and feed her and "chat" with her... The little girls and I actually found her one day on the way to the Salvation Army thrift store. Laney said "''Ome 'ere, guck!" and waved frantically :) Mama actually lets us get REALLY close, though we have seen her get pretty protective if another bird gets too close. We are anxiously awaiting baby "gucks".
One huge blessing that came out of Laney being sick so long was the chance to get out more often and take walks. (last Sunday we even inadvertently got in on the MS walk!) I couldn't really get work done here and strolling along kept her content, plus I let them out to play in the grass away from other people at the park. There aren't many places here to play here where I don't have to worry about infecting the few people who MIGHT not have been exposed yet, so we were thankful for the beautiful weather (50's -70's!) and some open fields!

The girls had a blast taking their Missouri licensed cars to AWANA Drive In Movie Night. They also had their awards ceremony last week; I had to stay home with a very sick Laney. (Part of her 9 days of flu!) Matt said Emma was especially funny because her timing was off from the crowd as she said her Cubbies Motto and key verse. Maybe she was just showing off how well she knew it ;)





Laney's getting so big!!! I was floored to realize that she will be TWO in less than a month... hard to believe! She is pretty well over the flu (we went to class today for the first time in two weeks!), and her eye teeth are nearly through. At home she spends most of her time either singing "Jesus Loves Me" or "I'm in the Lord's Army" complete with actions or asking us to read her a book (usually "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by her favorite author, Sandra Boynton.)

Her eye is still turning pretty distinctly most of the time. We hope to get her to a specialist while we are home this summer. I guess I should explain that after my last post (about Emma's geeezer glasses) I took Chloe in, only to find out that they appear to have a genetic problem with the actual attachment of muscles on the eye itself. So, while we could take them to an optometry specialist who charges $300 per initial visit and would require $6,ooo+ therapy, only Chloe is old enough to really benefit and Laney would most definitely need surgery.

The girls' surprise glasses ;) The novelty wore off after a couple of days and Emma already broke off a nose piece, but they were SO excited about them at first!

Emma's should correct her problems, but we have to go back for a 6 week check to see whether Chloe's are helping or we need to pursue surgery (Or the $6k + therapy) Ouch...

The girls have moved up in their chores! They all feel like they do "big girl" chores now that they've been promoted. Emma loves to help Laney "spot mop" the floor ;)













Laney now treks to the bathroom to brush teeth like a big girl, too. (Though the duck boots are optional...)