Coping

Hey all! Sorry I haven't posted in over two weeks-we have been without internet for a week, and very busy packing. We have been packing because we're are (yet again) moving and "setting up house" in a small town in Washington. This way, we will be super close to the airfield we are working with, and it's a cute little town where we will be able to build some more relationships. I'm hoping to make some good friends there.
We have been without internet because Mom got the opportunity to go speak at my grandmother's womens' advance in Ohio. We get our internet through her phone, which she took with her. Mom had a great time and enjoyed herself, and people's lives were touched. Meanwhile, the rest of us were left to cope without her. We do alright, but we were having a little trouble knowing what to pack, so hopefully we will make more progress now that she's home.
Here's a cute picture I decided to throw in:

This adorable girl...

...got baptized last Sunday. Ever since our church did a baptism last summer, Faith has been wanting to do it, too. Our church just had another baptismal service, but we had forgotten it was that week. Faith still really wanted to do it, so she got baptized wearing an adult t-shirt and her tights.
Faith was the only person to be baptized, but that made it even more special. The tub they were baptizing in was too deep for her, so she ended up standing on the platform for sitting. She expressed no fear of going underwater, and she fully comprehended what she was doing. Dad held her and dunked her under, and she came up smiling and excited.
For anyone who wants to see the Christmas dance/skit I wrote about, the video is done. Here's the link: Christmas Play Let me know if it works. Also, if you want to see a couple of the other songs our group has done, the links are here and here

Running (at last)

I went running today! I haven't been able for four months, because I had a minor ACL injury. At last, after four months of physical therapy, a big brace on my knee, and sitting around doing nothing, I am able to run. It felt so good to go racing down a path through the trees and breathing in the Washington winter air. (Don't get worried; I took it easy and slow). Now I have to build my endurance back up; I only ran two miles today. I also can finally choreograph the song I'm supposed to do but haven't been able to for our dance ministry.

Snow Fun

We finally got some snow last week! This is the first snow we've seen since Colorado. Faith and Lydia were very excited, and Lydia is convinced that it is now Christmas, even though we already celebrated. I don't believe I will ever understand the mind of a four year old.

We didn't get very much snow, but it's enough to go play in, so that's just what we did.Lydia's idea of proper sledding attire. Notice she has on no tights.

Faith sledding down the driveway.

This one is just because it's cute

Mom after sledding down our mini hill

Lydia got cold after sledding down the hill once, so she ran inside. About ten minutes later, she came back out dressed like this. She had socks on this time, but no gloves and she was wearing moccasins.

...and she went sledding like that

...and got extremely cold. Like I said before, I don't think I will ever understand how a four year old's mind works.

Random Ramblings

Something my family has missed since we moved is Buckeyes. People here have never heard of them. Buckeyes are essential to us "Ohioans", so my family decided to venture out into the unknown world of candy making and give some of these Ohio treats out to people for Christmas. Eli got all into it and mixed the peanut butter mixture himself.

The rolling of the balls, which Faith did a very good job with.

The finished peanut butter balls. This was everyone's favorite part: dipping the balls into melted chocolate.

The finished product. Not perfect, but pretty good considering Faith and Lydia did most of it.

We did our dance/play last night,(the one I blogged about earlier) and it turned out really good. We managed to get a Joseph, so we had a complete cast. He was a real live person, too, so no cardboard needed. I will try to get a video of it up soon. Until then, Merry Christmas!

My mom has had an expressive signing ministry for as long as I can remember. Expressive signing is a mixture of ASL, dance, and drama. I do a little of it as well, and when we came to Washington the doors opened up for us to start another signing ministry. Expressive signing hasn't been done in the western states as much as in the eastern, so people are intrigued by it. Our group consists of our pastor's wife, a woman from Peru who is still learning English, a Khazak woman who is wonderful in dance, a Muslim, and two other woman, along with my mom and me. My point in bringing this up is that we are doing a couple of songs that show Jesus' life on earth, and then him dying on the cross. The second song tells that he then rose again, and that he's not a baby in a manger anymore. We had the first song almost finished, but our assistant pastor, who is playing Jesus, came in and changed a lot of it. The changes were good, but the fact that we only have two more weeks is a little difficult. Also, I'm supposed to play Mary, but we have no Joseph. The guy who was going to play him can't anymore, so we have to find another. My dad thinks we should just paint him onto cardboard and stand him there. I'm thinking that since Joseph has to get up and dance during the second song, the cardboard version is not adequate. Hmm....

More Crazy Weather

It has been almost ten months since we left. Two days ago I got back from visiting Ohio. My dad drove up to Lexington, Kentucky to the National Missionary Convention after we got there, and the rest of us got to visit with people.
The night we left for our flight, there was a windstorm sweeping through Tacoma. We were a little worried we would get delayed because of it, but we left on time. A couple of days later, my mom got a text message saying there had been a level three earthquake in Washington. Then, just before we were leaving to come back to Tacoma, a foot of snow fell over the city. People were pretty much freaking out because of the snow. My dad is from Wisconsin, and we lived in Ohio for twelve years, so a foot of snow is not a big deal to us. There was about three feet on the ground when we left Ohio, and we dug ourselves out of the driveway. Apparently, Tacoma doesn't have enough snow plows or salt to lay on the roads, and people don't learn how to drive in snow, so a foot is a big deal. After all of this we were starting to get a bit concerned that Mount Rainier would blow...

For those of you wondering, this is not a picture of Mount Rainier blowing up a couple of days ago. The mountain managed to hold all of its molten rock inside.