Updates

A few updates for you.
1. We recieved a letter from our friends on Costa Rica a week ago with pictures of the project and news. It was fun to see how much has gotten done since we have been there. The weather right now is hot and muggy- doesn't sound bad. There were pictures of beautiful, colorful, parrots that were migrating South. Their Christmas traditions were fun to hear about too, way different than ours-not too much about Santa there.
A cool discovery Amy and I made at Starbucks recently was that they are now selling coffee from Costa Rica- Tres Rios to be exact. This was the location we were at. I am sure we saw these fields, since they line every mountainside. I hope it was traded fairly and helps this poor country's economy and these very poor farmers survive. The US dollar was strong when we were there, so I am sure the economy is much worse now.
The song by Lauraa Story below"Mighty to Save " brings tears to my eyes each time I hear it. I think of singing it fom memory, since they were singing it in Spanish, looking out at the beautiful mountains through the windows of their homemade church. Thank you Father for such a opportunity to Praise you! Truly a mountaintop experience.

2. As for the CUBS; I really liked Kerry Woods when he first came on with the Cubs- young energetic etc. Since he has been hurt so much I don't think he ever truly recovered, never lived up to his expectations. I was ready for him to leave last year. NOW- since they traded him- mark my words- he will leave in true Cubs fashion and have the best years of his career, maybe even win a Cy Young award!

3. Stellan is completely recovered, Keri is doing much better- the doctors got all of her tumor! PTL!

Audrey Caroline

For those of you who follow "Bring the Rain" and especially for those who have never heard of it. Go there and watch the video Angie has made for the anniversary of finding the diagnosis for her sweet daughters impending dimise. Angie Smith is the wife of Todd Smith, lead singer for Selah. They lost a baby last April. We all followed their journey on her blog. She is now writing a book about the whole experience. Sweet family.

Bring the kleenex.
http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

cubs update

For those of you who haven't been following the offseason moves of my beloved Cubs, here are the highlights:

1. They let Kerry Wood leave the team and sign with the Cleaveland Indians.

2. They signed Kevin Gregg who is a pitcher to be the set-up for the new closer Carlos Marmol.

3. They signed Milton Bradley, an outfielder who had a great year for the Texas Rangers last year.

4. They lost Mark Derosa to the Phillies and traded Jason Marquis.

5. They have not yet signed pitcher Jake Peavy of the Padres.

so it has actually been a pretty quiet offseason.

35 days till Pitchers and Catchers report to spring training.

joe

Back to School

It has been a whirlwind, but I have everything set and ready to go. I start taking a class on MONDAY at IU Kokomo. In order to start my Masters at IUPUI, I have to pass Statistics 301. So, here is my test. I sure hope I am up for it. Every Monday and Wednesday I will trek to Kokomo for a 1.5 hour class. I hope there are OLD people like me in there.

I am still trying to figure out a way to pass Joe off as a me for my tests- Tia seems international right? the picture may be the kicker though. Just registering online took me 3 days and about 10 phone calls, do you think the class will be much harder than that? nah.

After I talked to the help desk young college girl and explained that I was 38 and going back to school to bear with me. She said "ahh, good for you" suddenly I felt 80, or maybe 8.

Now, do you think I could talk Joe into new school clothes for me? Doubtful, especially after he sees the bill!

Prayer Request

A friend of friends of ours from the Nappanee/Wakarusa area got a tough diagnosis today. Her name is Keri Rohr, she is 9 years old and had a brain tumor removed from the base of her brainstem. It ended up being cancerous. Please pray for this family as they have rough road ahead of them. I can't even imagine as a parent the pain of having a child going through something like that. They are down here at Riley now and for a while undergoing treatment. I do know that I would want as many people storming the gates of heaven in my childs name. Visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kerirohr to learn more.

Menu Monday

Back to school means back to menus. Yes, Jill, we have eaten frozen pizza's over break :).
Monday- Amy's Day: Tuna melts, mac and cheese, Caesar salad, applesauce
Tuesday- Tandoori Chicken(new recipe), cauliflower, rice, blue cheese popovers,(new recipe)
Wednesday-Sausages, salad, sweet potato wedges, butter bread
Thursday Ann's Birthday meal: Pigs in a blanket, mac and cheese, salad, fresh fruit, Brownies
Friday: Ann's Slumber Party: Pizza, Oreo cookie dessert, veggie tray, fruit tray
Saturday: vegetable soup

funny

Rocki Stillson has a blog that my wife and I have enjoyed. Her testimony of God's grace and forgiveness is truly inspirational.

However a recent post made us both laugh hysterically.

See it here.

joe