We're still here!!

Hi everyone!! I know I haven't posted in about a week, I am sooo sorry. We have been really busy and have not had very good Internet available so I haven't really had time to write. I still don't have much time but I wanted to get you up to date on what has been happening. (pictures will come soon)

We spent the weekend at the lake with our friends the Conners. They live in Mexico and work with another indigenous group. We had a GREAT time with them! We all had a good laugh while we were there because a water pipe broke and we spent a day without water. We thought it was quite ironic that the two families that lived in villages in Mexico where they have no water would come together for our first weekend together in the states and not have water. Which was even funnier because it didn't really bother any of us. I really do think God has a REALLY good sense of humor! I mean, after all, He created ME!! :o)

Then on Monday we all headed to Va. to a learning center where we receive training from IMB. We have had some debriefing about our time on the field and received a lot of helpful tips on how to speak to churches about our experiences. We hope to be able to do that as much as possible over the next year. If your church would like us to speak, please let me know and if we are available, we would love to do so! Again, God and His sense of humor, we arrived here and I found rat pellets on the stove and in my drawers. I think someone or maybe something actually planted them there as a "welcoming" gift! Just a little reminder that there are rats in the US too! :o) Oh the blessings!

The kids have had a wonderful week, playing with other TCKs (third culture kids) and have really bonded with many new friends. They love this place, it is the one place where they always seem to fit in. Please continue to pray for our culture shock. I know I have written that on here and for those of you living out of the US you understand what I mean, and for those of you who don't you may be confused. It really is REAL!! I never dreamed it was possible to not feel normal in my own country, but I really don't. I don't know how to do anything anymore. You are asking, "Like what? What don't you know how to do?"

1. Pump gas and pay for it, what buttons do you push? (it is pumped for you in Mexico)
2. Credit card machines at stores..... don't know how to use them. ( they do that for you in Mexico)
3. Movie theatre..... where do you go, who do you give your ticket to? (there were 800 movies and one lady taking tickets, not to mention 5000 people waiting to see Harry Potter and I was looking around like a lost puppy) Okay so my #'s might be a little off! ;o)
4. Automatic sinks, okay, is it a shower or just to wash your hands, or am I doing something wrong, b/c it sprays my whole body every time I try to use an automatic sink to wash my hands. Then I need a MD degree just to figure out the automatic paper towel dispensers.

Okay, that is probably enough for now. I am sure I will think of a ton more. So, when I say I am experiencing some culture shock these are SOME of the things that I am talking about. Most of them are probably because I am just a tiny bit on the ditsy side, YES I said a TINY bit! :o) Anyway, pray for all of us as there are many more transitions to come. I love you all and love meeting some of you in person! It is nice as I travel to hear people come up and say, "Hi my name is so and so (not really but you get the picture ;o)) and I have been following your blog since Annie's accident. " I love that I have all of you out there still encouraging me on through your prayers! Love to you all!! Missy

Mooooooo!

Aren't those just the cutest cows you have ever seen? Annie's costume hadn't arrived yet, so she was just mooin' around with her friends til Dad showed up.


Ya know, times are tough! ;o)


A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do!

He even had his family begging. Pooooor missionary family. We really did look kinda rough!

The boys look miserable, but they were having a great time, you just couldn't see their face!

Annie and her friend Natalie.

Greg decided for a free meal, he would wear his outfit the entire time! Gotta love him!

We thought this little cow was a cutie!!

This guy went ALL out!

No time to write, just enjoy our pictures! We had fun eating our totally free meal at Chick-fil-a today! It was fun seeing some of the people and their costumes. I am THE biggest Chick-fil-a fan out there! I just love every part of their restaurant. Please pray for our travel tomorrow and on Monday. We are visiting friends tomorrow and then we will be off to the International Learning Center for a week of debriefing. After that we will head to Indiana to speak at a church and visit with family. I will keep on posting during all of our travels and you can travel with me! Love, Missy

Working, climbing and eating....

We have been working for pennies. Whoever bags for me gets all the pennies in my wallet. That could be 5 or it could be 50 depending on the dayToday was Alex's day. He was soooo happy with his 20 pennies he earned bagging groceries. Can you tell we have been out of the states a while? I like it that way!


Annie was born a climber! This playground is very close to our apartment complex and she loves to practice her climbing. She is really good too!


Annie loving the playground.


Nothing like summer, the states and DQ! We are enjoying some things that are just about as American as you can get!!


Greg's childhood friend, Tom, was in town on business and looked us up. We enjoyed a great evening with Tom and his friend Gene at Red Robin. We are enjoying being in an area where lots of our friends seem to be visiting! So, if you are in the area, look us up!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I think jet lag, (if you can have that 2 weeks later) American culture or the heat have taken their toll on us. We are getting tired and starting to show signs of wearing out. It is so hard to believe that we have only been here 2 weeks and one day. I feel like we have been here for a least 6 months. In some regards that is a HUGE blessing!We have managed to make friends so easily here. Our kids all have friends, Greg has signed up to be on a tennis team and I.....well, I have found a walking partner, a movie buddy and tons of mothers to hang out with. So, we are all happy!

We are still experiencing culture shock. It still seems like we are on vacation. For the past 2 years when we would return to the US for vacation, we would come for 3 weeks at a time. So it just seems like we are here doing what we have done for the past 2 years. Everyone here wants to know what culture shock we are experiencing, so I thought I would share some of that with you.

1. Drinks- a 16 oz Coke costing $1.39, we were used to it costing 60 cents, maybe 75 cents
2. Avacados cost us $1.69 each and we are used to paying about 25 cents each, of course that was in Mexico.
3. A drink at a restaurant cost $2.80 we were used to paying about $1 four years ago.
4. That everywhere you go you see children of ALL ages with some form of technology attached to their body. I saw a little girl about Annie's age listening to some form of music or something while she was eating. Do people talk to their kids anymore?
5. That the roads are as smooth as a baby's bottom! We LOVE them! The boys said they were like driving on a cloud.
6. The choices we have are unbelievable in a good way, most of the time! ( unless you are in a hurry or have a headache or just arrived in the country and need a hair dryer!)
7. The grass is green even when it is dying! :o) It beats not having any grass! I will have to take a picture of the front of our apartment just for laughs.

Okay, that is all for now. That will give you something to think about anyway! I will post tomorrow b/c I will have some pics to post. Tomorrow is dress like a cow at Chick-fil-a and get a free meal so we will be taking advantage of that. We are poor missionaries, so YES we will ALL go in dressed like a cow. Love you all!! Missy MOOOOOO!

Fiesta Mexicana!

We enjoyed a wonderful Sunday of church and Mexican food! Nothing better! ;o) We have picked 3 churches to visit and as a family we are going to pick which church to attend. Yesterday we vistited one and we all really loved it! I think we may have a hard time deciding on which church to attend because there are so many good ones! Anyway, we are finding this world to get smaller by the day! We walked in the doors of the church and the first person to formally greet us at the greeter's station was a member of our home church in Asheville when we attended there. So it was nice to see a friendly face. So weird!! It almost seems like God has laid out the Welcome wagon for us! Or maybe HE has done that! He continues to amaze us with his goodness!

After church we headed to a small Mexican restaurant in a strip mall that had caught our eye. If you can speak the entire time in Spanish and talk about their home as if it is your own, you become family very quick!! This picture above is of the boys with Jorge. He is our new friend. He loves the soccer team, Pumas, which is Alex's favorite. So, he and Alex became FAST friends!! He has two children and we plan 0n getting together with he and his family to "practice or Spanish." We really do need to do that however, we would also like to build relationships with them so maybe we can tell them some stories! Ya know we know some really cool stories to tell. :o) Please pray for Jorge and his family. Pray that we can build a relationship with him and his family.

School update: We are checking on our last option today. We are praying God will show us if this is where Annie should be for the next year. Love you all!! Missy

Happy 4th!!

Sorry, these are all out of order. This should be the last and the last the first, but I can't fix it, so, just start at the bottom! :o) Boom, fireworks, you get the picture!


Friends showing Annie the fireworks.

Watching the fireworks.

She was a little braver today than yesterday.

Tom enjoying control of the remote!

Greg enjoying peace, quiet, and a comfy couch!

Annie and Ila, I think or could be some other really cute girlies!

My childhood friend, Barrett and his wife, Kristen. ( I think that was her name.) Sorry, if you are reading this! I tried!!

Jerod and Shane

Bryce dunking a basketball!

Annie saying, "I like fireworks!"

Annie's first sparkler, big brother, Alex helping her.

Alex enjoying his sparkler.

Our new friend, Jordan and little Lilly. Lilly thought the sparkler was to eat! Isn't she precious?

Dads helping the boys with their sparklers.

Annie's new friend, Natalie. They became fast friends!! We found out that Annie is an EXTREME extrovert!! (in English)

A group of my new friends. God is good!

I do pray God will bless America! It is a wonderful place to live! Please pray for all of those who keep us safe here in America and as they serve our country on foreign soil.


Hi friends!! We have had a wonderful 4th of July! This is definitely a holiday we don't take for granted! This is Annie's first 4th of July in the country since she was 8 months old. She was a little confused about all the fuss over fireworks. In our village a firework is something like a really big bottle rocket that just makes a big boom. So, when all the kids were getting excited about the fireworks, Annie said, "Silly kids, don't haven't they ever heard fireworks before?" So, it was really something to see her face when she saw REAL fireworks for the first time! She said, "Oh, those are really pretty!"

We have really been blessed to live around some really sweet people! We were invited to a cookout yesterday and we were introduced to a lot of other seminary students and their wives. Annie was in hog heaven because there were a million little girls there! We watched fireworks with them last night as the town of Wake Forest does theirs on the 3rd.

Today we spent the day with our friend's the Mims in Apex, NC. (about 40 minutes away) We had fun swimming in their pool and we met their neighbors and we had another cookout. So, now that Greg and I have managed to gain 25 pounds in just 2 days we have made many friends and eaten lots of good food! :o) I love potlucks! While I was at their pool I just happened to bump into my childhood friend, Barrett Garner. We were friends from the time we were 5 right up through college. It was so cool to see him again and meet his wife and daughter! Small world! So, we had a great 3rd and 4th!

We will be visiting a new church tomorrow, praying God gives us direction in so many areas! Love you all!! Missy

New bikes and shorts dilemma

New bikes!


Jerod trying his bike out!

Alex wanting to pop a wheelie and then thinking twice! ;o)

Annie thinking her bike is WAY pretty!

Jerod and Alex enjoying a little freedom. Of course, I am a nervous wreck!

So, are these shorts or capris?

What a great day! We bought new bikes for the boys and found an almost new bike for Annie at Goodwill. They haven't been able to ride bikes since living out of the country and they were so excited to get new bikes and start riding with some new friends. We hope that Annie can learn to ride without her training wheels this year. (We are behind schedule!)

We are trying to find new clothes for each of us because we really didn't have much that looked unfaded once we got here. (Plus we were WAY outdated!)It is really scary how we have looked for the past 4 years and didn't even know it, or care! :o) So, we went to Target for the, oh let's say 6th time since Friday and were trying to find shorts for them. My question for all of you "In style" mothers is.... are they supposed to be this long? Every pair we find in their size is below the knee. In Mexico the only people who wear these are the "thugs." So, is this the style now? I took this picture in the dressing room and I am sure everyone around thought I had lost my mind. However, I wasn't going to buy these shorts unless I knew if they were the "thing." So, please help me!

I have a HUGE prayer request. We thought we had found the school for Annie to attend for Kindergarten. However, we went for an interview the other day and they told us they were moving locations. That of course was one of the main reasons for picking the school. Now it will take us about 30 minutes each way to drive her to school. We only have one car and I will be homeschooling. So, an hour of driving each way every day is a lot for us. (Not to mention a lot of expense in gas) We have already paid the registration fee and now we are trying to find another solution. We looked all over today and found NOTHING. We have one small chance tomorrow. We have an appointment at 10 am to meet with a principle about putting her into a new school that is just opening. It sounds great, but.....it very expensive!! So, please pray they can give us a scholarship or we will be driving a long way all year long. I know it sounds little, but it is big to me! Thanks for praying!!! Love you! Missy

Friends...old and new there is nothing better!

Me and my friend, Fair. We have been friend for about 8 years. I love her!! She is so hip though!!


Bryce and Pierce with the 3 nuts acting like wierdos.




Trying not to be wierdos. :o)

Tom , Greg, Bryce, and Annie deep in conversation. I really don't think Tom had a headache from Greg's lack of interest, but that is what it looks like! :o) That really is kinda funny!!

Me enjoying my 1st Brueggles bagel, Oh was it good!! Look at Annie's face, how telling is that?She is NOT a fan! :o) (which is good, cuz it weren't cheap!)

Hi!! God is soo good to us! Everytime I think, "Man it sure would be nice if..... " He always seems to answer my request. Well, not ALWAYS, but most of the time He does a pretty good job! The boys were really needing to get out and be with some friends and that is when our friends the Mims came to visit.

We had a wonderful time catching up and it was like we were never apart. Two of their children were out of town but we enjoyed visiting with the two that were here. The boys ended up going to their home last night to have a sleep over and they are spending the day at their pool today. Annie is enjoying special one on one time with Mommy and Daddy and plans on sleeping over the next time when little miss Ila is there. Annie and Fair (MY friend) bonded quite a bit and I think Annie thinks Fair was here to see her instead of me! ;o)

While Fair was here visiting a neighbor came by to introduce herself. She was extremely friendly and so welcoming! I have lived in apartments 2 other times during our married life and never have I had so many people come up and introduce themselves. It has been wonderful. It really is like living among a big family. We just don't know them yet. However, they ALL know eachother. It's wild. They are all inviting us to their churches which could prove to be the hardest decision for us, which church to choose. There are definitely a number to choose from! We plan on visiting a bunch and praying and hopefully it will be easy to see where we need to be. Please pray we can find the right church! I love, love, love you all!! Miss