Well its about time! ;)

I am sitting at our local library enjoying some free internet! YIPEE. ;)  It has been about a month (if not more now!) since we last updated so I would like to let you all know what we are up to these days.
I will tell you this as I get you up to date with some pictures as well! ;)

Si and Gwen helped make these cookies for our Thanksgiving Day meal.  We invited all the Americans we knew and also some Australian friends to come and join us for the day.

Addy enjoying some appetizers

What Thanksgiving isn't complete without pumpkin pie?  Well we did it a bit different but equally good I have to say!  Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting!  YUM!

Grace Kenner with Addy

Houghton and I were asked to help with a Christmas Banquet that a couple in our church put on every year.  It was a beautiful event with music, fantastic food, and a message. 

Here I am helping one of the pianists who performed with her page turning...its tough but somebodies gotta do it. :)

Marie-Clare and Emmanuel Azali are friends from church and are on their way to Thailand to work in an orphanage.  Sina and Merhnoosh are friends and met Houghton when Merhnoosh was helping Him learn Farsi for language learning class at SIL.

Some of the students that had Merhnoosh as a helper bought her a Bible in Farsi.  Here Emmanuel who speaks Farsi is talking with her and Sina about a story in the Bible.

Moving from Kangaroo Ground!  Si helping pack up our lives from the SIL housing to move into Joy's house outside of Melbourne.  Joy is a friend from church.  We will be staying at her house until we move to Vanuatu in the second week of Feb.

Gwen packing up her clothes.

Taking a trip to the dump.  Isn't it amazing at how much we acquire (and us only in a year!).  Enough to have to throw stuff out!  Well, it was mostly just boxes and garbage from cleaning the house out, but still!

Getting the kids settled into their room at Joys house.

Gwen and Grace Kenner

Si and Josh Kenner

Gotta give you a pic we took of a koala.  After all we ARE in Australia! ;)

Jim Kenner tickling Gwen. 

 What great friends and teammates we have!  The Kenners, Laura and us.

 

Joy putting Gwen's hair up.  Gwen and Joy have a fun bond.  Gwen will crawl up on Joy's lap and watch Philippino TV all day with her! :)  Joy is such a blessing to us.

Decorating our tree.  Some friends from church thought of us during Christmas and offered a tree complete with trimmings for us to use! I was SO thrilled as it is such a close tradition for me that I was thrilled to do it with my kids.  This was the first Christmas Tree we have all put up together!

 Our little family

 

Kangaroos in Montana??  This pic is taking out our front door at Joy's house.  We had to laugh because it totally looks like MONTANA!  Except with kangaroos! ;)

Houghton was able to go and help a friend work on this house.  It is built out of cement board.  With some alterations, this could be a possibility for us to use something like this in the bush.

Making Christmas cookies!

Si singing in the children's choir at our Christmas program

Gwen putting up a picture as a story is read for her part in the Christmas program.

As well as singing in the choir with Houghton, Laura and I played the hand chimes.  I had never played these before and found it pretty hard.  But SO fun!

Our Christmas Eve feast!  We made coconut battered shrimp and stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon.  We were pretty jazzed about how well it all turned out!

 Just before Christmas, Si turned 5!!!!!

 

Joy with Gwen

Opening gifts with Laura

 

We spent Christmas with some friends from church.  We had such a beautiful day with the Hughes-Gage family and felt like we were with family!  What a wonderful blessing.  We were also able to call back to the states to say an early (as it was only Christmas Eve in USA) Merry Christmas to our parents.

Si painting Gwen's nails!

 

For a couple weeks we are house sitting and we are able to also pet sit!  It has been great fun for us and also for the kids as they get to play with all new toys (the family we are house sitting for has four kids) in a new house! :) 

We hosted a New Years Eve party for our church at "our" house.

We visited the Alfred Nicholas Gardens in a nearby Mountain range that was just breath taking!

 

 

 

 I should explain this picutre! ;)  This was a hankerchif tree. And sure enough the leafs were SO SO soft.  So Si gave me a good sneeze so I could get a picture of the leaf in use!

 Enjoying some hot chocolate and scones at a shop.

 

Si got to go to a Cricket game with Houghton

Well that gets you pretty much up to date with us now!  We are housesitting for one more week and then we will be heading back to Joy's house until Feb 14th or so which is when we move to Vanuatu.

We still do not have housing in Vanuatu so please keep praying for this as with getting Visas to be able to stay in Vanuatu for the next 2 years!

Since we don't have internet our communication has been slow and for that we are SO sorry.  However, we try to check emails every week.  So shoot us one! We are so thankful for you all and would love to hear from you and hear what you have been up to these days!

Cheers!

School has finished

Well, God brought us through!  Houghton finished is last class on Thursday and graduation was Friday afternoon.  We have been enjoying having him home!  This year has been so "full on" that it is a bit weird to have some down time (well sort of - since we are moving its not really "down").  We are enjoying the amazing weather and amazing blessing of family, three wonderful kids who are thrilled to have dad around, and the anticipated get together with friends to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Since pictures is what you all probably want.. :) pictures is what you get.  BUT if you DO want some more info... I will hopefully will you all in with our upcoming newsletter. ;) 

We have LOVED going on bike rides.  Si is able to ride by himself with his bike and we are borrowing this handy little bike carrier thing for the girls!  Gotta love Gwen's expression here. ;)

Si is quite a little cricket/baseball player.  Which game he is playing depends on if it is me or dad bowling/or pitching the ball for him. :)

Houghton recently celebrated his 30th birthday.

Si and Gwen at family camp. We went for a short weekend with almost all of our church body.  What a blessing that weekend was to our little family!

We set up our hammock to enjoy some relaxation. 

Addy, Alana, and Gwen

Our little family

The water was cold, but somehow it really doesn't even matter when you are camping! ;)

Gwen sporting daddy's aussie cowboy hat

Si had this little bug for a friend all day.  Thankfully it was happy to hang out on his finger as he went about his day.

Tania and I before our end of the school banquet

Making baked apples

Houghton at graduation

September showers bring October flowers

Yeah, that saying just doesn't have the same ring to it.  But we are SO thankful for our summer to be coming around the corner!  Here are some pics of late.  Houghton has 5 weeks (well 4 1/2 really YIPPEE) left until school is finished.  So we are gearing up for yet another move!  Thankfully we don't have a whole lot to shift around.  But it is amazing what you acquire if you are in one spot long enough.

Gwen and I went out and picked flowers for the table

A surprisingly clean Addy!  Usually she finds whatever mud or dirt she can get her hands on.

Yes!!!  My little Si loves to help mop

Yep, they can be pretty cute sometimes!

Got a package from Great Grandma!

While mom was away...Addy played!

 

My mom sent us the Jesus film for kids and boy have they been learning from that.  It seemly has cemented some stuff in Si's mind.  Stories that we have been reading for years come to life and it has been amazing to watch him learn through this movie!  You should check it out if you can get your hands on one.

tata for now!

Crazy Gretchen

:)  Hey guys.  Just wanted to let you know that I (aka crazy Gretchen) have finally settled on a background for our blog. ;)  I'm sure you are thinking, "didn't they just change this?"  YES we did, but it was just too boring for me and well, I am much happier now. Yep, I'm weird.

Only 5 more weeks of school for Hought.  YAY!  We all have BIG plans for some down time.  Some fishing time (Si is really looking forward to this), maybe some camping in our new tent (a huge thanks to a church in Bridgeport, NE), and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of nothingness. ;) 

Our girlies are pretty sick with bad respiratory colds and so that means they have to take it easy and stay inside (nearly an impossible task for Gwen).  Can you be praying that they would heal quickly and that the rest of us would be spared from it?

Well, I am getting an evil eye from Houghton...maybe it is time for bed!? It is only a couple minutes past midnight...man I gotta start getting to bed earlier.

We love hearing from you and if you have sent us an e-mail THANKS!  We hope to respond to you soon!!

Newsletter

We have uploaded our new newsletter.  Check it out.  Just click the "newsletter" tab on the right.....

Check out our new video!!!!

It is our desire to keep you as updated as possible with what God is doing with the ministry in Vanuatu and here now in Australia.  These videos are aimed at communicating with you in such a way that keeps you informed!  If and when you have any questions.... let us know!

Enjoy!  This video was also sent out to all of the churches we visited while we were in the states.  So if you want to have this video shown in your church, talk with your missions leader or pastor and they should have received one!  If not, let us know.

Thanks again for your service with us!

To God be the glory.

 (click this link to go to the video)

Team Vanuatu Oct 09