Thanks for Pr@ying for our People!

These are some of the faces and places we see everyday. We hope this will be a helpful reminder for you to lift us and them up to Father. We are grateful for you all! Happy New Year!

Christmas Trees and Packages

Merry Christmas! Even though it's 80 degrees (F), and our "Christmas" display at the local mall consists of 2 tiny, bare evergreens (none for sale, though---we checked) at a local department store, we are trying to get into the Christmas spirit. Watching holiday movies, decorating sugar cookies, singing Christmas songs, and celebrating with our Advent calendar have all helped set the mood AND prepare our hearts for celebrating our Lord's birth! One highlight, however, was putting up our Christmas tree, which we found at our Wal-Mart-like store in town called Spencers. Undecorated, it looked a bit like it belonged to Charlie Brown, but we think it cleaned up quite nicely (thank goodness I brought my ornaments from the Sates!). Second, we have enjoyed getting MULTIPLE packages from family and friends in the States. Thank you (!!) to MP's parents and our dear friend Natalie, for helping make this holiday merry and bright :) 

Oh yes, he's excited!

Me too! I love that our ornaments have special meaning behind them. So thankful for small reminders like this of the givers of these gifts and their love for us.

All done. Too bad Haley had to go to bed...but at least she got to wake up to a beautiful surprise!

We LOVE packages :)

The anticipation builds...

Thanks Mom!

"Reading" her new book from BeBe.

Toby's also enjoying his gift from this package. Putting the new fish pillow to good use :)

Treats from Aunt Natalie also make it just in time. PERFECT!

Thanksgiving

Although we missed family back in the States, we had a great Thanksgiving in our state's capitol city with some new friends. Somehow, in India, we had not one, but two full Thanksgiving feasts! MP even felt completely at home with pilgrim decorations and turkey crafts for the kids. It was so fun! Here are some shapshots to give you a peek into our day.  

New friends showing off their turkey craft!

So happy!

Our lovely table and decorations! It felt so American even though we were in the midst of India craziness :)

Food, though sadly, most of it is cover up...we had roast chicken, ham,  mashed potatoes,  corn, rolls, mac and cheese, salad, and a VARIETY of desserts. SO DELICIOUS!

Feeling full

I guess Haley wasn't feeling full :) Her after dessert, dessert.

New Home (Before Photos)

Here are some quick shots of our new apartment. It is 3 bedroom, 3 bath with a combined living and dining space. There is also a "sitting area" at the entrance, which we didn't take photos of. Hopefully it will look quite a bit different after we make some adjustments :) Painting starts on Monday! Enjoy.

Haley's Bedroom

Living room/dining room

 

Master Bedroom

"Western" Bathroom. The Landlord asked us if we needed it "fixed" to make it work with toilet paper, even though he thinks it's very unsanitary. Yes, please :)

Kitchen looking into the living/dining area

Amazing Pantry in the kitchen. Out of all the apartments we saw, this was a first!

Kitchen

Office/3rd Bedroom

Laundry area. Our washing machine is now there.

We Have an Address!

Hi everyone,

Some of you have asked what (if anything) you could send us that we are missing from America already. Well, we haven't been here long, but there are a few things we can't find here. So if you're wanting to send a Christmas package our way (wink wink), here are some thoughts :) Just make sure to put everything individually in Ziplock bags. Or else we may not be the only ones enjoying the treats!


Light brown sugar
Gel/liquid food coloring (maybe in unusual colors; neon anyone?)
Peppermint candy
Raisins
Sour Patch Kids
Root Beer flavored jelly beans (We hear when you put them in Coke they taste like Dr. Pepper)
Clorox wipes
Essie nail polish
Cadbury mini-eggs
Tide Stick to-go
Crystal Light packets
Cheese-it packets to-go
Lipton Decaf family tea bags


Our new address: 101 Vimala Residency, 40
                             Kirlampudi Layout, Visakhapatnam, AP, India 530017

Things We Like About Our City!

So here are a few surprises we found around town that made our hearts happy:

-Archie Comic books are here in abundance
-We live on the beach
-The strawberry ice cream is amazing
-Everything in our city is within a 15 minute auto ride radius
-People are very helpful
-There are always new sights (and smells) to experience
-The local produce is crazy cheap
-Both frozen and fresh chicken are available (even though we've only ever gotten frozen, and the locals think we're crazy for doing so)
-Indians love "American-style" corn on everything
-You can go to the movies for a little under $2

We made it!

I (MP) just realized it's been over a month since we last posted anything... wow! We sure have been busy these last few weeks. We ended out time well in Canada---saying good-byes (yet again), packing, and enjoying some time with our supervisors who are Stateside at the moment. Our flight to our city was long and not as restful as we had hoped, but it made us even more thankful to have a place to rest once we landed!
We were met warmly at the airport by some friends who helped us get all our bags into a taxi and make it to our temporary new home. Jet lag was rough, but (finally!) we are all recovering. Haley did great transitioning to her newest location, and is still getting used to being treated like a little movie star when we go around town.
Since we are on the coast, the weather has been breezy and beautiful. We hear that we will get spoiled during these "winter" months in our city and that the heat is just around the corner. For now, we are enjoying the 80 degree temps while we can!
On Monday we begin language study, so please remember us before the Father. It will be more difficult than we first anticipated. Our language is called Telugu, and is primarily spoken only in our state. Anyway, that's all we have for now...here are a few photos for you to see what our new town is like!

Early morning with Haley and Daddy

Our feet get a little dirty here :)

View from the rooftop

Our new language...looks fun, right?

We are about 1/4 mile from the beach!

Main road

First dinner in India. Yes, that is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!

Notice the sign above MP's head. We are definitely in the right place :)

A star is born. It is especially exciting if a local child can "pose" with her. 

Birthday and Family Weekend!

So, a lot has happened since our last post. We celebrated MP's birthday, enjoyed a visit with MP's parents, have gotten more connected within our local community, and at the same time have been preparing for leaving Canada! It's been an eventful few weeks, and we are striving to end our time here well. The friends we have made will be hard to leave, but we know the Father is sending us onward, and we are excited about that! Here are some pictures of our time with family. Please continue to remember us as we draw closer to the reality of life in India. 

Haley enjoyed Mexican food for Mama's birthday!

Found this downtown by the waterfront. Pretty good as far as Mexican goes here in B.C. :)

Our sweet friends Michael and Deborah kept Haley while we went out for seafood for MP's birthday!

Granddaddy, BeBe, and Haley their first night in Vancouver

Umm...yeah, she really liked her spaghetti...

Riding the train to Stanley Park

Resting after a full Saturday!

Family photo

Some Fun Things

Hi everyone!

Time is passing SO quickly here. We can't believe that we will be heading to our country in a little over a month. Crazy! It will be sad to leave our new friends here, but anticipate how we will see God working on the other side of the world. Here are some recent shots of our latest adventures. The weather here has been awesome (though apparently, fall is here already) so we have been able to get out and enjoy the beauty of our city! Hope you enjoy...

At the Rose Garden in Stanley Park. It smelled amazing!

Daddy and Haley at an Indian Festival in Stanley Park. Using our new mode of transportation (train), it took us over  1.5 hours to get there! Yikes, traveling in the city...

Mama and Haley at the same festival. Haley looked happier with Daddy!

This past weekend we ventured to Longsdale Quay, where we found this donut shop. You could only order by the dozen or bucket, but we weren't disappointed!

On the pier at the Quay

This picture doesn't capture the full effect of what was going on. We are holding hands because instead of walking, Haley has now started running. This was an effort to slow her down :)

Market at the Quay

What's inside the market! Needless to say, we didn't have any samples. We were quite content with our dozen donuts. 

Snapshots

Our new friend (s)! They are from the same state we will be moving to!

Excited about date night at a local B.C. restaurant!

Our sweet friends kept Haley while we got to go out. Thanks Rob and Lori!

So apparently, every park here has a "water park" even though it's only warm for a couple months out of the year :)

Haley enjoying running through the sprinkler with Daddy

Train ride. Haley nows can say, "Choo, choo"

Also, you wouldn't know it from these photos, but we were able to talk with some people to share the Good News. This park is a great place to make connections with those possibly interested in exploring issues of faith.