Steph's Adoption Story

The following post is mostly copied and pasted from a friends e-mail. Stephanie has been a friend of mine since the 5th grade when we both went to Santiago Christian Academy together growing up as missionary kids in Chile. I have tons of memories with Steph from sleepovers to banquets to ski trips - but one of my favorites is when we used to write letters to each other pretending we lived in the Civil War time period. Her 'letters' were always full of talk about her ten or more kids, with usually at least one set of twins. Well, Stephanie and her husband Pedro are now back in Chile as missionaries and in the middle of quite an adoption story. They have three children adopted from here in the US before heading to Chile last year for their first term. They wanted another son like Owen their youngest and began the process of adopting form an orphanage in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. Long story short they were matched with twin, just like their oldest daughter had been praying for for over a year! To offset the expense of adoption, of twins to top it off, they have started the following fundraiser so I am posting all the details her for anyone who may be interested.

STEPH'S E-MAIL:

Hello Everyone: This is something that we developed with the help of a designer friend (who also happens to be an MK from Chile - yeah!) to offset the costs of our adoption from Haiti. We are sending this as a general mailing and details are below if you are interested, but please don't feel obligated to participate. GOD bless! ~Pedro & Stephanie

Garcia Adoption Fundraiser
(If interested, please order by April 21, 2008)
Bringing Our Twins
From Haiti … to Home

S, M, L, XL, XXL - $20 (includes S&H)
children's sizes also available

33 Choices of shirt color - visit link below: https://rs990.alphashirt.com/cgi-bin/online/webshr/prod-gallery.w?sr=G500

Please send your name, address, # shirts, sizes, colors and check or money order to:

Terri Fisher
PO Box 146
Jonestown, PA 17038

*shirts will be printed at the end of April
Pedro & Stephanie Garcia Missionaries to Northern Chile

garcias2chile@abwe.cc

http://stepega.tripod.com/

http://garcias2chile.blogspot.com/

http://iansadoption.blogspot.com/ - Haiti Adoption Blog

Here is a picture of Stephanie's cute little kiddos - hopefully soon their family picture will include the 4 or 5 month old twin boy and girl!

A whole lot of shaving goin' on

This past week some weird things have taken place at our house....Guess it's a guy thing - that's the only way I can explain it.

Chad played the part of King Ahasueras in a play at our church to celebrate the Jewish Feast of Purim. In order to look more the part he shaved his head, completely and literally! Having never done such a thing before Kendrick saved me from being an accomplice to this and did the deed. Must have worked because Chad was AWESOME!!!! And yes, that is my brand new pink razor....

Next on the list comes Jared Berg, the word weird and Jared being in the same sentence is a frequent thing. Sarah did most of it but then there was something about a 'high and tight'....I guess only a Marine would do!I wasn't so worried about the hair on top of his head as the run-away growth on the chin!

Scary Announcement

I thought I'd let all of you who live in the general area know that something has taken place today of which you may want to be aware....Monica has her restricted driver's license! Now I get to call the insurance company, talk about scary!!!! (*this picture is actually when she got her permit a year ago)

Love you, Monica=)

Fun with Friends

A few days ago we had a visit from some of our favorite people. We met Sarah Berg just minutes after pulling into town almost five years ago - later that day I think , we met her husband, Jared. Since then we've had five babies (altogether) and spent many days and nights at each others houses. Matthew and I thank the Lord for like-minded friends who strengthen our walk with Him and who are also just plain fun. I say all that as an intro to the pictures....

Here are their two oldest, Akayla and Malachi. Somehow I missed Baby Levi - maybe because he was napping while the others were all outside enjoying the sun.

Logan has come leaps and bounds in his tree-climbing skills compared to last year. Here he is enjoying the tree tops!

Alana, on the other hand, was getting a little frustrated.

These two are the best of friends and sometimes the worst of enemies=) Akayla's comment was that she and Logan looked like they were married in this picture!

Alana and Malachi have a less volatile relationship than their older siblings!

Zachery is really good at entertaining the little ones and here he is taking Jesse and Malachi for a ride.

The crazy thing was that these pictures were taken on Monday and two days later we got a few inches of snow in about an hour or so.

PS - Thanks for coming Jared and Sarah, we love you guys. See you on the Fourth if not before!

My Morning Walk

Most week days I drag myself out of bed and head out for a walk. Very often I'm easily persuaded not to and last week I almost had one of those mornings. When the kids were on break from school there was no need for me to get up early since they were sleeping in. But I had an incentive! The day before on my walk I had come accross a field of horses! More anxious to see George than me, they all came trotting over to the fence. We hung out and chatted for a bit then I headed home. So the next morning I woke up, grabbed my camera and some carrots and was out the door. I have a soft spot for horses so it was so neat to be able to enjoy this even if they didn't like the carrots.
Most of the horses gave the carrots a quick sniff and turned away, others took it in their mouth and then spit it out - only one ate it.This guy liked the camera, I think.Not to sure if they liked George, though.Now if only I had something like this to look forward to on all my morning walks.....

Getting Ready for Easter - Part 2

*I wrote this yesterday but, for some reason, the computer wouldn't let me post the pictures.... I'm still puzzled by that but its working now so here it is.

While the earlier post happened a few days ago this one happened just yesterday. Here are a few more pictures of what's been taking place as we get ready for Easter. Not to mention having to make tomorrow's Cream Cheese Squares breakfast, the raspberry jello salad that's now in the fridge, more jello Easter eggs, two dozen homemade dinner rolls I made this afternoon, and the apple pie Monica and I made that is still cooling on the counter. The spiral ham is Matthew's responsibility but he won't do that until tomorrow.

Help from big brother and big sister is a must for a messy job like this one.

The kids each decorated two eggs of their own with Daddy and Jesse eating the 'damaged' ones=)Today Monica, Alana, and I were able to go to Rapid City and get a bit of shopping done...some last minute touches to get us ready for Easter Sunday. I've never been one to always get a new Easter dress or outfits for all the kids but between some good deals and good friends all the kids will be ready to look their best to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you all are able to also rejoice on the day that the stone was rolled away and death was swallowed up in victory!

Getting ready for Easter - Part 1

While we do explain to our kids the TRUE meaning of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter we still enjoy the Easter egg side of it as well. We have a traditional egg hunt on Sunday just like I always did growing up. Mom hid chocolate eggs around the house and Chad and I would search to see who could find the most. Anyway, here at our house we are gearing up - I've already bought the eggs to hide and a tye-dye egg decorating kit for the kids to do. A few days ago we did jello eggs and they were a big hit. The eggs 'jello-ed' overnight and when breakfast was over the kids all had to sample one. So here they are sitting on the kitchen floor....(Zach was at work with Daddy again)

Monica was the only one 'talented' enough to put the whole egg in at one time=)

Logan shaggy before his haircut....(like that's the only wierd thing about this picture!)The tattoo on her hand isn't real....Jesse devoured his....and then tried to steal Monica's!

Balloons

Next week the Hot Springs town library turns 110. In honor of the birthday they have several special events going on in the next few days. Since the kids are on spring break right now and we don't have to worry about getting school done we had a free day today and decided to go in this morning and check out some of the happenings. Here are some pictures of what we found.

WARNING: This e-mail may contain a lot of pictures.

The big event this morning was the balloon lady.

She made a HUGE 'Mother Goose' that must have had at least a 10 foot wingspan. The kids were enthralled and asking lots of questions while she finished the goose and interacted with them. Logan and Alana happened to not only be the cutest kids there, but also were well behaved so they got quite a bit of attention=) Zachery watched most of the time as well while Monica saved the day (and the goose) by keeping Jesse entertained elsewhere=)

Here she is in a race with Logan blowing up balloons and helping Alana do it the easier way with a pump.

Despite what it may look like Zach had a pretty good time. He's actually quite handy at making balloon shapes, too. And see what I mean about Jesse - here he is 'unleashing' on the balloons.

There was a photographer there from the local paper taking pictures and writing down the kids names so they may very well see their shiny faces in print next week. And who could resist this?There was a story time after which the kids all helped walk the goose to the center of the library where it was lifted up into the rafters and hung where it will be on display for a week. Then, once the formalities where over, she sat down with all the kids who had come and made each one their own special balloon 'toy'.

I love having a break from school even if it means sitting at home and not doing anything very exciting - but today we not only had a break but a special treat as well.

A BIG day for Monica

Today Monica put an official end to her freshmen year of high school - ninth grade is over! Last year she decided she'd like to compact her 4 years of high school into 3 and since we home school I was able to lesson plan it and she put it into action. So, this weekend is spring break and when she starts back to school on Tuesday it will be as a sophomore! Monica is the teenager every parent dreams of having. Now, lest she read this and get a big head, she isn't perfect but Matthew and I are so pleased with her attitude, her choices, and her love for the Lord that she's just about as good as they come. I always wanted my daughter to become my friend just as I am with my Mom and it is neat to see that happening. Daddy and I love you!
PS - She got an A on all her finals!

New Hair-do's

This week has been one of lots of clipping and trimming and curling and cutting for our family. Logan was just plain old in desperate need of a hair cut while I only needed a trim. So off we went on Tuesday together and got our hair cut.

Monica wanted something a little more drastic so she got a perm - we're all waiting anxiously for the perm smell to go away. She's been told her hair will never curl a whole lot but it's a nice change for her just the same.

And last but not least - Jesse didn't get a haircut but, for a very short period of time, he also sported a new 'do'. Man, is Monica going to be in trouble when her father sees this=) I think it looks like a early American haircut...men wore ponytails then, right?

I just can't bring myself to cut it yet....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring has sprung...or not?

Earlier this week I saw a thermometer in town say that it was 66 degrees, today it is low 30's and snowing. I wondered if we were over the winter yet but I guess you never know. Anyway, today Jesse is sick with the cold that has gone through most of us, and might be making it's way back around. It takes a long time to work it's way through all 7 of us and by that time, well....So I stayed home from church with my baby boy and he slept in for quite a long time. After Matthew took the other 4 in with him I took my morning nice and slow and even enjoyed a quick trip out into the white stuff. As I've said before, I love when the snow covers out typical brown South Dakota scenery so here's some of my pictures - hot off the press.

A couple of the tire swing....

and one of our house....(taken from far enough away that you can't see the pink chalk drawings left on the bay window by a certain pink-loving little girl!)

and finally yours truly...I told you I liked the snow!!!!!

Leaving a Mark....

As a result of our basement project we had some leftover cement and so we poured a little slab by one of our garage doors that often becomes a mud hole. The kids were wanting to leave their handprints on the floor downstairs but while Daddy said "No" to that (it could make it harder for the tile to stick) he said "Yes" to leaving their mark in the slab outside. It was cute and the kids felt pretty special leaving their mark.

The girls....

The boys....

The baby....

The results....

I couldn't help but think when writing this what kind of mark am I leaving in this life?