Africa.

There is so much to tell. I'm not even sure where to start. I guess that I should start at the beginning but I am warning anyone that reads this that it will be an extra long post!
We left for Africa on Sept. 12th. Our flight left at 8:30 am. It was the longest flight ever! Total flight time to get to Mozambique was 28 hours, that is in the air time. Luckily, we had a few layovers and a over night stop in Johannesburg.

When we got to Johannesburg none of our luggage showed up at baggage claim, we came to find out that they had checked it through all the way to Nampula. So, we paid some porters to go downstairs and find it, which they found all but three. We were worried that the other 3 pieces were missing but they actually found it the next day after we had talked to everyone we could. They told us right before we boarded that it was being boarded on the plane. God is so good! Nothing was stolen out of those bags, which is a big issue in J-burg.

We flew into Nampula and our friends who are missionaries there had a huge sign that said "Welcome, HBC team!" it was so fun. I think someone got a picture of it through the plane window, but we couldn't take any other's because it is illegal to take pictures of public buildings in Mozambique. It was actually really hard to know what to take pictures of and what you could not, so I ended up not getting nearly as many as if I had free reign. I am so glad that the whole team is sharing pictures!

The first thing we did in Nampula is go shopping for Capalana's. They are traditional African skirts, and we needed them for anytime we were teaching. We were so tired that it was hard to know what to pick! We did manage to get a few each though.

When coming out of the Capalana shop we were getting into the truck and a man came up behind me, I thought he was trying to steal something, but he grabbed my face and tried to kiss me. I screamed and pushed him away! I was told that he is crazy, but I was really wondering if this was my welcome to Nampula what else did God have in store for me during the week! Luckily, it got much better!

On the 15th we did our True Love Waits Rally! I was really nervous for this because I was a main speaker and it is not a topic that I usually talk about. I'm a pretty private person and some of the questions I asked them to answer were pretty tough.
God really prepared people's hearts as there was much discussion going on! That is something that doesn't happen with Mozambicans and they were actually asking questions and giving us answers to our questions! One of the question's that is asked in the True Love waits program is "What age do girls and boys start having sex?" The answer that came from the mouth's of Mozambicans is 7 years old for girls and 12 years old for boys (which Corey and Jenni said is probably much younger). I almost started crying on the spot, I just couldn't believe that girls a year younger than Kaitlyn are having sex! It is so young, I'm so glad that God gave me boldness to finish going through that program with them! It is something that the entire continent of Africa needs to hear as so many people have AIDS! I pray that God used us to touch the hearts of those that were at the rally, they so need it.



On Sunday the 16th we got a special treat and were able to go to a church service. It was so much fun! I loved hearing the people sing in a different language! They sing in beautiful harmonies, they must be taught at a young age. The pastor asked us to sing and luckily Jenni had prepared us for that, so we got up and sang a song she had taught us. The people thought it was so fun that we were singing in their native language of Makuwa, even though we might not have had it quite right they still loved it and it was so much fun for us!

After church we went out to lunch at a restaurant named Bamboo. Tony, the guy that went with us ordered a meal that was called "Beef on a hot rock". The beef comes raw and they provide a slab of hot rock for you to cook it on. Well, Tony decided to put some pepper sauce on his beef before he started cooking it. As soon as he put the meat on the pepper sauce started to smoke and it started to waft around the patio. It was so funny because when the smoke got to each person we started coughing, it was burning our throats! Our translator Fernando thought we were crazy because he was sitting at the head of the table and it had not hit him yet, as soon as it hit him he started coughing too, so he finally understood what was going on! It was so funny!

We also got to go to the Sunday Market, which is the only day it is open. There were so many people there and everyone would spot the "white man" and start following us around saying "sister, sister" or "brother, brother" it was crazy! I did manage to get a couple of things at the market, but we had limited time there. I think we all would have liked a bit more time to buy souvenirs, but that isn't what we were there for anyways! God had more in store for us!

We went prayer walking after the market and I really enjoyed that. It was good to walk through the city and see it a little better. Nampula has a big Muslim influence and Ramadan was happening while we were there. We were able to pray for the Muslim's while walking by. We also saw a nursing school, the hospital that we were to visit later and many buildings that looked like the smoke from the war was still on them. It was interesting to see and yet hard to see at the same time. The city is in much poverty.

The next day was my favorite of the trip! We visited a village and did a "Creation to Christ" story. We were split up into two groups and half of us went to the hospital while the other half visited the village. I was at the village for the first group and one woman, Marcella, accepted Christ and when the next group came she had brought her husband (and several other's showed up as well!). God was really working there, and we all said we felt like "real missionaries" (like what you think of as a child). It was such a neat experience and I hope that someday my family can experience something like that!

As I said earlier after the village we visited the hospital. That was so hard for me. I enjoyed visiting the children in the play room, but when we went to the AIDS wing there were babies just laying listlessly. It reiterated to me why God had called me to be a big part of the True love waits program. Without teaching that program Africa is not going to last, as of right now I think 13% of the people have AIDS. We also visited the Malaria wing as well and those kids were a little more active and most were on the road to recovery. The sad thing in that room was there were mosquito nets hanging over all of the beds, but they wont use them! The people just don't know what will help prevent it. A few other things to note about the hospital: The pediatric ward is up about 4 flights of stairs (maybe more), there are usually 3-4 children and moms to one bed and in their culture that is actually preferred I think, and one last thing at visiting hours you can see hundreds of people lined up to visit their loved ones. The people of Mozambique are really community oriented, I think Americans can learn a lot from this.

On Tuesday we went to the beach! I got to put my feet in the Indian ocean! It was beautiful and restful. We were supposed to go snorkeling and that morning the company called and said it was too rough to go out. We were a little disappointed, but I think God knew that we just needed a time of rest and rejuvenation. We had fun looking for seashells and I even saw a small eel while looking in the tide pools. The water was beautifully turquoise and the sand white, just beautiful!

Wednesday was back to mission work! We visited an orphanage! It was so wonderful! The children were very welcoming to us, which I guess doesn't happen as quickly. We did crafts with them and one of those crafts was to take their picture and print it out, then they put it on a foam frame. I got to take the pictures, so I have a picture of each orphan. They thought it was great fun to have their pictures taken! We also made T shirts and necklaces with them. At lunch time they had a surprise for one of my friends, Roberta, it was her birthday and they sang to her. They also brought out a cake and we had a fun time of singing and dancing with them! It really broke down some barriers and I got to love on the smallest of the orphans, Mena and Ofieta. They are just adorable.

Thursday we were back at the orphanage, this time we did True love waits with the older orphans. It was not as exciting as earlier in the week, but I pray that God will use what we taught them. We also gave them the goodie bags we had put together for them! You would have thought it was Christmas! They were so loud and excited! It was such a fun way to end our time in Mozambique!

I have more to share about our safari, but I think I will save it for another post as this one is already long enough! I am just so thankful that God called me to go! I felt truly blessed by this experience. I also want to say thank you again to everyone who helped me to get there and helped my family while I was away, there are not enough words to express how grateful I am!

One Week to go!

By this time next Wednesday I'll be in an airport waiting for my flight! I can't believe that we are leaving next week, it seems as if this has been a whirlwind of planning and prepping and fundraising! I'm really excited and have hopes that God is going to do some great things while we are there!
Today, I start my new job as a 2 year olds preschool teacher. I think it will be fun, although, I don't relish the idea of changing diapers again. We have been diaper free in this house for an entire year! I love the little guys they are so cute! Aidan is very excited that he is starting "school" too.

Some pictures from the last few days.

New camera and other fun stuff!

Well, it finally came! I'm so excited! My new digital Pentax K10D arrived just about an hour ago! I'm dying to play with it, but unfortunately I have to wait until the battery has finished charging.
I'm so happy if got here in time!
Kaitlyn has started school. Her teacher seems nice although not dressed the way you think a 3rd grade teacher should dress. Kaitlyn says she looks "fancy" and that would be the word I would use for her too. Kaitlyn is happy to be back at her old school with some of her old friends. We will miss the year round schedule, but 29 kids per class is just too much!
Aidan is ready for the start of preschool. He has a new "Cars" lunchbox and is not so patiently asking me if TODAY is the day he starts. Poor thing has a week to go! I know he is going to love it though!
I am in the midst of getting ready for Mozambique still. Memorizing True Love Waits material. Seeing what hand me downs I have to take to the orphans. Trying to figure out how I am only going to take 35 lbs of clothing and toiletries with me for a 2 week period. I usually take that much for a weekend trip, let alone 14 days! I'm sure I can do it though! I've purchased everything on my list for things I need to take with me and now I just need to get my Dr.'s appointment to round out my list. I can't believe that in 2 weeks from today I'll be on my way there!
Aaron is working hard and enjoying *almost* every minute of it! I think he really likes this job and it will be one that he can probably stick with for the rest of his working life. I'm so grateful that he enjoys his work.
Alrighty, off to go see if my battery is charged and to play with my new camrea. Pictures to come soon!

Summer fun.

Summer is almost over! I can't believe how quickly it has gone this year, and that is without any big vacations or trips scheduled. Our days have been filled with volunteering, playing in the sprinklers, and keeping the house clean. I have also been busy with getting ready for my big trip in September!
I can't believe in a little over a month I will be on my way to Mozambique! Well, that is IF my passport ever gets here! I have received notice that it was being mailed, priority, and should have been here yesterday. Well, nothing came yesterday OR today. So, I will wait and see what happens tomorrow and if it doesn't show up then I will call the agency again.
We have learned a bit more of what we are to be doing while there. A lot of it involves working in the orphanage, which I am very excited about! We have our schedules in hand and plane tickets. We are working on getting our visa's (my passport is holding this up). A few more fundraisers, a few more training dates and we are on our way!
Speaking of fundraisers.... I only have about $1,000 left to earn! I don't think that I will have much trouble raising it, God has been so faithful to provide!
Something else that is going on right now is that I have gotten another job! This one is for Aidan though. I will be teaching at our Mother's day out program at the church. It is a 2 day a week program and I am really excited about it! I get along really well with all the rest of the ladies that work their and Aidan will love "going to class" as he calls it. He is VERY excited that he gets to go to school this year, and I'm excited that he will get to go for free! I don't know what age group that I will be teaching, but I will find that out in a couple of weeks when we have orientation. The director asked me if I would like to teach the 4-5 yr olds, but since Aidan is in that class I would prefer not to. Not because I don't love my son, but because I think he needs some time away from me this year before starting kindergarten! (NEXT YEAR! ACK!)
Well, that is the gist of what is going on around here. A few things that you could pray for: That my passport gets here tomorrow, so we can get our visa's sent in. That all of the fund raising dinners go well, and that everyone raises the money they need. That my new job adventure won't be to stressful while in the midst of planning this trip. And that the people of Mozambique can have their hearts prepared to hear God's message while we are there!

Becoming a "World Changer"

What an incredible week this has been! On Sunday we had a group of about 300 teens show up in Salt Lake City. They are a group called "World Changers". Each teen paid approximately $200 to come and work on people's houses for a week. It was HARD work: Re-roofing, painting,
re-framing doors and windows, yardwork, building porches and wheelchair ramps are just a few things they did.
While here they also go into the community and share God's word. A quick story about that:
On Wednesday, a man came up to one of the groups and started asking them what they were all about. They started sharing the gospel and found out lots of things about this man...his name, how many children he has etc. He told them that he could not talk anymore at that moment, but he gave them an address and told them to please meet him the following day at a certain time. They show up at that time and a man answers the door not the same man. So, the group tells him that they are looking for the man from the day before, he says well that is my name but I did not meet you. They gave him information about how many children he has and he says those children are mine. So, they then tell him that they were coming to tell this other man about Jesus Christ and the man says "You see, you were sent to tell me about Jesus and I must accept him!" and he did right there on the spot! What and incredible God thing!
Ok, so I know you are all thinking "Wow, cool story but what does this have to do with you?" Well, I was a "Lunch runner". Each day I would take lunches and treats out to the site where my team was working. Kaitlyn and Aidan were there each day as well to help pass out lunches. My kids got to meet some awesome roll models! They had a blast meeting all of the kids, we ended up meeting about 5 groups total. My favorite part was when we decided to drop off popsicles for our groups (Our church hosted 7 groups). Well, there was a group we didn't know that was working close to our group so we bought them popsicles too. One of the guys said, "God bless you! I just have to give you a hug" and gave me a big bear hug. They were all great group and it was so much fun! In fact I had so much fun that I was asked to play a bigger role next year. I will be the food coordinator for the entire group that is coming. We already have ideas on to make things a bit better and I can't wait to see the kids (hopefully they all come back plus more!)

100+ Things I love about you....

Today Aaron and I are celebrating our 10th Anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long!
Aaron, it has been a wonderful 10 years with you! I'm so thankful for a wonderful caring
husband like you! So with that said....100+ things I love about you!


1. I love that you love me.
2. I love how you play with our kids and make them scream even though it drives me crazy.
3. I love that you are a leader in our church.
4. I love that you put God first.





5. I love that the kids and I are a very close second.
6. I love that you teach Sunday School.









7. I love that when I told you I was pregnant with Kaitlyn that you switched careers to better our family.
8. I love that you wash the dishes most of the time because you know that it is one chore that I despise doing.






9. I love that we are celebrating our ten year anniversary but we have really been together for 14 years.





10. I love that you were in RCC marching band.






11. I love that you encouraged me when I tried out for RCC color guard and was totally embarrassed when I flubbed the audition.
12. I love that you encourage me in my singing.




13. I love that you play the saxaphone, and wish you would play something just for me.







14. I love that you have a sense of humor.




15. I love that we took a chance and moved to Utah when we didn’t know anybody here.
16. I love how that move bettered our marriage.
17. I love how sexy you are when you are smoking your cigars.
18. I love that it was with you that I smoked my first itty bitty cigar.
19. I love that you love photography as much as I do.
20. I love that you mostly listen to me when I give you hints about a gift I would like for birthday or Christmas.
21. I love that you have good taste in jewelry.
22. I love that you spur me on to be my best.







23. I love that you don’t say anything when I spend most of the money, but don’t actually make it.






24. I love that you let me go on trips by myself, even though you know if the tables were turned I would be totally jealous.
25. I love that even though I have gained weight that you still think I’m beautiful.
26. I love camping with you. Especially our honeymoon.
27. I love that you are so passionate about BBQing, and that you have created you own marinade that is really yummy!
28. I love the way you call Cookie “traitor dog” when she sits with you and not me.
29. I love that for a year of our lives you ran the evenings everything from making dinner, to baths, to homework, to carting the kids to their various activities, and never complained about it once. I wish I was more like that.
30. I love that you are an instructor and made it there in just a few short years.

31. I love that you love your job.
32. I love that you carry on a piece of my families history through working for the railroad.
33. I love that you are a handy man and can fix pretty much anything…except plumbing.
34. I love that you love to have a vegetable garden even though you hate vegetables.
35. I love that you are teaching our children how to care for a garden since I can’t even keep a house plant alive.


36.I love that you don’t work in the field anymore.
37. I love that you don’t come home all greasy anymore.
38. I love that you don’t work out of town anymore.
39. I love that you endured the time when you worked out of town all the time and never complained about it.
40. I love how you love the character of old homes and can see the potential in them, even if they need a lot of work.
41. I love that even though you were really picky about what you ate when we first met that you have branched out and will now even eat sushi…and love it.
42. I love that you are so passionate about football.
43. I love that you don’t think I’m crazy when I’ve met people over the internet.
44. I love that you let 10 strange women come stay with us for a few days when we had QKU.
45. I love that you encourage my love of scrapbooking.




46. I love that you love to go sledding with the kids, because I hate hiking up those hills and don’t really care for the ride down either.
47. I love our movie nights.







48. I love us time.






49. I love how you treat me, and how that is teaching Kaitlyn what type of person she should pick to be her husband.









50. I love that you are an example to Aidan of how to treat his wife.




51. I love that you let your hair grow out from the mullet before our wedding.







52. I love that you insisted on wearing a white tux at our wedding because you deserved to also.
53. I loved how sexy you looked in that white tux.
54. I love that you waited for me.
55. I love that you are my one and only.
56. I love that I am your one and only.





57. I love that even though you don’t like cats so much that you are still willing to have one.
58. I love that you agreed to get a little dog instead of a big one.
59. I love that you let our pets sleep in bed with us each night.
60. I love to sleep in with you on a chilly morning.
61. I love that you have a knowledge of many things.
62. I love that even though many people thought we were too young to get married that we are still going strong.






63. I love that we have had our fights because that makes our bond stronger.
64. I love that those fights are forgotten.
65. I love that you told my mom 3 weeks before we got engaged and asked my dad for permission to marry me.








66. I love that it was before senior prom that we got engaged…it was so beautiful.
67. I love that you mow the lawn because it wouldn’t get done otherwise.


68. I love that you don’t mind my love of going to Disneyland.
69. I love that we used to have season passes to Magic Mountain, and actually used them.
70. I love that our first date was to see Jurassic park, and that you helped me clean up my purse when Ryan spilled coke all over it.
71.I love that you wrote me a poem to ask me to be your girlfriend…
72.And that we were on our way to magic mountain that day.
73. I love that you don’t mind a flowery couch.
74. I love that you tracked down the antique dealer that bought Mammom’s couch and continued until you were able to give it to me for my birthday.
75. I love that you don’t say anything when we use antique open cellar salts rather than a regular salt shaker. Even though secretly I know you hate those little spoons.
76. I love that you tease me that I want all of our wood furniture to be white.
77. I love that you have promised me that you will take me to Paris someday, and I know that you will because you always keep your promises.
78. I love that you always keep your promises.







79. I love that you make me feel safe.





80. I love that you make the kids feel safe.






81. I love that you don’t begrudge me sleep in days when Kaitlyn is off track and you have to work.
82. I love that you always tell me a new hairstyle looks great even if you secretly hate it.
83. I love all the poems that you wrote me when we were dating.
84. I love that you wrote a poem for Kaitlyn.
85. I love that you have dreams for our retirement…even though we are only in our thirties.
86. I love that we are growing old together.
87. I love that we have grown up together.











88. I love that you love my family and make them feel welcome when they come to visit.
89. I love that you said “Wow” when I came down the aisle on our wedding day.
90. I love the way you kiss me.
91. I love that when I need an opinion that yours is the one I ask for first, and respect the most.
92. I love that you are willing to make a fool of yourself to make the kids or me laugh.
93. I love that you want me to bring the kids to have lunch with you so they can see where you work.
94.I love that I never have to ask you to take out the trash.





95. I love that you don’t complain when I start painting another room in the house…even though it means that we will probably be changing outlet covers.
96. I love that you are always willing to go to the store for me when I’m cooking dinner.
97. I love that you never say anything about me being completely forgetful.
98. I love that you always are willing to try a new dish that I make for dinner, and tell me how good it tastes…even if it tastes awful.
99. I love that you eat vegetables for the kids, even though you don’t like them.
100. I love the relationship you are building with our children.
101. I love that you are the person I can be totally honest with and know that you will still love me no matter what.
102. I love that I can tell you my secrets.
103.I love that you will probably tease me about this being more than one hundred things.




104. I love that you know when I need a break, time out, a hug, quiet time.
105. I love that you play with our kids.


Aaron, I love you! I am so glad God has blessed me with you! I know that He has a plan for the next several decades of our marriage and I am excited to see what God has in store for us! Happy 10'th anniversary to my one and only!