Sawyer's firetruck set

Lunch Program

Here are some more pictures from the lunch program.

HIS Radio

http://www.hisradio.com/listen-online.php

HIS Radio is playing some great Christmas music! I'm so thankful that I can tune in online!

Our weekend

We had a busy but wonderful weekend. There is lots of beautiful snow here but it sure isn't slowing us down this holiday season! Sawyer and Eric made a snowman. I will try to post some pictures of it later.

Saturday there was a yard sale with clothes that have been donated to our team. This yard sale allowed people to buy clothes and shoes for a very low price, which helped them and helped us because the proceeds all go towards the sewing center. The sewing center has a large sewing room and also a room for Bible study. You will see in the pictures that Eric and his friend were trying on ties that were on sale:)

Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary. We thank God for 6 wonderful years of marriage and look forward to many, many more!

Last night was a very fun Christmas gathering with some of our best friends here in Macedonia. We enjoyed so many goodies. First we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, which Sawyer thought was very cool, and then we enjoyed Jesus' birthday cake, cheesecake, buck-eyes, white chocolate covered pretzels, oatmeal cookies, and more! And I just finished up my breakfast of gingerbread and oatmeal cookies with my coffee, yum!! 'Tis the season for eating way too many sweets, right?

Papa Mattox

Today is the funeral for my Papa, Jimmy Mattox. He died on Sunday morning after suffering from various health problems. My Nana, Carolyn Mattox, whom Olivia's middle name "Caroline" comes from, has been an incredible help-mate to my grandfather. What an example for all of us she has shown to continually care for him day after day! Please pray for my Nana's comfort in these days as it will be a hard adjustment to live alone after being married for over 50 years. I will always remember my Papa, as I have many fond memories of him to hold. I wish I could attend the funeral today to mourn with my loved ones and celebrate Papa's life, but I am comforted in knowing that my mother and grandmother have many compassionate people in their lives to encourage them in these days.

Sawyer with our Jesse Tree

Here is Sawyer with our Jesse Tree. He wanted to put a train around this tree because Grams always puts a train around her Christmas tree. We are enjoying reading the passages and hanging up the ornaments on the tree. The Jesse tree teaches the genealogy of Jesus Christ, starting at Isaiah 11:1 and ending with Luke 2:6-21.

Happy Birthday Eric!

My loving husband turns 35 today. I'm so thankful that God made Eric and I for one another. It is a joy living life alongside him. I love you, Eric!

Jesse Tree starts today

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." Isaiah 11:1

This year our family will use the Jesse Tree devotionals for the first time. It is a type of Advent devotional to use at Christmas. I'm hoping ornaments for each day will catch Sawyer's attention. I remember last Easter that Sawyer LOVED the Resurrection eggs that we used. Each night he looked forward to opening up a new one!

We will use a small artifial tree. Most of the ornaments will be simple paper ornaments that I have printed from the internet but a few will be nicer felt ornaments that my mother-in-law, Sheila, sent us last year.

First is listed the date, then topic, then verses, and lastly an example of what type of picture to use on your tree for that day. This reading calendar is found on http://jesse-tree.com/jesse_tree.html and I made my own adjustments. Here's another great site that uses a slightly different reading calendar http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=1628.

December 1 Creation Genesis 1:1-2:3 Dove or earth

December 2 The fall of Adam & Eve Genesis 2:4-3:13 Tree with Fruit or serpent

December 3 The flood Genesis 6:11-22; 7:17-8:3; 9:8-17 Rainbow, dove with olive branch, ark or pair of animals

December 4 Tower of Babel Genesis 11:1-9 Tall tower or language book

December 5 Promise to Abraham Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6 Dark sky with stars

December 6 Sodom & Gomorrah Genesis 18 & 19 Cloud of smoke or pillar of salt

December 7 Abraham & Isaac Genesis 22:1-19 Ram

December 8 Jacobs ladder Genesis 28:1-17 Ladder or stairs

December 9 Joseph Genesis 42:1-45:15 Colorful coat

December 10 Moses & burning bush Exodus 1:1-14; 3:1-12 Green bush with flames

December 11 Passover Exodus 12:1-39 Door frame with blood

December 12 Ten Commandments Exodus 19:16-20-20:20 Stone tablets

December 13 David I Samuel 16:1-23,II Samuel 5:1-5, 7:1-17 Lyre or harp

December 14 Elijah & prophets of Baal I Kings 18:17-39 Alter (wet) with fire burning

December 15 Isaiah Isaiah 6:1-13 Tongs with hot coal

December 16 Wise and just king Isaiah 8:11-9:7 Crown

December 17 Exile II Chronicles 36:11-21 Jeremiah 31:31-34 Stalks of grain

December 18 Jonah Jonah 1:1-4:11 Big fish or whale

December 19 Waiting on the Lord Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 Watchtower

December 20 Son of Righteousness Malachi 3:1-5, 4:1-6 Sun

December 21 Baptism Luke 1:5-17,Matthew 3:1-6 Shell with water, or water drop

December 22 Mary and the Angel Luke 1:26-38 Mary

December 23 Joseph Matthew 1:18-25 Carpenters tool or Joseph

December 24 Journey to Bethlehem Luke 2:1-5 Scroll

December 25 Birth of Jesus Luke 2:6-21 Jesus in manger

Lunch Program

The lunch program, where Eric works on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, continues to go well. The lunches are served at a Roma educational center, located in a Roma community that is home to at least 50,000 Roma.
http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31466 This article tells a little more about the lunch program.

Olivia is here!

Our precious Olivia Caroline has been born!!
She was born on October 15, 2009 at 1:55 p.m.
weighing 8 lbs. and 20 inches long

She is so precious with her black hair and dark blue eyes. Her little chubby cheeks are so lovable!

I'm thankful to say that the international birthing experience went smoothly. We got Olivia's birth certificate today and we will go to meet with the embassy tomorrow to request her passport and social security card. As far as the hospital stay, the doctors and nurses took very good care of me and Olivia. I was very pleased. One interesting tidbit...Eric and I kept smelling fish in the hospital and we didn't know where it was coming from. I discovered the fish smell was coming from all the babies when I saw the nurse slather Olivia down with fish oil! Evidently fish oil has some great vitamins in it that are good for the skin but very smelly:).

Thank you all for your prayers for our family!

Sewing

Our team's sewing center just opened this week for classes. There has been a great response! There is a team from America here and they are doing a great job teaching. Women can come to sew quilts or crochet. Ladies of all ages are coming! I even tried to crochet myself but I'm going to need A LOT of practice:)The ladies were teasing me that I should crochet at the hospital while in labor!

Thank you to Union ladies!

I caught my first glimpse of snow on the mountaintops today. These scarfs, mittens, and hats are just in time. The UBC ladies sent them! Thank you, ladies! They will be fun to distribute!

Our Skype baby shower

Peachtree Community Church gave us a wonderful virtual baby shower last night! It was fun to visit with them and they had a special prayer time for me and Olivia.

Roma children

Here are some recent random pictures I took of the precious Roma children living here in Skopje, Macedonia.

Bajram

Earlier this week, the Ramazan season ended for Muslims and Bajram was celebrated. We were invited to Sheni's mother's home. He and his wife were very hospitable. They have a son, Kimcho, that is four years old, like Sawyer, so they had a good time playing together. Kimcho did some traditional Roma dancing for us. Also down the street was a huge circle of women dancing to band music. We had quite a feast with traditional salads, several meats including goat, and best of all-- baklava for dessert!

A Birthday Week

Sawyer and I both had our birthdays this week. Mine was celebrated at our team meeting on Tuesday. Emily made me a delicious carrot cake from scratch! Sawyer's 4th birthday was celebrated yesterday in his class at school -- Spiderman theme!

Baby Shower

Last Saturday I was given a wonderful baby shower. It was SO much fun! I was "showered" with love and lots of pink things! I was honored that friends from Prilep and Ohrid drove to Skopje for my baby shower. There were about 20 people there so I felt very, very loved. Our little Olivia now has some very beautiful things!