Christmas Unwrapped

Date night with Daddy! Mom has been down for the count and sick this week so Jared decided to take Sophia to the children's church event Wednesday. It was called "Christmas Unwrapped". Everyone wore their PJ's (Sophia and Em-Dog matched), the older kids told the story of Jesus' birth (video of Sophia and Oliver "Watching" that to come), decorated cookies and even got to ride a donkey! I think Sophia enjoyed her night with dad. And I think I enjoyed my night on the couch watching SYTYCD... although I was not thrilled with the results.

Let the Season of Fun begin!!!

It's a BOY?!?!?!

That's Right! IT'S A BOY!!

Jared had me convinced that the girls in our family are just not capable of having boys... I was starting to believe him! We went in for the ultrasound yesterday. HE is a mover and a shaker! He was all over the place. She'd say "He's facing me...wait no... now he's facing dad...wait no..." Hopefully not a sign of things to come :). Here's HIS profile

And just to prove that yes, it is in fact a BOY
Our BOY's foot. Looks like HE'll be a basketball player, yea?


And HIS hand.... maybe a pitcher like dad?

I must admit that I spent the majority of yesterday in shock. Boys are so new to me, I just figured I was going to be a mom of girls! I've talked with a couple of moms of boys and I get more excited the more I think about it. There's something about that Mother/Son relationship I'm really looking forward to!

Rumor is "Boopa" (Grandpa Doe) has been doing kartwheels ever since he found out. :)

Little league here we come!! Ahhh!!!!

Trick or Treat!

Last night we headed up to Todd, Erin, Alexis and Devin's house for an awesome Halloween party. We walked around the neighborhood with our little lady bug and a big group of family and friends. Sophia actually started fast out the gate! She was the first to about five houses. Didn't take her long to figure out the drill! We saw this cute little Doe in front of one of the houses we visited.. how cute is she?

Candy High!!!

Emma, Sophia and Devin

Happy Halloween!

I know! I Know!!!!

Alright people. I know it's been a while. Christine... this is for you.

I don't even know where and how to start so my thought is I will start with our most exciting news and just see where it takes us.

We are having another baby! Baby Doe #2 is due April 21, 2010. That makes us about 15 1/2 weeks along! We are scheduled to have another ultrasound Monday, Nov. 23rd. And yes (sorry Bri) we are hoping to find out if we have a boy or girl heading our way. Jared is convinced that the girls in our family are unable to carry boys. We'll see if he's right soon enough!

Sandra

After meeting with the leaders in Sierra Prieta, the whole team walked around the community each meeting our sponsor children. Sandra's house was the last stop and it was quite a hike to get there. She lived the furthest out from the school and seemed to live in the poorest conditions compared to the other four houses we had visited. She lives with her mom only and has two sisters and one brother. Her mother welcomed us right into the home. Sandra was very shy. In talking after our meeting we discussed how crazy it would be to have lots of Americans come into your small home with cameras... I'm sure she was overwhelmed. The language barrier made it tough even though we had a translator there. Jared and I are ready to really brush up on our Spanish. We gave her a little bag with school supplies, a bible and a picture of our family. Here are some pics from our visit. 

The family's cooking fire

The family's latrine (bathroom)

Sierra Prieta

Today we ventured to Sierra Prieta in the morning. This is the community that MMCC will partner with through FH. Once we got out of the town of Santo Domingo the drive changed drastically. It was green countryside, trees with huge leaves, hills... beautiful. We even passed a Phillies and Mariners "training center". The boys liked that. 

We met with the leaders of the community in the school as soon as we got there. So many people showed up. They are so excited to get a partnership started through FH. The school building is for primary grades (through 4th). Many children stop attending after that because it's a 2 KM walk to the 5-8 grade and high schools. They are desperate for a school that can hold the 5-8th grades and eventually a high school. The government will provide teachers if they have a school building. Several of the community leaders were 16 year old boys. One of them spoke up right away about the need for a high school. It's encouraging to see the youth so involved and actually setting an example here. They also have two small churches in the community. Sierra Prieta has about 500 kids... approx. 300 families .

After the meeting we each got the chance to meet our sponsor children. I'll post those visits and the rest of the day when I can upload photos. 

We're off to Pizza Hut for dinner in Santo Domingo :). 

Adios!

El Tamarindo

Pastor Antonio and his wife with Luis (been with FH for 27 years!)

Caballeros (Men) on one side and Damas on the other in church

Classroom in school