What a fast week!

We've had a week full of "Fs" here in Texas -- Fun! Fellowship! Fast! Full! (and certainly some non "F" related things... learning / playing / worshipping / planning / listening / sharing).  It's hard to believe that it's Friday night...

Nick's and my week was full of class - we've been in class each day from 8-12 and again from 1-5(ish) (with 2 lovely snack breaks each day - one in the morning around 10, the other in the afternoon around 2:30).  We were mainly listening to and participating in conversations around the topics of Kingdom Principles, The Nature & Character of God and Communicating with God.  I can honestly say that there is NO OTHER topic I would rather be in class all week for than God and things that pertain to God!   

The kids had a fun week with the wonderful and kind Mary Smith.  She's been here at the IOC serving our family as the kids' nanny.  They've played on the playground, gone swimming, gone to the gym, taken a field trip to wal-mart, gone on walks, hunted for wish flowers, done burpies (?!), played games, made paper airplanes and read - among other things.  Thanks to Mary, our kids have had a peaceful, fun, non-traumatic 2 weeks!!!  We're sad that she's heading back home...but so grateful for her willingness to be here the past 2 weeks!



Emma Roo dancing...or something...



More of Emma's moves



Eli wearing his new shirt that our friend Beth made him!

My 2 favorite fellas

Caroline learning about the Voice Recorder from Ms. Joanne. They are going to send a recording to the Africa Mercy! 

We have the privilege of having a Silent Retreat tomorrow (I am extremely excited...it's like 4 hours of Crave!!!).  The next 2 weeks we'll continue on with our Gateway classes...the week after that (our final week here) will be full of specialized training for Nick and some sort of something for me (I have a schedule...just not up for getting my notebook out right now!).

Other fun facts:

• Aunt Amy is flying in tomorrow evening! She'll be our "nanny" this coming week.
• The Africa Mercy is having a very peaceful and calm trip to the Canary Islands - the ship should be docking sometime on Monday (a day ahead of schedule!).
• The washing machine & dryer here require a rectangular shaped token.
• I learned two Dutch phrases this week (I can barely say them...so I won't attempt to type them)
• Nick and some guys have been playing "walleyball" (wally-ball? wall-e-ball?  it rhymes with volleyball) - it's sort of like volleyball but played in the racquet ball court...

Please keep praying for us...that all 5 of us will soak in all that God has for us here in Texas....pray for us and the rest of our class as we prepare for our Field Service in Ghana and for our time onboard the Africa Mercy in Guinea. 

Surely there will be more to come!