Update

Hi everybody! I´m at a cyber (something very common here in Venezuela) checking my mail since our internet service was discontinued. My house is a wreck! We are mostly packing and taking clothes, but we are also making decisions about what would be sold, given away, etc. if we are unable to come back. Anthony will be staying in our house for now, so at least we don´t have to close up everything by Monday! I am contacting people about Aaron´s passport, hoping for a good word. We were at La Biblia Abierta, our first church we started in Caracas, on Sunday. It was sad thinking that we might never on this earth see them again. Thank God for heaven and a sure hope! God has been teaching me a lot about trust through all this. I don´t understand, I can´t see the future, but praise God, He does understand, He does see the future, and He is in control! We found out that we will not be able to take Tommy, our little doggy, as it costs more to get him out than what he cost us! Continue to pray for us...we still have to say goodbye to our church people, finish packing, and endless details. God bless...

Hasta Nuevo Aviso

That's how you say, "Till the next time!" in Spanish. We won't be back on here (maybe I'll get a cyber or something) until we arrive in the States and the dust settles. Pray for us...this is very hard! God bless...

Of Interest...

I don't really know when we started to talk about it. It might have been a tip we received from Rita at Jungle Hut that children were having difficulties getting Venezuelan passports. The roller-coaster ride began... At one point, we were 90% sure that we were leaving Venezuela for good, then... Are we sure about that? Then, we would hear about YET ANOTHER missionary leaving, all for good reasons; but did we have a good reason? More importantly, did we have God's peace? We admitted that we did not. However, I decided not to hang up the remaining pictures in my house, couldn't let Morgan have a dog, etc. We heard of a pastor who got a passport for his three young children! We'll try too! Time when on...and on... We hung up the pictures in my bedroom, hung up a quilt in the living room, got a dog, made more plans for the church, even the Christmas program! As I said, though, Time went on...and on... We DIDN'T get Aaron's passport, and as of the last thing we've heard, "esta delicado" (essentially, very difficult!). After MUCH, MUCH prayer and some sleeplessness (on my part~Matt could sleep through an earthquake, I think!), on Wednesday, we decided that we have to leave before Aaron's passport expires on Oct 3. So... we are leaving on October 1, but we hope not forever... We will continue to work on Aaron's passport from safer shores. Our church is very young, and it is an important factor, but Aaron must be safe. Good-bye for now, my beloved Venezuela, mi Caracas añorada!

*I wanted to link Rita, but I couldn't remember FOR THE LIFE OF ME! how to link...I must be losing brain cells!

** I remembered...my brain cells are growing back!

Freak?!

You Are 58% Non Conformist

You definitely have your freak flag out, and from time to time, you wave it.You have some pretty strong opinions, and you're not afraid to express them.

Are'>http://www.blogthings.com/areyouanonconformistquiz/">Are You a Nonconformist?

Pictures of Tommy and our Anniversary

Hi friends! Here are some pics of Tommy, our new dachshund, and our anniversary getaway. Some pics were taken yesterday (my birthday), but we won't talk about that! Suffice it to say that it's a big number and it was a good one!

Tommy! This picture captures his personality PERFECTLY!

Tommy with Morgan

Taking a snooze in the hammock!

The happy couple, married for 17 years!

A lovely meal together

Up on the Avila, Caracas

Isn't the view behind me fabulous?!

Happy, happy...

I'm thinking about changing my blog altogether (eliminating and creating a new one) because I still can't get my side bar thing to work. Let me know what you all think...

I Changed Everything on my Blog but What I Needed To!

I think my new look is funky...but it certainly wasn't what I set out to do! I CANNOT figure out how to get my side bar back to normal. Quien podra ayudarme? El Chapul...anyway! Help, help....

You're Probably Wondering...and I am Too!

Honest, people, I have no idea what happened to my blog, or how to fix it! However, since I have such a large *following* (ha, what a joke, lol!), I really don't want to change it altogether! Help! Does anyone out there know how to fix it without just getting rid of it altogether?

On to other things...I have been so busy that I just haven't had time to blog. Surely, you moms of 5 children can relate! Let's see...we got a puppy (he's adorable!), we FINALLY hung up my favorite quilt in the living room and a wall of hangings in my bedroom, I've been figuring out our school year, which starts next week. I haven't been able to get EJ's stuff ordered (he is enrolled in A Beka and uses videos) because EVERY SINGLE TIME I do, something happens. I was going to order the stuff yesterday (via phone), when I realized that you guys were celebrating Labor Day. We don't celebrate that (we celebrate EVERYTHING else, let me tell you!), so I had forgotten... Anyhoo, we travelled over here to Caracas yesterday to see my dr. (yesterday) and the dentist (all of us, today, woo hoo!), so I was at Dr. Galavis' office yesterday. As usual, people are always talking politics around here (there is evidently NOTHING else to talk about), so we (Dad went over there to sit and visit with me) got in on a~yet another~terrifying political "chat". Evidently, *disguised, of course*, there are a couple of very scary articles in the New Educational Reform, being literally railroaded through the Asamblea right now. You can read about it here. So...I don't know if I'll EVER get EJ's new stuff ordered. Anyway, we will start school "como sea" on Monday! HHH can't control EVERYTHING, for Pete's sake!

*Oops, I just realized when I linked over to my scary educational reform place, that it is in Spanish. Sorry...it's worth getting someone to translate it!

This week we are in Caracas partly to visit our doctors, and partly to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. We will be going to an undisclosed location here in Caracas *my favorite city*, leaving our children with Granna and Grandaddy~thank you, Mom and Dad! We are looking forward to it! Next week is my ____ birthday. Sorry, people, but I'm just getting to the age where I don't want to talk about it (so, why, you ask, am I talking about it!?)....

Have a great one, and as my dear Shalom says, Stay Safe! (It's a scary world out there, especially Venezuela!)