animals and chocolate...

Eden had a field trip to Hershey, PA--which is only about 40 minutes from here. Daddy took the day off work to join Eden and her 2nd grade class to Zoo America and Hershey's Chocolate World. Eden was so happy to have her daddy come along! They spent the morning at Zoo America...a zoo that only has animals that can be found in America. This was a special field trip because she just finished her biggest school project to-date called the "Creature Feature". Each student had to make a book of at least 5 different animals, including pictures and interesting facts, cover and title page, book list and Bible verse. I had so much fun helping Eden with this project. She is very creative, so she enjoyed every bit of it too.
After the zoo, they headed over to Hershey's Chocolate World for lunch and a tour to see "how they make the chocolate". They also got to help out at "Kiss Works" (Hershey Kiss factory) before coming back home. Eden was very excited to tell me all about it and show me the pictures that she took...many, many pictures.

He Is Risen, INDEED!

Praise God! Jesus is alive!
We had a great Easter. We didn't get to travel home to Wisconsin to be with family, but our good friends here, Jeff and Sue, had us over for Easter Dinner on Sunday. We are so grateful to them for opening their home to us, and always making us feel so welcome. They are truly the closest thing we have to family here in Lancaster. The kids had fun hunting for eggs outside and their favorite thing to do at the Rutt's house is to play in the hot-tub. So, we never forget to bring our bathing suits when we come.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Okay, I'm not really big into St. Patrick's Day...I mean, I'll probably like wear a green shirt...and all my kids will wear something green...but I'm not goin' out to some Irish Pub tonight and you won't find me kissing any rocks...I can say that my parents have both kissed the "Blarney Stone", but no, for me it's just an excuse to make chocolate cupcakes with green frosting.

Esperanza..."HOPE" in Spanish

The Vision Trip to D.R. was AMAZING! The couples that came were really open to what God has for them. Q did a great presentation on Thursday evening to introduce HOPE to us, and how everything works. This was especially helpful on Friday when we went out to see the communities and to observe the bank meetings and loan dispersals. It's so moving to see the joy on their faces as they receive their loans and the hope in their eyes when they talk about the business they plan to start, or what they can do to improve their lives. The connection we have with the HOPE employees in D.R. is such a gift from God. They are amazing people with incredible stories of how God changed their lives and led them to work for Esperanza. Daniel was our interpreter and driver on Friday as we traveled to the different communities. He took very good care of us and arranged everything for our stay.
There were 5 couples total including Q and I. Whitney and Josh from Minnesota,Bill and Charlene from NY, Chris and Caroline from South Carolina, and Rick and Ginger from Lancaster, PA. We had so much fun getting to know everyone. Every night we stayed up late sitting out by the pool talking and laughing. The trip was truly a gift from God, and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it.

Just the Two of Us...

Q and I are leaving at 2:00 am Thursday morning. Our dear friend Sue has offered to keep the kids for the weekend. Q is leading a team of 5 couples on a Vision Trip to Dominican Republic and he asked me to go along! OKAY! We will be staying an extra day at a Resort. I'm so looking forward to another amazing HOPE Trip and the added bonus of spending time with Q...without kids. We will share more about our experience when we return.

Latest Crazes...

Briar loves baths! It is so cute. She would take a bath all day every day if it were possible. She comes with me to clean houses, and when I'm cleaning the bathtub she thinks it's time for her to take a bath. Sadly, I have to convince her that we really are just there to clean it. A few weeks ago we were at Home Depot and we were walking past the bathtub display and she walked over to it and started taking off her shirt. She wasn't too happy when we explained that it's "just for looks" and it's not appropriate to take baths in public.