December in a Nutshell - Part 1

So.......The month of December was a whirlwind of activity.  I loved every minute of it and recorded most activities with my camera.

Now that the new year has rolled in and things will be going back to their comfortable routine starting tomorrow, I thought this was as good a time as any to try to catch up on my blog and let you guys know what we've been up to.

Thanksgiving dinner was such a blessed event.  It was relaxing, spent with precious friends and co-workers.  Filled with thankfulness and good food. 

Kids Table

Ms. Dawne's Apple Pies

Blessed Friends

A few days after Thanksgiving, I received tragic news that my paternal grandfather had passed away.  My dad arranged a quick flight for me to return to Missouri and attend his funeral.  It was a blessing to see family I'd not seen in 10 years, even though it was under such sad circumstances.  

My Dad (far right) with his sisters and Mom.

Dad, Me & Grandma

Back in Portugal 7 days later brought very cold weather, but kids happy to see their Mom!

Justice 4 and Me

Me, Lib 8 and Trinity 6 (Yes...we wear coats, gloves and hats inside!)

J-Dude and Trin

New hair cut

Surprising my Aunt with a quick visit while I was Stateside

My Uncle Bill cooked me supper!

And it was delicious!

My cousin Steve and me

My cousin Danielle and me

Christmas Program at church

Michael preaching after program

Surprise Christmas packages from the States

happy kids

Decorating Christmas cookies

Blogger is driving me crazy......Part 2 of this post will follow very soon.

Happy New Year my Bloggy Friends!

Blessings Arrived From Hoover, AL

Melissa and her class at church of precious young ladies have gathered and mailed these wonderful items to us. These young ladies learn about missions and missionaries at church, and then turn around and do special projects as the Lord directs.

(Get a load of this!!!)


Melissa said after my post about the cost of no stick cooking spray in Croatia (it's not even available in Portugal) that she was moved to encourage her class to collect items that are hard to find on the mission field.

Convenience items are almost non-existent here, so all these items will be cherished!

The girls have already carried Fruit Roll Ups to school to show the kids how cool American snacks are! And with these sugar free snacks, I've been given that boost I needed with my diet.

Two boxes arrived yesterday with what appears to be all the items pictures here except the Pam spray. Due to restrictions about aerosol cans, they'll have to ship the Pam spray by boat.

I tell you what....after all the trouble these folks have gone through to be a blessing to us...I'm so humbled it makes me want to cry.

Thank you Melissa and girls!

Our prayers are that God would bless you abundantly for your thoughtfulness and sacrifice.

Unworthy Blessings

Missionaries sacrifice.

They sacrifice family, friends, culture and customs. They miss the fellowship of like minded believers. They do without certain frills & foods that define us as Americans and they normally never complain.

I'm not complaining now, but rather sharing with you my blessings.

Tori, fellow missionary wife in Croatia posted recently about No stick Cooking Spray.

What? No Stick Cooking Spray? You ask.

Yep...that's one of the things we wives sacrifice.

We don't have fast food options like you guys do in the states. So that leaves us wives in the kitchen each and every lunch and dinner trying to come up with a meal. Neither do we have the convenience foods that one American family may have their pantry and freezer chock full of. So we start from scratch. And this usually doesn't even include no stick spray. ---I know...ouch!

Tori couldn't buy it in Croatia until recently. Her husband just about sprinted through the store to show Tori his fantastic discovery. She jubilantly filled her buggy full till she saw the price, exchanged it in her head and discovered that each can of "Pam" spray would cost her about $16. So with much sadness the cans, every last one of them, went back on the shelf.

I just about cried when I read this.

To have it so close.......

Not having it at all is one thing, but having it so close and not be able to afford it is another. It's worse I think.

You see Missionaries not only have to keep themselves 'afloat', but most have to pay the rent, utilities and furnishing of the new church plant that may or may not have a few folks attending. For us in Portugal the Euro/Dollar exchange rate is terrible. It's better than it was last summer, but still it's not good.

$16 Pam spray just isn't in the budget. Even if it does make life in the kitchen just a little easier.

My heart goes out to her. She had a friend send her some last year, but those cans are long gone....sniff, sniff.

I too had some cans sent to me at Christmas time from a dear friend. She sent three cans. Liquid gold I call them. One is almost ku-put and I have two more precious cans left. I don't use as much as I did in the States spraying as little as I can get away with. My nightmare is to be without this stuff again. I don't want to think about that....



Hazelnut coffee creamer....an absolute treat for me!



Chili, Ranch, taco, cheese, and gravy mixes. Ahhhh...the convenience!



Don't forget peanut butter. How do you raise kids without it?



A huge "Thank You" to everyone that sent packages this Christmas. You know who you are, and so does our Lord. May His blessings be upon you!


Monday Michael went in search of portable tables. The kind most churches use in fellowship halls. We were told how difficult they are to find them here. We were so excited and thankful when he found these 6 foot folding tables! One step closer.....


And look at these cuties waiting for school to begin. I better go...



God is so Good!
Have a great day!

Monday Mayhem

We've had a wonderfully crazy day. It started this morning as we were getting things ready for our friends, the Mosley's to arrive. Our buzzer rang with the delivery guy delivering yet another two boxes with late arriving Christmas gifts. Everything was put on hold as we went through these wonderful gifts. As we were putting them all away and getting back to preparing for our guests, the buzzer rang again. This time it was one specific box. This box contained a gift JUST for me. Some of you ladies can appreciate this......



I was so excited! I yanked it out of the box and placed it proudly on my kitchen counter top. (Thanks Dad!)

Our guests arrived and we had not even come close to getting the things accomplished we were hoping to get accomplished. Too much excitement this morning. After a lunch of taco salad I jumped right up and made some cookies using my new mixer. I couldn't wait to use it. We enjoyed warm cookies and even warmer coffee. (We'll take any heat we can get these days!! Our house stays so cold.) This pretty baby makes life in the kitchen so much more enjoyable!

We are so thankful for precious friends. The Lord has blessed us with many in the short 10 months that we've been here. Here are a few pictures of the kids playing with John and Stephanie.

Step Away From The Scooby Snacks!

A package from our friend, Paula Garrett arrived today. In it included all the wonderful things you see here. Paula used to work with my mother and would always send special treats to our children. As you can see, our moving to Portugal didn't stop her. She is a precious lady who promises to pray for our family daily. Her prayer alone is a special gift to us, but now we get to eat Scooby Snacks and have hazelnut creamer in our (my) coffee!! I must confess though, that after our trip to the zoo today...we're just about done with the Scooby Snacks!---It was so neat to get some of these slow cooker meal starters. I've never seen them before...and guess what..when I turned them over to read the directions....I understood every word!! Man, it sure is nice to read ALL the words on these items....God Bless America!!


We are all staying very busy. Our language classes have continued non stop since 2 weeks after our arrival in Portugal. They seem to be going well. Sometimes, I have a good day and other times, I can't wait for our teacher to leave.

Brooklyn, Faith and Liberty are having language classes now as well. Faith and Liberty have class for 1 hour, 5 days a week. Brooklyn's classes are a little more intensive, with hers lasting two hours, 5 days a week. It is imperative that Brooklyn get a good hold on the language before starting school in September, or she will be put in a much lower grade. She is working diligently so she can be with her peers this next school year. So with all these classes, and the normal "mom" things, my days are jammed full. On top of all this, the temperatures here have reached high 80's. That probably sounds like a relief to some of you, but without air-conditioning it gets pretty hot, especially when you're trying to go to sleep.