Decisions, Faith, and Bitter-sweetness

I am not sure really how to start this blog really. I debated even writing one about this to be honest because it is kind of hard to know what to say at this point. But I am excited to share with you all what God is doing and I am very excited about our future! :)
As many of you know, our decision to stay in Indo for another year or not was to be made earlier this month. We had basically been talking and praying about this since last December when we decided to stay again for this year. Thank you to family and friends who prayed with us and for us for the past year about this current decision. So, through much prayer and many long discussions, we feel that God is calling us back to the States, meaning these next 6 months will be our last in Indo (at least for now) :). It was not an easy decision as I'm sure you can imagine. We love so many things about our jobs and life here, but we feel strongly that our time here is coming to an end and we feel loads of peace about our decision which I am so thankful for. This is not the time to start talking about all of the things I am going to miss about this place (that time will come). Like I said, we still have 6 months here that we are pumped about. It's not the time for goodbye's yet and I am not thinking about them now. But I know these next months will be full of bitter-sweet moments. We are SO excited to move back to the States to be closer to family and friends and to experience all the little things about the US that we have missed so much (fresh air, Taco Bell, and driving for example). But we are sad to leave this country that we will have called home for the past 3 years. We love  many things about Indonesia - but mostly we will miss this school, our students, our church, and the wonderful, life-long friends we have made here. I know that we won't be able to get through the next few months without the Lord's help, so would you please join us in praying for these things ...

• That we will finish out this year strong. As cheesy as that sounds - we really want to continue to pour into our jobs and students here for the next 6 months. Please pray that we won't 'check out' and that God would continue to use us for the remainder of our time here. 
• Jobs! Obviously, we need those. Well, mostly Erik. Please pray that jobs (PE preferably) would come open and that things with applying and interviewing wouldn't be too complicated. We are open to different places - so if you know of any openings, please let us know! :) 
• Details. In order to be qualified for teaching jobs we have to have up to date teaching licenses and because we have been here for the past 3 years, we some extra steps to go through to make sure we have everything we need to teach back in the States. Please pray that those little details would fall into place and we wouldn't have to be too stressed out worrying about all of those little things. 
• Faith and trust. We are stepping into the unknown which isn't my favorite. I like to have a plan and as of right now we have no "plan" at all. We believe that God is in control, but sometimes I easily forget and I try to take control and then I get overwhelmed and stressed. Please pray that we could continue to trust in God's sovereignty even if/when things seem difficult, sad, or stressful.

Words can't express how thankful I am for those of you who have supported and encouraged us, and prayed for us through this season of our life. And I have no doubt that you will continue to do so and we are so blessed by and thankful for that.

This verse will always be a favorite of mine, and it has really encouraged Erik and I through this time. We truly have sensed "God's wholeness" and I could say it again and again that God is SO good all the time. And all the time God is SO good ...

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness. everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." {Philippians 4:6-7; The Message} 

Bye for now <3

Service Week & Thanksgiving

This last week, as you may know, was service week at our school. All of the students from K-12 were involved in serving others somehow. The older students went off campus around the Kemang area and out to serve others and build relationships. Erik lead a group of 9th graders out to a place called Kupang. They spent the week in an orphanage and nursing home. He returns later tonight and so far I have heard many positive things about his week and I am looking forward to hearing more details about what God did during their week there... We also had lots of fun in my class learning about what it means to serve others! :) Here is how our week in 1st grade looked {warning: this blog contains mass amounts of adorable pictures}

On Monday, all of the 1st grade classes (3 classes) met with some Kindy students and read to them. We talked about being good examples and what it means to show service in this way. 

 

Throughout the week we talked about what service means and how as 6 year old's we can still serve others. In our class, we focused on serving the cleaning staff at our school. We made cards for them and spent some time in the kitchen baking bars to give to them. The students had a hard time at first understanding why they didn't get any of the bars we made - but they were really excited about giving them to the cleaners when the time came. I love watching my students beginning to grasp the fact that everything isn't about them. They were sincerely excited about serving others in this way, and I hope and pray that attitude continues throughout their lives!

Getting ready to serve what we made to the cleaners ... 

We also spent time during the week talking about Thanksgiving and being thankful. We talked about the story of the 10 lepers in the Bible and the kids took time to think about all of the things they have to be thankful for. It's very easy for my students (and myself) to take for granted what we have, but I was proud to see them think of the many things they have to be thankful for.

On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving! The kids got to wear "fall" colors and our wonderful class parents made us a yummy Thanksgiving lunch to enjoy with all of the Grade 1 students. It was lots of fun!

After the yummy lunch, parents were invited into the classroom to make a craft together. We were packed! :)

Today (Friday) we wrapped up the week by reflecting on what we learned. We also spent time decorating our class for Christmas - one of my favorite things to do! {I mean it IS the only thing you should be doing after Thanksgiving day, right?!}

It was a tiring but fun and sweet week with my kiddos. I am so thankful for my job and for my wonderful co-workers and students! Thanks for continued prayers- we have 3 weeks left until Christmas break! Time is flying and we are loving life and so blessed! We love you all! 

Bye for now <3

Big Girl Decisions Part II

It's Sunday in Jakarta and we just got finished Skyping with the Fry fam. Last year, I dreaded Sunday's. I still have some rough Sunday's this year too, but they aren't near as bad. This year our wonderful church added a Saturday night service that we have attended regularly and so that has made Sunday's a relaxing, Skyping, sleeping in late, breakfast cooking, watching football kind of day {War Eagle btw}. Which is what we need. And this Sunday is even better, because we have a day off on Tuesday- so it doesn't make Monday seem so bad.

Anyway, as we were Skyping and catching up with the Fry's I realized that there is much going on in our lives right now. I have been wanting to blog about what is going on in our lives and hearts for a few weeks, but it is a little hard to talk about at this point because final decisions haven't been made officially yet. I will do my best to explain the decision process we are going through at this time, but bare with me as I may be a little vague.

Last year at about this time, I posted this blog: Big Girl Decisions. If you didn't read it, check it out. We were at a very different point in our decision making process last year. And even though this year we are feeling led differently than we were at this time last year, there are still hard and big decisions we are praying about and making, and we are feeling some of those same emotions we were feeling last year at this time. For those of you who aren't aware of the process, we sign a year by year contract. We sign our contract before the Christmas holiday (around December 14th). So as we are coming up on this big decision, here are some things you can be praying for us and with us about:

First at foremost we are seeking wisdom. We believe that there may not be a "right" or "wrong" decision in this circumstance, but we do believe strongly that God has a plan for us and we want to do what is best. Our first desire is to glorify God, so whether we stay here or move back to the States, please pray that our desire would be to honor God. It's easy to let emotions and desires (which aren't necessarily bad) seep in and cloud our decision making process. Not that we aren't letting our desires help us make our decision, but we just want to make sure that we are seeking God first throughout the process.

Be praying for the remainder of our year here. This big decision is overwhelming and exciting but we don't want it to take away from the moment we are living now. We want to be all here. We believe God has us where he has us now for a reason, and we don't want to forget that.

Once our decision about staying or going is made for sure, I will be able to ask for more specific prayer requests. I wanted to let friends and family know where we are at now. I know that even though this blog is not specific, that many of you will join us in praying. It is exciting and scary not knowing exactly what is next for us. God is working in our lives and we are excited about our next stage in life and ministry wherever that may be.

We love you all. Bye for now <3

A Letter to Teenage Girls

I am usually not one to blog about my opinions. It's not that I think it's not good to blog about opinions. I think it is mostly because I am insecure. I care wayyy too much what others think about me. And putting my thoughts and opinions about something on the internet makes me very vulnerable. But this topic has continued to be pressing me and I feel like I just need to get my thoughts out there. My hope and prayer is that this will encourage and challenge young girls. I am not claiming to be an expert in relationships or love, but I remember what it's like to be a Christian teenage girl in this generation {I have only not been a teenager for 5 years} and I hope I can offer some advice. So here goes ...

Dear teenage girl,

The first thing I want you to know is that you are created by a loving maker and you are beautiful. The Bible says that you were wonderfully made. The Message translation puts Psalm 139 like this:

"You know me inside and out you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day."

I love that! Did you know that those words are REAL and TRUE? God knew YOU before you were born. He wanted you! He planned you. And God doesn't make mistakes. So stop caring what other people say. I know it's easier said than done, trust me, I cared. I cared a lot. But looking back, I know that it doesn't matter. Is it okay to buy cute clothes, wear makeup and do your hair? Of course. Should you let it control you? Should you look in the mirror and think you're ugly in no makeup and sweat pants? No. Don't let the world tell you what to look like. Look like you want to look like. If you don't like makeup- don't wear it. If you don't like dresses- don't wear them. If you love high heels and big necklaces- wear them. Be you. God made you perfectly. You are perfect. Please believe it. Don't let boys tell you're not. If a boy ever tells you he doesn't like the way you look, if you like the way you look, then tell that boy goodbye and don't think about it. You are perfect. Period.

With that said, be modest. Good guys like it. I promise you. When I was 16ish, I liked it when guys looked at me. I liked attention. Well, I don't look back on those times and think "man, that was nice." I think back and I am embarrassed. I wish I cared more about what boys thought of my insides back then. Care about what guys think of your insides. You'll be happier. I can assure you of that.

Another thing I want you to realize, sweet girl, is that love doesn't happen like it happens in the movies or love songs. Now, don't get me wrong, I listen to Taylor Swift. A lot. And I have watched my fair share of chick flicks. But I wish I didn't listen to it as much as I did when I was in high school. Or I wish that I knew that it wasn't real. I am blessed to be married to the love of my life and my best friend. I am crazy in love with him and I think our love story is romantic and special. But sometimes, I think it's not "good enough". Does my standard of not good enough come from The Bible? Sadly, no. When I am having my insecure moments of thinking mine and Erik's love story isn't passionate or fairy tale like, I know I am comparing our relationship to the relationships in movies or love songs. I am sorry to break it to you, but realistically speaking, we don't passionately kiss in the rain. We don't slam doors when we are arguing and then passionately make up. We don't always cuddle or hold hands every second of the day. Erik doesn't stand outside my window and sing to me. We don't go on canoe rides through a lagoon. Don't get me wrong, those things aren't necessarily bad. And maybe in some relationships, things like that do happen. But not in mine. I don't think it's realistic to think that all relationships should be like that. Yes, wait for a guy who treats you special and spoils you. Wait for a guy who loves you for you. But if you are waiting for the kind of love that Taylor Swift sings about or that Nicholas Sparks writes about, I think you might either be waiting for awhile, or if you do find someone, you will end up never feeling satisfied. Do your future husband a favor and don't watch that stuff so much. Don't read romance novels for a little while. Read God's word. Make a list of standards based on God's word, not what the world says.

Girls, I am speaking to you from experience here. I know what it's like. It's still tempting for me to look in the mirror and not be happy with what I look like. It's still tempting for me to feel disappointed with Erik when he doesn't love me like the guy in the current chick flick I just watched loved the main character. I am not sure, but I believe that if I knew a little bit more about how damaging trusting in what the world tells me I am supposed to look like and act, and how my relationship with my boyfriend/fiance/husband is supposed to be like, I could have saved myself some heartache and some disappointments.

I pray this letter doesn't discourage you or make you feel guilty. I hope it reminds you how special you are. I hope it reminds that God has a wonderful plan for your life. I hope it reassures you that not all relationships are like movies. I hope it gives you hope.

Thanks for taking the time to read this letter dear one.  You are so loved.

Love, Amanda

Busyness and God's Grace

Again, here I am not believing how fast time is going by. I seriously can't believe September is almost coming to a close. I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun ... or when you're extremely busy ;). But really, this last month has been fun, wonderful, and busy.

Because Erik and I both had somewhat of big changes {Erik mostly} this year, we both feel busier. I adore teaching Grade 1, but it is a change to my schedule and routine a little bit, so that has taken some getting used to. I am excited that my kiddos can actually do writing assignments, take spelling tests, and do homework, but it makes for more grading! :) Erik has been very busy getting the sports program underway and he is working hard on the PE curriculum as well as head coaching the basketball team. I am a proud wife for sure - he is definitely the best Sports Coordinator I know! With teaching, planning, grading, meetings, practices, tournaments, and emails to keep up with, sometimes I feel like I never see my husband. A few weeks ago, all the busyness hit me and I had a thought that this is how the whole year was going to be. Never seeing each other. Never spending any quality time {yes, I am dramatic and think NEVER when it's actually not never}. Thankfully, I have a WONDERFUL husband who knows how to love me and make me feel better. He has truly done an amazing job at balancing work and home. It is hard, and we are still working on it, but I am so blessed by a husband who cares for my needs and does his best to be the best husband he can be - and the best teacher/coach/co-worker he can be.

Besides having a husband who does such a good job of making me feel secure and loved during this busy time, I also have a wonderful Creator Father who has blessed us with many unexpected blessings this year. Since we started consistently going to our church {IES South} we have really wanted to join a life group. The opportunity presented itself again this year, and we felt led to join one. We have only met twice but man, have we been blessed by it so far. We get to go meet in a real house, enjoy fellowship with 6 other believers that work with us at school, and about 15 other believers of all different ages, from all different types of places. It is a refreshing and much needed night out during the week. At first, I was dreading adding "one more thing" to our list of things to do, but I can already see how the Lord is going to bless us and grow us during this sweet time of fellowship with our church family.

Each year we are also blessed by old friendships and new. I was so excited to come back this year to dear friends that we have worked with for 1-2 years now, and to meet new ones. I have said this before, but God has used my girlfriends these past 2 years to bless and encourage me in ways that I wasn't expecting. I am already being blessed by the sweet friends in my life this year and I am so thankful for them and how they also help me cope with the busyness. Not only do we enjoy investing in and spending time with our friends, we have already enjoyed spending time with our students. I am loving my Grade 1's and each day I fall more in love with them. I have also been able to spend some time with some Senior School girls which is really fun for me! :)

God is really oh so God to us. Even with the busyness of this year, I feel God's presence and I know he is working in our individual lives and in our marriage. A couple specific prayer requests:

~ Erik is overloaded with planning and organizing. He has a lot on his plate and sometimes feels like he doesn't have time to get it all done. He never complains about this (not even to me hardly) but I know he sometimes has a hard time not feeling stressed out. Please pray that he would feel the Lord's peace and presence as he continues to work hard at developing and organizing the sports and PE program. Pray for wisdom as he desires to balance working with all his heart, but making sure he leaves time for God, me, and relaxing :)
~ Pray for me as I continue to get in the swing of things with Grade 1. I am feeling great about how it is going so far, but please pray for me as I am learning new curriculum and trying to figure out the best way to help 6 year old's learn what they need to!
~ Pray for us as we are studying The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren with our life group. Please pray with us that we would be open to the Lord's plan for our life - especially at this time when we are praying about what he has next for us.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and love. We constantly feel them!

And of course ... I would never blog without pictures of some sort ;) So, here are a couple pics of my sweet kiddos!

 

In Science we have been learning about plants. We talked about their environment and then we took a little "field trip" to our school pool and observed the plants in their environment.

 Doing mosaic art and just being plain adorable :)

Well that's about all from me, folks. OH .. one more thing ... only 19 days left until Erik and I are on a plane to this place ...

 

Praise the Lord for Tokyo, Mickey Mouse , and a vacay with just my best friend and me! 

Well bye for now my friends <3

Independence Day and Grade 1

Today our school celebrated Indonesia's Independence Day. The holiday is actually on August 17, but we celebrated today with lots of fun! Our wonderful national teachers planned a fun day for us and my kiddos had a blast!

Meet my 23 adorable, hyper, sweet, Grade 1's :) And my wonderful  partner teacher, Ibu Putri. I do not know what I would do without her

In the gym, ready for the games to start!

Tug of war ... We didn't win, but the effort was definitely there :)

Ping-pong ball cup relay. Good teamwork!

One of my cuties ready for the sack race. She was so fast!

Balloon relay. Love these girls :)

The final event of the games was called macan krupuk. Which basically means eat crackers. I think you can get the idea from the pictures. It was adorable and hilarious. 

As you can see, I have an adorable class. I have officially been a Grade 1 teacher for 8 days and I am LOVING it. I definitely miss some things about Kindy, but I feel very comfortable with 1st grade. I am so thankful for my other Grade 1 teachers and I am loving working as a team. I am also very excited about the content in Grade 1 - I am ready to move on from the ABC's ;) I am excited that I have kids who can do fun assignments like this ...

In Science we have been talking about living & non-living things and we worked in groups to make posters. We presented them in front of the class :)

In Bible, we did an introduction to the Bible and God/Jesus. We asked them who God was and we came up with some words together. These were two examples that I loved!

I am sure this year will bring challenges, but I am so thankful and blessed to be teaching Grade 1 and I am SO excited about what the rest of this year will hold.

Please be praying for Erik and I as we continue to get settled into this year. It takes awhile to get back in the swing of things. Thanks so much for your prayers - they are always appreciated. Love you all!

Bye now now <3

Maria's Big House of Hope

It's hard to even know where to start. Maria's is such a hard place to describe to someone. I will start by saying, it was nothing like I expected. I don't actually really know what I was expecting, but when I walked into Maria's I realized I wasn't expecting to see what I saw and feel what I felt. Maria's is a special care unit for special needs children. Even though I knew this I was still a little shocked at first to see so many children in need. Through the sadness and the hurt there, there is also much hope. After the first day at Maria's I didn't think I could do 4 more days there. I thought I would be too sad. But, I was amazed at how God worked. I truly did see joy and hope in that place. All week, there was this one room that I didn't like going in because of a really sick/sad child. On the last day as we were saying our goodbye's we went into that room. I was dreading it but God did something wonderful. As we were sitting on the floor playing with some other kids, I looked over at the sick child and to my delight she was smiling. Her nanny was over there tickling her and she was actually smiling and laughing. In that moment God whispered into my heart his promise that He is at Maria's and He is watching over all those kiddos. The sad truth is that not all the children at Maria's have a happy ending in the eyes of the world. Even though that thought is extremely overwhelming to me, God really showed me {again} that He is so good. Seeing God's goodness even in extreme sadness is hard to explain. But that is what I experienced at Maria's .. I experienced God's goodness, even in the midst of extreme sadness. 

I was so  blessed by the opportunity we had to visit Maria's and see the amazing work that goes on there. The staff there are true heroes. They are some of the most selfless, humble, and genuinely loving people I have ever met. The sacrifice they are making is inspiring to say the least. Erik and I were both challenged to ask ourselves if we live that way. I am still processing exactly what God wants me to "take away" from this whole experience. Erik has actually asked to write a little bit more about this {about  his experience and the "take away"}. I know he will do a great job of explaining how we both feel about what God is teaching us through our experience at Maria's ... 

This is my very first blog appearance (I'm feeling a bit nervous...haha). 

I agree with Amanda. It is very difficult to find words  to describe an experience like being at Maria's. I will start by saying God moved. He moved us to tears. He moved us to laughter. He moved us past numbness into pain and then into His comfort. He moved me to love without holding back.  I will not say that I have learned all that He will have me learn from this trip. I feel like I'll still be processing a few years (or decades) from now. But one thing I do know is that God is working. He's working through the staff to show hope to the beautiful boys and girls that call Maria's home. He's working through Dr. Steve and the four nurses who are in a constant state of self-sacrifice so that these kiddos can have life. He's working through the children to teach people like me to trust, to love, to rest in His goodness. He's working through the nannies there (though they may not know it) to provide the kids with the special care that they need.

Being at Maria's really helped to put life into perspective. God does not create life without purpose. That would be outside His nature. Every child at Maria's has a purpose. My natural tendency is to question God. "Why would you create this child with this disease?" "How can you allow this baby to be in pain?" "What is the purpose of bringing this child into this world only to have him leave it in such a short time?" I think these questions are normal and commonly asked in the face of pain and suffering. But God is so good. He is perfect. He is just. And he has a purpose for every child at Maria's. He loves and cares for every child at Maria's infinitely more than I ever could. 

Even after writing this it's still hard to come up with specific "take aways". I am blessed to have had the opportunity to play with and hug these beautiful kids. I'm challenged to love deeply and without censor. I'm reminded that God is good all the time and that His plan is always better than my plan. I'm humbled to have met the people that truly make Maria's a Big House of Hope. 

Please pray for Amanda and I as we consider what God has for us in our future. We want to be open to His calling on our lives wherever that may take us. Pray for the kids at Maria's, that their conditions would be healed and that they would be matched with forever families. Pray for Dr. Steve and the nurses who are giving care to the kiddos.

Well... blogging's not so bad I suppose... perhaps I'll try it again sometime. :) E-Frizzle signing off...

I knew he would be a good blogger :) .. Thanks for taking the time to read about our time at Maria's. Thanks for the continued prayers and love. We love you all. 

Bye for now <3 

*If you would like to see a video I put together with pictures of the children at Maria's - please e-mail me {erikandamandafry@gmail.com}, Facebook me, or if you see me in real life, I will be glad to show it to you personally :). Thanks again to those of you who supported us financially and to those of you who supported us through prayer. We couldn't have had this experience without you!*  

Psalm 37:4

At this time last year I thought that this time this year would look a lot different. If everything would have gone the way I "planned" I would have a pregnant belly right now and Erik and I would be packing up our apartment and wrapping up our time here in Indonesia. But, God had another plan in mind for us. As many of you know, towards the beginning of this year, Erik and I had to decide whether we were going to sign our contract for another year here. It was a tough few weeks and months for me as I began to feel that God was leading us to stay for another year. I say it was tough because at that time I didn't want to. I wanted to start a family and be done teaching. I wanted to move back to the "comfort" of America. I wanted to be with my family. The more and more Erik and I talked and prayed, a strange thing began to happen.My feelings began to change. I began to get excited (I couldn't believe it) about staying. And slowly I even began to feel that I didn't even want to go back to the States yet. I wanted to stay in Indonesia. I wanted to continue to teach at SPH. And I began to get very excited about signing our contract to stay. God did an amazing work in my heart. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of you heart ..." And that is exactly what he did. My desires slowly turned into his desires and I experienced a peace about our decision that I can't explain. Now, as I write this I am very emotional thinking about all of it. God is so faithful and good.

So, am I still feeling this way now as we close out this year and prepare to head home for the summer and then back for another school year? Absolutely. I am even more excited about next year than I was. Not to say that I don't believe next year will hold challenges - I know it will. Next year will bring some great changes that Erik and I are both really excited about. Erik will officially be the Athletic Coordinator at our school. While this will bring new responsibilities, Erik is so excited. He will organize all the sports and coaches (planning and organizing tournaments, games, and practices) and he will also oversee the PE program, meaning he will develop the PE curriculum and make sure it is being implemented. And I will be teaching Grade 1!! Yep, I am moving up from Kindy! I am SO excited and a little nervous for the change. I will get to teach with Katie (woo hoo) and also a new teacher coming to our school whose name is Peter (who I actually know and worked with at Corban). We are going to be an awesome Grade 1 team! :) The sad thing is that I no longer get to work with my wonderful Mia, but I do get to work with another teacher who I know and will be wonderful! Another change that is a little sad is that some teachers I am close to will be leaving Indonesia. My good friend Lindsey and others will be dearly missed, but I have hope we will cross paths again in the future. With people leaving that means new people are coming! Some good friends of ours are moving here and we are SO excited :). A change that we will not have this year that we are really excited about is that we will not be moving! Erik and I haven't lived in the same apartment for more than 1 year since we have been married so I am very excited that I am not packing up an apartment and that we will come back to the same place in July. I love our apartment and I am loving being able to make it more and more homey.

As we finish up this year in the next 3 weeks I am hoping they go by quickly, but I also don't want to wish away this precious time I have with friends and my sweet kiddos. In my classroom we still have some fun things to look forward to like friends visiting from another school, and of course an end of the year party. We will also be busy wrapping up the year with grades and other end of the year matters. Erik and I have been blessed this year beyond measure and I can honestly say that I am so looking forward to returning next year. For those of you wondering, we don't know what the year after next will look like. I am working on not making my own "plans" and really leaving it up to God. I will keep you all updated as we near our next time of decision making :).

And, what's a blog without pictures? So, here are just a couple of things that have been happening in the life of Erik and Amanda over the last few weeks:

Me and 7 other girls went to Bali for a weekend getaway to celebrate 2 of our friends who are getting married. It was a great weekend with wonderful friends! A great way to end out the year.

While I was in Bali, Erik, Chris, and Glenn headed off to hike an active volcano. They had a great time :) 

Last weekend was spent watching a softball tournament. Even though it doesn't feel exactly the same as a ball field in America and even though the results weren't what the guys were hoping for, we still had a great time!

Well, that about does it for now I think. I still can't believe that I am writing our "wrap up" of the year blog. This year flew by. I am counting down the days until I get to wrap my arms around my family and we are both so excited about a break from teaching for awhile. AND we can't wait for the opportunity we have to visit an orphanage in China at the end of the summer {to know more about that please see my blog titled "We're Going to China" that I wrote back in January}. Please keep us in your prayers as we wrap up this year and get ready to head home for the summer. We love you all. 

Bye for now <3