Jason's Birthday

Jason did kinda doze off occasionally after his long drive down to MO from Wisconsin...
His laptop will most likely be his constant companion for every trip he makes.
Jason wanted lemon merangue pie for his birthday - instead of cake. Jason turned 19 on the 24th of Nov. We're proud of you, Jason!!

Thanksgiving -Family fun

We had 8 "family" members here for Thanksgiving : Only Jason (our own kids) was able to come, but Kathy, Andrew and Phillip Schuring (cousins) came, as well as Dan's folks. We put together a puzzle...
The guys played Risk a couple of times...
We visited Ha Ha Tonka State park nearby....It was cold and windy but the sunshine made it beautiful and "bearable" .... I love mountains and overlooking the lakes and a clear stream at the bottom, which we walked clear down to see up close. Dan says he could fix up that stone "mansion" (that was burned before it was ever finished) and we'd have a fine house with plenty of guest rooms :) They tossed a frisbee as we mosey-ed along, taking pix and dreamed of past and future places we've lived and where we may some day end up...
This Thanksgiving our hearts are full of gratitude to God for His goodness and for all of the many "extras" He continually blesses us with.

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MTC Life and Joy's B-day visit

This is chapel. The praise team do a great job on our twice weekly chapel hours - leading the group in choruses with their band (which you can't see, to the left up front.)
I am delighted with my "just becuz" gift from my Love - my own laptop :)
We made a quick weekend trip to Lexington to celebrate Joy's 22nd b-day ( actually on the 30th) Sorry about the fuzziness. I forgot the camera outside in the car and so when I brot it in to take the pix it clouded up. Should have waited til it got the temp. of inside, but I was in a hurry :( and didn't realize it would turn out this way. "Live and learn."

Joy's visit

Joy flew to Springfield and we picked her up on Sat. morning this past weekend. (15th) We had a wonderful-but-too-fast two days with Joy "catching up" and showing her around campus. We were invited to Bud and Trenna Bowleys for supper Sat. nite...and enjoyed our evening with their family of two small girls. Trenna took the pix of Joy, Dan and I on their back deck. Bowleys live in the woods -a beautiful and secluded spot, which is peaceful and reminds us of Brasil...(especially living in the jungle with the Waiapi people.)

Our first visitors here in MO

We enjoyed a visit from Dan's cousin, Sam and his wife Debbie Mathes. They used to live in this area and in fact attended the church we are now attending. They have some friends from the church with whom they were staying, and they (Tim and Jan ) had an open house potluck on Sat. afternoon in Sam and Debbie's honor. We were also invited. It is neat to be developing friendships with the very friendly folks at our church.

On Sunday afternoon we went for a long cruise on the lake in Tim and Jan's boat - along with Sam and Debbie. There are some gorgeous homes to admire along the shores...it was a beautiful afternoon to enjoy God's handiwork and to enjoy family and friends. GOD is awesome and He delights to give us these "extra pleasures."

Life in Missouri is interesting

This is the closest P.O. to the campus...just a few miles up the road. I've sent packages to Africa to our daughters and grandkids from here :)
Last week Dan helped Phillip "train" his horse - first they had to wear him out so Phillip could mount and ride him. Phillip had been "breaking in" this horse last semester but he had a lazy summer on his own so he needed to learn who was boss again. Phillip says he rides well once you finally mount him :)

This third pix was taken on Friday, "7 de Setembro" when we were celebrating Brasil's Independence Day, wearing green and yellow and my hat had "Brasil" on it (which didn't show well on the pix.) Micah and Kristy came to pick up their baby girl, Sophia, from Nursery, where I had been "on duty" for my weekly Friday mornings in the Nursery Childcare. The baby girl I'm holding is a Ketcham ...her parents are students here...she had on her "Brasilian" tee-shirt on Friday too.

Getting geared up for Classes...

I brot some mint plants from Iowa (that Mom Schuring gave me)and Dan planted them for me...delightful in iced tea. It's hot here in August!! We've had over 100 degrees recently!

On Mon. the 6th, we had our staff kick-off breakfast, followed by some orientation etc. This semester there will be 155 students. The staff group that you see here are not all teachers...some work in the office, bookstore, maintaince/construction, the M.K. ed center, etc. There are 98 "family units" on staff plus 155 children on campus.

Dan drove to Springfield airport to pick up a student on Friday. Students should all be in today - classes begin tomorrow. (20th) The campus parking lots are filling up with vehicles.

P.S. Just in case you're like me - not too familiar with the wonders of comp. tech. and blogspots...you can click on the pix to have it enlarge and have a better view - pretty neat, eh?!

Driving Home this morning

These condos are available for you to come visit us . (not really)
When you see this Davis Baskets sign start looking to your right for our turn-off.
This sign signals - slow down and prepare to turn right off of Hwy 54
Here's our turn-off sign -AA. This winding road will take you down to the lake campus MTC where we live now. Anyone want to come visit?

More Pix of our Sun.morn. drive

Just some tourist attractions to tempt our family and friends to come visit us here.
We arrive at church this morning. A friendly country church tucked into the hills.
This one's for Scott (I know how you like fireworks :)
But just in case one of them gets "out of hand" there's a backup plan...

Continuing on into town

Just another view of the roadside cliffs...
We come to the Main Intersection of Camdenton...
Just in case you might think the MO intersections look uniquely different than other cities :)
This is where we had to get our cars registered for MO as well as other business when we became official "Missourians."

Pix of our area

Well, here goes. A tour of our drive to Church and back today :) As we head up the winding roads from MTC (Mission Training Center) heading into town (Camdenton) we pass the first entrance into the mission campus up ahead.
We get to the Stop sign at Hwy 54. We'll take a left into town.
A beautiful golf course along the road (where we get our weekly exercise and practice good sportsmanship. Just kidding.)
Crossing the bridge -with marina along shore. (yeah, taken thru the window with reflections of my arm. I never claimed to be a pro photographer. I'm learning, tho. :) More pix coming...

Scenes from our new home Campus

Marv K. took us on a platoon boat "cruise" on the lake in front of the Campus...along with my sister, Gwen's family. Gwen and Joel Hartman and there three kids (Sarah, David, and Natalie) visited us here for a few days. We had a wonderful time "catching up" and getting to know Joel and their kids. (We had only met them for the first time since Gwen was married...at the airport returning from Brasil for Jason's graduation!)
The classroom and office building. (Our apartment is to the right, up on a hill)
Sister Gwen and I. Yeah, I know it's blurry - sorry. My camera is temperamental :)
Sarah (on the right) will be attending NTBI in Waukesha with Jason. We hope to be a "home away from home" for her while she is in Bible School and her folks return to the Yanomami tribal work in W. Brazil. Natalie (sophmore at P.Q.Q. boarding school) and her brother David (senior) will be returning to Brazil with their folks.

MOVED to NTM Camdenton,MO

We drove down to Camdenton, MO from Pella, IA on the 18th. We are living in the right upstairs apartment of the fourplex building in the top left pix. The view from our living room and kitchen windows is beautiful, looking down across the campus, with the mountains on the other side of the lake visible from our windows. Right behind us is the wooded hill with the service road entry to the ntm training Institute campus along the lake. We have a three-bedroom apartment - with a guest room for our friends and family to visit!! :) Dan and I received a warm welcome and we were amazed with the immediate helpfulness in unloading our U-haul and truck when we arrived on Wednesday. God is good. All the time. GOD IS GOOD.

Dan and Jason work on rental house

The guys have worked long days for the past several weeks and have gotten alot done on our rental house. They sanded down the outside walls on three sides of the house -and re-painted. (one side was done last summer.) They re-finished the hardwood floors downstairs, tore out old carpet upstairs and put in new "fake" wood floors upstairs, gave the front a new look by raising up the peaked porch roof, and also extended the peaks on both ends of the house. Dan put in two new windows, a new front door, a new 'back' (side) door. It's looking great. We hope to have it all done and rented out again, Lord willing, before we move to Camdenton, Mo, mid-July.