March!

Really the only reason why there has been a lag in updates is because Wil and I have been kept quite busy planning for the mission trip to Mexico and I've kept myself busy taking pictures, hanging out with junior high girls, and keeping the house lookin' good.  Winter is already melting away, and the farmers are out once again, spraying the wheat fields and watering/fertilizing/whatever.  The landscape of the surrounding area has changed dramatically in just a few short weeks from frozen and bleak to warmed-over and green.  I should have taken a picture when I first noticed the difference.  It's been about a week now that things are looking brighter around here.  You can kind of tell where fertilizer and GMO's have taken root, because the crops are significantly brighter/greener than anything else around them.

All that to say, days here are brighter and life is sweeter now that Soren and I can be outside without bundling up for five minutes beforehand.  We can lay on a blanket outside and bask in the sun and not be chilled by the wind.  It's getting better.

The girls came over last week and, like usual, we took pictures around town.  Then we went to the River Park which is about a mile outside of town.  There is an AMAZING tire swing out there that deserves a picture.

I gave a close-up so you can see just how awesome this thing is.  It's tethered to a tree about three stories high.  That is probably an exaggeration, but it feels huge.

Wednesdays are good days.  I hang out with these girls, and then we go to Community Youth Group.  I think I've told you this before.

Anyway, last week we played some crazy game in which Wil lost his toenail.

This is the game.  The goal is to try to get everyone else to hit the trashcan.  It's quite strange.  Wil's big toe is black and blue because things got too rowdy and someone stepped on his foot.  Poor guy.

Okay, I know why you really read this blog:

Soren's 5 months now!  He's getting cooler every day.  Yes, he is crawling.  Slowly.  But he's up on all fours and scoots around.  Hasn't quite mastered the left-right-left-right thing yet, but it's not too long for him.  He's also sitting up a bit on his own.  Above is him slumped down right after a few successful minutes of sitting upright.

So, basically, he's growing just like a baby should.  :)

Sorry.  In keeping a blog about my family, it's easy to get so involved in every detail of Soren's life that I end up writing ten paragraphs about every little thing he does.  I'm trying to avoid the annoying "my baby is the perfect baby and there has never been a more beautiful perfect baby" attitude.

You gotta admit, though.  He is a cutie.

We're getting closer and closer to leaving for Mexico.  We'll be in the state of Coahuila come this Saturday.  Eek.  Then we'll be gone for two and a half weeks.  Double eek.  So, in conclusion, don't expect any updates for a while.

I leave you with this.  It rained today for the second time since we've been here.  It rained ALL DAY.  When it finally eased up, it was about 6 o'clock and the sun was casting such a beautiful light that I had to go check it out with the camera.  This was taken on the street in front of our house from a low angle.

Love you guys.  Please pray for us while we are in Mexico.  Here are some things we could use prayer for:
- That God would be glorified
- That my translating would be effective, understood, and that it would bring glory to God
- For our team (Doug, Wil, Myself, Jessica, Soren, Matthew, Krista, Shannon, Samantha, Cameron)
- For the Mexican people, that they will be blessed by us and us by them
- For all cultural boundaries to be broken
- For patience and flexibility
- For good health, good attitude, a willing servant heart, a love for the Mexican people
- That God would be glorified :)

Wonderful hospitality, weekend of solitude

From last Thursday to last Saturday, Wil was in Colorado for a Youth Pastor's Conference preparing for Summit this December.  The more he tells me about it, the more excited I get!  It sounds like it's going to be a really refreshing, relevant conference for youth and young adults.  I won't reveal any of the cool details just yet!

Anyway, so he was gone and Soren and I were left in Argonia to hang out together.  It was a good weekend.  One day was warm enough outside that I was able to have lunch and read out on the porch while Soren took a nap.  Those kind of days are still kind of a rarity right now in Kansas, so I jump at any opportunity to be outside, even if it's only warm for an hour or so.

One of the Neifert daughters is a killer piano player and made it to State this year.  The big day was last Saturday, so Soren and I met up with her and all her family at Wichita State to watch her dominate with Rachmaninoff's prelude in c# minor.  She got a II, but she totally deserved a I.  Everyone I heard there could have gotten a I in my opinion. Really incredible students.  Here's the auditorium where she played.

After the performance, I was planning on sticking around downtown Wichita for a few hours until Wil got back into town.  But then I got a phone call telling me that the weather was so bad that he wouldn't get back until 9 or 10!  I wasn't sure what to do.  It's about an hour back to Argonia and I didn't feel like making that trip twice. 

Connie and Gary, the grandparents of the Neifert girls, live in Wichita and invited me over to hang out until Wil got back.  I'm so glad I decided to join them!  I had a great time at their place.  They served me lunch, we hung out and chit-chatted about their time serving as missionaries in Africa, and then I got to take a great long nap with li'l Soren.  Then we had dinner and went to the church-wide bowling party in Cheney (that's right, we drive 30 minutes to another town to the one and only bowling alley for miles and miles).

Sunday was a normal day of church, nap, and more church.  Monday was Wil's day off.  Monday night we both had a horrible sweet tooth and decided to make some caramel popcorn.

Pop some popcorn.

Google "caramel popcorn recipes"

Make awesome caramel coating and pour it in a bag of popcorn:

Shake it up.

Examine the goods.

so good!  A great midnight snack!

Today was one of those misleading days where it was absolutely beautiful outside, drawing us outdoors, only to be immensely sorry we went outside in the first place because it was FREEZING!  We realized this about halfway to the park with Soren and Leon.

This guy needed to get outside, though.  He was getting crazy cabin fever.

Soren wasn't liking the wind very much...understandably so!

After this shot we ran for home!  Luckily it's only a block away!  I love living in a small town.  :)

A lot can happen in 10 days!

Sorry for the delay, family!  When we first got here I felt like we weren't ever doing anything and I was starting to get nervous.  Believe it or not our schedule is filling up fast now.  With a few things thrown in here and there, here is how our schedule generally looks after being up at the church all day on Sunday:

Monday & Tuesday Wil is off.  On Mondays we go into Wichita to kind of take a break from our quaint little town and get some grocery shopping done, peruse the city and discover fun little shops and family owned restaurants.  On Tuesdays we stick around Argonia and just sort of take it easy, preparing for Wednesday and any weekend events that are coming up.

Wednesday is a full day too!  The jr high kiddos come over after school and hang out, play cards, eat popcorn and drink plenty of soda.  Then we all head on over to the Methodist Church for Community Youth Group from 6-9.  6-7:30 is the Jr. High.  7:30-9 is High School.  During Community Youth Group someone presents a short lesson and then we play a game.  (Just so you know, I've played more games since I've lived here than I have my entire life.  Not an exaggeration.)

Thursday is a little slower.  Wil works a lot in his office (downstairs)...I end up cleaning up whatever's left from the shenanigans the night before.  Thursday is usually open for basketball games or whatever other random thing is going on.

Friday is basketball day.  We're down the street at the high school gym from about 4-9 every Friday, cheering on the infamous Lady Raiders (and Boy Raiders too, but the Lady Raiders are the real hosses).

Saturday is usually occupied by some event.  Bowling Parties, Quiz tournaments, etc.

This weekend, Wil is gone on a Youth Pastor's Retreat in Colorado...so I'm really just taking it easy.  I'm kind of enjoying the alone time (I think we both are).  Despite the schedule I just laid out for you, there's a lot about this job that is sort of last minute, which is fine, but after a while the lack of consistency can be kind of draining.  It's just bad for Wil and I because we both love to make detailed calendars and lists and have everything planned out.  ;)  Don't get me wrong.  We LOVE this place and Wil loves his job (who wouldn't?  It's stinkin awesome!).  But it's a challenge and it's new, to us and to every single person in Argonia.  Keep us in your prayers!

In other news, Soren is a-growin!  I keep trying to get him to crawl.  I put a toy a foot or two out of his reach, but he ends up just scooting in a circle and if he's close enough, he just grabs the toy and pulls it to his mouth.  The little toot.

Besides Mondays, Wednesday is probably my favorite day of the week.  The jr high kids really make my day...I mean REALLY.  This week we played charades.  At first it was slow going.  We were having trouble coming up with fun ideas...and then Wil and I decided to just get plain weird...that's what we're good at anyway.  So, we made them act out a few interesting scenes:

This one was done by Krissy...I think she did a fabulous job. :)

Here's Faith trying to get them to guess "riding on a motorcycle with a bear"

They were having a hard time.

My personal favorite: "making a peanut butter sandwich with a lizard in your ear"

Ah man, good times.

Last week, Wil and I took a drive around Kansas to get some shots with my zoom lens.  We passed a few herds of cows, so I got out and headed into the field a tiny bit, just to get a better view.  I have a zoom lens but it's not a telescope.  Anyway, this dude saw me and was NOT happy.  He watched me like a hawk the whole time.  SO, I left.  Didn't want to cause a stampede!

Then we stumbled upon a nice feed lot and I got some great shots there.  Here's one I like.

Anyway, that's about it.  I'll try to update more often!

Un breve descanso

Today started out with 4 shots.

First day with our new pediatrician in Wichita.  He's great!  I think we'll stick with him.  Today was vaccination day, unfortunately.  Soren did great, actually.  I was the one who couldn't handle it.  Seriously, sometimes I do believe the whole, "this hurts me more than it hurts you" thing.  Anyway, the nurse was superrrrr fast and I mean "super-rápido!"  Four shots in probably 4 seconds flat.  She had it down.  Soren didn't even know what hit him.  He was done crying a minute later.  I'm proud of him and thankful for an awesome nurse!

Micah lives about 2 hours away and since it's Wil's day off, he stopped by for a visit.

Micah is amazing on the guitar.  Not an exaggeration.

He was here ten minutes before he opened up this beauty:

Leon was all too curious.

Then we went BACK into Wichita for some dinner and adventure.

This is where we ate.

These are the pictures that I'm most proud of today...and I took a LOT of pictures today.  I feel like my photos are stuck in a pattern that I can't get out of.  I do a lot of face-front portraits that are underexposed and pretty generic.  I'm trying really hard to get some fresh angles, varied lighting, and better details.  I'm still doing the 365-photo-a-day project and I think it's really helping, but there are a lot of days where I just take snapshots instead of really challenging myself.  Granted, I don't have all day to really look for the "perfect picture", but I could put forth a little more effort.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the shots!

"Who would bring a book into a cave?"

LOST Premier!!  WE LOVED!

If you were watching carefully, you would have seen that the book in the cave was "Fear and Trembling" by Soren Kierkegaard, Soren's namesake!  This was Soren's first, last, and only LOST Premier...a very special event for us!

I'm thinking about getting a list of all the books mentioned on LOST and reading the literature that inspired the series.  I love LOST and this season looks like it's going to be AWESOME!!  :)

We discovered some other LOST fans today!

Kayla & Paul came over today for a visit and stayed for dinner.  We discussed the intricacies of LOST, ate some tacos, and watched some good ol' comedy.

Here's Jason & his daughter.

He and his wife are expecting another little one any day now!!  We are so excited to meet him or her!

Soren made a new friend.

Check THIS out!

Jasper caught this little guy in a trap earlier this week.  He's having him stuffed, but he brought him by today to show to us.  Pretty stinkin' cool.

Overall, a good couple of days this week :)

Learning some Mason Jennings. Exploring the cold.

This was Sunday night

It was called a "Singspiration".  Basically anyone who wanted to could come up and sing or play something for the church.  This guy busted out a hand saw and serenaded us.

It also snowed again.

It snowed REAL GOOD this time and it stayed for nearly a week.  Near the end of it, frost set in over the trees and made this place look like Narnia.

It's melting away now, which means I'll be able to get back out and run.

This picture is for Poppy!

He was thoroughly inspecting the baseball...even tasted it a little bit.

Wil is learning how to play some Mason Jennings.

It's cool that part of his job is that both of play on Sundays.  We get a lot of practice in during the week.

This picture is for Gramps!

And this one is for everybody.

Happy Tuesday!

Some things that make me happy, and some that make me laugh