Rawwwwr

You'd never think seniors would enjoy a clown birthday party but they really are for all ages! My best friend had 2 clowns at her party and I don't think I've ever had so much fun at a party!! We got our faces painted! 

We got matching lions!! 

Hiking

Since we've been here we have done a lot of hiking! The sign on this mountain said it was 2 miles to the top but I know we hiked at least 14 miles and still didn't reach the top!…you can never trust those signs! 

Me and the boys made it about a mile and a half and we were dead!

And this is mom 

And zoomed in.… she it the little white speck

She didn't quite make it to the top cause her asthma kicked in

And naturally after our hard earned exercise we needed a gigantic slice of chocolate cake!

Winter in the desert

while we have been here it has been shocking to see how they decorate…like putting Santa hats on the top of cactuses! 

This is the tallest tree in the nation! It has a grand total of 6000 ornaments…just imagine putting those on 

We visited these gingerbread houses and you can't really tell but they are big enough that a 5or 6 year old could fit in 

As part of our Christmas present we went on a Segway tour of old town Scottsdale! If traveling to Phoenix I strongly recommend it! 

Christmas Eve!

Its not very often when you can sun bathe on Christmas Eve! I even got a tan line! For those of you freezing your buns off, I am truly sorry! 

Hot tubbing! 

Family friends of ours have a house in Phoenix and graciously allowed us to stay! This is the incredible view from their backyard! Although I do love my tan line, it just isn't the same without snow on Christmas! 

Phoenix!

This year for Christmas we all decided (or mostly I prodded) that we didn't need any gifts…so instead we are heading to Phoenix!  Both grandparents are there and my aunt! But I think the best part will be warm temperatures! Tonight in the great city of Omaha it is -3…and when our plane lands it will be a cozy 72! Ahhhh! It sounds heavenly!  

Twins

I don't think I ever shared this story... This story that has really changed my life and opened my eyes to impossible possibilities!

When in the Philippines, at one particular distribution there were so many children that we split the kids into two separate groups in two separate rooms. Even with separate areas there were about 300 kids per room. In my area we had the kids come up to get their box based on age group and at the end of the line were 2 twin girls. We got the first one through the line but ran out of boxes for the very last girl, so we told her to sit down and we ran over to the other area to get her another box. We gave it to her and the program proceeded without much thought. 

Later when we were walking around, I went over to the girls and the two twin girls were holding up pictures from two twins in America.....

Now take a minute and think of the journey this box went through..

1) the family packs the boxes and drops them of at the church

2) the boxes are picked up from the church along with many boxes from other churches to be delivered to the packing site

3) at the packing site thousand of boxes are thrown every which way with many people going through them and conveyor belts running wild

4) the boxes are shipped over seas to the different countries

5) the boxes spend weeks going through inspections in customs

6) the boxes arrive in the country at the national housing facility and are sorted by the team into all the different groups of boxes to go to different churches and schools

7) the boxes travel to the school or church and are separated out into the different age groups and gender

8) depending on how many kids, the boxes are separated again into smaller sections

.....I have truly witnessed a miracle! There is no possible way that this could have happened with out God! That the boxes even ended up in the same country is a miracle let alone the same school, but to have one girl make it through the line and not the other and then that there was even another distribution at the same school and to happen to grab the EXACT box?!?! 

The most important thing you can do is pray over your boxes. Pray about what to put in them, where they go, and that they make it to the right child! Miracles really do happen and they will with your help! So PACK BOXES!!!! I hope through this blog you have seen the need that I saw and been inspired as I have! The shoe box is such a simple way to fill such a big need! 

Collection week is next week which means there is still time!!! Fill some boxes and watch the miracles God has in store! 

Last homecoming!!

Today was the LAST homecoming!! Me and my 2 Hannah friends took the 2 German foreign exchange students! It was super fun! They'd never been to a homecoming before and we took them to Olive Garden! I will now be traveling to Germany to visit them :)