Thursday two weeks ago, Josh left for a 12-day research trip in Raleigh, NC. Josh and Lap (one of his Jarai consultants) spent their time gathering language data from the Jarai that live there. Josh and Lap were able to stay with Lap’s parents. Becca and I didn’t want to spent all our time alone at home, so we took a week visit to PA to be with my family. We had a late-night flight on Friday and didn’t get to my parents’ home until 2:30am. Becca was wonderful on the flights – a ball of energy!

Saturday we visited with Emily. She was participating in a two-week CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) summer missionary training camp. We spent time with her during her free time in between training weeks.

Monday we went to NJ and visited with my Grandma and Uncle John and many other Sutter family members. Uncle John made Becca her very own milkshake – she loved it!

While we were in PA, Uncle Joey came home from D.C. to visit with us. Becca warmed up to him, once she realized he would let her play with his phone and computer.

During our stay, my dad got out a drum and cymbal for Becca to play. She loved it! Also during the week, Mom and I worked on some wall hangings for Becca’s room. My mom is the sewing genius; I was just the “factory worker” sewing straight lines, etc. If it were completely up to me, the product wouldn’t have been half as nice. I’m really pleased with what we made and how it brightens up Becca’s room!

We had a great time with my parents! They treated us royally. It was nice to spend time with them without a large number of people around. We kept pretty busy the days when we were there. My dad kept the fridge stocked with my favorite pickles (I’m starting Becca on them too!), made sure we always had a lot to eat (late night fried chicken and Chinese food), and bought tiny ice cream cones for Becca (seriously, they were the size of my thumb!).

But being without Josh for 12 days was dreadful! 12 hours is bad enough, but 12 days! This was the longest we’ve been apart since marriage and I’m not looking forward to the next research trip! I cannot express how delighted we were to have Josh come home Monday evening! It’s good to have my man back!

Today we celebrate three wonderful years of marriage. God has blessed me with the most amazing husband in the world. Darling, thank you so much for choosing me to be your wife. I am honored by your love and so delighted that I am your wife. You are the perfect husband and you show me Christ in so many ways.

Over the past three years, we’ve been through much, and in the midst of every situation, you have shown a servant’s heart as you lead our home toward Christ. Thank you for all you do for our family. Thank you for encouraging me when I’m down, holding me when I cry, being crazy with me, being a wonderful Daddy to Becca, being so romantic….for being my man. Thank you for loving me! I love you with all my heart!

This week we had an unexpected surprise…we got to meet Becca’s newest cousin, Colette Elisse Sutter. Becca absolutely loved meeting Colette. Colette turns 7 weeks this Friday. Becca really wanted to hold Colette, but she was a little nervous at first. We also had a mini impromptu Sutter reunion. It was good to spend some time with family. I love the pictures of my grandma’s and Becca’s blue eyes.

Josh is having a profitable week of research. He’s been able to work with several Jarai speakers and is working on recording, translating, and analyzing Jarai stories. He’s also using the extra time with Jarai speakers to learn more Jarai. On Sunday he went to a special Jarai picnic for a group of Catholic Jarai. He heard the traditional gongs played at a picnic in a park and heard a Jarai Catholic priest speak.

Becce continues to be her very fun self! She’s sporting a new hairdo and is actually not pulling it out! She enjoyed playing the piano with Uncle Sam. A big thanks to Sam for the beautiful pictures he took during our visit with them.

Happy Father’s Day to the world’s greatest Daddy!!! Daddy, as you can see from the pictures, I’ve grown up a bit since Father’s Day 2010. My hair is longer…your hair is shorter. You no longer have to bottle feed me or burp me. Now you get to play hide-n-seek with me, chase me around our home, and take me for walks outside. You are a terrific father and I love playing with you!

Mommy wants to me to tell you that she loves watching you play with me. She’s delighted to be married to such a good, godly Daddy! You are better than the best! Thanks for loving me and taking such good care of Mommy and me. We’re so glad that we are your girls. We love you SO much!

I’ve been terrible about taking pictures this week. Part of this has to do with the fact that it’s not easy to take pictures when you’re wet. We’ve been enjoying the apartment pool and the water play area at the park. We’re so blessed to have access to water activities so close by. I’m completely enjoying being a mommy this summer. I can run in the fountains and play in the pool and no one gives me a second look — I’m just a mommy playing with her toddler. I get to have loads of fun without feeling guilty about other things that need to be done, since I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing . . . taking care of my baby. What a lovely gift God has given me this summer.

Don’t worry, Josh hasn’t been lost in the shuffle of his girls’ summer play. He’s happy that his girls are happy in the sun, and we’re always delighted when he can join us. Josh continues to spend much of his time gathering data from his Jarai consultants. We’re hoping that this summer will give him the bulk of the data he needs to write his dissertation.

Friday, we had our neighbor over for lunch. Friday evening, we enjoyed dinner with the Woods. Saturday, we had one of Josh’s Jarai consultants and his wife over for lunch. Sorry, no pictures; entertaining and watching Becca make grabbing the camera a distant idea in my mind. I did however, take a few pictures in the nursery on Sunday.

Yesterday at The Levitt Pavilion, we saw the Lannaya West African Drum and Dance Ensemble. Becca enjoyed the drumming, especially since I had just given her a drum lesson that morning. She needs a little work on her stick technique. Most of all, Becca loved the fountains. She walked in among them for the first time . . . brave little girl.

Today is the day our little one was supposed to be born, but God in His sovereignty said no. Our comfort is that God is in control of all things, even miscarriages. Our joy is that “Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face” (William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way). For Mother’s Day, Josh gave me Piper’s book on Ruth. It’s been a great encouragement to me to see God’s hand in Naomi’s life to perform His good and sovereign will for her life and for eternity.

“Thousands of Christians who have walked through fire and have seen horrors embrace God’s control of all things as the comfort and hope of their lives. It is not comforting or hopeful in their pain to tell them that God is not in control. Giving Satan the decisive control or ascribing pain to chance is not true or helpful. When the world is crashing in, we need assurance that God reigns over it all.”  ~Piper in A Sweet & Bitter Providence p. 27

“The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska, but a state road through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. There are rock slides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead there are frequent signs that say, “The best is yet to come. ” ~Piper in A Sweet & Bitter Providence pp. 99-100

Welcome to our new apartment! Last fall, we put ourselves on a waiting list for some two-bedroom apartments near campus. In April, we received a call that a unit was available for us (at that point we were not planning on moving, since Becca was surviving in the closet). After looking at the apartment, we didn’t feel comfortable with moving there, but since we were in the looking mood, we decided to go across the street and see if the other nearby apartment complex had anything available. They did — an apartment that they were redoing. To make a long story short, we signed the papers and prepared for our move . . . but we didn’t think we’d like it that much, since we loved our first apartment.

We now frequently talk about how much we like our new apartment.  We are thankful to the Lord for providing above and beyond what we asked for . . . even when we’d stopped asking! We love having the extra space — Josh can concentrate on his research, we don’t have to worry about waking Becca up when we’re in our room, and people can use the bathroom without going through our bedroom.  We also love having “all bills paid” — living with 75 degree air conditioning all the time is very nice! I was a little worried about using a gas stove/oven — but I love it, and I love having a big window in the kitchen!

We really like our apartment manager. He lives on site with his family (wife and 4 kids) and is very friendly. When the building’s air conditioning broke, he was out there at 11PM and then again the next morning trying to fix the unit. One evening last week, Josh and I were in our bedroom working on our computer (since we have wireless access on that side of the apartment — legally, since it’s UTA wireless from a nearby building), when we heard banging on our window . . . it was our apartment manager saying hi and telling me I had put our outgoing mail in his box instead of the outgoing box! [And I think it’s cool that he shares a first name with the found, ruler, and emperor of the Mongol Empire! -Josh]

The past two Wednesday mornings, Becca and I have gone to the free kids concert at The Levitt Pavilion. She doesn’t really enjoy the music, but she does enjoy the fountains. We plan to go every Wednesday this month for the kids’ concerts. Friday evening we went to a park that has water play. Becca loved it and we all enjoyed getting wet.

Becca is enjoying helping in the kitchen. She likes scrambling eggs in the mornings and really enjoyed helping me make pizza dough and brownies recently. We have lots of fun in our new apartment and are enjoying running around. Becca continues to fill our house with joy. We are so blessed to be married to each other and to have our precious little gift, Becca Bear. What a kind and gracious God we have!

The month of May has flown by for us. We began the month with moving to our new apartment and then leaving for our trip to SC. Before we left on our trip, we had everything unpacked and put in its “place” — only the pictures remained to be hung on our return. I hope to post pictures of our apartment next week for those who have been asking.

Josh graded his students’ final exam when we returned and is now working some hours for the adoption agency and continues to collect Jarai data for his dissertation. The picture on the left is Josh with Hendy, one of Josh’s Jarai consultants. During the school year, Josh met with Hendy on Saturdays; now that they both have more time they are meeting twice a week. On Memorial Day we attended the Jarai church picnic. We both enjoyed meeting more Jarai speakers.

I’ve spent my days playing with Becca. I’m delighted that she has finally learned to say “mama” – I love hearing her little voice call me. [When Amy is gone, Becca walks around saying “Mama! Mama!” –Josh] She loves going outside and now enjoys being in the pool. We got together with Yani and Amaris last Tuesday, and last Friday we went to a ladies and children’s pool party at the Woods’. We were also able to mingle with some of the Special Olympics – Texas players. They held an event on campus last weekend.  One of Becca’s favorite things to do is playing in the waterfall fountain on UTA campus.

One funny Becca story. This past weekend Becca and I were looking at the pictures in The Jesus Storybook Bible. We came to the picture of healed Namaan and I told her how Namaan was happy.  Then I turned back to the picture of Namaan with leprosy and Becca lost it – had a breakdown – yelped and turned and hugged me. She hates the picture of Namaan with leprosy. When she sees it she cries and flails her arms. It’s rather humorous. She continues to dislike the picture . . . but she still asks to see it by saying “illlllll” – what I said when I showed her the picture. (See video on facebook)

On Memorial Day (after the Jarai picnic) we had the Countrymans over for our own Memorial Day picnic. Josh grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we all enjoyed dinner, water balloons, and swimming. Memorial Day weekend, Josh and I attended an outdoor concert to hear the Quebe Sisters Band. They specialize in Western Swing and sang like the Andrew Sisters. We enjoyed our evening out — thanks Yi Ling, for babysitting!

Gary and Karen Isham had a lovely graduation reception for me at their home. Everything was beautiful and very classy. I was honored to be given such a nice reception with our friends here in TX.

That pretty much sums up the month of May for us.