Since Becca has been on an antibiotic that requires her to stay out of the sun, we’ve been enjoying many different indoor activities. Sunday Becca asked if we could make the Cat in the Hat’s cleaning machine. She was very disappointed when Josh said he couldn’t make a real one. Monday we came up with an alternative! Becca is enjoying putting on her costume and sneaking up to attack me.

Adam and his mommy came over for lunch last Friday. Both Isaiah and Adam are growing fast.

Isaiah is growing fast and “talking” more and more each week. He’s a very happy baby and loves to interact with people. I could just sit and talk with him for hours. I’m trying to get Becca to interact with Isaiah more, but she’s not interested. She will help with him, but she rarely interacts with him. She was willing to give him a bottle the other day . . . for 30 seconds. Wednesday I tried to get her to read a book next to Isaiah, just so he could see her while she read . . . no way. Then I tried to get her to play with her toys next to Isaiah . . . she just so happened to be done playing the instant I made the suggestion! We’ll keep working on it.

Funny Quotes from Becca:

Mommy: “Did you wash your hands?” Becca: “No – but I washed my feet!” When we asked Becca to show us what she did, she happily ran into the bathroom, climbed up on the sink, and put both feet in to wash them.

When telling us the story about Jesus calming the storm: “Then it stopped right away so Jesus didn’t have to discipline it.”

Josh and I love surprising each other . . . we enjoy it so much that we usually end up giving our surprise away with our many “clues.” Last week I was able to totally surprise Josh with an evening date to You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. I’d been working on lining up everything since the beginning of August – tickets, babysitter, rearranging piano lessons, and telling Josh about the “surprise” I had for him that week. Six hours before our date, my friend who was going to watch the kids had to cancel due to an emergency, which sent me frantically searching for someone to watch our kids. Fortunately, Stephen and Kristen saved the evening and drove 45 minutes from their home to watch Becca and Isaiah. I’m very grateful for their willingness to help us out.

Josh was completely surprised to find out that the heavy wrapped box contained one of his books (for weight), a second wrapped package, and inside that, an envelope. The collage on the left captures his reaction as he realizes that the papers are tickets and that we’re going on a date “tonight!” Ah – sweet success and a lovely evening out with my man! (Yes – from the collage on the right you might notice that I cried . . . guess I was so pleased my success.)

A few other pictures: Our first watermelon from our garden! Both kids in the car after a pool party at the Woods’ house. Lunch with Miss Jean. Breakfast trials – Becca is having to learn that food is not finger paint – it’s a slow learning process! The last shows how much our kids enjoy photo shoots!

Our little man is doing great. This week he has started to laugh – it’s so cute. I love baby laughter! In other news, I had to take Becca to the doctor on Monday for a suspected UTI. The lab report came back on Wednesday confirming our suspicions, and Becca is now on antibiotics. Becca especially enjoyed her visit, since she really likes the Berenstain Bears story about going to the doctor. She did get a little scared when Dr. Raine put on his latex gloves, but that’s because we’ve also read a book about a vet putting on gloves and pulling out several animals from a puppy’s throat! Becca is doing great and you can’t even tell she has a UTI. For the record, Becca now weights 27.2lbs. and is 34.5in.

Sunday we had lunch with Lee Roy & Lou Olson. It was a delight to be able to spend some time with them in our home.

On July16th the EMU board voted to accept our family as missionary candidates to Cambodia. Lord willing, Josh will finish his Ph.D in the spring 2013 semester. After that we will move back to Greenville, SC, and begin deputation. We’re thanking the Lord for already providing three supporting families. We look forward to how He will provide all the support we need to serve Him in Cambodia.

For those who are interested in our future ministry, here’s some answers to the questions we were asked by the EMU board:

•  Type of service: translation of Bible; translation and/or development of Bible study materials; Bible school training
• Is there a clear need for this kind of service in that country? yes; at least two groups in Ratanakiri have a need for Bible translation (Jarai, Kachok); multiple groups participate in Bible school training, and there seems to be the need of more teachers who can work with individual language groups.
• What are your Goals for your ministry? If translation, then eventually the translation of the entire Bible into the target language, starting with the NT. In Bible school training, the goals would be set by other missionaries on the field and by the church leaders themselves – but in general, demonstrable progress in knowledge of the Bible and ability to apply Scripture in their own cultural context and teach the Scripture to their people.
• What are your plans to accomplish those goals? First, intensive language training in Khmer and then the target minority language. Then grammatical analysis of the target language. Building up a team of people in the target language to serve as a committee or committees in the translation process. Gathering of native literary forms for language development (literacy) purposes, as well as gaining a better understanding of how literature in the language is structured. Translation by committee, with active input/checking by specialists (me and others). Outside consultation to check translation. Periodic small-scale printing of completed Bible portions.
• What will you do when those goals are accomplished? Continue teaching; look to assist with other translation projects; work on the development of other native-tongue resources to help church leaders; (eventually) retire!
• Do you have a timetable in mind for accomplishing these goals? Language study will undoubtedly take up the first term and be a significant part of the second term (though we hope that in the second term we can be more active in ministry). Once started, a good translation can take anywhere from 10 to 30 years, depending on involvement of the community and many other factors. Perhaps 7 years for the New Testament.

Happy 10-week birthday, Little Brother! We love your sweet smiles and enthusiastic coos. Isaiah has rolled over several times in the past couple weeks. Usually he rolls over right after I set him up on his tummy with his arms under him (like the set up in the picture below). In the meantime, Becca continues to enjoy using chap stick. She’s a little too enthusiastic about putting on the red chap stick, but I’m glad it’s finally used up.

We’ve had a week filled with piano, pals, projects (some with paint), and pirates (yes, pirates!). On Thursday one of my piano and voice students came over for her lessons. Cayti has Down’s Syndrome and had the opportunity to go to a special bike riding class last week, but it was during her regularly scheduled lesson at Main Street School of Music. The bike class was on UTA campus (right across the street from us) so I worked it out with Cayti’s mom for her to come to our apartment for her lessons before bike class. Cayti’s mom watched Becca during the lesson and brought us dinner. It worked out great for all.

Friday  Micah, Anna, and Adam Martin came over for dinner. Adam was born exactly 3 weeks after Isaiah. It was neat to see the two boys together. I told Isaiah it was his first time to have a friend over.

Saturday Josh took Becca to Home Depot for a free kids workshop, something Home Depot sponsors on the 1st Saturday of every month. This month’s project was a cork board that Josh helped Becca put together and then Becca painted it. They both had a good time. While they were gone, I worked on reorganizing a closet. In keeping with the paint theme, Becca and I had done some finger painting earlier in the week . . . then we turned the extra paint into body paint.

Sunday afternoon Becca went to Ahana’s 5th birthday party at Pump it Up, a bounce house place; the part’s theme was pirates and princesses. We all got to play in the bounce houses (except Isaiah who wasn’t too impressed with the party.)

Monday John and Shawn Lutz came over for dinner. We enjoyed our evening with them. Becca kept both Shawn and John busy playing in her room and reading to her.

Tuesday morning the Hsu family (piano students) came over to meet Isaiah. They brought two containers of ice cream and ice cream cones for a snack. Becca enjoyed playing with the boys in her room while Missy and I visited together.

Wednesday was just a normal day with library in the morning and piano lessons in the evening.

Five years ago today we advanced from being a dating couple to an engaged couple! Thanks SO much for asking me to marry you, my sweet husband. I’m so glad that you chose me!

Sunday was our church’s last service. The church started about 5 years ago, and it gathered a great (if small) core group of dedicated believers. However, our church leaders decided last month that it would be best for us all to join with and serve in other local churches. We will miss seeing our friends each week; unfortunately, it’s not simple to visit with the friends we’ve grown close to at church, since most live about 45 minutes away from us.  This Sunday we begin our search for a new church family. We appreciate your prayers as we search. (The pictures are from our last service.)

For pictures of Becca and Isaiah see yesterday’s blog.

Happy 2-Month Birthday to Isaiah! Hard to believe our little man is already two months and growing fast. He now weighs 13lbs and is about 25.5 inches. He’s about the same size as Becca was at 7 months. We’re enjoying Isaiah’s smiles and his cooing. It’s so much fun to “talk” with him. Becca has learned how to make Isaiah “talk” like a little puppet. She puts her finger on his chin to open and close his mouth and uses a high voice to help him speak. (This is a talent I learned from my dad and have now passed it on to my daughter.)

For comparison, the picture below shows Becca at 7 months – 13lbs.