April Showers Bring APRIL Flowers!

Can you believe that these are flowers in our yard?? If you know me well, you will say, "NO!" I do not have a green thumb. As a matter of fact, I'm not real sad about it. I wish you could have a beautiful yard just by wishing! Okay, that may make me sound lazy, but it is true. I don't enjoy yard work. I'm afraid of bees & fire ants (I'm allergic to both). The grass makes me itch! And weeding... GOSH... what a job! Nonetheless, I am getting to enjoy God's beautiful creation in my own yard as a result of me doing nothing! What an awesome blessing!

The family who lived here for years were major gardeners! I am reaping the benefits of their hard work. (Gosh, I'm sure there is a spiritual lesson there!) Unfortunately, they were ill the last several years they lived here, then no one lived here for a while, so NOW the beds are FILLED with weeds. But the flowers still bloom. I'm sure eventually the weeds will choke them out, but for now we are blessed. (Another spiritual lesson?)

Just for those who gasp at the idea of the weeds & me not wanting to weed... I am doing my best to make a dent! Whenever we go out to play, I am trying to pull up some weeds & prune some of the trees & bushes. I'm even trying to get the kids involved. They work for a little while. =0)

Well, I just thought I'd share some beautiful flowers with you. I wish you could see them in person... and help pull some weeds! Anyone up for a mission trip!? hee hee!

Love, Melinda =0)

Please Keep Praying!

My father got his results back. He still has MRSA. =0( They have put him on a new antibiotic. Please pray for his body to be healed, for MRSA to be gone, and for him to be restored to full health. Please pray for the doctor to be wise & for Daddy to be getting the treatment he needs! Thank you! Love, Melinda =0)
**Update** Daddy is MRSA free! Praise the Lord! Thank you for Praying!! =0)

Hangar News from Dano

South America Mission (SAM Air) purchased a Cessna 206 floatplane last fall to augment their support assets in Peru. SAM Air is a mission organization that continues the on going effort of support for the literacy workers. After the plane was flown in to JAARS, Waxhaw. We began to modify it into a landplane with several JAARS modifications thrown in. This is the project I have been attached to since October O7'. It is now nearing completion and is scheduled for a May 08' arrival in Peru, South America.

In the picture above, I am repairing the fiberglass nosebowl that covers the front of the engine.

This is one of two magnetos I recently overhauled for a JAARS Cessna 206 serving in Papua, New Guinea. The magnetos were shipped with the engine. The engine was overhauled here in Waxhaw, NC. The three pix are before, during, and after shots. These engine accessories are resposible for generating the spark for each spark plug. By counting the distributor towers you can see that this magneto is made for a six cylinder engine. Once these magnetos were timed and attached to the engine, they ran perfectly.

Celebrating!

What a wonderful time we had in TN celebrating Marcia (in the light pink shirt) & Samuel!! I was thankful I got to fly there for the weekend. I got to stay with my sister Michelle & her husband (Greg) & their teenage daughter. My "little" sister stayed there one night, too. So we had a great time preparing things for the shower! Lots of fun sister & niece bonding time! Greg stayed outside most of the time... hmmmm... not sure why! ha! (Actually, he's still cleaning up from the Feb. tornado damage.)

The shower was a fun family affair with some other LONG time family friends! It was a blessing to be able to be there! Unfortunately Samuel wasn't able to be there, of course, but Marcia got to make it! We also had some cousins come in from quite a distance. That was great! It was a Tea Party Theme since Marcia has always loved pretty tea pots & cups. One of my aunts came up with the table centerpieces... pansies potted in tea cups. Aren't they adorable?

My flights to & from were great... for the most part. I set the buzzer off twice at the Charlotte airport, so I had to get frisked! I guess they were suspicious of the big belly! Ha... I think it was my sterling silver slide & cross! I did pass & get to board my first flight. It was kind of funny, I thought! Both times I had a layover in Atlanta. On the flight from Atlanta to Nashville we encountered some turbulence. That is normally not too bad... just a little unnerving... but ONCE we fell a little bit! If we hadn't had on our seat belts, we'd have all hit our heads. Afterwards, we all sat up a little straighter & started paying attention... like that would have changed anything! I'm sure a lot of the passengers were saying a few extra prayers like I was!

The best thing about my flights were actually some great people God put in my path. Originally, I was going to try to take all the flight time & layover time to enjoy the solitude & "silence." Well, before I left, I started feeling a little guilty for my selfish attitude! So, I surrendered & told God that I would be willing to be used however He wanted me to be used. If there was someone that needed to hear about Him & His love & forgiveness & His Son, then I wanted Him to use me to share that with them. Well, instead God placed some amazing people in my path to minister to me! Isn't that neat? I just love the way God works!

Well, I need to feed these kiddos & Dano some lunch. Dano is out mowing our huge yard on a Forest Gump Snapper that came with the house. I should take a picture of him on it! It takes him several days (hours & hours) to get both the front & back mowed! We have lots of trees & other things that he has to mow around! We love the land we're on though! It is so beautiful! Thank you, Lord, for SPRING!! I love the green leaves, the beautiful flowers, etc., etc.!!

Love ya,

Melinda =0)

Birthday Kids!

Well, the last few days have been full of birthdays! Of course, yesterday was Samuel's (my new nephew's) BIRTH day. (New picture taken by his Aunt Alicia!) But in the last few days we have also celebrated Emma's 3rd birthday and Derek's 5th birthday. Emma lacked 5 days being born on Derek's birthday! Below are some pictures of their big days. Emma wanted Strawberry Shortcake & Derek wanted Diego (Dora's cousin). We just had our little (well, kind of big) family celebrating. We had what they wanted for dinner. So that was two nights of pizza in one week... a RARE (perhaps unheard of)occurrence in our house. We had applesauce on Emma's night & watermelon with Derek's pizza. Then we had cupcakes! One of the good things about having birthdays so close is I can make one batch of cupcakes, use half for Emma's b-day, then freeze the other half til Derek's b-day. Not so much cake to eat this way!

One day earlier this week, we went & celebrated their birthday at a Child's Museum (Charlotte at Play). Basically, it was a big play place but NOTHING like Chuck E Cheese. It was divided into play areas. They had a music area, a dinosaur dig, a pirate ship, a race track, a princess castle, a vet shop, a grocery store, a diner, an art center, etc. All the kids LOVED it. They want to go back. If we lived close, I think it would be worth the investment of a family membership. It was great fun... and educational! Dano went with us, so it was a big family event. They are ready to go back again!

On a side note... as you may guess, we kind of "stick out" with 4 kids in this 2 & 3 kid family culture. We especially stick out now that our new one is sticking out so much. The questions we get... Are they all yours? Were they all planned? and from there the questions usually get worse! BUT it is becoming an awesome opportunity to share our faith in God! We are able to say how we trust Him to provide for our family & for Him not to give us more than we can handle. We also share how we haven't always had these convictions, & sometimes we're able to share how God started changing our hearts. We share with them that God's Word always speaks of children as being a blessing. What other blessings that God gives would we limit? Then people think we are some kind of saints or very patient people. So, once again I have an opportunity to share how God is using parenting to change me & grow me... because believe me... I am no saint! And I KNOW patience is a virtue... but I'm still working on mastering that one! The best thing about it is that this is all in casual conversation as we watch our children play. I love how God can use every day moments to bring Him Glory as we share His Power & His Grace!

Okay... here are the pix...

Pix of the Nephew

Okay, they aren't the adorable pix yet... but yet they are. Our oldest sister, Michelle took these through the glass... so considering that, they are great pix!

John & Marcia are doing great this A.M. Please keep praying for Samuel. He's doing great... promoted to the nursery... watching him for jaundice... He's already latched on... so keep praying for that nursing to go well! Pray for sleep & rest for everyone!

Oh, Michelle said it was amazing how much Samuel looks like his big brother Caleb! (Remember Caleb was adopted!) So, this means Samuel is favoring his Daddy, John! How appropriate! I just can't wait to see him & hold him! Thanks again for praying!

Love, Melinda =0)

My New Nephew is Here!

Born Wednesday, April 2, 2008 (about 5 weeks early)
It’s a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Samuel Heath Jared
5 lbs. 3 oz.
17 inches long!
Born at 10:45 p.m. CST
info from his Aunt Alicia:
HE is BEAUTIFUL!
Marcia is doing GREAT, she's waiting on popsicle.
Baby is well, also. He is being watched closely for 24hrs on oxygen.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures tomorrow!

Thanks for praying with us today... and the whole pregnancy! This baby is a miracle... they all are... but this one even more so! =0)

Love,
Melinda =0)