Let it SNOW?!?

What? Snow in Africa? Yep, that's what we thought when we woke up yesterday morning. It had actually snowed in Johannesburg, for the first time since 1981 (Jeremy and Tricia were Jake's age then!). Our picture here doesn't show nearly as much snow as in other places throughout Johannesburg, but it was something! People were taking pictures, playing in the snow, and just overall enthralled by this little dusting of white stuff. It made these two Midwesterners laugh that this was actually considered "snow".

Jake was a bit under the weather with a cold this past week, but seems to be back to about 95% now. It has been a week of wild weather shifts, as you can imagine, and it has all of our sinuses working overtime. We're just glad we've had people bring us Advil! :)

Between our jobs, church, and volunteering at the baby home, our days have been pretty busy! This weekend, we will have three babies, ranging from two years to four weeks old, as the baby home moves to a different house. It should be interesting! By the way, for anyone interested, the baby home's website is http://www.tsholofelo.org. Jeremy is also substitute teaching a Sunday School class for the next couple of weeks, helping our pastor plan some outreach events, and preparing to preach a couple of times in July. So... we aren't bored! :)

Jake's Quote of the Week

“Can we watch my new ‘Flushed Down the Toilet’ movie tonight?”

[We recently picked up a used copy of "Flushed Away" (a little cartoon movie about an uptown mouse and his visit to the sewer), and Jake got the concept right, just not the words.]

Praises & Prayer Requests

We praise God for the snow! It was a nice little reminder of home. The last time we saw snow was in January 2006, so it did bring a little smile to our faces. God knows how to make us smile!

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Jeremy and Tricia this weekend, as they go from one kid to four (temporarily)!

-- Our health

-- The baby home's move this weekend

-- Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Happy Fathers' Day!!!

This weekend we celebrated Fathers Day, and Jeremy wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens to go hiking with Jake for their special Fathers' Day activity. Jake is now 4 and he loves to hike around and look at bugs and birds. They hiked for a couple of hours on the trails in the Botanical Gardens, and then we all enjoyed a nice lunch in the restaurant there. One of the points of interest at the Gardens is the huge waterfall. Jake enjoyed throwing rocks into the water with his daddy and they climbed around by the water a little bit. It was a wonderful day where we could let Jeremy know how much we appreciate him and love him.

This week was a good week at work. Jeremy is all moved into his new office and is trying to figure out all that he needs to do in his new position of Communications Coordinator. It will be a period of learning for now as to all the different areas he will be involved in. He is a little nervous but very excited for what God has in store for him in this new area of ministry.

Tricia is still hard at work with the Africans that are called to missions. She is trying to move them all forward in the training and assessment process in order for all of them to be able to find their places in missions. She is also going to be promoting missions on the region and shedding light on the types of “missions” that Africans are already doing here in Africa. Once that occurs, then she can encourage more people to get involved in things that are already occurring in their own area.

Jake's Quote of the Week

“Do you know what my favorite part of my body is? It is my wrist… and my muscles.”

(This was one of those moments where you just have no idea what is about to come out of your child's mouth... but we were relieved!)

Praises and Prayer Requests

We would like to thank you all for your prayers. We praise the Lord we have all been well so far this winter and Tricia seems to be a lot better with her allergies than she was last year.

Please remember the following needs in prayer this week:

-- Jeremy's transition into his new ministry
-- The Africans that are called to missions, and Tricia as she helps them in the process
-- For continued health so that we can keep working hard for Him
-- Unspoken request

Until next time,

Jeremy, Tricia & Jake

Happy Birthday Jake!

Jake with his preschool class, and his pinata, which these South African kids had never seen before











Jake getting ready to blow out the candles at his preschool party












Jake opening his gifts













A Mexican wrestler even showed up at Jake's party! (okay, it's a Spiderman costume, those are big here)











Jake enjoying his birthday ice cream at Spur, his favorite restaurant!











Jake's Quote of the Week

As Tricia walks in his room, he stands up in his bed and flexes... "Look how big my muscles are, 'cause I'm four now!"



Thank you Lord for the privilege of four years with this wonderful boy. We love him more than life itself!