Merry Christmas!

Out of the mouth of . . . Mark

Mark is talking non-stop these days, and here are some of the other interesting things he has said recently:

We started teaching him some of the children's catechism and he had just learned the answer to "who made all things?" ("God"). So later that day, when I jokingly asked "who made this mess with all of your toys?" he innocently replied, "God did".

He has had problems wetting the bed at night so we are forever having to change his sheets. So when he saw me take the sheets off of our bed he asked if we had wet our sheets too!

November Newsletter

Happy Thanksgiving! As you can see from this picture, we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner.

We are especially thankful this month for our new pediatrician here in Arequipa who agrees with the doctors in Lima and in the States that Sarah is a healthy baby. Praise God!

Steve is now the official coordinator of the southern section of REAP South. We have had several teams come down this month, but not all of them fly through Arequipa. This month we got to meet a team from Parkridge Baptist Church in Florida. They are working with some Quechuan that are about a 15 hour drive from here. This trip for the church started out disappointing because they had truck problems that kept them from going to two villages that they had intended to go to. However, God was at work because in the village they were able to go to, they had two people accept the Lord and had three people that were baptized. Baptism is a big step because it signals a clear break from the Catholic church which is the prevalent religion in Peru.

Mark is doing well and is a big helper these days. Recently he asked, “Are you working?” (I was hanging the laundry). “Yes,” I replied. Then he said, “Well, I want to work, too.” . . . Where is the recorder when you need it?? One day I will long to hear him say that again!

Recent photos

Here is Mark just "monkey-ing" around

Mark modelling his "highwater" shorts.

We finally got a picture of Sarah smiling!
She smiles all the time, but I guess our camera is just too slow.

Three bugs in a rug.
Mark is in his classic pose . . . is Sarah going to follow in his footsteps???

October Newsletter

Sorry there are no photos in this blog post. The laptop with all our photos on it died, but thankfully Steve was able to revive the computer . . . kind of. The screen is now so dark that it is very difficult to use. But at least we didn't lose all our baby photos, they are just kind of hard to access. :) Oh, and for those who did not know, you can click on the photos of Baby Sarah at the right (in the slideshow) and you can see a larger version of the photos. Enjoy!

As you all know by now, baby Sarah decided to come about three weeks early. Sarah Ellen Christy was born on September 5th at 11:15 pm. She weighed almost 6 lbs. at birth and is now a little over 7 lbs. She is growing slowly, but seems to be a healthy baby.

It seems like Mark takes after the Ligon side of the family with respect to his growth and Sarah takes after the Christy side. However, despite the fact that small babies are very common on Steve’s side of the family, our pediatrician is concerned about Sarah’s growth rate and is really pressuring us to supplement her with formula twice a day, which we do not want to do. Please pray that we would have wisdom in this situation: would it be better to give her the formula or find a new pediatrician???

In other news, we had a wonderful visit with Steve’s parents. They helped us out in so many ways: rocking the baby to sleep, playing with an active toddler (or reading stories over and over until they are memorized), washing a seemingly endless pile of
dishes, cooking and freezing meals until the freezer could hold no more, etc., etc. THANK YOU!!!

Steve’s parents also graciously brought down clothes and other gifts for both Sarah and Mark from several of you . . . so thanks to each of you as well! It is nice to know we have friends and family in the States thinking of us and our kids.

We are currently in Lima where we are trying to take care of Sarah’s documentation. We are also enjoying spending time with our friends in Lima (and showing off our new baby, of course!). But we are definitely looking forward to getting back to
Arequipa (and sunshine!) on November 3.

Baby Sarah's Arrival

Wow! Can you believe that I am posting again? Actually, Miriam put up the last post on the 5th and that night, Baby Sarah made her appearance. Though she was about 2 and a half weeks early, she is healthy and strong. God really blessed us with Sarah and Miriam and the baby were in the hospital less than 12 hours. Though the birth was nothing like Mark's, it was still dramatic. Sarah was born not in the room designated for such things but was born in the regular hospital room. Since the doctor didn't get there soon enough, I was the first person to hold my precious bundle of joy screaming her lungs out. We praise God for a quick and safe delivery and quick release from the hospital. I have also added a slide show to the right with pictures of the new baby. Enjoy!

August newsletter

After five weeks of hearing, “we will come and install your telephone and internet by this afternoon—or at the very latest, by tomorrow” . . . we FINALLY have a home phone and internet connection. Now Steve is able to do his job and we are able to better keep in contact with all of you as well!

August has been filled with the miscellaneous details of getting settled into our new home, looking for a good church to attend, and making contacts in our neighborhood. One of the things we are hoping to accomplish this week is have the Chocano family (the owners of our home) over for dinner. We want to do this before our baby arrives, since life will get chaotic then. Unfortunately, Mark has been sick with a fever for several days and we want him to get better first since the Chocanos also have a little baby.

It is hard to believe that by this time next month we will have a newborn around the house! Please pray for the health of Miriam and the baby during these next few weeks. Though there is an 80% rate of c-section births in Peru, our doctor seems very supportive of natural births, so we are praying that God will give us a healthy, natural birth. Please pray that God will help us with clear communication during the labor and delivery as we do not expect anyone at the hospital to speak English. Please pray for Mark during this time of transition from being an only child to an older brother. We rejoice that Steve’s parents will be coming down Sept. 22 to help us during this time and they will be staying for about a month.

September’s newsletter will most likely just be a baby announcement . . so just pray as you feel led. Thanks!