Salmonds in the Dominican Republic

Big brother Judah

2011-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Judah's birthday present

2011-07-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

I love this video-thanks grandparents for the sweet workbench. Now I just have to teach him to hammer quieter! I love Judah's double-tasking skills at the end of this-check it out!

2011-06-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

When I look at Judah it's hard to believe that he is already two! These past few years have been an amazing journey learning how to take care of him. We have learned and grown so much. It's awesome now to see the fruit of our labor and to see Judah's personality more everyday.

Yesterday Jake was at planning meeting for the next Vida Joven club so I was at home with the two boys and instead of having an extra hand I was doing the nightly routine on my own. I have to hand it to single parents, it's no easy task being outnumbered. I was outside watering our yard, I put Asher in the stroller so he could be in on the action and Judah helped me water. This usually turns into him drenching himself with the hose or bucket and I end up stripping him down to a diaper. Well, last night he found a leaf from a huge tree in our yard and started pretending it was a turtle. What amazed me most was that this lasted a half-hour. He continued to entertain himself finding turtles and flying them around the yard. He loved it so much he brought one in the house.

I love birthdays because not only is it a great time to celebrate those we love, but it's a good time for us parents to reflect on our children's lives. The days might be long, but the years sure fly by! I hope I can remember that when I'm exhausted and can't imagine several more years of being at home with the boys. It really does go by fast and I want to savor every moment. Judah's calling my name to come color turtles, so I guess I better go now!

Life goes on

2011-05-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Obla-dee-obla-dah life goes oooon, oh how the life goes on... Remember that TV show? Now that I think about it, it was one of my favorites. It's crazy how life goes on. On Thursday I am celebrating my 29th birthday, wow. I know, I'm not that old, but it is pretty wild that ten years ago I was 19, and that used to feel "old" to me. Now I am the mother of two children, we are a family of four, and life looks so much more different than life at 19. I do miss the freedom of being childless at times, but never would I replace it with the wonderful fullness that I am now experiencing as a mother and wife. So what does life look like right now?

Well, slowly but surely we are adjusting to two children. We are still trying to convince Asher to sleep through the night. We spend an hour to two hours, depending on the evening, feeding Asher, burping Asher, changing Asher and lulling him back to sleep. My wonderful husband helps me with all of those things and tries to stay awake by killing mosquitoes in our room with our electric racquet. It's really quite funny because after killing about five or six very large mosquitoes, full of our blood, Jake looks like he has just slayed a dragon. I am relieved for the entertainment too as I can usually barely keep my eyes open and remember that there is a child in my arms as I feed Asher.

What else? Judah is constantly making us laugh. He is funnier than Jake and I combined, which is pretty funny :) He likes to be really loud when we are trying to get Asher to sleep, I would say he knows what's going on. His favorite animals are hepecants (elephants), weegas (zebras), lali (lion), and gatos (lagarto=lizard in spanish). He loves to speak Spanish to anyone who will listen, his favorite word to repeat over and over is harriba (arriba or up). He is also very sweet. He is a good sharer, shares his toys with Asher, snacks with Mommy and kisses with his favorite little friends.

Besides that we are keeping busy, prepping for the summer and enjoying loving Jesus and loving the people he has put in our lives. I have really been excited about spending more quality time in the word and making my time with God a bigger priority. The more time I spend with Him the more I fall in love with Him. I am constantly reminded to tend this relationship and realizing that HE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE! It's not about what I do or what I have, it's about knowing Him! I don't have to worry or be concerned about other things, when I am spending time with the Lord and meditating on his word and praying constantly, He will answer all of my questions or at least put me at ease. So, with that being said, I am going to fill myself up with Jesus and spend time with him before the two kiddos are awake!

Love you all, whoever reads this, thanks for listening...
Kyla

The arrival of Asher!

2011-04-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Asher arrived a little late. My due date as March 29th and he was born April 1th at 11:25 pm, almost in his 43rd week of being in my womb! So, I was getting a little bit stir crazy waiting for this little guy to come. Thankfully on Sunday night I started to get contractions on my own instead of having to be induced on Tuesday. I waited them out, although didn't sleep much and on Monday afternoon when they were about 10 minutes apart we left for the hospital.

I went with Jake as well as my friend, Erin. when we arrived at the Dr.'s office my contractions had subsided and I was only dilated to 2cm so he told us to try to spend the night somewhere close to the hospital (we live about 1 hr away) and come when the contractions were stronger. we left for our friends' house and spent the night there, me still contracting and Jake and Erin timing them and helping me through each one. I think my highlight from this night was a few moments of relief while watching some of Nacho Libre and drinking a beer. I tried to put my mind at ease but throughout the night I as having painful back labor and again couldn't sleep. In the morning I was getting desperate to get to the hospital. I didn't want to give birth at our friends' house and by this time I was throwing up and feeling a lot of pain with each contraction.

we arrived at the hospital and again, I was only dilated to 4 cm. It was really hard not to feel frustrated as my Dr. kept checking and saying I was not progressing very far. The day continued and I spent from about 10am that morning until 10 pm that night continuing with contractions, eventually less than 5 minutes apart and only dilated to 5 0r 6 cm. I could not go on any longer, especially as I had decided early on to do things naturally so I hadn't had any iv or pain medication. The Dr. said that what was going on was called failure to progress in labor and for some reason which we couldn't know at the time my cervix just wasn't dilating. I decided at that point that I did not want him to put me on pitocin since I had labored for so long already and we didn't even know if it would help. He said he saw only one option, c-section, and I agreed with much relief! At this point I was yelling for the anesthesiologist! I could not endure a third night of no sleep and fruitless laboring!

So they wheeled me into the operating room and about 30 minutes later, at 11:25 pm. Asher David Salmond arrived! He was posterior, or sunny side, up which explained the back labor and slow labor. But, he was also very healthy: 8 lbs. 4 oz, 22 inches long. Asher arrived just in time, I was able to nurse him right away, and then we all rested up.

Recovering from surgery has not been easy, but I am so glad to have Asher in my arms. It's now a week later and I am feeling much better. My family has helped me so much and hopefully in one more week when my mother-in-law has to leave I will be more than capable of taking care of Judah and Asher by myself. what an adventure this last week has been. I know there is more to come. I am so thankful to God for protecting me through everything and providing the support and sustenance that I need. I cling to Him as my comforter and my healer. I love Isaiah 40:30, "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength...".

Blogging comeback?

2011-03-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm wanting to give this a shot one more time, especially with a new baby on the way. I think I will mostly post pictures and videos, so I hope you all enjoy. Here are a few pictures of Judah from going to the zoo with our friends in the capital. Also here's one of Judah being a "moto concho" for his little friend Ezri and using his "reading glasses". Enjoy!

Judah is almost a year!

2010-05-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

We have been having fun lately with Judah as he is becoming way more mobile! I took some videos of Judah that I wanted to share. You might want to turn down the volume because as I listened to my voice I realized that my "mommy is excited voice" is a little high-pitched :).

Enjoy! (This is especially for Judah's grandmas who I knew would love to see him in action.)

Spring has sprung!

2010-04-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

I think it may be a more achievable goal to write at least every season, so here is my seasonal entry. Well, more importantly, here are more photos of the Judah man. It's fun to look at pictures of him a few months ago and see how much he has changed, or see how much I really should add some variety to his wardrobe. Oh well, anyways, he doesn't seem to mind what he wears. He is awful cute no matter what. Here are some old pics and some new ones too! Enjoy!

Rubber ducky, you're the one...

2010-02-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

Actually, parents make bathtime fun, not rubber ducky, right? Well, I have to admit, Judah's bathtime has gotten significantly more fun since we purchased a giant rubber ducky tub. Becaues we have to use purified water for his baths and it requires a lot of work and water, I was giving him little baths in a tiny tub that barely covered his legs, pobrecito! Anyways, we upgraded when we bought his new tub in the states and he loves it! He screams when I take him out of the tub, but today I let him play so long his little toes were pruny and wrinkled. I guess you just can't win. I have found that if I let the water out slowly he doesn't realize what's happening and all the sudden bathtime is over. Genius.

Here is a wonderful clip of my amazing husband, Jake, who is always willing to help with Judah and on this particular day he relieved me of bathtime duty, here goes...

Jake's birthday

2010-01-31T17:11:00.000-08:00

For Jake's birthday, I gave him the gift of kiteboarding lessons. He was stoked. He has wanted to learn this sport ever since we moved here and he saw kiteboarders on the beach. Last weekend he became one of the world's best kiteboarders that have ever walked the planet, he went where only thousands had gone before, he conquered the ocean and only hit one person with his kite, broke his own kite, and may have injured his pinky. This may or may not have been a partial truth, but he did learn to kiteboard in an amazingly small amount of time, which meant he also swallowed a lot of sea water. Here are the pics to prove it...

Is it January already?

2010-01-19T17:01:00.000-08:00

So, it's true, not only is it January 2010, it's the middle of January and almost the end! Time is flying by. We returned to the DR from visiting family and friends in Oregon, Washington and Georgia about a week ago and so it's time to put some pictures up. I hope you enjoy!

Judah is stinking hilarious!

2009-12-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a video clip of the funniest kid you've ever seen, he's just too cute!

Sorry it's sideways...

A View From the Top: Conquering Mogote

2009-12-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

People often use physical feats such as mountain climbing as analogies for our faith. Jesus himself talked about mountains and our faith being able to move mountains, if we have faith as big as a mustard seed. Somehow we need those reminders, those real-life, tangible examples in order to understand what we are being told. We can hear a lot of "truth" but until we actually go through it, experience it, live it; it doesn't become a part of us. Last Saturday, some important truths became a part of me.

Jake and I, along with around 75 campers and leaders, hiked Mogote, the mountain behind Pico Escondido, the Young Life camp Jake works at. We attended Growth Camp with the youth from Pinar Quemado, along with our son, Judah. As part of Growth Camp, we hiked this grueling mountain (without Judah) to truly experience our walk with God, the ups and downs, the sweat and difficulty, and the reward of the view from the top. We got to celebrate the victory of accomplishing what we had set out to do. It was not easy, but at the end of the day, starting at 5 am and finishing at 2 pm, we did it.

So what did I take away from this experience? The truth that our walk with Christ will be difficult, challenging, and easy to give up. But if I will allow him to sustain me, work through me, encourage me, feed me, pick me up, I will see that he has been there all along. I will see a new perspective, his perspective, and as I get closer to the top, my worries and fears will disappear as his truth, joy and love are magnified like the bright morning sun.

The stuff memories are made of

2009-12-03T04:37:00.001-08:00

Jake and I decided at about 10 am last Saturday that it would be fun to take Judah camping. We had been wanting to go for awhile and it seemed like a nice day to do it, so we started packing. We were excited to finally use our camping gear that we had shipped here about a year ago. While Judah was napping we threw all the necessities together. Of course, Jake couldn't help but still be his thorough self, checking our stove for gas, dividing the weight up evenly, making sure we had our first-aid kit, etc. But when all was said and done, we were ready to go. We were ready for an adventure.

It's funny how you imagine things in your head and when you actually do them, they often turn out quite different, especially with a six-month old. We drove alongside a beautiful river on a bumpy dirt road to Manabao, hoping to make it to our destination without really having to backpack. In my mind I figured we could just drive up the mountain to camp. Well, we took one look at the river-crossing and steep incline just following the river and knew that our little Rav4, (not 4 x 4) was not going to even make it across the river. So, we parked at a nice woman's house, thanks Merecedes, sat down a minute to talk with her, and headed off, backpacks and all. You can tell by the picture that we were quite loaded down with stuff for just one night, Jake carried Judah in a front pack.

Walking up the mountain, we both asked ourselves, "Why are we putting ourselves through this on our day off?!" It was miserably hot and the trail seemed to be a steady incline for about an hour. Finally, in the midst of Judah crying, I grabbed Jake's hand and started singing worship music realizing that this is character building time and we couldn't give up now.

We ended up about half way to our destination and wanted to just call it quits, but we pressed on. After eating some guayabas and feeding Judah, we had all regained our strength to continue.

I'll fast forward a little... we finally set up camp after making it to the top of the mountain, Judah got to have some freedom and play in the tent while we made dinner and we had a really nice evening, then the fun began.

We made it until about 7:30 pm before Judah was ready for bed and we had nothing else to do but go to bed too. We knew it might be a long night. Although we had planned ahead and packed everything, we only had one mummy sleeping bag and a small blanket between all three of us, plus we were sleeping in Jake's teeny-tiny backpacking tent. So, needless to say, it was a long night of pulling on covers, consoling Judah every two hours (who woke up everytime we moved) and wondering again why we were doing this. It started raining in the middle of the night as well, which although we stayed dry, didn't really help matters since all of our things were outside. In the morning we were thankful the night had ended and decided to at least buy a bigger tent before we would do this again.

Leaving the mountain that morning after the rain subsided was a very peaceful feeling. We had conquered backpacking with our six-month old, we had not given up although we had wanted to, we made it through a very difficult night and we were better because of it. It's funny how hard something can be in the moment and how later you really are glad you did it, at least to tell the story.

A few days later I read this verse that seemed to fit this trip:

Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. Psalm 25:4-5

Despite the setbacks and difficulties along life's journey, may I at least be on the right path and not back down! We have to continue no matter what, knowing that someday we will look back and be glad we did.

2009-11-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

Judah, one through five months

2009-11-24T10:00:00.001-08:00

Fast forward to, November already! Here are a few pictures that capture the last few months of our lives as new parents.

Judah is born!

2009-11-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

So here are just a few pictures to capture the most amazing day of our lives. I am working backwards since Judah is now five months old, but the goal is to update our friends and family on a more regular basis with pictures of our family!

Judah was born on a beautiful sunny day in Santiago, Dominican Republic. He was born via c-section at 12:20 pm on June 9, 2009. His weight was somewhat debateable, supposedly 6lbs. 14 oz. and height 21 inches. The reason it seems debateable is that two weeks later he was at 8.5 lbs.! Nevertheless, he was very healthy and wonderful from the start. We had a great experience at a very nice hospital here where we live and we continue to thank the Lord for such a blessed experience! Here are some pictures that capture the days activity!

Samana Excursion

2009-03-09T06:36:00.001-07:00

Well, first of all, I can't believe where the time has gone. I haven't updated this blog in several months, that is kind of embarassing, but here I am posting some pictures, so that's better than nothing.

Jake and I went on a "baby-moon" get-away to the Samana Peninsula, a very beautiful part of this island. It was our first time there and we were so excited to be able to see some beautiful beaches and humpback whales. We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast (pictured here) and also a nice resort, but in hindsight we would have chosen the bed and breakfast for the whole time. We had lots of time to swim and explore and then on our last day we went on a whale-watching tour. We got to see the humpback whales that come to Samana to breed and have their babies. We were even able to see a mom with her baby, very special!

Spirit Week

2008-09-17T13:42:00.001-07:00

Doulos' Spirit Week was phenomenal. Check out the pics of Pajama day and Doulos spirit day!

A Restful Weekend

2008-09-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Jake and I went with some friends to a place called Villa Pajon outside of Constanza. Constanza is about a 2 hour motorcyle ride from Jarabacoa. It is a beautiful farming town nestled in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. We had an amazing time riding motorcycles, relaxing on the porch, hiking and traveling to a site called Las Piramides. One of the most refreshing things about this trip was that it felt like we were in Oregon. The air was crisp and clear. We actually had to pull out our winter clothes and were still cold! We were so thankful for the opportunity to go on a small vacation.

The School Year Has Begun!

2008-08-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

A picturesque shot of the scene at Doulos. Kids are running around the newly finished pond looking for the turtles and new fish. The pond project was a collaberation of several classes as part of their expedition. It is pretty amazing to see what students can accomplish when they are challenged to create and plan large-scale projects.

The school year has started, teachers are back in action and students are slowly transitioning into classes, homework, and social lives. Once again the school is filled with the sound of students repeating after their teachers, laughter in the cafe and futbol games on the basketball court.

I am pretty excited to be back at work, although I didn't feel that way this Monday morning at 6 am. It has been great though being busy again, having community, and being challenged daily to become a better person and a better teacher. I feel like I have so much to learn this year, especially since this is my first official year of teaching. It is a whole new ball game when I am "in charge". So, if you think about it, please pray for me and ask God to give me wisdom. I really want the seventh graders in my devotions class to learn to love the Lord. I want us to be challenged by one another and to grow this year. I will update again with more pics and stories, hopefully there will be some good ones...

A Fantastic Summer

2008-07-25T18:46:00.001-07:00

Jake and I have been enjoying a busy summer of workteams, summer camp and a surprise visit home. One of the workteams down here was our very own church in Eugene, Jubilee. We had such a great week with them and decided to go home for a visit shortly after they left. While we were at home we went to a family reunion and visited other family and friends. We are so thankful for so many friends in both countries.

We had a house-warming Chocolate Party!

2008-06-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

The end of the school year...

2008-06-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here at Doulos we are finishing school and the kids are so excited! Here are some pictures of my class. We just wanted to say thank you to my mom who sent us all kinds of wonderful prizes for their "Doulos Store". The students earned these "Doulos dollars" every day and we had the store every two weeks. They loved getting to make some of their own purchases with their hard earned money! Thank you mom!

Also, I wanted to include some pictures from our big project that we just finished. We were studying the Maya and the students were making some awesome art projects.

Going to club...

2008-05-26T08:13:00.001-07:00

On our way to club in Pinar Quemado we set a record for how many people we could fit in our car...10 people and a guitar in our Rav 4!

A good move...

2008-05-26T07:43:00.001-07:00

Getting rid of the pink!!!!!
Jake, talking to our dear friends Chris and Kristen!
Yikes, everything is pink in the bathrooms too. I guess we can't paint the toilet...

Jake and I recently moved after living in our other house for only a few months. We had been wanting to move to a house that was more accessible to our neighbors and that would allow us more opportunities to get to know people in the community. We really liked where we had been living, but the owners of the house had built a rather large wall around the house and we really felt like we weren't living very much like Dominicans.

So, this brings us to our new house. It is very close to our old house, on the Avenida, which is a nicely paved road that leads to the Confluencia, the convergence of two rivers. We live close to a Pharmacy called Farmacia Cristo Rey, which literally means, Christ is King Pharmacy. In our neighborhood there are a lot of colmados (like 7-11), beauty shops, and people walking or riding their motos (motorcycles). It is a very lively area of town with music almost always playing and of course a lot of kids too! We are excited for this change and are learning to embrace all of the loud noises and smells.

Before we moved in, we decided to paint the house, which has helped a lot! Also, we have found a lot of cucarachas, lizards, ants and mosquitoes, but we are slowly getting rid of them and showing them that they are not welcome to live in our cupboards or showers anymore. The house has a backyard that is really nice with an old rusty swingset which I wanted removed, but apparently it is still good, says the owner. Our next door neighbor's kids who climb the trees asked to come and play on it, so I guess it was good to keep it.

Thank you!

2008-05-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to have people send us some much needed and missed items! It is amazing what a difference it makes to have some treats from home! Some of our favorites are natural peanut butter, almonds, and movies. Thank you especially to both of our wonderful parents as well as our church in Eugene for sending us these items (especially Pastor Scott and his men's group)!

You are all so wonderful and we really appreciate the thought, time and money that went into these packages!

Love,

Jake and Kyla

Master del Desierto

2008-04-28T07:52:00.001-07:00

Jake and I participated in the Master del Desierto race/competition with my boss, Krista, from Doulos last Saturday. The race consisted of biking, padaling, running and swimming as well as nine team challenges. We had so much fun and really enjoyed ourselves, despite Jake being sick and me not feeling prepared. It was an experience that we will not forget and one we are glad we had the opportunity to participate in.

One of my favorite challenges was the soapy wall. We had to get all three of us up a 12-15 foot wall that was covered in a soapy mixture. Luckily, by the time we got there, a lot of it had dried and we got up the wall pretty easily by climbing up one another. It was a little painful to have the weight of someone on my head and shoulders. It put a whole new meaning to bearing one another's burdens.

Another of my favorite parts was actually wandering through the desert. I couldn't help but imagine what Jesus and Abraham must have felt like. We even stumbled upon some olive trees and I really felt like I was traveling around Israel. Of course, I had plenty of Gatorade and Powerbars to eat, but I felt like I understood how hard that would have been to wander for forty days without food or water.

Hopefully, we will have more pictures later and possibly even a video, they are going to make a mini-series out of the race, kind of like The Amazing Race or Survivor. There wasn't as much drama though I can guarantee.

We'll keep you posted!

Jumprope Fun!

2008-04-28T07:48:00.001-07:00

A work team from Texas came and brought some awesome equipment for the students to use. Their favorite was the double-dutch jumpropes. It was such a blessing to have this group. They did an amazing job and taught the kids how to jumprope, juggle with scarves and many more activities!

Some pictures of Jarabacoa

2008-04-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the sunset from our kitchen window...

Jake...

I will add more later...

Sixth Grade Girls Party!

2008-04-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Jake and I have been doing great. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We have really felt them especially as people have commented that we are adjusting remarkably well. Thanks to the Lord, he has helped us so much in this transition.

One of the things I love about the place I work, Doulos Discovery School, is being able to hang out with students. I had wanted to have the sixth grade girls over to our house and finally it happened! It was so much fun to connect more with the girls and the other teachers. I had eight sixth grade girls over after school until about ten o'clock. They wanted a pajama party, but I thought this would be enough time together for now. We had a water fight in the yard, played tag, painted nails and toenails, ate junk food and pizza, danced a lot, and watched a movie. I had so much fun and can't wait to plan our next party.

I am really excited about the way that the Lord is opening doors to be involved with kids' lives. I love getting to know the students here and in doing this I hope that I can be an example to them in word and in deed. They are so awesome and I just wanted to share some pictures from our party so you can see how much fun we had!

Please continue to pray for me as I am asking the Lord what he would have me continue doing here. I would love to be involved more in discipling and leading Bible studies. For right now, teaching has been an amazing way to connect with students and to pour into their lives.

Some fun sights we've seen

2008-03-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the capital, in front of the oldest still functioning church in the new world

A moonlight stroll on the beach

The Cristopher Columbus statue in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo

Cabarete beach, one of the biggest kite surfing meccas in the world

Presidential elections are in May, so the streets are always full of honking cars with flags waving for their preferred candidate.

Sixth Grade Field trip!!

2008-03-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

These are some pics from the field trip that I just took with my sixth grade class. We had so much fun. The kids liked the waterfall, but not really the hike back up. One of the highlights of my trip was seeing one of the kids' mothers take off her sandals and hike barefoot. She was even carrying some of the girls' backpacks and encouraging them along the way. Wow, these people are amazing.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, we are doing really well. Next week is Semana Santa, or Spring Break. I am looking forward to a break and Jake will be hosting a work team. Until next time...

Our lives in the DR

2008-02-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

I am just finally having a moment to write and update y'all on our lives so far. Since we have been here, we have been busy with figuring out where we will live, buying a car, figuring out our new jobs and meeting a lot of new people. Jake has been doing great in his new job. Last week was the first work team at camp and it was very busy but also a great week for him and everyone else. Also, two new interns arrived to work at camp and Jake has been busy hanging out with them and leading them.

I have also been busy. When we arrived, I wondered what God had for me here in this country. There was not enough work for both Jake and I at camp, so I started looking for oppotunities to be involved in this community. I wound up at Doulos Discovery School (http://www.ddsdr.org/), a place I had been considering working at before. Last year, when we visited, we came to this school and I was excited about the possibility of working here. I am working as an assistant in the sixth grade classroom and I also teach English/Language Arts as well as Art with the sixth graders. It has been a wonderful community to be involved in and the students are amazing. I love getting to share the Lord with them and seeing their smiling faces everyday. For now, this is where I am called to serve. I am learning more Spanish and getting to know the kids that I came to work with.

Also, I stay busy with Spanish tutoring five days a week. This has been busy, but it has been really good. Everyone says that the first two months are difficult, and that is definitely true. I have not found it easy to live here, but I have found that God is faithful through all of my struggles and frustrations.

I am excited to share more pictures once we have the internet at our house or when I am able to upload some pictures. For now, here is a picture of the sixth grade class that I work with and their teacher, Patrick. Thank you all for wanting to hear about our lives and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Kyla

2008-02-01T07:56:00.001-08:00

Jake and I arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic just a few days ago. We were pleasantly surprised that our boss picked us up at the airport and we had a ride to camp. We were not sure if anyone would be there, but everyone has been very helpful. We are staying with a family that we met last time we were here. They are so gracious to open up their home to us and to let us use their car! Jake has felt very victorious to be able to navigate his way through town and avoid hitting anyone, or be hit himself! It is quite dangerous driving around here and people are very unpredictable drivers.
So far we have been able to do a lot of things in this first week. We went to our first national staff meetting in the capital, Santo Domingo, it was an adventure in and of itself. Our friend's car was having issues on the way there and it ended up taking twice as long. As Jake and I are shopping for cars we are being very careful not to end up with a car that needs a lot of repairs. Anyways, it was a fun time to meet the other staff, they are so amazing; it was quite an honor!
Here is a picture of Dioni and I. She is an amazing person, she was one of the first student staff members in the Dominican Republic to work with Young Life, or Vida Joven. I am looking forward to getting to know her more, as well as other Dominicans here in Jarabacoa.

Thank you all for your prayers, emails and encouragement on this adventure.

Kyla

Happy Birthday Jake!

2008-01-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here we are in Crystal River, Florida on our day off! It was Jake's birthday so we went snorkeling and swam with the manatees! It was soooo much fun, and unbelievably beautiful. Thank you Lord for such a great day.

Jake and I have one more week of New Staff Training and then we are off to the Dominican Republic!

(We are learning lots of great stuff and working hard during the week :)

Christmas times a comin'... and now it's gone!

2008-01-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

Wow! The holidays really fly by when you are having fun. Jake and I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas this year filled with beautiful white snow and the reminder of the true meaning of Christmas-our Savior's birth. We tried to focus more on Christ-mas this year rather than consumerism. It is always a challenge not to get wrapped up in it, no pun intended.

We spent Christmas Eve with Jake's family celebrating Joel's birthday and going to a Christmas Eve service. Christmas day was spent trying to figure out how to give our anonymous gifts to each other without revealing who they were from. It was quite comical how long it took us to figure this out. Also, as pictured, Jake and I went snowshoeing with my parents. What fun enjoying a winter wonderland and spreading Christmas cheer with fellow snowshoers/skiiers. It was a blast and a fun memory.

May your new year be blessed, as it is already January, I can't believe how much the year is already flying by!

Speaking of flying, we are leaving in less than two weeks! Wa-who!!!

We bought plane tickets!!!

2007-12-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

It's official: Lord willing we will be on a plane to Orlando on January 13th for two weeks of training, then leaving straight from there on January 28th to the DR.

ps. That's not a squirrel hanging from Jake's chin. He's just working on a massive gotee.

Thanksgiving with everyone!

2007-12-15T11:48:00.001-08:00

Both of our entire immediate families converged on Jake's parents' house for an awesome time of fellowship, food and football watching.

Kyla's nephew Ezekiel

The sisters, Eryn and Eliza

The youngest, Ezra

Cross Cultural Orientation in Colorado

2007-11-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

Jake and I went to our first Young Life International training November 6-11 in Colorado Springs. It was such a great time to come together with twenty other individuals who are serving all over the world with Young Life. The staff who shared with us were amazing and so encouraging as we learned about topics such as: Conflict Resolution, Language Acquisition, Cultural transitions, Donor Care, etc. We spent most of the day in a classroom-like setting learning from these staff members, and then at night we would relax and have fun together. Some of my highlights from this training were talking to other young couples like us and encouraging each other, praying together and laughing at some of the experiences we have been through so far. All in all, we were so thankful to have been a part of this training and to meet so many great people.

P.S. Jake made this video and it is awesome, you should watch it!

Family and Friends in Portland

2007-11-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

Sharing our vision with family in Portland

This was just after we had some great Louisiana cooking and fellowship with the Chevealliers and some awesome friends from Wolf Mountain.

Thanks Grandma for the great lunch at Beaches!

Fun times in Ashland

2007-11-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

Jake and I stayed in Ashland for almost a week with a wonderful family who let us live with them.

We had an awesome small group presentation sharing our vision for the Dominican Republic and also visited many other people in Ashland who Jake had known while growing up.

Some memories that I will enjoy: watching many episodes of The Office with the Stranbergs, getting to meet lots of amazing and encouraging people, and walking in Lithia Park with the beautiful fall trees all around us.

Thanks to everyone who supported us on this trip and opened up their homes for us to stay or share a meal with you!

Love,
Jake and Kyla

What a game!

2007-10-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Jake and I got to visit our friends last weekend in Boise, Idaho. We had so much fun and we even got to go to a Boise State football game. Little did we know that it would even go into four overtimes! Now, I don't know a lot about football, but that was crazy, and lots of fun.

We had a great trip and were able to relax, have fun with friends, and we even stayed in Ontario on the way home.

Thanks to everyone for letting us stay with you!

Our new home away from home...

2007-10-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we've done it, we've moved in with my parents. This is that time in life when you look back on all of the independence that you have gained and wonder where it has gone... Actually, this has been a huge blessing. Both of our parents helped us move out of our apartment in Eugene to Central Oregon, where we will be continuing our fundraising while preparing to leave for the Dominican Republic in January. We will be visiting friends and family all over Oregon as well as attending a Cross Cultural Orientation training in Colorado and three weeks of training/conferences in Florida. Lord willing, we will fly from Florida to the DR at the end of January. In the mean time, we will be raising the rest of our funds and believing for many more miracles. Thank you for all of you who are praying for us now. We really appreciate your encouragement and support in this time. This is the point of no return and really a time of dependence on the Lord. Although we are being stretched, we are thankful for what God is doing in our lives.

May God richly bless you as you seek HIM!

Kyla

Spreading the word

2007-09-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

We had dotted all our "i"s, crossed all our "t"s, practiced our message, when all of a sudden it hit us: we had no idea what we were going to say the next day in front of Lifegate Christian School for their first chapel of the year.

The things we had prepared were nice, but not really the taste we wanted to leave in the students' mouths for the rest of the year. We wanted them to dream big, and to catch a vision for missions, and it was only by the Lord's hand that we were able to accomplish just that the next morning. He gave us the words to say, and by the end of chapel, kids were coming up to us asking more about our plans and telling stories of their own adventures in other countries.

This was a great chance to share with kids what we will be up to, because most of our meetings have been with aduts. We're more accustomed to working with youth anyway as evidenced by this picture of Lifegate students over at our house for a pizza/game night, with Jake in the middle, stuffing his face full of chocolate while wearing ski mittens in a frantic game called Menonite Madness.

Our meetings with adults have been going very well also. Last week we presented our vision in front of about 25 Lifegate parents, and the Lord brought in over $3000 in that one night alone. As of this morning, we have raised $20,015 toward our goal of $68,000. Thank you Lord!

We've reached $10,000!

2007-09-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on fundraising: the Lord has brought in over $10,000 in monthly pledges and one-time gifts. Thank you so much to all of you who have given-we appreciate you. We still need to raise $58,000 for this first year, and we're confident that God has got a plan for that too. Here's a pic of us taking a break on Moday, kayaking the McKenzie with our friend Christian.

Putting the fun in fundraising!

2007-08-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

"So my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is useless." (I Corinthians 15:58)

Here's what fundraising ought to look like:

Here's what fundraising actually looks like

But seriously, folks. Despite all the hairpulling and bashing our heads against uncooperative technology, we are having a lot of fun with all this. It's been awesome to see the Lord at work through the whole process. Thank you to all who have supported us so far in any way. We love you!

Check out our Facebook profiles!

2007-08-23T13:35:00.001-07:00

We just set up Facebook profiles and look forward to staying in touch with you internet savvy people that way after we deploy to the DR, Lord Willing, in January.

Last week we toured around Northern California visiting friends from camp. It was an awesome time of catching up, rock climbing, playing Guitar Hero, etc. We were planning on camping at Castle Crags state park (in the picture), but when we encountered sweltering heat and realized that at 2:00pm we still had another 8 hours of sweating before bedtime, we decided to just swim a little in the Sacramento River and push on to Eugene.

Thank you to everyone who welcomed us on our journey!

J&K

We're hired!!

2007-06-24T22:11:00.001-07:00

Jake and I have been hired by Young Life International to be Work Team Coordinators in the Dominican Republic. We will be working at Pico Escondido, or hidden peak, a Young Life camp where work teams from the states come. The camp is awesome and we are very excited about this opportunity. It was great to be a part of a work team during Spring Break so that we have the perspective of a participant. Our time in the DR was also very valuable for helping us evaluate whether we were a good fit for the position and the camp as well as whether the DR was a good fit for us. We know that there will be many challenges that will come with this new move, but we are excited to see the Lord work through us. I also wanted to share something that I have been reminded of and comforted by...

"The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere." Oswald Chambers

Oswald goes on to say that "We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God." I clung to this promise during this process as we waited to hear from Young Life and here if we were chosen for this position. I had to be reminded in my uncertainty that I serve a God who is certain and I need only to trust in Him. Now that we know where we are going, I still have to keep trusting Him! There is a lot to think about now; fundraising, moving, plane tickets, traveling to visit family and friends, etc. In all of this I know that as I "leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come." OC

Kyla

Dominican Republic Pics

2007-04-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Kyla and I spent Spring Break near the town of Jarabacoa in the Dominican Republic at Pico Escondido, a nearly completed camp owned by YoungLife. If you're not sure who YoungLife is, check out www.younglife.org. We joined a work team from Georgia, so our job was to do construction projects as the camp is still far from complete. Here we all are.

In addition to working, we were also there to look into the Work Team Coordinator postion that will soon be open. YoungLife is looking for someone to manage the logistics for work teams coming down from the states, helping construct what remains to be done at the camp. There is already awesome ministry going on at camp; however it has potential for much, much more. Here is the view from the main lodge at camp.

There are some incredible people down there already, working with the Dominicans and the North American teams that come down. Here are a few of them.

This picture was taken at Doulos Discovery School, one of the many amazing ministries in Jarabacoa.
href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4KvCHnxQ5wg/RhxbKs6ulNI/AAAAAAAAABk/SfWiRVzyFO0/s1600-h/march2007pico+095.jpg">

It's just stuff

2007-04-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning I received a call that there was a fire in my classroom and that everything in it was beyond repair.

Including my drumset.

And decorations on the wall.

At times I get frustrated, but the Lord has been reminding me that it's just stuff that was lost. No one was hurt. Now Kyla and I just have less stuff to sell when we go overseas.

He is risen indeed!

2007-04-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

The tree in front of our apartment started blooming just in time to match our easter outfits.

Dominican Republic Video

2007-04-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

How we got there

2007-04-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Lord orchestrated our trip to the DR from the very beginning. He got us to the information weekend in Colorado where we found up about the trip, and He got us down to the Carribean island just last week.

In early October of this year, Kyla and I wanted to go to Colorado to explore the possibilities of working with Young Life overseas, but we didn't have the extra $800 it would take to get there. We talked about prayed about it a lot. At one point, we knelt down by our living room couch and asked God simply, "Would you provide the money by the end of this week?"(the registration deadline) We needed a miracle, and we weren't afraid to ask for one of our loving, all-powerful God. We committed to going to Colorado and filling out the registration even though we didn't know where we were going to get the money. In the middle of the week, the miracle came in the form of a late paycheck from summer work I had done. It was amazing: we asked, believed and God provided.

In Colorado we met some amazing people, one of whom was Hunter Lambeth. When we told him about our passions-the outdoors, Latin America, kids, mission trips-he convinced us that we had to go on a short term trip to the DR to check out a position that would soon be open, coordinating short term teams to work at Young Life's camp in that country called Pico Escondido (you can check it out at www.picoescondido.com). We knew that God got us to Colorado, so we were listening for His voice everywhere, and this seemed to be it. God hooked us up with Hunter and He also provided for us to get to the DR.

We sent out support letters at Christmas time and got a few responses back, but with a month left until our trip, we were still $2000 short. We were counseled to send out another round of letters (which seemed silly at the time because we had already asked the same people for support), but the Lord humbled us as we watched the funds flow into our mailbox daily-until, that is-we were fully funded. At that point, the funds virtually stopped comming. We were receiving at least one letter a day with a sizable check included for several weeks. And after we were fully funded, we recieved only two. What an awesome God we serve.

Once in the Dominican we saw the Lord prove faithful once again. We were asking Him to show us if this was where we were to spend the next chapter of our life, however long that may be (the minimum committment is three years). After the first few days, I wasn't so sure. I didn't hear any voice break throught the clouds and say, "Jake, pack up your family and move here!" But as the week progressed and I got the chance to have great conversations with the staff and other people there, I found myself thinking, "I could live here." It's not my dream destination. In fact, there are several things that I think would be tough about living in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic (that's the closest town to the camp)- noise, crazy drivers, missing my friends and family. But I could see myself living there.

It is in the Lord's hands, as it has always been. We haven't been offered the position, so God could have something entirely different up His sleeve. I'm confident that He knows what He's doing. Throughout this adventure so far, I've realized that God will speak to us if we ask Him. His voice might come from other people, it might come from our full, then empty mailbox, and it might come from the silence in our situations. He knows what He's doing.

-Jake