Happy Birthday Jake!

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!

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!!!

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!

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

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

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

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