More travels

Enjoying the forests of the Grand Canyon

We plan to stay in the Minnesota area for this month visiting churches.  We are staying in Grand Rapids, Minnesota with Dan's parents.  We will be helping out with the family Motel off and on and getting in lots of snow activities.

February will take us to Indiana, Colorado and a short visit to Mexico for some ministry reasons.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement in these crazy travel days as "hamsters" (home assignment missionaries).

We are not exempt but protected

We praise God for his protection over Adrian's life.  While on a bus with a buddy they were confronted and told to hand over their phones.  Adrian saw them coming and hid his earbuds in his shirt that were connected to his ipod, hoping  and praying they would not notice it.  No such luck.  After handing over their phones the guys patted them down and found the ipod!  They took them and ran off the bus as it was leaving the stop.  They were both shook up and sad for their losses but not harmed.  We praise God for that.  We try not to have him take the buses very often for that reason but it happened.  Please continue to pray for our safety and alertness to our surroundings.

Summer events

50 years of Marriage!  


We were able to attend the festivities together with MeLinda's family in July.  What a joy to see everyone and to see God's faithfulness in MeLinda's parents' lives.

It was quite a miracle to have the whole family together for the event.  It was a special time for MeLinda to reconnect with her sisters and their families after 4 years.














24 years of Marriage


It was also fun to be able to celebrate our 24 years of marriage with family.  How time flies!

Youth gathering

Celebrating with friends is what Adrian wanted to do for his big 15th.  We were finally able to get all the youth over for hamburgers and fun.  Having 3 first time attenders join in as well just added to the fun.

Happy Big 15 Adrian!!

On the road again...

We plan to head south to Mexico this week and would appreciate your prayers for us.  We will be driving down with a car we just got while here.  Thanks for your prayers. 

November Hunting

As many of you know, when a young lady turns 15 in Latin America she receives a "quinceañera" (coming of age ceremony, like a wedding) Both of our girls enjoyed theirs but there is nothing for the boys.  So... as a family we decided that we would do our own thing for Adrian.  He turns 15 in May but we thought that a hunting trip would be a good male bonding thing.  Dan brought him up in November and they enjoyed the hunt with Grandpa and both got their deer.  He has dreamed of this since he was small so it was a big deal.

Dan has been able to connect with some of our supporters in the Minnesota area.  Thanks for having us on short notice.

Trial Empty Nesting

We are trying to be good empty nester's but sure miss the action of the kids.  4 days after school was out they were US bound.  They are having so much fun seeing cousins and Aunts and Uncles, fishing, swimming and oh yes doing some work for Grandpa at the Motel.  Zoe is a wondering lonely dog wondering if they will ever come back.


In June, Dan did a beach wedding so we took and extra day to enjoy the beach.  It's a good thing we still have some years before we have to really be empty nester's, but this trial run hasn't been too bad.  The kids return in the middle of August.

Enjoying life even after 45!

Christian's home

For about 9 months this past year we had an additional "son" staying with us.  Christian was being adopted by friends in Denver and last fall US immigration did not allow him entry because of some concerns they had in his mexican adoption decree.  Two weeks ago Christian and his father traveled to Ciudad Juarez to present his paperwork again at the consulate.  We praise the Lord, that he was allowed entry into the US this time around and is home with his parents and brothers and sisters.

A trip up the mountains.

Not as young as he used to be!

Dan,Adrian and Cristian had a great adventure along with the family of Constatino Varas de Valdez, the missions pastor from our mother church.  They left home at 5:30am to drive south about 3 hours to the foothills outside the city of Tepic,Jalisco.  They loaded up their food,clothes,water,tents and sleeping gear for the next 5 days and were off on a 2 1/2 hour hike straight up the mountain.  The trip was not just for fun but to go and encourage pastor Justo and his wife Mary.  They are a part of the Huichol indian people group. Dan and Constantino gave CESI classes (Church planting training) in the morning.  And all joined in for kids activities in the afternoon.  There was always time for a game of volleyball, the town's favorite sport.

great home grown corn fresh tortillas daily with beans, beans and more beans!

  Pray for the town judge, in bright blue, that his faith will grow and become a strong example to others.  Pastor Constantino is to his left.

We were encouraged to have a farewell party be there for our 6am breakfast (beans and tortillas) and pray for us.  We hiked back down the mountain and rode home to showers and indoor toilets, the simple joys of life!


Yes, that is Adrian on your far left, not little anymore!

Beach Ministry!?!

The third week of January we took a week off to head to the beach.  On our way to our "beach ministry" we decided to take the scenic route through the mountains and visit a mission church in Mascota, Jalisco.  We were blessed by being invited to stay in a member's mesón which was over 100 years old (a house turned into a small hotel) and view another member's chili plantation.  They are the chili's that chile rellenos are made of.  They are Dan's favorite and MeLinda's first try at making them was delicious.


After winding down the mountain for 2 hours we were able to enjoy some personal time.  We enjoyed resting, playing lots of beach vollyball, swimming and looking at the ocean sunsets.

She is gone again.

We thank God that Diana made her 12 hour flight back to San Jose, Costa Rica to finish her las semester at Toarchbearers , the one year Bible school she is attending.  She reports that the general attitude of the student boy has improved this semester and is enjoying the new classes.  She has been asked to participate in a leadership team planning some of their activities.

Now the shortest of the 3 kids her only claim to fame is that she is still the oldest.  We enjoyed her extended 2month break with us.  She caught up with friends and on her sleep.  We miss her!