Preparing for May madness :-)

Hi friends and family~

First of all, I need to apologize for being horrible at communication! It's been busy as always, and I just haven't made the time to do this! THANKS to those of you who continue to check in with me and ask my family at home how I'm doing, it's great to feel so loved...

I just returned back to Nicaragua on Wednesday night around 8 and was INSTANTLY reminded that this is HOT, dry season. It was 115 on Wednesday durning the day and I'm guessing it was around 90 at 8:30 when I got out of the airport. So, needless to say, it feels unbearable at times, but gives me all the more excuse to be near water and lay on my bed with my fan on high ;-) I was supposed to return on Tuesday, but got the DSM airport, walked up to the counter and the friendly lady said "Where are you going honey?" and I said "Managua" and she said "oh, no you're not." My flight to Chicago was cancelled, so I got a bonus day with my family, never a bad thing. My time in the States was great...the highlight was seeing friends and family and celebrating Grandpa George's 90th birthday. We had a suprising turnout and were blessed to see so many family and friends. I know my g-pa doesn't have e-mail but I do know my mom prints these out and sends them to my g-parents, so let me just say to grandpa and grandma we had an amazing time celebrating with you both for the lives you live and I am so proud to by your grandaughter ;-) I could have never use enough words to express my thankfullness to God for putting you in my life. Amy and I sang in church for g-pa for his birthday, and I promised a full out concert for his 100th and he smiled and said "Looking forward to it!" So are we Grandpa...

I was also able to go to school with 2 of my favorite little people and share chocolate bananas with their classes. Thanks for having me Kaeliegh and Cole! I'm just as proud to be your auntie. I also got to take Caleb to Pizza Ranch (his always #1 pick) and spend lots of time with a little one running behind me yelling "ANNIE, ANNIE". I loved spending time with Sam, she's growing up so fast! I also got lots of time on Sue B's couch, Tim and Sherri's chair, mom's bath tub, my fav rocking chair at the Bandtras, DSM with Sue H and T-dog and my favorite booth at El Charro. Never a bad trip home....

So, back to Nicaragua...5 weeks of school and the count down is on for all of us! The kids are getting anxious and with it being so hot, especially in the afternoon, everyone can just be pretty miserable. BUT, we have a lot of fun things planned for the month of May which makes it busy, but good. A few highlights for this upcoming month:

~Willy Wonky and the Chocolate Factory with the 1st graders starring as the Oompa Loompas...I've been asked to be the head Oompa and I of course agreed...dancing, singing, dressing up like a dork, just a few or my favorite things.

~Emily and I are making "Ang and Em" day and heading to a resort for the weekend on May 14, we're both pretty excited about the beach and relaxing for a few days!

~Field trip to the zoo on May 17...we are looking for adult volunteers to come along and help, let me know if I can sign you up ;-)

~Mother's Day here is a BIG deal, so we're planning a fun program for the kiddos to do, should be a good time. That's at the end of the month.

A few things that happened BEFORE my big trip to the States.

~The play. We did The Toymaker and His Son on April 8 and I was asked to sing a few songs. It went VERY well and it was a great message...I'm still hoping to get a good copy of it. It's posted on Facebook in parts on my wall, if you have time and are interested, I would encourage you to watch it. The message brought me to tears and it was just so powerful. Everyone did a GREAT job and I was so blessed to be a part of it.

~We found a new house for next year!! Any one that's been here can vouch for how small my room is so I'm ecstatic to be able to move in to a 3 bedroom home with TONS of space and in a quieter "quinta." We will have GREAT neighbors and I think it will be a good move. Em and I will be in the house, so we'll have plenty of extra space for more visitors next year ;-)

~It's just been SO fun to watch the kids grow and mature this year, I would have never expected all the change from them at the beginning of the year. It's most fun for me to hear them reading so well. They are truly blessed to have Ms. Franklin for a teacher and I just feel lucky to be a part of it!

And of course...things you can be praying for:

~A HUGE THANKS to God(through many of you) I am OVER on my financial support for this year!! I was so humbled and grateful to recieve that e-mail, what a HUGE blessing and weight lifted off my shoulders. It's very hard to do much with raising support while I'm in Nicaragua, so this is a big relief and blessing! However, I will need to raise enough support for next year as well, so if you feel like you should, you can still support me financially. I've had a few e-mails in the past week about how to donate online, so here it is.

Go to www.crcna.org
Click on the Our Ministries link.
Click on World Missions link
Go to Ways to Give
Go to Online Giving
Choose the US (obviously ;-)
Choose Missionaries-Latin America and look for my name. The rest should be easy enough to do from there.

I am responsible for about $20,000 for next year and I have a little extra from this year to get my started, but still have lots of fundraising to do over the summer. Please know that I feel so blessed by each gift and am humbled that you think enough of me and my work in Nicaragua to share your hard earned money to help me do God's work in Nicaragua.

~I come back to the States in exactly 6 weeks for the summer! Pray for me that I will finish strong and that all the many plans we have for May will go smoothly and successfully!

~I have found a church that I REALLY like...after a 9 month search, I just love the worship and the pastors. It is a true answer to prayer.

~It is an election year here, which means there can be some scary protests and acts of violence. We have only seen one, and pray with me that it is truly the only one we see!

~ALWAYS praying for the kids at El Crucero...so much pain and hurt in their lives. They're SO sweet and want so desperately to be loved. Lauren is there now while the directors are in the States. If you could pray for her by name, that would be fantastic! She's 24 years old and is running the place and she is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But, her stress level is high and she needs to be lifted up.

~Frankie. Still head over heels for him, pray for me that God would reveal the next step in his plan and how Frankie will fit in to my life. I would LOVE to bring him home for the summer so you all could meet him. Unfortunately, that's highly illegal and will not happen. Maybe some day...

Thanks again for reading, sorry it got a little long. I am so thankful for each of you!

Blessings~

Angie