tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-244123382011-07-28T15:03:09.978-05:00At least until we come up with a different name...Danielnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-24988606589179993302011-05-21T22:40:00.002-05:002011-05-21T22:40:38.842-05:00

Obviously, we aren't writing here very often anymore, but Daniel has a new blog at www.salvationlife.com. Please check it out!

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-83242680856886379872010-04-08T16:37:00.002-05:002010-04-08T16:39:21.605-05:00

I am late in posting this but it did happen during the month of March. I was at the store with Ethan and had him in the cart. I gave him a snack in a small container to keep him busy. He decided to launch the whole container out of the cart, looked at me and said "two points!"

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-89342972074395313132010-03-09T22:10:00.002-06:002010-03-09T22:23:16.897-06:00

On Sunday afternoon Ethan felt warm when he woke up from his nap. I couldn't find the thermometer so I just went ahead and gave him a dose of Motrin. Two hours later, he felt very warm so I found the thermometer and discovered that he had 103 degree fever! Since I had just given him medicine two hours before, I called and left a message on the after-hours doctor line. A doctor who was

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-84779013854726994642010-03-05T22:06:00.003-06:002010-03-06T21:39:14.763-06:00

Animal Sounds from Daniel Harris on Vimeo.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-34892854607700181722010-03-04T21:06:00.003-06:002010-03-05T23:29:56.104-06:00

Ethan is starting to talk so much more now and I love hearing what new words he says and finding out that he understands a whole lot more than he can say. It is rather tricky though to learn new words that sound alike but mean different things. A few weeks ago Ethan had a cold and he started to lose his voice. Daniel picked him up and said, "Are you a little hoarse, Buddy?" to which Ethan

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-55256635846431079192010-03-01T14:48:00.002-06:002010-03-01T14:55:51.467-06:00

Ethan is 18 months old today. I took him for his check up at the pediatrician's office this morning and this is what he discovered that he could do, while waiting for the doctor to come in... For anyone interested:Weight = 28 pounds, 10 ounces (85th percentile)Height = 35 1/2 inches ("greater than the 95th" percentile)Head circumference = 19 3/4 inches ("greater than the 95th" percentile)This

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-11551092530628712682009-08-29T00:01:00.002-05:002009-08-29T00:04:36.815-05:00

A year ago today we were welcoming Ethan into the world. This little guy has brought an unbelievable amount of joy into our lives. I can't imagine being any more thankful for a life than I am for his.We recently had some friends who miscarried, and that brought back a lot of memories for me, not only of when we lost our first baby, but also of how Ethan had a pretty difficult road in getting here

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-61123410186620385432009-07-31T10:37:00.002-05:002009-07-31T11:27:32.904-05:00

Sunday through Tuesday of this week I got to take part in my first Transforming Community retreat as part of our church's preparations for our Spiritual Formation Center. It's been great to become a part of this community, and I look forward to the other retreats.The focus of this retreat was on the role of solitude and silence in the life of a Christian leader. As part of that, we were given

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-62865479394893221792009-06-25T22:47:00.003-05:002010-03-05T22:08:37.513-06:00

Mom holding a plastic ring up to her face. Hilarious! Of course with videos like this, he'd already been laughing at it hysterically, and it's starting to wear off by the time we get the camera out. Still glad we got it nonetheless, because it will probably never be funny to him again.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-70050940274384227582009-06-23T21:57:00.003-05:002009-06-23T21:58:56.099-05:00

How long can it get and still stand straight up?

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-81277984376058426282009-06-23T21:26:00.004-05:002009-06-25T22:47:36.667-05:00

..., but he's been having plenty of fun in St. Charles. Kara sent me these pictures today:Before getting in the poolAnd cleaning up after the poolI've enjoyed my conference very much, but am ready to be back with my family. Quote(s) of the day (from Robert Gelinas):"When God is like oxygen, prayer is like breathing."Also, he worked to make the point that Jesus was fully human, even to the point

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-53209304566307755462009-06-22T20:58:00.002-05:002009-06-22T21:13:04.577-05:00

It's kind of surreal: between Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Richard Foster, Randy Frazee, and John Ortberg, I've probably read or re-read a book by one of them 50 times, and they're all here. Especially with Dallas- I quote him a lot to other people who've never read his books, and probably never will, but people here leading the sessions quote him more than I do! I'm not alone!That has been

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-15657392532472022112009-06-21T22:54:00.001-05:002009-06-21T22:54:49.593-05:00

I'm a bit sad that my first Father's Day is also the first day of Ethan's life that I haven't seen him. I am in San Antonio for Renovare's International Conference, and Kara and Ethan are in St. Louis visiting her family. (They've been there since Friday, but the other two days I've been able to see him on Skype. At least today I got to talk to him on the phone while traveling. He didn't say much

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-67764657406209623722009-06-14T23:49:00.004-05:002009-06-15T00:04:16.768-05:00

"Well hello there. My it's been a long long time..."Yes, we do still have a blog, and the intention to make it come back to life.As you can see here, Ethan is much bigger than when we last posted. Kara has been keeping photos updated on Facebook. You can see a couple of her albums through the links below:Ethan Week by WeekRuidoso Vacation 2009

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-92162025124925354452009-01-18T23:31:00.004-06:002009-01-18T23:52:47.133-06:00

We have heard Ethan laugh a few times out loud -- but just isolated short laughs. This afternoon he started laughing while he was in his swing, for no apparent reason. I had the camera right next to me so I was able to capture it. I hope the swinging motion doesn't make anyone sick. I just wish I knew what he was thinking about!

Karanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-39293345398760820362009-01-18T22:55:00.006-06:002009-01-18T23:31:05.635-06:00

Ethan is now almost five months old (January 29th) but I have once again fallen behind in the blog, so I thought I would do a four month post. Here is how he has grown:Birth -- Height: 19 1/2", Weight: 7 lbs., 5 oz.1 week -- Height: 20 1/4", Weight: 6 lbs., 12 oz.2 weeks -- Weight: 7 lbs., 6 oz.1 month -- Height: 23" (95th percentile), Weight: 9 lbs., 7 oz. (50th percentile)2 months -- Height: 24

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-30905205396638495922009-01-07T11:56:00.010-06:002009-01-09T23:52:23.397-06:00

As most of you know, Texans are very proud of their state and this pride is displayed everywhere -- flags, attire, bumper stickers, key chains, star decorations, you name it! Christmas is no exception. Instead of traditional Christmas lights, a house near us proudly displayed the Texas flag made out of red, white and blue lights across the roof. This is a bad picture but the best one I have.I

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-46204079360273367762009-01-01T09:50:00.002-06:002009-01-01T10:02:12.239-06:00

New Year’s Day 2008 started off in the emergency room of a Guatemalan hospital. What I thought was a reoccurrence of pneumonia turned out to be bronchitis… and Ethan! It was a wonderful way to celebrate the New Year – finding out that a new little life was forming and that we would meet him in September (he surprised us by coming in August).I look back and can see God’s hand that day already

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-90841288777294569932009-01-01T09:18:00.004-06:002009-01-01T09:50:33.372-06:00

Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church. Christmas Eve candlelight service with our nephew and niece (Ben and Sarah), and Daniel's parents.Probably the only year when Ethan will be able to do this.Ethan with his cousins (Hannah, Jack, Sarah, Brooklin and Ben)Three generations of "D.E."s (Daniel Ethan, David Ethan, and David Edwin) and also Dallas Cowboys' fans. Ethan was pretty excited

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-26924975324794429062008-12-26T23:21:00.002-06:002008-12-26T23:36:56.397-06:00

I've wanted for some time now to put this into words through a blog post. Due to the fact that I've been basically absent from the blog since Ethan's birth (other than sending the "I Crawl the Line" picture from my phone), obviously it hasn't happened- until now.I knew that if we were to have a baby, I would love him, and it would be an incredible new experience for me. That has been true, but I

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-28082005329303960042008-12-26T23:13:00.002-06:002008-12-26T23:19:59.597-06:00

This Christmas we have enjoyed getting to be with the whole Harris side of the family, as both of my brothers and their wives and kids came in on Christmas Eve. Ethan is the 6th grandchild on this side, and he evens out the ratio of boys to girls. He's pictured above with the next-youngest cousin, Jack.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-38674389255123984842008-12-11T16:47:00.003-06:002008-12-11T16:54:52.944-06:00

Ethan received an early Christmas present from Nana Kate (Daniel's mom).He was mesmerized by the ornaments and lights after we decorated the Christmas tree.

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-29306253260653058932008-12-06T14:06:00.006-06:002008-12-08T11:20:50.931-06:00

I wrote in a previous post that the directors of NLCH, Kendon and Wendy Wheeler, were bringing Michelle to the U.S. for genetic testing. Yesterday we were able eat lunch and visit for a few hours with them in Lubbock (two hours from where we live in Midland). It was so great to see them! I didn't realize just how much I missed Kendon and Wendy until I saw them yesterday. They are amazing people

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-13212369421311829582008-12-05T21:51:00.006-06:002008-12-06T12:50:30.714-06:00

We had a wonderful time in Missouri spending Thanksgiving with my family. We flew from Midland to Dallas, and Dallas to St. Louis. Ethan did well on the flights. Thankfully he slept most of the way.We were there from the 24th to the 29th. During our week, Ethan was introduced to many family members and seemed to love the attention.Here are a few pictures from the week with captions below each:On

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-53990329439287625262008-11-28T16:52:00.002-06:002008-11-28T16:53:40.485-06:00

Danielnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-41812706002619924412008-11-13T10:09:00.000-06:002008-11-13T10:10:02.284-06:00

The other day I was reading a book that said there is a higher incidence of SIDS among boys between the ages of two to four months and that it most often occurs during the cold months of the year. That night, I didn’t sleep well. I kept worrying about Ethan and imagined finding him as a victim of SIDS and how devastating that would be. Obviously, the more I thought about this, the more my

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-6942834227862611062008-11-05T15:49:00.004-06:002008-11-05T16:05:02.483-06:00

The previous two pictures are from Fallapalooza at our church. It was nice to have Daniel's parents there with us!

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-7463176897584061212008-11-05T15:33:00.005-06:002008-11-05T15:49:24.261-06:00

We were all excited about Texas Tech's big win on Saturday, but especially these two little fans dressed to cheer on their team!Ethan is on the right and if you don't recognize her, that is Michelle from NLCH who used to dominate our blog. I stole this picture off of Kendon's Facebook page. I love it! She is adorable as always. She has changed so much since we left at the end of June. She is

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-20463287809197222152008-10-29T20:56:00.003-05:002008-10-29T21:18:42.303-05:00

Ethan turned two months today! He celebrated by receiving his first vaccinations. Poor guy! He received three shots and a liquid for preventing Rotovirus. While he certainly didn't enjoy that, he gulped down the cherry flavored Tylenol.He is now 24 inches and 11 pounds 7 ounces. He is up to the 60th percentile on weight and 90th percentile on height. The doctor of course told us once again

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-39194120541008775832008-10-29T20:42:00.003-05:002008-10-29T20:54:52.324-05:00

My sister in law, Tiffany, tagged me on her blog. I wasn't familiar with tagging so this is new to me. I am supposed to list some of Daniel's favorite things. This is good because it is forcing me to update the blog which I haven't been doing a very good job of lately.Let's see....GodFamilyNew Life Children's HomeMichelleDallas WillardDiscipleship/spiritual formation (participating in groups,

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-84918112288390782502008-10-10T18:24:00.005-05:002008-10-10T23:22:57.744-05:00

On Wednesday, July 9th we visited our former church, Bright Star UMC in Douglasville, Georgia. It was so nice to be back! We were able to visit with many good friends, although being there only one evening was not enough time and we felt so rushed. We were glad we could be there for Wednesday Night Supper. Following supper, we were able to show pictures and talk a little about our experience

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-62068781039043060112008-10-09T21:45:00.005-05:002008-10-10T23:22:34.229-05:00

After celebrating the 4th of July with my family in St. Louis, we drove 10 hours (not too fun when you are 7 months pregnant!) to Georgia to visit with friends at our former church and to load up our belongings that Daniel's brother and sister-in-law graciously stored for us in their basement for the past two years.When the shipping unit arrived, we thought we would have no problem getting

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-43202018847360684012008-10-09T17:02:00.000-05:002008-10-09T16:02:32.367-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the baby shower that my mom and her friends had for us at Mid-Rivers Chapel in St. Charles. It was so neat to have a shower at the church where I grew up and to see many old friends and family members. It was a wonderful day! I was so glad that my friends Johanna and Mandy were able to come.My seven year-old niece Kaitlyn was very helpful with the gifts and taking

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-1197808048134318242008-10-09T16:46:00.000-05:002008-10-09T15:47:02.160-05:00

To make Daniel's 3oth birthday extra special, my parents took us to our first meal at Ruth's Chris Steak House. What a treat!Here was Daniel's plate. Yum!

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-80403621044375260462008-10-09T15:34:00.004-05:002008-10-09T15:45:21.018-05:00

We flew from Guatemala City to St. Louis. We were greeted at the airport by my parents, sister, brother in-law, nieces and nephew.Kaitlyn, Kyle and Kaedyn made us a special welcome home banner. I especially liked the poison control stickers they used!A picture of Kyle saying hello to baby Ethan:Kaitlyn and Kyle helped us with our luggage.

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-87255621266282638002008-10-09T14:34:00.006-05:002008-10-09T15:22:09.387-05:00

I promised before Ethan's arrival to write about the month that we were away from the blog from the time that we left NLCH to the time that we moved to Texas. Since Ethan is asleep right now, I am going to make my first attempt.Very (very!) early in the morning on June 27th, we left NLCH. We were so touched that Lee, Staci, and the summer interns all got up to see us off and that Kendon drove us

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-6655655217920511672008-10-04T17:13:00.006-05:002008-10-04T17:43:33.478-05:00

Yesterday was Ethan's one month check-up. At birth he weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches. He is now 9 pounds 7 ounces and 23 inches. He is in the 95th percentile on height and 50th percentile on weight. The nurse was impressed that he gained two pounds in a month! We wish Michelle could do that. We sure miss that little girl! Ethan has now passed her up in size.

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-67416267737506889512008-09-30T18:25:00.003-05:002008-09-30T18:40:18.116-05:00

Ethan turned one month yesterday. He has his one month check-up this Friday. I can't wait to see how much he has grown and how much weight he has gained. His cheeks and belly look much bigger these days. Other changes I have noticed: darker eyebrows, top eyelashes coming in, and staying awake more. He smiles often in his sleep and has some really cute dimples. Below is how he celebrated

Karanoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-80443930300293699142008-09-19T11:12:00.001-05:002008-09-19T11:13:51.250-05:00

My sister is much better at keeping her blog updated. She has been posting pictures from her time here so if you are interested, check out her blog at kjohnsonfamily.blogspot.com

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-56471273891325457042008-09-16T18:51:00.009-05:002008-09-16T19:26:48.326-05:00

My sister flew in today and will be here until Sunday. Ethan and I met her at the airport. She was very excited to finally meet him. You can thank her for the blog update -- she is strongly encouraging me to do a better job at keeping the blog current.

Karanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-48492162183668759902008-08-30T23:33:00.003-05:002008-08-30T23:38:28.019-05:00

Karanoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-502019142202194102008-08-29T17:51:00.004-05:002008-08-30T23:33:27.969-05:00

David Ethan HarrisBorn 11:34 a.m.7 lbs. 5 oz.19 1/2 inches(Yes, those are proud grandparents peeking through the nursery window).

Danielnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-86931799923187734092008-08-29T01:44:00.001-05:002008-08-29T01:44:17.470-05:00

For anyone who checks this, we're at the hospital and the baby is on the way!

Danielnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-30947455892419440662008-08-08T17:17:00.003-05:002008-08-08T17:19:24.630-05:00

We apologize that we have not kept up with the blog since returning to the U.S. I won't list all the reasons (or rather, excuses) but I wanted to let you know that we do plan on keeping the blog up. I hope to fill in the gaps of the long break very soon!

Karanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-32982610845051725792008-08-08T17:10:00.004-05:002008-08-08T17:16:20.449-05:00

Today is my sister's birthday so I want to use the blog to wish her a wonderful birthday! Here are a few childhood pictures of us. I am so thankful for my sister and the very special person that she is.

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-72722953552887870012008-06-28T11:14:00.006-05:002008-06-28T12:21:57.653-05:00

Our time in Guatemala would not have been possible without the financial support of a large number of people. We are overwhelmingly thankful for the provision that gave us this opportunity.We're working on getting out our final newletters with this information as well, but I wanted to go ahead and address it on the blog so that it's accessible now. Several of our donors have asked us when to make

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-76789127351548506382008-06-28T11:01:00.002-05:002008-06-28T11:09:35.620-05:00

We arrived in St. Louis last night after a long day a flying. We finished packing at 12:30 a.m., woke up at 3:30 a.m. to leave for the airport and catch our flight. It's nice to be back and be with family.In some ways, I feel like I'm in shock- the feeling that this is a dream, and that I'll wake up pretty soon back in our apartment at NLCH with all of those kids we love so much nearby. Getting

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-45750333349686348002008-06-26T09:17:00.004-05:002008-06-28T11:01:02.223-05:00

As could be imagined, we're having a tough time saying goodbye to Michelle. She changed a lot since she came, and we loved being able to spend so much time with her.This picture is from the first time we kept her:And I know Kara already posted a similar one, but this is her playing peek-a-boo on our last day of keeping her:

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-54840710006003613882008-06-26T00:17:00.002-05:002008-06-26T00:28:50.531-05:00

Today we had to give Michelle back to Kendon and Wendy. We miss her already! However, our productivity level has definitely gone way up which is good since we only have a day left at NLCH. I think that I am going to be very sad tomorrow morning when I don't wake up to her crazy morning hair and big grin.Here are a few more pictures that we took during her stay with us:Cheerios face.Michelle's

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-59437065623039729962008-06-26T00:06:00.003-05:002008-06-26T00:17:05.654-05:00

I think I am still in denial about the fact that tomorrow is our last day here. We will leave for the airport around 4 AM on Friday morning. This week has been bittersweet, as we knew it would be. In the midst of the chaos of packing and trying to finish up things around here, we have enjoyed some special times (pictures below). However, these times have also been difficult because they mark the

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-13880098419969013342008-06-25T23:48:00.004-05:002008-06-26T00:25:32.059-05:00

Tuesday would have been Jose Angel's (Chepe) 18th birthday. Chepe is the teenager who passed away during a trip to the beach last September on Guatemala's Independence Day. We took whichever children wanted to go to the cemetery where we placed stones that the children had made to decorate the grave.Above -- some of the children decorating stones.The stones turned out really well. The kids put a

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-21759067973991429722008-06-24T01:11:00.001-05:002008-06-24T01:11:46.116-05:00

Man, we have a lot to get done before Friday morning.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-81154247863651189292008-06-22T20:23:00.005-05:002008-06-22T23:27:49.954-05:00

Michelle is getting more mobile. She's still not crawling yet, but getting pretty close. It was months after she came to live at NLCH until she could stay sitting up without someone holding her. Then, she could do that, but with the constant threat of a hard head-flop onto the floor. Now the head-flops are very rare occurrences, and she can sit by herself for as long as she wants to, so she's

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-41464042035814020022008-06-17T00:34:00.005-05:002008-06-17T00:48:19.319-05:00

Sunday afternoon, we went to the zoo in Guatemala City with our friends and coworkers Lee and Staci Jarvis. I had always wanted to visit the zoo here so I am so glad that we got the opportunity. It was a beautiful and rain free day (unusual during rainy season!). We had a great time! Michelle loved the animals and was much more excited about them than I thought she would be. She would flap her

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-70444497927557501012008-06-16T23:48:00.003-05:002008-06-17T00:21:39.532-05:00

Michelle has now been staying with us for over a week. We are definitely getting a lot of parenting practice! We are learning some new skills that I am sure will come in handy later. After several unsuccessful attempts (she cried and moved too much) to trim her fingernails with baby clippers after she scratched her own face and our faces several times, I finally bit all her fingernails off.

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-21202430205726659812008-06-16T23:38:00.003-05:002008-06-16T23:46:54.614-05:00

Since we have fallen quite a ways behind on our blog recently, these pictures are a couple of weeks old. They are from a McDonald's breakfast on June 7th that was a reward for all of the kids who are currently passing all of their classes. These breakfasts are held four times a school year when the progress reports are issued. I love going with the kids to these breakfasts. They are so excited

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-87101678623617468682008-06-11T15:45:00.002-05:002008-06-11T15:53:34.826-05:00

Our directors (Kendon and Wendy) are in the States for two weeks, so we get to keep Michelle... woohoo! The challenge is going to be to get all of the necessary things done before we leave here, rather than spending all day playing with her.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-43925004299220808302008-06-09T13:21:00.005-05:002008-06-09T13:35:30.353-05:00

We've had several of our boys with birthdays recently:Samy turned 9 on May 31.Miguel turned 14 on June 1.Kevin turned 12 on June 6.And Josué turned 8 on June 8.(Wendy lets the kids pick what flavor of birthday cake they want. Josué told her, "It doesn't matter. All of the cakes you make are good." The next day he came back and said, "Actually, what I want for my cake is to have my name on it in M

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-23059008977772039082008-06-05T00:07:00.005-05:002008-06-05T00:32:53.396-05:00

As an apology for such a long hiatus from our blog, we offer the following pictures and video of Michelle:In her blue bonnet (she's got a lot of Texas spirit):With her buddy, Jon:I'm not real sure what was going on here:With Bethany (who we're very excited to have back with us for a little while):And just look at this grin...

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-71644613026067250952008-05-20T22:25:00.002-05:002008-05-20T23:01:41.285-05:00

For a long time, Kara and I thought that what we would do after our two years in Guatemala would be moving to Kentucky so that I could study some more in seminary. That's something that I have wanted to do for a while, we still have friends there from college, there would be good opportunities for ministry, and a lot of other positive things about it. So, I applied and up until about a month and

Danielnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-14926709767270031052008-05-19T14:54:00.002-05:002008-05-19T16:15:39.922-05:00

On Wednesday evenings, we have been studying the book of John with our discipleship group. Last week's lesson was on John 3 and the story of Nicodemus. At the end of the lesson, we gave each youth a piece of cake with two candles -- one to represent their physical birth and one their spiritual birth. The point was to thank God for each and blow out the candles. Unfortunately, Daniel and I

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-23176284881841419382008-05-18T18:02:00.006-05:002008-05-18T18:17:56.626-05:00

Michelle's long-awaited first birthday was on Friday. We set a table in the middle of the dining hall with Michelle as the centerpiece and her brothers and sister joining her. Then everyone got a cupcake, including Michelle for the first time. She didn't care for eating it very much, but had fun smushing it in her hands.We are very thankful that God has had His hand on this little girl and that

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-90543985765477018172008-05-16T00:00:00.002-05:002008-05-16T00:12:54.570-05:00

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-56455422265152318012008-05-15T23:57:00.004-05:002008-05-16T00:00:14.889-05:00

Our two most recent birthdays were Estela (25) and Giovani (10).Tomorrow is a big one as Michelle turns 1!

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-35559353529352101662008-05-15T22:51:00.002-05:002008-05-15T23:41:32.104-05:00

Twelve of our kids recently expressed interest in getting baptized, so they all participated in a baptism service together at our church, which was a really neat experience. Enjoy the video below. (Their order in the video is Eslin, Rebeca, Brenda, Marta, Delia, Jenifer, María, Daniel, Salomón, Elías, Rubén, Alex).

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-51014758560494294922008-05-13T18:38:00.003-05:002008-05-13T18:41:50.888-05:00

Michelle is growing and changing in so many ways. She now has teeth! They have come in so quickly in the past few weeks -- two on the bottom, then two on the top, and now we can see two more on the top starting to come in.... just in time for her to eat a piece of cake when she celebrates her first birthday this Friday!

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-59626118365254664192008-05-03T10:41:00.002-05:002008-05-03T10:47:54.409-05:00

Thursday was Eduardo's 22nd birthday. It was also Labor Day in Guatemala, which meant that all of the kids had the day off of school. There is a team of college students here from Florida State University right now so they did fun activities with the kids that day. We also had a picnic lunch in the garden. During the picnic, we sang and had cake for Eduardo. One of the little guys who was

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-14944218006037305202008-04-30T21:53:00.002-05:002008-04-30T21:55:16.865-05:00

Happy 9th birthday, Juan David. You seriously can't know this little guy and not love him.

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-43582383518638512912008-04-22T22:01:00.003-05:002008-04-22T22:47:25.665-05:00

We have celebrated two birthdays at NLCH in the last week. First was Ibet, who turned 18. For each of our kids' birthdays, we take them out to lunch and they get to invite one friend to come with them. Normally it's someone near their own age or a sibling. But Ibet chose to invite Juan David, so we had fun with them at lunch on Sunday.The other birthday was Delia, who turned 19. She chose to

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-20109273134030411412008-04-21T11:17:00.009-05:002008-04-21T11:32:56.080-05:00

I have now reached the halfway point to our little guy's arrival! Hooray!! Daniel took some pictures yesterday to mark the occasion. While I feel pretty silly posting pictures of my stomach on here, I did want to share a few with you so you can see the baby's progress. The last picture makes me laugh. Daniel is so much taller than me that it created a funny angle.

Karanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-12758524463405213602008-04-21T11:08:00.003-05:002008-04-21T11:12:07.565-05:00

I found three of our girls the other day inside one of the concrete planters that doesn't yet have a tree or flowers inside. They were having a great time.

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-45601305400033918282008-04-16T15:56:00.002-05:002008-04-16T16:19:29.645-05:00

We have had a few people ask questions about the spelling of Michelle's name. So, if anyone else has wondered about why the spelling has changed over the course of our posts, here is the explanation:On our first post about her after she and her siblings arrived at NLCH, we spelled her name Mishell. We did this because it was how Kendon (the director of NLCH) spelled her name in an email that

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-82040126366298606362008-04-15T15:24:00.002-05:002008-04-15T15:49:02.079-05:00

Michelle fell asleep at our apartment the other day -- one hand holding a toy, the other hand holding a cookie. What a life!

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-29886022685442365462008-04-14T22:52:00.004-05:002008-04-14T23:18:56.181-05:00

As an incentive for doing well in school, when grade cards and progress reports come out (4 times a school year) Kendon and Wendy take the children who are passing all of their classes out for breakfast at McDonald's. Sadly, there were only 11 of them this time (plus Cesar, one of the homeparents' children) but it was a pretty excited group.Sammy, not lacking at all in confidence but perhaps a

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-3191429377656588242008-04-14T22:48:00.002-05:002008-04-14T22:52:22.372-05:00

The internet and phones are working again at NLCH! When we were told that it could take up to three months for the repairs, we fully expected that it would be at least three months. Things never seem to work quickly around here. So, we were very pleasantly surprised when internet and our phone came back, with just a week for repairs. Now, we just hope someone else doesn't steal the wiring!

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-12328967147587221912008-04-12T18:46:00.002-05:002008-04-12T18:52:29.341-05:00

Yesterday, Jorge celebrated his first birthday since coming to NLCH, turning 5. You can see evidence in the picture that he got to have a special birthday lunch at Burger King with his buddy, Randy. He was so excited at dinnertime that he decided to wear the crown again, and as soon as we turned out the lights to sing and bring out his cake, he started pumping his fists in the air with a huge,

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-91201673872171124972008-04-08T13:02:00.002-05:002008-04-08T13:08:10.925-05:00

Our phone and internet have been out for several days, and the phone company finally told us yesterday that it's because someone stole their cables, and it will take somewhere between 5 days and 3 months to fix it. So right now we are at the local chicken restaurant since they have wireless internet, but we just wanted to let you know the reason for our absence from the blog and email. And if you

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-4608779882412845992008-03-28T13:31:00.002-05:002008-03-28T13:37:44.685-05:00

We've added an album to our Flickr page just of pictures of Michelle. Now all of you can sit and watch slideshows of her- just like we do. Click here to see the album (and it's got an RSS feed, so you can even subscribe to it).

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-9120473646974227762008-03-27T18:00:00.002-05:002008-03-27T18:04:24.441-05:00

We went to the doctor this week and found out that the little one we're expecting is a BOY!!! I would have been equally as excited if it was a little girl, but it's a BOY!!! Woohoo!We've gotten a kick out of how they say it in Spanish. Instead of saying "It's a boy!" they say "It's a man!" Kind of gives a different feel to it...

Danielnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-65814228055402187342008-03-26T10:23:00.005-05:002008-03-26T11:09:22.618-05:00

We returned to Guatemala just in time for the full swing of Holy Week activities. The week was filled with a trip to a water park, afternoon games Tuesday to Friday, a sleepover for each age group, special breakfast after each sleepover, Good Friday service, bonfire celebration on Saturday, Easter sunrise service, special Easter breakfast, an Easter egg hunt and a picnic lunch!Although I don't

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-15290733512350517812008-03-12T08:57:00.004-05:002008-03-12T11:04:54.139-05:00

A few years ago, Daniel sang "I Can Only Imagine" at my grandma's funeral. After the service, my grandpa pulled Daniel aside and asked him if he would sing at his funeral. Last year we were sad when Daniel's Grandpa Tom died that we were not able to return and be with that side of the family, so on Saturday when we found out how ill my grandpa was we decided that if it became possible for us

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-29187818245417492122008-03-08T15:34:00.004-06:002008-03-08T15:49:26.585-06:00

My grandpa has spent the last week and a half in the hospital with some heart problems. I received a call this morning saying that he is returning home and hospice has been called in. He communicated to the family at his side this morning his great love for them and that he is going home to heaven. He has lived 88 great years on this earth and is deeply loved by his family and friends. He is

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-57028811669517677462008-03-08T15:33:00.000-06:002008-03-08T16:01:03.477-06:00

Here is a very easy way to give toward the ministries of NLCH: Any time that you search or shop for something on the internet, use www.goodsearch.com. It uses Yahoo as a search engine (or for shopping, links directly to many stores- like Amazon.com and iTunes), and for each search or purchase, a donation is made to NLCH!Please visit their website to get started. Once there, you will be able to

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-50863099712253156862008-03-05T13:08:00.001-06:002008-03-05T13:09:54.685-06:00

Yesterday after taking him to McDonald's, 4-year-old Jorge said, "I don't have a mommy, or a daddy, or a grandma... but I do have french fries!"

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-90324584441862624772008-03-05T12:20:00.003-06:002008-03-05T12:35:46.435-06:00

I'm very far behind on posting our birthday pictures of the kids, but here they are:Brenda turned 13 on Jan. 20Eslin turned 19 on Jan. 23Marta turned 24 on Jan. 26Edgar turned 18 on Jan. 29Herbert turned 20 on Feb. 4(Esdras turned 16 on Feb. 13, but we didn't get the picture)Luis turned 22 on Jan. 20And Randy had his first NLCH birthday, turning 6 on March 2

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-76188713673651151582008-02-29T09:14:00.003-06:002008-02-29T09:34:18.514-06:00

Being stared at because I'm tall is not a new experience for me. Even in the States, if I had to go to Wal-Mart, I could expect a little kid or two to look at me for a second, say, "Whoa," then turn around and keep going. (Or if it happened to be at the Wal-Mart in Kentucky or Georgia, it was probably more like, "Daaanng! How tall are ya?"- even from adults!)The situation is certainly magnified

Danielnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-57750586286601870482008-02-27T21:00:00.001-06:002008-02-27T21:01:40.289-06:00

We have enjoyed discovering that Michelle has great taste in music. First it was Johnny Cash. Then her theme song became "Roly Poly" by Bob Wills. (Most of you probably aren't familiar with that one... it's the country classic that says, "He can eat an apple pie and never even bat an eye. He likes everything from soup to hay..." It's Michelle's theme song to inspire her to eat.)The most recent

Danielnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-44357432128005075262008-02-26T20:17:00.003-06:002008-02-26T20:22:36.736-06:00

I know that the blog is a little biased toward Michelle lately, but what can I say? She is cute and we have been spending a lot of time with her. I will try to provide a better balance in future posts. Here are a few recent pictures of her from this past Sunday: Enjoying the music with Kendon With Luis at his birthday lunch at Friday's. Guatemalans always bundle their babies, so since we were

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-78262828763321388362008-02-26T19:56:00.003-06:002008-02-26T20:16:28.868-06:00

Trying on Daniel's shoes I think she looks like she is gaining weight, don't you? At her appointment on Friday she is up to 6 pounds 3 ounces. (She turned 9 months on the 16th) This was Daniel and my attempt to give her cereal. We got much more on her body than in her mouth.

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-27034782976268134352008-02-25T11:41:00.003-06:002008-02-25T12:08:26.363-06:00

If you are not familiar with the program Skype, it is a wonderful invention! It has allowed us to do video phone calls free through the computer to family and friends back in the States. I love it! I used it on Saturday to show the ultrasound photo to my sister's children.My six year-old niece, Kaitlyn's reaction was, "it looks like a little baby Hundley!" I didn't know what that meant, but

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-72193061707583021592008-02-23T21:06:00.003-06:002008-02-23T21:18:51.615-06:00

I have been battling stomach sickness (awful nausea and vomiting) for the past seven weeks. Seven weeks!.... you may think that's terrible and that I must be pretty upset about it. No, not this time. This time it is not the result of some parasite, amoeba, or other crazy Guatemalan bug. This time it's a BABY!!!Daniel and I found out the news on New Year's Day. That was a great way to start

Karanoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-34812453391575574172008-02-23T11:32:00.001-06:002008-02-23T11:33:32.058-06:00

Please pray for this group of siblings. Here is a message that Kendon sent out by email yesterday -- "Astrid, Esdras, Damaris and Nancy are spending a couple of weeks with an aunt and uncle. They are really struggling with living at the Home, but we feel it doesn't have so much to do with where they are living as with life in general. They could really use your prayer. They are still grieving

Karanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-59624058465376088952008-02-22T21:05:00.002-06:002008-02-22T21:08:02.995-06:00

Great news- Juan is now back living at NLCH again! He came Tuesday and talked to Wendy, saying that he wanted to return, because life with his mother wasn't what he thought it would be and he missed his friends here. So yesterday he moved back!

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-82555377691943958292008-02-16T18:43:00.005-06:002008-02-16T19:15:10.542-06:00

We have another new child at NLCH! Four year old Jorge has now been here for a little over a week. He is the nephew of two of the older boys at the Home, Eduardo and Herbert.

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-69915708226239859822008-02-06T21:36:00.000-06:002008-02-06T21:44:10.413-06:00

Usually Michelle has a huge grin on her face when Daniel does this with her. This time however, she was distracted by the camera. It is still pretty cute though!

Karanoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-4500520914836138232008-02-02T22:35:00.001-06:002008-02-02T23:00:49.438-06:00

We were thrilled that Michelle was able to spend the night with us last night since Kendon and Wendy had an event at their son's school and would be returning late. We had a fun evening with her -- playing, giving her a bath and putting her in her pjs.Because of her tiny size, Michelle eats every two hours during the day and every three hours at night (midnight, 3 am and 6 am). This was not bad

Karanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-16374732640245255602008-01-28T20:00:00.000-06:002008-02-03T14:03:17.983-06:00

I mentioned in the previous post how when Daniel sings "How Great Thou Art," it puts Michelle right to sleep. I took some video of that today. I wasn't planning on putting it on the blog because you can't really hear Daniel singing. However, when I reviewed it on the computer, it brought tears to my eyes. Why? Because Michelle looks so tiny, fragile and vulnerable but so safe in Daniel's big arms

Karanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-75157997133498529282008-01-28T19:18:00.001-06:002008-01-28T19:52:06.006-06:00

Little Michelle is living with Kendon and Wendy but we have been lucky enough to get to watch her for a few hours yesterday and today while they had other responsibilities. She is such a happy and easy baby. She is content just to look around and play with whatever toys we give her. (See picture, left, with DVD case) She lets us know when she is hungry and when we see the little yawns and she

Karanoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-64222331320027973402008-01-26T20:06:00.000-06:002008-01-26T20:20:01.533-06:00

We've been able to spend a little bit of time getting to know little Michelle. She's wonderful- and very, very little: eight months old, and actually weighs five pounds. We found out today that she was born when her mother was only seven months pregnant, and only weighed one pound at birth. It's a miracle that this little girl has made it this far.Wendy bought her some clothes meant for premature

Danielnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24412338.post-53766659410991098952008-01-24T22:36:00.000-06:002008-01-24T23:03:58.931-06:00

We were excited to welcome some new little ones to NLCH this evening. We don't know a whole lot about their story at this point other than that their mother is a drug addict and alcoholic and basically was not in the picture for these kids' lives. A grandmother was caring for them, and brought them to Child Protection Services, who brought them to us.Please pray for all of these kids, especially

Danielnoreply@blogger.com1