Before too much more time gets away from me, I have to share some of the blessings from this past weekend!

Three special things happened this weekend!

• Beaver and Rebecca came to visit (longtime friends and nursing buddies!)
• We got to spend time with some special kids at a Family Group Home
• We had our Annual Advent Hope Christmas party

First off in the way of Blessings....it was soo great to have Beaver and Becca in town visiting this weekend. We got to catch up on life, share nursing stories, and talk about the exciting things that God has been doing for them as they prepare for the mission field. (They had our vespers program Friday night which was a real blessing!) One big miracle for them as they prepare to go to Mongolia is that of acquiring an airplane...a huge unexpected answer to prayer just in itself! They had stepped out in faith using all the resources they had and taking out loans to buy the plane that they felt God was leading them to buy...and within the first week of having the plane, they found out that someone had sent in a LARGE annonymous donation. (Large enough to take care of all the down payments and initial expenses!!!) Wow! Brings shivers to my spine just thinking about it! God is leading them forward...and step by step He has been opening the doors and paving the way.

Mongolia is lucky (or should I say "exceptionally blessed") to be getting them! As you will see in the slide show above....several of us even were even blessed to get to take a ride in the new airplane. I especially enjoyed getting aireal photos of the area in which we live...including our home...from the sky!! It was a beautiful day for flying...and as you can see, we even have snow on the mountains!

Thanks Beav & Becca for stopping by! We were sooo spoiled to have you all here with us for a whole weekend!!!

The second blessing, I mentioned from this weekend, was getting to go to a group home where we helped a bunch of special kids make crafts...and just enjoyed spending time with them. We finished with a special Christmas pageant...complete with live animals, angels and baby Jesus. Everyone was sooo cute in their costumes. And it was fun to see the joy on the kids faces as they acted out their parts. The only sad thing from the afternoon was that it ended sooo quickly! Above is a few fun pictures of our afternoon together. I plan to send all the pictures I took to to the children's parents, so they can enjoy them too!

The third blessing from this weekend was our annual Advent Hope Christmast party. The social team had put together a beautiful supper...and everyone brought fruit or desserts to contribute. We had worship, sang songs, and then ended with a variety of games....addressing the "physical, mental, and spiritual" areas of our livs. The whole event was socially invigorating and made me thankful for all the wonderful friends God has led me to meet here in Loma Linda CA! (I was also excited that Beaver and Rebecca could meet a few of my gang!)

Now ahead lies another busy week....not sure how I will make it through as there are many tasks to accomplish and much is weighing on my mind and shoulders. But one day at a time, His strength is perfect, and I know He will see me through! ;-)