Website Launch

This past spring Jonathan began to seriously consider launching a website in Italian.  He was challenged and inspired by the writings on a blog called PleaseConvinceMe.com that defends the Christian faith.  He didn't want to necessarily write his own material if there was already great material out there.  He requested permission from Jim Warner and was granted permission to translate any and all of their materials into Italian.  Actually, Jim was quite pleased and so gracious in communications with Jonathan.

This summer Jonathan has been working hard at translating articles.  Some subjects are really stretching and growing his Italian vocabulary.  So proud of his perseverance and rise to the challenge.  We pray this website will encourage the Italian believers and also be beneficial to the skeptic, seeker or anyone who might stumble across the website.  He is excited that he can track the amount of hits and see from where people have accessed it (facebook, internet search etc.)  This will be an ongoing project for Jonathan and I know he would appreciate your prayers regarding the project.

The website is called Credo Perché (I believe Because).  At the bottom of each article is a link back to the original one in English if you are interested in reading some of the material for yourself.

11 Years

Happy Anniversary to Us!  

It seems so long ago, and yet still feels like it was just yesterday that we said "I do".  So thankful for these God given years together as husband and wife!  It has been one amazing life filled with so much love, joy, blessing, grace, adventure and assurance that we were both hand picked for each other by our creator.  Can't imagine walking this life with anyone else!    

Family Visit pt. 2

For those interested in hearing and seeing more of our time with Cody and Michelle, from their perspective go here.

Summer Evening Walks

Family Visit

At the start of the summer we had no idea that the Lord would allow and provide for a very special visit from Noella's brother, Cody and his wife Michelle.  They too live on this side of the ocean so we were thrilled that they could make the "short" jont on over from Iraq.  Although they were only here for 8 nights and 9 days, we made the most of every minute.  Not too sure if they will return rested, but hopefully refreshed in spirit and encouraged.  I know we were!  I think we might just have to find a way to connect on the summers we are both here.

I so don't even know where to begin on this post.  The pictures below will give you a glimpse of our time.  The day after they arrived we drove down to Tuscany to stay two nights.  We visited San Gimignano, Florence and Pisa.  We stayed in apartments at Poggio Ubertini, the Evangelical camp where we were also at for a conference earlier in June.  We did lots of walking, seeing great sights and eating gelato along the way.

We made and ate lots of amazing food together.  Thanks to Michelle I now have homemade chicken broth stocked up in my freezer.  Fun times cooking together in the kitchen and learning from each other.  We made a great pair and I must say she is definitely the queen of dicing and how to make food stretch.

The kids were thrilled to have their uncle and aunt stay with us.  They were introduced to the game Angry Birds, had lots of water fights and long walks together.  They were sad to see them go.

We love you so much Cody and Michelle and are SO grateful for our time together!  A visit we ALL needed!  It's all about the memories....and we made some great ones!

In the rush of packing I forgot to get copies of their pictures, so don't be surprised if you see more pop up on the blog in the future.  So without further ado, here is a snapshot of our time together.