Hello all,
June is now turned to July and we are ramping up for our first fundraiser. A Pie Auction (YUM!) at our home church Sunset Covenant July 17th 5-8PM. Please contact us (503-593-4162) if you would like to help and/or attend!
Additionally we are finally sending out prayer cards (You can stick them to your fridge!) and paper newsletters. If you would like to receive one please contact us!
Also, we are beginning our rounds for speaking engagements at churches or small groups. If we haven't contacted you yet, and you think we should come speak for you, please let us know!
Sorry it's so short this time, promise next month will be awesome!
Prayer requests for this month:
* God's guidence on what to do with our house.
* That our fundraiser goes well
* God brings us the speaking opportunities we are to have
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
May update
Sorry everyone for the late update. It has been a rather roller-coaster month and it's not looking like it's going to calm down soon.
We celebrated our son's 1st birthday. We had a wonderful time eating and visiting with family. Liam got some awesome toys too. We were especially grateful for the beautiful toybox his Grandad Rodman made for him. Now we will have a proper place to put his toys!
Evan and I had our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 12th. We are planning on going away just the two of us, sometime this summer to really celebrate.
Unfortunately this month there was sorrow as well as joy. Tragically, on the 14th we both welcomed and said goodbye to our sweet niece Charlotte Ava. She was born to Liz's brother and sister-in-law. Liz had the privledge of being able to hold her and kiss her goodbye. We know we will see her again in Heaven, but it is something still incomprehensible that she should be there before us. Your prayers for our family in this time of grief would be appreciated.
There is no easy way to transition from something like that into Wycliffe business, but as this is a blog primarily about our journey to Papua New Guinea, it should be done, so here goes...
We hoping to do a presentation in June at our church, Sunset Covenant during a Sunday morning service. When we get a date we will post on facebook. We are going to start putting together a list of churches that we are going to be speaking at in the next few months. If you have a church or small group you would like us to speak at, please contact us:
evan_larson@wycliffe.org
July 17th 5-8PM at Sunset Covenant we are having a Pie Auction. There will be a spaghetti dinner provided. Also, we will be "selling" tickets (the tickets are free but it's an easy way to get a head-count for the dinner). There will be a drawing at the auction for a gift basket, so be sure to either RSVP on facebook (we have a link to the event on our page) or get tickets from me in June...
If you RSVP online there will be tickets available at the event.
We are shooting for September as the month for our regular Aucti0n fundraiser. We are collecting items for auction between now and the end of August. If you have a service (ie Photography sessions, yard-work labor, etc.), art, hand-crafts, gently-used items you wish to donate....please let us know!
Remember, anything you donate is tax-deductable for the value of the item!
Other prayer requests:
Please pray for a solution to our house issue. We are not going to be able to keep it once Evan quits work at Gunderson. We are looking at trying to short-sell it, but we are not sure if it will work.
Prayer our fundraising efforts continue to go smoothly.
Prayer for opportunities to open up for us to speak about our mission and make new contacts.
We celebrated our son's 1st birthday. We had a wonderful time eating and visiting with family. Liam got some awesome toys too. We were especially grateful for the beautiful toybox his Grandad Rodman made for him. Now we will have a proper place to put his toys!
Evan and I had our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 12th. We are planning on going away just the two of us, sometime this summer to really celebrate.
Unfortunately this month there was sorrow as well as joy. Tragically, on the 14th we both welcomed and said goodbye to our sweet niece Charlotte Ava. She was born to Liz's brother and sister-in-law. Liz had the privledge of being able to hold her and kiss her goodbye. We know we will see her again in Heaven, but it is something still incomprehensible that she should be there before us. Your prayers for our family in this time of grief would be appreciated.
There is no easy way to transition from something like that into Wycliffe business, but as this is a blog primarily about our journey to Papua New Guinea, it should be done, so here goes...
We hoping to do a presentation in June at our church, Sunset Covenant during a Sunday morning service. When we get a date we will post on facebook. We are going to start putting together a list of churches that we are going to be speaking at in the next few months. If you have a church or small group you would like us to speak at, please contact us:
evan_larson@wycliffe.org
July 17th 5-8PM at Sunset Covenant we are having a Pie Auction. There will be a spaghetti dinner provided. Also, we will be "selling" tickets (the tickets are free but it's an easy way to get a head-count for the dinner). There will be a drawing at the auction for a gift basket, so be sure to either RSVP on facebook (we have a link to the event on our page) or get tickets from me in June...
If you RSVP online there will be tickets available at the event.
We are shooting for September as the month for our regular Aucti0n fundraiser. We are collecting items for auction between now and the end of August. If you have a service (ie Photography sessions, yard-work labor, etc.), art, hand-crafts, gently-used items you wish to donate....please let us know!
Remember, anything you donate is tax-deductable for the value of the item!
Other prayer requests:
Please pray for a solution to our house issue. We are not going to be able to keep it once Evan quits work at Gunderson. We are looking at trying to short-sell it, but we are not sure if it will work.
Prayer our fundraising efforts continue to go smoothly.
Prayer for opportunities to open up for us to speak about our mission and make new contacts.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
PNG progress
Well, things are moving on our journey towards PNG but it somewhat feels as though we are driving on a road in the highlands to get there.
Last week we received our bank account from Wycliffe, which means we will be able to start officially fundraising. Thanks to those who have already been supporting us!
This week we have been working on finalizing our budget. This must be done before we can attend the Wycliffe training session (Equip) in Orlando, Fl. We are scheduled to attend Equip in October. It will cost approximately $3,000 for airfare and training costs (tuition, room and board). We will be there for two weeks. We are hoping to suppliment this cost by hosting at least one fundraising event.
We are also finishing our first support letter that will be sent out in May. The first one will be in physical format. We would like to send it to as many people as possible. We are currently collecting addresses, please send us yours if you would like to receive our letters so we can be sure you are on the list!
From now on we hope to be updating everyone at least once a month on our progress. Primarily these will be in e-mail format, or on this blog. Anyone who wants to be on our newsletter e-mail list, please send us your e-mail address. Here is the e-mail we will be sending it from so you can be sure to put it on your "safe" list:
We are also working on printing photo magnets and business cards for handing out to friends and family.
Finally we are putting together presentations for talks we will be giving at churches around the area. If you attend, or are a pastor of a church you think we should speak at, please let us know! We are compiling a list and will be contacting these bodies in the next month or so to set up times to come. We will also have a shorter presentation that will not need explaination from us, available for those congregations that wish to feature us in a "moment for missions" spot where we cannot physically attend.
As we continue to strive towards the ultimate goal of arriving in Papua New Guinea, we hope you will join us in prayer (and financial support if you can (we must raise 100% of our support before we can go into the field)). Every bit helps!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Papua New Guinea HO!
Okay, so it is still a long way off...but we are a lot closer now that we have been officially approved for membership to Wycliffe!
Now the long process begins of going through all sorts of things...
1. Medical exams
2. decide on a budget - Evan and I have already done this basically but will have to discuss it with our Wycliffe rep.
3. Do online Equip course
4. Go to Orlando for the onsite part of Equip
5. Fundraising - We have started working on ideas and putting things in place for this (we are anticipating this going very quickly)
6. Passports renewed (or get one in Liam's case), visas and tickets
8. Rent house (this may be the hardest thing to do) and pack. Also, ship anything we want to go to PNG ahead of us to JAARS.
9. Cross-cultural training/job training (this will be for 3 months in Waxhaw, North Carolina.)
10.With our departure schedule for January of 2012.
We are hoping to get there sooner but it will be okay if not. We are still working on having our second kid before we leave, but we may need to adjust that if we get things done sooner...
We will see! God is in everything and he has a plan, even if we don't always know why. I am really happy to finally be getting to the point where we aren't just waiting around. I enjoy having a job...AKA organizing our fundraising efforts and working on support letters and powerpoints.
As I sign off, I leave you with some pictures of what we are working towards.
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
changes are good...and bad...and indifferent....
So, life has gone on and I have been stumbling along trying to keep up. I have succeeded most days but some days I fall way behind. Lots of things have happened but at the same time it feels like life has been at a standstill. Which confuses me because I totally feel like I am rushing all the time and rarely measuring up.
We have been moving forward and then falling back and moving forward again on the process of getting to Papua New Guinea. I keep going back and forth with how much I want to go and how much I want to stay. We are going to be hearing on the 9th or 10th whether we have been accepted to Wycliffe or not. After that we can start fundraising like crazy. We want to get $10,000 in the bank before we go to the training. We will hopefully get close to half from our tax return. I am working on ideas for generating revenue. We are thinking of having pie and slient auctions, maybe a PNG themed BBQ (aka a moo-moo* sorry for the spelling, it's phonetic), printing up mugs with our picture, or a rendering of a bird of paradise (or both!) to sell. These of course are just one-time money-getting things. For all the expenses that will entail getting there.
Liam is growing...he weighed in at 20lbs and was 28 inches at his 9 month checkup. That means he has grown 9 inches and has gained 15lbs. since he was born. He has learned to crawl and his super fast! He is working on pulling himself up on things but has yet to learn how to sit back down. He is very vocal.
We had an overnight away from him to test how everyone would do...and he was wonderful. I only called my parents twice to check on him! Haha! We are planning on going away for the whole weekend for our anniversary. I am very excited.
This week we are starting his "sleep training". Which means we go into his room and I put him in his crib, and sit there with him until he goes to sleep. You slowly move out of the room over a period of several days, until you can just walk in, put him in the crib, tell him it's time to sleep and walk out. So far (two naps) it has gone well. We will see what happens when it comes to going down for the night.
We are trying to a second baby, we thought we were quickly on our way again, when I discovered was pregnant last month. But it was not meant to be, as I lost the baby the week after we found out. So, we are still waiting for God to decide when we will have our second...
In continuing on our rough couple of weeks. Evan's grandmother, Elsie, passed away on the 18th of February. We are both grieved, but are comforted in that she is in Heaven and is out of pain. We will miss her though. It is hard to acknowledge she is gone, since not that long ago she was so full of life. We do have quite the legacy though to remember her by as she was very creative. She wrote books, poetry, took photos, and painted.
But in happier news, we heard some great news from friends and family that cheered us. We also go to celebrate Evan passing his exam at work (on which he got a 96.6%, the second highest anyone has ever gotten) and watch the largest barge Gunderson has built since the reopening of the marine department being lauched. It was quite a sight! And I am very proud of Evan.
We are now looking forward to pushing ahead with our plans to get to PNG, Liam's 1st birthday, the arrival of his new cousin (also a second cousin, or cousin twice removed or something like that...but it's thrilling nonetheless), our 3rd anniversary, and the promise of warm summer weather!
We have been moving forward and then falling back and moving forward again on the process of getting to Papua New Guinea. I keep going back and forth with how much I want to go and how much I want to stay. We are going to be hearing on the 9th or 10th whether we have been accepted to Wycliffe or not. After that we can start fundraising like crazy. We want to get $10,000 in the bank before we go to the training. We will hopefully get close to half from our tax return. I am working on ideas for generating revenue. We are thinking of having pie and slient auctions, maybe a PNG themed BBQ (aka a moo-moo* sorry for the spelling, it's phonetic), printing up mugs with our picture, or a rendering of a bird of paradise (or both!) to sell. These of course are just one-time money-getting things. For all the expenses that will entail getting there.
Liam is growing...he weighed in at 20lbs and was 28 inches at his 9 month checkup. That means he has grown 9 inches and has gained 15lbs. since he was born. He has learned to crawl and his super fast! He is working on pulling himself up on things but has yet to learn how to sit back down. He is very vocal.
We had an overnight away from him to test how everyone would do...and he was wonderful. I only called my parents twice to check on him! Haha! We are planning on going away for the whole weekend for our anniversary. I am very excited.
This week we are starting his "sleep training". Which means we go into his room and I put him in his crib, and sit there with him until he goes to sleep. You slowly move out of the room over a period of several days, until you can just walk in, put him in the crib, tell him it's time to sleep and walk out. So far (two naps) it has gone well. We will see what happens when it comes to going down for the night.
We are trying to a second baby, we thought we were quickly on our way again, when I discovered was pregnant last month. But it was not meant to be, as I lost the baby the week after we found out. So, we are still waiting for God to decide when we will have our second...
In continuing on our rough couple of weeks. Evan's grandmother, Elsie, passed away on the 18th of February. We are both grieved, but are comforted in that she is in Heaven and is out of pain. We will miss her though. It is hard to acknowledge she is gone, since not that long ago she was so full of life. We do have quite the legacy though to remember her by as she was very creative. She wrote books, poetry, took photos, and painted.
But in happier news, we heard some great news from friends and family that cheered us. We also go to celebrate Evan passing his exam at work (on which he got a 96.6%, the second highest anyone has ever gotten) and watch the largest barge Gunderson has built since the reopening of the marine department being lauched. It was quite a sight! And I am very proud of Evan.
We are now looking forward to pushing ahead with our plans to get to PNG, Liam's 1st birthday, the arrival of his new cousin (also a second cousin, or cousin twice removed or something like that...but it's thrilling nonetheless), our 3rd anniversary, and the promise of warm summer weather!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
2010...What's up so far.
Well, we are almost a month in to the new year...a new decade. Wow!
Christmas with the family was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve with Evan's family and then Christmas Day with mine. It was Liam's first, which was fun, but he is kind of young yet, so he had more fun with the wrapping paper that with the actual presents he got. He got these awesome books from my brother and sister-in-law that he loves now. They are indestructables. Look them up if you have babies. They truely live up to their name. He also got a totally fantastic lamp from my parents to go with his jungle theme room. Also a bathrobe with sock monkeys on it. Mom is going to make him a sock monkey doll for his birthday in May. He also got a neat book/stuff bee that was written by his great-grandmother Elsie. All in all it was a great time with family and friends.
We then got to spend some time up in Seattle with Evan's brother which was lots of fun. We got to go to the body exhibit. That was totally fasinating and not at all scary like I thought it would be. It was totally scientific. The only part that kind of freaked me out was the part where they had the babies. They all died from "natural" causes but it was still sad and a little bit unnerving. Especially since I was walking around with Liam in my arms. I also kept thinking about my sister-in-law. There was a baby there that was 20 weeks. Which is the same as where she was at the time. The one I found especially heart-breaking was the baby that was like 35 weeks. In that case the mother had died, thus the baby died too. Needless to say I did not stay in that area of the exhibit long. They had it in a separate room from all the rest and had a sign warning people. The rest of it was really cool though.
Liam is working on crawling. I think he is going to end up prefering this army crawl (mostly backwards) and rolling method of getting around until he starts to cruise and walk. He gets where he wants to go, eventually and and has a great time doing it...picking up every little bit of stuff I have not managed to get off the floor and sticking it in his mouth. Building his immune system right? He is becoming more and more talkative as the day goes by. Each time he makes a new sound it is fun. We are expecting teeth soon, but then we have been expecting teeth since he was 4 months old.
We are in the final stages of being approved for membership with Wycliffe Bible Translators. We took the Bible Knowledge Assessment test last Sunday and we are told it has been graded. Now we have to wait for them to do an interview with our pastor and then...I am not sure. But I think that means we will be very close. Of course approval is only one more step in many to get up to PNG.
Before we can finish the process of becoming members (ie going to Orlando for the training course) we want to get at least $10,000 in savings for times when we can't rent the house or are between tenants. We have to do that before Orlando because once we become members we need to leave like within six months if at all possible. So...in the meantime we are working hard and preparing in other ways. Like making a slideshow/video to show at churches when we start raising support money. Also, planning events for raising money to help with initial costs, like vaccines (we have to get a lot), airfare to and from Orlando, airfare to PNG, shipping costs for our stuff that is going over there....all that...plus getting visas, passports renewed, (Or in Liam's case his first!), deciding what goes, what stays, what we get rid of, in general thinning our household. It is huge and sometimes overwhelming...but I take comfort in the fact that we know without a shadow of a doubt, that (eventually) PNG is where we are supposed to be.
In other news, we are planning our first night away from Liam in late February or middle of March to prepare ourselves and see how it goes for a whole weekend away for our anniversary. We will be married 3 years on May 12th and Evan really wants to do something special. Since it will probably be the last time for a long time we can do that I am in whole-hearted agreement.
I am also looking forward to the birth of my new niece (also in May) and the moving and expanding of the company I work for, Perfecto Glass. It is thrilling to be part of such a monumental thing (My boss has built his company from the ground up for the last 6 years or so and so deserves this breakthrough). His wife will be able to quit her jon in June and join the company full-time and Brice will be hiring a new glass artist (hopefully). I am very excited!
So, in closing all I have to say I guess, is...new things, new people, and all manner of venturing in the unknown for the Larsons in 2010 and we are stepping forward in boldness with God at our side and embracing the challenge...
Christmas with the family was wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve with Evan's family and then Christmas Day with mine. It was Liam's first, which was fun, but he is kind of young yet, so he had more fun with the wrapping paper that with the actual presents he got. He got these awesome books from my brother and sister-in-law that he loves now. They are indestructables. Look them up if you have babies. They truely live up to their name. He also got a totally fantastic lamp from my parents to go with his jungle theme room. Also a bathrobe with sock monkeys on it. Mom is going to make him a sock monkey doll for his birthday in May. He also got a neat book/stuff bee that was written by his great-grandmother Elsie. All in all it was a great time with family and friends.
We then got to spend some time up in Seattle with Evan's brother which was lots of fun. We got to go to the body exhibit. That was totally fasinating and not at all scary like I thought it would be. It was totally scientific. The only part that kind of freaked me out was the part where they had the babies. They all died from "natural" causes but it was still sad and a little bit unnerving. Especially since I was walking around with Liam in my arms. I also kept thinking about my sister-in-law. There was a baby there that was 20 weeks. Which is the same as where she was at the time. The one I found especially heart-breaking was the baby that was like 35 weeks. In that case the mother had died, thus the baby died too. Needless to say I did not stay in that area of the exhibit long. They had it in a separate room from all the rest and had a sign warning people. The rest of it was really cool though.
Liam is working on crawling. I think he is going to end up prefering this army crawl (mostly backwards) and rolling method of getting around until he starts to cruise and walk. He gets where he wants to go, eventually and and has a great time doing it...picking up every little bit of stuff I have not managed to get off the floor and sticking it in his mouth. Building his immune system right? He is becoming more and more talkative as the day goes by. Each time he makes a new sound it is fun. We are expecting teeth soon, but then we have been expecting teeth since he was 4 months old.
We are in the final stages of being approved for membership with Wycliffe Bible Translators. We took the Bible Knowledge Assessment test last Sunday and we are told it has been graded. Now we have to wait for them to do an interview with our pastor and then...I am not sure. But I think that means we will be very close. Of course approval is only one more step in many to get up to PNG.
Before we can finish the process of becoming members (ie going to Orlando for the training course) we want to get at least $10,000 in savings for times when we can't rent the house or are between tenants. We have to do that before Orlando because once we become members we need to leave like within six months if at all possible. So...in the meantime we are working hard and preparing in other ways. Like making a slideshow/video to show at churches when we start raising support money. Also, planning events for raising money to help with initial costs, like vaccines (we have to get a lot), airfare to and from Orlando, airfare to PNG, shipping costs for our stuff that is going over there....all that...plus getting visas, passports renewed, (Or in Liam's case his first!), deciding what goes, what stays, what we get rid of, in general thinning our household. It is huge and sometimes overwhelming...but I take comfort in the fact that we know without a shadow of a doubt, that (eventually) PNG is where we are supposed to be.
In other news, we are planning our first night away from Liam in late February or middle of March to prepare ourselves and see how it goes for a whole weekend away for our anniversary. We will be married 3 years on May 12th and Evan really wants to do something special. Since it will probably be the last time for a long time we can do that I am in whole-hearted agreement.
I am also looking forward to the birth of my new niece (also in May) and the moving and expanding of the company I work for, Perfecto Glass. It is thrilling to be part of such a monumental thing (My boss has built his company from the ground up for the last 6 years or so and so deserves this breakthrough). His wife will be able to quit her jon in June and join the company full-time and Brice will be hiring a new glass artist (hopefully). I am very excited!
So, in closing all I have to say I guess, is...new things, new people, and all manner of venturing in the unknown for the Larsons in 2010 and we are stepping forward in boldness with God at our side and embracing the challenge...
Friday, December 18, 2009
Christmas Newsletter
Seasons Greetings all!
We in the Larson household hope this letter finds you well. Reflecting back on 2009 it must be said that overall it has been a pretty eventful year for us. It started out slowly, as we waited with great anticipation for our first child to be born. But, eventually, the snow melted and with spring arrived Liam Evan Ryker Larson.
Our newest addition to the family was born on May 11th, 2009. We call him a Mother’s Day baby because I went into labor on Mother’s Day and we didn’t sleep until he was born. He showed up a day before our 2nd wedding anniversary. Needless to say, we didn’t do much to celebrate except sleep!
The summer months brought adventures. In addition to learning how to be new parents we journeyed near and far, with baby in tow. We discovered that Liam was the perfect traveler. About two weeks after he was born, a dear friend came to visit us all the way from Georgia. In the week she was here we went to the Bagby hot springs in the Mt. Hood National Forest and went to the Oregon Coast.
In June, we made our way to Ocean Shores, Washington to visit Sasa and Granddad(Liz’s parents). Liam attended his first parade and took his first canoe ride. Both of which he slept through.
Then, over Father’s Day weekend (Evan’s first) we went on a very special camping trip to the Redwoods in California. Grandpa Robin (Evan’s dad) was able to accompany us on that trip and we all had a wonderful time.
In July we attended the 95th Birthday celebration of Liam’s Great-Great Grandma Yoder. It was a fun day and we got some great generational pictures.
Also, in July we held Liam’s dedication ceremony at church.
During the hot summer months, (especially those days hitting over 100 degrees) we spent many afternoons down at the river staying cool until the sun went down. BBQ for dinner was often the case with friends and family coming over to hang out on the porch because it was just too hot inside!
For Evan’s 29th birthday we held a surprise pirate party. He had no idea and it was great fun to see his face when he walked in and everyone was dressed up.
After three months off work, I returned two days a week. It has been nice to get out of the house and have a little adult time. I appreciate my baby more and have more fun with him when I am home.
Evan has been working hard at Gunderson. He recently started a course which will allow him to take a national test and become a certified weld supervisor. I am very proud of him, taking on every new challenge as it has come along. Gunderson is currently working on the largest barge they have ever built since restarting the Marine Department in 1992. It is a hopper barge. Basically, it is like a giant double-hulled bathtub that will be filled with coal. It will take up the entire launchway (480 feet) when it is completed. We are looking forward to seeing it launched sometime in January. It will be quite a splash!
We recently started the long and complicated process of going to Papua New Guinea (PNG). As many of you know, we are planning on serving there for a period of four years, coming back to the states after that for a one year furlough. We are currently in the middle of the application process to become members of Wycliffe Bible Translators. We will be living in the town of Ukarumpa. Evan will be working in the machine shop there, basically maintaining and fixing anything mechanical. He will also be teaching national employees auto mechanics and welding. I will be a housewife and mom, not being assigned a permanent position until our child/ren (we hope to have more while in PNG) are in school. We are hoping to be able to leave for PNG by fall of 2010. However, with the many, many loose ends that must be tied we are just taking the process one day at a time.
As 2009 draws to a close, we look back on the year with fondness and joy at all the triumphs and goodness God has brought into our lives over the last 12 months. We are looking forward to celebrating Liam’s first snow and his first Christmas. We are also excited to see what new adventures God will bring our way in 2010.
Here’s wishing you and yours a happy and safe holiday season,The Larsons (Evan, Liz, and Liam)
PS The pictures wouldn't upload...if you want the picture version I can e-mail you.
We in the Larson household hope this letter finds you well. Reflecting back on 2009 it must be said that overall it has been a pretty eventful year for us. It started out slowly, as we waited with great anticipation for our first child to be born. But, eventually, the snow melted and with spring arrived Liam Evan Ryker Larson.
Our newest addition to the family was born on May 11th, 2009. We call him a Mother’s Day baby because I went into labor on Mother’s Day and we didn’t sleep until he was born. He showed up a day before our 2nd wedding anniversary. Needless to say, we didn’t do much to celebrate except sleep!
The summer months brought adventures. In addition to learning how to be new parents we journeyed near and far, with baby in tow. We discovered that Liam was the perfect traveler. About two weeks after he was born, a dear friend came to visit us all the way from Georgia. In the week she was here we went to the Bagby hot springs in the Mt. Hood National Forest and went to the Oregon Coast.
In June, we made our way to Ocean Shores, Washington to visit Sasa and Granddad(Liz’s parents). Liam attended his first parade and took his first canoe ride. Both of which he slept through.
Then, over Father’s Day weekend (Evan’s first) we went on a very special camping trip to the Redwoods in California. Grandpa Robin (Evan’s dad) was able to accompany us on that trip and we all had a wonderful time.
In July we attended the 95th Birthday celebration of Liam’s Great-Great Grandma Yoder. It was a fun day and we got some great generational pictures.
Also, in July we held Liam’s dedication ceremony at church.
During the hot summer months, (especially those days hitting over 100 degrees) we spent many afternoons down at the river staying cool until the sun went down. BBQ for dinner was often the case with friends and family coming over to hang out on the porch because it was just too hot inside!
For Evan’s 29th birthday we held a surprise pirate party. He had no idea and it was great fun to see his face when he walked in and everyone was dressed up.
After three months off work, I returned two days a week. It has been nice to get out of the house and have a little adult time. I appreciate my baby more and have more fun with him when I am home.
Evan has been working hard at Gunderson. He recently started a course which will allow him to take a national test and become a certified weld supervisor. I am very proud of him, taking on every new challenge as it has come along. Gunderson is currently working on the largest barge they have ever built since restarting the Marine Department in 1992. It is a hopper barge. Basically, it is like a giant double-hulled bathtub that will be filled with coal. It will take up the entire launchway (480 feet) when it is completed. We are looking forward to seeing it launched sometime in January. It will be quite a splash!
We recently started the long and complicated process of going to Papua New Guinea (PNG). As many of you know, we are planning on serving there for a period of four years, coming back to the states after that for a one year furlough. We are currently in the middle of the application process to become members of Wycliffe Bible Translators. We will be living in the town of Ukarumpa. Evan will be working in the machine shop there, basically maintaining and fixing anything mechanical. He will also be teaching national employees auto mechanics and welding. I will be a housewife and mom, not being assigned a permanent position until our child/ren (we hope to have more while in PNG) are in school. We are hoping to be able to leave for PNG by fall of 2010. However, with the many, many loose ends that must be tied we are just taking the process one day at a time.
As 2009 draws to a close, we look back on the year with fondness and joy at all the triumphs and goodness God has brought into our lives over the last 12 months. We are looking forward to celebrating Liam’s first snow and his first Christmas. We are also excited to see what new adventures God will bring our way in 2010.
Here’s wishing you and yours a happy and safe holiday season,The Larsons (Evan, Liz, and Liam)
PS The pictures wouldn't upload...if you want the picture version I can e-mail you.
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