Standing On The Promises

I did not take as many pictures while we were in the valley..I really wish I had!  The first day we were there we went to my very favorite ocean park: Shore Acres. There are beautiful gardens and a secluded beach area.  I love the Oregon Coast!! Gorgeous!  These are just the roots of a giant tree that fell down!  Myles thought he had arrived in tree climbing heaven!  Me, Myles, Grandma and Grandpa B. in the garden!  I love this one of Grandpa B! Grandma B. and me We went bowling with some friends one evening. Unfortunately the folks at the bowling alley could not figure out how to work my camera so the pictures turned out blurry!  Here are some shots from an early morning hike!  After our hike we celebrated my cousin Landon's birthday! He loved the rescue toys I gave him....removal of batteries was probably necessary for the sanity of the parents though! My friend Lauren an...

I feel kind of like a hypocrite writing this post, but I just wanted to share what is on my heart.  You have probably sung the song Amazing Grace a lot of times. I don't know about you, but almost every time I play or sing it, I am moved by the simplicity of God's amazing grace. God forgave me, a vile sinner that slapped him in the face, spit on him, then nailed him to a cross. That is amazing grace. God loved me, the person that sentenced him to die, that turned his back on him, that mocked and scorned him. That is true love.  I am so thankful for his grace towards me, and I tell him that all the time. But, when it comes time to show someone else some grace, I find it very, very difficult. Thoughts like, they don't deserve my forgiveness, look how they hurt me, they were so rude! In fact, I think that was an outright lie. I can not forgive them. Can you imagine what this world would be like if Jesus had given in to those thoughts? I don't even want to think...

  Hello everyone!  Since I last blogged we have had a lot of interesting happenings, so I decided to just post some pictures and videos with a running commentary.....Enjoy! David got to go swimming for the first time ever last Friday! He had so much fun that he did not want to get out of the pool when time was up!  David and big brother Myles Clara carrying Peter in true Bolivian style!  Wonderful smiles! Peter found out that it is no fun to stick fingers in the fan!  Here Gina and I are cleaning and bandaging the wound. Sorry Pedrito! I hope you learned your lesson!  We love our real-live dolls! Disaster strikes! One of the pantry shelves fell down ! It seems that Paula encouraged this event by pulling down on it while reaching for some crackers! I had anticipated this for some time. Thankfully I was at work so I didn't have to help with the cleanup process! :) And then, the coffee pot BLEW UP!!! I wa...

Have you ever heard, thought, or said the statement, "This is just way too far out of my comfort zone and I don't want to do it"? I have. I've said it, I've thought it, and I've heard it.  What is a comfort zone? According to my dictionary it is  a   place  or situation where one feels safe or at ease and without stress.  It includes  your friends or anything yours that you are familiar with.   For me, my comfort zone is my home,  my family,  my friends, my work, my stuff, which is basically my world. It's pretty-much all about me.  Now, what is stepping outside of your comfort zone? It's when you need to do something, or are placed in a situation where you must do something that is awkward, uncomfortable, not used to, and perhaps embarrassing.   Unfortunately things that are outside our comfort zone are things like telling your sibling that you love them, or telling somebody about Jesus, or using your tale...

Disclaimer: This post is about the reality of living "like a fish out of water". So don't judge me too harshly when you read it. :)  Have you ever felt like you would give anything to go somewhere? That's how I felt last Saturday as my Aunt very sweetly held up an iPad, while Skyping with us so we could see a little bit of the Annual Booher Family Concert. I went upstairs and cried. I really wanted to be there; to sing with my family, to play my ukulele, to listen to and admire all of my talented Uncles and Aunts. I'll admit, I was not content. It can be so hard! Sometimes I miss the things I know and love so much!  Homesickness is real. It happens. It's no fun. And believe me, I've had my share! It's hard to live in a big city, where you can actually see the pollution that dust and two million people can create. Living in a culture that is different from our own can be challenging. We get stared and yelled at almost every time we go out in the...

                                    I have always wanted to hike to the top of this mountain.                                           The twin peaks on the right are called Mount Tunari.    Mount Tunari is 16,480 feet high. This mountain isn't even on the list of the top twenty tallest mountains of Bolivia! On Wednesday morning we loaded up our wonderful, almost 4X4 truffi (ha, ha), with 12 people, a sack lunch, and a guitar. We went up the same road that you see in  A Drive Through the Andes , but this time we turned off and took a very treacherous and difficult road. The Car The Road                                                 ...