The Fletchers

Fear

2011-12-19T20:29:00.000-06:00

This morning Lee and I woke up in a panic as our bed shook from an earthquake. We RAN for the kids and when I got to the boys room, the shaking was going away. I stood there holding onto the doorway and a thought hit me "what in the world would I have done next?!?"
This little thought has haunted me since I moved to Lima. This is the 5th earthquake or what they call "tremor" that I have felt since being here. Last night was the strongest that I had felt and probably because it was the first one that was actually in Lima. It was only a 4.8 but that was enough to send a chill up my spine.
After waiting a little bit in fear of another one, I laid back in bed a little shaky. I was awake wondering why Lee and I don't have a specific plan of action, wondering what I would need to do in case of a worse tremor and lastly what would I do when there are two of us and 3 kids. That thought is one I try not to think about but unfortunently I think through things like this a little too often.

This morning I woke up at 5 to get ready to teach my bootcamp class and so much was going through my head. Why do I have so much fear?!? This past week a friend from back home was told told to take her almost 7 year old son home because there was nothing more the doctors could do. My thoughts have been with Matt, Amy, Mary and sweet Liam since I heard and I think about them throughout the day and especially when things are quiet. I can only imagine the agony of the waiting and the loss they are going to experience.
Another friend Marilyn Jobe is also nearing the end of her life here on earth. She has fought hard and though cancer has overtaken her body, her soul is ready to be in the place it has always longed to be.

The past few days have been filled with this fear of "God I'm not afraid of it happening to our family but I'm afraid I won't handle it as gracefully or with as much faith as these two families." I'm not saying I wait around for bad things to happen but I have to say I do verge on thinking that it COULD happen to us just like anyone else. We are not invincible.

I pray often for God to calm my fears. I don't sit around in fear all the time but I feel like it is a way that Satan uses to really bring doubt into my heart. I want to be a person that believes in heaven not just as a place that is WAY up there in the sky but somewhere that my heart longs to be and somewhere that I have NO fear of going.

I've always said I was going to keep this blog as real as possible and well here it is. Here is the missionary saying that I fear the unknown. I fear my character will fail me in a time of crisis. I fear getting a skype call that someone in our family is sick or gone and I will be stuck so far away. But what I fear most is standing in the face of sickness or death and not being able to feel/BE with God and not having the faith that I so desire.
Yes, this missionary needs some prayers HAHA! I mean really! What missionary DOESN'T need your prayers?!? If satan is going to attack let it be known that he WILL begin with the people who's full time job is to bring people into a relationship with God.

Well Satan... I have just blogged about this fear and about my lack of faith sometimes and you know what that means??? It's ALL out there! There is power is letting those words out and there is power in people praying for that fear to be GONE!

I am going to be sharing some things on the blog in 2012 that will hopefully keep me accountable in my walk, my journey as a missionary in Peru, my role as a wife and my life as a mom. I truly believe that as Christians there is SO much power in sharing our joys, our struggles and our lives with each other.

After this past week it is VERY evident that life sometimes is truly short. I want to live a life FULL in the Lord. I want to live a life that the only fear I do have is living too long:)

Lastly and most importantly I ask that you pray for our friends, Matt, Amy, Liam and Mary Lowe. I beg you to pray for their aching hearts as they face their time shortening with Liam. Please also be with Chuck and the family of Marilyn Jobe. When I started this post early this morning, I wasn't aware that she had just passed. She was a woman that I would describe as one of the most gracious, beautiful servants I've known. I know she was welcomed with open arms and I know she is rejoicing and probably seeing what all she can organize and help with up there:)

Stephanie

Morris Trip December 2011

2011-12-17T07:36:00.001-06:00

We just said goodbye to the Morris clan last night. We had 6 days with Ryan, Holly, Boston and Boone filled with fun and LOTS of activities!!! Here is a recap of what we did:
Breakfast buffet at Mango's
Crazy afternoon buying toys in an underground market in downtown Lima followed by a trip down an alley to the warehouse...no worries we have video:)
Pizza night with a "wrapping toy party"
Villa Maria Kids Church Christmas Party
Church with the Peruvian community
Beach day!
Bootcamp classes
Mani's and Pedi's
Inka market for souvenir shopping
Craziest school graduation party we have EVER been too! It was the class that Lee has been teaching English at for the past two years and it ended up being an evening full of surprises for all of us AND we ended being God-parents and didn't even know it!
Date night and massages
Building a temporary roof on Elvira's house
Sofia's end of school year party
LOTS of eating and our kids PLAYED and PLAYED!!!

Here is a link to a few pics from our week! We were so blessed by their visit and our friendship!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2887107225531.2154112.1495687088&type=1

Picture A House Project!!!

2011-12-09T10:36:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone! If you need an idea for a Christmas gift for someone (do we really need anything anyway???:) or who would like to give a gift in honor of... I have a GREAT idea-Picture A House.

We finally have all the info for you to send the money to. If you don't know about this project that Sofia is doing then click here & here. It will give you an idea of what she is doing. The short version is that Sofia decided that the kids in Villa Maria where we go work twice a week needed some new homes (in some cases just a first home.) She is taking actual pictures and then we are downloading them to our blog. You can choose your picture (which will be sent to your house) and then the child you choose will also get a picture for his family. These folks are in GREAT need. There is no basic water, plumbing or electricity. Our goal is to raise enough money to build something that will last and that some of the women can actually work from (cooking, laundry, sewing etc...).

If you would like to help with this project and give the gift of a home you can donate to:

The Crossing SA
C/O Pam Smith
113 Lilly Creek
Boerne, TX 78006

The Crossing Church & Pam Smith have partnered with Sofia to help track the money and the organization of this project. Thank you SO MUCH!!! Oh and that does mean that your donations are tax-deductible!!!

"The spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of site for the blind to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19

Just To Make You Smile Today!

2011-11-21T13:21:00.003-06:00

This little boy brings SO much joy to our family! Today I am so grateful for the way that he moves when music comes on. He is awesome!!!

The Boyz Are Growing Up!!!

2011-11-04T20:27:00.004-05:00

Just a few pictures to show off my boyz. They are getting SO big! Liam got a scooter from his grandparents and he LOVES riding around on it. Maddox just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels and he is doing awesome! The sun is finally shining in Lima (after about 6 months of overcast!) and we are loving going outside everyday and riding our bikes and scooters!!!

"Picture A House Project"- By Sofia Fletcher

2011-11-03T14:31:00.007-05:00

The side view of Elvira's house. This is the first house Sofia would like to rebuild

1. "Sunshine"

2."Fransisco"-Elvira's son

3."Fatima"-Elvira's daughter

4."Brown-Eyed Girl"

5. "Esperanza"

Maddox learning how to take pictures to get in on the action:)

6. "Friends"
7. "Sisters"

Sofia wanted to update everyone on her project. For those of you who don't know what she is doing, she has come up with a project to build homes in Villa Maria. She is going out and taking pictures of the faces that need a home. We will post them on the internet and people can buy them for a donation. When you purchase a picture 100% of the money will go in a fund to build a house. Each home will range between $500-$700. In addition the child whose picture you choose will also get a nice picture of himself (most children and their parents do not have pictures of themselves because they can't afford them.) Ok, now a word from Sofia:

"Here are a few pictures that my daddy and I took. The camera was really hard so my daddy had to help me a lot. If you have any questions you can ask my mommy:)"

She is brief and to the point when it comes to getting her to write things on the blog, haha. She is REALLY wanting to build the first house by Christmas! Lofty goal but I'm sure she can do it. She already has a group of girls in Midland who are running wild with the idea and got Sofia a website and there is LOTS of exciting stuff we hope to let you all know about soon!

Well... here are the first set of pictures. Like Sofia said her daddy had to help her quite a bit because the camera is not a automatic focus but she was doing great. Maddox is really getting into this project as well as is learning how to take pictures and can't wait to start nailing some walls together:)

If you are wanting to donate to the project let us know which picture you want and what size. Here is a list of the minimum donations to cover the cost of the picture and the shipping (it's being shipped from the US don't worry:)

1. 4x6= $5

2. 5x7= $8

If you want any larger prints please let us know.

Again, if you are interested in donating to "Picture a House" which Sofia is raising money by taking pictures pictures and selling them for donations, please contact us at:

stephanie.a.fletcher@gmail.com and let us know which picture you want and what size. We will let you know where to mail your check and you will receive your picture in the mail as well as an update letter once the first house is complete. Additionally the child's family (of the picture you choose) will also get a picture of their child (obviously there will be numerous that pick the same picture and we won't give them 18 of the same picture:)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND WE HOPE TO HAVE THE FIRST HOUSE COMPLETED BY CHRISTMAS!!!! This could be a great way to get your kids involved the season of giving for the holidays!!! What would be better than giving someone a house!?!

Love,

Sofia and Fam

Machu Picchu-The Adventure of a Lifetime

2011-11-01T21:16:00.004-05:00

4 generations at Machu Pichhu

My Mama and Me

We had the tremendous blessing of having my mom (Patti Grigg) and my grandmother (Marie Shipp) come and visit a few weeks ago. The trip was an utter and complete whirlwind with Liam's birthday, me getting ready for my trip back (I flew out the same night they left) for surgery and getting to go to Machu Picchu!

When my mom and grandma mentioned the possibility of coming to visit us, my grandma said we should all go to Machu Pichhu-one of the seven wonders of the world. At first I thought she was out of her mind but then the more we talked about it the more it became a reality. For some reason there was something in me that REALLY thought it would be awesome to get to take my grandma, who has seen all but 2 (one of which was Machu Pichhu) wonders, there myself! Well....after about 4 weeks of planning (did I mention that I almost got to the point of HATING Machu Pichhu before I EVER got there because it was so freaking hard to PLAN!!!) and my grandma offering to pay for the majority of the trip, it was a done deal. Lee, myself, our 3 kiddos, my mom and my 84 year old Grandma were not looking back, it was DO or DIE. Ok, so I never thought the die part was going to be such a real thought, HAHA. No, not really.

So let me describe how we got there and PLEASE remember who all were traveling with here, use your imagination...
We took a plane to Cuzco, taxi to hotel, went out to eat that night but Grandma and Sofia were having some trouble with the altitude and we had to give them oxygen shots. Next morning we had to be out of the hotel by 5:45AM to catch a train, the van could not fit down the small alley to the hotel so we had to walk down to the van on an uneven cobble stone street while lugging our luggage, holding on to my grandma and all three kids IN THE RAIN. One word...circus. The train was a 3.5 hour trip to a small town called Aguas Calientes. We lugged our luggage and everyone down another road to our hotel cause oh wait... there were NO cars in this town, it's all by foot. This would be no problem if we were traveling alone but my grandma as tough and healthy as she is has a bad hip (more on that hip later...) and we didn't have a stroller for Liam. No worries, we made it work. We get to our hotel and find our little guide. He walks us to go buy tickets for the bus up to Machu Picchu (at this point it is 10am and I feel like I have been through an ENTIRE day already). We then all cram on the bus and head up to Machu Picchu, a 25 minute ride. We get there and have to walk quite a ways to get to the ruins.
When we get there I have to admit it was incredible. We walked around and listened to the guide and then my grandma sat in this little area where she could look out over the ruins while we trekked up with all 3 kids and my mom to the top of the ruins. I literally thought my arm was going to FALL OFF! Liam was in a backpack but his legs started falling asleep so Lee man-handled Maddox and Sofia so they wouldn't fall off the ruins while I carried Liam. This part was not that fun. The kids were like "where are the llamas??? We want to see some animals" Not sure they gave a flyin flip that they were in the midst of an amazing place. They were getting hungry, were super tired from getting up at 5:00AM and were just wanting to see a few animals! They were really excited though to get to say they had actually been to Machu Pichhu:) after it was all said and done.

So without every detail, that was our amazing adventure. This would not have happened if it wasn't for my grandma and we are so thankful. She is an amazing women and it was an absolute blast for me to travel with her. When we would complain or talk about something with a bad attitude she would just say "oh... were all gonna die anyway!" We would all just die laughing. She has the best one-liners EVER!!!! It was also SO sweet to watch my kids interact with her and get to spend so much time with her! They got to know her so well and I (or my kids) will never forget the awesome week spent with 4 generations (of missionaries for that matter, how cool!) Liam still asks for Gigi ALL the time!

When we got back we had a slight little mishap. My grandma fell down our stairs in our home. She cracked her head open on the corner of a door frame and I will NEVER forget that sound. While my mom held pressure on her head (did I mention she bled like a stuck pig?!?), Lee ran and got a taxi and Sofia called an intern to come over really quick to watch the kids. It all happened so fast but mom and I were in a taxi with grandma in about 4 minutes and off we were to the clinic. Did I mention my grandma is a complete HAUS! She stayed awake the whole time and did not panic at all. She let us take pictures of her on mom's phone and didn't stop with her one-liners. I was in the front seat trying not to throw up while the cabby was driving like a mad-man.
We got her in the ER and stitched up with a cat-scan within 20 minutes. We asked her numerous times if anything else was hurting and she said she was fine other than a large knot on her head....
Fast forward to 5 days after my surgery in San Antonio (a week ago.) We get a call that my grandma is being transported by ambulance because of severe pain in her hip. My heart sunk. All I could think about was that fall on our stairs. Come to find out that little lady HAD fractured her hip that day! It finally gave out on her after walking on it for almost two weeks and she was in excruciating pain. She had a partial hip replacement the next morning and today she is doing awesome. So.... the Peru adventure lives on. HAHA

Mom, Gigi- Thank you for an amazing trip that we will NEVER forget. It was so special for us to all get to do this together and it was worth every penny, every sweat drop, every hour of sleepless nights and every breath lost:) Love you ladies!

PS More pictures to come (internet is acting crazy)

Liam's Birthday

2011-10-30T13:00:00.010-05:00

Liam the last night as a 1 year old:(
Brothers

King for the day at his school for his birthday

Liam blowing out his candles (I know he looks a little special in this picture:)

His Mickey Mouse party table

Liam and Mama

Loved Maddox's face in this while all the kids by Liam are stuffing their faces

Mom (Nana) worked her magic again with the cake

The team kids watching a Mickey Mouse movie at the party

I'm catching up on the blog today so I will be posting about 80 posts today, haha.

October 5th Liam Pierce turned 2!!! I seriously cannot believe how BIG he is. Here are a few of his favorite things:

Ever since we went to Disney in July he has been OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse!

He only watches Mickey Mouse on tv or videos

He LOVES all kinds of animals, animal books and animal noises

He loves getting up early and going to Sofia's room to play with her while mommy sleeps in a little:)

He loves playing with Sally (our little Shitzu)
His favorite thing is to dance to music that is loud and has a good beat (I'm serious he will cry if the song is not upbeat and loud)
His favorite people are Meche (the lady who works in our home), Liz (our Aussi friend), Gaby (his Peruvian sister:) and our interns.

Fun Facts about Liam:
Liam is the tallest of our kids (at this age not in general, haha)
He is really starting to talk but is just a little behind on his speech but we love him anyway:) He talks though as if we understand every word!
He makes us laugh EVERY single day between his facial expressions and his dance moves!
He will sit and color on a blank piece of paper for at least 10 minutes in one setting, it's incredible! He will lay on his tummy and just get after it, he's an artist!
He calls every book a bible
He will not lay calmly in his bed until I have whispered in his ear that Jesus loves him and then go through all of our family members (been doing this with him since he was a baby so I guess he got used to it:)
He is still holding tight to his pacy and blanket but soon they are going BYE-BYE:)
He goes to school 3 days a week for 3 hours in the mornings and LOVES it!!! He's in the same school as Maddox and he loves his teachers, the crafts and every bit of it. It's been SUCH a blessing for us and building his language skills.

Well just wanted to let you all in on the life of our sweet Liam. We had such a fun birthday party for him. We had a Mickey Mouse party and the coolest thing was that my grandma and my mom were able to come down for the party!!! Lots of people came to love on Liam and he truly had a blast.

Can't to see what this year has in store with full sentences, potty training and lots of other fun stuff!

A Note From Sofia

2011-09-17T18:07:00.003-05:00

*A few days ago during a late night discussion Sofia came up with an awesome idea. Not everything is set in stone but she was ready to launch it today so here we are. All of this is in her words:) Pictures to come...

Hi, this is Sofia. I am 6 years old. I live in Lima, Peru. I have an idea. It's called Picture a House. Every week I go up to Villa Maria (a poor place) where kids don't have food and nice houses. The mountain is dirty. They don't have clean clothes.

We want to help them with their stuff. Me and my mom and dad help them by going up the mountain every week. We have church with them. Church is fun for them. They like it.

That means I am going to help them with their houses. Me and them are friends. I am going to take pictures by myself (with an adult) in Villa Maria. Then I will put them on the blog. You can buy the pictures on the blog and they will be sent to your house. My mommy told me that a house cost $500. The money you send will go to a bank and then my mommy and daddy will get it out of the bank and we will go buy stuff for a house that is mommy's best friend-Elvira.

I will have pictures soon. Thank you for listening to me. My mom will tell you my address later to send the money.

Please pray for them they are really poor. They almost don't have mommies and daddies.

Love

Sofia Fletcher

September 4th

2011-09-04T14:30:00.002-05:00

Today is my grandmother's birthday, my little cousin Lilly's birthday and our teammate's Wes's birthday. It's also the day that 3 years ago Lee and I found out we had lost our son Levi.

It's unbelievable that it has been 3 years since that day. The day that has forever changed me. Last week I read and finished the book "Heaven is For Real." A few people had recommended it but people recommend books to me all the time and I have to gently remind them that I'm not an avid reader (though I wish I was.)

This book changed me. One of the biggest ways it changed me is the way that I was able to picture Levi. Even 3 years later I would still have pangs of anger and sadness when I think back on the awful delivery that I had. Because we had only been in Costa Rica two weeks and I knew not a WORD of Spanish, I had so many fears about delivering. I had no idea what to expect and no one there was explaining anything. I will spare you the details of everything that happened during Levi's delivery but the part I get sick, angry, sad over is that I don't know what happen to his tiny little body after they took him away. I have voiced that out loud only a few times but that is the raw truth. It's one of the things that even 3 years later makes me catch my breath when people ask me how Costa Rica was.

When I read "Heaven is For Real" and read about how this little boy saw his sister in heaven that his mother had miscarried at 8 weeks. I couldn't put the book down. He described her hair and what she was doing. There was obviously a lot more to the story but it's as if a small peace of my heart and my fear was stitched up a little tighter. What a gift. What a gift that I can imagine Levi the way I want to and know that he IS up there being taken care of that he is waiting for me to get to hold him one day.

I know so many mama's that have lost their babies and I can't think of a better image of your sweet child getting held in Jesus's arms until you get there to hold them.

When I say that that day changed me forever, that would be an understatement. Because of the unbearable loss it opened me up to helping other mama's with their loss in a way that I would have never been able to otherwise. It made me doubt my faith and where God had called us. It made me hate prayer because I never even got a chance to ask for things to be different.

That's not the end of the story though. Questioning my faith has brought me to a place in my journey that is more real and more grounded. I still question at times and I still don't understand some things but I also realize that I'm not meant to. I realize that God does hear our prayers. When I started praying to God more like conversing with my friend and when I started asking God with the honest belief that He could change a situation, my prayer life changed.

God is still working on this Mama. I'm still on this journey of being a missionary in a foreign country and wondering some days what in the heck I'm doing. I still somedays think I'm the absolute worst missionary ever and need some "come to Jesus meetings" on a daily basis. But I also know that God is a God of ABUNDANT grace. I know that when I met Suzana for the first time after she had just given birth to a stillborn little boy that she would never get to hold and then had to walk up the mountain by herself (after a c-section) to take care of her 2 year old by herself because her husband found her useless when she couldn't give him the son he wanted and left that I had at least myself to give her. I was able to sit and listen to her grieving over her son and I could comfort her with words only a mom that has experienced something similar could give.

I might have had times in the last 3 years that I didn't believe in what I was doing or had doubts in the things I was reading or saying but all of it has brought me to this point. To this day. The day that I will be forever grateful that God gave me Levi to carry for 5 short months. The day that I can sit and look back and see God's grace and God's hand in my life. It's taken this journey to say that God DOES hear and answer prayers (even if sometimes we pray without believing). I mean I have a beautiful little boy that is about to turn two and I was told twice I was miscarrying him!

It was a hard balance when I first had Liam to completely be joyful because I knew that he wouldn't be here without losing Levi. I've come a long way on that one and today I'm grateful for Levi because of the gift of Liam. I know that one day I will see that sweet face and get to love on him. I also enjoy every moment with Liam (ok, that's a lie not EVERY moment:) but he brings me so much joy and I am so grateful for that. I wouldn't be doing Levi any justice if I didn't live a life full of joy and celebration.

So today we celebrate Levi. Thank you sweet boy for letting God use your short life to bring mommy to a place she needed to be. Thank you for the sweet reminder I have of you in your little brother Liam. Lastly thank you for the fact that I can picture you right now, a precious little curly head boy running into Jesus's arms.

Love you son

School & Prayers (and a little bit of "other")

2011-08-31T09:23:00.004-05:00

The past two weeks have been filled with A LOT of reflection. That could be bad:) but for me it has been very eye opening. Last week was hard for a few reasons but what sticks out in my mind were two school meetings Lee and I had with both Sofia's teachers and Maddox's teachers.

Believe it or not Maddox has 3 evaluations during his school year that include a psychologist, his teachers and the director. Though Lee and I are pretty reluctant to go each time (I mean how much can you evaluate a 4 year old boy on!), we have always left there pretty encouraged. Well this time, I didn't. They didn't say anything bad about Maddox at all, in fact they were pretty complimentary about how he was doing. Two things stood out to me and by default caused the meeting to be well...crappy. First of all Lee and I were given lots of suggestions for disciplining Maddox. They said he really listens well after you give him his directions/limits but obviously pushes those limits sometimes. Also he got "invited" to be a part of a small group of kids once a week to meet with the psychologist to talk about feelings and possibly work on his speech development. So though they were being cool about it they just invited my son to the "special" class. Which is totally fine, he could probably use some help with expressing himself in a healthy way and his speech has been behind a little bit (maybe because of the bilingual thing:) I guess I don't deal well with the "round-about" way of handling things like they do here. It was kind but just say "hey we have a group of kids that have different issues and we think Maddox would benefit from it because of..." It seriously took 10 minutes telling us how great this group was and they wanted to send out a special invitation to Maddox. Dude!

Anyway, it really wasn't a terrible meeting and I absolutely LOVE his teachers and the director it was just hard to swallow that day that one of my kids has again something to get through that could be challenging. That brings us to Sofia's meeting. For the past several months we have been meeting with Sofia's teachers and we have a tutor coming over 3 times a week to help Sofia. She has really been struggling in Math and Spanish. I'm not going to go into all the details about the whole situation but lets just say it has been DRAINING on Lee and I.

She is 6, in first grade and getting bombarded with math that sometimes I don't understand. She is doing some pretty hard adding and subtracting, geometry, word problems and soon will be moving onto multiplication. The problem is we can't get past the whole adding part. Believe me when I say that we have been trying. A tutor comes 3 days a week, Lee and I work with her after her hour worth of homework each night and we are given sheets for her to do on the weekend. I know this must sound crazy to you but it's our life right now and unless we choose to either homeschool or possibly switch schools (which to me isn't really an option because of thinking that would NOT help the whole emotional side of things) we are just having to buck up and pray for things to click.

During our talk with the teachers and tutor they again asked us how Sofia was doing at home. How she was at obeying rules etc... This is where I almost had my melt-down but luckily I made it home first. I pretty much spent the following few days figuring out what we were doing wrong and what we could change. Both of our kids were obeying good at home but obviously were getting to school and acting like savage animals (I'm totally exagerrating:) Lee and I talked about consistency and how that is a struggle for us in a lot of areas. We regrouped, recharged, re-did the kids star charts and started over. We know there are things that we like about our parenting but last week was a good reminder of how we could be better.

I'm sharing all of this because it was on my heart. We are in the midst of a little storm when it comes to getting our children through school, revamping our parenting and so on. The good news is we have 3 awesome kids. Sofia is a fighter and she has been so brave and strong through all of this. Maddox has the biggest heart ever and has taught us so much about loving purely like a child. Liam is so fun and we can already see how he is going to melt the hearts of the Peruvian people. They have all 3 been an integral part of our ministry here and we love having them serve along with Lee and I.

No matter what grades Sofia gets or how well Maddox talks, I believe that God is using them to further his kingdom here in Lima. If those teachers have seen anything they have seen parents that are willing to do anything to help their kids succeed but not as much in school but the journey they are on with God.

I laid (is that how you spell that?) awake last night thinking about what our kids didn't know as "normal life." Maddox doesn't know what t-ball or little league is. Sofia doesn't know what "American Dolls" are (well maybe knows what they are but doesn't know the craze behind them)or what summer camp is. Liam well, he really doesn't know much of anything yet BUT I've started not getting as sad as I used to about this. What they DO know is 2 languages, they know the excitement of getting to see their grandparents and getting them all to themselves for a week at a time, they know that church does not mean a building, they know soccer and marinera (a Peruvian dance), they know that sometimes God asks us to sacrifice but in that sacrifice comes abundant blessings and they know that they are loved.

In the grand scheme of things what we are going through as parents with these hardships is nothing in comparison to the hardships we see here on a daily basis. Our friend Elvira doesn't have food for her kids each day and sleeps in a small wooden shack covered with a plastic tarp. My friends back home just found out that their daughters Leukemia relapse and another friend is trying a new drug for her sons cancer. These are the people that we need to be crying for in prayer. I just read the book "Heaven is for Real" and it has changed my prayer life. We should prayer more like our children that truly believe for what they are asking and their prayers are not masked by words that seem intelligent or well thought out.

I ask today that you say a quick prayer for my kiddos but I beg you to get on your knees and pray for these 3 kids right now that are fighting hard to beat the ugliness of cancer- Tatum Flamming, Liam Lowe and Callie. Also prayers for Elvira that God will provide a means for her to feed her children. Lastly prayers for two strong, beautiful, Godly women that are fighting cancer as well, Marilyn and Deanna. God DOES listen and we need to pray with conviction that He does.

Thanks for reading today. All this was just on my heart (especially the last paragraph) and as always might seem a little all over the place but as always I just type...

Thyroglossal Duct Cyst, ACU 10 year Reunion and Juice Plus

2011-08-15T10:56:00.003-05:00

For those of you medical crazies here is a picture of the cyst (it looks like an adams apple.) Yes, I have chicken skin.

Just a quarter of my ACU paraphernalia. Help a girl out here!

Probably the weirdest title EVER but it will all make sense in just a second. 3 months I decided to take make Juice Plus a more profitable thing for our family. 2 months ago I found that my 10 year reunion was this year at ACU and 3 weeks ago I found out I had a thyroglossal cyst.

How do these all connect? Well when I found out that my 10 year reunion was this October I REALLY wanted to go. I kept on running through scenarios in my head and not ONE made a ton of sense. Then... just like that, on a doctors visit in the US I found out about a cyst I had on my throat that needed to be removed. The ENT who diagnosed me also said I probably needed sinus surgery since it had gotten pretty bad since I had been living in Lima. Ok, so not the most normal reaction to get excited about surgery but I'm not going to lie, my first thought was "I can come and do it in October and go to homecoming, YES!"

Lee and I talked and we knew the surgery had to be done before December 31st (fun insurance stuff) so we came up with a plan (ok, more like I came up with a plan and tried to talk Lee into it.)

I figured out that it would take 36 new customers with Juice Plus to get me back home, have the surgery (and pay for my portion since they already graciously told me what my portion would be and that I would have to pay that before I came, dude they do NOT mess around anymore) and to get me to my homecoming at ACU. So that's how they all intertwine. Can't do one without the other.

Now your probably thinking I'm either desperate, stupid or really smart but just keep reading. I see people buying ALL kinds of stuff on the internet scentsy candles (which by the way are awesome and my friend sales them-https://leahmercer.scentsy.us/home), Pampered Chef, Mary Kay (my mom sales this and she's a beauty!) and don't get me started on home exercise equipment. Long story short is that people will put a lot of cash down for tons of stuff but won't look at a product twice that is WHOLE FOOD. Yes, that's what I said. Juice Plus is whole food. All it is, is fruits and veggies. Nothing fancy. You won't lose weight from it or gain muscle mass. It's a simple guarantee that you and your kids will get the nutrition you need.

So that leads me to this: I need 36 people to give it a try. It cost $41.75 a month and you will get 4 months worth at one time. A ton of my family and friends (so they aren't going to help me:) are on Juice Plus and can truly say it has bettered their health. I personally believe that any ailment you have (diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol etc...) can be helped or made worse by things you choose to put in your mouth. I'm asking you to make an investment into your health and the health of your kids.

If you are interested the REALLY cool part is that I will also gain from you becoming a healthier you! I will get to come back, enjoy my 10 year reunion and get my throat cut open all with your help! HAHA

Here is my website www.missionsbyjuiceplus.com and you will find ANYTHING on there that you want about Juice Plus's research and their product. I've never believed in anything so much and I'm not just saying that because I need a ticket home.

36. 36 orders is all I need. PLEASE if you have ever even thought about trying Juice Plus and you still aren't sure but you just feel sorry for me then go ahead. If that's what it takes to get people on Juice Plus then I will sacrifice my body for you.

Ok, I'm getting a little dramatic but you get the point. 36

P.S. Just in case you are wondering, if you don't want to order because of this particular cause, the money that comes in on a regular basis goes into Lee's and I's mission fund so you are also supporting mission work by taking this awesome product. Just a little FYI

Our Winter Your Summer

2011-08-15T09:52:00.005-05:00

Us with Goofy. Oh and don't worry Liam leaned out of the picture cause he was a little scared:(

LOVED this picture. Maddox was beside himself to finally meet Woody!

The Cousins

Aurora and Little Aurora

Sofia and Alice

Airports have a way of breaking me down to using WAY too much electronics:)

Sofia and Snowwhite, I mean could it get any better

Got to spend one night by myself with my college girlfriends...SO FUN!

This was our camp-out zone when we missed our plane. We were there for longer than I care to remember.

Sofia's Zone

Two folks from our campaign working HARD to get water bottles off the top shelf at the super market. I'm telling you, they did ANYTHING to make things work smoothly. Just love them

A group of guys from the campaign giving our friend Elvida a little break from the rain with a tarp. The metal behind there is her home.

My house was FULL of food that week to feed the masses (or just 28 of them:)

Obviously there are no rules about taking pictures at this hospital. I just had to get a picture of the doctor telling Lee "oh wait sorry your hand IS broken." This was after the doc had been manipulating it and cleaning, OUCH!

Lee's finger after I FINALLY found him on the side of the road. What does this caring wife do? Say "oh hunny I have GOT to get a picture of that!" He's a trooper!

Hello Strangers! Just wanted to say hello after some time and let you know what has been going on. The last three months have been packed full and really exciting:)

One of the biggest things this summer/winter (it's winter for us) was our first campaign from our home church (Highland Church of Christ) and Westgate Church of Christ. They got here on July 1st and we had an incredible week with them.

The day they were supposed to arrive Lee had a motorcycle accident that morning. It was by far one of the scariest mornings I have experienced in Peru. After getting a frantic call from Lee saying (more like yelling) "I've been in a wreck, my bike is wrecked, I'm bleeding everywhere and you need to get here now... but I'm fine." Umm what??? Men- do not EVER call your wives like that, bad idea. I asked where he was and he didn't know (a little shocked I guess) so off I went driving like a MANIAC up in the mountain of Villa Maria. Don't worry, AN HOUR AND A HALF later I found Lee on the side of the road bleeding. Nice. Anyway, after some stiches and a cast he was fine and ready to finish things up before the group arrived:)

The week was full of work projects at the school in Villa Maria, random God-sent projects, awesome fellowship, great food and a little site-seeing as well. I can honestly say that I have not seen a group work so hard in my life. From the group of guys cutting trees and building a common area for kids to eat, to the ladies renovating an entire library and even down to the kids on the trip working there tails off it was unbelievable. They never complained and trucked along with the busy schedule.

I can't thank them enough for the encouraging words, their servant hearts and positive attitudes. Highland and Westgate, you left your marks here, truly.

The day they left, the kids and I flew to US. It was a little bit of a traumatizing trip after two pooping accidents (neither were mine) and missing our flight from Miami to Texas but we made it which is all that matters.
The kids and I had a blast spending time with grandparents on both sides. My final week there my parents, brother and his wife and kids, my in-laws and my sister-in-law all went to Disney World. Lee got to meet us for the final week of our getaway and we all had an absolute blast. It was honestly a dream come true for us to watch our kiddos see Disney. A precious friend made it possible for all of us to go and I can't thank her enough. Thanks C.

I'll leave you with some pictures of Lee's finger, some shots from the campaign and lastly pictures of Disney. Stay posted I'm writing two posts today, I know... it's a miracle:)

A Little Glimpse Into Our Lives

2011-06-25T20:47:00.010-05:00

I downloaded all the pictures I had been taking on my phone for a while and decided I could write a pretty cool post of some of the cultural things I experience on a daily basis. From everything from RIDICULOUSLY large birthday parties to the HUGE avocados that I can get in the jungle, it's an adventure here. Some things are funny and some things are sad but it's all meant to give you a glimpse of our life here. Obviously I'm not trying to make fun or talk badly about Lima because I have come to call this place home but I'm simply trying to to shed some light here. Welcome:)

Maddox-our dog walker (he goes around with bags in his pockets to pick up the poop because he WOULD get fined if they found any poo from Sally.)

Asthma-something we have had to battle with Maddox because of the air pollution

Swim class (this really isn't cultural but I thought this picture was so funny-Sofia and the big boys warming up for swim lessons:)

Liam has pretty much had some kind of fungus on his skin since we've moved here

Bicycles are motorized (not all of them but this is FOR SURE the first time I had ever seen this)

Huge avocados

Beautiful scenery within just a few hours in any direction

You get to hold monkeys!!!

Culturally being late is normal. This is me 45 minutes into a dance class where I was STILL waiting for my teacher.

Playboy bunnies and nudity is something we sadly face each day. It's so engrained into the culture.

Life-size characters at every birthday party

Live animals at birthday parties

Triple sandwiches (avacado, egg and tomato, it's heavenly!!!)

When Sofia had to get her heart checked I had NO idea it would look like something from the 80's (

Locking my purse down at restaurants

Santa Clause salsa dances at the parties

Jump castles, bigger the better

Unbelievable cakes (this particular one was hand-made by the mom

All of this is EATIBLE

Obviously this little boys name is Fortunato

Full on shows. At this one, it was an animal show

Face painting-Always a must

Can you find Maddox? He snuck his way ALL the way around a ton of people to get by the birthday boy while they sang.

Sofia's GREAT Idea

2011-06-25T18:26:00.002-05:00

How could anyone have said "no" to these kids (though pretty sure lemonade or chicha stands are not too common around these parts:)

Here is our "store-front" of our new location

Sofia's hand-made signs

A few days ago Sofia had a brilliant idea. Her and Lee were talking and she got really excited about a lemonade stand. She had it ALL figured out in her mind. So, as all good dad's do, Lee and Sofia took off for the store. They decided to sell chicha (which is a common purple corn drink here.) They bought cups, the chicha and the craft stuff to make the signs.

Today they decided was THE DAY. When I asked Sofia what she was going to do with the money she said she would help daddy. She was referring to the trip he just took to the US and I had told her he was getting money for our new building. She and Maddox got all there stuff set up right in front of our new building (which is also in the middle of a busy shopping center) and sold themselves some chicha. They had a blast and I thought it was awesome that our kiddos were even getting involved in helping make this location into what were all hoping and praying it will be.

Love those kids and love how God is showing them some important lessons here in Peru.

Happenings In Lima

2011-06-23T11:51:00.004-05:00

Liam was SUPER excited to be there!

Roxana LOVING the new place :)

The walk over

Sitting in our new location

The walk over to our new location

Hello World, my name is Stephanie Fletcher and I'm the worlds WORST blogger! I think I'm going to rename our blog to "The World's Worst Blogger!" So, now that I've defined myself I will quit beating myself up every time it takes me a month to post something!

Truth be told, I'm not a blogger. I don't read others peoples blogs (sorry friends, please don't hate me) and I really just write so that we are able to stay connected to our friends and family back home. I know it's especially important to grandparents to see their grandkids growing, what they do in school and what their lives look like here. Thanks for putting up with all the pictures of our kiddos and their school performances.

I do want to share some today about our work and some exciting things going on. A few weeks ago we made the exciting move from "house church" to our new "Porche" A.K.A. porch in Spanish. We will be hosting our Sunday gathering there, basing our non-profit out of it, have classes, seminars, youth gatherings and so much more. As a team we are SUPER excited about it and it's a huge step in our work here in Lima.

We decided one Sunday after our gathering to walk everyone over to the new "porche" and introduce it to everyone. Here are a few pictures of the inaugaral walk and every inside for the first time. It was so fun to see them enjoy and take in the place.

Lee and John Mark (our teammate) just got back from the States on a 10 day whirlwind trip to raise money for the building in turn our non-profit and everything that comes under it. They did a wonderful job and God has blessed us with some funds to begin purchasing chairs, paint etc... NEEDLESS to say though, we are far from our goal but know that the Lord will provide. It's fun to watch the building go from white walls and bare, to a place that the Peruvians are getting involved in and are going to be having a fundraiser for as well!!!

Please be in prayer that God will provide the means to fully complete this project, that the Peruvians will not just consider themselves a part of this project but become the leaders and that God will use this multi-purpose building to reach more Peruvian friends.

Maddox's Father's Day Show

2011-06-15T21:02:00.007-05:00

Yesterday Maddox performed in his father's day show. Original I was not going to send him to school because Lee is in the US and I didn't want Maddox to be sad that his dad wasn't there.
When I picked Maddox up from school the day before the show I told his teacher "remember Maddox won't be here tomorrow." She said "oh no, I have to have him here! He is my helper with the songs and I will talk to him and explain that he's my helper. We will do a special show for his dad when he gets back but PLEASE he's the one that sings loud!"
With reluctance I said ok and quickly called Mark, our designated team "Uncle, fill in dad, friend etc.." He has had to step in on a few occasions and has been VERY gracious to do so. It also helps that our kids LOVE "Tio Mark."

I will let the videos speak for themselves but MAN his teacher was not laying! I know I'm completely bias but I think Maddox stole the show on this one. It helps that the songs are in English and he's the only English speaker but I have to say he was hangin with the best of them on the Spanish stuff too! Don't be surprised if Maddox turns up in a Peruvian made film in the next couple of years:) Enjoy!

P.S. Happy Father's Day to all the awesome dad's out there. Somehow I got blessed to be surrounded by the best dad's I know-my own dad, my father-in-law and of course the father of my children. You guys are incredible and all of us "kids" are incredibly blessed you call you our dads! Love you

The Going’s & The Happenin’s

2011-05-27T23:56:00.003-05:00

JB, Maddox and Sofia practicing acrobatic work:) Look at Maddox's face, he was eating it up!
JB teaching Maddox some tricks

We (or maybe just I) wanted this strawberry tart so we decided to celebrate JB's birthday a few months late:)

JB teaching our 6am class by the beach, she ROCKED it!

Well I promised I would try to get better about blogging now that we have changed our internet provider and here I am AGAIN writing my post on a word doc because blogger won’t come up, cool… real cool.

I’m not giving up though so I thought I would give you a recap of what’s been going on since we’ve been back from the jungle. Some of this might seem BORING to some of you so I’ll try to throw in a few pictures.

Last week was spent getting back into the groove of things. The kids went back to school, I went back to teaching bootcamp, started training a new client, got some things ready for our drove of guests and blah, blah, blah.

This past weekend we girls had an incredible weekend at a women’s retreat. We went about an hour away to a hotel (well more like a retreat of bungalows:) and just spent the week reconnecting with God. For me personally it was an awesome weekend. There were 11 women that went and we are all English speaking missionaries. It was so fun to make new friends and to also just be girls for the weekend (meaning not wife and mom’s… though that never really ends, thank goodness!)

My teammate Stacy organized the retreat and took something that God placed on her heart months ago and turned it in to the fantastic weekend it was. I went into it really praying that God would clearly reveal some things to me and He DID! There is SO much to say about this but mainly that God is really MOVING some things in my little heart. There are lots of things I pray God helps me to change and other things that are a part of my make-up and that they probably won’t change but that God uses those “traits” to bless others. I think that right now I am praying God makes me a person of Grace. That I give myself grace, that I am a wife of grace, that I mother with grace and that I work along-side teammates and the people here in Lima with an attitude of grace.

I want to have words that bless others and that most of all when it comes to my relationship with God that He is such a part of my life that I need no words. I could go on and on but I’ll try and post again about this soon.

After the retreat it was full force! My friend Jackie Beth Shilcutt arrived (the morning I got back from the retreat) to grace us for a week. It’s her 3^rd time here and every time she spends her time giving us oxygen in our ministry, our family and just in our lives. She has been spending her week teaching our bootcamp classes (she taught them some awesome yoga), going out to Villa Maria for the women’s exercise class, taking my kiddos every day after school through circus training (could she be ANY more fun!) and last night she took on all 10 team kids to do a little circus act with them while the adults on the team had our goodbye dinner for the interns. She had some help from a group of students from A&M that arrived on Tuesday night (more on that in a sec.) She has been such a blessing to our family and we look forward to her continued visits (hint hint.)

This brings us to a group of Aggies that our here to serve throughout Latin America. They got here on Tuesday night and they have been going 100 miles an hour already. Between picking up trash at an elementary school, to watching all the team kids for 3 hours (YIKES!), to revamping our new central meeting place , they are staying busy! It’s been really fun already having them here and always brings in such a freshness to our ministry.

Next up this week is Sunday our church is hosting a HUGE PARTY!!! We have been planning for this party for a LONG time and were all really excited! It’s like a huge birthday party but it’s no one’s birthday! We are having jump castles, food, activities and have invited half of Lima, haha! If you have a minute please say a prayer that God brings exactly who needs to be there!

Gary Green gets here on Saturday (sorry going out of order here) for some team encouragement. We always love when Gary comes so I’m really looking forward to it. Jackie Beth leaves Saturday morning and he gets here Saturday night so well do a quick sheet change:)

Next Monday my LONG time friend Brishon Neu is coming to stay with us for at least a MONTH!!! We are really excited. I haven’t seen Brishon since early college years so this is going to be SO fun! She is coming to do language training and so much more. Were not great host though because she gets here on Monday night and Wednesday our team leaves for Arequipa to our annual PMS (Peruvian Missions Summit, the guys named it) retreat. I’m really excited to get to see more of Peru and to reunite with our friends that live there.

The day after we get back Lee leaves to go back to the US for 10 days. He is coming to raise money for our new multi-use building/center and we are SO excited!!! We will be even MORE excited if Lee and John Mark come back with all the funds needed to sustain this building:) I mean don’t make him leaving me for 10 days, probably drinking Sonic drinks while he is on the road, go in vein! If you would like to know more about his trip, the fundraiser that will be happening in Dallas or ways to donate, leave a comment and we will get back to you ASAP!!!

Ok, well I’ve gotten through our schedule of this past week and what’s happening this coming week. Now you know why I don’t have a ton of time to sit down and blog about it all, haha. No but seriously I have a lot more to say about the retreat, pictures of different things, stories of my kiddos and I’m sure I’ll have a ton to say after our upcoming retreat so I’ll continue to post, post, post.
Love to all

The Jungle Adventure

2011-05-16T21:47:00.005-05:00

This past week the kids were on school holiday. In the year and a half that we have lived here in Lima we have not traveled more than 2 hours outside of Lima and we were desperate to get to know this beautiful country we lived in. We only had 3 days and we were graciously given some funds from some friends of ours so we started planning. We talked about a lot of places but kept on coming back to the jungle.
To avoid writing a FOREVER long post... we decided on going to the high jungle called La Merced. I packed an entire pharmacy, warm weather clothes, cold weather clothes, did research, packed snacks and on Tuesday morning we were off. Our friend Gaby, who is living with us right now, came with us for a family jungle adventure. The kids were SO excited about seeing animals, mountains, waterfalls etc...
With all the preparing we did, we were NOT ready for several things-

The 4 HOUR detour we took which turned a 7 hour trip into 11 hours
Maddox throwing up into his cowboy boots, Sofia throwing up because she watched him and then not too long after Liam throwing up all over his clothes, the front dash and Lee & I (projectile.)
The hotel restaurant not being open because of "sewage problems"
Driving late at night and being told AFTER we arrived that it's extremely dangerous to travel after 8 where we were because large groups of people wait on the side of the road, pierce your tires or form a roadblock and assault you. Cool real cool, we arrived at 10:45 PM!!!
Lastly we were NOT ready for the absolute beauty that surrounded us when we woke up Wednesday morning. We were completely surrounded by jungle trees, a clear blue sky, warm air, birds, orange and coconut trees and pure nature!

We seriously had one of the most memorable trips ever. Our kids had so much fun swimming in the waterfalls, visiting a native village and participating in a cultural dance, eating different foods, staying up late at night pillow fighting with Gaby, going from sea level to high altitude cold and sleet to warm jungle and just being all together. It really was a trip I will never forget.

We left a day early because of trying to shorten our trip home and decided to take it slow on the way home (not getting lost really shortens a trip:) We got to stop at a butterfly farm that the butterfly part was actually closed but the lady showed us some different animals and we got to hold a monkey. Maddox found an old plane that was hung up by wire and he got in while Lee pulled the rope and took him high and when he let go the plane zoomed down the zip line. They even got super muddy but it didn't matter, we were just having fun! We stopped at a little Italian place and got the biggest surprise EVER! We were eating and all of the sudden I hear "Stephanie!!!" It was a lady from the shanty town (Gloria) that we have worked with a lot and she had come into town because her father was really ill. We talked for a while and caught up, that was SO cool! I mean really? Small world...

The people of the mountain towns and jungle villages were so sweet and so simple. I realized that more than even the people here in the shanty towns of Lima, they are so secluded from everything. Their resources so limited. So many were just waiting for rides on the side of the road and kids were playing with rocks and having a blast. I loved the simplicity and the tranquilness (is that a word?) of the jungle. I did though see so much poverty and my heart was tweaked once again. The things I complain about or the things I wish for....makes me want to slap myself sometimes.

Here are some pics and videos of our adventure, enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day Part 2

2011-05-08T11:32:00.007-05:00

When did she get so BIG?!?

Get it girl!

Sofia and the boys!

The stage

Last night we FINALLY got our internet provider changed and hopefully I will gain the patience once again to blog. It has been a complete PAIN to blog the last few months because of problems with our internet and being SO slow. Alas we have changed providers and well see how this goes..

This morning I was able to download the pictures and videos from the kids mother's day programs. Sofia's video, from her actual performance, won't be up for a while because it was a different camera but hopefully you can hear (barely) a little of what she did:) Maddox CRACKS me up in his video, you'll see why. HAHA! Happy Mother's Day to all you incredible moms!

Maddox looked so serious before he started belting out his songs,
he took this thing S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y!

Our picnic together-both Maddox and I weren't feeling too awesome that morning as you can probably tell in our eyes (sore throats.)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2011-05-08T00:35:00.000-05:00

Translation: My mom's name is Stephanie, she is 20 years old, she's tall, she dresses in pajamas (real cool) and works in her room with my dad (no comment). She cleans Sally's poop outside. She eats cookies, fruit and vegetables, drinks lots of water, yogurt and milk. (WHAT???) Me takes me to buy groceries at Wong's (a local grocery chain) to buy guns and swords. We go to the park to play volleyball and have picnics. I love her five...... she looks like crazy!!!! (his teacher told me she asked him SEVERAL times if he really meant to say that and he kept repeating the same thing.)

Your little son, Maddox

I just LOVE that kid!

Oh and this is a picture of me.

As some of you might remember from last years post, Mother's Day here in Lima is BIG! The kids are let out of school early, shows are happening throughout the week and lots of festivities are happenin. This year was that, TIMES 3!!! Yesterday I went to Liam's little show at school at which he saw me and just started crying and we sat together to have a picnic. The theme at his daycare was "Having a Picnic With Mom." I brought a basket full of stuff we both liked and we just ate together, watched the little show (that he was suppose to be in) and danced at the end. His was relaxed and sweet.

Today well.... was one of my worst nightmares!!! Both Maddox and Sofia had there shows at the SAME TIME!!! I spent the past 3 days strategizing, talking to teachers and trying to figure out how to make it work.

Here is how it went down:

I dropped Liam off at his daycare and then dropped Lee with the video camera and camera at Sofia's school. Maddox and I went to his preschool (3 blocks down) and he prepared for his show. I stationed our sweet intern Taylor outside of the preschool with the car ready to go. Lee called and said she was about to go in 3-5 minutes. Maddox still had about 8 minutes. My teammate Alison was in position at the preschool (her daughter Cailyn goes there too) and she was ready to call at the 2 minute warning and she was trying to beg them to stall.

When Lee called with the warning I ran outside jumped into the car and got to my seat as the announcements and the anthem was being sung (if it wasn't for the dumb announcements and the anthem all this would have gone without a hitch!) Sofia came out on stage and as she started her second song my phone rang and Alison was giving me a 2 minute warning. I looked at Sofia (and holding back tears) motioned to her I'd be right back. Luckily Lee was there video taping!

I jumped into the waiting car and Taylor drove me back to the nido (daycare) and I FLEW into the back door as Maddox was facing the area where I was suppose to be sitting and I ran up behind him and said "Oh buddy I'm sorry I was in the wrong spot!" He was so excited and his face lit up and I was SO grateful that I made it RIGHT in time. He sang his two songs and read a poem and then we had our little picnic. After a few minutes Lee called me with the 5 minute warning that Sofia was almost done. Maddox and I gathered up our stuff and both jumped into the car and headed back to Sofia's show. We made it right in time for the closing announcements and then met Sofia in her classroom for her report card and her sweet gift she made.

Oh wait, did I mention that my armpits were sweating SO bad, my hair was growing in volume (from the sweat and humidity my natural curls were turning "fro-style") and I was out of breath. I looked at Lee and said "I HATE MOTHER'S DAY!" That's not true, I really loved their shows and their precious gifts they made. They were SO excited to do their shows and talked about it ALL week. I love that they got so excited about it, I just wish they hadn't been at the same time, HA!

So below I've included a couple videos of Maddox's show (he definitely BELTED IT OUT), the picture he made of me including the facts he wrote about me (YOU DO NOT want to miss that below) and Sofia's report card. We took video of Sofia but it was on the actual camera and at this point we are not smart enough to put that on here.)

Blessings and God bless all you Mother's out there! Our jobs are never over and in some ways, that's the best part!

PS Couldn't get some of the pictures or videos of Maddox to work so I will try again tomorrow, SORRY

Exercising in Paradise

2011-04-16T09:49:00.006-05:00

No more excuses ladies, if this lady can run ALL of you can run!!! (She doesn't know her exact age but were guessing late 50's early 60's)Just had to get a close up of our friend running in her flip flops.

Some of the kids that come with their momsWall squat, I have NO mercy!

Nothing like doing a whole class with a few bands and a couple stability balls!

Daniel who comes every Wednesday with his sister LOVES to play on the equipment

If you haven't noticed yet, Peruvians have short stature. I always feel like a GIANT around them

Yes, this lady is running with her skirt and flip flops. GOTTA LOVE IT!

Doing some cardio and Rebecca is STILL smiling!

Jessica doing a jumping jack
He comes with his mom every week and he is just PRECIOUS!

My mom doing some ab work with the rest of the ladies on her visit last month

Back in October I had the joy of taking two good friends from the US Embassy out to where we work in the shanty town of Villa Maria-Paraiso (translated means paradise.) My two friends Heidi and Brianna fell in love! They had both been looking to volunteer somewhere and when we connected and they found out what we were doing here it was a perfect fit.

Brianna is a physician assistant who's husband works for the embassy and Heidi also worked part time at the embassy. The first day we went up the mountain we went with no plans, no expectations and pretty excited. As I drove up the mountain and as the area began to look worse the mood in the car changed. These two girls had seen a TON in their life but being IN IT was hard. It was hard for me the first time (don't get me wrong, it's hard everytime we go but there is just something about the FIRST time you see such poverty.)

We got out of the car and we just started visiting women I had met and already had a relationship with. Each woman told the girls her story, her struggles and some shed tears. It was the neatest thing to watch Brianna and Heidi just love on these women and not have a care in the world at the smells and the filth of some of the places we went in. They touched them, cared for them and most importantly loved on them. From this day forward we made Wednesday a regular gig.

We are now in our 7th month of going out there and though we had never gone out there with any expectations or plans we saw some great needs. One was that these women needed to talk. So many of them shared their struggles with us but would not share them with each other. They were all dealing with a lot of the same things-marital abuse, bringing up children alone and in extreme poverty, diabetes, mal-nutrition, losing pregnancies, taking care of physically disabled child and so much more. We decided these women needed community. We could give them only so much, they needed some help in coming together. So, for the first time we had a goal.

One idea was brought up about me teaching an exercise class for the women. This would be a way for them to get to know one another, to build relationships, build that community and also get healthy at the same time. That's how "Ejercisios en Paraiso" was birthed. We have been going out every Wednesday morning to teach these ladies an exercise class. We have been able to bring out fun equipment they had never seen before. We have days Brianna talks about different health concerns they might be having and sometimes we talk about nutrition. A couple of weeks ago we gave them food journals to fill out for the week and it was sobering. One of the ladies asked "if we don't eat anything that day, what do we write down?" My heart sank. These women daily make sacrifices so that their children get to eat and some days it means they don't get to eat at all. Fruit is something they GET to only eat on the weekends. Their diets aren't about getting a "well balanced diet" it's about what can I eat that is going to make me feel the fullest and that doesn't cost a lot (mainly potatoes, beans and rice.)

These past few months have been incredible out there with those women. We have recently talked about making bright pink t-shirts for them to wear. If you notice in a lot of the pictures the ladies don't have proper workout attire. Some other women from the embassy that heard about what we were doing donated second-hand tennis shoes and workout clothes for the women. It's been so neat to not only see this growing community of women out in Villa Maria but to also see a group of American women from the embassy come together to help change a group of women in Paradise.

Lastly I want to thank a friend of mine at Power Systems who donated a lot of the equipment we currently use out there. They are an incredible company if you ever need any exercise equipment, I HIGHLY recommend them. www.power-systems.com (He NEVER asked me to write this I just wanted to give him props!)

***If you are interested in helping support this small yet growing project, please let me know. Some upcoming things we would like to do is- order more equipment, make t-shirts, make fliers to invite more women and a long term project is to make a cookbook of healthy simple recipes that utilizes the food that these women can afford and that's available in their area. I would also love to include healthy tips and daily/exercise log in it as well.
We would love to hear any ideas you might have for recipes, how to write a book, for the t-shirt design, tips on health (in Spanish) or anything you think these ladies could utilize. Even if that is YOU (if you have medical training, exercise background, nutritionist etc...) come down for a week and you can guest teach the class:) As you can see NO dream is too big as far as I'm concerned.

My Surprise Trip To The States

2011-03-19T14:59:00.005-05:00

Celebrating being together, Hope's birthday and her upcoming wedding! SO FUN!

Me and Courtney in disbelief over the size of her nachos!!!

Hope and I, as usual

Me, Hope and Courtney after the big reveal!

Our first stop....food, OF COURSE

Hope and I, reunited again...

The Girlz!

Nothing like a little shot of milk with warm chocolate chip cookies, this restaurant was AMAZING!

Hard to believe that three weekends ago today I was in the US. Yes, that's right, I was in good ole America for about 38 hours. I'm going to try and give you the quick version cause I would write a BOOK about my weekend!

Here is the story: A good friend of mine, Courtney called me on a Monday and we were just talking away about the happenings of Lima. We were talking about how one of my best friends from college was getting married on the one date out of the year that I wouldn't be able to go (well, were still working through that:) Next thing I knew she said "what if I flew you down this weekend to help Hope find her wedding dress since she is coming to Dallas!" WHAT?!?!?!?! I about fell off my bed! Courtney and Hope are friends as well and I could just imagine the weekend with those two girls, WAY too much fun! Long story short, after talking it over with Lee we decided it would be a great idea if I went. I was SO excited! We decided Tuesday night and I left that Thursday night late. My in-laws were coming in that following Monday for the kids birthdays and just to spend a couple of days with us. Usually I would have spent the weekend preparing, organizing, for both my family and for the birthdays etc... but this time it was just going to have to be a free for all!

Not only did I get to go to US alone, I got to fly FIRST CLASS for the first time in my LIFE!!! I got on that plane ready to enjoy every little freebie. I thought I would take advantage of the BIG pillow, bed/seats, down comforter etc... while I waited for the steak that was coming and next thing I knew I woke up to find out we were LANDING!!!! I couldn't believe it. Although I was sad I missed all the freebies, I couldn't believe I had just slept through an entire plane ride and SO WELL!!! I was in heaven, how would I EVER go back to the peanuts, plastic cups and my knees knocking on the front seat?!?

I got to Dallas and met my friend Courtney, we were BESIDE ourselves! How was it that a few hours ago I had been talking to her from Peru and here I was in her car on my way to SONIC! I felt like the luckiest girl alive. All day we just ate and relaxed waiting to surprise Hope. Oh yeah did I mention that Hope knew NOTHING about this! This was going to be a great surprise.

Hope arrived with her mom, aunt and cousin to the apartment expecting to just look around and see where they were going to be staying for the weekend. We had the video camera ready and rolling. It was JUST like a movie. Hope opened the door, saw me and sat there stunned and in silence for about 30 seconds and then started crying. It was PERFECT! I had just called her from my computer and told her happy birthday (her birthday was that day as well) and we had gotten off the phone about 10 minutes before she came in so she was SO confused.

The whole weekend we shopped, found Hope a wedding dress, went to Target, got everything we needed for the kids birthday party, ate really well and most importantly I had an incredible time with two precious and incredible girlfriends. Another awesome part of the story is that my friend flew my mom back with me on Sunday so that she could be a part of the kids birthday parties. My parents missed their parties last year and weren't able to come this year as well but with little convincing and short notice my mom packed up and came back to Peru with me to spend 3 days with us and the kids. All in all it was the most perfect trip I think I have ever taken. Little did I know until after that airplane ride, that I needed that weekend more than I knew. It was so good to get away, rejuvenate, sleep, be with girlfriends and just get to spend some time relaxing. Props to my hubby who agreed that I should go, worked and took care of the kids all weekend. He is amazing!

I have been trying to download pictures from the weekend and there is also an awesome video of the surprise that is coming. It's been taking forever to get the pictures on here so I decided to go ahead and post this and when I can figure out how to put more pics on here I will.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention and big part of the weekend... I got my NOSE PIERCED. No, I didn't have a mid-life crisis for all of you wondering. I've always wanted to and it was the first time in 6 years I wasn't pregnant or nursing so I went for it. I'll post a picture once I can figure it out.

Thanks Court and Hope for an amazing weekend! I will never forget it.

Happy Birthday Sofia! (And a few pics of their duo birthday party)

2011-03-18T10:00:00.008-05:00

This past Tuesday, March 15th my first-born baby girl turned 6 (tear.) For some reason I am stuck on her being 4 and I'm not sure why. I guessed I really liked that age, haha. She got to have her aunt Nat-Nat, her Mimi, Pawpaw and her Nana here!!! It was unbelievable! I'll tell you in my next post why Nana got to be here and why I got to go home on a surprise weekend to the States this past weekend:)

Sofia got her BIG party last year (and they only get 1 of those) this year was Maddox's year to have a big party. Because our parents and family were here we decided, once again, to have a combined party. Maddox is SOOOOO low maintenance that he didn't want to invite his friends from school and was completely content with a jump castle and water balloons. Sofia got to invite 6 friends and really wanted face paint, so we combined the two and had a pirate/Little Mermaid party.

Our team, family and friends all got to be there and it was a blast! Maddox was in heaven going up and down the jump castle and then having a water balloon fight and Sofia loved playing with her girlfriends and getting her face painted.

I watched Sofia talk to her little school friends in Spanish and then turn around and talk to her American friends in English and I was so incredibly proud of our little girl. She has blown me away with her strength and perseverance this past year. She hasn't had the easiest year and has really missed her friends and family but she has also chosen to adapt to her life here and embrace it.

It's been amazing to me that she has truly become "my little helper" and loves to help with Liam. She loves to be in the middle of everything and wants to be a part of everything we have going on. She loves to sing and worship at church, LOVES bible class, loves to lead (sometimes also known as "bossing around") and has truly been a blessing and an asset to our work here in Peru.

Sofia we are so blessed by your spirit. God gave you a spirit to lead and it's been evident that at a young age of 6 you are wise. God knew what he was doing when he put your name on my heart before you were born, which means "wisdom." You are such a daddy's girl but you are also so good and showing me and your brothers that you love us just as much:) Daddy and I are SO proud of who you are and who you are becoming. Our prayer for you is that you always seek God, listen to Him and strive to love people like He does. Happy birthday sweet girl. We love you.

Gaby and Liam

Lee flying down the slide

Maddox going down the slide Superman style

Kellan flying down the slide

I'm not sure who had more fun on the slide, the kids or Lee

Sofia, wow...6

Look at those dimples

Liam the cat

Lee getting bombed by a bunch of little girls with water balloons

More pirate decor (thanks again Courtney for blessing us with all these awesome decorations, it wouldn't have been a party without you:)

Maddox and Caleb doing their pirate thing-arghhhhh

Sofia and her classmate Vera

The treasure boxes

Maddox's pirate cupcakesPirate sharks, worms and octopus

Maddox's Pirate tableSofia's Little Mermaid table

2011-03-18T08:37:00.004-05:00

We have officially had our first week of school here in Lima. Summer is OVER! I feel like it went by so fast, a little too fast. Our summer took us to the States for over 3 weeks so obviously that made it go by faster but it was a summer filled with sun, beach time, some down time and of course a whole lot of fun.

Last week at the Fletcher house we named the week “Operation Last Week of Summer Fun Week.” Stupid name but I wanted to make sure we did something fun everyday of the week leading up to school. We had a blast but by the end of the week I was READY for school to start:)

Maddox started on Monday at his “nido” (kind of like a preschool.) 4 days before he started we were called by admissions at Sofia’s school to say they had changed their minds and there was a vacancy in the preschool class for Maddox BUT we needed to make our decision in less that 5 hours. AHHHH WHAT???? I couldn’t believe we were going through this stress AGAIN in having to make a decision at the last minute. The process of getting into a school here is the most insane thing I have ever seen and has ONLY come with stress. Needless to say I was pacing all day and about 30 minutes before we made our decision a wise friend told me (thanks Alison) that God is peaceful. He doesn’t come in the form of stress and anxiety. She said a lot more but after praying about it we decided that even though this is what we fought for for Maddox a few months ago (and were denied) and that this might harm his position to enter the school next year, we told them no. Lee was gone all day and told me he would be fine with whatever decision I made but told me to ask Maddox. I thought to myself “sure, what good is that going to do?!?” Ironically it made a huge difference. Maddox had always wanted to go to Sofia’s “big school” but when I asked what he wanted to do I truly felt God spoke through Maddox because he just looked at me and with every certainty in his voice he said “I want to stay at my blue school, I don’t want to go to Sofia’s school!” WHAT???

So, that’s exactly where he is and seeing him this week beaming, kissing his teachers, finding out his primary teacher is a Christian and having the teacher tell me he has been incredibly sweet made me want to grab God’s face and kiss it! Maddox is in the oldest class but because it’s not an official preschool he will have to work really hard to “test in” (I KNOW that just sounds so stupid saying it) to enter Kindergarten or preschool next year (depending on vacancies and what we choose.)

One more funny story about Maddox’s school is that when I walked in the first day, I found out that his teacher spoke near perfect English. They said this is the year that they divide the kids between English and German groups (depending on what school they will go to.) This year they get most the day in English with some Spanish. I about DIED laughing because it was the FIRST time I realized that last year Maddox was in an all Spanish class!!! HAHAHA. The Nido is bilingual so I just assumed that meant that all the teachers spoke English. I was confused during the first half of last year when his teacher couldn’t speak much English to me but just thought he had another teacher for the English part. No WONDER the poor boy was frustrated last year. Oh well, at least he learned Spanish.

Sofia just finished her first week of FIRST grade. I still feel a lump in my throat just saying that!!! I honestly can’t believe we have a first grader. Lee looked at me after we dropped her off and said “were old.” HAHA. She was pretty nervous the night before and voiced a lot of fears but she looked so big (well not really she looked tiny in comparison to everyone but big to us:) and brave when we got to the door. We got to meet her teacher a week ago and she was SO nice. I really liked her and felt like it was a great fit for Sofia. When we got there on the first day we were able to see if any of her friends from last year were in her class and she had 4!!! I was so excited and relieved. I wanted so bad for her to have something familiar and God so blessed that. Another neat blessing is that a little girl named Alana is in her class. Alana is a precious little girl that I met last year. She and her and her mom ride the bus over 2 hours each day to come to school. Several times last year, I tried to nurture that relationship with her and Sofia because Alana and her parents were such sweet people. When I dropped her off and saw that Alana was in her class I got super excited (sofia was looking at me like “what is your problem mom???”)

I’ve been praying that God wraps his arms around Sofia this year. I just get the feeling that this year will be tough emotionally as well as academically. Most of the kids in her class are almost a full year older than her and I think it’s going to show more this year than it did in Kindergarten. Were just trying to learn how to read in English while most of her classmates have already mastered the Spanish reading and are starting on the English. Most of her reading books I bought this year were in Spanish (ALL 12 of them.) Sofia is a strong little girl though and I have NO doubt she will persevere and GET IT DONE! As a mama though I just don’t want to see her struggle too much (though some struggling is good for the soul:)

Well I hope you enjoy a few pics from the kids first week.

Alana and Sofia (can you tell Sofia was a little nervous?!?)

My big First Grader

Sofia and Maddox

Maddox and Rafole (he wasted no time starting to play)

Priceless

Mama and Sofia