A Kite!!

A prayer I prayed back in 2006 was, Lord, please let Alison meet the love of Hannah's life before she leaves on her mission journey." The girls have always been close. Alison was so welcoming to Hannah in high school, letting her be a part of all group activities. There was never any of this, you are the little sister, you are not our age, I just want to be with MY friends without you. When Alison ended up at ACU there was no question Hannah wanted to go to ACU because her sister was there and she even wanted to graduate from high school early. And so she did. There was also the day in 2005 Alison called and ask what do you think of Hannah living with Justin and I for the summer? I didn't feel it was a good idea, Alison and Justin had just married. This would be their first summer as a married couple. Alison ask for a pros and con list, I never made it. The next time we talked about it, Alison just said, Hannah is going to live with us. And for the most part I think the summer went just fine. So to think of Alison leaving the states and not really getting to know who Hannah would marry while she was gone to live in Lima was a thought I wanted to talk to God about. Ask of my Heavenly Father about my desire.....

Hannah and Jason Grassie started dating in July of 2008 at about the same time Alison and Justin moved to TN. (Daniel and I had a great time getting to know Jason from July - Dec of 2008 since God had moved us to Abilene.) But Alison and Justin didn't have a visit planed back to Abilene so we didn't think of them meeting Jason. Almost immediately after starting to date, Hannah headed off to Zambia for several weeks in July, 2008, and she was going to fly back into TX on July 27th. Daniel jumped at the chance to visit with Jason and so he asked Jason if he would like to drive from Abilene to Houston with him to pick Hannah up from the airport. Jason took him up on it. After picking up Hannah, the 3 of them (Daniel, Jason and Hannah) joined us at Sean and Rachel (Hudgens)Landolt's wedding. Alison (without Cailyn or Justin) flew into CS from TN for the wedding. We all spent the night at Ray and Phyllis Powell's house. We had about an hour to visit after the wedding and before we all hit the bed. Alison flew out the next morning around 6:30am. That was the last night Jason saw Alison until May 2009 when Alison, Justin and Cailyn came home for furlough in Abilene. We spent some brief time that weekend and Hannah and Jason had to get back to OK. (Yes, in the meantime Hannah had moved to Tulsa for graduate school and Jason moved from Abilene to Norman, OK to work and live with his sister)

The meeting was brief but the prayer was answered still.....(1) Alison did get to meet the love of Hannah's life BEFORE she moved overseas, and (2)Yes, Hannah and Jason are engaged!!! Thank you, Lord for answered prayer!!

Oh, the title, A Kite. Hannah enjoyed a great kite flying experience with an engagement ring attached at the National Mall in DC. What were they doing in DC??? That's a whole other prayer answered for another day!!

Charlie W. Sneed says, "Marriage is not so much finding the right person as it is being the right person!"

God has lots of adventures planned for these two!!

Easter Morning in Tulsa (it was cold and drizzling)



Right before Jason moved to DC in Aug. (acting silly, of course what else do we expect out of them!!)

What My Eyes See

My time in Lima is almost over and I wanted to post some things that are common here. Our days start out and we hear salsa music as early as 7:00am that comes from a class being taught near by. We play with Cailyn outside in their backyard which is really a luxury because most homes do not have backyards. When we head anywhere we go through the front door and on to an outer door. The front yard is between these two doors and it is all private. Our two guards are out front. Yes, every street has a guard with a guard house. No guns or anything, not real sure what they would do if there were any problems. We have enjoyed watching Cailyn socializing with Pedro and Jose, our street guards. We head down to the end of the street, take a right and then a left and we are at the main road where we usually get a taxi to go ALL places. We have seen much of Lima through the taxi window.




We have enjoyed going to the grocery store and seeing how things are here in Lima. I have joked about all of the types of milk. There seems to be whole aisles that are milk. The silver and red bag (that is the milk) - in order to get 2 gallons of milk you have to purchase 8 of these bags. You then pour the milk in a larger pitcher when you get home. Water comes in only those large bottles and you buy 6 at a time, again you pour that into a smaller pitcher when you get home. There is only about 3 rows of canned goods. Most of the fruit and veggies come fresh. The avacados are huge. We like that!! I am a big fan of animal crackers or graham crackers. When you purchase crackers of this sort, they come in a package with 9 "snack packets". All portions are very small. I keep thinking i want a WHOLE box of crackers not 10-12 crackers!! Alison did a wonderful job of planning her meals and it has been a pleasant part of our day. Justin runs to the corner for bread and that is another thing -- so many bakeries!!!






You will also notice little stands that sell fruit, veggies, candy, soda, nuts, bread.....People sell all kinds of things on the street. Very few are just beggars. Lots of people, many of them young, sell nuts, cigarettes, magazines, or tupperware while you are sitting at a light. They also juggle, do acrobatics and wash your windows, all for money. When you park at Starbucks they are there to wash your car while you are gone. These are just some of the glimpses I have of Lima. Cleaning is another thing you notice - you will notice a lady at the park washing the inside of the trash can. They have very pretty parks and workers are constantly sweeping up dirt, trash and leaves from their area. They are constantly washing their house windows and sweeping off the area in front of their stores.



Most importantly I wanted to be with Alison and Justin and share in their second child being born. It has been a JOY and a birth I will not forget. So very different from Cailyn and how fun to have a new story. If you really want the "mother details" read them on alison/justin's blog. There is just something about "mom's view" of the whole birth event!!!