Alice, Bethany and Cameron on bikes! :)

Today was a very eventful day on the family front. All three kids are now semi-confident two-wheel bike riders! I'll attach a video with this post, and then another one in a new post. :) Cameron was the most amazing. He just turned three! He said to me yesterday, "Daddy, I want to take my training wheels off." "Are you sure, Cambo?" "Yup Daddy." So, I took the training wheels off, and I was expecting to do a lot of running beside the bike, holding the seat, etc. He would have NONE of it. We took the training wheels off, and said, "Okay, Daddy. I'm ready." Then he climbed on his bike, I held the seat while he got on, and then he said, "1-2-3 go, Daddy!" Then he rode his bike in a few circles, and gently came down! Today he was even more confident and there was very little falling. Usually just controlled tipping. :)

A Good Day.

These girls are what greeted me on my way out of the bathroom this morning. :) Surprise!!
Just in case it's a little hard to tell, that is a Nutella "gingerbread" man made out of sandwich. The note says, "ALICE (heart) I LOVE YOU" :)


Today has been a good day to spend with our family, and to be with them. Bethany has learned to ride on two wheels, but took a spill today and scratched up her mouth. (She is okay, though!) The Girls were so sweet this morning when I woke up! They had made me a special surprise. I could hear them talking while I was in the bathroom. "Daddy! Don't come out yet! We're making something for you!" It was a fairly relaxed family day, with one girl from town(A and B's friend Sheila) who stayed at our house all day until we drove her home tonight.
I hope you enjoy the pics! Thank you so much for your prayers for our family, you are each a blessing to us!

And there was also a sweet little boy at the end of the day. :)

We found him asleep with his arm around the soccerball. :)

Quick Glimpse into our Life!

Who says you can't have fun when you've got lice?

So, we've been in Australia for one year now! We're growing up, learning to do things all by ourselves... and getting lice. But through it all, we can smile.
We discovered lice on Alice yesterday night, "treated" it, and this evening we had the joy of nit-picking. She had a few big ones! I'll spare you the pics, unless you ask for them. We used the medicated lotion, which didn't seem to do much, so, we decided tonight to go the "mayo" route. We'll let you know how it goes. Here's some pics of Alice in her "stylish" shower cap. :)

She's got a great attitude! :)

Aside from Alice getting lice, Bethany is learning to do her chores. She asked me the other day if she could hang up the laundry all by herself. (Like I would refuse!) Here's a pic of the finished project.I counted 14 (or 15) clothespins on that towel alone. :D But she did it all by herself! What a big girl. :)

We hope all is well with you and that you can smile through life's little twists and turns. :)

The Barunga Music and Culture Festival! :)

Question: Can I throw a spear? Answer: Not really, but I made it to the 2nd round! :)

My favorite little children! :) They were so excited to get their faces painted! (Spiderman, a little butterfly, and a BIG butterfly!)

This guy really played his digeridoo well. :)

This past weekend was filled with the excitement, and a lot of people camping all over Barunga for the Music and Culture Festival that happens every year here in Barunga. We hope you enjoy the Festival as much as we did!!


The Chooky Dancers were a crowd favorite. Everyone was talking about them. :)

We also got to listen to a digeridoo playing competition. That was really cool. One of the players was only 7 years old! He's going to be amazing when he gets older. I'll post a few videos of that. :) I hope you enjoy this small, "Taste of Barunga"! :)

The kids playing school in our living room. :)

Recording is Finished! Hallelujah!

Stanley(the final voice recorded for the Luk DVD), and our team (L to R: Rachel, Karen, and Jared)

After 4 weeks of recording, "It is finished." This past Friday was the final day of recording, and Thursday was the last day for recording parts for the Luk (Luke) DVD in Kriol. We had people from 5 different communities reading parts as well as checking other readers while they were recorded. Now, we wait for the editing, the quality check, and then the final production. We can't wait to see how it all turns out!Two of my "fathers" who read parts for the Luk DVD!

Sambo and me! I met Samson(Sambo) last year at Yangbala Kemp. It was great to have him join us in completing the Luk DVD. His father, Stanley(above), also played a part!

This project has been a lot of work for everyone involved. From the first translating and editting, to the final cuts and fixes( THANK YOU MARGARET!)... The Kriol Team (mainly Rachel and I) drove 1000's of kilometers picking up people to read different parts from different communities. We had 5 different communities involved in this recording: Beswick, Barunga, Weemol, Manyalaluk, and Minyerri. We had approximately 20 folks reading different parts for the movie, from Jesus and John the Baptist down to "Man 3" everyone put in a lot of work to read/repeat and record this movie. It has been a huge blessing. I'm glad we were able to include so many different communities, because hopefully that will help the film to be shown in their churches!
The Luke DVD is simply the book of Luke in a movie. It has been done in several different languages including Hebrew, and English (to name 2). It's a movie that will get people to think about God's Word, to think about Christ, and how they should respond to Him. As I was prompting/checking/ watching, it was really cool to see how many people were excited to see the movie. When their parts were being inserted in for dubbing in Kriol, they would watch the film, and if Jesus was speaking, they were just rapt in his words. They also enjoyed hearing their own voices on the movie as well! :)

At the same time, as I watched/read/prompted/checked readers, it felt as though I was right there, feeling the same emotions as the people when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, and then when He fed the 5000 with just 5 loaves and 2 fish, how amazing! It was as if I was walking with him through his life, death and resurrection. It made me miss him, and want him to come back soon. And Lord willing He will be back soon. This movie made me so thankful for God's Word in my language, and so thankful that I can be a part of bringing Jesus to those who may not read Kriol yet! They can hear Jesus speak to them now, and perhaps as a result of this DVD they will come to know Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Pray for that with me!Cheri was a big part of the team even though she wasn't in the recording booth. She regularly made dinner for 7 or more, (sometimes 10-15) and took care of the children when we were doing evening recording sessions. She is a HUGE BLESSING to me and an asset to our team. :)

With our part of the project finished, I also wanted to thank each of you who have been praying faithfully for us through the whole project. (Don't stop! :) ) Without your prayers, I'm convinced this wouldn't have happened. Thank you for fighting alongside us to bring God's Word to more and more Kriol speakers! Keeping serving with us; you are a huge blessing.