Our Weird Daughter...

Animals... unfortunately she likes them

I am not exactly an animal lover... don't hate them and would never hurt one, just don't think I want one of my own. Mary loves them. Papa likes them too; he grew up on a farm so he isn't sicked out by smelly goats.

Mary also LOVED these dogs when we were in Texas last week! She would scream in excitement every time she saw them outside.

Speaking of Texas, we went to see my best friend Amy (above) and her adorable new baby, Harper. It was great to get some time with her and get to know her new little baby girl. Spending time with the tiny baby made me excited to have one in a few months... which is good! :) Mary seemed to really like her too... and was slowly grasping the idea of being gentle.

OHIO

We went to Ohio a few weeks ago... it was SO fun! We had a little family reunion there to celebrate my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. Way to go, Grandpa and Grandma JB!

There were a lot of kids so they planned some fun events, including a little carnival night, day at the petting zoo (pictures coming soon), afternoons at the pool and some good ole fun in farm country. Mary had a blast being outside so much with all of her cousins!

This is Isaac... Mary really likes him and shows her affection by petting his head. :) He's a great sport and so cute! This picture doesn't do justice to his adorable, shy smile!

And, here are all of the kids showing their loot from the candy searching party. Mary played with the candy for about an hour... putting it in and out of bags. Little did she know that stuff isn't just a little toy but tastes good. Soon enough she'll figure it out, but for now we delight in her ignorance of sugary food.

at the park...

Desire to Self-feed + Yogurt =

COLORADO...

Five days after we got back from Indonesia we headed to Colorado for our international conference with all of our churches worldwide. It was a great time of worship, teaching and equipping before we head out to Indonesia long term. We were so thankful to be a part of it and feel so blessed by all of the wise men and women who were there to teach and minister to us!

This is our view from our porch... it was so beautiful and we had great weather!

We took a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain one evening... it was really beautiful! Though this picture doesn't show it, Mary really did have a great time at iCon. She was in "kids camp" all day, every day and really loved her teachers and friends. We are so thankful for the many people that came to serve us by watching and playing with our kids all day! They were great!

Oh, and there is my belly at 22 weeks... baby boy is growing in there!

Where have we been...

...the last month and a half? TRAVELING! We have been home a total of 7 days since we last posted. We've had a great time in our world travels but are glad to be home and have a little stability for the little one.

We will cover our first adventure in this post... INDONESIA!  Most of you probably know this by now, but we actually went to the city that the Pierce family will soon call home. That's right, we're moving to Indonesia! The city is a huge, over populated, chaotic Asian city, like many others on that side of the world... but I'm convinced that if God has called us there (which we believe He has) He will give us a little niche in the city that we will call home and begin to actually love... and God will miraculously put us in a bubble of 70 degree weather so as to avoid the tortuous 110 degrees that it really is. :) That might not be true, but we will be given grace to endure what we don't naturally like and we will fall in love with the people and city that God has called us to. Mary and little un-named BOY in my belly will learn the language as they're learning to speak english... it will be so great! Anyways, on to our trip last month...

We had a great time! It was a little rough on the Mary bean, but she (and we) endured the sleepless nights and difficult food choices. Below is a picture that best shows how she felt most of the trip....

Don't worry, she wasn't always that sweaty and unhappy. She loved being outside and seeing all the action... but unfortunately, as I am possibly the WORST picture taker in the world, I don't have any pictures of her outside enjoying Indonesia and all the people that loved her so much! But, here she is loving her aunt Karen. Karen was a huge blessing to me... carrying Mary in the baby carrier (since it hurt my growing belly) and just always helping us out with taking care of her. Thanks, auntie Karen!

Here are a few pictures from the city and us hanging out with some people that we met at an English club.