She is Juliana...hear her ROAR!!!

We're still here...and doing well. The work is still going well too. When I questioned the girl who had never heard of the man upstairs about if she knew who Mary's baby was said...oh yes, J, the son of the man upstairs. It's clear she at least has the knowledge...possibly the belief as well. :) I'll continue to update as progress is made.

The team has really been great with the kids. They have a great time playing together when we get an extra few minutes.

One of Juliana's favorite ways to play is with a mask she was given at one of the restaurants here with her kids' meal. She loves to walk around and roar at everyone. :) I haven't been able to upload any pictures or videos yet...but I've got a great one of that if I ever get the opportunity to post it.

We've found some really great toys for Noah that he loves. There are many things that are the same here, but so many differences too. One example is that they have many K.F.C.'s here...but the menu is almost entirely different. The other day I thought I was ordering a chicken sandwich, but it turned out to be a shrimp patty instead.

I did venture out to get my haircut in-between classes the other day. They did a great job. I got a haircut, shave, and wash for the equivalent of about $8.

Our first mentors...the Hollands left yesterday, and our next mentors...the Brazel's are arriving tomorrow.

We're planning on visiting a local assembly in the morning.

I hope you're all sleeping well on the other side of the world. :)
Jeff

That's a little fishy

I have a reader that on Tuesday heard the name J.C. for the first time. She's never read any of his stories either. She's very interested and is learning quickly. The work here is rewarding. The people are amazingly friendly and helpful.

We took our first venture on the public buses today. Quite an experience. We'll have to share some pictures when we get more time.

The kids are doing well. We are too. We had one of the best meals we've ever eaten last night. The dishes weren't titled well, ("fish-taste eggplant" for example) but they were incredible. I'm definately going to miss that when we come home.

More to come...

Settling in and venturing out

Our first few days have been great. Our team is getting to know each other better, and we're beginning to understand what our work looks like here. We were able to attend an international assembly on Sunday and one in a home that night. It was neat to get to see how things change from culture to culture. We've been enjoying the people very much, and of course, Noah and Juliana are like celebrities. We were walking down the road yesterday and a little boy passed us, turned around to look at Noah, ran right into a parked car and bounced off. He was ok, and his dad just stood there and laughed. :) I got an opportunity to speak with the security guard that watches our building. He's very friendly, and we have a growing relationship in which he speaks only English and I speak only Chinese...needless to say they are pretty short conversations so far. Ask the Father that this would become more than just good conversation practice.

We love you all, and hope to report again soon. We do not have internet in our apartment, so connections are few and far between.

-Love, Jeff

Great travels

we made it. We're well. We'll say more when we've got more time. We love you,

Jeff

Here we go again.

After a couple of days at home trying to get things settled, we headed to Houston to celebrate Kristina's mom's 50th Birthday. I was also honored to officiate Kristina's sister's (Allison's) wedding. It was beautiful, and they had a great time. Then it was off to Longview for a few more days with family before we head out again.

I am preaching at Alpine Church of Christ in the morning. After lunch, we'll be heading to Fort Worth to finish our training at Richland Hill Church of Christ. Then Tuesday night we'll begin our journey to Qingdao, China via DFW, LAX, and Seoul, Korea.

We'll try to keep everyone updated on our progress as we go along whenever we can get internet access.

We've had a great couple of weeks, and we're ready to go.

-Jeff

Welcome Baby Garcia!

Sophia Micah Garcia was born today June 5th, 2008 at 4:48pm. She weighed in at 7lbs. 6 oz., and is 19" long. Mom (Brandon'a) and baby are both doing well. Here is Patrick and Sophia with a message to all of their friends. Enjoy!

That's one proud papa!

Here are her stats.

Juliana is taking it one step at a time.

Aren't we a pair?

She sure likes her spaghetti!

Juliana is walking. And we're running to catch her. :)

Noah is getting so big too. We went to the park today and we had a good time.

He said his favorite part was the ducks.

We're looking forward to seeing everybody on the other side of Texas very soon. :)