Great Weekend

This weekend our church here in Santo Domingo put on a conference and invited John Piper to be the main speaker. We got to go to several of the sessions throughout the weekend- and were soaking everything in like sponges. It was so refreshing and filling to listen to a sermon in our "heart language," English, and to receive from one of God's servants that shares our culture.

Before we moved to the DR, I remember someone that had lived in the DR for a number of years telling me how RICH the US was- not just rich with money, but with spiritual recourses as well. In the US we are exposed to so much- preachers, books, musical artists- and there is so much variety in all of these things. I found that to be so true this weekend. I don't think I realized how spiritually dry I had become (even though God has been working in my heart in new and different ways because of our circumstances here), and how much a I needed to be challenged, encouraged, and filled by the hearing of the word of God. So praise God for the RICH weekend were were able to experience in Him.

Our good friends Jake and Kyla came down from Jarabacoa on Thursday night to go to the conference with us. Their son was born 5 days after Avery and they are already great little buds. Here is a little video of the two of them together!

A&J from Lindsay Drake on Vimeo.

Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow- Avery turns ONE!!! We welcome the day with so many mixed emotions- so excited for all the new and exciting things ahead, and sad that the "baby days" of bottles, carrying her everywhere, etc., are over. The year flew by, but then again it is hard to imagine life without sweet Aves.

Here are some Avery updates for all of our friends and family at home (keep in mind that she is the first and only grandchild and the grandparents want to know all the details!) :

The biggest news is that she's walking!!! She took her first steps a little over a week ago (and loved it- didn't want to stop). She would go back and forth between Elliott and me...over and over and over. Yesterday, she started letting go of things and setting out on her own. I was so surprised when I looked over and she was in between the table and Ridley- walking towards him. Then she dove right into him and gave him a big kiss on the nose (I think that was her way of celebrating her big accomplishment). She also loves to push her little car around. She just smiles and looks from side to side to see who is watching her.

Her little personality is really starting to show. She is really friendly and waves to everyone and says hi with a southern drawl- "haah." She can also say da-da, Rid, Ana, milk, dog, bye, mas (spanish for more) and the occasional ma-ma. She had picked up on some signs really quickly and signs for milk, more, and all done.

She LOVES to look at books. It is so cute when she crawls over to her books, chooses one, and sits by herself, flipping through the pages making little noises. In one book, when I ask her where the dog is, she flips to the page with a dog on it!

She loves to blow kisses and give wet slobbery ones too. It is so cute because she is starting to give us kisses out of the blue- El and I can't get enough.

We just recently finished the "playroom." When our neighbors just recently moved (soooo sad), they gave us their couch, and we got a few things from IKEA and set it all up. It is so nice to have a place for Avery to play where she can get into whatever she wants- she is into everything these days. And I must admit, Elliott and I are really enjoying the playroom too!

I will post more pictures of the birthday soon- the internet is loading them really slow and I'm losing patience.

Well, I think that's it for now. Sorry I have been a bad blogger. We are headed to the states in a few weeks for my brother's wedding and then a family reunion with Elliott's family. We couldn't be more excited!!