I promised myself that I would not start off one more blog by stating how busy we are, but I just don't think I can start it any other way! We have had a great month, full of exciting times of traveling, my sister Brittany and Joe's wedding, Kenya-Cincinnati Association Banquet, NANC training, our friends Bobby and Lisa Bechtel visiting in from Mombasa, Kenya, Swahili lessons, pregnancy sickness, and lots of photography appointments! I would mention our 6th wedding anniversary in our list of business, but unfortunately both Aaron and I forgot about our anniversary until 6:00 pm that day. We had to laugh at it, although we promised that it wouldn't happen next year! I try to look at our October/November calendar as little as possible, so I don't get overwhelmed! It is such a crazy time, but an amazing time of growing in our Lord.

Our girls are still loving the pre-field process of traveling and being at different churches. They both enjoy meeting new friends and especially love the hotels. Daddy got a hotel with a pool this weekend, so they are especially happy about that! They both know that at each church their job is to help set up our display table. They are very serious about their jobs and take great pride in making our table look nice! They like going to the children's classes, although sometimes they opt to stay with us in big church. Kennedy said that last week a boy told her that they were both very bossy little girls! She said to me "sometimes I'm bossy, but I really wasn't being bossy that time."

Aaron is feeling the strain of working full-time and traveling on the weekends, but we are so thankful that God is allowing us to do both this fall. We were able to book a complete schedule all with churches in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan. This allowed for Aaron to keep his job a little longer and be full-time in our pre-field ministry.


I have been very busy with photography and feel like I am living on my computer, editing, confirming appointments, etc. My very best friend Alisa Leek was able to come in town for a week and came to my first sonogram appointment with me. Alisa, Kennedy and I were very excited to see the baby via ultra-sound. Kennedy was very proud of the picture of "her" baby and couldn't wait to get home and show Claire-bear. The ultra-sound showed some concern about the babies central nervous system being too large. We don't have a lot of answers right now, which is hard, but we have an appointment with a specialist in December. In the meantime we are trusting God to keep our baby safe and know that he has a plan for our baby, whether healthy or sick. We are praying that we stay focused on Christ and His truth and not be overtaken with the temptation to worry.

We continue to be SO thankful to God for allowing us to take part in His plan for Kenya and grow a deeper yearning to reach the Kenyan people each day. Our hearts long to be there and start the work that God has for us in Mombasa. As anxious as we are to get there, we wouldn't trade what God has taught us and is continuing to teach us while we are here in the states. We have a greater understanding of what Paul meant when he wrote in:

I Thessalonians 2:8
So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us..
~The Apostle Paul to the people of Thessalonica

The last two weeks have been so busy, but absolutely incredible! Our church volunteered for 1,000 shifts at the ATP tennis tournament and raised $40,000 for Team Kenya. It was so incredible to see our church come together in such an amazing way! I am so excited that our church is willing to attempt great things for God!! I can't wait to see how God will continue to allow our church to be part of His plan for missions around the world! A part of that $40,000 went to Heaven Sent Ministries (care of missionaries Bobby and LIsa Bechtel) to feed a village in Mombasa, Kenya for up to 90 days.

We had our first official Swahili class last night. Ben Mbelle, a wonderful man from Mombasa, is teaching our team. It is just incredible to see how God placed Ben in our paths and gave him a desire to not only teach us Swahili, but educate us about the Kenyan culture. We are so blessed to have met Ben and are looking forward to learning a great deal from him!

Kennedy still loves dressing up, tea-parties, coloring, learning how to read and write letters, and or course...being a princess. Claire enjoys beating up daddy, wrestling, eating, snuggling, and jumping on the trampoline! Kennedy and Claire are very excited to announce that WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!! I am due in May! It is a crazy time in our lives, but we are so blessed that God has given us another child and very glad that we will be having it in the states! ;)

The month of July has been filled with a lot of traveling! We were in Pennsylvania for 4 days at ABWE, then one week later Shantelle and I flew to Florence, SC to visit our friend, Ashlyn. Kennedy and Claire have enjoyed several trips to Kentucky to visit g-ma and g-pa. We have also been to Indiana twice to visit Aaron's family.

The girls have been enjoying the summer by spending a lot of time at Kings Island water park and the Kuenkel's pool. Kennedy is continuing to shock us by how stinking smart she is. The other day I was talking to her and I could tell that she was getting bored with the conversation, so she notified me that her "phone" was ringing and she had to go answer it. She loves to color and to help me bake. Claire just got her ears pierced! She looks so cute, but older, which is sad! She is finally potty trained and is very proud of herself. Kennedy was a very supportive big sister throughout the process and enjoyed the incentives of Claire earning candy for both of them. Kennedy is very protective over Claire, which tends to cause problems, seeing Claire wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. Despite their fights here and there, it is so cute to watch them interact and love each other.

Aaron is continuing to be very busy with both working full-time and mission work. He is definitely feeling torn between the two right now. I have been very busy with my photography business, which is going great, but keeping me a little busier than I would like to be. I am already getting booked through the fall, so I am glad I have Aaron to remind me to say no sometimes.

We enjoyed our time at ABWE's Good Soil Seminar and learned so much. We are so thankful for the Biblical training that ABWE has provided our team! God has used both Tyndale Seminary and ABWE as wonderful training for Team Kenya. The last two years have been ones of learning, waiting on the Lord, and renewing our faith in Him. We want to get to Kenya so quickly, but I wouldn't trade the last two years that our team has experience together for anything.

Kennedy is 4!

It is so hard to believe that Kennedy is four years old! She was so excited to turn four and mostly excited for her birthday parties! She had a birthday party in Indiana with the Boon side of the family and then another party on June 5th, her birthday, here in Mason with our family and friends.

Claire is getting so big, her personality is growing right along with her! She is always making us laugh and is quite the entertainer. Last night the Guzman, Kuenkels, and our family all drove a 15 passenger van to a church in Marysville, Ohio. Claire sat next to Matty in the van and talked his head off the entire ride! She came up with some pretty interesting things to say! The church was so sweet and it was an amazing experience to minister as a team. We all got taken on for support, despite a few missteps...! Aaron asked one of the members, who was in a wheelchair, if he had an accident. The man answered yes and Aaron asked him if it was permanent...the man looked confused and answered yes while pointing to his prosthesis leg. The look on Aaron's face was priceless. We were also short on time during the service, so I forgot to mention the fact that I was saved in my testimony. I realized it halfway through and added it onto the end...very embarrassing!
Aaron is definitely feeling the stress of working full-time and being a traveling missionary. It has it's challenges, but God is providing for our family in so many ways and is teaching us SO much!
My little sister graduated from Mason High School last week, which was a weird experience. Time flies! This is going to be another crazy month, but we are so thankful for the opportunities that God is giving us to serve Him. We will be in Kentucky this weekend and Indiana the next weekend.

Things have definitely changed in the last month. We officially moved out of our home and into my (Steph's) parents basement. This has been quite an adjustment, but we are confident that God is using this to grow us in faith and patience. This is a huge blessing because it relieves us from paying a mortgage and gives us more freedom to travel. The girls absolutely love their new "home" and it is great to be SO close with our family the last two years we are in the states.
Kennedy had a ballet recital on Sunday and did great! She had 15 people (family and Team Kenya family) who came to see her. She was so cute and very serious about her time on stage. She wasn't nervous at all and never missed one step. You could definitely see the leader in her as all the other girls watched Kennedy to see what their next move should be. It is hard to believe that Kennedy will be 4 on June 5th! She rode her first roller coaster yesterday at Kings Island and screamed throughout the entire ride. She let us know that it wasn't her scared scream it was her excited scream!
Claire is always making us laugh. She is definitely a free spirit and unfortunately has her mothers mean streak. She loves to pick on Kennedy, but also wants to be just like her big sister. Kennedy is in the process of helping Mommy teach Claire how to use the big-girl potty. Kennedy is a great teacher and is also very motivated by the fact that Claire earns candy for both of them when she goes in the potty!
We have two churches to visit this June and are looking forward to ministering in both of them. Aaron has been tirelessly working between his job at Fifth Third Bank and making calls to pastors and churches. As of now, we have 17 churches on our calendar! God is definitely continuing to bless Team Kenya! We had a anonymous family from our church donate Garmin GPS systems to each family in Team Kenya!! Stay tuned as we have a busy and exciting summer ahead!

Support!

We have officially received our first support through ABWE from my sister and brother-in-law, Tiffani and Caloway Puckett. This raised our support from 0% to 1.18%! This doesn't sound like much, but it was SO exciting to see that support level raised! Thank you Tiff and Cal!!! We also have our churches support and other family members and friends that will begin in May. We should be at 10% by the end of May. We have 12 other churches booked right now and Aaron is continuing to work very diligently on calling pastors and booking meetings. We have a church in Columbus, Ohio that we will be visiting tonight and another church on Sunday. God is truly blessing our family and it is so exciting to continue getting closer to Kenya! By the end of the week we will be moved out of our home and into my parents basement. God is giving us special grace and extra faith in giving up a home. It is a blessing that we even have somewhere to live and this will give us greater flexibility in finances to travel more and not be worried about a mortgage. We are trying to make this move very special for the girls and are keeping everything positive and exciting...one step closer to our home in Kenya!!!

April is also an exciting and very busy time for our family. We had just recovered from the busy month of March when this month came in full force. I (Steph) am working on finishing my last class with Tyndale (Worldview) and have been doing a lot of reading and writing papers. The biggest thing that happened this month was the wedding on April 11th, of Michael Paul Leek and Alisa Kuenkel, our TK team members and best friends. It was a crazy week of wedding planning, decorating, and organizing. Aaron and I were both in the wedding and Kennedy was the flower girl. She did a great job and loved every minute of it!! The wedding turned out beautiful and Alisa was gorgeous! Now that the wedding is over, I am realizing that Alisa is gone to Washington D.C. for the next several months and it is pretty sad. I miss her already and can't believe that she is 9 hours away. We are so proud of them and can't wait to see how God is going to bless their ministry in Kenya. They will be moving back to Ohio in January 2010 and will continue on track with the rest of the team.

We enjoyed our Easter in Kentucky with the Pelfrey family. It is such a blessing to have an amazing family that enjoys each other so much. We enjoyed swinging on vines(which Aaron broke mid-swing), a vicious Easter egg hunt, lots of food, and even going for a run in the park that evening. We are definitely savoring each moment that God is giving us with our family, knowing that we will be leaving for Kenya soon.
Our next step is moving into my parent's basement in the next two weeks. It is a hard process of shifting through everything we own...putting it into four piles, throw away, give away, sell, and keep for Kenya. We are slowly getting it done, but have a lot to do in the next couple of weeks. The girls are very excited to move into Mama and Papa's house, but are not very excited about downsizing their toy collection!
God has blessed us in a great was by allowing a little more flexibility in Aaron's job so that he can be making calls to churches. He has been very busy making these calls and God has already blessed us with 9 church bookings!! We are so excited to share our ministry and passion with these churches and look forward to the time ahead.