MOPS Celebration....

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Well and planned MOPS end of year celebration turned out to be a Surprise Farewell party for me... You can tell by the pics below just how shocked I was... I had gifts for all the steering team and notes for others and even brought some food for the bash... but with my star bucks in hand I almost dropped it with shock... as I opened the door and everyone yelled "surprise". You can ask Blake it is really hard to surprise me bc I guess I am also skeptical and ask way to many questions but other than our engagement night I think this was the second best surprise EVER. I have really enjoyed being the MOPS coordinator this year... but the best thing of it all was I meet some life long friends... and had a blast while doing it... I really love these ladies and they have forever left a mark on my heart... It is always hard for me to say goodbye but have this party really made it special...

These ladies are amazing... it never surprises me to be in a room with these sweet ladies talking, fellowshiping, playing, etc... to look over and see someone in prayer.... what a blessing they are to me.

Me and Tracy... Tracy not only planned this party but she is the next coordinator for the following year... I so wish I could be here to see her in action... I just love serving with this sweet friend...

They presented me with a Singapore basket (minus the basket bc they knew I had to ship things home :-)). Inside was a great Singapore book that everyone had written in (like a year book), Singapore mugs for my Chai Tea, Singapore Blue Taxi Toy, Singapore memory game (that is so neat), a Peranaken cricket box and Twizzlers (my favorite tasty snack).

Some flowers they presented me with at the last meeting... still going strong and look amazing.

I love these woman of God... I have enjoyed every minute with them and serving along side them and loving on mothers of preschoolers here in Singapore...

Thank you friends forever for a great morning full of love and laughter... a moment that will be forever recorded in my heart.

Last Singapore MOPS meeting...

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26 meetings... 90 mothers of preschoolers... 500 pieces of food... and 1000 laughs... later we completed our 2009-2010 MOPS year... This year as the Singapore MOPS coordinator I have been challenged, stretched, tested but most of all I have been loved on, welcomed, taught and grown as a believer in Christ. There were definitely more smiles than tears, more mountain peaks than valleys, more friends than enemies, more rewards than challenges, more babies than adults... you get the point... It was an amazing year that I will not be able to wrap up in words... but if you could take a look into my heart you would see the MOPS symbol all big and bright... so I will take this time now if you are a mother of a preschooler and don't have a MOPS group... find one here... it will be worth it...a huge blessing for sure.

I just adore you my fellow Singapore MOPS... I appreciate all the memories but most of all the encouragement to be a better mom and a better me.

At the last meeting the new Coordinator presented me with flowers from the gang... and as she started to say something really sweet... out of feeling uncomfortable I grabbed the microphone from her...the next day I apologized to her bc I learned something about myself that day.... I like being center stage (and most of you are shaking your head yes right about now)... and I do like attention but I am really not good at taking praise especially publicly... I was really out of my comfort zone... I would rather make you laugh or tell an embarrassing story about myself than to stand there and cry... but enough about me... I guess this is me apologizing to the group publicly... :-)... Love you ladies and thanks for loving on me... It was a joy and privilege to serve with you on Planet MOM.

See I got the microphone back...

Let the hugs begin....

This is a picture of some sweet ladies... that have all truly blessed my life. I love you sweet sisters.

Saying Goodbyes... but not leaving yet!

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At the beginning of this year we thought we were leaving Singapore at the end of May so at the beginning of May it was only natural for us to start saying our goodbyes... which we did... and they carried out until the middle of May when we found out that we would be here until the end of June... so the goodbye's have begun but we still do not have a ticket in hand or know when we are leaving... and we just found out a couple of days ago that we might be here until the end of July... so it looks like another round of goodbye's are in order...

I had to say goodbye to all of my MOPS friends... you will see more about this later.

Then our Women's Director is also leaving soon so there have been a couple of parties for her where I was able to hug on some people... and say goodbye.

Dinner with our neighbors... boy are we going to miss them...

And what we thought was going to be our last Supper Club... we are so excited to be here another 2 months but I don't think I can take saying goodbye again... it is always hard to say goodbye... and just like many times in our lives when you make a big move it is just hard to say that we will see each other again.. because you just never know... I have come up with a saying when I feel like I am hugging someone for the last time I say "I am not going to say goodbye.. bc we still got heaven"... makes me feel better.

Summer is always a hard time here bc that is when a bunch of people travel with their families and/or take a long vacation back home (where they are from) bc the kids are out of school and hubbies can take time off... so some of the goodbye's that have taken place bc they have already left Singapore but when they return we will not be here... but with no tickets yet... you just never know...

A new found interest... cooking!

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Pierce has found a new hobby... cooking! He loves to help me in the kitchen... The pictures below are from times that I thought to grab the camera... making jello and once when he was helping me cook beans... he was in charge of getting the loose shells out after it had cooled down (not on the stove)... other things he has helped me do are seasoning the fish fillets, making tuna fish, making play dough and he loves to wash dishes... such a little helper... he likes to eat things to as we go...

Wordless Wednesday!

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Packing...

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Packing... Packing... Packing... As most of you know when we got here to Singapore 26 months ago we were only suppose to stay for 12 - 18 months... well that turned into 18-24 quickly and now our time is running out... we are projected to leave Singapore and head back to Texas late June of this year... we still do not have tickets in hand but the packing has begun... We have sold alot and are trying to get our things packed up... we came to Singapore with 6 suitcases and we are leaving here with 6 suitcases and (not sure how many) boxes.... we have accumulated some essential pieces here and we are trying to work out the best way to get them home... but as we are packing we are trying not to freak out Pierce... so we make it game... when I get a new box it is his new playground for the day... and so far he has not asked any questions... some of his toys have disappeared, some of the furniture is gone, the fish are leaving this week... and he is still our happy little boy...


I am sure you will hear alot about our move on the weeks to come on this blog... there are alot of bitter sweet emotions going on... we are starting to have our goodbyes here...and trying to remember all the things that we love about Texas at the same time... so stay tuned... we are about to embark on a roller coaster ride...

Daughter of The King Tea!

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Myself and a team of other ladies volunteered to coordinate the IBC Spring Tea.... and we called it "Daughter of the The King" tea.... all 130 ladies got to wear tiara's, listen to a talk on our identity in Christ, listen to Princess like stories, and hear some music that was themed around being a Princess... we also had great food and some amazing food... Here is the sea of ladies with their tiara's (little girls got wands) and the men in the back were our servers....
Here is the table I got to sit at... We had 16 tables and asked that each table have a hostess to decorate their table "princess like".... We actually had a real "princess" that sat at our table who brought her wedding album from her wedding in a castle.

Kristi R. is the current Women's Director and has been for many years... she is on her way back to the states for good... we all hate to see Kristi go but I sure have had a great time with her and I have learned so much from her.

We had some beautiful flower arrangements... that made the room feel so girly... like royalty.

One of our servers... aren't the wands and tiara's awesome... all the ladies felt real special to be a princess for the day.

We also had an army of ladies in the hallway making tea and putting the plates together...

Here are some pics of the tables... and how the hostess decided to decorate them....

This one was the an Indian Princess... it was so pretty... great colors.

Look real close to the center piece of this one... there are real fish... so cute.

This was a Japanese themed table...

A table to represent Vietnam.. with lotus flowers....

This one was Disney princess themed... and we at the table actually got to keep the centerpiece....

A true pink princess table... made for little gorgeous little girls... the napkin rings were little tiara's.

The African Princess... with spokes from a porcupine... and every cup and utensil was wrapped in cloth... gorgeous.

Another great Spring Tea... wish I was going to be around to see another one in Singapore.