Ethiopia: Day 2 (12/29/10)

We made it to Frankfurt with 5 minutes to catch our connection (we originally had a 3 hour layover). We ran to our gate and it was empty...We found out that they switched our gate and had we known upfront we would of made the connection because it was close to our arriving gate. Ughhhh. It is 3pm in Germany. We are waiting in a customer service line for flight connections to see what we can do.

It is now 7pm in Germany and we were able to connect on an Ethiopian Airlines flight leaving at 10:30 but will be stand bye. We grabbed a bite to eat and drink...
We all made it on stand bye. Again, thank you God! Going to sleep now as I have been awake for over 24 hours (with the time change).

We arrived in Addis Ababa on 12/30/10 at 7am.

Ethiopia: Day 1 (12/28/10)

We arrived at the Denver airport at 9am. It was hard to say goodbye. The hugs and kisses felt a little more special from Betsy and the girls. Everyone was already at the airport when I arrived and we proceeded to check in the luggage.


One of my bags of donations was 15 lbs overweight. Luckily others had room and we rearranged to get under 50 lbs. I received my boarding pass, we prayed as a group and headed on the greatest adventure I have ever been on.


Upon reaching our gate; we are delayed 1 hour due to high winds in New Jersey. We only have 2 1/2 lay over in Newark. We also met the Hank's family from South Dakota. We are now a group of 15 heading to meet up with others in Newark.


We are now on the plane sitting in Denver for 2 hours and the pilot came on and said we will take off in 40 minutes. Gos has a plan and we need to be patient for His timing and let His plan unfold. If He brings us to it, He will see us through it!


We made it to Newark and made our connection to Frankfurt right as they were in the middle of boarding. They also had a dely due to high winds for take off- thank you God!

I leave in the morning!

I will keep a journal and update our blog when I return...

7 more days!

We leave for Ethiopia in 7 days! Team Tasfa (means "Hope") is pictured below during a packing party with all are donations. The group from Colorado decided to get together and spread the donations out equally amongst us all so we could maximize what we take. There were a lot of great items we will be taking to bless the adults and children in Ethiopia. I will be posting pictures and stories from the trip when we return in January. Merry Christmas and God bless!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Wow, only 14 days left...

until I travel to Ethiopia! I have raised the $2,500 and am beginning to pack. It is becoming very real with two weeks left to go. I am planning on bringing a journal to capture my thoughts each day and when I return I will put them on the blog (with a few pictures, I pray). I will have limited phone coverage back to the states and no access to the Internet. I will definitely miss my wife and kids as I have never been away from them this long; let alone without being able to communicate to them. My original reason for going has not changed; to be used for God's will to be done in the lives of the people I will meet. I am asking for your prayers for this purpose, for our donations for to the orphans to make it through customs and for peace/protection for my family back home.

DW

Betsy's grandmother's memorial

"Bill" was what everyone called her. She lived a full and joyful life of 98 years! She was a school teacher, publisher of Christian Sunday school books and a great christian role model. Her memorial service was on Saturday and below are a few pictures from the trip.

Pictured with Betsy are her brother, Eric and 3 cousins.

One thing I will always remember about Bill is that she was always joking and loved toys. One was a dancing chicken that Betsy is holding below. The other items were part of costumes she would wear as a teacher for different holiday occasions.

Halloween with friends...

Our friends, the Howlett's, joined us for some chili and trick or treating. This is the first Halloween I can remember, in Colorado, where we didn't need a jacket:)

Derek's golf outings...

It felt great to be back on the golf course this year. My back is 100% and I have not felt this good since college. Thank you God! I enjoyed several golf outings this year. Below are a few where I had a camera available.

Lucy/Morgan Fall Sports

The girls wrapped up their regular season for Fall sports. Lucy scored 2 goals in her last soccer game and won 3-1. Lucy ended up with 10 goals for the season! Morgan played her first year of volleyball and loves the sport. Another one to add to the list. Morgan did great and I have a goal for her to get 5 serves over in a game and in the final game she served 11 over! Morgan plays in her tournament this weekend. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. Our camera is getting a bit outdated and need to invest in a new one soon. Next is basketball and snow skiing for both girls.

It was bound to happen...

Lucy received 4 stitches the other night after falling from some bleachers; head first. She was at Morgan's volleyball practice with Betsy and I was at an elders meeting. I received a voicemail and text that Lucy was at Children's hospital. What? I wasn't too surprised though. Lucy had a big gash in her chin and they couldn't stop the bleeding until it was stitched.

Makeover :)

Lucy and a few of her friends decided to take the older girls (Morgan and her friend, Abby) hostage and do a "funny" makeover... The picture speaks for itself.

Back to School!

The summer is coming to an end and yesterday was the first day back to school. Morgan is in 5th grade and Lucy embarks on her first full day in 1st grade. Here are a few pictures...

Before school starts the kids line up (by classrooms) outside and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Morgan got to hold the flag for the first day of school. The lady next to her is the principle; Dr. Robinson.

Lucy Soccer Camp

Lucy participated in a week long soccer camp from 9-3pm everyday last week. This is a Christian based soccer camp called; Ambassadors Soccer Camp. They ended the week with a "world cup" day of games and skill events. Lucy was one of forty kids in her age group of 6-10 year old. In two of the shooting events Lucy was one of three finalists for a trophy. She did an amazing job. We are so proud of her! Lucy has found a sport that she can excel in that is different from her sisterLucy shoots and scores...Goallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Lucy competing in the dribbling skills contest.

Morgan turns 10!

Happy Birthday Morgan! Today Morgan turns 10; double digits. We are so proud of you! For her birthday she wanted an iPod touch. For those of you who are crippled by technology:) it is a larger version of the iPod that plays music and has other functions. Morgan is also going with a best friend of hers to get her ears pierced. This is a big deal for Morgan. May God bless you in all you do!
Morgan and her (bff's) best friends forever...

Morgan showing off her newly learned archery skills in the side yard.