Baseball Pictures Ready

If you are trying to view the baseball pictures, they are ready!!! I think you will be pleased with the results. Don't forget to check out the "bagtags" and different items that are available. Thanks again for helping support our mission trip to Costa Rica to visit two orphanages.

On a different note, if you want to read a touching story, check out the blog on the left called Adoption Story! Becky and Bo are in China right now bonding with their new daughter, Sophie. They got to pick her up yesterday and she is beautiful. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they are getting to know each other.

Play Ball....(Demopolis Middle School Tourney)

Hey, baseball fans!!

We (Wilson Hall Middle School) spent today playing in the Demopolis Middle School Baseball Tournament. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with the sun shining all day long. This was a welcome change in the weather after so much rain, cold weather, and even snow.

As I was taking pictures of Caleb (WHMS #6), it hit me that this would be a GREAT way to earn some money for our upcoming mission trip. So, I took pictures of the players of the two teams we played and passed this blog site on to them. If you are interested in looking at the pictures (and maybe purchasing some) here are the directions.

Step 1: Go to http://www.collages.net/

Step 2: The user name is demopolis (doesn't matter about caps)

Step 3: The password is 26451

Step 4: Enter your e-mail and name

Step 5: Click webshow on the left side of the screen to view photos

The pictures should be available to view on this site by Monday afternoon. If you are having trouble viewing the pictures please email me at kimwstanley@gmail.com and I will check on it. Thanks in advance for any photo items that you purchase. All of the proceeds will help us get to Costa Rica to visit the orphanages in Limon this summer. There are some really neat items that you can purchase through this site including bag tags, magnets, and trader cards just to mention a few. Special thanks to my sister, Pattie, for allowing us to make these pictures possible through Shutter Flutter! (Check out her blog on the list of blogs I follow on the left side of this screen!) By the way, if you like the photos you see and would like to have more games photographed, please contact me at kimwstanley@gmail.com and let me know!!!

Family Support is AWESOME!!

Just a quick update on what has been happening this week. When we started this journey, I knew that we would be touched in many different ways. However, one way that has truly surprised me is the connection (or maybe I should say re-connections) I have made with several family members on the Watson (my Dad's) side of the family.

Technology is amazing to say the least. Maybe I should explain a little about this. I've already blogged about my large immediate family. I didn't even attempt to go into my Dad's side of the family. Let's see if I can come close to getting this right. My grandmother (Mamo) and grandfather (Granddaddy Joe) had seven children....Arlo, Elizabeth (Sister), George Wayne (Bo), Louise, Palmer, Thera and Frank. If I have not left anyone out, there are nineteen first cousins and I will not even venture to go beyond that naming second and third cousins. To make it more complicated Granddaddy Joe had many, many, many brothers and sisters. Someone would have to help me out with the number on that. Anyway, the point to my story is to say that it has been great to hear from family from all over the United States.

We all tend to get so busy in our everyday lives that we don't have (or take) the time to remember our extended family, so this has been a GREAT opportunity for me to hear from them again.

I found out my first cousin's daughter who is pre-vet is planning to go on a mission trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua this summer to work with vaccinating animals, nutering, and so forth. Katie, I think I will leave the animals to you and stick to working with the children!!Another first cousin's daughter is teaching Spanish at her local high school and offered help in translating. Thanks DeDe for passing on my e-mail and I may take Yvonne up on her offer. Spanish is a far cry from the math that I teach every day.

Other family members have offered support in many other ways. Thanks Aunt Glenda for being my first "blog" follower! Keep me posted on what's happening in the great state of Texas.

Harry and Diana, did you notice that Visiting Orphans is located in Brentwood, TN? I don't know if it is the Brentwood near Nashville or how close that might be to y'all.

I tried to find some old pictures I could add to the post so we might could have one of those "What was I thinking?" moments. Unfortunately, I am very limited on early pictures since Mom and Dad's house burned my Senior year in high school. So, if you have one I could use e-mail it to me and I will add it to the blog.

Instead I included a few pictures from the orphanages in Costa Rica. Check out how closely some of the children actually resemble some of our kids. Maybe we better check the Watson family tree??? Just kidding, but there is some uncanny resemblence.

Until next time....

WOW!!

Wow....that is all I can say!! I am overwhelmed and humbled at the response that I have received from family and friends about our upcoming trip.

Several people have inquired about how to make a donation. There are several different ways to do this. You can go directly to visitingorphans.org and make a donation in my name or Caleb's name online or mail them a check. Select the Costa Rica trip for July 3rd - 10th. All contributions are tax deductible.

Our home address is P.O. Box 578, Grove Hill, AL 36451 if you prefer to mail a check to me and I can include it in our payments. Once again, thank you so very much!!

Where God guides, He provides!!!!

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Nieces + Babysitting = Mission Money

Here's the deal. As I mentioned in my profile I have a very large family and fortunately we live relatively close to each other. My two younger sisters needed a sitter for the day and offered to make a donation to Caleb's trip if he could watch them. The girls are five and six and love getting to spend time with each other so keeping them is no trouble at all.

Caleb's school was in a baseball tournament so we loaded up the car and headed to the games!! The weather was beautiful and we were thankful the sun was out after so much rain and it was WARM!!!! When we got back from the games, the girls went to our backyard neighbors and jumped on the trampoline with the kids. The older boys had a serious game of basketball going on at the same time. How do children have so much energy?

After Paul and I worked in the yard a while, we were worn out but they just kept going and going. When I called everyone in for supper, I could not stop laughing at the dirty little girls who came running in. Anyone who has ever jumped on a trampoline knows how your feet will turn a little black. Try running through a mudpuddle, getting your feet wet, then jumping on the trampoline. It took us a while, but we finally got everyone cleaned up enough to eat. At this point my sisters texted to check on the girls and see if they were having a good time. I took pictures on the phone and assured them that all was well.

Meanwhile, one of the neighbor's kids had been to a birthday party at the fire station so he came over to show us his new hat. He wanted his picture taken too.

We sent the girls home tired, happy and DIRTY!! I think they fell asleep before they even got out of the driveway. We all had fun and raised money for our trip. Stay tuned for more interesting ways of how we are going to get to Costa Rica!!!!

Where God Guides

I am so exicted that this summer I have the opportunity to be a part of a mission trip to Costa Rica. We will be spending two weeks with children from two different orphanages in Limon, Costa Rica. As a high school teacher, I have always felt like my classroom was my own personal mission field. I want my students to see Christ through me in all that I say and do. For a while I have wanted to expand my mission field. When we started looking into different trips, we knew that we wanted to work directly with children. (My youngest son is also going!!) After much time, prayer, and research we felt called to be a part of the Visiting Orphans team. This will be our first mission trip out of the country, but hopefully not the last.

Please pray for us as we are raising funds and preparing for the journey. We want God to use us as much as possible before, during and after the mission trip. We are attempting to learn a few Spanish terms and words so we will be able to communicate better with the children. If you see me at a baseball game, don't think I have gone crazy talking to myself. I am trying to use this time to practice Spanish on my ipod. There is a GREAT free application that I am practicing.

Our biggest concern was being able to raise enough money for both of us to go. But it is amazing how God works. The day we were prepared to ask our pastor to write our recommendation letter, he mentioned missions during the sermon and asked if anyone had anything planned. Now how can that NOT be a God thing? Our church is planning to make a donoation from their mission fund...YEA!!!