Cupcakes and Pigs

Would you believe that cupcakes and pigs could help us raise so much of our much needed funds?  It’s true… Well, the people behind the cupcakes and pigs were really the ones to thank. 

Our past few weeks have been filled with moments of gratitude and astonishment as we watched God work in the hearts’ of the people from Lifepointe Church.  Not only have they encouraged us with their words, but they have poured their generosity upon us in ways we don’t even understand.  We are so thankful.  We have personally asked many people for donations, but we have also been blessed by people we have not even asked.  In just over two weeks, we have raised over 80% of our goal for what we need to go to Costa Rica.  Being that God led us to this decision to move to Costa Rica just over one short month ago, and we only have about a month before we set foot on Costa Rican soil, we are amazed!  Simply amazed. 

CUPCAKE PARTY

Our weekend started out with a Cupcake Party thrown by our good friend and cupcake maker, Kriss Bloodgood.  She took this idea to throw a cupcake fundraiser and ran with it.  It was a great event, and plus we got our fill of her yummy cupcakes that we will miss so much. 

 That's her on the left in the picture above.
And, below we have some of our amazing guests...

  Eddie even had the stomach to win a participate in a cupcake eating contest.  He only ate 4… I mean, come on, I ate 3... and I wasn’t even competing.  

 This is the winner of the Cupcake Eating Contest... on his 7th cupcake in less than 10 min.

 This is Eddie eating thinking about eating cupcake #5 & 6... but then he changed his mind when he realized that he would still have to eat one more just to catch up with the winner.

There was live music and a raffle and even a mini silent auction.  All nine delicious cupcake flavors were a hit! The flavors included Mango, Guava, Pineapple Coconut, Vanilla with Almond Butter Cream and Raspberry Filling with Chocolate Drizzle, Key Lime, Vanilla Vanilla, Raspberry Pineapple,  Chocolate Almond, and of course Double Chocolate.

PIG PICKIN'

Brandon Wilson was the cook behind the grill for our next amazing fundraiser: 

A Pig Pickin’.  Thanks to David and Cheryl Wilson and their two sons, Brandon and Cory, opening up their home, we had yet another awesome event this weekend.  We raised a jaw-dropping amount to add to our “Costa Rica Bound” funds jar.  Brandon cooked four pork shoulders in his newly built fryer, and all we had to do was show up and EAT.  Apparently I had too much sugar the day before because I neglected to take any pictures of this event.

To Kriss, David, Cheryl, Brandon, Cory, Fran, Brad, Justin, Taelor, Bethany, Clay, Patti, and Richard (and anyone else I may have missed):  Thank you!  Thank you for all the hours you put in behind the scenes preparing for and babysitting during these events.  We could not have done it without you! 

And to all who donated, thank you for coming out to enjoy the yummy cupcakes and amazing food this weekend.    And thank you for your gifts of generosity!  We feel blessed beyond words.  God is showing us where to go and why.  We are asking “How?” and he is showing us “Like this; it’s easy.”  And He has used you all to make this happen.  Thank you for being willing.  

What a blessing it is: to be a part of a church family that really treats you like family.  As undeserving as we feel, we are astonished at your generosity.  How can we ever show you the amount of gratitude we feel in our hearts at this time?!?  

If I haven’t said it enough: GRACIAS! 

Costa Rica Here We Come

As you may or may not know, Jaden, Eddie and I are headed to Costa Rica in few short weeks.  We will be there from September 28, 2012 -March 22, 2013.  This decision has been made quite recently, so we have only had about two months to prepare for this adventure.  We plan to attend "Christian  Immersion Spanish Academy" (or CISA) for a total of six months.  We will be living with a Spanish-speaking host family for three months, and then we will be able to return to the states to visit our families at Christmas. After Christmas, we will return to Costa Rica to live in a rental house for three months while we continue taking classes.  Our classes will be for 4 hours a day, Monday through Thursday, for 24 weeks.  We will also have the opportunity to serve with the mission that is affiliated with the school we are attending.  Our main goal is to learn fluency in the beautiful Spanish language.  It has always been a desire for Eddie, and I have recently come to the conclusion that I want to learn it too.  We hope to be able to use this skill to reach the Spanish-speaking people of Miami, FL or some other city with in the USA after our six month immersion is over.  Eddie will be looking for a job at a church where he can connect with the Spanish-speaking and bi-lingual people of the community that surrounds it.  Please pray for us as we take steps to follow God's leading.  Watch for more info to come.