Engagement weekend. . .

"A magnificent marriage begins with not knowing one another but with knowing God." - -Gary and Betsy Ricucci

On August 6th, Georgia and her boyfriend, Jordan Monroe announced their engagement to us. . .it has been somewhat of a whirlwind courtship this summer, but all of us have had a peace in watching this relationship grow. . Jordan was stationed at Goodfellow Airforce Base and began attending a Bible study for college students and young adults in our home. . .he and Georgia began dating in May and it was such a joy to watch the two of them grow into one. . .

We have prayed for years and years that our children would fall in love with Godly mates. . knowing that a Christian foundation in a marriage is essential to go the distance in life together and we are so thankful that that has happened with Austin and his beautiful wife Brittany and now for Georgia and Jordan. . .Jordan has a strong relationship with the Lord and it is easy for us to release Georgia to him. . .

Their first gift from the Monroe Family. . .

What a great gift from Jordan's parents. . .

Opening cards and gifts from his brothers in California. . .

We hosted an engagement party for them on August 8th.

Jordan and Georgia with Jim and Kim Day and Jordan's dad Mark Monroe.

Cindi Dauphin with Kim, Emmit and Sam Spooner. ..

Dan and Linda Wilson with Todd. . .Dan and Linda have invested much love into Georgia's life. .

Esther Gibson with Jordan's mom, Cyndi. . .

The wedding is set for June 26th, 2010. .

Georgia's and Keli's trip to China. .

On July 19-29th, Georgia and Keli Criner left for Tokyo and China for a 10 day trip. . Dr. Dan and Linda Wilson were not able to go with the girls as planned, due to a family emergency, so Georgia and Keli went by themselves. . . which was a step of Faith for all of us. . . The girls saw many of the sights of Beijing, walked on the Great Wall, and played with children in an orphanage for a couple of days. . .it was a great experience in being "flexible" and adjusting when your agenda doesn't always turn out as planned. . . Quite the Adventure. . .here are a few pics: Georgia and Keli inside the "Bird's Nest" site of the 2008 Olympic track and field events.

Enjoying a Popsicle on Tianeman (sp?) Square. . where Chairman Mao's body lays in state. .

The famous Huckabee pose on the Great Wall of China.

One of the cuties at the orphanage. . .

Painting fingernails with all the girls. . .

Lots of Hugs and smiles!

Keli making bracelets with the girls. . .

Georgia has many, many more pics but this is just a little glimpse into her trip. . .memories for a lifetime. . .

Georgia and Jordan's trip to CA

Georgia and Jordan (Georgia's boyfriend) flew to CA during the second week of July so that she could meet his family and see the sights of Californa. . .specifically San Diego and Corona- Jordan's hometown. Jordan is deploying to Iraq in mid August, so he wanted her to visit his folks before he leaves for 5-7 months.
Taking in an Angels baseball game on Sunday afternoon.. .

Georgia and Jordan with his parents, Mark and Cyndi Monroe . .

The whole family for Sunday brunch... Jordan has 3 brothers- Daniel (26) who is married to Erin, Andrew (22) with his girlfriend Ashley, and Isaac (17), with Mark and Cyndi .

Georgia and Cyndi, Jordan's mom...

Georgia, Jordan and Cyndi drove to San Diego to spend the day at Jordan's grandparents beach house. . .here is one of the views from their back yard. .

Strolling on the beach. .

The view from his grandparents' house. .

Enjoying the Pacific ocean. .

Jordan's famly had Thanksgiving dinner for him, since he will be deployed during that holiday..


They were also able to visit Georgia's Great-Aunt Kay Bruce, who lives in Anaheim Hills CA. . .all in all, they had a great trip and made lots of memories. . .

July 4th weekend in CO

We possibly had one of the most fun filled 4th of July weekends in Colorado this year ever. . .because we had a couple of folks with us who had never been to the mountains of CO, we did some extra things to give them a fun memory. . With us this year in Gunnison were Georgia, (our daughter), Jordan Monroe (Georgia's boyfriend), Brittany (Austin's wife) and Breanna Irvin (August's friend who has lived with us this summer while working for Dr. Dale Rollins, the A&M Research Center's wildlife biologist). . .Jordan and Breanna had not had the CO mountains experience, so we crammed alot of activity into the 3 days they were with us. . .hiking, biking, kayaking, 4th of July parades, hot air balloon lift off and fireworks.

Here are a few pics from the weekend. . .

This is Brittany kayaking on Blue Mesa Lake near Gunnison. . .

Here is Georgia climbing up Mt. Crested Butte. . it was a hard scramble the last few hundred yards. .The rest of the crew is above her. . .

On the morning of the 4th of July, we got up early to see 18 hot air balloons lift off from the park in Gunnison. . .it was beautiful. . .

It was a perfect morning. . . I've never seen the balloons hang so long in the air like that. .

The little town of Crested Butte swells to about 4-5 times its normal size for it's 4th of July parade. . .it has a lot of "flavor" to it and is pretty entertaining. . .it's a small town celebration at its finest!

Todd, Jordan and a friend from Gunnison, Chase Davis did a 20 mile bike ride down Taylor Canyon near Almont. .

Georgia and Jordan heading down the Gunnison River for a kayaking adventure. . .

Todd and Breanna launching off for a ride down the Gunnison River. . .

We had such a great weekend with all the guests and loved being together. . .the only thing that would have made this weekend perfect was if Austin and August could have been with us. . .but maybe next year! :)

Forever Changed. . . .

Below is a statement from a woman who recently returned from the same area of Ghana that Georgia, Brittany and I visited in May. . . .her words express exactly how I felt after returning from that part of the world. . . After our visit there, I am and forever will be. .. changed. .

"As I soaked in a warm bath last night and took another nice hot shower this morning I could not help but remember the thousands of women in Ghana who will never know what it is like to soak in a warm bath or take a shower. I still have the pictures in my mind of seeing them carry large heavy pots to their village's only water source, filling them with water, and then placing the heavy pots on their heads to carry back to their hut to use for cooking and drinking.

As I turned on my washing machine this morning to do laundry the picture came to mind of the people we saw washing clothes in a muddy water hole.

As I cooked breakfast in my beautiful kitchen with every appliance necessary, I could not help but remember the women of Wynamba as they cooked over an open fire in the center of their hut's compound and how much more heat the fire added to their already scorching homes.

As I sit here in my nice air conditioned home, I remember sitting in the center of a compound of huts as the woman said to us, "I never thought you would want to come and sit in my home and talk to me."

Yes, God has blessed us beyond measure. If not for His grace you and I would not have what we do. Now that I have seen people living in circumstances most of us don't even want to acknowledge existing, I understand that God has blessed us so that we can share. We must share. . . ."

-written by Beverly

Trip to Ghana- the Dickens & Baptist Medical Centre

Our purpose in going to Ghana was the visit Hollie and Joel Dickens and their children Colt and Abigail. Hollie is expecting their 3rd baby in August. We promised the Dickens we would come and see them when they left San Angelo, so Georgia (our 21 year old daugther) and Brittany (our 21 year old daughter-in-law) ventured across the ocean for the first time. . .it was definately an experience. .Joel works with 2 other full time doctors at the Baptist Medical Centre, which is a compound of about 500 acres with 20+ buildings and a large staff of local nurses, business office workers, pharmacy workers and grounds workers. . . Doctors and medical school students come from all over the world to gain experience in medicine that is so radically different that anything they might experience at home. . .We met doctors from Holland and Belgium, as well as med students from the US who were doing 10-12 week rotations as a part of their schooling.

While Joel is busy at the hospital, Hollie is homeschooling Colt at the school house each day with children from another missionary family and caring for Abigail. . .It was a joy to be with them. . .even if it was for just one short week. . . We made a boat load of memories!

Colt had made a welcome sign for us in our cabin when we arrived!

Georgia with Hollie, Joel and Abigail and one of the local nurses who also serves as an interpreter.

This is a clinic day -- Patients begin lining up before dawn and wait to see a doctor. . Brittany helped check in patients on clinic days. . .

Georgia was able to follow Joel around the entire week and she helped with surgeries as well . She was able to see more and do more in one week there than in an entire semester in the US. .

Trip to Ghana- FuFu and Ground Nut Soup

One of the local menu items that we enjoyed was FuFu, which is raw yams ( looked similiar to large potatoes) that have been pounded into a soft elastic paste and shaped into a ball, served in a bowl with ground nut soup poured over it. . .delicious! It was a work of art to watch the locals make it. . .they always worked in rhythm. . .Because yams are plentiful in this area, the locals said they have FuFu at least twice a week. . .

These three ladies making FuFu at a small outdoor restaurant in the village.

Here is Esa and his helper making FuFu for us for dinner one night at the Medical Centre. .Watch her hands. . . .yikes! She said she has never had her hands smashed. . .