Making Quilts

We got together today for a practice quilting session. We really needed to know how long it was going to take take to put one of these together. In this picture Cydney is quilting. She did a great job. As you can see, my house is still a mess! It pretty much stays this way. Maybe when I get back. No! I have to much fun stuff to do to worry about a clean house.

Caralee and I were the support persons. We clipped and threaded needles while the girls sewed. I think we are going to be fine. The beginning will be quite hectic getting the machines going and the kids oriented. I have posters made that show all the steps so hopefully that will help.
And then there is Miss Caitlin the goal oriented driven person that I had to make sit down to sew! Doesn't her quilt look different than Cydney's? Both quilts are so beautiful and they both did such a good job. I can only hope our next students are as easy to teach.

Well, the clock is ticking. The time is fast approaching for us to take off. I am so excited I can hardly wait. I have all the quilting things packed, the beanie babies, the hacky sacks and the hats and gloves are all packed. Now I guess it is time to start thinking about what I am going to wear. There are things all over our house. It is time to get organized and see what is going to fit and what is not.

Well, here we are on CHRISTmas day. Six days until our big day. It is really quiet around here today. We slept in until about 7:00 then went to Bob's mother's for an oyster breakfast. That sounds strange to some I know, but it is tradition and I love it! Rob did not get home. Remember, he got called to work on storm duty in Kentucky/Tennessee. Kim (Rob's wife) went with us for breakfast. Rob is making a lot of money with all this overtime especially on the holiday, but at this point it is surely not worth it. I just try to keep in mind all of those people without electricity on Christmas day. We did that a few years ago and it was not fun!

Matt, Kelly,Seth,Kim, Bob and I went to my brother Randy's home for lunch. It was great! They have a log cabin with a huge big room in their basement. Carol had a great lunch ready for us. A perfect setting for a great meal. We watched an old Christmas movie they could not believe I had not seen before. I think they laughed more at me than the movie.

We leaped another hurdle today. I taught Bob how to do the laundry. He caught on very quickly. I did not think he could go 9 days without clean undies and socks. I have a new washer and dryer, so I hope he is very careful!

Good Morning to you all. I suppose everyone is busy getting ready for Christmas. Seth flew in with his other Meem a few days ago. Matt and Kelly drove in last night. Rob is still out on storm duty and should be back home by tomorrow. Sherman will be here the 26th. So that is the update on the Compher crew! We will be having Christmas with Bob's family on the 26th and with our immediate family on Sunday. Christmas with the Carter's (my side) is still being planned. Can you believe that one?

I thought it would be a good time to share our flight schedule:

United #8058 Dec 31 Leaving Dayton 1:22 PM Arriving Chicago 1:35 PM

Lufthansa #431 Dec 31 Leaving Chicago 3:40 PM Arriving Frankfurt, Germany 7:00 AM (next day Jan. 1)

Lufthansa #3210 Jan 1 Leaving Frankfurt, Germany 9:50 PM

Arrive in Samara, Russia at 4:55 AM (next day Jan. 2)

We have plans for after Christmas for Caitlin and Cydney to come to my house to practice making a quilt. Actually, it is more like practice for me to teach someone how to make a quilt. You would think after 29 years in education I could handle teaching someone anything right????? Anyway, I have their fabric and we are going to give it a try. I just want to run through it and they are going to be helping me with the project in Samara, so I thought it would be a good idea if they had a little experience with it first. Sounds fun doesn't it? Wish you all could be here. We would have a ball.

CHRISTMAS BREAK IS HERE! When school starts you think it will never get here. The school year is nearly half over. What is it now 12 days until we leave? It felt really funny yesterday when we were readying to leave school and people were saying "See you when you get back", "Have a great time", "Don't bring any kids home" and so on. And then there was Nathan Crawford who had get out his iphone or smart phone or whatever it was to tell me it was -11 in Samara. Arlene, Sandy and I figured out that when all the students are going to 7th period we in Samara will be going to bed!

Everyone at school and church and my family have been so great about me going on this trip. I just can not imagine what I would have done otherwise. So many people have given me money, while others have given me hats or gloves; others have helped me cut fabric (PRAISE GOD) while others volunteered their time at the benefit concert. I am just so thankful for everything that everyone has done. By the way, my financial needs have more than been met. I knew that if God was in this he would provide.

I have got to start getting ready for Christmas in Ohio. Seth flew into Columbus last night with his other Meem. She has been sick, so he will be taking care of her for a few days until Matt and Kelly can get here. I am sure you have all heard of the snow storm that is going on over a large part of the eastern US. Rob got called out for storm duty to Tennessee I think. Sherman will be coming up on the 26th. So I guess the point is, I better get busy.

While you all are celebrating the New Year we will flying over the ocean on our way. So when you say "Happy New Year" remember to whisper a little prayer for our team that we have an impact on the 120 kids that we are going to spend time with this January!

Cydney and I talked with the FCS group about what we are doing in Russia. The kids had lots of good questions. I did not have a lot of time since I really do have a job! I had a meeting that I was supposed to attending so I stayed as long as I could and left the rest for Cyd.

As you can see, the students were very much interested. I wish they could all go with us. It is such an honor for me to get to go to do God's work. I just can not believe that it is actually me that is doing this. I keep pinching myself to see if it is really true.

Fourteen days from now. It does not seem possible. All the preparation. It seems like we just starting planning and now here it is. Are we ready? Do we have enough room for all of this stuff? Has God prepared our hearts for what we are going to see? Has God prepared their hearts for us? There are so many questions. Will I forget my toothbrush!!!!!!!!!!

Who says there is not prayer in school? Our Fellowship of Christian Students invited me to visit their group today so they could have prayer with Cydney and I before we leave for Russia. How special is that? I felt honored and privileged to have this opportunity. Miss Wilson allows this group to meet in her classroom each Wednesday at lunchtime.
Several students took turns praying as they lay their hands on us. WOW how powerful is that. I keep saying this and it might be redundant but we have a great bunch of kids. (That means they have a great bunch of parents, too)

How about these great Bearcats! These students of Miss Wilson donated almost 200 toboggans for us to take to Russia for the kids. Praise the Lord that these students have such giving hearts! The "big valley" raises special kids.

What do you think of these business cards? Dacia Posey is a junior at Paint Valley High School. She made these cards for us to hand out. I changed the names for each individual. I handed mine out at church and everywhere else I have been since then. Dacia did a great job designing them, didn't she? For those people that aren't good with the computer, this serves as a reminder for them to pray for our team while we are gone.

By the way, I went to Jo Ann Fabrics and bought MORE fabric. So here I go again. Snip, snip, snip!

We are planning to make quilts with the orphans in Samara. I have been cutting fabric for days! Several people have donated money for me to buy fabric. Sally and Nancy from my Bible study helped me cut fabric one Saturday afternoon. So far we have 11 quilts ready to be stitched. I have the fabric ready for several more, but it still not enough. As you can see, the quilts have overtaken my kitchen. Oh well, dinner is not really important anyway.

I am so concerned about how we are going to get all of our gifts to Samara. Now just think about this:

• 20 quilts
• 120 scarves
• more than 120 hats
• more than 120 gloves
• 60 hacky sacks
• 120 beany babies
• lots of lotions
• lots of chap sticks
• 60 baseball caps
• and probably other things that I am forgetting

Now do you see why I am concerned?? Caralee says not to worry, so there you go! I guess we will manage. How? We will see??!! I know one thing, while we are doing it we will have a great time and will praise the Lord for the opportunity and the wealth that he has provided us!

On December 13th we met in Jeffersonville at Bob Evans to fill out the visa applications. It took a very long time with several "do overs", but we got the job done. We always have a great time. And of course we have to eat!

We had some disappointing news at this meeting. Ryan Skinner, who is scheduled to go with us has been diagnosed with mono. Please join us as we pray for his health. We are going to count on God for his healing and we are praying that the 16 days that are left are going to be sufficient for Ryan to get better. We praise the Lord in advance for this!!

What an honor it has been for me to get to know these people. You think that you know someone until you start planning something like this! WOW. What a great God we serve! I am getting more excited everyday. I can only imagine what I will be like on the 30th.

Mrs. Pauley's Creative Expressions class made 100 winter scarves for us to take to Russia with us. They did a great job! We sure appreciate their hard work. Don't they look great? I wish they all could go with us.

This is not a very good picture at all, but it shows the back of our

t-shirts. It says "Smile, Jesus loves you" in Russian! Joe Kellough

did a great job designing these t-shirts for us.

What a great time we had!
These are just a variety of shots taken of the bands and of the crowds enjoying the music and fellowship.

We had a concert at the Bainbridge United Methodist Church as a fund raiser for our trip. It was a great afternoon/evening of music and praising the Lord!

Our Russia 2010 Team

This is our team that will be traveling to Samara, Russia on December 31, 2009. We have been meeting and planning for several months now. We will be celebrating the love of Christmas with about 120 orphans in Samara. I am so excited to be going along. I never thought that I would have the chance to serve the Lord in this way. Caitlin asked me to go and I was thrilled. It took me a long time to get an answer from Bob (my husband) and from God (my boss). But everyone finally agreed and I am looking forward to sharing the love of Christ with these children.