Catching Up: Yellowstone Part 1

At the end of July Josh's entire family (including uncles, aunts & cousins!) met up in Yellowstone National Park for a family reunion. We spent the first few days in Jackson Hole, WY exploring Grand Teton National Park. It was absolutely breathtaking! We spent time hiking, exploring the sights, and even got to go white water rafting (thanks nana!)! Hope enjoyed seeing all the sights from her hiking backpack - she was a trooper! It was fun to spend the week as a family and see an area of the country we've never seen before. The pictures below were from a hike in the Grand Tetons...pictures just don't do this place justice! Hope we get to go back again some day!

 Love living life with this guy and all the adventures we share!

Josh's family - missing 6 members! 

 She thought every one was getting too much attention so she had to come and steal the show.

 Napping on Nana

 One of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on!

Sadly, Josh's older brother Jeremy got deployed last minute to Afghanistan a few weeks before our trip and could not join us. We took this picture to make sure he knew he was being thought of often!

Catching Up: Thailand!

Wow. It has been a while. That is an understatement. 

This summer was jammed packed with traveling: vacation, mission trips, conferences, retreats, etc. and we are finally feeling like life is getting back to normal as we settle into the fall here in Norman. It's hard to even unpack all that happened this summer, but here's a quick glimpse at our trip overseas to Thailand!

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In June our family of three headed to Thailand for a month. We lead a team (along with our amazing friend Torree) of 16 young adults from Antioch Norman for the first 2 weeks. During this time we partnered with Antioch's long-term team there and focused mainly on the universities in CM: sharing the gospel and helping to start lifegroups on campus. We also connected with believers on campus and got to encourage and strengthen them. It was awesome! 

One of the first days there I randomly met the leader of the "Christian Club" (98% of the country is Buddhist, so this was definitely a divine appointment!). Me and a Thai friend from the church spent several hours hearing her testimony and getting to encourage her when she needed it most. Over the next few weeks, I spent a lot of time with her encouraging her in her leadership and the way God wanted to use her on that campus. I also got to attend the club with some other friends from our Thai church. We worshipped Jesus while the Buddhist Club was chanting next door...definitely not something you experience everyday, but wow, the presence of God was there and it was such an honor to worship with this small, but mighty group.

During these two weeks our team also had the opportunity to go to Burma for 2 days. We stayed on the border and got visit and partner with various ministries that are working with orphans & refugees in the area. Burma was unlike any other place I've been before...a country so familiar with suffering and devastation, yet on the brink of a new day. God is moving there and it was so exciting to see opportunities opening up before our eyes.

A few days before the team left our lead pastor, Chris, arrived and joined Josh & I for ten days. Since we have always had a heart for Thailand and Southeast Asia and know God is calling us there long-term, we asked our leadership to come and seek the Lord with us for what he has for us and our church in the region - and how we get there.

During this time we got to meet with several significant leaders in the region and hear their stories, their advice, and their insight into what God is doing in the region. Josh and I loved every minute of it. One of our favorite times was meeting a missionary couple who had been serving in Thailand for 50 years. We sat in their living room - full of grandchildren running around - as they recounted stories of trekking on elephants for days to get to unreached villages because there were no roads....say what?! Then they asked US to pray a blessing over them before we left (Ya know, after they signed several copies of various books they've written and sent them with us). Their humility and love for the country of Thailand inspired us and gave us fresh vision for what God can do with hearts that fully say YES to Him!

Another highlight of our time was getting to partner with Antioch's church and long-term team in CM. When we went to Thailand two years ago the team was in the process of moving to CM from the south, so it was so exciting to see all that has happened in the last few years and see a church established. Everyday we went out to with Thai believers from the church (many of them new in their faith) to share the gospel. They challenged us daily as they walked out in faith and obedience to Jesus. They are truly changing their country!

The last Sunday we were there they asked Josh to preach. There were about 100 people crammed in the church that day as Josh shared a message on "living in hope". People responded in an amazing way and the presence of God was powerful. It was such a sweet way to end our time there and an amazing reminder that truly "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few".

We are excited to continue seeking the Lord for his perfect timing as we look towards moving overseas in the next few years. We know he is - as cheesy as it sounds - "preparing a place for us" and we know he will answer every question on our hearts in his perfect timing. One thing is for sure: he loves Thailand and he is on the move there!

And the munchkin - wow, what a trooper. Hope did great. Thais LOVE LOVE LOVE kids. She was the center of attention every where she went. Seriously. She adored all 16 of her teammates and they kept her thoroughly entertained every minute of every day. Her favorite song at the time was "the wheels on the bus" so every time she would start to cry our entire team would spontaneously erupt into a round of it and she would immediately smile. Hilarious! She also quickly learned the traditional thai greeting ("sawadee ca" with a bow). It was quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. Her favorite word at the time was "hi", so everywhere we went in the sung-taos (the local transportation) she would wave at the motorcycles going by and yell "hiiiiiii" until they would wave back. Oh, and the girl loves, LOVES rice. So, living in Thailand will obviously not be a problem for her. :)

It wasn't perfect though. Traveling with kids is no walk in the park and Josh and I had some hilarious/senile moments where we would just try to laugh and tell each other that we were "making memories". By the end of the month we were totally worn out but so thankful Hope was with us the entire way. Josh and I know that whatever God calls us to, he's called us to as a family. We want our kids to join in the adventure of following Jesus with us - no matter where that takes us.  Hope opened doors to people's hearts in Thailand that we would have never been able to open ourselves. She was a tangible picture of the HOPE that Jesus brings to a lost and hopeless world - exactly why we named her that. We were so thankful we got to share the experience with her. Nevertheless, we will never take for granted the luxury of a high chair, car seat, or crib ever again! God's greatest inventions! :)

 Overlooking Chiang Mai

Our incredible team!

I love this picture: It perfectly captures Hope's goofy personality and Aunt Torree always looking out for her. Hands-down best co-leader we could have EVER had! 

 

Tree of Life Church

A squatter community on the Burmese border

Got to bring hygiene supplies and food for each family.

The many adventures of eating with Hope! 

Hope bonding with Burmese villagers

Kenah sharing a word with the Burmese village

Hope spent a few hours being toted around by this monk teacher. He loved her!

Precious burmese kids 

She preferred sink-baths in Thailand...

Us and our little trooper 

Ended the trip with some waterfall fun!

10 Months

10 Months!

Wow, where does the time go?! The Holidays seemed busier than ever this year with parties galore and lots of travel. My sister was here for 2 months of that, which was super fun! (I will try to post some pics of her time soon).

The last few months have been a really fun stage with Hope. Every day she is becoming more interactive and fun and we love it! Here are a few things she's currently doing/enjoying...

1. She just learned how to stand on her own. Which is  usually followed by throwing her hands up in the air or clapping in celebration. I'm pretty sure walking is just around the corner--a whole new world!

2. She loves--I mean LOVES--to eat. She will eat anything at anytime. She prefers to feed herself and does pretty well with this, so we're pretty much over food purees and on to the good stuff. She's especially obsessed with cheerios & mum mums. I try to have those on hand pretty much anywhere we go since lots of times we are on the go.

3. She has started to really love reading, which is fun after many months of her just wanting to eat the book we're reading. She laughs and smiles at each page and loves listening.

4. She has five teeth. Her top two teeth have a huge gap in the middle which is quite endearing.

5. She stands through most of her bath time. Let's be honest....we are bad parents when it comes to a consistent bath, but when she does get a bath, she prefers standing. She's more of an on-the-go type baby and won't sit still. :)

6. While i'm loading the dishwasher she likes to stand next to me and unload all the silverware. Fun for all, really.

7. She loves music. Just last night we were at a lifegroup and she sat down in front of the person playing guitar and just watched, smiled and clapped along. Melt me.

8. She is a CHATTERBOX. She loves to talk. She talks to herself all day long as she plays. I have a feeling we have an outgoing, energetic child on our hands. Can't wait to hear the things she comes up with!

9. I'm a little ashamed of this one, but she is OBSESSED with Praise Baby. I mean, it's crazy. I try to only turn it on a few times a week, but immediately when the first song starts she will not turn away from it for even a second. It's the craziest thing...but there are those desperate times when i'm extremely thankful. :)

10. Her current tricks are waving, clapping, and strolling with the help of her walker. She spends a lot of her time clapping. It's super duper cute.

Hopey, we love you! There is truly no one like you! It is so amazing and fun to see your personality bloom. We can't wait to see the mighty things Jesus has in store for your life! Watch out world!

Hope: 7 months

7 Months: Can it really be so?

Time sure flies and even as I write Hope is on the eve of her 8-month birthday, but I thought I'd go ahead and squeeze in another post, so I seem like an organized mom who tracks their kid's progress by month...oh wait.

Oh Hope, how you have captured our hearts with that one-tooth grin. You are a bundle of joy and I don't think there's been a day since we brought you home from the hospital that we haven't 'oohed' and 'aahed 'at an expression you've made and something funny you've done. Although we've suffered a little less sleep in the last 7 months, we've sure made up for it in laughs. We are so much richer because of you and you already live up to your name in so many ways.

Parenting is such a crazy journey. One minute you think you have them figured out: their sleep schedule, their likes/dislikes, their favorite toys, etc. and then in just a few short weeks it totally changes. This month brought about some pretty significant milestones for little Hopie, including:
1. Becoming a pro-eater. Her favorite food is anything sweet (I blame her father's genes) and she tries to eat pretty much everything in sight.
2. Crawling! It's hard to imagine right now that she ever just stayed in one place. Her favorite thing is just to follow me around the house and do whatever I am doing. We've tried our best to baby-proof, although it's kind of trial-and-error at this point because she somehow always finds the most dangerous things first. Awesome.
3. A tooth! She gained one tooth about halfway through the month and currently has a second one popping through. She's handled it pretty well minus a little moaning in the night and a little droolage. I consider ourselves lucky in that arena.
4. Pulling-up. She's just now starting to pull up on a few things. Not everything, but just enough to get by. Her favorite new game is crawling on mom and interrupting whatever she's doing, which is hard to resist considering the overwhelming cuteness. If you don't believe me, just look at the picture above.

I love that her personality is coming out. She is an extrovert with a capital E. She LOVES people and gets so sad when they all leave. She hams it up for them with her smiles. 

She also loves to jabber. All she really says is "dadadadadada", which Josh and I perpetually fight about. Clearly if she knew what she was saying it would be "mama". I won't go there tonight.

Crouton (our cat) and Ellie (Taylor's daughter) are her best friends. She squeals with delight every time Ellie comes over and they race each other across the floor. She has recently started tackling crouton AND Ellie...sorry Ellie.

She absolutely LOVES being outside. Literally could live there. Maybe her father's genes again..

She is pretty strong-willed (Jesus help us!), but that sweet smile can fool even the best of us. 

Our current nicknames: Hopers, Hopie, Munch, Munchkin, "the happiest baby in the world" (those people aren't around during nap time..)

Favorite things to do: Be outside, climb on mom, pet crouton, go for a walk, swing, take a bath, chew on her toys.

This month's travels included: Dallas, Waco (1st Baylor Game)!

Until next month! (in faith)

Sleeping Babies

There's something oh so magical about babies sleeping. It's like Hope could be super cranky all night (not that that ever happens with my angel child ;) ), and I can be counting down the minutes until she goes down, and then once she's asleep I just want to wake her up again. I've had to hold Josh back from doing just that several times. We keep each other strong. 

Since Hope learned to roll over in Dubai, she has assumed the same sleeping position just about every night...face-plant into sheet, legs curled up, butt up. I'm literally so obsessed with it I could just eat her. 

For your viewing pleasure: 

(In Dubai at 3 months)

The Zoo!

A few weeks ago Josh had a day off, so our friends invited us to go to the zoo with them! Being from Omaha, i'm a little bit of a zoo snob (they have the best zoo EVER!), but the OKC zoo is at least worth a visit. :) Hope enjoyed herself. She was asleep for about half of the time. The other half she was more entertained with the grass, sky, and people than the animals, but hey, there were no tears so I consider it a win. :)

Shades on and ready to roll.

 That was quickly followed by this...

 4 Baylor fans...it's only appropriate.

 Hope & Abby Jo!

 That smile gets me every time.

 Abby Jo was kind enough to share her stroller with Hope for a bit.

 Nothing better than watching these two together.

 She borrowed dad's hat because mom forgot hers...

 I think this is the only animal she actually saw...

 Topped off the day with the elephant show!

Transitions, Transitions...

Since I just posted about a MILLION Hope updates, I thought I'd throw one in about life outside of Hope, just to be sure that everyone realizes we do a little more than ooh and aah over our child for multiple hours a day....sometimes.

Things have been ch-ch-ch-changing around the Terndrup house as of late. Josh recently accepted a job at our church, Antioch Norman, as the new Young Adult Zone Pastor. Which inadvertently means I accepted the job along with him. We were asked to pray about the position several months ago, so Josh and I spend about a month praying through it and asking the Lord what he had for us next.

If you've been around us for more than 5 minutes, you should know that our hearts BURN to be in the nations of the world [as soon as possible]. But, as we sought the Lord and surrendered our will [yet again] to him, we felt like he was saying that our season was not yet finished in Norman, Oklahoma and that he is still in the process of equipping and training us for the road ahead (not that that ever ends). In our hearts, we are so confident that this was the right decision, and that God is still fashioning and preparing us for a life of ministry, whether that takes us overseas or has us stateside at times.

In the meantime, we couldn't be more stoked about stepping into our new role. The Kennedy's, our amazing friends and former young adult zone pastors, laid an incredible foundation in the young adults at Antioch that we humbly get to build upon. What a privilege! We have some amazing, fiery, world-changing leaders that we get to walk with and partner to see both Norman and the ends of the earth touched and transformed by the love of God. We are PUMPED!

It is a super exciting season that we are stepping into, but also a very busy season. Josh has 2 months left as a Captain in the Air Force, so he is juggling both responsibilities right now. Yikes! This means that our nights (and my days) are filled with discipleship, meeting with leaders, casting vision, planning events, and dreaming about all the Lord wants to accomplish through this group. We are so thankful that God's grace is always more than enough for what he calls you to do, so although we are tired in the natural, we feel so filled up in the spiritual!

Just this past weekend we had a leadership training weekend with all our church's leadership teams. It was a great time of envisioning for the road ahead and laying the practical foundation for seeing that fulfilled. We had about 40 young adult leaders there that we got to dream with about all that God wants to do in our city in the coming weeks and months. I mean, who gets to do that as a job?!?

Even just today I heard wind of a girl getting saved in a young adult lifegroup last night! God is on the move, and we couldn't be more stoked about the season ahead.

We are so thankful that God 'forced' us to move to a little town called Norman, Oklahoma 4 years ago. It was quite unexpected, but we would not trade it for anything. His ways are definitely higher than our ways. And for that, we are so [so] grateful.

Goodnight to all.