7 Wonders of the World

David is teaching World History right now and recently gave out a project to his students. They were to create one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
(I had to look them up, because I wasn't quite sure what they were. Shame on my history teacher!! )

His students worked really, really hard and did a great job!

They are:

The Great Pyramid of Giza



The Hanging Gardens of Babylon



The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus


Statue of Zeus at Olympia



Mausoleum of Halicarnassus



Colossus of Rhodes



Lighthouse at Alexandria


>

The Great Wall isn't an ancient wonder of the world, but David needed an extra one due to his class size!




And there you go. I hope you are now more educated about the 7 ancient wonders of the world.

Calling all Russells...

We're so excited because soon, all the Russells will be coming to visit! That's right, ALL the Russells - that is Tracy, Orell, Joanna, Barry, Tess, Hudson (!), and Whitney!! We can hardly wait!

We are going to have so much fun! There will be game playing, site seeing, laughing, and yummy eating. (Sami - there might even be some heavenly hash - jealous much?)

Besides all that, we are really excited for them to come and see our world. Pictures are great, but can't really do Nicaragua justice. We look forward to them seeing the Nica culture, eating the food, meeting the fun people, and seeing our ministry here!


Whit. Love her.


Can't wait to meet Hudson!


The New York Russells!


And cool Joanna!

NCA Icon

While I was out of town, NCA held their annual talent show. Every year, the student council puts on a talent show in order to raise money. This year, we were raising money for the fine arts center of NCA. The Fine Arts center will be an excellent addition to our school. Currently there is no real cafeteria or seated area. There is a "chapel" that everyday turns into a cafeteria or becomes a stage or church or the PE area. So raising money for the Fine Arts center is a big focus for our school. There will be a cafeteria, a gym, and some classrooms where music and art can be held.

All that to be said, we had a talent show! And it was a big hit! The theme was like American Idol, with a few twists! David got to be a judge and said it was so much fun!

Enjoy a few clips of the kids!




Clearly, they are the next Backstreet Boys.


And by a few clips, I mean one! It takes forever to post a video on here!

Look at me!

So yeah, I'm starting to crawl!

6 months

We made it to 6 months! :)

I'm a bit late, but on November 2nd, Beckett turned 6 months old. As I type that I think 2 things.

1. I can't believe he's six months old. It was just yesterday that he was all newborninsh, and snuggly, and little bitty.
2. I can't believe that I am a mom of a baby. I know, I know - weird, but I do think that. I'm a mom. A mom. Me. A mom. Soon I'll be a mom of a 2 year old and then a 8 year old and then a teenager. Crazy stuff!

Ok, enough about me!

6 months is a such a fun time! Here's what he's doing:

-sitting up on his own
-he loves to stand up (in a lap, on the floor, in his crib) with help from mom or dad of course!
-eating bananas, applesauce, peaches, but not so much on the veggies yet!
-making these ridiculously cute squealing noises
-splashing at bathtime making a huge mess
-starting to want to crawl (he can kind of army crawl, kind of!)
-smiling like crazy!
-still being so stinkin' cute!

We are so very thankful for him. He has been the biggest blessing in our lives and we feel honored to be the ones to parent him!

I'm so sneaky

Sorry for the pause in blogging. Both Beckett and I have had a cold (or el gripe - the name for a cold in Nicaragua. For some reason, I really like that word, it describes how I feel currently). Being sick does not make me want to blog, or do much of anything really!

Anyways, I wanted to share of our adventures! Last week, Beckett and I flew into Dallas and surprised my mom (for a rather important birthday of hers!) and David's mom! It was awesome! You would think I would have some pictures, but I don't! I left the camera here!

We found some cheap tickets and thought it would be a fun surprise to let them see Beckett. He is at such a fun stage right now, and I was a bit sad for them not to see him.

I had Randy pick me up from the airport. Which, by the way, he did an awesome job of keeping a secret from her. I was a bit leary, but he did it! Randy pulled into my mom's garage and had her open up the garage door. I was hiding just off to the left, out of her line of vision. As she was walking towards Randy, I stepped in front of her. Her expression was priceless! She kept saying, Oh my gosh!

Then on Monday, we surprised Orell too! She had been in New York seeing Hudson (the other Russell grandbaby). I put Beckett in his car seat on her front porch, then I rang the doorbell and ran away. I could hear her say, "That's Beckett, that's Beckett!"

It was so special to surprise them! And I was beyond thrilled that they could see him! :) They showered him with love, attention and toys! Everything a little boy needs!

Got some pictures



Beckett got to experience fall, cooler weather, and pumpkins!



Seeing his Uncle Jamie! Some people say Beckett looks like Jamie. What do you think?



Playing with Grandad's watch




Headed back to Nicaland!


It was also fun for me to see family and friends! I wish that I could have had the time to see everyone! But it was a great visit!

November 5th

In almost a week, we will be having some new housemates! On November 5th, Chase and Julie (David's brother and his wife) will be moving to Nicaragua! They came to visit in January of this year. They both had the desire to serve overseas and lucky for us, the Lord called them here! We could not be more excited!

Many of you are thinking, wait, she said housemates??? Yep, that's right! They will be living with us. As in the same house. Under the same roof. Sharing the same food. When we tell people this, they get a concerned look on their face and ask - "Do you get along well with them?" :) And our answer is YES!

David and I have said for a while how we thought it would be cool to share life with another couple. To have community right inside your house. We now have the perfect opportunity.

However, we know that living with someone always has conflict and issues and annoyances. We are not naive in thinking that this will be perfect. We know that we will get on each other's nerves, there will be miscommunication, and we will have to sacrifice.

But we are also excited for the fellowship. We're excited for the many laughs to be had. We look forward to growing with each other. We can't wait to school them in some games! We hope that the Lord will use this to mature us in our love, our giving, and sacrifice.

So yeah, the Norman Russells are about to become the Nicaragua Russells. Oh wait, that's us. Maybe they'll be the Nicaragua Russells Squared? Or the Younger Nicaragua Russells? Or the Nicaragua Russells that came in 2009? Whatever, they're coming!







If anyone else from back home would like to move here, feel free! :)