2012 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas Friends and Family! 
Here's a quick summary of our very busy year...

Just after Christmas last year, my 79-year-old mom suddenly became critically ill with an infection.  She was in hospital critical care, inpatient rehab and assisted living from Jan.-Mar.  I don't think a conclusive diagnosis was every truly agreed upon, but we are so thankful that God healed her and that she's back home.  She is such a wonderful mom, a strong influence in my life and has always been my biggest fan; I couldn't bear to think of life without her.

After 3 1/2 years out of work, Eric became employed again in June!  He works for Industrial Controls as an inside sales rep and is able to utilize his HVAC commerical and technical skills.  It goes without saying that since quitting my job in Sept. 2011, finances were extremely tight.  But, God's provision during this trial has shown us so much about His character, power and love for us.  We learned a lot about needs vs. wants and where we are to put our faith.  Our prayer is that we continue to live in a way that is full of trust in the Lord, honoring him and his causes with our resources.

I have enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom (although I don't know what to say on forms for "occupation" now!) and the calm it has provided my family.  Being home during this school year has proved to be invaluable, as Rylie had a difficult time transitioning to 4th grade.  The homework and expectations were enormous and it look a lot of effort and lots of tears (mostly on my part) to make the adjustment.  Thanks to the many of you I consulted during that time.  She's doing great now and has developed some "executive skills" that will serve her well throughout school and her future work.  I was also able to help two families with their emergency childcare needs, watching their children either full-time or part-time most of the year.  I played tennis this year, but tore ligaments in my ankle in Oct. playing backyard baseball with Kai, so my tennis days are over for a while.  I also had the opportunity to go back to Guatemala in July and experience the work that Pray America is doing in Chichicastenango.  The Guatemalans have a special place in my heart, so I loved being back there again!

Eric's been playing guitar as a relaxation method and still hunts.  Our freezer that's supposed to hold deer meat is empty, so let's hope for a better 2013!  He's also started running again.  He's the guy that doesn't run for months, then runs 8 miles by the end of the first week back.  It's like he's a caged gazelle!

Rylie, 9, used birthday money and the generosity of her Mam-ma Louise to attend gymnastics classes (her 2nd love) from July-Oct.  Her 1st love continues to be her friends, my little social child.  Her best friend since Kindergarten, Emma, moved this year.  That was difficult for her, but thanks to Skype, they have been able to keep in touch.

Madelyn, 6, is thriving in 1st grade.  She's a great reader and a quick-witted little sprite.  You never know what she's going to do or say next and always goes about things in her own unique way; she keeps us on our toes.  She had another surgery on her kidneys in March and we think that all reflux issues are healed.  Praise the Lord for that!

Kai, 4, is a busy and talkative all-boy.  He loves trucks, trains, Spiderman and his mommy's iPad. He is learning his numbers and letters--he loves to learn and pretend like he has homework like his sisters. 

We attended two special weddings this year.  My dear niece, Emmy, was married in May to Matt, a man we all love.  Rylie was a sparkling Jr. Bridesmaid, Madelyn was the unforgettable flower girl and Kai was a dashing ring-bearer.  Seeing my mom walk down the aisle after many hours of rehab was a huge highlight.  The second wedding was that of my baby sister, Amy, and her new husband, Brian in August.  I was just flipping through old photos during the move and saw photos of Brian and Amy going to prom together.  The wedding was a long time coming, huh?  Both were beautiful and showcased the personalities of the couples so wonderfully.  While in Seattle for the wedding, we hiked along Mt. Rainier--wow, it was gorgeous!

In other news, we sold our house in Oct., but didn't know where we were supposed to go (be it stay in Fort Mill, but in a less expensive home OR go some place else).  About two weeks before closing we received confirmation from Eric's company that they wanted us in our beloved Richmond, VA.  It is definitely a change and a downsize (renting a 1930s house), but we are doing just fine in our old/new city.  The kids have adjusted well to their new school and we are trying to get connected to new and existing friends and find a church.  Joys so far are walking to shops and the elementary school and spending time with our friends John and Jill and their son.  In the new year, I am looking forward to exploring and embracing Richmond again!

Join with us in celebrating our Savior's birth during this special season and remembering His sacrifice for us.  We pray that you feel His presence and love today and always.  We hope you all are doing well and we miss your faces!

In God's grace,
The Titlers

See you later Charlotte and Savona Terrace...

In just seven days, we will be on our journey to our new/old town of Richmond, VA.  We are excited to introduce the kids to the hip, historic town we love.  We are also looking forward to what the Lord has in store for this next chapter in our lives.  This major move will not be without challenges.  We are: leaving our dear family and friends; leaving our beloved Eternal Church; downsizing from our dream 5BR/4BA home to renting a 3BR/2BA where the girls will share a room; and countless other things we haven't thought of yet.  The thing that is keeping me from tearing up is knowing we will be back regularly to visit.  We aren't really leaving, we are just saying "see you later". 

In addition, it has been a multi-year sanctification process where God has been speaking to me about needs vs. wants.  As I have been cleaning out closets, giving things away and selling others, I have actually enjoyed getting rid of the excess by paring down to the things we love and need.  I am excited about setting a new baseline for our standard of living.  We are now able to establish a budget based on Eric's salary instead of trying desperately to pay for our existing expenses every month.  Thank the Lord our house sold so quickly.  We will truly miss it though.  It has been such a great house in which to raise our family and a wonderful neighborhood full of special friends and neighbors.  I love that our kids were welcomed into the homes of our neighbors, establishing bonds with friends that will not be forgotten.  Just think, Rylie and Laine have been friends for half their lives!  Madelyn and Joey met and became fast friends when they were 2 1/2 years old!

Below are some photos of our front yard and back yard with the beautiful fall leaves in all their glory.  Good-bye sweet home, be good to the new owners.

Fall Festivities

We go to the same place every year for pumpkins.  It has been fun seeing how the kids have grown over the years.  Nevertheless, it has proved exceedingly difficult to get them to pose in cute pumpkin photos so I let them do what they wanted this year.

My small group + Madelyn after our awesome accessory swap (Seriously, ladies out there, you need to do one!  Free necklaces, purses, etc!)

We celebrated Kai's 4th birthday with a Superhero party!

Emma and Rylie help the little ones make masks

Super Kai loved sharing his special day with his friends (favors were personalized notebooks where I created a superhero name and personality for each child--that's that Laine and Rylie are looking at)



Happy Birthday, Super Kai!!  We love you!

For Halloween, Kai was Super Man (with a surprising gangsta attitude here), Madelyn was Taylor Swift (wouldn't wear our long blonde wig) and Rylie was a champion gymnast (she reminds me of Nastia Liukin)



The kids' friends Joey, Kendall, Calleigh, and Leah



Rylie, Laine, Madison and her friend, and Kendall

Favorite photos of the Summer

Rylie's 9th birthday--we were supposed to camp in the backyard, but 105 degree temps made us sleep inside.

Gem mining near Asheville, NC with Boppa, Aunt Laurann, Uncle Gary and cousins Nicole and Noelle

Day trip to Isle of Palms beach.  Found a live starfish.



Feeding the horses in Fort Mill

I love this photo of their cute little toes

Feeding the fish at Lake Wylie

Beautiful girl

It is so rare to get a photo of all three of them looking at the camera.  Yea!

First day of school with their buddies, Emma, Laine, Kendall and Joey

My precious nephew, Stefan

Emmy and me--ready for Amy's wedding ceremony in Seattle, WA

The happy family--Stefan, Brian and Amy

All smiles after the wedding



Sisters Kim, Amy and Susan.  We missed you, Kari!



Kim and me hiking one of the Mount Rainier trails.  Beautiful wildflowers and snow-capped mountain!!

Funny stuff

Our little boy is growing up and is full of hilarious quotes:

• Wakes me up one morning with "Mommy, the reason why I have this many shirts on is because I was cold."  He had 8 shirts on!
• I say, "Kai, you are being mean."  He says, "No, I'm not.  How can you tell?"
• Dragging his unwilling mother behind, Kai is transitioning away from naptime to, hopefully, quiet time.  After putting him back to bed several times, he whines, "How long is this gonna take?"
• He has developed an obsession with Dunkin' Donuts and often asks, "When are we ever gonna go to Dunkin' Donuts?"
• When out running errands and he's ready to go home, he will say, "See, I told you it wasn't a good idea to... (go to the grocery store, go to Target)"
• When playing pretend with the girls, the girls will often choose to be Taylor Swift or Selena Gomez.  Kai pipes in "I'm Justin Bieber!" with urgency as if someone else is going to pick that character.
• Our main grocery store has free sugar cookies.  Cutting to the chase, he just calls Harris Teeter "the cookie store".
• Can quote movie, commercial and TV lines like a Indiana Hoosier frat boy.  One of our favorites is "Get a free Pepsi at Bojangles.  Bojangles, It's Bo Time!"
• Collectively calls Rylie and Madelyn "the sisters".  Such as, "When are the sisters coming home from school?"

Recent accomplishments:

• This Summer, he learned to float on his back in the pool, write his name, dance the cupid shuffle and stand in line.  These are all paramount to the success of any warm-blooded American four year old!
• He is doing great on number and letter recognition.
• He is so competitive that he turns everything into a competition and throws a fit if he doesn't win.  Among his favorite competitions: Memory, Go Fish and Old Maid games; racing me up and down the sidewalk; racing me to see who can get dressed or do their morning chores first.  I wonder why I am his favorite competitor?  Maybe because I mostly let him win?
• Yesterday, he and the girls biked from our house to our neighborhood park.  Instead of being proud of himself for biking that far for the first time, he cried the whole way b/c Madelyn was ahead of him and he couldn't catch up. "I don't like it when she's ahead of me!  It's not fair!"

He's passionate about:

• Identifying cars and trucks on the road.  90% of our conversations while I'm driving center around this.
• Spiderman and a growing appreciation for other superheros.
• Daniel Tiger on PBS Kids.
• the iPad.

Two funny stories about Rylie: 

• In a pensive tone, she told Eric she thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the election.  When Eric asked why, she said, "Well, Barack Obama says the private sector is doing fine."  I guess those political ads are working on nine year olds!
• When Tim Berners-Lee was honored during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, calling him the inventor of the World Wide Web, I explained what that meant and she said with shock, "Shouldn't he be dead by now?"  Since she's always been around advanced technology, she thought the internet had been around for 100 years.  It is unimaginable to her that he's only in his mid-50s.

2nd of Guat's up

This is 70 year old Juana after getting her feet washed by me.  When we asked her if it was OK to wash her feet, she just laughed and said, in her dialect, "Good luck!"  Each family member receives a new pair of shoes courtesy of the donations received by our team's supporters, like you.  For the kids, these are the shoes they need to go to school.

Little girl feet and the condition of her old shoes.  They were so proud of their new shoes.  The foot washing ceremony is one of my favorite parts of the trip.  This indigenous group are looked down upon by their nation and are never in a position to be served.  It is such an honor to do something simple yet symbolic for them.

Our friend, Matt, sharing the gospel with two little boys during Foot Washing Day.  This was a special moment as he read John 3:16 and Galatians 5:1 to them and told them they were to be leaders of their family one day and loving Jesus was the most important thing they could do in their life.  It is so sad that many of the men in the region are not present, not responsible for their families and not good examples for their children.

We got a day off and went to beautiful Lake Atitlan.  I love this photo of my new friend, Jen, and me because it looks like we are in front of a fake background.  Nope, that's real.

This is my old friend, Jen, and me playing at the new playground at Monte Flor (Pray America missionary living quarters).  I will spare you the photos of us cheering and doing high kicks during the local kids' basketball game.  Crazy gringos.

The entire team at Monte Flor.

God loves the people of Chichicastenango.  You can tell.  Thank you for praying for us and supporting me so that I could be a part of this awesome experience.  Visit www.prayamerica.org if you are interested learning more about how that organization supports the needs of the region and spreads the gospel.

Love Always,
April

Guat's up in Guatemala

Exactly month ago, I was in Guatemala.  While we were there, our team:

• built 4 houses for 4 widows;
• restored 2 homes that were built years ago by Pray America volunteers;
• installed a new and safer stove in one widow's home;
• participated in 2 feeding programs;
• provided 60+ new shoes to these deserving families; and
• witnessed God's care for His children, American and Guatemalan alike

I thought it best to tell the stories through pictures.

This is Juana.  She is a widow with 4 grown sons.  Before this house, she rotated staying with each son monthly.  Now she has a place to call her own.

This is another Juana who will sleep well in her new house.  She is an exuberant 70 year old matriarch with a beautiful, toothless smile and contagious giggle.  I am framing this photo; she warms my heart.  I want to be like her one day (I'd like to keep my teeth, if possible, though).

This is Anastasia and her family.  This is called the "house dedication"; I prayed for them, blessed the house and gave them the keys as a gift from Jesus.  The image I will remember from this day was Anastasia gently caressing the cover of the new Spanish Bible we gave her.

Having a concrete floor and a door to their home with a lock and key are precious to these ladies.

This is Incarnation and her family.  A Pray America team built their house 6 or 7 years ago.  We went back for "Restoration Day" to fix any rotted boards, check the roof and paint the walls to prevent further decay.  We also installed a stove for her.  We spent a long time with her in prayer about Jesus' sacrifice and God's love.  Since many of the Guatemalans come from Mayan descent, they have a mixed belief system of idol worship mixed with some Catholicism from Spanish influence.  Their view of God can be very messed up.

Some of our team putting up the house walls

I love this photo because they were all gathered around Michael as he built a table for them out of scrap wood.  That seemed more exciting to them than the building of the house!



Installing the stove, this is a new service opportunity for Pray America.

I just love the kids!  This is Elizabeth with her new plastic flower bracelet I gave her.

These big smiles come from Malbi and Nelson.  We had such a hard time with Malbi's name that he must have been called 10 different things during the two days we were with him...Moby, Mabley.  Stupid Americans!

This is Lucrezia.  I gave her my camera for a while and she took photos like a pro.

You usually fall in love with one child while you are there.  This is mine: Juan Jose Perez Perez.



We played with the girls' hair during Restoration Day.  This is Sylvia with my friend, Jen.  Doesn't Sylvia look like a doll?

I love it when the kids are able to help build their house.  This is one of the boys with Fausto, a Pray America staff member.  I was awed by the tough job the staff members have.  One minute they are on top of the roof with a chain saw, the next we are asking them to translate the gospel from our English to Spanish to the local dialect of Quiche (key-chay), later they are officiating a basketball game between local children or trying to remain macho while buying fabric at the fabric store.

The 2 photos above are from one of the feeding programs we attended.  The kids listen to a short message, sing songs, and then get their food.  They take about 3 bites, then pack up the rest for their family.  The meal provided likely feeds the family for days.  I was struck by the huge responsibility these kids have to not only take care of their siblings while at the feeding program, but to bring food home for their family.


At each family's home they were working on their craft.  One man made the traditional skirts the Guat women wear.  He makes about $6/week.  These ladies were making the belts that are worn with the skirts.  At another house, they were needlepointing beautiful flowers on their shirts.