Tag: friends

May ’24 in Pictures

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May 2024 in pictures! Just 6 more weeks until we get on our one-way flight back to the United States. We’re doing our best to treasure each moment as we continue packing and saying goodbye.

Leyton had to make a 3D model of the solar system as one of his last science projects for his online class.
Celebrating the end of homeschool!
Leyton finished up his 6th grade year of online school!
Cal is happy to celebrate her brothers if french fries are involved!
Cal doesn’t have many more days of hanging with this cutie.
Uh oh! Someone found some mud!
Those are not long sleeves… All dirt!
Scott and I are trying to finish up some one-time play games so we don’t have to pack them in our suitcases. We escaped the Sultan’s castle with 10 minutes to spare!
This girl loves to help cook!
We bought some of those gender reveal baseballs for Joan and Yuleisy!
Will Aylin have a baby sis or baby bro?
It’s a Boy!
Yahoo!
Our apartment is well-loved by the lizards – inside and out. I don’t get grossed out by them like I used to 12 years ago, so that’s something!
I will miss watching Elena walk to feed the animals in the evenings when I go on my walks/runs.
Cleaning up the walls before we move
Leyton helped remove his bunk bed from the wall
More dinner prep – burgers!
We had week-long Mother’s Day celebrations – our students’ moms spent time with their kids at school!
Cal recited a part of a poem with her friends
Little sis and big bro
Austin has a running club with a few of our older students. Joan’s partner didn’t come, so Noah jumped in and ran 3km without any training!
We cheered the kiddos on as they emerged from the woods!
Jade planned a fun ladies’ event for us before summer season begins
Our family walk didn’t last too long -the boys got bored, but at least we got a selfie together before they left
These little pups have been all the rage among the MKs
Another baby tooth is gone!
This is what a garage sale looks like for a family of 5 and a family of 7 after spending a whole lot of years in a foreign country!
Our missionary team prepared a goodbye celebration for us – we loved reminiscing by watching some fun clips of the boys from a few years ago
The Freedom staff put on a luncheon as we get ready to head back to the States – there was singing, dancing, laughter and dessert! Thankful for their dedication to this place!
We will most certainly miss our fun-loving Mery!

Until June!

March ’23 in Pictures

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March in the Dominican was both full and fun!

Our 2nd grade team in a morning meeting
Noah enjoyed this cute little distraction while working on homeschool
Twinning with one of our 10th graders, Genesis
The daughter of one of my high school teachers joined us for a week!
Baby Izzy came to visit! She looks awful tiny on that big old couch.
I went to school with this lady’s hubby many moons ago. I’m getting old…
Homemade pizza for dinner
This little squish is just about the cutest thing!
The field fire “fun” continues…
Thankfully, we were able to reach this fire with our water hoses before it hit our property
Caleigh’s teacher will soon get married!
A battle reenactment one morning during assembly
The afternoon preschool group gathering around the flagpole
A finished pergola at twilight
Middle school teachers stayed after school one afternoon to get some extra work done and enjoy dinner together
A lazy Saturday morning in our PJs
First grade team celebrating birthdays together
This one works at my alma mater!
One of this quarter’s Honor Roll students!
I’m hoping to write a special little blog post about this someday. One of our kiddos getting help from a visitor.
Parent-teacher conferences
I don’t know of many schools who send their teachers house-to-house to talk to parents. Talk about commitment!
Have you ever had a parent-teacher conference in the middle of a sugarcane field?
Rosa Elena helping one of our mothers sign her name on the report card
Morning assemblies featured some Easter dramas leading up to Semana Santa
Alfredo, Yefry, and Anllelo
Sharing the Easter story/gospel with the student body
Love this photo of Miss Rosa talking with her group of dancers after their morning presentation
A far-off field owner doing a controlled burn at sunset
I’m not sure who enjoys these after-school meet-ups more – Cal or Aylin
Working through some training with our teachers

See you in April for another round of pictures!

February ’23 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Angela, Photos of the MonthLeave a comment

Here are 28 photos from our February in the DR!

Happy 11th birthday to Leyton!
Celebrating more birthdays!
Cal and her bestie
Field fires have been spreading easily in recent weeks. The guys have had to run to put a couple out near campus.
Our teacher Rosa Dileini performing in morning assembly
The start of the new pergola!
Pergola progress
A visiting team came down and poured some amazing new sidewalks for us!
The sidewalks not only look amazing, but they also drastically cut down on the dirt/mud situation
Mr. Ruddy and the twins with some arm wrestling fun
Stars and such.
Jade and Ang have been able to work together this year more closely.
Cow crossing!
Noah has been doing his schooling completely online this year.
The middle school crew!
Cal and her class for Valentine’s Day
Dominican Independence Day!
Two of our faves! Yuleisy and Aylin celebrating on February 27th
Joining the 4th-6th rade teachers for a photo
Ang has had the privilege of working through a book for teens with 9th grader Genesis
Maira and Loriester
Cal posing with her teacher Jereici
Our adorable pre-schoolers opened up the event
Ang posing with our fun-loving first grade team
Teachers opening up morning assembly with a choreographed song
Still loving the dress-up stage of childhood
Never too old for car races!
Three families of MK’s enjoying a pizza night

On to March!

January ’23 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Angela, Photos of the Month1 Comment

Here’s our first month of 2023 in photo form!

A January wedding!
Yay for ice cream weekends!
Leyton is our lover of the chocolate ice cream
Sprinkles? Always!
January meant our first team of 2023!
Pizza for lunch and slides while we’re waiting!
Ang may or may not have pulled an all-nighter to prep some learning notebooks for our elementary students. 😉
It was fun to learn how to use this beast of a machine.
Growing campus
Rosa made the Honor Roll!
Leyton did well too!
Some of our spirited 5th graders
Sunrise!
Sunset
After school homework pals
Sydney came back to visit us!
Caleigh is loving having Miss Rachel as her teacher
Ang started walking two of our 9th grade girls through a book this semester called “Joven Verdadera”
We started working on a pergola this month for some added playground expansion for high school students
Teams are a huge blessing to us missionaries! Lisa brings me sweets that don’t exactly help my waistline. 😉
Helping out in our 6th grade classrom in a science class
Playdough Pals – and yes, my tree is still up in January
Caleigh dressed up for a “Career Day”
One of our 2nd grade teachers
Burning off the sugarcane fields in the distance
Making forts in the living room – is any childhood complete without this activity?
Juan Pablo Duarte was one of the founding fathers in the DR.
Our little gal caught pneumonia and spent a couple nights in the local clinic
The fam and some friends took me out to celebrate year 37!
Love this little one!
Sweet school staff surprised me with a cake for my birthday!

Happy January!

December ’22 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Angela, Photos of the Month2 Comments

Busy school days, birthday fun, Christmas program, spending time with family – all wrapped up in one month! Thankful for some time to relax and reflect on Jesus’ birth!

Welcoming in December with friends!
Mari Cruz and Olaf!
Cal loved singing with her second-grade classmates for their Christmas presentation
This kiddo spends a couple hours a day with me taking some homeschool classes – and enjoying blue candy when the opportunity arises.
Some little preschool cuties!
Yuleisy turns 29! Hard to believe the first birthday we celebrated with her was #19
Rachel made Yuleisy’s beautiful cake
Yuleisy’s high school team surprised her on her birthday too!
Lots of emotions seeing these big kiddos so grown up
The after-school routine: play together in the playpen
Translating in our 1B classroom
An extremely bright rainbow this December morning!
The ladies had a White Elephant party!
Biased and don’t care – our favorite little friend!
Caleigh excitedly wrapping presents and placing them under the tree
A local first responder came in to talk to our 1st graders about first aid
Aylin tackled Leyton – who didn’t mind taking a break from homeschool 🙂
Our interns headed home for Christmas break. Thankful for their service!
Ms. Jinnauris is one of our 1st grade teachers
Each of these boys has a story. Praying at some point, their journeys align with what God would have for them.
Fabiola, Marleny and Faniry. Three of our beautiful 8th graders.
Beautiful eyes and perfect smiles – praying these 3rd graders learn to love Jesus with all they’ve got!
The high schoolers had a surprise Christmas luncheon out at the camp multi-use. Scott read them a story!
Those on the Freedom team who were here for our staff party
Cuddles from the cutie pie
Christmas break would not be complete without a lazy day watching the Sound of Music!
Putting together a lantern with Pepaw one morning
Christmas morning sunrise!
Saying goodbye to the grandparents
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Taste testing chocolate chip cookie dough is a must
Scott taking on the crazy ridiculous puzzle we tackled over break

See you in 2023!

May ’22 in Pictures

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May flew by! Thirty-one pictures from the month.

Cal got to spend a day hiking with her cousins on our short trip back to the States
Flying has become old hat for these kiddos
Singing the Dominican national anthem
My dishes helper
These kiddos are loving their suckers!
The homework champ
Leyton loves this book series
Maria Martha reading to some of her little first graders
We had a very sweet 10-year celebration with our team!
Ice cream and coffee for breakfast? Absolutely!
A happy gal!
This team is a huge blessing!
Our kids have loved reading all the messages from different students, staff, and missionaries.
Simona helping fill out forms on Mother’s Day
Caleigh’s class performing for Mother’s Day
Leyton made me a card!
Our teachers spend a lot of time decorating their classrooms
Noah performed a sweet little recitation and gave me a little gift!
Guyllana is mom of two of our students and works on the cleaning staff!
Leyton with Romel and his grandma
Kimberly assessing our preschool kiddos in English
Intern and 8th grader meet for a good old-fashioned arm-wrestling competition
Students praying for our interns who are leaving
Weekend trip with Marcia
Bergica takes on a bacon burger
Ice cream and games with these three
A visitor brought me two big bags of one of my favorite sweets!
Games with friends
Parent-teacher conferences in Lima
7th and 8th graders working through a leadership training

See you at the end of June!

March ’22 in Pictures

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Enjoy 30 pictures of our March in the Dominican!

Parent Committee
Cal and K enjoying one of their pull-out classes
A new addition to the playground – four-square and basketball!
Krista caught Cal taking care of big bro during a team night
My silly ice cream eater
It’s a rule – rainbows over Freedom must always be shared
We snagged a pic with Fabiola who was staying the night with friends
Todd and Angie made some awesome homemade pizzas!
Speaking of pizza… dinner and lesson planning with 2nd grade teacher Betsaida!
This big gal loves to play on the chalkboard while mom’s at work.
Daniela dressed up for Independence Day celebration
Jorge is one intelligent 5th grader
One of our wonderful teams
This little lady has stolen everyone’s hearts
Teams tutoring in our English rooms
Ruth Elizabeth was made to teach!
This dear friend came for another visit!
The bus still gets stuck on occasion
This girl cheers me up just at the sight of her!
Adding library books to our new electronic system!
Another new classroom in the works!
Bus drivers meet for a morning devo each workday
These boys have grown into young men!
Teacher were trained on how to self check-out library books
Yuleisy and her mini-me hard at work
A historical drama at breakfast
The whole gang
A few of Leyton’s classmates
Kenia at camp
One of our 2nd graders

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for Freedom!

June ’21 in Pictures

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It’s heating up here in the DR! June 2021 in photos below!

  • Enjoying lunch with friends while mom and dad are at a meeting.
  • If that ain’t the cutest little gal you ever did see… Smiles in church.
  • MK class with Mr. Jacob
  • School will be allowed to reopen this month! We are so excited!
  • A group from the States who has been praying with us for the school to reopen rejoiced with us from afar!
  • Celebration cake that Pettisville Missionary Church made!
  • Our first team of summer!
  • Our awesome summer interns!
  • Check out that bus fleet! Our mechanic Daniel has been working hard to get these babies ready for their first day on the job.
  • First flag raising in 15 months!
  • Hand sanitizer for every kiddo
  • Ms. Emma explaining the distancing rules
  • MK’s attending VBS – learning about the armor of God!
  • The library queen! Ms. Becky brought all these new reads down in her suitcase!
  • Love these ladies!
  • The inside of a kitchen in Lima.
  • On a birthday mission.
  • Our 4th graders made a quick trip to the library one day
  • Our good friend Mark came down for a week and snapped some family photos for us! Noah-man.
  • Leyton
  • Cal
  • Yuleisy has been meeting with various members of the District Office and Regional Office as we work through regulations for in-person classes and other necessary requirements for high school approval.
  • Sunrise!
  • We’re super excited about all the new walkways! This one will have a flagpole in the middle.
  • Our current Board Chair came down to be involved in the ministry for a couple of weeks.
  • Sister-in-laws painting like crazy!
  • Noah really enjoys teaching. Jade sent me this sweet photo of him reading to the other MK’s.
  • Another sidewalk going in!

May ’21 in Pictures

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A months’ worth of photos from our May!

  • Our quick trip to the States allowed for some kitten cuddles!
  • Loved seeing Gramps and Grandma Vi!
  • Caleigh with “Noah’s kitty”
  • The Feders made the big move to the DR!
  • Gabe is headed to the States for work and college! Sad to say goodbye but proud of him!
  • Anna and her sisters hung out with the sponsorship team for a day and got to meet Tervi and his goats.
  • The next in the saga of the goat visits
  • Meeting new people!
  • Cutie pie enjoying some crackers
  • She was certainly checking Anna out for awhile.
  • Robert Daniel is quite the kid!
  • “God is love”
  • Gabe got some footage with the sponsorship team
  • Savannah reading Klemily a note from her sponsor
  • Thumbs up!
  • Alondra checking out her sponsor letter
  • Ava and her class pitched their t-shirt idea to the marketing team!
  • Estaylin explaining the shirt specs.
  • Gabe’s last time playing bass.
  • Caleigh lost her first tooth!
  • Some La Cubana cuties
  • Love these gals from Cabeza
  • I got a sweet encouraging note and drink to help me through the day!
  • Morning sunrises at Freedom
  • Final week of “Mystery of History” – these kids learned so much!
  • Thank you, Jade, for your patience, your hard work, your flexibility, and your love for these MK’s!
  • Noah presenting to the class
  • They made up their own motions to this insanely long song with all the dates they learned
  • Toni meeting with those from the District Office – we could be getting our students back very soon!

April ’21 in Pictures

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Our April in 30 photos!

  • Happy Easter from the Mitcheners!
  • The guys cooked up some delicious Easter breakfast for us.
  • Noah trying to school his old man in a game of basketball.
  • Making some scrapbook pages for the soon-to-be Mrs. Elle Bennett, one of our missionary kiddos.
  • We’re going to be grandparents! 🙂 Yoan and Yuleisy are having a girl!
  • Beautiful countryside
  • Playing marbles is an obsession for our village kids.
  • Ms. Becky hosted a Bunko party for the Freedom ladies one evening!
  • Being silly in Cabeza de Toro
  • This Bejucal cutie loved her first sponsor letter and sticker sheets!
  • Ms. Leah is a favorite here at Freedom. Thankful she came to visit for a week!
  • Completing sponsor letters and chomping on mangoes.
  • Jade is my sweet friend from college. She has been a trooper during this COVID time when we haven’t been allowed to run camps at Freedom.
  • Ruthanne spent last summer with us and returned for an extended internship this summer!
  • PIT – a century-old game that is a favorite.
  • We added the top left classroom this month. By constructing this 30×30 space, we opened up 3 more classrooms (to the right) for students/staff to use. We’re keeping a construction zone buffer for safety.
  • Shy guy
  • Keyller hanging out at grandma’s house.
  • Solainy is a cheeser.
  • Savannah reading a sponsor note to a Ramon Santana cutie.
  • Cousin hugs.
  • Loving their new bikes
  • Breeze had a wonderful second internship with Freedom. She really came out of her shell this time around. We miss her!
  • Old college pals taking a cardboard box to the mechanic shop. Laughter is good for the soul.
  • I love these ladies! I’m biased, but we have the best teachers on the island!
  • Domingo bagging up rice for our students and their families.
  • Work continues on apartment #4
  • A quick trip back to the States! Caleigh got to meet her sweet cousin for the first time in person!
  • Doing a little work outside. So relaxing!
  • Picking dandelions.