Tag: vacation

July/August ’25 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic, Family, Indiana, Photos of the MonthLeave a comment

Whew! What a full summer. Here’s a combination of July and August 2025 from the Mitchener point of view.

Ministry

We had several teams join us this summer. They helped immensely in VBS. Here, one of our seniors, Alfredo, is translating a testimony from English to Spanish.
The senior class started a new tradition! The new upcoming seniors will get to paint a hallway at Freedom.
The finished product
Bittersweet moment – Basilio and Memena moved out of Lima. Memena is the lady who helped us get established there in the village at the beginning of our ministry.
Jhoan will graduate from Freedom this May! He’s so very shy, but he’s an amazing young man!
Leslie and Angela prepping some preschool bags
Two of the ladies that keep Freedom on its feet!
Proud ‘lita over here! Look at how this girl can write her name! So very big.
Little bro is growing up too fast.
A few of our new teachers who just joined the Freedom team
Krista and I joined the team for a couple of virtual mtgs to start off the school year. Yuleisy is sharing some info with us from her department.
School staff praying over the new year
There they are: the Freedom team members for the 2025-2026 school year
I miss my friend, but she is doing awesome things up there on the third floor of Freedom’s school building. ❤
Our beautiful front office ladies!
The Bible Department!
Claire is our sole intern this year (so far)! (Anyone want to join her?)
A good portion of our MK’s – everyone is growing up so fast!

Family

This is not a sight that I see too terribly often, so when I do, I’m documenting it!
The kids and I broke out an old favorite: Sleeping Queens!
We visited a small, local zoo
The kids’ very first 4th of July experience!
Oops. I may have run out of gas for the first time in my life. Scott came to rescue me!
It’s weird being on “this side” of furlough – all of our Freedom friends come to us now!
We decided to jump on the bandwagon and try the viral Joyride
This cat may be one of our favorites. He has the best personality EVER!
I’ve exchanged sugar cane fields for cornfields!
Happy birthday to Memaw!
I’m still enjoying jogging around our neighborhood
One of my favorite spots is on the porch swing on the back patio!
Scott and I are volunteering with our church’s youth group. The middle school girls took a putt-putt and ice cream trip!
Cal and a friend at a recent school picnic
Silly kitty shenanigans
Parent meeting before the start of school
First day of school!
Waiting for the brothers to get done with soccer practice
Cal made some homemade slime – this girl is obsessed with this stuff
Speaking of obsessions, Caleigh’s favorite food in the whole wide world is potato soup. She begs for it often and never cares what season it is – she loves to help make it!
This may have been my favorite grill session yet: steak bites, shrimp, and zucchini!

Ready or not, here comes September!

June ’25 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic, Family, Indiana, Photos of the MonthLeave a comment

I forgot how much I loved summer in the States.
Enjoy 30 June pictures from our perspective!

Ministry

How many of these visiting teams photos have I posted over the years? It may just seem like random faces, but each person is an answered prayer.
Our Dominican staff decorated for summer camp!
Getting a head start on learning how to line up for the upcoming school year 🙂
We have returning visitors who connect so well with many of our students – that means the world to us!
This young lady has attended Freedom her entire life (along with her two sisters). She’s had so many life experiences already. We’re praying that she always chooses to put the Lord first in her life.
If you’re wanting to hire some professional organizers/cleaners, look no further!
Cuties!
Where will this little lady be in 5 years? 10 years? Hopefully growing up and learning lots about Jesus at Freedom!
At the end of each week, one of our interns got a pie to the face. Our high schoolers were not unhappy about this. 🙂
VBS!
Parents signing important docs before school begins. Betsaida (in the black shirt) has been a huge godsend to this ministry
The school my kids attend in Indiana had the opportunity to visit my old stomping grounds! I hope they were able to fall in love a bit with this little slice of the Caribbean.

Family

We went camping with the fam one weekend! Check out that pile o’ chicken.
We took a beautiful hike through the woods
Leyton and his siblings enjoyed the hike, but they were all glad to make it back to the car at the end. 🙂
My parents have been experiencing visits from some unwanted visitors. We watched these guys steal the cat food from the front porch on multiple occasions.
Baking some brownies from scratch – this girl is obsessed with all things kitchen.
Our sweet friends’ daughter (who has been a Freedom intern) got married. I was seated by my high school science teacher at the reception! It was awesome to catch up with him.
We took a mini-vacay with some friends to the mountains. They treated us to these amazing made-from-scratch donuts!!
Better than Starbucks!
Another wedding (this time in IN)!
Summer calls for the making of many fruit smoothies
Happy 39 to Scott!
Someone started piano lessons this summer!
I had a lot of fun helping out with our church’s VBS this year! I’m still getting to know kids and their families, but they were all so precious!
We have some Chipotle haters in our family, so Leyton and I took a special lunch trip to one of our favorite places
Noah after we finished a card game one afternoon: “Mom, don’t you need to take a picture of it? You always do that when we’re playing something…” Heh.
We enjoyed several weekend trips to a local park to go wade in the creek.
This pup has had some recent health issues
Folding laundry and getting some Roo cuddles

Thanks for following along on our picture journey!

December ’20 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Angela, Photos of the Month4 Comments

Wow! That was some year, wasn’t it? No one would have expected all the events of the last twelve months. Many are saying “Good riddance” to this doozy of a year. Looking at it all from one side of the coin, I can understand those sentiments.

On the other hand, it’d be crazy to think that 2021 won’t bring its own challenges. January 1 isn’t some magical date that will make all our troubles disappear. COVID isn’t gone. For us personally, our students haven’t returned to Freedom. I’m sure there will be plenty of other unexpected trials.

For that reason, it’s important for me to take these momentary pauses each month to dwell on the blessings. Yes, there are difficulties. But God is so very good. Here are just 31 photo evidences of how He took care of our family and this ministry in December!

  • We’re all so excited for Baby McCall to make her debut in the coming weeks!
  • Doodling and playing with Jade
  • Still delivering sponsor letters even though in-person classes can’t happen.
  • Jacob and Mia have made some good buddies in La Cubana.
  • Baseball in La Cubana
  • The back of a typical batey home. Cooking and washing dishes are done right outside.
  • Our little tour guide. If we can’t find someone, Neytan is always willing to help take us where we need to go.
  • I was asked to help with a Flat Stanley project for a third grader in the States!
  • Happy birthday, Yuleisy!
  • Leyton, Cal and I went to a birthday party in San Pedro. Mery was the entertainment for afternoon!
  • A precious gift.
  • This kiddo has more energy than quite possibly anyone I know. We all love Neytan!
  • Noah and Leyton helped prep and serve a delicious dinner for the parents of all elementary MK’s. Chicken alfredo and more!
  • My first attempt at wreath making! Pam put together a super fun craft night to wrap up our ladies’ Bible study time.
  • Freedom hosted a mini Christmas party – in each of the villages, we brought music, games, and food to kick off Christmas vacation.
  • This little man from Molino is wearing one of my boys’ old t-shirts. It makes me nostalgic to see their clothes again.
  • My name twin and I!
  • Mari manning the Nerf gun station
  • Sofia and Caleigh
  • All smiles in La Cubana!
  • Ring toss!
  • College pals masked up in a humid little sugarcane village in the DR.
  • Hot dogs, popcorn and apples! Oh my!
  • We lit up the sky at Freedom one night with a giant bonfire and S’mores!
  • Christmas break was wonderful! Lots of baking on Christmas Eve!
  • My little helpers liked making sweets (and stealing a few in the process)
  • Our yummy cookie haul from some neighbors!
  • The kids always enjoy wrapping up little gifts, pictures and coupons for their siblings.
  • Christmas Eve musings
  • Christmas dinner!
  • Selfies with this cutie

The Bible doesn’t promise a life without pain, but I’m looking forward to a new year of trusting the Lord with whatever He’s got planned – and perhaps low-key praying that a global pandemic isn’t a huge part of it all again. 🙂

May and June 2016 in Pictures

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic, Photos of the MonthLeave a comment

Wow! Life. So full! Two months of pictures. Praising the Lord for all He has done!

Mother's Day
Mother’s Day Celebration in May!

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Students and mothers worked on a craft together

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Caleigh completed month 8!

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Noah graduated from Kindergarten!

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Yeifrey and Caleigh at graduation

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Our last Parent-Teacher conference of the ’15-’16 school year.

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Abby and Yuleisy talking with families about student behavior and achievement

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Two of our students from Batey Campiña

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We moved! The MK’s did a ton of work helping us get out to Freedom’s campus.

Road Progress
The road to campus was upgraded! No more potholes or standing water!

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Furlough has changed to May! Headed back to the States!

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Scott shared at an interest meeting for a future DR trip

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The boys enjoyed the Columbus Zoo with Grammy and Grandpa

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Ripley’s Aquarium with Memaw

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Our amazing interns joined us soon after we returned to the DR!

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A shower house was built to the side of the apartment building

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Leyton and Noah on their first day of the ’16-’17 school year!

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We’ve enjoyed life with several short-term teams so far. Six weeks left in the summer!

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Caleigh passed the 9-month mark in June!

 

A Different Christmas

On By MitchenersIn Dominican Republic, Family1 Comment

Christmas was a little quieter this year. No big family gatherings. No giant spreads of food. No expensive gifts under the tree. It was a different kind of Christmas.

We battled with loneliness more this year than last. Thankfully, we were able to Skype with our parents and give a few virtual hugs. We loved our Christmas Eve visit from the Simos family with their scrumptious cookie delivery. (The cookies didn’t last more than 24 hours – oops.) We also spent some fun nights playing games with the Clines.

We didn’t have our typical turkey-and-potatoes Christmas dinner, but we did enjoy a yummy breakfast casserole for Christmas brunch. (New tradition in the making?)

The boys had a ton of fun opening up their little presents. Funny how the 75-cent bouncy balls and small cups of Playdough were their favorite gifts. They haven’t quit playing with them since Wednesday.

Overall, we loved the slower pace of the week – the time to breathe, love on our boys, and reflect on Christ’s great love for us.

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The boys hanging with Dad by the tree
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iPad fun
Noah's new favorite job: dishes duty
Noah’s new favorite job: dishes duty
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Leyton loved “rearranging” the tree lights and ornaments
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The remains of the delicious Simos Christmas cookies
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A Christmas nap
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The boys “stocking” gifts of fruit snacks, M&M’s and goldfish crackers.
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Breakfast casserole
The bouncy balls were a hit.
The boys and their bouncy balls
A Merry Mitchener Christmas
A Merry Mitchener Christmas