Nice people are still left in the world!

On Monday we were traveling back from Burns, Oregon. We had to go through lots of mountain passes and winding roads, after because I was feeling incredibly nauseous and Kayla threw up (again) after about an hour of driving, Caleb decided that NOBODY was getting anything to eat or drink until we were through the mountains and in Pendleton, Or. It was about a 3 hour drive, and we didn't get there until 1:30. Thankfully, the kids slept for most of it so they didn't complain a lot about being hungry. Because they were so good, we decided to stop at McDonalds because it had a big play place. While Caleb was getting the food I took the kids to the play area, and I started talking to a dad that was watching his little girl play. We talked about kids, and traveling. It turned out that they had driven up from Burns, Oregon the night before! So that was a neat coincidence. He told us about the things they had done, and we talked about our travels. When his wife came back to the play area, he left for a little while and came back with some rocks. He told us they were Obseidon and he explained to the kids about lava, and it cooling quickly and turning to glass. He told us they found a field that had so much Obseidon that it looked like glass all over the field! So he was so kind and gave the kids each their own rock. They're pretty cool rocks, and the kids were so excited. Before they left Caleb gave them a prayer card and he made a joke about his neighbors all trying to convert him! But they were so nice and it was great to be able to talk to random people and have a good conversation. It was so incredibly nice for him to give the kids those rocks!

Big News!

I thought this deserved its own post! I'm pregnant!! I'm probably about a month along, maybe a little more. Which means I'm probably due around June. We're pretty excited and the kids are ecstatic!! Noah wants a boy and the girls want another girl. We're hoping for a boy. Please pray for me though, I am incredibly sick, all the time. Especially in the morning, I can barely get out of bed and I am in a constant state of sickness. I choke down food, but everything makes me sick. I'm pretty good in the afternoons, but I'm sick all day. And plus, I'm always hungry, which isn't helping. I can't get enough food it seems like. I try to drink water and drinks instead, but too much liquid makes me even more sick! So that doesn't always work. Please just pray for me, especially with all the traveling we do. And especially on Sunday mornings. It's really hard to be so sick and yet go to church and meet people, and be polite! I just want to lay down and groan, so it's hard to talk to people and be involved. I appreciate your prayers!!!

So much has happened!

It's been so long since I've blogged, we haven't had internet in forever and when we did, the blogger thing wouldn't let me publish the blog I wrote! So I'm about two weeks behind, I'm so sorry! I'll try my best to catch everyone up but not be monotone and boring.

Last I wrote we were in a scary hotel room in Tonasket, Wa. We had a good service the next morning and some delicious tortellini afterward! I love tortellini and a lady made it for the potluck. I think I ate three plates of it. Yum! That night we were in Oroville, Wa which is about 5 miles from the Canadian border. The Pastor there, Bro. Isenberger, has a house that literally faces the border guard station! It's so funny. We had a really good time there and stayed a few days so Caleb could help out with some things that the Pastor needed to get done. On Tuesday night Bro. Isenberger took Caleb fishing and he caught 3 steel-head trout that were 4-8 lbs each! They were huge. He had a good time and he grilled them up and we ate them at Josh's house, they were really good.

Next, we went to Summerville, Or. It is so beautiful in Eastern Oregon in all those valleys! It's beautiful because you have the classic farm land that I love, farm houses, and barns and then you are surrounded by mountains! It's perfect. We had a great time there with Bro. Umber and his church. His son is a KU fan so it's good to know that people in Oregon can see the light! lol

That Friday (the 17th I believe) we went to an Oregon Trail History Museum. The Pastor let us use his 2007 Saturn Vue to go since the church was paying to have our alignment fixed (Praise the Lord!). When we got there Caleb tried to pull out the key, but it was stuck. He decided to push it back in, and it snapped in half with half the key still in the ignition! You can just imagine what he was thinking! He had to made the dreaded call to the Pastor and thankfully he was understanding and didn't get mad, that we heard anyway! We went ahead into the Museum and really enjoyed it and then we went to the park across the street. Bro. and Mrs. Looney, who Pastor in Baker City, picked us up and took us out to lunch. I was so grateful that they would do that! We're going to be with them in November and it was so sweet of them to feed us. We had a good time, even though the kids were ready for a nap after the long day. The finally got the key out of the ignition and Bro. Umber brought us a new key. We had a good meeting with them and the people were really sweet! They gave us a nice love offering and really treated us well. We stayed with the Smiths who are an older couple, and they have an amazing little stretch of property on the mountainside. They were so good to us and we're grateful to them.

That Sunday we were going to be with the Raes in Pasco, Wa so we drove there on Saturday. We had a mixup trying to find their house, but we finally found it! What amazing and sweet people the Raes are! They certainly love the Lord and we had a wonderful time with them! We stayed until Tuesday morning. We were going to stay all week and Caleb was going to help Bro. Rae build a shed, add onto their kitchen, and finish the garage and make it into a school room, but the county wanted $750 for the permits and it was a two week wait! So it didn't happen that time. I'm sure we'll be going back though, the kids had a great time together and I learned a lot from Shari, she's such a wonderful mother and you can tell from her children that she has a sweet spirit. We had a lovely surprise Sunday morning, we showed up and found out that Andy and Nina Kroll (Krohl? can't remember) are there and working in the church! I haven't seen Nina since Noah was a baby and it was SO good to see them again! We were friends in college and we lost track of each other. It so fun to travel around and find out where people are and what they're doing! It's exciting. We had a great time there. The boys played "Army" the whole time so here is Noah with Jacob and Josiah (Little Joe) getting ready to kill some "bad guys"!

The rest of the week we hung out at Josh and Rochelle's. They were able to get us a little trailer to use so we have "more space" but I'm doubting it gives us more space! lol It's more like a fire waiting to happen with all the stuff crammed in there. It scares me a little. But it is nice to have the privacy.

Today we were with Bro. Gosnell in Burns, Or. We've heard a lot about Burns, mostly people saying "Do you know where that is?! It's in the middle of nowhere!" and "It takes forever to get there!!" Well, everyone was right. On the map it looks like about 4 hours. Our GPS said 6 1/2 but we were doubtful. It ended up being right! It took us just about six hours to get there, a long time! We went through lots and lots of mountain passes, scary curves with no guard rails, and we were on a lot of cliffs that went down miles and miles! I was pretty sick the whole time, and Kayla eventually threw up everywhere! But we made it finally about 7pm Saturday night. We had a good day today. The church is really laid back and it reminded me of our church back home! People responded during the service from the crowd and there was joke telling and laughing. We had fun. The only problem is that everyone is burning their leaves and everything here and the smell of the smoke is making me sick! But I will survive. Sunday night I played the piano, the kids sang, and Caleb sang so that was fun. I love having the oppurtunity to play congregationals again. I really need to practice my offetories, I'm getting sloppy! Maybe we can put a piano in our trailer....? I'll ask Caleb!

Well that's an update for now. On Wednesday we'll be in East Wenatchee, Wa and then Sunday we'll be in Hillsboro, Or, so I'll try to keep you updated when I can, when we get internet! I'll also try to post some pictures. Thanks for reading!!! Love you all.

Yakima Missions Conference

This week was the Home Missions Conference in Yakima, Wa. Pastors from all over Washington State come and give money and help to missionaries and new Pastors. It was amazing to be there and to see people get help and support. We got to see a lot of friends from college, and all of their babies! We're getting so old, and we all have tons of kids! We stayed with the Harrells in their home and they were so nice and generous to us, made us feel right at home. The first night we didn't get out of the service until after 10:30 and I realized that was early! The rest of the week we didn't get out until after 11pm.

They had great programs for the kids. For kids 4-4th grade (Noah and Kayla) they went to a pumpkin patch, corn maze, petting zoo, went on a hayride, and all kids of stuff on Wednesday. Then on Thursday they were to a place called Kids Kastle (I hate changed spelling so it's "cute") which I guess is a huge Burger King play place. Kayla lost her sock in the ball pit, but Praise the Lord the other kids helped her find it! That's all she could tell me about the day. They also would go to a park to play, eat lunch, learn a Bible lesson and do a craft. We didn't get them back until 4pm! We just had Lela for lunch and all afternoon. She definitely loved it, but she missed her brother and sister.

The best part of the week was meeting another NTCP family, the Kroekers. Well, we actually only met Bro. Kroeker and their son, but it was still nice to meet them! We definitely felt a kindred spirit and an instant connection. We've heard about the Kroekers because they're "the other young family" in the group even though Bro. Kroeker is probably 15 years older than Caleb! haha Caleb and Bro. Kroeker were able to present their ministry on Thursday night and they got a good reception, I thought. They did a great job explaining the need for the ministry and how it works. They took up an offering for them and Bro. Brown and Caleb and Bro. Kroeker pass the plates! It was so funny because it's harder to keep your money in your pocket when the person you're giving to is passing the plate!

Well, we had a good week but everyone was so exhausted, especially the kids. Caleb stayed out until 3am every night having "Melowship" with the other men. That's when all the men go to Mel's Diner and eat steak tips and eggs and drink coffee. Yuck! I'm glad I had to take the kids and put them in bed!

We're in Tonasket, Wa right now, staying in a motel. It's definitely the scariest place we've stayed yet, but God will take care of us! The motel is a gas station/laundromat/grocery and motel and I think all the Mexican orchard workers are doing their laundry right next door tonight. Tomorrow night we're going to be in Oroville, Wa which is about5 miles from the Canadian border! The Pastor's backyard is actually IN Canada. He's promised to take Caleb fishing for trout, and he said they get up to 20 lbs up there. Caleb's pretty excited! He loves to fish but never gets to. It's so cold here, even in the middle of the day, but it's beautiful and we're having a good time. Thanks for praying for us!!!

Getting locked out, rockin' it Hillbilly style, helping move and so much more!!

I think I left off the last post on us being in the Missions Conference in Fircrest, Wa., so I'll start again in Tenino, Wa. The church there (Heritage Baptist Church, Pastor Russ Bowen) let us use their Missions Apartment. It's not quite finished, but it is very nice still. The church was great, they let us stay there for four days, gave us full rein of the church, gave us money to buy food, and even brought us some meals! We were very thankful to be able to stay there and meet the wonderful people.

I did have an experience though, and I've told a few people this. It'll be the short version. Because I had fallen asleep during the movie we watched while we ate dinner, I could not sleep Friday night (Sept. 26th), so I was messing around on the computer. The girls woke up screaming and crying for their blankets and I told them that if they stopped crying, I'd go get their blankets from the van! They finally stopped so I got ready to go down to the van. I thought about waking up Caleb, but decided not to. I thought about taking my cell phone, but decided I wouldn't need it.

When I got to the front door, I stuck a pamphlet in the door like I did last time I went outside, so it wouldn't lock. Well, it decided to lock anyway!! I was stuck outside, at 10pm, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere. Like a good Kasprick woman, I decided to ignore the problem and keep going about my business (this is what us Kasprick women do best, you know). I got the blankets but when I got back to the door, it was still locked! I went around the church, in the pitch black dark, imagining rapists and serial killers lurking in the dark, and checked all the doors. All locked. I ended up sitting and soemtimes sleeping in the van until 1am! I eventually drove to a gas station praying that someone would have a cell phone (since calling Caleb would be long distance, Oklahoma number) but the man working there not only didn't have a cell phone, but was seriously offended that I would suggest that he might have one! Welcome to Washington. Thankfully when I drove back, Caleb had woken up and decided to find out where I was, so he let me in, I cried and bawled my eyes out, and we went to bed. It was very traumatic and very frightening! It sounds so funny now, but it was scary!!

The rest of the week was uneventful, except for the grocery store lady thinking I was trying to rip off the church and giving us a lecture about stealing and check cashing. Whatever lady!! We drove back to Josh's on Monday, my birthday. I was in a bad mood because I was getting really carsick, the GPS wasn't working right, and my salad that I got from Wendy's was not good. But we made it fine, and we were happy to be back "home" for a while.

Wednesday (Oct.1st) we went to a church in Hillsboro, Wa. and everyone there was really nice! They have a dinner before church every Wednesday and they had some good stuff! I never thought I'd have that good of homemade fried chicken in the NW. The service was, well, something else! That Pastor was from NC and his daughter and son-in-law went to the church also. They had a bass guitar, a synthesizer-type thing (that makes the wha-wha-twang sound), a tambourine, electric guitar and marachas! It was pretty exciting. The kids covered their ears the entire song service and refused to sing, lol! Noah was supposed to say his verses, but wouldn't, so now he has to say them this Sunday or he doesn't get credit for them (1 Cor. 10:1-12). I met a lady, Diana, who lost her husband suddenly last week, and is really struggling. She says she can't sleep at night and is struggling with depression. I can imagine! So please keep her in your prayers.

Right now we're at Rick's house in The Dalles, Or. Rick just accepted the Pastor position at Bethhaven Baptist Church in Midwest City, OK so they're packing and doing repairs. Caleb is tiling the master bathroom, and I'm just trying to do what I can, when I can. I can't do much because it's all sorting and packing, and I don't know what gets kept, packed or thrown out! But I figure I can sweep (lots of wood floors) and clean the kitchen! We're going to be at Rick's current church in the morning and then at Caleb's Uncle James's church tomorrow night, in Tigard, Or.

Next week we're in the Home Missions Conference in Yakima, Wa. It should be exciting, we've heard a lot about it, and we're hoping to get more meetings set up because of it. We're still having a great time, and God's still blessing us!! Thanks for reading again.