Holiday Madness and a Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Ryan and I were so glad to be able to see many family and friends in Texas over Thanksgiving. We prefer to refer to it as our "Tour de Texas." We were able to see friends in Dallas, visit with my dad's side of the family in Houston and spend time with my bio dad and grandparents in Nederland before taking the 14 hour trip back to Indiana in one day! It was a whirlwind of a trip but very worth it.

We spent our first official Christmas alone this year. Since it was our year to be with the Doyle's this year and they wanted to celebrate the weekend before that left Ryan and I at home on the actual Christmas. I decided to do some traditional things and ended up going a little overboard (Ryan would agree). We only ate about a quarter of the food I made. We finished our shopping for each other on Christmas Eve. I have never shopped on Christmas Eve before.....and I will never do it again! You know those pictures of New York with all the people walking down the street and you can't see the sidewalk it is so crowded? Well, that was Walmart! I was just hoping not to get trampled. We decided to go to a Christmas Eve Service of a big church in town. It was nice for Ryan to attend a service instead of lead it. We pretty much spent the rest of the time looking at Christmas lights, drinking hot drinks, watching Christmas movies and just relaxing. It was a good couple of days at home with each other and our animals.

We were able to come to my mom's (in Georgia) on Sunday and are now enjoying a week of relaxation with my mom, spet dad, sister, brother in law, brother and my new soon to be sister in law Shannon. Yep, Dustin is engaged! We thought it would never come. My soon to be sister in law is great. She is sweet, fun to be around and most of all she is in love with my little brother, which is saying something (j/j bubba).

I hope you have all survived the holiday's also. I am always a little sad when Christmas but I know that the Lord has great plans for this year and I pray He renews all our hearts with a fire for Him. I hope we can all be motivated to share His love with others this year. I know that is our prayer for the Doyle house. I love you all very much and wish you a Happy New Year!

Hungary Mission Trip

Written by Teah
For those of you who don't know, Ryan and I went on a mission trip to Hungary in late October. Many of you contributed through your prayers and financial support. I can't tell you enough how much we truely appreciate all the support people showed. We were humbled and amazed at the response from everyone.
The trip was both exhausting and fulfilling but definitly life changing.

We arrived in Budapest on a Friday afternoon but to our bodies it was like 3AM! We were exhausted to say the least. We were told that the best way to avoid bad jet lag was to avoid napping so we had to stay awake until that night. You would have thought this was hard but with the beautiful campus to look at and Paul and Jill to see it wasn't that hard.

The campus was amazing! It is located on acers of woodlands which are used as a youth camp during the summer months. The property is the home of an ancient castle which is the main building of the school. This is were we stayed. (I know, right!) The castel along with the gate house and a water tower on the property are registered historical structures in Hungary. Also on campus are dorms for the students, offices, the lecture hall (where they hold classes, chapel and church services) and a wide array of sport fields and structures.


We spent the first couple of days spending time with Paul and Jill, getting accustomed to the campus and touring Budapest. Classes were the first half of the day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Ryan did so well. I was so proud of him. He is seriously a great teacher and I can't wait to see how God uses this gift in the future. The students really responded to his lessons and his down to earth personality. I only wish we could have been there longer to get to know the students better. This is a picture of Ryan's class.


During the evenings we were able to fellowship with different ministry couples. This was my favorite part. It was so refreshing to be able to share experiences and support each other. We don't have any ministry friends that we get to spend time with so we soaked it up. It was especially neat to hear the older couples who have been in ministry for a long time. On Tuesday and Wednesday night we were able to stay the night with our friends Szandra and Laci Kadar and their three children. Szandra and Laci were our neighbors at DTS when we lived in student housing our last year. Szandra and I were able to catch up and encourage each other.
I was also thankful to be able to spend lots of time getting to know Jill (Pauls wife)more. She is such an amazing woman. She spent hours cooking for us and hosting lots of us in her home while we were there. She is an amazing cook and she has made an adorable home for her and Paul out of a small historic village cottage that is totally awesome!


After the mission trip was over we went on a road trip with Paul and Jill to Prague. We took to the European roadways to visit this beautiful city which I had heard so many wonderful things about. What I found was more amazing then I ever could have dreamed. I literally feel in love with this city. There was sooooooooo much history. As I walked and tried to take everything a weird feeling came over me that could only be explained as time. I loved the architecture, the food, the roads (which were all cobble stone paved), and the shopping. It was truly an experience of a lifetime and the best news is that Ryan promised to take me back one day for a longer trip. Below you can see Prague castle behind us in the first picture, the outdoor market

Welcome!

Hey guys,
Welsomce to our new Blog. it may take me a little while to get it looking good but I will work as much as I can. There is much going on in our family including a recent mission trip, the business of the holiday season, and our continueing quest to have children. I am currently at my grandparents in Nederland ,Texas so I will have to wait until later to get everyone caught up. Until then I hope everyones holiday season has gotten started and is going well. Remember to slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy the season and what it really means, the birth of our most perfect savior, Jesus. Hope you will spend much time watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate, looking at Christmas lights and just being with friends and family. I love you all and pray that God gives you peace from all lifes problems to do all these things.