Our First Visitor

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This last year has contained many "firsts" for the Silvey clan.  These last couple of weeks have been no exception.  Our first Christmas away from extended family, New Year's in a foreign country, and our first visitor all helped shape this year's holiday season.  We were SO EXCITED to be able to host our first visitor, Remington Couts, over the Christmas Break.   I think it was a good trip for Remi - but I think it was even better for our us.  It gave us a piece of the U.S.  We were able to talk about home quite a bit and remember some good memories of the recent past.  We threw Remi into our schedule and adopted her for a week or so.
 Remi arrived on Christmas Eve ready to retire to the nearest bed.  Since it was around noon the day she got here, we gave her some coffee and made her stay up until at least 6pm.  That evening, we left Remi to sleep at our house while our family had a great time at a Christmas Eve party with another family here at Mercy.  We were so excited to spend some time with friends, and they were sweet to include our family in their celebration.  On Christmas Day, we woke up early and opened up our stockings and gifts.  We had our traditional breakfast and spent some time playing with all the new toys.  One major highlight of the day was attending our church's Christmas Production.  It was very similar to what our church in the states does every year, and it reminded me so much of home.  Willow spent much of her time in the production dancing and singing with the music.

After that - it was time to get busy putting Remi to work.  While Salem had a two week break from many of the responsibilities at the clinic, she still was scheduled for several birth shifts.  Salem had a great time showing Remi what a midwife does and including her in the activities at the clinic.  Remi volunteered and helped with 4 birth room shifts, a prenatal clinic day shadowing Salem, and was able to spend some time with other midwifes and volunteers here.  Remi saw two babies delivered - one of those being with Salem, and she even got to do a home visit to a Filipino family who had just lost a child.  As many of you may already know, childbirth is the #1 cause of death in the developing world.  Over 500,000 women die every year as a result of childbirth.  That is about one woman every minute!  While the clinic here is substantially making a difference to decrease that rate in our area, tragedies still happen.  Remi was able to go visit a family that had just lost a baby and encourage them.  We are so proud of Remi and what God is doing in her life.  We had a great time visiting with her about serious and non-serious things.  Thank you, Remi for sacrificing your Christmas Break to explore God's purpose and spend the holidays with us.  You are a blessing!

We also took some time as a family just having fun and creating some new Christmas traditions.  We took a day trip up to the mountains, which included some fishing, horse-back riding, and some other fun activities for the kids.  By the way - as you will see in the pics below, we caught 14 fish in 30 minutes...with a bamboo pole.  We also spent New Year's Eve (also my birthday) and New Year's Day at the beach.  We all thought that it was ironic that I spent my birthday last year skiing in -26 degree temperatures with our youth group, and this year at the beach in my swimsuit.  It was definitely a new tradition, but might be one worth repeating.

Thank you once again for all the support and prayers throughout this last year.  We are overwhelmed to hear so many amazing stories of what God is doing in your lives, and we are so blessed to have you be part of our journey.  We especially thank all those who sent us Christmas cards in the mail.  You will never know how amazing it feels to see some familiar faces and read your letters.  God bless all of you in 2012!  We hope you enjoy the slideshow below.

Christmas / New Year's Slideshow

Pictured above:
- Caleb and Isaac helping pack food bags to give out at the clinic
- Christmas morning at the Silvey house
- Welcome baby Jhavie - a newborn on Salem and Remi's shift together (Baby #1 for Remi)
- Remi eating Filipino foods (Durian - fruit with spikes; Halo-halo - a crazy Filipino dessert; fish...fried with eyeballs and fins attached)
- Remi pictured with the family during a home visit
- Fun in the mountains and at the beach
- Volunteers wearing the stethoscopes donated by a Life Group in Perryton - THANK YOU!!!  They were much needed.
- Last picture: Remi pictured with her second baby she saw delivered at the clinic