The Ostertag's

2011-11-23T18:47:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

2011-11-23T18:45:00.000-06:00

We had a prayer retreat with our team up in the mountains. We had a great time. It was so refreshing and spiritually renewing.

2011-11-23T18:43:00.001-06:00

The top picture is a sweet missionary cousin. The girls have a blast with all of their missionary cousins.

2011-11-23T18:40:00.001-06:00

The kids and men did the obstacle course. Matt, you are falling a little behind! (top picture)

2011-11-23T18:34:00.000-06:00

2011-11-23T18:30:00.000-06:00

Here is a short video of the Pan American Games work. We want to thank each of you for your prayers during this time. Many were reach and many now know what is more valuable than the Gold.

2011-09-14T14:21:00.001-05:00

We went to a birthday party of another family here. Most everyone went horseback riding. I was the photographer. Kaitlyn, you are going the wrong way!

2011-09-14T14:19:00.001-05:00

Mckenzie finally lost her top tooth! The new one is already growing in! It had been loose for days.

2011-09-14T14:17:00.001-05:00

The girls first day of homeschool.

2011-09-14T13:38:00.002-05:00

We had our annual meeting. Matt and Kaitlyn played Donkey Polo. They had a lot of fun. Poor donkeys!

2011-09-14T13:35:00.001-05:00

There was a big bonfire at our meeting and the girls had fun roasting marshmallows with their frineds.

2011-07-12T11:53:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July! We had a BBQ with our ¨M¨family here and played Baseball, Volleyball, Washers, and rented a trampoline. It was a great day!

2011-07-12T11:52:00.001-05:00

The kids had a lot of fun together and painted their faces with marker. Mckenzie and Matthew enjoyed playing and eating chips together.

2011-07-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

2011-07-12T11:43:00.001-05:00

Kaitlyn is advancing to the next level in gymnastics and Mckenzie is doing great in her swimming classes. She is no longer afraid of the water.

2011-07-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

Matt´s mom, sister, and aunt came to visit us for almost 2 weeks. We had a blast!

2011-07-12T11:36:00.001-05:00

We did a lot of shopping! We went to the flower market and bought lots of fresh flowers very cheap! We also went to the candy stores. The ladies couldn´t believe the size of the pinatas.

2011-07-12T11:34:00.000-05:00

We did relax a little and took a nice boat ride. We also got our nails done very cheap!

2011-07-12T11:30:00.001-05:00

We teach a Bible Study to kids once a month at a feeding center. It is such a blessing to teach and love on the kids.

2011-04-19T15:16:00.002-05:00

We went to Rincon de Guayabitos for a relaxing vacation. It is only 3 hours from Guadalajara. We had so much fun! We came back very relaxed! The first picture is a view from our balcony. It is so pretty!

2011-04-19T15:09:00.003-05:00

Matt loved buying shrimp and fish on the beach. Mckenzie was not too fond of it as you can see. So, Matt did a lot of the cooking for us. He even made me a crepe cake for my birthday. It was delicious! They surprised me with some jewelry too. I had a wonderful birthday!

2011-04-19T15:04:00.000-05:00

We had all kinds of fun at the beach.

2011-04-19T15:00:00.003-05:00

Kaitlyn and Mckenzie immediately made friends in the pool. Mckenzie was trying to learn how to do a cannonball. She was getting pretty good.

2011-04-19T14:54:00.006-05:00

Kaitlyn just recently had a gymnastics competition. In one of these pictures, her coach is talking to her giving her some advice. She participated in 4 different events. She got a trophy because she scored the highest out of level 1 and level 2. Way to go Kaitlyn!

Watch video of the competition below.

You can also watch a larger video at the following link.
http://youtu.be/Bl7TvErHx5k

2011-04-19T14:51:00.001-05:00

It is very hot here already. Matt and the girls were cooling off washing the van.

2011-04-19T14:46:00.001-05:00

This is where Cinnamon likes to sleep during school. We have a reading corner in our room and she likes to be a part of it!

2011-04-19T14:37:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures from one of the ministries we are involved in. We help at a kid´s club on Saturday mornings. The girls love playing with the other kids. Matt is doing an experiment called the chemical cross. I am doing a paint talk on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

2011-03-12T21:36:00.000-06:00

The girls are enjoying their new outfits we got from the states.

2011-03-12T21:35:00.000-06:00

2011-03-12T21:32:00.000-06:00

2011-03-12T21:24:00.000-06:00

We went to the zoo the other day. It is always a lot of fun!

2011-03-12T21:20:00.000-06:00

Kaitlyn is really enjoying her gymnastics class. She has a competition on April 1. Mckenzie loves her jazz class. She can burn some energy.

2011-01-29T18:51:00.003-06:00

Mckenzie and Kaitlyn have a blast with Avery and Ashlyn. They are like 2 little "mommies" to them.

2011-01-29T18:50:00.000-06:00

Little Miss Diva!!

2011-01-29T18:49:00.000-06:00

Kaitlyn is having fun!!

2011-01-29T18:48:00.001-06:00

Mckenzie, do you have enough bows in your hair?

2011-01-29T18:37:00.000-06:00

Mckenzie, Cooper, and Avery were getting Kaitlyn all "fancy"! Looking good Kaitlyn!

2010-12-22T23:54:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. Don't forget that Jesus is the reason for the season so lets celebrate His great gift to us this year.

2010-12-22T22:00:00.003-06:00

Mckenzie's Birthday Party

Mckenzie had a great birthday party back on September 26. She was able to invite several friends and cousins to her party this year and Kandi made her a special Zuzu hamster cake. God truly blessed us as a family when he brought Mckenzie to us 7 years ago.

2010-12-22T21:55:00.000-06:00

Mckenzie got to have 2 birthday parties, one in Missouri and one in Kansas. She was very excited to have a special cake and to celebrate with her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandma.

2010-12-22T21:44:00.001-06:00

A Little Fall Fun in the States!

The girls loved to play in the fall leaves before we left to head back to Mexico. That is one of those things that they miss since we really don't really have a fall or fall leaves.

2010-12-22T21:37:00.001-06:00

Back in Mexico

Once we got back to Mexico we found some pretty cold weather. It has been in the upper 30's. That may not sound cold to most of you but without heat and or insulation in the walls it is pretty cold.

2010-12-22T20:34:00.003-06:00

A Winter Adventure

in Guadalajara, Mexico

About a week ago we got to go and enjoy a little winter adventure at our local mall. They went all out and really made it feel like winter. The girls had fun just being kids.

2010-12-22T20:26:00.002-06:00

During our winter adventure the girls got to go sledding. Even in mid 50's all you need is a little blown snow, a wooden ramp and a couple of inner tubes and you have a snow sledding race. Now that was fun wasn't girls!

2010-12-22T20:24:00.001-06:00

During our winter adventure we got to make a snowman. Who would have thought a snowman in Guadalajara, Mexico!

2010-12-22T20:22:00.000-06:00

We even made a gingerbread house.

2010-12-22T19:49:00.001-06:00

Kaitlyn`s Birthday Party

Kaitlyn had a great time at her birthday party. We went out for pizza, games and yes Kandi made another one of her fantastic cakes. Katilyn decided she was getting to grown up for a theme cake so they went simpler on the outside but the inside was over the top. Kaitlyn is very excited about being in the double digits (10). However mom and dad are not so excited about a daughter in the double digits, but we are thankful that God has blessed us with her for the last 10 years.

2010-09-20T22:15:00.001-05:00

Mckenzie lost her first tooth!

2010-09-20T22:08:00.001-05:00

Matt and I went hiking one day. It was a lot of fun! We got rained on though!

2010-09-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

Matt had the great privilege of baptizing Kaitlyn. What a special day!

2010-09-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

2010-09-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

Cousins having fun!

2010-09-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

Fun at the lake!!!

2010-09-20T21:45:00.000-05:00

Fun in the sun!

2010-09-20T21:39:00.000-05:00

We took a family trip to Disney World! We had a blast!

2010-09-20T21:26:00.001-05:00

Disney World here we come!!!

2010-09-20T21:17:00.001-05:00

Mckenzie caught her first fish in Grandpa's pond. Her Uncle Shannon mounted the fish for her. She is very proud of it!

2010-09-20T21:07:00.002-05:00

We have had a great summer while on stateside! We have done a lot of things! We have had a lot of fun times with family and friends. We also have had some great one on one times with the girls.

2010-02-02T22:53:00.001-06:00

It has become a tradition now to make a gingerbread house every year at Christmas. We had a great time doing it. The girls did a great job!

2010-02-02T22:51:00.001-06:00

As a family, we all made cookies and goodies to take around to various people for Christmas. We had a great time together making everything. The girls were troopers as we made about 140 cookies.

2010-02-02T22:45:00.002-06:00

Kaitlyn turned 9 in December. She had a fun birthday party. We had it at our house and rented an inflatable bounce house. This is very popular here and is also pretty inexpensive. Kaitlyn wanted a Barbie cake so I attempted to make one for the first time. She was very happy with it. Of course we had to have a piñata. It was a big hit.

2010-02-02T22:41:00.001-06:00

Kaitlyn and her music class at church had a concert before Christmas. Kaitlyn played her recorder and also sang some songs. They have all really improved since they first started the class.

2010-02-02T22:40:00.000-06:00

One sunny day, Kaitlyn and Mckenzie had fun in the backyard drawing themselves with chalk.

2010-02-02T22:34:00.002-06:00

A group of lady missionaries and I went to León for an international hot air balloon competition. There were over 100 balloons. It was really neat to see. We had a great time. It was very cold though.

2009-10-24T19:02:00.000-05:00

I was able to go on a retreat to Cancun with Women of the Harvest. It was such a blessing. They minister to women oversees working on the field. It was a wonderful time. I came back very rested and relaxed and renewed. It was wonderful getting to know other ladies doing the same thing we are doing.

2009-10-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

The Caribbean ocean is amazing! I have never seen such blue water! Pictures just don't do it justice! It was gorgeous! Unfortunately, it was kind of stormy and the ocean was very rough with big waves, so we couldn't enjoy getting in the water. But, we loved looking at it!

2009-10-24T18:55:00.000-05:00

About a week ago, I helped Becky (another missionary) with a women's retreat at their church. We had a wonderful time together! The ladies are precious. We enjoyed hearing from a National speak, playing a game, and eating tamales together. With some support from our church we were able to give each lady a little bottle of lotion as a gift. They really appreciated it! Thank you!

2009-10-24T18:52:00.000-05:00

Guadalajara has an October Festival every year. We went as a family one day. The girls enjoyed riding some of the rides. I think Mckenzie was a little nervous riding with Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn was out to get anyone in her way!

2009-10-24T18:48:00.000-05:00

Here is Kaitlyn and Mckenzie flying high on a bungee jump with a trampoline. They had a blast!

2009-10-24T12:24:00.002-05:00

Our church helped make it possible for our team in Guadalajara to have a prayer retreat for the weekend. It was such a blessing! We had a great time together and we all really bonded. We went to the mountains about 2 1/2 hours away. It was beautiful! It was also very cold! We had the fireplace going all weekend. A big change from our city! We came back very rested and relaxed. God really spoke to us during this time.

2009-10-24T12:19:00.001-05:00

We got to spend time in God's beautiful creation. It was beautiful! Matt and Susie raced through the obstacle course. The kids played so hard they crashed on the way home except for Kaitlyn. How sweet!!

2009-10-24T11:48:00.003-05:00

A team from our home church in Missouri came down to help us saturate and start Bible Studies. We had a great week! Lots of homes were open to us. It was such a blessing working with our friends from church.

2009-10-24T11:41:00.003-05:00

Mckenzie turned 6 on Sept. 26. We had a joint Birthday party with her friend Cooper. We had it at Carl's Jr. It was a lot of fun! Mckenzie's theme was Hannah Montanna and Cooper's theme was Spiderman. I made both of the cakes. It was a lot of fun. In the picture above, Mckenzie is with her friend from Gymnastics. Mckenzie also had a "mordita" It is a custom here to put their face in a part of their cake. Mckenzie was a trooper.

2009-10-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

Mckenzie enjoyed her Birthday very much!

2009-10-24T11:31:00.002-05:00

As you know, Piñatas are a very big custom in Mexico. So, we had one for Mckenzie and one for Cooper. The kids had a blast! They were on a sugar high for a week I think.

2009-10-24T11:22:00.003-05:00

We as a family decided to go ice skating at a rink here in Guadalajara. Well, Matt was a good sport. He had to watch us because they didn't have big enough skates for him.

2009-10-24T11:20:00.001-05:00

Just call me graceful! NOT!!!

2009-10-24T11:12:00.002-05:00

The girls had a blast! They flew around on the ice. They definitely didn't wait around for their mom!

2009-07-29T18:22:00.002-05:00

In June we finally took a much needed break and went to the beach for a long weekend. We went to Ricon de Guayabitos it is a beach close to Puerta de Vallarta but its more of a Mexican beach instead of a tourist beach. It was very nice and we enjoyed experiencing yet a new aspect of the Mexican culture.

2009-07-29T18:19:00.001-05:00

Just a quick picture of my cute girls.

2009-07-29T18:02:00.008-05:00

Kailtyn loved to swim and she even figured out how to do a hand stand under water along with a flip.

2009-07-29T17:31:00.010-05:00

Mckenzie found a new love for the water and swimming. She discovered how much fun it was to jump in and not be scared. Why to go Mckenzie.

2009-07-29T17:29:00.001-05:00

The girls were like fish I didn't think we would ever get them out of the water. They went from the pool the the beach and from the beach to the pool.

2009-07-29T17:25:00.002-05:00

There was always any number of vendors walking the beach trying to sell everything you could imagine.

2009-07-29T17:24:00.000-05:00

There was always unique food and drinks available from the vendors on the beach.

2009-07-29T17:19:00.002-05:00

It was so great each morning as we got up we could go to the beach and buy the fresh catch of the morning and enjoy a great lunch and dinner of seafood. Now that is my (Matt's) type of vacation.

2009-07-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

At the end of June we took the girls to a circus. They loved it but we were not allowed to take pictures inside. There were clowns, trapis artist, and even tigers. Wow it was so much fun.

2009-07-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

At the end of June Kaitlyn finished her msic classes at church and she had one final reciatal. She did great and we were very proud of her. She learned to play the recorder, read music and sing in a choir very well. She will start again in September.

2009-07-29T08:45:00.000-05:00

During the middle of July the Cassville youth team came to work with us and the national youth group from our church here. One of the first things we did was to have a team building exercise with the 2 youth groups. We paired them up Spanish speaker with an English speaker and made them run the Amazing Race game. It was fun watching them build relationships and figure out how to work around the language barrier.

2009-07-29T08:43:00.000-05:00

It was great to see the 2 teams get along. They ate together several times and they played games and sang together. They even taught each other several camp songs in their own languages. Wow God really was drawing brothers and sisters together during the week.

2009-07-29T08:42:00.000-05:00

On of the projects the teams worked on were VBSs in 2 different areas of the city. They all did a great job and the kids of the street real did get to see the love of Christ.

2009-07-29T08:41:00.000-05:00

As a part of the trip the teams held concerts tagerting the youth in 3 different areas of the city. The concerts were very successful in part to great music and some great skits that both teams preformed.

2009-07-29T08:40:00.000-05:00

By the end the two teams had made some real bonds and I know they will stay in touch and continue to remember each other and prayer for each other.

2009-07-29T08:39:00.000-05:00

This is a picutre of the training seminar we held last weekend with a few members of our national church. We will be uniting together to work in a new area.

2009-05-19T23:56:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of us sporting our beautiful, blue face masks. The only thing we are missing is the scrubs.

2009-05-19T22:55:00.002-05:00

Look at my flowers! We have a flower market here that is very cheap. Matt took our wedding picture and got flowers to make the same bouquet that was in our wedding. It was for our anniversary. He is so sweet!

2009-05-19T22:53:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of Matt and Jorge. Jorge is the 16 year old that Matt studies with and wants to be baptized. Matt and him have become good friends.

2009-05-19T22:50:00.002-05:00

Mexico celebrates El dia de Ninos. (Children's day). Here is Kaitlyn and Mckenzie singing with all the kids at church for this special day. They really enjoyed this. They sounded great!

2009-05-19T22:48:00.001-05:00

Matt made this fountain for our little back yard. It is so pretty! He did a great job! It is so relaxing to sit outside and hear the water.

2009-05-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

Easter morning.

The girls wanted matching dresses this year. They looked so pretty! Cinnamon also had her haircut before Easter and she got pink bows so they all matched!