We hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a great New Year in 2015! We love you all in the Lord and God bless you!! With Care, The Rodrigues Family

We are just SO thrilled to welcome a new baby into our home next July 2015! Our children squealed with delight when we told them the news! Look up “The Rodrigues Family’s 12th Pregnancy Reveal” (via You Tube) to see how we revealed the exciting news to Jill’s Family! We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Our travels took us by Mayberrry (Mt. Airy), North Carolina. We are big fans of the “Andy Griffith Show” and we really enjoyed looking at all the reminiscent sites. This was the actual home that Andy Griffith was raised in.

This old “squad car” takes tourists around the town and shows them the sites. The driver happened to be a man that went to one of the churches that we had already been at. He had fun pretending to arrest Timothy for jaywalking – just like Barney used to…………smile.

We were all looking SO forward to that day and then the children AND David all got a stomach bug…………ugh! I had the honor and pleasure of serving the whole family that day. I even had to do the older girls hair and makeup………….they were just SO sick!

They were able to salvage enough strength to go into see the sites. They did NOT want to miss out on Mayberry! – FUN!

Gabriel

Floyd is actually still alive and is in his 90’s. He comes to the Barber Shop for short times each day. We were wishing that we could get Samuel’s hair cut there for his birthday for a special treat, but we got there too late and they were already closed.

This was our favorite place………the “replica” of the court room that they used in Hollywood.

David had fun pretending to lock his family in the jail…………smile.

But guess what, we escaped!!!

The Honorable Judge Timothy.

Wow! Aunt Bee sure had some juicy gossip!

The next church we were at (Sylvania Hills Baptist Church – Pastor Bailey) they had horse rides on their old fashioned Sunday. We had fun riding the horses! – This is Olivia.

Hannah

Tessie

Gabriel

Amy

Angie is expecting her 6th baby this January 2015.

I LOVE these ladies!!

 

Olivia holding Amy’s youngest baby – Garrett.

She kept wanting to give him kisses……….precious.

Then, after a few more visits to other churches, our travels led us to my sister Lisa (and her precious family’s) area. It was also great to see them!!

Cousins – Timothy with Levi & Joel

Girl cousins

Girls working hard on their school.

Happy children!

Tessie and Samuel.

Precious moment during our travel time. Olivia with our dog – Snuggles. She sure is “snuggly”………….smile.

God bless you all and thank you for viewing our new picture post!

We had a GREAT time at the last and final “Shindig” that Mike and Debi Pearl and their children have put on for the last 3 years. We were thrilled that we had the honor of attending this year! It was a blessing! This is David with Nathan Pearl.

Jill with Zephyr Pearl.

Friends

This is Bobbie Sue. She is Debi Pearl’s personal assistant. Bobbie Sue has been a GREAT personal encouragement to our family and we are thankful to have become friends with her! God bless your upcoming marriage, Bobbie Sue!! We love you!

The Girls and Jill posing with DEAR Debi Pearl!!

Michael Pearl doing his “knife” show………amazing!!

Jill with Shalom (Pearl) Brand.

Shalom was only 3 weeks away from her due date with her 5th child.

It was at this “Christian Resort / Conference Center in the Blue Ridge – Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Check out NGJ’s website to see more pictures…………including our family singing.

Another thing that I (Jill) had the honor of doing was to plan and direct (along with another couple) the teens – ages 13 to 17 yrs. It was fun to do it for 4 nights in a row. As you can see, we averaged between 150 and 200 teens each night. What a blessing!!!

More teens from a dear family with 10 children that we got to know well while we were there.

Below are some more FUN things that our family was able to do while at the Shindig.

This was some of our children’s first time to miniature golf. They had a BLAST!!

We all had fun playing checkers at this coffee shop while enjoying various cakes and yummy drinks.

Giggling Kaylee.

Good bye, Shindig!!

We had a “baby dedication to the Lord” for little Sadie. Our Pastor Bartlett did a GREAT job in presenting and officiating this event. Our prayer is that Sadie is saved as soon as she is old enough to understand and that she will serve Jesus her whole life long!!

Our Pastor reading a letter he wrote to Sadie…….special!

Sadie was thrilled with her new and very first Bible!

I almost always cry at my babies’ dedications to the Lord. We are so thankful for the children that God has given us!

Prayer

David and Pastor shaking hands.

Before we left the area to travel full-time, we had a blessed time visiting with various friends and many tears shed as we said good-bye. This is my dear Homeschooling Mom friend – Wendy Summers – that was one of our only neighbors near by that homeschooled.

Wendy is an awesome “Pottery Maker”. She has given me some priceless, handmade items and also helped our children make each of their own bowls. Notice the beautiful handiwork on her shelf behind us!

David and James – (Wendy’s Husband).

My boys with the Summers Boys – Paul and John. (Thanks for having us over for that delicious dinner, Wendy! We love you and will miss you!)

As our journey began, we started off with some amazing services at Pastor Cochran’s Church in West Virginia. It was an honor to do the music at this meeting along with Dr. Bobby Roberson and Pastor Darrell Cox from North Carolina. It was an honor to get to know all of these people along with this dear church family!

Some great men of God……….especially that man in brown!!……..smile.

David and I with Dr. Bobby Roberson.

Well, Little Garrett Eliel Foster was born on June 13, 2014 and I promised you pictures of him to come. Finally, HERE THEY ARE! He sure is a cutie! Kevin and Amy are so pleased to have their 6th baby who is now their second son! God is so GOOD!!

One proud Aunt!!

Please, LET ME HOLD HIM!!

Precious

Amy with Garrett and Me (Jill) with 7 month Sadie. We LOVE our babies!!

My beautiful sister!

We had fun each gathering our “baby” (each of our youngest children) and snapping shots all together. Lisa with 9 yr. old Uriah. Me with 7 month Sadie. Amy with 3 week old Garrett. Angie with the 3 month old baby in her womb!!

Jordan and Angie are thrilled about their new baby to come – due in January of 2015.

The guys all had fun target practicing with their many guns. My brother in law Kevin is a bit Patriot in this way! Let’s keep our country free!!

Kevin is a GREAT at hitting his target!!

Jordan

What a gun!!

David and Joel

My sweet Mom worked so hard all day and provided SO MANY fun games for the children and even some for the adults. She is such a kind, hard working person! I love you, Ma!!

The next day we had a fun celebration for Kaylee’s 13th birthday! Happy 13th, honey!!

Special friends and sisters and one cousin (Louisa Foster). FUN!!

I just can’t seem to ever give them enough kisses!!

Having fun.

HI!!

Sleeping princess

Sleepy tight!

On June 5,2014, we took the children to Richmond, Virginia to the Homeschool Convention. This year, they offered a music competition. Our children learned so much and they all did a GREAT job!!

Nurie sang beautifully the song I wrote – “Make Me a Vessel to Glorify My King”.

Timothy played powerfully on his trumpet and got a great score from one of the VERY professional judges!

Renee sang like a bird. She was the youngest contestant for the vocal department.

They all got great scores but did not make it to the top 3 contestants. It was fun though and a learning experience.

We had a nest on our back porch. The day the birds “flew from the nest” we were able to hold them. They would hop right on our finger and were so tame!

These are our new family pictures – taken for our new prayer cards.

Baby Sadie – 6 months

Olivia – 2 years

Hannah – 5 1/2 years

Tessie – almost 7 years

Gabriel – 8 years

Samuel – 9 1/2 years

Phillip – almost 11 years

Renee – 12 years

Kaylee- almost 13 years

Timothy – 14 years

Nurie – 15 years

And………the love story continues……..smile.

We were so honored when Evangelist Dr. Tom Williams and his dear wife Jeannine called us when they were traveling and passing by our area. They brought Mexican food to our house for dinner and we had so much fun fellowshipping with them!!

Dr. Williams is one of David’s best “mentors”. We respect their influence in our lives!

I can truly say that Jeannine is one of my best friends. She encourages me and prays for me probably more than any person on this earth! I am so thankful for her!!

Our children LOVE the Williams. We were all sad to say goodbye.

Goodbye, loved ones!

We were also honored to have Evangelist (& musician) Byron Foxx come to our house for dinner. He gave us some valuable “tips” as to how to make our music even better!!

Hannah receiving an award from “Venture Club” at our wonderful church!!

I had the honor of getting asked to speak at a couple of ladies’ meetings during this “Mother’s Day” season. One of the the themes was “Bee Cheerful”!

My cousin Jessica (Noyes) Orbach married Chris Orbach on May 17, 2014. We are happy for them. They had their wedding in a rustic barn! It was very unique.

Yummy Dinner in the “Country Barn”!!

David and I enjoyed making a “date” a couple of days before the wedding. It was in Lancaster, Pa ~ Amish country. We had a great time together. Especially because I had just been gone for a week to NY for my Grandfather’s death and funeral. It helped me through my time of grief.

Little Sadie was with us due to her still nursing full-time.

My parents and Jordan and Angie were also at the wedding (along with many other dear extended family members).

We are sooo IN LOVE!!!…….smile

GUESS WHAT?? Jordan & Angie just found out they are expecting their 6th baby!!! We are so happy for them! Our God is much better to us than we deserve!!

Our entire family visited Grandpa Lupole in New York in February 2014. He was such a kind, loving, gentle man and was dedicated to his Lord.  He will be missed!!

Grandpa fought in World War II and he was on the front lines. He even had the honor but heart-wrenching jobs of opening up the gates to one of the concentration camps in Germany.

I had the honor of being by my Grandpa’s side when he passed into Eternity on May 9, 2014. It seemed like a sacred and precious moment! I praise God that my Grandpa was a Christian and he is now in Heaven!

My Mom with her 2 brothers and one nephew (left – Ken) (far right – Larry) and deceased brother Jack’s son – Jason.  They loved their dad ( Jason’s grandpa) and will miss him!!  Uncle Ken was a great “care-taker” to Grandpa until his passing.

My dear parents!! Below are lots more pictures of family and people at the funeral. Even though Grandpa was 94 years when he died, we had a VERY nice service for him in honor of the great life he lived!

Grandpa’s gravesite service was very special due to him being a veteran.

I love you, Grandpa, and miss you!! This life will not be the same without you! I look so forward to reuniting with you in Heaven someday!! RIP Love, Jill & Family

We visited a dear church in Canton, Ohio with Pastor Butterfield and his dear wife. We enjoyed making new friends and ministering through our music and David preaching.

Mrs. Butterfield

Every church we go to our children and I make up our own little orchestra. However, when the church already has an existing orchestra, we enjoy playing along with fellow musicians……smile.

On our way home from that church, we stopped at the “Pro Football Hall of Fame”. It was neat for my guys to see!!

Phillip is a devoted Cowboys fan and David (along with the other 3 boys) are devoted Redskins Fans! You can imagine the fun that David & Phillip have on “picking” on each other about their teams. It has really created a fun, close bond between Dad and Phillip!

Outside the building, they have a football field that you can have fun playing on. David and the boys enjoyed that!

We are so thankful for these opportunities along the way as we travel to serve the Lord. It makes it extra special and enjoyable for the children.

It is so hard to believe that our oldest (Nurie) is now 15 years!! She is such a tremendous blessing in our home that words alone just cannot express our joy! She is a tremendous example to all of her younger siblings!

Nurie and I are so incredibly close!!

We were thrilled to have my (Jill’s) entire family come for Easter (Resurrection Sunday) weekend!!  My Mom made this cute cake.

It was my sister Angie’s first time to see and hold our little Sadie……..special!

With all of the grandchildren (including 2 “foster” children) there were 28 children total! It made for a busy but joyous weekend!  (Hint:  this picture does not include all of the children…..smile).

I admire my parents diligence in raising me and my 3 sisters. Due to them training us in the way that we should go, none of us have ever gone astray into the world…………all praise be to Jesus Our Lord……His precepts and promises work and are TRUE!!

Lisa is the oldest sister of the 4 of us girls. She and Dennis have 5 children of their own and are ministering to 2 other children in their home through “foster care”.

Next is me (Jill) with David and our 11 children………hugs.

Then, there is the oldest identical twin sister – Amy – who is married to Kevin and they have 5 children and are expecting their 6th in June.

Then the youngest is Angie (younger than Amy by 3 minutes). She and Jordan have 5 children and are eagerly awaiting God to open their womb and bless them with another!

After church on Sunday, we had fun going out to eat at a Mexican restaurant that had a deal for children 12 yrs. and under to eat for only .99 cents! It saved us all LOTS of money!!

We hope that you all had a great Resurrection Sunday…….rejoicing in the fact that JESUS IS ALIVE and raised from the dead over 2,000 years ago……..conquering death and Satan!! We rejoice in the hope in Eternal Life through our trust in Jesus Christ our Lord as our Saviour!! Have you asked Him into your heart today to save you from your sin? Have a blessed day, dear ones!! Love, The Rodrigues Family

The Children were given a love offering by a dear church!! So, David and I took them to the Cultural / Science Center in Charleston, WV. They had a great time pretending to “gold-mine”; discover all about geysers, hurricanes, and other natural wonders. They watched a show in the Planetarium and learned a lot more about our Solar System. They also got to watch an IMAX video on beavers. That was so interesting! We were thankful for this special family day and great educational field trip for our children!! They had a GREAT time.

Nurie

Timothy

Kaylee

Renee

Phillip

Samuel

Gabriel

Tessie

Hannah

Olivia

Later that day, we got pizza and went home and celebrated Timothy’s 14th birthday! He is such a blessing in our home!! Whenever I want something fixed, he is right there to do it for me! He aims to please. I cannot believe it was 14 years ago that I had him!

We love you, Timothy!

The next week, our family left for 2 Missions’ Conferences in PA. One of the churches brought us to the battlefield of Gettysburg. This battle was the turning point in 1863 of the Civil War. It was very educational for our children. Phillip bought a blue Union hat in the gift shop and Samuel bought a gray Confederate hat. When we got home that week, they made little USA and Confederate Flags and went out in our back field and had a miniature Civil War!!…….smile. They certainly learn more when it’s a hands-on experience.

The “eternal” flame.

The Pastor asked us to stand up here and sing a Patriotic song. We sang our “National Anthem”.

One of the original farms when the war was fought on this battlefield. In one of the barns, you can actually see a cannonball hole in the outside wall.

Surrender!!

The type of guns used in this war.

Timothy sitting next to Joel Araiza on the church bus.

The next day, Pastor Fleck and his dear wife – Debbie – took David and some of our older children to Hershey Park to see how chocolate was made……ymm!! I stayed back at the hotel to let the little ones rest and swim. Everyone had fun! The Missions’ Conferences also went great! We were blessed by this giving church!