Happy Birthday, Dear Caroline!

This is your present from your dear sister, sending you happy birthdays from up North. From Iowa, to Kentucky, to Canada, people all over the world love you, sister, and we wish you the best of days today. You are so special, and we love and miss you!

From your cousin Heidi and honorary niece, Amaya in Lincoln, NE:
Caroline! I have so many memories with you! You have been such an encourgement in my life! I can remember layng in the hospital, being somewhat drugged, and seeing your beautiful face. I could NOT believe that you traveled two hours just to support me. Even though I was just laying there, Amay inside me still. You are so loyal and so caring for others. Today, you need to be selfish and take a “Caroline” day. It’s your Birthday! Have an AMAZING day Care! Know that Amaya an I love you and are praying for you! Happy Birthday!

From your cousin Anna at Truman State College in MO:
I love Caroline because she is hard-core! We have kayaked all the way
across clear lake and back because she is tough and likes to take on
challenges! Every time we kayak we have the best conversations because
Caroline is so personable, easy to talk to, and full of encouragement
and wisdom! I love her passion for missions and for serving others.

Anna and Jaime in Kentucky:
Caroline, remember the time we were at Impact in Des Moines. You, Me, Margee, and Crystal stayed in the same room. You woke up really early one morning and started singing “Naked Parade, Naked Parade!” at the top of your lungs. Margee thought it was funny and Crystal and I were so annoyed because you woke us up early! That was a really fun time! I miss you and hope you have a beautiful birthday.
Anna
Happy Birthday Caroline!! We love you!!

From Mitch and Karen in Canada:
Happy Birthday Caroline! We wish we could be with you to eat……whatever it is they eat in Honduras on birthdays! Well the Lord has you (and us) outside the good ‘ol US of A for His purpose and His glory. Our birthday prayer for you is that you continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and seek His will for your life day by day as you serve Him. Remember Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.” We love you as a daughter, and know that you are blessing others and being blessed as you serve the Lord in a foreign land. We look forward to a day when we can give you a big hug and talk about our adventures. Have a Groovy Birthday.
We Love You!! Mitch and Karen

From Jared, Tina, and Titus in Indianapolis:
Caroline…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We miss you and think about/pray for you often! So… we would love to think of a hilarious story to send your way, but instead we are going to be sentimental… thank goodness you aren’t Christina and can handle a little mushy stuff… haha. I hope you know by now that we absolutely adore you… you are honestly one of the most thoughtful, caring, loving, and selfless persons we know!!! You are always smiling and Jesus’ love is reflected so amazingly in you! You are like a little sister to us and we love you SO very much! We are planning on sending you something soon…. until then, have a marvelous birthday…
Love, Jared, Tina, and Titus

Crystal Becker in Des Moines, IA:
Happy Birthday Caroline!

I’ve been putting off writing a birthday note to you because I wanted to come up with some smart, memorable thing to say. But then I realized that you are the one who does that. You always have such insightful things to say. So I gave up trying to come up with something original… and I’m just going to speak from the heart.
You are a JOY Caroline Marie. Every time I see you that’s what I think. You bring joy to all those around you. It’s been such a joy for me to be able to know you the entire 24 years that you’ve been here at our temporary home. And I’ve seen God do such a might work in you throughout the years. You’ve always been the mature, insightful one… and I’ve been the dramatic and… well, the dramatic one. 🙂 And our bond is strong because of one little word: cousins. I’ve learned so many things from you over the years and I look forward to learning from you in the years to come. And I’m excited to share in all the joys that the Lord blesses us with.
Happy Birthday Care. I’ve included a picture of the Nichols cousins… and whenever I see it, it makes me smile. It’s my JOY to call you cousin and friend. And I take great joy praying for you daily.

I love you,
Crystal Minnie

From the Maakestad Family in Pella, IA
Dear Caroline,
How well I remember you as a toddler, with a china doll face and such a big heart. And you haven’t changed at all – you are still awesomely beautiful and so very caring that you are halfway around the world caring for kids. Please know that Aunt Sherry in Pella, Iowa, is very proud of you and I wish you a very blessed day on this your birthday. You are so precious and important, and you are loved by so many.

All our love,
Sherry, Mike, Hannah, Kirsten and Sara Jane

From Margee in Mexico:
I wish I had my pictures with me! There are so many photos and memories! One of my favorite pictures is of us lying in my bed when I had a very bad cold,drinking ice cream floats and being ridiculous. It always reminds me how much fun we had doing everything (which was usually nothing).
Happy Birthday!
Love, Margee

Aunt Jane in Atlantic, IA:
Caroline–
Sweet Caroline~! Just like the song–I hope you can sing your way through this day and remember that back in the USA there are alot of people that love you and are wishing you the VERY BEST on this your 24th birthday. Your testimony, your faith, and your ability to care and show that you care I’m sure are speaking VOLUMES as you are doing God’s work this year.
Hope you have a GREAT day and again, remember, we love you and miss you!
Aunt Jane

Mom and Dad in Lewis, IA:
Dear Caroline,
If you were here we would make a Caroline sandwich (like the picture) and hug you to death! But since you are in Honduras, you will have to get your new friends to do this for you and pretend it is from us!
We love you.
Mom and Dad
ps
If I could give you a birthday present in person, I would give you a flashlight to take on future adventures! ….and a Garmin…and some trail mix….and some hiking boots….and some Puma repellent!!!

From your friend, Amanda Hoye at Dordt College in Iowa:
Hi Caroline!
Just wanted to wish you happy birthday and say thank you for all you’ve done for me over the years. You’ve been such an amazing example for me and my sister! I am always surprised during camp to find that I get as much (or more) out of the speakers than the campers do! It was true this year, as always, and your message throughout the week reminded me how much I want to be involved in missions- even if it’s a mission to Atlantic, Iowa. Remember being my counselor, by any chance, at Bethany Camp about…oh, 5 years ago? I do, very well, because you were such an encouragement to me. All the late-night cabin talks…we were in the smaller lower room. I learned a lot that year, especially from you. You’re an incredible person, and I’ve been blessed by knowing you. I’m really excited to see where God continues to use you, because it’s going to be awesome! Happy birthday again, and I hope you enjoy your year!

In Christ,
Amanda H.

Grace from UC Davis, CA:

So when I thought of fun memories, I thought of our road-trip to “New
York.” And specifically, the “series of unfortunate events” that we
encountered when we decided to stop at Bob Evans…. dun dun dun! Between
you sliding off the road and almost hitting whatever that big thing
was, William losing his phone, and the crazy winter storm that we ventured
out into that was one of the craziest days I have ever experienced!
Happy Birthday Caroline! I love you!
Grace

Caroline,
Hope this makes you smile on your special day!
I am sure missing you on this day- wishing I could give you a big hug and an even bigger care package. But alas, I’m not on the ball enough to get a package ready a month ahead of time! So you can get excited for your gift that is to come, all these birthday greetings and more from the many people who love you, made into a hard bound book for you in Honduras. It’s called

Hugs to Honduras.

I love you, Sister!
Christina
PS- Maybe you should take a cue from when you were little and lost at the state fair- and some nice person brought you back to the fam b/c of a shirt that said your name. Might be nice for your next “lost” experience? A shirt with your name and where to return you to? 🙂