Preschool Already? - 13 weeks

Here in Mexico school works a little differently than back home. In Canada preschool is optional, and kids have to start beginning with Kindergarten. Here, preschool is optional at age 3, but at age 4 is mandatory. So since Brooklyn will be turning 4 in May she has to go to school starting in August. We've kept our ears open for a couple months of different private schools (we said no quite quickly to the public schools) and after a couple meetings with 2 different schools, we registered her today at Colegio Bilingue Gestalte. A private bilingual school that offers preschool up to grade 3. I had a meeting with them on Friday and I was so impressed that I brought LeRoy and the girls again on Monday so they could see it too so we both knew what we were trying to decide on. Brooklyn did not want to leave. Here's a little about this school...preschool has it's own wing of the school and it's own playground area, all the teachers know and teach in english up until kindergarten, music class twice a week, gym twice a week, computer class twice a week, uniforms are a must, they stressed fun in every other sentence...much more I could probably say. We found it quite hard thinking of Brooklyn going to school, more people to entrust her to 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. One of the biggest reasons we picked this school was thinking of Brooklyn's personality. She is quiet, shy, does not give her trust easily (she still refuses to say hi and bye to new friends out here), and she's a timid little girl, all until she opens up and trusts you. Then she's a very different child. The environment we felt when we were at the school was the perfect kind to accept her and help her slowly open up. We are excited to have found a school for her, and to see her excitement about it, that we know will leave very fast when the time comes for her to realize we can't stay with her at school.

Another very exciting part of life is that today I am 13 weeks pregnant. We have hit the date I always look forward to. On Friday I had another appointment and another ultrasound. I love my monthly ultrasounds. I got to hear the heartbeat beating strong, and see baby's 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 eyes, and see it move around like crazy!!! So now in the next month LeRoy and I need to decide if we want to know if this baby is a boy or a girl:) Need to decide before my next appointment, in case the doctor can tell by then and just blurts it out. haha I think we are leaning towards finding out with this one. We are both just too eager to know if we'll have another precious little girl, or our first little man.

Some New Pics

To view the pics I am sure you know what to do by now:) They are in the January '10 album.

Mexican Lasagna

This is a post with an excellent recipe. I found it last year while in Texas and I have now made it for several people, and it's been a huge hit. I've even been told by a few they like it better than the traditional lasagna. And we love it too:) So I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you and you can all taste it, since I can't make it for everybody.

Mexican Lasagna

1 1/4 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups salsa
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 envelope taco seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
6 flour tortillas (10 inches)
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided (I have used other cheeses as well)
2 cups broken tortilla chips
Sour cream, sliced ripe olives, guacamole and chopped tomatoes, optional

In a large skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in salsa, beans, enchilada sauce, chilies, taco seasoning and pepper; heat through. Spread 1 cup sauce in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Layer with 2 tortillas, a third of the meat mixture and 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with tortilla chips. Bake 10-15 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with sour cream, olives, guacamole and tomatoes, if desired.

ENJOY!!!

Revoluciona: Youth Conference

If you read the previous post, you see that Faith has a subtle way of making sure that I sit down and write about this past weekend.
Well, it was quite a weekend, very eventful in many ways, and very difficult to put all of it into writing. I guess it would be a good idea to start at the beginning. The event was in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, TX. The CEMM(EMC) churches had invited many of the other churches in the area to attend the event, and this led to there being about 250 at Friday's session. The speaker was great, actually all were really solid, around the theme of revolutionizing your life, church, ministry and city. We were all really challenged by the conference, that if we didn't go home and do something about our faith, acting it out, well then we really haven't learnt anything.
I guess what stuck out to me was that we should be able to say, like Paul, 'if you want to see an example of Christ, look at me'.
As many of you have probably heard, while we were in a session, someone got shot basically in front of the church. That was kind of disturbing, but it taught me many things. One of them is that it is amazing to see the church in Juarez growing and gaining momentum despite the violence. Just seeing how everyone remained calm through it all, trusting and knowing that God takes care of his people. I was amazed and realized more and more, how lacking I am in faith, so often.

In the end, we will only know in time if the event had any impact. I hope and pray that it does. I already heard from some in our group how they were planning on putting their faith into action a lot more. "To the eternal King,immortal and invisible, the only God-to him be honor and glory forever and ever!Amen."

Home Again

We arrived home this evening, LeRoy dropped us girls off while he went to drop off the rest of the full van of guys, and we're looking forward to spending some time together again. LeRoy spent the last 3 days with 6 other guys, plus many more, at a young adults retreat in Juarez. He says overall it was a great weekend, I look forward to hearing more of what he learned. And the best part...God was with them, protected them, and they came home safe and sound. Us girls spent Friday shopping with Tara and her boys and then joined them in Delicias for the weekend. It was a great weekend, full of treating the kids and ourselves. It was a time to relax and enjoy girl time, even with the 4 kids. Now I have the girls in bed, and I await for my dear husband to return so we can spend the rest of the evening together. But I have a feeling he'll want to go to bed early...it was a very full weekend...including about 10-12 concerts in 1 1/2 days...just to give you an idea. I'm sure LeRoy will want to write more yet of his time out there, once he's had time to digest it all.

Hope you all had a great weekend:) We sure did!!

Excitement

With life here feeling very lonely it has been so nice to have some exciting things happen. We have had 2 random men show interest in studying the Bible with LeRoy. One of these men showed up in Vista Hermosa on Saturday asking us where he could find a church. A great conversation starter:) And he also told LeRoy he would love to get together and study the Bible. We don't know exactly where he lives in that area, but do know he only moved there a week ago from Juarez, so hopefully he will be walking around or in his front yard this afternoon while LeRoy has gone to search for him. This coming weekend is a young adults retreat in Juarez. LeRoy along with Dallas will be bringing some young men to this and there has been more interest in going than we initially though which brings more excitement. Hopefully there will still be at least one or 2 seats left in the van for me and the girls to catch a ride to Chihuahua and meet up with Tara for some shopping and the weekend at their house.

Growing excitement here at home is this baby. Brooklyn is getting even more excited, saying good morning to the baby every day. I can just imagine her enthusiasm when she can start feeling the baby kick and move around.

And excitement for future visitors became official yesterday. My parents will be spending close to 3 weeks with us beginning of March. I can hardly wait to see my mommy and daddy:)

We are looking forward to having a family from church over tonight for supper. I have yet to make New Years Cookies this year, so today I will make some, and let our company taste one of our traditions:) This morning the girls had their last Hepatitis needles, and they did so great. Emma clung to me and cried before and until it was over. Immediately after the needle she starts laughing and says "sucker, sucker". haha She already knows at this doctor she gets a sucker when it's over. And Brooklyn also amazed us and didn't scream at the top of her lungs which I was expecting. I like it when kids surprise us.

Yesterday we had a much needed outing with great friends. We met Dallas and Tara in Chihuahua for supper at an excellent fast food tacos restaurant with a nice big play structure for the kids. We ended up being there 2 1/2 hours. We are so thankful to have good friends out here with us. Someone to have a break with and a time of breathing away from ministry. But then there also comes the time to come home, and yesterday again we were hit with the loneliness, even when not leaving the country.

It's About Time

I know it's been far too long since you've heard anything from us here. Every time I sat down to write, my mind went blank. A lot of our feelings have been full of blankness this week. Feelings of loneliness, questioning why we don't just go home, and if we're actually doing what we're supposed to be doing while here. But then the feelings of excitement come with the work we are doing. So a lot of mixed emotions going on. I also was pretty excited last week when we saw snow:)


We had so much fun with LeRoy's family here. With 7 extra adults in the house it was chaos and fun. We met them in El Paso and spent a couple days there and then headed down here on Christmas Eve. It was nice to spend Christmas Day with family, and yet to be able to celebrate it here in our new home. In a way we could have a bit of our own traditions still then too. We started one this year with the girls that LeRoy's family grew up with. It's pretty much like stockings, but involves putting out bowls on the table Christmas Eve. I don't know how that German word is spelled, so I won't even try. The picture above is the girls looking what treats are all in their bowls. It was hard when the time came to say goodbye early Monday morning. After crying for awhile and realizing we were back to feeling lonely, we were thankful the girls let us sleep in a couple hours. The following picture is Emma with Uncle Nate.

This week we have tried to get back into our normal routine, do major cleanup, and try to get healthy. All that seemed to be difficult. LeRoy is still fighting a cold, which seemed to turn into a sinus infection yesterday. He's been miserable so he is at the doctor as I type. Today something hit me, maybe it's just pregnancy, but I'm not sure. I just feel I need to rest which is near impossible with a sick husband and 2 young kids.

My mind has come to a blank once again. There's been lots I what to write about, like....why I like snow so much, differences in culture we noticed over the holidays, and more that I just can't remember. But like I said, as soon as I sit to write on some topic, my mind goes blank. Maybe I can blame this on pregnancy. haha

Pics

I don't have energy to write lots now, but I have uploaded lots more pics to our Christmas Season '09 folder. So hope you enjoy those pictures:) LeRoy's family left first thing this morning so it's been a very quiet lonely day. We had a great week (almost a week) with them, and we wish it could have been longer. But we are grateful for the time and memories that we did and do have. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas:)

Merry Christmas!!!

First of all I need to answer a few of your questions about this baby thing:) We are very excited to be expecting baby #3 end of July. I have been feeling mostly alright, no morning sickness thankfully, just bad heartburn every evening, a pounding headache this last week, and I am tired ALL THE TIME!!! So, normal stuff, and I am very thankful I can function mostly the same, just a little slower these days.

This has been a crazy week. LeRoy has been busy organizing and preparing a special service for Christmas that we are having in Vista Hermosa on Sunday. He has prepared a mime he'll be doing as well as helping in a worship band to play some music. Tonight they are practicing. I have been busy at home, trying to get stuff ready for his family to come next week, but mostly taking care of sick kids. Brooklyn ended up having a throat infection which led to her needing antibiotics, and Emma has been fighting a cold, and small fever off and on. It looks like they are both getting better slowly, but we're exhausted with having sickness in the house.

We are so excited for tomorrow, and then Monday which starts off a week of being with family. Tomorrow after opening gifts with my family over Skype (I can hardly wait to watch the girls' excitement), we'll head to Delicias to celebrate 2 very special birthday boys, Carter & Logan. Then after a busy day on Sunday involving Christmas programs, we'll pack up and head to El Paso early Monday morning. LeRoy's parents are expected to arrive Monday evening, and the rest of the family will join us on Tuesday. Did I mention we are very excited? Christmas Eve will be spent getting Tourist Visas and the long drive back here to spend several days with them here. We're excited to show them where we are working, and just hang out and relax all together. It's going to be such a full house and we can hardly wait.

It'll probably be awhile before we blog again, and I know it's been awhile since we've blogged about much. Hopefully soon we can start writing more again, and have more ideas of what to write about. It seems I have been having a blank mind the last few weeks.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and pray that you will all feel God's peace amongst you as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Quote by Brooklyn

So, after giving some news to Brooklyn on the weekend, she comes up with this quote. I thought I'd share it with all of you, to let you in on some news:)

She says "God is thinking about if it's a boy or a girl".

New Pictures

I finally uploaded some new pictures. Click on the Pictures link at the top of this page, and then to Christmas Season '09. Enjoy:)

Skating

Well, I never thought I'd see the day that I would go skating here in Mexico. But I did. Dallas and I went on Monday morning. We were running errands, and had to drive right by the rink anyway. We were asked to "check it out" meaning, see what the hours were, and if it was worth going. Well, check it out we did. We had to see if the skates were sharp, and whether or not Mexican ice is similar to Canadian ice. It really is much the same!
The skates they rented to us were really dull, but they had a skate sharpener there, so we asked if they would sharpen them, and they did, and so that helped a lot. It was at about this point that I felt slightly guilty, knowing full well that Faith would've enjoyed it as well, so I had to call home and let her know what was going on. We hope to go sometime soon together as a family, but until then, Faith might be a little leery in sending me out to do errands again, for fear that I might just go skating.
L.

Feeling Special

Yesterday was my birthday and it was such a great day. It began with having french toast made for me for breakfast, with a match as a candle. Then after a couple of gifts we headed to church. That wasn't the best part as we are feeling frustrated with some people and aspects of our church. But once we cooled down afterward it was a great day again. Dallas & Tara were heading out this way for a couple days and they offered to watch the girls so we could go out ourselves. So we enjoyed a supper and movie (and we found out they have a very nice theatre, almost as nice as SilverCity). Then we got home in time to put the girls to bed and enjoy an evening with good friends. Definitely more fun than spending a birthday all by yourself.

Today we have our staff Christmas which we are all excited about. Our first Christmas party, and possibly the only one, so we will thoroughly enjoy it. Well, better get to helping these kids before they fall of these chairs:)

Emotional Week

This has been quite a week for various reasons. It began with the exciting news of a sibling getting engaged and continued through with decisions needing to be made if we could possibly go for the wedding, would them coming to visit for Christmas be cancelled, and all of us being sick. Hearing a sibling is engaged is one of the most exciting things we could hear about, but also brings feelings of fear and anxiousness when we don't know 100% if we can go. We are hoping and planning on it, but it still needs to be discussed a little more and prayed about.

Yes, we have all been sick this week with bad colds. Emma had it the worst, but thankfully she is so much better today. Both girls have slept more which has been nice, but also hard to see them that sick. Yesterday I was hit with the head cold and just wanted to crawl into bed. And now LeRoy has it bad, when the rest of us feel a little better he needs to crawl into bed. Hope we'll all be better soon.

We have also been trying to plan our first youth club for tomorrow in Vista Hermosa. So tomorrow we'll have kids' club at 4, youth club at 6, and then if LeRoy is feeling alright he'll head to our church for worship practice. But then on Sunday, after having lunch at church we'll come home, leave the kids with Dallas & Tara who are out for a couple days again, and go out on a date for my birthday. I'm so excited. I think we're going for supper and a movie but not 100% sure. And then on Monday we have our staff Christmas. Ahhhh, it'll be nice to hang out for fun with some friends/family again.

Now we will relax for the evening, and hopefully win the battle with these colds.

CONGRATS!!!

This past weekend was our busiest so far and with it being Thanksgiving weekend we were expecting it. Saturday we began helping in Anahuac at our church decorating and helping get things ready. In the afternoon we came home so Emma could sleep and so we could finish preparing for kids' club in Vista Hermosa. After kids' club we came home for a short break and then went back to Anahuac to have worship practice. Emma ended up getting a fever that evening after a day of having a runny nose. So it was nice to finally have the girls in bed at 11 that night.

Sunday began with more runny noses, and LeRoy headed to Ebenezer to attend their special Thanksgiving service. Since it was a special Sunday our church moved their service to 3. When LeRoy got back it was time for us to head to Anahuac for a bit more prep and enjoy our service. Then after we enjoyed an amazing meal of Tamales (one of our favorite Mexican foods, but haven't found anywhere to buy them yet). It was great because since it has begun to feel like the Christmas season, after having the first Advent Sunday, it felt like a family gathering. Which we needed, we've been missing home lots.

But it was so nice to come home, and know we could relax all evening. We ended up spending the evening on Skype with some of LeRoy's family after hearing extremely exciting news. LeRoy's brother Joash is now engaged (the first sibling of ours to get married) to Tracey.

CONGRATULATIONS JOASH & TRACEY!!!

We are trying to wait until we hear the set date for the wedding before we start thinking about what we are going to do. Brooklyn was quite confused as to why all of a sudden she now could say Auntie Tracey, so it took a bit of explaining. We'll see at Christmas, when they are all here, if she has caught on.

Today we set up our Christmas tree, I chocolate coated some pretzels, and tonight we're watching a Christmas movie. A perfect day for it since it's just dreary with rain all day. And poor Emma is not feeling great at all. She has slept a lot, we sure hope it won't get much worse. She has a runny nose, congestion, and a gross cough. Thankfully when she sleeps, there is no cough so she gets a break from it. This morning Brooklyn and I were both sneezing and coughing a bit too, hope that doesn't develop into anything.

Peace Amongst the Struggles

Today was a very hard day for me. Wishing we could just be home in Steinbach, LeRoy off at work, and us girls having a "normal" day, or at least what used to be normal. Going for coffee with mom or girlfriends, walking to get the mail, shopping at SuperStore. All things that I miss so much. But amidst today's struggles, I still had a sense of peace that right now this is where we are suppose to be. God has brought us here for a reason. I am still so blessed.

I also realize that while I could be comparing my life to others' that I think are better at the moment, I'm not. I look back and remember when I would constantly compare my life with someone else's. Wishing I was where they are, wishing I had what they had, and wishing I could travel like they do. Yes it is still a struggle, I am human of course. But to be honest, I don't compare nearly as much as I used to, and for me I feel accomplished in that area. I am not meaning to rub it in if it's a struggle for you. I understand, like I said, I still struggle with it too. I just want to share with you that I am happy for those who can be where they are, have what they have, and travel like they do. God has chosen to bless them in those areas, and God has chosen to bless me in other areas. Even though we can't see family and friends nearly as much as we would like to, we have Skype and much easier contact with people than was possible years ago, which to us is a HUGE blessing. And we know we will still see each other again when the time comes. I am thankful too that the rest of our families are living close together or with each other. Even though they miss us horribly, they still have each other close.

And to end with something that will hopefully make you laugh....
Carter and Emma were playing with the cat this past weekend, giggling while hovering over her. Suddenly the cat was screeching abnormally. I went over to give the cat a break but found blood dripping from her tail. It seemed that one of the kids must have bitten her tail. It was so gross but we have to just laugh about it...now that the kids aren't sick. Maybe something else happened, but what else could it have been?

Weekend with Friends

This past weekend, while the guys went to the Pastor's Retreat, Tara and the boys came over so we weren't all alone. It was so nice to have some girl time once the kids were all in bed, and hang out with friends that we are completely comfortable with. Here is E with her always expressive face.


And B with Logan doing what she loves to do best. She can't get enough of him.

LeRoy's Gone

This week has been a busy one again, but mostly busy at home, getting stuff ready for kids' club and sunday school. Monday we also headed to Chihuahua to have a prayer meeting lunch with our staff. A nice short break, and change of scenery. And on Wednesday us girls were invited to a birthday party so we went there. During that time LeRoy began a ministry he will be continuing and we are praying it is accepted warmly. He began walking door to door, handing out Bible studies from the book of John. He gives the Gospel of John along with it so they can read what they are supposed to. Not extremely many people were home on the streets he started with, but there were a handful among the bunch that even seemed excited about it, as if they have been searching for something. His nerves were all over the place but God gave him the courage to begin. He plans on going back to those houses next week. If they have finished the first study, he'll give them the second. And on that will go until they have finished all the studies. There are close to 15 studies in total I think. So we will see how many people will go to the end. Or even begin this.

This morning at 8 LeRoy left to attend the Pastor's retreat. It is for couples, but we didn't feel comfortable enough leaving the girls with anyone here yet for that long. So he went and us girls are at home. I will be leading Kids' club later this afternoon by myself, as well as sunday school tomorrow morning. But thankfully we don't have to stay here alone. Later afternoon Tara and the boys will be joining us for the weekend as Dallas heads off to the retreat as well. We're looking forward to a supper out, and then once the kids are in bed, a girls only evening including a chick flick of course. It'll be a nice little break from the normal....what is normal?

Fun with Food

The other day we made crepes, and we seem to always have too much fun with what we put on them. Definitely not the healthiest meal in our household. But this time they also turned into faces.


And this is one of the girls' favorites snacks. Cucumber caterpillars. It seems that the trick of making food into animals or such, works for our girls. Now we'll have to try out other fruit & veggies into pictures. One of the only ways our kids will nicely eat the healthy stuff.

3 year old conversation

It seems that B has picked up a few of my lines, including this one.

LeRoy was on the computer and both girls were in the office with him. E was trying to show him something, which he was unaware of. B suddenly says "LeRoy look at your child".

Getting My Butt Out the Door

God gave me the strength to get myself out the door yesterday, walk the 20 steps to our neighbors house, and bring her some muffins. This was one of the ladies that I have strongly felt that I need to connect with. They will be moving to another house at the end of the year, but hopefully we can continue to connect even then. Somehow, when I finally went there, it seemed so much easier than I thought it would be. She has been trying to sew curtains for us, but her machine has been broken for about a month. She feels so bad she offered to take me to another lady she knows that sews. So later today me and her will go there. Another chance to connect with her. Also, an even bigger, longer commitment with her will be at least one hour every week of tutoring. She was so excited to hear LeRoy would be willing to tutor her son (age 11ish we think) in English (he started learning English 3 years ago with another couple from Steinbach), and in return she will tutor me in Spanish:) This is a little scary, but we are very excited to be able to do this swap with them. They are definitely not closed to us, knowing we are Christians, and even seem open to hearing about God. Please pray for this family with us, that we can build a strong friendship with them, and be open about where we stand in our Faith. Her "husband" we have met once, and he is very nice and willing to help with anything we may need, but is very closed to hearing about Christ. He left the room when his wife asked to hear LeRoy's testimony. So that gives you a glimpse as to where they stand. Thank you for praying for me to have the courage to go, and make this connection. God blessed us by allowing this connection to continue with tutoring times and we pray those can be fruitful and fun times.

pics

Just added a few new pics of the girls under the album "November '09". Click on the pictures link at the top of the page to view.

#16 finally pops through

E has had a missing tooth right up front and bottom until now. For some reason this tooth, that normally is one of the first 8 decided to until after all the eye teeth, and 1st year molars. But thankfully after up and down painful times for her, it finally popped through a couple days ago. Now we await for her 2 year molars. Hopefully it goes as easy as her big sister's did. And I was going to upload some pics here, but it seems we haven't taken very many in the last couple weeks. So I guess that'll have to wait.

It's Not Catscratch disease afterall

So we did a little more research, and after hearing about a friend's experience in the past, we learned that it's ringworm we have. So we looked at what "at home" medication you can use, rather than have to go to the doctor, and it turns out we actually even have some. What are the chances of that. So I guess tomorrow we'll start with that. Hope the girls willingly let us put it on them. B had another spot show up, so we'll see what they look like tomorrow morning. Needless to say we're bringing our cat somewhere to get her system cleaned out. Pray that we don't get sick with this all and that it can clear up quickly.

Potty Training & Catscratch Disease...Not Related

E is in panties and is telling us when she has to go bathroom. She hasn't peed in her diaper or panties, during the day, for like 4 days now. And she's not even 22 months yet. I just can't believe that she is one step closer to being a BIG girl. So we are excited how she is improving. We had almost given up for a bit, didn't seem like she was catching on. But then LeRoy tried putting her on the regular toilet, without any training seat, and ever since she's loved it. I'm scared she's going to fall in, but it works for her. So, I guess we'll put the training seat away:( Every kid trains different I guess.

Now for the unrelated Catscratch disease that it seems like the girls and myself have a bit of. Yes, it comes from our kitten. Apparently, LeRoy researched it, that it is very common in kittens born in summer. And when you are scratched or bitten, you can get it. It can involve colds, feeling a bit sick, and bite looking marks on you. So the girls have colds (if it's related we don't know) and E has 7 marks on her face and neck, B has one dead center on her forehead and I have one on my arm. Nothing too serious right now, but it kinda makes us think...is the cat worth it? Or it's all flea bites, not too sure. None the less we don't feel terribly sick which we're thankful for.

LeRoy did great with his sermon yesterday, thanks to all who prayed for him. He was hardly nervous and was quite relaxed. Didn't feel like he had to rush through it, and even had to cut some out. And my first Sunday School class went well too, a little bit harried with B being a bit sick, but it all ended great. Today is a day working around the house for us all, went out for lunch for a break, and are having some friends over for supper.

15 KIDS

Thanks to all who prayed for our kids' club ministry this past week. We had 15 kids show up today, with LeRoy's help of inviting them:) We were very encouraged with this, and they seemed excited to come back.

Business

No blogging all week usually means we're busy and when we do have time, we are tired. That is how this past week was. LeRoy is preaching tomorrow for the first time, so he has been busy making sure he is ready. I am teaching kids' Sunday School tomorrow for the first time, so I have been busy making sure I am ready for that. Add to all that some baseball playing with kids in Vista Hermosa, bible study, visitation, breakfast meeting, prayer evening, kids' club this afternoon, and worship practice tonight. We are a little tired. But I have managed to fit in a couple naps for myself with B on those days we knew we'd be out late. B is fighting a cold, E is being potty trained and teething, and LeRoy, today only so far, is fighting something in his stomach. But even with everything, it was a very good week.

After my bible study that I attend in Vista Hermosa, I felt a strong pull to one particular woman that I feel I am supposed to connect with. She also has a 3 year old girl, which will hopefully make things easier for me. I am terrified to step out and go to her house. She is at the point where she already has made a decision to follow Christ in the past week, or will be soon. We pray she will be. So I really need to visit her, but it is not my gift to evangelize, and yet here I am. Please pray I will have the courage to just go to her house. I have also had a strong pulling to our neighbor lady who we have only met a few times, but she is sewing curtains for us. From the last time we talked, she would love her son to continue learning English, and she has done some Spanish tutoring in the past. We are curious if she would be interested in doing a swap with us, where she would tutor me, and LeRoy would tutor her son. But first I have to get my butt out the door again and visit her. In our past conversations she does seem willing to hear about God so we know she is not closed toward us on that subject. So I have a feeling God will be doing a lot of tugging on my arm this coming week.

Also please pray for LeRoy as he preaches tomorrow morning. That his nerves will not be present and that he will enjoy this experience. He is preaching in our church, so he'll have familiar faces in front of him.

Prayer Letter

We just sent out our new prayer letter. If you didn't receive it, but would like to, let us know.

Crazy Kids

The girls were just hyper before bed, after having coke for supper, and ice cream for dessert. They were playing and laughing together, and we couldn't get them to settle down so we just went with it and all were laughing and having a great old time. Then B was about to attack her sister once again, seeing E was already in bed. She was eying me while giggling, knowing I knew what she was thinking. I say to her "don't even think about it". And with her whole body shaking with giggles, she looks at me and says "i am". I love my girls.

This Morning's Conversation

I found Brooklyn in the play/spare room with LeRoy's Bible. She was quietly playing something so I was curious.

F - "What are doing?"

B - "I'm having a Bible Study."

F - "what are you reading?"

B - "about praising God."

F - "what are you praising God for?"

B - "that I am so happy."

Psalm 121

I love how the first 2 verses sounds in Spanish.

"A las montanas levanto mis ojos; de donde ha de venir mi ayuda?
Mi ayuda proviene del SENOR, creador del cielo y de la tierra."

And in English it is this....

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Missing Home

This past Sunday we loaded up the van and left for church in Chihuahua. From there we headed north to El Paso. We were feeling like we needed a break and had our shopping list ready. It turned out to be more fun that I could have hoped for. I was thinking, with how long our shopping list was, the girls would not have any fun which would make it miserable for us. But they had so much fun. B was in need of clothes and shoes. She had a blast trying different stuff on, and didn't get tired of it all afternoon. I think it was the first shopping day that we have ever had where all of us enjoyed ourselves. Thankfully we found almost everything we needed and got some Christmas shopping done:) We thought it wouldn't be fair to expect the girls to do everything we wanted to do, so we went swimming one morning, and found that it isn't as common here as it is back in Steinbach. We found an indoor pool with sprinklers and such for kids, and we had it all to ourselves, all for only $6. We will definitely be doing that again. Oh, and of course we had to go for some McD's for lunch.

But there comes a time for the short holiday to end, and we have to come "home". Yes, it was harder coming back. We are missing home like crazy these days, and it would be far too easy to pack a suitcase and head north. I'm asking myself today, "is this really where I am suppose to be?" "Life felt so much easier a year ago back in Steinbach when I could call up anyone familiar to come over, or go out". Yes life is different now for us. Within our house we do feel at home and are so thankful for that. With various people we also feel like we have friends, but still not nearly as close as those back home. And family....well we have our church family here who have been awesome, but it's still not family. I am so thankful we have a great group of staff here, they are our family out here.

Please remember us in your prayers as we would love to be there with all of you. We are homesick, and it takes a lot to admit that. It's hard being vulnerable, and I am slowly learning that it's not healthy to keep it all in. So tonight, I will be soaking my feet to relax (and to keep warm) and thinking about my purpose in this life. How do I be a wife, mom, homemaker, friend, and server of God all at the same time??? My first response is...isn't that exactly what I did when living in Steinbach? But then I think...why is it so much harder here? That is the question I am trying to figure out for myself. I sure hope I can find the answer soon. It sure is easier being vulnerable when typing.

Oh, and guess what? We woke up to it snowing yesterday!!! Can't you just imagine my excitement? I almost started Christmas baking and decorating. haha

Best 150 pesos I spent all week

I actually just realized that the title doesn't hold true. It should rather read all day, because apparently the flowers were a hit. Anyway, what I was going to say was that I was wanting to put window tint on the one window in our house that doesn't face a tree or a wall. So, how are you going to find someone to do something like that? Well, we have yellow pages too, but first you have to realize that if put a spanish ending on the word tint, you end up with tinta, which means ink. Sooo, that's not the trick.
Anyway, we had a guy come down and tint our window yesterday, and now I can finally have the curtains open in the office and look out and see what's happening. Before I felt all cooped up as if I were in a cage, and now I feel much freer. For those of you that know me, know that I have to have all the windows open and be able to look out at all times. Maybe it comes from my years working at Legacy, where there weren't any windows. Anyways, I'm just stalling from my sermon prep, so I better get back to it. Chao

L.

A Beautiful Day

LeRoy decided to take the girls to the park for the morning so I had a quieter morning to study. While they were gone I realized I was getting what I have dreamed about for a LONG time. The house quiet and all to myself. After doing a little bit of studying, I had the urge to bake. So I cranked up the Christmas music and baked one of my Grandma's recipes. Carrot cookies with orange juice icing. Oh yummy, too bad I can't eat one today. Then right around lunch time LeRoy and the girls returned. But, only to drop off these beautiful flowers for me. They were leaving me once again to go out for lunch. Yippee!!! I know many of you understand why I would be so happy. More time for ME!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH LEROY AND MY 2 PRINCESSES!!


To update you on how I am feeling, I am MUCH better. Thankfully this last attack of kidney stones did not last as long as last year. Thank you for your prayers.

Sick Day

So the ladies retreat turned out differently for me, as I had to come home due to pain with my kidneys. So it seems that once again I have kidney stones, but this is not as extreme as last year thankfully, but still really not fun at all. So I came home last night to deal with it at home rather than with 67 other ladies and trying not to keep some of them up at night. Woke up after an hour of sleep to find LeRoy shivering and running a fever. Then this afternoon B fell asleep in Leroy's lap with kids playing around her. So abnormal we think she's fighting something too. So needless to say, today has and will continue to be a tv/movie day and try to relax before another week begins. It will be a busy week getting stuff prepared for ministry as well as getting ready for El Paso next week. We're going for 3 days for a big shopping trip to get tons of stuff that is way cheaper there. It's expensive living in Mexico. Anyway, that's our day, hope all of yours is going better.

Coca

So here in Mexico it isn't coke, but coca. Tonight we told the girls we were going to go buy some coca so we had some with our pizza when our friends came over.

B - "lets make some"

Me - "how do we make coca?"

B- without hesitation she says "with baking soda" with an "of course" attitude.

Our First Pet..other than fish

Friends of ours had kittens they were giving away, and we had talked about getting a pet to have for the girls. So once I heard of these kittens, I jumped at the chance at trying to convince LeRoy. And he willingly gave in. So we have now had our kitten for 2 days and we are all enjoying her, except for all her crying, but it's understandable since she's lonely and getting used to eating and drinking, and as she is hopefully learning why she is being hit when she pees on the floor and not in her litter box. We are all learning:) Oh, and her name is Zafi, short for Zafiro, which means Sapphire in English. We thought it was cute. So here is a pic of her.

Tomorrow morning I leave for the CEMM annual women's retreat. I am really looking forward to it as it's a chance to connect with the women of our church more, and it'll feel like a break from my kids, which I feel I need. Sometimes we need the chance to miss them, and I haven't had that in MONTHS. This weekend will be tiring as it means listening to Spanish ALL day for 2 days. Not a bad thing, just exhausting when language is a struggle. LeRoy will be home with the girls, and with Dallas & his boys. I'm sure they will have lots of fun. I'm so thankful I don't have to be a mom that worries about the kids when dad is in charge. I won't have to think of them at all.

And I am in the middle of posting some new pics to the October album. So check back and click on the link at the top of this page if you want to see them.

20 Months

B was 20 months old when E was born, and now E is just over 20 months. So I have been looking back as to how things have changed. And I love looking at pics to see how much the girls look like each other, or how different they are. So here are some pics to do that:)

20 months apart

Actually playing sometimes together.

B at 20 months old.

E at 20 months

Thanksgiving

Today we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our fellow co-workers at Dallas & Tara's place here in Delicias. We came already on Sunday to attend their church, as well as spend some time away from our home, and be with friends. We really needed the break as we have been feeling quite down missing home, and feelings of wondering what we are doing here. We heard these feelings would come after a few months once the newness all wore off. Many things are still exciting, but those feelings of questioning and homesickness have begun. But at the same time, since it's Thanksgiving, it's a time of remembering all we are thankful for. My 2 beautiful girls, a wonderful husband who continually tries to understand me, amazing friends, 2 loving families that continually support us unconditionally, Mexican people who have welcomed us as their own, and so much more. At times it's hard to remember all we're thankful for.

And as for Thanksgiving food....I'm sorry to all moms and grandma's who I always took for granted to make the big meal. IT IS SO MUCH WORK!!! And I didn't even have to make sure we had everything we needed. Thanks Tara for it all!!!

Our Life This Week

It feels as though this week has been a busy one. On Sunday we attended a different church than Anahuac, as we want to meet all the churches that are apart of CEMM. So we attended La Reforma here in Cuauhtemoc and enjoyed a more upbeat service than we're used to. It was a nice change but also nerveracking meeting more new people. Afterwards we enjoyed a lunch with Walter & Chepina Renpenning, the couple here that are helping us chose what exactly we should do in Vista Hermosa. A wonderful couple that we look forward to getting to know more in the future.

Mondays are our "days off" so this week we took the day to tour Anahuac and try to find the lake. We found it, but it doesn't look the nicest at all cause of polution, and apparently there is no way to actually get to it. So we just drove, grabbed some yummy Tortas and Burritos for lunch, and then drove to Chihuahua to spend the afternoon and supper with Dallas & Tara. We had some pictures I was hoping to share but it looks like our camera card is now shot. We found a park to relax in, and then had supper at Applebee's. A big treat for me and it tasted much the same as back home.

Tuesday I spent the day at my friend Sylvia's place visiting with her and another one of her friends, and the girls were able to play with other girls once again. It seems B clicks better with kids older than her, so she got along better with 5 year old Ahnika rather than almost 3 year old Janelle. And baby Gigi, at only 5 months, is fun for us all. LeRoy spent the day in a quiet house working and studying, and then came and joined us all for supper.

We came home to the news that a young boy, age 11, was killed in a car accident and he had very close family in our church. LeRoy had met this boy Monday night at a soccer game, so it was shocking and hard news to hear. His immediate family are not Believers, but did have some strong influence from his cousin and his wife who are friends of our in church. It has hit them all very hard. So, with this happening, we have had our first experience in finding out how things go when someone dies. He passed away on Tuesday, and he was already burried today. Here in Mexico they do not spend the costs to prepare the body so they try and have the body burried within 2 days. Sometimes it's withing 24 hrs, depending if there is family coming from far away. Today was the day to have services and have him burried. LeRoy went for the 11:00 service today, I went later to give my condolencses (but couldn't find anyone I recognized), and then at 4 was the burial. There were some differences from a funeral in Canada: more black is worn, services and burial are alot quicker due to not preparing the body, still an open casket but with glass over the body, and I am sure there are more differences, but since I wasn't there I wouldn't know what.

And because of all this today, we have an unexpected free evening as our church prayer meeting was cancelled with everyone being together all day already. So LeRoy and B are now playing UNO and waiting for me to come join them, and soon E will be in bed. B will be up a bit later today:( because she actually had a nap. Tomorrow we're going to do some visiting in Vista Hermosa to meet some familes there that Alvira wants us to meet, and make some more connections. We pray that the kids will come to kids' club on Saturday, and the moms will come to Bible Study for women next Wednesday.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving weekend, and enjoy your long weekend. We'll be heading to Dallas & Tara's place in Delicias on Sunday to spend a couple days meeting the church there, spend some time having fun in their city with them, and have Thanksgiving with all the staff. So we too will get our turkey (or chicken) and stuffing, and whatever else Tara is so wonderfully making for us all. I think it includes pumpkin pie. Oh so yummy.

Our Princesses

We have 2 princesses who are very different from each other. They both give us struggles with not knowing how to parent them many times, and they both give us joys and laughter as they daily learn new things.

Sometimes I think E's facial expressions describe who she is. I wish we could capture each one of her looks, but when they happen there isn't time to grab the camera. She tries to repeat absolutely everything we say, which is so precious, especially when she's repeating her prayers at bedtime. She now knows how her pray starts "Jesus, mommy, daddy, Brooklyn, Carter, Amen", with some more words, that she skips, that we help her with in between. I have now started calling her my bear. When she wakes up in the morning her hair resembles one, but more so for the fact that she is so cuddly and playful, and then next moment screaming in a temper. We have discovered that spanking does not help for this child of ours, but rather sit her in her room and ignore for a couple minutes until you no longer hear her. We even had to walk out of our first store because of a screaming child a week ago. She is not shy which has been a tremendous help with getting to know new people, and she's quite willing to learn Spanish since she wants to repeat everything. And here are some other facts about her: 15 teeth, 20 months old (the same age B was when E was born...CRAZY), LOVES food mostly between meals, loves anything Dora and has shown interest in potty training and peed in the potty for the first time tonight. A funny thing from today: when she does something she's not supposed to, we tend to say her name with the same tone every time. She has now begun saying her name in the exact same tone when she has done something, before we have the chance to. It's hilarious. And you can tell she has an older sister because she already knows what princesses are. She pointed one out to me in a store today, and when asked "where is my princess", she points to herself and says "me".


How do I describe B? I'm not sure. haha B has definitely struggled with being in a new culture, but mostly because she cannot communicate with our new friends. Yesterday she was playing with her friend Brandon from our church, and she was so excited he was coming over. She was jabbering away, and slowly getting more frustrated that he wasn't obeying what she was telling him to do. He's 6 too, so he may not care to play with her. Finally she yells "Brandon, stand beside me. We're married you have to stand beside me". I heard this while we were praying so I was silently laughing. It sounded cute. But later on we realized she really was getting frustrated because she couldn't say what she wanted. She understands tons of Spanish just hasn't gotten to the point of speaking it. So we are now making a point of speaking it more at home to her, and to each other so she hears it. B has grown up so much since we moved here, helping out a lot more, and now no more naps. Thankfully the no nap thing means we have a longer evening of quiet if we're at home. She has also just recently wanted to pick out all her own clothes and get dressed herself. So far that hasn't ended up with anything unpresentable so that's good. If we ask her in the right way she'll go and get dressed without complaining, and do whatever else we ask. That is only IF we ask her in the right way and she's in the right mood. But it is happening more often. We also are trying to get a few words of German into her here and there, words that are stuck in our brains too. So shveenarie (definitely not spelled right, but just sound it out) is her new word these days, and it sounds so funny coming out of a kid. Today at supper she dropped somthing and she says without hesitation "oh shveenarie". I'm sure her grandpa's are both proud at hearing that:) And some other facts: almost 3 1/2 years old, still big for her age, no longer has any curl left in her hair:(, usually does not eat very well unless between meals, loves crafty things and school, loves pretending anything but has to have her baby with her at all times, and she already is talking about how she wants anything princess for Christmas. I think my love for Christmas is already being passed on.

Now both of our princesses are in bed and sleeping, so it's time to being our date night. We have made a point to say that every Friday night is date night, even with that meaning the date is at home after the girls are in bed. So, tonight we're playing Carcassonne for a change, instead of watch a movie. If any of you have any new date ideas for home dates, please let us know, as it can get boring just always watching movies and playing games.

New pics

I now finished uploading the last of some pictures for September. Just click on the Pictures link at the top, and then on September to see them.

We'll Miss You Grandpa

Monday morning LeRoy's grandpa Siemens was released from his battle with cancer to go home to be with Jesus. We are happy that he is no longer suffering from the cancer, but it is still extremely hard to know he really is gone. When we visited him in June we knew we were saying our goodbyes for the last time, so we do feel we were able to say goodbye, even though that was a few months ago. It is slowly sinking in to us the reality of this, but it will take awhile since we're so far away. We wish we could be in La Crete with LeRoy's family, going through this with them and supporting mom, dad, and LeRoy's brothers in any way we can, but we have to do this despite the distance. We have decided not to go home for the funeral, that is just best for us to stay here, but our hearts ache to go. It sure makes us miss home more too.

This is this past June helping make firewood for the winter.

But we rest in the knowledge that Grandpa is with Jesus, and loved Him so much. Grandpa has left us a legacy and showed us his love for God and people. Please pray for grandma as she grieves the loss of her husband of 50 years. Please pray for mom and dad and the extended family as we all say goodbye to a dad, grandpa, and great-grandpa to our girls. And pray for us as we know we're the only family members that cannot be there this week, and try to support our family from a distance.

This is LeRoy's grandma and grandpa Siemens with Brooklyn when she was only 2 months old.

Field Trip

Yesterday was an off day, and so I didn't fulfill my promise to blog about why we went up north, but here we go. First of all we had a meeting in Jagueyes, where John and Lorna Wall minister in the Hillside church, which is part of the CME (conferencia de menoninitas evangelicas) that EMC is affiliated with. We spent the day in staff meetings, and in the evening we toured through a few of the colonies. We even saw the lights of the colony where my Grandpa Siemens was born. Someday we hope to visit the homestead there.

As a kid, when thinking about missionary life, I always thought it involved going down many dirt roads, fording rivers, and of course, getting stuck. Well....., most of the roads we traveled on were paved, but we did manage to ge Alvira F. stuck. (Apparently, the first time in 22yrs in MX that she's been stuck.) We gave her a hard time about that one.

On Tuesday we traveled out to a number of country churches, as well as the Santo Tomas camp, which is the picture I posted with the little cabin on it. Wow, what a view! The camp is owned by CEMM, and is used for youth camps as well as retreats. Faith is going out there October 18-19 for a ladies retreat for all the churches in CEMM. Please pray that many ladies would come out and be impacted by the sessions shared by Cathy Thiessen.

We also spent a large portion of the day with Juan Carlos and his wife Claudia, who are a missionary couple with CEMM, I believe this is a first, for CEMM to support their own missionary. They are sort of like circuit riding pastors, giving care to 4 churches. These include the town where EMC mission work among the Spanish began, Picacho. Also included are Santa Ana, Buena Vista, and San Juan, for those of you that might know the area. Most of these communities are small, laid back places.

For example, when we were in Picacho, Juan Carlos asked if we were interested in seeing where the EMC work began as a nursing clinic. The couple that lives there now were insistent on inviting us into their home, and when it seemed like we might not come in, he (Alfredo), one of the first believers in that church, went and closed his front gate so we couldn't get away. All in fun of course, but they really seemed to appreciate our visit.

It was really good to go up there and visit these areas so we have a better idea of what's going on. And I believe that good continued support is important with Juan Carlos and Claudia. Please pray for them, that they would be strengthened in the Lord to remain faithful and strong in the relationships they are building with the locals.

God as Creator

Here are a few snippets into the beautiful scenes that God has created. These were taken over the last few days as we traveled the rural areas where EMC's church planting work first began.


"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." Revelation 4:11

God as Creator part 2

Watch for a follow-up tomorrow about what we did up in Northern Mexico, and why we went.
L.

Sisters Bonding

Here is a video of our girls having fun before bedtime. They are playing so well together most of the time, and I am glad I remember to grab the video camera once in a while.

Mexico's Independance Day

One of Mexico's biggest day's of the year was yesterday, September 16, their Independance Day. Celebrations begin the night before around 11:00 with the priest/mayor/president ringing the bell in each city followed by a HUGE display of fireworks. We were able to enjoy fireworks in Anahuac with our church after a delicious Mexican meal. It was definitely a fireworks experience we would not get in Canada, and look forward to having again. We had look straight up above us to watch the show, as they were shot off about 200 feet away from us, and it was raining the remains of the fireworks. Everybody couldn't stop laughing, and especially enjoyed watching B with her hand over her head so nothing would fall in her hair (she did thoroughly enjoy it) and watching E soo scared she slowly fell asleep.

Then yesterday was a parade in downtown Cuauhtemoc that we enjoyed with my Uncle Ken and Tim Dyck. And thorought the whole day was still fireworks every once in awhile, and many huge bangs. The more noise the better. We were surprised to have actually slept during the night, as we had heard it is very noisy. But we were blessed with quiteness in our neigborhood.

Lots of the army was in the parade, making sure we all knew of their presence. We don't normally see them on a day to day basis here, but sure did yesterday. Even outside of the parade.

If I understand correctly this is the statue (a girl acting like the statue) that is on top of the parliament building in Chihuahua, kind of like the golden boy in Winnipeg.

And there were many bands of much the same thing.

I am just working on posting some more pictures to our picasa website, so feel free to check back to that in awhile.

Psalms 121:1,2

"I lift my eyes up to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."

This was the passage read in church this morning, and after reading the same one in a friend's update letter yesterday, I was really hit by it. God is the only One that can help us in every situation of life, making no difference if we need His help in little or big ways. God is everlasting, always there, right beside us. Praise the Lord. I am so thankful I can rest in His arms and know we will get through the times when we miss home, or feel like giving up with our Spanish, or feel like we are failing our kids. He will help us all the time. As we say, "God is Good. All the time."

To update you all on how I am feeling, those who got our update letter understand what I am talking about, I am much better. After talking with the doctor and having an extra of my lungs, everything looks normal and he didn't hear any sign of allergy either. So, I guess I have to admit that I feel a little dumb about going and making something of it. And I have to admit that the doctor says it is mostly like just nerves after this big change of lifestyle and country, and it's a mental thing. Very weird since I didn't think I felt that nervous or anxious. But now you all know, that all is well:)

Last night E and B were so excited to have Carter and Logan come and play, that while they were opening and closing our front gate door, E got her finger pinched and had the door closed on it. By the time I got to her she was screaming and her finger tip was half as thick as normal. All evening she was shaking it hurt so bad, and she is still not using her hand at all. We can barely touch her hand before she begins to cry. We are thankful that it is still bleeding, releasing pressure that was built up. But we are wondering if her finger tip was broken/crushed. I doubt they would do anything anyways so we haven't taken her in to the doctor. I doubt we'll need to, but it could have been even a little worse if her knuckle was pinched too. But you can pray for her, that she'll be relieved from that pain soon, and can start using her hand again.

This is our first week where we have blocked out different times of the week that will be "work times". Included in those times are study times for us both, attending a women's bible study (to hear more Spanish and make some connections in Vista Hermosa), have meetings with Tim Dyck and my Uncle Ken Zacharias (EMC Missions-they are down for the next 2 weeks for meetings), and meetings with the CEMM Directiva. And we have planned Friday for our "day off" family day. We are planning on heading to Chihuahua, about an hour drive, to see some sites there, do some shopping, and get away for the day.

Hope you all have a great week and until next time...Dios le bendiga. God Bless You.

Yummy in my tummy!!

Hmmmm, don't those look yummy? Despite the fact that we live in apple country with orchards all around us, we don't get to buy these apples in our stores. Apples are no cheaper than they are back home. So we were quite excited when our wonderful neighbor lady brought us half a crate full. Her husband hauls apples daily so we were able to benefit from it. So today my job was to clean them, chop them, and freeze most of them for baking in the future. Now we have lots for apple muffins, apple crisp, apple anything. And they are much tastier apples than what we can buy in the stores. Apparently there is one store that sells apples and apple juice by an orchard that is open to the public. So some day we'll go check that out too.

Yesterday morning we had a man at our door asking if we would have work for him. This is a rather common thing here, for people without regular work to go door to door and ask for help or food, or offer to work for money. Since it was during the time we were getting ready for church we told him to come back today. He was saying how everyone was saying "come back tomorrow" so we affirmed him that we were serious. We would have work for him if he came back. So this morning around 9:30 he began to clean up our small flower bed in the front which is full of rose bushes, and very poor grass. 3 hours later he was finished. We now have a nice flower bed without the bit of grass and more room to plant another plant:) At least that is what we're thinking. It was time to pay the man, and we have to think outside of our Canadian heads as to how much we should pay him for how long he worked. We end up paying him the equivalent to about 2 days minimum wage here, which works out to be about $10 (we think). So I guess that is an insight into a part of the Mexican life, very little pay. We told this man he could come back again another time, like in a few months, when the yard would need more work again.

We always heard that when it rains here, it pours. And now we can completely agree. Today was a sunny day, until the LOUD crack of thunder and the downpour came. And then because we're on a hill it's like a river. And then it was sunny again. And now the loudest cracks of thunder have once again begun with the pouring rain. We love the sound of it, most of the time. Thankfully our girls are not scared of it everytime. But when they are, I am reminded of how terrified I was of thunder as a little girl too. And now as I sit and type I feel like I am surrounded by a waterfall, it's so loud and beautiful. God is so good.

Today I was once again amazed at how fast our girls are growing up. E is constantly saying new things, copying her sister mostly, and continues to make us laugh. This morning while eating breakfast she began playing peek-a-boo. And until this morning she would just say "boo". But this morning as she pulled her hands away from her eyes she said "peep-a-boo". We were all laughing so hard cause it was just so adorable. And how she calls her sister "gookyn". Oh, so precious how 2 sisters can bond.

And did you know that it's only 108 days until Christmas? Let the fun begin:)

P.S. I have started a September folder of pics. Click on the link at the top.

Circus and Culture

As you can see we all went down to the local circus last night. They set up this huge tent right across from the grocery store we go to regularly, just a few blocks up from our house. It was quite an interesting affair, and the whole thing reminded me of some of the cultural changes we're experiencing. Just the other day Faith was mentioning to me that the culture shock we had heard about hadn't really set in. Well, for me yesterday was a day some of those things set in.

For one thing, we've heard this truck driving around this week, up and down the streets, blaring advertisements for the circus from the speakers on top of his truck. Vehicles driving around blaring ads is actually a fairly common thing for us. There were one of these trucks on the parking lot of the Soriana's store where we were shopping, so I asked the guy when the show was and how much it cost. Well, it turns out that the show only cost 10 pesos each (12 pesos to 1Cdn dollar). I was shocked at the price, and decided to buy tickets. Faith had often gone as a kid at the Winnipeg arena, but the kids and I had never been.

When we got into the tent, and as I was observing the setup of the circus, I realized that things are done a little differently here. Let's just say the safety regulations are a little different. Climbing up the rickety bleachers, hoping I wouldn't fall. Anyway the show started really well, and we all enjoyed it, especially B. There were clowns, an elephant, a bear, trapeze artists, and the world's smallest man, apparently, we didn't actually see him. That was the last act of the show and we left a little early because let's just say that it wasn't all "G" rated. We were also a bit surprised at the type of humor displayed, especially with little kids present. All in all it was still a good time, and I know B. will talk about it for a long time.

Friends

This week held some excitement with having Dallas & Tara come visit for a couple days. The kids were so excited to see each other again, and have someone to play with their age. They missed each other and had a blast. The kids seem to all be growing up so fast.

Uno..dos..tres..salta (jump)

Playing so quietly.

B loves her little buddy.

Today B had a few lines that just had to make me laugh but I only remember one of them. Here is how it went as I was chopping onions to put into my refried beans I was making.

B - "mommy what are you doing"
me - "chopping onions for the beans and it hurts my eyes"
B - "when I cut onions when I a mommy it hurt my eyes too"

I wish I remembered the one other line she had, something about us being silly parents or something. Maybe it will come back to me yet. E seems to be talking up a storm already, trying to repeat everything, and the last couple days has been very interested in the toilet. So I wonder if that means we need to start training her soon. As if I wasn't tired enough already.

Today was a productive day which included making Monster cookies with the girls. So here is a picture of that. And they sure tasted yummy.

This has definitely been an easier week for the girls as they seem to be more adjusted to a new home. They have been playing by themselves a lot more and with each other without too much fighting. A nice break for us. I'm sure there is more I have been wanting to share with you all, but just can't think of what. So there will be more to come as we continue on this new adventure.

New pics

Just click on the link to the top, and more pics have been added to our "August in Mexico". And more blogging will be coming soon:)