Flying Kites

2008-12-15T23:53:00.002-05:00

Here's a bunch of shots from our trip to Florida for Thanksgiving. Thanks to some friends of ours, we had a condo at our disposal right down the street from Disney World. So we made the most of an opportunity and spent an amazing day at Magic Kingdom and two at Sea World. It was a sweet trip. Lydia was in heaven amongst the princesses and the same for Steve with Shamu:)

Maybe another time when it's not midnight, I'll write more comments.

Steve seriously loved shamu. It was so funny. Here he is awaiting the start of the show. No that's not Cole. It's some other kid that wanted to be in the splash zone.

More Fall Fun before the Winter comes!

2008-11-17T16:16:00.007-05:00

We didn't get to carve pumpkins last year since they are super expensive in Mexico so this was essentially Lydia's first time. Every year I debate how much halloween to participate in and this year I used the analogy I heard a friend say about how before we knew Jesus we were a mess inside. And when He comes into our life, He cleans us out and lives in us so that His light can shine into the world through us! It's fun and the kids love carving pumpkins, even though I usually end up doing most of it!

Lydia picked out a white pumpkin. We don't know why.

I haven't figured out yet why they insist on making these faces for pictures.

We love our trees. I think we are the only people ever to be bummed about a tree falling because it makes our leaf pile in the yard smaller! But it was noticably smaller this year but it didn't lessen the fun we had jumping in the pile, wrestling and burying people.

We collected leaves and made them into crafts of course! They are hanging all over our windows.

Sometimes we feel like the Griswolds. Especially when Clark, er Steve, takes on these great ideas of do it yourself projects... like cutting off the dead limbs of a 50 ft high tree. The limbs end up being a lot bigger when they land in the yard.

Every year we have a leaf party which is a blast. The students love jumping in the leaves, piling wood on our fire pit and playing in the "kids" tree house! The star is a new addition. Cole and Lydia have been begging for us to put a star on our house since we play a game while driving- who can see the stars first on the houses we pass. I compromised when our friends said we could have one that came with their house and we put it up on the tree house. They love it!

Nothing like a good bonfire when it's in the 30s.

Tradition- playing queen of the hill. I got second this year:( It's the best time. We have an excuse to wrestle as girls since we secretly all want to anyway.

This is out of order but we've been slowly working on building a nice fire pit area. We found all these rocks under ivy on the side of our house and were amazed how many there were! It'll look really nice when it's all done. And best of all- it was free! Notice all of the nicely piled wood in the background. Steve finally finished splitting all of the rounds from the tree that fell. It felt good.

A very Literal start to the Fall season!

2008-10-04T12:19:00.005-04:00

So a couple of weeks ago the big wind storm hit Ohio and was one of the craziest storms we've ever seen. Silly us, we were out driving checking out all the damage before the storm was even over. We were anxious to get home to our very wooded lot to see if anything had happened there. And these are those times when we know that Jesus really watches over us and hears are prayers. We had one tree fall and instead of hitting a shed that would've cost probably $1000 to replace or our new tree house that would be several hundred dollars, it landed on the side of our swing set which is the cheapest and easiest thing to replace in our yard!

Another amazingness blessing from the Lord... it perfectly missed my lilac bushes that just bloomed for the first time this spring, landing right between them. And it just barely missed my dogwood tree. How is that possible! This tree could not have landed more perfectly in our yard!
Cole and Lydia did not agree with where it landed but once they get their swing set fixed they won't even remember this. This is what's left of it after removing the branches. Thankfully, the side with the slide platform wasn't damaged at all.
We had several days of good family bonding as we all worked hard to drag braches to the front and stack wood. A few Chi Alpha guys came over the day after and with Steve and some chainsaws, they made great ground in getting it cleared up.
We were one of the first neighborhoods that the city got to in their pick up efforts. As we were walking Cole to school we passed them one street over so Steve rushed back to start bringing the rest of the debris to the front. We didn't want to do it too much ahead of time or we wouldn't have any place to park!

We thought we would be one of the last homes to have their power restored since our electric meter and pole got ripped off of the house (bringing with it a 2x4 from INSIDE the house). Dayton Power & Light weren't working on individual houses, but we hired an electrician, and DP&L reattached the main line so we got our electric restored the same time as the rest of our block. We were only without power for a week. We were very content and all of us had great attitudes through the whole week. Internet took a while longer. We just got it back a few days ago! That was actually more inconvenient since I do most of my work from home. Steve was fine since he had it on campus everyday and on his phone to check his fantasy football.

It isn't autumn unless you have pumpkins on the porch so the kids were all excited to get some. The only problem- squirrels!! So Cole had a plan. He collected a bunch of apples from a farm we were at and placed them around our yard as decoys. Then we made Scare-squirrels (instead of scarecrows) to scare them away from our pumpkins. They were very excited about making them and we just hope that they don't scare our friends away too!

School Starts!!!

2008-09-10T16:15:00.005-04:00

Cole had his first day of kindergarten a couple weeks ago. He was so excited and a little nervous. The school is a 7 min walk away and one of my good friends from church teaches 1st grade there so we get the inside scoop. It is a great school and he enjoys it immensely. His only complaint so far, it's not long enough!

Still smiling when we picked him up after his first day. That's a good sign.
Lydia also started school a few days after Cole. She goes tuesdays and thursdays and also loves it. She goes to a public preschool nearby and as you can tell by the other names on the lockers, it is very diverse, including internationals. She loves it and it's nice because she doesn't know any different. She's probably just glad the teachers speak english!
School started for our kids but at the same time we were gearing up for WSU's start. We had our Action Team in Training (AT 'n T) a few weeks ago. We spent about two days with our leadership casting vision and preparing for the fall start-up. It was a sweet time and some of our upper classmen thought it was the best one... yet.
One of the first things we do to reach out and connect to incoming freshmen is moving them in. We partner with Wright State to do Move In and this year we had over 30 students from XA volunteer! WSU loves us and always has so much praise for our group and what we do on campus. First weekend is a crazy weekend with move in, Do the U, Orientations, Boogie on the Bricks and Painting the Rock. And this is all within 2 days time. Our students have been rocking it so far. They have been reaching out and loving on students. We have had more students already get plugged into XA and our first meeting isn't until tonight! The world pulls students away so quickly that our hope is to get as many Christians plugged into groups on campus before they fall away from lack of fellowship. One need we provided for the first time this year was a church service on campus for all of the students who just moved in but have no idea where to go to church yet. Since it was our first one, we didn't do the best with advertising but still got amazing turn out! Over 45 new students came out for it and were very grateful to have a place to go since most of them would have just not gone anywhere. We worshipped, Steve spoke on making it a point to feed yourself through God's Word, we ate donuts and passed out a flyer with local church info. It was a sweet success and we loved meeting that need. The University must have liked it too because we found out later that it was on their website. Next year we're hoping to partner with the orientation stuff that goes on all weekend and make it officially through the school.

It was the perfect setting for a service, outside by the gardens and right next to the dorms. We will need more chairs and blankets next year!

Seeing the fam

2008-07-23T22:01:00.010-04:00

Cole spent a week at Safety Village to learn all about riding bikes, crossing the street and fire safety. It was a fun week for him and he graduated with honors. Now he tries to teach my social butterfly, Lydia, who strangers are since she thinks that everyone is a friend and yells hi. The world we live in...

We headed up north for the 4th of July stopping in Norwalk for a quick parade and picnic at Liz's Grandma's and then went on to Painesville for a small reunion for Steve's side of the family. And had an awesome time out on their sailboat.

Cole got to learn a bit more about sailing from the pros, Aunt Sue and Jack.
Steve and Tom loved the chance to jump in again.

Our day on the water was beautiful and relaxing. Cole and Lydia even fell asleep!
Posing with Aunt Marla
After a speaking at a church service, we headed to Great Gran's to spend the evening. She is eighty-eight years old and planning her 90th birthday bash!

What we've been doing so far!

2008-06-26T09:11:00.003-04:00

Here's the almost finished product of the amazing tree house that Steve made this spring. All that's left is a good coat of stain. The kids love it and have no problem climbing up into it. Steve also made chairs out of the leftover wood and the kids got to paint them. It's a good life being a kid!

Lydia just picked up "pumping" to swing by herself last week. It's amazing what a second kid can do. Cole just learned earlier this spring! She's just a few beats behind him. Of course she thinks she's right up there with him like when she tried to jump off something "just like Cole" and took a nose dive into the sand!
Cole loves this hanging bar we have. He's learned to do flips and all sorts of tricks on it.

Our park and Graeters friends, Kate and Ben from church. They are great buds.

And when Mom's working, we like to go and yell Mimi! We try not to catch her in the middle of something so that we don't get her in trouble! She loves her job at Trader Joe's and they love having her!

Starting the Summer off Right!

2008-06-12T14:42:00.007-04:00

My trip to Tulsa to help out with Jess's baby was wonderful. Greta is such a good baby. She doesn't even spit up yet! I kept looking for burb cloths cuz it was so hard for me to even hold her without covering my whole body with a cloth. That's all my kids seemed to do. Spit up and drool. Maybe that will still come for Greta. We'll see.

Jess and Greta flew back with me and stayed in Dayton for a week to show her off to the rest of the family here and up north. Cole and Lydia are so proud to finally have a cousin! They kept talking about "their cousin". Lydia loved to pet her and Cole wanted to hold her a lot. And they were very interested in the whole nursing thing.
Poppy's pool is open!!! We're at the Poppy's, chi chi! My Dad worked very hard this spring to get it cleaned and ready for us to jump in. And we are so very grateful and ready! The swim lessons earlier in the year paid off. Cole is jumping in by himself and swimming under water. It's amazing. Lydia isn't very fond of going under water yet but she loves to jump into our arms and do motor boat. It's very fun and we plan on making it worth Poppy's hard effort by using it a lot. We already have a Chi Alpha baptism planned for one of our newly saved students with a pool party following it, of course!

Don't you just love Lydia's pose. It's so funny how dramatic she is. I don't know where girls learn these things. I surely am not like that at all!

My little boy is growing up!

2008-05-22T22:05:00.004-04:00

Cole graduated from preschool tonight. We were glad that they let him graduate since he wasn't there the whole year and his credits didn't transfer from Pasos Chiquitas in Mexico. Cole has enjoyed his preschool immensely and even said as we were leaving on his last day that he wanted to live there with Miss Walker forever. We consoled him by reminding him that he's that much closer to starting kindergarten and then he was excited again.

Right after we celebrated by eating at Friendly's, we headed to the ceremony

Look at those blue brannan eyes.

Right as he was receiving his diploma and I was zoomed in with the perfect shot, the guy in front of me stood up to let his wife back into her seat, blocking my view completely and missing the moment. Ironic and sad but then we remembered that this is only a preschool graduation. (And Steve got it on video, too)

Cole is now ready to take on the world!!

Pee Wee Soccer Star

2008-05-12T17:00:00.006-04:00

Here are some shots from Saturday's game. After a rained out game and practice we were thrilled to have beautiful weather.

Cole scored the first of the only two goals of the game! Everyone was surprised, including him! He's not the best one on the team but he's really starting to get the idea of the game and loves playing and having friends on the team. Who knows what he'll end up playing if anything, but if I could choose a sport to watch... it's a lot more interesting to watch then baseball! (and a shorter season!)

Cole's posing but he really does get down and serious. It is hilarious to watch him get so into it. Unfortunately, our offense was so good that he didn't get much of a chance this game to show off his goalie skills. He did get to throw the ball in once.

It was picture day and this year Cole decided to do a really good smile instead of his sad face from last year! It is amazing the difference a year can make!

May flowers

2008-05-05T22:00:00.006-04:00

It's been a fun spring for me because several of the trees in my yard flowered for the first time since we've lived here. I have 6 lilac "bushes" and none of them ever had blossoms except one barely at all last year. I even had to ask our neighbor what type of tree they were cuz they didn't do anything cool. So without fertilizing or pruning or even praying, 5 out of the 6 have flowers this year! So that means that they'll just get more and more every year. And my dogwood had beautiful pink flowers on it for the first time too. This is a big deal for me because I have no green genes. I didn't inherit any ability to garden or plant or landscape. Nothing on my folks, they just hired it out. So I have no idea what I'm doing but I've got this amazing yard and garden and I'm benefiting from the old owners investments. And the squirrels left some of my tulips alone so we got to enjoy many of them through their whole blooming time! Life is good.

I took a few shots of the kids as we walked around Cox Arboretum

He wanted his hair to be like his friend, Brayton, from school. Fauxhawk. He is starting to ask for gel in the morning.

We have new neighbors across the street and they are a blessing! Kaitlin is their 5 year old and our kids play together nonstop. It is a new thing for me as a mom to let my kids go over to their friends house to play without me! Lydia is only 3 but totally keeps up with them and talks like she's 5. The 3 of them go back and forth between our houses (with our help crossing our extremely non-busy street) as they play. It will make for a fun summer! And it's bonus cuz Kaitlin's parents are really cool too!

Lydia's first ballet recital was tonight. It was adorable! Her class stood on the stage for a good long song and I think there was some choreography. I was just thrilled that she actually danced on stage and didn't freeze and run off. She even smiled at us as she did her plies and tendus. (she's the one that the teacher is positioning before they start)

Like every show, there's a good party afterwards. It was so fun to watch Lydia love it all!

Loving this season

2008-04-19T18:21:00.004-04:00

Probably the highlight of ministry since I've been back was this last weekend at the girl's retreat. It was probably the first major retreat we've ever done with only the girls and the first retreat that I was so heavily involved with every detail and speaking times. And it was so much better than I had anticipated. The Lord had given the other two staff girls (Heather and Sarah) and I vision for it and it was dead on with what the girls needed to hear. The Lord spoke and ministered and we all had a wonderful time. And we ate like queens! No hot dogs or PB& J for us! I'm loving where our girls are right now! There is such a hunger for the Lord and vulnerablity. It's a sweet thing to be a part of.

Steve headed out to Mexico Thursday morning for Punto de Encuentro's first retreat!! We were very pumped that he was able to go and be a part of it. The group down there is doing great and growing! It is very encouraging to hear the updates from it. The retreat is going on right now and I don't know exactly how many went but 15-20 students were expected and that is really great for a first retreat. Our Hondoran "Jesus", Freddy, is speaking at the retreat on the Holy Spirit. It should be a pretty sweet time!

While Steve's away... we've been enjoying the beautiful weather! Here are some shots from the park by Mimi and Poppy's house.

(after eating raspberry ice cream!)

They grow up so fast! It really is crazy. It feels like just yesterday when I was at Pizza Hut for my free BookIT pizza and now we're going for Cole!

Does it ever get easier?

2008-04-08T20:54:00.003-04:00

I said I'd try to blog more and I think I'm just barely making my every two week promise. It's amazing how there is always something to do. I get really sick of always something to do and get done. I try to keep perspective and realize that it is more important to spend time with the Lord, or with my kids or on the phone with a student than to keep the house clean or do the laundry or check my email or take a shower! The list goes on. And every so often, like today, I start to have a break down from a pile up of frustration of the lack of control I have in my life. I put the kids down for a nap and they actually stay and then I get to break down before the Lord with all my hopelessness and inability to do everything or do anything right. And with all His gentleness and love, He reassures my that He is in control and that I don't have to get it all right and if I drop a few of the balls that I'm juggling, it's okay. It's when I start to do things on my own that I get overwhelmed and fail. He is continually calling me to more dependence on Him and into His rest. Who can resist? My productivity. My battle is between needing to be a Martha and wanting to be a Mary. That means I'm growing though. I used to love being the Martha. What's the balance? I may never learn it but meanwhile my kids get to school, soccer, and ballet on time with clean clothes on. And my house gets cleaned every once in a while when we're going to have company over. And I still get to pour out vision and speak life into the girls I minister to and plan a retreat for this weekend. And I still more than anything, get to get away with the Lord, waiting on Him, worshipping Him, covering my family in prayer, whether during the kids' breakfast, or "break/nap" time, or late at night. My heart feels more connected with Jesus than it ever has been before and that is all I desire.

Other than that.... Steve's been working on the long awaited, promised tree house. Stage one (the base and deck) is pretty much finished. Stage two (the actually house and railing and ladder) will probably come sometime next month.

After a long day of playing in the yard.

We are grateful for our fun family times. Cole's soccer season started back up this spring and after last year, it could only get better. It's amazing the difference between his demeanor a year ago and now. We left several practices last year because of his moodiness and breakdowns. This year, he is going for MVP of the league and is hilarious to watch.

We also get to play in the city volleyball league. Or first game was tonight and even though we were coming from a non-power, barely any rules church league, we did pretty good. My mom and dad were also asked to be on it after their stellar performances on our church league's team. Mom has to sit out for awhile due to an injured thumb. It's a blast though. Steve actually gets to hit the ball as hard as he wants/can.

So good night and God bless.

Hello again

2008-03-25T09:43:00.006-04:00

Well we've been back now for forever it seems and weren't sure what to do about this blog. But we've got enough family spread out all over the country that makes picture updates worthwhile.

Cole turned 5 in February. He was pumped about his bow and arrow so he can now be like Robin Hood. It's really been a whirlwind since we've been back and I really didn't plan much for his birthday. Thankfully, we have friends that could come over with almost no notice when Cole really wanted friends at his party not just family!

Lydia also had her b-day a couple of weeks ago. She was anticipating it for a good month after she watched Cole blow out candles and open presents. This was the first year she really understood what was going on and it really made it fun. She is so expressive and was thrilled that it was her birthday time. When we moved back into our house after Mexico, it felt like every toy and book the kids rediscovered was Cole's. My excuse to Lydia was that he's just older and has more things. So now she gets really excited when something is just hers. We got her a play kitchen for her birthday and she was so proud of it being all hers.

Mom and I got to drive out to Tulsa to help Jess get ready for her babe. She's due the beginning of May and we totally transformed her old office into an awesome baby girl room. And moved and organized her upstairs loft into the new office. It was a lot of work and fun and it looks awesome now. I think she feels more at ease now that her house is ready for mini Miron to come home. It was nice for us too since the trip got rid of a lot of baby gear and furniture that we were keeping for Jess!

Cole jumped right back into preschool here and loves it. Lydia won't start preschool here until the fall but we didn't want her to lose the social skills and development after being with kids for four hours every day in MX. So we put her in a dance class. Okay, it was really just my dream to have my little girl in ballet class but it's a nice excuse! It's only a half hour once a week and she just sat and watched the first two classes but yesterday she finally participated and loved it!
I'll try to post pictures more regularly now that we have a working digital camera!! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebration.

2007-12-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

To ease your suspense.... It all DID fit!! Steve did an amazing job of packing. By the end we were just shoving things into any "hole" we could find. He did such a good job that I think we'll make a run by Tonala on the way out! (Ask me what Tonala is sometime.) So we're packed up, sleeping at the Engage house and ready to take off tomorrow morning. Well, most of us. Cole had a rough night tonight and when I tucked him into bed he said that he didn't want to leave. Please be praying that our transition back is just as easy.

Here's what out car looks like, stuffed with a bookcase, about 6 decorative vases, rugs, a coat stand, aquividora (?) and 2 pinatas they brought home from school today. It's loco!!

Here's what we didn't bring (by choice): Cole's and Lydia's craft collection or should I say recycling bin.

Last night as we were getting a head start on packing, pretty much our whole Punto group showed up at our door with tons of wonderful, homemade food (Mexican of course)for our last good-byes. It was a surprise and it made our night. And even though a hangout in Mexico can mean all day, thankfully for us, they came at night and took off only a little after midnight. It was well worth getting nothing done last night. We will miss them terribly.

We got a little picture happy towards the end.

Finishing up

2007-12-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

Even though things have been winding down, we've still been pretty busy. Update on the car: Got it fixed and back to us in 3 days costing $450 and got the check from the insurance company within a week to pay for it. Pretty stinkin' fast. We were amazing and grateful since we only had about that time to spare.

We leave Mexico in just a day and half. It's flown by but we are ready to go. Emotionally, that is. We are still praying for a packing miracle to fit everything into our truck. I keep telling Steve- it'll all fit. But he doesn't think leaving a couple junk sheets behind will compensate for the few things I've accumulated since we've arrived. It'll fit. Maybe we'll post a picture of the packed tight/puzzle fitted explorer when we're done. I'm banking on Steve's ingenuity to figure it out.

We had our last Punto meeting on Tuesday. It was sad. We've grown to really love these students. The praise part is that we really feel good about how we're leaving the group. We had some rough spots in there where we weren't sure who was going to commit but the Lord has answered our prayers and everything we hoped to accomplish while we were here has come together. We feel great about the number of students who are totally on board, their connections with each other and Angela's ability to lead this group where it needs to go next. We're now looking forward to heading home.

Here are some pictures of our Christmas party for Punto de Encuentro. All but the last are taken from Paola's phone so the quality isn't the best but oh well.

We had the party at the Engage house since it was already so beautifully decorated for Christmas. Everyone brought a gift to exchange- the biggest thing you could buy for 50 pesos or less ($5). Let's just say there wasn't a lot of stealing going on!

Adrian ended up with a big board of wood. He made the most of it and had everyone write things on it and it is now a nice wall display in his room.

Here's the group and their lovely presents. They are a great group of students. We'll really miss them.

Our plan is to pack up our car tomorrow while the kids enjoy their last day at preschool (Cole cried about missing school on Wednesday when I took the kids to the Zoo!!!) and then spend the night at the Engage house with our loaded up car safely parked behind their gate. We'll head North on Sat morning and 20hours later we'll be in El Paso (with a few breaks and hotels in there). We then head to the Denver area to spend a wonderful Christmas with my family and then to Ohio for our SALT conference which we've got a great group of WSU students going that I can't wait to see!!!! And Steve, like usual, is helping out quite a bit, but it gets us a nice big suite to entertain our family and students in. Please excuse my run-on sentences.

So since this may be the last blog for awhile due to lack of internet while we are driving and a lack of anything interesting to say... Merry Chrismas!!!

Thanks for reading, praying and missing us while we've been down here. We look forward to seeing you in just a little while!

Getting the full experience of Mexico!

2007-12-03T15:23:00.000-05:00

This last week, we´ve experienced a little more of Mexico than we were hoping to. Last Wednesday, we parked behind a line of cars and went in search of some clothes for the fam. When we got back, all the cars were gone and ours had a parking ticket on it. They give you half price if you pay it within the first 3 days. - so we saved $7.

Then on Friday, on the way to pick up the kids, Liz was sitting at a red light when a really young looking kid ran into the back of her. Steve got a call, "A car just hit me. I´m in front of the Kinder." By the time Steve got there from CUCEA, the police and the preschool director were there. The light, the bumper, the hatch, the muffler and the corner are all damaged. In the States, it would probably cost $1200-$1500 dollars to fix. But here in Mexico - $500 for everything.
This is what the other car looked like. They had to get a tow truck to haul it away.

Explorer - 1, Jeep - 0.

Trying to figure everything out was a bit hectic and nerve racking. We were really impressed with the police and insurance guys. We´ll get paid $600 this Friday for the damages - just in time for us to pack up and take off for Colorado.

(Additional ironic info below)

When we bought the Explorer, it had a dent in the hatch that would have cost us $600-$800 to fix. But down here, it only costs $200. Well worth it for the resale value. We planned on waiting till we were about done here, but apparently not long enough. We had just got the truck fixed and returned the day before all this happened. The body shop didn´t know that I meant it when I said to them a day earlier, ¨Hasta luego¨ (See you later).

Giving Thanks

2007-11-27T11:42:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving- a little late.
We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We celebrated here: turkey, pumpkin pie and all. There were 37 of us that gathered to thank the Lord for all the ways He blesses us. Even though Cole and Lydia still went to school in the morning (it's just another day in Mexico) and we didn't have any family around, it was a great time. It felt like family. We even watched football and a Christmas movie! We are very grateful to all the people here that have become our family while we're down here.

My Thanksgiving turkey (idea stolen from a magazine) was a big hit.

Amy Shoop does an amazing job of hostessing. Everything looked so pretty, almost like I was at my mom's house.

The three Amigos: Isaac, Andrew and Steve

Lydia helped eat the leftover raisins and grapes.

Even though Christmas decorations have been in the stores here since the end of September it is still hard to decorate until after Thanksgiving. We bought a little nativity scene and paper wreath to at least have something in the house that's Christmasy. It's pretty interesting, though, that Christians here view nativity scenes as idolatrous and make a point to not put them up in their homes because here Mary is the main focus of the scenes since it is when she birthed Jesus. She is esteemed over Jesus during this holiday. Quite the opposite in the states where we make sure to put a nativity scene up in our house as a reminder that this is what Christmas is all about, the birth of our Savior and not just a happy holiday time. Since we are in Mexico we put it away when any Mexicans are over so we don't confuse anyone and out of respect for the Christians here. The different cultural things we come across are very interesting. (I'm still excited about my $5 find of a nativity scene!)

It is very nice to miss the craziness of Christmas shopping that you feel in the states. We aren't bombarded with commercials (no tv) or go to the malls and I've already finished my Christmas shopping in the little market places here that are crazy all the time anyway. The only thing that is weird is to sit at starbucks with a chocolate caliente that has snowflakes on the cup and then walk out in my t-shirt. We were driving home the other night and it was rainy and yuck out and it seemed like it could be cold out. Steve said, it looks like winter in Ohio! Then we laughed that we were pining away for bad weather! Who'd a thunk.

Tick Tick Tick Tick

2007-11-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

We can just hear the clock ticking down and we have so much we want to do. Eat tacos, invest more in students, (notice the order) go visit the Monarch butterfly migration, Christmas shop, help with the Engage building...

We only have 3 more Punto de Encuentro meetings left. We've really been enjoying them. The students are great, we've started doing worship and prayer times on Mondays. We're meeting for another core group meeting next Wednesday and continue to meet/hangout with/pray with/for Angela. (It's amazing how fast your heart can be tied to people in such a short amount of time.)

Angela with Engage students who help at CUCEA headed home after the meeting, Mexican style.

The time here has been great for our family and for personal rejuvination. We didn't realize how beat up we were after doing 7 years of ministry at Wright State until we got to Guadalajara. Being here has allowed the Lord to do some healing and added some Teflon for protection. This trip has been sort of like a sabbatical for us from the normal responsibilies of ministry. The change of ministry focus has been a blessing.

Paola and Liz have a fun time trying to communicate with each other. Each one knows about the equivalent of the other's language - not very much. Praise God that we'll all be speaking Spanish in heaven.
Our kids really love Adrian. Steve and Adrian have spent a ton of time together (which is code for mentoring).

2007-11-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

[written by Liz] My most favoritest time of the year is the fall. I love the leaves changing, the cool weather, the beautiful fall decor, and chili. Even though it is definitely not the same here, there have been a few times where we've felt the greatness of the season. My amazing mom made sure to hook me up with plenty of red kidney bean (which are no where to be found in Mexico) and my secret recipe McCormick Chili seasoning packs. Steve has been able to watch more Colts football here in Mexico than when we were just 1 1/2 hours from Indy. And we did have a week long spell of cold weather where I got to wear a sweater. Other than that we are making the most of looking at pictures of leaf parties on facebook and savoring every bite of chili (which I've made at least once a week!)

We were asked last night if we're just ready to be home since it's so close to the time of us leaving. The nice thing is that we are really enjoying our time here. We haven't "checked out" at all and are really trying to make the most of the last 5 weeks at CUCEA and with Angela. There are definitely things that I'll be so excited about when we get back, like my washer and dryer, my awesome pink cell phone that takes pictures and receiving phone calls from people who speak English, and convenient internet access. But those are things I've grown to appreciate and hopefully it will be at least a month back before I take them for granted again. So until then...

Here's some pics of Steve's campout with the guys of Punto.

Core guys for Punto De Encuentro - Isaac (Engage student), Adrian, Isai, Me & Daniel
Boys and Fire - a fun combination!!
Adrian and I held a competition of who could kick the soccer ball through the uprights of the tree. Adrian won and I had to do 40 pushups, and I landed the ball ontop of the tree. (White spot on top right side of tree)
Beautiful view on our way to Rio Caliente - a river heated up by a volcano to scorching hot
Cole had a great time camping with the big boys! That's steam from the river even though it was about 85 degrees out.

What's going on...

2007-11-08T09:13:00.000-05:00

The end of a short movie clip we sent to our XA

We're running out of time, with only 1.5 months left here and we're making the most of it. No matter where we are, it seems like we add more and more activities and ministry to our lives. This week has been (and will be) a lot of fun while we serve the Lord. Mondays we get to meet with everyone involved with Engage for dinner and go over everything happening and coming up within the different ministries. Tuesday mornings, just the staff meets to talk more candidly about events and pressing needs. That afternoon, we have Punto de Encuentro's main meeting (which went well.) This morning Steve lead a short devotion on worship covering the "Y - factor." Why do we worship, what's our motivation? At nine, Steve meets with the men involved in Engage to sharpen eachother as iron sharpens iron and then tonight, we are having the core students from Punto over for Liz' famous home cooked chili and to talk and pray about purpose and vision and destination for Punto.

Tomorrow, Steve is taking several of the CUCEA guys camping!! This is not a regular activity for them, so it should be a blast and a great bonding experience.

Cole at CUCEA after Punto De Encuentro

The kids are great, and are understanding more and more spanish. Steve is speaking to them more and more at home and hopes to keep it up in the States.

Disfrutando Mexico

2007-11-02T13:29:00.000-04:00

Beaching it in October had a few benefits. All the hotels are majorly discounted during this slow month which made it a pretty cheap excersion for us. And we purposely planned it for over the Halloween/ Day of the Dead (Nov 1) holidays so that our kids wouldn't be in the mix of a bunch of yuck evil. They were absent from school the day that Lydia's class painted sugar skulls with frosting and Cole missed alter building for the dead. Instead we enjoyed a brief trip to Nuevo Vallerta, making the most of our proximity to the beach since we'll most likely never have this chance again.

Eating lunch with an amazing view!!

Cole loved the idea of boogie boarding. He did love the water and running up and down the beach in the waves.

Our cutie was freaked out by the ocean but loved the pool. She did enjoy some sand playing and helped Steve build his sand mountain.

Cutiest costumes at the "Fall Fiesta" goes to Dinosaur Cole and Ladybug Lydia (thanks to Steve's trip to Laredo,TX and Claire's discounted costumes)

Lydia had to work hard to get candy from the pumpkin pinata before the big kids got it all.

Tic Tac Toe Man and Hippie girl is all we could come up with on our drive back from the beach.

Fast update

2007-10-25T14:56:00.001-04:00

Life:
Steve has been asked to take a 14 hour busride with Isaac, (an Engage student) to Laredo Texas tomorrow night. They are headed up there to help Steve Shoop (director of Engage) bring a newer van across the border with sound equipment and a puppet stage. So, Steve will be in the States for 3 or 4 hours - just long enough to mail another examen he took to continue becoming ordained.

Liz and the kids are getting ready to take a short trip to Nuevo Vallarta when Steve gets back. We´ll be staying right on the beach with everything paid for for three days and two nights. What a blessing to be able to go do something so exotic and have it cost next to nothing because we´re already down here in Mexico.

Pictures will follow (we know they are fun to look at!)

2007-10-18T12:30:00.000-04:00

So Mom and Dad were here this last week and we had a great time with them. Highlights from their time here: spending time with us of course, the feeding program that Engage ministries does every week in a poor area, playing five crowns every night, the Indians games, great shopping, and of course the food!!! The weather was perfect for them. It was a holiday on Friday so schools were closed and they got to experience a crazy festival. And Cole and Lydia soaked up every moment. Starbucks got to know my Dad pretty well while he finished up some work from home over a few mornings. The cockroaches even stayed away for the most part to make them feel more at home. Overall, it was a great half-way point to our time down here (which is going by so fast!).

The super good food at a restaurant we took them too. The bowls are made from lava rock and were so hot that the sauce boil the whole time. Yum.

Mom seriously couldn't get enough of the great food here. We didn't mind the sacrifice of eating out.

Poppy's girl

Mimi loved the cuddle time she got with the kids.

Drinking coconut milk at the crazy huge festival.

King Cole dressed up for Columbus day at preschool.

Mom and Dad fell in love with the kids at the feeding program. You wouldn't have guessed there was a language barrier between them!

Other thoughts... We are feeling good about the core group of about 5-6 students that is forming and their faithfulness to the group and with Angela's leadership. Jesus is being faithful.

checking in

2007-10-13T10:52:00.001-04:00

It's been a while!! It gets hard cuz we don't have internet at home and the internet at CUCEA (campus) is funky and we can't update blogs from there. So we have to do it from the engage house and the last few times we've been there, we got caught up in other important things like Steve's fantasy football.

We're having a great time. My folks are here and my mom has insisted on eating out every meal since she's fallen in love with authentic Mexican food. Luckily for my dad, all six of us can eat at a taco stand on the side of the road for about $5. After this trip it will be hard for them to go back to Taco Bell.

I'll post some pics when I have more time.

Other thoughts: Steve is loving the two guys that he's been pouring a lot into. He's really going to miss them. They are great guys and soak up everything that Steve is pouring into them. We're very excited about them. Their names are Adrian and Isai.

More later!

2007-10-01T18:54:00.000-04:00

I thought I should get some more pictures up here so that you didn't all think we were in the pits of despair. Actually, we are doing well. It is through trials that we are made stronger and we realize how great the Lord really is. So we are just praising Him for being so good to us.

Our kids LOVE public transportation. Here we are on the train going into the Centro.

Not everything is this colorful but it's definitely different than our white houses in the States. There is actually every color of the rainbow on this block!

This is the most touristy we've felt, taking a picture of a guy at work in front of the bank. These guys are everywhere! In front of stores, banks, some parks. I don't know if I should feel safer or not!

Other fun news: Cole and Lydia run into Kinder now and love it. I've got an addiction to Chilaquiles (which is a spicy breakfast food). Steve gets to go to a Chivas game tomorrow night with some students (a futbol game). And my mom (and possible my dad if we can talk him into it) is coming in just over a week!! If you know anything about my family, we just can't stay away from each other.

Steve has also been working hard on his ordination classes. And I'm reading an amazing book that is rocking my world and walk with the Lord. It's A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God. I read it ten years ago and just picked it up again. I'm soaking up every bit of it. It's like he's reading my heart. Everything he says is exactly what's going on with me and I love it. It is also a very hard book to read because I don't want to continue on until I "get it" or have a breakthrough. But I was stuck at chapter 3 for so long that I decided to just keep reading and I'll read through it a few times!

Grace

2007-09-26T11:30:00.000-04:00

This has been a hard week. Call it an attack, call it life. Whatever is going on, we are definitely fighting this week. We are fighting our emotions that bounce back and forth between anger, frustration, and hurt. We are fighting our flesh from getting in the way of hearing the Lord's heart. We are fighting the father of lies, who has been deceiving people we love. Fighting out pride from feeling like our efforts are in vain (when it's all for the Lord's glory).
We want so badly to understand the balance between God's grace and His discipline. We have no comprehension of God's grace and the depths of it.
Steve was wrestling with the Lord sometime ago about always feeling like he was the older brother(in the story of the Prodigal Son), trying so hard to do everything right and not able to relax in His grace or enjoy the "party". The Lord spoke very clear to him that night that there are no older brothers. Every one of us is the prodigal son. Everyone of us has grace constantly poured out on us and there is rejoicing when we return to the Lord. We are all living by and in the grace of the Lord. Praise His Name.
This week has been a week of leaning on the Lord, seeking out His heart and trusting Him for the work we do for Him. It has been awesome remembering His Sovereignty and control over everything. He is always good and His love never fails. It never fails us. It never fails anyone.

Please pray for wisdom and grace to be poured out on us as we disciple and do our best to raise up followers of Christ.

Hairdos and prayers

2007-09-24T12:22:00.000-04:00

Hairdo update for y'all

freedom!!! (from rubber bands)

Also, if you could please be praying for our WSU group. Our heart is breaking for a couple of students there. Pray that our leadership would rise up and seek the Lord in purity and integrity and be victorious.

Steve's first talk in Spanish!!!

2007-09-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

We had our 4th meeting of Punto de Encuentro and we were blown away from the turnout. 19 Cucea students showed up to be a part of the meeting. It seems like we have very little turnover and not only do they come back, they bring friends! Steve and I were talking about how it was going and if you can compare this start up to WSU, we are so much further along. We didn't even hit 15-20 regulars until our 2nd year in at Wright State. We've also been able to make great connections with them outside of the group. Steve and I still feel like our biggest ministry is to Angela who we are helping get this started. We want to make sure she is completely equipped and confident when we leave in a few months. Please keep praying for us, Angela, and the students, who are starting to take ownership of Punto de Encuentro.

And Steve got to do a "talk" in spanish! He wrote it all out a head of time so that he would know how to say everything correctly and he did great! It's a lot harder because he would have to think so much on how to say things that he couldn't just go off on his side notes like he usually does. He was pretty excited about it though!!

Liz, one of our students, wanted to have a pizza party this week. So we all chipped in and had Domino's come after the meeting. It was another great time of them connecting with each other.

Some of the students are already calling this their group and telling others that they are a part of this Christian group at CUCEA. They are so connected to each other already! Like I said before, it seems like this group is way ahead of the early beginnings of WSU XA. It has so much potential to do really well.

16th de Septiembre

2007-09-17T18:49:00.000-04:00

Independence Day for Mexico!!

This is a pedestrian bridge on the way home from the number 25 bus.

Everything is decked out with lights and the Mexican colors.

Downtown Zapopan, the night before the Grito (celebration when everyone shouts for liberty!)

They are a little more patriotic than we are in the States.

All we've seen for weeks now is green, white and red (the colors of the Mexican flag)

Cole and his amigo, Francisco, show off their homemade flags. Like a true-blooded American, he changed into his Old Navy, American flag shirt when he got home.

Cole and Lydia enjoyed a fiesta at the Kinder and were supposed to dress in traditional Mexican outfits. We did our best with a Chivas soccer jersey and dress that we bought here.

At the festivities

When in Mexico, drive like the Mexicans!

We'll post more real stuff later (we know all you want is the pictures anyway!).

Great Headway!!

2007-09-11T20:51:00.000-04:00

We've been attending a church called Esmyrna every Sunday. Everything is in Spanish, but since they play familiar songs and project the words up on the screen, it helps us understand what we're singing. We also enjoy the pastor's message, which Steve interprets the just to Liz. Cole and Lydia like going to kids church, where they get to play with other boys and girls, make crafts and learn about Jesus. Cole chose this bear mask as his prize.
One day, after preschool, Steve helped Cole climb a tree. Now that's all he talks about doing, and loves climbing high. He're really good at pulling himself up and holding on. (Don't worry, Steve's just out of camera range for this pic .)

One thing we've enjoyed about living in Mexico is the increased family time we're experiencing. Without all the additional demands on our lives, we've been able to go on walks after Steve gets home from CUCEA. We run into some pretty neat plant life that we never see in the states. As Ohio begins to transition into fall, we've realized how neat it is that trees here in Mexico never hibernate, and just grow leaves on top of leaves. One of the "in things" to do here in Guadalajara is to keep the trees trimmed to perfect squares, spheres or any other shape.

September 16th is Mexico's Independence Day, which is a huge event. Guad has been decorating for it for the last two weeks. Today on campus, they had a short ceremony a couple hours before our third meeting. It went great, with 10 students joining Angela, Liz, Steve and Isaac (Engage student) as we looked at who Jesus is as described in Hebrews 1-2. Several returned from the previous weeks, and brought friends with them. Just before leaving today, Paola asked when we were going to have another hangout. What a great feeling for them to want to be around everyone else, and to feel comfortable and connected enough to bring their friends.

Punto de Divertido (Fun)

2007-09-08T13:27:00.000-04:00

I try to head up to campus as often as I can just to meet students, be a regular face on campus, and to pray for the students. I've had the chance to talk to several students about Jesus being the ONE mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5) and that it's only through Him that you can come to the Father (John 14:6). Many students with a Catholic background don't read their Bible, and so they don't know these scriptures are in their Bible pointing to the camino, verdad, y vida (way, truth & life).
Here I am being interviewed on campus about my Telcel cell phone service. We didn't know if they were with a class on CUCEA or with Telcel (which may end up on Mexican TV)

Last night, we invited any students that are a part of Punto de Encuentro over for dinner at our apartment starting at 8pm. We had no idea who would show up, especially when it hit 8pm and no one was here. Then, starting around 8:20, students started showing up, and we ended up having 9 Mexican Christians, 1 Carribean Christian and 6 of us American Christians come.

We ate carne asada with guacamole and and salsa and cactus. The cactus tasted sweet and wasn't too bad. We had a great time talking and connecting with everyone. A couple key students couldn't make it last night, but overall, it turned out much better than we anticipated.

It's really exciting to see something happen at CUCEA. Our focus is now turning to assure it's longevity. Will you pray that the Lord would direct us in His plan for the leadership of Punto de Encuentro?

Other news: Steve's spanish is rolling along - he loves learning.

Cole has taken over as our bug/cochroach killer in the house.

Lydia is doing much better at Kinder.

Liz is loving the food down here and should come back with some great recipes.

2007-09-06T11:02:00.000-04:00

This morning, on our way out to drop the kids off at Kinder (and yes, Lydia came home with ANOTHER hairdo) it didn’t take long for us to notice something was different about our Explorer. Someone apparently had need of both our side mirrors. It’s a common event for missionaries to have things stolen or broken on their cars, and several of them pointed out to us, “Now you’re real missionaries.” So, we drove down to the place where they sell the mirrors they just stole and found out how much it would be to buy them back. Maybe by looking at the picture to the left, you can see we opted not to give them $140 for new ones/our old ones.

Instead, Steve jerry-rigged $2.60 mirrors to the sides to get us by until we go back downtown with a Mexican to help us. Driving is already crazy down here, and to not have side mirrors is like driving nearly blind.
Yet, we are still having fun, and don’t really mind if our core is tested against different obstacles

On a ministry note...

Yesterday we had our second meeting for Punto de Encuentro. A couple students came back, and several students that we already knew came too. One student, Angel Daniel Sanchez Troitino, was able to make it this week. I met Daniel the first time I came down here in March on our Spring Break mission trip with Ashley, Chris, PJ and Ohio State students. We reconnected on our summer trip, and have hung out a lot since the whole family got here. Daniel has a great heart for people and a quiet boldness for Jesus (he led his whole class in 8th grade to the Lord – 55 people including the teacher and did it again last semester here at CUCEA.) I'm really excited to see how God is going to use Daniel in PdE.

Our hearts are already growing for several of the students involved in PdE, and we’ll introduce them to you later. We’re having them over for dinner on Friday to our apartment to hang out and have fun.

Here are more hairdo pictures that you wanted, Jess!

We aren't really sure who all reads this and sometimes I wonder if we're boring everyone or putting up too many pictures of our cute kids. But I figure that if you're reading this, it's because you care and are interested in what is going on, whether it is our personal lives, my kids, or the ministry. So it's up to you how much you want to read when I begin to babble like I am right now...

Have a blessed day!

More than just starting Chi Alpha

2007-09-03T19:14:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, I got the chance to utilize more than just my Chi Alpha background of helping start up the group here at CUCEA. “Engage” is looking to move out of their rental houses and purchase property in Guadalajara so they can host over 40 students per year in missions. The head of MAPS Construction, Greg Venturelli, flew down to check out a piece of property that Steve Shoop (director of Engage) was considering. I was asked to come along as well because of my Civil Engineering background. Working at Turner Construction as an estimator, project manager, assistant superintendent and grunt worker enabled me to contribute in investigating the site.
The final result: Greg and I both agreed that the two-story, roofless, 10 year old abandoned building with a side lot is a great ministry center worth purchasing. Renovation is scheduled to begin in October, and I’m sure I’ll lend a hand managing the different MAPS teams in fixing it up. The timing is just too perfect to be a coincidence.

Please pray that God would bring the funds in to move ahead with this project unencumbered.

We also got our FIRST letter to our apartment today! It IS possible to send us mail! (Granted it took a month to reach us.) Thanks Silvia from Xenia First A/G. (We will join you in prayer for your husband that God would heal him!!)

One other news of some significance - Lydia doesn't wear diapers at all anymore - not even to bed. Cole, who was taking his time with the nights, is now motivated to stop wearing his too!

Boogie on the Bricks

2007-09-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

Cole and Lydia have gotten to be good friends with the other missionary kids, especially Chloe. She is three and Andrew, from another family, is four. We were invited to a welcoming dinner for all of the new Engage students which is always fun for us because our kids all play together and we get to eat and talk! To find out more about what Engage ministry is check out http://www.engageinmissions.com/

Our kids cannot take a normal photo!

Cole keeps busy collecting caps to bottles for a future craft with Mimi when we get back. He is also learning to take pictures with our camera. Here's another one he took.

Our Gangsta kids. We have no idea why they both did these "signs" with their hands but we thought it was funny. Notice Lydia's Mexican hair again. Almost everyday, she comes home with a new style. I'll post another one sometime.

Overall, things are going well. We went to another church today. Almost every church service here is 11-1:30pm which is in the middle of our lunch time but they all eat lunch here around 2pm! (We've gone out for tacos around 11am for lunch before and eat with people who are there for breakfast.)
So the church we went to today has an early service at 9am. It was still long but easier on our appetites! The services here are great. Most of the songs are ones we know, just in Spanish. And Steve understands almost the whole sermon so he leans over and translates for me. The kids aren't as shy going into kids church since they spend the whole week with Spanish kids (as Cole calls them!)

We do miss WSU! We are praying for everyone there as school starts this week.

And we’re off…

2007-08-28T20:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, was the first day of classes at CUCEA, and in typical outreach fashion, we showed up early to pass out 1000 flyers inviting them to Punto de Encuentro meeting the following day. Because it is against policy to hand out flyers on campus dealing with anything religious, Steve was heading to one of the entrances/exits and gave 5 or 6 flyers to students just as he was leaving. Two yards from the exit a guard confiscated all of his flyers and called for her boss on the radio. She wouldn’t even converse with Steve in Spanish or English. Her boss showed up on a four-wheeler and read both sides of the flyer and eventually gave them back so he could hand them out outside the gate. The first guard was mad, and it was a real reality check for Steve.

It rains nearly everyday, and last night was no different. Our typical commute to CUCEA includes forging a huge puddle (sometimes called a lake.) Last time, we tried the middle, and hit a pothole. This morning, we tried the right side, and had worse luck than the first time. Praise God for our SUV getting us out. Next time, we’ll take the left side.

Arriving on campus, we feel right at home – no parking spaces anywhere close. (And if Wright State would allow students to park the same way they do here, they could fit twice as many cars in). We ended up parking way out in the middle of nowhere. But we can’t complain because the campus is so well manicured and it’s 75 degrees outside.

We spent time in prayer and talking about what to share at the meeting. We had invited several contacts that we knew were interested, but had no idea how many students would show up. In the end, none of our “regulars” could make it, but six students who received a flyer and were new to campus came to the meeting. We shared our hopes and vision for having a group on campus, and expanded on the points on the flyer. They all were excited, and gave us their emails and cell #’s and every student put 10 on their nivel de interes (level of interest.) We’ll email them tomorrow and plan on getting together next Tuesday. If you want to pray for them, their names are Edith, Lizbeth, Daniel, Paula, Niyela, and Favoli.

Liz went and picked up the kids from preschool just before the meeting, and they had a blast playing a made up game. Cole is notorious for coming up with inventive games that use whatever is available. Lydia is hard at play.

We didn’t even make it off campus before both kids were out cold. All in all, a successful day!

Connecting more and more to Mexico

2007-08-25T22:00:00.000-04:00

Cole is very proud of his ability to stand on this water jug. The cap to this one is really big, Mimi!

We knew the kids day at preschool had gone better when we picked Cole up and he was crying because he didn’t want to leave and Lydia, who will hardly ever lets us put her hair back, came out looking like a cute little Mexican girl with it all slicked and pulled back tight. Thanks for praying and keep praying as they go back on Monday after a nice weekend.

Friday when Angela came over, we worked on fliers and the vision of the fall. Punto de Encuentro’s (the point of encounter) first meeting is Tuesday to gather students interested in having a community of followers of Cristo to pray, sharpen each other, and reach out to others with the gospel on campus. Something Angela has noticed with Christians here are that they are the real thing. If they follow Cristo, you can pretty much know that they are walking it out and passionate about serving Him. There isn’t this lukewarm, middle ground like there is in the States. We will hand out 1000 invites on Monday, the first day of school, for the meeting on Tuesday. Please pray for the right students who have or will develop a vision for their campus.

We are getting to know the area better as we go exploring and try new routes. We have a very detailed map of the city that is more like a book that we pull out quite a bit as we’re driving and making wrong turns or missing streets. Cole, being used to us needing to pull it out a lot, sensed our confusion one day as we were exploring and commented, “Did you remember to bring the map? We always need the map!” Steve and I cracked up.

We take long walks around our area too. Part of the fun is the journey and not so much the destination. It has helped us chill a bit and just enjoy what we’re doing instead of what we’re trying to go do. Last night we all had a blast as we ventured out to a beautiful basilica down the way, quite a way.

Cole, especially enjoyed the hundreds of pigeons in front the basilica as he chased them around. Steve eventually couldn’t take it anymore and joined in on one of the runs. Lydia and I watched, took pictures, and sang “Feed the birds” from Mary Poppins.

Tough morning

2007-08-23T15:50:00.000-04:00

This morning was extremely hard when we dropped Cole and Lydia off at preschool. Last night, Cole got up 3 or 4 times to tell us he didn't want to go to preschool. He said it was too long, and he couldn't understand the teacher.

This morning we rode the bus and when we got there, both kids started crying. Transition is hard for kids whatever the circumstance, but when you're in a foreign country, it's amplified. After talking and praying, we eventually gave Lydia to her maestra and Cole to his and left. They were crying and not happy. Our eyes were holding back the tears.

Liz talked to another missionary here, Angie, who has a three year old girl, Chloe, who could relate and comfort her. Steve ended up calling the Kinder (preschool) 40 minutes after we left, and they both were mas tranquilidad (more calm). When Liz picked them up an hour earlier than typical, they were fine and have had a good day since. We just wonder how many more mornings we'll have to do this until they settle into the rhythm like Chloe did.

Please pray for their peace and our strength in the midst of this transition.

A Time of Firsts

2007-08-21T19:09:00.000-04:00

We dropped Cole and Lydia off at their Mexican preschool yesterday. It was the first time I’ve (Liz) felt homesick. I just wanted to talk to my Mom (Kendall). I ended up calling her to tell her how bad I felt for leaving my kids for four hours at a new place where they can’t understand anything.

But when I heard about my mom dropping my brother off at his school in Denver this week and will be empty nested for the first time in 31 years, I didn’t feel as bad.We picked them up and they weren’t too traumatized. Lydia fell 20 minutes before we picked them up and hadn’t stopped crying. But today, Cole’s only issue was that it’s such a long time – he’s going from 2.5 hours twice a week to 4 hours everyday. And for Lydia, it’s her first time.But nonetheless, they didn’t fuss at all when we dropped them off and they went straight in. Of course it will be easier for them when they understand what their teacher is saying to them. We’re praying they’ll pick up Spanish quickly.

Other news: Lydia is potty trained. It took no time at all, and she has even been dry through the night a couple times. We’re hoping we won’t even have to bother with anymore diapers by the time we get back home!!

We met today on campus at CUCEA with Angela Tiffany (Missionary Aide who will be in charge of Punto de Encuentro when we’re gone) and had a great time talking. I’ve forgotten how much goes into getting a group off the ground. It’s going to be great, and the more we talked, the more exciting it becomes, and the more we can see that God’s hand is upon us and this campus. Thanks for praying for us!

The Simple Life

2007-08-17T13:47:00.000-04:00

It's been a few days now since we got here and we're starting to feel more at home. We're unpacked (which didn't take long) and are mostly organized.

After cleaning baby cucarachas out of the cabinets and mopping up our leaky toilet and water that comes in after the hard rains, we finally feel like true missionaries.

After two days with a rag to soak up the toilet leak, it is fixed. And our oven should be working in a day or two so I can start to cook.

A typical scene on the street. Steve has learned to drive like the Mexicans, cutting in and out of traffic. If you aren't aggressive, you won't get very far. Liz is putting off driving as long as possible!

Yesterday we shopping in Tonala, which is a pretty popular artesan market town. It was very Mexican and Liz could've gone crazy with all of the neat, cheap, and original items. We left with a few things we needed for our departemento and a guitar for Cole. He's been playing it nonstop while Lydia dances around the living room.

Roughing it without a dishwasher. There are things that you take forgranted and appreciate them when you're without. We're enjoying the change of pace and environment.

One of the missionary couples, Trent and Angie, have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. They invited us out for dinner, churras, and over to their house to give us gift basket full of snacks for the kids and a few things to make us feel at home. Angie also watched the kids for us while we grocery shopped for the first time. Their little girl, Chloe, is three and is already best friends with Cole and Lydia.

We are definitely having a fun figuring things out. We're learning just to laugh at our mistakes.

We're in Mexico...

2007-08-14T16:49:00.000-04:00

After being on the road for 7 days and driving 2490 miles, we pulled into Guadalajara in one piece. The trip was great. Here's an overview of what happened.

We left on Monday, August 6th, the day after Andy and Heather's wedding that Steve performed. We drove for seven hours to visit Nana/Suki/Mom in Normandy, Tenn. We stayed for two nights, and had a chance to swim in 100 degree heat, play "5 Crowns," watch Cole catch a fish completely by himself, and eat steak. We left early on Wednesday headed for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Typical for the long drive down.
August 8th, after driving 11 hours, we pulled into Tulsa, OK to visit Aunt Jess and Uncle Josh. We spent two nights hanging out where we swam, played at a park and ate Lasagna.
Entertaining herself

August 10th, off to uncharted territory, passing through Dallas and ending in Waco, Tx.

August 11th, on our way to stay in Laredo, which is on the border, we stopped for lunch and site seeing in San Antonio.

Remember the Alamo

Old Canon aka Jungle Gym

Lunch on the river

August 12th, after obtaining a copy of Lydia's birth certificate (thanks Jess), we crossed the border on Sunday morning without a hitch. Steve went over the day before to get our car permit, and figure out the ropes. Are we sure about this???

The drive to Zacatecas was pretty uneventful.

Swimming on the roof of Howard Johnson's

August 13th, on the home stretch to our departamento, we drove 310 km (190 miles) and it took us over 5 hours. The whole drive was through mountains, little towns, and amazing scenery.

Driving through the land of Dr. Seuss

Just follow the chicken truck. Hopefully he knows where he's going.

Beautiful towns, and farms.

These rock walls were everywhere. How they got there... hard work!!

We finally rolled into Guadalajara at 2:30pm after Lydia got car sick from all the curves. We celebrated our arrival in style!!

A Week and a half in Guadalajara

2007-07-30T13:50:00.000-04:00

(Written by Steve in Mexico)
Since I've been down here, I've:
-Got on the right bus going the wrong way at 9pm at night
-Waited an hour for a bus that never showed up
-Ate Lonche (A sandwich made with meat from a pig's leg)
-Learned how to play Fronton (sort of like handball)
-Killed 10 cochroaches in our apartment including one this morning
-Crossed rivers of water flowing in the streets from the torrential down pours
-Spent more time in Walmart than I care to share
-Finished my Eschatology Class towards ordination
-Spent a lot of time with Daniel practicing Spanish and English
-Missed my wife and kids
-Played guitar with Jesus

I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone, but I'm also looking forward to getting things going here.

Pics from our June Mission trip

2007-07-27T19:22:00.000-04:00

Nicole, Lauren and their new friends

Playing another game of soccer in the heat!

The soon to be Ericksons

We had great devotions and prayer time as a
group every day.

getting started

2007-07-27T17:43:00.000-04:00

It's crunch time until we leave for Guadalajara. It all began aboout a year and a half ago when Steve started weeping during a Spanish worship time at the World Missions Summit. He came home and told me I needed to start learning Spanish! He knew that it would be in our future somehow but didn't know how or when. A couple of months later, the Lord asked me if I was willing to move to Mexico. With a huge step of faith I told Him yes. A long story later... we're moving down there for the rest of the year to help pioneer a group on the University of Guadalajara, CUCEA. Our group here at Wright State has amazing student leaders, a couple of alumni giving back a year and another alumni who is a missionary associate to us this year. We know that it will be an amazing fall quarter for them and look forward to what the Lord wants to do in and through us while we're in Mexico.

Steve flew down early and has already been there for over a week and the number of chains left on the kids count down is six! It always feels like forever when he leaves us, but he is doing well and preparing the way for us. He comes back on the 3rd to perform our first official Chi Alpha wedding between Andy and Heather who met in our group. Then we pack up the truck and head down!

Until then we're just getting everything set into place and ready for our time away. And it is a lot. We are nervous and hopeful that our time down there will be beneficial and we're trusting the Lord that it's long enough for Him to do something through us.