Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Adventure of the Flu
Click on over to my wordpress site to find out how our trip to the mountains for Christmas went and how we had a somewhat different adventure than the one we expected!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Catching Up
Seeing as I've neglected this space for a couple of weeks, I've got some catching up to do!
Life's been a bit of a whirl since we started moving out of our our rental house on Tochtli Street...one Saturday we packed up a few things and changed over into the house we're taking care of this summer. Gradually, we were able to go back and finish packing up the rest of our things. Which didn't take long, because we don't have that much!
The next challenge was to find a house to rent in Apizaco, but we were busy preparing for a fun missions event and didn't have time to go out and look for a house. Miguel was also spending hours at the immigration office finalizing the paperwork for our religious visas (religious visas are a little more complicated than regular resident visas). Then some of the kids got sick and we had to stay home and then finally, we had a day when we could take off for Apizaco to see what we could see.
We were able to contact a real estate agent via our friends and he showed us 5 or 6 houses, several of which were good possibilities. The one we liked the best was an older house, but had a fabulous yard! The kids were really excited about the yard...lots of grass and many fruit trees...plenty of space to run around. The carport was even partially covered, which would have been a good place for them to play during hot or rainy days. One of the main issues with that house, however, was its location...it is way out on the edge of town and not very close to where we would have liked to be situated.
After seeing all the houses that the agent had to show us, we were heading back to our friends' house when we happened to see a little sign from another real estate office advertising a house for rent in that area. We called and as it turned out, the house is just a block away from our friends' house, which is also the LAMM offices (read more about LAMM here)! The house looked promising, but we couldn't get it to see it until later. So we hung out at the park...well, Gracia and I stayed in the van playing Phase 10, which was more fun than playing soccer or football...and then we finally got the call to go see the house.
We hadn't been able to see much of the house from the outside because the outside walls are so high, but as we stepped into the patio, I really liked what I saw! The front of the house is pretty and the carport area is really big (which is good, since we have a large vehicle)...a large part of the carport is also covered, which is awesome for those rainy days when the kids just have to get out of the house! Once we stepped inside, we just kept liking what we saw...it has four bedrooms, a studio, 2 1/2 bathrooms, large living room and dining room. One of the bedrooms is small and decorated in pink, perfect for Gracia...another is a bit larger and decorated for young boys, perfect for Jojo and Gugui!
The only thing that was a con about this house is that the patio is completely paved, there is no grass and there are no trees. Miguel left the final decision up to me to choose the house and after lining out all the pros and cons of both houses, we quickly realized that even though this house doesn't have the patio we would have liked, everything else is exactly what we were looking for! It is a block from LAMM offices (which is also our friends' house), it is a block or so from a nice park, there is an empty lot on the other side of the street where we can exercise the dog and it's just a few blocks away from the church that we will be attending. We are rather social people and we decided that we'd rather be closer to the action than more isolated, even if it meant giving up the yard.
The kids weren't exactly sure that they wanted to give up the yard, but once they saw the house they were pretty much sold on it after discovering this awesome 'secret' room behind the toilet in the bathroom downstairs! I just hope they don't startle a guest one day by popping out at an inopportune moment...
So we were able to return on Friday to sign the contract...and Friday turned out to be a day of celebration, because that was also the day we received our visas! We spent a boring couple of hours at the immigration office, while the kids entertained themselves playing Pass the Pigs, much to the amusement of the other people there who had never seen such a game. The kids thought it was most exciting to be able to give their fingerprints...apparently that was the highlight of their time there! Miguel and I considered actually receiving our visas to be the highlight...now we're set to legally work as missionaries/ministers here in Mexico! This also means that we avoid having to take another trip to the border this month to renew our tourist visas.
So that was a good day as we accomplished those two major tasks...getting our visas and signing the contract on a house. The next day, Gracia participated in a dance performance with the rest of her dance studio...we were so very proud of her for that! On Sunday, some friends helped Miguel move the rest of our things up to our new rental house in Apizaco and we were finally able to return the house to the owners. It feels good to have that taken care of.
Our next big thing is receiving a team from our home church in Arkansas on the 14th, which is coming right up! This team will visit the mountains and some of them will participate in giving medical care and some will do some simple construction projects. There are several young people coming along as well, so Miguel has some fun things planned for them to do with the kids in the mountains. We were hoping to go as a family, but there was a mix-up and now there is not room, so just Miguel and Micah will be going along. That was disappointing to me, but I am trusting that God is in control, even in this.
After the team leaves, then we'll be able to make the final move up to our new house in Apizaco. We're excited!
So, now you are (mostly) caught up with what's been going on with us. It's always an adventure!
Life's been a bit of a whirl since we started moving out of our our rental house on Tochtli Street...one Saturday we packed up a few things and changed over into the house we're taking care of this summer. Gradually, we were able to go back and finish packing up the rest of our things. Which didn't take long, because we don't have that much!
The next challenge was to find a house to rent in Apizaco, but we were busy preparing for a fun missions event and didn't have time to go out and look for a house. Miguel was also spending hours at the immigration office finalizing the paperwork for our religious visas (religious visas are a little more complicated than regular resident visas). Then some of the kids got sick and we had to stay home and then finally, we had a day when we could take off for Apizaco to see what we could see.
We were able to contact a real estate agent via our friends and he showed us 5 or 6 houses, several of which were good possibilities. The one we liked the best was an older house, but had a fabulous yard! The kids were really excited about the yard...lots of grass and many fruit trees...plenty of space to run around. The carport was even partially covered, which would have been a good place for them to play during hot or rainy days. One of the main issues with that house, however, was its location...it is way out on the edge of town and not very close to where we would have liked to be situated.
After seeing all the houses that the agent had to show us, we were heading back to our friends' house when we happened to see a little sign from another real estate office advertising a house for rent in that area. We called and as it turned out, the house is just a block away from our friends' house, which is also the LAMM offices (read more about LAMM here)! The house looked promising, but we couldn't get it to see it until later. So we hung out at the park...well, Gracia and I stayed in the van playing Phase 10, which was more fun than playing soccer or football...and then we finally got the call to go see the house.
We hadn't been able to see much of the house from the outside because the outside walls are so high, but as we stepped into the patio, I really liked what I saw! The front of the house is pretty and the carport area is really big (which is good, since we have a large vehicle)...a large part of the carport is also covered, which is awesome for those rainy days when the kids just have to get out of the house! Once we stepped inside, we just kept liking what we saw...it has four bedrooms, a studio, 2 1/2 bathrooms, large living room and dining room. One of the bedrooms is small and decorated in pink, perfect for Gracia...another is a bit larger and decorated for young boys, perfect for Jojo and Gugui!
The only thing that was a con about this house is that the patio is completely paved, there is no grass and there are no trees. Miguel left the final decision up to me to choose the house and after lining out all the pros and cons of both houses, we quickly realized that even though this house doesn't have the patio we would have liked, everything else is exactly what we were looking for! It is a block from LAMM offices (which is also our friends' house), it is a block or so from a nice park, there is an empty lot on the other side of the street where we can exercise the dog and it's just a few blocks away from the church that we will be attending. We are rather social people and we decided that we'd rather be closer to the action than more isolated, even if it meant giving up the yard.
The kids weren't exactly sure that they wanted to give up the yard, but once they saw the house they were pretty much sold on it after discovering this awesome 'secret' room behind the toilet in the bathroom downstairs! I just hope they don't startle a guest one day by popping out at an inopportune moment...
So we were able to return on Friday to sign the contract...and Friday turned out to be a day of celebration, because that was also the day we received our visas! We spent a boring couple of hours at the immigration office, while the kids entertained themselves playing Pass the Pigs, much to the amusement of the other people there who had never seen such a game. The kids thought it was most exciting to be able to give their fingerprints...apparently that was the highlight of their time there! Miguel and I considered actually receiving our visas to be the highlight...now we're set to legally work as missionaries/ministers here in Mexico! This also means that we avoid having to take another trip to the border this month to renew our tourist visas.
So that was a good day as we accomplished those two major tasks...getting our visas and signing the contract on a house. The next day, Gracia participated in a dance performance with the rest of her dance studio...we were so very proud of her for that! On Sunday, some friends helped Miguel move the rest of our things up to our new rental house in Apizaco and we were finally able to return the house to the owners. It feels good to have that taken care of.
Our next big thing is receiving a team from our home church in Arkansas on the 14th, which is coming right up! This team will visit the mountains and some of them will participate in giving medical care and some will do some simple construction projects. There are several young people coming along as well, so Miguel has some fun things planned for them to do with the kids in the mountains. We were hoping to go as a family, but there was a mix-up and now there is not room, so just Miguel and Micah will be going along. That was disappointing to me, but I am trusting that God is in control, even in this.
After the team leaves, then we'll be able to make the final move up to our new house in Apizaco. We're excited!
So, now you are (mostly) caught up with what's been going on with us. It's always an adventure!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Family Camp
What started as an online friendship with the ABCDs has developed into a real-life friendship now that we're living in central Mexico. Besides enjoying their friendship, we've also enjoyed their library plus their invitation to join them at what was termed MK Family Spiritual Emphasis Camp 2012 by our fearless director.
We are already looking forward to camp next year!
Basically, we thought of it as family camp since we went as a family and there were several other families there as well. It was also a nice family 'vacation' for us, even though we kinda "worked" (didn't feel much like work, though) and were in different cabins. We were able to take the puppy also and he really enjoyed spending some time in the great outdoors (sadly, the snail and the turtle had to stay behind).
Miguel and I had the opportunity to teach the older youth during their chapel times and we covered four stories about the Israelites found in Numbers 11-15 as a way of illustrating and exploring some Bible storying concepts. Miguel was the counselor for the older boys and we helped out a bit in the kitchen and with crafts.
It was a lot colder at camp than here in Puebla, so we were glad that we went prepared for the colder weather! During the day, it was very nice, but as soon as the sun went down the temps really dropped...there was a significant altitude difference, which is why the weather was cooler there.
Here are few pictures of our adventure at camp...for more pictures, go here or here or here!
Miguel and I had the opportunity to teach the older youth during their chapel times and we covered four stories about the Israelites found in Numbers 11-15 as a way of illustrating and exploring some Bible storying concepts. Miguel was the counselor for the older boys and we helped out a bit in the kitchen and with crafts.
It was a lot colder at camp than here in Puebla, so we were glad that we went prepared for the colder weather! During the day, it was very nice, but as soon as the sun went down the temps really dropped...there was a significant altitude difference, which is why the weather was cooler there.
Here are few pictures of our adventure at camp...for more pictures, go here or here or here!
We enjoyed the scenery on the way to camp...that's
really red dirt there!
The view from the front of my cabin...the
kitchen/auditorium area
is down beyond those vehicles and the bathrooms
are in the building on the right of the picture. The
cabins were very comfortable, but it sure
was hard to get out of my nice warm bed
at 3 a.m. to trek all the way over there to go potty!
We had some great worship times led
by another missionary. I think Miguel was
making a J for J-O-Y although
it looks like everyone else had
already moved on to Y!
Jkaile with a buñuelo, similar to a funnel cake.
Meals were delicious!
I think the snack shop was our kids' favorite
'activity' at camp!
Their not-so-favorite thing...dishes!
On our way back from camp, we stopped by a little
town known for selling clay pots and other decorative items.
Apparently jack-o-lanterns are in high demand,
they were everywhere!
I got a kick out of these pots
drying on top of this building. They
are all so perfectly lined up!
We stopped at several of the different shops...it was
hard to choose what to buy! So many pretty things...
I loved this one! We bought several of these,
but unpainted.
I really loved these iguanas painted
in the talavera style...maybe next time!
It was also interesting to see many Otomí people
in traditional dress...there are many communities
of Otomí in this area.
We are already looking forward to camp next year!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Weekend at Camp
Miguel and Micah are back from their weekend at camp...I thought they would be home on Monday, but camp went one day longer than we thought, so they got home yesterday afternoon. The camp they went to was in the northern part of the state of Puebla, about four hours away from here, and it was for Totonac young people from the states of Puebla and Veracruz. The part of the sierra (mountains) where they were was lush and green...cool at night and warmish during the day.
Miguel helped with various things, including setting up, washing pots and pans and packing up when camp was over.
He was also able to hang out with the kids during their activities. Miguel said he had several opportunities to talk with the young people and their leaders about various things, such as discipleship, issues they are facing and community life in their churches.
Micah had a pretty good time, although he got sick with tonsilitis on Friday night and had to go see a local doctor for some medicine. There were several children his age there, so he made a few friends as well.
I am very glad that Miguel and Micah were able to take this opportunity to serve at this camp and to build some relationships there in the sierra. It's good to have them back, though! It is also always interesting to see what Miguel brings back for me on his trips (besides the piles of dirty laundry)...
Miguel helped with various things, including setting up, washing pots and pans and packing up when camp was over.
He was also able to hang out with the kids during their activities. Miguel said he had several opportunities to talk with the young people and their leaders about various things, such as discipleship, issues they are facing and community life in their churches.
Micah had a pretty good time, although he got sick with tonsilitis on Friday night and had to go see a local doctor for some medicine. There were several children his age there, so he made a few friends as well.
I am very glad that Miguel and Micah were able to take this opportunity to serve at this camp and to build some relationships there in the sierra. It's good to have them back, though! It is also always interesting to see what Miguel brings back for me on his trips (besides the piles of dirty laundry)...
house plants...the one on the right is a coffee bush!
Café Tierras Altas (Coffee from High Lands)...
a few interesting rocks...
sugarcane...
and I am so glad that he brought me back my son!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Three Quarters of the Way
I wanted to write a post at about halfway, but yeah, that didn't happen. So here we are, at about three-quarters and that will have to do. What can I say, the time these last couple of weeks has literally sped by along with the miles since we left our house in the Village and began our pilgrimage.
The time we spent at the farm with Mom and Papa John was good, but I got sick with a weird cold/flu/allergy thing that kind of knocked me for a loop there...the kids enjoyed going to VBS and spending time in the creek. All too soon, though, the day came for us to leave...so here we are, all packed up.
We took two days to get out to Arizona, where we had the opportunity to ride the train up to see the Grand Canyon...that was an amazing adventure for our family and we highly recommend the experience!
First of all, there was a funny cowboy show complete with crazy shootouts and stuff. The kids got a ringside seat!
Then we boarded the train for the 2 hour ride north to the Canyon. The scenery was breathtaking in areas and we enjoyed some cowboy entertainment as well.
Once we got there, we had about 3 hours to explore and see what there was to see...of course, we wanted to do much more than we could ever possibly do in three hours, but oh well, maybe next time!
All too soon, it was time to meet back at the Grand Canyon Railway station for the ride home...but I confess to having a certain sense of relief at getting away from the edge of that abyss! Apparently, all that open space below me activated my vertigo AND my motherly instincts of protection for the kids because I felt not a little anxiety whenever they would get even remotely close to the edge!
One of the highlights of the trip home was spotting an elk among the pines...I wasn't able to snap a picture of it, but here is a photo of some of the beauty of the pine forest around the Canyon...and another view of the train...
The other highlight was getting 'robbed' by the same outlaws who had performed in the Wild West show that morning...this is how they get their tips!
After that, we got to go to camp! It was nothing but a blessing to attend the Pioneers Mid-Americas Region conference and meet our new coworkers in this region...some of them we already knew and found out that we have a lot of mutual friends with others...all in all, we felt welcome, included and valued as members of this group.
The kids also had a wonderful time and really fell in love with Mr. Billy and Miss Erika and the others who were there to help with the kids...they were also pretty excited to see Mr. Todd, who had been their leader at our orientation with Pioneers in Orlando! So here are some pictures from our time at camp...
Miguel ate a beetle! Ew!
Jkaile spent hours pursuing other beetle friends...the ones Miguel didn't eat.
Hanging out with friends...
Making silly faces...
Now THAT is a bad hair day!!!!
Gracia being her usual composed self...
I could, of course, go on and on, but since this post is getting long, I'll have to wait to tell about the next part of our trip...
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Trip to Florida...Fun in the Sun!
We've been busy! On April 1st we arrived in Florida for our first orientation/training week with a mission agency called Pioneers. We flew on a smaller airline that only flies on Mondays and Fridays in the spring months, so we had a day before the training started to visit with our friend Angela. She took us to the beach and we had a great time...we pretty much spent every spare minute talking our heads off! lol
I really did not expect Miguel to actually get in the water since it was a bit of a chilly day, but he did! He and Angela's kids had a blast braving the waves, digging in the sand and having mud fights. I was the victim of this particular mudball!
After the orientation, Miguel headed south for Venezuela and I spent the weekend with Angela again before flying back to Arkansas. Of course we had to go back to the beach again...this time I was the one who hung out with Angela's kids in the waves...it was great!
Another highlight of this trip was getting to hang out for an evening with some of my MK friends I grew up with in Colombia.
There were other highlights, too, like the visiting owl, margaritas at Mi México, the slightly dismembered lizard the cat drug in, Spanish moss, wild turkeys and sandhill cranes, lunch with a rooster and so much more...I am treasuring these memories...
I really did not expect Miguel to actually get in the water since it was a bit of a chilly day, but he did! He and Angela's kids had a blast braving the waves, digging in the sand and having mud fights. I was the victim of this particular mudball!
After the orientation, Miguel headed south for Venezuela and I spent the weekend with Angela again before flying back to Arkansas. Of course we had to go back to the beach again...this time I was the one who hung out with Angela's kids in the waves...it was great!
Another highlight of this trip was getting to hang out for an evening with some of my MK friends I grew up with in Colombia.
There were other highlights, too, like the visiting owl, margaritas at Mi México, the slightly dismembered lizard the cat drug in, Spanish moss, wild turkeys and sandhill cranes, lunch with a rooster and so much more...I am treasuring these memories...
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Roller Coaster Ride
I fell out of our van the other day, literally. Miguel had had the van in the shop for a couple of days and then I needed to drive it somewhere...I stopped, opened the door and then I just stepped out into thin air! I felt pretty stupid...I even turned and looked at the van wondering why in the world I had expected a step to be where there obviously was not one?! I just chalked it up to having gotten used to driving the Explorer and went about my day.
A few hours later, we were at home and Miguel says, "Oh, I forgot to tell you...I took the running boards off the van when it was in the shop." It took me a couple of minutes to process that comment and then I was like, "It was YOU!!!!!" It made me feel a little better to notice that Miguel himself fell out of the van the next day, lol. Revenge is sweet...
So yeah, having lots of fun these days getting ready for our next missionary adventure! We are happy to say that we have decided on a mission agency and are applying to a mission agency called Pioneers. Of all of the agencies that we considered and explored, we feel that it is the best fit for our new ministry in Puebla. Pioneers has already agreed to take on our mission project, which was yet another open door for us. We were able to turn in all of our application paperwork on time to register to attend an orientation with Pioneers on April 3-8. They will review our application, meet with us and then we should know by the end of that week whether our membership application will be approved or not. At this point, there have not been any red flags regarding our application, but it is always good not to assume things...we have our tickets bought and places for our kids to stay, so that's all taken care of.
Once we had that orientation scheduled, we did a big planning session to pin down some dates and figure out our next steps and discovered out that what we had kind of thought was 'out there' in the future was now upon us! For one thing, we found out that we will need to move out of our house here at the Village before we go to the Pioneers orientation the first week of April...that sort of changed a few things, but it is all working out for the best. We have a good place to stay after we move out of the Village, so that's a blessing.
It took me about half an hour to process that paradigm shift and then I was off and running with the new plan...we have shelved homeschooling for the time being and are focusing on ministry priorities for now, such as email lists and supporter communication and the packing/sorting/storing of the ever-present stuff. I wish we didn't have to have all that stuff, but we do and it has to be sorted, sigh. We are basically planning only to take what will fit in whatever vehicle we drive to Mexico in (which may or may not be our van), so that really limits what we can take...we may also be able to either ship or have someone else take some things.
So lots to do and lots to think about! My head has been spinning for a couple of weeks, but in a good way...we're so excited about this new ministry. Today we met with yet another potential supporter who have committed to being monthly financial partners as well as prayer supporters and we have just been so blessed to have people like that on our team. Times like that, Miguel and I just pause and gift thanks to God for His blessings.
I kinda feel like I'm on a roller coaster, hair blowing back in the wind, heart pounding, enjoying the ride!
A few hours later, we were at home and Miguel says, "Oh, I forgot to tell you...I took the running boards off the van when it was in the shop." It took me a couple of minutes to process that comment and then I was like, "It was YOU!!!!!" It made me feel a little better to notice that Miguel himself fell out of the van the next day, lol. Revenge is sweet...
You can see the running boards in this picture that now
aren't there...apparently, I have always used
that lower step to get out of the van...
So yeah, having lots of fun these days getting ready for our next missionary adventure! We are happy to say that we have decided on a mission agency and are applying to a mission agency called Pioneers. Of all of the agencies that we considered and explored, we feel that it is the best fit for our new ministry in Puebla. Pioneers has already agreed to take on our mission project, which was yet another open door for us. We were able to turn in all of our application paperwork on time to register to attend an orientation with Pioneers on April 3-8. They will review our application, meet with us and then we should know by the end of that week whether our membership application will be approved or not. At this point, there have not been any red flags regarding our application, but it is always good not to assume things...we have our tickets bought and places for our kids to stay, so that's all taken care of.
Once we had that orientation scheduled, we did a big planning session to pin down some dates and figure out our next steps and discovered out that what we had kind of thought was 'out there' in the future was now upon us! For one thing, we found out that we will need to move out of our house here at the Village before we go to the Pioneers orientation the first week of April...that sort of changed a few things, but it is all working out for the best. We have a good place to stay after we move out of the Village, so that's a blessing.
It took me about half an hour to process that paradigm shift and then I was off and running with the new plan...we have shelved homeschooling for the time being and are focusing on ministry priorities for now, such as email lists and supporter communication and the packing/sorting/storing of the ever-present stuff. I wish we didn't have to have all that stuff, but we do and it has to be sorted, sigh. We are basically planning only to take what will fit in whatever vehicle we drive to Mexico in (which may or may not be our van), so that really limits what we can take...we may also be able to either ship or have someone else take some things.
So lots to do and lots to think about! My head has been spinning for a couple of weeks, but in a good way...we're so excited about this new ministry. Today we met with yet another potential supporter who have committed to being monthly financial partners as well as prayer supporters and we have just been so blessed to have people like that on our team. Times like that, Miguel and I just pause and gift thanks to God for His blessings.
I kinda feel like I'm on a roller coaster, hair blowing back in the wind, heart pounding, enjoying the ride!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
An Afternoon on the Lake
It's good to have a friend with a boat and
a lake nearby...
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Great to feel the wind in our hair...
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...even if it makes us look funny...
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Raft riding...
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...what a blast!
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Miguel enjoyed a turn at the wheel...
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When I posted some of these pictures on Facebook, a friend asked about pictures of me from this day...yeah. right. Pictures of me in my bathing suit? Don't think so...
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