Craziness

Our weather here has just been "craziness" and it sounds like the weather in Alabama has been also! So glad to hear that none of my family and friends back in Alabama were effected by the tornados last weekend. Here, all the snow is gone now but one day last week, I woke up and screamed when I looked out side to see everything completely white again!! I pinched myself to make sure I was awake and not having a nightmare! The snow left by lunch that day and anything that falls at this point is not going to stick for long (Thank GOD!). On Wednesday, we had excessive winds that felt like we were in a hurricane, and it flipped our trampoline over and onto the house, tearing the nice new netting we had put up. It has snowed the last two days some but again, nothing is sticking. The low here tomorrow is 15 degrees.....on May 1st. Mason has his first baseball game tomorrow and hopefully it will reach up into the 40's by game time. He is the starting pitcher at the first game of the season so that is pretty exciting. He wanted to get his hair cut because he didn't like the way he looked with a hat on while his hair was longer and over his ears. He looks so different!! and yes...he has ears!!! I haven't seen them in a while!

The past two days we've gotten a taste of what the summer will be like for us. We had a new pellet stove put into the house, a new septic tank has been inserted in at the church, we had a portapotty delivered and a new Zircon is now in the yard. So the driveway and our yard has been busy, busy. It is exciting though to see what God is doing!

Only 9 more school days left and summer will be here! We get out on the 13th and both boys have a field trip and Landon has field day to look forward to. I have been busy working on VBS decorations, trying to get as much done as early as I can. The "summer" members are slowly trickling back in also. And the lake is filling up so although it doesn't feel like summer is near, IT IS! whoo-hoo!

Answered Prayer!

Back in February, I asked you to pray for God's favor for our church in getting all the required footwork done to be approved in time for us to get a building permit and be ready for the mission team to begin on June 19th. Remember that??? We had to get approval responses from 18 agencies and we did, so it came down to meeting with the planning commission on April 22nd. Once we presented our building plans to them, they have 4 to 6 weeks to approve those plans and grant us a permit. Four to 6 weeks would not give us enough time to get the foundation laid and take care of the other things that needed to be done before the team arrives. We held a prayer meeting before and during the meeting this past Thursday, asking God to take care of this need for us. While the meeting went well, the planning commission told us of a few more things we had to do, and in 3 weeks at their next meeting, they would approve our plans and grant our permit! That was news we rejoiced over!
But even better, yesterday (the day after the meeting) one of planning dept. ladies, asked the commission if they could go ahead and grant a foundation permit for us and they agreed!! So on MONDAY, we'll have the foundation permit and can get started! PRAISE GOD! HE IS FAITHFUL TO HEAR OUR CRIES FOR HELP!
Thanks for praying!

Wondering about Snow?

We finally got to put the trampoline up!!!!!! They got it for Christmas, so last Sunday, the snow had melted enough in the spot we wanted to put it in so we got it up...the kids were so excited!!

So 5 days have passed since that picture was taken so if you are wondering if we still have snow.......

It is slowly disappearing and I couldn't be more thrilled! It rained tonight too so maybe that helped to speed up the process! We have had some beautiful sunshine and 70 degree days this week so it's finally feeling like SPRING!!

EASTER 2010

The week before Easter Sunday was the week we were on vacation. I was waiting on pictures from Cathy to tell you about our Good Friday and I got them yesterday. Mike and the boys went deep sea fishing on Good Friday so the "girls" were going to get in a little shopping. We knew that this day was heavily celebrated by the Mexican Catholics and we knew there was going to be a parade but we thought the parade had already happened before we arrived in town. What's neat (and totally a God thing) was that it was sooooo crowded in town but there was an open parking place at a restaurant there and you could park there if you ate there. So we decided to go ahead and eat lunch and we chose to be out on the terrace, just to watch the atmosphere. Little did we know what a blessing God had in store for us! As we were waiting for our food, you could see this Catholic church from our table which was about a block away........

Out of this church came Roman soldiers, then Jesus, who had been arrested.....

They turned here and walked him down a couple of blocks, out of our sight.....his followers were behind him every step of the way

Then after we were finishing our food, they came on down the other side of the town, reenacting that sad Good Friday day that changed our lives forever.....

Look for "Jesus", carrying his cross.....

They turned at the corner of where we were sitting....below you can see the 2 other prisoners

Then "Jesus" walks right past us and they were whipping him as he walked

Then there were about 300 Mexicans following the procession to "Golgotha" where they reenacted the cruxifiction. We did not get to see that part but this part was extremely touching....for them to walk it out in front of us gave me a perspective that I had never been a part of. What were the people who saw Jesus walking by, carrying his cross thinking? Did they really understand what was going on? Did they believe he was the Son of God? Or did the accusations by the religious rulers influence them into thinking that he was a false prophet? Did they join in the procession out of curiousity to see what happened? Or did they fall to their knees, repulsed at what they had witnessed, crying out to God to stop this? .....or did they stand in awe at fulfillment of the Scriptures?

It was such a blessing to see, and looking back, God just paved the way for us to experience this by using the parking space at that particular restaurant where we could see it all even though we had not planned to! Thank you GOD! Ada has been there 5 Easters and has never come down to see the parade and didn't know what it really was. The parade really gave me an awesome preparation for what Easter weekend was all about. Good Friday night, we attended Don and Ada's church there for another service honoring the sacrifice our Lord gave us.

The Saturday before easter we traveled all the way home because we couldn't miss Easter Sunday!! We couldn't dye eggs until then and Haven was the only one interested......

Please excuse the lack of clothes....this is Haven at home 98% of the time so if you ever drop by, she'll be in her underwear, even in the dead of winter!

We always get a family shot on Easter and because we had just arrived back from Mexico.....

Yes, the sombraro made the Easter picture! (We did have some made without it if you are wondering!)

We had a wonderful Easter attendence and PRAISE GOD, 6 people prayed to receive Christ!! Please pray for these 6 people, that they would attend a church somewhere and become true disciples for God.

WOW! What a special Easter this was!! Hope your's was touching also!

April Birthdays!!

Happy Birthday to my neice Haidee Richardson on the 11th and my friend Appi Pate on the 22nd!!! WE LOVE YOU!

MEXICO!! (PART 2)

Don and Ada dela Motte are the couple we visited in Mexico and they live in here in Vallecito in the summer. They are such a generous couple and share everything they have with others. Don and Ada are the couple on the right and Earl and Cathy Wilkening who went with us are on the left.......

Their home is in a gate community so we felt very safe there. Their home was absolutely gorgeous....pictures just don't do it justice

Haven is standing in the front courtyard in this next picture and you can see the beach on the left side of the picture

Inside their home, the ceilings are brick domed roof and it was amazing! I tried to take a picture but it doesn't do it justice!

This is the back part of the house that faces towards the beach......

Their little fountain.......

Our first night there, Don and Ada took us to a restaurant that was right on the ocean. Here's Mike, Ada, and Cathy.....

This picture was taken from the terrace where we were eating and Ada's home is over there across the bay......

The sunset was so beautiful and we got to witness it while dining outside......

I thought this was a great picture too.....parts of the beach were very rocky, hence the name Rocky Point.....

Some houses there were absolutely gorgeous.......

And then some were very, very sad......



What was unusual about the houses in Mexico, was that there might be a really nice house in the middle of several pitiful looking houses. They drove CRAZY there too! The police were all around but never stopped people. They NEVER come to complete stops at stop signs and they made 2 lane roads out of a one lane road! There were as many dirt roads as paved roads in the town. ATV rentals were very popular because the area behind town and the condos look like this......

We did some shopping there and of course you never give them what they ask for in the beginning. They had the most beautiful pottery and dishes there that I fell in love with. Mason fell in love with this sombraro that made the trip home with us!

Landon tried it out also but he ended up with a carved Sea Lion to remember his trip by......

THE FOOD....oh my.....we ate at two places I would have NEVER eaten at had Don and Ada not wanted to take us there! The first was a hotdog stand.....

The weiners were wrapped in bacon and cooked. Then you could top it with grilled onions or raw chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, peppers, guacamole, ketchup, mayo, or mustard. They were delicious!

(Although I wouldn't recommend the guacamole and chopped tomatoes!)
We enjoyed the cokes in a bottle they served every where also....

People sell food everywhere...out of their cars, stands like this, made up booths that look like flea market areas.....This hot dog stand was very popular though!

The next place was a taco stand....it had tables and chairs, and 3 walls but the front was just open. Here's the chef and there's the meat.....

Here we are in this fine "restaurant"........

And here's the taco, with pork (we think!)...check out the plates...

They were really good! And it only cost around $30 for all 9 of us to eat!

We left out on Saturday and drove all the way back home and it took us 13 1/2 hours. The kids were great riders and I am so proud of them. Here are some pictures of the desert which is so beautiful in it's own special way.......

We were amazed at all the cacti so we had to get a picture with it....

We learned that it takes a cactus 100 years before it starts to grow it's arms out and we didn't realize they were so tall!

I just want to thank God for this amazing get-away He provided for us and give Him the glory! Everything we have comes from the Lord and we were amazed at all His creations we got to witness!

MEXICO!!! (Part 1)

Hola! Como esta? Mexico was.....different.....but great! As you read in an earlier post, I was really nervous about crossing the border and being there so we met up with Cathy and Earl Wilkening in Gila Bend, AZ, and followed them in. It took us a little over an hour once we crossed the border to get to Ada and Don dela Motte's home in Rocky Pt (Puerto Penasco) Mexico. To cross over the border, all they did was ask if we had over $10,000 in the car and then you go right in. Here's what the border in Lukeville, AZ looks like......

The beach was such a welcoming site! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the beach and have missed it so much...unfortunately, I didn't get to spend much time on it because it was still a little cool, around 70 degrees, but we did play some and collect some gorgeous sea shells. What was really different about this beach was that in the mornings the water is about 100 yds back from where it is in the afternoon. That leaves for some really great sea shell finds!


The water was gorgeous and the kids got in but I couldn't take the coldness!

This is the view on the left side of where we were. The first condo you see there is slowly being built but on the other side of it are finished condos that are really nice. I was told that this part of Mexico was "Americanized" so I was really expecting this place to be a lot like the good old "clean" US of A.......well.....it ain't (pardon my french!)! Around the condo areas are nice but the town and surrounding areas are just like you would picture Mexico to be. The beaches were littered too.

But they did have some banana boat rides and jet ski rentals for the tourists....

The area behind the boat is called "Old Town" and is this is were we ate and shopped some.
You could even go horse back riding on the beach....

But what was annoying about this beach was that the Mexicans walked up and down the beach trying to sell you things. One day I laid out for an hour and I had 7 different people try to sell me something. Below you can see they are braiding an American girl's hair on the beach......

What were they selling? Henna tatoo's, purses, sunglasses, jewelry, sun dresses, pottery, etc....you can see below 2 different groups selling things....

Mason loved throwing the frisbee on beach......

Family portrait!

Me and my girl....

The next picture is me with Cathy who lives at Vallecito year round. You can kind of see the right hand side of the beach from where we were staying

Don't know how he done it...that water was freezing!

I will say that neither San Diego or Mexico beaches were as beautiful as the Gulf Shores and Florida Panhandle beaches are. The sand is not as white and gorgeous.

On Friday, Don took the boys out deep sea fishing. They went 50 miles off the coast with no land in site!

Landon got to see Sea lions again! There were several that kept trying to get the fish they would reel up from the bottom!

Landon caught more fish than anyone this trip!

Don normally hires a Mexican to drive out and skin the fish as they are caught, but it was Good Friday which is a major holiday for Catholic Mexicans so his helper didn't show up. So they only caught 57 fish this day because of that. Normally they can bring home double that. The fish caught is used for a community wide fish fry here in Vallecito in August. The next picture is of a whale...Mike said they saw around 40 or so whales while out there!

I was going to try to do it all in one post but too many pictures. So I'll post more later. This last post is at the border going back into the USA. And yes, you must have passports now to get in!

Oh...I almost forgot his hilarious video from Landon out at sea! Be sure to watch...click on the arrow to play....