ok here are a few pictures of our recent trip to Mexico. I didn't take many pictures this time as the camera ran out of battery power and I kept forgetting to charge them overnight. We had a good trip and visited 3 mission churches as well as "Maranatha" in Tamazunchale. This first picture is of "Nueva Esperanza" church in Jalpa. We have worked on this building the last few trips. This time they had their dedication service (5 hours long!!) while we were there, which was a tremendous blessing to be part of. Here they are making last minute preparations
Here everyone is waiting outside of the church for the celebration to begin. In the lower is Pastor Candido's wife, Niko and oldest daughter Raquel.Calixto and I were asked to cut the ribbon to the sanctuary...what an honor! The little girl holding the plate was supposed to catch the cut ribbon but, it fell to the ground instead. As it did I heard the Pastor gasp behind me!
The Pastor of Jalpa and his wife are standing to the left of Pastor Candido at the podium. (At this church some of the ladies still wear head coverings.)
Here is my Mariachi husband!! Earlier in the week the mariachi band called Calixto up to sing a song with them but this time they had a full outfit for him to wear!! Muy Guapo!!
Here is Jack preparing his testimony before the service with the help of Santos. Santos is such a sweet boy, he always hangs out with us when we come.
Here we are pouring the roof on the church in Petlapixca. I am in the empty bucket line...of course!! We began pouring at 4:30pm, we left at 10:30pm in order to get back to Tamazunchale. The Mexican people and LeTourneau students worked for another hour after we left to complete the project. It was a very long day! Everyone's hands were cut and blistered with concrete imbedded in the cuts...quite painful. My dad and Jack were able to make about 20 pews for this site as well. (Sorry, I meant to post a pic of the church)
Here is the church at Manantial. This church acquired this building from another church but, it is too small and not structurally sound. The pastor here, Juan Bautista (aka John the Baptist) is the oldest pastor of the mission sites. We have not done work here yet but, they are praying that we can come to build a new building next to this one.

We spent time hearing the Pastor's testimony and heart for this church. He is a very humble man, not formally trained but knew the people needed someone to step up to Pastor this flock. I think he has been there for over 20 years now! He shared the needs of the church and we spent time praying for him. We then walked from home to home inviting people to church and praying for any needs they may have. That was a wonderful, humbling experience.
While there it happened to be Raquel's birthday. She is Pastor Candido's oldest daughter. It is tradition to bend down to take a bite out of your cake as you do everyone tries to push your face into it. These guys really got into it!! Her son, Jose Arim, didn't like it at all and began crying! It is always fun to celebrate birthdays while there.

Well, we are off to Mexico in a few hours. The kids are in bed but, Christopher is crying. He just keeps telling me he wants me to stay! It breaks my heart! I know he will be fine in the morning, he just gets this way as we are leaving. At these times, as he is crying and pleading for me to stay I wonder if we are doing the right thing. Maybe we should always go as a complete family and not leave the kids behind.
I had intended to write more but I am exhausted...I think I'm going to take a nap before we leave, since I may be driving for a little bit tonight!
Have a good week...we certainly covet your prayers for us as well as our children...thanks!

On the house...the gas company came on Wed to fix the attic stairs they had broken and they told me they would take care of the AC bill too. They should have been able to light the furnace, since they couldn't I had to call Alco Air to light it. Since there was nothing wrong with it (they just didn't know how to light it) they paid the bill for us...yay!! I did get the bill for the plumbers...all I can say is maybe Christopher should skip college and become a plumber! wow!Thankfully, all is repaired now and the good news is that my parents will be here tomorrow, so we can get some work done over this next week...I am so excited about that!! What to do first? that is the question.

I don't have any recent pictures (the camera's batteries are dead and I can not find the charger) so I thought I would post some old photos, these cetainly bring a smile to my face!

Ohhh! This is where I would love to be right now, sitting on the white sand beaches of Cozumel! Isn't it just beautiful?
Another shot down the beach. The weather was warm and the water was clear and wonderful. (We are leaving for Mexico this week, I kinda wish it were this part of Mexico afterall the people in Cozumel need to know Christ too) It was so relaxing!Looking at these pictures takes me right back to that vacation. I must say just a few days later this beach didn't look as pretty. The water was churned up and grey, and there was debris everywhere. The day after the hurricane we walked around throwing stranded star fish back into the water.
Here are some random shots of the kids. This was March of '05. I can't believe how much Catherine has changed...and look how short her hair was then! She had her back pack on ready to go somewhere, I am sure!
I love this picture, she had gotten into my lipstick!! What a precious gift from God she is, and what a blessing for me to be her Mommy!
A picture of Christopher and his friend Isaac. My how they have grown in the past 2 years!! The Tigers had their first soccer game this morning and won 5-2. They were undefeated last season and are off to a great start this season beating the 3rd place team today. It was so cold on the field this morning, brrr! They are doing a lot of work on Lear Park and parking sure was crazy, there were cars parked everywhich way. Thankfully, a nice man helped me get out of my parking spot amidst all the chaos! Last week Christopher finished up his church league basketball season undefeated as well. He did a great job and loved every minute of it.