Meggie's birthday

Meggie turned 6 yesterday. She was soooooooooooo excited all week.
Poor thing, she really wanted a big party. It's kind of hard this year though being in travel mode, staying somewhere else, being far away from most friends and family, etc. We ended up just eating cake and opening presents at home yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa. She wanted to go skating, but John did not feel well at all yesterday, so we stayed home. Faith's birthday is next Sunday, so we told them we'll try to do something together this week for their birthdays when Daddy feels better.

I'll put some pics on here later. I thought John downloaded them onto my computer, but I guess he didn't. :)

Meggie also lost her 2nd tooth this week. She was really excited about that.
The kids have had a lot of fun visiting with family and friends.

It's really cold here. We're coming from 95 degrees and it was 27 degrees the 2nd day we were here! BRRRRRRRRR! Today it is flurrying outside. I pray we don't get any snow because I have to get John to the hospital to see the doctor this week and it's about an hour and a half from where we're staying. I think they're calling for 2-4 inches tonight, but I'm not sure exactly where. Hopefully it won't go down to my parents' house. It's hard to get out down there.

The kids want to go to the Christmas parade tomorrow evening, but I'm not sure if we'll get to. It will depend on the weather.

I really do miss my puppies. They're being boarded at the vet's in Mexico. I can't wait to see them again.

Sammy got to go to youth group for the first time, so that was a big deal. Ike's friends had a party for him last week. He really enjoyed getting to hang out and see everyone again. I think he's going to a birthday party this week, too. Tonight they're all going to AWANA. They've talked about that since we left 15 months ago! It's hawaiian night.


I'm really glad they all had a chance to reconnect with friends at church. It has been very special to them.

We got to see my Grandma and aunt last week. They came in from about 4 hours away. We all went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was fun to talk to the workers there. They were from near where we live in Mexico.

Surprise! I'm back

I haven't had much access to internet for the past 2 weeks, so I haven't been on here.

Our trip is going well, although John is pretty sick. He will be seeing a specialist on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll know more then and have the right meds to kick this. Thanks for the prayer.
We had a bunch of blood work and lab work done the first week we got here. We're still waiting on some of the results and should get them tomorrow. Poor John is just miserable. It's been a little scary at times. I'll be so glad once he's 100% well again and his old self.

As far as the challenge between me and Ike------ ummmm, let's not talk about it!
It's been very hard to do it correctly. We're running around and travelling too much with dr. appts, etc. I have tried to stay within our guidelines as much as possible. But, I can say that I still have NOT had any sugar! woohoo! Even with Thanksgiving. oh........ and I made fudge the day before thinking that I would have a piece on Thanksgiving. Then when the time came, I just couldn't give up the will power. I decided to hold out until my original January date for no sugar. (Now it's just a matter of "proving I can do it" to Ike. lol)

I have not exercised every day. It's been very hit and miss. I really want to try to get that back on track this week. I got a great run in the other night. I did straight hills for about 35 minutes. Up and down one huge long hill over and over again. It was great. (It was also cold!) I've had some other great workouts, but it's hasn't been 10o%. oh well.

I plan to add 3 weeks on to the end of my time to make up for the 3 weeks I'm losing with the travel. I can tell a huge difference though. I felt wonderful for 5 weeks. Now I just feel "good". LOL

We made it to the States

I don't really have time to blog right now, but wanted to let you know we made it home.
John saw our doctor today and he (dr.) called a GI specialist while we were there and got us in with him also. We would not have been able to get in with him on our own because he was booked for a month.

The doctor ordered a bunch of tests so we'll know more next week on how that is looking. We're waiting for the results before they determine what they need to do with John. I think they're looking at redoing a bunch of exams so they can get a good idea of what is going on and compare it to the past exams, etc.

We feel we had good medical care in Mexico, but he is still really having problems with the parasites, so it was important to get him somewhere to get it under control. It feels good to know we have a doctor who has known us a long time (since the kids were babies) and he's really looking out for us to make sure John's well taken care of and gets to the right specialists.

Thanks for praying!


oh............ the kids are LOVING staying with Grandma and Grandpa!!!!
They got to go to Wal-Mart last night and look at the toy aisle. They were pretty excited.
They also got "real Mexican food" ------ Taco Bell. (haha)

Last night we took them to the church where we stayed during our STAS and they had so much fun seeing their friends again! I think they still have smiles on their faces!!!

and the Grandfather of the Year award goes to ................. my dad
yesterday Ike woke up and Dad asked him if he "knew how to drive".
Ike said "no" and Dad said he'd take him out and teach him to drive his truck (which isn't automatic transmission) because then he could drive anything.
So, they bundled up into coats and Dad took him out and taught him to drive.
He LOVED it!
What a cool memory!

Update on my challenge

Well, nothing like "humbly" putting your results out on the net, huh?
It's good for me because it keeps me challenged and focused.

I've had a great month. I am finishing up week 4 today.
I have not "cheated" and don't even want junk food or sugar. (so far! LOL)
Ike got 3 sodas out of me. Once I didn't get my workout in (because I was helping them bake gingerbread and make houses all day---- didn't eat any, by the way!) Another time because I had sugar----- tried some bread the neighbor brought us only to have Ike tell me it was "sweet bread" after I tried a bite. Yes, he was strict and got me even on "one bite". Gotta love teenagers........ And the last time because I added a component to the challenge----- if I don't get at least 8 glasses of water in each day, he can also "earn" a coke from that. So, one day I only had 7 glasses.

He stays "in my face" with the guidlines I set and makes sure I'm following them. Yeah! Just what I needed.

I wish I could tell you I've lost 10 pounds this month. Wouldn't that be great?!?!
I "only" lost 5-1/2, but I did lose some inches and things are looser. Some muscle groups feel tighter too, so I think I'm gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. But, I'm doing it slowly and the healthy way, so that's good in the long run. It will be a long process but that's ok. I didn't let all this fat jump on me overnight! LOL

With that said, I still have a long way to go, so if you see me, don't expect any miracles. (although, feel free to help me pray for one) LOL

I feel wonderful though. I can tell a huge difference in how I feel and haven't had headaches either. I used to get headaches and get dizzy sometimes if I had sweet things. And I think the water is really making a difference in my skin. (ok, don't look for miracles there either when you see me! I'm aging too.......... ha! I can tell a difference though since I've made sure to have plenty of water each day. It's hard to describe, but my skin is just "different".)

I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving. Do I really want to "break my will power and eat dessert that day? hmmmmm, big decision. I never get Thanksgiving in the States, so maybe I will have something. Is it worth it though? hmmmmmmmmmmm

I never dreamed I would be in the States for Thanksgiving when I started this little 12-week challenge with Ike. He's laughing and thinks it's funny!

Just so you don't think I'm being too strict with myself or something--- I can eat anything I want on any given day. I just chose to add the no sugar component to this because I knew it would really help me be focused and get started. I won't feel "guilty" or anything if I eat more than my calories or have sugar on Thanksgiving. So, it's not like I "can't". It kind of comes down to "do I want to".

Getting in touch with us while in the US

If you want a phone number where you can reach us while we're in the States, e-mail me and I'll give you the number for where we'll be staying.

We're also going to put a new chip in our cell phones to use them there and will get some Cingular phone cards to put minutes on them. I'm not sure what phone numbers our cells will have yet. We'll be out running around a lot, so cell phones will be really helpful. I can give you the cell phone numbers once we're there and know they are if you would like to call us. And with Cingular cards, you can call us for free if you have Cingular. We did that with a phone for Sam when we were in the States last time.

I'm not sure how often we'll be online, but we should have phone whether we're "at home" or out and about.

Has it really been a week already?

Wow---- where did the last week go????

I can't believe I haven't been on here.
Ok, so I guess I'll do a quick recap................

We ended up getting a water truck to fill our well 7 times in about 8 days.
crazy, isn't it?
As I type, the neighbors have a truck outside right now. I'm not sure what the deal is. Someone said when enough people don't pay their bills, the city shuts down the pump and everyone suffers. I have no idea if that's true, but it's interesting.
Somehow it messes even wells up. Just think of the people without wells--- they go without water even longer and more often than us!

School was ummmm, "different". Yesterday we sort of lost the day to phone calls with the doctor and such. I think I was the only one "upset" by it. The kids seemed thrilled. : )
Other than that, it went ok.
I have to be honest though--- since our last trip to the city for 3 weeks, it's been hard to have the same rhythm to our school. I really hate messing up a good routine by travelling or major disruptions.

Having said that............... guess what? We leave in 3 days for another 3-week trip! Am I crazy or what???? This will be nice though. We'll get to see family and do cool stuff we can't normally do here. The kids are super excited. Hmmm, maybe that has something to do with the "different" school for the last week. LOL

I am really looking forward to getting John out of here for a while.
He has done so well when we've left here, but every time we come back he gets sick.
The doctor here last week said many people get parasites here because of all the dirt and dust. I have NEVER had a house this dirty. It's wild. We dust every day and still have a layer of dirt on everything each day. It's pretty gross, actually!

The doctor sent a sample to the lab to find out what kind of parasite he had. The lab couldn't figure it out. (not a good sign if Mexico doesn't know what kind of parasite it is!) Anyway, she then sent it to a specialist. They figured it out finally and he should be ok soon. We were so desperate that we finally got him some meds over the weekend. (yes-- self-diagnosis) They have a lot of parasite meds here. So he got one that covers several things. We figured "it can't hurt"--- right?

Fortunately, it turns out that the kind of medicine he bought and took is what he actually needed. It's going to take a while to get it to kick in though. He had 3-1/2 weeks before he got the proper medicine. The doctor originally said that what he was already taking would be fine. (hmmmm........ didn't he GET them while taking that???) Obviously it did NOT help the situation. So, this new stuff should kick in really soon. He'll take another round of it in a few weeks. I can't wait for the meds to finally kick in so he'll feel better. I've had that before and it's miserable. At least we know it's temporary.


We have a doctor's appointment lined up for when we get home next week. We'll get a second opinion, have someone follow his case (in English LOL) from there, etc.

I'm sure there's a ton I could say about our week. I'll leave it at that and if I think of specifics, I can add them in seperate entries.

Today will be busy with packing and preparing for the trip.
I'm going to pack today so I can spend tomorrow cleaning-- stove, refrigerator, etc. All the big cleaning jobs you don't want to leave for 3 weeks. I don't even want to think about packing. But, I've decided to barely take anything. I'll just get it there. The girls need clothes. They've outgrown their pants and here they live in shorts, sandals and dresses. Looks like we'll be doing some shopping on Wednesday! I really need to get some new clothes for all of them. After being gone 15 months, there are definitely a few things I need to replace for each of them.

It's hard to believe we're actually heading out. It should be fun!

Anna needs a home again

I got sad news last week. Anna, the child we are prayer warriors for, needs to find another family. An emergency came up and the family who had committed to adopting her recently had to back out. She is a beautiful little 4-year-old girl and healthy.
She just has Down Syndrome--- no heart conditions or anything else.

You can see her picture on the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree http://www.reecesrainbow.com/angeltreesponsorpage.htm She's at the very bottom.


We're faithfully praying for her to find her forever family.

Mighty in the Scriptures

We're reading through the book of Acts in the mornings with the kids. We start the school day out with it. Today we read chapters 18 and 19. A couple of things jumped out at me that I thought were nice to really reflect on today.

In chapter 18, verse 24 we meet a man named "Apollos". I like what Luke had to say about him. It said he was an eloquent man and "mighty in the Scriptures". I asked the kids what they thought it meant to be mighty in the scriptures. They decided it probably meant that he studied the scriptures and knew them well and could recite them and such.

Then I asked them what things it mentioned about him after that.
Here's our list:

1. had been instructed in the way of the Lord
2. fervent in spirit
3. spoke and taught accurately about Jesus
4. only knew of baptism of John
5. spoke boldly in the synagogue
6. Priscilla and Aquilla explained to him the way of God more accurately (see #4)
7. recommended/encouraged by the bretheren when he wanted to go to another area to serve
8. greatly helped those who believed through grace
9. powerfully refuted the Jews in public by demonstrating Jesus was the Christ by using Scriptures.

We discussed those points and then applied them to our own lives. I asked what their life would look like if they were "mighty in the Scriptures" and studied it more. I asked them to each think about one thing that might be different. I told them that it's important to apply what we read and see how we can use it in our own life.

I thought it was so interesting that it mentioned first that he was mighty in Scripture and then went on to talk about being fervent in spirit and bold and teaching and speaking accurately of Jesus. So those things were natural outcomes of his life anchored in Scripture. Then I asked the kids what they thought about P and A explaining to him the things he didn't understand completely. I thought that showed humility. I mean, he was an eloquent speaker and teacher and knew Scripture very well. How many people would not want someone else coming in and pointing out an error or teaching them something new? hmmmmm. He was gladly welcomed and recommended by other Christians and respected greatly. He knew Scripture well enough to powerfully prove Jesus was the Christ to the Jews.

I found his story to be refreshing and encouraging. It was just 5 short verses, but what a lesson to us today.

Would God say I am "mighty in the Scriptures"?
And does my Scriptural knowledge result in boldness, teaching and a fervent spirit?
Is there anything I can do to spend more time in God's word? If so, what kind of changes could that make in my life?
Would others recommend me and encourage me to go serve in other areas and share the good news?

What about you?

I thought this was a great challenge to think about today.
How can I become "mighty in the Scriptures"?

You won't believe this but.........

We're out of water again!!!!!

We had a water truck come yesterday because our well was dry. Now, if you followed my story, that's the 3rd water truck in a week. Something is messed up in town and somehow the wells are draining. Don't ask me how that works, I have NO idea................

We had water yesterday and it was nice.
Then today we made it until lunchtime and "wahlah"............ empty well AGAIN.

This has to be a new record. Is there a category for this in Guiness?
John called for a truck and they actually came fairly soon. (big sprprise!)

So, we have water-- at this rate, probably just until tomorrow! LOL

stay tuned......................

Blog Award from fellow bloggers

I received this blogging award twice this week. How fun!

One is from Molly. Counter Cultural Mom She has 2 wonderful blogs I have really enjoyed reading over the past 8 months or so.









The 2nd award came from my friend Chasity Homeschool Rocks! We met through a homeschool conference online and it's been fun to follow her family through their blog. I think you'll enjoy reading it also. She is such a sweet Christian woman---and what an inspiration she is.

I need to link 7 other blogs I enjoy reading. How do I narrow them down???


*****I'm having problems getting all of the links on here. I'll have John help me tomorrow. Stay tuned.............

Out of water---again!

We have had quite a week here with our water and gas. We've had a truck come 3 times to fill the well already and now it's dry again!

It has something to do with the pump in town. I'm not sure how it works, but it affects wells. Hopefully they'll get that fixed today. And hopefully we can get a truck to bring us water again. Even if it has worms in it (like we've heard from another family here). It's not exactly pure water............... hmmmm, I wonder why John has parasites?????

We ran out of gas over the weekend for hot water and finally got that replaced. Then the water went out. Then we ran out of gas for the dryer. They replaced that finally too. Guess what?
I think my dryer broke last night. Oh well, I guess we'll just hang our clothes out like everyone else.

When it rains it pours.

Our trip is sounding better each second............................

(of course, the kids are grossed out by the thought of "drinking water out of a sink". They don't remember every doing that. When we were on STAS, Sam wouldn't drink water. They're so used to big 5-gallon jugs and knowing sink water is a "no-no".)

Going to the States

We are going to the States in 13 days! This just came about yesterday.

John should get his results back today on the parasite biopsy. The doctor will know what kind he has and she can give him the correct medicine then. I'll be glad to get it started!!! He's been very sick from the parasites this past week. Bad cramping and all that fun stuff. At least it's temporary and meds will take care of it.

Monday I was really concerned about him and I told him I really wanted him to go home and get away from here to get over it quicker. He said there was no way he would leave us here alone---things get crazy when he's gone and he wouldn't do that to us. I insisted that I'd like for him to go.......he insisted he wouldn't. (sound like marriage to you? LOL) He said he wouldn't go until we could ALL go.

Well, a few hours later, God provided the answer. We received a phone call from a pastor friend saying his family was burdened for John to go home and God wanted them to provide for that (his wife had just received an unexpected check from work). So, the funds were taken care of for us to go home! Can you believe it? It's so neat to see how God works. It always amazes me. John got a trip approved by our boss and we made the arrangements yesterday.

So, we're heading home on November 18th. We'll arive in St. Louis right at rush hour that afternoon.

It will give us 2 weeks to get his medicine to kick in and do some things we need to do here before we go. We'll be there 3 weeks until Dec. 9th.

The kids are beyond excited!!! This is not something we had planned or expected. We'll get to be there for Thanksgiving and for both of the girls' birthdays. How neat is that? I think we've only spent 2 Thanksgivings with our family since the year 2000.

The kids are looking forward to visiting all of their friends at AWANA too.
Oh, and a funny one----- they can't wait to go eat at Taco Bell so they can have "real" Mexican food. Hilarious!

Let's just say we did not have the greatest school day yesterday. They got their work done, but it was so hard to get their attention!!!! They planned and dreamed of all the things they want to do. Lookout Grandma and Grandpa------here they come!!!!!

New Bible Study

I started a new Bible study book this week. It's Cultivating a Life of Character by Elizabeth George. It's a study of Judges and Ruth. I think one of my favorite Bible Studies I ever did was a 9-month study of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1and 2 Samuel called Servants of God. It was with Community Bible Study.

I am looking forward to studying Judges again. Last night as I read through chapter 2, it made me sad to think how the people had turned so far from God and he gave them over to enemies and those they did not get out of the land like they had been told to do. It really made me pray for our own country. In so many ways, we're just like the people of Judges. We've slowly moved farther and farther from God. It starts with small things and accepting this or that. Just "living alongside of the things God says are not to be in our lives". Never completely getting rid of them as God commands. Then before you know it, we adopt the customs and lifestyle of them instead of them adopting ours.

It saddens me to think of the things that are viewed as "normal" today that would have been huge shockers and never tolerated even 5 or 10 years ago. But, it's not just among us. It's really that way throughout the world. It's sad. It just hammers home the reality that this world needs Jesus.

I pray that Christians will be bold and take a stand for Godly morals and choices. I pray we will make our voices heard in our communities and around the world. We have the answer for any problem someone may have. We have the answer for how to have contentment and peace. We need to reach out to those around us and be the hands and feet of Jesus to them. They may never enter a "church" building so we need to take the "church" to them. Show them how Jesus would live and how much he loves them.

One of the things I love about John so much is his boldness and passion with evangelism. He makes it look so easy. It's completely natural for him. He meets someone and immediately finds a common bond with them and then it's so natural for him to talk to them about his relationship with God and how they can turn to Jesus too. He's definitely a "people person". I always tell him that he's my "hero" when it comes to sharing his faith and being real with people. He is so passionate about ministering to everyone he meets. You should see how he "comes alive" when he gets the chance to share his testimony with someone or apply a Biblical principal to their life or whatever. It's really fun to watch him. He's been a great example to the children. They've learned to be bold in sharing their faith as well. Ok, so maybe Sam's still super shy, but he knows what to do and has a passion for people knowing Jesus too.

Day of the Dead

You can't see this one very well. John was trying to take it discreetly tonight as we walked door to door.

They put these flower petals out on the ground after the "spirits come eat" and say that the spirits put them out there.

More flowers. They make them into a trail. I'm not sure about the significance of that.

This is an example of a simple altar on the day "the children's spirits come to eat". She didn't use all white flowers though. She's sick this year, so she used the yellow she would have for the adult day and didn't make an elaborate different altar for the children. By tonight, she had the table completely loaded with fresh breads and foods the people liked when they were alive. The floor was also covered in candles and incense was burning.

I wish I could have taken some pictures of some really huge altars, but we don't know those people well enough to ask to take pictures. This woman is like our family here, so she didn't mind at all.

Day of the Dead was celebrated here yesterday and today. It was definitely interesting.

These are a few pics of our neighbor's altar she set up in her house. It is not as elaborate as some because she is sick this year, but it gives you a good idea of what they do. We took these yesterday, but by tonight, she had all kinds of things on it---- breads, tamales, salsas, mole, more fruit, fresh cooked pumpkin..........

Yesterday was the day for the spirits of the children to come eat. They believe their spirits come to the house between noon and 2 p.m (because that's their "lunch hour") to eat the food left out for them. Normally white flowers are used for children and the orange for adults. Then at 2 p.m., the spirits put the flower petals on the ground leading from their door to the street. (It's actually the homeowners, but they'll tell you it's the spirits even if you watch them do it.)

Today was for the altars for the adult spirits. It was a really big deal. Most things in town are closed down today and tomorrow. Fireworks have been going off all day. Not pretty fireworks--- just really loud ones that make you jump and grab your ears. The adults "come" from noon untl 2 p.m. also. At noon, the Catholic church began ringing the church bells and fireworks got crazy.

Tonight they did something sort of like "trick or treating".

It USED TO BE a tradition to gather food for the poor people................

Kids would go door to door asking for food for the poor. The people who lived there would give

breads, fruits, etc. to the kids. Then the kids would take it to the church and it would be divided up for the poor. The priests would ring the church bells later that night and the poor would know to come get their food from the church.

So, that's the origin. Here's how it is today............

Kids dress up in costumes and go to the doors that have the flower petals outside on the ground in the shape of a cross in front of the door. They ask for offerings for the poor. The people give them fruit and things from their altars. They don't give something to each child. They only give to a few children at each door most of the time. The kids take turns at the doors or they all go back and divide it between them when they get home. They keep the goodies to eat. They no longer take it to the church. Although, they still ring the church bells---- sometimes all night long.

We actually went out with a group of our neighbors tonight to see exactly what it was. Some houses asked the kids to come in and kneel down in front of their altar and pray the Lord's Prayer for their dead loved ones before they got their treat. It was sad. We stood outside and observed. Some of the altars were huge. Very elaborate. They also had tall candles all over the floor. They would move furniture out of their front room to put up the altar. The food they gave out was all from the altars.

We were told that the food is just thrown out after the evening is over because "the spirits take the flavor out of it even though it still looks perfectly fine". Some people give it to dogs. But now they give it to the kids who come door to door.

We had been given about 5 different explanations about tonight, so we wanted to see for ourselves what it was. We explained to the kids as we went along and saw what they were doing. They insisted we have some of the "treats", so we graciously accepted it, but we later gave our food away to the neighbor girl.

So, it's kind of their religious tradition they've always had, yet they're sort of turning it into a "trick or treat" type of thing with costumes and a fun, festive mood. The kids really enjoy going door to door and the adults seem to enjoy giving them a little treat. You may know more about this that we do and may have a different experience with it, but this is how they do it in our town and it's what we experienced tonight. We were told that every town celebrates Day of the Dead a little differently.

It's not normally something we would participate in, but it was a very good cultural learning experience and our kids understood what was going on. We were able to talk about it together afterwards and discuss it from a Biblical viewpoint. It really gave us a deeper insight into some of the culture here.