Fun stuff I promised

I mentioned that some interesting things have happened, but Sam had the camera, and no blog is complete without pictures. Now Sam is back and I finally have time to blog about it (I should really be in bed!). The first thing that happened a couple of weeks ago is a city wide prayer night. The coolest part about it is that it was in one of the plazas downtown. On the night of October 31st, while a lot of people were doing other things, it is estimated that some 4,000 people gathered in the San Francisco plaza for a night of worship and prayer. It was really neat to see something like this happen. There were even city officials, including the mayor, there to support the activity. This is a first in Morelia, but hopefully not a last.
It's funny, because when we got home, Sam and I were talking about the evening and how neat it was. Both of us talked about how we needed to keep in check our critiquing of the evening and wanting to change this or that, but simply being in the moment. We praise God that churches would come together to do this and that people who have never heard his name would be touched by what they heard and saw. I am firmly convinced that the world will know who God is by the unity of the churches! The disunity of the churches is certainly a huge foothold for Satan.










The second big event was a baptism. This is one that we thought would never happen. On Sunday, November 2, Pina, Adriana's mom was baptized. She has known us since we arrived and knows what we do. She has participated on and off for all this time, but has not wanted to make any changes in her life. She has been critical of her daughter at times, but she has been watching and listening. When she came to talk to us about wanting to be baptized, we saw a woman hurt by life and wanting desperately to be loved and accepted. So, we open our arms wide and love her with the love of Christ. We rejoice greatly for her life. God has already given her a heart of service. She is always ready, willing and offering to help. We praise God for her life and look forward to her place in this community of believers.

Odds and ends

There have been some cool things happen here, but Sam has the camera with him with the pictures, and blogs just aren't as fun without the pictures, so you'll just have to wait for some of the updates.
Sam has been out of town this week. We have missed him very much and are all ready to have him back tomorrow. We were sitting on the couch and Sofia was lamenting how she missed her dad. I was trying to comfort her and talk about it, and she cries..."Daddy is the one that gives us our domingos (allowance)." Oh, that's a good reason to miss dad!
Here is one of our moments without dad around. It sounds funny writing about it now, but it sure didn't seem funny at the time. I'm learning to laugh at myself -- someone says that it's healthy! So, the night before Sam heads out is a long night with Isabella who is sick and fussy. As Sam heads out to the airport, he says "Don't hesitate to call the doctor." Now my dilemma begins whether or not this warrants a visit to the doctor. As I walk in from seeing him off at the door, I almost step in whatever Sofia just threw up. Oh boy, this is going to be fun! Sofia seems fine, so I send her off to school. Shortly after, Sam calls from the airport: "Guess who I ran into? The pediatrician. He says it's probably her ears, but here's the number of another doctor." Only Sam would run into our doctor while traveling, and only Sam would tell him all about our medical problems. So, dilemma number two, do I really want to go to a doctor I don't even know. But, Isabella is still cranky, and I really want to get some sleep, so I make an appointment. The only problem is that the appointment is in the afternoon, so it becomes a family event. I load all the girls up and off we go. As we wait for the doctor, Sofia and Olivia go to the play area at the end of hallway/waiting room, and Victoria is studying for her grammar test. When the doctor arrives, I send Victoria to get the girls. Sofia comes running, but Olivia isn't so sure...I can see there is trouble, so I head the 50 meters down the hallway to get her. As I hold her hand to come with me, she does the dead man's float on dry land. You know, it's the one where they become full size, double weight rubber dolls. I'm holding Isabella, so I can't even spank her to get up. Finally I pick her up and walk all the way back with a baby and toddler in arms. Finally, we're contained in the doctor's office. Immediately, Victoria gets called on for playing with the scales. As I'm talking to the doctor, Olivia gets the panicked look that she needs to go pee. I look down, and it's too late. Victoria offers to take her to the bathroom, which I'm glad for. They step over the puddle and before I know it, instead of using the bathroom in the office, they are out the door and down the hall for the public bathroom. Ahhh!!! Of course, as the doctor is checking Isabella out, she is all smiles, totally opposite what she had been all day. We survived. The doctor was very kind even when we apologized for the puddle on the floor (at least no one peed on him), and he assured us all was good, since he has 4 boys. What more could we do but top the evening off with a little Starbucks drive through (for hot chocolate, of course).
For some crazy reason, I thought it would be a good idea to take Victoria to the movies while Sofia was at camp. BIG, BIG mistake. Victoria wasn't the problem, in fact, she loved it. It was the rest of her sisters...Olivia walked up and down the aisle, played and tried as hard as she could to get out of my reach. Isabella fell asleep pretty soon, but with all my moving around to catch her sister, didn't last long. I was up and down for most of the movie. Fortunately, there weren't many people there to disturb, so it was okay. Mental note: next time leave the rest of the kids at home (not alone, of course!)
To close off lunch today, I got the girls ice-cream cones. It seemed like a good idea, but once again, not so much. Olivia's ice-cream fell off the cone at least twice before we got home. I'm very grateful for leather seats (Sam will be too when he finds out).
Enough rambling and off to bed.

Sofia goes to camp

This past week, our sweet little Sofia went to camp by herself for the first time. Along with only a few of her classmates, she spent overnight at a school camp. She seemed to enjoy herself very much! The principal told us about her zip-lining experience. He told us that as she was zipping along over the lake, she stopped mid-lake (not enough body weight to propel her across). So, rather than panic, she carefully followed the leader's instructions and pulled herself on across. He was very impressed that she wasn't scared at all. Of course, Sofia told us about it also, and has told us several stories. My baby is growing up!
Sofia never ceases to amaze me. Last week as I picked her up at school one afternoon, I walked in and didn't find her with her class. I did however find her surrounded by 6th graders! They were treating her like royalty, and she was eating it up!!!! The teacher said that Sofia claimed they were her sisters. Only Sofia...

Sofia waiting to head off to camp




Sofia and friends on the bus to camp