Olivia's birthday

Olivia feeling shy or tired at the water park.

Our sweet Olivia not wanting to blow out the candle

Today we celebrate Olivia's third birthday! It has been fun. Yesterday we went to a water park with several people from church, so we had a cake and piñata with everyone. By the time we got to the birthday festivities yesterday, the kids had been in the sun and water all day, so Olivia was a little waterlogged and tired. She had talked and talked about her cake; blowing out the candles, and "mordida" (where you take a big bite out of the cake and hope your friends don't shove your face into the cake), and she had also talked about the piñata and how she was going to hit it. However, at the moment of truth, she didn't want to do any of it! It was sad, but she did enjoy a piece of cake and wishing she had hit the piñata after it was all done.
Today after church, we had a low-key family celebration. We ordered pizza, and had cake (with the same water theme) hoping she might want to blow out the candle, at least and presents. But again, she got shy and let her sisters do all the work. She finished her afternoon off with a great nap!
I thought back to the the day she was born, to the blessing she has been since that day. The night before, as we waited eagerly for her, was a night of wrestling for me.  We wanted so much for her to come, but it just wasn't happening, so it was a wrestling with my body to try and get it do what I wanted then (didn't work at all!!!).  It was also a night of spiritual wrestling.  I remember drifting in and out of the pain of contractions and in and out of praying for our friends Jake and Mandy who were upstairs with their baby daughter, fighting for her life.  It was intense and long, but at the end of it all, we got to meet our beautiful Olivia and she has been a joy since then.  It's funny, I also remember the ride home from the hospital and noticing how life just went on around us.  It was no big deal for anybody, but for us, we were headed home as different people, with something so incredibly amazing and life changing.  Everyone was just going on in the usual.  Weird, I should think that time should stand still for everyone else as our lives changed so dramatically.

So, here we are, three years later enjoying a beautiful, expressive girl.  She is just as cute as the day she was born, and she keeps us laughing.  Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Some of the kids at the water park.

The piñata ready to be beat up!  It didn't take long to get it open and dumping candy.

So much help

It is great for the girls to help with Isabella. Sometimes, they want to help too much, but here is a little video of Olivia helping feed Isabella. Enjoy! I know I sure did.

Leadership with VanRheenen's

Gailyn and Becky



This past weekend, we had an amazing time with Gailyn and Becky VanRheenen.  Gailyn was one of Sam's professors at ACU, so it was nice to catch up with them 

On Friday evening, Gailyn spoke with our leaders at Rio de Vida.  We invited leaders and those we considered potential and committed leaders.  It was neat to have about 20 people there.  A few of these people were surprised we would invite them!  It was also sad that there were some that we wanted to be there and should have been there, but weren't.  On Saturday, we had a day long seminar for our leaders and leaders from the surrounding areas.  There were about 40 people here that came from Guadalajara, León,  and Mexico City.  Both Gailyn and Becky spoke to us, and it was a great day!  We learned so much and got several important ideas.  Of course, it was a special blessing to catch up with friends and missionaries from Mexico.  As usual, there wasn't enough time to talk as much as we wanted to with everyone.  Most of the out of town people came in just for the day, so they had to head out as soon as the seminar was over.  Our leaders were truly blessed and inspired.  A special blessing, straight from God was our situation with the kids for the day.  We were short on space and people to take care of our kids, but Sam and I remembered a day care near by.  The lady is a Christian, and when we approached her about the possibility of using their facility, she was glad to help, and added the teachers in also.  It was great!!!  They had a place to play, they had activities, supervision and tender loving care.  Some of our older kids weren't as thrilled to have so many limits -- they're used to much less supervision or restrictions at "church activities."  Hmmmm...  A highlight of this time was dinner around the pool with the VanRheenens and our friends the Brednichs and Grays both working in different areas of Mexico City.  Our girls loved the down time at the pool (thanks for sharing the hotel pool with us), and we enjoyed the down time with good company.

We got a day of sightseeing where we went to Tzitzhutzan (I just forgot how to spell it) to see some indigenous ruins -- yacatas not to be confused with pyramids and Patzcuaro.  Our indigenous guide did a great job at sharing not just what we were looking at, but also at explaining and expounding on ideas of animism, syncretism and a few other -isms that I missed in my multiple trips to take Olivia to the bathroom, clean a skinned knee, nurse a baby, peel an orange, etc...You get the idea.  Anyway, it was right up everyone else's alley, so it was fun.  In the travel time, we continued to talk about ideas presented at the seminar and how best to fit it with what God is doing at Rio de Vida.

All in all, it was a refreshing weekend.  We were encouraged and challenged to think big in God's eyes.  We are so grateful to Gailyn and Becky and giving of their time to be here in Mexico.

 

Sightseeing at the ruins

The kids on Friday night

Some of the people at the seminar

The price of a good deal!

Before

After 

It has been a long time in the waiting, but we finally have a new table!  It is beautiful.  It is big and it is just what we have wanted for a long time.  The design of the table was inspired by our friends Bill and Sarah Ramirez, so we get to think of them every time we sit at our table.  You have to understand, though, that this table comes with a story... The end product can be attributed to Sam.  He is the man and it is thanks to his persistence and patience that we have what we have.  So, here's the story... We had the table made here by a carpenter that Sam found.  We started back in January.  He said it would take 3 weeks, so I assumed 4-5 weeks would be about right.  Two months later, no table delivered.  Sam put the pressure on, and last week, he delivered the chairs.  Later that afternoon, the table arrived, and at 10:00 p.m. he brought the china hutch over.  Except, there were a few things not quite right.  The china hutch had no glass shelves, no glass in the doors, no handles and no latches on the doors, oh, and no stain on a couple of spots.  Details, just details.  So, the next day Sam and my dad worked amazingly quickly (since we had small group in our home that night) to put in glass, and install handles.  After that, my mom and I worked to get everything into the hutch and the table in its place.  Beautiful!!!  Two days later, the carpenter (who had even asked for a tip) showed and was amazed that Sam had done all that work.  But, he was here most of the day working on "details" on the table.  At Sam's insistence he made the mechanism for enlarging the table so that we don't have to climb under the table to get it to work and keep track of some pegs in order for it to work.  He stained the spots that were not done and my nice white tablecloth in the drawer.  Finally, he also shortened the table a bit since it was so high.  

It only took two months, a long day and sawdust in our house, be we have a beautiful table and chairs.  Just what we wanted, and we did get a good deal compared to everything we had looked at.  So, we are thrilled and can't wait to share it with our friends

.  Come visit us and we will feed you at our new table!

China hutch

Happy people at the table

Oh, yeah, blogging...

I forgot I was supposed to be blogging every now and then...Life has been busy and I get easily distracted.  I think I will be a perfect candidate for old age senility or maybe it's just a little adult ADHD or just keeping track of four little ones and their trains of thought!

So, we have been doing well.  My parents, sister-in-law, Chris and her kids Alexander and Elizabeth arrived today for a short visit.  We are very excited about having them here and spending some time with us.  Olivia has been fascinated with the idea of "Xander" coming and remembering how she bit him over Christmas. 

 It has been a daily topic of conversation since December! We are really hoping she is past that; otherwise, it might be a rough visit for her.  It should be a fun few days!  Victoria and Sofia are bummed that they have school all week while

 family is here, but mom is feeling generous and 

they may just get to skip a day!

I have been having an ethical dilemma.  Several months ago, I went to see the movie Mamma Mia and really really enjoyed it.  It was funny and I loved the songs -entertaining and took me down major memory lane.  Victoria had seen the previews and thought it would be a great movie to see, especially since I told her that I knew all the songs.  Well, after seeing it, I didn't think that the subject matter -- a girl trying to decide who of 3 men was her father, since her mother had slept with all of them and didn't know herself, was appropriate for a 10-year-old.  Really I wasn't up for the challenge of explaining it all out.  So, in spite of her insistence, I said no.  Well, about a month ago, she went to a friend's birthday party and sleep over.  When she got home, she was singing all the songs and proudly informed me that they had watched the movie and she loved it!  Man!!!!  I reluctantly rose to the challenge of explaining the situation and why it wasn't a good one.  My question is, now that she has seen the movie, can I watch it with her and enjoy it or should it still be off limits?!  Tough choice... 

Happy Valentines

We thought Valentine's would be a great excuse to get together.  It was also a special opportunity to celebrate Lex and Alli Smith as they prepare to move back to New Zealand.  So, we swept up our terraza and got it spiffed up, which we hadn't done in a while.  We invited our leaders and some other people special to Lex and Alli, and enjoyed a beautiful evening celebrating love and frienship.  It was so much fun to have time together under the stars with good food and good company.  All in all, it was a great evening.  Our kids stayed downstairs playing, for the most part.  We have been dealing with some getting along issues with all the kids -- it's not easy!

Lex and Alli -- our excuse for food and fun (like we need an excuse!)

Guests at our gathering overlooking the city

Double whammy!

We have had some really neat Sundays the past couple of weeks, and it seems worth writing about. Most obvious, we had attendance of over 100 on each occasion, so that in itself is noteworthy. Two weeks ago we had a full house and there wasn't any kind of special activities or food we had announced (that is very, very amazing!). So, it was really exciting for us to see so many people join us to praise God. We did have some special happenings. First, we had a family share their testimony of God's greatness in their lives. About a month ago, their 18 year-old son was diagnosed with viral encephalitis. It was touch and go for a while, but Cesar Ruiz, is recovering above and beyond any physician's expectations and so his family was there this past week to praise God and share with us. When I say that they brought their family with, there were about 30 of them present, all visitors! What is most amazing is that they have only been to our church once before. They came with some friends of theirs, yet in a time of desperate need, our church rallied around them, prayed for them and helped in any way possible. It is so encouraging for the church to see how God is working and how their servant hearts do make an impact. According to their friends that brought them, there has been much more good happening in their lives than just healing from disease. Wow!!!

Cesar Ruiz and his family sharing how God healed him




Second, we had a couple of baptisms, another great reason to celebrate. Claudia, who has come to us through Lex and Alli was baptized. She has had a rough past year and was ready to give her life completely to Jesus. Please pray with us that she will remain stedfast in God's love and look to Him first in all that she does. The other person that was baptized was Francisco. He is fairly new to our church, but has wanted to do the right thing in his life for some time. He knew that this was a critical step in doing what is right in God's eyes. How he came to our church is a pretty cool story. We have a friend, Tere, who I don't even remember how we connected with her (Morelia, I think), but she lives in California. She also has a house here so she comes periodically for a month or so. From our vantage point, it seems that her sole mission is to evangelize. it is really amazing. So, she brought Francisco and his girlfriend Eloisa (who you'll hear more about shortly). She is constantly bringing new people of introducing us to her friends that are in spiritual need. She is a true warrior in God's kingdom and we praise him for her life and what she means to us.

Francisco being baptized




Claudia being baptized



A full house means we have a good sized group of kids!




Our friend Tere (in the middle) with Francisco and Eloisa




That was two weeks ago...Last week, we had our "church outdoors," as we like to call it. We went to our usual outdoor setting for worship and for something even more special -- a wedding. We had our first official wedding at Rio de Vida. Francisco (baptized the week before) and Eloisa were married. It was really neat to be a part of it and for our church to be a part of it also. Again, we had a house full and we enjoyed the joy of a new marriage, of people wanting to make their lives right with God's desires, and with relaxing surrounded by God's creation. And, in the midst of all the joy, we also had some sadness. Our church bid farewell to Lex and Alli, Caleb and Daniel Smith. They are from New Zealand and have been in Mexico for almost three years. They have only been in Morelia for six months, but they came with open hearts and people really fell in love with them. They also came as servants to help in any way they could in the church. So, they have been a real blessing for us and we are very, very sad to see them go. We pray that God will take care of them and show them what is next in their lives back in New Zealand.
These have been amazing things happening in our church. Yet, in the midst of all this, we have had some serious struggles. Several of our leaders are having tough, tough times right now. We believe Satan is roaming and looking for any way to divide and conquer. So, please pray with us that we will individually and collectively stand against the schemes of Satan and that we will see God's victories in all of this. Sam and I could especially use your prayers that we will focus on the positive and not on things that threaten to drag us down. We look forward to this next Sunday to see what God will do corporately.


Eloisa and Francisco in typical wedding garb from Oaxaca, and no it's not typical for the groom to have a bouquet of flowers also.  He was just holding it for Eloisa.  She was about to toss the other bouquet.

Somewhere, somehow it was decided our girls should be "flower girls."  So they all dressed in white and led in the bride's procession.  They were all very pretty and they were thrilled to participate.

Beautiful Gloria who is growing up way too fast!

The happy couple cutting the cake.

Lex, Alli, Caleb and Daniel Smith along with Jose Luis, Adriana, Gloria and Jose

Can't have a post without a cute picture of Isabella