The Entertainer

What an amazing experience! One day, while we were in Puerto Vallarta, hanging out on the Malecon, eating yummy food, sitting right next to Los Arcos, it began to rain.

And rain. So, we did what every other local did - RAN FOR COVER!!! Cover seems to be the overhang from a building that has steps and looks right on the plaza. We sat while Paco played. In the rain.

Yes, mijo, that is water. And you are wet. Very wet. I'm not sure you'd be any wetter if you were in a pool!!!

Hi! We see you - as does everyone else. Yes, you are the entertainer. Keep it up - you're making the minutes pass by faster.

"Hey! Stop! I mean, ALTO!!! Donde vas? AHHH - HHHEEEYYY!!!"

"You have my toy. My parents won't buy it - but you have it. Please, give it to me." This is seriously the kind of things he told people. And it was true. And I laughed.

Our funny guy.

Yes, it's rain, dear. Are you getting cold yet? No? Ahhh, that's because it's a warm rain - and it's neater - and better - cause we're in Mexico. That's why.

"Man, it's getting in my eyes."

"And I like it."

Join Me in Making a Difference!

Tony Campolo challenged me to sponsor a child in a third world country through Compassion International. Simply put, if Roy and I are not willing to do this simple, inexpensive ministry, should we even consider something else? This is step one, folks!

Will you keep reading?

Just $32 per month connects you with a child in a loving relationship that will change his or her life -- and yours!
~Exchange letters, photos, prayers.
~Become a friend.
~Provide opportunities for education, health and personal development.
~Most important, your child will learn about Jesus in a church-based program in his or her neighborhood.

The child sponsored through Compassion will receive opportunities and services that most of the world's poorest children will simply never see. These opportunities and services include the following:
*The opportunity to receive an education: In some cases, this means providing the cost of school fees, clothing and supplies. In other cases, it means providing tutoring, help with homework, encouragement and, if necessary, participation in a literacy program outside the classroom. Your Compassion sponsorship will allow one special child to stay in school longer if formal schooling is an option and get the most out of his or her education.
*The opportunity to be healthy: The health of the child you sponsor will be monitored and care will be provided as needed. Children are taught about hygiene and how to maintain personal health. In addition, and according to their needs, many Compassion children receive supplementary food.
*The opportunity to develop self-confidence and social skills: The child you support will be part of a church-based program where Christian adults offer love, guidance, personal attention, guided recreation and safety.
*The opportunity to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus: Most important, your Compassion sponsorship provides the child you sponsor with regular Bible training and encouragement through a local church committed to Christ and the children in its community.

So, I want to challenge you. Will you consider making a difference in the life of a child today? Yes, we can help people here but for a mere $32/month, just LOOK at the difference one person can make it someone's life.

I put my money where my mouth is. Our family has committed to sponsoring a child through Compassion Internationa. Are you already doing this? Will you? Tell me about it! What might hold you back? What fears may prevent you from taking this step? Or, are you ready and just needed the information? Tell me! I really do want to know.

Take Aways from Yearly Meeting

A long while back I was thinking about Query 13 and yesterday has made me think about #1.



I quote: " DO YOU live in a vital relationship with God, trusting in Jesus Christ as your saving Lord and obeying the leadings of the Holy Spirit? Is Christ's presence evident in your life?"



I am the 116th Annual Sessions of Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends and our header is: "Bring Forth the Kingdom." Our guest speaker is Tony Campolo. "Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University. For ten years he was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the founder and president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education. He has authored 35 books. Dr. Campolo is married to Peggy." In fact, you can get the link for live feeds of his sessions HERE! He is amazing! And, for not being Friends, he has really gotten me thinking and truly has challenged me.

I wanted/needed to tell you my take aways from yesterday and that is why I thought of Query #1.

Here, in sad format is what I need to remember and actually do something about:
The Fruit of the Spirit should be evident in my life. What is this fruit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Lord listed them in this order in Galatians 5: 22-23 so I thought I should remain consistent with Scripture... back to the topic - are these things evident in my life? Sadly, not nearly often enough. I pray as I think of these fruit, perhaps the Lord will continue to bring them to my mind and heart so that I WILL be able to see them more often and eventually, very often.

For the majority of Query 1, I can answer a resounding YES but I feel the need to draw attention to an area I lack. Not to harmful, I suppose, seeing how any way I grow in Christ is a good thing!

What did I take away tonight? Ahhhh, wouldn't you like to know how Tony Campolo challenged me to put my money where my mouth is????

La Playa

Three Amigos: Brady (L), Troy (Center), Reggie (R)

July 1st is the date - the official date - after 26 years, I finally got my Mom back. She has officially retired and is 100% ready to be Nana. And have 6 Saturdays in a row before Sunday rolls around again. ;)

Back to Mexico - and la playa (the beach). We walked to the beach from our house. Thankfully, the house comes with nice big beach towels, two very nice umbrellas and chairs. Oh. and tanning mats! Nana bought some cheap beach toys for the little boys to play with and we were off! Boogie boards come with the house, too, and we took turns trying our hand, err, body, at surfing.

Here's G-Dad with our whole set-up. The place behind it had an infinity pool and bar.

I got in and body surfed some. Lost my top but thankfully found it. Got a wedgie but Brady assured me that he was getting them too and it was "normal." So, I told 'em not to look after I rode a wave!!!

Roy and Paco surfed some and got a nice wave for Paco.

We had some amazing cinnamon rolls from Sweet Things this morning. G-Dad and Roy delivered them to us. Very delicious and about 30 pesos for gargantous rolls.

"Inch worm Javi." He knew it was downhill so he scootched down to the water.

Nana wasn't that thrilled to have him in the ocean so she went, too.

Aren't the marks in the sand cute from his body?!

It was nice to be so close to the beach 'cause when G-Dad and Javi got tired, they went back to the house and the rest of us could stay and play! Nana went back, too, to rest. It was overcase and breezy; which makes it not so humid - thus not so hot! Where the wind would have made it cold on the Oregon coast, it made it very nice here. The water was perfect temp. Cold enough to make you want to get it but nice enough to be able to stay in and not go numb. Can you tell I'm a West Coast girl??? Brrrr! The water is really salty - duh. How do I forget how salty it is? Man alive, it dries white on our skin and really takes a toll on our hair.

From journal: "People walk by ~ mostly tourists and vendors. Birds are chirping, waves are crashing and kids are laughing."

Bucerias has a very nice centro. There's the church in the middle of it all, of course, and a neat regressed stadium for shows, school events, concerts and the locals to play in. We gave each kid 50 pesos tonight for dinner. They could spend all or none but it was dinner. The plan? Taco stands. The boys spent all of theirs and had full tummy's. The girls? Well, one taco was 8 pesos and that's what Sky ate.... Melynda ate 2 tacos for 16 pesos so they made money on us. :)

We ate at an Italian place that overlooks the plaza. While the prices seemed really steep, it ws nice to see the kids walking around and eating in the plaza below.

Lots of taco stands, candy vendors, icecream, little markets and souvenier stands. "I think I'll buy something for a blog giveaway..."

Coming home, Roy led us on a direct route that took us through Lover's Lane. Pretty neat place - you know, so romantic with 7 kids and our parents...

Fun day at the beach - eating, swimming, walking and resting. Fun day.

Puerto Vallarta Escapades

Huge storm woke me in the middle of the night. It was awesome. I got up at 4:30 and went out to the balcony for an hour and just watched God move. The lightning was so bright - thunder BOOMED!!!! and when the rain came, it really came. Ahhh, it was gorgeous. My parents remember storms like that in the midwest but for me, man oh man, it was breath taking.

Paco woke me by screaming this morning. Seems there was a HUGE (4") centipede on his hand. The poor kid can hardly hold a roley poley. All I could do was laugh. No sympathy here!

Off to the big city by bus. Always in the past, we have used the buses as our main transportation. This trip, we decided to rent a car for a week so we only had a few days of bussin' it to enjoy....it cost 10 pesos each to get to Walmart (from Bucerias) then we changed a bus and for 5 pesos each we made it downtown.

We went to the bank, changed our money and ATE! That's what it's all about, people. For 55 pesos each, we got a bowl of soup, fajitas, a custard and guava water, with refills. The girls split and Paco and Javi ate off our plates. I don't know the name of the place but it's directly across the street from Our Lady of Guadalupe and has two entrances. The kitchen is in the middle of the two rooms and they are closed on Sundays. If you know the name, TELL ME! We ate there last trip and I remembered it was closet to where we were and my Dad remembered a good meal there so it was a match. It's never wise to wait til we're all hungry, hot and tired to try and decide where we want to eat.... just a word to the wise. Not from the wise - I'm far from that. I only have experience in dealing with cranky kids and hot grandparents. Roy and I... we were troopers. ;)

After lunch, I wasn't feeling too well (short night) so Granddad and I took the bus back with Paco and Javi. Took a nap and then swam. The pool is so nice. Perfect temps and places for all of us to enjoy the water.

The rest of the tribe made it home and we walked down to Claudio's - again - for all you can eat shrimp and mahi mahi. The guys had that and the shrimp was Y - U - M - M - Y! Brady and Reggie really put away the plates of shrimp. Man alive.

It was 11 p.m. when we got back home so needless to say, tired people after a fun day.

Day 2 - Bus Rides, Walmart & Food

With the time change, we got a little mixed up on what time it was so we missed traditional church today. We needed to eat though, so we went to this neat bakery, Sweet Things, Lazaro Cardenas 64, Bucerias, for brunch. We had a nice meal of pancakes, fried papas, 2 eggs and bacon for 55 pesos (roughly $5.50 US) plus juice or coffee. It was a nice friendly place, owned by a Canadian family who has been in the area for the past 9 years.

Javier was happy to eat some food! He was a hungry boy.
You can see Melynda in the background...we sat at 3 different tables.

The Grandparents - the wall is painted a bright sea green that
added a nice feeling to the place - outside - and a pretty backdrop for their
picture to be taken!!!

Here are the "big boys." I'm standing the garden/wild area.
Look past the boys and you can see my parents, and Melynda...

After brunch, Nana and I took the bus to Walmart for groceries. It was a long hot ride. We should have gone to the Mega, right up the street but didn't realize we paid the longer fair til it was a done deal... so we rode clear to Walmart. We should have taken the loss and stayed closer to home but we live and learn, right?!

We got food: fruit, bread, cereal, yogurt, milk... basics for breakfast... and spent 500 pesos!!! WoWzers! I treated Mom to papinos con limon y sal (sliced cucumbers with lime and salt) for the bus ride home. It was nice treat in the heat.

I visited, in Spanish, with a little girl who was 6 years old. She was so cute!

For supper, we ate at Claudio's on Meson Bay. I had pollo con mole (chicken with mole, a kind of spicy chocolate sauce) and Roy had shrimpp tacos. Several had fajitas and all had a drink of sorts - limonada, Pepsi... all for 887 pesos - about what we would pay at home at a Mexican restaraunt. Great service - yummy food and a beach front table to see the ocean waves!

Paco, day two wounds, with his Daddy's hat on. To the right of the railing is the ocean!!

Walking home, we decided to take the beach, stroller and all. It was so fun, the kids wading, us walking, when the next thing we know, a HUGE sneaker wave comes and nearly carries the stroller off!!! We all got wet, the kids and Roy very wet!! Before I knew it, the big goys were body surfing, little girls were shell searching and Roy doing it all. Even little Javier went "swimming."

It was so much fun - I think that night will be long remembered.

We ended the night by having home church. Granddad read from John 6 and then asked us our view on different people involved in the feeding of the 5,000. It was neat to hear the different takes we all had on how we might have felt if it had been us in the situation. To close, he had us say something we appreciate about the person to our left. It was a really nice family service.

Surgery - Mexico Style

How bad??? Once we got all the blood wiped off of him, we realized he had split his chin open, deeply, and had a huge bump forming on him left eyebrow with a small gash in it. His left side was scraped and he couldn't walk. Pretty bad.


Here are the pictures Troy took of us doctoring Paco. Thank the Lord we brought the Melaleuca 1st Aid Kit with all we'd need but butterfly bandanges in it. We, okay I, immediatley poured oil into the gaping chin and gently got some on his eye. Then, I applied the Triple Antibiotic Ointment to it, generously and rubbed some MelaGel on his eye. From there, Roy and Granddad made butterfly bandages out of band-aids and got his chin closed up.
While they worked on his face, and got ice on his eye, I got oil and ointment on the abrasions down his chest, ribs and side.

Here was our first rushed butterfly suture. We got better after this, making the tails shorter.

Here is our little soldier at dinner that night, after a nap with his Granddad. (Not sure how much rest Granddad got.) His left leg hurt terribly and he couldn't/wouldn't walk. We were fairly certain it wasn't broken because we'd rub our hands up and down the bones and that didn't hurt him. Ended up a big ol' ugly bruise on the hip. We thought of his pains as one who has been in a car accident - the impact was HUGE for him and he was sore. Very very sore.
Paco and his Uncle Larry have a game going and Paco was trying really hard to give an "Uncle Larry face." It lacked.
Is that not the saddest thing?!?!

DAYS later the eye is healing, as is the chin.

And here is our brave one, with lifejacket on, looking to see how far done he actually fell. It was a LONG LONG way, let me tell you. I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of the blood on the cobblestones.
Later that night, I told Roy, "I can't believe I already have something to blog about and we haven't even been here 12 hours."
Today? He is fine. Scab from his chin came off today. He may have a little scar but time shall tell. That oil is a wonder - truly amazing. And prayers - for all those who prayed for us... thank you.
Are you ready for Day 2 yet??? Day One plumb wore me out, I tell ya!

Mexican Vacation - Day One

Oh my, we left so early!!! My brothers came to pick us up since we needed two rigs, it took both of them living here to get us all to the airport. They were here by 4 A.M. I dressed Javier and Paco in their clothes the night before to ease the morning rush... everyone else's clothes were laid out. What made it easy was we had a tie-dying project that week and we all wore the green shirts we dyed! It was beautiful. Everyone knew we were together and that made travel in the airport and through security SO much easier. I already have color requests for the next trips. Purple is next, I guess... thanks Reggie.

Anyway, no breakfast and we were out the door and headed to the airport. Everything went great - transition in L.A. was smooth and fast and before we knew it, we were on the last leg of our arriving trip, looking down into the gorgeous blue water below.

Finally, we land at the Puerto Vallarta airport and walk across the freeway to get cheaper taxi cabs. It takes two cabs and we pay $50 for the two of them to take us to our gorgeous villa in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico - 20 minutes away from the airport.

Just arrived at our villa. WE MADE IT!!!

And then, the excitment begins. Just when we're all relaxing and the kids are swimming...

Adults are visiting, remembering past fun times pool-side at The Ranch, everyone getting along...

Direct from my journal:"The pool is set on the hill so half of it a little out of the water (see picture above) and then the rest is progressively out of the water, 8-9' out of the water. (It's all the rock and stone you can see in the picture above.) Paco was trying to make a diving board out of a boogie board and flipped over the high side. He was crying, "Help Me!!! HELP ME!!!!" I ran, barefoot, saw him sprawled out on the cobblestones with blood running down his face laying on his stomach. It was an awful image. I immediatley prayed, "Please, Jesus!" Paco was moving his neck so I scooped him up, yelling to Roy and my Dad, "Somebody come help me!!!" I ran with him in my arms, blood running all over, up the cobblestone drive where Roy took him from my arms. He laid him down on the deck and assessed the damage. It was bad."

How bad?

Day One to be continued.... with pictures..... later.