Tacos, anyone?

We recently enjoyed tacos & quesadillas at our favorite taco stand in Guanajuato. Michael's favorite is 'tacos al pastor'...pork meat cooked on a spit then shaved off, and then diced pineapple (from on top of the spit), cilantro, and onion are added to small corn tortillas to complete the dish. Served with salsas and guacamole.

Tuesday Happenings

What a great day we had on Tuesday!

My friend, Renee Springer and her kids, along with me and my kids, all packed up and headed to Denny's for the FREE Grand Slam meal being offered! All we had to do was purchase drinks - not too bad! You should have seen the dear lady's face when I told her we had 2 adults, and 5 kids (3 and under)!!!

After the fabulous meal of 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 sausage links, and 2 slices of bacon, we headed out to a really neat park to let the kids have some fun (and wear out some stored up energy!!!). I might also add the temperature was a beautiful 80*!!!!

Enjoy the various pictures below. I took some of Renee's kids, but I'll share them with her and maybe she'll post them on her blog.

Out For A Visit

Below is a special family from the church in Salamanca. We (along with Philip & Collette) were invited over to their house. They are so sweet! She fed us chicken cordon-bleu, green beans, cheesy spaghetti, and bread. It was very delicious!! Kyle and Taylor also had great fun playing with their kids!

Taylor found an old camera to play with. This is the progression of him taking a picture...
READY...
SMILE PRETTY...
WOW! THAT WAS FUN!

Oh yeah...and if you click to enlarge one of these pictures with the Christmas tree in it, check out the Hershey Kisses acting as ornaments...I thought it was a really neat and creative idea...looked cute, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Well, it's still the 19th here...and yep, today is the day I call "my birthday!" Here's a few pictures to commemorate the day.

This evening, we went out to eat at a restaurant right down the road! Yummy!

And yes...I made my own birthday cake! I also have lots of excuses why the cake looks like it does, but nobody wants to hear them, sooo...at least it tasted good!
Getting ready to blow out the candles. Only two candles to signify that I'm still in my 20's...thank you very much!!!!!!

So there you have it. My mom had sent me some books for my birthday (and I did wait to open them until tonight [although it's a wonder - I love books!!!!]) and my sister had sent me a Yankee Candle that I already opened and have been using! I also received lots of birthday wishes from other family and friends - even my grandfather who is 82, called to wish me Happy Birthday!!! All-in-all, it was a nice birthday...too bad all of you couldn't come to help celebrate!! Maybe next time!!

More Visitors and Revival

We were privileged to have Bro. Sidney Grant and Bro. Rigoberto Vasquez in our home along with Philip and Collette. As is custom around here, we served them a meal.

On the menu:
Breaded Baked Chicken
Cheesy Mashed Potato Bake
Mixed Vegetables
Homemade Rolls
and...
Homemade Apple Pie w/ Cool Whip

And since we gobbled the meal up so quickly, I didn't get any pictures. But, here's the table set before the meal.

Bro. Sid and Bro. Rigo posing for a picture outside our house.

Kyle wanted to get in on the action, too!

One of the main reasons for these men to be here, is revival at the church in Salamanca. We really felt God's presence last night, and feel that He is starting to work in certain lives and situations. Please continue praying!

Michael and I sang the special...not quite sure what Michael is doing here...maybe Collette had a certain thought in mind when taking the picture...!!
(or just consider it your "chuckle of the day"!)

Seekers at the altar.

After service, we were taken out to eat at a taco stand.

We will try to keep you updated on the revival efforts.

A Recent Trip...

...to San Miguel de Allende

Our intent on this trip was to 1) check with immigration about getting more permanent visas and 2) mail our absentee voting ballot applications out to the States. But since we were there, we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to check out this beautiful city. Here are a few pictures from our sight-seeing.

Beautiful churches...

...and cathedrals. Wow!

Same place - different view.

A quick, blurry photo of the inside of the cathedral. Beautiful design, ornate details, and a majestic feeling.

Check out this set of organ pipes!

Street-side flower vendor.

A peek into an artisan gallery we passed walking down a street.

Stopped for a bite to eat.

A statue. (There's a story to be had about this man...if you really want to know, call, and Michael will be more than happy to tell you! I will say, it has to do with the start for their independence.)

Collette took this picture out our truck window. These dogs were keeping their eye on the traffic below. There may have been another one up there, but he was being a little shy at this moment!

...and to Delores Hidalgo

This place is famous for their hand painted ceramics and "homemade" ice cream. You can get many different flavors...the traditional vanilla, chocolate, real strawberry...but how about these kinds...? Shrimp, pork rine, avocado, elote (corn, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper)...! Ugh! Not my idea of gotta-have ice cream! Michael and Philip did sample quite a few of these...strange...!

One of the ceramic shops we stopped by.

And then on our way home, we drove through some beautiful mountains. Here's a view from the top - the city of Guanajuato. Beautiful, is it not?

Today in Pictures - IV

8/9/08
Saturday's Agenda:
- Went back to the Pipila and enjoyed the surrounding view
- Went to the grocery store, MEGA
- Went to the beautiful 'Casa Colorado' for supper
- Rode the cable car down into the heart of the city
- Walked around downtown, listened to a few mariachi bands, and then walked down to look at Michael's school

- Went back to MEGA for a few things we (okay, I) forgot!

(Above) The Pipila

(Above) Casa Colorado - hotel and restaurant

(Above) A horrible picture...but maybe it will give you an idea of how beautiful the view was from where we ate. We had our own personal room to dine in with two wall sized windows and a balcony.

(Above) The beautiful grounds at Casa Colorado

(Above) Smiling for the camera - Michelle and Kay

(Above) Looking down from our cable car.

Note: I did not take many pictures downtown. Maybe sometime soon I'll go on a photo shoot and show you more of where we live. There are some beautiful building here.

Today in Pictures - III

8/8/08
Friday's Agenda:
- We finally ate at a taco stand, "Tacos Roy"
- Went to the monument "Pipila", but it was raining, so we didn't stay
- Went to Cristo Rey (click here to see more pictures and the details of this religious monument)
- Drove to Leon (and sat in a 1-1/2 hour traffic jam, due to....not much...well actually, it's because people make a three lane highway into five and then have to come back down to two lanes...VERY ANNOYING!!
- So after sitting in traffic, we were very hungry and upon our arrival in Leon, we ate at Sirloin Stockade for a wonderful buffet. (More to this story, below)

(Above) The taco stand

(Above) Fixin' our food. Notice on the left the pork on the spit with the pineapple on top. Tacos made with this are called "Tacos al pastor". I think these are Michael's favorite....I'm into the pollo (chicken) thing.

(Above) This man was going to town choppin' the onions! They normally serve diced onions and cilantro with their tacos. Oh yeah, salsa, too.

(Above) Tacos al pastor.

(Above) The view from our parking spot at the Pipila.

(Above) A sanctuary (? for lack of a better term) at Cristo Rey. Notice the crown of thorns that runs around this circular room. Also, there was a nun sitting there...not sure what she was doing...!

(Above) Another family photo - taken at Cristo Rey.

An interesting side note: Not too long before this picture, Michael slipped on some marble steps and sat down very hard! He's still feeling the after-shocks! (Too bad it was painful, because it was also a little funny! I think Michelle took a picture...)

(Above) Kyle. Check out the shirt his Aunt Michelle got him...I like it!


(Above) The buffet.


And now for the story. All of us were enjoying our food at this buffet...except Taylor. Now this is very unusual. Taylor is ALWAYS ready to eat - NO exceptions! He started crying like something was hurting him, so Kay suggested I loose his belt on the highchair. Well, I just decided to pick him up....and, then he proceeded to puke all over ME!!!!!!!!!!!! Uuggghhhhh! What a mess! We had to carry him through the food lines to get to the bathroom! We stripped him down...unfortunately, that wouldn't work for me. So, my shirt got totally soaked trying to wash it off so I could wear it out of the restaurant! Thankfully, Michelle was so kind to help me in this clean-up. What a memory!!