Capturing December: Day 13

{ Family }

We've got a new family pic - just in time for Christmas cards!  And if you wonder at our expressions, it's really quite exciting to be looking at a camera on a tripod, waiting for the timer to go off!  =)

I'm in the process of creating our Christmas card, so if you would like to receive one in your mailbox, just send me an email at:  crystalmason@juno.com

Up-to-date News

So...it's been forever since I posted!  How is it that time can slip so quickly out of our grasp?

I've been wanting to do some "posts in review" so that everyone can be up to date with all the highlights from the past 8 months or so, but I've had a hard time knowing where to begin.  I guess that's what happens when you get so far behind!  =)

For now, I'll just do this short post with the condensed version of our current plans.

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September brought the birth of our baby girl (more about that in another post) and the return of Michael  to the US.  We then spent most of the fall and some of the winter doing deputation services.  The Lord really helped us and we were planning on returning to Mexico on January 16th.

The closer we got to that date, the more Michael was feeling the stress of having been in MX by himself for 4 months catch up with him.  Looking back, he feels that he had been close to having a nervous breakdown while on the field.  After seeking some counsel and advice, we decided to postpone our return to the field until the middle of March.

These last few months have been a time of much needed rest and relaxation.  Michael has felt the hand of the Lord touching him and restoring him to full health.  During the first week of March, he was scheduled to preach a camp meeting at H.I.M.'s hispanic church in Ft. Myers, Fl and so we scheduled our return flights to MX for March 20th.

And...here we are still!  Last Saturday night (the 16th), Michael and I were talking about our passports. I knew mine would expire in April and I thought maybe two of the kids' expired sometime this fall.  Upon returning home that night, I checked...and discovered that Kyle and Taylor's passports had already expired in January!  Woops!  Now what?  We were supposed to leave Tues. evening for an early morning flight on Wed.

Michael called the passport center in Philadelphia, but their first available appt. was for Thursday morning (the 21st).  So we called the airlines and told them we wouldn't be making our scheduled flights.

I must say that when Tuesday came, we were feeling a little out-of-sorts!  We were mostly packed and definitely ready to go!  But, we want to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit the most.

Thursday we were able to get/renew the needed passports and now we're ready to go again...only we're not sure of the exact date.  We definitely want to follow God's timing for us, so we're trying to patiently wait for a clear answer as to when to leave.  Would you help us pray to that end?

...And I'll try to keep everyone updated better!!! =)

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And just because a blog post is boring without at least one picture...here's one from when we were just in Philadelphia to renew our passports.  We took a short carriage ride around the old city.  Unfortunately, we had to do it on the coldest day of spring...or so it seemed!!

Our Trip to PA - Part II

If you would like to read Part I from our trip to PA, click here.

{ Our Visit }

We started off our month long visit with getting my sister married!  Congratulations to Josh and Brenda!

I hope you enjoy some of my favorite pics...

{ the beautiful bride }

{ me and my little sister }

{ the wedding party }

{ Brenda and her nephews }

{ our family }

{ Taylor preceded the bride down the aisle holding this sign.  It was so cute! }

{ my family - the Pardoe's }

Next, we spent a lot of time visiting with family and friends!  We had many evenings of enjoying good food, fellowship, and conversation!  We also really enjoyed worshipping with our home church family.  It was refreshing and a great blessing to our hearts!

And to those of you who don't know, we also had a doctor's appt. scheduled while we were in PA.  Why?  Well, we are pleased to announce that we are expecting baby #4 in about 10 more weeks!!  They also tell us that IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

We are very happy and excited!!!  It will also make life a little more interesting as we are planning on starting our fall deputation about two weeks after the baby is due!! Whew...I'd better get busy organizing and planning now!

So now you know almost all the news...but wait!  There's more to this story.  Check back for Part III and how the Lord guided our steps in regards to our return back to Mexico.  Sometimes, the Lord works in mysterious ways...

From our home to yours...

Our First Year

As of Dec. 14th, we have officially been in southern Mexico for a year (not counting the 2 months we were here in 2010)!  We can hardly believe how fast the time has flown!  So...this calls for a celebration, right?  That's what we thought!  So yesterday we headed out to our favorite restaurant on the beach and also took some new family pics.

We are excited to see how the Lord is going to help us in this coming year.  Our churches here have been going through some low times, but we're trusting in God to bring the victory, to see new people saved, and to lead believers in obedience and truth.

Kyle's Kindergarten Graduation

This past Saturday evening, before our regular church prayer time, we were finally able to have a small graduation service for Kyle.

Kyle successfully completed all his work for kindergarten a few weeks ago! He has learned to read and write and he really enjoys his math work. And I would also say his Daddy has done a pretty good job of homeschooling him this past semester!

We were wanting to do something special for him since he wasn't able to graduate from Penn View with his classmates from first semester. The service was simple, but Kyle thought it was special and enjoyed all the "hoopla" involved.

And of course, we're in the middle of rainy season here, so photo ops were limited...but an umbrella definitely painted a picture of the current weather! And Kyle at least thought it was fun. While I, on the other hand, was having trouble trying to hold the umbrella and a big heavy camera and get clear shots!

Kyle receiving his diploma from Daddy.

I had made a whoopie pie cake to serve after the service. This is Paulita, one of Kyle's church friends, enjoying her piece of cake.

And this is a family picture of us - albeit, a little blurry! =)

CONGRATULATIONS, Kyle!!!!

¡Feliz dia de las madres!

Translated, "Happy Mother's Day!" Actually, here in Mexico they always celebrate mother's day on May 10th - no matter what day that may fall on. But as a church, we decided to go ahead and celebrate it today.

In preparation for this special day, I made 14 "purse styled" gift bags and then filled them with a kitchen dish towel, antibacterial hand gel, and a snickers bar.

We had also encouraged all of our regular church attendees to invite their mothers. What we never planned on, was that while two of their mothers came, so did almost everyone else who we've ever invited! Yep, it was bound to happen - the day they all decided to show up at church at one time! Actually, it was very exciting...(and a little hot and squished in our tiny little church room)! We had a record breaking attendance of 43!!

The adults listening to the sermon...

...while the kids are in Sunday School.

Fellowship after church.

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And here's me with the little ones who call me "Mom."

So happy that God has blessed me with these precious treasures.

Life is certainly not boring in this household of ALL boys

(and that includes the big one too)!! =)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Easter

He Is Risen!

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!!

And, I like what this gospel song has to say...

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, all fear is gone!

Because I know who holds the future -

And life is worth the living, just because He lives!

(William & Gloria Gaither, 1971)

So thankful that Jesus died on the cross to pardon our sins, BUT, what a blessed hope we have in the resurrection! So simple, yet, so intricately complex. It made our future a little brighter, and our load a little lighter. May we never lose the awesomeness of what the whole entire Easter story represents. For you see, it was the greatest event in history! May we teach our children the true, Biblical story instead of glamorizing the holiday with commercial goodies. I'm not saying that easter baskets, plastic eggs, and candy are wrong, but generation after generation are passing through the corridors of time, and they're losing the true meaning of most everything that's taught in the Bible. Might that we, be faithful!

Ok, so now that I'm stepping down off that soapbox, let me tell you a little about what we did for Easter. =)

I can't say that we did anything too extraordinary this year, but leading up to Easter, we talked to the boys quite a bit about the true meaning of Easter and read them different books. Easter Sunday morning, we tried to dress up a little more than normal (tradition, you know). Our church service in form was pretty "regular" (due to the hubby and me not thinking ahead), but after Michael preached a good message, a new family came forward to pray! And that's very exciting!!

And let me just insert in here, that Easter in Mexico is quite different. With the large Catholic influence, Palm Sunday and Good Friday are somewhat celebrated (with rituals and partying) and Resurrection Sunday kind of gets overlooked. Nothing special. And really, there's no commercialization of Easter either. So, now let me tell you that we have two different men in our church who lead the services before Michael preaches. So instead of singing "Up From The Grave He Arose" or "Crown Him With Many Crowns", we sang "Revive Us Again" and "A New Touch of Fire." Great songs, but not very Easter oriented! When Michael got up, we introduced "He Lives" and "Because He Lives." How exciting to explain why we want/should celebrate Easter in a BIG way!

Anyway, after service, we shared a meal together and then I passed out Peanut Butter Easter Eggs. They all seemed to really enjoy them (and of course, I forgot to take a picture).

Due to eating a Mexican lunch yesterday, we waited until tonight to enjoy a traditional ham and mashed potato meal!

Kyle and Taylor enjoying Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

So that's basically it (at least for this year)! What does your family do for Easter to make it special?

A Mason Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas...from our family to yours!!!!

Although we were officially in Mexico for Christmas this year, we did celebrate Christmas with our families before we left the States. With that thought in mind, and with the "fun" of cleaning our house that had been dormant for six months, unpacking our stuff, and fixing the water pump, refrigerator, and toilets upon our recent arrival to our house in MX... we decided to not put up a tree this year and just open a few gifts and that would be our Christmas.

Well...that thought only lasted until Christmas Eve. With the temps being hot and no decorations up, I was just having a hard time imagining it was Christmas! So, while Michael and some people from our city church when to a Christmas Eve service three hours away in the mountains, I decided to surprise him and set up the tree!

Maybe you'll notice in the picture that there's really not a lot of decorations on the tree...well that's just because some mice invaded my house while we were away and chewed some loveable snowmen, red berries, and garland. The rusty tin stars, burlap bows, and some tinsel really do look halfway pleasing at night with the other room lights off! (lol) No really, Michael was very surprised, and it made me happy and started to feel like Christmas might be here!

The table has the only other "Christmas" decorations in our house...

And since I was on a decorating roll, I decided to go ahead and put a few homey touches on top of our desk. Once I get some of my house fully decorated, I'll post some pics. I know my sister-in-law will want to see! ;-)

And that my friends, along with reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, talking to family, and some yummy food, is "A Mason Christmas 2010!"

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!

We are so enjoying being with family and friends in PA over this wintry holiday season.

And so, this is my lousy Christmas post. I didn't take any pictures...

...but, thankfully, my sister took a few pictures. Below is a very rare Pardoe family picture and also one of Taylor with his hair spiked (thanks to Brenda and Mom!!!).

A Special Visitor

Aunt Brenda has come to visit us again!

And...we decided to make a visit to the beach...it was a lot of fun and very relaxing! While there, we decided to have Brenda do some family pictures for us...she did a good job!

Below is a cacophony of pictures ~ enjoy!

New Photos

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers...we arrived safely in Salamanca, MX late last night. It was a long and tiring day, but a smooth trip and uneventful. Continue to think of us over the next few weeks as we minister here in the church and generally fill in as needed.

Now, as promised, here a some more pictures that were taken at the Alamo in San Antonio. We were pleased to be able to visit there when my sister and grandfather came to visit. It was beautiful and sunny while we were taking pictures, but just 1 hour later, it was pouring down the rain. Needless to say, we totally got drenched walking the few blocks back to our vehicle!!

Taylor really enjoyed spending time with his "Pappy Ranck"...and I think the feeling was mutual :)

Kyle loves his Aunt Brenda!

Thanks to my sister who took most of these pictures!
(And if you haven't seen it already, check out this really cute picture of Taylor she took!)