Capturing December: Day 28 (Fall Review 2013)

Fall 2013 Review

I will actually be posting our year-in-review newsletter here in a few days, but until then, here is the blog version of our fall 2013.

We started off September with a brand new homeschooling year.  Kyle began 3rd grade and Taylor started 1st grade.  This year, instead of me "teaching" everything, we decided to try the abeka dvd's.  We like them very much and our school year seems to be moving along much smoother!

Jacinda turned 1 in September - which I did actually manage to blog about here!  =)

October was a busy and interesting month.  I (Crystal), along with Parker and Jacinda, took a trip back home to PA for a surprise anniversary party for my parents.  They were quite surprised about the party and then were doubly surprised when I walked through the door!  It's a wonder my poor parents aren't totally gray because my sister and I sure do like to surprise them!!

(Jacinda enjoying the plane ride!)

It was also nice to spend time with other family members and friends.

(Trying to hold my wiggly nephew Wyatt for a quick photo!)

While I was gone, Michael was kept busy here in Mexico.  Besides the daily supervision of the boys' schooling and also preparing meals, they held a wedding here at our church in Tapachula in which Michael officiated.

In November, we held our annual camp meeting.  I blogged about that here if you want to read more information and see pictures.

I had a birthday in November too, but it's okay if we just skip right over that!  =)  I still feel young, so I guess it doesn't matter what my numerical age is, right?!

In December, Michael went to Guatemala City to attend the H.I.M. pastor's retreat.  He took along with him two of our men from Tapachula (who are acting as assistant pastors) and also our pastor in Santo Domingo.  Bro. Glenn Reiff was the retreat speaker.  Michael reported that they had a wonderful time together!

Two weekends after the pastor's retreat, Michael made another trip to Guatemala.  This time, he went to Tacaná to give the special music at their weekend revival.  The Lord helped in a gracious way even though the trip involved some pretty harrowing mountain roads!

And now my blog friends, I think we're all caught up to date on all the happening 'round our place!  whew!  Onward and forward towards the new year!

Capturing December: Day 7

{ Something Bright }

There's not much brighter here, than the sun!  It's really quite blinding when you walk out of the shadows of your house, to the blue sky and bright sunshine outside!

(This is at the park across from our house.)

Capturing December: Day 6

{ Shopping }

Does this place look familiar?  We even have lighted palm trees!  =)

Walmart.  The place where I do most of our grocery shopping.  It's close to our house (1/2 mile) and has about everything you need.  I will say, that just because it's "Walmart," does not mean it's like the Walmarts in the US!  In fact, most of their food products are Mexican, therefore they don't have all the variety of US packaged/processed type foods.  I miss things like Cool Whip, pepperoni, ground sausage, frozen biscuits, cheese crackers, good tasting butter, pickles, ranch dip packets, and Velveeta...just to name a few things.  But, I'm still incredibly blessed to be able to shop here where it's clean, where there's more variety than other places, and where it's reasonably priced.

Need tomatoes?  Also check out the Tortillería in the background.  Pick up a kilo or two of fresh corn tortillas to go with your meal!

* * * * * * *

Here's another favorite place to go "shopping!"  A fabric store!  While they don't have quilting cottons, they have just about everything else you need or want.  For cheap, too!

Capturing December: Day 5

{ Today's Temperature }

Yeah, it definitely would be hard to sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in this kind of weather!  And I must admit, for us Pennsylvania folk, it's kind of hard to get in the spirit of Christmas when we're experiencing the extreme opposite of their (PA's) cold and snow!  On the other hand, it's very nice not to have to worry about wearing coats and bundling up in hats, gloves, scarves and boots!

So, if you get tired of the cold and snow in the middle of the winter, come visit us!  We'll gladly share the sun and warmth!  =)

Like a Drowned Rat

Have you ever heard the phrase, "________looks like a drowned rat!?"  Today, we realized exactly what that phrase looks like!

We have been having trouble with some rats in our outdoor storage room/laundry room.  We tried a few homemade traps, but nothing seemed to work.

Last evening I had filled the washer up with water in preparation for doing laundry this morning, and I left the lid open.  Wouldn't you know that when I went out this morning, there is this big 'ole rat hanging on for dear life!

Now the question became, "We've got it trapped, how do we actually kill the thing?!"  After finding an old broom, Michael started trying to push and hold the rat down on the bottom so it would drown.  After several minutes...mission accomplished!!

Next we took it out and prepared it for it's final photo shoot!  =)

How adorable, right?  Ok, so maybe not!!  The rat was probably 8 inches long, with a tail about the same length.

The only bad news?  When I went out this evening, I saw another (live) one!  Let the fun begin!!

Dear blog readers,

You have my deepest apologies for not posting in sooooo long!  What happened, you ask?  Well, since the last I posted, my in-laws were still here, half of our family got sick, then I spent three days with a fever, doing nothing.  And since then, I think my energy and inspiration have flown right out the window!  Of course, the high heat and humidity doesn't help anything either!!  And if I'm honest, homesickness has been running through the family...and it will leave you half depressed, wondering how on earth you can continue on.

But, (and I say this while holding my breath), I think we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  While we're still craving American foods very badly,  =)  and still get lonely and discouraged, our hearts are being ministered to with some TLC from our Heavenly Father.  Thank you so much to those of you who pray for us.  We appreciate it more than words can say!

Hopefully, this post will be the start of many more posts (that are posted in a timely fashion, of course)!  I still have things to share from when the Mason's were here as well as an update on our "newly fashioned" Santo Domingo church.

And since I hate to post without a picture, here's one from a drive we took through the mountains when the Mason's were here (more about that later).  It's a beautiful natural arch made from bamboo trees.

Today...

Today...I'm admiring the beautiful blue sky!

I'm also thankful for electricity!  Last week around two in the morning, a transformer blew, and we were literally, "in the dark."  It was a very miserable night to say the least!!  No air conditioner to keep us from sweating, and no option to open the windows for a breeze.  (The windows are boarded up to keep out the sun and also to provide a frame for the air conditioner.)  And with the above mentioned things, it was pitch black...and I'm a gotta-have-my-night-light sort of gal!  =)  At any rate, we all survived!

Today...I'm also taking pics of Parker.  He's too cute and growing up too fast!  At 21 months, he has finally mastered the art of walking!  He's been ABLE to do it for a few months, but has never WANTED to do it consistently without our command, until now.

Today...I'm also thinking how long it's been since I last posted!  And so, I'm working on a post about our special New Year's Eve service in Santo Domingo.  Hopefully I'll get that up on the blog soon.

Today...I've got some excited kids!  Why?  Because their Pappy and Grandma Mason are coming to visit on Friday!  While here, they (the Mason's) will be holding two separate Child Evangelism seminars in our churches.  Michael has been working hard in translating the different session materials and handouts, and the Mason's have been working hard creating visualized songs and helps, etc...  We're looking forward to a busy, yet fun time together!

And this, my blog friends, is some of my thoughts today.  And now, I best go get things ready for our prayer meeting/Bible study tonight!

Until Next Time...

It was one of those "get up bright and early" kind of mornings! We were sad to say our good bye's as we took Mom, Dad, and Pap back to the airport, but we were glad to have had a wonderful time together while they were here.

Now, it's back to work (as if you ever really stop when you're in ministry)! We've got Thanksgiving to look forward to this week, as well as packing for our trip to Guatemala next week.

A Fun Thursday

Wow! We finally got the play house/swing set completed this morning! It looks so nice and the boys are lovin' it! Thanks so much for your help, Dad!

Since we completed that project, we decided to head down to the beach for the rest of the day! Our boys enjoyed splashing in some pools, while Mom and Dad enjoyed getting their feet wet in the Pacific!

Then we drove a few miles to our favorite restaurant along the beach. There's always a beautiful view at sunset!

I just love this pic! The beautiful blue, fading sky with the lighted palapas along the shoreline.

And we just had to get a pic of Mom with her delicious shrimp cocktail!

It was an enjoyable day! I wonder what we'll do tomorrow?

Progress

Little by little, we're making progress with the swingset. Here, the boys are sitting on the roof.

Pap taking a break from the heat.

Tuesday p.m. - The framework was completed, and it was set up this morning.

Dad cutting boards this morning.

The frame and roof is up...now to put the floor and side boards on.

Taylor loves to help!

Pap even climbed up to help!

Now we're getting somewhere!!

(And yes, sometimes the boys like wearing their pajamas all day!)

And before we quit for the day, let's add the sliding board!

Parker even enjoyed a slippery ride!

We're hoping tomorrow to be able and finish the whole swing set! Yay!

Starting a New Project

We started a little, or should I say a large, project today! Last year for Christmas, we, along with family, had purchased a swing set kit as part of the boys' Christmas gift. But, seeing as we're not so carpentry minded, we decided my Dad's visit was the perfect time to build it!

The only problem? We needed to cut down a tree in our backyard! We were not able to find a chainsaw to use, so we started with a reciprocating saw, and then moved on to a simple garden/tree hand saw.

At this point, we all were helping to saw through the stump and we each took turns so that none of us would pass out in the heat! There was definitely a lot of sweat involved.

Finally, after much sawing, pushing, and a few kung fu (lol) moves, we finally had a stump without the tree attached!!

Now, we can start the actual building process. Stay tuned!

Happy. and Blessed.

It's how I'm feeling today. Happy...and very blessed indeed!

Last Saturday we went to the hardware store to price some lumber for a project we want to do. On our way out the door, I saw a dryer on clearance. "Hmmm..." I thought. "Maybe I ought to check it out!"

You see, I've been wanting one for some time, but they are generally on the more expensive side, so we've just been waiting. Anyway, back to the story. On clearance, this "fancier" model was the same price as a brand new bottom-of-the-line dryer...and then after talking to a manager, she graciously offered to reduce the price by another $100 USD!! Well, that pretty much clinched the deal for us! But actually, the best part is that the entire control panel is in English! Very rare for here, but made me feel happy! Happy and blessed, knowing that God delights in His care of us, even down to the smallest details!

Also, we're very thankful to a special friend of ours who called on Friday, and told us of an unexpected monetary donation coming our way. I believe God prepared the dryer to be on clearance at the same time that we received the money to buy one. Simply amazing how God orchestrates the events in our lives!

Well, now that we tried to clean up some of the tape marks, then got the gas hooked up and the vent run out the window, we're on a roll with laundry! My towels will forever be grateful to be fluffy once again!!!!!!

End of School Year Activities

With December, comes the end of the school year. What a happy and busy time this is for us!

The kids had fun all semester being in day care while we went to school. Here's the small group of them.

Kyle's special friend, Joshua. They are about the same age and enjoyed playing together.

We first semester students held a dinner in honor of the second semester graduating class. Below is one of the singing groups from RGBI who provided music for us.

A small gift our class presented to the second semesters. This is our "beloved" spanish grammar book with the faces of Michael's class forever embedded onto its cover!

Let's Get Together...

This past weekend, we were privileged to spend some time with fellow missionaries, the Sankey's! Head on over to their blog to see some pictures from our time together!

A Few Recent Pictures

Yep! We're still alive and well...just not much to blog about.

This picture was taken last week at a banquet here at the school. One of Michael's classmates took lots of pictures of the event, and shared them with us.

There was a chalk artist at the event and this is the finished result with the black lights turned on. She did a beautiful job!

This is just a random picture of some little boys here at our house. For once, they were nicely playing together!

The Moody Chorale

We were very privileged to go hear the Moody Chorale sing last night! They did an excellent job! They sang various genres of Christan music, including an ethnic piece in both Spanish and African. Below is a short video clip of the chorale singing, "The Battle of Jericho."