hey friends, just letting everyone know it is Asher's birthday the 6th of November and Emily's the 11th. Hope to hear from people:) thanks for all the prayers!

Ron and Mary Ann and Esther flew out this morning...what a wonderful, wonderful week we had together!! Ron and MaryAnn both loved Mexico and MaryAnn was right there helping as much as she could....her and Evelyn bonded quickly and she was Evelyns shadow learning how to make tortillas and took a press home to try her hand at it at home...and she liked some of the mexican food...potatoes with green tomato sauce and just enough chilies to make it delicious but not too hot for us ones who cant handle the hot yet and then we do a baked veggies with broccoli,cauliflower and potatoes with butter and seasonings...even the mexicans like that:)

Nobody warned Ron when he went up to help hoe that he should not be in sandals and shorts because the biting flies will eat you up...he suffered many tortured moments from the many, many bites he got all over his legs. He also got a lot of blisters on his hands from the hoe. Later he was chopping wood and a piece went flying and smashed his finger...more blood and pain then to top it off on the last day here he was eating an apple and broke his tooth in the front...thankfully it was false teeth and could be super glued back onto the plate...he was a good sport about all of it and still wants to come back again:)....we had so much fun together...talking and talking and laughing a lot:) I always enjoy how Ron makes Asher laugh:)

The week was really busy because on Thursday 23 people came from Mexico City and stayed for the night and the next day...they were some wonderful brothers and sisters and with everybody working together we had a good time even with all the work of cooking for all those people and preparing beds etc etc there was 1 english speaking sister so it was nice to be able to talk to somebody and she then could interpret when wanting to communicate with the others:)

Then a sad thing on the weekend was Bryan(11 years old) running away...he is our one boy we took in from the state who has run away problems...he has disappeared at times for a few hours but never run away...after 48 hours he was found at a friends house....its sad when at such a young age they do not want to try to be different....so we have been through some tough weeks...the challenge is to be quiet and believe there is no bad that God cant turn around for good so we keep crying out to Him and know our love is not in vain even when it is rejected at the moment:)

Another wonderful thing is Roberto is back in the village!! His mom said he can come back if he stays with Mari and not us...Manuel and Javier(,Robertos brothers who just left recently) are telling her bad stories about us...which we are glad God knows what is true and we do not even have to justify ourselves...God will accomplish His plan and we get to rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for Him:) At this point I cant feel bad about Roberto not being in our room. at least he is in the village and I can hug and love on him..and he freely comes in our house to play

Asher says enough for now:)

This is Wednesday...Esther arrived on Saturday evening...so good to see her again:) We had family day on Sunday...went to market, came a back road thta supposedly would not have machines working on Sunday so we couls get through but ended up machines were working and we had to wait 30 minutes at one spot for them to clear the road enough to get through...just added a little adventure:) Then we ate out by this beautiful lake before going to a beautiful rustic type cabin...it only cost $55 for 2 connecting room with a big fireplace in the one room...we sure enjoyed the fireplace:)...they had no internet or TV so that was kinda nice too because we played games and enjoyed each other instead of having our eyes glued to the tv.:)

In the morning the girls actually got to ride a 4 wheeler so they were pretty thrilled...Papa wasnt too excited because he was sure nervous they would wreck:)

Tuesday Asher and I went to Get Ron and Mary Ann at the airport. We picked them up about 2:30, got food there and ate and had a great hour chatting and laughing and then talking the whole way home...so so wonderful!! They are a delight to have here.

Today they got to go along and experience market now this afternoon most of the adults and children went to play soccer but we ladies Nicole, MaryAnn and I are going to Bodega to do the weekly shopping.

Gotta go now..more later:)

FINALLY I am on internet:)

Finally,a new blog! ! We have battled with some sickness and its not just our family this time...so Asher took our water to be checked...the results are that the water is good. So that is good to have that question taken care of. Guess its a flu going around, not just here in the village. Last week when all 3 of my big girls were down all at once; I felt rather handicapped but thankfully they are up and going again. The one good thing about their being down was that we started the process of potty training Pablo; therefore, he was able to stay in the room with them all day...we have good moments but there are still plenty of messes to clean up but at least we are working at it..he'll even wake up dry sometimes so I know he is ready...so we'll keep working at it and we are spoiled in that when one gets tired of dealing with it we can switch out with another girl:)

The other thing we are dealing with is skin issues.....a number of people had scabbies but the latest one we are dealing wiith is Michaels sores...they start out looking like he got bit but then keep getting worse..took him to the doctor and he said its some fungul thing...giving him medicine and cream but it is still getting worse:(..we may need to take him back next week if we cant get some improvement.....because some places are getting raw and awful looking and its driving him crazy with being itchy and sore.. so pray for him.

Yesterday for lunch Billy treated everybody to chicken, and he bought plenty so everyone could have their fill...It was interesting to watch Bro. Juan set up poles across a fire and grill the chickens..it was yummy. Billy needs to go to the US for a few weeks so we are going to miss him....He came here just 2 weeks before we did so he is part of Mexico, and i will personally miss his healthy appetite...he always eats a lot and always likes what we cook..its fun to cook for people who love to eat:)And of course he is someone else who speaks English,and it is so nice to have one more person to talk to :)

Since I last wrote both Manuel(14) and Javier(12) left...A child leaving is a pain a person never gets used to:(...we trust its not the end and that gives us comfort, but please pray with us for them that the time does not need to be long!! But at the same time that they would learn what is necessary for them to learn, at this point, for them to be able to come back.

Asher has been working at the water plumbing for the new showers...he's working at correcting the one problem with the existing showers as well...if you shower on the left the water is hot, but if you are on the right and someone is showering in the left you are out of luck in getting any hot.....so Asher put a check valve in the water line so that problem is solved and both showers can get hot at the same time...3 cheers:)

This week has been a" work in the gardens week" for the men. Bro.Angel took some of the brothers to work in his coffee field. Some of the other brothers were getting a field ready to plant beans. We also hauled in some horse manure for preparing the greenhouse soil. They put the greenhouse plastic up last week.

Today is Rafael's 5th birthday! We decided it was a good time to have a family day. We left a little before 9 and took Billy to Tulluncingo so he can get on the bus to go to the airport in the morning. While waiting for Jason to meet us and since it was Rafael's birthday Billy treated us all to icecream:) He was going to spend the rest of the day with Jason and the brothers there inTulluncingo. After dropping him off we went to Sam's to pick up a few things. I found cheddar cheese so we bought that for a treat for the day and then enjoyed crackers and cheese on the way home. It was pretty yummy to have cheddar again:) We rarely have cheese and if we do it is a much healthier kind then cheddar and the flavor is totally different:( We went to a nice little mexican restaurant that we knew about and here they were closed because it was sunday. One of the brothers there have a business where they sell ready to eat chicken so we went there and they fed us a meal of chicken and rice and cactus and were very gracious and didn't let us pay. Then we headed to the zoo. It only cost 8 pesos a person to get in which is less than 75 cents. It was a small zoo but the lion enertained us with its roaring and the boys enjoyed seeing different animals again. Billy had given Rafael a few pesos so he was delighted to satisfy his desire for a hotdog:) Thankfully even if the day was cloudy the rain did not start till after we left the zoo. Rafael enjoyed the text we got from friends, it made his day more special...Thank you friends!!!

Then just for fun we made one more stop at the plant market and asher gave me the pleasure of walking around among all the many plants and dreaming what plants I want to buy:) The other day Ellie gave me an indoor plant so I bought a beautiful pot and I am ready to begin my collection:)

We stopped at Los Colonias to get on internet and post the blog but internet was not working...so that is the reason for the delay in posting the blog:(

More another day:)

Well this is Thursday and finally we are on internet!! Days are slipping by and its only a week till Nicole gets home..it will be good to share the work with her again altho Gods grace has been abundant and sufficient!!

We had to take Robert to San Lorenzo today to his moms because he has a doctor appointment tomorrow...the scenery is so amazing...I never get tired of the beauty of the mountains. Anybody that comes to visit must for sure enjoy that ride to San Lorenzo..not all places can you so clearly see the mountains and the breathtaking view. I am continually fascinated with the ability of these people to grow things on the side of steep hills..its really incredible. I have great respect for these hardworking people...makes me realize what a wimp I am!! I am also amazed every time I come to town how there will be a beautiful house and right next to it is a shack..the contrast is so great and I'm amazed that it exist side by side everywhere we go.

On Monday we made a cake for Rafaels birthday...mexican tradition is that on your birthday you take a bite of the cake and someone is behind you and pushes your head in the cake..then that whole piece is yours:)...Beforehand Rafael was excited and going to take a big bite etc....but when everybody is looking at him and singing he got shy and wouldnt do it ..finally with some encouragement from Papa and being sure nobody was behind him he leaned forward and Papa and Michael pushed his head down and everybody cheered but he cried:(...he got over it and enjoyed his cake in a little bit:)

All for now:)