NOVEMBER 28-

    Wet cool weather is here …and I know you may get tired of hearing it but again Praise God we have a dryer:) and a washer…the water is very cold on the fingers for washing by hand:( This last trip to US I brought an electric tea pot…how wonderful that has been for heating water in the kitchen for dishes, for tea, for cooking etc etc. I am not too good at washing dishes in cold water on a cold day…it makes my fingers hurt awful so hot water is awesome:)

    It seems like the building of our dining room is going too slow:) It was great the week Alfanso and Jaime were working all week but normally Jaime is working alone and maybe only 3 or 4 days instead of 5 or 6…so progress is slow:( Maybe the men don't mind the crowded kitchen where everybody cannot find a seat to eat and the kids eating outside in the cold and dark at night like I do:) LOL NO the guys are always busy. There's just too many things to do:)Yes well I guess slow progress is better than nothing.

    Since we last wrote the men bought a sow who will have babies the beginning of the year. Also Hermano Juan bought 2 calves. And Asher traded our 2 bulls for a cow and a heifer calf. So we are getting milk again ..on a good day we get a gallon in the morning and evening but some days she only does half a gallon at a time..we are trying to figure out the little tricks that help her give more milk. Its taking a good bit of Ashers time to be sure she gets enough grass…thankfully we already had a grinder so he can get corn husk from market for a little bit of nothing and bean hulls and orange peel and grind it all up with the grass and she eats it up….So if the milk doesn't get all drank in the morning with coffee then some days we get to make cheese which everybody loves….theres a variety on who likes the milk and who doesn't:) So we still buy some of the box fake stuff for those who don't want the real stuff:)

   We did switch the boys dorm and girls dorm…they are still in the process of building the addition up by the boys dorm which will be a room for the older single guys and a spare room for guest. When that room is done,  some of the older girls are moving into the room that the single guys are now in. That will open a number of beds in the girls dorm. After talking to us and Bertha, Evelyn is planning to move into  the girls dorm. The girls are all excited about it. She feels it will be good to help her Spanish and prepare her a little,when she  leaves the nest in 6 month to go back to Rose Creek to prepare for going to college.

   December 17 we leave for the border so we can renew our 6 month tourist visas and renew the van papers. We are asking God to provide enough money so we can register the van in Mexico. We do not have definite but from what people have told us we are guessing $500- $1000. Before that trip we really need to buy at least 2 tires which cost $200 each. We will be a little north of San Antonio in a rented house with family and friends for 3 days, 4 nights. We are very excited about this and grateful for friends and family who paid for this so we can all be together. We are looking to God provide financially what we need for the trip. 

    After being here a year and a half I thought I should be through the worst of homesickness but getting through Thanksgiving and our grandbaby, Jessica's first birthday were rough for me. Thankfully, its better now:) I am so grateful for my daughters who have become my close friends but some days I still just get lonely for my friends:)

   Blessings to each of you. Thank you for reading this and praying and all your love and support.

Today is Papa's 53rd birthday!!!!! 

So once again we have a few more recruits to The Village…About 2 weeks ago, a teenage girl Blanca came to stay for a while. Apparently she wasn't getting along with her step dad, so her mom wanted to get her out of the house.  There are also some more single guys: Teofilo is 18 and his cousin Jose is 28. Teofilo has actually been here for about 3 weeks. This last weekend he went back to his house to check on his work there, where he met his drunk cousin on the side of the road. He offered to bring him to the Village, and give him work to do. So they have been working in the gardens and stuff like that around the land. 

Our numbers are now up to about 55, so every meal we stuff anywhere from 45-55 people on 3 6ft tables with the children out in the pavilion. So we are definitely awaiting the finished dining room!!! 

In the pavilion they have the concrete beams poured and are starting to form for the rest of the ceiling. This will probably take several weeks to prepare for the pouring of the ceiling/floor. Just to explain: the same slab of concrete will be the ceiling for the dining room and the floor for the upper level. 

This month we were able to sell some roosters, a turkey, and some rabbits. Which was a good step towards selling enough to pay for feed. Our daughter Liz is working at an agriculture fundraiser for us, so we were able to get stuff to make rabbit cages. 

Our neighbor has been wanting to sell us his 3 cows. It was more money than we had and more commitment then we can handle at this point. So we just bought one cow and a little heifer calf in trade for our 2 bulls, plus we gave 150 cash besides. The reason we wanted to by a cow, is because our 2 cows are dry at the present and this one will milk till the others have their calves. The heifer calf is still taking 3L of milk morning and evening, so we are only getting a gallon a day for us. But in 2 weeks we will ween the calf, and get more milk then. So we have 3 cows, all are pregnant, and will be having their calves at the beginning of the year. We also now have 2 heifer calves and 1 more bull calf. We are not getting big amounts of milk at this point, but we are building slowly and are quite happy with our beginning. Because of having milk, we used some of the fundraiser money to buy a fridge!!! We are pleased with our bargain: its a 16 cubit for only $465. 

So the seasons here are obviously changing. Last week we had our first days with drizzle and fog, with its dreadful freezing coldness. The roadsides have taken on a fall-ish sort of look. The brothers are planning cool season vegetables. 

The brothers are building another 2 rooms where the mudslide, last year, wiped out 4, and the girls and boys will be switching dorms as soon as they get it finished. The girls will feel a little safer in the middle of things instead of on the edge.

October 5--FINALLY we are writing a blog...we get busy with living life and forget to write about life:)
To catch you up on the work of the pavilion..all the big concrete support post are poured , at this point they are working on all the support beams...doing it in concrete is a LOT of work...they have to put all the forms together so that takes alot of wood and time..then pour the concrete then when it is hard enough all the boards need to come back down...LOTS of work but in the end we will have a very strong building. And not only strong but dry and when the wood stove goes in hopefully there will be one warm spot from all the coldness and that makes all the work and sacrifice and mess worth it now.
The rooms on top of the showers have come to a standstill...Hermano Juan and his family are in 3 of the rooms and they are livable...still need to get glass for the windows and some little things like that. And the other room is in half way stage...always more pressing things:)
A new family has moved to the village..a family from San Lorenzo..Robert, his wife Martina 5 boys and the 10 month baby is a girl:) So we have lots of boys around:)...our numbers are up to 50 when everybody is there. Robert has been doing gardening things so that is great to have the planting get done...there has been so much building and other projects going that the gardening has had to wait. So once again the lettuce is getting planted, the carrots, etc. The oldest boy is 13, the youngest boy is 3. He was shy at first but hes so cute to try to befriend him and watch that smile come:) Of course we love having another baby around..we really enjoy Carlos and now little Maira.
Our boys had fun birthdays..a bunch of the guys went out of there way to do something special for them so they felt loved and they were delighted with the candies or cars or whatever little treasures they were given.And to the ones who sent the boxes for their birthdays a BIG thank you..I always wish you could see the delight on their faces as they open the treasures!! Now we are enjoying a family outing because their brother sent money for their birthdays.We found this rather rustic back a dirt road hotel..it seemed like it wouldn't be good deal but then we turned the corner and we all oh and awed at the green grass and trees and hammocks hanging in the trees inviting a quiet rest and lots of flowers and beautiful looking rooms...the only disadvantage is there is no internetn the rooms because of the thick rock walls..we sat out on the beautiful lawn on a sunny afternoon which was fine till the chill of the evening was here then we got chased indoors:) I am sure the green grass doesn't sound like that big a deal but after living on a mud hill for over  a year the green grass for the children to run and play, the pear trees and apple trees that they could enjoy the fruit, the hammocks, all the beautiful flowers everywhere, a loft with soft soft carpet and soft wonderful throw pillows and 2 hammocks to sit and  play games ... it all has added up to a pleasant experience and we are glad we found it:) And no TV:)

Again may God bless you and we thank you again for your support and encouragement!!

Jason and Nicole left for their trip to the states on Monday and will be gone till October 15.  

School started this week. The schooling system here is divided into 4 parts: Kindergarten, Primary(grades 1-6), Secondary(7th, 8th, and 9th), and High School(10th-12th). Most of the children here in the Village are in Kindergarten and Primary school. There are 3 Kindergarteners and 7 in Primary who are all under the same teacher;  5 students going to the local public school in La Gallera, 4 to high school and 1 to Secondary. Things seem to be going smoothly so far.

Evelyn has been going to the chiropractor twice a week for 3 weeks and she is starting to see good results. Today the chiropractor said she only needs to go once a week now, so we are very relieved. 

We are still getting daily rainfall. It's changed from July's late in the afternoon to later on when we are going to bed. The rain can be pretty heavy though, on some occasions, according to the buckets we've had over 4 inches. 

We have stopped selling bread for the time being, mostly because they've started doing school and there really isn't anybody else to go sell. So we get to sleep in till 6 now:)

Thank you all for your prayers and support!!!! God Bless. 

We finally have electricity!! They came and hooked it up on Monday, and that night we switched everything that was hooked up to the generator over. Tuesday we got the plumbing installed, so we can finally use the washer and dryer again!!!! We weren't using the washer and dryer with the generator because it burned up the motor on the washer. It's definitely the biggest advantage of having electricity!!!!! Especially with all the rain. No more washing laundry by hand every morning, Yay!!!! We also don't miss the noisy generator every evening:) Thursday Papa rewired the kitchen, doing away with all the extension chords and power strips, and installed light switches and outlets. 

The brothers have been working on the dining room project. Since that area of the pavilion is mostly fill dirt, we have to do extensive foundation work to support the heavy concrete ceiling. So since there has been lots of digging work, we have all been eating in the kitchen. Also some of the other brothers have been working on the bedroom project above the showers. They got the roofing completed this week. 

One of the business ventures that the brothers are engaged in right now involves selling plants in Michoacan… They buy up plants locally, load them on a truck, and resell them to greenhouses in Michoacan. On their present schedule they buy up plants Monday through Thursday, load Friday afternoon, leave Friday night, deliver their plants on Saturday, and drive the 11 hours back Saturday night. Truck issues have been the main problem in the venture so far. The motor blew up in the Nissan pickup, and while that was being fixed they rented another truck. A tire blew out on that one and the truck rolled over on its side. After they got the body work done, they were driving back and it developed engine problems…fortunately it wasn't to serious. The Nissan is now back on the road, and the latest issues have been more minor(break problems and the clutch). 

Another venture right now is selling our homemade bread. We have been getting up at 3:30am to make zucchini muffins, banana muffins, and cinnamon rolls which we sell for 3.5 pesos(a little more than 25 cents). We didn't sell to much to begin with, but as people have tasted our bread, it has gotten a lot better and we have several regular customers:) We started just selling in the mornings, but we have now added going in the evenings selling the leftovers from the morning(if there are any) and selling chocolate crinkles and oatmeal raisin cookies…We have been doing it for about 2 weeks Monday through Saturday, and getting Sundays off. Tomorrow we are planning to add Evelyn's yummy hot rolls to the list:) We have hopes of it eventually being  growing and prosperous:) We get up and make the bread, and the Mexican's get up and make atoll or coffee to sell. I (Edith) go in the mornings with Daya, Teresa, and our driver, and Evelyn goes in the evenings with Anjelica and a driver. So mom is extra thankful for the washer and dryer, since Ev and I are gone more often:) 

Jason and Nicole left Thursday afternoon for Mexico City to take Alejandra for pre op work for her first surgery on Monday. She will have several surgeries in the next 2-4 years to correct damaged muscles, nerves and tendons in her back and legs. The end hope will be that she will be able to walk normally. Pray with us for her that all would go very well and hte desired results could be accomplished.

Thank you for reading this blog and praying for us...good friends are such an encouragement and blessing!!

ELECTRICITY---July 23
WOW after 10 months of phone calls and hassle and waiting the electricity got hooked up today!! Asher is busy trying to get all the wires run that need to happen so we can have lights and washer and dryer by tonight or asap:) And it is pouring down rain right now so that is a really welcome thought!!:) I'll write more another day..I just had to let everybody know the good news:)

So it is July, which means lots of graduation parties:) Here they end school in July and start back up in August, but they have a lot more holidays than we do I think. Graduations are quite a big deal here, so on Tuesday we went to Bro. John's son's graduation party, Geovani, who was graduating from 10th grade. We had a big meal of rice, beans, and the famous Carnitas(pork tacos). We enjoyed ourselves helping out where we could, and visiting with people we hadn't seen in a while. We left there already practically bloated, and went to another house that we were invited to, having to eat another plate! This time we had rice with moli and pork again:) We actually all managed to scarf it down, but lets just say another bite would have pretty much sent us over the edge:) 

Wednesday we went to another big party. Bro. Javier, who lives in The Village, invited us to his brother's graduation who was actually graduating from high school, i think:) We had carnitas there again:) 

We actually had a short visit from David Servant, from Tuesday through Thursday. He came to get some stories for things that their ministry sponsored. He was actually given money to get Alejandra through what she needs to start walking correctly!!!!!!! She is the crippled girl who has been here since before we came… It will be a long process, but they have already connected with a world known doctor, so it will hopefully be started soon!!!

We have been having some pretty heavy rain, this week, in the evenings… It actually took out the girls boiler, completely covering it with mud. So we all had to shower in the guys two for a few days, but we now have it back and running:) Thank God!!!

More another day:)

Edith:)

June 26, 2012
After an awesome trip to the States, we are now back home in Mexico! Even though some of the good-byes were hard, it really is good to be back!!! After living out of suitcases and totes for five weeks, is is also wonderful to be unpacking and putting everything on the shelves. 

Traveling went amazingly well; we only had to open the box on top once compared to twice the last time. About 20 minutes from home, we went over a speed bump too fast, causing the rain gutter on the top corners of the van, that the ladder racks clamp to, to break. It didn't come off or anything, but it did shatter the back right window:( Thankfully that didn't happen sooner:) 

We came back to rain and mud, which we were expecting…so on come the boots:) It was funny going from 90 degree weather to wearing a jacket. Today is nice and sunny though, and we got a load of laundry washed and out on the lines. Of course that was by hand, we aren't using the washer and dryer yet, since there is still no electricity. The guys said they would come today, but I don't think we've seen any signs of them yet:)  

For those who don't get Jason and Nicole's newsletter,  there are now 2 new boys here Antonio 13 and Luis 9, a young girl Laurita 9(Antonio's younger sister), and we now have two elderly men here Antonio and Alsencio. So there are some new additions to the family.

This afternoon Brother John came in with a cute pink pig trotting in front of him. I had seen some of the guys making a fire and carrying a big pot out, but I wasn't sure what it was for… So I've now heard that they are going to make tacos and sell them at market tomorrow… We had Brother John's tacos at a birthday party one time and they were the BEST ever!!!! I really like them; hopefully they will have good success tomorrow:) 

A HUGE thanks to everyone's kindness and love while we were there!!!!!!!!! Everyone made the trip very refreshing and encouraging. Thankyou all for your hospitality, provision, and donations; everything was as perfect as it could have been. We are all grateful that we were able to make the trip, I think we've all come back encouraged, full, and ready to get back to God's work! Thank you all again!

Edith:)

MAY 3----On Saturday we had a big day of making tamales. Tamalas are not difficult to make just time consuming, but we all worked together and we got LOTS of tamales made. Then on Sunday we all went to the river for baptisms...the 2 girls here Juana and Gumer were baptized, the recently married couple, Jaime and Bacilia got baptism,  Jaimes' mother and Florentino from Africa....After baptisms the kids and some adults had fun swimming and playing in the water.It was barely sunny enough for playing in cold water but they still had fun!!

ON Monday we had a birthday celebration for the birthdays in May, which includes Jasmine, Evelyn, Manuel and Natalia, and Jiame from San Lorenzo(he's been doing a lot of work around here lately)...it was a fun party. We had tostadas( a favorite) and then had a 3 milk cake and popcorn bags for those who could still eat another bite:) Evelyn and Edith decided to have a contest to see who could eat the most tostadas...Evie won when Edith quit at 10 and Evie ate the 11th. The other fun thing was after everybody had a  peice of cake there was a smearing frosting on the other persons face going on...the kids had great fun, plus a few adults:) 

--Tuesday afternoon was a memorable afternoon for Asher.....he went to check on the bees and evidently did not have his bee suit on right and they got under his hood and started stinging him. So he goes down by the greenhouse to get away from them but they chased him there so he is taking off his suit as he runs down to the water swatting bees the whole time...he goes under water only for them to get him when he gets out so he went to the dark showers and shut the door and after buzzing around awhile they finally left and he came to the room and they started pulling out stingers....about 25 around his head and face and neck and one hand....I had been out with Nicole that day so I came home to a swollen husband, gave him some benadryl to help with swelling..of course that was no fun but he is fine and slowly the swelling is going down..........the bees are being pretty aggressive so we are considering requeening the hive...killing the present queen and buying a new one to put in there..it will quiet them down.

The electricity is finally beginning to happen...after 3 months of promises:) A week ago a guy showed up and put a cross brace on the pole for the transdformer. Now again guys came to put brace wires on the transformer pole and also told us what we have to do to be ready for them to hook it up which is building a meter base pedestal out of concrete. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have electricity

And for those who did not hear yet we are leaving on a trip to the US in about 2 weeks...hoping to leave on the 19th of May and return the 24th of June. Of course we are VERY excited about seeing family and friends again!! We are  here almost a whole year...a learning year for sure ...hopefully the next year will be easier but wherever HE leads we will go and know HIS grace is sufficient. Thank you again to all the kind precious friends who keep us encouraged and support us with their letters and prayers.GOD IS GOOD!!!

April 10- I am home from Rhode Island after a wonderful time with my children and grandchildren there and of course Ron and MaryAnn:) It's been quite busy since I got back and a few changes....I will just copy a paragraph from Nicoles newsletter... Last week there was much change and transition that took place in the ministry here. Jason turned more leadership over to the nationals. This work will only grow and remain if it is overseen by nationals. I am pleased to say that they stepped up to the plate and things are running smoothly, in spite of the darkness around us. We are more than conquerors through Him..................

It really doesn't make a lot of difference for us..we are here to serve , so it doesn't much matter if we are helping Jason and Nicole or helping Juan and Bertha and Javier and Daya....so even if theres lots of talking and lots of emotion around us we just quietly continue to do what we can:)

The men have been working here on the land a good bit in the last 2 weeks..working on the dam and now working on the steps for the rooms that will go above the showers. Both are pretty labor intensive so to have 8 to 10 guys able to work has been good....and we just cook BIG pots of food and lots of tortillas:)

Its also childrens school break so this week the children went along with Jason and Nicole to Tulancingo to have some fun with the children from that church there...my 3 girls Eliana, Eldora and Emily also went along..today till Friday. So it will be quite quiet around here:)..but less workers as well:)

ON Sunday Rafael and Michael went home with a brother Everet(they have 4 boys) and they will come home tomorrow...Michael and Rafael love every chance they get to get to their place..they wish we lived there:) so its been very unusual for me..if anybody knows Rafael you know how very affectionate he is and cuddly and so loves his mama even if he's 5..so it feels too quiet and empty:) So for today Edith is our only child here so her and I are going out this afternoon to do internet and eat out and have mom/daughter time...she deserves it!! She had worked hard while I was gone and just in general is my right hand and serves a lot!!..so we will enjoy our only child for today:)

The day I got home from Rhode Island the cow had her calf.....a heifer!!! 3 cheers!! She is healthy and doing well....we have discovered the mother isn't too big on the milk production:( She seems to have enough for the calf but not extra..so that is disappointing at the moment....Asher bought some alfalfa hay to encourage the milk amount so we'll see if improvement comes.

So long for now......

March 19-Monday

Today is warm and sunny....we were glad because we washed 5 loads of clothes and hung on the line to dry...washer is to be done by Wednesday so that will be a blessing. I am glad for Edith's sake. Tomorrow Evelyn and I are flying to Rhode Island. Liz and Michael had a baby girl so we get to take care of them and Addie. We are very excited!! I am staying 9 days, Evie gets to stay a whole month. So please be praying for the children who could not come..it was not easy to say bye to them and know how much they'd miss me. Please pray God gives them an extra portion of grace and especially Edith as big sister steps into Mama role for a few days..thank God Asher will still be there and promises to have lots of time with them to help fill that gap..I am very glad that we can cling to all of Gods precious promises and be at peace that all is in His control. I have left my kids before but leaving them in a foreign country is not as easy:( So I am counting on all our friends to join us in praying!!

To our joy the men were able to take a day to clean up the wood and clutter around the shower area..it looks so much better:)

On Thursday evening Billy came to the village. the children were so happy to see him.He is living in the US, going to school. He came back to visit for a week..it is certainly good to see him again. To celebrate his visit the whole village took a day to go to the lake and played ball and just relaxed and had fun..sad part was the sun hid behind all the clouds and the breeze was cool after we got there...we left the village to sunny sky and warm temperatures so we did not have enough jackets along. It was still pleasant and I am glad we had that fun day.

I'll be back after I get back from Rhode Island:) Gods blessings to all our friends!!

Another busy week is past...Nicole has been gone alot..dealing with medical things and contacting people about trying to get the boys back...She let the boys Pablo and Carlos go to see their parents over the weekend and they never came back(2 weeks ago). Now the parents are trying to say Nicole is the children kidnapper..of course that is not true but there is paper work to do and the proper official people to talk to etc and that all takes time so at this point they are still not back with us and there have been reports of seeing the kids on the street and when asked where the mama was , they pointed to the whore house so that is pretty sad..pray with us that we get them back soon to get them away from an awful life.

Juana's baby is doing well. And now just yesterday another mother Carol who is soon to have her baby girl came to the village so it is baby time:)

The men(included Asher this week) have been working in the field this week....so Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we got up at 5 so we could get their breakfast , prepare their lunch and get them off to work by 7 or soon there after. This week they have been working in Huautla. One of the brothers there gave us some land to work, also Bro. John's wifes family gave him some land to work...Bro. John's land was grown up in weeds and brush so that had to be cleared and burned before we could plant. Of course all is done with machete and hoe. Part of it we planted in black beans. We also planted part of it in peruvian beans, the rest was in corn. Its a little over 2 acres in all.

Corn is planted using a pointed stick. The holes are made on 1 meter squares, 5 grains of corn dropped in each hole, and covered. Then a handful of chicken litter is dropped on top for fertilizer. (they did come home very smelly, LOL) This process is quite time consuming, quite a bit different than planting 70 acres a day sitting in the tractor seat. Hopefully we will finish that on Monday and then we will go on to help other brothers with their farming projects.

The weather has been quite ideal this month. Warm sunny days during the week and rain on the weekends. Soil moisture is very good so farmers are quite hopeful in their planting! It was good for me to be reminded of Ashers perspective because rain to me means mud mud mud, dirty clothes and hard to get clothes dry so his perspective helps me let go of my negative feelings and remember the good it is doing and how it is really a starve or be fed kind of situation and rain is such a gift!!

This weekend Asher and I came away for a few days to have some time away from the work and pressures and be together before I leave for my 9 day trip to see our daughters and family in Rhode Island..part of this time away we drove to Pahuatlan to get some bee equipment. In January a guy gave us 2 bee boxes. One had a strong hive. The other just had a nucleus. During February's cold rainy weather the nucleus didn't make it. But recently a strong hive moved in. Thank God! So we went to get a veil, gloves, smoker, and 4 honey boxes so we can take care of these bees. Hopefully we can add more hives as we go along. The bee equipment is quite reasonable here. To get everything you need for a hive cost about $70. The nucleus with the queen cost about $45.

The scenery was amazing..the mountains are a breathtaking view. And I am still in amazement of how these people live on the sides of the mountains and make gardens and a living on the steep slopes. Even the towns are on the mountain sides..very amazing. And I know I said it before but it amazes me at the gorgeous beautiful rich houses and not far away the littlest of shacks and the poor poor people. Its heart wrenching!

Adios...till next time:)

Well our dear friends Tabbach, Anna and Donna left on Tuesday.Thank you so much for coming!!! It was simply wonderful!! Please come again:)

Seems like ages ago since they were here ..it was such a busy week!! On Tuesday Juana's baby Edgar was born, weighing 6#. He is healthy and so so beautiful. We love having a baby around:)

Weather has been very warm this week..up to 85 now last evening we got a good rain which was perfect for the field of corn the men had just planted.

The men also started taking the boards and post away at the showers..how nice and spacious and clean they feel to have the poles out of there:) I suppose soon they will start on the building of the rooms upstairs.

Here's a picture of Juana and the baby..aren't they beautiful??

The much anticipated trip to the border is now history:) It was an incredibly good trip..all went well in traveling, paper work went smoothly and the time with friends and family was simply delightful!! We were able to meet our sweet Jessica for the first time and how precious she is and our having time with Ben and Elena was totally wonderful.....it was very healing and delightful:) even tho' it was way too short!! There were 2 vanloads of friends that came from Rose Creek and now Tabbach, his daughter Anna, and a friend Donna came along home with us and will be here till Feb. 28. How happy we are to have them here and the girls Evelyn, Edith, Anna, and Donna are having a great time together.

Friend time is especially wonderful at this chaotic stressful time...we got home to mud mud mud!!:( It had pretty much rained the whole time we were gone and still raining..we have had a few days of no rain since then but today is another rainy day...evidently February and March are lots of rain before our dry months of April,May and June so it is good to be getting everything good and soaked before all the sunshine even if it is rather miserable living:( the other thing that makes things extra stressful is the shower situation...they are wanting to have an upstairs above the showers to make 2 more rooms...so they took off the other roof and began to make framing for pouring a concrete floor/ceiling over the showers before we left for our trip..we got back the day they got the floor poured......so all the showers were a complete disaster and dirty..so the next day "Hermano Tomas"(Tabbach) got right in there with Chucho to get the water hooked back up and the girls scrubbed and scrubbed to clean up some of the mess made with concrete and mud...that night people could take showers if you used a flashlight. And getting hot water was an issue because of all the wet wood...The next day Asher and Tabbach worked on lights ..so bit by bit progress was made toward clean hot showers again:)....altho at this point the post are still in the showers and make moving around rather complicated but this too shall pass and we will have nicer showers and 3 rooms above before too long:)

Goats are now at a brothers instead of here..I must admit I sigh with relief..they were taking a lot of Asher's time but now we actually get to see him after supper..and Michael gets to read his story to Papa like he likes to do and we even get some chat time before we are so tired we cant say a word LOL...so i will enjoy the little break...eventually he will be milking the cow so some of his evening time will be taken up again:) But that will be a good thing to actually have milk so we won't complain about that.

Juana's time is drawing near for her baby to be delivered..her pregnancy has been high risk and there was concern different times whether all would be well with the baby but the last ultrasound showed a healthy baby in perfect position, no cord around the neck, a healthy size...so pray with us that this would be a good experience for Juana and all would be well.

Theres a new couple here...McGiver and his wife Lilia and their 7 month old son Kevin..we are just loving have a baby around:)....he is so chubby and so adorable. I love to watch Papa Asher get his grandpa time with him..he loves his beard and Grandpa is working at teaching him to be gentle instead of pulling his hairs out:) She seems very sweet and I look forward to learning to know her better..she's a good worker and very helpful. They are expecting another baby in late summer. She seems to be handling early pregnancy quite well.

I mentioned the rain but did not include the fact that we are enjoying springtime..the temperatures are warmer even when its raining it is not frigid and if the sun comes out it quickly warms into the 70's. Several weeks ago we enjoyed the peach tree blooming, the azaleas blooming, everything is greener, the colder temperatures are fading in our memory(well, maybe)..We are so happy for those days we can actually take off our jackets and caps. Last week one sunny day Michael and Rafael were working in the garden with papa and the sun was beating down on the south side of the mountain(houses are on the north side) and Michael comes down and says, " Mama, its so hot up there and when I say hot, I mean HOT!" I was amused how quickly he was hot instead of delighting in the warmth of the sun after so many rainy days.

Will close for now..sorry the long quietness..will try to do better once again:)

MORE NEWS:)...I just realized I forgot to post on here that we bought a cow!!! She has a calf so we are giving them some time to adjust before we wean the calf and get the milk ourselves:) We will probably wait till after the trip to the border. The calf is a bull so we will sell it at some point. The cow is also pregnant so for our $800 we feel like we got a pretty good deal!! She is used to only pasture, no grain so that is a plus as well. Time will tell but she does seem to fit with our situation. At this point we do not have a pasture worked out so Asher takes her on a walk up the road and she eats off the road side, which is decent eating at this point because things are fairly green. But it is time consuming. So thank you again to all the friends who shared money so we could buy this cow, continue to pray with us as we work out the details:)

NEWS...we just found out that the paper work we were doing is not the right thing so we are going to need to make a trip to the border to renew our visas! We are beginning the paper work to get clearance to go in February...we want to leave the 5th and be in US by the evening of the 6th...Eliana is so excited she will be in US for her birthday on the 7th..and we'll see if just maybe God will allow some friends or family to come and see us:) Of course money is needed for this trip..so we are trusting God to provide. And if He lays it on your heart to share there is always paypal but we also found another way that works good too..and that is to send a moneygram from Walmart to our Walmart in Huauchinango, Puebla to our legal names Ronald Horst or Wanda Horst.

2012 is here....our last day of the year was the big campaign where people from all the churches come together to eat and have a worship service....there were around 300 people there.It was a good day. There's some work involved in preparing for such an event so that last week there was a buzz of activity. There was the normal cleaning up of things that needed to happen plus the food. It was all different food than I was used to so I tried to stay out of the way and just be a good helper as possible...the menu was pasoli....corn, meat and chilies soup......On Wednesday they cooked the corn then on Thursday we picked up every peice and pulled off the little peice of shell that did not come off in the cooking(all35# of corn)...definitely not hard work just took some time..about 12 of us were working for several hours. Then Friday was a BIG day...started first thing in the morning.....butchered 15 chickens( I helped with one so I could at least say I did it:) After butchering and cleaning them and cooking them, then we had to pick the chicken off the bones and shred it in very small pieces. We also cooked 15K (about 35#) of pork and shredded it very small. Then we ground all the red chile(not a real hot chile). At the same time some were working at the punch......lots of hands on again...cutting up the apples, persimmons, guavas, tamaranth, prunes, pecans, pineapple, and canes of raw sugarcane....again a very yummy drink but time consuming because of the major amounts we were doing:)....but as we all worked together there was much laughter and fun...cant say it was an easy day for me because I still understand so little in a group setting and it brings back so many fun memories, I get real homesick...but I kept praying that I would see where my love is needed and forget about myself...there was obviously plenty of work to do so we kept busy till things were at a reasonable stopping spot about 9:30 that night. They had celebrated Mari and I's birthday that day so they had a neighbor make gorditas for lunch and bought a milk cake and Evelyn made a big pan of brownies with lots of pecans and chocolate chips so that was fun.....

So Saturday arrives clear and sunny, later in the day it got cloudy but rain did not start till after dark so that was a blessing. There wasn't extreme amounts of work to do that morning since we had done so much prep the day before....so they mixed all the corn, chilies, and meat together and made the pasoli and heated the big pots of punch over a fire..they had 4 fires going:) While some of the Mexicans were doing the food we set tables..each table had to have 2 bowls of lettuce(from the greenhouse), radishes, lemons, salt, tostadas and sour cream. About 10:30 we started to serve .....then till we finished serving about 1-1:30 was pretty much non stop being sure people had food, clearing off dirty plates and giving to the next set...it was very fun!! While we were serving and eating they had the music going..some friends had brought their huge speakers that were blaring so loudly it hurt my ears when I had to walk by:)..at least nobody was having trouble with not hearing. We sang a long time then Bro Jason preached a sermon ...of course I didnt get much but Asher said it was about giving your all to the work of the kingdom. By 3:30 service was over and people were heading to their homes. Then we could begin clean up...which went very quickly with so many people helping. Evening meal was easy since there were so many leftovers:)...and the next day and the next day.. we will actually make something different for supper...its so good that nobody minded eating it again and again:)

Now today Monday, Asher went to Necaxa to see about buying a cow!!!!! Its a rainy all day kind of day and cold and its the last day of break before school starts so Evelyn made cookies and popcorn and we are watching a movie in the afternoon...all cozy in the kitchen ..they reset the benches with cushions and pillows to make it feel like a living room and everybody is eating their yummy snack and drinking hot coffee or tea and for a little while we get to forget how really cold and miserable it really is:)

In the midst of all our busy hustle and bustle Grandma Susan(Jasons mom) and her husband Tom came on Thursday and were here till this morning...Jason and Nicole,Sed, Jasmine and Grandpa and Grandma left here at noon to spend 2 nights in the city and then The grandparents fly out on Wednesday morning real early..I am glad they had this little time to get away and have some moments together before they leave again!! To prepare for their coming the men built a chimney in the stone house and Jasons put a little castiron wood stove in there and the men also got the hot water boiler hooked up so they can take hot showers so that was nice:)....Its fun to have those things done...we look forward to Esther and Stephen coming and we can go there in the evenings and sit around the fire and play games and have some fun family moments, welcoming Stephen to our family!!!...the boys wake up each morning...is it today? How many more days??:)

Sorry this got long...HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our faithful family and friends and thank you again for all the prayers and love and support!! And thanks to all the sweet friends who sent me birthday messages or letters or packages or phone calls or skyping with my girls:)..THANK YOU!!