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!!!