Scenes South of the Border

I had a lot of fun with our camera down there.  I shot a little less than one thousand pictures.  I think I ended up keeping half of them.

A Much Loved City...and People

It was wonderful to be home again this weekend.  Caleb and I missed Brandon a ton, and I was eager for my dishwasher and our bathtub.  Living out of a hotel for a week definitely isn't ideal...and it often felt like camping in terms of how we were roughing it.  Being in the downtown of a dirty city definitely made me grateful for our relatively clean home and modern-day comforts.  Oh, but I would do it again anytime.

In Guadalajara, I was often surprised by just how much that city feels like home to me.  I grew so much there, and we saw the Lord blow us away time and again with His answers to prayer. Seeing friends was a great encouragement to see how much so many of them have grown as well.  I am so proud of them...and so grateful.

Brandon had a wonderful time in New Orleans.  He loved the people he worked with, and they had some pretty exciting opportunities to help the residents of that poor city.  It is amazing that after so many years there is such great need.  His clothes smelled horribly from the two and a half year old refrigerator mess, and some of them need to be thrown out.  I hope that we can serve in that way together someday.

 As much as we loved our trips, we are so very glad to be home.

¡Ya llegamos...y casi regresamos!

Ten years ago, if anyone were to tell me that I would grow to love Mexico this much, I would have laughed. But I have come to feel as at home in this country as anywhere else in the world.

Here in our hotel, our little boy is practically a celebrity. Most know him by name, and I constantly hear, "Mira el bebe!" or "Ay...que chulo!"  ("Look at the baby!"  or "Oh, how cute!") He blows kisses to the housekeepers and spends time everyday sweeping around the front desk. I think I love this country even more because they love my son so much. I have definitely found it to be true that the way to a mother´s heart is through her child.

I have had a wonderful time connecting with friends here. I will miss them, but I am grateful I get the opportunity to come back often. The Lord is so good.

It's Spring Break!

Caleb and I are heading out early in the morning...way too early.  Brandon is taking the two of us as well as three of the guys on our team to the airport in Juarez, Mexico.  I have been elated during these past few days as we have been getting ready to go.

One of my best friends, Jen, is coming too, and she will be staying with Caleb and me.  She was on STINT with me in Guadalajara, and we already have planned several hang out times with friends who were involved in the ministry. I am so grateful that the Lord has worked it out so that Jen can come.  Ours is a friendship that is incredibly encouraging and edifying to me, and I look forward to getting to spend the week with her.

Brandon is taking several Greek students over to New Orleans to do some relief work for Hurricane Katrina victims.  It is amazing that there is still so much work to be done, but we are grateful for the opportunity they have to serve.

Caleb and I will miss Brandon...especially since communication will be difficult.

Please pray for us!  Oh, and GO BOILERS and GO CATS...both of whom won today!  :-)

Life Documented

I am already loving blogging because it is a lot like scrapbooking...except on the internet. I have a terrible memory, and scrapbooking allows me to put down on paper what I would otherwise forget. Because I am limited in time, I have yet to document so much of what goes on in our life(such as Brandon playing ultimate and Caleb's mad guitar skills). With blogging, I can really quickly and easily put up something on here...complete with the all important visual element - pictures.

I can also post on here some of the pages I have completed already... since most of my family and friends miss out on so many of the daily antics of our little boy (although I think that most of my family has seen the dancing). The page below will be in Caleb's album and the page above is going into an album about what I enjoy most in this world...one of those being my friend Heather.

It's Brackets Day!

As previously mentioned, today is an important day. Today we find out which college basketball teams make it into the NCAA Tournament and which teams don't. Today we also find out who our favorite teams are playing and where they will be playing. Today is Brackets Day!

Growing up in my home, we often had parties to celebrate this day.  My dad often traveled to watch the Purdue games, and we would get to go sometimes.  So the brackets often determined where we were going on vacation as well.

Although I pay very little attention to basketball during the regular season, I get really excited about the postseason.  In less than thirty minutes, we will know the fate of our teams and can start filling out our brackets.  This is truly one of the greatest times of the year!

Go BoiLeRs!  Go CaTs!

Ultimate Frisbee

As I write this, Brandon is getting more exercise than I do in a week.  Every Saturday, guys gather in the middle of campus and play ultimate frisbee.  It is a cross between frisbee and football (I think), and Brandon looks forward to it every week.  It is relaxing for him and a great way for him to hang out with the guys involved in Cru.  And don't tell him that I told you, but he is AMAZING out there on that field. :-)

Caleb is 18 months!

Caleb turned eighteen months yesterday.  We celebrated this mini milestone with a mini party with our staff team.  I made baseball cookies for Brandon and basketball cookies to celebrate Sunday's Brackets Day (NCAA Selection Sunday)...a national holiday in my family.  As I mentioned before, we gave Caleb a little guitar, and the two have since become inseparable.  Lucas, a friend of ours even taught him how to use a pick!

Taylor, Caleb's best friend, is staying with us this weekend.  The two of them are amazing examples of just how differently God created male and female.  Caleb seems to want to play independently alongside Taylor, but she is constantly hugging him.  Caleb is quiet and focused, and Taylor talks all the time.  Caleb plays with his food, and Taylor takes dainty bites and keeps clean.  They are so much fun together! 

 

Tomorrow...

is Caleb's eighteen month birthday! It is amazing that he is a year and a half already. My little baby is getting too big too fast. :-)

A few weeks ago, Caleb picked up a toy that he has had since he was born, and he started playing guitar on it. We have absolutely no idea where he learned it! Ever since then, he has done it on anything that is long and skinny... tennis rackets, a little toy rake, and a baseball bat. Today we were at a restaurant, and Caleb heard music coming from a speaker in the ceiling. He immediately stopped and started playing his imaginary guitar. He had us (and the people at the table he had stopped at) dying laughing. I wish you could hear his sound effects.

We bought him a little guitar today for his birthday tomorrow. Brandon picked it out. I will try to post a picture soon.

Current Favorites

Since I am just starting this blog and it is pretty bare...here are some pictures to decorate it!  

Our New Blog

So, I am finally breaking down and starting a blog. I have never wanted to keep one because I am already so neglectful of email. However, I so enjoy reading the blogs of others, and so many of our friends and family are not on Facebook...yet.

We got a new camera in February, a Nikon SLR, and I have absolutely loved learning how to use it properly. I have the cutest little model ever...though not always the most cooperative. :-) So, I thought I would start off with putting up a picture I took to try to learn about catchlights (reflections in the eyes).

:0)  Happy Monday