It's been One Year!!!

This September we celebrated one year here in Mexico. Below is a special memory book, I created as a reminder of all God has done this past year! Be sure and click the play button and follow the link to view our photo book on Smilebox.com! After your done, don't forget to scroll down this page to view the rest of our Newsletter from Arriaga!

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

Four Chickens, A Rooster and two Turtles... just another day in Mexico!

Only in Mexico would four brightly painted baby chicks be an acceptable gift for someone else's children, a Rooster an appropriate exchange for a meal and a nights stay, and two baby Japanese Turtles the perfect reward for a job well done!

This week a quick trip through the market in search of avacados and corn tortillas lead us into a bit of a pickle... We sent Sandra on our errand and as she passed through the crowds of people with four of the kids from the children's home in tow they came accross familiar faces from Church. Stopped in front of a box of painted chickens they said their hello's and como Estas', when the random friends decided to show their love and appreciation. They wanted nothing more than to buy the kids 4 baby chickens. The children jumped for joy and picked out their favorite colors, pink, purple, blue and orange... of course! The trip ended short as they had to get the new little "gifts" home and feed and watered!!!

Not two day's later a couple of men from San Cristobal were traveling through in need of a place to stay. They knocked on the door of the orphanage holding a large box with holes... Tammy should have known then not to let them pass through the door!!! But in they came with great smiles and many thanks and a gift for the lady of the house... A Rooster. YIKES!

And to finish off this crazy week, Chandler had the most amazing week of 2nd grade homeschool. Jason and I agreed he deserved a special treat and so we gave him $5 to spend in Tuxtla. He of course picked out 2 baby turtles from the mall for $2 each and that concludes our story of "life in Mexico"!

Goodbyes and Hello's...

The Month of August was a bit of a roller coaster ride for all of us down here in Mexico...

We said goodbye to three of the little ones... bitter sweet really.

Little Yahaira went home to live with her mother who made the decision to make some major adjustments in her life for her precious daughter's sake.

Saying our Goodbye's
Yahaira's in the middle...

Then almost as soon as little Pedro and Jose entered our lives, we witnessed an answered prayer in theirs. Family members from another village were able to adopt these two beautiful boys and the looks on their faces when there new family arrived wiped away any tears we had.

Jose and Pedro!

And then we were all blessed with the presence of two new little girls. Sisters, Rosa age 11 and Citlaily age 5 joined the group of little ones. Big sister Rosa is quite mother like as she cares for the younger one and little Citlaily is a ball of love.

Rosa and Citlaili

A Sunday to Remember...Grande Cosas!

Sunday Mornings Video

"Grande Cosas, a hecho a Senor!", we sang this morning in OUR NEW CHURCH BUILDING!!! What Big things you can do Lord, it means. And we do mean BIG... God answered the prayers for a new church home in such a big way and the new 2 story auditorium with a balcony leaves us all with a little more than elbow room to dance and sing our praises to our Great Big God! With 200 new donated padded chairs, 6 large economic mounted fans, and a stage complete with a NEW set of Drums for Jason... we had more than enough to praise God for.

Sitting on the front row I couldn't help but weep a little as I looked around at the many familiar faces who all looked so completely altered by the new hope and new faith that their Provider has given them.

When your singing in your church this Sunday morning, think of us and smile! Heck, JUMP UP AND DOWN... I know we will be!