Visitors from Michoachan!

Miguel and I have been so thankful to have his family visiting the last two weeks! His mom, two sisters, one brother, and his nephew were all able to come. 

Bertha invited us for supper Sunday evening and took this photo for us. 

Back (L-R): Fani (and another niece or nephew coming in February!), Miguel and I, Fernanda, Lola, Bryan

In front: Kevin (our nephew)

The last time they were here was for our wedding, so I was especially thankful for this time to get to know them better. They were able to stay at our house thanks to our guest bedroom and pull-out couch! We've been making lots of memories; visiting the park, making food, and just talking. I taught Bryan and Fernanda to play Monopoly Deal and they taught me to play marbles at the park. I have been helping Fernanda with her English homework and I've also been teaching Kevin the Spanish vowels.

Here we are on an evening outing. We stopped to see this fountain with lights and the Magdalena sign.

Our guest bedroom bathroom was sinkless, so Miguel built this contraption for it. We fill the jug with water and the bowl has a pipe connected to the bottom that drains into the shower. Pretty nifty! The little shelf is nice too, to be able to put some things on and his family has been able to use it for these couple weeks.

Visit number one to the park. It has still been very warm, but around 5 PM it cools off as the sun sets and then there is still an hour of daylight before it gets dark. We took advantage of this hour to walk to a park just up the street.

These boys are so much fun.

Their first evening with us, we celebrated Kevin's birthday. He turned five years old a few weeks ago. Miguel grilled carne asada and I made a cake of "Tres Leches." Bryan helped me put the strawberries on top.

Every night we take the cushions off the couch, pull out the bed, and stack the cushions by the piano. Here I made them into a little house for Kevin.

Last night, Lola made enchiladas. So delicious! We've also had some really good refried beans, pozole, creamy spaghetti with fried chicken tenders, carne con Chile, etc... We've been spoiled!

The family plans to leave tonight on the bus from Santa Ana. We are really going to miss them! But so thankful to be with them for two whole weeks!

In other news...

We had our civil protection training for this year.

Miguel and I had our second horse class. Here we are practicing riding bareback.

I've also been teaching this guy to say his name. He can say all the parts, but connecting them is the hard part. When he gets it, it sounds like "Bod...ay...o." 

He has also been practicing coloring/writing and continues to impress me with his new skills.

Also, I am so excited for him because he is now adopted!! Adam and Jenna Leman have adopted him and his four siblings. This is a huge relief as I often wondered what his future would look like and now I know that he will be well cared for and have lots of support. I helped make him a photo album with photos of everyone who has taken care of him here at CVE and the different children he has lived with. The photo album has buttons for each picture where you can record a message, so it tells his story from the time he arrived at CVE in 2011 to Adam and Jenna adopting him. Such a journey! Hopefully, it can help him process and move forward in this new stage of life. 

The Lemans have plans to move back to Indiana next year, so please pray for Tadiboy and for me. I will still be doing therapy with him until they move. However lately, I've been feeling sad when I think about it. I also feel so much joy for all the new opportunities he will have. So much joy and so much sadness at the same time! And I want to know how I can best be there for him through this transition. He's been my student and almost like a son to me for the past six years and I know that it will be a big loss for me and a big transition for him.

Finally, a quick throwback photo...

My mom sent me this picture recently. It was taken in July of 2005 on our trip to Magdalena when my parents decided that we would be moving there. It was taken in a canyon near Tucson. 

Back (L-R): Laura (10), Matthew (6), Philip (8)

Front (L-R): Brian, Megan (3), Marie, Justin (1), Emily (12)

Also, I'll just mention again. I have plans to travel to Illinois from November 24th to December 8th. Hope to see some of you then! 

A Song within my Heart

There is a song within my heart,

Throbbing, swelling for release.

If only some I could impart

To you. Oh, joy, and hope, and peace!

It is the gift of God on high,

The burning love for Him, for man.

Grant grace to act, oh, Lord most kind,

To tell the truth. In God we can!

A Photoless Update

Well, it's been a couple weeks since my last post and I somehow don't have a single picture to share! I guess we've been busy! 

It's just starting to cool down here in the evenings and the summer rains are over. CVV classes are being conducted online. Tomorrow and Thursday all of us CVE staff have our yearly "civil protection" training. "Civil Protection" is a government branch that oversees fire safety and other safety measures. Training consists of power points and videos about fire safety, first aid, search and rescue, and evacuation. We also practice using a fire extinguisher, bandaging wounds, rescuing people, and evacuating the building a time or two.

This Friday is CVE's yearly group photo shoot and I'm in charge of ordering pizzas for a pizza supper afterward. Kayla Bahler and TJ Sutton were here as summer staff and stayed to help support in a few different houses while staff members were traveling. The pizza dinner will also be a farewell party for them as they plan to travel home soon. 

I am planning a trip to Illinois, November 24th through December 8th! It has been a year and a half since my last trip, so I am very excited to see everyone and catch up. I'm also very excited to meet my baby nephew who is due to be born the beginning of November. I'm not sure which dates I will be in the Peoria area and which I will be in the Forrest/Fairbury area, but hopefully I will get to see a few of you!

The plans aren't set for sure, but Lord willing, Miguel's mom, Lola, and maybe one of his brothers are planning to visit in the next couple weeks. So we are looking forward to that as well. 

Here's a little poem I wrote in October 2010!

The Moon, a Reflection

This evening the moon was shining bright.

The minister mentioned of its light,

“The moon possesses no light of its own

But only reflects the light of the sun.”

May we like the moon as God’s elect,

The Son’s glory always reflect,

In dwelt by His Spirit, may we shine His light

Across the world in this dark night.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and support!

Two years of Love

 

Miguel and I were blessed with a little weekend getaway to San Carlos this year. This was our view from the patio of the place we rented.

I was also blessed by my sweet hubby driving all the way there and back.

I just got to relax and enjoy the ride! :)

Friday evening we took a little walk to explore the beach. There were rocky parts and sandy parts. I liked that...a little bit of both! Here we are standing on the rocks. Our house was up on the bank over a little cliff.

On Saturday, we spent most of the day at the beach and walked down it to the area in the photo above. You might be able to see a cave in the center of the photo. Anyways...the sea was very calm and we swam/walked out to where that cave was and there were lots of rocks with sea urchins and green plants. The rocks dropped off in front of the cave and there were lots of yellow and black fish. We even saw a few blue fish. It was an exciting discovery!

In the late afternoon we drove out to the "lookout." Here are a few views!

It's the first time we've been to San Carlos over a weekend and there were definitely more people. There was a fruit stand by the lookout so we got a big glass. It had coconut, pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon, and cucumber. Then we added lime juice, chili powder and chamoy! A Mexican dream!

The lady we rented from lent us her grill and we had some steak tacos Saturday evening.

Sunday we traveled back home.

So thankful for such a nice little trip!

    Have any of you heard of Sara Hagerty’s new book, Adore? I am enjoying it. The message of the book is to use our “middle minutes” (little times in the day) to adore God. The second half of the book has chapters that guide you in adoring God, focusing on His different characteristics. 

    Right now I am in the chapter of Adoring God as “My Strength.” I don’t always do well at really taking the time to let the verses sink in. At first glance, my verse today was so familiar and yet as I pondered it, it came to life in new ways! Maybe the thoughts that came to me can inspire you as they inspired me!

“The Lord is my Strength and Song, and is become my Salvation.” Psalm 118:14

Adoration:

Lord, You are my Strength! Through You, we do what we feel is impossible, what would be impossible without Your Strength. 

And as we see what You do in Your strength, what You do in us, we are amazed. You become our Song. You become our Joy. And "the joy of the Lord is our Strength.”

And so as You give us Joy, your Strength is multiplied in us. And as we cycle through strength and song, through joy that becomes strength and strength that gives joy, we are saved. We are saved from fear, hopelessness, complacency, and besetting sins. 

I adore You for being my Strength and Song and for becoming my Salvation!

Welcome to September

Well, it's been a month since Expo and I hardly have any photos.

But it's been nice to have some more down time after a busy summer. 

According to the Federal government, Sonora is in yellow now of the green-yellow-orange-red stoplight method they've been using to categorize states according to the number of COVID cases. So it appears we may be headed in the direction of normality. At this point, I still wear a mask at work in the kitchen, we still have to wear masks in stores, and the border is still closed to non-essential travel with the next date of review being September 20th. Hopefully, this time they'll say it can open up!

Since I sprained my ankle about 4 weeks ago, I haven't been able to play sports, so I've been taking more time to write which has been nice. Also, a couple months ago I started learning German on the app DuoLingo. (Can't remember if I mentioned it before.) I really enjoy languages, so it has been a fun challenge. I've been at it for 78 days to be exact and haven't missed a day.

Any of you out there speak German?! Because I might need people to practice with. 

Ich heisse Laura. Mein Mann heisst Miguel. Wir haben keine Katze, sondern einen Hund. Er heisst Balto. Ich komme aus Mexico. Ich habe zwei Schwestern und vier Brüder. Sie kommen aus Illinois. Ich schreibe und kuche gerne. Was magst du?

So you might wonder, why learn German? What would I use it for? Well, for me it's mostly just for fun...and maybe a stepping stone to learning more languages in the future.

Had some fun on Saturday trying to stack all of our 1 peso coins! It was quite a feat.

Miguel was much more talented at it! ;)

Sunday we had our first in-person church service since March. So excited to go!

They had it on the patio behind Carnisimo.

Also I had a few errands to run in town this morning and felt a nudge to go see if I could find Mani near his house. I was so excited to see his sister outside and after parking got to chat with them both for a bit. He is doing his school online and is in 5th grade now. It's hard for me to believe. Anyways...if you think of it, say some prayers for him. Sometimes it surprises me how these kids still have a hold on my heart! 

Tomorrow will be mine and Miguel's 2nd anniversary! This weekend we plan to head to San Carlos for a couple days. So I'm looking forward to that and maybe I'll have more photos for the next post.

Expo Esperanza 2020

So Expo was a little different this year, with just CVE participants.

 However, I did heat banana bread and make coffee to serve in the mornings!

Wetting the arena in preparation for the horse performance. This year, there were only two animal categories, horses and dogs.

Riding in style

That kid! Up and at it again! #waytogotadi

These three are watching the dog competition.

Go, go, go!

The winner!

This cool suspension table was on display. 

I helped with some of the sewing projects, so I was excited to see what the kids got!

I also had the opportunity to judge the cookies, and bread and tortilla categories. (Thanks to Carissa for the photos.)

Miguel judged agronomy. Here he is presenting the championship ribbons.

After a successful Expo weekend, the summer staff headed home. We miss them! 

Miguel started working part time at CVE on Monday. 

Miguel's cousin, Gonzalo, came from Colorado for the Expo and stayed the following week. We enjoyed having him over for a "carne asada" on Friday night!

Then on Saturday morning I played soccer and sprained my ankle.

This picture looks a little worse because I had been wearing a sock with a design on it and it imprinted on to my leg which was a little swollen. Anyways...I couldn't walk on it for a couple days and then started walking wearing an ankle brace. Now a week later it's kind of at that dangerous stage where it doesn't hurt all that much and I can easily forget and do something I shouldn't (like start running). So no sports for a few months and we'll see how it's feeling!

Miguel helped with some classes in the shop with the kids last week. They built two corn hole game sets and a Kubb game set. (Look it up.) So on Thursday morning I played a little corn hole. If you look closely at the picture you can see that one red bag got knocked in, but another is hanging, caught by the red one on top. Too bad for the red team! They almost got two more points!

    Do you ever feel like you are learning the same spiritual lessons over and over again? I once thought about how God teaches us and thought, you know, sometimes the lessons are so simple and yet we struggle. I imagined God giving a lesson on the ABC's. And there we are, "A...B...umm...Let's see that was...A...umm, ok...C, no B...C..." you get the point. This is the poem that resulted from that idea.

As I pray my ABC’s

Could I ever tell Thee, Father,

What I really desire to pray?

Such a jumble of thoughts and praises,

My weak lips are trying to say.

But I know that Thou art mighty

As I pray my ABC’s

Thou canst form them into phrases

Of a prayer that pleases Thee. 

CVE 5K Color Run 2020

We had our first ever color run here at CVE!

Marissa was my training-buddy for the three times I practiced before the race! We ran together most of the way. She was also my buddy along with Lucy at Joy Camp.

Coming across the finish line!

Miguel and I 

The girls pyramid

And the aftermath

The summer staff pyramid!

It was a lot of fun. The fastest runners made it in 22 minutes plus seconds. I made it in 32 minutes and afterwards we had fun as you can see above. Then we ate watermelon and energy bites (peanut butter, chocolate, oat bites) and headed home!

Tomorrow is the first day of Expo Esperanza 2020 which is looking a little different this year due to COVID-19 restrictions! Hopefully some pictures coming soon...

As I looked back at some of my previous posts, I saw that a year ago before Expo we were just getting our paperwork finalized to send in the I-130 form (the first step in Miguel's US residency process). So a little update... the beginning of the year the USCIS approved the application and passed it on to the National Visa Center. The National Visa Center asked for more documents which we sent in and they have confirmed that they have all the documents needed. At the moment, we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. With COVID-19 preventing travel, we realize that those interviews could be somewhat behind schedule, so we're just waiting to hear. Thanks for your prayers!

From Stars to Snowflakes

I thank Thee for the stars above

And all the universe.

The mountains great, the sunsets gold,

Thy wonders we rehearse.

I thank Thee, Lord, for details, too,

For snowflakes, each unique,

For fingerprints, and fingernails.

To understand, we seek.

How can a God know how to make 

A mountain or a star

And also separate our thoughts

From what our intents are?