baby Velasco

God has given me a talent that I am getting to use more here in Mexico. I have painted in several of the bedrooms of the staff kids here to give them some joy. Gabo and Kelly Velasco are going to have a baby any day and asked if I would help make the nursery special. So this is what they decided upon.

PureNRG

Last week we had the privilege of having the music group PureNRG here at Back2Back. These teens are popular in the US and have 3 CD's of music for kids. PureNRG consists of Jordan, Carolyne, and Caroline.
They took time out of their schedules to take a mission trip here and they all loved it. They told me they wanted to come back every year!
One night we had a mini concert for all the children in every Casa Hogar we serve. We used a local church and everyone piled in!! Each Casa Hogar had a chance to 'perform' and they each sang a song and Douglas girls played their tambourines. It was such a fun day to have all the children there. Even though PureNRG sang in English, it didn't matter. The children's eyes were glued to them and they were so excited to be there.

Imperio de Amor performing



PureNRG performing

Carolyne and Caroline

All the girls loved Jordan!!!

Sunday mornings

The girls at Douglas church are learning routines with the tambourine...It is so fun to watch them perform!!

Our school has a blog!

Miss Jessica created a blog for the students to share writing. My class will occasionally put things on it too. Check it out:

http://www.smcakids.blogspot.com/

My birthday 2009

Well, most of you know I don't like when my birthday comes cause it reminds me of my age...This year I felt truly blessed and happy! I love where God has chosen to put me right now in my life and I am thankful for all the friends I have here and back home. I had a great celebration and a few surprises...
At midnight, the night before, I had singers at my door again. It is a huge tradition to have mariachi bands play on the night of your birthday.


Sunday, was the day and at church the little girls from Casa Hogar Douglas kept coming up and saying "Feliz Cumpleanos"..It was so sweet that that was enough to make me happy!!
After church, Hope, Becca, and I spent the day having lunch, walking around the mall, and getting Starbucks - a very American afternoon..
I got home to find a package that had been delievered from my mom so then I talked to my family on the phone.

That night some of the teen girls came over to wish me a happy birthday and the staff women all surprised me and told me we were going somewhere. We went to a cute, new restaurant and had some snacks! It was a wonderful day!



But it wasn't over...the next day in school the kids had cards and a party for me. That night I was taken out to dinner by some of my guy friends!
Plus, amidst all this I had encouraging notes from friends back home!
Thanks to everyone for blessing me with your friendship and for loving me!!

Zacatecas, Mexico

We had 2 days off school so Jessica and I decided to explore a little. We heard about a cute little town and so we made reservations and got a bus ticket and took off. Everyone travels by bus in Mexico. You can leave every hour for anywhere. It took 7 1/2 hours and 4 movies in Spanish to finally arrive! It was well worth the ride! It was such a cute city with history and neat architecture and little squares with fountains. You can pretty much walk anywhere. We shopped, ate at restaurants, took the gondola ride, toured a mine, and met a ton of people from many different countries. It was a wonderful break from teaching and a fun adventure.










My favorite candy shop!!!



The bakery we went to in the mornings for coffee and sweet bread.

Gabi!!

Gabi is a hard worker! She is a waitress at an American-style restaurant. I helped her study the menu for her test and she works 6 days a week! I am so proud of her!!

Field Trip to the Mexico History Museum

My class is studying Mexico history this year and I am learning a lot too! We got to go to the museum downtown and had one of our parents as a translator. No photos were allowed inside but it was a wonderful museum!

The students got to do a craft after their tour.



It was raining so we ate our lunches tailgate-style in the parking garage..

Happy Independence Day Mexico!

September 15 was a big day here in Monterrey! The 16th is the Mexico Independence Day like our July 4th. It is tradicion that the night before on the 15th at 11:00pm, the governor comes out and addresses the people and everyone yells "Viva Mexico"and it's a big celebration.
We had a fun event for our children at Casa Hogar Douglas. We had dinner, games, and a 'Grito'. It was so fun to see all the kids dressed in costumes.
Everything was decorated!


Pastor Javier was our "president/governor"








I painted faces!

This is the soccer court which became the goat chasing event!


That night, we went downtown for the real event! It was amazing. People were everywhere and vendors were everywhere and there was music. Then they sung the national anthem, and then we yelled "Viva Mexico"! After that were amazing fireworks.






The next day, we reenacted the event with our classes!!

Praise the Lord I have my car back! Thanks to all of you who were praying. I went to McAllen Sunday, by bus, with a friend and picked up my car. I had no problems at the border since I had done what they asked and waited a while to return. So I have my Visa for 6 months and in March I have to go back and renew again!

First Day of School!!

The Charreada

The other day I got to go to a unique Mexico event - a charreada and exibicion, which is a horse show with events like 4-H...It was a hot day but we found some shade!
This was the opening of the event...

A beautiful view...

Jessica, Hope, and I in our cowboy clothes



The mariachi's were there playing throughout

Next door they were showing horses.

"...you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance..". - James 1:3
It's been a long day! Living in a foreign country has struggles of its own. When you have a car in Mexico you need to renew the car papers and your personal Visa every 6 months. Yesterday some of us girls drove to McAllen, Texas, a 3 hour drive, with the purpose to do this and get a few necessities. So we cancelled the papers yesterday and today came back across to the Mexico side to get new ones, only they wouldn't do it for me. The man looked through my passport and saw all my coming and going into Mexico and saw that I cancelled the day before. He told me he couldn't give me another one and that the law says you have to wait 72 hours to get a new one. He wouldn't budge. I have never had this happen in the past. So I decided to try the other bridge. We had many people praying and I felt peace. I walked in and the man looked at my passport and saw my last cancellation and said he wouldn't do it. I had to wait 72 hours. How frustrating! I don't have that many days to stay in Texas. School starts Monday and I need to prepare. Thank the Lord for my friends, the Couch's. They were in McAllen getting ready to come back also from their vacation and they said they would drive me and I could leave my car in McAllen. So I turned back around after crossing the bridge 3 times that day and headed back to the US. To top it off, the guys on the US side were going through my car and even pulled off the airbag cover...?? It's not a fun experience and you feel totally out of control and defenseless. I am back in Monterrey but my car is not. I will have to take the bus later to get it. I was only able to come because I had a Visa from flying back. It's complicated...

Ephesians 6:19

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel...

Today I got to go to the graduation from Prepa, or High School, of one of my dear friends, Gabi. I am so proud of her! She went to graduation even though none of her friends did and there were only 3 from her class out of 30 that were there!! The graduation included college graduates too. Gabi got a special award for her grades and is now going to start college for journalism and work with television and movies. Gabi enjoys photography and I am praying that somehow we can get a camera for her to use for her photography class. Gabi lived at Casa Hogar Douglas before coming to Back2Back 2 years ago. I am so proud of the way she has grown the past years and become more interested in her walk with Christ! She has a special place in my heart!

Here is a prayer request I have for this year! Please pray for me to use my time wisely and how the Lord wants. I have so many opportunities here and I want to do them all but I can't. My first priority is teaching all day Monday and Wednesday and half days Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then, I love spending time with the teen girls on campus, but I want to do it in a way that is meaningful. I also have a heart for the orphans in the Casa Hogar Douglas, especially the girls in middle school. I have people asking me to teach English. I got asked to teach Sunday School. Plus I am in a Bible Study and I take Spanish classes. I want to be used in the best way and I thank you already for your prayers.