OK, so I've been AWOL lately. Haven't written much at all, and Lancy is asking that I post some pictures for her. So, for my daughter far away on the other side of the world, here is some info and some pictures.

It has been a busy summer, in that we continued to do school just about everyday. Janelle has been doing quite well, with just an occasional day of melt downs when she gets frustrated with school or with being told no. It just dawned on me this week maybe one of the reasons why she does not like to be told to stop bugging the kids, or no, she can't have something, or that is not the way to do something is because of the idea of saving face. In China, and other countries in that part of the world, saving face is important. More important that telling the truth is telling someone what they want to hear. China is/was loosing "face" over just the idea that others were questioning whether their gymnists were of age. It is just soooo important to be right. And I think that is maybe why Janelle hates to be told that she is not doing something right, or be told no. She will get pouty and go to her room if she even thinks that someone thinks she is wrong. Something to think about, anyway.

Today she has finished 3rd grade. Not bad, when you think that she just started 1st last November. I think that the 4th grade books will be much more of a challenge, and will take up a lot more of my time. My goal is for her to finish 4th and a good part of 5th this year.

Taylor is doing great in 1st. He finally lost his first baby tooth a couple of weeks ago, at 6 1/2. He was pretty pleased that the tooth fairy brought him 10 pesos. He was also surprised yesterday at the dentists office when she pulled his other 3 bottom baby teeth. Actually, his permanent teeth have been in for over a month right behind his baby teeth, and they needed to come out. Taylor also wears an expander these days, like a retainer after getting braces off. The doctors/dentist want to expand his upper mouth, getting his teeth better aligned so that he can have his bone graft surgery, probably sometime next year.

LiAnne is enjoying one more year before formally starting kindergarten, though we work on numbers and letters everyday. She really wants to know how to read, but doesn't want to have to learn the names and sounds of all of the letters. She also wansts to add and subtract, but only recognizes the numbers 1-6. Just hard to convince her that you have to learn step one, before going on to step two. She will be 5 next month.

This Sunday the church will celebrate its 5th anniversary here in Bernal. We have been working on special activities for the service on Sunday. I got curtains made for the 8 windows this week. It will sure look different on Sunday when people arrive. Richard is working on a power point slide show with pictures from all 5 years, which will be fun. I'll be sure to put pictures on the ministry blog after Sunday.

I was very thankful to talk to my Dad yesterday. Last month when he went to the eye doctor he found that the sight in his one eye was almost completely gone. It had gotten worse quickly. The doctor tried a new procedure, and when he went back yesterday found that the sight had improved quite a bit. Even the doctor was surprised at how good it was. So, we are very thankful to God today for that blessing, and pray that it will continue to improve.

OK, that is it for today. I'll try to post a bit more regularly in the days ahead.

And now, Lancy, these pics are for you! (though actually, blogger is going to put the pics first, and the text last!)

A Quick Beach Trip

LiAnne and I made a quick trip to the beach to take a few pictures.....not. Oh, how I wish we could...too bad we live so far from any beach. But, I kept seeing my friends scrap their summer beach trips and wanted to do one too, so I did. Here is what I came up with. Photoshop is so much fun when you can prove by a picture that you did something that you really didn't do.

More to come...but first both Taylor and Janelle have to have haircuts. And if you are wondering when I find time to scrap, it is usually between 9:30 and midnight, when I should be sleeping!



We met with the others on our team this morning to make plans for the months ahead, youth group, ladies meetings, adult activities, and inter-church activities. School starts here next week, so things will slowly get back to normal. I made stir-fry for lunch...and I think that they all ate more vegetables today than they usually do in a month! Veggies just aren't on the menu much here in Mexico.

Amanda made it back safely from Thailand on Sunday night, and starts Character Camp at College of the Ozarks on Wednesday. She will be leading a group of new students as a "Mom" next week.

Welcome to Beijing!

As mom to three kids from China, we will be watching the Olympics this year as much as we can. That said, we'll see. We were hoping to watch via NBC online once we read about that. It sounded like a great way to see more....but when I tried to get it going last night, I found out that it is only available in the US. Local Mexican coverage is.....well, to be nice, blaaaah. I always say that to be on TV here you have to be dumb and blond, and have a high, squeaky voice....hehehehe. Sorry for any blonds reading this, but you probably aren't in the dumb catagory, and certainly wouldn't have the squeaky voice. I guess that it can't be any worse than the last two times we have watched it here, basic coverage, but better than nothing.

Watching this video makes me want to take another trip to Beijing! It is a great city, with so much to see. Enjoy! (Oh, and if you don't understand what they are saying, just come ask Janelle!)

*******You'll need to scroll down to the bottom and but the music on mute in order to enjoy this video.