Earings

Janelle got earings for her birthday back in December, but we couldn't find anyone here who would pierce her ears. In Mexico, girls have pierced ears. All girls. And they get it done when they are a day or two old. Everyone. If a baby doesn't have pierced ears, it is a boy. Doesn't matter if it is a girl wearing a pink dress, people will ask if it is a boy if it doesn't have pierced ears.

My mom borrowed a friends ear piercing "gun" and brought it down with her, so last week I got it out to pierce Janelle's ears. First my friend Martha wanted a second set, so I did her first so that Janelle could see it was no big deal. Martha didn't even flinch. Next was Janelle. For some reason the no flinch thing didn't work. After doing the first one she looked at me like I was trying to kill her. And we still had to do the second. Thankfully she sat still long enough to get that done too. Now that they are done, she is quite happy with them.

Summer time fun

The kids had so much fun playing baseball the other day. No t-ball for these guys, they did a great job hitting Richard's pitching. Both Janelle and Taylor were good hitters while LiAnne just watched.

Layout credits:
3's enough template, Scrap Girls TKA

My Basketball Boy

My folks arrived yesterday to visit. The kids were so excited about them coming. Of course they brought presents, and what kid doesn't like that? They brought a bunch of mail that we had up in Missouri, and in that was a flyer from Holt Adoption Agency with this flyer in it. They used a picture of Taylor to make a flyer encouraging special needs adoption. We didn't even use Holt, but Taylor's picture was in their magazine a couple a months ago in a story about last summer's reunion of he and his best friend from the orphanage. One of their artists saw his picture and wrote and ask if they could use his picture. If just one more family decides to bring home a little boy, then Taylor will have helped bring about a miracle! The miracle of adoption!

The funny thing was that the night before we got the mail I had scrapped this picture....

Sweet!

Lancy's Quilt

I finished Lancy's quilt this week. Started hand quilting it the end of November, and got it done end of May--so six months of stitching. Of course, that is just quilting in the evenings, and when I'm not working on scrapbook pages!

My folks are coming to Bernal next week, and they will take the quilt to Amanda in Missouri. Amanda is going with a Baptist group to Thailand this summer on a ministry team, and will spend a week or so with Lancy, so she will take it with her. Yes, yes, I realize that with the heat of Thailand, Lancy doesn't really need a quilt for warmth, but think how pretty it will be in her room. She and I like the same colors and style, so we both like this quilt.

I put it on LiAnne's bed to see how it looked, and she decided that she needed to sleep with it for a night!

Sunbeams!

Zucchini

Zucchini time is here!! Yeah!!?? Yesterday we had zucchini stir fry, today chicken and zucchini cassarole. Saturday we had zucchini cake ( just like carrot cake). The kids think that it is so fun to go out in the garden and pick it every day. will soon run out of ideas. Don't know what we will eat tomorrow---but it WON'T be
zucchini!

Kittens

Cinco de Mayo

We arrived in McAllen, TX, on Monday evening, May 5th, and stopped in Walmart to pick up a few things for breakfast. The store was really crowded, and it took a few minutes to figure out why. It was a Cinco de Mayo celebration, with some Tex-Mex dancers doing folk dances.

We find it really funny when it comes to Cinco de Mayo celebrations. We have lived in Mexico for the last 13 Cinco de Mayo's, but have never seen any kind of celebration here. BUT, in the news, it sure seems to be a big holiday up in the states! Really, if you read the history of the holiday, it is a pretty funny thing to celebrate---the winning of one little battle against the French, right before losing the war and control of the country to them.

Texas

We had a fast, and good, trip to Texas. Drove up the 12 hours on Monday, shopped and visited friends on Tuesday, and drove back 12 hours today. Had no problem getting the kids visas this morning--the men working were actually very nice. That doesn't always happen.

Stayed in a mission guest house, had the computer, but no internet, so I took this picture of Taylor and LiAnne from last 4th of July to scrap. I love this pic of them.

Congratulations!

Taylor finished Kindergarten today! We are so proud of him! He has only been home for 20 months, and in that time has learned to speak, read and write in English, and speak Spanish. He is an all-around wonderful kid!

Simple Pleasures

Most of you are just beginning to enjoy Spring. Here in Bernal, we have just passed the really nice days of Spring. Rainy season is just starting. That can mean cloudy, cool mornings, and warmer afternoons, and then often a rain in the evening. Right now it is 85, down 10 degrees from last week, but very nice, though a tad windy out. If we leave the door open, which we are prone to do, they slam shut with the wind.

We ate the first squash from our garden today. We have been eating radishes and swiss chard for awhile. The tomatoes are about ping pong ball sized, so they are coming, too. Pretty flowers are springing up in the yard. These are life's simple pleasures.....