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.....

Looking for a good book to read?

The work team last week brought me a book I wanted: Betrayed, by my friend, Jeanette Windle. I am half way through it now, and thought I'd pass on a recommendation for her books. If you want a great book, a political suspence, Christian book that YOU won't be able to put down, try one of hers.

Jeanette was a friend from Bible school, and we worked with her and her husband, Marty in Bolivia for a bit.

My favorite of hers is CrossFire, and the sequel, FireStorm. Maybe because they are about Bolivia, and we lived there for 3 years.

Mrs. Sippy

When we stopped in Mississippi last November for LiAnne's Jiangxi reunion, we were given a stray cat that had showed up at the camp. We had wanted one--for mice--but could not find one in Bernal. People keep their cats for the same reason--mice.

Mrs. Sippy is a good cat.....and will soon give us some kittens, for which I already have families.

Janelle Update

It's been quite a while since I updated about how Janelle is doing. Yes, Janelle. She has decided that she wants to be called by her new name now. I find it hard to remember, and often call her MinMin, but Janelle it is!

Last week she finished her 4th grade math book, and started the 5th grade book. She has amazed me this week. She does two lessons, or four pages, a day, as I want her to finish the book early in the fall so that she can start the 6th grade book and be "caught up" in math. This week, she has almost always had 3 of the 4 pages with NO ERRORS! I find that amazing, since not too many months ago she could hardly add or subtract. All of our hard work is paying off.

She is reading through the 2nd grade Science and Health books pretty much on her own. I ask her questions about the pages she reads each day, but she is listing the vocabulary words she doesn't know and looking them up. Maybe second grade doesn't sound too impressive for a 13th year old, but remember, six months ago she didn't know any English. Richard figures that by the time she is with us one year, which will be October, she will be speaking pretty fluent English.

She likes her Cursive book.

The one subject that she doesn't like is her new spelling book. She doesn't like the idea of having to learn to spell words....but then, she has pretty much reacted about the same every time I introduce a new subject. She doesn't want to do it until she has been doing it awhile and finds out it is not so bad after all.

She loves to help around the house, and every Saturday washes the car for Dad. A couple of weeks ago she decided to wash the windows....as you can see in the picture. Ok, maybe they were still a bit streaky when she was done.....but she had fun, and she tried.

She continues with her drawing class twice a week, and is trying to learn guitar. That is a bit challenging when neither mom or dad play it, but she has learned a few chords.

Braces keep us running to the dentist every couple of weeks, but it will be worth it when her teeth are straightened out. Her hair is growing out quite nicely.

All in all, things are going very well.