Apple River Weekend

I'm super behind on posting happenings on my blog, but... I'm going to be on the ball for at least one post!

This weekend our young group went on our annual bus trip to Apple River. It was my second year going and it was once again wonderful. Although there was one specific person that was dearly missed this year.

...but this was my first year with Kendra so that was fun. :)

The first stop is always Tanners Orchard for some apples and hot cider.

In the afternoon we go hiking at Apple River State Park. All of the girls.

Saturday afternoon we sang at a nursing home and then we ate a really good dinner at a cafe in town that we rented out. We had a singing there too afterwards.

Then we went back to the hotel for games, snacks, and just to hang out.

I was a "mom" of a room with 3 younger girls. My old tired self must have rubbed off on them because we sure didn't stay up late at all. Thank goodness. :)

These cows were sooo cute all lined up watching us as we got off the bus. :)

We had a morning service, then ate lunch in the reception tent on the property because they had just had a wedding there the day before. There was one on Sunday too right after we got done with our afternoon service!

An awesome car.

Me & Kendra with the gorgeous church in the background

The entire group!

Sunday afternoon was more hiking, dinner, talking and enjoying the beautiful weather!

Short Update

I am blogging simply because I haven't in forever and I thought I needed a new post at the top of my blog. :) Shelly informed me last weekend that I need to update my blog, so this is for you Shel. :)

I'm not going to post much because we're on our way home from Kansas right now, but here's just a bit of what I've been up to...

This weekend our family spent the weekend with Larry and Jill's family in Kansas. It's always such a fun and entertaining time when we're there! These 2 little girls are so cute... and so grown up now! Kayla(on the right) is just little miss talker.... something I've never seen in her! :)

I went to Silverton, Oregon for Labor day with Kristin(well, and Eureka yg). It was such a wonderful time, and I WILL post more pictures sometime. But for right now, here's one on the coast.

...and one on our hike. I loved getting to know the people out there, they are all so sweet! It was a plus that the Wagenbach girls were out there too. :)

So those are my highlights with what is new with me. Besides that, it's been school and craziness.

Oh, and spending time with this little sweet pea:

Adam was laying on the floor and she came up with a pillow and layed right next to him. :) She is SO cute!! Bridget is at such a fun age!

...oh, and my new nephew to be should be showing his appearance within the next month. So excited to have two special little ones in the family!

So for now, that's it. I'm afraid I won't have many posts until the end of this semester... or possibly until I'm just done with school period. But you never know, I might suprise you... no promises though! It's been a tough semester and I'm trying to be careful with my time... so blogging isn't #1 priority!

Enjoy this beautiful fall weather!!

Time Flies By...

.... or crawls... I'm not sure which one.

I know it's been a while since my Mexico post. As you probably know/figured out, I am home from Mexico and just got done with my 3rd week of school. CRAZY third week. Wow. The last few weeks I have been running around 90 miles an hour, getting no sleep and functioning on coffee, studying, and trying to figure out what I could possibly eliminate so I could have more TIME towards school, family, and most importantly God.

This semester is the hardest I've ever had. But one of the biggest things is how to know how to prioritize, because my time seems very limited lately.

TIME. That's what my life has been revolving around. "Do I have time to go there, do I have time to do this, or get this project/homework done in time?" etc. etc.

I read something this week that made me think and get me re-focused!!

We are so conditioned by time that our minds cannot begin to imagine what we would do without it! Try to envision no watches, no need to hurry, and no night ever again in that blissful place called the sea of eternity.

In heaven, which is our ultimate goal, there will be no such thing as time... and right now that sounds simply wonderful. Just another reminder that this is not our home, and this lifetime of ours will seem like just a moment in eternity.

So right now it's just time to trust HIM!

Psalm 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee!

Psalm 31:1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

Praying this semester will fly by like the summer did!!

My Last 3 Days in Mexico

I can't believe today is my last day in Mexico. Tomorrow morning Katie is taking me to the airport and I will be on my way home.

So here's a quick review on my last few days in the wonderful land of Mexico:

Monday during the day... well, I'll talk about that later. :)
Monday was Uncle Bill's birthday! We celebrated with dinner and Lilly made some dessert for the occasion.

The birthday boy receiving some birthday phone calls. That's Ben in the background. :)
I love being at the Schicks' house just hanging out. Even though I can't understand half of the conversation that's going on. :) I AM going to learn Spanish when I get home. There's no other time that I've felt so dumb than when I can't communicate with others. Seriously. Makes you realize what the Tower of Babel must've been like.

The Schick Fam

Tuesday morning I made Katie and I some breakfast burritos and brought them to Kate at work.... after trying to figure out the gas stove that is, which I had a little trouble with. :)We went and got tortas for lunch... super good!!

Oh, and after lunch.. Katie chugged a bottle of cough medicine down. Not really, but she's been sick since Saturday night... poor girl. Monday we pretty much took naps and layed around all day because #1, katie was not feeling well at all, and #2, it was a rainy day... what else were we supposed to do?

Also after lunch yesterday(Tuesday) I got a little sick myself. UGH. I wanted to do something, but I honestly couldn't I felt so miserable... not with a cold and such though, but stomach stuff. :P I just sat around the cafe all day and drank lots of water and ate ice chips.

Katie decided to start some new artwork which kept me entertained.

That night Uncle Bill & Aunt Joan wanted Kate and I to come with them to go out to eat. I was feeling good enough to go, but not to eat anything. So I watched them all eat their amazing food while I sat there with my ice and water.

Schick family again.

Katie doesn't know how to take a normal picture. ;)

So darling... love you both!

We're all COUSINS now! :) They're hoping Julissa & Jazani's adoption will be finalized on Friday! At least that's what they're being told!

After a good nights rest and some breakfast I was feeling fine this morning.

So I went out to CVE with Ben & Uriel and helped them mow. I pushed mowed around some of the houses. It felt so good to sweat and work.

Then I went up to the kids house and took Tadoa on a walk. Because he LOVES it.

He is seriously such a sweetie. He was so excited to go on a walk around the campus and see the animals.

We passed some boys working hard in the fields

I hung out at the kids house while I was waiting for Ben to get done. They had the pool and hose out trying to keep cool on a SUPER hot Mexico day.

Then we went out for Fish Tacos again! And now... I'm hanging out in the cafe, being a great sister/daughter and buying things for my family, and packing up my bags.

So tata, Mexico.... until next year! (hopefully!) I'll miss you, and especially a lovely girl who lives there, miss Katie May!

It's been a great 9 days!!

Sunday at CVE

A few photos from my last couple of days:

I like to pretend I work at the Cafe. :)
Uriel & Lily in the Cafe. Saturday I ate dinner at Uncle Bill & Aunt Joan's because Katie had to work. We all walked over to the Cafe afterwards together.

Sunday was church, then back to Katie's apartment for a nap. Except the whole town was out of electricity.. it was SUPER hot and stuffy when we got home. Thankfully it went back on after 45 minutes, but it was still a stuffy and sweaty nap.

Sunday's are the day when they are all together most of the day. I helped prepare dinner in the kitchen for a bit, sat around and chatted, played the piano, and then we ate dinner.

But before dinner they celebrated this week's birthday's... which included me. And what is Mexico's tradition? Stuff the cake in your face.
It was also Uncle Bill's, Uriel's, Benny's, and another little boy's birthday(I have NO clue to spell it so I won't even attempt it).

Everyone crowded around us to shove our faces in the cakes.

Uncle Bill attempted to put plastic wrap on his face but all the little kiddos took it off. Nice try though, Uncle Bill!

Benny- SO cute!

Uriel got it smudged all over his face, even frosting in his eyes!

Pushing my head into the cake. Thankfully I didn't get much on my face! Very delicate they told me. :)

Uncle Bill's turn!

The Schick family does dishes on Sunday nights. For some odd reason I love doing the dishes at CVE, so I got the washing job. Whew, it was a hot job though, having my hands in hot water for so long!

Beautiful Mexico sunset

After dinner there were some games of vollyeball going on, but I didn't participate because some of my friends have *ahem* scarred me for life after a certain game I attempted to play. :)

So I just sat around with the ladies and chatted and watched the little kids.

This little boy, Tadeo, has Cerebral Palsy. He is such a happy little fella, even though all he can do is sit in a stroller or wheelchair. Such a good example to everyone.. he never cries or complains when he's just sitting there. He's just all smiles all the time.

They were doing some "therapy" with him last night. They helped him try to walk... he got so excited it was SO cute.

He just kept clapping his hands he was so happy.

I love Sunday's at CVE.

Kates & I

Today is a rainy day. Check out the flooded street right outside the Cafe.

Today is Uncle Bill's birthday, so we are celebrating that and then there's a prayer meeting tonight. Otherwise, this afternoon it's just being at the Cafe with Miss Cape May. :)

Pray for CVE... they really need them at this time!

Friday in Mexico

Tonight at CVE there was a "Quincenera." In other words, a 15th birthday party for Karla. Their 15th birthday's are almost like our sweet 16's... but even a bigger deal.

It began with a church service and singing, then back to one of the houses backyards. It was an aboslutely beautiful night, with darling decorations. It was such a cute party which even included Steak Tacos!

Here's some snapshots from the night... mostly for my mother. :)

Me & Lily
Darling girls

Elizabeth, Uncle Bill, Michelle, Lilly, Aunt Joan

This little girl is soo darling

Darling Girls... they are just so loveable. Julissa (in the glasses) is being adopted by Uncle Bill and Aunt Joan. She is such a sweetie. I love how she gives me hugs when I see her, just grabs my hand while walking down the sidewalks, and always is up for a game with me. :) And she understands English super well, which is very convienent!

Karla turns 15! Such a beautiful girl.

This is little baby Millie. I held her almost all night long.. she is SUCH a sweetie. She was in the hospital up until 3 weeks ago for being mal-nourished. She's 10 months... she doesn't exactly look like Bridget's size does she? She's super alert and acts like it though, she's just in a tiny little body!

Sharing a fruit smoothie. :) After the party we all stopped at the Cafe since they were having a big art exhibit tonight. There was tons of people here!

It was so fun to be with the kids tonight. One of the girls is leaving tomorrow for vacation so I think I'm going to be helping out quite a bit at one of the houses. I'm excited for this! All the kids are sooo darling, I'm thrilled I get to take care of them.

I will blog about my days from earlier this week sometime later! :) I'm just blogging this while I wait for Katie to close up the shop!

Love you all!

Felicidad!

... In other words, Happiness!

I'm safely in Mexico with dearest Katie. She informed me that my blog is kind of depressing on how... well, I won't mention it again... I'm sure you know from all of my previous posts. :)

I'm really not that depressed or sad even if it sounds like it. I've had my times, and those must've of been the times I decided to blog. Here's a post dedicated to Happiness, Blessings, and just things I love. :)

FLYING. I was so glad I got a window seat on all of my flights. I love flying on a cloudy day and getting above the clouds and seeing the white puffy carpet of clouds below and seeing the sun. Something about it just reminds me of heaven.

Cafe Sed and Katie. Cutest place on earth. I love seeing Katie in action here at her place. And I love hanging out here.. I think I would practically live here if it were in my own town.

Friends.... such a blessing. And new friends. I can't believe I didn't know Darcy just 3 months ago, and I barely new Larissa until just this past January!

Dad and little Bridget. So precious!

Sitting down and playing the piano until my heart's content. It is my abosolute favorite thing to do. I wish Cafe Sed had a piano... I think they need one. Any donations? :) I'm sure it would be accepted! :D

My ADORABLE niece. I love how she puts her arms out to me whenever I see her. It's so precious to know that she recognizes me and wants me.

Such a terrible picture of myself, but it's too cute of her I had to post it on here!

I'm sitting in Cafe Sed right now, and have been all morning because Katie has to work all day. Today is my bum day... I'm totally worn out from the weekend, traveling, and now the new time change! The Cafe is the perfect place to do devotions, especially in the morning when it's not real busy. I love it.

And so, ultimately, happiness really is: (what I read this morning)

Psalm 70:4- Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified!