Spontaneity Is Required

In less than a second, Becky had told us that we were leaving for the Puerto Vallarta in two hours time.  That meant getting all 12 kids packed and ready, getting my laundry out of the dryer and packing myself.  Then loading up the vans with bags of food and clothes and making sure we had all 12 kids on the van.  We didn't want to relive the movie, "Home Alone." 

We had a generous donation to pay for our rent, electricity, gas & water while we were gone and also had the trip to the beach paid for by an excellent man who moved here years and years ago.  So we packed up the nino's and made the 3-4 hour drive to the beach.  Let's just say, spontaneity is required here in Mexico.  (I'm sure some of my other missionary friends could tell me the same thing about doing things at the drop of a hat.) 

When we got to the beach we stopped at a taco stand since everyone was closed already and let me tell you, they had some excellent tacos!  When we got to our house the kids were so excited!  Half of them jumped into the pool outside (it being 9 p.m. so they couldn't get in the ocean) and played for about an hour.  The next day I was one of the first awake and then the kids followed.  We were out on the ocean by 8 a.m.  The kids went non-stop all day long and by the end of the day I was ready for bed.  All in all, it was an excellent last minute trip (except at the end when I got sick.  But I'm better now! :) )

Fun in the pool!

Lo de Marcos

The Beach House

Me and Jhoana

Sunset at Lo de Marcos

Before church

Me and Jhoana

The past few days here at La Ola, we have been cleaning up and organizing things like cabinets, teaching music lessons, singing and helping with some of the girls reading.  Today Becky asked me if I wanted to be three of the girls home school teacher and English teacher.  I said yes, and  I'm really excited!  So when August 20th gets here and school is back in session (if everything goes as planned) I will be teaching them!  It should be really fun but also a lot of hard work!  So I've been looking up lots of ESL things online like worksheets and such so I will be prepared.

Things to pray for:

•  That I'm prepared for teaching these three girls August 20th.
•  That I stay dedicated in practicing my Spanish in depth.
•  That I continue to trust God with everything

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  I'm loving being here, although I do miss you all very much!  It's just like a big family here, and I love that God chose me to be a part of God's work down here.  These kids are really awesome!

Also check out the La Ola blog:  http://laolacasahogar.com/blog/?p=1425
Talk to you soon!
Erin.

Quienceañera & More!

This past weekend we had a quienceanera for one of our girls, Karla.  Unfortunately, my camera wasn't charged for the occasion so the only picture I have from the day is the one above.  But it was beautiful!  We all spent the day decorating and that night we had the party.  And I finally had a reason to wear that dress I love so much!  Even though you can't tell I'm even wearing a dress in the picture.  (And yes, Stephi, I stole your picture.  :) I love you! haha!)

Also this week another one of our girls, Yessi, graduated from Kinder!  It was such a cute graduation.  I felt like a proud mom as I watched her go up to get her little certificate and pictures.

I rode Lucero yesterday on our street a little ways but he got bored and ran with me all the way back to the main gate and waited for someone to open it.  THEN he proceeded to run all the way back to his pin and wait for me to put him back.  I think he can only take so much of adventure.

This past week we started our new schedule.  There are lots of activities since the kids are out of school.  I teach four different kids how to play the guitar and ukulele, we have group singing, singing before bed, I help monitor some swimming classes & sports, and I help with Lucero.

Today, Ceira (a fellow staff member and friend) and I went to a market for our day off and ate tacos.  It was so much fun to just get out, walk around and look at all of the fabulous artisans in the area.  Later we went to the movies and watched Snow White and the Huntsman, which was pretty good!

Anyway, I just wanted to give you guys a little update!

Here are some things you can pray about for me:

•Patience
•That I continue to seek God's will first
•To be a good witness
•That my sinus problem goes away!  It's dreadfully hard to sing with a clogged throat and nose. (My dear doctor, Bob, has given me some extra medicine.)
•That I fall in love with Jesus all over again every single day
•That we grow as a team here and trust God fully

I love you guys!  You mean the world to me! :)

Erin.