Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - I'm happy to say our amigo, Benny, did show up with fresh tortillas for the family this morning and of course we enjoyed buying some of his tourist items too. No time to haggle too much though - we were off to the Center by 9am. Mark had Geoff and the kids jump right into the garden and harvest corn, chop down stalks and plant new seeds. I worked with Eneida and the children that showed up that morning for a Bible lesson. Mark and Karen's 19th wedding anniversary is today, too. Not much extra time for the missionaries to celebrate though. Meetings, people to serve, classes and activities to manage - nonstop needs - WOW! We worked all morning and came in for the message. Andres shared in Spanish and ... read more

It's Sunday, June 16, 2013 - Church in Mexico. We worshipped at Mark and Karen's church "La Samaritana Buena" the Good Samaritan. We met Pastor Edgar and his wife, Alma, and their kids. We also met Eneida, who works at the Center, and her kids - Alexia, Rodrigo, y Zabie. Pearl and Zabie were fast friends - both 2 and 3 years old. Pastor Edgar preached about Joseph, Mary's husband, being a good father who loved God and obeyed him. It was really great to be worshipping all together on Father's Day, but what's even extra cool is that Geoff and Kai and I had just learned about Mary's husband last week in Youth Group. Our summer 5th/6th Grade Youth Group series is "Unsung Heroes from the Bible". Last week I chose Joseph, Mary's husband, to ... read more

DAY 19 Bothell to Spokane THE FINAL DAY Snoqualmie Pass was open and Geoff said we’re going for it. So off we went. It was miserable on the pass with so much standing water on the roadway and big semi-trucks and slush. Not fun! But Captain Geoff got us safely through and kept driving until it was time to dump. What we found out was that most of the dumpsites where buried with snow and not accessible. So we made a beeline for home. Our house was well cared for by dear friends and we were able to pull right in - with walls of snow on either side of the driveway - CRAZY!!! Our house felt as big as a palace! (Not as clean - we left in kind of a hurry 19 days ago ... read more

DAY 16 Ocean Mesa to Oceano Beach to Monterey We stayed Friday night at the same RV park we liked on our way down to Disneyland, Ocean Mesa, just north of Santa Barbara. The swimming pool was still warm and we got 2 loads of laundry done and scrubbed up 3 kids. What a joy to have a hot shower and floss teeth - the simple things of life. I’m seeing that there’s different types of RVer personalities. There’s the true leisurely sort - the retired, “I’ve got nothing but time” mentality; the pitstop guy - “I’m just passing through, leaving as quick as I can at sun up”; the “I’m getting my money’s worth out of this joint” family, like us :) and plenty of others. We aimed at getting to Pismo Beach today but ... read more

DAY 12 Tuesday, December 30, 2008 SEAWORLD Those aren’t bags under my eyes - they’re circles of FUN!! I’m noticing my eyes are a little bloodshot and cloudy and there’s extra colors under them. The price you pay for fun, I guess?!? That’s why there’s Visine, right? It was an absolutely gorgeous drive to San Diego! We rolled down our windows, had our shades on, changed from turtlenecks and longsleeves to shorts and t-shirts. It was great! We met up with our friends, the Bludaus, at Sea World and enjoyed yet another park. Those Beluga Whales were incredible. It was a perfect picture of strength and blubber working gracefully and powerfully together in melodious movements. God is so amazing in all his creation and creatures! They were truly stunning! We caught the dolphin show and the ... read more