The Queens of Cake

Tomorrow is El Día Del Niño(Child's Day). I don't know why never celebrated this in the states when I was a kid, but all the kids go to school to have festivities and lots of CUPCAKES! Each child was supposed to pay for their own snacks, but the school let us make a cupcake for every child instead. That is around 120. Then Joan had the great idea of having cupcakes for the kids at church. Perfect.



Jenna, Gloria, Barb and I worked on cupcakes yesterday until I never wanted to see another one again. We made 321 (Praise the Lord for a giant oven!). We had a good time, but got a little depressing at the end, but I feel that is how it goes with any mass baking experience. :)


Jenna and Barb go back to work while Gloria and I continue to pose. Jenna made some stellar icing but all photos of that event didn't make it past editing.

Candi's First Birthday



When Candi came we were told she was two and her birthday in the Spring. We finally got her birth certificate and saw that she just turned one in February...oh well. That didn't not keep us from celebrating her first b-day on April 26th. She had little interest in blowing out her candle, but went straight for the sour cherry balls. (Thanks Earney's! Notice the candy on the cake!)

I was going to post about Joel's birthday, but maybe I will have to do another entry so he doesn't think I am calling him a queen.

The Girl in the Garden

As previously referred to, Jenean is here in Magdalena for a time to share with us her "mad-gardening abilities." Today Lili, Eli, Jaqueline and I went to check out the progress. We have been enjoying fresh veggies and I am excited to enjoy the oncoming tomatoes, corn, strawberries, beans, etc.


The girls all touch the electric fence to see if it is turned on. :)


Jenean gave us permission to pick the sugar snap peas, and I can't believe I am admitting this, but it made me miss those hot Indiana summer days with rows of beans to pick. One huge difference is in the garden here there were no dogs rubbing around my ankles eating the fresh produce. Kind of sad...I started to miss Maverick. :) Lili sits down to pick the peas, obviously not the queen of gardening efficiency.


Jenean sits among the rows of sweet corn.


Our bountiful harvest from today. :)

We have all been willing recipients of the garden's produce! Thanks Jenean!

The Wheels On the Bus...

On Sunday afternoon as I rode on the "church bus" to take people home from church, I reflected on what a blessing it is that we have the opportunity to run a bus route. Every Sunday morning Joe and Denise leave CVE around 8:15 with the big empty bus and return before church usually around 9:45 with a rowdy crowd, excited about arriving.

What a blessing that around 75% of those that attend church need a ride. Everyone with vehicles pull together on Sunday mornings to make sure all who want to come, are picked up. It has created this wonderful family feeling as we all need to depend on each other to get to church on time.







I wish you all could ride the bus and see the true town of Magdalena. Every time I go, I can't believe how loud it can be in the bus, but I look around and see all the smiling faces, the developing friendships and giggling kids and am so thankful that we have to depend on each other as a church family.

Haggai 2:6-7
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Youth Night!

On Friday night we had our monthly gathering of jovenes and we had a blast.

After rounds of volleyball games, we sang, had a devotion on the Holy Spirit, ate a snack and then played the craziest game I have played in a long time.


A group of girls smile for the camera.


Uriel shows his mature side...

The Game
Two teams, each with a different color of balloon. Everyone had a balloon tied on their ankle and tried to pop the other teams balloons, while guarding their own.


Paola jumps to guard her balloon as José rushes in to step on it.


A small moment of the chaos captured forever on camera. Notice the boy rolling across the chairs.


The game really got crazy when we went guys vs. girls and the girls outnumbered the boys about 3-to-1. The girls won, but not after a great fight from the guys. The last game was a 25 minute game. This photo captures the unstoppable team of Joel and Seth as they attack Lupita.

Wow, I have never had so much fun getting beat up.

Precious Moments in the Laundry Room

Poncho and Aaron were both willing to help me in the laundry room this afternoon. We grabbed our pretzels, stain remover and clothes that needed worked on and headed to the laundry room. As we waited to see if the new detergent was color-safe, we just chatted and ate.

Aaron: When is mom coming to visit us?
Poncho: I don't know, I was just thinking that maybe she would come soon.
Aaron: When?
Poncho: I don't know, we could ask the DIF lady, the nice one that gave us cookies.
Aaron: Ok...
Amy: Do you guys miss your mom?
Aaron: (more thoughtful crunching on pretzels) No, I don't miss her.
Poncho: Yeah, I do, she is my mom, i think i will always miss her...Hey, why are the machines different?
Amy: One is the washer and one is the dryer. Do you want me to dry you?
Poncho: No, I think I would get hot.

The issues that the kids have to deal with are enormous, but I am continually taken aback by how well they can adjust to new circumstances, not forgetting where they have come from, but adjusting to the new.


The boys check out the dryer.


Me, trying to convince the boys that it is okay to sit in the dryer. I told them every little kid needs a picture taken in the dryer.


After much refusal, I offered them more pretzels if they got in. Aaron made the bold move first and actually thought it was fun.


Poncho's turn in the dryer.

Now you all know one more secret about my life...I bribed for photos. ;)

Spring Training

Baseball season is in full swing (:)) at CVE.

I have been nostagically remembering my first few years at Purdue-as soon as warm weather came, the guys would be out on the front lawn for hours for their "Spring Training." Out of apartment 5's open window we could hear the ball whizzing by and occasionally pegging a person or a car passing by. Inevitably someone would drag a couch outside (usually out of the range of baseballs) and we would spend many afternoons soaking up the warm weather, dreaming of summer, "studying" and enjoying the occasional cookout.


John and Ben have been coming over in the afternoons and playing baseball with the kids. We are working on basic things like batting, catching and throwing. Karla Josie shows her ready stance. :)


Aaron has just learned how to bat. He still doesn't understand the running the bases thing, or even how to hold the bat...baby steps.


Michelle and Angel wait for their team to bat.


Timi hides in a hole near our playing field.


After the game, Gloria and some of the kids rested on top of the red bodega.

My camera is once again with Best Buy as it has decided to break, for no reason, again. Thank goodness for warranty policies! This is the 3rd time. They tell me the fourth time I get a new camera. :) Thanks to Gloria for the pictures!

We Went Down to the River Pray

Actually, we just ended up soaking everyone, but that doesn't quite have the same catchy title. ;)

A few Saturdays ago we headed to the river in search for water to "bathe" ourselves in. I am still unconvinced that we came home any cleaner, but everyone had a good time.


After our substantial snack of potatoes with salsa chili verde (compliments of our michoacanas) Claudia relaxes with a few of the kids.


For some kids the pursuit of clean water was a non-issue. I think Armando's saying should be, "Water is more fun if you have to dig through gross things to find it."




Needless to say, at some point we all ended up dripping, with only Lili, Michelle and Jaqueline escaping the dirty water.

Un Viaje We Will Never Forget

We had such a wonderful time in Bahia de Kino. The kindness of so many was such a blessing along each step of the way. A special thanks to Larry and Mary Beth who so kindly donated their beautiful home for our use during Mexico's Spring Break!


Wednesday morning couldn't come fast enough for the girls! They were out of bed and dressed well before I went to wake them, ready to go with bright smiling faces. Gloria and I had a little more of a busy morning (including almost flooding CVE) so the girls waited patiently in the packed van.


Soon after we arrived, the girls hit the waves. They aren't very strong swimmers and used every life-jacket and floatable device they could find at the house. They got braver through the week, but Blanca's face is evidence of their initial thoughts.


A view from the porch.


One morning, girl after girl came and piled in the king-size bed that Gloria, Claudia, Katie and I were sharing.


Jaqueline takes a break from the waves for lunch. The only way to get the kids out of the water was to offer food! :)


Lupita shows off her great "surfing" abilities.


Eli takes time for a slice of pizza.


We went to the small fishing village of Old Kino where the locals make a living fishing and we walked the pier. Some of the local boys were fishing for sardines by ingeniously capturing them in old pop cans. Then they were catching large flounders with their fishing gear of plastic soda bottles with fishing line wrapped around it. In the 20 minutes we were there, they caught three large flounder.


All the near neighbors were absolutely incredible with the girls. One couple gave us free access to their well-equipped beach-toy bodega. In this picture the girls were going on a ride in the waves in a borrowed boat.


Another neighbor family hid Easter eggs in front of their house and as the sun set in the distance, the girls ran around finding eggs in the sand.


The neighbors on the other side of the house had a cute little dog named Lita. They were around a lot during our time on the beach and the girls had a chance to get to know them. Jerry, Lita and Lili smile at the camera. When we went over to say goodbye, Jerry and Pat had packed a nice treat bag for the ride home!


On Friday afternoon, we were watching a Sport Natique in the water and couldn't believe how low in the water it looked. The girls started saying, "Amy, look at the boat, it is sinking." "No girls, it just looks like it is sinking," was my calm "I-am-the-mom-and-I-know-what-I-am-talking-about" response. After a few more minutes, we decided it was indeed sinking. Oh what an afternoon!


Most of the girls went barreling in the water to pull things out of the boat. What a huge contrast from their fears a few days before. We sent them to the sand where they joined a growing crowd of police, firefighters and marines that watched as Gloria and I battled the waves with the owner and a nearby housekeeper. Eventually a few of the Marines jumped in the water.


This picture is taken about two hours later...oh my, what an adventure. Their was still about another hour of being stuck, (first the trailer, then the jeep, then the trailer, etc, etc) It was intense, thrilling and now I can hardly move a muscle.


The girls jump off the neighbors seawall before they make a mad dash for the water.




Our last night with group pictures in the sunset. Yaneli wasn't happy because of her chickenpox and was hiding in most of the pictures.


Goodbye to Bahia de Kino!

Thanks to all who helped make the week such a great one! The boys had an awesome time too, they just didn't have four cameras on their trip.

1 Chronicles 29:11
Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

P.S. I think we are currently at 8 children in some stage of chickenpox...

See You Mañana

We are back. We had a great trip.



We are exhausted. Until tomorrow. :)

A Run for the Border

The boys headed out to the beach this morning (Monday). The van was packed and only three boys have the chickenpox! (Pray for them!) The girls went North to border (not for Taco Bell) to see what the frontera really looks like. Few of the girls have seen the border and imagine it to be like Disneyland. However, as with most cities on the border, they are great places to drive through and be thankful that is not where you live. Kind of our conclusion.


As we got closer to the border, Blanca started to say, "I need a bathroom, I can't handle it anymore!" This wasn't that big of a problem until we couldn't find a parking spot. When we finally arrived at the bathrooms we negotiated because we had so many girls.


Two girls in the bathroom for the price of one! I love Mexico!



We started walking to the border. Yaneli is sitting on my dream moto. We had to remove her quickly as we apparently missed the sign that said, "Please don't sit on the motorcycles." We continued on but walking through the crowds was stressful. Everyone had to hold hands with at least one other person as we fought our way through the mass of people, trying to sell stuff or use pick up lines on the girls.


We went to the border and it was pretty anticlimatic. We turned around and felt relief with the large sign that said, "Welcome to Mexico." One of the girls said, "Amy, thank goodness we aren't going into your mugroso rancho." Border towns are never a good glimpse of the heart of a country. It seems that crime rates are high, as are drug-addicts, prostitutes and beggars. :)

We stepped out of the madness into a quiet restaurant.


Magda showcases one of her many talents for the camera.


Karla Josie shows her tongue and brain tacos. I think there are some things you just need to grow up with.


Lili and Michelle


On the way home we stopped at an artisan's store and Katie thought she should maybe buy this horse to remind her of Buddy. :) Wouldn't that be a great surprise for Bill and Joan when they get home, a giant horse in their yard?


We decided to wait for our ice cream until we arrived in Magdalena. We hit the plaza with sighs of relief as it was large, clean and not filled with scary people. It felt like home. We ate ice-cream and then started the great game of "Empty Fountian Tag/Monster-Crocodile." We had a great time until...


A man sitting on a park bench called out, "The police are going to come if you don't get down." This is our picture after we all were on solid ground again. He must have been having a bad day or not been from Magdalena because everyone in this pueblo is nice. :) (Challenge for those true blog addicts: Can you find Jaqueline?)


Katie sweeps Karla Josie off her feet.


Yaneli brought me a picture she had drawn after we returned. It also had her "story" of our trip.

"Yaneli: I behaved myself really well. I ate. I saw little old people asking for money. I went to Nogales. I had a good time."

Well said little girl. :)

The girls leave for the beach on Wednesday morning and they are ecstatic! (Ok, yeah, me too.) Claudia, Gloria's sister, and Katie are going with us, so it should be some great all-girl time!