Mexico [heart] Fiestas...

... which means that I [by default and with much haggling within my soul] do to!

So... this post was started a while ago, and then there were Internet issues. Sorry for the long absence!

Birthdays can be quite the celebration here (even to the point of handing out printed and engraved invitations to Kindergarten-age birthday parties... they were seriously nicer than some wedding invitations I've seen... yikes!) and -- most of the time -- it's all in good fun!

(Even with the traditional face-plant... :)

The beginning of October, our entire house (plus the Arcoverde kids whom Jenna & Jodi were watching for the night) headed to Zulema's house for her son, Angel's, birthday.

The little guy turned 4 and informed Jenna that he wanted a "principe" ["prince"] on his birthday cake... okay, then! So I was commissioned to do a Disney prince cake and (rejecting, sadly, the idea of having Beauty's "Beast" as the subject) we ended up with a slightly akward-looking Eric... ;)

Zulema & Hilda's house was packed... 15 of us, 6 of them... that's quite a group to fit into a small apartment! Then again... it's Mexico! We fit, like, 40 kids into the 15-passenger vans for Bible School every summer... ;)

Sorry the photo is sideways...

This is Lili's dog Oliver [Lili is Jazany & Julissa's aunt, and Zulema's younger sister], who Zulema & Hilda were taking care of for a bit. Candi LOVES Oliver... seriously. She will just carry him around for hours if she can! Amazingly enough, he doesn't seem to mind too much, and I know she enjoyed having something "live" for her baby doll antics... :)

Hilda & Jazany; two beautiful girls that need a lot of prayers. Jenna thinks that Jazany looks more and more like her Aunt Hilda as the years go by... and I know our prayer is that they both can have soft hearts that yearn for the praise of God, not of man!

This is what the kids all looked like after eating the pieces of cake with Eric's hair... black dye is not easy to scrub off! And apparently Diego (and the rest of the kidlets) don't know how to bite without smearing along the corners of their mouths... ;)

Zulema, Angel, and Caleb (her youngest).

This family has just been so special to so many people at CVE... please pray that He continues to work mightily in their hearts and that Zulema (who gave her life to Christ this past summer) could continue to grow and feel God's presence and direction in her life... no matter what Satan throws at her family.

This is Kevin, Zulema's two-year-old; the miracle baby! It's hard to believe that this chunky little guy was in such dire need of medical attention a year and a half ago [for those who don't know, he underwent surgery on his skull because the bones had grown together instead of being separate and alowing his brain and head to expand as he grew older]... God is good!

Nereida (pictured above with her "Sandy" a.k.a. "Sundae") is now living with Dan & Tami, but we were able to go out for lunch in October to celebrate her behavior in summer school -- she went the entire four weeks without getting a single "tacha" or bad mark... pretty good! She wanted to eat at Momo's, and then... we had to go for ice cream! What else? :)

Thanks for the continued prayers and I would just ask especially that you pray for the changes in our house here on campus. Jazany and Julissa are being adopted by Bill & Joan Schick and moved the day before yesterday to start their new life with their new family. This is a beautiful thing, but obviously brings changes and heartache to those who have cared for them and been with them for the last three years. Please pray that the transition is a smooth one, and that both girls would be able to feel secure in the love that Bill & Joan and the rest of the family are so ready to pour out!