January Catch-Up

So... here's a brief catch-up of January (which I feel has flown by) and some extra photos I found when going through Jenna & Jodi's photos!!! Thanks, ladies... ;)

We received these shirts from some ladies in China last fall. They had these neat, hand-drawn and painted animals on them that were just beautiful... and the kids love them!

The dirt pile in front of our house is the result of some pretty nasty sewage work that Joel and Bill had to handle in December. I am so thankful that we have professionals here who can deal with all the fun stuff... ;)

So... anyway... the dirt pile has become a favorite spot for the kids to play in! Above, Aaron and Edi play in their new "dirt box" with the plastic animals and dinosaurs they got for Christmas.

One Sunday morning Jodi & I decided that the boys needed to have new "hair-do's"... with lots of gel... naturally.

Three of the boys thoughts it was a great adventure (and ended up wearing it to church); can you pick out the boy who was hating every minute of it?!? :)

Alright... a happier photo!
Four little men... I am so thankful they are in our lives and I praise God for the relationships He has built in our house!

The kids have turned into beggars... seriously. :)

A day doesn't go by that they aren't pestering Joel to give them a ride... and that he isn't spoiling them by hauling them around!


A few of us had the opportunity to go up to Tucson for a night out to catch Wicked. Having seen the show before, it was more fun to watch and listen to the exclamations from my fellow show-goers! I am thankful for the time that we spent together... and the awesome Italian food we had at Mama Louisa's! :)

So... I'm sure that somewhere in the past four years I have mentioned Jenna's tendency to go wacko after 10; well, our housemate Jodi seems to have fulfilled that position... although the time is more like 8:30 now... ;)

From what I remember, the above photo was taken in the midst of a perfectly normal conversation when Jodi suddenly slid down onto the rug, pulled up the corners, and told us she was being "Adalin"... it took us a few seconds to realize she meant, "Aladdin" and then the neighbors probably could have heard the howling laughter. Ay, no!

Last week we had an evacuation from the CVE campus because a gas truck had rolled over going around the curve that's next to the railroad tracks and the CVE property; they were rolling the truck back over and wanted everyone out... especially orphanage children, I imagine!

So... we all loaded up on the school bus (minus our dog, which made the kidlets cry) and headed to town for an hour and a half at Cafe Sed! What a blessing that Katie has her shop and that the space was available... :)

Praise God that everything went smoothly and we were able to head back to campus without any mishaps!

WE {HEART} HUNGARIANS!
(isn't that what Jenna's blog said?!?)

Samuel, his wife Szabina, their friend Szusie, and his brother, David, have been here visiting for the past three weeks... and it has been such a blessing to get to know them a little better and to have them stay at the house!

Above, Samuel & Diego...

... and Candi & David!

She seriously loves this man... especially his beard! ;)

Szusie & Szabina at Cafe Sed... they are a fun duo!

Our whole Hungarian-Mexican-American group... :)

I love the three-language conversations that we have!!!

I think Jenna is actually learning a little bit... important words, like calling someone "lazy!" ;)

We headed out to a little "garden area" in the bamboo Saturday morning to "explore" and have some down time. The Hungarian ladies showed up and if you look in the above picture you can see Szusie way up in the tree! She was seriously awesome as she scaled this tree... I was [and still am] totally impressed. :)

While Jodi was visiting her brother and sister-in-law in Ixtlan, I took care of Estefania... which was a fun element to add to the mix! She's still pretty quiet, but was a crazy Jane on this rope swing! :)

And now... in case some of you missed Jenna's blog, here's the additonal photo:

THE SIDE-BUN

{which far outshines the side-ponytail anyday}

:)

Thanks for your continued prayers for this place and readership of this blog; sometimes when things are busy it seems like blogging is very, very low on my list of priorities! But... I am thankful for those who continue to check faithfully, and even more grateful that God keeps moving in this place! Praise His Name!