Abundancy of Life!

That title about sums up our experience these past few months and weeks! :)

Yesterday we went out for supper to celebrate our six-month anniversary (thanks "Uncle Seth!") and it is just incredible to me that that amount of time has passed since we were married... and yet.

And yet, paradoxically, it seems to be so normal!

God is so faithful and we are both thankful that He continues to teach us... we pray we can always remain teachable!!!

These were just a few pics from the past couple months... enjoy!

Our kids received some gifts from a sweet friend of theirs and have been constantly playing with their Legos... thanks Gabri!!!
Candi lost her first tooth! And... ahem... the tooth rat (yes, Mexico is slightly different) threw her tooth away and STILL hasn't given her her pesos! She frequently reminds me of that... ;)

My companions on the nightstand at 25 weeks of pregnancy... :)

I love this creativity! Thank You, Lord, for dirt!!! :)

We took care of Jodi's girls back in October when she went home for Ross & Leah's wedding... we thoroughly enjoyed them! This was a dress-up day at school (for Todd's birthday) and so the kids were all decked out!

We are living in a new location now (Limon & Kristi's old house, which used to be the old girls' dorm), so I will try to post a few pics of our new home! Things here are always changing... ;)

Thanks for your continued prayers for our family and for CVE -- please pray that we (specifically) would have patience to understand and desire God's timing for the adoption, not our own, and that He would move the process forward at the best time possible. Please pray for the spiritual battles here at CVE as well... praising God for His provision and protection and asking Him to continue to reveal, in His time, the paths He desires for each child here!

A Visit from the Grand Rinks!

The end of October and beginning of November, Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jeanne came to visit us! It was wonderful to watch the kids interact with the "other" set of grandparents (in a situation not as "filled" as the wedding weekend!) and how they thoroughly enjoyed being the grandkids... :)
Grandpa Jim was always ready to do puzzles, games, catch, etc...

... and Grandma Jeanne was a huge success with her reading! Before they arrived, we started getting packages with some of Joel's favorite books from his childhood inside... the kids loved them! (They're enjoying English more and more... :)

We had several nights of company and this was our living room with a combination of our kids, Jodi and her kids, and the Wulf boys! I love it... :)

Our Festive Fall Pizza in the making!

Diego and Axel with the finished product!

After supper, the kids headed outside and found this really weird bug... we have no idea what it was, but I'm super-glad it was outside! ;)

Saturday morning was "bed party" time with Grandpa, Grandma and (inevitably) the Uno cards... :)

One of the Rink family traditions is to have shrimp at Christmastime... so we did it early! Candi got home from school and immediately was introduced to peeling (is that what you say???) the shrimp...

... which she loved!

The cooks at work... and the result was great! The kids LOVED it... and we hardly had any leftovers!

But THIS was what our fridge contained after a week with Grandma Jeanne around... enough leftovers for two meals! ;)

Katie and Cafe Sed had their 1-year anniversary the last day Mama and Papa Rink were here... so of course we went and played games!

After church, on their last night, we headed into town for the "best hot dogs in Magdalena"... DOGOS!

Joel and I...

... and the Abuelos!

We are so grateful that you both were able to come... thanks for making it such a special time for us and especially for our kids! We love you... :)

Thanks everyone for your continued prayers for this place... they are felt and appreciated! Please continue to pray that God will open our eyes and guide our hearts as He reveals each new situation in these kids' lives... may He be glorified!

Every Friday night, Joel and I are blessed to be part of a "scheduled date night" with Duane and Ann and Juantan and Bere! That means that every third week (or so) we get a "date night" while one of the other couples watches our kids... and vice versa.

Last night was our turn to watch Duane & Ann's kids... and it was mucho fun! ;)

We started out with a bonfire (even though the kids are almost all in shorts, it's still cool enough for us to have bonfire weather!)... and then on to carving pumpkins!!!

Cassidy is the oldest of the Wulf kidlets and was an amazing help as she took care of Luisa (Juantan & Bere's youngest... she and Gloria, her sister, stayed the night with us, which made Candi quite ecstatic! :) while we were getting other stuff around for supper!
Gloria and Candi got "baby" pumpkins that they could draw all over... I don't think they were that impressed, though, because the rest of the kids kept talking about all the goopy, oozy, nastiness of the inside of the pumpkins and turns out it was really NOT as exciting with just a Sharpie.
oops... :(

Marshall and his pumpkin seeds...

The table of pumpkin-seeders... :)

One tray of the pumpkin seed goodness... in need of washing and cooking, but mmmmmmm! We really like pumpkin seeds at our house... ;)

Marcos showing his "pretend" mouthful of seeds... the camera wouldn't flash and so while he was holding this pose he kind of lost some of his original excitement to take the picture. :)

And... what can I say???

My husband is brilliant... ;)

Turns out that "carving" ten pumpkins in one night is a little much... unless you use a dremel (yes, I had to look up how to spell that and since Joel's not here I can't ask him if it's right... :) and then it's a lot easier and significantly quicker!

While the pumpkins were getting finished up, Axel decided to construct a "spit!" He informed me that he's always wanted to build one and now he had the opportunity to do so!

[This was then the future site of roasted pieces of pumpkin, pieces of wood, string, insects (I think), and other unidentifiable objects found lying around on the ground nearby... :)]

Diego just hanging out and roasting his marshmallows!

Zach decided to use the bag from the baby pumpkins as a hairnet... go figure! ;)

Aron and Axel chilling while eating their s'mores ("s'mas" in Spanish, I hear... if you don't get it, don't worry... :). They might have been observing the second fire that the boys started next to our firepit or potentially the third fire that they set under the tree 200 ft. away. Yikes! Young pyros in the making... ;)

At last... completed works of art!

All the pumpkins lit up and glowing in the dark...!

Our crew of pumpkin-carvers! They did a great job!

And now our kids' pumpkins are inside displayed on our bookshelves... ;)

I really enjoy carving pumpkins... even though my "carving" was pretty minimal this year, thanks to Joel! ;)

Thanks again for your prayers... please pray that God continues to grant discernment, patience, wisdom and strength to rely upon Him in ALL circumstances and in ALL timing. And please pray that God would break down any barriers that Satan has constructed so that His words, His truth cannot go through... thanks!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

Are you all singing the song now??? :)

Saturday, a group of adults and kids headed to a field a few miles away to play baseball with a local team that has kindly expressed interest in our boys playing in their league. Although it sounds like the league might be more of a time-commitment than we can handle at this moment, it is really fun to see our kids get to play alongside other town kids and for us to make the acquaintance of several of the town kids' parents.

A different way to get to know people who don't go to our church and an amazing opportunity for reaching out... :)

Above: Marcos catching... he's learning!

INSERT: Now, I have to relate a Wulf kid story here, because it's really funny! We had previously played a game at CVE and Zach, one of the Wulf boys, got to be catcher. If you have ever met Zach, you know that he has an amazing imagination... which might or might not get him into trouble once-in-awhile! :)

Anyway... after catching, Zach took off all the catching gear and matter-of-factly told us, "Well... that's my first time being catcher, but it's not my first time wearing armor!!!"

I laughed and laughed... he's a great kid and I pray that he can one day use that enthusiasm and imagination to fuel a passion for Jesus!

The field we played at... thanks to Duane W. and the team's coach for getting it mowed and cleaned up the day before!
The field has some great shaded bleachers... here's a pic of part of the crowd!

Tania, Alexia and Yaneli as spectators during the game...

Aron at bat!

Isn't the huge helmet cute??? I bet we looked just as nerdy when we played softball back in the day... :)

Marcos with a very wide stance!

Diego, right after he hit the ball!

He was so excited to make it all the way around the bases... :)

After the game, everyone headed back to CVE and we had bacon-wrapped hot dogs with the Wulf and Leman clans!

The secret to having grilled foods turn out well is to have a professional griller... thanks, hon! ;)

Thanks for your prayers! We are enjoying the crisp mornings and evenings and warm afternoons of the fall season... God is glorified in His creation!

We encourage all of you to continue to pray that He will be glorified in the work here, as well, and that He would continue to grant discernment, compassion, and patience as Satan uses these kids' pasts to threaten and cause fear. We know that God has already won, Christ has triumphed over sin and death... please pray that we will continue to remember that during the battles!

Independence Day... a tad late!

On September 15th the boys had a program at school to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day... thankfully a toned-down version from what we used to see in the public schools! ;)

Above, the three caballeros in their gentleman cowboy get-up...
The Kinder class didn't perform, but were present for the activities! They stayed on our porch until the presentation was ready and played Dora Memory... what else??? :)
The crowd anxiously waiting for the show to begin...
Marcos dancing (middle)...

Aron dancing...

And Diego dancing... :)

Let me take this opportunity to say that NOT ONE of the boys was really that excited about dancing. Marcos started off being excited, then lost interest... Diego was so-so about it all... and Aron HATED it.

Still... they sucked it up and were pretty cute!

After the show we ate a sumptious lunch of chilaquiles and then enjoyed a day off from school!

And to change the subject... this was our latest sonogram: Peanut sucking his/her thumb! :)

Please continue your prayers for this place... we are so thankful for them! God is working in mighty and unexpected ways right now and we are so blessed to see His hand... even when it looks dark all around. It is the time of the October festivals here in Magdalena and with those come a lot of spiritual darkness... please pray that the people of this town would truly see with new eyes and hear with open ears the saving words of our God!