Grandma came!

                                        On January 1, 2014 Grandma came for a visit.
                We had a great time visiting different places in Mexico that she had never seen before.

We visited one of the world's smallest volcanoes that is located in Puebla, Mexico. 

Annie and Grandma

My little princess

We had some family photos taken at a park in Puebla. 

This was taken in the pit of the dead volcano. It is really cool to see. 

We watched the Colts playoff game with friends. Greg was really on pins and needles. 

This was after they took the lead from the Chiefs.

And this was after they won. 

We ate lots of tacos.

This was Grandma's favorite taco stand. She loved them!

We visited a market and we purchased some fun things. 

This is Grandma with the woman who made a bracelet she bought. 

This cute girl makes handmade jewelry. I bought the earrings I am holding from her. 

We went to a mall and saw lots of people lined up to see the Three Wise Men. The big day of celebration for the kids here is Dia de los Reyes. Which translates to say, The Kings Day. They celebrate this day on January 6th and the kings bring the kids their presents. All of the kids want balloons during this time so they can write a list of what they want and send it in a balloon up to Heaven. However, if they have a chance, they just visit them at the mall. 

I love snow. I miss it terribly. So.... we were surprised when we were coming home and had this all around us. 

It sure did look pretty, but... I must say it didn't sound as pretty as it does when snow is falling. It was a terrible hail storm and it left a huge pile of ice everywhere. But.....it was pretty. 

We visited this family where the mom has made it clear she wants nothing to do with her husband's newfound faith. We have been trying to love on her for quite some time now. This is her granddaughter. When we arrived it was about 40 degrees and that may not be cold to you, but 40 degrees with no heat and bare feet and cement floors, means cold! I was so excited that we had something to offer her.  

Her mom found 2 pairs of shoes that fit her.

The little girl's father found some as well.

She was tickled pink with these slippers and couldn't  stop laughing. 

We had 2 balls to give to her and her brother and you would have thought we gave her a $100. I love children! 

Then we had an Orthodontist appt. with Alex. This is Before (with braces)

After (with pretty, straight teeth)

That pretty much sums up our last few weeks. It has been good and we really enjoyed having Grandma here. We are now looking forward to a great 2014 and can't wait to see what God has in store for us. 

Please continue to pray for us as we are trying to find more time to spend  one on one with the Lord, more fun time with our family and make the most of the time with have left with our church groups before we leave to go  back to the US in August. Love you all, Missy

Christmas fun

 We started off the month of December sharing the story of the real reason we celebrate Christmas with about 150 people in the plaza of a village. We did this through a drama based on the gameshow, The Family Feud. The two families were the family from Bethlehem against the family from the North Pole. It was a great way to reach people in a non-threatening way.  

Jerod and Alex had fun playing in the fake snow.

Annie and I dressed up and walked around the village inviting the kids to come and watch the play. I was Snow White and Annie was a happy clown. These kids have never been to Disney  or any other park for that matter and they all wanted their picture taken with Snow White. It was fun being able to make them happy just by wearing a silly dress. 

Annie has always made friends super easy here and truthfully she has become one of them. 

Many of Jerod and Alex's friends may have a look that would put many Americans off, but these kids are mostly good kids trying to find their way in this world. 

This is Angel. I had asked for prayer for him a while back because he had been bitten by a rattle snake. He is now doing well and waiting for reconstructive surgery. He was Rudolph the very famous reindeer from Hollywood. 

The kids loved this play! There were 150 people in the audience watching it. It was a great night. 

Afterward we took pictures of the kids with Santa and the rest of the cast. This was my favorite.

Then everyone gathered together and prayed for those who watched the play. 

Since Annie wasn't able to see Santa here, my sister took her phone to the mall and sat on Santa's lap for her. Via FaceTime Annie was able to talk to Santa and tell him what she wanted. It was a great memory made! 

Then as a special treat she took her to Chick-fil-a and let her imagine she was eating her sandwich. She even got to order herself. Can I say how much we love Chick-fil-a?

Christmas came and it was getting cold. Greg lit a fire to warm our house! ;o)

Annie was thrilled with what Santa brought her!

She liked what her brother got her too. Jerod gave her the Taylor Swift album. 

We had a Christmas party with one of our church plants and I made them a typical Thanksgiving style dinner. They had never had Turkey before and loved it! 

We had pinatas and played  games and laughed a lot. 

This is Victoria, she LOVED the turkey, corn and even the broccoli salad. 

This is Vladi, he had his plate full and then it was completely clean. I am understanding what it means to eat what is put in front of you. It does something for the people who prepare the meal. 

We played a white elephant game and I ended up with a piece of sugar cane, which is the same as candy to many kids here. 

We then sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

It was a great time of worship and fellowship! Please continue to pray for our friends here. We have seen a  lot of spiritual growth among our people here. However, many continue to struggle with family issues and that can be very hard on their walk with God.  Thanks for praying!