Last Day of 2010

It's very, very early on the last day of 2010 and I am awake. I'm hoping that this is a very, very short blog post which means that I am back to bed where all normal people should be at 3:48 a.m.

Yesterday was a day filled with friends and food. Breakfast with TJ, Leslie and family (new friends from Montana who were visiting family in KC), lunch at Master Wok (our favorite Chinese restaurant) with Matt and dinner with John, Sarah and family (Happy Birthday, John; thanks for sharing your day with us.) It was a great day of fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ--we were so blessed!

Places to go and people to see

The title is an apt description of our time in Lee's Summit. Everyday brings a new opportunity to reconnect with friends. There's so much to talk about because, after all, we've been gone for 6 months (with the exception of a very short visit in August.) There are always questions about what its like to live in El Salvador--guess some of our friends aren't spending a lot of time on our blog--so we do our best to describe our home, crazy traffic and other things like paying our bills at the bank. We also tell them about our sweet kids at New Life Christian School, the awesome youth at Vida Nueva Baptist Church who serve as our translators on mission trips and our new church family. We tell them how we feel loved by our Salvadoran friends and how it is possible to miss both of our "homes." We usually converse over breakfast, lunch, coffee or dinner--sometimes eating out, other times enjoying fellowship in homes.

We leave a week from today--it hardly seems possible that we've been in the states for 20 days. The cold weather hasn't been terrible and Stephen even thinks he and his brother can get in a game of golf one day before we leave.

Merry Christmas

Christmas comes but once a year . . . . and it's almost over for 2010. What a great day spent with friends and family here in cold Kansas City. Eating, opening gifts, eating, playing games, calling out of town family and friends, eating, playing games . . . . that pretty much wraps up our day. Now, we're back "home" to recover from calorie overload! Why is it that I'm pretty sure I'll be hungry again tomorrow?

Looking forward to being at ALBC in the morning to hear Stephen and Carmen singing the special music. Tomorrow afternoon--BBQ and the Chief's game with friends.

We're so blessed to be back in the States for the holidays and to be able to visit with family and reconnect with good friends. Yet, we're missing our Salvadoran friends and praying that they had a great day celebrating our Savior's birth.

Reflections on a Different Christmas

It's not like we didn't know that this Christmas season would be different, but little by little we're realizing just how different. This year we're "home" in Lee's Summit for Christmas, but our "home" (as in where we live and where all our stuff resides) is in San Salvador. We're so thankful for Steve and Terisa Guenther, our great friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, who have opened up their home to us. We're even sleeping on furniture that was once in our master bedroom. Today while Terisa is working, I'm doing my/our holiday baking in her kitchen--Snickerdoodles and cake truffles (chocolate and strawberry.) I've got to find time to fit in a pumpkin and pecan pie, as well.

We've had so much celebrating and eating already. Sunday night we reconnected with friends from years ago, Tuesday I went to breakfast with a co-worker from the school district. Stephen visited his parents in West Plains on Tuesday/Wednesday, while I found time for a bit of shopping and lunch with another dear friend. Last night we celebrated David's (Stephen's brother) 59th birthday! Three of the four brothers were able to be there, as well as cousins, Jon and Aaron. Our calendar for the rest of our time here is equally full--there are so many people we want to see and, frankly, there aren't enough meals to share one with everyone; we are, however, doing our best and I'm sure my waistline will reflect our success more than I would like.

Some, if not all, of our old Christmas traditions are falling by the wayside . . . . . we don't have a Christmas tree, what wrapping paper we use doesn't seem as important, there won't be a Santa cookie baking competition between brothers, I doubt we make it to Christmas in the Park on Christmas eve, but . . . . we will be spending quality time with family and friends, playing games and laughing, sharing stories and eating snacks. I've decided that it's okay for this Christmas to be "different" in all the ways that don't matter, as long as it's the "same" in the one way that does matter--celebrating the birth of the most important baby in history and our only Savior. I pray that the simplicity of this "different" Christmas will help us appreciate the perfect gift of God's only son!

Show Me State

The plane landed at KCI on Friday at noon, and we were back in Missouri. Sam, a wonderful friend from ALBC who takes ministering to missionaries very serious, picked us at the airport and has loaned us his car for the entire time we are in town. We are so thankful for his generosity. We loaded up the luggage, headed to Lee's Summit to drop off Sam and made a quick stop at my dad's house to pick up winter coats, clothes and shoes. The drive to Springfield was painless and Stephen commented how our Salvadoran friends would be so impressed with the pothole free roads that those of us in the states take for granted.

Springfield: finally, hugs from all the Guenthers--Terisa, Steve, Carmen, Michael, Ethan, Chloe, Ryan and Rachel (1-day short of being a Guenther)--after four long months! Stephen was quite anxious about accompanying Carmen and Scott on their respective songs. After all, it's very difficult to practice when you're a 1000 miles apart. Not to worry, everything sounded great. I didn't know that I was going to be part of the wedding party, but Ethan and I practiced walking down the aisle on Friday night.

Saturday morning was a beautiful, but crispy cold (for us) wedding day. The wedding was perfect--there's nothing better than seeing two people who love the Lord, become one! We are so excited to see what He has in store for them over the next 50+ years!

We started Sunday morning at the 8:00 a.m. service and it was great to be able to worship at our home church. We are so thankful for our church family and the support they provide to us and the ministry in El Salvador. We couldn't do anything without them.

Love Being Grandparents

Everyone told us it was and we agree, nothing's more fun than being a grandparent! We've been singing songs, stacking blocks, reading books, going for walks, drawing pictures, taking lots of pictures and more. One of the first things Stephen taught her was how to play "pitching pennies." I've attached a picture; and, yes, she is wearing a tutu while playing.

We've been totally amazed by her vocabulary and memory! I asked her what she was drinking and she said, "cold, white milk in a cup." Stephen just opened the door to see if Daniel was coming and she said, "Maleia, come look." I thought kids didn't start putting sentences together until they were at least two, but maybe girls talk sooner than boys! She's also great at remembering the stories she's been read.

We couldn't wait to give her the El Salvador soccer jersey we bought for her. Aren't these pictures just the cutest?

Tonight we are having Christmas so there will be another posting and more pictures tomorrow, I'm sure.

Long and winding road

Yesterday morning after having breakfast with Daniel, Shannon and Maleia, we drove the 200 miles to Fort Bragg, CA to see Jonathan. The first 75 miles in the city and up Highway 101 are fine if traffic isn't too bad. Once you get to Highway 128, the road is one hairpin, switchback turn after another. Some of it runs along the ocean so the turns make their way up the side of the cliffs and, amazingly, guard rails are few and far between. Another section of the road took us through Anderson Valley with grapevines and wineries on both sides of the road, while another section found us driving through an eleven-mile redwood tunnel--although the sun was shining during part of the drive, very little of it reached through the dense forest. Each section is treacherous, but beautiful.

Jon told us not to arrive until 4:30, so we stopped, just short of Fort Bragg, in Mendocino and ate a a late lunch at the Mendocino Cafe. This quaint coastal town is full of eclectic shops and galleries. We visited the Highlight Gallery which features fine woodworking projects from College of the Redwood graduates. We drove into the school parking lot right at 4:30--didn't want to be late as we hadn't seen Jon since early August. Hugs all around made this mom and dad really happy. I've attached a couple of pictures--Jon's workbench and the workshop. It was nice to meet some of the 22 other students and see their projects. Unfortunately for us, Jon's table is still in pieces so he can put the finish on it. Later this week he will be assembling it so we will just have to wait for pictures.

We walked along the coastline at Fort Bragg and hiked down to Glass Beach. Back in the 50's the spot was where people in the town dumped their trash, which, of course, included lot's of glass. The practice was stopped in the mid-60's. Decades later everything but the glass is gone. Years of pounding wave action have deposited tons of polished glass onto the beach. For the most part what you see is millions of pieces of glass sparkling in the sun--well, there wasn't much sun on Saturday, but it was still amazing. I've attached a close-up of some of the glass pieces.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Cafe 1 (named for it's location on California Highway 1.) In California sometimes you get organic food whether you want it or not! We tried really hard to find a place to watch the Chief's game on Sunday afternoon, but didn't succeed. I think it was a blessing in disguise since the game would have driven Stephen and Jon crazy.

The best pizza in town finally opened at 4:00 p.m., and we were there shortly after. We ordered a pepperoni, as usual, but decided on their speciality 4 Seasons pizza for the other one. It was 1/4 tomato, 1/4 cheese, 1/4 ham and 1/4 mushroom--really tasty and was a great way to end our day with Jon. All that was left for the day was the almost 4-hour drive back to Palo Alto. The drive which is long and hard during the day was worse at night--bright lights on, car coming, bright lights off, 15-mph turn, switchback, cliff on right, repeat for 2 1/2 hours!

We were very, very happy to see the San Francisco traffic and be back on an interstate highway! Across the Oakland Bay Bridge ($5 please) and then 30 minutes later--home to Palo Alto.

View the story

I found and clicked on this link about a week ago. It is an amazing presentation of the gospel . . . . please take the time to look at it and then post it or share it with your friends: http://viewthestory.com/2050

California!

We landed at LAX at 1:30, but by the time we made it through immigration, customs, rechecking our luggage, back through security, bus to a different terminal, we only had about 20 minutes to wait. Our flight to San Jose left about 20 minutes late, but got in right on time. It is raining--something we haven't seen for a couple of months--and is a little cooler than San Salvador, but not too bad. The really cold weather won't hit us until we get to Kansas City ten days from now.

Of what fun it is to have a granddaughter! She is talking so much now--whole sentences, too. We watched her do her pushups (have to get a picture of that), situps, somersaults and spinning. She drew a picture of her baby stroller for us and told us about the "Cismas" tree. She's also telling us about her books, including "engun could" (Little Engine that Could.)

Maleia's getting ready for bed and so are we; we've been up 17 hours and we're worn out. Short update for tonight--tomorrow pictures!

Last Day in El Salvador--2010

The last two days have been crazy busy--reminded me of being in the States! So many errands to do; unfortunately, it takes so much longer to run errands here. In the last two days we went to PriceSmart, HiperPiaz, Office Depot, Super Selectos, Multiplaza, Banco Agrigola, Office Depot (again), Multiplaza (again), etc.

Today was our last day this year at New Life Christian School and the first day back since Thanksgiving. Earlier this school year we had group and individual pictures taken of the first, second and third graders. We ordered the pictures on line from Wal-Mart and John and Kay Winchell brought them to us when they came to Guatemala. Earlier I ordered Memory Mate folders for all of the pictures and had them shipped to Florida so we could bring them back with us after the wedding. Today in class, the students colored a gift tag. After wrapping the photos, they attached a bow and their gift tag. They proudly took the gifts home to their parents.

It's hard to believe that the school year is wrapping up, but time does march on. We said good bye until January. Tonight we pack and tomorrow we head to California.

Sunday in El Salvador

The week in Managua was great. The city is a cross between the modern and the ancient. It was not unusual to see a horse-drawn cart on the same street with cars and buses. We were able to visit Granada and Lake Managua on Friday morning . . . I've included a couple of pictures of the beautiful lake and the central square of the town.

A short, ten-hour bus ride yesterday brought us back to El Salvador! Although that sounds like a long trip, it was more than 4 hours quicker than the trip to Nicaragua. The two border crossings went much faster--I think they don't care as much once they know you're heading "home." Even so, the 3:00 a.m. wake up call was enough to leave us totally exhausted when we got home.

It was great to be back our church this morning. We've been on the road so much that we've missed worshiping with our brothers/sisters at VidaNueva. Guillermo, our Spanish tutor, met us at church and afterwards we took him to Las Fajitas, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Amazingly, we've finished our first "semester" of language school. It definitely won't be our last "semester" as we still have much to learn before we will be able to communicate clearly.

We have lots to do between now and Wednesday morning when we fly to California to spend 10 days with Daniel, Shannon and Maleia. We will also drive to Fort Bragg next weekend to visit Jonathan.

Thursday in Managua

Since we don't have an interpreter, we've spent the last two mornings going door to door with Luis. He is a great ambassador--so soft spoken and kind. It's amazing to see how people respond to the good news!

It's almost 10:30 by the time we get to the neighborhoods so it's really beginning to get hot--upper 80's to lower 90's. (I can hardly believe that we're going to be COLD in a couple of weeks.) After a quick lunch in the hotel or at the mall, we have a few hours of rest before returning to the same neighborhood at 4:30 in the afternoon.

On Wednesday night the wind was unbelievable--normally you would think that since it's so hot, the wind would be welcome. However, we were next to a soccer field that was only dirt so the wind was more like a sand storm. Everyone was trying to pull their clothes over their faces. In fact, it was so strong that it blew the movie screen out of the frame! The guys had to take everything down and move it. They were able to secure the screen up against our bus. We were a bit worried about the inflatable, but it did stay upright! Despite the weather (I think the people are used to the wind) there was a great crowd. Stephen presented the gospel--I'm so proud of him, but God gets the glory for the response! During the morning I was able to give Franchesco some stickers; he brought his parents back to the movie and they both prayed! It's so awesome to see how we can build relationships--we're praying that Franchesco and his parents will be a part of VidaNueva Managua and that we will see them when we come back here in April.

We visited another neighborhood on Thursday morning, but it was a slow day with only a few opportunities to share. The weather Thursday afternoon/evening was much more agreeable and there was little or no wind. We were quite busy on the inflatable with a constant stream of kids. One of the moms stood in line with her kids and I was able to help them on to the inflatable. After awhile, I saw that Stephen was visiting with the mom and dad--he's great at connecting with them--usually through pictures of our family. Pictures of Maleia are a great way to share--they are so amazed by her white blonde hair and fair skin. Praise the Lord--both Oscar and Karen made a decision last night. We were able to "talk" to them after the preaching. Next time (April) we are in Managua we are invited to their home for some typical Nicaraguan food. I have no idea what that will look like, but they seemed quite disappointed that we had been eating at the hotel instead of enjoying the local cuisine!

Great News

We are going to be grandparents again! Congratulations to Daniel, Shannon and Maleia, "big-sister-to-be." Sonogram Monday showed strong heartbeat! Due date is June 19.

This means I need to add another baby quilt to my list of things to do! At least I have 7 months of notice on this one!