Photo

Ok so forgive me: I'm trying this new App on my phone so I can do blog posts from my phone. However, I can't seem to figure out how to do more than 1 photo at a time. That sounds super basic, but there isn't an option for that anywhere! So on the one hand, I'm finally updating our blog, but on the other hand, it's not very organized! Anyhow, this is Joel and I on the Harley.

Harley Ride

So this was probably the highlight of Joel's trip to AK. He finally got me on the back of a motorcycle! Dave & Debbie's daughter, Ashley, watched Mia while we went out with Dave, Debbie, Ed, and Heather on the Harley's. Joel & I rode Ed's Heritage Softtail. That lingo is like Greek to me, but maybe some of you will appreciate knowing that :).

We rode on some scenic highways and went to a supposedly nice restaurant. We waited there for 20 mins without even a greeting, so we went to another place to eat, but they were packed, so we wound up at a super nice restaurant downtown - after riding through the rain. So the Harley crew looked real classy, needless to say! Hahaha.

Anyways, I had planned on going through life perfectly happy without ever riding a motorcycle, but after going with Joel, I have to admit it was pretty fun. I will also admit that I prayed the entire time, but it was fun.

Our Trip To Alaska

We have had an amazing time in Alaska. Thank you so much to Ed, Heather, Debbie, Dave, and Ashley for taking care of us. Wendy, Jason, Megan, Chris, Sabrina, and all the other friends that we got to go see, we love you all and had so much fun!

Bible Class in the Mountains

While in Zihuatanejo, we wanted to do a little ministry work with the local church. When we got married in Zihuat 5 years ago, we attended this little church and whenever we go back we always go visit them. The preacher is originally from America but has lived in Mexico for probably close to 25 years. He's married to a local woman and they have a 20 year old daughter, Dani. She's awesome and I had a ton of fun with her. They are the only non-denominational church anywhere in the area. The rest are all catholic. It's awesome because people from all sorts of church family backgrounds meet in this little church, regardless of their traditions. They put all that aside and just worship God together. Oh I just love them!!! Anyways, we did several outings but this one was our favorite! We drove about 45 minutes out of town up to the mountains, away from the tourists, where the locals live. This wasn't a terribly bad area and had nicer than average houses for the locals.

We went down this road: 

by this house (which really isn't bad for the area...)

You can kind of see the city below in the background. We're up really high!

Close to the "church"...

And finally arrived at this pavilion that they use for a children's church. They started this work about 5 years ago with just a few kids. Now there's close to 40 kids and they've even helped some of the mother's to become saved!

Before the class the kids had fun playing...

which of course Mia got into as well.

Here class has begun and the kids are taking turns reading out of their Spanish Bibles.

So I have to mention this - but I don't have a photo for it... We were in the middle of the service, the kids were calmed down and behaving well, when suddenly we heard the most awful screaming sound! We all ran over to the house next to the pavilion to find a rooster attacking a chihuahua. Now, only in Mexico does church get interrupted for a rooster beating up a chihuahua! A little girl walloped the rooster with a stick and rescued the pup. The dog ended up being fine other than a few bloody places, and I couldn't help giggle at the whole situation.

Our youth group wrote letters and drew pictures about Bible stories to these kids before we left. So we brought them to this church service and Joel read them and described the pictures to all the kids. They were SO fascinated that kids in America would write them letters.

While all this is going on, there were several boys who were too shy to come into the pavilion. They sat on these huge pipes just up the hill from the pavilion and tried to act un-interested. But the fact that they come every week and sit JUST close enough where they can hear, added to the fact that they've been busted singing along at times, proves that they are wanting to be involved. In time maybe they'll grow more comfortable with the idea!

Ok so these two little girls, Clarissa and Glori, are totally reading the Bible. They're 4 and 5 years old. Holy Moly!!! They were reading out loud and it gave me goose bumps (which is incredible considering it's 100 degrees all the time)!!!

After the lesson and Joel's reading of the letters, the kids asked if they could write letters back to our youth group. These kids poured their hearts into these letters. They sat and worked on them for 45 minutes or so - without being told to! They just wanted to. Their words and drawings are priceless.

The kids wanted to hear the letters from our youth again and again, and here is Dani reading one to them.

Ok so this is disturbing. Fransisco, a guy who works closely with the church, told me to go look in the back of his rental car (they had been doing some ministry way out in the country that day). I walked over to see what all the fuss was about...

and saw 8 iguana's in the back of the car! Ew!!! So what happens is, super poor kids in the country catch iguanas and try to sell them to people driving by. I remember seeing their "Iguanas, $3" signs when Joel and I drove through years ago. Well, they tie the iguana's toenails together up above their heads so that they can't run off. It's terribly inhumane, but it's their only way to get a couple bucks out there. So Fransisco had an idea. He stopped at each child on his way back and bought an iguana from them - under one condition - he got to talk to their family about Jesus. So by purchasing these creatures, he got to share the gospel with like 19 people that day. Awesome! He even went back the next day (2 hours driving) to continue a Bible study with one super interested family. Good job Fransisco!!! Oh, and once he got back home he untied the iguanas and set them free. Poor guys!!!

Zihuatanejo, January 2011

Whoa! I had these pictures all ready to post and forgot all about them. At long last, here's a look at our trip to Mexico:

We happened to be in the city where we got married on our 5 year anniversary! You would think we would have at least one photo of the two of us, but you'd be wrong. Ugh. Sorry.

Here's Mia during our layover in Houston. She thought these fast walkways were pretty cool. She's a little unsure of it at first though...

Here's the crew: Ed, Dave, Debbie, Mia, Joel, and Katy. We love our Alaskan friends (even though they are 100x more tan than we are!!!) and were SO happy that we got to spend such an awesome time together.

 Joel and Mia walking through the streets:

Ed brought Mia a Harley Girl shirt from Fairbanks, SO CUTE!!! She really loved Ed and he was SO good with her. Debbie brought Mia presents too, an adorable bracelet that Mia wears and flaunts her wrist like she's all fancy, and an awesome Alaskan puzzle. Mia loved "Aunt Debbie" and still tries to say her name when she sees pictures :)

 I just love this little naked photo...

 The view from Dave and Debbie's deck. Our room was up the stairs.

 Mia and mommy reading their books.

 SO CUTE

There are more photos to come of some mission work we did while we were there... stay tuned!

Another Informative Bit

Ok. Stick with me on this. It's something we can't be ignorant to in our society or else corporate America will continue to feed us crap because it makes them more money. Even Monsanto (the corporate giant who created the first genetically engineered seeds, genetically modified corn, saccharin, etc.), advises their own employees to seek out organic corn and soybeans rather than consuming the GM versions. Genetically modified foods such as these are already banned in almost all other countries. The mighty dollar is just too strong for America's greed to stand up against it.

Ok so this video isn't actually fully about that rant I just went off on (again). It's about other stuff that I could rant about all day. It's a FAR shorter piece than the last (less than 4 minutes). So go to this website, and the "Wake-Up Call" video should pop up. Watch it. If it doesn't pop up, you'll see it somewhere on their home page.

http://www.healthychild.org/

Thank you!!!

SO important. Please listen

OK most of you who know me know that I am part hippy and I get made fun of a lot for the way I choose to grocery shop, cook, garden, etc. Please listen to this and take it very seriously. I am now an Arbonne rep partly because of the facts you'll hear, but even if you never want to use Arbonne, please listen because it could literally help save your life. If you're reading this, it's because you're a person I love and I want everyone I love to know 2 things:

1) that Jesus came and died for us and rose again to show us that death is NOT the end and that being a Christian is the BEST life to live, even if it isn't always easy, (which has nothing to do with what you're about to listen to, it's just the first thing I want everyone to know...) 

2) there is a better way of living and making healthy choices while on earth, and this audio file will help explain that.

You can listen to it directly from this website or download it (there is a button on the screen that says "download file") and listen to it later.

https://www.freeconferencing.com/playback.html?cn=51-87-32-24&e=1360648800000&cid=conferences%2F375383-17-65-67-17-65-6762-17-65-6746548414-17-65-67-43-9524-17-65-67.mp3

Please do this. I promise you won't leave unchanged :)