Elota

The images in this blog are from our recent trip to Elota... recent in that we just got back a few hours ago! We weren't there for long, but had a wonderful time exploring this small town tucked in the mountains north of Mazatlan. The town is about one and one-half hours from Mazatlan. We left yesterday afternoon and when we arrived we cleaned the church building and played with some kids and youth in the town square. I played with two kids who were entirely entertained by me throwing a soccer ball in every which direction for which they could chase and tackle each other to bring back to me. We played this game of fetch for about an hour and a half. It was so funny! They are in the pictures below... their names are Carla and Roberto. After playing in the square we went for dinner... yummy tostados!

True entertainment came when it was time for bed. The boys slept in a small room where the church met and the girls stayed in the house of a woman from the church (her four kids make up the kids ministry). We came in and she took us to an upstairs room where a huge space was cleared out for 3 mattresses for us to sleep on. We were like "oh my goodness! what a blessing! we are going to sleep soo amazing! Praise God!" And as soon as we laid down... the fun began. The sounds of Mexico were our background music for the night. I attached pictures of all of our night-friends... goats, sheep, a donkey, many roosters, dogs, and pigs. These animals were our constant companions throughout the night. And we had turned a fan on... from which we woke up freezing!! I remember making a comment at some point that was similar to... "if a rooster can not tell time... cannot tell when the sun is actually rising... it should be shot." HAHA! That's all I've known as the role of the rooster around a farmhouse! We laughed and semi-slept all night. It was amazingly funny! And then we forgot daylight savings time... it finally came and we forgot about it! So... we woke up an hour late! Woops!

Well... enjoy the pictures! Blessings!

on the drive...

we were singing in the backseat... so the middle seat crew found its way to lean forward walking around the streets... viewing the city.

Look Cate! Wrigley's Mexican twin!

the room where the girls slept... look for the pink curtains!

Our night friends!

Roberto... playing hide and seek from me.

Welcome to the World... Alfonso Martinez the 4th!

Our congratulations go out to Alfonso and Erika Martinez on the birth of their first born son Alfonsito!! He came in weighing 3100 kg... and none of us have any idea what that is when converted to pounds! But he is healthy and sweet with a full head of curly black hair. Mom and Dad are doing well and are probably still catching their breath after a very quick and rapid delivery! Erika went into labor on Sunday night with beginning contractions but had very little pain. She was dialating and didn't even know it until the doctor came over to the house to check in on her! That all started around 8 pm on Sunday night and by 10 am she delivered! With no medication (all natural) the Lord answered Erika's prayer... only a little pain!

I must say that on Thursday night, Alfonso, Erika and I began to guess days when we thought little Alfonso would come and... I guessed Monday evening (evening because Erika had pregnancy pictures scheduled for Monday morning!). Well... I was pretty close! We laughed about it on Monday because I remember telling her "Erika... you better go home and rest because you're going to have your baby in three days!" I was more competitive that prophetic but it definitely made for a good laugh! I'm not all suprised Erika had little pain... because over the past 2 months I have never seen a more active pregnant woman. She was always on the go and always truckin' it!

God is soo good and we are all grateful to have been here to celebrate with them as their extended family! God is so gracious to allow us to be a part of this time in their lives and hope that these pictures bless their family and friends in Nashville. Glory to God!

The teams responses to BABY:

Preston was just starting to do his laundry when we found out that Alfonsito was coming... he had no clean clothes except his polar bear PJs... oh well... YAY BABY!Kyle... he really was excited! Promise! I just caught him sleeping while chillin' in the waiting room.

Welcome to April!

Youth Fun: The pictures in this blog are to capture some memories we have shared with the youth over the past week. We LOVE spending time with the youth and with their leaders. They are all so sweet and kind and FUN! This past Saturday we came to youth for the first time since the youth camp (we've been servants on the move... on the weekends!) and had such a great time reconnecting with our friends. We showed up an hour early... unintentionally... because they were having a special youth social night with frappacinos and video games and trampolines! It was soo much fun and we enjoyed getting to know some of the youth better (since our Spanish has improved and those who know a little English are more comfortable around us and aren't scared to try to speak to us). For the hour or so we had before the youth arrived we... jumped on a big trampoline and watched soccer (Mexico vs. Costa Rico... big game here!).

Then, on Tuesday the girls left the boys at home (their choice... they needed some rest) and went to meet a few of the youth girls at the mall for pizza and fun! We took some pictures to capture our evenings activities. We had so much fun together laughing and hanging out with the girls. They encountered all of our sillyness is its fullness as we encountered their graciousness at the same time! haha! So much fun!

When the youth band was warming up they had the game on in the background... I loved it!

Trampoline fun!

So fun!

this would be a typical glance toward the trampoline... everyone jumping while Dana was falling.

Janae and Kelsey on the trampoline!

Morgan showed off her dancing skills while Janae watched. Morgan can superbowl shuffle!!

Laura laughing after she showed off her hidden talent... she can moonwalk!

The youth during worship

The closest I have gotten to soccer in a few weeks... a few strikes left me wanting more...

Morgan, Genesis, and Genesis' sister (we can't remember her name!!) paddle their way through the arcade... how fun!

Here we are!! (well, minus me b/c I was taking the picture...)

Janae and Laura had an E.T. moment... "phone home"... on their magic yellow bikes.

All the girls piled into one of the arcade games... until it ended up being a King Kong virtual reality with monstrous-sized insects that grossed all of us out. Yuk! We felt like we were back in Escuinapa!

At first I thought this game was a zip-line sort of thing... but you actually pull it down and its a virtual reality game... good to know!!

Dana wanted to play around at the "Jumpin' Jackpot" where you had to jump for prizes!

Laura and one the youth girls took on the big guns!

How COOL!? Race cars in the form of SHOWERS!!! Morgan and I were really excited but sadly... we could not play with them because we are not ninas... BUMMER!!!

...but we sure tried to look like we were racing!

We found all sorts of fun things to play with!