Monteverde

We had a great Christmas vacation in the states meeting new family members. Cory and I have 3 new nieces (1) and nephews (2). It was good to spend time with them. We also got to spend some time in San Antonio with our friends the Pruetts. It was really good to see them. They worked in Guadalajara with us and recently moved back to the states. We got back from the USA on Tuesday night and on Thursday Cory decided that we needed to take the AIMers on a retreat the following day. It really was necessary but somewhat shortnotice. We decided that if we waited till school and baseball were back in full swing we would end up never going on the retreat. So, before having unpacked from the trip to the USA I packed to go to the mountains.
We had a wonderful time. We have been to this location 3 previous times but we always had infants with us which added stress. It was nice to be able to relax this time and not worry that the kids were going to fall down the mountain or stairs etc. We had some good time with the AIMers evaluating plans for their last 5 months here.
It was pretty cold although not as cold as you guys in the USA. The guys worked really hard at getting a BIG fire in the fireplace and keeping it big. In 24 hours we went through 9 good sized bundles of wood.
The cabins we went to have recently added an obstacle course. My kids (including Cory) love it and had so much fun on in. I definately think that our family will be planning a trip back there.

Here is a picture of the cabin that we stayed in. Its 3 bedroom and fits 10 people.

Abigail on the course

Hannah loved climbing this but always got a little nervous once she got to the top.

Cory and Josiah during one of their MANY races There was beautiful nature all around us.

Trick or Treat

There are around 40 kids that live in our housing area. This year many of the kids were out of town since there wasn't school on Friday for many and there is no school on Monday. So, the few of us that were here trick or treated. These are the kids that started out 3 more joined us later.


Every year my friends and I make matching costumes for our three kids. They were all born within 5 months of eachother. This year we went with ghost. It was a lot of fun getting together with my friends and making the costumes. Then of course it was fun watching the kids together. Hannah is the ghost on the left.

This year Josiahs best friend (the brother of the middle ghost) bought Josiah a wrestling costume. Its for his birthday (Nov 17th) but he gave it to him early so they could dress alike for Halloween. His mom and I made the kids shirts with muscles and a few of the tattoos that Rey Misterio has.

Hannah loved her costume.

Abigail was the Little Mermaid in her wedding dress. For some reason right after I took this picture my neighbor decided to paint her eyes black. From then on she was known as Frankensteins bride.

Here are the 3 kids together.

Funny videos

Here are some videos I thought I would share with you. Enjoy!

http://www.monstermashup.com/c8bd30

http://www.monstermashup.com/9dda5b

http://www.monstermashup.com/478d3f

Virgen de Zapopan

October 12th is a special day in Guadalajara and Zapopan. (Zapopan is the actual city we live in). It is the day of the virgen de Zapopan.

The virgen de Zapopan is considered a very important virgen to the catholics in this area. She is a statue (I have been told made out of corn) measuring 25 cm. She was made by artisans in the state of Michoacan. They brought her here when Guadalajara was founded.

She is considered the main saint in this area. Throughout the year she travels to all the catholic cathedrals in the Guadalajara area. On October 12th she travels from the main cathedral in Guadalajara to her "home" cathedral in Zapopan. School is cancelled on this day. Thousands upon thousands of people line the streets between the two cathedrals.

There is a procession/parade that accompanies her between cathedrals.

Here she is. Like I said she is only 25 cm high (10 inches). She is enclosed in a bullet proof case atop of an altar.

Here is a picture of the crowd gathered to see her.

This is the cathedral of Zapopan.

Cory and the AIMers decided to go this year to see and learn. Cory came back with a very heavy heart. Confused by the dedication that these 10's of thousands of people were showing
this 10 inch doll.

Praise God that He is bigger than our wildest dreams and He is all powerfull. I am thankful that He is our creator and He is not made by human hands. Glad to know that my God doesn't need a bullet proof case to live in.

great photography

I have told you guys before about my favorite photographer but I want to mention her again. Please check out her sight
http://www.amyrosekingphotography.com
Or just click on the link under my blogs that is titled Amy-Rose
She does great work and I highly recommend her to anyone that is in or around Lubbock, Texas.