quick update

So, I am shocked that some of you still check my blog. Sorry it has been a crazy month but then when isnt it.
Seems like most of the month was taken up by N1H1 flu. The schools closed down for 3 weeks. It was a little crazy. The school sent us homework via their blog. That was Josiah stayed up to date and they are still right on schedule. The govt has extended the school year until the 14th of July but Josiah and Abigails schools have worked it out where grades will end as planned on the 3rd of July. The schools have to stay open until the 14th or the government will fine them (since they are private schools). The three weeks at home were crazy but kinda fun at the same time. Since we weren't allowed to leave our houses it was fun because we often stayed in our JP's all day and just spent time together. We did leave the house a few times and that was also fun because no one was out. We went to Peter Pipper Pizza one day and we were the only people there. It was fun to have all the games to ourselves.
I also took a few days and went to Lubbock - by myself. My little sister graduated with her doctorate in Physical Theraphy and I just couldn't miss that event. Tickets were cheap and I still had some Christmas money left so it was a no brainer. I didn't tell anyone I was coming so it was really fun to suprise everyone. I had a good time and a big thanks to Cory for watching the 3 kids for me.
My twin sister, her husband and my niece are in the air right now. They should be arriving to GDL in about an hour and a half. We are so excited!
We also got 3 new AIMers a few weeks ago. They are doing well and we are glad to have them here. We now have 9!
Well, I just wanted to let you all know that we are doing well. I need to go finish changing sheets and get the kids dressed to head to the airport.
Sorry if there are misspellings or grammar errors. I don't have time to check. Thanks for checking in.

Dump People

Did you know the average American family spends

$341.98

a week on groceries!

Feeding the dump people in Honduras.
I have mentioned this ministry once before but I want you to check it out again. I know some of you have been able to help this ministry and others might not have been able to help at the time.
Trey Morgan the preacher in Childress Texas is doing a great campaign to raise awareness and funds for this ministry. Its amazing. Please read about it.
http://www.treymorgan.net/

Swine Flu changes our schedule

Just wanted to update everyone. We are doing fine. There actually haven't been any official reports of swine flu in our state (although there have been some un-official reports).

The Mexican govt decided to suspend classes in the whole nation until May6th (with the possibility of it being even later).

When I found out that school was going to be cancelled I called Cory and told him I was heading to the store! Well, so was everyone else. The store was crazy and so many people were wearing mouth coverings. Lysol was a hot item in many carts!

We have been told that we are to stay at home until the 6th!! I hope we don't go crazy. I have lots of BIG plans for the kids - deep cleaning their rooms, organizing, studying, some crafts, some science experiments, I am even thinking about going and buying a microscope etc. Anyone have any ideas of experiments or crafts we should do?? Let me know.

Tequilla #2 -paper making

A few weeks ago when we were in Tequila Cory, my father in law and I took a paper making class. It was only suppose to last 15 minutes but we were so interested and had so many questions that it lasted a whole lot longer. As I mentioned in my last post Tequila is made from the agave plant. The heart of the agave, or piña, is used for the tequila while the rest is just discarded. Well, the part that isn't used in making tequila can be used to make paper.

The paper is a dark color but can be bleached.

The teacher showed us a few different techniques that can be used to make the paper.

Here I am making my first piece of paper. The first one was made out of Agave, the second piece we made was made of a mixture of agave and recycled paper. The third piece we made was a mixture of the two pieces. First we made a paper of the recycled/agave mix then right on top of that paper we made an agave piece. We then took away parts of the top layer to make a decorative piece.
This is how Cory's decorative piece turned out.

Tequila

You might not know this but Tequila comes from the state of Jalisco (the state we live in). It is actually patented in a way that it can only be made in Jalisco and a few other surrounding areas. Well, Tequila, Mexico is the home of Tequila. It is about 45 minutes from Guadalajara. Every year the weekend before Easter they have Mariachi and Folk dancing. My in-laws are always in town during that time of year and we like to go hear the Mariachi.

Here is a look down on the town of Tequila from the interstate.

The kids infront of the stage before the Mariachi came out. The Pinneapple looking things in the background are the pines of the agave plant. These are cooked and then the sugars from these pines are turned into Tequila.

The Mariachi playing and the Jose Cuervo mascot dancing.
There are two mariachi concerts. At the end of the first concert the kids needed to go to the bathroom. When I got back Cory told me that I had just missed them asking if anyone was having a Birthday so that the Mariachi could sing to them. I talked to the MC between shows and she said that they would do it again so that Abigail could go on stage and get sung to. I thought she would be embarrassed and not want to do it but she was so excited. She ran up there and smiled the whole song. First they sang to her the Spanish song "Las mañanitas" then they sang "Happy Birthday" in English. When she got back to her seat she said "Mom, did you know that Mariachi know English?!"