SCHOOL!!!

SCHOOL STARTED!!! The girls were all pretty excited to go back. We are SO glad that the girls wear uniforms to school. Can you imagine having to help 10 junior high age girls try to decide what to wear each day to school?!?

Karla, Michelle, and Lili on their way to Junior High...

Eli, Jazany (she will not be in the house with us) and Tania ready for Elementary School...

It's a nice morning break to have the girls away at school.

Progress continues on the house, hopefully the girls can move in soon.

more to come....

A House FULL of Girls

The old rhyme "First you work, then you play, then you'll have a better day" applies here in Magdalena also...

Some of the girls' new favorite game... Ticket To Ride... Or as one of the boys said the other day... "Let's play Tik-e To-ke Ri-de!!!"

A New Beginning

Thanks to everyone for your prayers this past week!!!! Overall, it was a good week. God is faithful. We moved into the house and started taking care of the girls Tuesday, although they still won't move out to the house for a week or two. Here are some pictures of the girls painting... They are all really excited about their rooms and have been a good help painting.

Isaiah 64:1,2,4... "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at they presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the NATIONS may tremble at thy presence! For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor preceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him."

PRAYER REQUESTS:

*Wisdom to deal with the girls as they test our boundaries and try to get away with whatever possible.

* That God's presence would flow down upon our new house here in Magdalena.

* That all here at CVE, all here in Magdelena, and that we may know more and more the greatness of our God and tremble at His presence... and that God will do above and beyond all we can ask or imagine.

Fun Times with Changes Ahead

Well, we had a busy week getting the house ready and then taking a break to go to Rancho Betania for a night. The Ranch is a really neat place only a half hour away. It is basically two days of swimming, soccer and games. The kids all LOVE it, and they kept asking us all week, "Van al Rancho Betania? Y Anna va?"


Nereida and Julissa in the girl's dorm.

Gloria and Kaleigh ready for the pool... (Kaleigh looks like such a chunk compared to Gloria!!!)

Francisco hanging out with Kaleigh (we had a bonfire/singing in the evening, along with S'mores!!)... She has done awesome with being passed around and kissed and patted every 2 seconds! We are so thankful for how well she has adjusted!
We played carnival games which the kids really liked...

The Ranch was a great time for relaxing before the school year begins. It was a good break for us as we will take charge of the girls this week. The house is not yet complete, so the girls will be in the dorms for a while longer, until the house is "livable" for them. Until then, we will be in and out of the dorms, monitoring the girls and getting things done in the house. A trip to Nogales Saturday night allowed us to pick up many more of the necessities (toilet seat, light fixtures, shower curtains etc.)

Obviously we need prayers! It is a very exciting time for the girls, and us as well, but it is also an enormous transition for all of us.

Gloria, who has cared for the girls for 3+ years, is getting ready to head back to Ixtlan in September. Be prayerful for her as well! It will be a fall of changes here at CVE.

Magdalena and Blanca having fun with Kaleigh!!!

THE WHIRLPOOL!!!! Tons of fun in the little pool (at least it seems little with 40 people in it)

A Work in Progress

Well, here are some pictures of the progress on the house. We hope to be able to move in early next week. Anna helping paint our bedroom.

Sara and Laura were down to help with VBS and they did an awesome job with some stripes in Kaleigh's room.

Kaleigh thought it looked pretty cool too!!!

The boys got the dirty job of removing the frame work from the septic tank...at least it was before we used it!!!

EBV (Escuelita Biblica de Vacaciones)

Last week was EBV or Vacation Bible School for us here at CVE. It was a great but crazy week as hundreds of children flooded campus every day. Thanks to all who prayed for a good week!

Anna and I (Emily) taught three and four year-olds along with Denise Maller. Our theme for the week was Joseph. I was reminded that three and four year-olds have an attention span of about forty seconds. That makes it interesting trying to teach a lesson in Spanish!!!

The kids had fun making their visors....

Duck-duck- goose or gato-gato-perro was a favorite game in our class. Notice in the video when Yair (the little boy in the red shirt) touches Anna and says "perro," Angel jumps up on the other side of the circle and Yair sits down immediately and forgets to run around the circle!!!

The Finer Things of Life

In the last few weeks we have been here, a few things the girls have said have stuck out to me (Emily)...



The other day, Eli asked me, "What are we doing for Christmas?" I wondered what made her say that. Then I asked her, "What did you do last year?" She said, "Oh, all of us came into the 'comedor' and we each got a gift." I told her that I guess we will wait and see how this year works out. As I thought a little bit more about what she said, it hit me that when she thinks of a holiday, she thinks of "family time" like all the rest of us do. Yet she has never had a true family to spend Christmas with. She is already anticipating Christmas this year in the new house. That made me thankful for the opportunity God is giving us to provide a home for Eli.

Some of the other girls were walking through the house the other days and commented on how cool it was that each of the rooms had a closet and window. I have never once in my life thought about how cool it was that I had a closet in my room. I mean, everyone has a closet, right? Not these girls... Many of them have lived in a dorm style room with lots of girls for years. They don't know what it means to have really anything of their own. The first few weeks here have already proved to me that I will learn a lot from the girls. And I am thankful for the incredible family God has blessed me with.

"La Suma"

If any of you have been here to visit, no doubt you know who Jose is.

He was one of the first kids to come to CVE, and has kept this place lively from the very beginning.

The other day, shortly after we had arrived, he declared that Kaliegh's name would be "La Suma". He said this because he likes to be called "El Sumo" (as in the Japanese wrestler type of sumo). He felt she made a good partner.

He obviously thought that Kaleigh cheeks were healthy enough to declare her "the little fatty", which in his eyes is a compliment of highest degree!

He even got a birthday card from one of the other boys with a picture of his hero.

Here are Los Tres Sumos!!!

The house and the girls... and the house full of girls

Well, I am becoming accustomed to having two girls in my life (and rather enjoying it!), as Kaleigh grows more fun with each day.

I will have to get used to being around girls, because it has been decided that the older girls (8-13) will live in the house with us, beginning this fall. It is something that I am both excited about, and dreading (in a good way)... as would be expected. Especially since I grew up with one older sister and three brothers. Ah well, it will be a great time. Only God can give me the grace to handle so many women at once!

The house is a little ways off from being finished, but we made some progress this week. We have been able to get almost all of our boxes across the border, but still have a few loads of furniture.

We went to Hermosillo this week and picked up some bathroom cabinets, as well as more floor tile. Anna, Emily's sister, and Katie Schick helped with the decorating by helping us pick out some paint colors for the bedrooms. They have big ideas of what to do in each room.

This week is VBS every day from 10-12, so that will keep us busy, but the afternoons will be free to start painting. There are a lot of helpers here from the States that are willing to help out with the painting.

Here are more pictures of the house. Hopefully it will start to look different over the next week.

A family of new children arrived at CVE on Thursday, including a 2 month old baby girl named Gloria. Kaleigh will have a playmate! Gloria may not look excited, but we know she is...

Thanks for your prayers! We are feeling them and thinking of all of you as well.