Transformations

You may recognize this picture from the last post....but there is good news....it doesn't look the same today!

MondayTuesdayWednesday...The cabinets are being installed. They will be back tomorrow to finish up. They look great, and we are very excited to finally have a kitchen...all we need is a sink, a stove, and a good plumber...but rumor has it that one is on the way. The other side of the room still looks like this...but we are almost done installing the doors and trim. It is a slow process when there are new issues to deal with everyday.

The living room...after the new paint job.

The girls had a blast playing "Monkey" on the trailer that the cabinets arrived in.

We pray that as the house is transformed, that God would continue His transforming work in the girls lives and in the hearts of all of us here in Magdalena.

Please continue to pray for the Power of The Spirit to work in lives here and all over the world.

Phillipians 3:10,11

A Little Bit More Like Home

Little by little, things are getting done around here! Overall, the girls are doing a great job of adjusting to living in the house.

Saturday a few of the girls (Eli and Lupita) helped paint our guest room... Yeah, it's sort-of bright, but we want to keep our company happy.

We finally started to paint the sala (living room)!!!!


A house just isn't a home without fun things like this for your room! The girls are excited to settle in, and they change things around in their rooms probably a few times a week!
Karla, Yaneli, and Tania

Here is our cocina (kitchen)... It has a ways to go still.

GOOD NEWS!!! They are starting to install the cabinets!

Yaneli, Tania, and Lupita------ This is the reason we are here. These girls long to know they are loved and they still have no idea what a real home is or what it is like to have parents who really love and care about them. Yesterday, out of the blue, Karla said, "Well, at least now I have a dad and a mom!" We will obviously never replace their real parents, but it's awesome to hear that she can think of us in that way, but also it's overwhelming at the same time. Please pray that we as well as all the staff here at CVE allow God to strengthen us everyday so we are steadfast, unmoveable, and abound in the Lord's work daily!!!

I Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

In the Dog House

Maybe you remember seeing this picture from the Independence Day celebration....if you look closely, you can see that Chabela/Chubby....is living up to her name.
She gave birth to 10 puppies the other week, and the girls are all eager to adopt one as the mascot of our house. In fact, they would love to take them all....but we'll start with one for now.

I always wanted a dog at home, but we lived in the city, and my mom was never fond of the idea...Well mom, looks like Kaleigh has my "dog-lover" genes in her.

The majority of the pups are black.

Though, I'm not sure she's sold on the idea of having a little brother...I am trying to at least get one more male in the house with me!

We'll let you know when we pick the lucky dog...and what name we settle on....should be an interesting process.

BBQ and backyard fun

Last Friday we decided to grill burgers on the back porch and eat a meal with just us and the girls. Normally we eat in the cafeteria with everyone as we still do not have a kitchen in the house.

We had perfect weather and the girls seemed to enjoy it a lot. We had a few cows pass through the back yard as we were grilling the burgers....irony.



The girls have been excited about swimming in a small pool in the back yard, as well as building their casita, or playhouse. It provides hours of entertainment, but also can be the source of arguments over decorations and furniture etc. Ah yes, the joys of being young and free.





















Friday we also had fun playing a game of GIANT Dutch Blitz. The girls ran circles around me, literally. It was a good time.

Our Girls

The 10 girls in our house (left to right)... Karla, Tania (sisters), Yaneli, Magda, Blanca (sisters), Lili, Jaqui, Lupita, Michelle, and Eli...

All of the girls have a blast with Kaleigh, who is 6 months now and getting more and more fun every day!!! Here is proof...

Lili, Kaleigh and Michelle...

Lupita, Kaleigh and Tania...

Karla and Kaleigh...

Tania, Karla, Kaleigh and Blanca... What will they do to Kaleigh next?!? : )

Día de la Independencia

Tuesday was Mexican Independence Day... The kids had off school and we had a great day!!!

Michelle and her brother Angel relaxing...

We had a cookout and all the kids had a blast.

Yaneli, Karla, Tania and Jazany... showing off their Mexican flag cookies.

In the afternoon, we walked to the river...

The girls had a blast floating around and playing in the water.

The obstacle course... all of the kids had a great time. Michelle and Lili are ready to go!

Good thing Tania isn't afraid of heights!!!

Ezequiel hesitantly gets a little help from Seth.

José plays on the obstacle course. He is one of the newest kids and has been with us almost 2 months.

We are very thankful God has given us this opportunity to be here! Thanks for all of your prayers, because it is your support that keeps us going. Please keep praying with us for all of the girls to continue to adjust well to the changes, to make good choices at school, and most of all that all of them will someday come to know our Lord as THEIR Lord!!!

Getting Settled

The girls are finally getting settled into the house! Along with getting settled comes getting used to their new chores, learning how to take care of their rooms, and learning not to leave ANYTHING out in the living room or else Keith will steal it from them. : ) Last week when we still didn't have the clothes line up, we had to improvise and this is what we came up with!

Jaqui getting uniforms ready for school...

Lili and Magda asked the other day if they could go get some supplies to build a little dog house. I asked what they planned to get and they said some nails, a hammer, and some wood. I really doubted their carpentry ability, but this is what they ended up with. I came back a little later and asked Keith about the dog house. He told me he had lots of support from the girls as he built it!
Yaneli, Tania, Lupita, and Karla having fun in the cancha.