H.A.R.T.U. #10 - Traverse City, MI

We visited Beth's grandmother this morning here in Traverse City, MI. "Gram" is the only living (on this earth) great-grandmother of our boys. She is the mother of Beth's belated dad, Ken Hanna.

Factoid of the Day: Before trusting Christ as her Savior as an adult and mother, Gram (Vera Hanna) was a practicing medium/spiritist. Isn't God's grace amazing?!?

Iron Mountain Mine (video)

H.A.R.T.U. #9 - Iron Mountain, MI

On our drive from northern MN to Traverse City, MI we stopped at Iron Mountain, MI and took in the Iron Mountain Mine tour. It was a fairly short tour by electric mine rail car and about 400 meters of walking. We were a few hundred feet down. It was about 44 degrees inside the mine and there were some bats which fluttered around our heads at times. Our guide taught as how the mine workers in the mid-1800s to the early to mid-1900s dug out the iron ore.

More Mall of America (Cameron rode these)

H.A.R.T.U. #8 - Minnesota

On Saturday's drive up to northern Minnesota, we had the opportunity to stop in and meet Kristin's mother and aunt. It was really great to connect with Kristin's family who she hasn't been able to see since coming down to Mexico with her husband, Jason. They all miss each other but there's not much chance of them getting to see each other any time soon. I wonder if they'll ever get that chance but we never know what God might work out.

It was an awesome thing to share with Jaclyn (the mom), Heidi (an aunt of Kristin) and Lisa (Jaclyn's caretaker who took the photo above) of how God has radically changed the lives of Jason and Kristin and that He has done so through the Good News of Jesus Christ. I shared the plan of salvation with them. We left them knowing we had planted some spiritual seeds and we pray that God will allow these seeds to grow into a spiritual harvest in their lives. They rejoiced and cried with us as they listened to what God has done for Kristin. It would be a great thing to rejoice with tears at what God has done in their lives too.

Would you please pray for these three women right now?


This pileated wood pecker has a tremendously loud call. I went out to investigate what was making all the noise and managed to get a few photos from a distance. It wasn't easily scared but it did eventually fly off after Dayton somehow managed to scare it. At least he made it move to a slightly better spot for viewing but I didn't get a really good shot of it.


We closed our time out here in Minnesota with an informal meeting with a few ladies who homeschool. We shared a bit of our ministry with them and some cultural and religious info about Mexico. We concluded with some Mexican tres leches cake.

The boys were spared the agony of another meeting or "staying out of the way" by the kind invitation from a brother from the church who took them fishing on his little lake with his two boys. Cameron and Dayton have never been fishing before so this was a first for them. Cameron caught 5 fish but only 2 were big enough to keep. Dayton caught two but only one was big enough to keep. I asked them if they put their own worms on and they said they didn't. Apparently, Dayton (predictably) grossed out and Cameron (predictably) begged off since the boys were putting them on a special way and he didn't know how to do that. Ha-ha...I don't much care for worms either! I asked them if they took the fish off the hooks. Dayton (predictably) said, "No way!" Cameron (predictably) said, "I was going to but the hook was really far down in there and I couldn't get it out." So I asked them if they even TOUCHED the fish. You guessed it...nope. Hee-hee...what suburbanites we are. At least they don't smell like fish and we can travel without that extra odor tomorrow.

Oh and the dad said that a neighbor came over as they were fishing and so he ran up to the house to get something and when he returned a few minutes later the boys were gone from the boat except for piles of clothes. They'd stripped down to their skivies and went swimming! Skivy-dipping! Ha-ha! They had a great time!

We thank God for the people and experiences we're having on this trip and that the boys are enjoying themselves and their experiences. It's very special to us that the boys enjoy all these travels in these few short weeks in the U.S. They need to know what it's like here and as 3rd culture kids they sometimes don't have a clue.

Thanks for praying for us. Tomorrow morning we pack up and head to Iron Mountain, MI. That's just a stopover for our next destination, Traverse City, MI. We hope to get up Wednesday and visit the Iron Mountain Mine Museum. It's just a few bucks apiece and we'd get to take an electric mining train down 500 feet underground and learn about how they made the iron mine and how they propped it all up with timbers and planks and such. It should be a great educational experience. Maybe we'll get some photos of it if we get to do that.

Mall of America

Couldn't beat a few hours at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN. After 5 p.m. the Nickelodeon Park has unlimited rides until closing for $18. The boys had a blast and it was a nice treat for them. For a Friday it was not terribly busy so the boys rode enough to make it about a $1 per ride. Cameron rode all 3 roller coasters, including the one pictured below which has a vertical ascent and near vertical descent into a loop and corkscrew. Another one he rode had some crazy curves and drops while sitting in on a circular platform that spins! Dayton rode two of the roller coasters...just not the one in the pictures below.

Is this crazy or what?!? Cameron rode this 3 times! If you look carefully, Cameron is on the first row at the far left on the last photo here going into the loop. The lighting was too hard to work with but you can almost make him out.

H.A.R.T.U. #7 - Interstate USA

Having traveled on and seen what seems like a million miles of highway driving, the boys play their hand-held gaming toys to help pass the time. Sometimes there's interesting stuff to see outside and we call a timeout. Two quiet boys in the back seat is a soothing sight and sound to the road warriors in the front seats. We also read books and have a variety of discussions ranging from the serious to the silly with a bent toward silly if you could imagine.



Ha-ha...when the sun makes the screen hard to see, Dayton has a solution, although a casual glance back in his direction startled me the first time I saw him covered up like this!

I'm not sure exactly why but our movie of the trip is Nacho Libre. We found it for $3 on DVD and have watched it with a few of our hosts along the way and I'm sure we'll end up watching it a few more times before the trip is over. It's a lot of fun and we've been quoting it or misquoting it (on purpose) all along the trip.

Recent quotables....

Dayton: "Where is your brother, Ignacio? He was...eh-stinky. But he is my recreational brother."

Dayton (to one of our ministry partners while they played Tic-Tac-Toe): "I hope you lose or I win!"

H.A.R.T.U. #6 - Hannibal, MO

We always enjoy visiting our long-time friends in Hannibal, MO. It was great to visit with you, Jim and Susan. I can see why the natural beauty of the land and the mighty Mississippi inspired Samuel Clemens to write. We began reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with the boys in the car on our way there. After Beth finished reading chapter 4, Cameron's response was less than enthusiastic. It is a bit difficult to understand Twain's writing style...the vocabulary and dialect is quite a challenge for an eleven year-old.

H.A.R.T.U. #5 - Paris, Tahlequah & Siloam Springs

Nothing like a kiss in Paris...Texas. Not quite as romantic as the "real" Paris, but it was under 100 degrees which was a plus!



We sure enjoyed a great weekend with some ministry partners and friends in the Paris, TX area. The boys and Beth enjoyed tubing on a lake on Saturday. I went with but enjoyed watching from the boat. That was a first for them and they hope it is not their last. They got to ride a horse and a four-wheeler and shoot BBs. Cameron helped their 13 year-old son with his chores and enjoyed riding up in the big tractor with him as they moved a bunch of hay at a field a mile or so from the house.

Thanks to our friends there (you know who you are!) for a great weekend. Enjoyed meeting the folks at church and sharing with them as well.

Had lunch with a few retired CAMers at GoYeVillage in Tahlequah, OK before arriving in Siloam Springs, AR.



Heading off to Hannibal, MO in the morning. I suppose we're on a bit of a children's literature trail here as we go through Wilson Rawls' stomping grounds and up into the haunts of Samuel Clemens. (If you're stumped...Rawls wrote "Where the Red Fern Grows" and "Summer of the Monkeys" and Clemens wrote a few works that somehow were attributed to a fellow named Twain. You might have heard of these guys and some of their stories.) No doubt we'll be passing through some other geographical children's literature links along the way too and I just don't know it yet. Maybe we'll figure that out when we pass through.

H.A.R.T.U. #4 - Dallas

The first main segment of our home assignment road trip is wrapping up today and tomorrow morning. We just said good-bye to Kenny and Esme, Maria, Lluvia and Eden. We will miss them. We had a lot of great talks and laughs. It sure is hard to see them go back to El Paso which is so far away from anywhere...a good 10 hour drive from Dallas. When will we see them again? I have no idea but hopefully within 2 years. This is one of the hardest things about missionary life that's for sure.

Tomorrow we pack it all back up and head to the Paris, TX area. They have kids there too and the boys are excited about that. I bought a BB gun (shock!) for the boys to play with whenever we find a place suitable to shoot with it. I expect they'll be jumping out of the truck at this next stop wanting to get right at it! I wonder how long 6,000 BBs will last?!?

Here's some pics of our last few minutes with the Hannas.

Prayer Update!

About a dozen of you committed to pray daily in July for Jason's brother and sister-in-law, Gerardo and Lorena, for their spiritual standing with God and for Gera's job situation. We're nearly at the half-way point in July so I am glad to have an update to share with you concerning them and first an update on what God is doing in Jason and Kristin's lives.

Today, Kristin sent us an email and mentioned that God is doing some neat things in Jason and her lives. They're finding that even though they have no more income than they've had for the past many months, they are finding that God is somehow making their income go further than before. They are baffled by how this is happening but give praise to God for providing for them in what seems to them to be a remarkable way. That's great to hear that they are sensing God's work in their lives and that He is the One providing for them!

She also mentioned that about a week ago Gerardo received a bus route again! This was the key issue for their physical need with his work situation so THANK-YOU for praying! God is answering already! All praise to God! Keep praying! We would love to see God open up the door for His saving grace to reach into the lives of Gerardo and Lorena.

H.A.R.T.U. #3 - Dallas

Can't beat ice cream cones on a day that topped 105 degrees!

Sweet baby Eden

Cameron had a great time scaring the shorts off Maria and Lluvia! They enjoyed it too!

(H.A.R.T.U. #3 - Home Assignment Road Trip Update #3)

Just enjoying a few days here at the CAM Center guest housing with Beth's brother and his family. Haven't seen them since Christmas 2007 so it is a special time for us all to get a few days together. Their girls are such sweeties. They've taken to their "Tio Alan" and "her boys." "Her" applies to everyone and I've got nothing more to say about that. :-)

("Tio" is Spanish for "uncle" in case you didn't know.)

We enjoyed a visit to Half-Price Books today, ice cream and a delicious Puerto Rican meal that Esme made for us (Esmeralda is Kenny's wife...her family is Puerto Rican American).

We continue to be chagrined at how many work teams canceled their summer trips to Mexico this year due to the many reports of violence and the flu. From what I can tell the violence in the U.S. is much more alarming and much more random than in most of Mexico (including our region) and the flu has been more of a problem in the U.S. more recently than it has been in Mexico.

However, I did read online that the first deadly flu case in our state of Querétaro just occurred about a week ago in our city of San Juan del Río. We were sorry to hear that with the cooler weather (yes, it is cooler at this time of year with the coming of the rains) the flu is apparently starting to show up again.

After further discussion, it looks like we'll probably need to replace the struts on the truck after all. It appears it will be about an $800 job but I think with the smoother roads up here, we'll wait until we get back to Dallas in September to do it. We'll see if we have funds left for that then. Between Wal-Mart and SAMs one would think we'd be honorary members or owners after all the funds we seem to part with there. Maybe you can relate.

H.A.R.T.U. #2 - Dallas

We're here in the Big D with D-boy, Camboy and the B and me, the A. Two nights with good friends here, even though one of them had to be away most of the time with meetings out of town.

Dallas in July is somewhere between intolerable and awfully intolerable. It cooled off this evening to suffocating. Since 9 a.m. today, I've felt like I must have taken a bath in sweat. I didn't even sweat that much when I was out but I feel sticky, clammy and just an overall feeling of yuck.

Besides the weather we have actual stuff we've got to do here. I've done the most important ones (from my perspective). Our car inspection was out-of-date by about 2 months so I got that done today before being noticed by any of the nice police officers here in Texas. I also discovered our car registration renewal in the waiting mail at the CAM Center this morning so I went down and took care of that too.

One piece of good news is that our resident car expert doesn't think I need to replace the struts just yet. We'll re-evaluate in September when we get back. We managed to get our parts and labor quotes worked down from $1600 to about $800 for this job. The struts on this vehicle are expensive that's for sure.

We move over to the guest housing at the CAM Center tomorrow. We'll be in apartment 5 but I don't know the phone number off-hand. Beth's brother, Kenny, and his wife and 3 little girls will arrive Saturday evening (?) and stay to Thursday. We're looking forward to seeing them. We haven't met baby Eden who is about 4 months old now. We haven't seen any of them since December 2007. We can hardly wait to see them again. I don't think we have any big plans...just going to hang out and sip some early morning coffee (Kenny and me) and let the kids play and enjoy lots of good conversation.

I'm so glad we decided to take this time before our travels begin in earnest. These trips are wonderful but tiring and we need the chance to catch our breath and feel our feet back in the USA. I was a little sick today but just the same intestinal stuff I've been dealing with for a long time now. I am thinking I'm going to have to seek a different set of medicines to deal with this. I don't think what I've been taking is helping much. Bummer.

Oh and our time in Fort Hood was exceptional and I'm glad to report there were no strip searches! We weren't sure if Mark was pulling my leg or not...he was. That stinker! So, we've been with two of our supporters already and we have not even started our "real trip" yet. Well, on second thought, I guess maybe we have.

Thanks for your prayers!

H.A.R.T.U. #1

Rather than type out "Home Assignment Road Trip Update" I'll use "HARTU" to save space.

We arrived in McAllen, TX on Friday evening after 600+ miles and about 11 hours, including crossing the border which required us to fill out some paperwork to leave Mexico and to have our car sticker removed, etc.

The drive was as long as always but went well at all the checkpoints and somehow escaped the speed traps on the Mexico side (thanks to God!). We passed a couple of bad wrecks and were thankful to have arrived here safely.

One of the two accidents would have happened about the time we would have passed through but I decided to stop for gas at a station on one side of a city rather than the other where I normally do. We were at the station for about 10 or 15 minutes and we likely missed the accident by that amount of time. It was probably the worst accident I've ever seen. The victims were still in the two vehicles when we passed by the scene and an ambulance had just arrived before we did. It appears a vehicle rear-ended a Ford Ranger at maybe 80 to 100 mph and they ended up about 50 to 100 feet off the highway on both sides. Both had flipped numerous times and were nothing more than scrap metal. The car that no doubt was traveling so fast had gone airborne and landed in an orchard and we could barely see what was left of the car from the road. It was totally destroyed and had left untouched a 5 foot fence that was about 20 feet off the side of the road. It must have flipped end over end and been catapulted over the fence. It was a sobering sight and another reminder of how excessive speeds on the highways in Mexico make them dangerous and deadly. Praise God that we weren't on that stretch just a few minutes before and that our entire trip went well.

Thank-you for praying for our travels. We know that God is answering your prayers for our safety and health.

Fourth of July was a great experience for the boys with a symphonic band performance downtown and then the parade which was a new experience for the boys. The parade wasn't too spectacular but they got the idea. The fireworks were good and the kids enjoyed that too.

Our hosts took us to their church and the boys enjoyed services (S.S. and children's church for Dayton) in English which we haven't experienced for 2 years.

Once again we're enjoying brushing our teeth in tap water and being able to place toilet paper in the toilet! It is always a fun transition for a couple months. We've also enjoyed other little food (& junk) niceties like Mountain Dew, Root Beer, fresh cherries, Wheat Thins, BBQ, summer peaches, sno-cones...and we're just getting started! We have some favorites that we'll get to as we go.

Our health is doing OK. It takes a few days before our bodies will begin to adjust to the water and food here too. Today and tomorrow (when we travel again) would likely be the days we might have problems if we're going to have any. My intestinal problems are still lingering but I think the medications are helping some. I hope by the end of the week I feel differently but so far it seems I have just taken the edge off the worst symptoms but haven't really gotten notably better. I appreciate your prayers for this issue.

We leave tomorrow morning for Fort Hood in Killeen, TX to visit with good friends and supporters there. Looking forward to that as well. We'll head on to Dallas on Wednesday from there. The road is just beginning.

Hasta Luego Mexico

Last September we were blessed to visit McAllen, TX for a week. It's been 9 months since then and I guess we're ready for another taste of the homeland. The kids are definitely ready and want to be there now.

I asked Dayton why he wanted to go to the U.S. and he said because he wants to meet his cousins. I told him that he means to say "see" his cousins...he's already met them...all except one that's a new addition to the clan and none of us have met her yet. I know that both boys are looking forward to pizza and ice cream and all kinds of goodies.

We're 98% packed and we'll probably hit the road by 6:30 if not before...or later. We try to not stress over it if we're too tired to go early, we'll go a bit later. It's about a 10 hour drive but being a Friday and the day before a holiday, it could be a long wait at the border. For that reason alone it would better to leave earlier.

For a couple years now the windows on the truck have been water stained. We don't think much of it but it's actually an annoyance at best. Today I gassed up at the local PEMEX and a roaming vendor asked me if I wanted to buy something that cleans windows and would get rid of those water stains. I let him do a demonstration for me on my driver's side window and WOW...it really worked. I don't know what exactly the stuff is but it is a very fine, gritty sand or something. Just mix with water and then rub it as hard as you can and after a few minutes the water stains are gone.

I ended up coming home and doing the windows all the way around. The difference is amazing! At least, that's what Beth told me. I haven't driven the truck since but she had to go out.

Well...I don't know that you're too excited about all this. So, if you're still with me here...we'd appreciate your prayers for a safe trip tomorrow and a smooth border crossing. We'll be in McAllen until Tuesday morning. I'm pretty tired and think I'll sign off here. I suspect I'll have opportunities to post on the blog along our trip with photos and hopefully some interesting anecdotes. It should be fun so stay tuned!

Honduras

Having lived two years in Honduras which greatly changed and impacted our lives and our future (now our present!), we have a very special place in our heart for Honduras. We made some friends there and we still keep in touch and every once in awhile we wished we could go back to visit and see how it has changed.

As you probably know, Honduras has been in the center of a firestorm of attention. Much has been said and written about it. Of course, it is a politically-centered discussion and I don't care to go into politics as a rule.

I would like to share a link to a website of a man whom we worked with a little bit during our time down there. He is a long-time resident of Honduras and has a wealth of knowledge and experiences there and a huge heart for the people there.

Feel free to take a look at his description of the current situation and perhaps you may even want to get involved through communicating with your elected officials concerning the actions of the U.S. government.

Here's the link: http://www.helphondurasnow.com/

Problem Solving

I'm still packing stuff for the trip but I had to clear the camera's memory and found these photos I took two days ago. Even though we soak all of our fruits and vegetables, about two batches of bananas ago, we started growing fruit flies. Of course, if you don't get rid of them with the first batch, they'll get busy with the next and whatever else smells good to them.

So, I looked on the Internet and found a simple solution which I hate to admit I wasn't quick enough to think of for myself. You can see it below. I took a container, put some rotten banana in it, covered it with cellophane, poked some small holes in that and left it overnight (oh...I also got rid of the bad bananas and covered all our good fruit).

In the morning, all I had to do was put another layer of "unpoked" cellophane over the top and threw my trap complete with flies into the garbage. That was that!

Knowing Your ABCDs - Mexico 2009 (video)

our new multimedia, stereophonic event! (just in time for our home assignment)

Enjoy!