Zip Lining

Ismael finds an egg!

Ismael breaks the egg!

Daniela likes Austin. :)

The guys, showing off.

Ouch.

Now for the zip line...

One end of the rope gets tied to this tree...

...And the other end to this little tree.

And that's how it started. 

The guys slid down the rope, holding onto their belts.

Then they got a pulley and a hammock and rigged it up to where the rest of the kids could do it too. 

Austin's turn!

He loooved it!

Now Nicole...

Then the babies.

I didn't do it because me and ladders do not get along at all. 

But the kids had fun, we got to be together and that was the point. 

We are going to be leaving for the U.S. in 2 weeks to go on deputation so we told the kids last week that we need to pack these last days with as much fun as possible. We'll be gone for 2 whole months. 

I miss the U.S. and I know we will have a good time traveling and visiting the churches that support us, but if Nicole and I could...we would stay here. I cry when we talk about leaving, I can only imagine the basket case I'll be when we have to actually say goodbye. We are dreading it. ;)

I'm sure we'll be fine once we actually cross the border, but until then I have this constant sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

Once we get to the U.S. however, there are a few things we are looking forward to:

Caramel Apples.

Root Beer.

Root Beer Floats.

Paved roads.

Lines on the roads. 

Pretty houses. 

English. 

Green grass. 

Pacific Coast Camp in Ventura, CA. :))

Yep...we will have a good time...once we pry ourselves away from the people and get transported to the van. 

2nd Bible Banquet

The two Puebla churches are trying to read the whole Bible through this year. Every 3 months, those who are participating get together and we talk about what we've read and pat each other on the backs and say, "You can DO it!" 

This week was the 2nd banquet. Here are a few pictures...

Playing Fuzball after lunch.

(For kids 3-11?)

We are so proud of the saints from both churches that are reading their Bibles! It is not easy and like Bro. Dad always tells us, "You won't read the whole Bible this year by accident!" Sho 'nuff!!

New Addition to the Platform

Javier, the young man that usually plays the drums in church, has been teaching Eduardo how to play for about a month now. Last night at altar call we needed a drummer and Javier said that Eduardo was ready. He did very good. I was surprised he caught on so fast. 

Aaaww! Isn't he so adorable?!

Las Cuevas y Una Fogata

In the truck, on the way to Xonacatepec. (Sho-knock-ah-te-pek)

Setting up the swing. 

The truck.

Nicole.

Bethany.

The guys pulling the person on the swing.

If you look super close you can almost see Nicole up in the air, about to be let go. 

Maribel.

I never knew there were places like this that are right in our neighborhood! We'll definitely be going here a lot.

As you can see, the kids have gotten over their fear of cemeteries.

The canyon. 

...Not a very good picture, it just doesn't show how steep it is. We had to climb down this to get to the next place they wanted to take us.

So we walked and walked and walked!

And looky there--the cave!

Oooh...Scary!

We didn't know what the inside of the cave actually looked like until we saw the pictures on the camera. 

It was so pitch black dark in there, I literally couldn't see my hand in front of my face. So we had to feel our way through this tunnel/cave. We never knew when we would step into a hole or touch something gooey on the wall, but it was so fun!

Israel--one of the men that built our house and these kids' dad and uncle--led the way with a 'torch'...a stick with a rag set on fire, hanging off the end of it. That's him in front. So that's all we could see...a ball of hanging fire. 

This is exactly what we saw for about 30 minutes.

Then we were out, into the sunlight! 

Now on to the next cave...

We had to cross nasty sewer water a few times.

But finally we got there. And what a surprise. 

...Nicole and I were expecting a cave like the previous one. But no...This is what we got: 

Me, Anahi, Nicole, Maribel, Israel, Roberto, Juan Carlos, Miguel, Ismael, and Eduardo. 

We had to crawl in on our stomachs, pulling ourselves by our elbows. 

So Juan Carlos, then Roberto, then Javier, then David, then Nicole, then Maribel, then I crawled/dragged myself in. That's when I found out I was the last one that would be going. HA!! Ya right...All I could think of was some wild animal running in the cave and biting my legs off and I wouldn't even be able to turn around and fight it off...much less the guys. So out I went...backwards...

I'm telling you what......THAT was AWKWARDDD. The tunnel was so stinkin' narrow, I couldn't even turn around to come out head-first. So I'm pushing myself out, trying to stay modest when I hear and see *FLASH! FLASH!* They had my camera and their phones out. 

...Needless to say, I have been stripped of any dignity I once had. 

This is Maribel and I coming out of the cave. 

While the others went on in, we sat outside waiting. 

Israel said that the reason some of us had to stay was because someone might put rocks in front of the cave's entrance to where we wouldn't be able to get out. Yikes. 

So the boys made a little fire and we waited. 

We were sitting at the bottom of this canyon when Israel said that we should climb to the top. "It would be safer to wait up there." I really thought he was joking...until everyone got up and headed over there. 

But first we had to jump over this little sewer-stream. So I jump...right onto some gorgeous green...squishy grass, and fill my shoe with slimy, stenchy toilet water. I'd about had it by then. 

I was dirty from crawling around on my stomach, feeling a little, uhh...humble...and now I had to climb up the side of this mountain that was about as steep as a wall...in an 'unsanitary' shoe. Well, I tried climbing with my port-o-potty shoes on and I just couldn't get a good grip. So I went shoe-less. 

Finally we got to the top and this was our view:

The tiny, white speck in this picture is the campfire that the boys had made in front of the cave entrance. 

The warriors. 

Javier, Roberto, Nicole, Juan Carlos, and David. 

Nicole says that inside the cave they found chunks of human hair and candles. The guys said that there are human sacrifices done in these caves. Oh. My. Word. What if they were to have run into a group of sacrificers?!

When we got back to their house we made another campfire and we roasted marshmallows, I played the guitar and we sang, and the guys told scary stories. It was a lot of fun!

THEN they taught us a few different games and we jump-roped. By this time, Bro. and Sis. Parents had shown up, so they jumped in too. 

At 11:30 we went home and I slept like the dead. 

The End!