BIRTHDAY LIST (37)

Every year on my birthday I've been writing a list of things to complete the following year. The list has the number of items on it as years I've turned.

You'll notice that everything on my Birthday List is family or personal oriented, as our ministry goals and plans are something separate that Dallas and I do together. I have fun creating these goals here as it reminds me to take time for family life and growing personally outside of or as part of our ministry life! 

Items in bold are completed and items in italics are in process. 

1. Go up to get ready for bed by 10:45 pm (so that we are hopefully asleep by 11:00 pm!), Sunday-Thursday. 

2. Go on a holiday with just us and the kids. Kind of Completed April 2019. Spent an extra night at the beach when dropping off Dallas' family at the airport in Puerto Vallarta :)  Completed August 2019. Went to Nuevo Vallarta as a family to celebrate our 17th Wedding Anniversary!

3. Go out on at least 6 dates with Dallas. Completed 4/6.
Cheesecake and Coffee for Dallas' birthday//Movie and Supper//Lunch, Shopping, Movie//Board Game Restaurant

4. Read at least 10 books. Completed 7/10 

Spiritual Rhythms//Developing the Soul of your Leadership//The Moonlighters Collection #1,2,3//The Boy who was raised a dog//The Next Right Thing//Mark of the Lion Series #1,2//The Emotionally Healthy Leader

4. Do a surprise activity for each of the kids and Dallas' birthdays.  
Dallas - surprised him with a homemade Brazilian Churazquería
Salo - went for lunch and surprised him with a family bowling afternoon, first time bowling for him (plus Mickey Mouse party)
Sofi - went for a bike ride and out for ice cream (plus Minnie Mouse party)
Brady - went for Texas bbq lunch and then to Flyers Trampoline park (plus a pizza/hockey party with friends at our house)
Carter - went to an Escape Room with Grandpa & Grandma Zac and Grandma Harder who were here in Gdl visiting from Canada, and to Olive Garden for lunch
Logan - ice skating in Gdl as a family

5. Try a new activity. Completed April 2019. Tubing behind a 2 story boat on the open ocean.

6. Take new family pictures. Completed April 2019 and December 2019.

7. Memorize two longer portions of the Bible. Completed 0/2. Memorized a series of verses with a ladies Bible study group.

8. Learn to make at least 3 new dishes or drinks. Completed 3/3. My year of trying more seafood :) 
Raw Tuna Ceviche//Pan-fried Shrimp//Carne en su Jugo.

9. Visit a new place. Completed April 2019. Went to Yelapa//Completed May 2019. Went to the Panama City airport on the way to and back from Paraguay.

10. Take time for a hobby.
Reading/Swimming/Traveling (to Paraguay - May 2019)

11. Learn about Motivational Interviewing.

12. Spend at least one afternoon or evening a week focused on family time. Completed 30/52.

13. Unplug every Monday afternoon as a family. Completed 30/52.

14. Update the kid's baby and school record books.

15. Family bike at least once/month. Completed 5/12.

16. Record all of our blood types. Half way there! We need to get blood tests in order to do this.

17. Month of December - Advent as a family.

18. Bike/exercise as planned/week. Completed 40/52.

19. Learn to edit videos better for church communication.

20. Organize and get rid of old cds and dvds.

21. Figure out medical insurance for Salo and Sofi. 

22. Go camping. 
Completed March 16-18, Brady went camping with Scouts//Completed June 8-9, family camping with Scouts//Completed August, Dallas and Carter went camping with Scouts in Manzanillo.

23. Try 3 new foods. Completed 3/3.
MX Pork Cheese (never again, but did it so I could say I did it!)//Raw Tuna Ceviche//Marlin Ceviche

24. Teach the boys basic kitchen safety skills (handling knives properly, Logan and Brady - lighting propane stove properly, fire safety, etc.).

25. Figure out Logan's allergies.

26. Make homemade tiger tiger ice-cream for the boys.

27. Help the boys grow their hobbies.

Piano/Basketball/Mountain Biking/Reading/Drawing/Hockey/Swimming/Acting/Cooking

28. Learn to do a proper french braid.

29. Visit the Orphanage Ranchito con Esperanza at least once/month. Completed 9/12. Dallas also began doing his Practicum there once a week in September 2019.

30. Go on a road trip. 
Completed April 2019, to Nuevo Vallarta//Completed September 12-13, to Mexico City for a Switchfoot Concert!

31. Make Zac and Wiebe family calendars for 2020.

32. Make macaroons. Completed June 2019. 

33. Learn something new. This will be a lifelong learning, but learning more about Trauma and the effects on children and the brain, reading through some of Dallas' Counseling books. 

34. Go on a holiday with the whole Wiebe family - Nuevo Vallarta beach in April!

35. Take all of the kids to the eye doctor again. Completed July 30, 2019. 

36. Plant cilantro (coriander) and green onions in the backyard.

37. Take a class.

WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON OUR DOOR?

"Knock, knock"

Someone knocking on our door (or ringing the doorbell) usually sends all 5 of our kids into a frenzy. One will look out the window to see who it is, two will rush to open the door, one will run up the stairs to put a shirt or pants on, one will yell for mom and dad to come.

This is our house. The thing that I love most about this house is that the windows from the kitchen and the living room are looking right out onto the street. I love seeing what the neighbors are doing and I love being able to look outside as I wash the dishes (3 times a day! No dishwashers here). This picture if from when we had a Prayer Team here a few years ago...I guess I don't take a lot of pictures of the front of our house. So that is Eileen standing in front of our door, from Landmark, Manitoba!

All right, I sat down this morning and made a list of just some of the people that have knocked on our door in the past while. I don't always want to open the door if I'm in my pj's in the morning, but we do enjoy the community aspect of living so close to our neighbors. You can see in the picture above that our houses are all right side by side.

1. A family from India had just moved into our neighborhood and had heard that there were English speaking people living here. They knocked on our door to introduce themselves.

2. A young adult girl had heard that we were Canadian and wondered if we knew French, as she was looking for someone to tutor her in French in preparation for moving to France (we don't!).

3. Several young kids were wondering if we wanted to buy a pencil or sharpener from them, as they were wanting to make some money. I'm always a sucker and always buy something.

4. A 10 year old boy wanted to buy a peanut butter cookie from us. Our boys had once gone door-to-door selling cookies to make some money (they sold 85 cookies!). Unfortunately we didn't have any peanut butter cookies when the boy came :)

5. An older widowed neighbor lady asked Dallas to come help her change her flat tire.

6. A lady that cleans at a nearby house had heard that I was looking for someone to help me clean one day a week, and wanted to offer to work for me. It was the wrong house she was at, but I tried to help her figure out who fit the description of the person she was looking for.

7. Our neighbor kids knock on the door at least a few times a week asking the boys to come outside and play with them, which they do.

8. Our next door neighbor comes to tell us that we left one of our van doors open, or that our cat is on the upstairs balcony, or other random helpful things.

9. A man knocks each Monday asking if he can clean our van for us, which he does. People here love their clean vehicles! and I love having a clean vehicle, especially on the inside.

10. The propane truck pulls up to fill the tank on the top of our house, which we use to heat our water and light our oven and stove.

11. The administrative lady in our neighborhood knocks at least once a week asking Dallas to sign cheques or other things, as he is the treasurer for our neighborhood area (we all pay a monthly fee that pays for some things in our area).

12. People also knock that we know ahead of time are coming - friends, get togethers during the week, and those that come for the weekly Bible studies in our home on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

So we have a bit of a revolving door around here! Besides the cleaning that comes with people in the home, we love having people here.

LET'S START WITH THE INDIVIDUAL

Just yesterday, in a town about 6 hours from Guadalajara, 66 people were killed and 70 or more were injured as they were stealing gas from a government pipeline that they had broken. It's said that the people from the small town nearby ran out with as many containers as they could, happy and taking selfies, as they took advantage of the free gas that was pouring out. It then exploded.

This has been a widespread problem in Mexico over many, many years and our new President is determined to crack down on it. The country is said to be losing billions of dollars of gas each year due to theft. There are those up in power that are putting in valves to divert the gas. There are those that are breaking pipelines. Then there are those that are taking advantage of all the corruption and stealing the gas for daily use.

In order to try and stop this, the President ordered all pipelines in key areas shut down, including in Guadalajara where we are. I won't pretend to understand the whole situation, but from what I understand, they are working to stop the corruption at the top. However, people are still breaking pipes and stealing gas. I'm not sure how this will all end, but I feel for those that had family members killed yesterday.

This affects us in that the gas stations where we are have to now wait for gas to be brought in by truck, which means less gas and longer waits. At least half of all gas stations are shut down at any given time and those that are open have line-ups of 30 minutes to 5 hours long, depending on how lucky you get. Pretty well before anyone goes out for gas, the whatsapp group chats are full of people asking which gas stations nearby are open at that exact moment, hoping that someone else in the group has seen one open with a short line-up.

"There is no gas"

So, to my point, we need to start with the individual if anything is going to change. People can blame the drug lords and those high up that are profiting from all of this. People can blame "those" people that steal. But, as in the case of this explosion yesterday, it was a whole town that was out there stealing. It was families and young people. We need to start with ourselves and with those around us. If we can't choose for ourselves to respect the law and one another, how will we change a whole country? Those in power used to be common townspeople too.

We are just a drop in the sand here in Guadalajara, a city of 7 million people. What can we do?? It seems daunting.

But we can make sure we don't cut in line at the gas pumps. We can show others that we will treat them with respect and love even when we don't agree with what someone else believes. We can teach and show others how to live a life that honors God, and in doing so, live a life that honors one another. We can cut off corruption in our circles, because it's everywhere.

If it's not gas or stealing, it's gossiping or cheating one another or any number of things that lead to not caring about the person next to you and how your actions affect them.

I know Mexico has a widespread problem with corruption. But maybe we can stop and think about how our actions are affecting those around us. Maybe it's not full scale like what I'm describing, but maybe we're taking advantage of someone or a situation for our own benefit in other ways.

LANGUAGE LEARNING AT AGE 4

I first started learning Spanish when I was 4 years old, when my family moved to Paraguay to work in church planting there. I don't remember not knowing Spanish and I don't remember learning it.

That said, I have definitely had to brush it up since moving to Mexico, as the Spanish pronunciation and some grammar is different than in Paraguay, and I had also been living in Canada for some years before we moved here and wasn't speaking it nearly as often. I did take one semester of Spanish as a brush up before we moved here, while Dallas was taking the full year.

So, I can't really say what it's like to learn a language from scratch, but while we were at language school I really had to respect those that were learning for the first time! That included Dallas, who had taken a bit of Spanish before, but learning it to speak it fluently is another matter. It's much more difficult doing it as an adult (but do-able).

Fast forward to this last year, when our newest addition, Salomón moved in with us at 4 years old last July!

When he moved in he had never heard English before. He arrived not understanding anything and so we spoke mostly Spanish in our house so that he would adapt to our family without having that barrier in the way. Bit by bit we started talking half English and Spanish and just let what came out, come out when we were together as a family in the house.

Kids pick language up naturally when they hear it a lot, and we had seen our other 3 boys learn Spanish and English simultaneously, as they were living here when they learned to speak. So we knew that Salo would eventually pick up English just by living with us and hearing it often. But I thought it would take longer!

Over Christmas break is when we really saw how much he speaks already. We had two sets of visitors from Canada over the break and so he heard a lot of English, and he said that he wanted to practice his English.

He is now talking in sentences and it is so cute and amazing.

For sure he still speaks Spanish better than English, and we still talk a lot of Spanish with him, especially when talking directly with him about something he's feeling or something that happened or just to connect better with him as he can express himself better in Spanish. But, he is doing so well and enjoying it.

It's fascinating the way our brains work, and it's fascinating to watch someone learn a language without even having to really try!

The best example of learning this way was the other day when he asked me, "Can I go grab a sweater?". He's using our expressions and sayings (grab) in context and without thought.

So, it's been fun to watch this.

FAMILY UPDATES - SEPTEMBER!

Dallas and I were saying this morning that it feels like this is the first week since June that we have had a "regular" routine! 

So many good things have happened since June, and they're also just simply things that make life busy.

The kids got out of school at the end of June and were home till mid-August. 

In July our new missionary co-workers moved to Guadalajara and we spent quite a bit of time with them in the summer, which was so great! 

On July 23, Salomón moved in with us (our 4 year old!) and as good as he did in adjusting, it still means adjusting for all of us. We took a family holiday together shortly after he moved in, which was such a great bonding time

In August all 4 boys started school and my parents came to visit for 10 days! Salo and Sofi bonded so quickly with my parents, as they had seen them on Skype and we talked a lot about them before they came, so it was so neat to see.

My mom and dad

And last week we had representatives from our Board of Missions in Canada here for a week, which meant meetings and people in our home all week, also good and also busy.

So, life continues to be busy but we are settling into a routine now of ministry, regular meetings, school, homework times, kid's activities, etc....at least for the next few weeks ;)

Here's just a quick update on each of us these days!

Carter (aka Chaí) - age 11, grade 6

This summer, Carter got into camping quite a bit. He went to Bible camp for a week, he spent a night camping with Scout friends, and he did a two day hike and camp-out on the mountain together with Dallas, Logan, and our friend, Juanca. 

He also loves spending time with his friends and once every week or two he is invited to someone's house after school or has a friend over here to the house. 

He just finished swimming lessons this week and was asked to be on a competitive swim team. He chose not to though, as it means swim practice every day of the week. Instead, he is going to join the Scouts program on Saturday afternoons and is also taking piano lessons during the week.

He also instigated starting a YouTube channel together with Logan and Brady :) We'll see where that goes. It's private for now but they like to do mostly food challenges at this point.

He also loves to draw, cook, play with the neighbor kids, and read books.

Logan (aka Logey, Logancito, Gancito) - age 9, grade 4

Logan also really enjoyed the hiking trip this summer and spent his time there hunting for mushrooms and taking pictures of them (he found about 10 different kinds). He also went to Bible camp for a week.

He just finished swimming lessons as well, and is going to start the Scouts program and is also taking piano lessons. As you can see we generally have our kids in the same activities ;) so far they like the same things more or less and it makes it easier with multiple kids and taking them to their activities.

He is a curious kid and likes to see how things work and what he could do with different things.

He also likes to draw and make up stories and comics, he loves Calvin & Hobbes, he likes to play with the neighbor kids, swim, ride bike, and bug people.

Logan is also a very sweet kid and loves to play with Sofi and Salo. He often asks to help put Sofi to bed and will sing and pray with her.

Brady (aka Tobey, Tom) - age 8, grade 2

Brady turned 8 on August 14 and asked us to do a friends party and then to surprise him for his family party. He invited several friends over to the house to make pizzas and play, and then we took them all to see a movie. For his family party we went and played mini-golf and went for lunch.

Brady is a people person and loves to talk to people. He is not afraid of very many things and likes to see what he is capable of doing. He prides himself on being everyone's friend at school and got an award from his teacher in June for being the funniest in the class :)

He likes to roller blade, bike, play with legos, swim, and play with his friends. He also just finished swimming lessons, is taking piano lessons, and will be joining Scouts.

He wants to be a teacher when he grows up and he already has such a great way with younger kids, explaining how things are done. Salo is in preschool here and has homework and Brady has a much better way of explaining things to him than I do! Maybe it's a patience thing :)

Salomón (aka Salo, Salomoncito, Salemono) - age 4, Pre-school

Salo has been doing so amazing since he moved in. He has adapted way more quickly than anyone expected and it's so good to see him flourishing. He shares a room with the "big" boys and loves to copy anything they do. 

He speaks 100% Spanish but is starting to learn some English. We speak to him mostly in Spanish, but he hears English all day both at school (it's bi-lingual) and at home when we talk among each other and he's starting to understand quite a bit. 

Having a 4 year old again is interesting as we get used to hearing "por qué" (why?) all day long! But he is learning so much about the way our family does things and how the world works in general right now. 

Salo likes to play with lego, play with with cars, he likes to ride his bike, go to the park, swim, and play dress-up. He likes the color red, loves Superman, lions, and monkeys.

Sofía (aka Sofi, Chofis) - age 2

Sofi has got the personality to run a household of 4 older brother! haha She is a girl full of life and fun and determination. She is a big people person and loves to be with anyone, but at the same time, rarely lets mama out of her sight. 

She loves to play with play dough, with cars, ride her little bike, be with people, wrestle with daddy and the boys, and she likes pigs at the moment.

She also likes to pick out her own clothes, change her shoes about 10 times per day, and always have a "moño" (bow) in her hair.

Tara 

I don't think it's hard to guess that I've been a little busy with mothering 5 kids! It has made life quite a bit fuller with adding two kids, although I think it's mostly because of their ages and that they need more attention and care at those ages. So it's expected and fun but I do find that I am still figuring out a new routine and balance with 5 kids. I'm so thankful that they all get along well and are happy for the most part!

Besides taking care of the kids and alllll that this entails....

I am a wife! and all that this entails :)

I also am involved in our ministry through leading two weekly ladies Bible studies, meeting with women one-on-one for mentor-ship, meeting with women and families weekly, volunteering monthly at Sofia's orphanage, hosting two weekend Bible studies weekly, teaching Sunday School, being part of our missionary team planning meeting and prayer times weekly, etc.

It all adds up to too much to do in one week...and I'm currently evaluating and figuring out, you guessed it, a new routine!

As far as enjoyment, I enjoy times of reflection, reading for fun and for learning, being with closer friends, skyping with family, relaxing and hanging out as a family of 7, organizing things (ha! yes), watching a couple of shows, drinking coffee, biking in the park, baking cakes here and there, and being creative in different ways.

Logan thought he was sooo funnyy....

Dallas

Dallas is also busy being a dad to 5 kids now! Between everything else he does, he has been trying to be intentional about spending on-on-one time with each of the boys as they go through adapting to new siblings and a new family. I think this has helped them to not "get lost" in the mix and in the process.

His focus is also our ministry, and he has meetings and prayer times each week with our missionary team, spends time planning and brainstorming and researching and praying and prepping for upcoming ministry things, preps and studies for the weekend Bible studies and services, meets with men and youth in the evenings for one-on-one mentor-ship or counseling, and many other things. Ministry is hard to pinpoint as it changes throughout the week but he enjoys the spontaneity of it and also enjoys visioning for our church plant.

He also is busy with another course towards his Counseling Masters online, which means a lot of homework.

And he enjoys mountain biking, biking as a family, wrestling with the kids, playing some sports with the boys, bbqing, etc

SOOOO that is a quick update on life these days! There is much we are processing and learning and much we are thankful for at the same time. God is good.

TODAY'S NUMBERS...SO FAR

7 breakfasts made and eaten
2 cups of power inducing coffee in this mama
2 lunch kits bought
2 pencil cases bought
10 pencils bought
5 bags of groceries bought
2 boy's runners bought for school
2 boy's goggles for swimming lessons bought
(sensing a theme here today??)
1 boy currently having a nap
1 girl currently having a nap
1 boy being taken out for one-on-one lunch with dad today
1 load of laundry done
3 emails sent
1 budget updated
1 boy's birthday party supplies bought
4 shelves for boy's room hung

As you can see, it's a bit of a catch up day here today. We took some time away for our anniversary last week and then we had Bible study and ministry this weekend, so today we are stocking up on groceries and getting some things that the boys will need for school, that starts in just 2 weeks!

The Nappers

EVERYDAY ENCOUNTERS

Ongoing discipleship and investment into people's leaves means meeting them where they are at, and this often includes meeting up with those we mentor, disciple, and invest in through everyday activities. 

Like helping our co-workers find a puppy and taking them to a church member's house who hasn't been attending for a while. Her dog just had puppies, so they get a puppy and we get to encourage someone who has been struggling lately.

And like checking out a big new sports store to look for a few things we need, but going to that one specifically because we heard it's good but also because one of our church members started working there. We were able to brighten his day and show some interest in his life, as he had been hinting at us to come visit him there.

And like walking with the kids to the local park and meeting up with a neighbor who, after meeting our 2 kiddos, shared that her and husband have wanted another child for many years and looked into adoption but hadn't been able to find information on how to go about it. I was able to encourage her to take that step and sent her the phone number to call.

And like having two of my ladies Bible study ladies and their kids over for lunch so that the kids could play, giving us an opportunity to meet together outside of a Bible study time. This leads to different topics and types of conversation. 

And out of that meeting we were also invested in! One of the ladies heard me commenting on us thinking about needing a bigger fridge with more kids (our fridge is a basic, small fridge) and she said she had just been asking God to show her who to give her fridge to. So her and her husband decided to give us their side-by-side fridge that needed a bit of repair. We repaired it and now we have a bigger fridge. What a blessing to be invested in and cared for as well.

WE HAVE OUR 2 KIDS (+3) UNDER OUR ROOF!!

We are still in a little shock and awe, but we now have our 2 kids that we are in process of adopting living with us!!

I know we said just recently that it seemed like the process of visitations with our little boy, Salomón, would be another few months, based on what we were being told as far as process, but last week it was decided that he was ready and that it was best for him to come. It came as a very, very welcome surprise to us.

So we had a few days notice that he would be coming, which we took advantage of by moving beds around and setting up room for his clothes in the boy's closet, and then we waited and got a call Monday afternoon to pick him up in an hour! The 4 boys are together in one room and Sofía has her own room. Not because she is spoiled! 😅 but because he is used to sharing with many boys (and our 3 boys have always shared a room) and we felt it would make him more comfortable.

We are so thankful for the people involved in working with him and the process and we are so thankful to God for bringing the two siblings back together and for them becoming part of our family 💓 Of course it is hard for him as it's a huge transition (he is 4) but we are amazed at how well he is doing. 

                              

Now, they are not officially adopted yet - that will take a while yet as there is more paperwork to do. But in our hearts they are ours. Our boys are aware of the dynamics and we talk together about how while they are with us, they are our family and we love them as such. And the boys have been so amazing with both of the kids! They are proud to tell people that they are part of our family.

My prayer for Salomón and Sofía. That One is God.

JULY FRIENDS AND EVENTS

The end of June and the beginning of July always bring a lot of wrap-up parties and events with friends.

And living in Mexican culture means inevitable going to a lot of parties! People here love to get together and it's always a lively time. That said, we've been able to form closer friendships and connections with those at these parties by getting together one-on-one and in smaller groups, which is where those deeper conversations tend to happen.

So, here are some group shots from events in the past few weeks!

Carter with friends at a 1st communion party. Most of his friends are from traditional Catholic families and the 1st communion happens between the ages of 8-11.

Some of the parents at the 1st communion party - Dallas was taking the picture.

Carter was invited to a friend's house for a day and they went out to find a place to fly their drone. This is one of Carter's best friends since kindergarten.

The moms at Carter's 5th grade grad party!

And the dads at the party.

Those are just a few, as most of our pictures have our little girl in them! She is always with Dallas or I and so ends up in a lot of our pictures and therefore I have to pick and choose :) 

And here is one more of the boys with friends. All 3 of our boys are currently at a nearby Bible camp for the week, and based on the few pictures we've been sent, I know they're having a great time. This is Logan and Brady's cabin, and Carter is in a separate cabin. This year Carter had 2 friends go with him and Logan had 4 friends go, so this is a neat way for them to invite their friends to hear about and experience a week of God's love being taught and lived out. 

With the boys being gone this week, we have our little girl here with us and tomorrow our little boy comes to visit. The house is a lot quieter...and a lot cleaner!...less cooking going on here, that's for sure. But we've been able to get quite a bit done, some extra coffees and meetings in with contacts, organizing in the house, Dallas other work, so it's been a good week.

NEW TEAM MEMBERS

These last couple of weeks we have been busy welcoming, getting to know, and helping our new team members settle in!

Angel and Blanca and their 4 kids moved to Guadalajara to join our church planting team. They've been living in Canada for almost 15 years where they were working in church planting as well, so we are excited to work with them and experience life together here in Mexico. It's been so enjoyable so far just getting together and visiting and beginning to share and dream together about the church plant.

The kids have also hit it off really well, as their 3 oldest will be in the same grade as our 3 oldest, and they have much the same life experiences with all having grown up in a culture other than their parent's original culture.

The summer months are always a little hit and miss with everyone being around for Bible studies but we are having Angel and Blanca meet the different people in our groups and they are out and about a lot in their neighborhood and on the streets meeting the neighbors.

Continue to pray for them and for ourselves as we form this team and for the people they will come into contact with that are looking for purpose in life, that as a church body we will together be that light in the darkness here in this city!

A WEDDING

Last weekend Dallas had the privilege of marrying Jesse and Paulina!

Paulina's family joined our church here in Guadalajara 6.5 years ago; they were the first family to become part of our church plant here. Several years ago she began expressing an interest in serving God through missions work and so made plans to attend Bible College, and after checking into a few, decided on Steinbach Bible College in Canada.

Just a few months before she left, we happened to have a Missions Intern, Jesse, come down for 9 months to work with our team, and long story short, Jesse and Paulina began dating and are now married!

As they are living in Canada right now, the wedding was there and Dallas flew up for the weekend to be part of the celebration. We would all have LOVED to have been able to go but it didn't work out and that's ok. My cousin, Faith, who was at the wedding, sent me picture throughout and I enjoyed seeing it from afar. 

Paulina's family are quite involved in our church plant and it's encouraging to see the way God works in growing people in faith and maturity, and we enjoy working with and enjoying life with them!

As a bonus, Dallas also got to see 3 of our brothers on this weekend! He landed in Calgary, Alberta and was picked up by and stayed with one brother and family for night. Then he borrowed their car and drove a few hours to stay with my other brother and family for a couple of nights. Then one night he discovered that his brother who lives in BC happened to be holidaying right where Dallas was and so he got to see him as well. So that was all bonus. Thanks, boys, for taking care of Dallas :)

ADOPTION UPDATE & HOW WE'RE ALL ADJUSTING

Once again, while I would love to share pictures here on the blog of our two that we are in the process of adopting here in Mexico, I will need to hold off until it's more official. But, we are asked often about where we are at with the adoption so I'll give a quick update.

Our little girl has been living with us for just over 4 months now! We are fostering her while we wait on the legal processes of having parental rights revoked, for both her and her brother. We have no control over that paperwork and so it is a waiting game. Our adoption certification was finished last year in August and so we are ready whenever they are!

Because we met our little boy that much later after we met our little girl (they are siblings but they were separated), visitation was also started that much later. He is also older, having turned 4 in May, and so is more aware of what this means and Mexico's CFS is working to make the transition as smooth as possible for him. He comes to our house one day a week and every week we see him opening up more and more. Please pray that he will transition well and that he will thrive and continue to be a joyful little guy! Pray also for the social workers that make the decisions as to when he is ready to move in permanently.

Please continue to pray also for the paperwork. Parental rights need to be revoked and then we can begin the actual adoption paperwork! In the meantime we hope to have them together in our home in the next few months sometime.

In other news, our little girl turned 2 on Monday! It's hard to believe we first saw her when she was 2 months old. As soon as we saw her that first day, we felt a tug to ask about her and here we are. She is so full of enthusiasm for life and we feel privileged to have the opportunity to provide her with a loving family and to give her a place to belong, praying that she will rest in that and find refuge in God as she grows and reflects on her life.

The boys are also doing really well with the adjustment of having a sister and a toddler in the house. It means being quite sometimes when she is napping, having a little less time with us as parents, not being able to go to the movie theatre because you have to be 3 to go to the movies here ;) but they love her and have accepted her as part of their life and family. 

We often ask how they're feeling or what they're thinking and I think that helps, at least it makes me feel I'm checking in if nothing else! They are proud to call her their sister though. She came along with me to Carter's zoo field trip and Carter wanted her with him all of the time so he could show her off. That's great to see (may-hap there is a girl he wants to impress??). They are also talking about where our little boy will sleep, are praying for him every day, and waiting for him to come also.

It's taken Dallas and I some getting used to also. Going back to a toddler after having all 3 kids in school already has been a bit of a transition. I'm still getting used to having a child at home all day with me...although in reality, it means her going a lot of places with me. I lead 2 ladies Bible studies on 2 mornings and attend another one, so it makes it a little tougher when you have a 2 year old along. However if Dallas is working at home in the morning he can keep her at home while she naps or things like that, which makes it easier. 

We're getting more used to it though and it's feeling more natural to have a young one again. Our older 3 are so independent already and I need to be ok with having more demands on me with a two year old. And now seeing the age difference between her and Carter makes me want to hang on harder to Carter as he seems so old now and I don't want him to leave me!! ha! He's 11, still young I know, but I can't imagine them not being here. I feel like I'm becoming a middle aged mom and it's hard to believe that soon I'll be that 50 year old mom with an empty nest. All right, I'm starting to digress. I'm not even 40 yet. 

Anyways, to sum up, we are so thankful for the lives God has given these 2 kids and so thankful to see how things are going right now with the adoption process. We have no guarantees that the adoption will be finalized, as things can happen with foster care, but we are thankful for the moment, thankful for coffee when toddlers don't want to nap, thankful for our family, and thankful that God has blessed us with a daughter and another son right now. 

A Field Trip for the kids means a Field Trip for the moms

It's that time of year again where all of the classes go on one last field trip to finish off their time in the grade they're in. Since all 3 of our boys are in elementary still, the moms are invited to come along and help chaperone the group. 

I have gone on many field trips over the years, mostly to the zoo as that's the one I enjoy signing up for. We have one of the best zoos here in Guadalajara! 

So today I went along with Carter's grade, which is grade 5. I must say, I enjoyed this grade more than the younger grades. Not because of the kids! But because this age is just so much more independent and you don't need to worry quite so much about someone going missing by accident. 

Only 6 of us moms went along on the trip, but they happen to be 6 that I enjoy being with a lot from this grade, so we had just as much fun as the kids did. Most of these ladies I've known since Carter was in kindergarten, so 6 years now.

There is a Safari that you go on as well and I gave my phone to Carter for this so he could get some pictures.....he was one of the few that did not have their own phone along (as he does not have one!) and he felt a little left out. But I told him that I think he can enjoy seeing things much more without having to see it all through a video on a little screen the whole day and he was fine with that.

I know at this age they like to fit in...and that's a balance we're working through, in knowing what to allow our kids to have and do to not feel "out" of things but also helping them be human beings that are happy even without a screen! It's a hard one in this day and age where 10 years old are taking phones everywhere.

So anyway, the following pictures are from Carter :)

To finish off the day we also went on the Sky Zoo which is a slow meandering ride over top of the zoo.

A few other things I learned today:

1. Our kids will need to learn what are good thing to take pictures of if they plan on having the privilege of using my phone once in a while. In other words, taking pictures of certain animal parts or of ostriches mating is maybe not the best choice ;) Yes, I know, everyone else took the same pictures.

2. One mother (not pictured) shared with me many the different ways there are to cross into the US without being detected, even today with all of the security.

3. Carter has good friends! Yes, really! I love seeing him with them and I love that he (and his brothers) have invited many to a local Bible camp this summer and today 2 mothers confirmed that they will send their kids with Carter and 4 confirmed that they will send their kids with Logan! Our kids are influencing their friends whether they know it or not. Pray for these kids and their parents that we continue to rub shoulders with.

Grandpa Harder's passing

Just over a week ago, my Grandpa Harder passed away. It was quite sudden and it's still hard to believe that it actually happened.

I was able to go to Canada for 6 days to be with family and to be part of the funeral, which I am SO thankful for. Being far away can make things not seem real when they happen over there and I know it was part of the good-bye process for me to be able to be there in person. I also am grateful to have been there with all of my brothers and be able to support my mom and my Grandma, and uncles.

I just want to share here the tribute that I shared at the funeral on behalf of my brothers and I.

The first memories I have of Grandpa are from when he and my Grandma came to visit us on in Paraguay where we were growing up as missionary kids. Even though we lived far away from each other for several years, we always knew that he loved us grand kids and knew him as a grandpa full of kindness, eager to help anyone he could, with interest and knowledge in a wide range of topics, and with a genuine appreciation and joy for life. We also saw his love for serving others and God, which was evidenced in him singing and playing the guitar and harmonica in church while visiting us and his joy in building the staircase at the mission property for us, which still stands 25 years later.

Several years later when we had moved back to live in Kleefeld, we spent many days and Sunday dinners at his and Grandma’s house. He was good at so many things and he always allowed us to learn what he knew by doing and experiencing, not just by hearing about it – he showed us how to use the many tools in his shop to build different things, how to work his riding lawn mower, how to play golf, how to make the perfect juice for Sunday dinner, and how to appreciate playing music, among many other things. We also spent many hours hearing his stories about his growing up years, playing dominoes, having wiener roasts, watching golf, attending football and hockey games, and just learning from his life and his example of faith in God.  

As we grew older, we appreciated even more things about Grandpa. We saw the way he continued to volunteer and serve his whole life and learned from his commitment to his family and to his church. We also appreciated greatly the way he always gave us words of encouragement and affirmation to make sure we knew that he was praying for us, that God was with us, and that we were valued by him. He also gave this same love and encouragement to all of our kids, his great-grandchildren, who loved him just as much. Even though they are young and have never lived in the same town never mind the same province or country, they have many good memories of their time with Grandpa because of the efforts he took to make sure he had a close relationship with them. He had a way of making you feel cared for even in a short amount of time. Each person that came into his home felt welcome and felt his hospitality, which included good food but also a genuine care for you as a person.

We will miss our Grandpa a lot and thinking of him makes me smile through the tears because of the person he was. We don’t need to be sad for him and all that he’ll miss here on earth, because where he is in a place with so much more joy than we can even imagine. But I know that doesn’t mean that we won’t be sad as we think of being without him, so let’s encourage each other and be there for one another in the same way that he taught us to do in the many years that we had with him here.