finally a real update!

A Cusqueño Sunset... lindo, no?

Happy faces...shining eyes... I love these kids...

Michelle (on the top left with the hat on) arrived on May 24th (sorry for the delayed update!). We are happy that she is here. Her and Holly have been doing lots of things to help us... especially me (now that i am pregnant i need more help with everything) like cooking and cleaning. God knows how to bring us help just in the right moments. They also are (were) spending their mornings learning Spanish; here in our home... and 3 mornings doing a route with local Peruvian women. As far as I have heard, it's been going really well. Please pray for Holly to improve and for motivation to keep learning.. the beginning process is always the hardest.. it takes work! Like I've told both of them, an internship is to learn (and to have a glimpse) into what it is like to be a missionary. And as a missionary, wherever in the world, the first and foremost responsibility is to learn the local language, in this case, Spanish. So their main "job" here is to learn Spanish. Michelle is doing well, she has studied in the past and has family who are fluent, but please pray that she will have the confidence to actually speak it, which will put into her mind, like stone, the new words that she is learning and already knows.

Apart from serving in Hogar Amantani, a local orphanage, 2 days a week, the girls are also helping with the children's ministry. Last week, Holly taught the story of when Jesus walked on the water, and I translated. She did really well. The both of them were in charge of the craft that day; it turned out well and the kids loved it. It helps me so much to have a break now and then... so I can actually have time to do some other things, like posting in this blog, e-mails, newsletters, reporting and other administrative responsibilities.

I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this blog updated. I had a camera full of pictures, which i finally was able to transfer to the computer. And I'm sorry in advance for my sporatic thinking. I have tons of random thoughts which I want to get down, but it might not all flow!

May went by quickly. Holly completed her first month on June 11th. Michelle will complete her first month this Sunday, the 24th. Both girls have been fighting some illness and weird bug bites. They have been good sports about it though. There are always interesting things happening in places like Peru. I wish we could figure it all out, but thankfully they are taking it really well.

Now I'm finally posting this blog, today is June 22nd. Our first missions team for the winter (or summer, for those of you in the northern hemisphere) is from CCV (Christ's Church of the Valley in San Dimas, Ca- my home church), and i'm happy to say that half the team has arrived. Yes, HALF. They had a problem with one of their connections being cancelled in the US, which made them miss all the rest of their flights. 5 members arrived this morning (praise the Lord) and the other 6 will arrive on Sunday morning. They all are resting now, trying to adjust to the altitude. One of the girls is feeling the altitude sickness, please pray for her that she will feel 100% after taking a nice long nap. Please keep praying for the rest of the team (wherever they are now!) that they will arrive safely without any further complications.

God is good. We are so blessed. Our good friend Matt (we call him Mateo - in spanish) arrived yesterday to spend a month with us. He always brings encouragement, good laughs and happy times. It's like a breath of fresh air from God. I also was pleased to see my really good friend Helena arrive with the CCV team this morning. I haven't seen her since our last trip to the US a year and a half ago. It's so fun seeing old friends after such a long time and feeling like not one day has passed from the time i last saw them. God knows how to bring us encouragement at just the right times. His sovereignty is an astounding blessing in our lives.

So that's what has been going on in our lives over the last several weeks. I will be 3 months along next week! I love being pregnant. I've been feeling pretty good. I tire easily (which means I sleep alot!), I get nauseous off and on, but really not too bad.. and thank the Lord I am coming into my 12th week, which is almost the 2nd trimester! Good bye morning sickness! I am looking forward to the newfound energy that supposedly comes in the 2nd tri. Until then, I am doing my best to stick things out and keep doing activities like normal. I get irritated easily, so pray that I will have an extra dose of patience in my life! I also discovered that I am becoming a little forgetful... but I'm not sure if it's due to being pregnant, but it seems like the perfect excuse, doesn't it?

Ricky is the joy of my life. I have never been more in love with him than I am now. He is going to be the best daddy. I can't wait for him to hold his future son or daughter. We are overwhelmed with gratitude at the blessing of having a baby. Ricky is just the man I always wanted to share my life with.. and soon we will be sharing it with our child. He's been good to me and really understanding during the unpleasant times of pregnancy. One time, he went out to find me a certain type of ice cream at 11pm (when all the shops were closed already)... and it's winter time here...and freezing at night! Why on earth did I want "princesa bonbones", I don't know. I guess our little one just had a craving!! My husband is a good man!

That's it for now... I will try and updated more often (like I always say i will). I have to write out children's ministry quarterly newsletter soon (like THIS week) but we'll be with the team, so please pray that I can find some time. Plus we'll be sending out the June newsletter soon.

Chao for now

(ps. more pictures coming soon!)