Great Monday Afternoon from TJ:)

Busy morning but we survived and got all the kids off to school on time:) Only three days left... and then what? you ask...keeping 90+ children busy all day is certainly a challenge. I am inviting any and all to come and entertain for a few hours, a day, a few days, a week or two, etc:)



The kids begin swimming lessons next week I think. They can't wait and ask me every day when the lessons start. There is also a day camp during the summer that they usually attend but with the swimming I am not sure they will get to do both. We take them to the park and to the beach more in the summer. They love the ocean...so do I from a distance. I am not a sand person:) But I will walk in it to get to the ocean if I have the opportunity. I don't like swimming in it all that much because as I get older it gets stronger and takes alot to keep on my feet:)



Please keep the house in your prayers. The owners who offered to sell us the building turned around and sold it to someone else. They have put up a fence that has cut our play area down quite a bit. It is to keep the kids away from the construction that they are going to begin soon. They want to turn the building across from us into prostitution row and line the streets with girls. It is the entrance way into TJ for those walking across the border. We are going to plead with the government to stop this from happening. Hopefully they do not want girls at the entrance of the tourist area here in TJ. We are trusting and waiting on the Lord. This house is His and His kids so we are expecting a miracle!

Today is a nice, cool, cloudy day in TJ. Not like 108 degrees in Sacramento! I am visiting my nephew and his wife and their children for a few days next week. I am looking forward to the visit but the temperature is a little scarey. I certainly need to dig out my bathing suit and shorts. We are going to Lake Tahoe and San Francisco...should be lots of fun.

Hope you are enjoying the TJ updates. I would like to get most of the people on my email list to plug in and read the updates. Signing off now...back to the books:)

Hello from TJ

Today is Miercoles, 24 de Junio

Happy Birthday Michele...I know I am close...is it the 26th? Today is sunny and bright and the kids just finished eating spaghetti:) The first round anyways. The elementary kids will be home in about 30 minutes...they change and then eat. Then it's tajea (homework) and showers tonight. They take a shower every other night. Tonight is the girls turn for showers:) How fun it is to get 13 little girls showered and ready for bed:) They don't like going upstairs when it is still light outside...well, you moms know how that is:)

Some of the older kids finish school this week. The younger ones go most of next week. Not sure of the final day. Then it is a few weeks before they have graduation. We have 6 or 7 students graduating either from primary or secondary school. Primary graduates the 6th graders and secondary graduates the 9th graders. They move on to three years of prepa...then universidad:)

Adilene is standing next to me while I am writing this update. She is 6 anos and attends kinder here in the house. She will be going to first grade in Septiembre. She is asking me all kinds of questions including words in espanol and ingles. Como se dice...how to you say...noche in ingles... night...luz...light. Most of my girls are learning to understand and speak english. I have a few that pick it up faster than the rest. When I say something half and half one of the girls will tell the rest of the girls in todo espanol what I said. Most of the time it works. Until I want them to do something right now...ahora! Of course they are typical kids and continue to do what they are doing. Which is when I loose my cool:) I need to pray for patience almost everyday (hour really:)

Gotta run...the girls will be home any minute and then the fun begins:) I also just started helping one of the older boys with Algebra (my love). He is struggling but it is fun to help. I pray he will catch on and enjoy it as much as I do. So I am writing this update, answering Adilene's pregutas and helping with Algebra...nothing like multi-tasking:)

Adios de TJ:)

Hello bloggers:) Today is Tuesday, about 1:30 in the afternoon. The kids are at school and it is fairly quiet in the house. I am sitting in the office and the little ones are outside. Every now and then they find me in the window and will talk to me for a few minutes. We have about 8 little ones who are between the ages of 1 1/2 and 3:) Very cute:)

I am working on the ofrenda today (payroll). No taxes:) Just straight pay. But of course it is very little. Between 50 and 100 dollars a week. Try living on that in the USA:)

Please continue to pray for this house. We found out today that the owner sold the building to someone else. Who knows what is going to happen but I know that God has it all in control and so we pray and wait on HIM. I believe this is where we are suppose to be. Only time will tell.

The weather here is warm and sunny with bright blue skies (cielo azul:) May the Lord bless you abundantly today. Love from TJ:)

Pictures from TJ

1. 1. Misael, Abi y yo:)

2. Kids playing foosbol:)

3. Abigail and Misael

4. Misael on his bicicleta

5. Oops:)

I also had a wonderful visit from a friend in Ohio on Thursday evening. Greg Finnegan came to San Diego for a week with the Navy and we met and had dinner together. We had a great time of sharing news and updates. It is so good to get updates on friends I miss from Youngstown Christian School. Thanks Greg for the food and fellowship:) It was really great.

Sunday, Father's Day in TJ as well:)

The kids had a great time swimming on Saturday and will begin lessons in a week. Michelle is trying to work out all the bugs before they begin. Lanny and David came and helped too. Thanks guys:) They come every other Saturday and hang out with the kids...usually spoil them too with Carl's Jr and ice cream. We also had a family come and set up a big blow-up screen and projector outside. They showed "Hotel for Dogs" and gave the kids popcorn. It was alot of fun:) They said they would do it again next month. Thanks Jackie and family:)

We had a few visitors today that played with the kids. We are hoping that once we own the building that we can put in a playground for the kids. We already have a slide and a merry-go- round thanks to Barry:) We would like to build a nice, heavy duty, built for a hundred kids, type play ground that will out last the kids:) They are pretty rough with the things we do get. They would be good for testing the durability of toys and other products:)

I am going to spend an hour or so working on the financial books to keep up to date and then it's off to bed. If I don't go at a decent hour than I am a bear with the girls in the morning:) Yeah that's right:)

Hope to hear from you all soon:) I did not know what the address was to log on but now I do:) So I will send it out in an email. Please let others know of this blog too:) Thanks from TJ.

Welcome to the TJ Blog

Hello to all who read this blog. Today is Sabado, 20 de Junio 2009. Most of the children are at the public swimming pool today taking a test to see what they know about swimming. They will then be put into groups and begin swimming lessons next week. They will be going on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for two hours for about six weeks.



One of our volunteers set up the program...she has been doing this for about three years. This year she has gotten the instructors at the public pool to give the lessons. Speedo also donated about 1500-2000 dollars worth of swimming suits, bags, goggles, and caps for all the children. What a blessing. There are between 35 and 40 kids taking the lessons. Michelle is hoping the kids will be strong swimmers and eventually work into a junior life guard program and who knows from there. Maybe some of our kids will be able to work as a life guard here in TJ in a few years. That would be awesome.



Of course today they will probably freeze because there is no sun. Without the sun the kids think it is cold. Today is a little cold...especially for swimming but it should be warming up here pretty soon. They call it May grey and June gloom...to me it is just Ohio weather:)



I am hoping to use this blog more often to keep you all informed and hope to hear from each of you in return:)