God provides sleeping bags

I love it when God is working out little details WAY before you even know what's coming. Truly, we can trust Him in all things.

One of the many ways God provided was sleeping bags for everyone in our family. This summer Tim's mom, Sandra suggested sleeping bags for the kids for Christmas. We thought it was a nice idea and didn't think much more about it at the time.

Who would have guessed that many months later we would all need sleeping bags for our trip to Mexico.

God knew.

He's taking good care of us.

We are so thankful for all the support and love shown to us as we prepare for this trip!

Serving Him,

tarena

Tamale Fundraiser!

Who knew a fundraiser could be so much fun???

Today we drove to the church bright and early to help make TONS of tamales. No, our family can't eat them right now, but I heard that they were delish! 

I had never made Tamales before, so there was a lot of learning, but I love to experience new things and especially when it relates to a different culture...and FOOD! =)

Melissa and her awesome sisters were heading up most of the effort and a few other gals were awesome and did the shopping. What sweet servants we have on our team!

We made a few different kinds for all the pre-orders we received ( Brandon sent out this Facebook message:

"Are you hungry for some tamales? Do you need a break from cooking dinner? The Spring Break Mexico Missions team is selling tamales, and we will deliver them to you on December 22. We have 6 different types - Chicken vegetable, Jalapeno cheese, Chorizo with beans & cheese, Chicken with red sauce, Orange and Pineapple. They are $12 per dozen and you can mix & match, or get 6 of each flavor (3 dozen total) for $30."

Not a bad price and from the sounds of it, they went over really well...here is what Melanie said on Facebook:

 "Hey everyone who helped with the tamale fundraiser...I would like to say thanks, they are so yummy!!! PS the ladies at my work place also loves them and both said they would order at least double next year, you have made them customers. They too wanted to say how delicious they are and thank you! :) Merry Christmas everyone!"

Yea! So encouraging to know that they were just right!

The kids did great...they were totally into it at first as they got to wash up and squish the tamale batter flat with the press. Keaton even tried his hand at filling and rolling them-he did great! After awhile, they got bored and ran off to play (yes...they were running through the church!) with the other kids. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed their day!

Here are a couple of pics from today:

Nicole (who is 9 months pregnant and not even going!) was sweet enough to help out for the day!

Some of the team and a few extra helpers ready to start the next batch!

Well, I'm exhausted...time for bed. This has been a wonderful day and I'm all excited for our trip...especially looking forward to hang out with that hilarious Mel for hours on end! She is a hoot! =)

Serving Him,

tarena

Optional Meeting

Hmm...there is an optional fundraising meeting we can go to this weekend...will we make it?

Should we go? Will the kids sit for that long after church?

We better bring food.

Serving Him,
tarena

Saved $50!!

Whoo-hoo!

We saved $50 per person by committing by today's date to go on the trip!

I love saving money! =)

Well, I guess we knew for awhile that the Lord wanted us to go-but to have Tim able to get the vacation days off and "officially" commit is just amazing. Truly a miracle from the Lord! We still don't know how he got Spring Break off!?!?! That is valuable vacation time-only the Lord worked it out so that no one else at his work wanted those days off!

Thank you Lord!

Serving Him,
Tarena

ps...32 people are already committed to going this year!!

Working On The Van

Working on the van a bit before it's ready to hit the road...

this may be more difficult than we anticipated.

Pray for us! 

Serving Him,

tarena

Opps...

There was a pop can fundraiser yesterday and I totally didn't see the info on Facebook.

Bummer.

Good thing we have MONTHS to prepare and do more fundraisers! I do have a feeling that these months are going to go FAST!

Note to self...check Facebook often.

Serving Him,
tarena

Bought a 15 passenger van...

...oh yes, yes we did. =)

Serving Him,
tarena

Letter from Brandon

Brandon sent out a Facebook letter:

"Can you believe it is less than 6 months until our next mission trip to Mexico? I promise not to start a count down (yet).

Anyways, I want to get some very important info to those of your that were unable to attend last week's informational meeting.

First of all, the dates of the trip are: March 22 - April 1, 2012 (March 24 - March 30 if flying).

Cost is $450 per person 13 y/o+, $350 per 6-12 y/o and $65 for 5 y/o and under. There is a price break of $50 for anybody who commits to go on the trip by December 4, 2011 and makes a $100 deposit ($50 deposit if 12 y/o or under). The discount doesn't apply if 5 y/o or under. This cost covers all trip expenses except food on the drive down and back, and hotel costs if you choose to not stay in the free churches along the way. Of course if you choose to fly, that will be at your expense also.

We have come up with this pricing structure to make it affordable for families to be able to participate, and to encourage early commitments so we can get a jump start on lining up vehicles. There will also be optional fund raising opportunities made available to reduce the amount required, for those that want to participate.

I hope all of you have had the opportunity to visit the mission website at www.gomissionstomexico.com - if not, I encourage you to do so.

Please prayerfully consider joining us for Spring Break 2012. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

In His Service,

Brandon Chase"

Great info to keep in mind...shocking how inexpensive it is to go! (There are a few additional costs: passport if you don't have one yet, $20 to cover lunches for the week as the church we are helping is going to cook for us, meals on the way down and back and some spending money if needed!).

I'm going to have to figure our costs out a bit differently as our family will be driving our own vehicle and paying for our own gas...it comes out about the same per person...so we are looking around $3,000.

Depending on gas prices. Oh, gas prices-why do you rise???

Serving Him,
tarena

First meeting

Today we had the first Spring Break Mexico Mission Trip 2012 meeting. It went really well and there seemed to be a good turn out for those who are interested in attending. There is also a great age range-very cool! Lots of people who have gone before and also a lot of newbies to this group!

We were given a few handouts going over the break down of costs and also what the schedule for the trip would look like. There will be lots of fundraising opportunities and they sound really fun-especially the taco feed.

Now let's pray that we can get the vacation time off and we are all set to go!

Serving Him,
tarena

Going to Mexico?

Abbi and Hudson, September 2011

We have prayed about it and we are going to Mexico!

Our dream is coming true!

Serving Him,

tarena