***PARTY!!!***

Yesterday we had a WONDERFUL party here at our house for our Mexico team!

We thought it would be fun to invite any one who could make it and just have a great time eating good food, hanging out and playing games to get to know one another better!

The game is called "Telephone Charades"...it is one of our favorites to play with youth kids...it's pretty funny with adults too as you can see by this video :



Yeah...it's going to be a great team!

Serving Him,
tarena

T-Shirt Design!

Brandon designed these t-shirts and was able to get them for $10 for anyone who wanted one! 

Great job!

Mandatory Meeting After Church

Today we had another mandatory meeting right after church.

I have really appreciated how the team gets right down to business and stays to the topics at hand...it helps with our five kids who are hanging out too! =)

We brought some oranges and leftover meat for our kids to snack on before they ran off with some of the older kiddos to play. I ended up enjoying most of the meat-I sure do love good food! =) Did I mention how excited I am to try some of the foods in Mexico? Well, I am very excited! =)

I digress...food always gets me off topic!

At the meeting we covered some of the ways we could raise funds for those of us who haven't finished yet (that would be us!! lol!)-I do appreciate that there are a few different ways already set up for us to work with. Takes a lot of the stress out of things!

We also reviewed "Job Assignments". Here is the list of the main positions that needed filled at this meeting:

• Food/Supplies Purchasing Coordinator
• Kitchen/Cooking Supervisor
• VBS (Vacation Bible School) Coordinator -craft coordinator, snack coordinator, sports equipment coordinator & Entertainment Coordinator
• Worship Leader
• Devotional Leader
• Evening Outreach Speakers
• Teen Outreach Coordinator
• Evangelism/Small Group Coordinator
• Accommodations Coordinator
• Mexico Base Camp Coordinator

(For time sake, I'm not going to list their descriptions, but I was amazed at how many main leaders are needed for each trip!)

Honestly, I was holding my breath (and not making eye contact with Brandon! lol!) that I wouldn't be asked to lead any thing. That sounds horrible, but I know my limitations and I was honestly feeling that if I was a leader I would be overwhelmed.

Please don't get me wrong...I LOVE to help out-it is actually hard for me and has taken me many years to learn my limits and when to say "no". I also don't want it to sound like I don't want the Lord to push me beyond my limits and stretch me. 

I do want to be stretched. I want to grow. And I'm excited as I know I will be on this trip...

I just also know that this is my first mission trip to Mexico with FIVE young children...and we eat a different diet right now to help heal our oldest son. This means that I will be a little busy and distracted.

It will be wonderful to help where I can and I can't wait! =)

At the meeting we reviewed a few of the things covered in the last meeting, talked about upcoming important dates and fee deadlines.

It was a great meeting and we are just getting more and more excited for the trip!

Before the meeting I caught Brandon and Geri at the fundraising table (our church can buy something called "SCRIPS") that is like gift cards where a portion goes towards the trip.):

 I also caught Gary (Geri's husband) sitting off to the side going over some verses with a friend. Isn't that so wonderful? I love to see people with hearts for the Lord and His Word...we have such a great team!)

Serving Him,

tarena

Taco Feed Fundraiser Fantastic Fun!

Our team spent Saturday chopping, cooking and preparing the dining room:

A man and his meat!

lots of cutting going on!

(yes they use real knives...remember we cook a lot and they love to be chefs!)

after awhile the kids got bored of prepping and decided to start the party early!

the pepper men

getting to know one another (Tim and I agreed that this was our favorite part of the day...that and the smell of  garlic and cilantro delighting my scenes!)

serious business (don't let those faces fool you-these ladies are HILARIOUS!)

so sweet!

they were full of great ideas-look at this chip platter!

On Sunday we set up and served the masses:

here they come!!!

take Hudson's word-it was a wonderful party!

I don't know what to tell you about this...I don't take responsibility for these young men.

Well, actually as they will be in Mexico with us, I'll do my best to keep my eye on them and make sure they don't get into too much trouble! =)

yeah...I think this was his third or forth time through the line...in fact this wasn't even where we were sitting as a family, it was just the closest empty seat from the taco line! Good thing they loved having him there and thought it was adorable!

"cleaning up"...the guy way.

oh yeah-we are going to have SO much fun with this group in Mexico!!

Woo-hoo! We are getting so excited!

Thank you so much to everyone who showed up to raise money for the community in Mexico! We had a wonderful time serving you all!