This last week, our family was invited to participate in a neighborhood "posada", or Christmas party.  We put some money into the posada fund and showed up around 2:30 p.m. on Tueday afternoon for the party. 

Posadas are traditional Mexican Christmas parties and are held during the month of December.  The word "posada" means "lodging" or "shelter" and these parties are meant to commemorate Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for shelter. 

We weren’t really sure what to expect as we arrived at the neighborhood posada, so it was interesting to see how it would be celebrated.  There was a table set up out on the street in front of one of the houses and everyone just sort of gathered around. 

First of all, there was a brightly-colored star shaped piñata for the children.   The rope was stretched out over the street with the piñata hanging from the middle.  One end was attached to a tree and the other end was held by a man perched precariously on top of a wall on the other side.  The children were lined up and each given a chance to take a turn.  Each child had a turn that lasted as long as it took for everyone to sing one verse of the traditional piñata song and then count uno! dos! tres!  As soon as the piñata began to fall apart, one of the men off to the side began throwing candy out into the street.  The children all scrambled for the candy and also for pieces of the piñata. 

After a little while, another piñata was brought out, a soccer player this time and the children were lined up for their turns.  Each child was able to take many turns since the soccer player held up pretty well!  Early on, one foot fell off and I noticed that there was one little boy who played with that foot during the whole time we were there!  No candy was given with the second piñata, though, much to Jojo’s disgust!    They still fought over the remains of the piñata! 

After the piñata was finished, it was time for tamales.  The children were served first and then the adults.  Many people had brought sodas to drink and we all stood around eating the tamales and chatting with the neighbors.  Then a couple of men showed up with a boom box and began playing some music.  Jkaile was the first to get out and dance!  haha! 

At this point, we needed to leave because Miguel and Micah had a rehearsal for the Christmas program at church.  As we left, some of the ladies were organizing games for the children.  We were given candy bags full of treats and toys for the kids since we were leaving before they had been handed out.  About two hours later, we heard that the party was still going! 

For more pictures of the neighborhood piñata, check out our photos page! 

This last week, Miguel was able to meet up with a team from our home church in Arkansas to spend a week serving a community in the mountains outside of Puebla, Mexico.  Puebla is a city in the central/southern part of Mexico, close to Mexico City. 

The team provided medical help, VBS programs for the children, and worked on building relationships with the people in this community.  Part of the team also worked on a construction project, helping to build the church there.

Miguel was very excited to be able to take this trip and enjoyed the ways he was able to serve, mainly in the areas of construction work, translation, and the VBS programs.  It was good time for him to get to know the folks that came from Arkansas as well as to continue building relationships with the ones in the community there. 

It was a long week for the kids and me while Miguel was gone, but we made it!  We are proud that he could go, but it is certainly good to have hime home again! 

As we get pictures from the trip, we’ll keep updating the photo album on our photos page…check it out! 

Several weeks ago, we volunteered to host some of the students for "Dorm Night Out", helping to give the dorm parents one afternoon and evening of special family time.  This last Tuesday, we had the privilege of having Sonya and Cory join our family for a few hours after school this last Tuesday. 

We helped them with their homework, fed them supper, and then cleared the table for some games.  After teaching them some new games that we had, we decided to pull out a favorite…Pass the Pigs.  Instead of rolling dice, each player rolls two small rubber pigs and gets points depending on how the positions in which they land.  We enjoyed so many laughs as we played, especially at Miguel’s expense…he kept losing his accumulated points by continuing to roll and repeatedly rolling a ‘pig out’. 

Check out our photos page for a few pictures of Dorm Night Out at the Aguirre house!  (Note: click on the pictures above to expand them)

Last Saturday, our family had the opportunity to take a "paseo" (outing) to a nearby town to go to the Apple Festival.  We also toured an apple processing plant and met the owners…it was a lot of fun!  Beautiful scenery, local produce, and yummy food…a great paseo for our family. 

Check out our photos page for more pictures from our time at the Apple Festival! 

John Michael’s 4th birthday falls on September 29th and this year we celebrated together as a family.  Unfortunately, some of us were sick, so we couldn’t have a full-fledged birthday party, but Jojo didn’t seem to mind.    We had cake and ice cream and then he opened his presents.  He was very happy with his new K’nex car, Lego kit, and candy (he loves chocolate!).   Later that night, we looked at pictures of Jojo when he was a baby!  We could tell he felt pretty special to be the center of attention that day.

As Miguel was getting John Michael ready for bed, Jojo announced that he didn’t want to use pull-ups at night any more now that he’s a big boy.  Miguel told him that it might be hard, Jojo would have to work hard to do that.  Jojo thought about that for a few minutes and then he said, "Well, maybe we could try again when I’m 61!" 

Jojo is a very delightful little boy and he adds to our family with his funny comments and bright smile.   Check out our photos page for more pictures from Jojo’s birthday!

This week Miguel is taking the opportunity to attend a seminar in Baja California.  So far, he has really enjoyed the teaching and says he has been learning a lot!  Since he is in a part of the country where we have missionary friends, he will also be taking the opportunity to visit them and speak at their church over the weekend. We were classmates in the training with the folks on this church planting team, so it will be a good chance for Miguel to visit their place of ministry and to be an encouragement to them. On Sunday, Miguel will be speaking at a church that supports several members of this team, and is looking forward to visiting there as well.

One of the single girls that lives upstairs here in the dorm is also from this church and has asked Miguel to bring back some corn tortillas from her home town since she says that they are much better and bigger than the ones we get here! I guess we thought that most corn tortillas were about the same… I guess not!

While Miguel has been gone, the kids and I have been following our regular school week schedule. Gracia has her Kindergarten classes from 8 to 11:25 a.m. and Micah gets out at 2:30 p.m. I am grateful that we have been able to arrange for someone to bring both Gracia and Micah home so that naptime for Jkaile and Jojo won’t be interrupted every day. Both Micah and Gracia are looking forward to the first school break next week, even though they are enjoying their classes and spending time with their friends. Micah has struggled a little with his spelling, but we worked extra hard this last week and he got a 100% on his test this last Friday! Woohoo!   We’re working hard on his spelling words for tomorrow! 

Prayer:
Thank you for your prayers as Miguel travels and as I hold the fort down while he’s gone. I would especially appreciate prayer for me…I have been battling a cold/throat infection and cough. I would also appreciate prayer that I would be able to get plenty of rest and sleep so as to be able to adequately take care of the family. Many times while Miguel is gone, it is hard for me to sleep well. I am thankful for our mission community here, since I know that they will be “on call” if I need anything (including a nap!).

If any of you have ever been out to the Southwest, you might have experienced "toritos", which are called "goathead thorns" in English (the Spanish ‘toritos’ means ‘little bulls’).  They get their name from the fact that they literally have "horns".  They are one of the most annoying little things you’ve ever seen…or felt, rather. 

Toritos grow everywhere out here in the desert, on a seemingly innocent little plant with pretty yellow flowers.  But they leave behind these sharp little thorns that are capable of crippling a person temporarily or puncturing bicycle tires (it’s nearly impossible to keep the bicycle tires inflated, so most people fill their tires with a product that replaces the air so they can avoid flats). 

When we first lived here years ago, we lived outside of the city and noticed immediately quite a few jackrabbits, bold enough to come out during the day!  The jackrabbits mercilessly nibbled on the grass that we carefully watered every day and we wondered why the dogs weren’t more vigilant…until one day we saw one of the dogs attempting to chase down a rabbit, only to yelp as a torito stuck him in one foot and then another.  I didn’t know that dogs could actually still get around on only two legs! 

Playing volleyball was an adventure as well…every time the ball hit the ground, it had to be inspected carefully or the next person to serve or receive it could get a nasty surprise! 

Toritos also enter the house stuck onto people’s shoes…the toritos in the picture are the result of checking my flip-flops the other day…no telling how many had already fallen off in the house!  Several days ago, Jojo was showing me how he could hop on one foot and landed on a torito!  Some people, like Jojo, react to toritos with itching and redness, so we quickly washed off the puncture wound before it became any worse. 

It got me to thinking about how it’s the small things that can affect us the most sometimes…the little hurts, the little irritants, the small comments or perceived slights from others.  As Miguel and I are adjusting to a new field of service and a different way of doing things, it’s not really the big changes that have the potential to get us down, but the little things, like having to make small changes in the Spanish words that we use, the slightly different ways of relating to others within our mission organization, an inconvenient laundry set-up, or learning to use a new cellphone… 

And just like with toritos, those things are out there and hard to avoid.  The best thing is to learn how to deal with them quickly and check often to see if anything is clinging to us that might fester into big problems later.  Our entire ministry can become as crippled as a two-legged dog if we don’t watch carefully and take care of ourselves! 

First Days of School!

Micah and Gracia did very, very well on their first two days of school. Gracia had a bit of a rough start on Monday morning with the school assembly…I think it was a bit overwhelming, but her teacher said she perked up when they got back to their classroom. Micah also seems to be fitting right in and really likes his teacher. We are so thankful that everything is going so smoothly…well, almost everything, we’re still getting used to the morning routine! ) I have included pictures of each of their classes.

Miguel’s U.S. Passport

Miguel received his passport in record time!!!! I think it was less than a week and a half, which is pretty incredible…but we are very thankful to have it since now he can return to the U.S. any time he might need to.

Thank you for all who have written to let us know you are praying for us! You are all an encouragement and a blessing…

In Christ, Becky for us

Greetings from Mexico! Yesterday we reached the one week mark of having arrived in Mexico…we are so excited to be here! We are so thankful for everything God has done on our behalf and to have had a safe trip…someone said we looked rather like the Veggietales’ Grapes of Wrath with our trailer and van packed to the gills! ) I would hope that our attitudes were better…

Anyway, as I mentioned before, our trip was uneventful (in a good way!) and we had no trouble with visa or car paperwork at the border, PTL. Interestingly, we arrived in the middle of a rain storm…rather not what we expected for the desert! It actually stormed the first 3 nights we were here and we’ve noticed that everything is much more green than we remembered! We’re not complaining…it really looks beautiful!

After spending one night in our mission’s guesthouse, we were able to move into our own house. We will be living in the ground floor of our mission’s Bible Institute dorm and look forward to getting to know the students that are living here this semester (single girls above us and single guys below). Our house was mostly furnished, so we’ve been able to focus on unpacking and setting up house this week. Our primary ministry will be in the Spanish study course, helping teach other new missionaries the Spanish language and culture. Miguel is looking forward to getting started on Monday.

Cuzco and Cora

Cuzco and Cora are the newest ‘members’ of our family; they are the guard dogs that we will be responsible for taking care of while we are living here. These dogs are an important part of the team as they deter break-ins on the property. We are thankful that they seem to be relatively gentle with the kids and seem to have accepted us very well. They both love to play and fetch, but do sound rather ferocious when strangers pass by the gate. It’s an interesting contrast in behavior!

Miguel’s Citizenship

Miguel is now a proud U.S. citizen! He was able to take his oath of citizenship and receive his certificate 2 days before we left Arkansas! It was an exciting moment for both of us, as you can imagine…now he will be able to get his U.S. passport, which will make international travel much easier for our family.

Kidstuff

The kids are very happy to be here and have been adjusting well. They are enjoying our large yard and have already set up a ‘clubhouse’ with friends in our trailer (one of the only spots in the yard where the dogs can’t reach them!). Micah and Gracia are looking forward to starting school on Monday and they have all of their school supplies already ready to go in their new backpacks. Jojo is looking forward to spending more time with Mommy at home while Micah and Gracia are gone. ) Jkaile has been rather laid-back these days…pretty much his usual self. Well, he does love to unpack boxes and suitcases when we aren’t watching…