Christmas 2011

Like many of you, Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year!  Not only is it a time that we recognize Christ's birth but it is a universal feeling of thinking of one another through our actions, gifts, cards and thoughtfulness.  I just wanted to share a few things that I did and enjoyed this year!

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and made more memories with your families! :)

I love white lights on my house for Christmas! 

Andres will be in college next year.....I hope I won't be the one on the ladder. :( 

We love lighting the fireplace for its beauty and for making roasted marshmellows or smores!

Our living room tree that is color coordinated for show....

...but this is my "memory" Christmas tree.  It has our children's baby ornaments, ornaments they made while in grade school, pictures, small toys our children played with, ornaments my husband and I had on our tree since our first Christmas, Gabriella's first Christmas ornament and many more sweet memory items.

I like to decorate our dining room table.

I love to bake...

...bake

and bake!  :)

The best yogurt covered pretzels and ...

and popcorn in Kansas City! 

"Velvet Creme Popcorn Co."

(Thanks mom and dad for sending me some!)

Yearly Christmas breakfast with the office staff and our Pastor and boss.

Christmas Dinner 2011

Jared, Elyssa & Danny

While on deputation in the east part of the country, my wonderful son-n-law took time to drive to KY to let Elyssa see her brothers whom this year were not able to come home for Christmas. 

Elyssa and Danny

Elyssa and David

Melody, Brenda, Elyssa, Gabriella, Aracely & Diana.

Lexington, KY

I love hearing our children's choir sing!

I love hearing updates from some of our college students who are home for the holidays.

Elyssa & Gabriella

My grandbaby's first Christmas! :)

"Can we please hurry so I can open my presents from grandpa and grandma?"

Gabriella not knowing which toy to grab first!

"I'm being a good girl!"

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our missionaries!

We hope that you had a very Merry Christmas with your families and a great day in your churches yesterday.  May God give you health and many blessings in the new year to come. 
We love you and pray for you and your ministries.

Love & Prayers,
The Missionary Circles of Iglesia Bautista Fundamental 

"Dorcas Missionary Circle"

Leader: Roberta Ortiz, Kareny Leon, Aida Ortiz, Silvia Valencia, Belinda Tamayo & Yanira Roman.

"Debora Missionary Circle"

Maria Jose Orozco, Leader: Nellie Muela, Inez Mendoza, Heather Juarez & Nelda Garcia.

" Esther Missionary Circle"

Berenice Ramirez, Clemencia Sanchez, Karisa Daniel, Leader: Alma Moreno, Maria Alvarez, Patty de la Torre & Juanita Martinez.

" Eunice Missionary Circle"

Socorro Ruiz, Maria Beltran, Leader: Mirtha Rios & Maria Alvarez

"Priscilla Missionary Circle"

Leader: Sandra Guzman, Mayra Olvera, Graciela Barajas, Magda Gutierrez, Angela Vera & Mayra Moreno.

"Rebeka Missionary Circle"

Gloria Alvarez, Alma Rojas, Leader: Maria Carpenter & Perla Martinez

"Ruth Missionary Circle"

Leader: Gloria Landeros, Martha Vazquez, Maria Guadalupe Campos, Carmen Ramirez & Gema Orozco.

"Sarah Missionary Circle"

Noelia Vargas, Rebeca Lopez, Leader: Laura Arevalo, Olivia Lopez & Elsa Torres

Ladies Christmas Party!

Last night I hosted our yearly Christmas party for all the ladies in the Missionary Circles in our church.   For some reason my household clears the property!!!  With the exception of this year!  My husband was sick and so he was stuck upstairs in our bedroom.  I'm not sure how much rest he got because of his comments like, "What was so funny?" and  "You ladies were laughing so much!!!". 
We had a great time!  I don't know how we all fit but we had 38 ladies in my family room. 
We started off with a meal catered by Dickey's BBQ, a couple of games, a gift exchange, a prize for the best festive dressed lady and then time to show my gratitude to the ladies.  Every year I recognize my group leaders with words of thankfulness for their hard work and gave them a gift.  Then the leaders give a gift to their ladies in their groups thanking them for their time and hard work.  They all received a christmas ornament that I make especially for them, then we end the evening by having dessert!  :)
I am so thankful for these ladies!  They are faithful to our meetings, the emails, cards and phone calls to our missionaries, their extra love offerings and christmas love offerings they collect for our missionaries, and last but not least their love and prayers.
Thank you ladies for a job well done!  You are the best ladies in the world!  I love you!

Caracas, Venezuela

On Tuesday, November 29 my husband and I left for Caracas, Venezuela to do a couples retreat and a Family Conference.  Wow!  What a trip!  We left DFW at 12:15 pm and arrived at our final destination in Venezuela at 2:30 am on Wednesday morning.  The retreat started that morning and lasted until Friday afternoon.  They reserved cabins in the mountains where Germans onced migrated in the 1940's.  So many of the places had a look of Germany to them.  It was a very peaceful and beautiful place. 
I got to speak to the ladies twice on marriage but my husband carried much of the teaching and spoke several times.  The Lord really blessed that week.  Many of the couples were pastors and pastor's wifes and a few couples from their churches.  Many decisions and changes were made in marriages that week.  But the sweetest decision was when one of the husbands accepted Christ as his Savior.  His wife had been praying for him for so long! 
Note:  I learned how to shower and wash my hair in 4 minutes flat before the hot water ran out! :) Lol!

On Friday afternoon we headed down the mountain to Maracay, Venezuela to begin the Family Conference which would end on Sunday night.  Wow what another blessing!  I must say that the Lord used my husband that week!  He did a tremendous job preaching!  Once again we saw many decisions made and tears at the altar.  I had the opportunity to speak to the mothers and daughters on Saturday morning which I enjoyed doing so. 
We had been with these sweet people for a whole week and it was hard to say good-bye!  But as we boarded the plane early Tuesday morning to come back to Texas, we brought them all with us in our hearts!  We promised to pray for them and keep in touch.
For those of you that are now following my blog from Venezuela:
"Gracias por un tiempo maravilloso!  Fue una gran bendicion para mi!  Estoy orando por todos ustedes y sigan adelante!" 

The Couple's Retreat

Colonia Tovar

The scenery from our room.

The room on the top right was where we stayed.

Couple's session

Waiting for lunch!

My husband and I.

Shops, shops and more shops! :)

Typical hotdog
(A type of french bread, hotdog, cole slaw, mustard, ketchup and crushed potato chips.)

The ladies and I

My husband and the men.

From our hotel room in Maracay.

Hotel lobby

Evening in the plaza. 

Freshly made pizza

Pastor & Mrs. Jose Luis Fuentes and us.

My husband preaching.

Closing night of the Family Conference.
Invitation