Oklahoma

In early October we decided that we needed to take some time off from our work here with the Tarahumaras so that we could visit family, friends, supporters, churches (not necessarily in that order). We left Creel on Oct. 10 and began our journey which stretched to over 4500 miles in 31 days. We knew that the Lord was leading us to do this; however, we did not see how our costs would be covered. We planned our time to maximize the number of people we could visit, but our plans were not set in stone and we tried to keep a positive, flexible attitude.
We visited my niece, Ana, and her family. I loved holding and feeding her new baby girl (who was only 5 days old when we met).
After visiting Ana, we began the drive to Oklahoma via Tijeras, NM and Canyon, TX. We visited with new friends and old friends and we renewed acquaintances. Driving on to Oklahoma our first destination was Claremore, OK - but to get there we had to pass through Oklahoma City, my hometown, and I got us lost very easily. Amazing that after living there for the better part of 32 years, I forgot my way!
We spent 8 days in Claremore with our friends, the Crawfords. Ray & Cathy blessed us and pampered us. Their church replaced the tires on our truck as well as the clutch. They did so much to bless us - through their friendship and by spending time with us. Cathy took Jaynie and me for pedicures, a treat that I had not experienced in over 15 years and one that Jaynie had never known. Ray took Jose Luis skeet shooting with the men of his church. But aside from all of the things we did together, it was the time spent visiting that meant the most.

Skeet shooting

Jaynie's new hairdo - after suffering with straight hair, she decided she wanted to get a perm so that it would be curly. It was a bit harder than Jaynie imagined, but she was pleased with the results.

After leaving Claremore, we headed to Oklahoma City to spend a couple of days with my sister and her husband, as well as to visit my home church and a couple of dear friends who had recently returned from missions in other parts of the world. We also went to dinner with 2 friends from First Church who treated us to Mexican food at Tarahumara's Mexican Cafe. I had been craving spicy food and I got it there. Thank you, Brenda & Terri, for a great evening.

Our family enjoys visiting the OKC Zoo every time we are in the area, and this year was no exception.

Near the tiger area, there is a small bamboo forest perfect for getting a feel for life this way.

Somehow I did not download all of our photos onto the computer before Jose Luis erased them, so these are the best photos of the lot. However, we do have so many photos of animals at the OKC Zoo, the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX, and the Living Desert Museum/Zoo near Carlsbad, NM.

Texas & New Mexico

After our time in Oklahoma, we travelled to Fort Worth to spend 3 days with our friends the Freemans. We really enjoy visiting with them - talking until late and then getting up the next day to hit thrift stores, Jo-Ann's, and this year Ardis took us to the Fort Worth Museum of science and history. We liked the Cattlemen's exhibit complete with long-horn cattle. We sat through a stampede and then tried to round up strays. I really liked the challenge of managing a ranch (budget and all).

Jaynie learning how to ride and round up stray cattle at the Fort Worth Musuem Science and History. She did better than either Jose Luis or me. We'll see if she wants to ride a real horse here in Creel!

We also went to the exhibit on Egypt. It was great - with pottery shards puzzles, pyramid blocks, a mummy, and a camel. Siam & Jaynie travelling through the Egyptian desert - looks pretty real, no?

We had so much fun with James, Ardis, and Siam - worship services, daughter dates, shopping, great food, and great conversation. Thank you all so much for everything!

From Fort Worth we drove down to the Rio Grande Valley to visit Fanny & Buddy Ross. When we served with Oklahoma VIM, Fanny became and great friend and support. Six years have passed since we last visited them, and we were glad that we could get down to Mercedes for a quick visit.

Leaving Mercedes, we drove across Texas and into New Mexico. We stopped at the Living Desert Museum to see more animals. I think our favorite place to stop anywhere we go is the local zoo. We don't get tired of seeing the different animals and we are always amazed at God's imagination and creation (sorry no photos of anything more than animals, plants, and trees).

We continued on to Cloudcroft/High Rolls where we spent the weekend with the Kimball family. We went bowling (the second time ever for Jaynie and Jose Luis), sledding at White Sands, shopping at local thrift stores, but most of all we enjoyed visiting with Scott, Lynn, and their family as well as with old and new friends from the First Baptist Church of Cloudcroft. We hope to see them in the spring here in Creel!

We enjoyed the sun (and great cool weather) at the White Sands National Monument. We all went sledding down the dunes and then trudged back up to do it all over again.

Scott shows Jose Luis the cockpit of one of the drones used to test weapon systems. We've never been so close to a fighter jet - it was really cool!

We spent over 4 weeks in the States and the Lord blessed us so much with great friends, family, and church families. We were refreshed and now feel very pampered. Nevertheless, I was so happy to return home to Creel and to the work the Lord has entrusted us with - Thank you, God, for your love, care, and grace expressed through so many wonderful people throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. I only pray that You, Lord, will use us to bless others.

We were on the road again!

But now we are home. We spent a little more than 4 weeks on the road this fall. It was a great trip! We were able to meet new friends, visit with very dear friends, and spend time with family. We left Creel on October 10th and returned home on November 11th. As soon as I can get photos loaded, I will show you a bit of where we went, what we did, and who we visited.
Since our return, we helped with the monthly Bible course for Tarahumara Christians (Nov. 15-19), made a quick trip to Cuauhtemoc to pick up US passport cards (which we applied for back in August!), Jose Luis made several trips to help his mother with government applications and paperwork, and we began homeschool again (much to Jaynie's dismay).
This Saturday Jose Luis will be sharing at a thanksgiving celebration at a Tarahumara boarding school run by the Methodist Church of Mexico. Then he will be going to Samachike for a week of Bible translation work. Jaynie and I will hold the fort down and hopefully made great progress with her school.
On a sad note, my kitten Fluffy ran off while we were in the States. However, his mother Lulu is still here - we gave away all of her kittens from the 2nd litter last weekend. We are trying to keep her in and away from tomcats so that we can get her fixed. No more kittens for us!
Well, I will make every effort to upload the photos soon. I hope that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving Day - what a way to spend in thankfulness for all that the Lord has done for us, no?