A Glorious Homecoming

After several weeks away, John is finally on his way home. We both thoroughly enjoy youth ministry, but it doesn't help the marital relationship when he HAS to go to camp. Oh well, thank God for the telephone. It is not all fun and games though now that he will be home. We have another mission trip to plan in only one week.

Some of you may have gotten a letter from us asking for donations for our trip to Brazil. Thank you for your help and prayers, but our trip has been......"redirected." It was not in God's plans for us to travel to Brazil. We had numerous problems with our airline (COPA). I think they must be going out of business or something because one by one our flights were cancelled. They are no longer flying to Brazil. We tried desperately to find another airline that would give us a good deal but to no avail. We were forced to cancel the long expected trip. Fortunately, we were able to get another mission to Honduras. We were going to travel to Honduras and still meet up with ROW (Rivers of the World). There was some bad luck there too, because they originally said "sure, no problem" but found out they were overbooked.

So now we are going to be visiting a church that our church helped build two years ago in Choluteca, Honduras. We will be doing some manual labor on the church, potentially dedicating it and serving the first communion. Some other plans include: Vacation Bible School, touring a coffee plantation, attending school with some children, going to see some ruins from the Mayans and checking out the beautiful waterfalls and thermal waters.

I think this trip is going to be fascinating and a great experience for the youth in our high school group. Please continue to pray for safety, health and rest for this group of kids and especially John as he keeps going like the Energizer bunny.

Love you all!!

Well since John totaled my car a few weeks ago, we spent the entire day Saturday out shopping (and buying) for a car. It was 105 degrees in Valencia where we were and we couldn't do anything but sweat. Every time you opened a car door to look inside, it felt like your eyes were being burned and your eyebrows singed. It was a scorcher. At the end of the day (after 6:30 p.m.) we drove off the Honda lot with a brand new 2007 CR-V. It is so cute. I don't have my digital camera so I downloaded some pics for you from the Honda website. The interior of our car is gray cloth, not tan interior. But you get the idea. Our's also does not come with the navigation system. This is obviously the upgraded, more expensive model. Although our's does have the sun roof and 6 disc changer. Ooh la la.
It's fun and we enjoy it and it gets us around. Or at least me while John is out of town.

My mom's family's first home in Oregon. I think there were only like 2 or 3 bedrooms for all 6 of them (4 kids and 2 parents).

My aunt and uncle and cousins with the Princess (me) and my mom.

Jenny prancing or leaping, not really sure what the heck is going on.

My mom and her sister taking a stroll along the beach and "having a moment."

Life's Challenges

Alright, here it is cuz.....the PRINCESS is back in action on her blogging. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged in FOREVER. So here I am. I got a raft of crap from my cousins while I was visiting them in Portland a few weeks ago. Both of them are out of the area and don't get to see me often, so they have been checking my blog, or lack there of. I promised them I would get back on and keep everyone posted on my life.

Everone always says your marriage will be tested once you experience a lot of stress or traumatic occurences. John and I must have a pretty strong marriage then. My grandfather passed away a few weeks ago after suffering a heart attack. It was so hard on me seeing that I am all the way in California away from ALL my family and especially Gpa. I couldn't decide if I should fly up right away or wait a few days to see how the surgery went. In the end, I waited and now I regret it. I didn't get to tell my grandfather how much he meant to me. It was so hard, but John was right there by my side the entire way. He made every effort to travel with me to Portland for the funeral and services and to comfort me in my time of grief and extreme emotional meltdowns.

My grandfather was such a fun guy. Whenever I was sick or just didn't have anything to do, I would go to their apartment and would instantly be "all better." Grandpa always took me to the driving range or miniature golfing (he was an avid golfer). Grandma and Grandpa always gave me what I wanted: good food, ice cream, candy, a dog (since I never had a pet) and love. I will never forget spending the night and walking into their bedroom and seeing Grandpa's eyes wide open. I used to get so freaked out, I never knew if he was spying on me, or just sleeping with his eyes open. Oh and Grandpa always made the best food and after dinner we ALWAYS played a few games of Yahtzee. My grandfather was a game player and it never failed that he always won, why, because he was a cheater! He would steal my points in Cribbage, change the dice during Yahtzee if I wasn't looking, or counted the points in his hand faster than I could add in my head. But nevertheless, I loved playing with him. Even though I didn't get to say goodbye and tell him that I love him, I have many great memories. The last memory and time I spent with Grandpa was during my wedding when I did a tribute Hula for my grandmother and John. I know that his last memory of me was a happy and special one.

I LOVE YOU GRANDPA! Tell Grandma I love her too.