Three major events in one post...

Azucena's birthday was wonderful. She looked beautiful. She cried when Pastor Auden and Avis spoke to her and it just touched my heart. They had a real authentic band that played (I have some on video) and she danced with Jesus, the drummer dude from church. He was her escort. And then she took pictures with each individual table and we ate lots of food. We had a good time. There was lots of preparation beforehand that I was involved in.
I was doing the whole House Mothering thing. But me and the older girls went down and cleaned the room. Some of the boys were already sweeping it out. I assisted and then we filled the room with water, cement floors, and cleaned the floors. Then we cleaned the chairs and tables. Then it was time for lunch. Afterwards the kids had to shower and stay inside so they wouldn't get dirty for the festivities. That was interesting. It was really fun watching the girls get all ready. The jewelry that Aimee, Karen, and I got Azucena for her birthday, she ended up wearing for the night. It was really neat how that worked out. Karen straightened my hair, with the assistance of Aimee's straightener ;) It was much appreciated. Although the kids thought it was no bueno, I still enjoyed the change for a day, even though I love my curls and I am completely sold out to them.
Okay, so the whole house mothering experience. It was great. It was hard. It was a challenge. But it was easier than I expected. I can see how it is draining and how I would have difficulties with certain things but I can also see that if God wanted me to do it, I could. With His grace alone, His strength alone, His wisdom alone. You know? It was difficult with so many little kids and having the language barrier. I think it would be a lot less difficult if I could communicate directly to them. The older girls do a lot. I felt like I wasn’t even much of a help and it was a different schedule than the norm because of Azucena’s party. It was really physically draining having to play with the kids and watch them for 3 hours in the sun. I wasn’t a huge fan of that.
I am really interested in doing it in the other house to see the difference, see if I can handle the older kids better. Because I really feel my calling is more towards the older ones, that God gave me a gifting in the 9-teen years. I really enjoyed the experience though, minus a few things here and there.We’ll talk more details later.
I still need to discuss the lovely camping trip. I'll just give some highlights.
1. Sitting on Aimee's lap for 45 minutes on a bumpy bump road makes for an interesting ride.
2. Using the bathroom in a make-shift see-through bathroom makes for some good laughs.
3. Playing Phase 10, Uno, and Skip Bo makes for some real good trash talking, ha ha!
4. Sitting anywhere makes for some ants in your pants, lol.
5. Going for a walk makes for some sand surfing down steep mountain hills ;)
6. Being a city girl makes for some warmer sleeping arrangements in the van!
7. Being a white girl makes for baking in the sun without sun protection!
8. Being a non-fluent Spanish speaker makes for a personal interpreter!
9. Not knowing the language makes for long repetitve instructions on games!
10. Youth camping trips makes for some really good messages!
Pastor Auden really talked on some good points about being aware of the choices you make and how it will affect the rest of your life. How if one is going to say they are a Christian, they should live the lifestyle and seek God daily. He talked on wisdom and the need for it. It was all really good!
Afterwards us girls went out for pizza and watched My Sisters Keeper.
I cried my eyes out. And now I miss my sisters like craziness!

“He comes where He commands us to leave. If when God said “Go,” you stayed because you were so concerned about your people at home, you robbed them of the teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ Himself.” --Oswald Chambers

Sending my love to each of you at home =]