Ben and Caleb filmmakers

This is a video that Ben and Caleb put together. There was a contest in the Lego magazine about building a pirate ship. I told Ben that he should build a modern pirate ship like they have off the coast of Somalia. So enjoy their film, "Pirates of Today."

A few videos from Mexico

Sorry about the quality on both of these. They are both from our whale watching trip.

Hymn of the Week--All Hail The Power of Jesus' Name

My mom sent me a book this week entitled, "Then Sings My Soul: 15o of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories." It is arranged in chronological order from oldest to most recent (one from 1958.) The night we got it in the mail, Amanda and I laid in bed and sang through many of them. One of the older hymns is the one that we selected for this week. Thanks for the book, Mom!

Hymn of the WeekAll Hail The Power of Jesus' Name
Words by Edward Perronet
Music by Oliver Holden
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Quotes: Sweet Matthew

Everything is a race or a contest at our house.

Matthew as he was eating his snack, to Ben: "I hope Caleb beats me."

Ben: "Why?"

Matthew: "Because Caleb is my best friend."

Kids

I love when our kids love each other.

From NFV '09--Mexico

Quotes: Matthew's three blind mice

I am going to start documenting here some of the great things that the kids say.

Matthew, singing:

"One a penny, two a penny, three blind mice . . ."

Oh, Mexico!

It is difficult to sum up an amazing week in one blog post. I decided before we left that I wouldn't blog from there. We didn't really want it broadcast across the interwebs that we were out of town for a week. But this then leads to my quandary now. I'll try to give you some highlights.

Family


Being with Amanda's family and getting to spend a lot of uninterrupted time with my family was the best part for me. We swam in the pool a lot, stayed up late talking, went for walks and hang out.

Activities




We did some very fun activities. The one I liked the best was the whale watching trip. The boat was great and the scenery was beautiful. It was amazing to see the whales close up. We could also see whales jumping from our deck every morning and evening.

La Cultura

I love Mexico, the Mexican people, the language and the culture. I have spent time in Mexico on vacation and on mission trips. Every time I am struck by the generosity, simplicity, contentment, kindness and beauty of the people. This trip was another instance of this. Mexico shaped even my choice of study in college. I love speak Spanish and don't get many opportunities. It was a lot of fun to get back into that and I always thank God for that gift that gets me a little more on the inside of the people and the place. I also love Mexican food. Another highlight for me was when Leticia, the woman who did housekeeping at our house, cooked lunch and breakfast for us. Lunch was quesadillas, fresh guacamole, frijoles and salsa. Breakfast was juevos rancheros, more salsa and frijoles. We also had fresh tortillas for most of the week.

It was a great week and a great gift from God via Dave and Joni. We are so thankful for this respite that we all needed. Thanks D&J. Thanks be to God.

If you'd like to, you can see all of our photos here.