Long last few weeks....

Well I thought I had come home from Mexico having not gotten sick. I was excited about that and then, bang, last Wednesday night I felt miserable. Luckily it did not last too long but Thursday at work was a really rough day. I had so many things that I had to get done for Sunday services and my co-worker is out on vacation so I had no backup plan. So, being the responsible person that God made me, I worked until I got everything done. It was a good thing too because I basically worked until I could not manage any longer. This week has been much better and I am getting back to normal (if I ever could be considered normal!)

Today they are expecting a big snow storm and I just heard they are going to close school early. It has yet to start snowing. Oh well the kids will be excited about being done early. I wish I could have a snow day and still get paid!

Pictures of Mexico mission trip

http://community.webshots.com/user/tjgrayfamily

Here are some of my pictures from my mission trip to the orphanage in Mexico. It is in an album labeled Morelia, Mexico 2009

Amigo's in Mexico

(upper left; All the kids at the mission with the staff) (upper right; Tonio and I) (Lower left; Fernando(left) and his younger brother Jorge(right) and I)

Here are some more pictures of some special friends in Mexico. Got home Saturday about noon and having gotten hardly any sleep the night before was so tired I just crashed for several hours. We took a 2:00 am flight and it is hard functioning on so little sleep. I should be recovered by tomorrow and then I can start in on homework. It is hard to think about that right now.

More Photos'

More fun in Mexico. Don't you just love this little boy on the swing. This is Oscar and I asked him if I could take his picture and as you can see he thought it was a great idea. He is such a ham! I was showing Fernando (on left) my pictures from home along with a few other boys. I have sponsored Fernando for the last 3 1/2 years so I am really enjoying spending time with him this week. The last picture is of one of the babies with a quilt that someone from the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild donated to the home 3 1/2 years ago when I came. I am so sad that I have to leave tomorrow night. I am so glad that I was able to make it here this year. Gotta turn this computer off now and go play a game of spoons with the older kids.

Sunshine Quilts still in use!

Here is a sunshine quilt still in use at the home. Thought that Sunshine members would enjoy seeing that they are still using the quilts we donated 3 1/2 years ago.

I am here!

I am in Mexico at the orphanage. We have wireless internet and I decided to bring my computer to stay in touch with my classes, although it is very hard to even think about homework while here. I am having too much fun playing with the kids and relating with the people. I don't have the correct camera cable with me so only have a few pictures that others here emailed me. The wonders of computers and internet! Here are a few of the kids. I will post more photos when I get done with my trip. Just thought I would give you a taste of Mexico for now.

Leaving shortly....

Well I am flying out on Sat. Feb. 7th for the orphanage in Mexico. I have been working hard the last few weeks trying to get everything done at home, school and at work. It seems whenever you want to go somewhere you always have to work extra hard before and then after! That is okay this will be well worth it! I will be unplugged for a week. Not because we have to (I could bring my laptop computer) but I am choosing to! It will be nice to be able to just concentrate on what I am doing there. I will have some homework I can work on without my computer but for the most part I worked ahead and can concentrate on helping the kids. I will post plenty of pictures after I get back! I am definitely bringing my digital camera.

Orphanage in Mexico

This is where I will be going for my trip to the orphanage in Mexico. This is not the complete building but it gives you an idea of what it looks like. The home is really clean and the rooms we stay in are very comfortable. Two weeks from today is when I fly out. I have all my homework and plans for how I will get it done figured out. I will need to work on some biology when I am there but I think things should go well. It will be crazy until then but I just have to tackle one thing at a time and I will get through it. I am excited to be going back as I was there 3 1/2 years ago and most of the same kids are there only 3 years older! It will be nice to be someplace where I do not have to bundle up. There was an addition put on the backside of the building and we are going to finish up the space by decorating and such. Don't know if that involves painting or not but I am ready for whatever it may be. I wanted to brush up on the little bit of spanish I learned but I just won't have time to do that with all the homework this semester. I have a biology class along with a lab and they really load on the work! Fun, Fun.....

Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby

My Son had his pinewood derby at Cub Scouts yesterday. He did a great job and came in 4th place in speed out of 17 cars racing. But the big thing is that he came in First Place for Design and that is what this very large trophy is for. He was very proud of himself and had a great time at the race. He can now go to the District races to race against the top people in the district. He is excited about it.

1 week down 15 to go!

Well school started this week and my computer decided to accept some nasty malware on it. I spent the whole week seeing if I could get my computer going and finally decided to buy a new one and deal with the old one at a later date. So here is my new lap top that I can use to do my online college classes with. I thought it smarter to get the lap top as it would have more uses in the future. If my old one gets running then the kids can use it to play games or whatever. Now here is an important warning. The computer manufacturers are not selling computers with the discs to restore onto your computer if something bad happens (like what happened to me). I did not make my own restore discs as I was suppose to(I really do know better than this!). So now I have to purchase the Windows XP software in order to restore my old computer and get it running. The fix would have been so much easier if I had had these discs. So, if you have not made these discs yet DO IT NOW!!!!!!! That is my gentle warning to everyone reading this so that you do not have to go through what I have gone through in the last week. Now luckily I was able to save all my documents and pictures so I did not lose those but this was also a reminder that I need to back these up on a regular basis.

I like my new laptop and will get used to it but I really did not want to have to buy a new computer when mine served its purpose just fine. A definite lesson learned this week.