Ankle update

Like all 'em colors??!! No that is not my new tan line! I wish. It's all bruise.

As many of you know, I slipped and fell off a slightly elevated floor Friday evening. I've twisted my ankles a lot through the years. When I was younger I was able to snap them back. I guess with age you aren't able to do this anymore. My ankle is healing but it is still very sore and swollen. Thanks for all your prayers! I made it through the crucial time of our Christmas Program without any problems. Now I just have to learn to take it easy. Not something I enjoy. I still have major shopping to do to get ready for family that is coming over Christmas. I'm having to just relax and trust God that everything will come together in His time!! By the way, I updated my status on Facebook. I didn't iceskate nor bowl. I sat on the sidelines!!

Christmas Program!

Thank you so much for all your prayers! Our Christmas Program went very well!! We aren't sure how many folks attended (forgot to delegate this to someone!) but we had more guests than we've ever had before at an activity!! The cast and the choirs did so well! Of course the Children's Bell Choir is the cutest thing ever. No one fell up or down the stairs when filing on or off the platform!! We did have a couple of dropped bells. No biggie. We had wonderful tamales and atole afterwards. And then the grand finale was the breaking of piñatas!!

We started out the day with our normal worship service. Then we all stayed and had lunch here at the house. Wall to wall people!!! It was fun because we also ate together the night before after our final rehearsal! Right now we are all experiencing a little let down. Not because of anything that happened yesterday but because we have all enjoyed all the Saturday practices. We have all grown as a church body the past month and a half of Saturday practices. We will all miss the fun time of singing, laughing and eating together! I have to admit that I'm exhausted but it is a good exhaustion. A very clear presentation was given of the True Meaning of Christmas and any tiredness we are experiencing today was well worth it!

My ankle held up well yesterday with all the activities. Thanks for your prayers! Nicole's ears are doing much better! Double ear infections are pretty painful. She still has a lot of flem and is coughing a lot but on the mend!!

Trust everyone keeps Christ in the center as we wrap up these final days before Christmas!


So thankful for the long great room that transforms into a lunch hall!


Best place to be when it is lunch time is around the table where the food is!


Food and Fellowship!


Drama Team


Children's Bell Choir!


More of the Children's Bell Choir


Teen Tube Choir! What a great bunch of kids!!


Alfonso was the person manning the rope of the piñata!


Piñatas are a big part of Christmas here in Mexico!


Ernestito smacking the piñata!


All rushing to get the candy out of the piñata!!

Sneak Peek!!

This is the scene we are using of the shepherd family's home. It took six hours to paint each scene.


Here is half of the pasture scene. You can still see the LG logo through the paint. You can see that we recycled our fridge box!!



The night scene where the shepherds meet the Angel!

Thank you so much for your prayers concerning our Christmas Program Practices. Tonight we have our final run through here at the house and tomorrow evening we will perform at the party house we are renting. Last night while we were there for a basketball party I tripped off the dance floor (no I wasn't dancing!)and twisted my ankle pretty bad. I'm gimpy but not out! I'm posting a few pics of the scenery that the folk here at Nueva Vida have been working on. We appreciate the five folks that worked very diligently to get this done. I think it looks great!!

Basketball

Natalie and I at a Basketball Christmas Party!


Natalie and her team had a gift exchange! Can you guess what they exchanged?!

We have really enjoyed our time with basketball here! Natalie has had an opportunity to play now for four years. It has been really nice for her to get exercise as well as form friendships. I, too, have had opportunities to share the gospel with several of the moms. Natalie will finish up her time in this particular b-ball program in June of 2009. Nicole however wants to continue! I love it that all three of my children have enjoyed playing a sport that I truly love. Of course it comes with some frustrations. Having both played and coached basketball, I tend to get a little too emotional during games. I've often thought it would be best if I took a roll of duct tape to use on my mouth. It's hard to not "help".

So much to be Thankful for!!!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week and believe it or not we also celebrated a week before Thanksgiving! Can we ever be too grateful? I think not. We are so thankful for the missionary families that God has allowed us to fellowship with here in Mexico. It is times like Holidays that we are reminded often of our loved ones and what they are doing back in the States. It can be difficult. This year we went to the Onofrios and celebrated a week early. The Onofrios used to work here in Mexico City but are now church planting outside of Tulancingo, Mexico. It was fun to get away from the Big City for a day! The girls got to ride horses and get dirty! Nicole and all the rest of the younger children played on dirt hills and rock mounds close to the Onofrios house. What fun!!! We wrapped up the day around a bonfire cooking marshmellows for S'mores!!! I don't know where we found room for S'more but we did!! We feasted all day and it sure was yummy!! Thank you Grace and Jennifer!!

On Thanksgiving Day we hosted this time and really stuffed ourselves with delicious food. (again!) We had fun fellowshipping, eating, playing video games, watching football (NOT) and playing boomwhackers!!!!!! I can't forget that some of us played Apples to Apples! Fun, fun!! Then we wrapped up the evening with Prince Caspian!!! Yes, we've had the movie for over a month and no it isn't pirated! One of the perks of living in another country!!! I'm so thankful for all our missionary friends!!!! I was too busy to take any pictures of Thanksgiving Day but I hope you enjoy these from our first Thanksgiving at the Onofrios!


Finished up the day cooking marshmellows over a fire for S'mores!!! Yum, yum!! Thanks Onofrios for a wonderful day!


"Where is they?" (Daniel Onofrio and Benji Hornbrook)


Sarah Palin, eat your heart out!!! I'm sure that Nicole done killed some'um that day!!


War! Cowgirls vs. Cowboys! Not sure, but I think the girls won!! (Elizabeth Onofrio, cousin Claudia Hornbrook and Nicole)


Nicole also got in on a little horseback riding!! (thanks Jennifer!)


Natalie enjoying a horse for a whole day thanks to Jennifer Onofrio!

Thank you for your Prayers!

Thank you so much for your prayers for our Christmas Program rehearsals!! They have gone very well. They've gone so well that the boomwhacker choir has added another song and not only have we formed a men's ensemble but we are going to add a small ladies ensemble!!!!! Everyone is a buzz about the program! It is exciting to see the folks come together. On Saturday we meet here in our home and practice the adult choirs, boomwhacker choirs and the drama team. We had a house full! This is a time when our folks get to know each other better. We have 60 folks that attend our services these days. Not all of them come on the same Sunday but we are getting close to averaging 55! We are so excited to see the newer folks get involved in the Christmas program! Yesterday it was such a joy to lead the children's voice and bell choir. We have one little guy (3 years old) that sings at the top of his lungs and not necessarily on key! The kids have come a long way. We graduated a lot of our kids up to youth group so our choir is made up of younger children this year. (5th grade and down) I still have 15 kids in the choir! All of the kids in our church come with their parents! Our church is blessed with lots of families!! Continue to pray for us. I'm so exhausted by the time 5:00 Sunday afternoon rolls around. This is when I can sit for the first time all weekend. At least this is when I notice that I am sitting!!

Also pray for Sam. He is so busy with Seminary, Counseling/Discipleship, church, Christmas Program ... . God has given Sam many opportunities to share the Hope we have in Christ via counseling. Folks have come to Christ as a result and many are getting their lives back on track. We are so thankful for God's Word and the Truth that sets us free, encourages us and gives us true joy in this life!

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week! We all have so much to be thankful for!

I've got more room so come on down and visit us!!!!!

This week we have started upgrading our appliances. Many of them are nearly 18 years old and aren't very energy efficient. Our first upgrade was the refrigerator. I can't believe I've lived this long with one that was so small. (14 cu. ft.) My new one has over 20 cu. ft.!!!!! This will make hosting groups a lot easier and we hope it will help cut down on our light bill. The next appliance to upgrade will be my washer. It sounds like a rock polisher. I guess I might need to clarify what that sounds like to some of the young folk. I did see a rock polisher at Toys R Us when we were in Indiana so I don't feel too bad. However, it was considered a Retro Toy. Now that makes me feel old. Anyway, if you've ever heard a rock polisher in action you can imagine what my washer sounds like. We've had a repair man here but there isn't much hope. The poor thing is one its last leg. We hope to be able to upgrade the washer after the Holidays.

Speaking of the Holidays, we are so excited that my parents (Jerry and Rita Jamison) and our son, Nathaniel, will be joining us here in Mexico City!! We hope to take everyone to a Dinner Outdoor Theater where they perform the Mexican version of the Christmas Story. Many Latin countries add a little twist to the Christmas Story. It is passed down via tradition from the Catholic church. Believe it or not here they insert Satan and the fallen angels into the story. At first I was offended by this. Now, after several years living here I can understand why it is there. I think the idea of the anger that Satan and his following must have experienced when Christ was born is probably accurate but since it isn't in Scripture we really don't know. We Christians have so much to give thanks for and give God the Glory for! Satan didn't, hasn't and won't win. God is still on the Throne and His Word will prevail over everything for Eternity!!!!!!!!!! This Season we (the Body of Christ) need to give the World the gift of hope and love we have because the Messiah, the Emmanuel, the King of Kings was born, died and rose again for US! Praise God! This should cause us to jump up every morning and shout Aleluya!!!!!!