Short Vacation

The wife and I went back to the States for our annual medical checkups. They turned out well, for which we thank God. But then the good part! We drove out to South Dakota to my home town of Glenham to do a little pheasant hunting. Marlene had given me a new shotgun, Browning Gold Hunter - 12 gauge, for Father's Day which I hadn't seen yet. It seemed to work real well. But the best part was that our two sons and their families joined us for the hunt too. What a blast. Even my oldest grandson, Jacob, got his share of birds. Now we're back in Puerto Rico for the rest of this week before heading back home to Mexico.

Mexico City Alameda

This is one of my favorite plazas in all of Mexico. It is also near the small hotel where we stay when we have to be in Mexico City. A city of 25 million people (estimates vary, some are higher), you don't often see horses and riders or horse-drawn carts like you do in many smaller towns in Mexico. These two are special mounted policemen.

Rain, and lots of it!

At the family retreat (see my LATTE post here) this weekend it rained every day, almost all day long. When we got up this morning my student, Eligio, called to say that the roads getting to his place were all flooded out, and that I should not try to come. We started watching the local news and found out that it had rained 11.85 inches here in Caguas in the last 24 hours, up to 18 inches in some other places. It seems as though Tropical Storm Noel brewed up while we weren't looking. But God is good, we are safe and our home is dry (except for one small leak in the living room that our landlord is working on fixing). Still no internet though, so I'm sitting at the mall using their free wifi service for now. (No, the rain had nothing to do with the internet outage, that started last Monday--a good four days before the rains started.

Wittenberg Platz

Last June we were able to visit the famous city where the great reformer, Martin Luther, lived and worked. This is the main square of town, in front of the Rathaus, with its requisite statue of the reformer.

The other bunch of grandkids

We haven't seen these guys since last Christmas, except for a very brief visit in Minnesota at their Grandpa Johnson's funeral in March. They are Larry M's five. God willing, we will see them again this year. The youngest is just over two years old, the oldest will be 12 in a month. I hope to get to go pheasant hunting with him and his dad in November. We are really proud of these guys, they are great young men. And fun to spend time with as well.

Granddaughters

Marlene took this picture of these little sweeties in July when she was able to visit our daughter Naomi in Portland, OR. They are two more of the grandkids we miss while we are traveling and living so far away. The youngest is Sydney. Maybe someday Catalina will get some front teeth. "All I want for Christmas is...."

Missionary hardships

I'm often asked what is the hardest thing about being a missionary, living in a foreign country and in a strange culture. My reply is always the same, "being far from family". That is especially true as our grandchildren are growing. (Now I understand better the hardship we caused for our own parents when we first went oversees thirty years ago.) Marlene got to visit our oldest son, Walter, and his family this summer. The picture is of their very special three-year-0ld twins, Wyatt and Abigail.

Zocalo in Puebla, Mexico

Another plaza picture. Just in case you haven't caught on from all the holiday ads beginning already, Christmas is only ten or eleven weeks away. We happened to be in Puebla last year just before Christmas and saw the main plaza looking festive. Poinsettias lined both the streets and the sidewalks

Cochem Platz

This past June we got to spend a few days along the Mosel River in Germany. The little town we stayed in was Cochem. This is the Cochem platz. Notice that the house in the center with the dark peak has bells in that area. Several times a day they play three or four songs with those bells, very sweet. I really like the look of the half-timbered buildings, traditional for many parts of Germany (and Alsace in France). (Click on the picture to see it enlarged.)

Rincon, Puerto Rico

This is where we saw the man-of-war bird in the picture below. A neat little "corner" of the island, on the western-most tip. The place is known for its surfing opportunities. While we were there the surf was pretty quiet, great for relaxing swims. We enjoyed a deck right on the beach and had a fun weekend.