You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

So the first day of rain was nothing. The rain continued throughout the day and night. Rain here for me is bittersweet. I love the rain, but here on dirt roads it is very messy, you can get stuck in the mud, and there are many, many people who do not have adequate shelter from the rain. In the first picture the water is running alongside the camp which is the brown building on the left. In the second picture check out the runoff on the right.

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

Unfortunately, I don't have any boots, but that's what I need to walk down our street and all of the streets in our neighborhood since the rain that we had last night.

Baby Furniture

This was our baby's room before David put the furniture together. Our crib, changing table, and dresser arrived about two weeks ago and David jumped right on putting it together . The dresser was first so that we could start putting the clothes in it that had been donated to us. He said that the dresser was the most tedious of the three pieces. Next the crib and then the changing table.

Now all three pieces are in. We need to find a night stand now for a night light. Unfortunately, the outlets in the room are not well placed. None of them are close to the door. That bugs me. I'll probably put in a plug-in light that will help me find my way to the night light for those late night feedings.

I registered at WalMart. What a task! I did it online so I had to go through each department and find what we need. For the most part it was worth it because I was able to read reviews on many products and make decisions about which one would be best for us.

Gonna Make those Pink Clothes Blue

Okay, I know that's not exactly how the song goes, but I needed it this way to fit our situation. You still get it, right? Well, that's what we had to do. On November 11 I was told by the nurse at Kaiser that she thought we were having a girl. In her defense, she did say that the machine was not the best quality. But, David wanted a girl and so I took that information and ran with it. Not a good idea. At my appointment on December 2 at the actual hospital with a better quality machine, I was told that we were having a boy. She showed me on the screen why she thought this and she gave me a picture. This is not the same "she" as the previous appointment. Though I did see her just a few hours later I didn't tell her that she was mistaken. So we had to do as the title indicates and now we have to think of a boy's name. We had settled on Maya Lorene for a girl.
Please pray for us as we are still needing to decide on which country our baby will be born in. We would like him to be born in the U.S., but we need to get a visa for David. Not such an easy task.

David, David, David

Yes, this is all about David.
So last Sunday the owners of the house that we have been renting finally came to clean their things out of the house. The wife had left the house at one point and that was when David and the husband where putting some things out front and David was so proudly showing him the flowers that he had planted and had been caring for for several months now. They still did not have any blooms on them, but they had many buds. Now, David had put much work into these flowers and as I mentioned before, he was very proud of them and anxiously awaiting they day that they would bloom. Actually, one had a teeny, tiny yellow flower on it. Well, he and I left to go to church and the couple stayed there to finish. At some point the husband left and it was then that the wife got inspired to pull up all of the weeds, because obviously we were not taking very good care of the front yard. Just as she was finishing up the husband came back and saw her handy work. He informed her that those were flowers that we had planted, not weeds. So now David is pretty bummed, to say the least, and has no desire to even water the tree that's out front.

Next story. Tuesday I had an appointment at Kaiser in San Diego and I figured that I would be able to find out the sex of our baby. David wanted me to call him as soon as I found out, but I wanted to wait until I got back home. David has wanted a girl from the beginning and already had a name picked out. He contacted me several times during my time at the doctor to find out if I was able to find out or not. So yes, I did find out that we are having a girl, they're pretty sure, but I didn't tell him. I went to the store and bought a pink gift bag and a few pink things. When I got back to Ensenada I put the bag on his desk and waited for him to return.

Next story. David has been taking drums lessons for a few months now and so we have a drumset in the house. YEAH!!! This is not really a story just information.

My 11 week ultrasound

19 Weeks Along

Well I'm almost half way through my pregnancy. I'm pretty excited about that. I just started to feel the baby move. David is anxiously awaiting the day that he will also be able to feel it move. In the meantime, he's just excited for me.

Summer's Over

Well, the summer season has come to an end. No more groups for a little while. Everyone is resting and vacationing.

Big news!!! We are expecting a baby. It was our plan to try to get pregnant right away and God blessed us to do just that. I am 17 weeks along. We have received a due date of February 17, 2009. We are very, very excited. We have been able to see the baby by ultrasound and hear its heart beat. We have been going to the doctor once a month and have an ultrasound every time and even receive a DVD of the ultrasound. I have received many opinions on the sex. Most people think that it is a boy, but David really wants a girl. It doesn't matter to me though I'm leaning toward a boy. I feel bad voicing that when it's the opposite of what my husband wants. Anyway, it is what it is and we will both be very happy with the child that God blesses us with.

Tamales

I love tamales!!! So I jumped at the chance to go and learn how to make them. One of our summer groups decided to purchase all of the ingredients for 500 tamales, help make them, have some for lunch, and leave the rest for the church to sell as a fundraiser. After the masa was ready we made an assembly line and put them all together. There are many things that you can put into them. My favorite is shredded beef with carrots and potatoes. These were chicken with potatoes and jalepenos. They were yummy. Check out the tamales slideshow.

Vacation's Over

Dear friends
A lot has been going on since we got married. First of all, for our honeymoon we rented a condo on the beach in Rosarito for five days. On our wedding day it was beautiful and sunny, but the next few days were cloudy and it rained on one of the days of our vacation time. But, the condo was really nice and it was great to be able to hear the ocean 24/7. We even saw a few dolphins. The condo actually belongs to the Christian author, Josh McDowell. Cool, huh?

Once at home we began to put our house together; trying to find a space for all of our things. David put together and installed a ceiling fan in our bedroom. We use it every night.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Mardy has been busy expanding the kitchen. There was a bathroom right next to kitchen, but that has been knocked out and we bought another sink and put that there and put in some more counter space. The other sink will really come in handy during those big weeks when we have lots of dishes to wash. Our service space is much bigger now too. We also got two more industrial sized burners so that now makes six. Also, our summer interns have started to arrive and none too soon. This week we have 123 people and over the next few weeks we will have even more.

One day David and I were at my favorite taco stand, Mi Ranchito and there was a medium sized dog just hanging out there. He had a collar on and, for the most part, was pretty healthy. The taco stand owner was telling us that he had been there for about three weeks and had been abandoned by his owners. Apparently, the neighbor was going to call the pound if she could not find a home for it. So we decided to take it home. First we went and bought a collar and some dog biscuits. He wouldn’t get into our vehicle so David walked him home. He barked most of the night and I was starting to regret taking him in. If a dog barked five blocks away he would bark. He barked at everything! The next day we wanted to take him to the vet and have them bathe him and free him of all the friends that were hitching a ride in his hair. We went to put him in the car and he jumped right in. He’s gotten used to the sounds of his new neighborhood and doesn’t bark half as much as he did the first night. We named him Bailey.

Lastly, I was able to use my Mexican marriage certificate and change my name with the Social Security Administration and DMV. YEAH! So now I am officially Kimyco Trules.

The BIG Day!

Well, all of the knot tying ceremonies are done. It’s official. On May 3, we had a beautiful ceremony with family and friends. There were many ups and downs leading up to the big day. We had to replace a bridesmaid two weeks before the wedding and a groomsman two days before the BIG day. So we ended up asking two people from church whose names we didn’t even know. There were issues with transportation for some who were coming from California and for a short time my soloist had to cancel on me, but ended up coming after all. For a while I couldn’t find a pianist, then I had one, then I didn’t, and then I did. On the Thursday before the wedding I heard that he was in Florida, but would be here. That concerned me just a little. In the meantime the number of attendees was growing and we were searching everywhere to find a place where we could rent some glass plates because we only had 125 and were expecting about 75 more. So we ended up buying them for $1 each at Ikea in San Diego. Right after we paid for the flowers I had passed by the florist and it was closed with a sign in the window. All I could read of the sign was “For sale”. I was on my way to church and forgot about it afterwards. Then the next day or so David and I were passing by and again the florist was closed and the same sign was still in the window. By then I was panicking inside. I had called the florist just a few days before and I remembered the phone number so David called while I drove. No answer! Now I want to scream. On the way back home we stopped by, even though it was closed and David spoke to a neighboring business owner who informed him that the florist was opened just earlier that day. I read the sign in the window and it was for land that was for sale. WHEW!!! I was feeling better. Later that evening David called the florist and this time she answered. Suits, tablecloths, and many other wedding details were all issues right up until the day. Oh, the church had been given an enormous fan from some ship and there it was on the day before the wedding right there in the sanctuary. After many ideas on how to move it and many hands pushing it we finally got it out of sight. (This is only part of it)
On the day of the wedding my plan was to be at the church by 12 noon. I got there at 1:30 a half an hour before the wedding was to start. When we drove up I realized that earlier that day I had given the keys to the decorator and failed to get them back from her. I called her and she had given them to someone else because they were going to take more tables to the church, but I had asked that same person to pick some things up from the store for me. So we waited for about 15 or 20 minutes and they arrived. The day before when the tablecloth lady was at the church putting the tablecloths on the tables and making me really late for the rehearsal dinner, she asked me if I wanted her to bring some candies to put on the tables. I told her that that would be fine. So Saturday while we were locked out of the church someone who worked for the tablecloth place drove up and delivered the candies. Or so I thought. When we got ready to put them on the tables we discovered that it was a box of glass ashtrays, not candy. How funny!
Despite everything we had a wonderful time and just as many reminded me, no matter what happens before the wedding, in the end David and I would be married.
Enjoy the slideshow.

Finally!

Well, after all of the hoops we had to jump through it's finally done. Before I tell you what's finally done, let me explain something. Here in Mexico clergy are not authorized to legally marry you. So if one wants to get married in the church, one must first be legally married by the state. So you have two wedding ceremonies. Some people legally marry long before their church wedding and some just weeks or days before. And now for the "finally done" part. David and I were legally married on Friday, April 4, 2008 at approximately 11:30 a.m. Now don't cancel your plane tickets and plans to come to our May 3 celebration. That's still on. David and I are still living apart. We are not yet enjoying the priviledges of marriage. So our May 3 ceremony will still be just as special as it should be. Okay? See you in 27 days. Check out the slideshow of our civil ceremony.

Getting Married in Mexico

Getting married in Mexico is not easy. Worse if you are a foreigner. Want to hear about what I'm having to do? Okay! Well, first we went to Registro Civil to find out what the requirements are. They gave me a paper with four things that I needed. 1. Get my birth certificate apostilled and translated to Spanish. 2. Have a marriage search done, apostilled, and translated. 3. Have my I.D. translated. 4. Get permission from Immigration to marry. In the words of my childhood heartthrob Magnum P.I., "I know what you're thinking". What in the world is apostilled. Apostille is a French word which means a certification. It is commonly used in English to refer to the legalization of a document for international use. So I got numbers 1 & 2 done in Fresno and that cost me about $70. Then I went to get a tourist visa since I do not have citizenship here. There I met an English speaking Mexican who has the teeny tiniest little office. He is in the business of helping English speaking foreigners get various legal documents. He gave me three options. I could do everything myself, have him tell me what to do, or have him do it all. All three options are exspensive. I chose for him to tell me what I needed to do and paid him the $20 fee for that. Him telling what to do was not the exspensive part. So he started doing that. Then he asked me what David did for a living. I told him that he worked for the ministry. So he figured that David did not earn much money and said that he would do the paperwork for me for free. What a blessing!

So he did my paperwork and I paid him for the copies. Then I bought a visa, went to the bank and paid $240 for one permission and $60 for something else. Only the Mexican government knows what that was for. Anyway, David and I went and got our blood tests done and then took the results to a doctor. There they took our weight and blood pressure and signed a paper saying that they talked to us about ALL kinds of things. They actually didn't talk to us about ANYTHING. So that was almost $50 for the blood work and doctor visit. Next I turned in my paperwork to Immigration and they said that the permission should be ready by April 7th. Then we went back to Registro Civil and and bought an application and found out that we would have to get married in 14 days or do the blood tests and doctor visit again. Why you ask? Because the blood tests are only good for 15 days. We had them done the day before. I wouldn't get the permission until one day before the blood work expired. Also I still hadn't completed number 3 of the requirements which was to get my I.D. translated. So now one option was to go back to Immigration and ask them if they could rush my permission and then request an urgent ceremony for which we would have to pay extra, of course. And the other option was to wait until the 7th to get my permission and then do the blood work and doctor visit again. Which of course we would have to pay again. It came out to be just about the same price. So we decided to go and cry to Immigration and see if they could speed up my permission. Well, of course the person that does the permissions was on vacation, but they said that they would have it by March 31st. Praise God! As for my I.D. I was told that if I use my passport I don't need to have it translated because it's already in three languages with Spanish being one. So I'll see if they accept that. Last night we had to attend a two hour pre-marital class. Yet another requirement. Actually, they said that it wasn't required, but David said that we needed to play it safe and not let our non-attendance be a reason to deny us our civil ceremony. So we went. It wasn't bad. We also had to ask them to rush the proof that we attended. Tomorrow I will be a busy little beaver. Collecting all of our papers from different places and turning them in at Registro Civil and paying for our ceremony and for them to rush it. Another $130. Oh yeah, we have to have four witnesses. FOUR!

What's Happening?

Hello everyone.

It has been awhile since I have written. I have been very busy trying to get everything ready for my upcoming wedding in May. Exactly two months from today. YEAH!!! Anyway, things are a little quiet around camp right now, but next week we will start our Spring schedule. We will be pretty busy then. We have been making some improvements around the camp and talking over ideas of ways to better the ministry here. I am still planning the meals, shopping for the food, and running the kitchen. I'm trying to add more meals to our meal rotation, but it is not easy finding meals that can be prepared for large crowds in a small amount of time. Also, I don't always have access to the same ingredients here as I do in the states. So I don't have many meals in the rotation yet, but I'm still looking.

Also, I have been notified that I am about to lose my medical insurance because I do not have enough financial support coming in to sustain it. I not only need support to keep my insurance, but also just to be able to continue in the ministry here. To be totally honest, I have several things that I have to pay monthly. Some are: rent, food, and car insurance. Now that I will be getting married and hopefully expecting shortly thereafter, I will need support even more. Yes, David does have a job and we will both have to put money into our new life together, but if I don't have enough to support myself it will be hard to bring another person into the picture. So, I ask that you will please prayerfully consider supporting me and the work that I have been called to. I have been here now for four years and God has been faithful. I trust that he will put it on the hearts of many to give to His ministry here that I am so priviledged to be a part of. I have added a "Donate" button to this page that you can click on and donate securely through Paypal. If you would like to partner with me financially on a monthly basis please click on the YUGO link under "These are a few of my favorite links", Resources, Donate & Support Info., and the Donate now. I need you!

Wedding Plans Part 2

Well, things are coming along. I went home to Fresno in December and purchased my wedding gown and a few other things. Well, I didn't purchase it, but it was purchased. The pictures that I have posted are not of the gown that I chose. It was a lot of fun trying on the different dresses and having family and friends there with me. Toward the end, though, it did get tiring. I was definately ready to go before I got to the last dress that I was to try on. Which, by the way, is the one that I chose. We spent four hours there at David's Bridal.


















I was also able to find a couple to be the MC's of the reception and a friend to make my veil. The MC's have also offered to purchase the flowers for decorations.

Well my desire was to marry in the States so that I could change my last name, but I have just discovered that it will cost $455.00 to apply for a fiance visa which is what David would need to cross the border into the U.S. So I think that's out. I heard that I would have to jump through more hoops for me to get married here than for David to get married in the States. I will soon find out what those hoops are.