Just a little slack lately....

ok, so...once again the months are passing by and I haven't done anything. We have been pretty preoccupied by things. Let's see to do a small recap....April - we had the threat of the SWINE FLU in Mexico which closed down the schools for 2 weeks. We, in protecting ourselves and of course our baby, closed our classes also.....and we headed for Veracruz to stay with my mother in law. We were in no threat there as we were in the country of Mexico..small town and not many people. While there, we enjoyed our days by swimming almost daily and I learned some more about cooking like his mom cooks (always important thing to do) - Narcizo did some work around her house, we went walking...and swimming some more. Basically, relaxed. We were thankful for this time with our family and the time to relax before our little baby arrives!

After we returned back to Mexico City, I had many things to do around the house to get things in order for us to leave. I actually left on May 16th for the States and Narcizo will be coming next Friday, June 5th. He is finishing up classes with the students and preparing them for a test they must take on June 6th.

We are soo ready to be together here in the States - you know, when you spend everyday all day together...2-3 weeks apart is a very LONG time!

Baby Alvarez is growing - wow....and moving..it's simply wonderful! Before I left, recorded Narcizo's voice while talking to the baby at night. And each night before I go to sleep I put the recorder there so our baby can still hear his/her Father's voice. There are many times when the baby starts moving a ton while listening to Narcizo's voice. So amazing, the life, the miracle inside.

I am at 32 weeks and after the ultrasound visit today...once again we got a good bill of health from the doctor. Another blessing!
ok..so I need to post some pics...I will do it soon! I promise!
Continue to pray for us and the safety and health of the baby but also pray for Narcizo as he travels next Friday with his mom here to SC.

Why do we worry? The birds don't.....

Mathew 6:25 - 27
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Interesting story….since the fall, Narcizo has been babying our plum tree in our yard. It looked sick for awhile and we thought we may need to cut it down. But he has been watering it, cutting it back and just “babying it’ along with the grass. Now, within the last 2 months we have seen the tree grow so beautifully. We also have seen hundreds and hundreds of blooms that turned into green plums and now many are turning red. We are enjoying them. And at the same time, so are the birds. We both know that God is the one that grows the fruit and He gives it to us. And while we don’t mind sharing with the birds…since God provides for both of us, it bothers us when the birds only eat a few bites of each plum and then fly off!!! So, to stop that, we have been trying to harvest a little earlier and let them ripen in the house. Well, that didn’t work. Because we like it better to just pick it straight from the tree.
So, we are leaving them there…and we are sharing with the birds. As you know, God is the One providing for both of us!

Another interesting story…the other day, we had a message from the health department here saying they needed to me (Susan) to come to the office on the next day. We both were wondering what that was about…slightly worried. You know how we do, we have no clue but our mind begins to think of the worst. One thought…what if, for some reason they decide not to service me while I am pregnant. What will we do then?! So, we went the next day…to find out something amazing. Another provision….you know Who it was from?! They were letting us know that at the beginning of every month I needed to bring in my paperwork and I would receive a basket of food. Yes, a basket of food! Every month…free! I left with 3 boxes of cereal, 2 boxes of natural juice, 4 cans of tuna, a can of sardines, a big bag of rice, a big bag of black beans, a big bag of peas, and a bag of powdered milk! To say the least, we were surprised and as we left, we were guilty. Narcizo said…”Here we were a little worried at what they were going to say, and God was simply providing something else for us!”

Why do we worry? Just as He says in Mathew He will provide for us…we are more valuable than the birds of the air and our Lord feeds them! What an awesome God we have! If one day, we can always remember that and NEVER ever be surprised at his goodness towards us. For we know, that … Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Teaching a child....

You probably know the verse, if not...Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. and also...Ephesians 6:4 (NIV) Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

These are things on our mind already. As we have been praying over this daily, I received something just so wonderful and sweet from my brother. My 5 yr old nephew, Elijah, is such an adorable little fellow with such a great heart. And he composed his own song, my brother added the guitar in the background. Check it out. What a great example! You will absolutely love it!

http://travelingalong.com/node/71

How Amazing....

Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How amazing is our Lord! Wow...I have known this for almost all my life and then almost 7 years ago now...I knew it in a more real way. The kind that only comes from a true relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And now, at this time in my life, wow, I see it ever again...and am so amazed again. Why are we amazed? We know He is wonderful. His works are wonderful. And something new takes place and our eyes are opened once again!

As most of you know, we are expecting a baby. Our first and we are so excited, so anxious, a little nervous, ....you name it, we are. Excited for what the Lord has done..He has blessed us with a child. Simple..He has done it. And we are thankful. Anxious...all the FIRSTS...such as the First sight of a baby in my stomach, the First movement, the First hiccup, and of course the First day we see him or her! We are anxious for them all. And a little nervous...we pray that the baby will be healthy, we pray we will be the Christian parents God calls us to be, we pray that we will know how to discipline in the right way, we pray that he/she will come to know God as his/her Savior, we pray for their future. I'm sure these are all the same things that all parents go through....but these are our thoughts. And they are all new.

I wanted to share it with you....to share our excitement, to share our nervousness, and to share our prayer requests. We love you and look forward to seeing you (our friends and family) soon, as the Lord permits.

By the way....it is so exciting to lay awake in the morning and to feel this child (as big as my hand now) and to know their is a child breathing inside with a heartbeat as the Lord is knitting him/her together. And the Lord has seen the baby already...knows its days just like He knows ours. Amazing.

Are you amazed? That's how wonderful our Lord is.....

Pictures of our families together at Christmas

1 - Dad, mom, Narcizo and myself at a restaurant in Charlotte.
2 - Mom and I hosted a Christmas meal for our families together including turkey, ham, dressing and all the fixings. (L-R Dad, mom, Narcizo, his brother Francisco, his mother Andrea, his brother Celestino and daughter Marisol, wife Aurora, other daughter Andrea.
It was wonderful time together. And Narcizo did lots of translating!
3 - The Alvarez family
4 - Mom, Narcizo and my sister Teresa
5 - My uncle Tommy and aunt Marie with Narcizo and I.

ok, so its been awhile...

We have just gotten settled back in and been passing out flyers to let our students know we are back and ready for classes. Thank the Lord, He has sent them back to us pretty fast. So, we are back at work and more students are coming daily for help with schoolwork.

I will be posting pictures of our break with family and friends but first, we must show you this one set of pictures that we just love!!! You may not be able to tell what it is but just use your imagination and know we are waiting to see another photo.... This is at 14 weeks!

We are here!

Just want you to know, I will be updating it soon....but WE are in South Carolina with our family! We had a good flight home and our family was awaiting our arrival! We are blessed to have a wonderful family. I will post pictures later!

Our sunny weekend in Tlayacapan

This past weekend we went to a city about an hour away - not very far....but a huge change in the weather. We were able to wear shorts and t-short and thought about going to a water park...but decided to save that money and just enjoy ourselves. We headed here to buy some pottery before going home next week. This place has streets full of stores and places to buy pottery made by the people themselves. It was a great weekend.

We also were able to enjoy the food.....of course, here in Mexico, the food is the best. I have no problem admitting that. Actually, the best food can be found on the streets or in Fondas (simply a market style place with tons of people cooking different things in their stand...homemade and delicious!) At each stand, there is someone ready to get you to sit at their location and eat their food. Enough to offer samples as you walk all the way through. If we were different, we could easily walk around the whole place several times and fill up for free....but no, this is there business and they need the money. So, if you are ever in Mexico....you must go to a fonda....or eat on the street. I promise you -it's better and cheaper than the restaurants!

The Thanksgiving Dinner

Another thing to be thankful for, the Lord helped me as I prepared our Thanksgiving meal for the first time in our home here in Mexico. It is alot of work but I truly enjoyed it. It was a little more work than normal since everything is fresh here...but it is definitely more healthy. And when we all sat down to eat, I was thankful that the Lord provided the food and the home and also our new friends from our new church. Our friends who joined us are Cesar y Ana Camacho and their 2 little girls, Sammie y Vivi. We enjoyed a nice evening together and were able to share our testimonies with each other and to be thankful for all the Lord had done in our lives thus far. We enjoyed a hen and dressing, gravy, broccoli casserole, and a homemade Hawaiian Nut bread. Yum yum.... Here are a couple of photos.

Thanksgiving! Getting ready for the meal....

ok, so things are different here in Mexico..actually most other countries than the US. We got the hen today and I started preparing it.....you can check out the video...

A saint passed away recently...

The Deese Family - (l-r) Lynn D Moree, Charles Deese, Nina D Carnell, Carla "Danky" Taylor, Diane D Gay, Mary D Morgan, and Richard Deese

My aunt, Carla "Danky" Taylor passed away this past Thursday, November 20, 2008. She had developed alzheimers and over the last several years, it had progressed leaving her in a state that sometimes she is aware for just a little time and then off into the place that these minds go.

My aunt Danky was the oldest in my mom's family and she was like the rock of the family...spiritually. She is the one who has prayed for each of her brothers and sisters and family members for many, many years. She has prayed for their soul most importantly. As a Christian, you have a true desire for others to come to know Jesus Christ...especially your own family members. You have a desire for them to know the Savior and what He has done for all of us. You have a desire for them to know the many blessings that He gives to us, the protections, and the guidance. And the most important, you have a desire for them to know...the PEACE of knowing that one day...whenever each of them finally lays down to rest for eternity...that they will be in the arms of Jesus Christ to live with Him forever.

This, my friends and family, was the true desire of my aunt Danky! I am thankful that I was raised in a Christian home where not only my family "knew" God existed but "knew" God existed in a way that their actions tried to follow those of our Lord. In this environment, I learned many things, not just from going to church, but from the examples my parents gave me! Thank you Lord for this wonderful blessing!

Watch this small video clip of my Aunt Danky (on right) along with another saint, my aunt Mary (on the left).

And as she would say to you and to her remaining family... I am saying to you....

Do you know Jesus? Do you "know" Him as a friend and most importantly Savior? Without Him, how lost I would be. He won't turn you away... when you truly want to KNOW Him.

In Memory of Carla "Danky" Taylor -
She is resting in the arms of Jesus Christ and is healthy once again!

Thanksgiving is coming!

You know, when you do something every year at the same time for all of your life...it's odd when you go to live in another country and others don't know or care anything about that tradition. As is Thanksgiving for me here in Mexico....no one cares about that....and maybe most don't know.

So, as this Thanksgiving week is coming and we are here in Mexico, I have been planning already. We have plans to buy a big hen (since the turkeys cost WAY too much!) and I will be preparing a Thanksgiving meal for us this week. We decided to invite some friends of ours from our church since we have no family close by. It will give us a chance to host our spiritual family for a holiday that I observe in the States. We are thankful already to have some friends in which we share a common bond - Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

You can say a prayer for me now for several reasons....this is my first time to ever try and cook this meal. I am searching hard to find the right seasonings and food to make it a similar Thanksgiving meal. And now we have invited people, so there is extra pressure to get it right!
But the Lord will help me and my husband too...

As this Thanksgiving week begins, truly take a moment to reflect on all the things you are thankful for. And know, that..."Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17
And as you have your meal together with family and friends this week...take time to share with others what you are thankful for.

We will be posting later...our thanks to the Lord for all He has done!

Mexico Weather...

I'm not sure about most of you, but I was clueless as to how the weather was going to be here in Mexico City. I assumed...hot. And actually, when I first got here and it was rather cool, I was suprised. I kept saying to myself "this summer is going to be awful" - I am very hot natured (normally) and was a bit dreading to see how hot it was going to get.

Well, "summer" has now come and gone and I was only able to sweat on a few days. Odd isn't it? Well, as I have said before, we live in a mountainous area. Actually Mexico City is about 3000 m above sea level and where we live on the outskirts of Mexico city, it is actually about 5000 m above sea level. So, I experienced May...and it was the hottest month..however I was not aware of it. You know in SC we have warm weather for a longer time and it is MUCH hotter there than here.

Actually over the last 4 -5 days, it has been sooo cold that I haven't warmed up at all on any of those days. I was beginning to wish we had planned our trip home for Christmas a little earlier. We have a small heater that mom brought to us..and it helps a little...but its so cold! It's a different cold here. It's a dry cold....and that cold gets into the bones!

But wow, how wonderful is our Lord! On Saturday, He gave us such a beautiful blue sky with only a few scattered clouds. It was absolutely gorgeous! And I am sooo thankful now, for the tall walls and tall houses that are close to our house. It allows me....on a day like this....for about 2-3 hours sit in just the right spot on our grass or in the hammock and soak up some sun to warm my bones! It's as if I am at Myrtle Beach in May....how delicious is that!

So, yes, yesterday I enjoyed the sun for about 2 hours in my shorts and tank top and we took a nap. As the sun is moving....you know when its time to go in and put more clothes on. I was so thankful to the Lord for that yesterday....and last night around 6 pm...it was like 40 degrees and freezing with the winds blowing off the mountains.

Anyone care to visit us??

Fish anyone?

Yesterday afternoon, I cooked a delicious healthy meal. Ever had swordfish? Its great. We buy it fresh at the market - with all the other fresh vegetables, fruits and meats. This was baked in the oven and I poured a mixture of sauteed onions, garlic, tomatoes, and lemon juice on top while baking. Along side with boiled brocolli and carrots and our favorite jamaica water to drink!

I know, it has been awhile...

sorry, it has been so long. We have been fighting sicknesses for awhile. But PRAISE THE LORD...Narcizo is better and our little colds have almost gone! For the past two weeks, basically we have been teaching and going to the doctor, and resting to get healthy. The doctor did mention something for us to do in the mornings while Narcizo was real sick. She suggested we make a juice from fresh squeezed oranges, lemons, pineapple, and blend in carrots. We started that and can't stop. It's delish! So, that's our routine every morning now about 30-40minutes before we eat breakfast. You should try it! Great vitamin intake. and did you know that once squeezed, you should drink orange juice within 15 minutes! Enjoy!

Yes, we can be serious!

Just want to tell you guys that things are going great here! And we are looking forward to seeing you in December...if the Lord permits!

just having a little fun!

Our new hammock!

You know I have never been fond of a hammock before. I guess because I have never owned one. Well, we recently bought one while visiting another state here with my parents. Last week, we finally had the chance to put it up! And what an amazing thing! I absolutely love it! Especially around 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon...the sun is in just the right place and even if its a little cool..it feels great. The sun is beating on me and allowing me to get a little more tan for the end of the year. To cover my guiltiness, I carry a book with me...perhaps The Purpose Driven Life or some English books...but after, let's be honest, 2-4 minutes...its down and my eyes are shut! We also enjoyed one night under the stars, built a fire, got the blanket and pillow and watched a movie in it. If you don't have one, try it out....You will love it!

Paint thinner

More than seeing people drunk, I often see people sniffing paint thinner. Wow...I am amazed at how many people (young and old) sniff on paint thinner. They can hardly stand up as they take a long, long draw from a ball inside their hand. I have seen men sniffing so much they fell down and didn't even notice. My insides were sick....my insides are sick..when I see this. Not so much as to the fact they are sniffing it but sick that they are seeking something more. And this is what they have found.

We are all seeking something more or we did at one time or another. The sickness I have when I see this is that there is sooo much more for these people. They are lost in this world that offers so many subsitutes for the REAL thing. Jesus said..."I have come to seek and save those that are lost." Our Father is waiting and watching. What can I do? What can you do? Or are you still searching for something more?

so...what have you been eating...

While on vacation, my sister in law wanted to cook for us, so we agreed. I knew the two animals we were eating were "tejon" and "toche"....that's all I knew. I agreed to try it. You know, I believe now that if anything is cooked right, it can taste good. Today, I just found out what one of them was....ever eaten this little creature before? The other, I'm still not sure about....and not sure I want to look it up!