In like a lion

That is what they say about March, isn't it? But it is February. Every week of this month has had at least one day of severe weather which included tornado warnings. It has resulted in the rescheduling of 2 tennis matches and we are early in the season. The wind is howling, the rain is at torrential levels and our garbage cans are at the road. Today was garbage day. It is the girls job to put the cans to the road if their kitchen night falls on the night before garbage day. The one who has kitchen on garbage day brings the cans in. I try to let them do things on their own but that doesn't seem to work. Consequently the cans are at the road during this deluge and you know that the garbage men always leave some trash by the cans. Maybe they'll learn or maybe I am dreaming. The little dogs don't like to go outside to potty when the weather is like this. It is a task getting them to do what they are supposed to do.
The storm just passed and I instructed Krista to get the cans up. That was about as easy as pulling teeth with a pair of pliers. She did it with a nice pleasant attitude too. Teenagers...well almost.

Briana contacted us

I am so surprised to hear from her. She made it to Pichi. It was siesta time so she went to an internet cafe and emailed us. That is so sweet of her. I didn't expect that. She says it is "absolutely gorgeous" and that she loves it and I would love it too. It must not be too rural for her to enjoy it.

Andrea played Sandlewood HS today. She won. We thought she was going to melt down completely but she pulled it out. I think this is all so new to her that she is still adjusting. This girl was fairly good. Andrea was clearly the better tennis player. Her first serve was off. When this happens, it throws her whole game off. Her doubles match was much better. She relaxed and enjoyed the game and won easily. Her partner, Chelsea, was playing very well. The whole team won which makes them undefeated. Andrea is also undefeated.

We have completed day 2 of our car rebuild. You can see the pictures. The motor looks very different after today.

Car work day 2

Cars

Briana is the proud owner of a 1986 Toyota Celica. The motor is in pieces in my husband's workshop. Before she left for Argentina, she helped take it apart and clean it. Bro. Tom and Jimmy began putting it back together today. I think they 3 of the pistons are in. One has to go back to the machinist because he put it together backwards from the others. I will try to chronicle this for Briana because I am so sure she is sad that she is missing this. She is 25 hours by bus in the mountains. I hope all is well. I will post about that if she gives me any details. Needless to say there is no internet there.

Rebuilding Briana's car day 1

A Great Party

Today was a wonderful day

Today was an unusual Saturday. Well actually the unusualness started last night. Jimmy was on vacation so after the Bible Study we went to Starbucks. That's not really unusual, but we stayed out until midnight. Then we went to Walmart. We were fortunate to get out of there in one piece. That place is really crazy. Today we went on visitation just like we do every Saturday. Afterward we we to Puerta Plata. It is a Dominican restaurant. It was really nice. You could get anything you wanted to eat as long as it was frijoles, aroz, or pollo. It was cooked very well. After this we went to Boone Park and played tennis. This was the first time I have played in a long time. It wasn't anything strenuous but it was fun none the less. Jimmy, Krista and I played Canadian doubles. Krista has become quite the tennis player. Joanna has started back. It is more difficult for her because she is out of shape but she will get there. Maybe she can play on the Ed White tennis team next year.

We went to a concert. Our friend is in a band. It was very good. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was very laid back and cozy. The music from both groups were written by the people in the group.

After the concert, the Brantleys and the Villareals came over for Joanna's belated birthday party. Her birthday was during the missions conference so we couldn't have it then. She wanted to have a family party. It was a lot of fun. We ended with all the aunts (except me, I do know my limits) and the girl cousins dancing to Shania Twain, Hannah Montanah and various artists. The only one missing was Briana. She is on her way to the Andes mountains. She is riding a bus for 25 hours.

This is a link to pictures of our day.http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg69/Melody_Tyson/?action=view&current=c626550e.pbw

My daughters are doing well

I just got off skype with my oldest, Briana. She is doing well. Today was her last day of camp. It has been busy for her but very productive. She spends her mornings in spanish class and her afternoons working in the kitchen at the camp. She is getting ready to head to the mountains. This is a little out of the box for her (as if this whole experience is not). She is not much of an outdoorswoman. This trip will involve mountain climbing and some very strenuous athletic activities. She will return to maybe a slower pace then jump right into classes, all in Spanish. This will be a challenge for her. She likes it so much down there that she is thinking about staying until December. It makes me so sad to think about it.

Andrea played her first full match with Ed White today. She played Englewood. She and the team won. I think she is quite the morale booster for that team. They only lost one match. The girls are very sweet. There are two spanish sisters that I converse with.

Krista and Joanna are driving Andrea crazy. She didn't even want them to go to the match today. I had to threaten them to not say a word at the match so as not to set Andrea off. I hope I can get them caught up in school. It is a task to keep Krista on task. She can't seem to follow instructions. I will have to make a whole post on her again one day.

Missions Conference 2008

This conference was a blessing. We were host family to the Brockells: Steve, Julia, Alec and Sophie. They are missionaries to the Dominican Republic. We requested them because we have many friends from the Dominican Republic. We hope to make a trip there. There were three Spanish speaking families. One, the Vernoys, were in Venezuela. They were in the jungles and had to leave thier home very quickly. The wife left all her kitchen stuff there. During our gift giving time, she received a new set of knives and pots and pans. Their daughter got a sewing machine. She sews to make money and had to sell her machine when she left. They are now going to Paraguay, which, by the way borders Argentina. There was a family from Peru there. The Aldermans were there also. A family with very cute children are going to Ethiopia. I always enjoy the missions conference