Birthday surprises!

So, last Monday was my Land Lady's birthday (Elide, center)! Her children (2nd photo, purple, black, and white shirts) through her a surprise birthday party and it was super fun...I would know, because I WAS INVITED!!! It was lots of fun, and the cake was very good! =)

The in-laws are here!!!!

Ok, I do have some excuses to offer for missing two weeks in a row. First of all, I was trying to read a book and write a paper before my in-laws came down and this endeavor took up every spare minute. And second, as the pictures and my first sentence indicate, MY IN-LAWS CAME DOWN TO VISIT!!!! Let me be the first to say we had an absolutely fantastic time! Now, for the recap…where should I start…I think the day before Bryan and Michelle came is a good place. The original plan was to have Bryan and Michelle stay at Huberto’s Alma Marta, The Baptist Theological Seminary. Nicolle, Huberto, and I went to the school the day before to make sure that our arrangements were still in place. When we got there to check out the married housing and the “big beds” we asked for (I just couldn’t put my in-laws up on student bunks that are the size of a cot) we were shown a twin mattress, no joke! Now, Nicolle and I aren’t the biggest people in the world, but even we would have trouble being comfortable on a mattress that size! Well, to make a long story boring, we went to Wal Mart and bought an air mattress. That’s right, me and the wife on the floor, and the in-laws on our bed. If you haven’t seen our apartment it is small…let me put it this way, I’m pretty sure my brother’s living room has more square footage than our entire apartment; I mean, they put the toilet in the shower to save room! Well, we were tight, but it was more convenient and we ended up being glad that it worked out that way because we had a lot of fun cooking together, hanging out, and watching movies on the lap top.

Bryan and Michelle were able to stay with us for eight days, and I’m thinking that after the week we had all of us are going to need a vacation to recover from our vacation! We tried not to jam too much stuff in, and we planned some days for relaxing, but it is sometimes hard to relax in Mexico City because to go anywhere you have to fight traffic that IS SO BAD that it takes forever to get anywhere. Case in point, after driving from Ohio to Detroit, flying to Dallas, a three hour layover, and then flying to Mexico City, we picked Bryan and Michelle up and drove them through an hour and a half of the worst rush our traffic that, according to Bryan (a good source as he is a trucker), is only rivaled by New York. Bryan said he will never complain about Chicago traffic ever again… “it could be worse” he said. Not exactly a red carpet welcome, but we were all happy to see each other.

Well, as you can see by the pictures, we took them to see some ruins in Teotihuacan, one of the most interesting and largest ancient ruins in Mexico. The main attractions are the two large pyramids of the sun and the moon, the former being the third largest in the world; AND I HAVE PICTURES OF US ON THE TOP!

After walking all over down town to see some statues and do some shopping, we decided to skip town, leave the smog behind, forget about the traffic and go to FABULOUS ACAPULCO!!!! Well, we got there after battling our way through an hour and forty minutes of rush hour traffic (the store of my life in Mexico…), but this gave way to six more hours of some of the most beautiful country side we had ever seen. We had a grand time chill’in on the beach, catching some rays, playing in the surf, and building sand castles. It rained a little here and there, but that is why we were able to go; the rainy season is also called the CHEEP season. Thanks for the weekend away Bryan and Michelle!

Please pray for: Our ministry with the kids, that we would make the most of every opportunity to love in the name of Jesus, improved Spanish skills, building relationships with the kids, wisdom for the foundation of youth ministry we are setting at Renovation church, and traveling safety, and that God would soften the hearts of these kids. THANK YOU!

a new toy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so, if any of you know me and have asked me what one of my FAVORITE hobbies is you would know that I am a grilling fiend! I love to grill, anything! Stake, Corn, Chicken, Potatoes, Burgers, you name it and I'll grill it! Everything tastes better grilled...well, except maybe jello... Anyway, I have been going through withdraw lately because IT HAS LITERALLY BEEN THREE MONTHS SINCE I HAVE GOTTEN TO PUT MEAT ON THE OPEN FLAMES!!!!!!! That was until I was at the market the other day and found this little beauty (see pictures), it was a bargain; really, the cheapest grill I have ever seen. I am truly pleased with it after our trial run with some burgers. I can't wait to try some other things, and invite some of the neighborhood kids over to make some s'mores. YAY!!!!!! I LOVE GRILL'IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

interesting cars

A car I have never seen before. yes, thats right, a go-cart with leather and air!

next update

Friends,

TONIGHTS BIG STORY!!!! This just in, Jon and Nicolle Reid have been married for ONE YEAR!!! Ok, just so you know, this last Sunday makes the third time I have successfully surprised Nicolle sense I have known here; truly a landmark experience. Yes, as I was saying, Nicolle is very difficult to surprise, but I managed to pull it off with the help of some friends both old and new. Here is what went down. Last Sunday Nicolle and I went over to a friends house for lunch after church. She thought we were invited, actually it was all a red haring! I actually arranged the whole thing to get her out of the house. As soon as the appropriate time came, I told her why my socks didn’t match (which she vehemently complained about), I wanted them to match my dress slacks and dress shoos, which would match my jacket, and would go great with her NEW DRES! Yah, she was surprised, and then I wiped out the tickets for the show, and she was even more surprised. It was great! Just like Carry Grant, I invited my woman out for a night on the town, and had a dress waiting for her. It was like a fairy tail adventure! We finished off the evening at a swanky restaurant listening to staple lounge music from the 40’s and eating positively fabulous food. Oh, did I mention, when we got there we had a table waiting for us, with candles, flowers, and a card. Oh yah, I pulled out all the stops, no holds back, all in baby! What can I say, I love her! =)

In other news, please stop sending the hate mail, this letter is only one day late. I know, I messed a week a little bit ago…but that is water under the bridge. I have a good excuse, and a lesson learned: don’t let a Jr. High student whom is un wise about what links to click on use your computer unsupervised. That is what I did, and know I have untold computer problems, bugs, tracking cookies…you just wouldn’t believe it. Don’t fear for the life of your computer, it is under control, but Nicolle spend the better part of a day trying to get my lap top back on its feet.

Please pray for: the continued health of my computer, that Nicolle’s second school choice would work out, for the kids of this community, that God would continue to work in their lives and help Huberto and I to minister to their needs.

—Shalom.

August 4th news letter

My dear friends,

This week was brutal, but a wonderful experience. It was brutal because most of my days started at 8:00 in the morning with V.B.S. which went to 2:ish, and then we had a soccer tournament for the teenagers in the neighborhood that usually went until 9:30 at night. On top of this I had one of my most difficult projects due for my P.R.I.M.E. internship. But it’s all over now, the project is turned in (14 pages), and V.B.S. is over, and the soccer tournament is over. We really had a lot of fun with the soccer gig, we had eight teams, with five people on each team. Some days, not everyone showed up, but this was not a problem because the kids LOVE playing soccer, and are all too willing to fill in for the opportunity to play more than once.

V.B.S. was a gas! Every day I hung out with a group of 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders. We watched a little video, learned bible verses, made arts and crafts, sang songs, and played games. There was a different theme for each day of the week: God is real, God is with us, God is awesome, God is strong, God is in control! All of these themes were intended to teach kids that God cares about them so much that He sent His son to die for them on the cross. I’m really going to miss those kiddy-widdies, they were so much fun! I am also going to miss the group of teens and adults that came from North Carolina to help with V.B.S. There were 14 in all, and the leader of the group is actually a Man named Alex. He was born and raised in Mexico, but now he currently lives in N.C. and is the head pastor for the Hispanic ministry of Apex Baptist Church. Apparently they have been coming down for the last six years and helping with V.B.S.

In other news, things have turned for the worse with Nicolle’s classes at Iberoamericana. Do to lack of communication, getting the run around, billing mistakes, schools canceling their programs, being billed by three different schools and not being eligible for financial aid, Nicolle has decided to drop her classes, and possibly her Spanish minor as well. Instead we are looking for a language school where she can take classes to improve her skills with the language. God willing, we can find a school where the courses will transfer to Huntington and count toward her Spanish minor. But if not, in the end she will speak better Spanish and that is the point, isn’t it?!?!?

Lastly, I am honored to mention that in six days Nicolle and I will be CELEBRATING OUR ONE YEAR ANIVERSERY! Don’t worry, there will be pictures!

Please pray for: Figuring out Nicolle’s Spanish minor and find a language school; for Huberto and I with the future plans and recovery from this last week, and that Nicolle and I would have a great one year anniversary.

—Shalom.

P.S. if you haven’t yet, check out the blog, it’s cool: http://jonnicolleinmexico.blogspot.com/

P.P.S check out photobucket (link on blog) to see pictures of this past week

another shelf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the wife went shopping the other day...again. Is that all women do? JUST KIDDING! Well, to make a long story boring, we still don't have enough storage space, so, I used that as another opportune excuse to GET THE TOOLS OUT AND START BANGING ON STUFF! Well, here are the results: A four level shelf, with two different heights for the difficult to fit cook books, and three different sized shelving widths for everything from a five pound flour bag to a coco tin. Structurally reinforced with cross bracing and built on two full length rails, this bad lad could hold everything and the kitchen sink! (thats saying something, because our sink is solid concrete)

chow!