To Ecuador and Back!

Here's our Arizona team plus the "Hands-On" team and the local pastor and church members.
This is a view of the town we worked in, Santo Domingo. We were on the top of a mountain and the view was spectacular. We were told there are over 600,000 people in this city, but it looked to us that there were many more than that.
Papa got to speak at Primera Iglesia Bautista. His translator (on his right) is Ron Sutton.
Ron is sponsored by Trinity Baptist Church in Casa Grande and has lived in Quito for several years. He works alongside many of the local pastors and churches in and around Quito.
This is the back entrance to Primera Iglesia Bautista. They also run a Christian school, and this building houses most of the classrooms. The place where I'm standing to take the picture is their cement playground/basketball court.
Granny got to lead 100 children in Laura Flores (a barrio built in the city dump)
Everyone had a lot of fun, the kids were great, the smiles even better
The children were also very good listeners. They were very interested in learning about Jesus
There was plenty of color in the jungle, here is one of many gorgeous flowers.
Granny bought this flute - it's made out of bamboo and sounds really pretty
We saw some REALLY BIG snails in our traveling through the barrios - here's the biggest!

We're Bloomin'!

Papa's cactus has a whisker shadow, can you see it? Soon it will be a full-grown flower beard!

My singing cactus has a beautiful blossom -- soon the tips will all be covered with flowers!

Puppet Marathon!

Here is my puppet team - 12 5th -6th graders. They are holding their "amoeba", small little creatures that glow in the black light. We started at 7:45 in the morning and finished performing at 3:00 in the afternoon. THEN we had to clean up the equipment. It was definitely a full and fun day.
We did a patriotic song with flags and everything!

We performed for 23 classes in 11 shows!

My Cactus Friends Keep Me Company on My Walks

I love this cactus because he looks like he's praying. It always reminds me to thank God for such a beautiful place to live and serve Him.
Here's my singing cactus (of course there had to be one of those!) As I studied the picture I realized that this cactus is not singing a solo! He has some back-up singers! Did you find them?
This one I call Papa because he's big and strong, and he has enough arms to hold and play with Hannah and Cailyn at the same time!

Granny Takes a Walk

I've been enjoying the beautiful Spring pictures from 'across the ocean', so I thought I would share some of the color we find in the desert during the Spring. When I walk, this is the return view that greets me -- Camelback Mountain. It's one of my favorite parts of my walk. However, this time of year, several neighbors have beautiful blooming desert plants, so I also get to enjoy the following scenes as I get some exercise!



These colors won't last long, but they are beautiful when they show up!

And Now.....For the Rest of the Story.....

Granny's 5-8th Grade Choirs


The second half of the day Granny spent with her chorus students -- about 100 of them!
We sang 3 songs at our district arts festival.....in the afternoon sun......in Arizona!
The kids did great, we had fun, and we got to sing for a lot of other students.

VBS ---- Ahhgain!

Papa and Granny led groups in another VBS workshop today. It was fun, we had a good time. This afternoon granny is going to an Arts Festival where her school choirs will sing. Busy day!





















My 'wonderful' backdrops aka painted sheets! they make covering things in a room very easy!