Nadia had no problem putting on the fluffy dresses, but she was still Nadia. Look at her run!
Nadia before my cousin Jen and Chris’ wedding on New Year’s Day.
And before Tahni and Joseph’s wedding.
Tahni & Joseph’s wedding teaser
Needless to say we had a blast at the wedding! Nadia did a great job and the wedding was beautiful!
Tahni’s Bridal Shower
A couple weeks ago Aunt Paula, Grammie and I headed to College Station for Tahni’s Bridal Shower. It was so much fun! Her best friend Ally put it on and their friends from church opened up their home to us. Ally had come up with some creative games and the food was Greek themed because Joseph proposed to Tahni there in Septemeber.
Louanne, Capri, Grammie and Tahni
And here is the laughing photo that Tahni and I get almost every time we are together.
Visit to the World Vision ADP in Tijuana
The slideshow above was put together by my friend Tiffany with the photos she took on our day trip to Mexico.
A couple weeks ago I went to San Diego for a World Vision conference and on Thursday of that week we headed into Mexico to see one of the WV Area Development Projects (ADP). Mike and I have been sponsors for 15 years now and have never had the chance to see the work ourselves. When World Vision comes into a community the community has to agree to be a part of the work because WV wants to give a “hand up” not a “hand out”. Their goal is to attack the root causes of poverty on all sides to make life better for the entire community.
It was wildly rainy and we were told that Tijuana was experiencing some of it’s worst weather in 26 years. The rain was crazy and at times it was going sideways from the wind. The area that we went to didn’t have paved roads and while we were visiting the road we came in on was flooded out. Getting back to the border was half the adventure of the day and we got to see a lot more of the country.
The people that we met were wonderful. It’s absolutely amazing how many community volunteers this ADP has because the people care about the success of all the families. The women made us a WONDERFUL meal and after we all ate they showed us around the community center.
In the community center they hold classes on pinata making, marshemallow popcicle making, other arts, baking and jello molding. They have a computer center where they teach skills to adults and children. They have a place to teach women beauty shop skills – hair cutting, braiding, highlighting and nails. A great thing about this is that once the women are trained, they can work from home and take care of their children rather than having to go off to a factory all day. They have music classes and soccer teams. The moms even have a soccer team 🙂
On the same land they have a day care, cafeteria for the middle schoolers to come for lunch and a clinic. It was so cool to see that because it was clean and stocked. Doctors come in twice a week. It was mentioned that a special thing about this clinic was that it had a door that closed for the women to have their babies in privacy rather than out in the open. Oh how we take these things for granted in America – being able to have a baby in a safe, clean and private environment.
I have been trying to put into words all the stuff going through my mind about this special day. One moment keeps coming back to me from that day. Many of the women spoke to us at the end through the translator to tell us thank you and what kinds of things they do in the community. One woman said, “Thank you for helping me take care of my children.” And then I started to cry. All I could think was that these women love their kids JUST as much as I love Nadia, but they don’t have ACCESS to all the stuff I do. They have the same hopes and dreams for their children as I do for Nadia. They just don’t have access.
So when people ask me why I am so passionate about sponsorship through World Vision – that is why! For just $35 a month you or your family can make a difference to an entire community and especially to your sponsored child and their family. One person can make a difference, I have seen it with my own eyes. And what a blessing to see it with my own eyes after all these years of talking about it.
Do you want to sponsor a child? Just let me know and I will share the picture folders I have with you. Not local? I have a scanner and email 🙂 Thanks for reading.