Tenam Puente: Mayan Ruins

We have had a fun, if exhausting, day driving to see the Mayan ruins near Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico. These particular ones are called Tenam Puente ("The Bridge"). Even though it's a smaller ruin, it's so intriguing. We had a great time exploring them! And since I'm pretty worn out from the day, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking. I hope you enjoy them.

Fiesta!!

Tonight wrapped up the convention here in San Cristobal de las casa (I think that is a beautiful name for a city). It has been a very full three days! I actually did not make the final service this evening, because the kiddos were just worn out. The three of us stayed at the hotel and I tucked them early.

a view from the convention host church's balcony

making friends

Mr B. all tuckered out

Our typical daily convention schedule (and I use the term* schedule* loosely, as the Mexicans do as well) has been: breakfast at 8am, morning sessions beginning at 9:45am and going until 2pm (there were 4 speakers in that time frame), lunch after that followed by a couple of free hours, then the evening service beginning at 6 or so and going until 9:30 or so followed by a very late dinner (remember what I said about the meal times here?). After that we all simply pass out in bed!

Today, however, was the banquet honoring my parents’ 40 years of ministry here in Chiapas. And I must say, they completely out did themselves! It was amazing! We partied all afternoon! And Mexicans know how to party, I’m telling you! The culture here is so fun-loving and joyful, it makes for great celebrations. They transformed the sanctuary of the church into a banquet hall complete with beautiful fresh flower arrangements, balloons and lovely table settings. The food was absolutely delicious! They served wonderful shrimp, fish and roast beef dishes followed by wonderful cake (I have certainly not lost any weight on this trip!). But the highlight of the day was the amazing program they had put together for the occasion.

the lovely tablescapes

the traditional dancers (isn't that tiny one adorable?!)

traditional marimba players

There were ladies performing traditional Southern Mexico dances in traditional dress (wonderful!). The musicians and singers in the church performed song after song in traditional Mexican style (which I love, by the way!). And even though we were all a little deaf afterwards—they love their music LOUD here—it was so much fun!!

my parents with their special cake

aren't these beautiful girls?!

They made several special presentations to my parents and many kind and loving words were said. I am so deeply moved by the great love shown to my entire family. Even as I write this, tears fill my eyes as I think of these people who are the most loving and generous that I have ever known. They are like family to my family. And even though I haven’t personally been here in years, I know all of their names and because my dad talks of them so often, I feel as if I do know them all. Chiapas, Mexico holds a very special place in his heart—in all of our hearts. Although my dad travels the globe ministering in more nations that I can even remember, this is the very first place he came on his very first trip out of the USA 40 years ago and the friendships he has made here are priceless treasures. These are truly a beautiful people.

Hello from Mexico!!

Well, here we are in San Cristobal de las casas, Chiapas, Mexico. After our day of travel on Monday we are SO glad to be here! We wondered if we were actually going to make it.

the kiddos chilling at DFW airport

I could give you the very long version of our crazy trip down here, but I'll spare you the gory details. Let's sum it all up by saying we were up for 22 hours straight (unless you count catnaps on the planes) that included flight delays, missed flights, attempted extortion by an-airline-that-shall-remain-nameless, saving graces from American Airlines, our arrival in Tuxtla with all of our luggage (thank goodness!), and finally a totally insane ride with a local driver up the mountains into San Cristobal that involved things such as high-speed passing on a double yellow line on blind mountian curves in the dark.

Whew...I'm tired all over again just writing that sentence.

Oh~and did I mention that we arrived at 11pm and they actually wanted to feed us dinner!! We all were dead on our feet and the kiddos were totally passed out. Americans are wimps apparently when it comes to late nights in Latin culture. Our meal schedule is going to be very mixed up by the time we get back home.

our hotel

an extra guest in our room

We are having a great time so far though. We're staying in a charming, if a little rustic, local hotel. The weather is lovely: 70's/80's in the daytime and 50's at night. We're sleeping with the window open (there's no a/c) and it's great!We haven't done a lot of sightseeing yet, just a little exploring on foot near the hotel. There is one more day of the convention and then we will be sightseeing on the weekend.

Vince speaking at the convention (the interpreter is on the right)

I hope you're having a great week, too. I'll be back soon!

Destination: Mexico

I know I've been a little scarce around here this week. It has been busy with Vince just getting back home. And now we are leaving on another trip. This time we are all going, along with my family, to San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico. We are so excited!!

40 years ago this year my parents began their missions work in Chiapas, Mexico. Now there are over 200 churches that are growing and thriving from that small start long ago. This next week will be the annual convention hosted by those churches and they are having a special celebration for my parents to celebrate 40 years of ministry there. I'm thrilled that our whole family is able to go.

My earliest memories are from Mexico. When I was a very young child we would travel there in an old blue pickup, pulling our travel trailer (they weren't called RV's back then) and stay for several months at a time. Then my parents began to make more short-term trips there, especially my dad, and although I've been to Mexico since then, I haven't been to the state of Chiapas since I was 4. So I am very happy to be returning--this time with my husband and children.

I'm hoping that we'll have internet service there, but I'm not sure, so you may not hear from me in blogland for a week or so. But I promise to return very soon with lots of pictures of our trip! In the meantime, I hope you have a blessed week!

(images from Google)

The Fruits of Our Labor

Even though it's hard work picking wild blackberries~even with garden gloves those thorns kept getting me~the results are totally worth it!! And we had so much fun picking!

fresh blackberry pie
(I used this recipe, substituting blackberries for blueberries)

Hangin' Judge Parker's Court

For those of you who think of Arkansas as a sleepy (read: boring) Southern state, think again! The Fort Smith area where I was born and now live in again has quite the colorful history.

This past weekend I had the perfect opportunity to show the kiddos some of that history. In case you weren't aware, the National Parks Service is hosting *Fee Free Weekends* throughout the summer. There is one left: August 15th & 16th. You can go here to see which National Parks & Historic Sites are participating. This past weekend was the free weekend for July and since the weather here was amazingly Fall-like, we headed over to the Fort Smith Historic Site.

I had not visited the site since high school and was impressed with the restoration work that had been done. It has become a wonderful local treasure! While the new museum has much information on the history of the fort, the site primarily focuses on Judge Parker's time there at the federal court. While Arkansas had become a state in 1836, Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907 and Fort Smith is right on the state border. In the late 1800's it was almost like the wild west. Since Indian territory (modern-day Oklahoma) had its own law enforcement which could not arrest non-Indians, it became a favorite of bandits and law-breakers of all kinds.

Judge Parker came here in 1875 to a very corrupt court and an increasing crime rate. Within four months he had sentenced six men to execution on the gallows. These were the first of 79 that would hang during the years that Judge Parker presided over the court. He helped to restore order to the area along with the help of many US Marshals and deputies.

The federal jail was not-so-affectionately called *Hell on the Border*. It was horrible jail. They have made it look nicer with the restorations, but I remember visiting it before the nice museum and restoration work was done. I think it was probably more realistic then.
The kiddos were not impressed with the jailhouse *restroom*, nor the sleeping accommodations.

Here's a look inside Judge Parker's courtroom. The kiddos were busy with their Junior Park Ranger booklets, doing a scavenger hunt as they looked at the displays. (That's a great educational program, by the way, for whenever you visit National Parks).
We also enjoyed walking around the grounds, especially since the temperature was so nice for summertime here. Below is the Commissary Storehouse. It is the oldest building in Fort Smith and was used as a warehouse.

We got to meet *Jack* the horse and his owner. The kids enjoyed the people in period clothing.

We had fun walking up to the river overlook and exploring some of remains from the first fort.
We had to take a break under a shade tree for them to work on their booklets. They wanted to earn their badges! If you live in the area, or are passing through, I would highly recommend spending some time here to learn some more about our nation's history. There are several other interesting historic sites nearby that are fun to visit also.