Cool pics!

Hi! Sorry, I was just told that we're taking everything down now so I'm needed to help. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed the posts and the pictures!

Ok here's how I really felt about the recumbant bike. Sorry but I'm having trouble posting more than one photo per post.

Hi Chris,

Mom & I really enjoyed our nice long phone chats with you on Friday! Glad to hear you liked the California Russians. Please feel free to invite your Russion friend(s) to stay with us in Naperville when they come to Chicago.

I really hope your knees are healing well. Must say the photos looked really nasty, but I'm also glad to see you're keeping them really clean & protected. A couple people have told me of similar stories (lye in the cement buring their hands and other...body parts). Guess you're having to avoid kneeling for a while...at least you didn't sit in it! Seriously, please take very good care of these burns and seek mediacl attention if you see any signs of infection...sorry, my parenting gene kicked in again.

Several folks at church today told us they got a very nice thank you note from you recently. Everyone is genuinely interested in how you're doing and wishes you well. The bulletin even refers to you and Ashley as 'our missionaries in Mexico'...

My annual sojourn to Oshkosh was great (again)! I flew in right seat of Buba's King Air there & back. Through some real IFR conditions (ie bad weather) so it was treally demanding but exciting! Cool to pop out of the clouds and see my home base runway right in front of me. It was great wandering around the air show with Grandaddy, Bud, Buba, David, and Jim the King Air pilot. I took the video camera for the first time this year, which was a good thing...walked around all the airplanes Grandaddy flew during WWII, and recorded his comments. We even climbed up into a B-25 cckpit (his favorite) where he showed me around & told some cool stories. It was great! I hope to make it a nice mate to the awsome interview you recorded of Grandmother. While staying at Bud & Cece's house, I tried my skills at riding his recumbant bike. I'm guessing 'recumbant' means something like 'rediculous' in spanish. Here are a couple photos of my 'first flight' for your entertainment. riding isn't too hard...but stopping is.

Other happenings around Neighborville last week: Lauren took Brian to the Country Thunder concert last weekend...they had a great time judging by the pictures. Mom & I went to Lauren's graduation party (Brian was already there) at the Kmeicek's lake house in Morris yesterday. It's a really fun place and we had a nice time. Then went to erin Kelleher's graduation party last nite...we're such party animals.

Hey we just got off the phone with you...during your weekly call in from San Diego. Glad to hear your knees are healing ok and things are still going well.

Guess that's about it for now. As alway, please let us know if there's anything we can do for you.

Love you,
Dad

Hmmm...

Well, sorry that my past post is one giant paragraph, but no matter how many blank lines I put in between paragraphs, I can't get it to publish right. Oh, technology and I sometimes do not get along.

5:00 lead-in!

Hola!

Wow, it seems like it's been a pretty busy weekend at home! I'm glad everyone survived the dirt biking adventure, and thanks for all the updates.

Well, I have a later lead in today, so I've been able to get a lot done. I started this afternoon by taking an online Spanish Placement exam for Ecuador. It went okay, but it was pretty hard and I lost 20 minutes out of the hour because I couldn't get the quiz to work. Oh, well, I'm just glad I got it submitted!

This past week was pretty cool. I had a really fun group from Conneticut and in addition to building houses, they sponsered an outreach for the community. They gave the pastors in the community money to plan and host an event, and they organized a carnival-like thing with games and a sermon. There were so many kids and families! The second picture is a quick snapshot of the event. I helped run the "sponge fishing game" where the kids used a fishing pole with a Velcro ball on the end to try and "catch" sponges floating in a kiddie pool. Each sponge was marked with a star, an "X," an "O" or nothing. A star earned the kid 3 tickets, an X 2 tickets, an O 1 ticket, and nothing no tickets. I never realized how popular that game could be, but we were mobbed with kids! I quickly learned how to tell the kids to make a line in Spanish, but it didn't help too much:-) I had a really fun time, but I was sick of sponges and covered in water by the time the game was over!

This weekend we also helped out at a Vaction Bible School at the church Fe y Amor, the church of Luis, the man that Knox built a house for last December. It was really fun to see the family again, especially Leslie, a girl my age. One of our jobs was to get each kid's information, though I accidently kept asking each kid, "Do you have happiness?" (Tienes alegrias?) instead of "Do you have allergies?" (Tienes alergias?) But in the end, I got the answers.

This morning we left pretty early to get to the States because we didn't want to get stuck in the border line. We had time to go to IHop, and a group had donated money to us the week before, so we had an extremely tasty brunch! The first picture is from IHop this morning. I'm sitting with Melanie, Kamar, Stacey, and Emily. We're all wearing the shirts that we wear each Sunday to lead groups in. We look kinda goofy crossing the border with our matching outfits, but so far they haven't pulled us into secondary in the U.S.

Well, that's about all here. I'm told that my group this coming week is a bunch of Russians from California so I'm pretty excited to possibly learn some Russian phrases. Haha, I'll proabably won't learn anything useful, but what's the fun in useful stuff?

I miss and love everyone as always!

Update from Dad

Chris,

We loved your last post about visiting the Cultural Center. So what's the 'elbows up, side to side'? A Mexican dance or some kind of stretching exercise?

Speaking of stretching, are you still able to get some running in? It must be tough considering your work schedule and conditions. Hope you're taking care of yourself & staying healthy.

So back to your last post...I'm so impressed with your great attitude Chris...the world will be a better place when everyone works at 'expanding their likes' like you are instead of their dislikes. Especially tough but even more important when under adverse conditions. And I'm already looking forward to learning some new Mexican food dishes from you! I really like Kelly Clarkson's music too...but I just hope she improves her attitude...her lyrics sound like she's pretty bitter about something.

So Mom mentioned our latest adventure here at home: Riding at Fox Valley Off-road was awesome! Brian Patrick & I did fine (although admittedly in survival mode some of the time!) and the bikes are great! We got separated for a while deep in the woods. Once we met up again we tore around & pulled each other out of countless mud holes (it had rained a lot over the past week), and finally worked our way back to civilization. Funny, we later realized there were no other bikes in those woods....now we know why! But we learned a lot bout riding & bikes & survival & we had a ball!

Well, good luck on your Spanish proficiency exam today! Must be nice to not have to study at all and know you'll do great! We're looking forward to your weekly call from San Diego this afternoon! I miss your voice and miss you!

Take care Christina.

We love you,

Your Dad

Saturday Morning in Naperville

Saturday Morning –9:00 am- It is a beautiful Saturday morning- 70 degrees, no humidity. Dad and Brian are still asleep (Brian got back from a run yesterday evening about 9:15, took a shower and lay down on his bed before going out. He is still there 12 hours later – sound asleep!)

There have been some vehicle acquisitions in the neighborhood over the past couple of weeks. Somehow we have gone from zero dirt bikes to three…. E-bay is an interesting thing!

Kim has acquired a vehicle that should be road-worthy for her trip to Texas in August. It is a cool vehicle. And she likes it!

Tonight we are going to “Rockin’ For Our Troops” at Cantigny with the Renders. The Lt. Dan Band (Gary Sinese) is the headliner. It should be a great evening for a concert in the park!

And John & Karen Laplante (Deb’s cousin) adopted Zoe – they have a great blog about their experiences in China! http://www.wholegang.blogspot.com/

Still Sat morning - 11:00 am – We just finished breakfast and Brian & Brian have the opportunity to go to Fox Valley Off-road and meet a father/son team that Brian Patrick works with at HBK. So they are off to the store to get helmets minimally and then to the park. They day’s agenda has quickly changed! All for now!

Another Sunday!

Well, I'm back in San Diego for a few hours! This past week was a bit crazy, but overall lots of fun. I thought I'd post some pictures. This first picture is from the Cultural Center of Tijuana which we went to yesterday. One thing this trip is done is expand my likes a lot. Like now I'm really liking spicy food. A delicous combination is fresh fruit like mango, watermelon, cantelope, coconut, jicama, and cucumbers with lemon juice, salt and chile pepper. Yum.... Also, I find myself liking a lot more music. Like now I like Kelly Clarkson's music a lot more because half the team here is is in love with her. And now I like some rap...this is me doing "elbow's up, side to side" with a statue...gotta go, my group just got here!

Hey-O!

Well, I have a 1 o'clock lead-in today, so I'm gonna have to make a short entry. I love the picture of Dad and Grandaddy! Thanks for mailing that to me, Mom. I got to show all my friends here anda they thought it was funny.

This last week was cool because I had a group who had never built a house before. Other than the time I had them put bailing wire on the wrong side of a wall before we stood it up, I think the house turned out pretty well. They were hard workers and were excited to learn.

The pics are hair-cutting in our kitchen tent and the other is our team in Ensenada.!

Bugs

Hi Chris!

We loved reading about your camping experience. Wow it sounds wonderful! What a beautiful setting. Mountains in one direction and ocean in the other...we Midwesterners are jealous! I've heard of Encenada (sp?)...I think in a Linda Rondstadt song or something.

And building a church sounds very ambitious! That's a big project! Hope you're taking pictures of the buildings and more importantly the people you are working & living with. I'm sure you have some great stories to tell...we can't wait to hear them. Like what was the locals' reaction when you talked about drinking 'blood'? Yeah...Countess Christina...la vampire from Chicago. Un poco loco.

Sorry things were so hectic when we connected by phone on Sunday. Mom & Brian Patrick had just arrived at the airport, where Grandaddy & i were in the midst of painting the cockpit of the Glasair. I extricated myself from the footwell quickly enough to talk on the cell to you, while posing with Grandaddy in our stylish painting attire. I'm sure you'll be proud to show your friends this picture. Just a couple of wild & crazy guys eh? Mom says Grandaddy looks like a flasher and should probably be arrested...I of course look relatively normal...Nice job Brian Patrick on the camera work!

We were thrilled to hear from you except your voice sounded...well... shot! I hope you are getting better! If it gets into you chest, please see a doctor (again) before it becomes an infection. How would you survive without nagging parents? Gee you've had your share of 'bugs' so far this trip!

Speaking of bugs, Opah, Nana, Mom & I just spent a thrilling evening on the front porch photograghing the most enormous (and now famous) beetle in Naperville and maybe all of DuPage County. He joined us for cocktails on the front porch around 9pm. He was quite patient during the photo shoot but I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the photo flashes and 'encouragement' to perform. Ultimately, he outlasted us and we went to bed, leaving him alone at the table, to listen to the RibFest concert in peace. Yep...we sure know how to have a good time in Naperville. (Your family is sooo weird...sorry).

Well I think that's enough quality journalism for one night. Besides, everyone else has gone to bed. Except your brother of course, who doesn't come home until the rest of us have been in bed a couple hours.

We really really miss you Chris...especially with 4th of July coming. I remember face painting with you and Kim on the front porch one 4th of July when you were little...

Please take care of yourself Chris. Looking forward to hearing from you again soon! We love you & miss you!

Love,

Dad

Mid-point

Hey-O!
Well, I didn't get to make an entry last weekend because I had a 1 pm lead-in, but this week my lead-in isn't til 5, so I have a bit of time!

I just got off the phone with Dad, and it sounds like the painting of the plane has been an interesting challenge. I can't wait to see pictures!

Our "Mid-point check-in" at Ensenada (I was wrong when I thought it was in Rosarito) was amazing. On Friday we had 4 hours of free time and I got to read and write some thank you's which are way overdue. The campsite was incredible- our tents were at the edge of a cliff looking down into the Pacific Ocean and the mountains were behind us. It was so gorgeous I felt like it should be a picture in a calendar :-) I forgot to bring my camera connecting cord thing to the office so I can't upload pictures, but I'll try and remember for next time.

This past week my group built a church, which is four times the size of the standard Amor house. It was a really fun neighborhoood to work in because there were lots of kids and the neighbors were really friendly. The pastor that we were building for cooked us lunch twice (tacos with rice and beans one day and tortas, which are large sandwiches, another day), and one neighborhood lady brought by fresh-squeezed melon juice! I'm definitely not starving here.

Also, I got to hang out with some neighborhood girls, and we compared the difficulties of learning Spanish and English. They thought my Spanish was hilarious, especially when my voice got hoarse at the end of the week and I sounded like a frog. But I understood a lot of what they said and I think my Spanish is improving, although there have been a few miscommunications. Like I thought they were talking about drinking blood (sangre) when they were talking about drinking Sangria, a Spanish soda.

The advantage of having a hoarse voice here is that if you just say a few words in Spanish, people think you're fluent and aren't saying much because you can't physically talk. Still, I'm very glad that my voice has returned. It's frustrating not being able to say what you're thinking! I got pretty good at charades.

This coming week is a pretty slow week of groups, probably because of the 4th of July holiday. We're kinda hoping that some groups have fireworks so we can confiscate them and set them off ourselves :-)

Well, I hope everyone has a great week and fun 4th of the July. I can't believe it's July already! I miss and love everyone,
Chris