blame it on mexico

we recently returned from an 8 day family mission trip to doctor arroyo, mexico. the trip was wonderful and God touched our hearts in many ways. the people of mexico are so beautiful and warm. i love that they are so friendly and open and seem to have little to no time schedule during their day. their possessions are few and they live a very simple life. here are some pictures from the trip.

here are some of the children from the village waiting for vbs to start. they waited there for us for 3 hours (we were running really late). when we arrived, not one complaint! we were greated with smiles.

erringtons heading to the market. (jackson is trying to stay out of the sun)

"el gordito" (what the locals called jackson - an affectionate term meaning chubby boy)

teaching a Bible verse in spanish during vbs at one of the local villages.

reese during free time. there was not a clean spot on her, but she looked so cute with her frog that she found.

one of the many beautiful sunsets. as my girls say, "Jesus, you sure know how to color!"

the amazing scenery on the ride home.

thanks to all our friends and family who prayed for us during the trip and also to deneise and the chase family for all our goodies and encouraging notes. it was something i will never forget and that i was honored to be a part of. worshiping the Lord in english and in spanish was one of the coolest experiences! but, the fact that my whole family got to go serve in the mission field together for the week was something i will cherish forever. God is so good and has taught me a great deal the last couple of weeks. i know i learned more from the mexican people than they ever could from me.

NRH2O

to celebrate the beginning of summer we went to a water park with some friends from the neighborhood. even after 50spf we all came out with a bit of a burn except jackson!

jumping jack flash

colin took this video of jackson in his door jumper. it is about a 15 second clip of his 20 minute jump session. jackson is such a happy boy and he makes me laugh. we think he might slim down a bit if he keeps this up. this is my first attempt at a video on the blog so i hope it works!

sunday afternoon project

while jackson and i took a nap and mackenzie played at a friend's house, reese and colin decided to build a birdhouse. i woke up in time to see reese helping her daddy work a compound miter saw and a nail gun. although i trust my husband completely, it terrified me to see my 6 year old daughter working a power tool. however, it left us with some very cute pictures. colin is such a wonderful dad and reese had a great time helping him. (notice the safety goggles, emily).

the final product...painted by reese and mackenzie

mackenzie and jackson watched as the birdhouse was hung.