Homecoming

Yay we won the homecoming game. Our team has not won this game since sometime in the 80's. It was a nasty day but hey what's a little rain. That night they had a homecoming banquet. Here are a few pictures of the boys.

My boys

Well football season has started. And look at who is playing. Wade is still on the small side and is mainly the equipment boy but Cody is playing a lot and I was impressed. Today was the first game and we one 12 to 0. I watched Cody steal several flags.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Cheyenne! I can't believe you are already 4! We love you

Mommy

The rest of the story...

For those of you who don't know I usually post on the Arce blog I say usually, because lately I have taken a break from the world of blogging...I think I am back now. Check on the link to the right to see what's going on in our lives in Texas! Calixto and I both have Facebook pages so you can check up on us there too!
A few months ago I wrote about a situation where a friend had asked us to adopt her baby who was due to be born in January. We prayed, talked about it and received good counsel and had pretty much decided we would not pursue this option, but had not settled the matter with the birth mother. I know part of us really did want this to happen?! Anyway after phone tag a few times we finally spoke with her today and she informed us that she had miscarried the baby. She is doing well just a bit tired and trying to keep herself busy. Although we knew we "probably" wouldn't adopt this baby it still stung when we heard those words. I'm sure it is never easy to lose a baby but she felt this was for the best given the circumstances! It was yet another "wake-up" call for her to get her life in order and has started taking steps in that direction. Who knows maybe God will send us a baby some other time...or maybe we'll only have the blessing of the 2 precious children we have now!
On another matter we have finally decided on a church to join! It only took us 15 months to come to this decision! We will be joining Mobberly Baptist Church We had been quite hesitant to join but now feel that is where God would have us settle. On a side note we were in The Dallas area and visited a chruch that is part of Sovereign Grace Ministries that we absolutely loved!! It would only be a 3 hour drive to church every week!! Now that would cost a fortune in gas! so we'll settle for Mobberly! It will be nice to be "part" of ministry in a local body again.
School starts for us on the 20th-work starts for me on the 13th. well...my "paid" work begins then I've already been at the school daily getting my room ready. Life has certainly changed!!
It's time to take Christopher to soccer practice...

Quick visit with cousins

Here are some pix of the quick overnight visit with Cheyenne and Wade. My parents made it to our house around 7pm yesterday and left around 9:30 this morning reaching their final destination around 3 pm. You could tell they are very excited to start this newest adventure in life! Christopher went with them to spend time with Wade...hopefully, they'll keep each other occupied and out of trouble! As I mentioned on my blog Cat and Cheyenne were like two long lost friends! They both even had pink dresses on!

Cheyenne was too wound up to actually go to sleep with Cat so we had to move one of them!
Hangin' the kitty from the bunk bed
The boys after playing outside!
Anyone know a good Orthodontist? I'm sure both boys will be in braces soon!
Cheyenne had to drink her milk through a straw...thank goodness Mom-mom had a stash here

Here she looks just like Roni! With that grin!

Tracy's Wedding

THE MR. AND MRS. HORACIO A. SANCHEZ

Tracy and Art were married yesterday (June 5,2008) at the Mays Landing Court house.

At 6 o'clock we went over to a house (The McMullen Mansion) across from Dr. Combs office to have pictures taken in the gardens there.

They are now a family of TEN. The girls at the office say they are the new "Sanchez Bunch"

SANCHEZ PARTY OF TEN.....

CONGRATULATIONS AND THE BEST OF EVERYTHING to them (ALL)

adoption?

I spoke with a woman from "Loving Alternatives", a christian adoption agency the other day. She felt that given the situation/past with this birth mother that there were many red flags-which Calixto and I had already discussed with one another. I still have not talked with a friend who is a lawyer-they're on vacation-but she has talked with a lawyer she knows. His recommendation was to go ahead and do a private adoption since it is less expensive. But, we feel that she needs the support/information/counseling that an agency can provide. I spoke with her last night and gave her the number to call and speak with the agency. We feel she really needs to have an adoption plan before we sit down with her and talk more. There are 7 months before the baby is born and that leaves a lot of time for things to happen, or for her to re-think the emotional decision she is making now.
So, I think at this point we are going to continue to pray about this and see how God leads all of us! My thought is that we can't be her "savior" in this ordeal and I feel that is how she is viewing us. I can't even think through the situation fully, there is just so much to consider...like teaching in the fall...oh my, thank the Lord that he is in control...not me!

Adoption?

I'm posting this on this blog and not the "arces" since I don't want my friends in Longview to know about this situation just yet. (if any friends from Longview read this just don't pass along the info...thanks)
Here is the situation...I received a phone call from someone we know asking if we would adopt her baby that is due in January!! Ok, I practically fell off my chair in shock at that question. She is a 40 year old woman and has not been stable since we have known her. As a church we reached out to her and helped her through many a traumatic situation...and here she is again in another predicament. She understands that she can not take care of another child, the father wanted her to abort but, she chose to cancel the appointment. She is desperately looking for a solution and thought about us.
I told her I would make some calls, get some information and get back to her today-not with an answer but with some direction. I spoke with our friend Glennis who runs a maternity home last night and she told me to contact a lawyer and a local christian adoption agency. I'm waiting to hear back from a Lawyer friend and I did speak with someone at Loving Alternatives. The woman was very sweet and offered some wise counsel.
There are a bunch of red flags with this situation...please pray for us, the birth mom and the baby...that God's will would prevail! We certainly don't want to jump into anything that would be unwise but we also don't want to say no to something that God potentially "brought" to us.
Thanks for your prayer and I'll keep you posted on what direction we are headed.

Go Army!

Today 3 vietnam era helicopters stopped at our airport to refuel on their way back to California from DC. They had been in DC to escort the thousands of motorcycles that ride to the capital every Memorial day. There were 2 hugheys and I forget what the small one is called.
When we 1st arrived the officials at the airport had no clue they were coming and even turned people away saying they had wrong information...luckily just as we walked out the doors we heard them landing.
Several of the pilots/crew are vietnam vets and we were able to talk with them and thank them for their service to our Country!

For the bee enthusiasts...the small holes in the tree ended up turning into a big hole futher into it. When the tree men came back to cut up the trunks into smaller pieces this is what we found...

The combs were dry and brittle and ants were all over already. No honey to be found but it sure smelled of honey.

We finally got our trees removed...well, they are down anyway!

I used my maiden name for this blog and my married name for the arce blog. I figured there would be many more with the name Thompson. Try it with your name and see how many of "you" there are out there?!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1,861 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Prayer needed!

Ok, I've debated over and over if I should post this...I've come to the decision to go ahead!
Tracy is engaged to Art and they plan on getting married in June sometime. The problem is Art is not a christian...they have been going to church together...but, as far as I know he has not made a decision to follow Christ. They both have failed marriages and ex-spouses that are and will continue to make life difficult for them in relation to their children.
I'm not writing this to gossip about Tracy or Art. I'm just very concerned about this relationship (which I have expressed to Tracy), upcoming marriage and most importantly their spiritual lives.
I ask that we all pray very earnestly for them. Pray that God would get ahold of both of their hearts, that they would make biblical, wise choices for them and their children.
Remember that the prayer of a righteous man avails much!

Ahhh! The tornado sirens are going off!!!

FFHN

Click on the picture to view our new website for "For the Fame of His Name" It is finally up and running...at least the beginning stages!

Storms, storms and more storms

We awoke Sunday morning to yet another thunderstorm! Usually they pass by pretty quickly but this one stalled right over Longview and dumped over 4 inches of rain! That was on top of the rain from the night before.
I didn't realize until yesterday that the garage and maid's quarters had flooded! Eww! everything is so smelly now. I was going to have a garage sale, now I'm thinking I'll just throw it all away!
Our flowers did take a beating...the dogwood blooms are all over the ground! It looks like it is going to be a beautiful sunny day today...although humid, I'm sure!

Spring weather in Texas!

Storm #2

No tornado this time...but we have lots of hail! I have never seen this much or this big of hail before! This one Christopher is holding is 1 inch in diameter...shortly after this we found some that were 2 inches!

Calixto is in the attic trying to catch the leaks! Unbelievable how loud the hail, rain and wind were just a few minutes ago. It smells strongly of pine in the air...so there must be a tree or trees down...we did hear some cracking sounds earlier. Ok, I'm off to find towels to dry up the puddles from the leaks in the window sills.

Elizabeth and Larry

Here they are for those of you who asked for a clear picture. Awww aren't they cute.

Signs of Spring...

Catholic Good Friday Procession in Mx

Update on Connie

Thank you for praying for Connie Puryear and her family. Yesterday she went to Dallas for a biopsy of the spot on her lung, the following was written last night...

Dear Warriors, Johnny and I arrived home this afternoon around 4:00 pm. This morning we arrived at Baylor at 6:00 am and were meet with kind nurses and staff. The Doctor informed us that he was not 100% sure he could reach the spot that they had in question. My prayer that morning was that he could indeed reach the spot to avoid another procedure. Anxiety took over me from about 6:30-6:50. I could not stop crying and a friend had prepared my MP3 player with worship music and I began to sing and focus my heart. I quickly found my place of peace again. Right before they wheeled me downstairs Johnny and I again prayed. "This is yours, you can have this spot, and this lung. We will love you no less and will continue to praise you the same." God's goodness and presence were not absent. I remembered dreaming and hearing someone say..."Connie, you are okay." I did not know if it was my conscience that held all the worry or if God was speaking to me in this long dream. I awoke three hours later with Johnny at my side as always. The Doctor came in and repeated - YOU ARE OKAY! He had a pathologist with him during the surgery. He was able to reach the spot and the lymph gland. There was NO cancer!!!!! He said he will continue to check the spot in months to come, but felt confident in the cells that he found. His nurse began to kiss my head, I cried, Johnny cried and the doctor held my hand. Some good news. We needed some encouragement. The surgery for the abdomen still is place, but this keeps things uncomplicated. There are still waters to walk through, but we have been given a hug breath in this storm. The ride home was great. I felt just as good coming home as I did going yesterday. I have not been sick at all...I FEEL GREAT!!!! Praise the Lord with us - today is a great celebration and we are still singing.

Easter

Prayer Request

Our Head Administrator at school, a woman I've known for at least 14 years, is battling cancer. Over 20 years ago she beat ovarian cancer and now she is fighting this awful disease once again. She has been doing chemo treatments for the past several months. She has been doing extremely well, is still working and looks wonderful. She received some unsettling news this week after some tests were run to check the chemo's effectiveness. Here is what she wrote on her blog:

"Well, I can't say this is one of my favorite days, in fact I have given myself permission to just dedicate this as a, "I am tired of this crap (excuse me...) day. It has been such an emotional week for me. My armor is thin, thin during these evaluation intervals. I'm not hard to spot...give me one little poke and I just spill over. I have tried real hard this week to stay positive, hang on to truths, and expect the best. Well, I simply am all used up. So I am going to sit on my porch and simply have my time.
Today we got good news and sobering news. The good news is my blood work that measures the cancer in my body have gone down 33%. The doctor is thrilled because it means my body is responding to the chemo. The fluid is not returning and my weekly blood work continues to come in strong. My body is also staying strong throughout this war. The disappointing news is they can now see the mass in the lining of my stomach, which they could not see the source of the cancer cells before. The new news is that they also saw a spot in my lung. It is a small spot, but one to watch for sure.
So, I declare this my official crap day and then tomorrow I will get up and start over!"

She is usually very upbeat and positive and sweet but, obviously she had a breakdown after hearing this news. Please pray for Connie-for healing and for strength to endure this painful journey! (She and her husband, Johnnie, have 2 adopted children in Jr high and highschool.)

Dishwasher soap

After making homemade laundry soap I decided to make some dishwasher soap as well. I did one load last night...the results were great! I thought the glasses might be spotty but they weren't. Here is a glass for proof. Hopefully, it will continue to work as well as the first load. There were several recipes to choose from online-I tried the following:

2 Cups of Borax
2 Cups of Baking Soda
4 Packages of unsweetened lemonade Kool-aid or store brand (or 1/2 Cup citric acid)
Mix that together and put in your dishwasher...about 1 TBS or so-whatever fills up your dispenser.

Now I'm going to make liquid hand soap...

For the Fame of His Name

Please pray for Calixto this week-he left this morning for Mexico-he's taking a small team from Grace Comm Church in Glen Rose, Tx. You can pray for us too as we stay home. There always seems to be some kind of problem situation that arises when he is gone! Thanks! Below is a map showing where Tamazunchale is. They will primarily be working in the remote village of Jalpa which is about 2-3 hours from Tamaz...way up in the mountains.

March is full of birthdays!!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Wade turned 12
Victoria, Alexia and John turned 10
Tracy turned "29" again!!!

I couldn't find any other pictures of the kids...this is from Cat's birthday in '05! How sad is that?! I guess the past few times I went home I didn't take any pictures!

Homemade laundry Soap

I made my own laundry soap this week. Here is a peek at it. So far, I think it works pretty well and is so much cheaper than Cheer etc.
If you want to try it out the recipe is below...

Home Made Laundry Detergent Recipe #70088

Make your own laundry detergent! This is really easy and really does save money! Great for people with allergies or fragrance sensitivity. This lasts a long time!

1 bar bath soap

1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda laundry detergent (not baking soda)

1/2 cup borax

hot water

80 loads (aprox.)

1. Place grated soap in a pot.

2. Cover with water and simmer over medium heat until all soap is melted, stirring occasionally.

3. Pour into 5 gallon bucket.

4. Add washing soda and borax.

5. Add enough hot water to fill the bucket.

6. Stir (I use a long measuring stick, but any long stick will work).

7. Let sit overnight to gel.

8. Use 1 cup per load.

9. (You can pour this into old detergent containers or leave in the bucket. Please cover with a lid if leaving in the bucket to protect children and pets.).

Art Gallery

Can you guess who the artist is of these beautiful drawings??

These works of art are brought to you by none other than Elizabeth!! Of course she was only 5 or 6 at the time!

See Elizabeth-I kept all the artwork that you sent to me! I love the last picture of Calixto and Toni-Balonie-burgers (the cat)!!!!

What God Says About Anger

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. ( Proverbs 16:32 )

He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. (Proverbs 14:29)

A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again. (Proverbs 19:19)

A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.(Proverbs 27:3)

Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?(Jonah 4:4)

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:(Ephesians 4:26)

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (Colossians 3:8)

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1)

Dit-Dit is 19!!!!!

Happy 19th Birthday to the best neice in the whole world!!!

Love you Elizabeth!!!!

From your favorite Aunt Booda

(I want to hear all about the Phantom in NY-I'm sure you were thinking of me the entire time)

Our Adventure

We had a big adventure on Thursday. My friend Sara and I decided to take a trip to Cherry Hill Mall. We had been driving a little over an hour when we noticed two very big deer running down the side of the road. Now we are on Route 73 in Voorhees which is a 4 lane highway. All of a sudden the deer decide to cross the street not caring that there are 4 lanes of traffic. Well of all the traffic they decided that my van was the one that they had to run in front of. I saw them coming but couldn't do anything to get our of the way. I did swerve into a turning lane but they both hit my car at the front passager head light and then they both hit my windshield on the driver side. One was thrown clear over onto the grass on one side of the road and the other was in the outside lane on the other side. The one that landed in the road actually ended up getting up and made his way off the road and into the woods. There had been a cop there with his gun and in position to shoot him. The other was dead from the impact. As cars started stopping would you believe that all the people went to the deer before they checked to see if we were ok. There was actually a man on the side of the road trying to find the pulse in the dead deers neck. Then he said oh I called 911 are you alright. We were not hurt. In fact Cheyenne and her friend Lexi were asleep when it happened and it only woke them up. My car on the other hand was not as blessed as we were. The windshield is broken, the hood is all dented, my head light is all broken and the car crumpled there, there is a hoof print in the passenger door and my windshield wipers are all broken along with the section that they come out of. The only thing that was wrong with us was, Sara and I had some small cuts on our hands from the glass from the windshield. It was raining down on us in little slivers and was all in our clothes and Sara and I were both a little sore today. God surely is good because they were big deer and we were doing the speed limit. It could have been a whole lot worse.

2007 Pastor's Conference in Tamazunchale

If you double click on it you can see the captions.

help needed

Can anyone help...I've been trying do to a web album with Picasa but, have been unable to the screen keeps saying the account is not enabled for Picasa web albums...I'm not sure what to do any suggestions?

70 years old and going strong!!

Look who is 70?!

Happy Birthday!! A few days late!
(This was taken at the "Tropic of Cancer" in Mexico)