Cross-Stitches From My Aunt Lorita

I have framed the cross-stitches Lorita had made for me! The first one she did thinking about us with summer approaching and I thought it was so cute I took it to the kitchen the day after I got it and showed everyone that was there that day. The second one she did as a house warming gift for when I moved into the Delaney House. I am not sure now if I will ever get to move in but I sure do love the picture though and I had been wanting it for some time now and I was so excited when I received it. :)

"I Am Boring"

Today at work it was so funny my precious new found friend Beata who is from Poland said something so cute. We were standing there and I looked at her and said, "Isn't it nice having a small group so we can breathe?" Beata then looked at me and said, "Yes, but I am boring." Anett who is from Hungary was standing close by and she looked at me puzzled and I just couldn't hold it in. I started laughing and looked at Beata and said, "Oh Beata, you are anything but boring!" Anett and I just laughed then I told Beata that the correct wording would be "I am bored." She started laughing too and now it is a joke for us when we see each other. It has been fun to help them learn our language and how to make sentences that are correct and things. They are always wanting to learn and ask questions all the time. They are all wonderful! The 2 phrases going around with different international workers is "Howdy Partner" and "Hello Sweetheart" :)

Palo Duro Trip

I took out some time to hang out with some friends from camp and we went to Palo Duro to go hiking. I think we picked the hottest day to go though. It was 110 degrees. We just had lots of water with us and went anyways. It was fun just hot!

I made it!

Beata made it!

Beata

Anett, Beata, and Niki

Niki

Me, Beata, Anett, and Niki

Anett, Niki, and Beata

Anett (Hungary)

Niki (Hungary)

Beata (Poland)

1st Week of Camp Completed

Week one has been completed! We had a wonderful week! The summer staff listened so well and were willing to learn but the week did come with challenges. The week started with my Food Service Director Bob quitting on the first day of camp. The Lord provided though and we were able to end the week with everyone happy and they all had a good experience. The one comment sheet I did see left nothing but compliments.

The Camps we had here were Camp New Dawn (adult mentally challenged), MDA, and Camp Villa (visually impaired). These children helped me to keep focus and encouraged me so much. These precious people face so many challenges daily and when Bob told me he was quitting it felt like the world was falling in around me. I was so scared and nervous about what would happen with us having an all new staff and having to train them all on my own but as I watched these precious groups the Lord revealed to me that He was in control and that He was able to walk us through this time as a staff. The Lord has blessed me with a sound mind, eyes to see out of, strength walk, and a for the most part healthy body. These children struggled but still had a smile on their face and joy in their hearts and I realized that though there were challenges ahead that the Lord would provide and things could be a lot worse. God is so good!

As the week has come to an end please pray for us as our summer continues with each new week.

Progressive Open House

We had a Progressive Open House for our summer staff to welcome them and also give them the opportunity to learn where all our year round staff lives and give us an opportunity to get to know them better and for them to get to know us. We prepared little gifts for each of them for when they came by and while they were here we shared a bit about who we were and we were able to ask them questions too. It was a neat idea and a lot of fun also. They broke them up into small groups to send around so it wouldn't be so overwhelming for the trailers. :) As each of the groups hit I took a picture of them. Meet our summer staff:

Carly, Josh, Zakk, Wayne, and Julia (she usually stays with me a week or 2 before summer)

Sarah (United Kingdom), Lindsey, Niki (Hungary), and Beata (Poland)

Ben, Jon, Savannah, Brittany, and Rob

Anett (Hungary), Liz (Columbia), Anna, Aleyne, and Charlie

Ty, Justin, Cindy, and Amber

Canyon Museum

Today I took a couple of our international workers to the Canyon Museum. It was so fascinating to spend that time with them. Beata from Poland shared something that her Grandfather experienced during World War II when we were looking at our history. She shared with me that her Grandfather fled from Poland during the war and then when it was complete he came home and has been there since. She shared that they have preserved 2 concentration camps that are in Poland and that she had been to the most popular one to see it. She said that they still had the pile of shoes in the rooms where they put the Jews to stay. She was describing how they labeled different areas and what they were used for. She said that it was a very sad place to be at and that you could feel the sadness even after so long.

Another thing we had ran upon in our history was the integration period and she was asking me what that was. It was interesting for me to describe it to her and yet sad when I thought about that part of our history. I realized that all of us have sad areas of life but it is what we learn along the way that matters.

They were really fascinated with the outhouse and the gun collection that they had there. Beata asked me if it was true that every home in Texas had a gun. I smiled and said not everyone has a gun in their home because I don't. :-)

After the museum we stopped at the gift shop where they both purchased a straw cowboy hat. Then we headed off to have lunch. It was such a fun outing. Beata and I have been planning a trip to Palo Duro to go hiking and I have been telling her about the Texas play also so we may try to plan a trip to see it. There is another girl we work with from here in Texas Aleyne and Liz are wanting to go too so we may all try to go one night. It is so exciting to have them here and so much fun!

Here are a few pictures from our outing.

I sure am glad that I don't have to cook on this at Ceta! :-)

Beata (Poland) and me
Liz (Columbia) and me


Beata and Liz