Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Sunday we took a bus to the Chadroui Grocery Store, then caught a taxi to Rossy's church for the 11:00 AM Service. The service was all in Spanish and Rossy tried to interpret the message for us. We did learn a few words, especially from the screen with the words to the songs. One of the songs was about Jesus as king (Rey) and reino which is kingdom. The core of the message was "Go back to the cross and remember what Jesus did for you on the cross." Also "give time to God and meditate on His Word and be sure you're ready to meet Jesus."

Rossy brought her daughter, her boyfriend, her granddaughters, Briley and Jimena to church with her, then we all went out to eat at a restuarant called Vaq'va which was recommended to us by Andrea, Rossy's daughter. We went there last year and really enjoyed it so they wanted to go there again this year. The food was very good and a fun place to go.

Trip to Bonfil with Rossy-April 23, 2011

Saturday, April 23rd we took a bus to Chadraui ( a grocery store at the entrance to Cancun City) to meet Rossy where we went with her to Bonfil to see the children she ministers to. We rode with Rossy and her daughter and friend, and granddaughter and her friends in their van which is in much need of repairs or replacement. It rained while we were at Bonfil and the roof was leaking on Rossy where the holes were. Her daughter Andrea had a wet seat from sitting where it had soaked the cushions.

A total of 21 children came today. They were having a funeral down the street where some of the children were attending.

Rossy had made up some resurrection eggs and told the children the Easter story using the eggs and also some pictures she had of the crucifixtion and resurrection. The children were very attentive to Rossy message. Even though we couldn't understand what Rossy was saying we could see the attentiveness on the children's faces, especially a couple of older children in their teens. Rossy said she would like to start a Bible Study with the teenagers on Friday nights.

Les took pictures of the buildings and surrounding area with the new water tank and her replacement for the water pipes which had been stolen while Rossy was staying with us.

After Rossy's message the children decorated little crosses and wrote a message on it. Many wrote Jesus loves me (Jesus amo mi), but one little boy wrote Jesus loves me and died for me.

It certainly would be helpful to know more Spanish when we are there with the children. I did learn how to say "What is your name?" in Spanish and tried to help them write their names.

Rossy's daughter Andrea and her friend made hamburgers for all the children after the class so everyone went home with a full tummy.

After the children left, a man who does general construction work, Carlos Tellitud, came to meet with us. Rossy had met him at the Catholic Church just a week ago. He had been recommended to her by someone at the muncipal building. Carlos had plans drawn up of Rossy's construction needs and went through all the plans with Les, via interpretation by Rossy, as he doesn't speak English. Before he left, Les asked if we could pray together about the construction process and the possibility of us bringing a team down to help with the construction. Carlos was very open and we gave him a million dollar bill, which he was very receptive to. So we are praying about how this could all work out.

Doug and Linda's Last Day in Cancun!

We had a beautiful view of the ocean and the big cruise ships coming up the coast from Cozumel back to the states. Doug and Linda came for dinner at our villa their last night here. We ordered lasagna but it wasn't as good as the pizza we had earlier in the week.

You can see the cruise ship way out in the distance on the horizon. We actually saw four cruise ships that evening while we were sitting out on the deck.

When Doug and Linda leave tomorrow all of our friends and family will have gone home. We will miss them, but will enjoy the last week here on our own. Tomorrow we have plans to go with Rossy to Bonfil.

We had a beautiful full moon and took some fun pictures on our deck at the Sands.

Rossy Visits Us at the Sands-April 17, 2011

Rossy came to visit us at The Royal Sands Sunday after church. She brought her jewelry for Betty, Sharon and Linda to see. You can see the pretty blue necklace Betty has on. Betty had requested a blue necklace when Rossy was in Illinois so Rossy put together some beautiful pieces for us to see. Sharon and Dave and Les and I went to church with Rossy on Saturday night with the pastor from Rossy's seminar; which is an English speaking church so we enjoyed participating in the church service.

OUR BEACH FRONT VILLA P5148

Jenny was asking about our beach front villa and what it looked like compared to the one at the Royal Caribbean, so I took a few pictures for you. We have great sunrises. I woke up at 6 AM today and called Ree and Joe as they were leaving at 6:30 AM for the airport. I was so excited about our beautiful sunrise so was glad I woke up.

We have a great villa, and found out this morning that the people who are coming to our villa were in the same villa we are going to be in next week. How ironic is that. So who knows, we prayed about it and we may end up with back to back weeks in one or the other villas.

We also were kidding about our beach front villa having a 14 inch TV while our old villas at the Royal Caribbean have the new 37 inch TV's. Our consierge said you shouldn't be watching TV but the beach in your beach front. I guess he's rght!!! We did have a great week. It was fun having both my sisters and their husbands here and also our good friends, Linda and Doug and Betty and Harold.

Celebrating Connie's Birthday!

Ree and Joe's last day here at the Sands we got together here in their villa and Ree and Joe and Sharon and Dave surprised us with a sit down chicken dinner and yummy chocolate brownie alamode and key lime pie to celebrate my 64th birthday! The Sands was having a Farewell BBQ downstairs with musc which we enjoyed from Ree and Joe's balcony. It was great to celebrate with my sisters. Wow, where has the time gone. I can't believe I'm that old already! I have been blessed with a wonderful family and friends. Blessings to you all.

JUNGLE TOUR, MONDAY, APRIL 11TH, 2011

Monday, April 11th we had our first big excursion, The Jungle Tour, which included a 45 minute boat ride out through the lagoon and mangroves to the Caribbean where we spent 40 minutes snorkeling. Les and I followed the guide around; he threw out fish food and all of a sudden we had hundreds of fish swimming around us. They were so close we actually touched a couple of them and Ree said a little one got under her mask. Sharon and Dave floated away from the group where Sharon got some foot cramps and the water patrol rescued them and brought them back to the boats and hoisted them up on deck. Thank goodness we all safely made it back to shore with another 45 minute boat ride.

OUR 8 HOUR YACHT RIDE!

We had gotten a voucher last year for an 8 hour yacht ride for 8 people after Joe and Ree and Doug and Linda had bought their villas last year. We weren't sure what we would do all day on a yacht, but the time actually went by quite fast. We left at 11 AM and went about 20 miles out into the ocean to do a little deep sea fishing; we didn't catch any fish, but we did get to see some dolphins swimming in the water. We came back through Isla Mejures and anchored the boat while the guys got out to swim and eat shrimp ceviche. Then we docked the boat and walked around the island looking at the shops for souvenirs and had lunch.

We boarded the boat again about 4PM and the captain, Guellermos, and his helper, Ernesto, gave us a tour from the water making the way down the 7 miles of the island, where we saw the Rolandi Hotel where we come to eat, the place where you can swim with the dolphins and other points of interest. We then headed back to Cancun through the mangroves just in time to see a beautiful sunset. Our captain got a great picture of us with the sunset. So a good time was had by all.

OUR VIEW FROM THE SANDS!

Our view of the ocean from the beachfront villa at the Royal Sands.

Les actually got up early one morning and saw the sunrise. I have yet to

see the sunrise this year, but we've also seen some great sunsets which I will post next.

Sunday night we all met at Dolce Mente Pompei, an Italian resturant, for dinner and a photo op. They had live music with a guitar player. Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship. We have been having fun giving our waiters and taxi drivers the Million Dollar Bills with a gospel message on the back. We get lots of positive reactions. A fun time was had by all.

Welcome Home to Cancun, Sharon and Dave, and Ree and Joe!

Welcome home Dave and Joe. The people at the Resorts

always welcome us this way and make us feel so at home.

Sisters together again in CANCUN. Sharon and Dave arrived about 2 PM on Saturday with a stop in Houston and Ree and Joe came from Cheynne with a two hour layover in Charlotte, NC. and arrived at 10 PM Saturday night. Very tired from the early morning rising and late evening, we called it a day and went to our individual villas for a good night's sleep. Ree and Joe are enjoying their first year as owners at the Royal Sands. None of us brought guests with us so all have a vacant lockoff if anyone wants to join us.

Doug and Linda's new villa!

Doug and Linda staying in their new villa D1015 at the Royal Caribbean for the first time. We are going to miss this great villa but glad we have our friends there so we can come and visit.

CANCUN 2011

Our second night in Cancun we went to the La Habecheula Sunset for dinner. We got to see this beautiful sunset as we were leaving the Royal Caribbean. The sun really sets quickly once it starts to go down. Can you believe it's only a couple of minutes between these two pictures? At 5:30 AM Thursday, April 7th, we rode with the Hawkinsons to the airport to catch our 8AM flight to Cancun. The morning started out a little foggy but by the time we left the fog had lifted, so we were thankful for that. We arrived in Cancun at 11:30AM after a pleasant flight with Doug and Linda. We also sat with a young lady who was flying to Cancun for a friends wedding and was a little apprehensive about going through customs so we told her we would accompany her to her destination at the American Express shuttle. I had the opportuntiy to share the Way of the Master with April and found out she is also a believer. (The Way of the Master is a great evangelism course teaching you how to share your faith with others the way Jesus did. I would recommend it highly to everyone.) We enjoyed our first evening with Doug and Linda eating at Captain's Cove, which has become a traditon on our first night out. We are very thankful for a safe flight and the company of our dear friends, Doug and Linda..