More Memories

This is the view from our room. In the morning we walk out on our little patio and this is what we see. We really love it!

This is the view we get when we step out our front door. There is a Church right across the street, but it does get a little noisy sometimes from the traffic and sounds of motors, so we prefer the ocean side for sure!

We went shopping at Market 28 which is just crowded with sellers and tourists. This is an example of a family who is selling what they make. Bracelets and belts! Notice the little baby who is hanging on her mother's back, sound asleep. We were amazed by them.

This corner of the market interested me greatly. There were musicians and entertainers all along who would perform for you - for a tip of course. So, we had a group serenade us with a "romantica" song. It was beautiful!

More Mexican Sights

This is a gorgeous pool that winds around and around with little waterfalls at a different resort. We thought it was very pretty!

Imagine our surprise when we saw this cow! It made us think of home except this cow was a PICOWSO - an artsy cow!

These iguanas kept wandering around and we thought we would let you enjoy them, too. This one was very patient for his photo shoot!

Tracy International Weekend

Our home was filled with music this weekend as we hosted some additional international students from Thursday to Sunday. Here is a picture that Bombay drew with pencil that is amazing! He is great on the piano as well as on the drawing board! Good job Bombay!

Here is Ceasar giving us some great guitar licks!

Here we have Han (South Korea), Bombay (Thailand) and Kathrin (Germany) peeking through in the back!

This is Johannes (Switzerland) and Stephen (China) showing us something on the map..not sure what!

Bright Lights!

Here is the group of girls that we had at our home last week for Bright Lights. This is an amazing group of girls that Annika and her friend Meri have the privilege of leading in a Bible Study along with crafts and singing every month. It really is neat to see them together all dressed up and ready for a fun evening with encouragement to be a blessing to their families and community.

Cancun Get-a-way!

Well, we made it! True to our promise to the kids we wanted to post a little update of our time so far. We headed to the airport in Minneapolis this morning at 6am and arrived in Cancun at 2:20 via Dallas/Fortworth. It was a long day but worth it! We are glad to be here at last. It is GORGEOUS!

Here are some cool mosaics that we saw in the airport in Dallas. I thought you might like seeing how detailed they were!

Here is the hotel that we are staying at from the pier. It is very nice and is on the northern side of Cancun where we have never stayed before. The water is more calm here rather than the crashing waves. The weather was partly cloudy today and in the mid 80's. Kind of different from the snow that was falling in Minneapolis this morning!

That is all for today! More will come tomorrow!

Valentines Weekend!

Here we are singing our hearts out (get it?) at a Valentine Banquet at Shetek Bend for the Tracy Lions Club. This song was
Roses Will Bloom Again three part harmony.

Our newest instrument was an upright bass. We purchased it through a friend of my parents, so they picked it up for us on the way down! We just love the way it adds a joyful beat to our music. It is being played mostly by Becca, although we have been switching off now and then. Here, Grandpa is showing off his incredible jazz style runs. HA!

On Valentines Day, we had a Community Choir concert also held at Shetek Bend. Here are the teens that performed Why Must I Be a Teenager in Love. Although, the conversation determined that there weren't any love romances in the air at the time, but it was still a cute song. Some of us could relate to the falling in love in our teens, though, right? I still can hardly believe that I got married at 19, but I honestly am SO glad that I did! If it is God's will, then there is no mistake!

It was so neat to have Ben and Mindy, Elianna, Mom and Dad, and Sam come to our concert! Charisma and Becca stayed home and babysat for Reuben, Amelia, Katrina, Erina, Simeon and Elijah. They did a great job! Annika, Grandpa and Ben posed for a picture after the concert. They say he is the coolest Grandpa!

Charisma Faith's Baptism

What a wonderful crowd we had at church the day Charisma was baptized. Most of her favorite cousins were even able to come! It was a great day and one that we will never forget. A baptism is such a stepping stone to a closer walk with God. It is saying goodbye to the old man and welcoming the new creation in Christ! It is also telling the world that "I am making a stand to serve my LORD!"

Here, Charisma was singing When I Call on Jesus and she got a little choked up from the wonderful meaning of the words in the song, so Annika came up to help her through to the end. It was such a perfect song for her, and she had it all memorized when she made the announcement that she wanted to get baptized. It had alot of us in tears, and reports were that there were not too many dry eyes in the whole church!

Next she gave her testimony which also made me cry, but it really told her heart, and that was so refreshing to hear.

Here she is, coming up out of the water as a NEW CREATION! "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!"