La Familia Zobrist

feliz navidad

2010-11-13T20:29:00.001-08:00

Feliz Navidad 2010 Tarjetas de Navidad 5x7 folded card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Congerville and Eureka Feb 6th-13th

2010-02-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

Once again I am way behind on getting our blog up to date. We were blessed with visitors form our home church of Congerville and neighboring Eureka in February. Susie took over 700 hundred pictures during the week so I had a lot to choose from. Our main tasks for the week was to pour a new basketball court for the kids, remodel one of the dorms into an apartment, continue the fence around the property and work on the house. It was a very busy week. I am planning to post more pictures than type because for some reason every time I type things are being underlined.

Our first look of the group at the Tucson airport.

Filling out visas at the border.

Their first look at the dorms, doesn't Kay look excited.

On Sunday afternoon we drove the bus to the Mount of the Cross to hike.

After the hike we spent the evening playing with the kids.

Sunday night supper.

We started out "full steam ahead" on Monday morning with the many projects.

These hard working boys mixed over 50+ yards of concrete over the week.

Mexican cement comes in 120lbs bags.

The first load of concrete for the basketball court. Only 50 yards more to go.

If you can't find a hammer use you're head, or better yet, somebody else's.

Marilyn substitute taught for the week.

In the US we call J.U.L.I.E. to locate underground utilities. In Mexico we call M.A.R.K.

We needed to move the line down to run the new sewer line over the top anyway.

Tuesday night we headed into town to visist the Plaza and eat at Lupita's

On Wednesday the rain came.

Pop break in the rain.

Finishing concrete after the rain.

On Thursday the sun was back but the mud remained.

Boys can do dishes?

Singing around the piano.

Lee and Benny.

The "Five Mikes"

A final picture at the gate on the way back to the US.

"Make sure you're passport isn't in you're suitcase."

It was a great week and so nice to have so many of our friends come and visit. We have had 3 more teams since this group, ISU, Purdue and Bluffton and I am in Tucson as I type this to pick up the Roanoke team in the morning. It may be a while but there will be more updates coming.

Until next time

God Bless

La Familia Zobrist

Yes, We are still here.

2010-01-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

I started this blog just after Christmas and just never got back to it. We have been blessed with many visitors, work teams and family since then so this may get a little long.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Jacki and Benny (Mary and the Baby Jesus in our Christmas play)

We had a busy December here in Magdalena as we prepared for the Christmas season. It's been a long tradition in Susie's family to act out the Nativity on Christmas Eve and we were able to do it for the first time here in Magdalena. Susie's sister Karen and her family came for the Holidays and brought all of the Knapp Nativity outfits. Kali was the director and Karen and Susie helped outfit the kids. It was a big hit both with the kids and those who gathered to watch.

Alexia getting her wings.

Karen and Dot Hoerr (Joan's mom) help Jazany with her outfit.

Kali working out the final details.

Diego, Aaron and Candi were shepherds.

The whole production comes together.

During Christmas break we climbed Mt. Magdalena for the first time. It was a good half day trip after a 40 minute drive. It doesn't look that far from CVE but the distance is deceiving.

Mt. Magdalena.

Zach, "Living on the edge."

Taking a break before the trip down.

This picture was taken at the cliff face which isn't all the way to the top. The white dots at the Y of the roads (which you may not be able to see) are the vans we drove to the trail head.

We celebrated Kali's birthday on January 5th and she got the traditional "face in the cake" treatment. Her little brother Nate doing the honors.

My Mom and Dad arrived on January 6 and we spent a few days in Albuquerque visiting Dad's cousins Ron and Georgia. We spent a day in the mountains where Nate got his snow "fix" before heading back to Mexico.

Nate in the snow.

Mom and Candi.

Dad and me at Lupita's.

Making music at Keith and Emily's.

While Mom and Dad were visiting we had work teams from Forrest, Cissina Park and Peoria. We worked on the house, the fence around the property and a few other things. It was a busy three weeks of hard work.

Sanding the first coat of plaster on the house.

Making Fence.

Setting the beams on the house.

Taking time to praise God in song.

Cutting down a few dead trees threatening to fall on the power lines.

Drilling post holes.

We had several welders in the Cissna group and got the beams and purlins all welded in the new house. Thursday night we had a wind storm and found the center wall of the house on the floor on Friday morning. We spent the morning before the team left bracing the walls in the mud.

Painting the fence around the sibling house.

After three weeks of work teams we had a week to relax and get ready for the next team. We spent an afternoon at the local nursing home singing and playing bingo.

Dad and Kali playing the guitar and violin.

Julissa and Nere singing.

Mom and Dad.

Yaneli helping with the bingo cards.

Kali congratulating the winner.

We said goodbye to Mom and Dad on the morning of February 6th at the Tucson airport. We spent the rest of the day running errands and were back at the airport at 6pm to pick up the work team from Congerville and Eureka, but that will have to wait until the next post. (hopefully soon)

Until next time, God Bless.

La Familia Zobrist

2009-11-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened here in Magdalena since my last post. Susie's mom and dad came to visit for a few weeks at the end of October and beginning of November. They celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary and Kali and the girls made a special supper for them. The girls had many questions about their long marriage and family. They were a very good example for the girls in a society that has diminished the importance of a strong and lasting marriage.

Marge and Frederick, our kids and the girls

Marge and Frederick and Jaqui

While they were here we also helped watch Ruth's children while she and her son Manuel were at the Shriner's hospital in Los Angels. Frederick helped entertain the boys and Marge and Betsa quickly became "amigas."

Frederick and Angel playing Tic Tac Toe

Marge, Nate and Betsa

During this time we learned that my brother's son Austin had left home and my family was not sure where he was. We were able to get tickets back to Illinois on the same flight as Susie's parents to spend some time with my family. As of now we still do not know where Austin is but we hope and pray he is safe. Austin stayed with us here in Mexico for 3 weeks last summer and we really enjoyed having him here as did the kids at CVE. So, Austin, if you read this we want you to know that we love you and you are welcome to visit us here in Mexico anytime. We would like to know that you are safe so please send us a message.

Austin and Mario last June.

We had a busy 10 days in Illinois and came back to Magdalena on the Berean Bus which was headed for Denver to pick up a work team. We met my brother Scot, Joe and Denise Maller, Carly and Debbie Hoerr and their family at 2am on Friday the 19th in Peoria and arrived in Denver around 5pm. We had a quick meal at the Denver Church and loaded up the team for Magdalena.

Carly and me loading the bus in Denver.

Nate "crashed" in the overhead compartment.

Carly proves it's possible to sleep and talk on the phone at the same time.

We met up with a group from California and Phoenix in Tucson and after about 38+ hours on the bus we finally arrived in Magdalena. It was great to see all the kids and staff again and meet our newest addition, Bernardo.

Kristi and 4 month old Bernardo

The team spent the rest of the evening getting unpacked and playing with the kids. We enjoyed the day Sunday (our day of rest) before the start of a very busy week. Monday came and we hit the ground running. We had many projects we needed to get done, finishing the center wall and gables of the new house, clearing brush and making a new fence to encircle the property, installing a new sound system in the church, adding security lights around the property and pouring concrete and building a new gate for the entrance of the Church. We were also planning a big Thanksgiving supper for the Church and Community.

The brush crew pulling down a tree.

The cement crew learning how to mix "mud."

Raising the wall.

My brother Scot and Nate cruising in the golf cart.

The Tee Shirt Shack came down to make way for a new Basketball Court.

We now have lights along the path to the dorms!!!! Thanks Jonathan.

It's a good thing we don't have OSHA down here.

My brother blocked up a new septic tank for the girls house. It reminded me of the story "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel." So what do you do when you have now way out?

You negotiate with the backhoe operator.

Several of the Team members spent most of the week cooking and preparing for our Thanksgiving supper. While we were busy working they were busy cooking. We invited the church and a lot of friends and acquaintances form town. We had a great turnout and really enjoyed the evening.

I think Joel has the new record for the most people in a 15 passenger van.

We fed well over 150 people on Thanksgiving day.

Poncho really liked the cranberry salad.

Friday came all to quick and we spent the day cleaning up and finishing up as much as possible. Carly was busy up to the last minute teaching Frankie how to run the backhoe and roughing in the grade for the new basketball court. It was a great week and we really enjoyed spending time with old friends and making new ones.

Frankie learning to run the backhoe.

This picture pretty well sums up the whole week. When it was over we were tired!!!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Until next time,

La Famila Zobrist

The Reason We Are Here.

2009-10-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Reason we're here.

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Genesis 8:22

The promises of God are proven every day as we have seen the summer turn to fall. The kids are back in school, the weather is finally cooling down and the days are getting shorter. It has been too long since I have updated the blog so I decided to show you the reason we are here by just posting pictures of the kids. As you look at the pictures of these children please remember them in prayer.

Todd and Michael.

Kali and Michelle

Poncho and Solomon, our new puppy.

Susie and Gloria washing dishes.

Gloria "All I ever do around here is work, work, work!!!!!"

Jose, Angel and Solomon

Armando - Please pray for him as he is no longer here at CVE.

Feddie

Jazany and Alexia

Daniel

Nate and Gloria

Zach and Candy

Julissa

Aaron, Solomon and Jose

Ben, Uriel and Lilly

Gloria and Jose

Yaneli

Carla and Kali

Aaron and I fixing his bike.

Diego, me, Jose and Aaron in the sandbox.

Ramses

Uriel

Yaneli, Susie, Tonia and Lupita

Betsa and Angel - Ruth's children.

Nere

Jose

Julissa

Gloria, busy on the phone.

Diego

Frankie

Candy with her bear.

Until next time, God Bless.

La Familia Zobrist

Bible School 2009

2009-08-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Bible School started the first Monday in August 2 days after our return from the States. The theme this year was "Jesus Christ, the all powerful."

Fedde, one of the boys here at CVE, sketched most of the posters for the week.

Each day we covered several of the miracles Christ performed while here on earth. It was Monday through Friday for the week and each day the kids had a memory verse. Each morning they would sign in a recite their verse.

On Friday there were prizes for those who remembered their memory verses and attended every day. The staff started each morning by taking their different routes around Magdalena and the surrounding towns to pick up the kids. We started around 9am and had the kids at CVE around 9:45. At 10 we would gather as a group and sing a few songs and then break down into classes by age. Each day there were treats after class and we started taking them home around 11:45. There was a good turn out which grew each day as the kids who attended invited more of their friends. Many of the vans and the bus were packed each day. Friday there was around 140 kids packed on the bus.

How many people can fit in a 15 passenger van?

It was a great week and the Church was full on the Sunday after as many of those who attended Bible School also came to Church.

On Friday night we had the summer staff and those who came to help for Bible School to our house for a cookout before they left on Saturday. It was nice to get to know them all and hard to see them all leave.

The week after Bible School we took the kids on their annual camp out at Rancho Betania.

Loading the bus.

It's only about 20 minuets from CVE and has swimming, basketball courts and baseball and soccer fields. (and lots of critters) One of the most famous past critter stories was the snake in the shower which we heard several times before we went. Within hours some of the boys showed up with three baby skunks which they found behind the dorms. They told us that the mother wasn't to happy when they took them and chased them for awhile, fortunately no one was sprayed.

Armando, the skunk whisper.

We spent the afternoon playing board games, swimming, playing basketball and soccer and swinging on the massive tire swings. I was the designated "pusher" and pulled something in my back. By the end of the day I could hardly stand up straight.

Yaneli and Tonia.

Julisa and Kristi.

The Pavilion

In the evening we sang around the campfire, roasted marshmallows and then stayed up late playing games under the pavilion. I knew I would have to be good and tired to sleep in a dorm room with a bunch of rowdy boys on a 2 inch foam mattress but overall the night wasn't to bad. Our dorm kept blowing a breaker so we couldn't run any fans which made it a little hot but it was tolerable.

Life in the boys dorm.

Franke, loading the bus for the trip home.

We spent the next day doing everything we did the day before. The skunks were still around and the kids wanted to take them home. I have heard they make good pets but we decided we better not try it. Late in the afternoon we started packing up and headed back to CVE. When asked what the best part was one of the girls said "we didn't have to do the dishes."

August has been a busy month with it's ups and downs here at CVE. We celebrated Nate's birthday and he got the traditional "face in the cake." He was as excited about having it done as the kids were to do it.

The Birthday boy and his big sister.

We also said goodbye to Mario, Magda and Blanca. Mario returned to his home and Magda and Blanca are being adopted by their aunt in the US.

My nephew Austin and Mario

Kaleigh, Magda, Kali and Blanca

We also had three new boys arrive towards the end of the month. Please remember these children in your prayers as they all adjust to their new homes.

George, Alonzo and Gabby

The school is up and running here at CVE and it's nice to have the majority of the kids go to school here on site. We are using the Sunday school rooms as classrooms for now but there are plans in the future for a school building. Susie is back to helping Zach and Nate with their school work and helping wherever needed at CVE. I am working around the grounds, doing maintenance and in the shop. The weather is hot (very hot) and humid with a thunder storm now and then. When it rains the street to our house becomes a river sometimes to deep to drive in. Although it doesn't stop everyone.

It makes me wish I would have brought my kayaks. We hope everyone has had a safe and happy summer.

Until next time, God Bless

La Familia Zobrist

Back to School

2009-08-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

This might get long but I hope to catch up to the present.

Kali, Susie and I left for Chicago on the Monday after Caleb and Liv's wedding. My Mom and Dad and brother Scot drove us up and we spent the night near O'Hare airport. Susie and I had an early flight on Tuesday morning to Morelia Mexico to go to language school and Kali flew back to Magdalena. We had a 5 hour layover in Houston and finally boarded our plane at 5:30pm. We taxied out from the gate and the pilot told us there was going to be a slight delay due to weather. Two hours later (at the time we should have been landing in Morelia) we finally took off from Houston. Joel Leman was meeting us at the airport in Morelia and we had no way of letting him know we were going to be late. He ended up spending a few hours playing ping pong with the Federal Police at the airport. We arrived in the rain at 9:30 and had a hot and fast ride into town in a taxi. I don't do well traveling in a car if I am not driving and was feeling pretty car sick by the time we arrived at our apartment. We were exhausted after the wedding weekend and a big day of traveling and crashed right away. We were up early and at the Baden-Powell Institute first thing in the morning.

We arrived an hour before classes started to take a placement test. We were on a short schedule and were actually jumping into classes in the middle of the week, we arrived on Wednesday and they usually start new classes each Monday. We were taking 5 hours of classes from 9 am to 1pm and by the end of the day my mind was swimming. We usually took some time right after class to exercise and clear our heads. We had been training for a bike ride called RAIN (Ride Across Indiana) which we were planning on doing July 18th. We couldn't take our bikes to Morelia so we were trying to run every day. We found that there was an old Olympic Stadium not far from our apartment. The 1968 Olympics were held in Mexico and the old Stadium was now open to the public. I even found a bike shop and bought the new seat I had been looking for in the States. I did my homework every night sitting on my bike seat hoping it would help keep me ready for RAIN.

There were several others from CVE taking classes at the same time we were and it was nice to see familiar faces. We were in the same apartment building as Joel and Christi Leman and would see the others daily at the school. Joel and Christi showed us around the city and took us out to eat on Thursday night. Morelia is an old city and is full of coffee shops and street cafes. We ate near the Cathedral in an open air cafe, we were even serenaded by a mariachi band.

The Cathedral at night.

On Saturday we visited a National Park about 2 hours south of Morelia. It was a beautiful place with water everywhere. There was a spring fed river through the middle with smaller streams flowing along the paths and walkways.

On Sunday we took a bus across town to the house where they gather for church services.

The room where we had our Church services.

It was a blessing to gather with our Spanish church family and get to know them better. They made us feel so welcome, as if we had known them all our lives. It's also a blessing to see how they depend on each other, everyone working together to glorify the name of Christ and share His Word.

We spent 15 days in Morelia and it is a city rich with old architecture and history. We took hundreds of pictures and I wish I could post them all but know I can't. There were Cathedrals that were built in the 1500's, an aqueduct that ran through the middle of the city and beautiful fountains and plazas. Most of the buildings had beautiful courtyards and gardens in their centers. We ate at a roof top restaurant with a spiral staircase and beautiful stone work. However, there was also extreme poverty and many homeless and people begging . I know the US has it's problems but we are truly a blessed country and take so much for granted.

The Aqueduct

The Staircase to the rooftop cafe

This odd looking tree curved over the sidewalk along the aqueduct. We called it the "gum tree" because all the colored spots were pieces of chewed gum that people stuck there as they passed. It was actually kind of pretty and some of the gum still had a lot of flavor left in it. (Just kidding)

Our time in Morelia passed quickly and suddenly it was time to head back to Illinois. We flew out of Morelia at 6:30am on July 15th. we were up at 3:15am to get to the airport and again had a 5 hour layover in Houston. We arrived in Chicago at 4:30 and took the "L" to the Amtrak station arriving in Bloomington at 9:30pm. It was a really long day. We crashed at my mom and dad's for a few nights and headed out to Indiana for the RAIN Ride. It had been 16 days since we had been on our bikes and we were a little out of shape despite our running in Morelia. I think we were saved by the fact that the elevation in Morelia is over 6400 feet compared to Indiana's 700, so we needed less oxygen. Saturday morning arrived cloudy and cold somewhere in the low 50's. Who would have thought that the high temp for July 18th in the Midwest would be 63 degrees.

Susie and I, Clark and Lisa Leman, Byron Gerber and Curt and Jenell Hodel

6:50am and we're still smiling - only 160 miles to go!!

RAIN is an endurance ride from Terra Haute IN to Richmond IN which is more or less 160 miles depending on the route. It's a mass start of about 1200+ riders who mostly do it for "fun" although some of them are pretty serious. We started out at 7am with a slight tailwind out of the northwest and finished a little after 7pm. We averaged over 16.5 mph and had about 9 and a half hours of actual time on the bikes. Susie and I ran into Clark at the start and we had a few flat tires. Clark lost a pedal somewhere around the 120 mile mark and had to improvise with with one of my spare pedals and one of my spare shoes. Curt's brakes stuck on and for awhile he thought he was just really tired until he realized what was wrong. We all finished in spite of these few minor incidents and just like every year before said we are never doing this again.

7:20 pm and we're still smiling - just happy to be off the bike seat after 160 miles.

We spent the night in Indianapolis and went to church there on Sunday morning. It was great to see our friends there on Sunday morning. (Indianapolis had a work team in Magdalena when we left for Illinois.)

We spent the next week and a half in Illinois while Zach finished his Drivers Ed class and Nate finished his season with the swim team. We enjoyed seeing our friends and family but didn't get to do and see all we wanted. The time just seemed to fly by. We started the trip back to Magdalena on Thursday July 30th after Zach finished his class. Our van was packed so full we barely had room for Zach and Nate.

We ate supper with Mom and Dad and were on the road at 5:26pm. My plan was to drive through the night and stop late in the afternoon on Friday but with the time change we were able to make it to Tucson by 6:30 Friday evening. We spent the night and met up with a group of girls coming to help with Bible School at CVE but that will have to wait until the next post. We arrived in Magdalena on Saturday evening thankful for a safe trip.

La Familia Zobrist

Road trips, Weddings and Language School

2009-07-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

My last post left us preparing to leave for Illinois on Monday June 23rd. We ate breakfast with the Indy Team, said our "goodbyes" and spent the rest of the morning packing. I tried to sleep in the afternoon but only got about 45 minuets or so, I'm always to excited to sleep before a road trip. We said our goodbyes to the staff and kids at CVE and left with Mike and Deb Leman around 4:30. We crossed the border without incident and and dropped Mike and Deb at their hotel in Tucson around 7:30. After a quick trip to McDonalds we were on our way - for about 90 miles. We were in the middle of a stretch of I-10 with no exits for 20 miles when we came to a complete stop. After about 20 minuets or so people started getting out of their cars and milling around. We finally heard form one of the truck drivers that there was a truck on fire up ahead. It wasn't until then that the first fire truck came by and we knew we were in for a long wait. We spent the next few hours hanging out on the interstate with a lot of people we didn't know. At least the weather was nice with a cool breeze and lots of beautiful stars out in the middle of nowhere. When we finally got going again I decided to cut cross country through New Mexico to make up some time. By then it was the middle of the night and I figured that there would be no traffic on the 2 lane road through the White Sands Missile Testing Base. Boy, was I right. There is nothing through the heart of New Mexico. No traffic, no gas stations, nothing. There was a Border Patrol Station we had to go through and we had a little scare. We stopped and talked briefly with the guard and he flagged us on. Austin had been sleeping in the seat behind me and when I looked back he was gone. For a brief moment I thought he had gotten out at the patrol station and we had left him behind. Before I panicked to much Susie found him sleeping on the floor by the back seat - our van was pretty much a disaster by now and you could hardly tell he was there. We drove through a few storms but the rest of the night was uneventful. Around 4:30 in the morning I did find an open gas station and we filled up with both gas and caffeine. I said earlier there is nothing in the heart of New Mexico which is true until about sun up. By this time I was getting a little "punchy" after being awake for almost 24 hours. I started to notice strange shaped bushes along the road. Then I noticed that the bushes were walking around. Then I realized that the strange bushes were deer - lots of deer. The next hour was like playing a video game, speeding up slowing down and weaving through the deer arcade. Fortunately we made it back to to the interstate without antlers for a hood ornament. We stopped that night in Joplin Missouri and I crashed after being up for 36 hours or so. After a good nights sleep we headed out for the final leg back to Illinois. About 30 miles from Springfield IL the gas light came on. The sign to the next exit said 8 miles, I have driven 20 miles or more with the light on and thought "no problem" I can go 8 more miles. After sitting along the interstate for 45 minuets in 90+ degree weather waiting for the tow truck to bring me some gas I realized that the heat, the heavy load and the bikes on top of the van probably caused the gas to go a little faster. All in all it was quite an adventure but we made it safely to my parents house by 5:30 that afternoon. Now we could start thinking about other things - The Wedding.

The next few days were a blur of final preparations. We spent Thursday getting the final alterations to Zach's suit and Nate's tie. Friday morning Susie and I managed to squeeze in an early morning bike ride with Clark and Lisa. We had 2 flat tires before leaving the drive way but all went well after that.

How many bikers does it take to change a tire - twice?

The smiling sisters.

Saturday afternoon we had the rehearsal at the church. It took a few tries with the groomsmen but they finally pulled it off and walked in in the the correct order. We had the wedding supper at Susie's sister Lori's house. Her brother, sister's, spouses and nieces and nephews put on a better spread than any restaurant or caterer could have done. We had chicken and steak with all the fixings and several wonderful deserts to choose from. It was incredible.

A big thanks to everyone who worked so hard .

The Happy Couple

Sunday morning started bright and early with pictures at 7am. It was storming on Saturday after the wedding supper but we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning.

Nate got a little bored.

Tom Hoffman and Wayne Leman had a wonderful wedding service and we were off to the reception.

Nate, the little Gentleman.

The whole day went by to quickly and Caleb and Liv were off to start a life of their own. It still seems like a dream but we are so thankful to God for all blessings.

La Familia Zobrist

Susie and I flew out of Chicago on the Tuesday morning after the wedding to go to language school in Morelia Mexico for a few weeks. I hope to have a post of our adventures there soon.

Family, Friends and the Count Down to the Wedding

2009-06-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." St. Luke 15:10

We are thankful that God's promises are true no matter what Country you live in. Last week our son Zachary decided to place his trust in God and give his life over to him. The day after his decision we were blessed with the mark of God's promise to Noah "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth" Genesis 9:13

There was a beautiful double rainbow that hung in the sky for close to half and hour. There were so many opportunities for pictures and we have so many that I just had to put a few of them in.

It seems that over the last few weeks we have been shown so much of God's beautiful creation. We spent an evening with the girls and decided to climb "La Montana de la Cruz." We reached the top and watched the sun set before starting the hike down. As we made our way along the path we could look out over Magdalena as the lights of the town began to come on. Our pictures just don't show how beautiful it really was.

The "Girls" and Austin heading to the mountain.

We took Kali, Zach, Ben and Katie to Phoenix on Tuesday the 16th to fly back to Illinois. On the Monday before we left we ate lunch at Las Chicas. In Phoenix we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. At both restaurants we ate outside and I thought I would show pictures of both. Although The Cheesecake Factory was beautiful I would prefer to eat at Las Chicas any day. They have an incredible shrimp quesedilla.

Austin and the biggest burger I have ever seen.

Our kids got off the plane in Peoria and passed Jerica in the terminal where she boarded the same plane to come back to Phoenix. Everyone arrived safely in Illinois and Phoenix. After supper at Red Lobster and a trip to Wall Mart we crossed the border into Mexico without incident.

We spent the day Thursday working with the Beliveder Team on the new house. They were trenching in the water and electric lines and pouring and plastering the walls. I got in on some welding for the rafters. It was a hot day and between the welder flash and the sun reflecting off the white blocks I was pretty red by the end of the day.

I'm glad we didn't have to dig this one by hand.

"Pop Break" is our favorite time of the day.

The team left on Friday morning and we spent Friday afternoon running errands around town. We ate lunch at Las Chicas and stopped in to see Gabby and have some doughnuts.

Friday night the girls made a wonderful supper to honor the men for Father's Day. We had steak, fresh sweetcorn, fresh fruit, steak fries and pies and cheesecake for desert. We all dressed up for the occasion and it was a very nice evening.

We have had a great time with Austin and Jerica here but the time is going by to fast. As I am typing this the Team for Indianapolis is on their way here. We will have breakfast with them in the morning before Church and will spend the rest of the day getting to know them better. Monday we will be packing and we hope to leave sometime late Monday afternoon to start the long drive to Illinois. It's hard to believe that Caleb and Liv's wedding is next Sunday. If all goes well we are hoping to arrive in Illinois sometime before Church on Wednesday night.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone back in Illinois. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and please pray for the children, staff and the Church here in Magdalena

La Familia Zobrist

Getting ready for a busy summer.

2009-06-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Time continues to fly by here in Mexico. We made a quick weekend trip to Tucson near the end of May. We went up on Sunday morning and spent the day at the Tucson Church. We met and made so many new friends. It's such a blessing to be able to travel to our Churches across the land and feel so welcome. We spent the day Monday morning running errands and getting some work done on our bikes and van. Susie and I spent the afternoon riding on some of the bike trails around Tucson while the kids enjoyed the pool at the hotel. On Tuesday morning we picked up Dan and Tami Coughlin and their friend Kristi at the airport and headed back to Magdalena. They stayed with us for the rest of the week and we had a great time getting to know them better. On Friday night we had the girls for supper and then went into the plaza to the Kino Cultural Festival.

Supper at the Zobrist's

They had musical groups from all over Mexico and the world. It was very impressive and very well organized. Many of them sang and played familiar hymns. One acapella group, Coro Trentino, was from Italy and did a beautiful version of Amazing Grace. The plaza was decorated and the Church was beautifully lit with colored lights. It was quite an impressive event for our small town.

The Phoenix Team arrived on Sunday May 31. We had a great week and got a lot accomplished. One group worked on exterior lighting and ceiling fans at the church and another worked on the walls of the new House. We had a few very hot days one reaching 104 degrees. It was great weather to be digging trenches and mixing concrete.

You can't quit until the gravels gone.

Cleaning the lights and setting up to hang fans.

Taking a break.

The breakfast crew.

It was a great week and we really appreciated the teams hard work and dedication. It is really neat to see how a group of Bible Class kids can pull together and really get some work done. Every group we have comments on how it has really strengthened their relationships with their class mates, their teachers and their God. The Phoenix Team left on Friday and our nephew Austin arrived Friday night.

Austin

We also kept Gloria over the weekend and kept Kaliegh for the day on Tuesday so we had a busy house.

Kevin came to visit from down the street. He just couldn't resist two cute little girls in the front yard.

We spent Tuesday afternoon hiking in the mountains behind CVE. It was a perfect day for a hike with some clouds and even a few sprinkles which kept things cool.

With the beginning of June we started counting the days to Caleb and Liv's wedding. Kali and Zach will be flying out of Phoenix on June 17th and our niece Jerica will be flying in the same day. Jerica will be staying with us until we leave on June 23rd to drive back to Illinois. After the wedding Susie and I will be flying to Morelia, Mexico for a few weeks of language training and Kali will be returning to Magdalena. Zach and Nate will be staying in Illinois, Zach for Drivers Education and Nate for the Swim Team. Susie and I will be returning to Illinois on July 15th until Zach finishes his classes. Then it is back to Magdalena for Bible School starting the beginning of August. The summer is going to just fly by with such a busy schedule so don't hold our breath between blogs.

The Team from Belvidere arrives this Saturday and Indianapolis will be coming after them. The summer staff has been arriving over the past few weeks and are gearing up for the summer activities while the kids are out of school. Although the school system can't seem to come up with a date for the last day. Please remember the children and staff here at CVE in your prayers as well as those who attend our Church here in Magdalena. We pray that everyone has a safe and happy summer.

La Familia Zobrist

Fires, Work Teams, Swine Flu and a trip to Illinois!!!

2009-05-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Fires, the West Bend Work Team, Swine Flu and a trip to Illinois. We have been busy since the last post - all the way back in April. I knew trying to keep a 2 week deadline would be hard but I didn't think I would be this bad at it. I'll see if I can remember all that's happened in the last month. The last post was just after the dedication of the New Church and it has been an incredible blessing to finally be in the new building. It is so nice to have plenty of room and not have to take down and set up chairs for the service and lunch. Randy and Cindy Schmidgall stayed with us during the Dedication and we were just finishing breakfast on Monday morning when David and some of the boys sounded the alarm for a fire just down the railroad tracks from CVE.

We grabbed a bunch of brooms and shovels, piled into the old green truck and the CVE volunteer Fire Department was en route. We were the first to arrive and started beating the fire back. It was burning along the tracks in a very rough and brushy area. A few minuets later we saw a few firemen walking away from us. David went after them but couldn't catch up. I think they decided we had everything under control and decided to leave. We spent the next hour or so fighting the fire and had most of it out. There were still some hot spots and some old trees burning but without water there was nothing more we could do. Hot and tired we headed back to CVE hoping the wind would stay down and the fire wouldn't take off again. We headed home and got cleaned up just in time to see billows of smoke rolling back into town.

This time it was more serious and the Fire Department decided to stick around. The wind had picked up and the fire was moving fast down the tracks towards town.

We spent the next few hours helping the Fire Department, The public Works Department and the Magdalena Police Department get the fire under control. It was a great opportunity to serve the community and make some acquaintances with those in public services. I had the opportunity to talk to and get to know one of the policemen and a a worker from the public works department. They were very thankful and appreciative that the staff and friends at CVE were willing to help them.

The CVE Volunteer Firefighters.

CVE Truck 1 returning to quarters.

"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Corinthians 3:13

The West Bend work team arrived on the Thursday before Easter. Once again it was a blessing to meet and get to know so many of our brothers, sisters and friends in the faith. Easter morning we hiked up the mountain behind CVE at 5:15am to watch the sun rise.

Heading out at 5:15am.

It was a beautiful but cold morning as we stood in the gray of dawn waiting for the sun to crest over the mountains to the east.

Remembering the Son while waiting for the sun.

"And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." Mark16:2

"And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid Him." Mark 16:6

After Easter we started the countdown to our first trip back to Illinois. The time just seemed to fly by. We didn't have any work teams after West Bend so the camera didn't get out much. We did have an interesting event happen with Rhode who teaches at CVE. One day a woman showed up at her door and asked her to take her baby. She was unable to care for her and wanted her to go to a good home. Rhode took her in and is working with the Mexican version of DCFS to make arrangements for little Ivona. The ladies at CVE were quick to get a baby shower planned. They had a beautiful morning for the shower in Bill and Joan's backyard with lots of good food and gifts.

Nate and I got to watch the boys at our house.

"And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me." St. Matthew 18:5

We were all excited about the arrival of Ivona but saddened by the departure of Samuel. Samuel was visiting from Hungary and had spent several months with us here at CVE. He could work hard all day in the heat and still play hard with the kids in the evening. I was not uncommon to see him coming across the yard with 4 or 5 kids in his arms, on his shoulders or where ever he could carry them. He is returning to San Diego for a few weeks and going back to Hungary. He was a friend to all and will be greatly missed.

Always smiling.

Everyone, but especially the kids, loved it when he got out his tuba.

Samuel was a great example and mentor to the kids at CVE . It was a privilege to get to know him.

April 23rd finally arrived and we headed up to Phoenix to spend the night before our flight out on the morning of the 24th. While the kids were getting sun burnt at the hotel Susie and I spent the afternoon at the Arizona State Board of Nursing starting the process for transferring my license to Arizona. After an hour of paper work and fingerprinting we went to find the Try Me Bicycle Shop owned by Leon Baumgartner from the Phoenix Church. Although we had never met before it was like meeting an old friend. We spent another hour or more chatting about a little bit of everything. We ended up leaving with a mountain bike for Susie. Greg and Lynn Weigand took us out for a great supper of good old fashioned American hamburgers and we headed back to the hotel for a short night. We were up a 5am for breakfast and the shuttle ride to the airport. Our flight was on time and we made it through security with our 25 bags of Mexican pancake mix. I was worried that they might be suspicious with that much powder being checked on. It was a beautiful day to fly and the when the captain told us we were beginning our decent into Chicago I realized we were flying over Peoria. I was able to follow the interstate to Morton and then to Goodfield. We flew just north of Eureka and Roanoke almost right over the house of Clark and Lisa Leman who were picking us up at Midway. It took them several hours to drive up to get us but only took us 23 minuets from their place until the wheels hit the runway at Midway. We made it to my Mom and Dad's house just in time to change and go met Caleb and Livy and her family for supper. Nate was so excited to see Caleb he almost knocked him off his feet.

We had a wonderful evening together with Livy and her family. The next 12 days were a blur of wedding showers, suit fittings, church functions and meeting with family and friends. There is so much I could keep writing about but this post is getting a little long so I better wrap it up. Our time back Home went by so fast and we are now counting the days to the wedding. Hopefully, I will get another post in before then. I didn't even get to the swine flu yet.

The new La Familia Zobrist.

Please remember to pray for the Children and Staff at CVE and the Church here in Magdalena.

La Familia Zobrist

The dedication of the new Church

2009-04-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

"Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him..." 2 Chronicles 2 :4

Another busy 2 weeks have flown by here in Magdalena. The Tremont Bible Class work team arrived on Saturday March 21 for the final week before the dedication of the new Church. After services on Sunday we enjoyed getting to know the team and hiking in the mountains behind CVE.

Some of the Tremont team.

Fede on the mountain.

Monday morning started the last week of preparation for the Church dedication. The team was busy finishing up the lighting, carpet, doors, bathrooms and lots of details in the new building.

Getting ready for a busy week with stretches and devotions.

The week flew by with Friday coming way to soon. The team worked until mid morning and left in the early afternoon. From that point we (the staff, church members, friends and visitors) were on our own to finish things up. The board Members arrived for the weekend and we ate at MoMo's on Friday evening. After supper we joined the kids in the Sunday School assembly room to sing. They were so excited to stay up late and enjoy the new Church. We had been expecting the delivery of the chairs for the assembly and dining rooms to arrive all evening. Around 9:30 or so the truck arrived with 450 very dusty chairs. Many hands made the work go fast and we got them all unloaded into the parking lot. Then it was off to bed for the kids and home for us.

A lot of very dirty chairs.

Randy and Cindy Schmidgal were on their way down from Tucson for the weekend and arrived around 11:30. After a quick hello and a drink we headed to bed for a short night. We ate breakfast at CVE and then went out to the Church for a big day of finishing things up.

Randy and Cindy with Lupita.

The chair cleaning crew.

Aaron, Candi and Diego help Seth and Nicole with the chairs.

Samuel finishing up the carpet in the assembly room.

Susie sweeping the Assembly room.

Randy finishing the bathrooms.

From the top down, John Hoerr, Jim Rinkenberger and me finishing up the electrical.

Carla, Lilly, Ben and Zach cleaning the lights.

Seth, checking out the new pulpit.

Bringing in the chairs.

Angel, Limon (Joel Lemon) and Jackie.

For those of you who have visited here in the past I am sure you remember the routine of changing the dining room into the assembly room for the service and then back to a dining room when the service was over. It is such a blessing and so much less disruptive to just move from one room to the other. We are so thankful for all the work teams and individuals who have come and labored to make this all possible but most of all we thank our Great God.

"But who is able to build Him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him?" 2 Chronicles 2:6

We know it is not the physical building that makes a Church but the people who attend it and we know our God is so great that no walls can contain him but still we are thankful for a beautiful new building to gather in.

Sunday Morning.

La Familia Zobrist

Wow, A new post in just over a week.

2009-03-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

My last post left you with the ISU team leaving on Friday and Kali and Zach riding with them to Tucson. They spent the night with Loren and Joan Knapp (Thanks!! Uncle Loren and Aunt Joan) and met Joel to load Kali's piano on Saturday morning and then brought the 3 Lemans back on Saturday night. We were also surprised when Lane Steffen (Washington IL.) and Jeremiah Psinus (Morton IL.) showed up on Saturday. They drove down to spend the week helping out here at CVE. It was our turn to make supper on Sunday evening and we had lots of great help. Bethany made her famous apple pie for desert which was a huge hit with the kids and the staff.

The pie makers.

Susie celebrating when supper is done and ready to serve.

The Purdue team arrived Sunday evening after attending church in Tucson. The team was a little later arriving than we thought they would be and Kali was a nervous wreck waiting to find out if her piano got safely across the border. Everyone, but especially the kids are excited when a team is coming. I knew the bus must have arrived when Mario came running by as fast as his 5 year old legs could carry him saying "grupo!!! grupo!!!, grupo!!!"

Mario - "Grupo!!!, Grupo!!!, Grupo!!!"

They all arrived safely including the piano which was under a mountain of luggage in the trailer. Kali could hardly wait for the team to unload. We spent the evening meeting the team and playing with the kids. Around 9:30 we started unloading the luggage out at the dorms and got the piano moved to our van.

The Piano after being "dug out" from under the luggage.

You can see the corner of the Piano and to the right Kali's fingers anxiously awaiting to play it. She had a lot of good help to put the bench together while we moved the piano into the house.

How many cousins does it take to put the leg on a piano bench???

I have to admit I was anxious to get it moved in and set up also. CDs just can't compare to the real thing. It just seems a little bit more like home with live music in the house again. We really enjoy listening to her play.

Monday was the start of another busy week. The team was hard at it getting ready to pour concrete for the floor of the new house, making fence and working on lighting and tile in the Church. Tuesday night we went to the plaza and had supper a Lupita's. Wednesday afternoon we took the 3 Lemans to MoMo's for lunch.

Heather , Elisabeth and Bethany Leman, Kali, Zach and Nate at MoMo's.

Wednesday night we sang (in English) around the Piano before Church. Thursday afternoon we got a very special surprise when Audrey Ruegsegger and Tonia Martin showed up. They were on a work team in Auga Prieta and came down with some family of Bill and Joan. They were able to spend the night with us and left early Friday morning.

From the top down.

George W, Audrey, Bethany, Kali, Heather, Elisebeth and Tonia

Friday morning I climbed the "Monte de la cruz" (The mount of the Cross) which looks out over the town of Magdalena with the Purdue Team. We made the top as the sun was breaking through the clouds over the mountains and it was beautiful. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. We took a few of the kids back on Saturday afternoon so I did get a few pictures to add.

Jose - On his way to the top.

La Familia Zobrist en la monte de la cruz.

We really enjoyed having visitors from back home again this week. Rico was so excited to meet our niece Elisabeth Leman he just suddenly had the urge to give her a big doggy kiss. We were riding out to CVE in the van and Susie was snapping some pictures when she caught the whole thing on film. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I frequently catch him drinking out of the toilets. (Sorry Elisabeth)

Rico and Elisabeth smooching.

Kali, Zach and Nate are adjusting well to life in Mexico. For all of Zach's friends out there, it's true. All he does is work, work, work. We actually make him do homework, study Spanish and yes even do housework. He hardly has any free time to skateboard, go into town with Ben, play volley ball and hangout with the work teams.

Zach "slaving away" mopping the kitchen floor.

Nate, on the other hand, has all kinds of free time. He spends hours on the phone talking to his cousin David. Lounging on the hammock and playing with Rico. Actually, the boys are adjusting very well. Susie and Kali do a great job keeping them on track with their homework. Jeremiah Psinus even squeezed in a trig lesson for us while he was visiting this week.

I don't know how he can talk on the phone in this position.

Kali spends her time helping Zach and Nate with homework and teaching us the language. She teaches a typing class for several of the kids each morning and helps in the school room in the afternoons with homework. She also helps Keith and Emily with the girls.

Kali, Gloria, Nere and Mario waiting for lunch. (Some of the Purdue Team in the background)

Susie and I are still attempting to learn Spanish. Sometimes it seems impossible that we will ever be able to learn this language but when we look back to when we first arrived we can see a little progress. We eat most of our meals and spend most of our evenings at CVE with the children. They are very patient and helpful as we attempt to speak to them. Gloria even offered to share her Cheerios with me.

Gloria sharing her lunch with me.

I promised pictures of my birthday on the last blog so here they are. We had brownies so I really didn't get much on my face but the kids sure enjoyed it anyway.

We have been so blessed being able to come here and be accepted into the lives of these children. Please remember them and the staff of CVE in your prayers. Please pray that God will continue to work in their lives and in the community of Magdalena. If anyone is interested in specific prayer requests leave your name e-mail address on the comments of this blog or e-mail us directly at zobfam@gmail.com.

"...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5 :16

I did pretty good finishing and posting this blog in just over a week. Keep your toes crossed that I can keep it up. Gloria is.

We would also request that you keep Brian and Marie Ricketts and their children in your prayers this week. Brian and Marie and their family served here in Magdalena for several years. Brian was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and will be undergoing surgery on Monday morning March 23.

Brian and Marie and their family.

La Familia Zobrist

What a week!!! Well, What a month.

2009-03-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

I really did start this Blog over 3 weeks ago but just couldn't seem to get it finished. What a week the Zobrist's have had (well, almost a month now). To start things off our oldest son Caleb announced his engagement to Olivia Leman. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: Genesis 2:24 We are very excited to get to know our future daughter-in-law better and are planning a trip home April 24 -May 5 for a wedding shower marathon. I hope to get a picture of them to add sometime soon. We have had many visitors from home the last few weeks. Two nephews, David Leman and Jeremy Zobrist and my sister Debbie and her daughter Jerica. We also enjoyed spending time the Mark and Karen Hangartner, Ed and Bonnie Sauder, Amanda McClure, Leah Bertschi and Laura Fehr, who came with the ISU Team. David came down with with Kali after her visit to Illinois and Jeremy drove down from Tucson after a business trip to the west coast. It's a blessing to have family and friends visit. Nate and David had a great time riding bikes, hiking and hanging out with the boys at CVE.

Nate and David did some climbing up the mountain behind CVE.

We also kept Gloria for a week while Bere was in Itxlan. Jeremy did his fair share holding her and feeding her treats.

Queen Gloria on her throne.

Jeremy, Nate and Gloria enjoying some ice cream.

Debbie and Jerica arrived on March 7th. We spent the night in Tucson and the next morning doing some shopping. We headed back to CVE in the afternoon and spent the evening with the kids before the team from ISU arrived on Saturday night. While we were eating breakfast on Sunday morning a man walked by our kitchen window with his horse. Jerica, who loves animals jumped up and ran after him to get a picture. She took one of him and the horse and then asked him to take one of her.

The man and his horse.

After she took her picture Jerica handed the camera to the man and asked him to take a picture of her with the horse. I didn't put this in to make fun of him but it was to good of a "shot"to pass up. We all know who a strange camera can be difficult to use, but he was able to take a perfectly centered shot of his mustache.

The man and his mustache.

He actually got 2 very nice pictures of his mustache before they got the camera turned around for a shot of Jerica and the horse.

Jerica and the horse.

We had a very full Church for services on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon we went hiking behind CVE with the ISU team.

Debb, Jerica and Nere on the hike.

The ISU team hit the ground running on Monday morning working on the Church and forming up the foundation for the new house. Tuesday night we went to the Plaza and then to Lupita's for supper.

Amanda, me and Susie, Deb, Jennifer and Jerica at Lupita's.

Debb and Jerica left on Wednesday and the ISU team left on Friday afternoon. Kali and Zach went to Tucson with the team and will be bringing back a few more visitors on Saturday afternoon. We are expecting 3 Lemans, Bethany, Heather and Elizabeth. (all from different families) On our trip to Tucson to pick up Debb and Jerica Kali bought a piano. We live in the same house where Joe and Denice Maller used to live when they were here in Magdalena and one of the first questions the neighbors asked was "do you have a piano?" Denice had one and the neighbors loved to listen to her play. Kali is meeting Joel to load it on Saturday morning and we hope to get it over the border with the Purdue work team. If all goes well we should have piano music in our home by Monday. We are so excited to hear Kali play in our Home again and I know the neighbors will enjoy it also.

I want to finish with more pictures of the kids. I think I finally have pictures of all of them. Over the next few blogs I also plan to add some pictures of the staff . As you see their pictures please remember to pray for them.

"Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause." 1 Kings 8:45

Pray that God will maintain the cause of CVE and it's staff as they labor for Him. We have experienced His great power and works here in Mexico and know that there are many holding us up in prayer.

The kids singing their Sunday school songs for us.

Zach, Kali and Rhode Seth (Rhode teaches the kids who don't attend public school)

Jonathan Aupperle (also known as Jaun Tan) and Uriel.

Joel Leman (Also known as Limón) busy doing the dishes.

Bere Navarro and Carissa Schlipf

Armando and friends with his Mom after a rough game of soccer.

Julissa, Yaneli, Nere and Tonia - Ain't they sweet.

It's getting late on Saturday night so I am going to wrap this up and post it. The 3 Leman girls are here and I want to get a quick picture of them to add. I still have more staff and kids to add and also some pictures of my face in the cake on my birthday. Oh, I almost forgot, as you can see from the next picture George W. is still here. He likes to jump in my pictures now and then.

Elizabeth, Bethany and Heather Leman, Kali, George W. and Zach.

I just have to put one last picture of George W. on. I hope he doesn't mind the candid shot but he is just so cute with his strawberry milk, balloon and race car PJs.

I won't make any promises on a time frame for the next blog. I had good intentions but it still took me almost a month to get this one done.

La Familia Zobrist

Last Post January 24. How can the time go so fast.

2009-02-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

Well it's been almost a month since the last post which is hard for me to believe. I have tried to come up with a good excuse like "we left our camera in Tucson and I couldn't get our pictures" which really did happen. We have a Spanish inscription on our wall that says "One day at a time" which has become our motto. The days come one at a time and just seem to fly by so quickly and before you know it a month has passed.

We have been very busy here at CVE since the last post. We had 3 teams in January and a small group of 3 couples in early February. Rockville was here this past week and we are expecting 3 more teams in March before the dedication of the Church. It's incredible to see how God sends those with so many different talents to help with the various jobs to be done. There have been those from all walks of life who can build, weld, paint, tile, sew, tune pianos (which everyone was very excited about) cook wonderful meals, just be here for the kids and the list goes on and on.

"Moreover there are workman with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work." 1 Chronicles 22:15

We have such a wonderful fellowship and church family.

We had a few visitors from back home this month for which we are thankful. Loren and Joan Knapp, Gene and Carole Zobrist, Nancy and Jerry Knapp, and Bob Knapp drove down from Tucson to spend a day with us.

We also have our nephew David Leman here from Roanke Illinois. Nate has been counting the days to his arrival. They are the best of friends and have a lot in common. There were several boys about their age in the group from Rockville. They have been playing hard with the boys from CVE and having a great time together.

I am posting some more pictures of the kids below. I had several on the last post and hope to get them all at some point. I know you will see some repeats of many of them and as you see their pictures please remember to pray for them. They are the reason CVE is here.

House of Life and Hope (CVE)

Nate and Candi reading stories.

Lilly and Rico

Carla and Kali

Michelle

Zach and Fedde

Susie and Yenali

Jose

Blanca

Jacqui

Well that's all the pictures I have of the kids for now. I will try to get them all posted before another month goes by.

I almost forgot we did have one other visitor. Former US President George W. Bush came down for a little R and R after a tough 8 years in office. He wanted to met with Rico to discuss the results of his foreign policy on dog care in Mexico. He also spent some quality time with Nate and David

Rico and Former President Bush

David and Mr. Bush

Nate and George - He is much shorter in real life than he appears on TV.

I will try very hard not to let another month slip by without a new post. We appreciate your prayers.

La Familia Zobrist

Has it really been 2 weeks since I updated this blog?

2009-01-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the Zobrist's

Another 2 weeks has flown by with work teams here from Cissna and Forrest. They have made a lot of progress at the Church and the fellowship is great. We have made so many new friends and have such a wonderful church family. Ruth and Kali are still patiently trying to teach us the language and we seem to be making a little progress. I can pick out a few words and sentences here and there but still have a long way to go. Being around the kids and out in the community and not being able to communicate is a great motivator to learn. If you want to pray for us, pray that we can learn this language.

Kali at the board making her point to her students.

I wanted to add some pictures of the kids. They are the real reason CVE exists. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Pray that these children can learn of the ways of God and the staff will have the wisdom to teach them.

Gloria checking out the Christmas pictures.

Mario enjoying a bed time snack.

Zack and Mario "On top of the world."

Michael and Ramses

Ezekiel and Daniel getting ready to torment the bees who share their tree house.

Kali and Jose.

Candi and Gloria

Julissa helping me fix my bike tire.

Mario, Alexia, Kali (After getting her face in the cake on her birthday) and Michael

Nate with Ruth's Children Joshua, Manuel, Betza and Angel.

I could go on and on. My goal is to include pictures of each of the kids over the next few blogs. It's been such a blessing to get to know them although I still get names mixed up from time to time. Please remember them in your prayers.

We now have an Arizona address.

1200 Mariposa Rd

PMB box 46

Nogales, AZ 85621

We also have home phone. 1-309-222-2412 It's a Peoria number through Vonage.

I had to add just one last picture.

It's taken hours of meticulous training but we finally have Rico drinking his juice with a straw.

La Familia Zobrist

2009-01-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. Last week there were some puppies wondering around at CVE and Nate and Joel took them back to the neighbors. The owner asked if they wanted to keep them and Nate jumped at the chance. He carried his new puppy around all evening. We tried to warn him that puppies can cry and whine all night when separated from their mother but he was sure he had the best dog in the world. His puppy was going to sleep all night and not cause any problems. By 1 in the morning he was in our room with tears because "This puppy won't let me sleep." He named him "Rico" and things are going much better as he gets adjusted to his new home.

Nate and Rico - The calm before the storm.

A dog and his boy.

We started our language training a week ago Monday. We have been going to CVE for breakfast with the work teams and then head back home for class. Ruth, our teacher arrives around 9:30 in the morning and we work with her until around 11:30. We head back to CVE for lunch and then spend 2-3 hours studying with Kali in the afternoons. My mind is just a jumble of words and phrases. I hope it all starts coming together soon.

The Spanish teachers still smiling after a tough day with their students.

Last weekend we went to Tucson to meet the team from Cissna and pick up Zach. It's good to finally get him here. He had a great time with his friends over Christmas break. I also found a bike shop and got my bike fixed. I tried riding it a few days after the big crash and the rear de-railer broke off. I have been trying to ride back and fourth to CVE as much as possible. It's been very busy with language training, trying to finish unpacking and fixing things around the house. We are getting to know both the staff, the children and the town better which has been a blessing. The weather has been warming up this week and the nights have been fairly mild. There was a full moon this week which was absolutely beautiful rising over the mountains. We have such an awesome God and Creator.

The Adventures of Mike and Nate!!

2009-01-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Friday we spent the morning cleaning and unpacking. In the afternoon we walked uptown with Bill and Joan to exchange some dollars into pesos, make some keys and work on getting a Mexican cell phone. When we got back to the house we found that Nate's bedroom door was locked and shut. He claims he didn't do it and I guess it could have been locked already and the wind blew it shut. Usually this would not be a problem, you just stick a nail in and pop the lock open. Not so for us, all the interior doors are keyed locks and we have no keys. Bill tried opening it with a credit card but we just couldn't get it to work. Nate's room is on the second floor and all the windows have iron bars welded over them. Nate told me he had squeezed through the bars in the front yard so we decided to give it a try.

He was able to get everything through but his head. I always told him he had a fat head and now I have proof. It was a challenge getting him up to the bars and then through the bars to begin with and my ladder was to short for me to get enough grip on the bars to spread them. I told him he would slim down if we didn't feed him for a few days but he didn't want to wait.

I was trying to think of a way to spread the bars when I remembered the jack in the van. I really didn't want to call the fire department and tell them my kid got his head stuck breaking into his room.

The jack worked great and Nate was a free man. One thing I forgot to add was our cheering section. They are building a house down the street and the workers were just leaving to walk home as we were trying to un-stick Nate's head. They seemed to get a big kick out of the silly Americanos.

My adventure happened on Saturday. Some of the kids were going to climb the mountain behind CVE and I decided to tag along with my mountain bike. I stayed with them until I reached a road leading back to town and I decided to give it a try. It wasn't long until I started passing homesteads and each one had a dog or 2 or 5. I moved my dog spray to my pocket so I could get it quick if needed. It wasn't long and the gravel road turned to pavement and I saw the dog that I just knew was going to come after me. Sure enough he was up in a flash and the chase was on. I reached for my spray taking one hand off the handle bars. It was gone, it must have fallen out of my pocket on the rough gravel. I was still riding one handed and watching the dog fast approaching when I hit the speed bump. (There are speed bumps everywhere down here) I went airborne one handed and had just enough time to think to myself "this is going to hurt and then the dog is going to chew on me for awhile" I hit the road and it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. I think my bouncing down the road scared the dog because he stopped. Maybe he felt he had accomplished his goal by getting me to wipe out. Either way I was thankful I only had a few scrapes and bruises and no dog bites. I made it home without further incident. I think I may keep my riding closer to CVE for awhile.

You probably can't see the road rash on my arm and elbow but you might be able to see the asphalt on my shirt. I am very thankful I didn't need a trip to the ER which brings me to the last experience of the day.

Michael, one of the boys at CVE cut/punctured his heel while skateboarding. (It must have been the day for Michaels to get hurt) The wound was deep and tunnelled down towards the Achilles tendon. He was having a lot of pain and wouldn't flex or extend his foot. It was more than I could deal with and we decided to take him to the "ER." For all you guys back at BroMenn be thankful for American Medicine. We waited in a 10x10 room with another little boy and his family. He also had a laceration. There was lots of commotion behind the door and then we heard "it's a boy." Then the door opened and they took the other boy with the hand lac. Again there was lots of commotion and screaming as the kid got his stitches. This seemed to worry Michael. Finally, the door opened and they took us back. The lady and baby must have been moved but there was another woman in labor behind curtain #3. (They only have 3 curtains) We were behind curtain #1 on the same sheets as the kid before us and probably the person before him and so on. They were filthy with dirt and blood and didn't reach the bottom of the cart which was also filthy. The nurse injected lidocaine without cleaning the wound at all. She then wiped on some betadine, wiped up some blood that had dripped on the cart and then wiped the wound some more with the same piece of gauze. There was a young female Dr. probably a Resident, who just started suturing the wound. There were no sterile drapes and the suture was dragging on the bed and Michael's pants. Another Dr. came to observe her suturing and asked if the Achilles tendon was OK. (That made me feel a little better, at least I had thought of the tendon possibly being injured) She said it was fine and kept suturing although she never explored the wound or checked to see if he could flex and extend his foot. I decided that I will be going to the States if we need any medical care. We take so much for granted.

La Familia Zobrist

Getting Settled

2009-01-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was the annual Christmas trip. We went to the Zoo in Hermosia and stopped at McDonald's for supper on the way home. It was a fun day to get to know the kids a little better. On the way home we were stopped at a check point by the military. A soldier boarded the bus and asked where we were going and where we had been. The kids took over and were joking around with him before he sent us on our way. It's common place for them but still a little scary for us new comers.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent cleaning the house and unpacking. It's starting to feel more like home. After lunch I road my bike back from CVE along the railroad tracks. It's a rough ride but it felt good to be back on the bike. I ride to CVE during the day and repair my tires and tubes at night. So far I have always gotten them to hold air. We met some of the neighbors and they are very friendly although communication is rough when Kali or Joan are not around. Below are some pictures of the house.

And our Garage - Dad and Scot if you see this we have a chamberlin door/gate opener it will probably need some work in March.

And our yard.

And the snake in our yard.

Actually, the snake was at the zoo, I just added it for some drama. So far we haven't had any encounters with any critters.

God has really blessed us with such a nice place to live. We have room for visitors.

La Familia Zobrist

A much needed update (Part 2)

2008-12-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Tucson on Friday evening in the cold and snow. We met Loren and Joan Knapp at their house and they took us out for supper at Pinicle Peaks. There is one rule at Pinicle Peaks and that is no ties. Nate was a law breaker with a little help for Loren and Joan. The "law" cut his tie off and hung it on the wall. It didn't really match his t-shirt anyway.

We met Bill and Joan on Saturday morning and headed to Nogales to met Joe and Denise Maller and the Midwest Food Bank truck. We unloaded a few things and left for the boarder. The crossing was uneventful but still made me nervous. We arrived at our house and unloaded by early afternoon. We ate at CVE and headed home to unpack. It was freezing. Our house had a few heaters but they were not working and we were short on gas for hot water. We had packed a small electric heater and did get enough warm water for a shower but it was a very cold night.

We went to church on Sunday morning and by the time it was over it had warmed up. We rode in the van to take some of the kids home from church and stopped to visit one of the boy's Grandmother in town. They were making tortillas in the yard over a wood fire and insisted we come in and eat. I had been feeling a bit sorry for myself because of the cold night we had and I didn't think we would have any hot water left when we got home. My feelings changed quickly when we entered the house. I didn't see a water heater at all, or a bathroom and shower for that matter, and I don't think they had any heat at all. It was a small 2 room house made of plywood and concrete floors which would get cold quickly when the sun went down. We had some bean soup and fresh handmade tortillas which were excellent. I felt guilty eating their food but I think she would have been offended if we hadn't. It was much easier to be thankful for the house we were in and yes we did have just enough hot water left for all of us to take a quick shower.

Susie and Lola after the tortillas and soup.

Monday morning Joe helped me stop the "gas man" and get the water heater going again. We left for Nogales and had no trouble at the border crossing into the US. We unloaded the truck at two warehouses and moved some of our belongings into storage to bring down later. We said goodbye to Caleb, Joe and Denise as they headed for Tucson and we headed for Mexico. We had the van loaded from floor to roof and didn't know if we would make it over without being searched. We were stopped at the last check point as the sun was setting through the tinted glass and the guard could see our load. He pulled us over and asked what we were doing. We told him we were a family moving down for a while and he waved us through. It was a relief to get most of our important belongings across. Once again God is faithful. I went to bed that night feeling much better about our situation but our next test was soon to come. I'll have to fill you in on this one later after some time has passed. We really, really appreciate your prayers.

La Familia Zobrist.

A much needed update.

2008-12-29T20:42:00.001-08:00

Wow!!! We are way behind on updating our blog. Our last post had us moving to Congerville way back in November and now I am typing in Mexico. We didn't have internet access and it was hard to find places as well as time to log on. So with no more excuses we will try to catch up.

We stayed at Glen and Mardell Ott's house from November 15 to December 21. It was such a blessing to have a home to live in where we could still function as a family. We were able to experience a good taste of central Illinois weather before leaving for Mexico and the so called "warm weather." It is warm during the day but freezing at night, but more on that later. We had several good snows and a few ice storms before heading out. Zach and Nate got to go sledding and snow boarding and Susie and I got to drive in the ice and snow one last time (so we thought) but more on that later.

Caleb was baptized on December 21st for which we are very thankful. The weather was bad and kept many of our friends and family from coming but it was still a wonderful weekend. We are thankful we have such a merciful God and Savior!

We moved from Glen and Mardell's to the Nursing Home (sort of) on Dec 22nd. It was actually uncle Loren and aunt Joan's condo in Wallnut Crest but it's more fun to say we lived in the nursing home.

It was 4 degrees when we took our belongings to the Midwest Food Bank to put on the truck and we loaded the vans for Mexico in the cold, ice, snow and rain (I will miss a lot of things in central Illinois but not the weather)

We ate one last breakfast at the Busy Corner on Christmas Eve and thought we left the ice and snow in our rear view mirror.

By the time we reached Springfield it was just raining and there was no snow on the ground. By St. Louis the sun was shining. We drove as far as Oklahoma City before we stopped. We met a couple from Newe Mexico at breakfast the next morning who warned us that it had been snowing in the mountains for 2 days and that I-40 may be closed. We did run into some cold and freezing rain in the mountain pass into Albuquerque but we made it through fine. We stopped in Las Cruses New Mexico on Christmas night with just 200+ miles left to Tucson. It was very pleasant on friday morning in Las Cruses and I sat by the fountain outside the hotel in my t-shirt with a cup of coffee. It didn't stay that way. About half way to Tucson it got cold and windy and then the snow started. We drove through fog and snow the rest of the way.

Well, I still have more to write but it's late and we have a big day tomorrow and Blogger won't let me upload my pictures. I will try to get the rest of our adventures posted tomorrow night.

Keep us in your prayers.

Love,

La Familia Zobrist

Changing Times

2008-11-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; ... A time to get, and a time to lose; ..." Ecclesiastes 3 : 1,2,6

These verses have never been so real in our lives as in the last few weeks. On September 24 we "got" another daughter as Gabbi arrived from Mexico. It was a blessing to have her in our home. She quickly became a part of our family as well as our church family and friends. On November 11 we "lost" 2 daughters as Kali and Gabbi left for Mexico. Gabbi said she was going to miss her 3 brothers Zach, Nate and Caleb as well as all the new friends she made in the States. We will also miss her and her smile. It was very hard to say goodbye to both Kali and Gabbi but we are looking forward to seeing them both again soon.

The "cousins" came to say goodbye

On November 15 we received an early morning call that Grandpa Miller had died. He had been declining over the past week but it is still hard even though you know it is coming. We are thankful that Kali had the opportunity to say goodbye before leaving. November 15 was also the morning we planned to begin moving out of our house. It was a long tiring day but we managed to get most everything moved. We are very thankful for Glen and Mardel Ott who offered us their home while they are in Florida. We are so blessed by our church family and friends.

Our temporary new home.

On the lighter side, Zach got his braces off this week. So here is the picture you asked for, Kali.

We still don't have a final date when we plan to leave, but will hopefully know soon. Please remember us in your prayers.

2008-10-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by and Gabbi and Kali will soon be heading for Mexico. We have our house rented and will be moving out November 15th. As of now we are planning on house sitting for Glen and Mardell Ott as they are heading for Florida. We are slowly getting things packed and are sorting through 21 years of "stuff." We still do not have a definite date when we will be leaving but things are starting to come together. We recently took a weekend off and visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

Kali tries to save Nate from the T-Rex

It was a beautiful day and we ate lunch on the deck overlooking the lake and gardens. If you get a chance to visit the museum, it is worth it. The almighty Creator, our God is so great!

Please remember to keep us in your prayers as we get closer to moving.

Welcome Gabriela

2008-10-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Gabriela arrived on September 24 after a very stressful day. She had problems crossing the boarder and then had to fly by herself (she had never flown before) to Midway in Chicago. Bill and Joan had written our names on her boarding pass in case she couldn't find us but the staff from Southwest Airlines let Kali meet her at the gate. The first night she cried but always had a big smile shining through her tears. Her and Kali have become fast friends and are almost like sisters.

We put a for sale or rent sign in the yard last week. We have had several calls and a few people come and look at the house but no "takers" yet.

We are very thankful for the support and encouragement we have received from our family and friends.

2008-09-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

"And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place..."

St. Mark, 6:31

In case you haven't heard the Zobrist's are heading south of the border. After much prayer, consideration and 2 trips to Casa Vida y Esperanza (CVE) we have decided to move to Magdalena Mexico to help with the work there. We hope to be in Mexico by the first of the year but have a lot to do first. We are putting our house up for sale or rent and are sorting through all of our "junk." We are going to Chicago on 9/24 (Susie's 40th Birthday) to pick up Gabriela Morales at Midway. Gabriela is 18, lives in Magdalena and has always wanted to visit the US for an extended time. She will be staying with us for several weeks. She hopes to learn some English from us and we hope to learn some Spanish from her. Gabriela and Kali are planning to return to Magdalena together on November 11.

Please remember us in your prayers as we take this step in faith.