Catching up!

I know I promised photos from the Christmas party week, but I've gotten delayed by a few things - one of them being that I have gotten a bad cold this week! I never knew how miserable a cold can be when you can't take the normal cold meds! Thank goodness for Tylenol, which I am able to take. Everyone around seems to have a cold - so I'm sure it's just something I picked up!

Some other noteworthy news:
1) My niece Cris returned to the US on Monday. Her six weeks here flew by and we miss her! We wish her well as she continues with the application process to Physician Assistant's schools. We are proud of her as she now has 4 interviews set up in the next few weeks.

2) The team of 55 people who came from the US and Canada to help with the week-long Christmas parties left on Tuesday morning. The ER staff have been been busy cleaning up and recuperating from the very busy week.

3) Our next doctor's appt is on Tuesday, Dec. 11. We will also be having a tour of the maternity section at Hospital Metropolitano where we plan on having Nathan. It'll be good for us to have an idea of where to head when the big day comes! And we still have no idea when that day might be!

4) We have three Christmas parties in the next week - one on Sunday with the HCJB missionaries, another one on Monday with the Extreme Response staff and I have one on Weds with our high school group! A full month of celebrations!

5) Santi will be busy next week setting up the last minute technical preparations for HCJB's Annual Radio Sharathon - called "Misión Compartida" (Shared Mission). He is part of the technical support staff for this sharathon to be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday - pray for him as he will be working long hours. We are grateful for the many HCJB radio listeners who will be responding and giving sacrificially so that HCJB Radio can continue on the air in 2008!

Many of the people come to the open house on the HCJB Radio compound to see their favorite radio announcers, watch live radio programs as they air, share testimonies and prayer requests as well as donate money for radio operations. It's an exciting time!

6) This Sunday we will be having the service at the Nursing Home (Hogar Betania) and also on Dec. 23. Pray that we can be an encouragement to these dear elderly people who have so little. We're also looking for ideas of something that we can give them as a gift on Dec. 23. We'd like to do something special for them in honor of Jesus' birth.

Good night for now - I hope to post a report of the Christmas parties as well as include some photos! I will let you know that more than 8,000 people showed up for the various parties held in five days time (we had planned for 6,000)! We were amazed at how God multiplied the supplies and gifts that we had prepared and made it possible for everyone to receive something! It felt like the feeding of the 5,000!