2020

What does a "typical" day at Sonshine Hacienda look like? Even though no day is the same, we do have a pretty tight weekday schedule that we keep to, that looks like this: 6 a.m. - First pickup of the day: cook & 2 morning mamas 6:30 a.m. - Pablo, our maintenance man, arrives for the day 6:40 a.m. - Drive our 2 secondary (junior high) kids to school 7:15 a.m. - Breakfast 7:30 a.m. - Drive home our 2 night mamas 7:50 a.m. - Walk our 11 primary kids (first thru 6th grade) to school 9 a.m. - Drive our 5 kindergarteners (ages 3-5) to school 10:30 a.m. - Snack time for our 3 toddlers 12 p.m. - Pick up our kindergarten kids 12:15 p.m. - Lunch  1 p.m. - Pick up 2 afternoon mamas 2:30 p.m. - Pablo heads home 2:45 p.m. - Drive home the cook & 2 morning mamas; pick up our junior high kids 3 p.m. - Walk to school & bring home our primary kids 4 p.m. - Afternoon snack & homework 5 p....

Yesterday was a day of doctoring. My grandma had surgery in Ohio. One of our kids went to the doctor with a sore throat. And Jovi met our new vet for the first time. Any time you move, you have no choice but to find new things that you like: new restaurants, new walking paths, new directions, new friends, new entertainment. And new doctors. Of course you don't actually have to move for this to be an issue. Your doctor could move, or retire. Your insurance could change, or you could have to see a specialist for the first time. Regardless of the reason, finding a new doctor can be challenging. Whether it is for you, your pet, or another family member, it can be stressful. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find a good one the first time around, but other times you have to shop around. Jovi spent a TON of time (and money!) at the vet's office in California last year. Months of searching for what was causing her pain. But in those months, I came to trust our veterinarian....

Sonshine Hacienda was all set to open in December of 2011. There was a grand opening celebration and everything. When the government suddenly decided that all casa hogars -- children's homes and orphanages -- needed to have a 10-foot fence surrounding their facilities. It was another 6 months of fundraising and building before Sonshine would actually open. Maybe it is because I live behind a fence -- las cerca -- or because the people in Las Manitas, where we live, are so creative, but I am fascinated by the fences in our neighborhood. There are fences made from the ocotillo cactus, which grows wild in Baja... And fences made from old fishing nets (San Felipe is a fishing village, after all). There are fences made of pallets (they must be fans of @Pinterest)... And fences made from used tires (there is no limit to the number of tires discarded on the side of the road, thanks to the number of pot holes and off road vehicles in Baja). But my personal fa...

On New Year's Eve, lines at the gas stations were 30 cars deep. We had no idea why. Until we woke up on New Year's Day and discovered that prices jumped by 20 percent. Prices in Mexico were already well over the cost of gas just over the border into California, but now they are even higher. Gas prices in Mexico are controlled by the government. Which is good, because all the stations charge exactly the same. But it's bad, when the government feels threatened and skyrocketing prices are the result. The peso has been declining in value. Trump has convinced U.S. auto manufacturers to renig on their plans to bring jobs to Mexico. And, while minimum wage just went up, it's still only 80 pesos -- about $4 -- A DAY. That barely covers the cost of a gallon of gas. Imagine if you had to do a full day's work for one gallon of gas?  But just when you the think the worst has happened, it gets worse. Due to rioting, looting, violence and protests, on Sunday the gas st...

When Randy and I visited Sonshine Hacienda in August of last year to finalize the plans for our move to San Felipe, one of the first words I realized I didn't know how to say in Spanish was "share." Imagine working with children all day, and not being able to tell them to share? The lack of this one word in my vocabulary made me feel completely incompetent. But this one was easy for me to memorize, because as soon as I learned it I started saying it every day, often multiple times a day: COMPARTIR (pronounced: comb-par-tier): to share Of course, I've added lots of other words to my vocabulary in the two months that we have been here. ( Google translate  and I have become fast friends.) Other important words to know when spending time with children are: puzzles - rompecabezas  kick - golpear fall down - cayó trust - confianza angry - enojado itch - picar stuffed animals - peluches hair bows - moñas  lice - piojos Give it to me - darmelo ...

While many of my friends are saying "thank God 2016 is over" and "looking for a bigger and better 2017," I can't help but think what a great year it was. And a huge part of that was God calling me to live intentionally. Because Randy and I chose to follow God's call to live a life of intention, it was much easier to leave California knowing that we had made the most of our time there. We went on over 40 hikes and dates last year. We spent intentional time with family and held special dinners for our grandkids on their birthdays. I read more books than I have in years, and enjoyed regular Bible study, making new friends and growing deeper in my faith. We went out of our way to make others feel special, and listened to God calling us to something new and brave. I would never have imagined, last January when God placed "intention" on my heart, that we would end up here. It's amazing how much can change in a year, when you are open to new horiz...