My Dad's Birthday/El cumple de mi papá

Mañana es el cumpleaños de mi papá (que también es el segundo aniversario de matrimonio de G y L). Se lo celebramos su cumple hoy a mi papá, y G y L vinieron a comer después de la iglesia. El no quería ningún bizcocho de cumpleaños, así que mi mamá le hizo un pastel de guineo y crema. Le encantó. Te amo, papá.

Tomorrow is my dad's birthday (which is also L and G's second wedding anniversary). We celebrated his birthday today, and G and L came over for dinner after church. He didn't want a birthday cake, so my mom made him a banana cream pie instead, which he loves!!! I love you, Dad.



También, quería incluir algunas fotos de mi sobrinito bello y dulce. Aquí esta comiendo zanahorias, pero le interesa más el jarro de agua.

I also wanted to put in some pictures of my handsome, sweet nephew. Here he is eating carrots, but he is more interested in the pitcher of water.

"Londonberry Air"

Hay un himno en inglés llamado "I Cannot Tell" que se canta a esta melodía, y ese himno fue una razón por la cuál quise comprar y aprender a tocar la flauta dulce alto. Gracias, también, a mi amiga H que me dio las primeras lecciones de la flauta dulce. Me encantaría tocar otra vez contigo algún día. Aquí está la letra de tres versículos de este himno (en inglés). Espero que disfruten. (Todavía estoy aprendiendo a tocar bien la mi alta en esta flauta.)

There is a hymn called "I Cannot Tell," which is played to this melody, and that hymn is one of the reasons that I decided to buy and learn how to play the alto recorder. Thank you also to my friend H who gave me my first few lessons on the recorder. I would love to play with you again someday. Here are the lyrics of three verses of this hymn. I hope you enjoy. (I'm still getting comfortable with playing a high E natural on the alto recorder.)



I cannot tell why He whom angels worship,
Should set His love upon the sons of men,
Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,
To bring them back, they know not how or when.
But this I know, that He was born of Mary
When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,
And that He lived at Nazareth and labored,
And so the Savior, Savior of the world is come.

I cannot tell how silently He suffered,
As with His peace He graced this place of tears,
Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, He heals the brokenhearted,
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
For yet the Savior, Savior of the world is here.

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship,
When, at His bidding, every storm is stilled,
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all the hearts of men with love are filled.
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,
And myriad, myriad human voices sing,
And earth to Heaven, and Heaven to earth, will answer:
At last the Savior, Savior of the world is King!

Trusting in His Goodness/Confiando en Su Bondad

Este viernes al sábado disfruté de asistir a y participar en un retiro de damas. Vino Mimi Wilson, autor de varios libros y misionera. Habló mucho de la santidad y la misericordia de Dios, y me tocaron mucho sus pláticas. Me fui con el deseo de conocer mejor a Dios y reconocer las muchas cosas que hace y sigue haciendo en mi vida.

Ella mencionó el versículo Santiago 1:16 que dice que toda buena dádiva y todo don perfecto viene de Dios. Si consideramos que cada buena cosa que recibimos, cada misericordia que nos muestra una persona--sea creyente o no--viene de Dios mismo, vemos tanto la bondad y el amor de Dios que nunca podríamos cesar de darle gracias. Por qué, entonces, dice ella, debería de dudar Su bondad sólo porque tiene Parkinson´s. Claro que la misericordia de Dios más se demostró cuando dio a Su Hijo Jesús por nosotros. Estoy segura que podríamos pensar en nuestras propias dificultades, pero a la luz de la gran misericordia de Dios, son tan pequeñas, y Dios puede usar aún esas mismas dificultades para bien.

This Friday to Saturday I enjoyed attending and participating in a ladies retreat. Our speaker was Mimi Wilson, a missionary and author of several books. She spoke a lot on the holiness and the goodness of God, and I was touched by her messages. I left with the desire to know God more and to recognize the many things He´s done and continues to do in my life.

She mentioned the verse, James 1:16, which says that every good thing given and every perfect gift is from God. If we consider that every good thing we receive, every kindness shown to us by someone--whether that person's a believer or not--comes from God Himself, we see so much of His goodness and love everyday that we could never cease to give thanks. Why then, she says, should she doubt His goodness just because she has Parkinson's. Certainly, the love and goodness of God was most shown when He gave His Son Jesus for us. I'm sure we could name our own struggles, but, in light of God's overwhelming goodness, they're so small, and even those very struggles can be used by God for good.

Algunas otras cosas sobresalientes del retiro eran
- poder ver a dos damas que asistían a la iglesia donde crecí. ¡Fue una sorpresa total!
- tener la oportunidad de cantar y tocar la flauta dulce durante los servicios. Fue muy especial cantar juntas con mi amiga A.

Some other highlights of the retreat were
- being able to see two ladies who used to go to the church I grew up in. It was a complete surprise!
- having the opportunity to sing and play the alto recorder during the meetings. It was very special to sing a duet with my friend A.

Por último, esta foto no tiene nada que ver con el retiro, a menos que consideres que mi amiga A y yo nos comimos estos huevitos de codorniz antes de partir para el retiro. Yo había recogido diez huevitos. Los hervimos y los servimos encima de una ensalada. Los huevos son azules por dentro y del color de café por fuera.

Finally, this photo doesn't really have anything to do with the retreat unless one considers that my friend A and I ate these quail eggs right before leaving for the retreat. I had collected ten eggs. We hard-boiled them and served them on top of salad. The eggs are blue on the inside and brown on the outside.

My Nephew P - 5 1/2 months/meses - Mi sobrino P

Lo que hace mi sobrino P...
- Hace poco empezó a comer la comida suave para bebés
- Se sonríe mucho.
- Se le está creciendo el pelo y también tiene tres dientes.
- Usa la talla 4 de pañales.
- Está empezando a explorar y moverse poco a poco de un sitio a otro cuando está en el piso.
- Aparentemente, no le gusta que su titi cante. lol. Estaba practicando una canción para el retiro de damas, y empezó a llorar. :-)

What my nephew P does...
- He started eating baby food recently.
- He smiles a lot.
- His hair is growing, and he has three teeth.
- He uses Size 4 diapers.
- He's starting to explore and to move little by little from one spot to another when he's on the floor.
- Apparently, he doesn't care for his titi's (my) singing. lol. I was practicing a song for the ladies' retreat, and he started to cry. :-)

Lily and/y Cinnamon

Anoche mis primos D y P tuvieron una asada de elotes de maíz en su casa. Invitaron a mucha gente. Yo fui más tarde porque estaba haciendo cosas en casa, pero me divertí mucho cuando fui. Había una fogata y calentábamos malvaviscos sobre el fuego. P y yo miramos una canción que vamos a hacer en el retiro de damas este fin de semana. También, pude ver a Cinnamon (Canela), la hermana de mi gata Lily. Cinnamon, tal como Lily, ha llegado a ser una gata muy linda. La primera foto es de Cinnamon y la segunda, de Lily.

Last night my cousins D and P had a corn roast at their home. They invited a lot of people. I went a little later because I was doing things at home, but I was glad I went. We heated marshmallows over a campfire. P and I also looked at a song that we'll be doing for the ladies' retreat. I also had the chance to see Cinnamon, my cat Lily's sister. Cinnamon, just like Lily, has grown to be quite pretty. The first picture is of Cinnamon and the second, of Lily.




Aquí está algunas fotos de Lily y Cinnamon cuando eran pequeñas. Me encanta la segunda foto. Se ven muy bien sus personalidades--Lily la gata montés y Cinnamon la siempre dulce.

Here are some pictures of Lily and Cinnamon when they were little. I love the second picture. Their personalities are so evident--Lily the Wildcat and Cinnamon the Forever Sweet.

A Surprise Visit/Una visita sorpresa

Este fin de semana A y K vinieron a visitar. Fue una sorpresa para mis papás. A nos había llamado a G y a mí el jueves y el viernes. A mí me encanta esta foto de A y K con sus camisas de rayas.

This weekend A and K came to visit. It was a surprise for my parents. A had called G and me on Thursday and Friday. I love this picture of A and K with their striped shirts.



El sábado--un día bello--los llevamos a la cascada Niágara. En esta foto se ve el puente Arco Iris, que cruza hacia el Canadá.

On Saturday--a gorgeous day--we took them to Niagara Falls. In this picture you can see the Rainbow Bridge, which crosses over to Canada.



otra parte de la cascada--la cascada Herradura

another part of the falls--the Horseshoe Falls






caminando hacia la cascada

walking to the Falls



los hermanos :-)
A t le encanta cuando A y K vienen a visitar.

brothers :-)
t loves when A and K come to visit.

My Nephew P - 5 months/Mi sobrino P - 5 meses

Aquí está con su mamá (mi hermana) G. Le gustan los guineos.

Here he is with his mommy (my sister) G. He likes bananas.

I Like Cheerios, Yes I Do.../Me gustan los Cheerios. Si, me gustan...

Eso fue lo que mi mama oyo cantar a mi hermanito t el sabado por la manana. Tal vez, el tenga algo en comun con mi gata Lily.

That's what my mom heard my brother t sing on Saturday morning. Perhaps he and my cat Lily have something in common.

10 1/2 weeks/semanas

Este sabado una de los "button quails" puso su primer huevito. Aqui esta al lado de un centavo para que vean el tamano del huevo. Es increible cuan rapidamente crecieron. Hace poco que los "Chiclets" eran asi--tan pequenos como el huevo.

Mas tarde en el dia lo lleve a ensenarselo a algunos amigos, y el cunado de G lo cocino y se lo comio. Nos dijo que sabia 10 veces mejor que un huevo de pollo. Lo que yo note fue que el huevo tenia una yema muy grande para su tamano.

This Saturday one of the button quails laid her first egg. Here it is next to a penny so that you can see the size of the egg. It's incredible how quickly the quails grew. Just a short time ago, the Chiclets were the same size as this egg.

Later in the day, I took the egg to show to some friends, and G's brother-in-law cooked and ate it. He told us that it tasted ten times better than a chicken egg. What I noticed was that the egg had a very large yolk in proportion to its size.



Aqui estan todos los "quails". Creo que la mama del huevo es la del color cafe que esta en medio. Quizas, el papa es el azul y rojo que esta detras de ella. (Ese azul y rojo era el pollito del color de caramelo y rayado que me gustaba mucho.)

Here are all the quails. I think that the egg's mother is the brown one in the middle. The daddy might be the red and blue one behind her. (That blue and red one was the caramel-colored striped chick that I really liked.)