Random update

(another post I started in early December)

.....so it's cold here! (I know you Chicago readers will smile at that opening line :)
In the mornings and the evenings. Cold in that we all wear long pants and fleeces the first and last hour of the day. Our house is not air tight, nor heated. But it actually feels really good. Aunt Marie, the boys wear the beautiful gloves you made for them to school in the mornings - both of them ride bike to school. Thank you for such a special handmade treat!

The garden is growing more than last time. I think i put the compost from our dry latrine in too soon. The compost LOOKED good, but nothing grew. Plants are growing better this time. The dill from rodney and marie is huge! I planted lots of flowers too - the marigolds from Doris and Su are beautiful. Even if i don't harvest much, it's very theraputic for me, and a wonderful connection with other women who are gardening.

And we now have cats! (Don't worry, for those of you who know about my asthma, they stay outside most of the time.) A stray mama cat and her two kittens hang out at the back door. Martin and the boys feed them, so i guess they are here to stay.

isaiah and his lip and tooth have healed just fine. There is a wonderful dentist in Olinala who wouldn't let us pay him for his services. He says he appreciates what we are doing here. (What happened? We were attending the church service portion of a wedding. Isaiah didn't want to sit in church so he went outside to find something to climb. On the way down he slipped and hit his mouth on the cement - so hard that his lip busted open and he pushed one of his front teeth way into his gum. Also ripped to shreds his favorite shirt from Tia Doris. We missed most of the wedding as we were at the dentist' office for a long time. The tooth came out after lots and lots of talking - Cacho (the dentist) did an awesome job working with Isaiah who really wanted to just go home. It was a baby tooth. Now Isaiah eagerly greets Cacho when he sees him.)

My bike was stolen from the office last month and I REALLY miss it! The rest of the family continues to bike.

Tia D & TIa Su - Micah loves the book of puzzles you send awhile ago - does a puzzle daily, by himself.
This morning Isaiah and Martin are playing Racko.

Blessings to all of you!

Traveling Together (written for our home church in Chicago)

Greetings from Olinala, Guerrero.

It’s nice and cool here (mid-50s) at night, so we’re enjoying sleeping under the quilt you sent back with us. The boys ask me to read the names on it at least once a day. Thanks again! It’s a wonderful connection to all of you.
Last week our new MCC Mexico representatives, the co-director of MCC Latin America and the whole MCC Mexico team came to Olinala. We spent a lot of time talking about our experiences and how to define community development. What does “good” community development look like? The Guerrero team (we are now 8 adults and 5 children) continues to analyze and refine what we are doing and how we are doing it. We continue to have lots and lots and lots of methodology conversations as well as many opportunities to practice what we preach.
Well it happened again, I went to a meeting and didn’t really “do” anything. This afternoon there was a parent committee meeting at the elementary school in nearby Chiaucingo. They are having problems with their water bathrooms and are interested in building dry latrines. They invited me to the meeting to talk about the dry latrines that we promote. Three of the parents built dry latrines with Martin in March, so they did all the explaining about how the dry latrine works and what the parents and students will need to do. I nodded along in agreement. They knew exactly what they were talking about.
Next they asked what kind of materials MCC would donate to the project. “Well, there have been some changes in the way we work….” I slowly responded. “That’s fine,” replied the principal. “We can take a request for materials to our municipal president.” They proceeded to make a list of the materials they will need and set a date in January to visit him or her. I asked to go along to watch they process.
Prayer Request: Better communication within the MCC Mexico team.

Martin's Fabulous Chocolate (Beet) Cake

divine devil's food chocolate cake
- greg bartel helped invent this recipe

melt: 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate in double boiler
chop: 1 8oz can red beets with liquid in blender or food processor
beat in this order: 4 oz unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
beat in melted chocolate
stir: 2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
stir into batter
1/2 cup buttermilk-blend into mixture
beat until smooth. stir in beets.
bake at 350 for 30 minutes in two 9 inch greased and floured pans.

filling for between two layers of cake:
8 oz cream cheese -whip
add powdered sugar and melted chocolate or raspberry jam to taste
(it helps to cool the cake well before pouring on the glaze)

glaze; for pouring over the two layer cake:
8 oz semi sweet chocolate -melted in double boiler
1 stick butter -melted into chocolate
1/3 cup warm cream
whip: pour over cake

enjoy!