Where have I been?????????????????

None of you may have been asking that question , but I have! We thought we were coming way down here to be house parents (and that we are) but I have come to learn that "pace" is not in the Texas dictionary. By the way neither is logical or computer............they still do everything by hand down here ... except milk cows. We have tried for two months to register a vehicle and get Texas drivers licsence and get Texas safety inspection and Texas insurance and all departments took our social security numbers but...the drivers licsense people "now they want the original SS card not a copy not a picture not a pass word not a tot not a tittle but the ORIGINAL.......................and after the three weeks to obtain that I go back for the 6th time tomorrow with my new driving glasses on my nose............................I don't even want a Texas drivers thingie!! (i USED THIS CAUSE i CAN'T SPELL THE OTHER WORD.NEVER COULD)..BYE-4-NOW RAY



More to come about grass...ants...kids...

Photos of Sunny Glen

Trinity (6) and Anika (cottage guest)

Amber (16) and Pearl (10)

Vanessa (10) and Alexis (12)

Aisha (6)




Ray's new wheels... 15 passenger van

Common area in front of cottages

This is our house. 12 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 4700 square feet. Look at the beautiful St. Augustine grass. Palm trees are the tree of choice in San Benito.

Getting To Know You

Thanks to Tammy who took the pictures now on this site when she was here in June. We are missing two of our girls and we will see about adding them.

I realize that we have been telling you much about our setting and not so much about the reason we are here - the girls. Due to privacy issues we have to be sensitive to what we say, but we find these children to be very open and within a short time willing to share much of their lives. We have most of these children due to the state removing them from their homes because of neglect or abuse. Drug use is a major problem here and the children fall by the wayside. In reading their histories, usually what happens is a neighbor or family member calls the state to notify them that there are children more or less raising themselves. Since we have the older girls on campus, we have several who were playing "mom" while mom was away doing her thing. Most cases the dads are absent.

This situation of being the "mom" presents some interesting challenges to us. For one, there are a lot of bosses in the house. Second of all, these kids haven't had a chance to be kids. The older are very protective of the younger ones. Since we have a group of 4 sisters in the house, we have had to convince the older ones that we will take good care of the younger ones and that they are to assume the role of sibling not parent. We often say let us be the parent. You be the sister. But as you can imagine, it is a learning experience for all of us.

We would like to open the door to the world for our girls. Let them see what is out there and what opportunities they can have by getting an education and choosing to live life differently than has been modeled for them. So when Ray and I choose activities, it is very often in the direction of education/new experiences combined with fun. I've told you about our museum trip. Another outing we had was an eco-dolphin tour out in the bay. The boat pulled a net and then reeled in their catches and showed the marvelous sea life that is beneath the water...all of the girls crowded in to look and listen and hold these creatures. Later that day we walked down a pier and watched the fishermen pulling in their catches. It was a delightful experience for all of us.

Ray and I thank you for your continual prayers. They are the reason we can get up each morning with energy and enthusiasm and thankfulness for this wonderful challenge God has given us.

We are Still Here or Life in the Cottage Part 2

Hello world! If you've been wondering if perhaps we had fallen off into the Gulf of Mexico or perhaps crossed the border (have I told you that it's only 10 miles down the road?) and had not made our way back, no to both. Actually, we have been lying by the pool sipping cool drinks and then when it's too hot gone on to the mall before we find a great Mexican restaurant to satisfy our hunger. Well, part of that is true! I do schedule to take the girls to the pool twice a week. The Elks' Lodge in town has graciously offered their pool to us. It's large and clean. What more do we need?

First of to my "friend" Will, do you really need Ray and me to identify who is posting? Please! Ray's posts are the ones with the humor...a little misspelling but who's checking?

Life is getting saner. We have about finished all the qualifications in order to be allowed to live in the state of Texas, the last being a social security card to get a Texas driver's license. Easy we just take our Tennessee license to the social security administration and apply for a new ss card and when it comes back we will return to the driver's bureau and we will be the proud owners of Texas drivers' licenses.

Our internet service is still sporadic. The laptop that belongs to the home is our best bet for connecting in this wireless cottage and that is only if we are standing in the exact spot at a certain time of the day. My long suffering husband has about used all his patience and we plan in the next few weeks to find a more reliable way to connect.

We are celebrating our first birthday since we have been here today. Sandra will be 15. They are to give us a birthday menu and she choose fresh roasted turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, green beans, and cheesecake. Yum! We like this girl. Sandra is quite artistic. We have her working on sketches and when we find one that would work in the cottage, she will put it on canvas. And we will be the proud possessor of her first original piece of art.

During the last few weeks, we have had some great opportunities with the girls to explore the area. There is a museum in Harlingen (10 min.) that has moved some of the original buildings of the town to their site. They have the first house (1907), original hospital (1922) ( an interesting side note here is that surgery was on Saturday so the townspeople would stand along the porch and watch the proceedings through the windows), and an inn dating to the late 1800's. The day we visited they were celebrating Heritage days which included an Indian tepee with residents who shared their stories of the Indian culture with furs, bows/arrows, pottery which fascinated the kids. Also, we visited with some soldiers who participate in reenactment of the civil war period complete with dress and muskets/bayonets.

NOTE: I did this draft a week ago and just now getting back to it. So I will publish and try to get another one in today.