The Grand Opening

  

  Thanks for all your prayers! 

Good morning! Considering all of the encouraging notes and prayers that we have received over the last week, I thought I should give you the details of last nights Grand Opening for Cafe Y Algo Mas. The preparations list is always longer than you really think is, so there wasn't much of a calm before the 4:00 storm - in fact, we were finishing up just in time to open the doors at 4:00 when we realized we hadn't yet turned the coffee pot on! Oops! But the first few hours were pretty slow and the storm didn't hit until 6:30 or 7 (we are quickly learning that we are going to have to "revisit" our hours of operation....Mexicans eat late and get home from work late so we think we'll have much better interaction with people if we stay open till 9:30 or 10. We had intended to close at 8 last night, but we were too full to even think about that!! Ya, it was an interesting and successful evening! At first we were tracking our sales per hour - and that went out the window once business picked up because it was a bit too chaotic to worry about it by then. We were handing out free samples to people on the street and a few came in to purchase something - but only "to go". Around 6 or 6:15 we had a large family sit down, then a few sat at the bar...some bought and said they were going home to get their family and return, one lady came back 2 or 3 times throughout the evening. It was a whole lot of fun! We had a selection of 5 desserts - banana bread, brownies, carrot cake, cinnamon rolls, and pound cake with strawberries and cream. I thought we would have plenty to last through last night and tonight as well - but it is back to the kitchen! We ran out of carrot cake, pound cake, almost out of brownies and banana bread, but have enough cinnamon rolls, I think. Another suprise - I didn't think the carrot cake was going to sell and it was the hot item. Another great thing is the shop right next door to us just opened up too - and it is an ice cream store - good stuff. The ladies there are sooo nice - this whole past week they've been giving us free ice cream and my kids are in heaven. Yesterday afternoon I told her Reece didn't need any and she just marched on behind the counter, scooped him up some bubble gum ice cream and gave it to him. Guess what has become my son's favorite thing in the world?! We told her that they can buy ice cream at her shop and come and sit in ours! It only supports our purpose in getting to know people! And that is what happened last night. The adults drank coffee and ate dessert at our tables with their kids eating ice cream from next door - perfect! We enjoyed some good laughs as we tried to work in our little area of space also. One evening of operation teaches you a lot more about how things should be set up behind the bar than all the pre-planning could do. But we have stuck to our idea of simplicity - even using my kids' large, empty Crayola Marker box as a cash box (since it already had compartments to separate out our change).

We have a lot of thanks to give to our friends from Westport Road! There is absolutely no way we would have been ready to open without their help...and the shop wouldn't look as good as it does either. We were blessed with Danny, Arnis, and Randy - all very gifted in carpentry skills. Thank you men for your hours and hours of work and service. We hope that you feel our gratitude and appreciation. The teens - Bryce, Amber, Ann, Mary, and Heather painted, cleaned, passed out flyers, and put on a VBS for all the missionary kids during our grand opening (as well as other great things throughout the week such as passing out food boxes to the poor, painting and cleaning a park, visiting children in a cancer hospital). Thank you teens for using your spring break to serve God here in Mexico City. And of course, thank you again to all of you who donated coffee cups - they are not only practical but as the pictures will show, they serve as decoration as well.

We really feel as though everything has come together nicely. We want to hang a few pictures and maybe another shelf, but it looks great, we like our location and have faith that great relationships will be formed from our time spent there. Thank you for all of your prayers - we have felt them and ask that you continue to ask God to give us eyes to see where He has gone before us and is preparing moments for us to be Jesus to our community.

I am posting a few random pictures of us getting the shop ready to go...and from our opening night.

 Getting ready to add some color!
 
 
  

 Building the bar.

  

 Reece washing the plates - quite a lot of fun to have his hands in water!
 Getting set up!

 
 Tonight's staff! Benjy, Carolyn, Stephen and Bryan.

 "Para llevar - to go."

  Handing out samples to people passing by.

 People sitting down - an answer to many prayers. Thank you! 


And after that we got to busy to snap any more photos!

Cat or Dog?!?

 

The following is an unbelievable story to describe a part of what has been happening here the last 2 days...

We lost Tanner yesterday and have been heartbroken. Along with all the other activity happening here this week, the telephone guys were finally here to fix the phone – they were in and out – and left the gate open. Tanner slipped out and we had no idea. This happened between noon and 1 and we didn’t know he was gone till after 6. Some neighbors had seen him but didn't do anything about it. We figured it was for sure over – he was really gone this time - he had been lost in Lubbock, lost in Louisville, and now here and we are, after all, in one of THE biggest cities in the world. What are the chances?!!? We drove for hours – up and down streets trying to find him, worrying he would be attacked by other mean street dogs (this city is not lacking in the area of strays), hit, stolen, who knows. We tried to think as he would (which is hilarious but we really were saying to each other, "now if you were Tanner, where would you run?") We printed flyers out that offered a reward b/c many Mexicans said he would be in someone house b/c he is a good-looking, friendly dog. Well, this afternoon we were working on the coffee shop, sat down to eat a sandwich on the steps and Benjy suddenly yells, "Tanner!" I didn't take him seriously but we both went running down the street. It was like a fraction of a second that Benjy saw him b/c he ducked into a tienda looking for shade because it was a hot day. We ran up there and sure enough! It is him. A little dirty, a limp on his back leg, very tired and thirsty – but good old Tanner nonetheless. We hugged him a lot, loaded him in the van and carried him home. We are sooooo happy – and we don’t even have to give out reward $$. Unbelievable – he could have been or gone any direction and here he was right near the coffee shop. We are convinced that he actually is a cat (with many more than nine lives) in disguise. So...share in our happiness that we have our almost 7 year old friend back in our lives. You just don't know what you've got till its gone, and we feel fortunate to have a chance to be a little more loving to our canine friends.

  

Coffee Anyone?

Well, I think many of you have already heard of our newest endeavor here in Mexico City. In an attempt to get to know more people in our neighborhood, in a natural way, we are opening up a little part-time coffee/dessert shop just down the street from our house. The idea came to us awhile back - sort of as a joke at first - but we really believe that God is at work in our attempts to be creative with opportunities. We have already seen how many more conversations we have had with people since this all began...and we aren't even open yet! The landlord of the little place we are renting lives on our street - we had never seen his face before. The neighbors from across the street came over for breakfast on Saturday - he is going to make our sign. We have had conversations with the people who have shops right beside where ours will be. We feel really good about the direction this opportunity is taking us. It has been a lot of work - but we have received a lot of help and support and partnership from teammates here, and from family and friends. Thank you! A group of 8 just arrived yesterday from Westport Road - in Louisville, KY - our supporting congregation. They are going to help us finalize plans - bake, paint, finish the bar, set up, advertise, etc. They will be life savers!!! And they'll get to participate in our grand opening - this Friday, April 7 at 4:00! They brought down a LOT of donated coffee cups from the church there...so we have a wide variety of really neat things to use, and decorate with. Thanks to all of you who donated - we had fun unpacking them last night. Yes, so please pray for us this week as we try to get up and running. Pray for the planning - but more importantly that God would use us to be salt and light in our community as we serve people, talk and listen to them over a cup of coffee and dessert, as we become a presence amongst other shopkeepers. We trust that relationships will be built in a normal and natural way. Our name is "Cafe y Algo Mas" meaning, "Coffee and Something More"...the "something more" being desserts, or an environment to sit and relax, or a group of people (us and our teammates and prayer partners) who are praying for their lives, listening to and loving them. So in light of that - I don't think the coffee really matters! Of course, I will post some pictures next week. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

  

Reece's New Look

Here is the picture of Reece's haircut that I promised.

  

Lions...

With just a few weeks until Reece turns 3, we have begun to talk about party themes. Seems that Reece's theme of choice this year is ZOO animals. We always have fun doing our kids' birthday parties and now Reece is getting of age to offer input so that is neat. After our dinner discussion last night he has been talking, with excitement, about his party. This morning he drew this lion on his etch-a-sketch - I had to post it because I was pretty impressed with his early artistic skill....not bad, eh?!

 

And speaking of lions...tonight at bedtime Reece chose "Daniel in the Lions Den" from his Bible. As we read the story he interrupted me several times to ask why the king didn't want Daniel to pray, and lots of other "why" questions. As I tucked him in I said we should say our prayers and pray for his cousin Camrynne who isn't feeling well. He looked at me and said..."and the King will put us in the den?" He's thinking! I reassured him that wouldn't happen and we love God, just like Daniel did so we can pray and we will be safe. It seemed to me that his prayer was said a little quicker tonight, just in case! :)

They're Gone...All Gone!

You know those moments when you know it is time for something to happen and so you prepare yourself for it, emotionally. Well, don't get me wrong - I am not referring to anything tooooooo life changing - just the big boy haircut of Reece. Yup. He has been looking like a mad scientist (or scarey hair as Auntie Betsy calls it!)these days and so we decided to go get it cut. I knew we needed to actually go beyond the teeny little trims we had done before, where no one - but us - actually noticed it was a cut. But...I honestly expected we could come away with a few little curls still remaining. And - apparently I was wrong. They are gone. And only time will tell if they will grow back (I don't think so). He looks very very handsome - but I will be honest, I had to fight back a few little tears. He looks like a true boy, life will be easier around here with no fight to comb through the curls - but still. As I write this I am wondering why haircuts are a big deal too me...perhaps because it reminds me that my kids are growing up. A good thing...but I am a sentimental one at heart! Anyway - it has been cute because last night I kept asking Reece "oh no - where are your curls?!?" and he would giggle and say, "they're gone - on the floor" and I would pretend to cry. He loved it.

But just now as he woke up and cuddled with me on the couch, this conversation unfolded (much more significant than any lost curls!).

Me: Reece, I really like your haircut. You look handsome. We use "cute" to describe babies and little boys - like Chase....and '"handsome" to describe big boys and Daddies. What would you like to be....cute or handsome?

Reece: I want to be a Christian.

Kids have a way of reminding you what really matters! So, that is it for now. I will post a picture soon - I need to take some first.

The Vote is In

Since Chase isn't talking much yet - we have found alternative ways to communicate! He is responding to the this statement: raise your hand if you love your Mommy! I love it!

  

Never Too Old For A Little Competitive Fun

On Saturday a group of us went to Cuernavaca to visit some missionary friends (Doug and Sandy Holcomb). They rented one of those large, inflatable toys for the kids to jump around in while we fellowshipped. Well, the kids had a lot of fun - but so did the adults. Almost all of the "big kids" took a turn at the inflatable toy too. The adult challenge was to enter from the side by jumping over the wall! Benjy and I raced one another, and although looks might be deceiving, I really think my arm entered before his - HA!

 
 
 
  
  

Bowling Fun!

 Chase loved watching the balls return...and sticking his finger in the holes.
 The boy is truly Mexican because all he cared about was trying to "kick" the bowling ball!
 This ball is heavy!
 Eventually that ball will get to the pins - what's the hurry?! 
 A timeless game!

Always Active!

 
  

Handsome Chase

It was due time for Chase to get his first haircut. He was not at all happy about it, but he sure looks handsome - much more like a little boy all grown up! He enjoyed his ice cream treat after the big event. She cut off a lot of hair - I was suprised!

 Before...

 During...with lots of angry tears!

 After...

  Ain't I handsome???

Boys Are So Sweet

It is late and I am sleepy, and feeling a bit sentimental, so I am sure that combination will make for an interesting post....but I want to record these moments for me. And, it is my blog so I can post sappy stuff if I want to....

It is often said how sweet little boys are and I have so much evidence of it in my home. Reece is a bright kid and he must know how much it fills my heart when he tells me he loves me because he is in this stage of saying it frequently and confidently - and even in increasing measures. It is not uncommon for him to declare his love for me 5, sometimes 10 times a day - and completely spontaneously. It usually sounds something like this: "Mommy I love you so much" or "Mommy, I love you up to the sun, or the moon, or the stars, rainbow, etc.." and recently, "Mommy - Daddy can't love you because I love you." I know, I know - lots of kids tell their mommy's they love them - but do they pause from an intense game with toys on the floor to make sure I know it? Do they say it suddenly as we are driving along in the car? Do they yell it from the other room as I am busy in the kitchen? I really love this stage of my life and just writing these thoughts down has filled me with joy. Reece likes to hear the story of his arrival into this world - so I tell him about the early morning that he began to announce his arrival - and he listens so carefully, I think sensing just how much he was truly wanted. Not all kids have that privelidge in life and I am determined to make sure mine know how much we love them.

And little Chase. I will never forget the moment, just a few days ago, as I was resting on the couch and he came walking up to me and planted a big, wet kiss on my lips and then laughed with joy at his accomplishment. He suprised me and it then became a game. He is a lot of fun these days too. He has grown to love "the chase" and will get so excited that he doesn't know if he should "run" towards you or away from you when you get into that "I am gonna get you" stance. He is getting faster on his feet (but is like lightning when he crawls!). He had his first awaremess of a bodily function noise from down there (that I have witnessed anyway) and like all those of the male gender....he laughed! It is amazing! He isn't talking much yet, but he has his ways of expressing what he needs to say - usually trying to act innocent about the things he is getting into that he shouldn't be. What a joy he is - sometimes a bit of a challenging joy - HA! - but a huge joy nevertheless.

I have several girlfriends who are expecting babies in the next few weeks or months. We want more children, and would love God to bless us with a little girl someday - but as I think about my boys tonight, I feel so humbly blessed with them - and know that another one of these messy little creatures would be a great thing too!