Mother´s day in Spain

You know, photoshop is getting easier and easier. I wanted to make a special bookmark for our ladies in church, but balked at using photoshop. So glad that it didn´t take all night. 

Happy Mother´s Day in Spain! 

What better verse than Proverbs 31?

Oh, that my boys will be able to call me blessed. 

They sure do like to goof around! 

We went out to play with the dogs and play soccer. It was a riot! So glad we chose to just hang out with the boys at the park. They are growing so fast. 

A gorgeous sunny day with my boys, makes for a happy mommy!

I know it´s not Mother´s day till next week but, Happy Mother´s day to all you Moms out there. Cherish your kidos while you can! What do you hope to do for Mother´s day?

Joining with, 

What I Love about Autumn

Fresh starts, cool breezes, the smell of leaves,

FOOTBALL! 

And the first day of School!

Our 9th year of homeschooling! Maybe we´ll make it yet. 

Our Theme verse:

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:"

Weeee´re BaaaaaaCK!!!

"Look out Gijón, because the Contreras family is back!" I  just felt like announcing this. It feels great to be back to our home after 5 1/2months of traveling.

Actually, it seems that some of our neighbors didn´t even know we were gone. Now how did that happen? I thought we made enough noise for all of our neighbors to be thankful it was quiet for awhile. I mean, if they can hear our hamsters in the apartment below, how many other things do they hear? With three very active boys, a loud mommy, and a football player for a Dad, our poor neighbors might wonder if the roof will cave in someday. I am glad they didn´t miss us too much.

All in all, most have been very receptive of us being back. Many even wrote us while we were gone. We sure did miss our home and our friends here in Spain. Actually, it is almost as if we never left. The very first night we got back from our long 5 1/2 month furlough, my husband said he felt as if he had had a wonderful dream that we traveled all around the world and had done all these great and amazing things. It was not a dream, but in many ways a dream come true.

Here are some pictures from our travels across the USA.

Near Big Bear Mountain in Southern Califonia -

right after Thanksgiving

The boys first snow experience of the year at that mountain Christian family retreat.

Then we came to the end of the Route 66!

and Hollywood.

We spent, in all, 2 months in Texas, 2 months in California, and 1&1/2 months in Florida, traveling by car through all the states in between.

We got back to Florida for Christmas and New Years with my family.

The Everglades - for my oldest son´s 12 birthday.

We all got to hold a baby Allegator.

and of course the beach!

Our last day together for maybe another 2-3 years. Bitter Sweet.

Just a peek at our latest adventure - Belgium for a Missionary Conference

Now, I will start blogging once again, to keep you all up to date on our lives on the other side of the pond.

Flashback Meme to Catching UP Adventure

Alicia at More than Words started "Friday Photo Flashback" had so many pictures from her PRE-digital camera days, she thought it would be fun to scan them and share them. We are having so much fun doing this, that we would love for you to join us, too! So dig out the photo albums and put your scanner to good use! Don't forget to sign in to MckLinky on Alicia´s blog so we can all visit and comment on each others blogs!

I am going to flashback to our first days in Gijón. We were "on our own" with no other missionary families. We were taking care of a church work while the other missionaries were on furlough.


God brought us a sweet family from the States to fellowship with. The husband was here playing basketball for the team in Gijón. They had two very sweet little girls as you can see their blond heads in this picture. The other family is a faithful sister and her two children from the neighboring city, where we worked for 3 1/2 years. Our boys had a great time! My youngest is the one standing in the front with the bald head. 

Spring 2002

Jump ahead 8 years.
Catching UP with our most recent excursion.  We planned a spur of the moment outing with the brothers and sisters in our mission. Amos ,our most elderly brother and Asturiano, said we would go beach hopping. Of course we have to do this before beach season, so early May was perfect timing.

But first, cave exploring!

Next, swinging or in my case hanging with sister Evelyn.

On the way to the first beach/picnic site, we saw some true Asturianos harvesting their fields.

Before we ate, the guys went crabbing with Amos.

The Crew -

 Columbians, Chileans, Bolivians, Americans, and Spaniards

On the way to another beach,

these locals posed for my camera.

The third beach!

Lastly, we visited Llanes, where my hubby and I celebrated our 12th anniversary last year.

Blast off! 

We had a lovely day with dear friends fellowshipping and talking about Jesus.

Glad you made it to the end of this photo journal!  There is lots of work to do here in our little mission. Why not come and join us on the gorgeous Green Coast of Spain?

Catching UP - Camping in Cudillero

I have been missing in action too long. Not on purpose, mind you. There is SO much to write about, I don´t know where to start catching UP.

We had a church excursion at the beginning of the month of May. I wanted to post pictures of that. We have been biking and picnicing, and we finished school. What pictures do I choose? Where do I begin?

I choose CAMPING! 

We take an annual end of school camping trip almost every year. We all look forward to it, but it seemed I had to really push hard for it this year. We were all so glad I did!

 You may remember our camping trip from last year. Our dog rolling in .."ehem". If not you can read about it HERE after you look and comment on this post. None of this browsing and not commenting business, please.

Here I am with my Spanish bread we got every morning.

Our camp and first days breakfast.

Then hiking to the beach.

We even had wifi! 

(paid a little for 2 days worth)

Of course the freedom to wrestle and ramble!

Our last evening, we went out to the small port town, Cudillero.

Hubby treated us out to a seafood grill. Meal for two split 5 ways.

Cudillero at night. (pronounced Cood ee yairo)

Our view on one of our hikes. (the Bay of Biscay)

So my young Knights say a farewell and hope you have enjoyed catching UP with our camping trip.

International Dinner - Catching UP II

Staying with my theme of Catching UP, I take you to South America.

Paradise Falls, anyone?

Or how about Bolivian Food?

Pork leg, white corn, and special potatoes in a spicy rich sauce.

First International dinner of Bible Baptist Center

April 25, 2010

This was a very special day for all of us. We were doing a lot of singing and fellowshipping! We are really growing into a family!

Linking up with Making Your Home Sing Monday.