Special Moments in Cáceres

We took a couple days vacation in Cáceres again this year.   We had our AGM (Area Group Meeting) in Portugal again; so on our way to AGM, we stopped in Cáceres to see friends again!

Our first Sunday, we went to visit the new church in Almendralejo.  That's the city where Wes used to travel every week to teach a small group of youth.  There was no evangelical church in Almendralejo at that time.  It was beyond exciting to see our prayers answered... to walk into the new church building of the very first evangelical church in Alemedralejo!

Praying over the youth who had just gotten back from camp

Our group of youth that used to gather weekly, before there was a church!

We spent the morning at the church and then the afternoon with one of the families that we were close to.  Paqui and Jose, along with their kids Debora and Jose, hosted us for lunch that day.  The kids had a blast playing with their dog, and we all enjoyed a delicious meal together!  It was just nice to fellowship with them again... and to hear the story of how the church became a reality in Alemendralejo.

The kids must've gotten so tired out, playing with their dog... or maybe it was all the traveling the day before, but this was our ride back from Alemendralejo...  :)

 The next day, we got together with Francisco and his wife María Jesús and their kids.  Every year, we have such amazing conversations with them.  Please continue to pray for their salvation!  They are a precious family, very dear to our hearts.

It was a packed couple of days.  The following day, we got together with some of our friends from our daily coffee groups that we used to have.  It's so crazy to see how big/old all of the kids have gotten!

Inés and Carolina

Marco and Weston

Being silly in Burger King... :)

Toña and I

Santo, Wes and Antonio

Pepi, me, and Toña

I just realized that with both of those pictures, we are all lined up as couples.  On the left, Santo and Pepi, Wes and I in the middle, and Toña and Antonio on the right! :)  It was a very fun night, catching up on the last year, and just laughing together.  I definitely miss these ladies.

 I was also able to sneak in a couple hours with my friend Paula.  She is another missionary who has lived in Spain far longer than I.  When we first arrived on the field, she was so helpful with all my silly questions (like, "what do you use in place of sour cream?!?!" :) ), and God just bonded our hearts together.  Over the years, we've walked through many different trials together.  I'm so thankful for her friendship over the years!

We were also able to sneak in a visit to our old neighbors.  The kids always like to go by our old house, just to see how it's holding up.  It looked pretty sad this time... definitely not being taken care of, but we did get to see our neighbors!  They were sweetly excited to see us.

Our last night in Cáceres, we spent with our friends David and Marisa.  It used to be our tradition to go off on monthly excursions together.  We had wanted to do it again, but Carolina was running a fever, so we decided to just hang out together at their house.  It gave the kids lots of time to play, and the adults lots of time to talk. :)

I'm thankful we can continue to make memories, even as the years go on!