God's love and His promises are a reminder for every passerby.
Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hello swimming pool.  We miss you!  We'll see you in about 4 months!  Oh how I wish it was sooner!



Thanks for joining me on a tour of our neighborhood!

Take a look at Spain's version of a Dillards.  Or Saks.  Or Nordtrsoms.  Or what have you in your corner of the world.
This is El Corte Inglés.  Not all of them come with a mini train land.  The one closest to our house just happens to.  It's not open all year round.  Just at special times.  You should have seen it at Christmas!  Cra-zy!

Anyway, I love coming here to look around and shop in their Hipercor (hypermarket).  It's pricier than other stores, so I am selective in what I buy.  Purchasing only the things that I can find at this particular store.

A work day in the morning is prime!  The place is practically empty and I feel like I have the whole place to myself!  Not hard to do with a 6 (or 7, can't remember) floor store!  Take a look at this place!

-I'd say we're not hurting too badly for decent shopping!

In areas of Madrid you will commonly find Africans standing outside the major stores or malls.  It looks as if they are holding a folder of papers/fliers to sell, but I've been told it is a way for someone to give them a donation.  By placing the money on top the folder.

I have a real heart for the Africans who come from various countries to Europe and try to start a new life.  The stories of some of them are tragic.  We have been blessed to get to know some of these immigrants.  One from Congo when we lived in Prague who has been a true friend even calling us from Congo and sending us emails at times.  It reminds me that I haven't heard from him in awhile and need to write him!
A couple of months ago I met S in front of the Carrefour we frequent (it's like a Target or Walmart).  I was by myself (Jerry was meeting me at the car) and he offered to help with my bags.  They were heavy and I was happy to have his help!  We chatted a bit about where we were from and how long we've been in Spain.  I haven't heard much of his story of how he came to Spain or his life in, I believe, Zimbabwe (I have such a bad memory).  We just haven't made it that far in our 2 minutes or so of chatting.   I do know that he has a child and has made reference to God.  I hope and pray we can have more spiritual conversations in the future.

I have often wondered how much money he is given in a day.  Is it enough for him to support a family?  We usually let him take our cart and allow him to return it for the coin inside (to use carts at the grocery store, you have to place a 50 cent, 1 or 2 euro coin to use as a deposit).  One day as I was going in I asked if there was anything I could get him.  What impressed me is that he was very gracious about it, didn't demand anything and appreciated whatever I could get.  I still asked for anything specific and he settled on some rice, peppers and tomatoes.
 The other day I came out by myself and felt badly because I didn't have any coins and told him up front that I didn't.  He said it was ok and helped me anyway.  He really has been very kind.
The whole family went over the weekend and we made up for it then.
I wish I could help ALL the Africans that we encounter going to and from different stores.  Oh, how I wish I could!  But I can pray!  And I hope you will too!

Could you pray for S?

And pray for me and Jerry as we might have opportunities to get to know him more and share the love of Christ?

And join me in praying for the Africans from various countries coming to Spain seeking a better life.

Thank you!!

Several people had mentioned to me that our town of Alcobendas, had a Pirate Park.  Today we finally went in search of it.

The structure is in the shape of a ship complete with what looks like waves around the ship.  Kinda fun!


What I was not expecting when we got there was kids in their Sunday best, as I call it.  To play at the park?  Really??











The only explanation I have for such a nicely dress park is it's close proximity to a very well known and swanky area of Alcobendas called La Moraleja.  And no, we don't live in the swanky part!


After my obsession with well-dressed kids I took a few pics of my own kids.  I think we'll stick to our t-shirts and holey jeans when it comes to the park!  I'm not keen on my girls getting rips in their tights!!  Ha!















We finished it off with lunch at Burger King in our little neck of Alcobendas.  What a fun day!

We had told our friend, Mary Ann, that we had a Taco Bell in Madrid.  It's a favorite spot for us.  Sit-down restaurants in Madrid are so expensive.  They can run you anywhere from €10-18 a plate (that's $14-25) with a kids meal running at about €8.  Yowsers!!  So, we stick to places like Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonalds and Telepizza or sometimes Dominos pizza.
Being as Mary Ann has been living in Ukraine & Czech Republic the last 2 years it's nice to have some food from home.  As we drove up to the mall where Taco Bell is located we noticed a type of fair going on.  Complete with fair-type rides, bounce houses and lots of foods and treats from paella to hamburgers to churros to cotton candy!  I can only guess that it had to do with it being a holiday in Spain.  It looked like a fair in the US!
We made our way to Taco Bell for lunch.  Yum!!  Then made our way outside.  Who can pass up a fair?!  We had to go check it out.  We decided to walk all the way through before deciding if the kids would ride something.





 I'd been eying the cotton candy.  Yes, I ate churros and wanted cotton candy.  Isn't that what a fair is all about?!  Who can resist sweet spun sugar??!!  Love that stuff!!

This picture cracked us up!  Looks like I'm about to take a bite out of this lady!  Ha!  Jerry did not plan that!