The Mayer Family

On Tuesday morning we rented a car and spent the day traveling through the Alpujarra region, which is an area of little towns nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We stopped and visited several towns along the way. The road was winding and steep, and we all felt a bit nauseous at times. After we enjoyed walking through several towns and ate some lunch, we continued on the winding road which seemed to never end, and traveled on to a town close to Almeria on the other side of the mountains where we visited the Tice family. We stayed with them until we traveled home today. We enjoyed visiting and sharing with them, meeting their friends and being introduced to their world, and the delicious food Ann cooked for us. Evan & Ellie especially loved being with Dan & Ann’s daughter Janessa, who is 14, and also loved the trip we took to the beach. Thanks Tice’s!

Along the road through the mountains we stopped by this cave which Evan & Ellie enjoyed exploring

The view looking out of the cave

The first town we stopped in-Pampaneira

Jamόn (Ham) hanging in a restaurant…very typical throughout Spain

Town in the mountains

Peek-a-boo Ellie

Ann-Ellie-Janessa-Evan-Wendy

Evan & Ellie had a blast on some games close to the beach…Thanks Dan & Ann!

In the tigers mouth

Janessa, Ann & Dan

Evan & Janessa

-Wendy

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Yesterday, my friend Miguel invited me to come along with him to go up into the mountains and do some hiking. We got up early and drove up into the Sierra Nevada mountain range which is about a 45 minute drive. We then hiked about 4-5 miles and about 2500 feet up to the top of the second highest mountain peak in all of Spain. The hike was very tough (especially since we both are a bit out of shape), at places the trail was really steep, and with less air (oxygen) to breathe because of the high altitude, we had to take several breaks. However, the rush of finally making it to the top of the mountain was exhilarating! As we were standing there recovering from the long climb and enjoying the incredible views, I couldn’t help but think about heaven. I love how Randy Alcorn talks in his books about heaven and that the best things in life that we see and experience give us glimpses and glimmers of what heaven will be like. For me, this was a “mountain top” experience (no pun intended…well, sort of) and gave me a little glimpse of heaven. Won’t it be incredible to climb up to the “New Earth” mountain tops someday with Jesus and enjoy with Him the incredible views that He created.

Starting off…

Outdoor “cathedral” for mass. Notice the top peak just to the left of the altar…that’s where we are headed. The name of this mountain peak is called Veleta, which is around 11,300 feet above sea level.

Mountain goats

Heading to the peak

Almost to the top

We did it!!!

Looking Northwest—Granada is way down at the bottom of the mountains

Looking East—the highest peak is Mulhacen which is the highest peak in Spain at around 11,400 feet—about 100 feet higher than we were standing on Veleta.

Looking South—notice the Mediterranean Sea. We were hoping to see over into Morocco. But, unfortunately even though the morning sky was remarkably clear, we could not see over to the North African coast.

Heading back down

Ironically we saw a rock formation of Spain’s national symbol, the bull

An old, abandoned observatory

Needless to say, today I’m paying for it. I’m sore in places that I didn’t even know I had muscles…but it was definitely worth it! Our hike took Miguel and me a little over four hours. We had some great talks together and I hope we have many more opportunities to go hiking together again.
-Kevin

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Here is a random video of Ellie being her active self.

Our “garden” consists of a few plants in the windowsill. Yesterday, Evan was delighted to find two strawberries ready to eat on our strawberry plant!

Ellie trying to put on a shirt

I’ve been a little sad this weekend knowing that my family is all together for a reunion. We miss you all and would have loved to be there!
-Wendy

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OK…so Wendy’s been after me for a while to do a blog, which I’ve successfully declined for quite a while now. But today, I couldn’t get away with it anymore. I was able to take the entire morning off for a “silent retreat” time—a time to get away from all the hustle and bustle of everything and focus completely on spending time with Jesus. I find that spending time in nature is a great way for me to worship Jesus and focus my thoughts on Him. So I decided to do some hiking on a hill that overlooks Granada which I’ve been wanting to conquer ever since we’ve arrived here. I was able to drag myself out of bed this morning while it was still dark so I could enjoy the early morning sunrise from up top. The views were incredible! I was struck though, as the sun was peeking over the horizon and spreading light over the city, how Granada desperately needs the light of Jesus to do the same. We have been made aware of the spiritual darkness here in ways that we have never noticed and/or experienced before. As I was enjoying the sunrise an old Silverwind song was playing in my mind. (OK, most of you aren’t even old enough to remember this group.) The part that kept going over and over in my mind was:
I know that we can make it by His Spirit…and by the power of His mighty hand…He said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you, I am always by your side.
I am so glad we have the King of kings fighting by our side!

Looking over our neighborhood early this morning

Looking down on the Alhambra, which just missed being named one of the 7 wonders of the world. Just to the left of it is the main Cathedral of Granada

This is the "perch" that both Wendy (see yesterday's blog) and I enjoyed as we spent time alone with God

It was really refreshing to hear only the sounds of birds, bugs, and the occasional rooster crowing and dog barking. After living in a city that never seems to sleep, the silence was deafening…and beautiful.

Ouch!

All in all, thanks to google earth, I was able to figure out that I hiked around 8 miles this morning and climbed up over 1100 feet over the city of Granada.
-Kevin

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Evan & Ellie are glad for little friends to play with who are their ages.

Tonight Kevin played futbol (soccer) with Evan & Miguel on the street

Evan & Miguel

Elisa & Ellie

I spent some time alone this morning, doing some hiking and praying…a silent retreat. It was a refreshing time for me to clear my mind and put all of my focus on God. Life brings so many things that want and need our attention and focus. Sometimes I get bogged down with the details and forget the real reason I’m here on this earth. I get tired and feel like giving up…I lose my focus. I asked God for a stronger faith that doesn’t lose heart, that doesn’t grow weary, that doesn’t doubt. While I know that life is a constant struggle, and that my life won’t be perfect, when I hear Him whisper in the silence, my heart is filled with gratitude, my faith grows, and I have the strength to continue on.
-Wendy

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Our three-month intensive language course ended today! We are thrilled to be finished, and are VERY ready for a break from studying. We will keep practicing, of course, but we’ll enjoy having a break from the very full schedule. Learning a new language has been much more difficult than I anticipated...coming from someone who has never studied another language. While I’m not as advanced in Spanish as I imagined I could be, we have both learned a lot over the past 3 months.

We decided to allow Evan to join me in class on my last day, and he enjoyed seeing what Mom & Dad have been doing every day. He behaved very well, and even helped me out, as I had to give a “presentation” in front of the class about Ohio. So he helped draw on the chalkboard. Evan said he thought the class was “fun, and the people were pretty nice, and the teacher too”.

One of my favorite teachers, Laura

My class this week with students from Iceland, Holland, Washington state, Switzerland and Texas

Ellie is happy that Mommy is finished with morning classes so that she can comb her hair in the morning. This is what it looks like when Daddy combs it:)

We are still having “plant problems” with Ellie. Today, for the 4th time, she dug into the planter…again. No form of punishment seems to get the point across with her. Digging in the plant is just too much fun. Today she was supposed to be taking a nap in her room, and instead crawled quietly up on the desk, opened the window, dug into the dirt in the planter, and proceeded to throw the dirt all over the room. It looked like she was using Evan’s alarm clock for a shovel. It was a huge mess to clean up.

We’re looking ahead to a relaxing and restful weekend (hopefully without too many “Ellie in the dirt” type of incidents). We’ve invited our neighbors for Sunday evening dinner, and some language practice.
-Wendy

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Tonight we noticed that Ellie had been playing quietly and alone in her bedroom for a wonderfully remarkably long time, and we were enjoying the silence when the “I wonder why she’s so quiet” thoughts started entering our minds. We found her happily digging in our window planter, her freshly bathed body and the windowsill, desk and floor covered in dirt. We are finding that she certainly isn’t a little girl who is concerned with getting dirty. She loves the dirt and doesn’t mind being filthy at all.

The dirt princess

Last night at one of our favorite restaurants, enjoying fish and croquettes (mashed potato/ham filled fried nougats)
-Wendy

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It was so fun to have friends visit today! We enjoyed a walk close to the Alhambra, a meal, and good conversations. The kids loved playing together and enjoyed wading in a stream to cool off a bit. Our time together was very encouraging and we hope to visit them sometime soon!

We are counting down the days with only ONE more week of language school!
-Wendy

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Yesterday we found a lizard in our house, so now we can relate with you, Tom & Candice:) Kevin caught it and took it outside, but Evan just wanted to play with it and I think he would have preferred to keep it inside. Of course he may get his wish since our windows have no screens, and since it is incredibly hot, our windows are open almost always.

We have two weeks of language school left, and will be very happy to be finished! Our brains are filled to the top, and are ready for a break from learning. It will be good to let the stuff we have learned sink in a bit. After classes end we will be doing a lot of research for RMM and some traveling in the southern Spain region. We may resume language school in a few months when we are ready to tackle it again.

Some Evan & Ellie pictures…

Ellie was delighted when our neighbor said she could borrow their tricycle for a few days

-Wendy

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