Hi Everyone --

We hope everyone enjoyed the pictures and the text from our Israel trip. We really enjoyed ourselves and think fondly of that vacation.

We have been busy this week getting back into the groove. Hannah started 2 more classes and needs to finish a couple off and take the finals. Doug found much the same at work after being gone for 11 days. I needed to restock the house with groceries.

Hannah and I went with the ladies this week to an Expo -- like a home show or something like that in the US. They had booths with refrigerators, stove tops, other appliances, TVs, computers, furniture, other home furnishings, "as seen on TV" booths, food and spice booths, and other booths from foreign countries. These are the ones we wanted to see! We looked with interest at the onyx carvings made in Pakistan. We just got small elephants. My friend got 2 - 3 1/2 foot onyx vases. They are just fabulous, but expensive! Others got carved chess sets. Very beautiful. We also stopped at the clothing stalls. We picked up some Indian shirts for 200-250 rupees each. Of course, you have to check and make sure the fabric on the back of the shirt matches the fabric on the front of the shirt. We enjoyed ourselves -- it was in a big tent which was said to be air conditioned. At least it was cooler than outside. It has been 38-40 C. here for the last few weeks.

One of the things that caught my eye about this Expo was that they had a "Cake Exhibition -- See the 7 Wonders of the World in Cakes." How could I pass that up? We brought the camera and took pictures of all of them. Some were better than others. They definitely were not cakes, but mostly cardboard and wooden cut outs. They didn't even have frosting on them. Obviously, they would have melted long ago. They weren't even in the air conditioned part of the Expo. Anyway, you need to look at these pictures and smile and enjoy them. The model of Machu Pichu reminds me of a gingerbread village that has been nibbled on throughout the Christmas season and now it's time to throw it out.

We had just 5 at church at our home today. We have another young man (still in college) ready to be taught the gospel by the missionaries. Too bad they live 1500 Km away from here. We will let them know how ready he is and maybe they can come and teach him. The people ready to hear the gospel just keep showing up on our doorstep.

We are trying to pin down our plans for this summer. We will let you know as soon as we can.
We love you and miss you!
Love, Lucinda