Desert Scenes

A variety of cacti and shrubs growing on the mountainside.



Sunset between San Rafael and Saltillo.




A burro tied to a plant in La Boca.

Looking into the valley at the town of San Rafael.

There are several dust devils on the valley floor, which you may be able to see if you upsize the picture.

I didn't know apples would grow in the desert, but there are many orchards in this area.

Slip Slidin' Away

One day, while all the Sankey's were in Mexico for Christmas, we went to a park here in Saltillo. It has large concrete slides, which we had fun playing on. I wish I could say it was just the kids, but some of us just couldn't resist. :-)

Here are Mom, Vonnie and Steve watching the kids.





Melodie, Vonnie and I, who should have known better, also did a bit of sliding.



This picture is of Marc, going headfirst, with most of the kids trailing behind.

It was pure craziness! :-)

A Christmas Wedding

A beautiful young couple, Hugo and Erica, from our Saltillo Church were married a couple days after Christmas.


Erica and me.

The attendants forming an arch with flowers.

Pastor Dolores praying for the couple. One of the traditions here is to place a decorative rope around the couple, signifying that they are bound together as a single unit.

The bride's darling niece carries her train.

Books for Pastors

Rev. Hedstrom, President of the Alabama Bible Methodist Conference, recently sent each of our pastors in Mexico this three-volume set of books. They are the spanish version of "Exploring Christian Holiness." What a blessing this project has been to us and to our people. May God bless each of you who had a part in ensuring that our pastors have this resource.

Here is Steve giving our Saltillo pastor, Dolores Hernandez, his books.

On the Banks of the Rio Grande

Every time we go through Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, we pass this little home. It is right on the banks of the Rio Grande, facing toward the US. It serves to remind me to count my blessings and know that I am blessed.

4.5 Inches

Kent found this creature in the dog's water bowl. Steve measured it at 4 and a half inches.

19 Sankeys

Here is a picture of the entire Sankey family at the Bible Methodist Church in Saltillo, Mexico during Christmas.

Front row: Leonard and Janet Sankey

Far left: Steve, Beth, Maria and Kent Stetler

Middle: Marc, Melodie, Jordan, Cameron and Logan Sankey

Far right: Andrew, Vonnie, Heidi, Katie, Drew, Grant. Taylor and Tyler Bryan.

4.5 miles in 7 hours=.643mph

Joe met Maria at the Indianapolis airport and took her back to GBS.

Here's Maria back in her dorm room.

And now ... the rest of the story.

To get Maria to the airport in Laredo, Texas, for her return to college, we made the 3-hour trip from Saltillo to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, then it's simply a matter of crossing the US/Mexico border and going 3 miles to the airport (there are a couple airports that are closer, but Laredo is much cheaper). But, we didn't realize that 1000s of people who live in the US, but went home to visit Mama for Christmas, would also be trying to cross that very same border on the very same night as we were. When we were 4.5 miles from the border, we saw many stopped vehicles ahead, and a policeman directing traffic. He stopped us and asked if we were going to the US, when we said, "Yes" he said, "Get in line." :-) So, we sat and waited, and inched forward, and read, and did Sudoku, and got out and walked around, and ate the food that we brought for a midnight snack, and drank the drinks we brought in the cooler, which eventually necessitated using the portable (ahem) facilities, that were placed strategically along the road. The way the border runs in that section, we were actually just a few feet from the Rio Grande and you could see the US the entire 7 hours. We could see the US flags, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc. I thought about swimming across, but didn't feel like getting shot by the border patrol. :-) Adding to our angst, is the fact that Nuevo Laredo is one of the most dangerous border towns, and we had purposely left early enough that we wouldn't be there after dark. But, I have to hand it to the town, they had plenty of police and private security, they were allowing people to sell tacos and drinks, and Domino's was there selling pizza. They also had mechanics for those experiencing car trouble and large containers of gasoline in case we ran out of fuel. Fortunately, we had the smarts to go up the night before her plane left, so we didn't need to worry about her missing her flight, although we did bemoan paying for a motel room which we didn't use until 1:30 a.m. Ah, well, we made a memory!

Family of 4

First, here's a picture of our dog, Jefe, peeking in our living room window. He's crazy!



Now, here's our family of 4, happy to be together again!



In our living room in Saltillo, Mexico.

It was wondeful to have Maria home for Christmas. While she was here we took these family snapshots. She flew back to college yesterday and we miss her already. Our trip to the airport is a whole other story. Check back for a blog about that! :-)