City on a Hill

I really didn't think we'd like Toledo (pronounced toh-lay-doh) better than Segovia, but by the end of our day here, we decided that we did.  Our guide book said when you get to Toledo, you just go UP and you can get anywhere.  It's true, and my calf muscles have the ache to prove it.  The city was once the capital of Spain, until Philip II moved to Madrid. It is surrounded by three rivers, and a partial wall.  There was so much to see here, but we had to pick our favorites.  We chose the Alcazar (military fortress), which unfortunately was closed on Wednesdays, the 'most spectacular cathedral in Spain' (and we had to agree it was even better than the one in Segovia), and shopping on the narrow, sloped, brick streets.  The city has a strong medieval feel, and so much of it is just wonderfully OLD.  And majestic.  It's a place you know a lot of stories are kept.

I believe this was the city gate.  There is a wall on the right, going (where else?) UP HILL.

Right behind Kenny's head is a most wonderful little medieval looking house/farm.  I could just picture a family out farming and hanging the wash.

Alcazar

We thought we were just meandering through these little alleys...Until a fast little Euro car came 'round the corner to let us know these are the roads.

Bummer that none of these swords came with us.

And just one more chocolatè before we leave Spain!

Segovia!

Tuesday, November 12

Segovia, or Toledo?  That seems to be the question many visitors to Madrid have to answer.  I researched them both, asked around online, got the opinions of friends, and decided on BOTH!  Segovia first, after another shuffle through the subway and an hour bus ride up into the hills.  It was a fascinating day with lots of beauty and lots of history.  My two favorite things to see on vacation!

We found this wonderful church, just as we rounded the corner from the city.  I believe it was built sometime before the 12th or 13th century.

A real-live Roman aqueduct! This structure is huge, and I heard it is the only one like it still in Spain.  

Looking down from near the top of the aqueduct

A most quaint little town

Spain has the most amazing little bakeries.  All kinds of treats European!

And more chocolatè!

Oh my goodness, this cathedral was so amazing. Our little church in Colorado meets in a high school, and we got the pleasure of walking through this marvel, with all of it's statues and gold and paintings and carved ceilings.  And we worship the same God as the people who built this many, many years ago.
We were laughing, imagining all the children in our church, sitting still on the hard wood benches of this place, telling them not to touch all the pretties.  

2:00 a.m. in Madrid

Monday, November 11, 2013
Kenny and I are sitting across our hotel room from one another, laughing.  It's 2:oo in the morning, and we can't sleep.  Our children are back in Colorado having dinner.  We're scrounging the last of the M&M's and nuts; our salad and half sandwich from last night long gone.
The last couple of days have been quite different from the normal Sargent family routine, to say the least.  Saturday evening, we discovered our water pump had gone out.  Let me just interject here- living in the country is not the same as living in the city.  When your water pump goes out, whether you are flying to Spain the next morning or not, you direct everyone in your house to pack an overnight bag and then help a little one pack up.  You call three different families to see if a handful of your kiddos can stay with each of them for a few nights.  You ask your Mom (Grandma) to see if her friend in Castle Rock can house her. You call your neighbors to ask who to call to fix the pump. You call your friend up the street road to ask if he could oversee the guy fixing the water pump, pay him until you get home, and keep you posted on anything important.  You send out emails to everyone keeping your Mom and children, so they can have each other's contact information, so they will all know when the Sargent's have water again and can come home. And then after you find the missing kitten and load him in the car along with his belongings, and you go through many last-minute hugs and kisses and reassure a few teary-eyed, bundled up younger children who look like they are being shipped off during war-time, and repack your little girls laundry basket (no backpack?) because it only contained 2 dirty dresses, a pajama shirt, and 42 stuffed animals and dolls (who packed their stuff, anyway?), you gather for family prayer, see that your children end up where they are going, and move on with the night.  You go to bed in a quiet house.  You mentally re-make the list for flying out tomorrow again and again.  And you finally get a few hours of sleep, thanking God for Who He is and for the richness of the body of Christ.  
And so now, after an 8 hour flight over the Atlantic ocean, my husband and I are here in Madrid.  When we made the arrangements for our trip to Africa, Kenny mentioned that we would have to go by way of Europe (I know, what a bummer!), and so the plans for this leg of the trip began to brew.  We chose Spain so we would be WARM in November.
The airport in Madrid is interesting.  It's huge, and old, and huge.  It took us 10-15 minutes to walk to the baggage claim.  Then another 10-15 minutes to get to the Metro (subway). We decided to save a bit of money and take the Metro for 9 Euros instead of a taxi for 35. And so, we lugged our giant bags and guarded our wallets as we too-politely shuffled through the system of rushed dark-haired, well-dressed Spanish-speaking individuals all on their way to somewhere important.  We were definitely the newbies, as we soaked it all in.

The 'Aecensor' down to the subway system

Natty will appreciate this- the elevator goes down to negative floor numbers!

I have to say, I'm proud of us!  We navigated our way through the airport and subway system, and landed a mere 2 blocks away from our hotel.  When we came up from the subway into the light, we were surrounded by more busy people.  And tall buildings. And little cars and roundabouts.  And trash all over the sidewalks.  I mean lots of trash.  And yet, as we looked up, we could feel the wonderful warm Mediterranean air and the well-received rays of sun.  The excitement of being here outweighed our achy legs and grimy hands.
Our hotel is beautiful.  When I was looking for a place to stay, the look of many hotels and hostels was so sterile, and Spartan. I finally found the one we chose, and we like it.  It is pretty.  Lots of glass doors, plants, and soft lights.  
After showers and naps, we ventured out for a stroll.  Thankful for three years of Spanish in high school, I could make out a lot of the signs and storefronts.  We found a wonderful indoor market, with counter upon counter of fresh fish, poultry and beef, nuts, Mediterranean olives, and an abundance of produce.  Kenny bought a fruit we had never seen before that looked like a big orange tomato. Then we found a place to eat.  Our waitress was the first person to smile at us all day! We split a wonderfully fresh salmon salad and a gouda- spinach-bacon burger.  Kenny ordered chocolate drink (think of thin, warm chocolate pudding in a mug.  Mmmm).  We had fun trying to see if we were to leave a tip.  The waitress was laughing at Kenny's question about leaving her more money. She smiled and yelled, 'mas dinero! mas dinero!'

A View of the Indoor Market

More of the Market

The Restaurant we found seriously had about 6 or 7 different menus to read

Chocolatè!

After dinner we walked two doors down to our hotel and fell asleep reading.  And now we are wide awake, planning our next adventure.  Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we're off to Segovia tomorrow!

We're Going to Africa!

No pictures tonight, just a quick note to say that tomorrow morning Kenny and I are flying to Madrid, and staying for 3 nights.  Thursday we plan to fly to Rwanda to attend the wedding of a sponsored child from Compassion International.  My mom is here, braving the crew, suitcases are piled high on the bed, our young adult children are outside in the cold around the campfire, and Kenny and a neighbor are outside trying to see if they can fix our water pump that has just gone out tonight.  He said if they can't fix it, we may have to pack up Grandma and the kids, and find homes for everyone for the next few days. Yeah.  Keep watching and we should have some wonderful photos and blogs from halfway around the world!!

The End of Autumn

The seasons are changing around here, again. Colorful foliage falling and leaving behind the rough bareness of Colorado branches. Wildlife scurrying 'round, well-preparing for the harsh days ahead. Mama Sargent thrilling her houseful of hungry ones with bowls full of steaming savory chicken stew. 
I never grow tired of the handiwork of God.  The changing times always remind me that His mercies are new every morning. No matter what difficulties we face in this season, they are sure to be coupled with His Fatherly care and wisdom. And there is sure to be a new season around the corner. Another chance to grow as believers in the One Who made these fabulous seasons.

Every day, we have the privilege of watching these lovely deer outside our windows.  They are eating their fill before winter comes.

Sarah and Ellie, sunbathing and picnicking on the first of November.  Taking in the last of the warmth and outdoor play.

Sweet Sunday

Our little church body has not been able to renew it's lease anymore in the nice Seventh Day Adventist building. (They meet on Saturdays, we meet on Sundays) And so we met in a high school auditorium this morning.  The floor was so steep and slanted we were laughing at the thought of some of us tripping and rolling downhill onto the stage. (And if my sisters had been there, we just might have wet our pants picturing it...)The folding theater seats kept hitting some of us in the rear if we were too slow standing up, although the children very much enjoyed getting 'stuck' in them.  After the service, our family needed to have a photo taken for a couple different things, and the outside background was to be either a bare tree in front of classroom windows, or, um, a brick wall.  And if you get a copy of our Christmas card this year, you'll see which one we chose.

But here, today, in this new building, in this new season, were still the saints of God. Worshiping and hearing God's Word and encouraging one another.  It was sweet.

After church, my husband of 20 years and I went out to dinner.  The older kids helped serve lunch at home and get little ones down for a rest.  And the two of us sat in our car and processed and struggled and blamed and cried and forgave just lots of little things that had mounted up into a few big things.  And we walked into a cute little Greek restaurant, happy to be stuck with one another.  We had yummy gyros and Greek salad, and it was sweet.

When we got home, Kenny headed off to the piano to learn a new song, and I gathered a few of our youngers to head off to the neighborhood Fall Festival.  There were pony rides and bouncy castles and corn dogs and hay rides.  I was stopped by a woman who said she had just been asked about the origin of man by my son.  I smiled and said, 'Oh, you must mean Tommy!'.  This woman had actually been in the front of the building during Revive 1787, and saw our kiddos perform their mime song.  So, it was a neat connection.  And Tommy left with the phone number of the woman in charge of the Fall Festival, so he could come back next year and do animal balloons and magic tricks.  Being there tonight, breathing in the fresh, cool autumn air, sitting on hay bales, watching my children just enjoy themselves, was sweet.

And now, as I type this out and think about crawling into my warm bed with flannel sheets, I can hear my older boys having some sort of a Mexican fiesta downstairs.  Complete with guitar music and whoops and hollers.  And that would be sweet, but it's 10:40 pm.  Sigh. Time to text them and tell them the party's over.

Sarah said while riding on the pony, 'This is one of the best days of my life!'

Quiet, thoughtful Ellie

Thomas is a stranger to no one.

And this handsome young man came home with a purple cake from the cake-walk.

The Red Letters

A family we know has been involved in a mime team for years.   About 3 years ago, they started up a group with the kids in our church.  Danny and Joey were a part of that team, and now have moved on, making room for Sam, Hannah, and Tommy to fill their places. At first, the group would practice their mime choreography to songs and then perform at church.  But they soon got restless to take their songs out to others. 

Last year they named themselves the Red Letters, after the words of Christ in the new testament. They went to a homeless shelter and a nursing home, receiving very warm welcomes.  This fall, they got the opportunity to perform at a very large pastor's luncheon (about 1,000 people).  They were so well received, they were asked to perform later at Revive 1787, a day-long conference full of fabulous Christian speakers, drum and fife marches, and re-enactments from our nation's history.  They were quite honored when they found out they got to go on stage (in front of 2,000!) just before Dr. Benjamin Carson spoke.  And by the way, if you haven't seen the movie Gifted Hands, the story of Ben Carson, go rent it. Or download it.  Or whatever. It's one of the best movies I've seen. 

And see if you can google the Presidential prayer breakfast 2013 on youtube.  Ben Carson was the speaker there. 

In the middle of these 2 events, the kids also got the chance to spend an entire day down at the 16th street mall in Denver.  They did 44 songs, from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm.  They were applauded, flipped off, warmly welcomed, ignored, and cursed, all in one day.  They had hundreds of photos taken of them, bike riders cutting them off, Oktoberfest participants making jokes, and people asking for prayer.  It was one of our favorite days. Ever.  We were so proud of our children, as they danced to and acted out (silently, of course) 9 different Christian songs.

So very thankful for this opportunity!

Putting on 'face' before the 16th street mall performance

Kenny, Joey, and some wonderful mimes

Hannah is on the right.

Ellie, Emma, and Sarah, enjoying the outdoor mall

Bad photo of our super kiddos at Revive 1787(we were in the nosebleeds with our free tickets).  The song was Carman's, 'America Again'.  They were fabulous.