Girls Day

Today we brought 10 girls from the village into town. This is a very unusual opportunity for girls to leave the community. We played games (Pictionary - a HUGE success), jumped on the trampoline, had a devotional, played on the Wii, made sub sandwiches - they ate until they were stuffed, then made banana splits for dessert with all the topings.

An exciting time was when we brought Oneida, the young mostly mute girl, and her sister, Carolina, as two of the girls. This is only their second time out of the community - they were so excited to come, they arrived at the pick-up location 30 minutesearly! It is so fun to see them interact with other girls, and participate in this exciting opportunity. It was a huge blessing to all of us who were in attendance.

All of the girls having fun

Just hanging out getting ready to play

Helping Oneida draw a house

spring cleaning and making marshmallows

Between English Class, Kids Club, homeschooling and cleaning my house in general - I've been Spring Cleaning as well. Our first team arrives in about 5 weeks, and I know I will be totally unable to do some elbow rubbing type of cleaning for awhile, so thought I would take advantage of the time I have now. Have painted three rooms, have Madison's to go; throwing out stuff we haven't used in 3 years; organizing; and thought I would get a jump-start on washing some sheets that haven't been used since last summer for our teams. Ah...such well laid plans...the drainage system for our washing machine is hooked up to the sink in our washroom. Right before we moved in workers laid some tile outside. It's beautiful - but they used the sink to clean out their cement buckets. You can see where this is going...most of the drain is blocked by hardened cement. So - the drainage for my washing machine is attached to a hose, which I have to put outside each time for it to drain. Well...I forgot to do that this morning in my haste to get a lot of stuff done. Needless to say - my entire wash room, and the attached room (with tons of stuff on the floor) was completely flooded. At least the floors are clean!

One fun thing - many of you know I love to cook. I've tried and succeeded and tried and failed at many things. One thing I've been wanting to make is marshmallows. I know - you can buy them at the store - but has anyone ever tried homemade marshmallows? They are amazing! So yummy - fresh! I found all my ingredients, made marshmallow, dipped them in melted chocolate, then rolled them in candy sprinkles. Yum!

Just about done...

Final product

Family Traditions

Simple things in life are what memories are made of. Yes, the trips to Disneyland are fun, and the big presents you get some years, but I think - more importantly - are the memories that are made together, and family traditions are one of those things. I know it's not a big thing, but for our family, those traditions hold firm - even in Honduras. While I was in the States, I tried to remember the things I was going to be able to purchase for Easter, and those things that won't be available. Egg coloring kits were one of those things that you can't find here - so I made sure that some came back with us. So, last night, the whole family sat down and colored some eggs. It was a blast! Let's hear it for traditions!

Easter Sunday we have a small lunch planned (ham, eggs, potatoes, dinner rolls, veggies), then "gringo" church - where we will worship in English, then on to a local church for service. It will be interesting to see if the Easter message will be preached. Our experience in the three years, and multiple churches we have been to - is that the Easter story is all but ignored. It may be mentioned, but there is so message of the Passion, or the resurrection, or anything related to Easter.

Happy Easter everyone!

He is Risen...He is Risen Indeed!!!

Mike and Madison busily coloring eggs.

The final products

Pascua

Easter is a very under-celebrated holiday here. In the three years we have been here and the multiple churches we have been to and our team mates have been to, it's almost never even mentioned. There are exceptions of course. On Monday, after our English class, I was trying to encourage the kids to come to our Kids Club the following day because they were going to hear the story of Easter (Pascua). One of the kids said something to me that I have been suspicious of, but he laid it out there and basically spoke for the majority of the Protestant churches/believers in Honduras. He said, "Why are you going to tell the story of Easter? That's something you celebrate in the States, we don't celebrate that here." Which of course got me even more motivated to tell the story well :-)

So, I put together a skit with Mary, an Angel, John and Peter - and the empty tomb. The kids loved to see the story in action, and when asked questions about it they responded with great answers. Afterwards, to sum up the event, we gave a gospel presentation and gave tracks to the kids. They did a fun Lapbook craft with a cross on the outside and the empty tomb on the inside. The kids that were there really seemed to enjoy it!

Kids diligently working on their craft

The Fruit Of The Spirit

We taught an 11-week class on The Fruit Of The Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) to the kids in Armenia Bonito. On April 16, 2011 we rewarded the 25 frequent attendees with this special party.

To see the fruit in these kids lives watch this 2 minute 55 second video:

Back in Honduras and STILL unpacking

We are back in Honduras - and all but the clothes bags are unpacked. There is just something a little daunting about putting all those clothes away - but my goal is to finish most of it by the end of day today. I still need to inventory all of the meds/supplies/etc. so we are holding off from doing a med clinic for two weeks while we get accustomed to being back, the schedule we will be doing, and getting our lives organized.

I want to link to my husbands post as it details information about our dorm facilities. They WILL be ready by June for our first team IF the final funds can be provided. So we are putting our faith in Christ that those final funds will find their way here to allow teams to live in the new dorms.

Home

After 6 full days of travel we made it home last night at 7:30pm. We walked into the house - exhausted, filthy, and ready to crash. However, we arrived to a house without water...sigh... apparently there had been a problem the day before yesterday, and someone had come out to "fix it". Unfortunately, like many things around here, they are a quick fix (think duct tape) and not a real fix. So, as of this morning there still is no water in the house and the guys are back to (prayerfully) really fix it. So - no shower, no toilets, no water to wash my dishes or my clothes. Ah the joys of living in a 3rd world country :-) But - even with all that - it was incredible to sleep in my own bed last night, even though I sweated all night. Max was running around like a puppy so happy to be back in his own home, and Madison was able to chat last night with her best friend! Oh it's SO good to be back...now to unpack and hopefully get some clothes washed later on today!

Mexico and Guatemala

Yesterday we traveled into the night - I know...I know...we said we would NEVER travel into the night - but we have a few complications that required us to do just that. We ended up staying on a road-side hotel. Yes, about what you pictured. It was RIGHT on the street of the thoroughfare so we heard big-rigs rolling by our room throughout the night. The bed was clean, the sheets were clean. The bathroom was quite fun. It was a shower/toilet/sink all in one - thought about it too late to take a picture. Anyway - it was a roof over our head, and a shower to get clean.

Next morning we were up bright and early to try and make it into Guatemala City. So - finished up Mexico, had about a 40 minute border crossing and drove like mad to make the City. We arrived into Guatemala City and had to drive about an hour to find a hotel that would take all of us and the dog. The GREAT thing! This was the first hotel that we didn't have to completely unload/unpack our car! The garage is secured/locked and has an armed guard. It was AWESOME! This typically takes about 30 minutes or so on either end - when we get where we are going and are exhausted to unload all our stuff to the hotel room - and then in the morning to reload everything. So HUGE thanks for that. We plan on getting up our normal hour of 6am, and out the door by 6:30am. Our huge prayer is that we make La Ceiba by nightfall. How exciting to sleep in our own beds! Max and Madison have been AMAZING on the entire trip - but I know they are both ready to end this adventure.

Next blog - from HOME!

Mexico continued

So...we took off this morning a little over an hour late. Why? We were scouring for Mike's wallet. We checked into the hotel last night so we know we had it then. However, after that we lost track of it. We are praying it got scooped up with clothes or something else and dumped in a suitcase or something like that. So far no charges have been made on it. So - we will keep looking, keep checking the bank, and hopefully we will find it by the time we reach Honduras. However - one BIG snafu. was of course - we were going to use his credit card for most of our purchases - hotel, gas, food, etc. Instead - we are having to pay in cash - transferred money from Mike's account via the computer, and am using my debit card. We are currently at a rest stop that has wi-fi - it's right near San Luis Potosi, Mexico. We decided to hang out for about an hour before we head out again. Our desired city is only about an hour our so away from here, so an earlier night tonight. Based on our current rate, we probably aren't going to get out of Mexico tomorrow. We will get pretty close, but not into Guatemala. So - probably another day and a half until we make the border. Please continue to pray.

On another note - my mother was transfered to the ICU again because of some severe difficulty breathing. However, after over a day on oxygen she is doing much better. It has been decided that when she does get discharged, she will be sent home with oxygen, so my dad has been instructed on it's use.

Mexico

So we've officially arrived. The border crossing wasn't quite as painless as on the way into Mexico from Guatemala. We arrived at the completely empty border at Piedras Negras. One of the reasons we like that crossing. We had to show a few of our bags to the customs guys to convince them it was basically all clothes. We then drove to another entry area where our passports were processed. Then - we had to drive about an hour to another entry area (gratefully it was in the same direction we wanted to travel). On the way to our new destination, some local police took one look at our Honduras car with tinted windows and black bags in the back of the truck and just had to stop us. The funniest sight, however, was when they approached the car and we rolled our windows down - their eyebrows went up - a bunch of gringos in the car was the LAST thing they expected! After showing our passports and license, we were told to have a nice day - with smiles on their faces :-) After driving around for about 30 minutes, asking several people, and finally being escorted to the customs station by another friendly police man, we arrived, processed our car and went on our way.

Our location (Monclova) was our original stopping places, and we were going to plan on coming here, but if the sunlight permitted we were going to try and go farther. However, after many of our delays, we decided it was the best option afterall.

Once again - we have no idea what the internet options are going to be on our trip. Will keep everyone posted as we are able.

Weekend debacle

So...my trip to Washington to run the marathon certainly didn't start out "easy". First issue - flight cancellation (keep in mind - with frequent flyer miles, my sweet husband wanted to treat me to a first class ticket!) - so I was on stand-by for the next flight out - 2 1/2 hours later. I was the LAST person on the aircraft as they had a no-show. Back of the plane, middle seat - not all that easy for someone 6'1".

Arrived in Seattle, rented a car and headed out. Spent a great night with my dear friends the McKeowns, then drove up to Yakima to participate in the marathon the next day. The marathon went great - goal was to walk it in 5 hours 30 minutes, I did it in 5 hours and 31 minutes!

Shortly after the end of the marathon I got on the road to start the journey back to Seattle. That's where the "fun" began. About 30 minutes into my travel, it started to snow. Now I'm not talking just a little snow - snow so bad that I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. Pretty soon the snow started sticking. Uh oh! About 5 miles later and the roads were shut down to cars without a 4 wheel drive and snow tires. So...I had to back track 10 miles to the closest town and purchase chains - being in a rental after all, there were NO chains. Chains purchased I continued back in the RIGHT direction for about 5 miles, and cars were pulled over putting their chains on. Now - keep in mind - I live in Honduras and don't own a SINGLE warm thing! So in the middle of a HUGE snow storm I'm on the side of the freeway in my capris, sandals, and short-sleeved shirt putting on snow chains. The snow was so bad, that I could barely see cars driving by because it's also night by this time. However, in the time it took me to put the chains on, two semi-trucks had driven by and sprayed snow all over me - so now I'm literally covered from head to toe in snow, soaking wet, and numb - shivering so badly my teeth were chattering so hard they hurt! I still wasn't feeling sorry for myself until I jumped up, ran to open my drivers side door when another semi drove by while my door was open, covered my entire body in snow plus the inside of the car - from the drivers side seat, to the steering wheel, all up on the dash board, etc. I jumped in the car - at this point shivering so hard, unable to feel either my hands or my feet, I started the car back up and drove 35 miles in the snow, at 30 miles an hour (maximum speed for my car with chains) - my hair was soaked, my clothes were soaked, my feet ached so badly from the cold - and I could barely hold the steering wheel because my hands were numb. I was officially feeling sorry for myself at this time. I had just run a marathon after all - my body still ached - I could barely kneel down to get the chains on because my body was rebelling from just having gone 26.2 miles! In the mean time I had been keeping Mike posted, my friends in Seattle posted, and my dear friend Mindy - so they could all be praying for me, and trying to keep my spirits up while I'm dealing with this by myself. After about 4 hours I finally was to a point I had gone down in elevation and the hard snow turned to a hard rain. Chains off, I continued the rest of my time into town and arrived at my friends house at 10:30pm. WAY later than anticipated. I was exhausted, starving, irritated, freezing cold (in my still soaked clothing) and all but ready to hit the sack.

So that...in a nutshell...was my CRAZY marathon day! Believe it or not - there's even MORE to the story - but that's for another post...Sigh...