Appreciation

Dennis and I have been in Belize for only four months now.  I feel like we just got in.  The days are flying by at an unbelievable rate.  These are some things that we have come to appreciate.

Internet...I have come to realize that I would be a very homesick person without the internet.  And it's not just facebook.  We watch reruns of Bob Newhart often and started on the Andy Griffith Show.  Dennis and I spend every morning having coffee with David Jeremiah.  We get on there to check the weather back in Tennessee and the west coast.  We find things like a Variac that Dennis wanted for his electrical class.  Dennis and I went Christmas shopping this year totally online.  We had everything sent to Carol Rice who very graciously wrapped them and got them to the kids.  I look for recipes that contain the ingredients that are available here.  I found the name of a bird I took a picture of the other day, it's a Trogon.  I am still looking up teacher stuff all the time.  I just pray that we always have internet.

This, family and friends is a Trogon somtehing, something.
Never could find which one is was.  He sat there and stared at me
and in slow motion, moved his head from left to right. It seemed
like he wanted to know more about me and the camera.

The Bronco...Dennis put quite a few hours of work into our 1985 Bronco and it has been a real lifesaver here in Belize.  The roads right now are truly atrocious.  Our tires and axels are at risk whenever we go out.  But the Bronco has hauled 10 foot pieces of trim tied to the side and our mattress up on top. Our little Bronco has been awesome.  When we were stuck in the mud the other day with no one around to help, Dennis and the Bronco got us home!!  My Heros!

Water...clean, fresh water when you turn on the faucet.  Not always something that happens here.

Bridges that are actually above the water.

Packages at the Post Office...We always love going to the post office and there is a slip of paper in the box that says we have received a package.  Today there was a slip!!  We thought it was one from our church but it was from my mom.  So, I look at it and think, "What a great mom!"  We have to open it at the post office so they can inspect it.  So the guy cuts it open and I see Ritz Crackers first thing, and I think, "What a cool Mom!"  After he shuffles through it and spends five more minutes on paperwork with carbon paper we get to take it home.  In the car Dennis looks in and sees a huge bag of pecans, M&Ms, some candy canes, Ranch Mix and six cans of chopped green chilis.  Now I'm thinking, "I've got the best Mom on the planet!"  So then we find a beautiful Christmas card in there with some homemade ornaments inside and a check.  All I have to say is "Thanks Mom, this box really means so much to me.  Who would have thought that these random items would make a grown woman cry.  I love you."

I have recieved notes and letters from a few people and must say it makes me feel very special when I get to sit down and read a letter from a loved one.  It is so much more meaningful than electronic mail.  But please don't stop sending emails and messages!  I will always write back when I get letters, thats a promise!

Love you guys!

Christmas Eve with the Girls

Just a quick note here to let family and friends know that we are doing well and we love you all!  We had a few friends over on Christmas Eve.  Lorena and her sisters, Delmi, and Noelli were over and we made some desserts, and colored, and threw a beach ball at each other.  The beach ball thing is all Dennis and Noelli.

Noelli helping with the Dump Cake, she is a wild child.

We are looking for coloring pages to print.

Blanca Lorena Campos

Delmi Campos

Sisters...

We gave them a couple of little things to unwrap.

The Jacks were actually for Noelli, but she wasn't able to play with them yet.
On the other hand, Loren and Delmi were quite good at it.  I didn't know that
there were actual rules to this game.

Starting to frost cupcakes.  The girls had only frosted
cakes before this.

Delmi started the frosting war and Dennis finished it.  Note the
beach ball in the background.  That was all over the house a few
minutes before.  Noelli loved it!

We call Noelli, Miss. Sprinkle.  She really got into it.  Notice Delmi in the background.
She is trying to get back at Dennis.

When they were done they took the cupcakes home to share with the family.

Dennis and I really needed to be around kids, so this Christmas Eve with the girls really meant alot to us.  They will be visiting often I think.  There is an older sister named Raina, and three brothers and a niece and nephew.  They have a lot of relatives in Buena Vista also.

More blogging soon!  Happy New Year!!  We love you guys!

A more personal Christmas.

I recently read a post on Facebook by Amy Sprayberry.  She was done with Christmas like we've always done it.  Amy just wanted to enjoy her Christmas instead of getting caught up in all the hubbub.  I say good for Amy!  We moms especially get all wound up about getting things just so, making everything perfect.  We can be a lot like Martha instead of Mary.  Mary had it right.  She knew who she had right in front of her and she wasn't about to let the moment slip away without Jesus knowing how much she loved him.  It's not that Martha was totally wrong, we appreciate the Martha's in the world.  I think many of us have been both.

This year I find myself in the position of being a Mary.  It never occured to me that I would feel closer to Jesus this year than ever before.  My position as Martha has been officially resigned and now I am loving my Lord more than ever.  As I have learned to lean on him during the times of homesickness my faith in him has increased.  I guess you could say that I should have seen that coming but there are many things happening that I never saw on the horizon.  All the bible quotes you can think of are falling into place for me because I am living them out.  When I am able I will be expanding on how my heart is changing.  The words are not there at the moment so I figure it's in the works.

So anyway, here it is Christmas 2013 and I am happy to be alive and love my family and friends more now than ever before.  Your messages, emails, notes and letters have touched my heart dearly.  One of the benefits of being so far away is that you appreciate your loved ones even more.

My little $12.95 Christmas tree.  Can't find a star for the top yet.  I think I will just
cut it out of cardboard.

Willow Tree Nativity that I got from Amy L. last year.
 I smuggled it into the Bronco.

Made these especially for my boys back home.
If you're not into Star Wars you won't get it.
The husband in the background is an added bonus.

These are stockings that the kids in Mr. Uck's room made for Dennis and I.
They all say thank you and we love you.

Yes, I even decorated the outside.
Please ignore the giant washer and dryer.  They will be on
the back porch soon, and remember, they are precious.

Christmas in Belize.

Wanted to add this in case you didn't see the Facebook entry.
On the square in San Ignacio.

So our first four months are about over already.  At times it seems like we just got here and I can't believe that it's almost 2014.  Other times...well, other times will always be a part of living far from family.

Dennis and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Our hearts are full and our joy is ever increasing.  God is good to us and I hope the same goes for you.  (By the way, if you feel He's not so good to you give me a call or email me and we'll talk.)

We love you guys!

Christmas in Belize

Today was the last day of school until 2014!  The whole school just shows up and play and eat and hang out with each other.  Dennis and I had to go an hour out of the way because the bridge was under ten feet of water again.  But we got there around 10:00, just after the other teachers arrived.

Dennis and I brought candy for all the kids.
The tall guy on the left is Yoni, he is always smiling
because he is always up to something.

Please note that the guy with the gun has candy also.
I wasn't about to skip him.  He must have gotten a
hair cut recently because usually he has all this wild
hair flying everywhere.

Dennis is helping Mr. Mefi with his computer.  Yes, Mr. Mefi got
candy also.  He is a pretty nice guy.  The young guy in blue is
Geldin.  We are getting to know his family.  His brother, Marvin
is the slate carver.  We will have more on that later.

This is Mrs. Blanco's room, Infant 1.  These are the youngest ones. 

The rain just kept on coming.  I felt like a little hen with her chicks.
I had to keep the candy up high because the kids kept
nabbing it when I wasn't looking.

And finally this is Mr. Uck's room. (ook)  I have been going through
a phonics program with them.  I also helped them make the little
decorations hanging from the strings.  They are good kids.

The teachers were busy getting the chicken ready for the grill and some of the rooms had movies playing.  (Not exactly movies that would be approved by the schools back home.)  There are always young men sitting on the benches on these kind of days and they got candy too.

Just to let you know, the man with the gun always has that gun.  I think it is broken.  First time I saw him I was all freaked out.  The teachers told me he lives next door and is always around.  I see him often now and he always smiles at me.  I think I will find out his name.

Dennis and I went to the Campos home to give Lauren her laptop a second time.  I guess the battery is messed up and Dennis had to take it out.  It works just fine when you plug it in and Lauren is happy.  They do not have a Christmas tree or decorations.  I have not seen any in the village.  I asked Lauren about it and she said they never have.  They celebrate Christmas by going to church that day.  

I asked her if she wanted to play Uno the next time I came over and she told me that she wanted to come visit Dennis and I at our house.  So, now we are going to have all the girls come over for a fun day of baking cookies and playing Uno.  It will be Lauren, Delmi, Noelly, and the older sister Raina.  Should be a really fun day.  We will have to wait for the river to go down first.

Hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season.  Dennis and I are making the best of it.  The next blog will have our Christmas tree on it.

Love you guys!

Our first three Thanksgivings

Wanted to share with our friends and family back home what we did for Thanksgiving this year.  Thanksgiving is not a holiday here of course.  So, all the world around us was business as usual.  Dennis and I however had a great day eating and chatting with new friends.

Left to right, Mrs. Betty, the principal, Mrs. Blanco, Mrs. Yvette, Mrs. Melody
and me.

That is Mr. Uck in front of me.  (pronounced ook)

They are making potato salad.  We also had a great turkey and rice and beans with
bread pudding for dessert and fresh orange juice to drink.

Mrs. Jizelle is helping Dennis take apart the turkey, they didn't have a knife.

This is me and Noelly, she is Lauren's little sister.

About a half hour after we left the school in Buena Vista we were on our way to San Ignacio to our new friends house.  They are Pastor Jim Tucker and his wife Deborah.  We also had our meal with a few other people from Bridge the Gap.  

These are Belize pumpkins.

Yum!  We had olives!

Just wanted to show you the bed.  Pastor Tucker traded sheet rock
work for it.

Some of you may recognize this design.  Beate created it for the windows
at Bridge the Gap.

Look!

The Tuckers have a very nice home way up on a hill overlooking
Spanish Lookout and San Ignacio.  

My new friend Patti.  She lives a few miles away from my brother in
California.  She is a high school secretary and was here on a sabatical of sorts.

Then last but not least we had our third Thanksgiving feast on Saturday, at Pastor Mark and Brendas house overlooking San Ignacio.  John and Beate were there and our new friends Dennis and Anna Duek.  He is a really nice business man from Spanish Lookout. 

More yummy turkey.

In front is Beate.  In back is Anna Duek her son Clive, Dennis Duek,
Libby whos is Mark and Brenda's daughter, and John.

Brenda and Pastor Mark.  He is not Hispanic or Belizian
he is Peruvian.

Couldn't help the puppy pictures.

There was a litter of 13.

If you remember Bear from Bridge the Gap, these are his sisters pups.

Simultaneously, there was also a litter of Chihuahua's in the house.
This family loves their dogs.

They look like stuffed animals.

Her name is Ginger.  And we are not in the market for a dog.
No matter how cute.

So, we had three Thanksgivings this year.  We enjoyed all of them very much.  It was good to be so busy because we have never not been with the kids before.  I did get to talk to them on Thursday which made me very happy and very sad.  God is doing some good stuff here and I am glad we are here.  I wouldn't change a thing.  Except maybe have a monthly visit back in Tennessee.

Love all of you guys.  Keep up the facebook because it is my link back to all of you.