Gringas For Dinner...

Tonight we had gringas for dinner! This is one of the meals that Pete, Audrey & Austin ate while in Honduras. They said what we came up with was similar ... but not the same as how they had it down there! I diced up tomates, peppers (lots of colors), sweet onions and added a little bit of chili powder and hand squeezed the juice from half a lime. (Later comments... the fresh veggies should have been diced up more finely.) I peeled and mashed up two avocadoes into a separate serving bowl. They weren't sure if it was suppose to have lime or any spices, so I added nothing. (it wasn't whipped like they had it, so there must be a special trick I don't know about!)

Then we fried tortillas. Place one tortilla in a frying pan, add shredded moz. & cheddar cheese and some diced ham then top this with another tortilla. Fry lightly on both sides and remove to stack on a plate.... plan on at least one per person. How to eat this.... I was told this is a NON-FORK meal! :) Cut the tortilla into 4 pieces like a pizza, add a layer of mashed avocado to each wedge then top with the fresh cut veggies! It is filling and VERY YUMMY!

A Few Views In Honduras... Outside The City

Clinic Pictures.....

The pharmacy area (Austin is on the right) for this clinic. A pole church is being used for a clinic.... these people are all waiting to see the doctors. Setting up for a clinic... Roger is holding a patient's head while the dentist is giving her novocaine.
It is almost the end of the day.......They had clinics inside and outside, depending on the village .... both the dentist & doctor were available each day to see LOTS of the people! An average day would have 70 'family' names listed, but each family could include anywhere from 1-7 people! Long but rewarding days.....

Through The Eyes of Love....

Pete, Audrey & Austin fell in love with the people of Honduras. Look into the eyes.... can you feel it yet? Audrey is showing the kids of this village 'how' to color. They had some coloring pages & crayons but the kids didn't know what to do with it.

This little guy tugged on Austin's heartstrings.... he was Austin's shadow the day they were in his village!

Two little girls laughing with Audrey!

Audrey & Austin brought a few soccer balls to play with the kids and then to give to pastors for everyone to use! They chose to give the last of the balls to this family....

Pete, Austin and Audrey with Paz (the dentist) and her nephew Daniel at the airport just before leaving San Pedro Sula, Honduras! What a blessing this woman and her family are! She gave the gospel message each clinic day and they had somewhere around 75+ salvations!

What's Better Than Hot Sliced Bread???

..... A friend with a plow truck! :) Yup... you read that right! We are in the midst of ANOTHER SNOW STORM bringing in 6-12 inches of the pretty, fluffy white stuff!! Since Pete, Austin & Audrey are away, that leaves Travis & Me to do the shoveling here and next door! (Ya, I know... poor babies!) LOL

To make a long & whining story very short... I wanted to let you know that some wonderful friends just called, came over and plow out our dooryard! THANK YOU GOD! AND... THANK YOU D & L! They were on their rounds of plowing and since they know that Pete is in Honduras, they offered to plow us out!! :) HOW COOL IS THAT..... GOD KNOWS EVEN THE QUIET, UNSPOKEN PRAYERS of our hearts! What took them 15-20 minutes would have taken me (us) a couple of hours anyways!!

Must See Movie........

This afternoon I went to see an amazing movie with a few friends! If you have a chance to get out to a matinee... trust me, "The Bucket List" is a MUST SEE MOVIE! You'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll want to own it for your personal collection when it comes out on DVD!

Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson work together to deliver an incredible movie here..... Don't forget to bring the tissues!!

They Arrived Safely!

A quick update..... the team arrived safely in Honduras!! Pete & the kids called last night about 8:45PM saying that they were tired but that all is well, that they arrived safely and that it is INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL!

The plan is that they'd be up and out this morning and heading to the first village by 7:30!

(Sorry I have NO pictures... but you'll be glad in the long run!! Audrey has the digital camera with her and you'll get to see what they are seeing in a couple of weeks!!)

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick......

The clock is ticking away! In less than 8 hours I will be driving Pete, Audrey & Austin to meet their ride for the first leg of their journey! They currently have their carry on bags almost packed... with just a few last minute odds & ends left to tuck in before they are zipped shut! They each have one 50lb. bag packed with donated medical supplies all set to go and now they are working on filling a second 50lb. bag! The second bag also has things for the Honduran people like clothing & fun stuff for the kids like super-sized jacks, soccar balls, frisbees etc.!

To say that the excitement is mounting would be an understatement!! They are going to have sooo much fun! After leaving home, they will be meeting up with the rest of the team in Concord, go over the bags for weight and then head down to Boston all together! Since their flight leaves from Boston at 6AM on Friday.... they'll be arriving extra early and will try to catch a few ZZZZZ's in the airport prior to all the security checks!

They'll be arriving in San Pedro Sula, Honduras sometime Friday afternoon and busing down to Tegucigalpa a little while after that!! :) I'm expecting that the eventual phone call will sound something like this; "We arrived safe & sound!", "WOW... clouds look awesome from an airplane window!", and "Yes, Mom, we'll be careful... don't worry!" Be assured, I'll let you know!

Thanks for keeping them in your prayers as they travel, work with the people in the clinics, play with the children and show Jesus's love! Travis and I have been making our plans! What Pete doesn't know is that we are going to have the back room (porch-like room) all organized & his drum set all in place, the boys' amps and guitar stands ready to go and a small space heater to help with the additional heating needs! :) He will be surprised!! Not to mention... if we can find a small love seat and entertainment center from a second hand store, we may do a living room/kitchen make over too! :) OH YA... when the cat is away, the mice will play!! (Maybe all this is a bit of a distraction technique... I'm not sure, but Lord willing the end results will be good!)

Stowaway on I-93

I left home 'bout 2pm for my afternoon drive to Concord... approximately a 40 minute ride. I arrived in time to indulge myself for ten minutes of reading "The Negotiator" (By Dee Henderson) (A MUST READ BOOK!) so far everything about this trip was normal and routine!

My student spotted the van, walked over, opened the slider and asked... "Why do you have a cat in the van?" Surprised by his question I asked intelligently... "What??" He followed with the same question, "Why do you have a cat in the van?" By now, I understood the question, but thought he was teasing (which is well out of character) so I was still a bit stumped. My response was "Are you serious? There's a cat in here?!" It was quite comical actually, my student got in and scooped up the cat. They were sitting directly behind me so when I turned around to see what (or who) he was holding... I was astonished to discover my stowaway was non other then Travis's cat YODA! :)
I had unloaded a few grocery bags in the morning, so the only thing I can conclude is that Yoda jumped in while I was taking bags out of the back! I never saw him! He never meowed or made his presence known during my entire 40 minute drive south!! We were blessed with balmy, spring-like weather in the low 60's yesterday, so Yoda must have decided to enjoy the warmth in the van, got himself too cozy and fell asleep! He was the perfect 4-legged passenger!! He never fussed, didn't crawl under my feet nor on my lap, he just curled up on the floor and went back to sleep. After dropping my student off, I scooped Yoda up and he rode in the front passenger seat the rest of the way home...

I wish I could understand kitty-talk, it would be fun to hear his side of the adventure!!

Happy New Year & The Countdown Begins...

HAPPY 2008 NEW YEAR! Can you believe it.... it is snowing AGAIN! We are suppose to get another 6-12 inches during the day & into the evening! (Yesterday we got 4-5 inches!) You may not remember, but last year ON NEW YEARS DAY, we had a major ice storm.... hmmm, I wonder if this is a new trend for NH New Years?



Here's a family picture taken at my parent's home on Sunday afternoon! The kids laugh & tease as they look at me and say; "short people in front!" I wonder who they are talking about?!!
We had a wonderful evening last night! We (all 5 of us) spent the evening at the Walsh family home with a few other families... laughing, chatting, playing games, eating! The kids took turns on the snow mobiles out in the yard/field and everyone had a blast! (And to think, I thought we'd be leaving around 10PM or so... truth be told, we didn't get home til close to 1:15AM!) THANKS RITA & STEVE!!

Ten days and counting until Pete, Audrey & Austin leave for Honduras! They have completed their typhoid immunizations. (Did you know that the typhoid immunization is given in 4 oral doses?) They took the last of the pills last night and tomorrow night they will begin the chloroquine, taken weekly, for a malaria preventative!

They are getting excited as they make decisions on what to bring and how to pack! The group of eight will be loading up on the evening of the 10th and spending the night at one of the team member's homes so that they can all get an early start out for Boston on the 11th! Please keep them in your prayers!