Getting Started

Yesterday seemed to be the longest, busiest, most frustrating day.  Literally, at 8:30, I took my shower and fell asleep.  My back hurt, I was so hot.  I was just plain tuckered out.

But this morning I woke up refreshed and ready to face my day of chores.  I encountered some huge blessings that brought me to tears this morning.  God knows just what I needed.

Last night, I made chicken enchiladas from my Belizean cookbook.  This is something I made in the states, that Josh, especially loved.  Lee did not feel good last night.  I think it was from the heat, not drinking water, and just running errands and stresses all day.  Winnie had a friend over working on school, so we asked him to join us...with a big disclaimer that I am still learning to cook here...with Belizean products...

But it turned out pretty good.  And there were barely any left.  That is always a good sign.  And always a hungry crowd I have:  7 last night.



Before the Oven



Baked and before it was devoured...



So, thankfully it turned out good.  I have two Belizean cookbooks and so far everything has turned out well.  I have had to substitute an ingredient or two, but it is nice to have some new meals I can cook.

This week, we plan to have a family over, to just spend some time with them.  It will be my first official hosting here.  I only have plastic plates and cups and a very small table, but God will help us figure out the details.  I am praying it is a special time.

I feel that this first month has been a huge adjustment for our family, but now we are getting the hang of living here and are ready to start reaching out...and getting started.

Yesterday, we received our first mail.  It came while the kids were here alone.  The guy brought it on a motorcycle and yelled into them.  Isn't that so cool and different?  Getting mail was very exciting to our family. 

I have had a lot of dreams with special people from Texas in them...family and friends.  I think it is just me really missing everyone now.  I sleep very soundly at night, because I am always so tired.  But my dreams are always filled with my loved ones.

Today, I will go to a Belizean, actually Cuban, doctor.  Everything is fine.  It is just followup to check my thyroid and I will need to get new medication.  It is so nervous for me to go here, to trust, in a foreign country.  I think the Lord is giving me a glimpse of how it must feel for those who come to the US from a foreign land.  Communication is sometimes difficult and exhausting.  And everything is not like we have known.  Everything is now foreign for us.  We have to trust people we do not know.  But with God, He gives us strength and guidance and good friends to help us.

Josh set up the Wii yesterday for Erika.  Oh, how I am thankful for her to have some of her fun familiar things to do.  We want to get her a swing for outside and bike...but with all the other errands, those things have just not gotten done yet.  Soon.

Well, need to get some things done. 

Family Night at Peppers Pizza

Winnie got home from Mexico, and we thought it would be good to go out for Family Night to the local pizza shop...

Waiting...but so worth it:)

Pizza devoured, laughing and conversing enjoyed.  Only we were sad to find out Winnie is going to Taiwan for the whole summer...

And we discovered that they have the world's best cinnamon twists with vanilla icing...

So now, we are on carb overload, but it was fun just to laugh as a family and get to know Winnie a little better tonight, before the busy week begins.

What's in my Fridge? And what I'm reading...

I thought it would be fun to show you how different the food is here.  Milk is a journey.  The bottom line is it just doesn't taste the same.  WD is the big dairy here, in Spanish Lookout, and I am blessed that they deliver to me.  I just choose what I want when they come and it is a little discounted from the store.  The problem is we like the milk to cook, etc, but not to drink.  The Lala Milk is better to drink.  It is a pantry item that you refrigerate once it is open.  And the regular milk goes bad quickly, so my friend told me to buy a bunch and freeze them and just bring them out as needed.  The sour cream is yummy...I used it to make my banana cake on Saturday with Erika.  We are going to plan to tour the dairy soon.  The hot sauce is local.  It is everywhere.  And it is hot...remember the hot peppers...oh yeah, thats it.  The eggs are brown and soooo yummy.  We easily go through a flat a week.  The orange juice...my darling squeezed that this afternoon with our new electric sqeezer.  I hear you can buy 150 oranges for $8...need to find them.  The squash juice, we dillute with water.  Its pretty good.  You can buy premade juice, like motts or cranapple, if you want to take out a loan!!!  We would go through it too quickly to pay what that stuff costs...

My freezer:  stocked up little milks, whole nuts, stocked up bread (no preservatives), and yes, some WD ice cream, for an occassional special treat.  It literally melts in your mouth...and I dont even like ice cream, well, actually now I do:)  Oh, and we have to make our own ice...so we never have any...gotta get a system going.  Spoiled Americans!!!

I have TWO, Not ONE Produce drawers full at all times.  We go through the fresh produce.  We go to market twice a week, and I stock up each time.   Lot of freshness...MMMM.

WDs cheese.  We go through that too...but I just stocked up this past weekend.  Happy Cow is a fun snack for the kids.  And deli meat.

This is Vivian.  She is 18 and a senior.  She is planning to come to the US for college so we have been helping her fill out forms, etc.  She has moved in with a friend closeby, so we hope to still see her often.  She is a bubbly, energetic girl.

Oh, yes, water.  I use the water if I am cooking, but we buy bottled water.  We had to buy two jugs that we will turn in when we want more.  The very first bottle we got had a leak that went everywhere, because we did not notice right away, but this one is better.  Lee is getting some  muscles, having to do all this stuff too:)  MORE muscles, I mean.

A glimpse of my room....Just sheets and decorative pillows...my comforter is folded up...dont think we will use it much here.  And always my bottle of water with lime slices from our tree.  It was so nice, we went to lunch yesterday, with fresh squeezed OJ, homemade Banana cake, and some guavas cut up from our tree outside. I felt so domestic.

For Christmas, I asked for Beth Moore Bible Studies...I was blessed...I have my devotional time cut out for me for a while.  Nice to be settled and to get into some patterns again.

And today, I began with Daniel.  I am going to miss the video sessions and gathering with friends, but looking forward to what is revealed to me in His Word.

Feeling LIke My Home

We are feeling settled into our new home.  It feels good.  When it is cool in the evening, and we sit down to relax and watch a movie, it actually feels like we are in America.  It is a beautiful home, and nice to have all our ugly blue boxes out of here and packed away in the shed.  It is nice to have all of my own things out.  It makes it feel familiar and safe and like Home.  Promise is happy too...he loves the cool tile floors...and loves his yard.  But we need to get it mowed.  It is tall grass right now.

This is our friends, good friends, Dale and Carolyn.  This family has served and served Lee and I.  Before we came and since we got here.  I cannot count the meals Carolyn has invited us for, and brought to us.  Dale drove us EVERYWHERE when we first arrived.  And they have done so many other things just to bless us.  But more than that, they have just become very good friends to Lee and I.  Very quickly.  Isn't God so awesome to do that for us?



Wish Carolyn's eyes were open, but she is still beautiful:)



If Erika knows Tirzah and Levi are coming over, she is beside herself with joy.  This is definitely her BFF right now.  And I am so thankful, because this is a precious little girl.






I just realized I did not get a picture of Levi yesterday.   But he is pretty busy, so I have one on a previous post.


Yesterday was a busy day for me.  We got up early, found out Winnie's parents were picking her up in half an hour, so needed to help get her out the door.  Then trying to fix my hair, make breakfast, quickly clean the house again, stop sweating to put on make-up...etc.  We had a wonderful short service and time of praying over our home and dedicating it to the Lord.  We will only be able to meet here for a short time, then will need to rent someplace, as all the families have children, so we will not have room here for long.  But still, this home will be used so much for ministry, one on one, to individual families, and cell groups.   We are so thankful.  Then we went and had a delicious lunch at our friends Steven and Serita.  We ended up staying all afternoon, with Erika napping on my lap.  It was the first time we got to extensively visit with them.  It is a blessing to have friends who are strong believers for us to spend time with, even as we plant the church.  They have been here a long time and have a lot of insight for us.  When we came home last night, I was so tired.  Just couldn't shake it.  I usually make three meals a day here, but last night, I made pb and J sandwiches for erika and I and had everyone else fend for themselves (dont worry, serita had sent home extra chicken...so they were fine).  I slept good last night and woke up ready to tackle my daily errands of laundry, vacuuming, cleaning dishes. 


We are very close to being unpacked.   In some senses, I feel, wow, we brought so much stuff.  In other ways, I am very thankful for all I brought because things are so expensive here and sometimes not very good quality.  So I am thankful for our nice sheets and towels.  And for the rugs I brought.  I still need more.  Thankful for my vacuum, because the whole house is tile and it would be so much to sweep every day.


Please pray for:


I need to find a doctor, for bloodwork, and would prefer one in Belmopan.

Wednesday, Lee and I apply for our Work Permit.  Not that we will be working, this is just the cheaper route.  We have been working on it, but that is the day we go meet with an officer.  We have been told this is something that needs to be covered in prayer.

More divine appointments.  So far, we have about 3 families, and a single, that we are focusing on.  We will begin having some of them over for dinner, etc. soon.

  Pray for me to be able to cook well...Sounds funny, but everything is different here, and every meal is a still a learning process for me.  I do not have my familiar products to make my enchiladas, or lasagne, but rather, have to cook what is here.  I am learning, but it is a process.

We are still waiting on beds for the girls, which means Josh is on the couch, and need to buy some more furniture.  We are close to settled, but every day is full of errands for us.

We have found a van, that is fairly new, and good condition, but no air.  I feel that we need air.  It is just SOOOO hot, especially when driving.  We are still bargaining with the seller, and need him to be willing to come down...and to put air conditioining in it for us.  If this is not the van, for God to close the door.  But we have Winnie now and an extremely small car, so cannot all go together anywhere.  And so it is time for us to have something bigger.

 I am so thankful to have consistent internet now.  It is my connection to all of you.  I am learning how to shop for my family and cook for my family and am thankful for that.  I do two washes a day and hang them out...maybe a third if they dry quickly.  I am thankful to be getting into some sort of routine, our life has lacked that for so long.


Erika is so happy to have all of her toys, Josh is happy to have his Playstation and own room, Tori is happy to have her sewing stuff and keyboard.


Josh and Tori have been amazing servants.  They help take care of the little kids, Josh has helped plant flowers and plants, Tori has helped me cook and bake, and Erika helps where she can.  Both older kids have unpacked and set up their own roads almost entirely by themselves as we set up the rest of the house.

Well, I need to get to making lunch.  Have a blessed day.

Our Adventure at the Roaring Creek

Would someone please inform this cutie that she is only 4?

Yes, they are riding in the back of a pickup...we are in Belize.  But James drove safely...our car never could have made it...the road was crazy...we went about 10 miles per hour the whole way...

Tori thinking...I can't believe I am in the back of a truck...

Well, Hello Mr. Cow, out in the middle of nowhere!!!  The off road to the river.

Absolutely beautiful...the water was ice cold and clear as could be.



Lots of people were here, fishing, doing laundry, just swimming, you name it.




This man and his son were catching tons of sardines, going home to fry them up...



eating a guava, Mr. James had picked a bunch of the tree at the house to take with us...the inside is full of sweet seeds...mmm

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She kept dropping the coconut, and James would go get it for her...they are the kindest family...

yes, Lee is climbing the tree and jumped in...missed it on video, but caught Josh...The Hsus are getting a taste of this crazy guy's personality:)

On the way up to the river, we stopped by a farm where James bought a huge bag, the size of Tori, of oranges...we will juice them tomorrow...mmmm...
Winnie is excited about Tori's keyboard because she plays too...yeah:)

Watch this video to see:
just a glimpse of our fun today

We are all exhausted tonight, but had a great afternoon with the family we will be leasing from. 

Welcome to my Week

The last few days have been a whirlwind.

Here are a  few pictures of what we have been doing.

Saturday morning, we had several errands...one of which was visiting our favorite bakers around...here she is with Erika frosting a very special cake.  She has more patience than most and Erika (and all of us) love her dearly...

and apparently we timed it right because she fed us lunch...fish empenadas...YUMMY

On Sunday, we had our first gathering at our home, that didn't just include our family.  Our downstairs neighbors, who were missionaries here for years, went home to the states, and God recently called back to Belize, joined us.  They are a precious couple who have two ladies living with them that they have ministered to in the past.  One of those ladies came.  It was such a precious time with the Lord and fellow believers.

After they left, I started to prepare lunch, and our gas for our stove was totally out...oh well, guess we had to order a pizza.  This pizza was $15 American...a huge treat for our whole family.  I think the box was licked clean.  They delivered it for free on the back of a moped.  So cool, and um, very greasy.

Monday, we woke up early and the kids quickly did their school.  After lunch, we headed to San Ignacio, to get Pastor Caleb's help getting our work permit.  All three kids really enjoyed spending time with their youngest, and last daughter at home, Raquel.  Especially Erika, can you tell?

It was a very hot day...and long day for us, but Pastor Caleb and his wife, Aida, cooked us a DELICIOUS dinner...Erika grabbed my camera and took some pictures.  Caleb says Erika reminds him of when his daughter was little.

After dinner, we had a meeting with all the Foursquare leaders in Belize.  There are 3 churches and we will be the fourth.  All the others are close by each other.  It was nice to fellowship with everyone, and we got to see the preschool/primary school that Life Church has worked on in previous missions trips.  It was a very long day and we did not even head home until 10 pm.  And the roads are not very good at night.  I pray a lot in the car.  Pray it keeps running, pray we are able to buy a van that is newer soon, and pray that God gets us where we are going.  Lee is great, and I appreciate him driving.  I still have not driven since we arrived.  But I am sure I will someday:)

Tuesday, we woke up very exhausted.  We woke up early again and headed to market.  We packed what we could into our little car and headed to our new home...

It is times like this that I had photo skills, but this is the front entrance.  It is very beautiful.  In fact, when we were living at the hotel, we passed this one night, and I said, wouldn't that be a beautiful place to live?  Lee had called on it previously and it was only available for a business.  But God must have heard me???  :)

Look at this huge carport...that is a blessing here in Belize...and an electric gate to get in and out...so nice.

Hanging laundry out back...this is two loads, all I could hang.  We had a lot of laundry to catch up on...I have more waiting for me tomorrow.  I can't wait to see how strong my arms will be soon.

Here is Tori working on school this morning.  We have ordered bunk beds from the Mennonites and they should arrive next Friday.  We still need to decorate and get more settled, but Tori has done a great job of unpacking.  The girls are sharing a tall dresser and then each have a freestanding closet.

I will post pics of Josh's room soon.  His is the room we unloaded the whole shipment into, and his bed is where the girls are sleeping now..he is on the couch.  So his room still needs a lot of work...we are moving a table out of there into our room as well...

Our living room and front door.  I was so happy to put up just a few of my decorations...making it feel like home.  My friend bought the two tables for the new home she is building, so we get to enjoy them until then.  I think I will miss them.  They are so nice in the room.  Tori was so excited to get to finally open her Christmas present, her keyboard.

And here is our kitchen.  It is so nice to finally have my own cooking stuff again.  And the kitchen goes right out to the carport.  The man we are renting from built this home.  He used the space so well.  The celings are very tall and make the home seem much larger than it is.  No built in closets, except a huge one, which is a store all, but awesome.  We have freestanding ones in two of the bedrooms.



The Master bedroom is quite large, so we have divided it in half to make Lee's office.  It shrinks our bedroom, but I like that he will be here, for now.  He has worked tirelessly setting it up and getting proper electrical stuf, etc.

I could go on, but I have some more things to do tonight.  We are so blessed and thankful for this home.

Just a reminder of the story....Every door for houses was shut to us the night of the Superbowl.  My friend and her husband were praying for us, when she received a knock at the door, from our now landlord.  He was her former student and he was looking for someone to rent his home, and if they would care for his daughter, they could live there for free.  My friend instantly thought of our family.  God is so good.  And we know he has placed us here for a purpose.  Please pray for that...He would use us as He desires.  He already has.

I am sure there will be more pics to come, as we settle more, but just wanted you to see...

Oh, and we may have found a van...we will have to have air conditioning added.  I feel it is important...not that we have air all the time, but that we have the possibility.  This time of year is very hot, and even just having a little air helps so much!!!  So please pray for wisdom and that we buy it only if we should...



Moving is a Lot of Work

you have not heard from me for a few days, because, frankly, i am exhausted.  but the kids just went to bed and i thought, why don't i take a sec and fire up the laptop and record my feelings right now?

i have lived out of a suitcase since last may.  i have lived many different places since last may: an apartment, a friends, the in-laws, the other in-laws, a hotel, another apartment, and now a HOUSE, a HOME.  it felt amazing, just a couple of hours ago, to unpack my suitcase into a dresser.  to hang some things in a closet.  it was wonderful tonight for dinner, to use my stuff, my kitchen stuff to prepare a meal.  it is nice to once again have two bathrooms.  it is nice to have a yard for promise, although, the guard dogs on either side of us are a little scary, so we still have to go with him, but still...he has a yard.  it is amazing for the kids to be able to set up their rooms, put away their clothes, get some normalcy...

but it is hard work getting settled.  and living as a belizean is different than an american.  we went from air conditioned apartment to no air house.  and it is hot.  even the belizeans say so...  we brought air conditioners, but need to put them in, plus, feel bad to use them when noone else really does.  i have a washer hooked up, but no dryer, so i have to get up early, wash, and hang the clothes outside...and then check them throughout the day and bring them back in...it is harder than what i am used to...  i have to cook all my meals, pretty much from scratch, and then hand wash all the dishes.  and going shopping is not a run to walmart, get it all deal.  shopping takes all week, here and there...or it is very expensive...

i am so thankful that we had a month before moving to the house, to begin to live as belizeans in the apartment, although we were spoiled with air conditioning, and a dryer, and cable tv...it was a good gradual break in to our new life. 

i have been overwhelmed by the people of belize...  yesterday, it was just so crazy moving over here, going to market, other errands, trying to clean and unpack as we went, sweating, running bakc to the apartment to clean it out and use the washer and dryer there, and on and on...my friend made us dinner last night...and it was so tasty, because we were just so thankful...because there are places you can pick up food, but it gets costly, and it is not like the fast food here.  what she did last night was fast food for us, and such a blessing.  we are going to another friends on sunday, and still another reaches out to us constantly through meals and goodies.  and these ladies work hard.  most things are made from scratch...but oh so yummy.

because it is not just that we are moving in, but we have also moved in to taking care of a girl, who is 17, and independent enough, but still, I have to wash her uniform every day, and start making her lunches to take, and provide other things--in the midst of just trying to get my family settled.  and just getting to know her and share our life with her.  she is precious and so accepting, and so grateful for the meals i provide.  you see, it is not like she moved into my house, and i have been cooking for years, because my whole way of cooking is different here.  i cant make what i made in katy.  every meal is literally an experiment and i am learning as i go.  but it is going good.  i have made some real disasters, and i have learned some new ways of making things that have turned out delicious.   the internet is my friend for new recipes using the ingredients i have.  i pretty much cannot make anything the way i did, just a month ago.  it is a whole new ballgame here.  so i am making some things over and over again because they worked and not trying some things again because they were disasters.

nightime brings coolness and we welcome it.  right now, the house feels great, we all have fans on us, but it feels great.  we all slept so good last night.  we are tired, so i am sure that has helped.

tomorrow, i am hoping to get somewhat of a more normal day.  i am hoping the kids will be able to do school.  it has been a tough week for school.  thankfully, they are doing fine and are right on track.  school here doesn't even get out til the end of June.  next week, they will take standardized testing all week, which I need to prepare for.  but we have internet, finally, that is consistent, so that is the first step.  and they set up their rooms today, hoping they can work tomorrow.  even if just a little.

josh and tori have been amazing at helping.  it has been hard, sweaty, back breaking work.  we literally moved huge closets, bookshelves, etc around (Josh and Lee did) to create an office for Lee in our bedroom.  the girls are sleeping in a full size bed that will go in joshs room once we get their bunk beds next week....so poor josh is still on the couch.

we are getting closer to settled though.  we should be great by the end of the week.  it feels overwhelming when i look around, but it really is getting done.  i will take pics when we can see the floors...

thank you for your prayers.  getting in the house just gets us one step closer to starting the church, or meeting with people.  we will plan to have a couple over next week, that has been waiting for us to come.  they met lee last april, and again in july, and have just been waiting for us.  isn't God amazing?  they have a four year old, and are expecting, and own a restaurant, that my kids think is the best, by the university.

i have said once before, but i see God has planted so many seeds and laid so much groudwork through those who have come before us...lee and i just need to pick and disciple the harvest...God's timing is so perfect.

having a great time, walking in His path.

'night.