This One's for the Pappas and Memaws

Yummy lunch from our neighbor...she just yells over the fence to me and josh runs around to get it...she is so sweet.  She has three children in school and her husband works for the Drivers License place.  She cooks all the time...  We are so thankful for all the good neighbors around us.  We are blessed.  Neighbors are important...and our first mission field, wherever we live.

And I thought the memaws and pappas would enjoy watching their grandaughter riding her new bike...it is all she wants to do, so we take turns going out with her.  She is sweating in her little helmet, but just keeps riding in circles.  We actually have a sidewalk around the house, once her steering is more accurate...and a nice sidewalk up to the store where we sometimes buy treats...once she ready to go that far with us...

Watch Erika on her new bike...

Determined

For those who do not know this little girl...she is very determined. That can be good and bad:)

Remember the photos I found on my camera yesterday?  Well, this morning, she found her camera, got Tori to take out the batteries and for me to put new ones in...because she was determined to take her own pictures with her own camera...and she has been doing so all morning.

And here she is waiting, just waiting for me to take her on her bike.  It is a little big for her, so daddy lowered the seat this morning, but she is already learning to pedal FORWARD, not BACKWARD, which has been a hard concept.  And learning to steer...and when she needs to turn as not to go over the edge.  SHE IS VERY DETERMINED.  It is the same with her letters.  She will work and work to make them what they are supposed to be.

It is a joy to have a child that does not give up.  I only have worked with her this morning on her bike, and she has never had a bike before, and she is getting it.  I just want us to be able to direct that determination towards the right things.

It has been a blessing, to be in a home, and to begin establishing routine, especially for Erika.  We have had our routine changed so often this past year.  And that is not good for a 3, now 4 year old.  Routine is very important.  I have been so proud of her as we have had people over, and for the most part, she has been obedient.  She is definitely growing up.  And having some fun things for her to do doesn't hurt.

So, by the time Memaw and Papa visit in May, Erika will be riding her bike all over with no help...So proud of her.

We bought the bikes for the rest of us today, so they should be delivered later.  Then we can take a family ride:)  Erika will ride on the back of mine...

First time sitting down...8:30 pm

WHEW...what a day...

It has been a non-stop, no break for me, kind of day.  And I am exhausted tonight. 

This morning I thought I would take it easy and just let the kids fix themselves some cereal and/or yogurt.  I didn't take a shower first thing because I always end up getting sweaty, so thought I would wait until after I had hung up the laundry and gone to market.

So, we went to market, the bakery and a few other quick stops to be back by 9:30 to meet the electricians.  They spent all morning, rewiring some things so I can finally have a dryer, and for some of Lee's office needs.  The dryer has to stay out on the porch and I will probably still will hang most of the time, but it is nice to have a dryer for when I need it.

Oh, this is nice time to stick in...we had heard of missionaries taking months to get settled when they first went, and thought, that's crazy...we will get right to the task at hand.  Let me tell you...it is a lot of work establishing a household in a foreign land.  Can't put my finger on it exactly...culture shock, communication, different ways of doing things....but it just takes longer than moving somewhere in your own country.  Every time we feel we are almost settled, a new to-do list arises.  Two steps forward, one step backward, or something like that:)

So, getting home around 9:30, I made a big pot of beans, lunch, and cleaned the floors, washed the dishes several times, never sitting, except to maybe grade the kids' schoolwork, and it was already 2:30.  We had just laid Erika down for a nap, and I was waiting for her to go to sleep so I could shower, when it began to pour.  I had locked up the house, when I heard someone yelling my name.  My friend was out front and getting drenched.  She had come over to talk through some things with me.  From there-in, it was crazy.  Lee and Tori ran to get our bikes, but only returned with one for Erika, because the shop was closed for lunch.  I made a double batch of cookies, jumped in the shower and began making dinner, all while dealing with a very tricky situation that had come up.  Let me tell you...there were no easy answers, yet, miraculously, God took care of it.  That's what I love about Him.  Sometimes, I think we are just put in a place to see if we really will have integrity...and really remember to make decisions based on what Jesus would do, or only think of ourselves.  And then it all works out fine...We found ourselves in a dilemma this evening that GOD TOTALLY took care of.

Some pics of my day...

Apparently this is our house from a 4 year old who helped herself to my camera...perspective...

Then, being extremely busy, I had the greatest idea ever (kind of from Ms. Kelly)...have Erika scrub the oranges for me to make the OJ...then she cleaned and cleaned lots of dishes...there was water everywhere, but a happy girl and a happy mommy.

If we hadn't moved, this is totally the Christmas that we would have gotten Erika a bike.  When I saw all the pavement inside our gate, I have wanted so badly to get her one...

So, after nap today, Erika got a little Christmas...her joy was priceless.  Unfortunately, it is a little big, but that just gives her room to grow.



Our evening ended, blessing a family that was part of answered prayer for our family, providing a home and allowing us to pour into their daughter's spiritual lives.  We had a nice dinner and fellowship and Lee was able to explain to the Hsu family how God answers prayer and how God used their family to do that for our family.  It was very precious.  And then we were able to pray with them before they leave tomorrow.  They have given us permission to pour into their children and take them to church.  How Good Is our God?

Tonight, I will sleep well, thankful for God's intervention, when we need Him most.

Learning to make something without my usual backups..

If I do say so myself, my creative side has really come out here in Belize...either that or my kids are starving and just eat anything out of desperation.

I don't waste food here.  I RARELY throw anything out.  I make one large pot of beans each week, and use it somehow during the week over and over.  I even made refried beans from said pot this week...mmmm.

Today I needed coffee, and those who are my facebook friends, know they do not have my favorite creamer here.  And when I have found some similar, they are just not worth the price. I will enjoy my creamer when I am home in the states.  So, back to this morning.  I was sooo tired and needed to get motivated.  So I made my VIA coffee packet from starbucks, from my special someone who stocked me up before the move.  I then added baking cocoa, sugar, and whole milk.  This cup of coffee was more than amazing.  And gave me the pick me up I needed:)

Yesterday for lunch, after a very busy weekend, I had a fridge full of miscellaneous leftovers, and no real meal for 6 people.  I did not want to waste all the leftovers or start a fresh meal...so we ate all the leftovers.  One of the things I did was throw a little olive oil, rice, leftover chicken I had already taken off the bone, some leftover corn, and salsa and threw it all in...it was so yummy.  Or we were starving, I am not sure.

I never did that in the states.  I look back and realize how much food we just threw away.  How easily I did that because we always had so much more.  But food is expensive here.  And just establishing a household again, I just don't have as many things lying around.  I am slowly building up.  But we don't have the snacks like we did before.

But I am thankful.  My kids are not picky.  They eat what we have for the most part.  They like most of it.  Sometimes it is a flop.  Or sometimes we need to eat dinner a little earlier.  But I am having fun, building confidence, and learning to conserve and use what we have.

Oh, and for lunch, I made these potatoes cake things from all our leftover mashed potatoes.  Leftover mashed potatoes are not good.  These cake things were.  We put ketchup on them and yummmy.



Changing the subject dramatically.  Some days are hard for me.  Some days I struggle with moving away from all I know to be familiar.  Some days I really wish we could just drive to McDonalds and get a burger, actually Chickfila would be more what I like.  Some days I would really like to have a Dr. Pepper and sit and talk to my friends.

But days like today...the weather is beautiful.  My house is fairly clean, for the moment.  I have been home most of the day.  My kids are done with school early, and Josh is helping my friend do inventory at her store.  Erika is playing the Wii and Tori is working on something in her room.  Days like today, I love it here.  And it all seems familiar and right.  It seems that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.  Days like Sunday, when we sat around our living room, worshipping the same Jesus we worshipped in Katy, when we see by things people say, that God totally has sent us here.  Its days like these, that Belmopan is my home.  And I love my new home:)

Cold Water, Really???

Okay, those of you who know me...yep, I always have a bottle of this in my purse, pocket, up my sleeve, whatever...

Well, now I barely carry a purse, unless we are going really far, then I do have this and a roll of toilet paper with me, you know, just in case we go somewhere the facilities are less than pleasant.

I really do not like germs.  Some people have accused me of being germaphobic.  Not very nice.  But I have some overcoming to do here in Belize.  Some releasing of worries.   Some getting a little more laid back.

My first month in Belize, every time I did the dishes, I turned this on...

maybe even three times, depending on how many dishes we had at the meal, because there is no hot water in the sinks.  Well, I do a lot of dishes during the day here.  Sometimes it seems that is all I do all day.  Making things from scratch requires a lot of dishes, eating at home for three meals a day with three, now four kids, requires a lot of dishes...

I began to notice none of my friends had hot water either.  Then we moved into a very nice home...yep, no hot water in the kitchen...or laundry room.  We do have hot showers, thankfully, but not for cleaning things.  Don't they know how many germs we are going to get?  Then I started thinking, well, wherever I eat, they are not using hot water to wash dishes there either.  Soooo, and you know this is hard for me to admit, I have switched over.  I now wash dishes, with um, cold water, and this...

and is has made my life just a little bit easier and a little bit cooler:)

And I wash my clothes with this...

yep, in cold water, even though I always did warm in the states.  These things are a huge adjustment for me.  And hanging the clothes to dry.  No dryer.  No more soft towels...although I hear it is great for our skin.  No more smooth clothes.  A lot of them are wrinkly, but they get wrinkly once you sweat in them anyway.

Oh, and no more antibacterial soaps for our hands.  We use this, blueberry scented, mmm...

So life is different in many ways, even the way we clean. 

Becoming a little more Belizean each day:)

Busy Weekend

We are very busy down here lately.  But God is good and just helps us tick away at all the things we have to do.  Who would have known it would take so long for us to get settled? 

Friday, we woke up early and headed to the market.  Our bunk beds were built but the wrong color.  So we still wait.  But we picked up this nice rocking chair...everyone loves it.  And the Mennonites came to our house and we are having them build some things for us.  Josh also got an armoire for his room...it looks like the one in Narnia..so cool.

Then we ran various other errands: chicken store, back to the doctor, mattresses, and I can't remember what else.  Finally got someone to mow our jungle, i mean lawn.

Friday night, we had Carolyn and her kids come for dinner.  That was fun.  Then Saturday for lunch, we had a couple and their little boy, Christopher, over.  Erika and him are only 4 days apart.  They played so good together all afternoon, and she crashed as soon as they left.

Then we quickly shifted gears to have the Autery's, our friends from Katy who we stayed with our first night in Belize...come over for the night.  It was so nice just to fellowship with them.  The kids enjoyed it so much as well.  We had a full house that night, us each having 4 kids.  The girls stacked up on the girls new mattresses, the boys in the living room, and the parents each had a room.  And amazingly, all went smothly.  We even got it together to host church this morning:)  We are looking into renting a place starting in April, but are just meeting at the house for this month.

Erika found Joy's hat and had to be miss cool.

So this afternoon, I must admit I was pretty tired.  Tori and I laid on the couches to watch a really good movie called, "No Greater Love", but I think I snoozed a little in the middle, in between hanging laundry and washing every dish in the house.

But it was a good weekend.   I am still not regulated with my thyroid so am very tired.  I thought it was just moving, but now that we did my bloodwork, we saw.  So, we will get it straightened out.  But I really enjoyed serving this weekend.  I am ready to have my energy back.  I was thankful because it was actually so COLD last night...and I definitely enjoy the cooler temps.

We are just beginning to be able to reach out and meet more people.  I met our neighbor yesterday.  She was so kind.  She made something so delicious for us and when I went to thank her, she said she would love to teach me some cooking...what a blessing.  And there are just some other good things happening.  God is so good.  His timing is best and perfect.

I am beyond exhausted tonight, and have few pictures, but just wanted you to know God is good in Belmopan...

Night.

Doctor 101

Some of you who have been following my blog awhile know that I had some thyroid issues before leaving Texas.  Today I needed to go and begin the process of getting bloodwork and a doctor.  Healthcare is free or very inexpensive here in Belize.  Well, we actually pay for it every time we purchase something with 12 1/2 percent taxes.  But there are also private clinics, which is what we decided to try today.  Still extremely inexpensive compared to the US.

Definitely healthcare is somewhat in my own  hands.  It is very different.  We made an appt, but were the only ones there.  The doctor travels to different communities.   In this office, there is a peditrician, gynecologist, cadiologist and orthopedic doctor.  There is a lab and small pharmacy.  They deliver babies even.  In this little clinic.  When we went back after they got the bloodwork, there was a little baby that had been born recently.  No carseats like in America...by most.  Just held in mama's arms.

The man who took my blood was very nice.  He comes from Benque every day.  That is where we ministered to children last year on the missions trip, way up on the Guatemalen border.  The doctor was very nice.  The visit was short and sweet. 

They literally gathered only my name and age for information.  Nothing else.  In fact, we will pay tomorrow when we go back in.  They don't know our phone number, address, nothing.  It is so different than the US.

I am currently consulting my doctor in the US via email to followup on what the Dr. told me before moving forward.  I am thankful that the majority of this was already taken care of.

This will be good when we have something not too serious, but I am not sure if I had an emergency.  Of course, the hospital is bigger.  Hopefully, we will not be checking that out.

Just thought you'd like to know about going to the Doctor in Belmopan.