MIA

It has been a LONG time since this "regularly updated" blog was updated. I'm really sorry about that. I almost have a good excuse. Two weeks ago, the boys and I were sick. Nothing debilitating, just nasty hacking coughs and about as much energy as you would find in pond scum. :-/ We got better...just in time for Taylor and I to catch the stomach bug that was making it's way around. Taylor was EXTREMELY considerate to wait until I was better before he caught my crud. Then we got better again. We took no pictures. This is probably a good thing.

On a much more exciting note, Taylor did get the privilege of teaching and preaching for several days this past week! There was a group campers here for an "English Camp", meaning a camp where the meetings were held in English and attended by bilingual Honduran young people. There are many bilingual schools here, where for the upper grades, all classes are held in English. Taylor talked about some of the scientific marvels that leave us in awe of their Creator, about the uses and limitations of what can be studied using science, and about the history of death (how it came into a perfect creation and what the Creator did to remedy it). It was an awesome privilege for us to feel like we were able give a clear gospel message here. This whole language-learning process tends to leave us feeling pretty useless often enough. Blah. Maybe one day this will be different. :D

The Pila

In Bible Study tonight, we read the chapter where Rebecca watered the servant's camels and later went with the servant to become Isaac's wife. I was following pretty well until we got to the part where she poured out her water jar into the trough (translated in Spanish as the "pila"). I completely lost the next few thoughts giggling over my own mental picture...for you see, the only way I had ever heard that word before refers to the contraption pictured above. I don't know, the thought of a caravan of camels surrounding the rub-board in our back yard (complete with soap suds in my imagination) just made me smile. Now, I really do know that this is NOT at all what the translators had in mind, but it made me think I should post some pictures... so: what is a pila?

A "Pila" (peelah) is a wonderful outdoor sink/washboard attached to a water tank, usually near the back door...the pila is intended for handwashing clothes, but is also quite invaluable for rinsing out mops or hosing off muddy children.) Now, we have the use of a washing machine, which we use for most of our clothes, (Thank you, Don Jim! :), but we have found that dirty-grimy-little-boy socks get a LOT cleaner when they are actually scrubbed. Besides, it's just too cute to watch my "three little kittens wash their mittens" (or socks, as the case may be. ;-)

a Taylorite update

We have had a really nice week just being "here"...we have had Spanish lessons, we have walked to town, we have gone to Bible Study, but we haven't done much out of the ordinary... which means that we have actually done school. ;-) Yeah!!! We've been enjoying reading through Little Pilgrim's Progress out loud. We like to do at least some of our school work outside...which can be distracting in both a bad and a good way... today it was in a good way: when we sat down to read, we found out that the little ferns we were sitting by would fold their leaves up if you touched them! So...Glory drew them in our notebook and the boys ran around seeing how many ferns they could pester. ;)

It's been a really long time since I updated about the kids' current interests/projects, so for those who are interested, here's what we are up to:

Glory loves to have her nose in a book (surprise, surprise :) but lately she has really been enjoying playing house in the woods with her doll, 'Charlotte', and is continually braiding pine needles into bracelets, rings, and crowns. Her Spanish pronunciation is coming along really well...and reminds us why we are here while our kids are small. She has also started helping me rinse dishes on a regular basis, and is a wonderful help watching Nate. Nate is pulling up on anything he can find and has started really liking to have us walk him around while holding his hands. He likes to clap when people sing. He likes to laugh at funny faces...which is where Levi comes in. ;) Levi is getting to be a really good tree-climber and enjoys a chance to run. Periodically he will come up to me very proud and out of breath and say, "Whew! Mama, do you want to feel my sweat?" (Ummm, not particularly??!!) . Dan? He is my shadow. He sits on the kitchen counter and helps me "took". He takes it as his personal responsibility to walk with me to the house up the hill to wash clothes. (We have graciously been given the use of the washing machine there.) If he holds the door for me and helps put the soap in, he can sometimes convince me to let him ride on my back like a monkey on the way back. He carries on a happy little stream of verbage that is almost understandable. But what he lacks in clarity, he completely makes up for in voice inflection...and though Taylor still accuses him of throwing in some Quechua every now in then, he really IS getting easier to understand. :) I guess that's about it - thanks for reading my ramble! :)

The Birthday Boy

Thursday Nathanael turned one! :D The big kids and I made our little cookie monster sugar cookies instead of birthday cake. If the speed he ate them and the amount of crumbs that flew are any indication, he liked them just fine. ;) We wanted to get him something to take back to Tx, so we bought him a top...the kind with a string; now we just have to find somebody that can show us how to make it go. ;) Grandma and Pa sent him a balloon ball with a cloth cover which he thinks is amazing. Glory made him a card that he is STILL wagging around. Grandma Migl and Granny B sent cards too...Thank you, everybody! Friends here took us out to eat pupusas (a "local dish" that the experts say is really from El Salvador...though it has certainly become a favorite here in Valle.) We also bought roasted corn from the roadside vendor; Nate spent the whole time we were in the restaurant AND the whole way home gnawing corn off of that cob! After we got back, Granny B skyped us - complete with a lit birthday cake. :) Grandma and Pa called to say good night, ending a VERY full, first birthday!

Family adventure day :)

(Samuel's House)

A few weeks ago, we were planning to be in Nicaragua...when we didn't have to go, it gave us an extra Saturday! So... we took the opportunity to hike out to a neighboring community called Sauce ("sahw-seh") where several of the saints live. Since there are no house numbers, we didn't think we would actually get to visit anyone, but we wanted to explore the area - and we needed a destination. We had a great time walking together and were blessed to have one of the men from the assembly drive by just as we got to the outskirts of the community. He was headed into Valle, but took the time to drive us to his house...so that we could find it again. We gladly accepted the coke they bought for us and then their teenaged son was shanghaied to be out tour guide - Eli spent the next hour or so walking with us showing us where everyone else lived. :) We were really hot and tired by the time we walked back to the camp, just in time for a late lunch and quiet time. I was SO proud of the Glory and Levi - they walked the whole way with not so much as a grumble...
in fact, by the end, I think it was us old parent-people who were slowing up Levi's progress. ;)

Doña Paula's house

Doña Paula laughed at me for taking a pic. of her stove. :)

Eli showing us some figs

Closed Doors, Opened Doors

Pic #1: Friday's Honduran lunch, provided by friends.
Chicken, pataste, beets, tomates, tajadas, and corn tortillas.

Yet another Honduran adventure came to us last Friday as we were preparing to leave the country and renew our visas. We got all packed up, Taylor took off time from work in preparation for our travel, and we headed down to Tegucigalpa to buy tickets and stay the night, since according to the Tica Bus website, the bus for Nicaragua leaves at 9am. We met some new friends who drove us down.
Door opened!

Alesha and the kids were dropped off at the Wooler's while Esteban and I went to buy tickets. At the bus station, I found out the the bus for Esteli, Nicaragua has not been running for 3 years! Moreover, the manager of the bus station informed us, very authoritatively, that THEY KNEW THE NEW VISA RULES! and that there have been no recent changes and that we would have to go all the way to Costa Rica! I was not expecting this; I had read several articles and talked with a lady who worked in the government offices (but I was not exactly sure what she did), so I was not 100% sure what to do.
Door closed!

Esteban and I left the bus station not really sure where to head next. We ended up at the new Immigration offices. The Lord opened the door to us there when they affirmed that we only had to cross the Honduran border and return...whew!
Door opened!

There was not enough time to grab the bus to Nicaragua so, having all of the passports, I applied for a 30 day extension to our visas. However, the immigration office was currently in the process of moving. The lady we talked with pointed to a big semi-truck and basically said that the necessary forms were somewhere in there and would not be available until Wednesday or Thursday.
Door closed!

After talking with her some more, she looked at our visas and saw they they would expire on Monday. If we did not renew them soon, then we would be subject to a heavy fine. So, she wrote us some kind of ticket that would allow me to fill out the required paperwork and pay for my extensions. Then all I should have to do is return to the immigration office later the next week and hand over my forms and proof of payment.
Door opened!

And THAT is the story about why we are still in Honduras this weekend. It was a stressfully exciting time. We are still praying that this arrangement will work out next week when I have to return to the Immigration office. Thank for your prayers and concerns.

Pic #2: Victoria, the lady who made our lunch on Friday.

Enjoy!
Taylor

Road Trip!

Since we have tourist visas, every 3 months, we have to leave Honduras for at least 48 hrs. So...this weekend we plan to go to Esteli, Nicaragua, and visit the brethren there before turning around and coming back. (It should be about a 6 hr. bus ride from Tegucigalpa.) I have much to get finished this morning before we go, but I wanted to let y'all know that we would be without internet this weekend.

Because Christ paid for my pardon,
Alesha<><