Scenes from Belmopan

Belmopan lies about 30 minutes east of the community we live in. It became the capital of Belize after the former capital, Belize City was all but completely destroyed by Hurricane Hattie in the early 60's. We had a few errands to run there.. and spent quite a while searching for the correct governmental building.. Hee Hee. And folks, this city is NOT big! Oh well. We finally found the correct building only after driving around for an hour or so. :)

After that, we poked around a farmer's market and ended up at an air conditioned restaurant. We have eaten out a few times here in Belize. Our family can enjoy a large meal for under $30 US. Not bad really. We would have preferred to eat at one of the local outdoor booths but our little girls were a bit of a mess as the heat index at the time was about 105! The air conditioning was worth the extra few dollars we spent. We had a lovely day, speaking to quite a few colorful and wonderful people of all nationalities and backgrounds. That is one thing we love about Belize. The diversity of the people.


Grady was able to speak with this woman who was begging at one of the buildings we visited. Everyone has a story and everyone has needs, especially spiritual ones..




Many here are open to speak about Jesus. We have found quite a few brothers and sisters in Christ who may not look like us but who love the Lord and are seeking to obey him and live for him.

Here we are, cooling off with a bit of ice cream~ Yummy! Most of us stuck with vanilla but a few were a bit more daring and ordered the sour sop ice cream. It was pretty good actually!

Mama shopping for a few used clothing items at the market

I uploaded the next three photos in random order but then looked again and thought how very sweet it is to see the diversity between all three girls.. all three have a family, though they may look differently.. and all are very much LOVED by the Lord Jesus.

The market as seen from the street

The girls captured this very sweet shot. This little child is probably about 4 years old. I foresee a hammock in my future! It seems like a very reasonable place to spend the mid afternoon when the temperature is soaring into the upper 90's!

Do you see the Washington apples in the foreground? Just a *tinge* of homesickness seeing that! :)

Little Laura was soo hot poor thing! The cool restaurant was such a luxury.

Mmmmm.. Belizean chicken. Our new favorite. I still that J. Banman makes it the best though!

The spoiled 'Americans' get a reprieve! There is *nothing* like ice cold water when you are melting into a puddle.

Ah, that hits the spot!

What a very comfortable place to eat. Everyone was friendly. They actually smiled and seemed happy to have kids in there. That has been a cultural difference that we have really enjoyed. It is normal here to have kids. And it is normal to like children. They are not seen as a burden to be shut away and ignored. They are valuable blessings.

Our last stop as we left Belmopan was to purchase a watermelon and a few cantaloupe from these very friendly Old Order Mennonites. They grow some delicious melons! :)

We then headed back to our home, very thankful for a special family day and also thankful for very cold A/C!

Playing at Anna's House

While we were making the cheese, Mandy and Ashley took turns watching the little girls. The boys explored the place and visited with Anna's parrots. :) Her home is a child's dreamworld! She and her husband have cats, kittens, horses, dogs, chickens, guinea hens, parrots and a pig. Inside she has very interactive toys for the children to play with also. My little girls did well about 3/4 of the time but did start falling apart by the time we left. Let's just say that while I was saying goodbye, Gracie was honking the horn in the van! Ugh! She has really been having a tough time lately. Especially on days when she doesn't get her nap. Mama needs to get better about not planning things during naptime, especially during this adjustment time for them. Thankfully Anna seemed very understanding. Being a mother of 14 children, she has probably seen it all! :) Hopefully we will be invited back to the wonderful world of Anna's house.



Grace really enjoyed playing with a miniature tea set



Nice Creation Grant!

Anna's Yellow Headed Parrot







This poor guy had a very difficult beginning. It appears that he picked up some very horrid language and manners from his former owner. At any given time the poor thing will begin arguing with himself in a gruff voice! Then he will begin crying like a little newborn baby. It is too funny and also a bit disturbing before knowing it is a bird, not an actual baby in distress! ;)



Wally the Hound Dog and Dutch the Shepherd


Here is an unusual combination. Ham and eggs anyone?



These two parrots are absolutely hilarious. They cry out "A-nna! A-nna!" all of the time. We also heard them call out various grandchildren's names such as "Re-becca!" and "Annn-drea!" We also noticed that the cries got louder as it grew closer and closer to dinner time!




Mandy with Lori-kins





Another adorable kitty and Grace picture! How *do* my older girls capture these shots?







Dear sweet Anna fed us some delicious homemade doughnuts for a Vesper. Vesper, pronounced fas-bah, is the German word for an in between meal. Anna also fed us some wonderful pies and canned fruit. Oh, and her delicious chicken on a tortilla! The girls and I would like to try and experiment with this recipe and see if we can make a gluten free version.

Someone is getting very tired. This was taken just moments before the horn incident. :O

Little La-La is exhausted also and ready to go home! What a wonderful time we had on Anna's farm~

Say Cheese!

One of the biggest blessings of having a cow around has been making and having fresh cheese in the house! Both Joyce and her mother in law Anna have helped the girls and I learn the process of cheesmaking. It has been such a joy to not only learn the art of cheesemaking but also visiting with some of the most lovely women that I have had the priviledge of meeting here in Spanish Lookout.

First step was to heat the milk to 90 degrees.

Then we added the cheese starter.. and waited 3/4 of an hour.

After letting it sit for 45 minutes, we added the rennet and let the milk stand for 20 more minutes. After that we cut the curd with a knife.

(I am always amazed when the milk actually reaches that stage that you can actually CUT it!)

After that we heated the milk back up to 99 or 100 degrees. After stirring and heating the milk, the curds fell to the bottom and we strained off the whey. Anna had my boys take the whey out to feed to her pig! :) That is about all whey is good for. We then broke up the curds with our fingers into walnut sized pieces.

The next step was to put the curds into cheesecloth. Anna had just gotten some new cheesecloth from Mexico. She was so kind as to cut and give me a piece of her special cloth.

Here we are, dumping the curds into the cheesecloth lined sinks. We rolled and squeezed the liquid out of the cheese through the cheesecloth.

Anna then added salt and we were ready to place the cheese in the press and let sit for 12 hours with 20 pounds of pressure.

Do you see our cheese? It is in the cheese press with a dumb bell on top of it.. hiding behind the ladder and out of the way. The elder Anna and her daughter (also named Anna) says it is a bit rustic but for us, it seemed like a great idea! :) .. We had such a wonderful day spending time with some sweet ladies and learning this new craft. Oh and by the way, the cheese was absolutely delicious!

Memorable Moments

Although my former post highlights some of our struggles, we are having a lot of fun also! (Especially after it cools down to 90 or less! :) ) I just wanted to post photos of some memorable moments we have had recently~~~

During this rainy season, there is always standing water.. This is the back porch where the washer and spinner are located. One of the funniest things about this house is that when I drain the washer or the spinner, an absolutely huge toad emerges from the drain to escape the deluge of water going down it. He and I have an agreement that he can watch me do the laundry as long as he does NOT get anywhere near me! :)

Grady and I had to run over to San Ignacio, about half hour away in order to get our van licensed in our name. A very nice Mennonite lady, whose name had been on the title accompanied us to town. She is such a dear sweet lady with a fun sense of humor! She showed us around a bit and even took me to a few second hand shops where we found some shirts for the boys. We all ventured over to the licensing station which also was a fun experience. Not only did the Belizean officer who helped us act as the gate guard, but also was the inspector of the car and lo and behold, was also the guy behind the desk, filling out the proper paper work. That guy gets around! :) We took Greta out for an ice cream and headed home. We look forward to taking the children back for another exploration trip to San Ignacio.

The streets are all decked out for the upcoming Belizean Independence, Sept 21st

Ashley and Ryan helped butcher a steer at a neighbor's home. The father and older son in the family are the local cowboys. When someone in the community has a cow which needs to be roped, they call these guys. On this particular butchering day, they received a call, requesting their services.. Ryan was able to go along and watch them catch this young Brahma who had a broken leg.

Grace brings Mama an exotic flower. Even our local friends here say it is unusual type. Oh how we are enjoying the beautiful flowers here!

'Schooling' Grace~ She wants to learn to read so badly so we are beginning with phonics



Ryan, tanning a cow hide from one of the steer he has helped butchered



Look who just moved in to our backyard! Ashley is in horsey *heaven* :)

Now this looks safe, doesn't it? And yes, Ryan WAS mowing while pulling his brother. A little foolishness here... (I put a quick end to it John B.! :) )

Everyone is having a wonderful time.. like the ultimate homeschooling adventure! But we are always aware of the suffering around us, just like at home. We are reminded again this week that we live in a lost and dying world which desperately needs Christ. Please pray for us as we have opportunities to not only share the gospel but that we would continue on the narrow way, living as Kingdom Citizens in a world which is not our own.

Our New 'Normal'

Hand washing dishes, using an electric washer/wringer and spinner and line drying clothes.. just those two things adds quite a few more hours to the weekly chores. BUT, we are loving it!

Mandy heading out to hang up laundry

'Down Time' (notice the clean laundry piled up! LOL!)

Ashley and Mama handwashing dishes



Being blessed with a cow for two months is another adjustment. It does take quite a bit of time out of the morning and evening.. but again, we are loving it and are taking full advantage of the 2 + gallons of milk we are getting daily. So far we have made butter, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt and of course a plethora of smoothies!

Here the girls untangle the little calf from a tree. In Belize many animals are simply tied out in a yard. Like for Miss Daisy in this picture.. she definitely does not need a huge pasture. Plus our friends may do this to keep her more tame.. not sure.

Good job girls!



Yummy 'Cheddar' Cheese


Schoolwork at home is difficult here as the hours seem to speed by at an enormous rate of speed! I am so grateful for the girls' help. They have been such a blessing to me in these past few weeks especially. The heat adds just an extra element to every task. I do feel as though we are adjusting fine though and making headway. We are praying that the little girls get acclimated soon and that will help with some general fussiness and acting out which we are struggling with.

A typical 'School Room' scene at the McDonald Home
(on a productive day! :) )

Ashley helps the boys with their Biology

Mama with the three youngest. I think all three of these guys are having the hardest time adjusting to all things new and missing home. Please keep them in your prayers~ Blessings from all of us!

A Tale of Two Marias

We had 2 visitors in the past 2 days.. both named Maria. The first Maria grew up in this home and her mother owns it. She had brought over 2 of her mother’s old goose down feather pillows to recover. It is such a messy job she decided to come here to the farmhouse to the little cement room out back. When she was a little girl she and the other children had the job of plucking the geese for stuffing in that very cement room. Maria told us that it takes approximately 15 geese to make one pillow! Maria showed the boys and I how she made sure to double stitch each seam with a very small straight stitch so that the feathers didn’t stick through the seam and poke through. She proudly spoke of how Mother had made each adult child 2 pillows for a wedding gift. It was a time consuming and messy labor of love. The elderly 84 year old grandmother's pillowcases were old and worn but now have been restuffed with the feathers complete with lovely bright white cotton pillowcases.. What a sweet circle of events~ It was a very sweet lesson and afternoon.


Grant observing Maria restuffing the pillows



Taking the feathers out of the old cases


The finished product!




The second Maria has been the maid to the owner of this home, 84 year old Anna. Maria comes every Tuesday still just as she has done for Mrs. T for 15 years. We thought that we could sacrifice the $15 per week in order to gain a little help on the laundry and to continue providing the earnings for Maria and her family. Yesterday, Amanda, Laura and I had the opportunity to drive her home in a downpour. Home to Maria is a small neighboring village. As we drove along in our van, it was apparent when the road switched from those maintained by Spanish Lookout. I was a bit concerned that the van would not make the trip! Washed out roads, potholes galore and having to make my way through streams which had taken over the road in places. We finally made our way to her house. Like many third world homes, it mainly consists of a large palm and vegatation covered porch where most of their living takes place. The porch had their kitchen table as well as their kitchen with an outdoor raised cooking pit. They graciously bade us to sit down and visit a while. Chickens ran everywhere.. I was so wishing I had taken my camera as it was just such a picuresqe home. Maria's father had a stroke last year and just sits on the covered porch while Maria's mother does all of the housework. Maria is in her thirties and has a 5 year old daughter but the father is not in the picture. I realized that the $15 US per day that Maria makes M-F is what this family lives on. They have so little in comparison to what we are used to and yet they are loving and warm beyond what we are accustomed to. Please pray for Maria and her sweet little family. I hope that we are able to come back to her place for another visit and next time bring my camera and the whole family.








While both Marias have very different backgrounds and families, both are such delighful ladies. Please keep both Marias in your prayers.