Botanical Garden Delight

Such a delightful find! While travelling down the five mile long BUUMMPPYY dirt road it did not *seem* like such a great find but once we actually arrived at the unassuming gardens we were thrilled to realize that we had found one of the most lovely places on earth! Our only regret was that we arrived a little late in the afternoon and had too little time to admire each and every tree and plant. We have plans to go back again very soon, maybe with Nana and Papa in March, Lord willing.

Travelling down the long road toward the gardens, we had to pause for some pedestrians (can cows be pedestrians?)

Checking out the flower guide and children's activity pages that were given our families

This beautiful flower is appropriately called 'cat's whiskers'







Nice shot Ash!

Our lovely Mandy

Josiah and Grant peer over the bridge in the orchid house

These palms were absolutely stunning! At least 6 ft tall..

We arrived late enough in the day that they were already leading the horses back to the barn. Ashley was extremely disappointed not to be able to ride.. maybe next time~

Hosanna Inion

Josiah points out a coffee tree/plant. He knew this would be of interest to Sister Kelly!

The girls climbed up these stairs to the fire lookout fort

Mandy and Hannah at the top of the fort

While the grown ups were visiting down below, Jeremiah stealthily sneaked off and climbed a flight of stairs to join the little girls! Sj quickly climbed up to bring him back down. What a great climber!

Hello boys! Did you have a great time, overlooking the lovely Savannah and Botanical Gardens?

Sweet Ashley

What a cute line up!

After the Botanical Gardens we found a very clean little fast food place where we enjoyed the yummiest $1.50 tacos! Sj also treated the little girls to a banana milkshake. It was an open restaurant, without walls. There was a nice little playground for the children to enjoy too. It was very strange to be eating on picnic benches outside, one week before Christmas.. in 80 degree weather at 7 pm. We had such a nice time.. fellowshipping and also visiting with the very gregarious owners of the place. We felt so blessed to have found such a great place to finish out the great day.

Laura enjoyed looking at the tree

What a cutie-pie!

Best Friends

A fun treat and nice way to end a very relaxing and lovely day. What a blessing to have special friends to share time together. We are blessed that here in Belize we have many people who we have grown to love.

Amanda

Many people have been asking about Mandy lately. It is so difficult to answer because she will improve for a week or two and then the symptoms start getting bad again. Last week she was doing well. This week she is not doing well at all. She has spent most of her time in bed.. with a bad headache, aching muscles and a racing heartbeat again. Today we spoke with a Spanish Lookout friend who has had many of the same issues with her daughter. They found no help here in Belize but instead had to travel to Guatemala and Mexico. We need prayer for wisdom! We are not happy with the stories that we have heard in regard to the medical care either of these places provide. Do we go home for a few months in order for her to see her physician? Do we send her home with Nana? Please pray for us as we seek the Lord with these decisions.

Merry Christmas from Belize!

Christmas Day itself was for the most part a flop. We decided to head out toward Chetumal, MX for the day which is a 3 hr drive but ran into car trouble half way there and had to head back home. Thankfully though we were able to make it home! We were also blessed enough to give three Mamas and six children a ride to their daughter's christening party. We did end up being able to enjoy a nice evening with our friends the Inions who invited us over for hot cider, fellowship and a hymn sing. That definitely ended the day on a blessed note ♥



We loved this shot with the Evergreen tree with the palm in the foreground

This man was carrying a Christmas treeand other holiday decorations into their church. It was probably 90 degrees the day this photo was taken! For us Washintonians this was a funny scene!






Nothing like a fun night of Christmas shopping with your friendly neighborhood armed guard watching over you and your fellow shoppers~ kinda kills the ambiance of the Holiday Season

This float was being decorated for a Christmas Parade. There isn't much commercialism in regard to the Christmas Season.. you don't see a lot of ads for toys, credit card debt.. etc but definitely Christmas is a BIG deal here in Belize.. we saw all sorts of parades, carolling, and many other festivities.

This 'Santa' heads into Mega Foods for some last minute shopping

Pointsettas grow prolifically around here. Some plants are 8 feet high!

Christmas Tamales

Every year for the past few it has been the same question.. how should we celebrate Christmas, or should we, as Christians even do so? Now to some Believers that sound ridiculous.. of course we should! We all know that Jesus was not born on December 25th but what a blessing to take a portion of each year and set it apart to remember Jesus miraculous birth.. that he was born in a manger to seek and save the lost.. Others would say that Christmas-time is full of idol worship and consumerism which is *not* biblical. There is a huge discrepancy within Christianity as a whole as to which camp has it *right*. I know that I am oversimplifying on both sides here but you get the idea. Our family camps right in the middle of those two opinions. So every year we wonder.. what do we do or not do for Christmas?

In the end, we did not decorate the house or purchase any gifts for our children.. more out of the lack of finances as opposed to conviction (at least for this year) We and another family were blessed however to be invited to a Spanish village to enjoy traditional Christmas (Eve) tamales. We were able to spend a special evening with this special family. In the end, Grady and I think the children received a very special gift for Christmas.. the gift of seeing a family whose children are excited to receive an apple and an eraser for Christmas.. and the gift of serving others. What will we do next year? Stockings, lights and gifts? Nothing? Who knows.. but this year we made memories which will not soon be forgotten.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 KJV

Our very special friend Rudy with his aunt and cousins

This dear elderly lady whose name is Roberta is raising 7 of her grandchildren alone



Roberta knows how to make a house a home ~

The Sebens Visit

I can only imagine some of the stories our wonderful friends Jake and Jim shared with their family when they returned home! I will let the photos speak for themselves.. We had such a blessed time with these two brothers from back home.. the only thing missing was the rest of their very precious family ♥

A joyous reunion

Jake spent a lot of his time here studying his Bible. He especially enjoyed studying the Spanish/English Bible that he purchased at the market.

Ok well there was some goofing around also! My silly kids rubbed off on him I guess~ :)


Need I say more?

A walk to the back of the property where we live

The boys enjoyed running around this park-like yard we are so blessed to enjoy







The Sebens were amazed at home much company we always have, coming and going.This is the nice man who brings us produce on Tuesdays

Brent and Sj Inion purchased a milk cow during the Sebens stay. They housed it here with our cow for a week while they put up a fence at their place. It was fun to see them twice daily when they came to milk..

Much of Jim's time here was spent helping Grady with car problems

In addition, Jim helped Grady work on a project- Grady was commisissioned to make 5 children's wagon boxes..

Here Ashley is experimenting with her new lens.. she took this through some yellow safety glasses! :)




Grady and Jim accompanied our friend Abe to lower Belize to look at some property which is for sale.

Here the guys are looking to see if this bridge they were supposed to cross was safe enough. Aparently Abe was laughing hysterically that they were so concerned about it. There is definitely a difference here in regard to 'safety standards'. Many things in Belize would cause OSHA would have a fit!

Here Jim is deciding which lovely hammock to purchase and bring back to his lovely wife who served back at home, caring for their other 5 children. We were so blessed to have our two brothers here. It was such a wonderful time of serving and sharing with one another. I pray that we get to see their family sometime soon.

Maria's sister Maria

It may seem like I am making up the fact that every woman we are in touch with here is either named Maria or Anna but I am not! :) Those two names are some of the most common within both the Mennonite and Spanish speaking people here.
I blogged a few months ago about little Maria who used to work for the elderly woman who owns this house. She has worked here for 15 years and even now comes about every other week to weed and keep up on the house. She lives in an outlying village called San Marcos which is about a 5 or 10 minute drive from here. Since we are located at the end of the dirt road which leads to San Marcos, (little) Maria parks her bike here at the house in order that the Mennonite ladies she works for can pick her up. We have really enjoyed getting to know her. We have driven her home many times.. not wanting her to ride her bike in the pouring down rain. The children were shocked at first to see how (little) Maria lives.. chickens running through their outdoor kitchen and living area.. no electricity and 6 people living in a shelter about the size of a shed. Now it is all familiar as we have been visiting many times now. Recently we had the opportunity to go and sing for (little) Maria's sick father at the house. Jim and Jake were able to come with us also. We were able to sing for him as well as pray for the Lord to heal him and deliver him from his pain. I was very grateful that the children did so well even though it was growing dark when we got there.. the small room where he lives was almost pitch dark except for one candle.. we all sang our hearts out to the Lord for this feeble man. Everyone was crying actually.. it was one of those special moments which has made this whole difficult path worth the while..
While we were there we discovered that (little) Maria's sister.. named Maria (!) has been suffering from severe headaches to the point of blacking out. She had a perscription which they could not afford to fill. Thanks to the donations from the States, we were able to return the next day with medication and a small amount of groceries. The sick Maria was so apprciative. She told us that the Lord was encouraging her so much just from us coming to visit her and helping them. She cried and thanked us so many times.. just for caring. I do not say that to glorify us in any way.. it is just amazing how much it means to others when we all just take the time to reach out a bit.. we can all do that, right? You see, our Maria works for $25 per day to provide for her family, her elderly mother and father and her sister and her children. It just has not been enough to provide the necessities for all three families. A story we are hearing all too often. Please pray for wisdom again as to maybe how we can help them figure out a small cottage industry which would provide for their family. And please pray that they would be encouraged to press on in their difficult situation. None of us can imagine the heartache of watching our children go to bed hungry. Lord give us all a heart for the poor.

James 2:5. Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

Maria's Home

Kelly, Maria and Maria

(little) Maria's daughter