The guys' road trip thru Mexico..

The guys were blessed enough to have our friend Ivan Page drive down to TX with them. He read them scripture while they drove and was a great encouragement for the guys. He also helped drive which was a great big help!

Visiting the Redwoods!

Look how tiny Grant is in this pic

replacing the battery

Ivan sports a new look! :-)

Somewhere in Texas, they discovered that the back end and rear side of the trailer were coming apart! They had to do some serious repair work in the Home Depot parking lot. Thankfully the fix is really holding up well.

 

This tire shop provided the spare they needed for the van. They had run out of time to purchase one in WA

In El Paso, TX they took a few hours and handed out tracts at this complex. They had a great conversation with a young man who was washing folks' headlights.

Look at Grant's new hat! Very cute Grant!:-)

 

Through the southern states they saw such beautiful cactus

 

They guys spend quite a few nights in this Walmart parking lot near the border as their paperwork was being prepared to cross into Mexico

After getting to the border, Grady found out that the driver who he would be following through would not be able to meet him after all.. the idea of driving through MX without knowing a route to take was a bit daunting. However, the LORD provided a very kind and helpful Belizean who agreed to let the guys follow him through Mexico. You will have to ask Grady the details of the trip.. there were a few harrowing experiences that had they not had their new friend, they would have been in a dire situation. What a blessing that the Lord provided him!

 

 After finding out the guide could not meet them, they spent a day trying to figure out what to do.. then the border crossing was closed over the weekend.. so Grady and his new guide planned to cross on Monday.. but then the border was also closed on Monday due to an incident.. so finally Tuesday morning, the guys and their new Belizean friend were able to cross, after being in Texas for 6 days.

 

 

 

They pretty much drove day and night. While driving through, you normally find a group to travel with. You are less likely to be robbed if travelling with a group of cars.

 

And passed through many tolls.. notice the pig truck in this pic (this one is for you Justin! :-)  )

 

Ryan says there were so many of these little stands along the road, curiously many of them sold the same exact types of statues and trinkets. Not much variety he said..

 

The group they were travelling with took a wrong turn and ended up in a run down  little town..where some very bad things had recently happened. Grady's new friend was alarmed once he realized where they were.. but they had been driving straight for 11 straight hours and really had no other choice but to stay at this hotel and sleep for a few hours. Let's just say the boys didn't get a lot of sleep that night..

 

They saw the most amazing things.. this flatbed has dumptruck beds, quads, three tractors and a car. Unfortunately this vehicle crashed on it's way through. We are unsure if the driver made it or not..

 

This is a semi, hauling three other tractors and a car

 

This is their friend in front.. they had to stay very, very close to his bumper the whole time so as not to get cut off and separated.  Sadly a car who was following my guys ended up being separated off from their group and robbed at gunpoint. The people were not harmed thankfully.

 

Grady couldn't believe what his van and trailer were able to pass through! Washed out culverts, mountains steep hills, 2 1/2 foot potholes at 50 mph and more! The guys are standing behind me saying this was one of the better roads.. their description of the trip does not compel me to want to follow that route any time soon!

 

They made it all the way through MX to Chetumal MX, which is just on the other side of the Belizean border in just 3 days! With the road conditions taken into consideration, that was really fast! Over 1500 miles.. They parted ways with their Belizean friend and stayed over night at this hotel

It had a nice safe yard to park the truck and trailer in

 

Grant walks the dog

 

Bright and early they left out for the border. They spent 5 hours in customs where the trailer and truck were inspected and they figured out what duties were owed. They spent that night in Corozal, BZ and were so happy to finally arrive in sunny Belize!

 

 

 

 

Sweethearts After All These Years

After months of preparing to move and being super busy, the children decided that Valentines Day was a good day for Grady and I to have a date night. Now in SLC, the restaurant is open later than  Western Dairies so we stopped off there FIRST for dessert.. (they have yummy ice cream!) and then onto the Golden Corral for dinner.  Unconventional I know but we sure enjoyed it! :-)

 

Ashley snapped a picture of us in front of the mango tree before we headed out

 

And actually it is a good thing that we filled up at Western Dairies first.. because The Golden Corral was soo busy, it being Valentines Day, that they actually forgot our order. No, really. After visiting for 1 /1/2 hours we suddenly realized that we still had not gotten our food. And that other customers had come and gone after we had ordered! They were super apologetic and got our food very quickly once they discovered their mistake. They were super professional and kind. It was a very understandable mistake. But like I said, we were happy for that first course of coffee and rum raison ice cream! It was a blessing to catch up and spend some alone time. Town shuts down at 8:30 so it wasn't a late night but very enjoyable nonetheless. I love you honey! Thank you for being such a wonderful husband and daddy! X0X0X0

Our New Milk Connection

While living in Washington, we belonged to a great raw milk co-op which we really appreciated. We have very strong feelings about feeding our family raw milk as opposed to milk which has been altered by homogenizing and pasteurizing. (for further info on raw milk, I suggest you read this book)http://www.amazon.com/The-Untold-Story-Milk-Contented/dp/0967089743I  Now, I *know* there is much controversy over this topic but for us, we only drink the raw stuff. Here in this community you can go two ways. You can either purchase milk from the farmer before the milk truck comes to get it or pay twice as much and purchase it at the store after being processed. As I have already alluded to, we prefer the first option! :-) Anyhow, we were excited to get connected with a farmer who allows customers to come to the tank, fill up bottles of milk and put payment into the box provided.

It was fun for us to see the milk going from the cow..

Directly into this sterile flask

 

Can't get much more fresh than this!

 

And into this chilled tank

We simply fill the jugs and then wash the spigot with water with the hose provided..

and only $2.50 per gallon! Thank you to Jehovah Jireh who provides so well for our family, from the big things to the small things like good fresh milk at an affordable price. :-)

Bus Wash!

The other day we were blessed to go and help our friends wash their bus which they would soon be moving into. Mr K has a heart for the lost and they see their move as a way which helps them to be more mobile to preach the gospel. They have a nice spot to park it while they are not on the road which is close to his work.. it was such a blessing to help them out in this way as they seek to serve the Lord. It has been a blessing to reconnect with them once again.

 

In Belize, green moss grows very quickly on *everything* mold grows fairly quickly as well..

At first the thought of Grant on the top of a slippery wet bus scared me to death.. and Daddy had already dropped us off so the decision was on my shoulders.. but I acquiesced and say ok. (gulp) Turns out these boys were veteran bus washers and they taught him the ropes and safety rules in no time. And no accidents thankfully! :-)  

Little Laura gets in on the action too!

Mrs. K snaps a pic

Looking nice guys!

 

After all the hard work the boys enjoyed taking turns with the slingshot. We ate a meal together and shared our hearts and fellowship one with another. A lovely day

 

Getting the House up & Running

When we first moved into this house back in August 2011, our friend John described living here as 'glorified camping'! Although it is *much* nicer than that, there are things about the house which make it a bit more difficult to live in than in the States. Our water situation is always an issue. We have piped river water which we use for laundry and outdoor use. We also have a cistern located out front which is filled by rain water for cooking and theoretically drinking. During the dry season we normally purchase rain water to put into the cistern. Moving in this time, the cistern had been drained so we purchased a few hundred gallons.. only to find that the cistern was dirty and the newly purchased water couldn't be used for drinking or cooking. That was a disappointment and a cost. SO, the next step is to have someone (Grant has volunteered!) to climb into the small opening on top of the cistern, climb down a narrow ladder into the inside of the cistern and clean it out so that we can fill it back up with clean water. (stay tuned for that fun post! :-) )

In addition, the laundry is always an issue for us. This time Grady decided to purchase a larger washer/spinner and attach a small filter onto the river water line so that our clothes come out cleaner. Already I see a difference in the amount of time laundry takes and I am SO grateful! Before we had a much smaller washer/spinner which was much less efficient. Between the larger capacity and the filtered river water things are going much smoother now! We absolutely love this house and are so grateful for the opportunity to return back to the same place. It is such a blessing that the little girls especially can settle back in so well since they both have many fond memories of this home.

My new washer/spinner

 

Grady affixed a hose to the machine as well as a valve to the pipe that I can switch off and on the water, instead of holding the hose to fill.

Great set up Daddy! Thank you!

 

 

We brought down some very ugly outdoor wicker furniture.. we decided to cover over the chipping-off paint with some new paint. Ashley takes advantage of the lovely sunny weather and spays a new coat of paint on it.

 

Looks nice Ash!

 

 

Butter is so expensive here! We found some cream on sale which Ashley and Amanda have been using to make butter at home. It is a blessing to have fresh butter

Ryan fixes the school room screened windows. There are so many fewer bugs in the house now! Thanks Rye!

 

Laura eats on the rough table

Poor Gracie is sick again..

 

Dad and Mom check out the back yard, trying to figure out a place for the dog run

Our 'chop chop' boys

Pretty fruit in our back yard

.. and flowers

 

Sitting around eating dinner

Time to finish the table!

Lots of helpers!

Yeah! Such a nice table Daddy!

Mandy takes a moment to play the piano

Our ladies decide to make the first batch of Belizean cookies!

Mmmmmmm.. oatmeal cookies hot and tasty

 

The girls get their new kittens. Grace named her kitten Mittens and Laura named hers Francis

Grant makes  himself a great shelf for his bedroom! The boys love the moderate weather here which allows them to be outside every day, rain or shine!

Ryan starts building a bridge/walkway over the muddy part of our yard

He takes off for a short sunset bike ride! (We love BELIZEAN sunsets!)