The McDonald Family

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

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!)

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Cayo Trip and Our First Day

The first morning dawned and I just laid in bed, listening to the beautiful birds. Oh how I love it here in Belize! We decided to get ready and head into Cayo to get some groceries and things that were needed for the house. After our return, Grady worked on some finishing touches on the dining table he was making for our family. The poor guy had so many projects (and still does!) just to get us functioning and up and running here.. it is a blessing that the boys are just that much older and can help so much.