Coffee coffee coffee

Showing us how to pick coffee beans

I love my coffee. I love sitting in the morning and starting my day with a nice hot cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer. Up until yesterday, I just sat and enjoyed my coffee without understanding how much work goes into making that wonderful cup of morning goodness. A neighbor, Betty, invited me to make coffee with her yesterday. And, oh my word, what a lot of work it is. :)

So I already knew that up our mountain they grow coffee beans. Once, when we were up the mountain doing a Sunday service, a community member showed us how to know when the beans were ripe and how to pick them. So now I was excited to know the rest of the process.







I got to her house about 8, with my kids and granola bars in tow. She had the fire going and the pan hot and ready for us to start. She started by taking several bowl's full of green beans (8-10 cups?) that had already been shucked from their skins and dried in the sun.

tossing the coffee beans around

She poured the beans onto the hot pan and started mixing them with 2 large spoons.
This was so they didn't burn, to also rotate the beans and later on, I learned that it cooled them off a bit when they were tossed up in the air. This process took about a half an hour. When this process was done, the beans were brown/black and smelled like roasted beans with a slight hint of coffee.

 
 

 
 

Betty, then poured the beans into another large pot and shook them around and blew the ash and pieces of husk off of the newly roasted beans.

Me trying to roast the beans - I was concerned that I was going to burn them



Hannah and Betty Grinding the beans

Then came the work. We placed a cup or so of roasted beans into a hand crank grinder. And we ground, and ground, and ground until the bowl was full. Now, at this point it started to smell amazing!! Aaaahhh the sweet smell of fresh coffee.

Soon it was my turn to grind while Betty's daughter brewed us up a fresh cup of coffee.  It was so yummy!!!

Some other things I learned as we were visiting was that it isn't good for your body to roast coffee this way everyday. Something with the smoke or something. Also, because you are in front of the fire and using your wrist constantly to stir the beans - they say not to shower immediately afterwards because of the extreme change in temperature - that it would make your wrists sore. (this is also because they use cold water to bathe.)





Ahhh this is the freshest it gets

It was a very fun experience but I am glad I don't have to do this everyday. :) The best part however was being able to share a morning with my neighbor and enjoy a cup of coffee with her. I truly enjoy getting to know the people I live with.

Betty roasts all of El Ayudante's coffee. I get to enjoy it every morning.

coffee with friends

While we were busy roasting, Isaac made a friend. He and Rodrigo played cars,
 chased the chickens and shared a granola bar.



 

Ballet in Honduras

Last week Hannah had her first dance recital in Honduras! This was completely amazing (1) because it was all in Spanish and (2) her friends from church were gone so she got to make new friends.

Hannah had done dance for several years while we lived in the states and moving to Honduras meant she wasn't able to do her 'normal' girly things. One thing Jeremie and I had prayed for was that we would find a ballet program for her to join. We also prayed that she would make some friends and learn Spanish.

God is Good!!!

 
 












She has made several friends in the community where we live and she is starting to make friends in her ballet class. And speaks in Spanish!! ( there are also a lot of giggles and pointing)

Anyway, this ballet was definitely a learning curve for us all. First of all, I had to search downtown (yes the market) to find a lady named Lola, who was the seamstress that made the outfits. I found her!!! Her shop was downtown, down a sidewalk, in the second story of a bookstore - that didn't sell books, only notebooks and pencils :) Next, Hannah didn't understand why you would put feathers on a yellow sequin skirt with pink tights. :)

Another funny thing were the instructions we received about the dance itself. The teacher instructed us to make sure she ate a lot of chocolate to keep her energy up and to reduce water intake. HUMMM



The Dance itself was really fun. Yes, they started an hour late (and is very cultural) and they sold dinner plates at the back of the auditorium. Honduras is very relational, so of course you serve food!! The ballet had many traditional ballet type dances. They also incorporated a few traditional dances and one all about soccer (yes the world cup is a BIG DEAL)

Oh, and the music was soooo loud!! Isaac sat on my lap covering his ears with my hands and his hands - poor kid.

The soccer song :)

It was so special to be able to be a part of this. Really being able to be a part of the country where we live. I am so proud of my daughter!! She is amazing. She was willing to do something so big because she loves to dance. Another amazing thing was that because we live with my sister, Auntie Beth and Maddy were able to go. Something that they have missed out on - the normal family stuff.








Hannah 'helping' the girl behind be in the correct position

she did such a good job

 



Isaac enjoying the snacks before the recital started

Little Man Turns Three!!

This week my little dude decided to have a birthday. How did three years happen already?

Tristan giving the instructions for the scavenger
hunt at middy's party

 Memorial day week is a busy week for us. Sunday, was Maddy's birthday. She had a fun party with some local friends, snacks and a piñata.


Monday was our 13 wedding anniversary!! Jeremie and I spent the day in Siguatapeque - a town about an hour away - through the mountains. It is a bit cooler there and had a restaurant we wanted to try.













On the way, we stopped at all the little shops on the side of the road. We shopped looked in town, and sat at center square. Lunch was wonderful and had a great atmosphere. It was very nice to sit and talk without any interruptions :)


Wednesday, the parties continued with Isaac's birthday!!! While Jeremie did an airport run, Beth, me and the kids went to town to a play land. The kids ran and ran!!!

Ali, Hannah, Isaac, and Maddy eating paletta's (homemade fruit popsicles)

Later on in the day, we played in the water and had a bonfire complete with hotdogs, race car cake and a piñata. It was really nice to be able to share his day with his cousins and friends.  It was such a fun day to be able to bless Isaac and let him feel incredibly special.

cars race track cake - he didn't understand why his cars where stuck in the cake
 

In true Honduran fashion - a car piñata!!

birthday bonfire

We had matching capes on all day :)

His favorite things:

food - macaroni and cheese, spaghetti

           he has recently tried tortilla's and likes them!!! (won't do beans yet though)

toys - cars and trucks - basically anything with wheels

loves playing in the mud and sand

will help daddy with his tools any chance he can get

loves snuggling with mommy and he likes to know where I am

sleeps and brings his blanket everywhere

he loves his sister

likes sleeping - as longs as the sun doesn't wake him up to early

he like to joke, laugh, hide and run away

He loves his Grandpa - papa

has learned that flip flops are for killing bugs - not necessarily for wearing

 

 

 

Isaac David is such a blessing to our family. Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Samana Santa Week

Semana Santa is Holy Week in Honduras (and Central America). This is a week off of school and by Wednesday, all of the businesses close for the festivities.

 This week is fun and full of cultural fun but we were also blessed by having some of the guys from 'home' come and help Jeremie on some construction projects. Having these guys come was like having an extension of home for a week. And with them brought tons of chocolate and other goodies. :)

Greg, Terry, Jeremie, Isaac, Matt, Ben and Santos

The week was filled with lots of work. In 4 1/2 days they put on a roof, finished framing, and sheet rocked 80% of a house.


Isaac 'helping' daddy

They also worked on electrical for the house and an apartment. It was such an encouragement for Jeremie to be able to work with his 'best friends' and accomplish a huge task.


























So because I am here, we had to play some. :) We had ice cream in center square and Good Friday we all went to Comayagua to see the Alfombra's (saw dust carpets) These carpets are a big deal. The people who make these, stay up all night creating these pieces of art and by noon the next day, the processional walks over them and they are destroyed.

Saw dust carpets in Comayagua

In center square on Good Friday

Embracing new traditions has been really fun. But Easter wouldn't be complete without having some traditions of our own.

So Saturday and Sunday were filled with coloring Easter eggs, a scavenger hunt for baskets and an egg hunt with friends. We didn't have ham for dinner (it's really hard to find) but we all enjoyed some bacon wrapped chicken. :)

 

 HE IS RISEN!!

coloring eggs

Hannah was very excited about her basket

Finding eggs with CANDY!!

Jordan and Isaac after the egg hunt

Time with family

Last month we were able to get away and experience more of the beauty of Honduras. We had heard of a beautiful water fall about 2 hours away and we decided to go and find it. So, with our GPS and the 'directions' from the hotel we were off.

Lake Yojoa

We stopped at Lake Yojoa for lunch. It is a beautiful lake and it is the place to go and have a fresh fish dinner. We all enjoyed fresh tilapia and tajada's (fried green banana's).
Isaac especially enjoyed it when the fisherman came in with a fresh catch of fish. We all looked like tourists as we watched him unload and weigh his catch.

After lunch and a few " I think this is the way to go" comments, we made it to the waterfall. I felt like we had reached the tropics - it was completely beautiful, full of bird sounds and water, and my hair instantly curled from the humidity. :)

It was such a blessing to be able to relax and spend time with our kids. We laughed and played in the water for hours. Isaac threw rocks into the river and Hannah and I enjoyed an evening swim by torch light. The next morning, the game was who could get the best picture of the Iguana's - I think Jeremie won.














Before we left for our mini vacation, we had all been sick. So some of us were still re-cooperating. The walk to and from the waterfall tired us all out. But WOW!! it was worth it.




Days like this reminded us that yes it is important to work hard and serve the people of Honduras but it is equally important to spend time as a family and make memories that will last forever.





Standing in the mini falls - Isaac was not impressed

 

Isaac liked the calmer water with his daddy

Walking to the waterfall

The boys :)

Pulhapahzak

The Iguana's roamed free and his family was our breakfast entertainment
 

Pool time with my girl

The Clinic is Open!!!

My dream always has been to use nursing as a ministry and a way to show Jesus love. I went to nursing school with the knowledge that some day I would be in Honduras and use my skills to help people. And guess what?!!!!  Last week I did just that!!!!

Dr. Idis and I getting supplies in our treatment room

Dr. Idis, with a patient

Clinica El Ayudante opened!!! (it was our soft opening and will open full time in August) We had a group of 4 from the states as well as a few nurses from another team that same week. Dr. Idis, our full time doctor in August was also here.  It was so amazing. We saw about 250 people in 4 1/2 days.

"I think I know where that is, let me go look" - I said this many times the first few days

Ok, so Monday and Tuesday mornings were a bit chaotic. I mean, we've never done this before :) I think I looked in every cupboard a dozen times thinking to myself  "I know we have it here somewhere".   By Wednesday, we had a routine and it flowed very smoothly.

I love my job :)

 

 Hannah was such a big help all week. If she was old enough, I think she could run this place. She made copies, talked with patients while they were waiting. She counted medicine and helped in the pharmacy. And she ate lots and lots of snacks. :)

 

Me and my helper

helping in the pharmacy - however, this was also the place with the air conditioning and the snacks
aka: the Holiday Inn

 

It was so incredible to be able to give a little boy a walker so he can learn to walk at home. To give a family a thermometer because their son had a high fever and to give the Tylenol and antibiotics. I learned how to find babies heart beats in-utero and we all guessed whether it was going to be a boy or a girl.

And the best part was that several people received Jesus for the first time!!! We had a prayer table set up so after people received their medical care, we would offer to pray with them.

How amazing that God can use medicine to bring people to Him!!!

Our group for the week