United Nursery

The Reverend

2012-01-22T18:10:00.004-05:00

So what can I say blogging just isn't my strong suit. With 3 kids and the busyness of daily life, most days I am simply in "survival" mode, of getting to where we need to be on time and dressed and ready. We haven't had winter in 3 years because of living overseas, and while I am enjoying the change of season (especially this winter since it is so mild), I have to say hats off to Melissa Hunt and the others of you who live in colder places, because getting 3 children dressed in coats, stockings, gloves/hats, and out the door is a huge success. Okay now I am just rambling.

The biggest thing that this January has held was the official ordination service of my dear husband. He has studied for several months now and passed all of his exams back in November, and it was such a joy to have such a special service held as he officially begins his career in ministry as a teaching elder. I am so proud of him and all that he was able to accomplish through the grace of the Lord. There were many people there taking pictures with much fancier camera than these but since I haven't gotten them yet, I will share what I have.

Both of our parents were able to be apart of the service, as well as my sister and her daughter.

The little ladies of the weekend.

Our attempt at a family photo.

Many of the men in Sean's life that have encouraged and challenged him in ministry.

And the Reverend himself. I teared up at many points during the service, when 30+ men laid hands on him in prayer, during words of encouragement from fellow pastors, and at the end when he gave the benediction.

I love you Sean, and I am blessed to walk along side of you in your call to the ministry.

Christmas Part 2

2012-01-02T19:48:00.003-05:00

We left on Christmas evening for my parents house to continue the fun. I got to love on my little niece, who is as precious as she looks here and such a peaceful and easygoing baby.

The girls were pretty excited about some grandparent love too as you can see.

I love this picture!

Its fun to wear matching pjs on Christmas morning.

Grace Anne and Anna began their bonding, they were great friends until Grace Anne sat in her daddy's lap. This picture is taken just before Anna begins to pinch GA to get her to move.

Anna developed a special bond with Necy and would follow her all over the house and shower her with hugs.

This picture is so James Bond. Lucy played bad guys with Caleb but made sure to have her gun in one hand and lip gloss in the other.

Necy in her kitchen with all her grand babies.

Christmas Part 1

2011-12-31T19:03:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed having Christmas at our home this year and having the McCanns here to celebrate with us. Here the girls are all dressed up and ready for Christmas Eve service.

This is the whole crew of us.

The girls were so excited when they woke up in the morning, Lucy woke up at 6am bouncing off the walls. We ended up having to wake up the little sisters to begin opening gifts.

Lucy showing off some of her new winter attire.

Everyone had to help out, to make sure that they could be apart of unwrapping of each and every gift.

What a blessing it was to focus our hearts on Christ's birth this year. We have been back in the States for 9 months now, but I have to confess that Christmas was another culture shock that I wasn't really prepared for. At first it was hard to get away from the consumerism mindset and Santa Clause, thinking I had to make the Christmas of a lifetime for my kids. But once I was able to step away from all that and set my heart on Christ, we had a wonderful Christmas, teaching our kids Luke 2, and worshiping our Savior on Christmas day.

Christmas prep

2011-12-27T21:50:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, it was a full month of celebrating with our church, family, and enjoying our own family traditions. It was a joy this year especially to see our children begin to understand and grasp Christ's birth and the reason for our celebration. Here are just a few pictures of what we did this month:

Decorate our tree, what a joy it was to have a REAL tree this year and be able to get out many of our ornaments we haven't seen in 3 years. I love how all our ornaments have stories of people and places in our lives. This particular ornament was made by our young teammate in Honduras to celebrate and remember Anna's 1st Christmas.

Decorating sugar cookies with Dabo. This is a Christmas tradition I grew up with and although every year we have done it with our kids, it was extra special this year to have the "true" cookie maker in our household to help us.

The girls loved decorating the cookies and then we enjoyed sharing them with all of our neighbors.

We also went on a horse drawn carriage of Christmas lights, it was a cold wet night but worth it.

We had many great Christmas celebrations with our church. This picture was taken the night of the Hymns and Carols at our church, where the older girls sang "Go Tell It on the Mountain".

Anna enjoyed decorating and un-decorating the tree all month long. Good thing we received new toys to play with for Christmas, or she would be bored once we took the tree down.

Gannie and Aunt Curly taught the girls how to make Reindeer sandwiches.

Here is Aunt Curly coaching Lucy through the making of Hello Dollies, a traditional Christmas desert.

The girls enjoyed reading through many Christmas books this month, including this one, "The Night Before Christmas".

I will try to post pictures soon of our Christmas celebration with both of our families that we have had the past few days.

The School Show

2011-12-20T08:52:00.002-05:00

For those of you who knew my Lucy the past 5 years of her life will be shocked to see this video, where the teachers called her a star. Literally for every performance she has ever had in her life, she has run from the stage, crying. But she was so confident sitting up front singing all the words to the songs, and smiling. I was so proud. I am thankful that the Lord has given her confidence in who she is.

November has come and gone

2011-12-07T14:10:00.003-05:00

Because once again I have slacked off in my blogging I am going to try to recap the month on November for you, since somehow it is already December and Christmas is nearing the corner.

It started off with a wonderful family trip to the mountains, where the girls experienced their first time roasting marshmallows by the fire.

We also took a short hike to see some waterfalls.

And of course no trip to the mountains would be complete without a picnic at the meadow, one of my favorite spots in the world where my dear husband proposed to me.

Ellie, at the age of 3, got her first haircut.

Sean passed all of his ordination exams, which we celebrated with a key lime cheesecake.

Anna had her first trip in Cameron.

And of course we had to document the year she was born, as the year of being National Champions.

Lucy helped make her first pecan tarts, a Thanksgiving tradition for the McCann family.

And we all enjoyed spending a few days with Aunt Curly.

Although she wasn't Aunt Curly for one day after a hair cut, Anna didn't seem to mind though.

1 Year Old Fun

2011-11-11T15:08:00.002-05:00

Just some sweet pictures of our girl on her 1st birthday. She is such a precious girl, full of spunk and personality.

She is now walking and I know in just a week or so she will be running.

Here she is saying she is 1, so seriously I might add.

She loves playing games with you and flirts with anyone who will give her attention.

Her favorite foods are pizza, spaghetti, beans, and blueberries.

Halloween

2011-11-01T19:54:00.004-05:00

The girls got to dress up in their costumes several times this year for Halloween. I guess when you haven't ever celebrated Halloween before then you get really excited about it, because my girls were thrilled at every opportunity to get dressed up and get candy.

Presenting Princess Lucy

And Flamingo Ellie

Last but not least, Ladybug Anna

Our neighborhood had a Halloween parade in which we got to follow a fire truck and hundreds of other kids around the neighborhood and then joined together for pizza and jump castle fun.

We met up with my parents for a trip to the zoo and while we were the enjoyed Boo at the Zoo.

We had to get a picture of our flamingo with the others.

Oh candy bliss!

Sean always carves wonderful pumpkins and this year in celebration of a Dora Birthday party theme, he did not disappoint.

By the time it was actually time to trick or treat I think we were all Halloween out, perhaps we will pace ourselves a little better next year.

3 year old Ellie

2011-10-30T21:24:00.002-05:00

Today we celebrate the last of our birthday girls. It was a little bit of a chaotic day, considering it was Sunday and Sundays are always hard. But we made sure to have a special moment in the morning and some yummy cinnamon rolls.

We love you Ellie Belly. You are a passionate little girl, who typically dances and jumps through life (literally!).

Happy Birthday Lucy

2011-10-24T13:15:00.003-05:00

Today my big girl is 5! We woke her up this morning at 8:15 singing Happy Birthday, and she responded by moaning and going back to sleep, apparently once you hit 5 you like to sleep in :) We started the morning with birthday pancakes, then we went to a park for lunch, and by her request will order pizza tonight with cake of course.

Lucy we love watching you grow up and mature. You have such a mothering heart, loving and caring for not only your sisters but those closest around you. You love learning and are full of questions about this world. Although still timid at times, you are coming comfortable with who God made you and becoming more confident and bold. We love you sweet girl.

Anna Girl 1 year ago

2011-10-21T08:03:00.002-05:00

Its amazing how much a baby changes in the 1st year of life! And yet time flies by so quickly, I look at these pictures and can not believe that this was a year ago.

Honestly this year has been a blur, moving from overseas back to the US, and you being a 3rd child are just some of the reasons :) But through it all you have shown how flexible and easy going you are.

Your sisters love you very much and take good care of you, always wanting to feed you and carry you around (as you can imagine this sometimes causes you to get hurt). You also love your sisters and enjoy most of all going into their room and waking them up in the mornings or after their naps.

You have so much personality, your dad and I think more than the other girls had at this age. You are very friendly and sociable with others. And as I have said before, you are into EVERYTHING, so curious and a little troublemaker. You have brought so much joy to our lives this past year.

We love you Anna girl, Happy 1st Birthday!

5, 3 and 1

2011-10-19T19:48:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how big our girls are getting. Friday, the 21st, is the first of the birthday celebrations and our whole household is filled with excitement. What joy these little girls bring to our life.

Go Dawgs

2011-10-15T20:24:00.002-05:00

We got all dressed up today in our GA gear to cheer on the bulldogs.

I think these two look so much alike.

The pumpkins were grown and personalized by my parents.

Its great

to be

a Georgia Bulldog.

Spaghetti Night

2011-10-12T20:02:00.005-05:00

So here's what happens when you feed an 11 month old a plate of spaghetti:

Anna

Ellie

Lucy

Birthday Season

2011-10-11T07:58:00.002-05:00

Oh October how I love thee! I love the cool crisp mornings, pumpkin lattes, trees beginning to change and turn vibrant colors, long sleeve shirts and jeans, and most of all the celebration of my 3 little girls birthdays! I really think I enjoy the month of October more than any other holiday combined.

We wanted to start the tradition this year of getting one big McCann girl birthday gift and so we thought what could be better than a play set. We started doing all the research when I randomly started talking with one of my neighbors about it all. Turns out she knew someone in the neighborhood that had children all grown and was looking for a "good home" for theirs. Long story short but these generous neighbors ended up giving us this play set for free and doing all the labor involved in moving it. What a blessing!

As you can see we are all loving it, even mom who can enjoy a pumpkin latte and a book in the cool weather as she watches her kids have fun for hours.

The Littles

2011-09-28T13:41:00.002-05:00

Now that Lucy has started school, I have had some sweet time with these little girls all alone. When Lucy is around, Ellie is pretty much consumed with all of her time following her around and mimicking what she does. Therefore, there is not much time for her to develop her relationship with Anna. But once big sister is gone, all of a sudden little sister becomes a great playmate.

Now we just have to work on being gentle, since Ellie's favorite game to play is tackle the baby.

Trouble

2011-09-21T15:05:00.002-05:00

Today is Anna's 11 month birthday. So hard to believe that in a month she will be 1! She is not walking yet but will be before her 1st birthday I believe because she is very close and this week just started standing on her own. But really all I can say about this girl is that she is TROUBLE. See for yourself.

So clearly she has the whole climbing skill mastered.

Smirk and all, gotta love it.

Fun Friends

2011-09-20T08:25:00.002-05:00

Here are some silly pictures of some of our favorite friends in Charlotte. Its nice to have friends you can just be your self with.

Love you Dirks.

My Sister

2011-09-15T10:11:00.004-05:00

I think I realize it each year more and more how blessed I am to have a wonderful big sister. I remember growing up and fighting a good bit, only because I wanted to do everything that she did exactly how she did it. She was patient to put up with me and when she went off to college, that is when our relationship began to deepen. I am thankful that now we get to walk the joys of motherhood together.

I pray for my girls as they mature as sisters and pray that they will be able to have a friendship like this that will last for years to come. Love you sis.

Loving me some Grace Anne.

2011-09-08T18:47:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things about my week with my sister was getting to know my niece better. Before this week, I have only had a few days to spend with her, and so I loved getting to hold her and see her sweet smiles. She is a precious little girl.

As you can see Lucy was a big fan of her as well.

This was our attempt at getting a picture of all 5 together. Note to self don't put Ellie next to Anna again, this picture just makes me laugh.

I love to think about what these girls relationship will be like through the years, they are only 5 months apart.

Love all these ladies on the couch.

Sun bathing in fancy pants, what a fun way to spend time with your cousin.

First Day of School

2011-09-06T19:39:00.003-05:00

Today was Lucy's first day of preschool in the US. I thought school would be one of the hardest adjustments for her because school in Honduras is very different then school here, but she did wonderful. In fact I was the only one who teared up. We first celebrated the morning by having free breakfast at Chick-fil-A and then it was off to school for the big girl. She came home running around the room she was so excited about her day. I think it will be a great year.

Little sister missed her greatly while she was away but had an adventure of her own as she began potty training.

Together At Last

2011-09-01T06:04:00.004-05:00

In August my sister and I were able to spend a whole week together and what a blessing it was! First we took all of our kiddos up to my parents mountain house for a week. I love being in the mountains, I will take 70 degree weather in August any day.

These 3 were pretty much inseparable all week. I am amazed at how Ellie, although 2 years younger, can keep up with the big kids.

Caleb has a big job cut out for him being the only and oldest boy of all the grandkids but as you can see he handles it well, and treats these girls so kindly.

#1

2011-08-29T08:38:00.003-05:00

When trying to find pictures for this post, I realized I don't have any of Lucy by herself and that is because she is always taking care of her younger sisters. She has a little mommy heart, which most of the time is super helpful and yet some times it turns into wanting to control every one and every situation. For the most part though, she really loves her sisters well. I am not sure what I am going to do with out her when she starts Preschool in a week. I love watching her little mind at work as she is learning and discovering new things every day. She has grown so much socially since returning to the States, and we are anxious to see how she will do going to a new school where she knows no one in her class. I think school will be the biggest cultural adjustment she has experienced thus far, so we are trying to prepare her well and praying for good transitions.

Lucy you are loved and adored by your family.

#2

2011-08-25T20:01:00.003-05:00

I don't even have to type any words to describe this girl because you can tell everything about this little girl by her facial expressions. She is the definition of wearing her heart on her sleeve. These pictures show who she is perfectly: fun, energetic, entertaining, full of life, dancing girl. Only I don't have a picture of her completely melting down which would be the other spectrum of her. When this girl is happy she is ALL happy, and when she is sad she is ALL sad. I think this will make for some interesting teenage years :)

Ellie girl I hope you keep your passion for life for years to come. We love you.

#3

2011-08-24T20:31:00.002-05:00

I will start with a update of this sweet little child, since she hardly ever gets time focused just on her. Recently the grandparents took the two bigs away for a week and I had 4 whole days alone with this little one, it was such a precious time to focus just on her. She is such a easy going baby and yet she has a lot of spunk. I am pretty sure she will be my baby who hits and bites kids in the nursery only because she won't take crap from anyone, especially not her big sisters. Everyone's #1 comment about her is how busy she is. She is into everything and can climb the stairs faster than I can run up them. I am not sure she will ever learn how to walk, just run. She has 2 teeth, can say she is so big, says dada, and points at anything and everything. She loves to eat anything that she can feed herself and pick up with her fingers. She won't sit still to drink her bottle I literally give it to her as she climbs all over me like a monkey. She loves to eat paper, toilet paper being her one of choice.

We love you Anna girl.

Back to Blogging

2011-08-24T08:44:00.002-05:00

I am going to attempt to get back to blogging regularly. I have to confess that having 3 kids, and no longer living overseas where family were constantly bugging me for pics, has kind of made me unmotivated to blog. Really the only thing that keeps me going is my nagging sister (I love you!) and the fact that I am determined not to be the mom who has no pictures of her 3rd child (although Anna I am sorry but your baby book is going to be small). Plus I know that I still have friends overseas and therefore I am going to do my best to keep them updated with our life. I will leave you of the latest pictures of all 3, something that is hard to capture most days.

Aunt Curly

2011-06-22T19:39:00.003-05:00

We had a great visit with Aunt Curly earlier this week and Anna loved getting to meet her.

She nicknamed Anna "pumpkin spice" which I think is very fitting both to her personality and to her hair color.

The girls kept her busy playing with her and competing for her attention. We love you Aunt Curly come back and visit soon.

And yes for all those who are wondering this is where my girls get their curls from.

Recent happenings

2011-06-22T19:24:00.003-05:00

So what have you been up to you might ask that you have been so busy you have ignored the blog? Well here are just a few fun things we have been doing the past month:

Preparing our home. We have all the major stuff bought and the boxes unpacked but there are still many projects to do around the house. As you can tell we have some great helpers. Every Saturday we have been able to go Garage Sale hoping and have found some great finds.

Riding boats. You gotta find some ways to stay cool in the summer.

Playing in sprinklers in the back yard.

Cuddling with Grandparents, we are making up for some lost time here people.

Entertaining. This picture is from our young adult cookout at our house last weekend.

Hosting friends and Reconnecting. The Tippys, who we got to know in Honduras, came to visit us for a week. It was so much fun to have them in our home and show them a little piece of the South.

Play dates with friends. These are some of the first friends our girls made but sadly they are fellow missionaries and are preparing to leave for the field soon, making our time with them very short.

Hunts!

2011-06-22T19:13:00.003-05:00

Well its been over a month since I blogged so heres my attempt to catch up a bit, even though I am not even sure I have any faithful blog followers after that long sabbatical.

We had the joy of spending some time with our beloved friends, The Hunts, while they were here in the US on furlow in May. It was so good to see them and to be able to vacation with them at Edisto Island.

Anna Hunt McCann, getting some love from her name sake and Foard.

As with always with the Hunts, we enjoyed eating well in our short time together.

The big kids loved playing together and could spend all day on the beach.

This is Foard muscle face and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

4 curly headed children all eating breakfast.

And a group shot!

It was great to be able to debrief a lot of my time in Honduras with a fellow missionary friend. We miss you Hunts and love you dearly.

Love.

2011-05-13T20:02:00.001-05:00

I'm in love

with these sweet

little girls.

Beach

2011-05-13T19:48:00.003-05:00

After our mountain getaway it was off to the beach. Our kids had a hard time grasping the idea of having to drive 4 hours to get to a beach and being able to spend the night there, since all their life the beach has been 15 minutes away. But once we got there it was more than worth it.

The girls dove right on in feeling right at home.

Even though the water was colder than we are used to it didn't seem to slow down the kids at all.

It was fun to get away just our family and Sean and I had some time to process and think before preparing to move into our new home.

We went out to dinner for Mother's Day and tried to get a picture but this was the best we could get.

New we are all vacationed out and ready to get to work in our new house!

Mountains

2011-05-13T19:29:00.004-05:00

Well what does one do for a month when they have no job or house....travel! We have had some great family time together visiting some fun places as we reconnect with old friends.

We enjoyed a nice weekend away with some of our college buddies and met all of their kids for the first time.

It was such a refreshing time to be able to have real conversations with girls I love.

This is the place where Sean proposed to me over 7 years ago, wow how life has changed since then!

Easter

2011-04-28T20:23:00.002-05:00

We were able to spend all of Easter week with my family and it was a great week! I have about 300 pictures from the week but I will try to narrow them down to give you a summary of the week.

The girls spent lots of time riding around with Necy on the golf cart admiring all the flowers and helping out around the house to get ready for the big Easter Egg hunt.

We were able to celebrate my 29th B-day while we were there.

The girls loved their "Necy visors"!

Necy and Dabo's house rocks!

We discovered some great playgrounds.

Celebrated Caleb's 5th Birthday transformer style.

Bonded with our best cousin.

Here's the whole clan 5 and under, it was a blast!

All dressed up in our Easter best, minus Ellie who was sick all morning and therefore could not go to church.

Grace Anne

2011-04-28T20:18:00.002-05:00

I finally got to meet my sweet little niece over Easter and I am in LOVE. She is the tinniest little thing, I always forget how small babies are when they are first born, plus she still weighs less than my little Anna ever did.

Isn't she precious?!

6 months

2011-04-21T14:08:00.003-05:00

Today my little girl turns 6 months old, along with her cousin celebrating his 5th birthday (but more on that later). Anna has seemed to grow up so much in the past month. At the doctor she weighed 14.5 lbs in the 30% and her height was in the 70% percentile, so she is long and lean loosing a lot of weight since birth but that is probably due to pneumonia she had back in February.

We finally started her on rice cereal, not wanting to start it before we traveled, and that girl loves to eat.

She also loves to eat her hands making meal times a messy occasion, maybe even messier than her older sister Ellie which says a lot! Here she is enjoying some prunes, something she eats a lot of, because her stomach is still a little underdeveloped causing some digestion problems.

She is still learning how to sit up on her own. I think she is a little cautious of the fact that at any moment one of her older sisters will come and knock her down, a legitimate concern for us all.

So instead of sitting she has decided to go ahead and crawl. She isn't really crawling yet but as you can see she is up on all 4's rocking and she is able to army crawl to get a toy.

Here the girls are doing some early morning calisthenics. Seriously have you ever seen a baby do pushups?! Our little girl is so strong and determined.

And every now and then she does crash and take a good nap but sleep training is what is on schedule for month #7 :)

We love you little Anna girl and are thankful for your last 6 months, you bring so much joy to our lives!

Cute Pics and a few random thoughts

2011-04-16T05:37:00.003-05:00

I am loving the Spring weather! Its nice to actually experience seasons again, the flowers are gorgeous, the weather is crisp and cool in the mornings and evenings, and the sun is delightful in the afternoon. Even better the pollen doesn't seem to be bothering any of my family.

My baby girl seems to be growing up and changing so much the past few weeks, but I will post more on that soon.

We have had a few play dates this last week which has brought Lucy to new spirits. I think she misses talking in Spanish though so sometimes we just pretend like we still have to talk Spanish just for fun.

We are now staying with some friends from church and they have this awesome swing outside which the girls love. They also have a 13 year old daughter which my children are obsessed with.

We are under contract with a house. We had the inspection yesterday and nothing major came up so the closing date will stay as May 16.

We are excited to go today to see my family for a week. Easter is a big event in the Wall household so we are really looking forward to being apart of it this year. Not to mention that I get to meet my sweet niece. It should be a very exciting week with 5 grandkids under 5.

I warned you that the thoughts would be random didn't I?!

Random Thoughts of moving to the US

2011-04-10T20:09:00.003-05:00

Well I know I should blog because the longer that I don't the harder it gets, but I honestly don't know what to say. We have been in the States for over a week now and have gotten lots accomplished including buying a van, getting cell phones, and house hunting. I am in love with my van, seriously after driving a 12 passenger diesel van this thing glides across the road with ease and makes getting the kids in and out supper easy. We think we will be ready tomorrow to make an offer on a house and then hopefully it will be a quick closing so that we can get moved in soon.

I have to confess I am anxious to get this transitional period over with and just get settled, but I don't want to miss out on processing all that the Lord did in and through me in our time in Honduras. I can already see how easy it is to get caught up in the busyness of the American life, and just get caught up in my own little world.

The girls are doing well although they seem very emotional, understandably so. Lucy is very lonely and has broken down several times because she misses her friends in Honduras. Ellie of course can't process what she is feeling but is very clingy to me right now. And well, Anna is just a long for the ride :)

We have had some great time with Sean's parents and I have to say I am loving the benefits of grandparents near by. We are looking forward to time with my parents and finally being able to meet my new niece next week.

I think for the most part we are in survival mode right now, just making it through each day and all the important decisions that each day holds, but I think that is okay for now. Lord willing after we make an offer on a house and it is accepted we can rest for a little bit and enjoy some family time.

We had a wonderful day worshipping with our church and really look forward to ministering there soon. It was great to reconnect with so many people and also meet so many new faces. When we asked Lucy about the church she said she really liked it because they had a play ground and food (it was a covered dish Sunday). I think she went through a little culture shock though during communion since we have not been able to take communion almost our entire time on the field.

I think that is enough rambling for one post. I will post some fun pictures soon I promise!

The things I will miss

2011-03-22T15:33:00.009-05:00

I know the thing that I will miss the most above all else is people. I will miss the kids of Armenia Bonito who we have ministered to week after week for 2 years, watching them grow and change and many of them enter into adolescence. I will miss teammates and other American missionaries who have became family to me when I have had none. I will miss the Honduran moms which the Lord has enabled me to bond with over time because no matter what our cultural differences the problems with raising kids are all the same. I will miss Sra. Olga down the street who has become like a grandmother to my girls spoiling them with all kinds of surprises every time we see her. I will miss the bagger in the grocery store who knows me and my family by name always going above and beyond to help me and my little clan get all my groceries to the car. And that is just to name a few.

But I know there are also things about this culture and this place that I will miss and here are a few that came to mind:

Baleadas, a simple meal of beans and tortillas, which people here can eat for 3 meals a day. This is a stable in our family household, since we can buy homemade tortillas down the street, 10 for $1, and refried beans come in a bag, making it a simple meal to throw together. You can put just about any meat or vegetable in a baleada and make it a complete meal.

Fruit stands on every corner of the city, making fresh fruit and veggies easy to come by and always on the way home to pick up for dinner. Not to mention all of the tropical fruits available year round like avocados, pineapples, mangos, and more.

Piling as many people as possible in one car to go somewhere. Car seats are optional here and I know it sounds very unsafe and probably is, but it is funny how many times we have put 20 people in a 12 seater car, making any ride an adventure.

Having the beach a mile away and being able to skip away for a family day to play on the beach and nap in a hammock.

Those are just a few tangible things that came to mind but there are many cultural things that have become normal to me over time and some of these I hope to carry back to the US with me. Some of those things include the lack of planning and scheduling in life, although this can be frustrating at times I have learned to embrace it and become very flexible and have seen a lot of value in your inorganic relationships that form. Caring for your family even when it takes great sacrifices, and especially the elderly. And lastly living with little and finding contentment in few earthly possessions.

The Condition of my Heart...

2011-03-16T22:18:00.002-05:00

I am sorry for the lack of blogging that has taken place lately. It is not because of a lack of things happening in our life, if anything it is the exact opposite. We are trying to prepare to leave a country and a place we have called home for 2 years and uproot our whole lives again to transition back to the States. Everyone asks me how I am doing with it all and I can honestly say I don't know. Don't get me wrong I am excited about moving back to Charlotte, seeing my husband minister in the church, being close to family, and so much more. But I hate goodbyes and I hate new beginnings.

We have been married 7 years and during that time we have moved 6 times and have had to get rid of all our belongings and pack up and move in suitcases 3 times now. It never gets any easier. I never really realize how attached I am to all my earthly belongings until I have to give them away again. I guess it is something the Lord continues to use to humble me.

It has also been harder this time explaining it to our children. The girls are asking so many questions: "is dad still going to be my daddy when he is a pastor?", "where are all my toys?", and "will I be able to speak Spanish at school?", I know this is only the beginning!

I am nervous about going back to a culture I haven't known for over 3 years. Will I ever fit in again? Do I want to completely fit in, now that I have seen and been changed by a world that is so different? What about my children will they ever see the US as their "home culture"?

So this and so much more are the questions and issues that weigh on my heart right now. Tonight I was reminded of my favorite hymn "Jesus I am resting resting in the joy of what Thou art" and praying that, that would be the cry of my soul right now in the midst of all the change and transition.

Mom's Day

2011-03-11T16:52:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday we were able to steal a few mothers away from their families for a day of rest and relaxation. It was such a treat for me to be able to watch these ladies enjoy themselves laughing and playing like they were 10 years old again, experiencing the freedom that they probably have never felt before and that is a day with no responsibilities.

We first let them enjoy some time of pampering with manicures and pedicures.

Then after lunch it was rest time for everyone in their own hammock.

And lastly an intense game of "tiburon" or shark.

A fun group of ladies, all of whom I will dearly miss.

No Power

2011-03-01T17:11:00.004-05:00

Well we have lived here for over 2 years and we have just recently discovered what to do when the power goes out, and that is pack up and prepare for a whole day at the beach. When you are at the beach in the nice refreshing water you could care less that you have no power at home. So we forgo trying to nap in the stifling hot air and don't worry about the lack of showers and camp out at the beach. This past weekend we had a "scheduled" power outage from 8am-5:45pm and so we had a wonderful family day together, even though with 3 kids it is pretty exhausting.

Anna and I enjoyed a couple of hammock naps. This reminds me of this picture of Ellie at this age.

And although Anna has been to the beach a handful of times this was her first dip in the pool.

And super flexible Ellie decided she would just crawl in the tent and take a nap for 2 hours.

So I am thankful for an unexpected family day at the beach, but heres to hoping there are no more all day power outages while we are here in Honduras.

A moment worth capturing

2011-02-24T14:19:00.005-05:00

Sisterly love comes and goes right now, so I have to enjoy and appreciate the loving times. Also I know I am a dork but I love coordinating our girls outfits, and since we are already beginning to battle wardrobe woes then I know my time is very short to dress them.

Flash Back

2011-02-17T22:09:00.003-05:00

Just for fun here is some more fun with pictures. Its amazing how similar all our babies look, but once they grow up they sure do change.

2009

2011

Beach Trip

2011-02-09T21:29:00.003-05:00

It seems that the rainy season is coming to an end and that means the heat is back. We enjoyed a family day last weekend where we got to drive out to our favorite beach day. It was a blast, the older girls are really loving to swim and play in the surf right now.

Ellie is like a little fish with no fear.

A posed picture where I can never get both girls smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.

And this is what little Anna enjoyed doing in the tent that the girls got for Christmas from Gannie and Mac. This picture reminds me of this one with Ellie at this age.

Cyclical

2011-02-01T14:25:00.003-05:00

All of our babies are born within 10 days of each other in the month of October. And although I try like every parent not to compare my children it is inevitable when they are all achieving the same milestones at the same time of year. Therefore I feel like my life is very cyclical and every 2 years it repeats itself: get pregnant every other February, have a baby in October, strive to have baby sleep through the night before Christmas (yeah we are still working on this one with baby #3), struggles with breaking the swaddle, struggles with crying it out before naps, watching baby roll over, sitting up, working off baby fat, eating food, crawling, walking, 1st birthday, etc. However, as I was praying this morning I do not want to get caught up in the cycle of parenting and miss out on all the joys of what God is doing in between.

So just for fun here is a picture of each of the girls all the same ages and same outfit, reflecting on the Lord's faithfulness in our lives the past 4 years.

This picture of Lucy was taken at my sister's house February 2007, we were there attending a missions conference to raise support and prepare to leave for the field. It is amazing for me to think that I left for the field with 1 and returning with 3, wow how things have changed! We have been so blessed financially our whole time on the field, never having a need that has not been fulfilled, never having to raise additional support even though we have gained more mouths to feed (or really I should say more bottoms to wipe), and now having a surplus in our support account which we can bless our ministry with as we prepare to leave.

Moving on to February 2009, this picture was taken when we just moved to Honduras and we are living at the Pettengills house waiting to find a house of our own. Thankfully the Lord provided us a home soon after this picture was taken, which we have enjoyed over the past 2 years. There has been so much that has taken place in our lives these past 2 years I can not even begin (another post for another day). We have seen both the ministry and our own personal lives grow and change in so many ways!

Now its February 2011 and we beginning to process closing this chapter in our lives and beginning another one. Sean has received a call as an assistant pastor at a church in Charlotte. It is bittersweet to think about saying goodbye to a people and country we have loved so much, and at the same time excited about what our future holds.

The Lord is faithful and in the midst of the blur that parenthood brings I can look back at each season and see the Lord's provision and care for our family.

Pitiful

2011-01-29T20:24:00.002-05:00

Yeah that pretty much is our family right now...pitiful. We are thankful now that Anna is back at home and we can all be together as family but it is still a slow recovery process with lots of medicine and breathing treatments every 4 hours.

And the big girls although they are physically well they are struggling from just returning from a trip to the US and then having mom and sister in the hospital for 3 days, all of these changes and inconsistency makes them very winey and disobedient.

We are praying and trusting God's grace to help us make it through this difficult season of parenting.

USA

2011-01-23T09:00:00.004-05:00

So after not being able to make it to Durham to see Sean's family, we quickly changed plans and stayed 2 nights in Augusta with my family to be able to recover from the long journey. The girls jumped right in to where they left off 2 years ago, to the tea parties of course.

Anna was all smiles to be in grandma's house.

The girls loved discovering all the new toys and even put on a concert on for us.

After we were rested we headed off to Charlotte where Gannie and Mac graciously met us so we could have some time with them.

While we were there we enjoyed visiting our home church, Sovereign Grace, and getting Anna baptized.

Then it was back to Appling to see the C-man.

A fun shot with all the grandkids minus Grace who will make her appearance late March.

KK and Anna were instantly in love and enjoyed all the snuggle time they could get. Anna gave some pep talks to baby Grace telling her to come as soon as she is ready.

The golf cart was a big hit, although Ellie could never quite get over how cold it was outside, and was therefore always a little miserable in the cold weather.

It was a whirlwind of a trip (like always) being back in the States but we loved every minute of it and enjoyed spending some fun times with family and friends.

Anna's First Trip to US

2011-01-11T17:05:00.007-05:00

Warning this post will be very long and probably somewhat winey but hopefully humorous as well.

We planned months ago that we would make our first post-Anna visa trip to come back to the States to introduce her to family and friends. Already having experience with one country with Ellie and her papers we figured it should be pretty easy, but of course we were wrong. A process that is supposed to take 4 weeks took us 11, which included 2 trips to the embassy 3 hours away, 2 rushed packages, and many phone calls. But at last 3 days before we were schedule to leave we got it!

Then of course on our scheduled day to leave and fly into Atlanta (and then on to Durham) there has to be one of the biggest snow/ice storms of the century. So to make a long story short we left our house at 8am Monday morning and did not arrive in Augusta, GA (not planned destination) until 4pm on Tuesday. We gave up on even trying to get to Durham which was our original plan. Everything that could have gone wrong, did in the Atlanta airport, which therefore resulted for us "sleeping" on the floor Monday and being literally stuck there on Tuesday. Thankfully my dad braved the dangerous icy roads to come and rescue us from the weather and from shear insanity (ie 3 kids, 8 bags of luggage, 1 hour of sleep).
1am sleeping arrangements.

4am

So all that to say the Lord is good, we are exhausted, and I can definitely say this trip has been eventful even though Anna has yet to meet any new friends or family yet.

Daddy's super cool tent made with luggage to help pass the time away.

Our Christmas

2011-01-01T14:52:00.006-05:00

The Christmas fun began with a Wall family tradition of sugar cookie baking with Josiah and Abi. It was nice to have some help from the "big kids", not sure we would have made it through the mess and the sprinkles if it wasn't for their help. We then had fun delivering all of our cookies to our neighbors, who think sugar cookies are one of the strangest things they have seen.

We continued the baking fun with a Happy Birthday Jesus cake.

On Christmas Eve we celebrate with all our teammates. Christmas is celebrated here at 12am the night before with lots of fireworks. So after a bad experience last year of trying to sleep while the rest of the country partied, we decided to join along with them this year and entertained ourselves with games and wii until 1am.

The next morning we were up early with the little ones to open all our Christmas goodies.

You know you might be a missionary kid if you favorite gift of the year is your new suitcase which you can not wait to try out in the airport.

Ellie enjoyed opening all the gifts as well and got a new friend, Millie, to play with.

Here we are after skyping with our families and eating lunch, we got to sit around and relax (still in our pjs) and enjoy our new gifts.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T08:36:00.003-05:00

Well we didn't get a chance to do a Christmas card this year so pretend this is sent to your mailbox :) We wish you all a Merry Christmas and pray that you enjoy celebrating our Savior this Christmas season.

Love,
Lucy, Ellie, and Anna

Smiles from the Little One

2010-12-20T21:26:00.002-05:00

Christmas pics

2010-12-15T15:32:00.003-05:00

I had the privilege of taking the older girls on a date last weekend to watch The Nutcracker ballet. We had a blast together. First we went and got some ice cream, then we went around town looking at the lights, and lastly we were off to the show. The girls were both very quiet and still throughout the whole show because they were fascinated with the pretty ballerinas. Here we are all dressed up and in front of our Christmas tree before heading out on our date.

I am also very thankful for a loving husband who was willing to keep Anna (who was very fussy that night) for me so I could enjoy some alone time with the big girls.

A New Look

2010-12-06T23:33:00.003-05:00

If you read our blog by means of a blog reader, take a few minutes and check out our new title and look of our blog. We knew since Anna was born that the name "Adventures of Lucy and Ellie" had to be changed but it took us until now to come up with a creative name for it. Let us know what you think.

Here is our newest little girl all bundled up for Christmas, we have enjoyed a few days of rain and cold weather which has helped us get into the holiday spirit.

A little encouragement in tummy time from big sis.

The big girls love her and beg to hold her any chance they get.

And we are done!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T21:48:00.003-05:00

Early morning turkey hand painting.

We started the day by exploring a new beach area. We went expecting only to stay for a little while and play in the sand but the water was too inviting to not enjoy.

The girls had a blast playing in the surf.

After our trip to the beach it was back to the house to watch the Thanksgiving parade and begin cooking. We gathered together with our team after nap time to celebrate Thanksgiving. We are so blessed by this team and even though it is hard to be away from family, this is a great group to celebrate with.

The bird and the chef.

The spread!

Enjoying the feast.

After dinner turkey crafts.

More Grandparent Love

2010-11-26T19:24:00.003-05:00

i am a bit behind in blogging due to the fact that 3 children are a lot of work and completely exhausting, so please show grace. We had a wonderful time with Gannie and Mac when they were here to help care for us and meet little Anna.

Mac read countless stories to Ellie.

And Gannie entertained Lucy with an imaginary game called "Pit stop". She also enjoy some loving time with Ellie.

We had a wonderful visit with them and the girls are greatly missing all the extra attention and play mates but it is good to find a "normal" routine that works for our family of 5.

1 month

2010-11-21T23:28:00.004-05:00

I really can't believe that it has already been a month since she was born. A lot has happened this month with both sets of grandparents visiting, and we are just now trying to settle into a routine. She is a sweet girl but we are still working on the whole sleeping thing, she is just a really gassy baby and so is very uncomfortable a lot. She already has had her first cold, I guess that is life as a 3rd child constantly being introduced to new germs. The older girls are still in love with her and smother her with affection every chance they get. In honor of her being one month I thought it would be fun to post picture of all the girls to compare how she looks, most people (including us) think she greatly resembles Ellie. What do you think?

Lucy

Ellie

Anna

Lucy

Ellie

Anna

3 Girls

2010-11-16T17:24:00.003-05:00

Well sorry for the lack of blogging but we have been a little...well busy. I am learning that life with 3 girls is constant, a little dramatic, and a joy. We are still getting adjusted to meeting the needs of 3 little ones, and at times it can be very challenging, but I am thankful for moments like these when all is well and we can simply enjoy one another.

Grandparents

2010-11-08T15:33:00.003-05:00

Probably the hardest thing about being on the field is not having grandparents around. Necy and Dabo were able to come down for almost 2 weeks to welcome the birth of Anna and help us transition to life with 3. They were a huge help and honestly I am not sure how we would have done it without them. They stayed in the hotel with the big girls for 3 days while we were at the hospital and then came home with us to La Ceiba to help cook, clean, finish various projects in our house, host birthday parties, and oh yeah take care of 3 kids.

We loved every minute of having them here, and although they have been gone for a week, Ellie still walks around the house asking for Necy and "Bo".

Thanks mom and dad for helping us out and a putting up with all our craziness!

Today we are excited to welcome Gannie and Mac. It has been a long week without any help and the children are all looking forward to some extra attention, whereas Sean and I are looking forward to some rest.

Sisterhood

2010-11-05T12:07:00.002-05:00

The big girls seem to be adapting well to Anna and for the most part love having her around. As you can see they are a little anxious for her to grow up and start playing already.

Lucy is a little mommy to her, caring for her and talking baby talk with her.

Ellie on the other hand is still learning what gentleness means, which makes it a little tricky to leave the room if Anna is on the floor or in her chair.

And Anna, well she is taking it all in stride :)

First Bath

2010-11-03T16:52:00.003-05:00

Well I will try to back track and post some pictures of Anna's first week.

Lucy loved helping give Anna her first bath, although she couldn't understand why she would cry through the whole thing.

At last the warm comfort of being in a towel in grandma's arms.

Curious George Party

2010-11-01T19:40:00.003-05:00

Ellie's birthday began with waffles and sprinkles. As you can tell she dressed in her finest jewelry for the occasion, but she wasn't in the picture mood.

The party began with a little Curious George drawing competition.

Then we had relay races with bananas of course.

At last time to eat. We had hotdogs on the grill by Dabo, beans and slaw by Necy, and watermelon and chips.

The Curious George cake decorated by Sean with candles for both Lucy and Ellie to blow out. Inside the cake was layered red, blue and yellow- very festive.

Ellie sporting her Aunt KK #2 shirt.

And last but not least what is a Honduran party without a pinata.

We think the pinata looked more like a rat than a monkey but oh well.

Overall the party was a huge success. We had over 30 people and there were kids here from Lucy's school, from church, neighbors, teammates, and other American missionary friends. I can only imagine how big the party will be next year with celebrating 3 girls :)

2 years

2010-10-30T20:57:00.001-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie! Your little personality is coming out more and more each day, and we are realizing how much of a joy you are and just how different you are from your big sis.

You are inquisitive and always very active, you never slow down all day but always on a adventure to learn.

You are a mess, literally you are always dirty and attract it where ever you go.

You are expressive and wear your heart on your sleeve, your face always expresses exactly how you feel.

You are a unique little person and only willing to follow after Big Sister Lucy, otherwise you do your own thing with your own independent spirit.

You are a charmer, you attract people every where you go, and for the most part seem to love the attention.

We love you Nancy Elliot and are thankful for the joy you have brought in our lives these past 2 years!

Lucy's Fancy Fairy Party

2010-10-27T21:38:00.005-05:00

We began Lucy's birthday with some yummy Dunkin Donuts.

As you can see we all enjoyed the fun breakfast.

Then Necy came with a suitcase full of fun fairy birthday party. The girls got dressed up and we enjoyed some fun cake and snacks.

One fancy fairy birthday girl

Check out those blue eyes.

Enjoying the loot. Polly Pocket from Cousin Caleb.

Special books from Necy and Dabo.

A computer from mom and dad.

And a new book bag from Gannie and Mac.

Ellie's Dinner Prayer

2010-10-26T22:25:00.002-05:00

Every meal, before we pray, Lucy and Ellie must to decide who will go first. Once that's decided, Ellie begins her prayers that can range from 15 seconds to a full minute. She prays for everyone at the table at least once, while usually praying for Mommy and Daddy multiple times. Whenever any of us starts laughing, she usually "shhhh-ishs" us so she can continue. If we're lucky, she'll eventually get around to praying for her drink and every type of food on her plate. We recorded this video the other night, and it ended up being a pretty short and simple prayer...by Ellie standards.

Enjoy:

Anna Meets Some Friends

2010-10-25T16:42:00.004-05:00

The best part about being back home is having our friends around. The night we got home some good friends and all their kids came over to meet our little Anna. If it's true that it takes a village to raise a child, then Anna's all set, because she's got a great village around her.

Here she is with Mrs. Kathy, who went above and beyond to get our house ready, go shopping, and make sure we were set the moment we walked in the door.

And of course all the Clow kids took turns holding Anna. First Rebekah:

Abigail:

Josiah:

And little Evan. Holding Anna was the calmest I've ever seen him.

Next up was Lucy's friend Susanna. With two younger siblings herself, she is an expert in holding babies.

And lastly Mrs. Kelly and Susanna's little brother Abner Daniel.

Anna loved meeting all her new friends, and Lucy and Ellie sure loved showing her off.

4 Years

2010-10-24T14:04:00.000-05:00

In honor of Lucy's 4th birthday, I thought I would try to describe what her little personality is like and the sweet girl she is becoming.

She is strong-willed and very set in her ways, she has her way of doing things and doesn't like it if things change differently.

She is full of joy and loves to make us laugh, always trying to be the center of attention when sitting around the family dinner table, and especially loving it when little sister cracks up at her.

Oh how she is girly, in love with dancing, princesses, and all things pink. She is our little priss.

She is tender hearted, very sensitive to the needs and especially pains of others.

She is our shy little introvert who comes out of her shell only when she is comfortable with you.

We love you Lucy Kathryn and are so thankful for your 4 years of life! Happy Birthday.

Anna Comes Home

2010-10-24T08:10:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we checked out of the hospital and made the 3 hour drive home to La Ceiba. Everyone did fine and Anna slept the whole way home.

We were all ready to go early, but we had to hang out in our room for a few more hours. But all was not lost, as we got this great picture of Lins and Anna.

We had a packed van on the way home, so Lucy helped out taking care of Anna.

Arriving home. Already an experienced traveler after 3 days.

Silly McCann Ladies

2010-10-22T21:28:00.002-05:00

Anna Day Two

2010-10-22T19:36:00.004-05:00

Today has been a good day here in the hospital. Lindsey has been feeling much better and is up moving around. Anna has been sleeping and eating well, and we've all gotten some much needed rest.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Talking on Skype with Aunt KK and cousin Caleb.

Sleeping on Mom, part of a 3 hour nap.

More napping with her frog, Sapo.

Resting with big sister Lucy and chatting with more friends.

More Anna Pictures

2010-10-22T09:29:00.004-05:00

Well it's morning here in San Pedro, and we all slept pretty well last night.

We named Anna after her Gannie, Sean's mom, Ann. For her middle name, we've named her after our good friends Jake and Melissa Hunt.

The girls and Necy loved meeting Anna yesterday. Lucy loved holding her and wanted to keep touching her face. Ellie wasn't so sure, but she gave her lots of kisses.

After all the excitement, Ellie needed a little mommy time.

Anna Hunt McCann

2010-10-21T19:45:00.004-05:00

Our little girl is finally here. Anna was born at 1:50 PM here in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She weighs 9 pounds 10 ounces, and is 20 inches long.

The birth went very well with no complications. The hospital here is definitely on Latino time, so we just all got together in the same room within the last hour or so.

We'll try to post some more pictures soon.

Baby Shower

2010-10-17T09:12:00.003-05:00

One of the hardest things about being a missionary I think is not having a church to attend to. We are here in La Ceiba officially as church planters, but that church will not be planted for a few years now due to the amount of time it takes to establish relationships and train leaders. So we decided for the sake of our family we would plug in as much as possible to a local church. We have been blessed by this church in many ways, and although there are many differences, they have accepted us as their own and made us feel very warm and welcome. Yesterday they threw a baby shower for me, it was very humbling thinking of a different culture accepting someone from the outside and loving on them unconditionally, many of the women there I have never even met before they just wanted to be supportive of the missionary.

As you can see my little girls were very excited about being apart of the shower:

Unfortunately when we got there it proved to not be as fun since it was late at night and they were not fed dinner, but we all survived and I am glad they got to be there with me.

Mexico Zoo

2010-10-15T18:51:00.003-05:00

On Saturday of our conference we had a free day and our family enjoyed a fun park that had lots of exotic animals.

We actually had many peacocks like these that lived right outside our hotel room, very exciting to wake up to every morning.

The Jaguar and Cheetah were pretty exciting and even put on a wrestling match for us.

As you can see Ellie was a little intimidated by the big cats, there were also 2 Pumas there who were pretty impressive as well.

Lucy enjoyed the fun aquarium.

And of course what is Mexico without a few parrots and flamingos.

This is in the butterfly house and therefore Sean and Ellie's impression of a butterfly of course.

We also saw dolphins, sea turtles, crocodiles, sharks and swans. It was a great day to spend as a family and Ellie's first experience with a zoo which she loved every minute of it.

Happy

2010-10-14T13:26:00.002-05:00

We loved our trip to Mexico for the MTW Latin America Retreat.

It was so nice and refreshing and we enjoyed lots of yummy food and lots of love from old and new friends.

But we are even happier about the excitement that the next 2 weeks bring.

Celebrating our birthdays, and welcoming our little sister.

There is much to be thankful for!

For the Grandparents

2010-10-05T21:38:00.003-05:00

I won't be blogging for a week, due to the lack of internet so I thought I would leave a cute picture for the family to enjoy.

And here is a little bit of Ellie's cuteness these days.

Baby Shower

2010-10-03T09:18:00.002-05:00

My sweet friends that I attend a weekly Bible Study with, threw a baby shower luncheon for me last week. I am so blessed to have these other missionary wives in my life who understand many of the struggles we face daily.

Lucy and her friend Susanna got to attend as well and they felt such like big girls.

We didn't get a group shot but here is one of my friends, Julie.

The beautiful presents.

Lucy enjoying all the loot :)

Fancy Nancy

2010-09-27T07:58:00.003-05:00

Our little Nancy loves accessorizing just like the books Fancy Nancy. Among her favorites are jewelry, hats, and of course shoes.

One More Month

2010-09-24T08:38:00.003-05:00

Things are getting exciting around here as we only have one more month until the girls birthday week begins.

Here are the plan of events, Lord willing:

October 23 The biggest and best Curious George Birthday party in all of Honduras.

October 24 Lucy will celebrate her 4th birthday

October 25 Drive 3 hours for the birth and welcome the Wall grandparents to Honduras.

October 26 We will welcome the arrival of baby girl #3

October 29 Leave hospital to go back home in La Ceiba.

October 30 Ellie celebrates her 2nd birthday

Here are my babies growing up.

Happy Times

2010-09-19T20:38:00.002-05:00

Having Fun

2010-09-12T21:42:00.001-05:00

Some days I wonder why I am so tired, but watching this video I now know why.

P.S. It is really hot here and so my kids stay dressed in their pjs for a long time and that means no shorts, so please excuse us, we are not very prim and proper.

The Love of Sisters

2010-09-05T07:41:00.003-05:00

Believe me our days are not always filled with this much love, but there are sweet precious moments like these that fill my heart with joy.

I can't wait to add one more into the mix!

Tegucigalpa

2010-09-01T19:53:00.002-05:00

On Day 2 of our trip we went on a little city tour which included this neat park on top of the mountain with a great lookout.

While on top we could watch the airplanes land and take off, Teguc is known for its very short runway, due to being completely surrounded by mountains. Needless to say our goal is to never fly in or out of Teguc during our time here in Honduras.

On the top there is this huge Jesus statue that you can see as you drive all over the city.

As you can see one of us needed a attitude adjustment once we were there.

But at least one out of two was happy.

And last but not least, our attempt at a family picture.

Road Trip

2010-08-30T08:07:00.007-05:00

We have been in Honduras for almost 2 years now and have very little travel experience actually in the country. So this past week we decided to take a road trip to the capital, Tegucigalpa, with some of our friends here in La Ceiba. They lived in Teguc for several years before moving to La Ceiba so it was great to have someone familiar with the city and knew all the great places to go with kids. Not to mention help getting around all of the road blocks due to washed out streets because of flooding or the many teacher strikes that were going on in town- driving was quite an adventure in the big city!

Here are the "crew" of kids, along with a 5 month old baby not pictured. It took us about 9 hours to get there because of so much construction but the kids did great.

We stopped half way to give the kids a break and found a great playground.

Ellie especially enjoyed the much needed break.

On the first day in the city we went to a children's museum.

Ellie clapping for the toys.

Lucy wanted to play dress-up as a unicorn.

We all enjoyed a puppet show put on by Lucy.

And of course we had to cover ourselves up in balls.

Then we had fun driving on of these things around, what's this called Caleb?

Fishing in water, Ellie's favorite exhibit because it involved water and getting somewhat dirty.

Always a good time climbing through the small intestine!

And I think we might have a future here as a doctor, she took great care of all her patients.

I will post more pictures tomorrow of our other adventures in Teguc.

Baby Update

2010-08-20T20:32:00.005-05:00

So I realized I haven't blogged much about my pregnancy or anything about baby #3, I guess that is just how it goes when you have 2 other ones keeping you busy. Thankfully everything is going well and the baby looks good and healthy. I am now officially 30 weeks and other than big, uncomfortable, swollen feet, and oh yeah hot and sweaty all the time I have no complaints. Rainy season can not come any sooner to get some relief from the heat here! But I am blessed with this child and thankful for the gift that she is.

Here I am at 30 weeks, nice and big, just how I like to carry all my children apparently :)

I wish I could say I was prepared for this baby but oh how we have a ways to go. I have to laugh and cry when I see these pictures and realize this is our baby nursery right now. I am full in the nesting mode but due to the lack of storage right now there is no where to clean out all of this stuff. Not only that but all my baby clothes are in the States, so really I have nothing prepared for this little girl, all details I need to work out over the next 10 weeks.

Here is another view of her "room". Thankfully I can say we have named this little girl and the despite our lack of physically being prepared we are all ready emotionally and mentally, Lucy can hardly contain herself, almost daily asking when it is her birthday so she knows when the baby will be born.

Also we have officially decided to give birth here in Honduras. Many of you know this is something I struggled with over a long time, not knowing what would be best for me medically and for our family physically. But we found a great hospital and wonderful doctor in San Pedro Sula, which is a larger town about 3 hours away. Although I have always hated the fact that I had to have c-sections with my first two because of medical complications, I am now really thankful for God's providence in that I will have a planned birth and can travel 3 hours away to receive better medical care and attention. Here is a link to the hospital for all the curious grandparents www.hospitaldelvalle.com

Hairbows

2010-08-19T10:07:00.002-05:00

Here we are just hanging out and doing what girls do best, playing dress up and looking pretty.

Show Time

2010-08-12T15:38:00.002-05:00

My girls love to sing and dance so on this particular Saturday morning, they decided to put a show on for us. What a treat! I love the series of the pictures to show all of their expressions.

School Time

2010-08-10T11:34:00.003-05:00

Lucy started school again yesterday, same school and same teacher as last year. She even has some of the same classmates, consistency is very good for her and something she doesn't get much of as the life of a MK.

Little sis felt the need to pose with her for her school picture.

Ballet Recital

2010-08-06T08:22:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday Lucy had a ballet "recital" at one of the local malls to end her 2 month summer ballet classes. Of course bring a prepared mom I brought my camera, but found out once I was there the battery was dead. It probably was for the better because it was pure chaos! Picture about 50 kids and all their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, none of who were listening to the instructions to sit down. So it ended up being a big circle of loved ones crowding around, pushing and shoving to see their cute little ones dance. Only because of my pregnant belly did I even have a chance of seeing Lucy dance. I was so proud of her though! In general she is very timid and add on top of that all of the chaos around her, I mean I even thought about breaking out in tears a couple of times, but she held it together and did most of all the ballet moves she was supposed to.

Here we are re-enacting all the moves she was supposed to do during the recital and of course as little sister does best, joining in on the fun.

Beach fun

2010-07-26T15:54:00.001-05:00

Hope you are enjoying your summer from one beach bum to another!

Many faces of Lu

2010-07-19T14:38:00.003-05:00

Can you tell someone was happy to be invited to a Honduran birthday party at Wendy's (ie LOTS of candy)?!

Ear sugar

2010-07-17T15:35:00.002-05:00

Mrs. Kathy has this fun game she loves to play with Ellie called Ear sugar, as you can see Ellie loves it.

Durham Travels

2010-07-10T16:34:00.004-05:00

Last week was our time to renew our 90 visa once again, and this time we traveled to Durham NC to see the McCanns. We have decided it is much easier to travel when grandparents are involved and we can actually rest and enjoy ourselves with some help.

The girls loved playing outside and exploring the big yard. They watered the flowers, swung on the swing, colored on the picnic table, played on the slip and slide, and more.

One of the many joys about the US are all the free playgrounds and we decided to take advantage of them while they were there. Ellie especially enjoyed herself since most of the playgrounds here are too big for her or too crowded to play on.

Here are the girls sporting their cute 4th of July dresses that Gannie bought.

We spent one day at the Children's museum of Life and Science. We could have literally spent our whole time here and still not explored it all.

I love this picture of Ellie holding Mac's hand.

Here is our big girl sitting on a big chair. They both loved exploring all there was to see.

Aunt Curly was able to come down for the weekend for a short visit, the girls obviously took to her well.

Other adventures that unfortunately I do not have pictures of are swimming in the pool, going to the library, eating Chick-fil-A 4 days in a row, and catching up with friends Liz Uecker and Erin Timmons. It was a wonderful trip and the girls enjoyed all the extra attention and love they received from the grandparents.

The Ballerina Story continued

2010-06-26T21:21:00.005-05:00

We have ballet class twice a week so Lucy has thankfully gotten adjusted very fast. Here is her whole class, with her sweet teacher Mariana.

She really is doing well learning all the moves and for the most part listening and obeying to the teacher.

As you can see we now have a happy ballerina.

Here is a short clip for the grandparents and aunts who are interested of her being big and small:

Ballerina

2010-06-15T22:06:00.002-05:00

One of my Honduran friends opened a new ballet school this year and so we wanted to put Lucy in a class to see how she would do. However, with the cost we were planning on waiting until the fall and gifting it to her for her birthday. I got a call last night from my friend saying she would love for Lucy to join her class and all expenses were paid. What a blessing!

Now for those of you who don't know Lucy, she is super shy and introverted, so I knew this would be a stretch. The first 30 minutes she spent the whole time pouting around (as you can see from the video) but the last 30 minutes she started to get a little more comfortable. So we are praying for boldness and confidence. Now we just need to find this girl some appropriate ballerina gear :)

Daddy's girls

2010-06-12T10:22:00.002-05:00

Our girls love their daddy! Right now we are in the midst of summer teams, which is out busiest season of the year, therefore, Sean is gone most of the day working. This has made our daddy time all the more sweeter and enjoyable for the girls. Here is just a glimpse of why daddy is so fun:

Another Girl to Add to the Bunch

2010-06-04T12:55:00.003-05:00

There is going to be a lot of hormones and lots of drama in this household but we are thankful for another healthy girl to add to our family in the Fall.

Jumping Rope in Armenia

2010-05-30T21:22:00.004-05:00

Every week before Kid Club we play with the kids on the soccer field. Our girls have always loved watching the big girls jump rope. Here they are trying to join in on the fun.

Sorry for obnoxiously yelling in Spanish in the background, I am not used to taking videos :)

A Year of School

2010-05-29T14:32:00.002-05:00

Lucy had her official last day of school yesterday, and to celebrate they all went to Pizza Hut. Overall she had a good year, made some fun friends, and improved on her letter writing and recognition. I hope to work with her this summer on some areas where I feel like she needs to advance in. She is excited about having school at home and her mom as her teacher, but we will see if that excitement continues.

It is amazing how much they grow in such a short time, here is Lucy on her first day of school in August.

And her last day of school, yesterday.

Food for Teams

2010-05-27T07:53:00.007-05:00

In 3 days Jamie, one of our summer interns (who you probably all remember from last year) and I cooked 70 casseroles.

That means we chopped 40 onions, 75 green peppers, 40 heads of broccoli, grated 20 lbs of cheese, browned 80 lbs of ground beef, cooked 40 lbs of chicken, and much much more.

It was a big task indeed and now my whole body is sore from being on my feet for 2 days. And oh yeah in the midst of it both my fridge and our deep freezer decided to stop, which made it a little challenging.

I am thankful for the work that we got done, and now we are praying that we can make these 70 casseroles stretch to feed all 10 teams all summer!

The Beach

2010-05-22T08:13:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we took 40 girls from Armenia to the beach for the day. It was lots of fun and I don't think I have ever swam in the beach that much.

It was a special day to hang out with a few of my favorite girls.

Then we decided to take a quick family vacation to a small beach about a hour away from town.

Lucy loved the water and Ellie loved what she does best and that is getting dirty.