Mountains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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.