The last Thursday and Friday in Roatan

Our last two full days have come and gone in a flash. Thursday we took it easy, knowing that we soon would be full speed ahead with packing and airport stuff and kids and all that. We met up with who else but Melissa and Jeremy and the twins to swim and go to the Iron Shore. The iron shore is an area of what looks to be dead coral or volcanic formations that formed along the seashore. Pirates hated iron shore because it was impossible to dock near these giant iron like formations. Anyway, we took the boardwalk over the iron shore to get to the edge where it meets the ocean. The waves hit it like a ton of bricks and splash way up high and fill up little tide pools among all the little cracks and crevices that it can find. There are tons of snails of all shapes and sizes all over these formations, even some little turtle shell looking things that we could not get to come off of the rocks; hopefully these creatures are not dangerous or in any danger of extinction...needless to say we were unable to remove them and we have not come down with anything. We found some hermit crabs that had totally outgrown their shells, the kids did not want to leave but we had to get home to eat dinner because Mr. Tom was coming over to talk about Alternative Missions. We had a great discussion about what the organizations does and how he started it. Pretty cool stuff. Definitely sparked some deep discussion.

Friday we started our day with a trip to the airport to get our boarding passes in order to alleviate any time that we had to stand in line with four kiddos. The agent said he would be there tomorrow for our flight and to just head down the Elite area and he would get us right through; it is so awesome to have such favor! While at the airport we couldn't resist getting a shot of the man in fatigues with his rifle sitting on his lap. Former President Zelaya is supposed to try and step foot back on Honduran soil, so security is pretty much everywhere over here, again. We even have noticed quite a few Apache helicopters patrolling the island, in pairs. We ran some last minute errands and headed home to eat lunch and get the babies down for their naps. Anna, Wiley and I headed to Gumbalimba Park to go kayaking while Trey watched the babies and did some work on the computer. The kids and I had so much fun however, I will probably be unable to move tomorrow. This evening we went to Flowers Bay to the dedication of the Dwellings House by Alternative Missions. It was a huge revival style dedication. No other way to describe it. They had a guy set up to sing with his keyboard and large speakers, lawn chairs, the family, extended family and friends all in attendance and the ladies had even prepared food, drinks and cookies. At one point everyone was jumping and clapping hands; we were waiting for someone to start doing flips like John Belushi in "The Blues Brothers". It was awesome. They said a prayer of thanks and each of the guys that had helped build the house got to say a few words, even Trey, I was so proud of him (he totally is not the center stage type guy in a big crowd). All the kids played together and had a blast, they were totally filthy and hot and tired by the time we left. Afterward we headed to West End to eat at The Dive, we had Texas style burgers. The owner is from Dallas so he takes pride in his meat, he even ships it all the way from Miami, I bet it is the only place on the island with 100% Angus burgers, made fresh. We hit the ice cream shop afterward and headed home.

We plan to head to the beach first thing in the morning for our last dip in this beautiful ocean then head home to pack up. For lunch we are planning to meet Henry and Frances of lw4r for and then we are off to the airport. Jeremy, Melissa and the twins are meeting us there too, so we will have just enough arms and eyes to help out with the kids while we get the bags unloaded and checked. We will miss everyone dearly.

Take care and God bless!

Our last Wednesday in Roatan

Keeping up the trend of 'last ofs', we have now officially had our last Wednesday in Roatan. The days are flying by and the thought of returning to reality is really unsettling...when we return, we will stay the night at a friend's house, all of our belongings are still in storage, we have to pick up our vehicles and then we will spend a few days at the beach house in Crystal Beach...trying to plot our next move. Should be interesting. Not sure if we will blog about those occurrences, but it is so tempting, jj no one would probably be interested in our 'normal' life.

So, on our last Wednesday we hit the beach first thing this morning. But first we had to make sure and get our customary chicken empenadas, delivered via moped. We were short a couple of dollars so we had to go back later and square up with the wife that does all the actual cooking right on the side of the road; portable gas cook top complete with cardboard surround. Then, off to the beach with full tummies....

Not a soul was at the beach but we could feel them approaching, it was cruise day, so at least a thousand tourists were on their way. It was clear and the water was so calm, we snorkeled, built sand castles, jumped off the pier and got eaten alive by no-see-ums. We are so not used to the amount of blood sucking bugs on this island. At least you can see a mosquito and smack it, these little sand fleas are so tiny and almost clear that you never even know what hit you. Needless to say, we should have thoroughly applied insect repellent. bugs-1, vicks-0.

Anna and I hit West End while the babies were sleeping at lunch time, she needed some mother-daughter time. It can be so hard to remember to take time for things like that when there are so many kids running around all the time. I am constantly reminding myself that if we are not there for her, someone else will gladly take our spot. Anyway, we did some shopping and ate at the Noodle House, a little 10X10 wood frame shack. It was so yummy, Thai peanut noodles with veggies and shrimp and some California rolls with spicy shrimp and mango. Get out of town, it was so good! We ended up burning up about three hours and decided to head back to check on Trey and Wiley and the girls. Both babies were still asleep and Trey was finishing up a book, "Lone Survivor", about Marcus Littrell (a former Willis Wildkat), the owner of this house was in the military and has tons of military books, small world.

This evening our last Wednesday dinner consisted of homemade fried chicken and french fries. Micheal, the care taker got the fire going in the outside adobe cooker. It is made of mud and keeps one heck of a fire going. Trey fried the potatoes and chicken and we devoured all of it, he is such a good cook, probably because he absolutely enjoys to cook, just like DV did.

Tomorrow we plan to check out the house in Flowers Bay that Trey helped get started last week. The presentation of the home to the family is on Friday afternoon, we can't wait to see everyone and try to capture the moment. In the evening we plan to meet up with Tom Hackett, the founder of Alternative Missions.

Take care and God bless!

The Official 'Last Ofs' Begin

This is the beginning of the official 'Last Ofs' of Roatan; Our last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, etc.

On our 'last Sunday' we started out our day at rchurch, Laney spent some quality time with several of the male friends that we have made, she absolutely adores men, who of course just scoop her up and will hold her for as long as she wants; atta girl. Before the service was over, Jeremy, the pastor and our new good friend, prayed for us that our family would find our way to follow the path that He has for us, it was very moving and extremely thought provoking in that we truly are seeking that which He wants for us as a family. No matter what IT is, we definitely have come to a place in the last five weeks that has prepared us to follow. It was not a coincidence that we met so many amazing people from so many different walks of life; Henry and Frances with lw4r, the mission team from Georgia, Jeremy and Melissa of rchurch, Tom with Alternative Missions; the list could seriously go on and on. We pray that when we return home, wherever that will be, that we can stay focused and not get caught up in any of the 'land of need' stuff.

Sunday night we hit our 'last crab races and fire dancing show'. We met up with Melissa and the boys and her parents. The kids get so excited to run around on the beach and drink Fanta. The entire fire dancing family was there again and the kids just ate up those child fire dancers. It was a great time and we even had another winner in our group, two free ice creams at Ms. Vicky's ice cream shop.

Our 'last Monday' began a little rough with the power out most of the day. We tried to go into town and get some shopping done so as not to go stir crazy in the house; not only was the power off but there was no wind and it kept raining, it was more or less like a sauna in the house. Not fun. Anyway, Trey's back had been out since Sunday, he twisted or pulled something, so he was in some kinda pain and not the best person to be around, so our shopping trip was cut short in an attempt to track down the local 'back' guru, Cathy. Needless to say, we never got ahold of her so he just kept taking ibuprofen and aleve with hot compresses. Btw, he is doing much better and on the road to working it out. Monday afternoon it finally quit raining and the power came back on, so we took the kids to the beach to run off some of their pent up energy. We decided to have our 'last Monday night pizza', they have a two for one special on Mondays that we have hit for five weeks straight, brick oven and very yummy! They even have a swimming pool that you can swim in while dining, kinda like the sand boxes at some of the restaurants back home, only less messy. Well, our last Monday would not be complete without more drama of some sort, so we ended up taking it to the limit. The floors in the restaurant are wood decking with tiny little cracks in between, one would never notice them much unless they happened to drop just the right size item and it fell in the cracks. Our item was our car key, yes, we are mostly shoeless, wet from the pool, full tummies and kids ready to shower and get to bed; oh, and it's about 7:30 and after dark and there are tons of mosquitoes outside at this point. Our cell phone decides to run out of minutes, the waitress calls the rental car agency and they do not answer the phone; so, we lock up the truck and start walking down the road to get a taxi. We were quite a site to behold, swatting the bugs, kids crying because we have no shoes and the gravel, water-filled pot-holes are killing our feet, carrying the baby and all our towels and crap from the beach....that was the best $5 taxi ride ever, and we only went about 1/2 a mile uphill all the way. At least when we got home the power was on and we could shower and hit the hay. Laney ended up getting a mosquito in her room and she woke up in the middle of the night screaming and scratching at about 50 bites all over her body, bless her little heart, ours too, we got zero sleep. Our last Monday was eventful and I'd say the longest day of our trip so far.

On our last Tuesday, we all were up at about 5am and it was raining most of the morning so we stayed busy inside, playing on the computer, watching DVDs and driving each other nuts. Finally after lunch, Anna, Wiley and I met Melissa and the boys and her parents at the Butterfly Gardens. It was like the butterfly exhibit at the HMNS, but totally rustic and up close, no real rules and our guide was barefoot. They ended up having quite a collection of butterflies, a bunch of cool parrots, toucans and macaws, a baby deer and a cohote. The kids got to hold the birds on their finger, they were a little unsure of this, I'm still not sure why since they just about hugged the iguanas the other day, but they had a great time. They even got to bottle feed the baby deer, which is of the breed that is actually found on the island. After the butterfly gardens, we had everyone over for dinner, we had good food, great conversation and the kids were bouncing off the walls having a blast playing hide and seek. Laney became very good friends with Melissa's dad, Mike, he was at her beck and call, as are all men in her life. After some yummy homemade brownies, we called it a night.

We are planning to hit Gumbalimba Park and the dolphin show at Anthony's Key Resort over the next couple of days as well as have a couple more lunches/dinners with friends before we leave on Saturday.

Take care and God bless!