There is a Time for Everything...

It has been almost two years since my last post and I must admit that it most definitely was not an accident....but, after many trials for our family and our marriage, the TIME has COME to move forward with what God has continually presented in our lives and our hearts...to serve.

Recently we moved to a tiny little town just outside Abilene, Texas, called Cisco.  I think there are about 3,000 residents.  N,o I did not leave out a zero.  We have been welcomed in way much like our welcome to the island of Roatan, Honduras -  with open arms.

The church we attend, Calvary Baptist, has welcomed us as well.  We are not used to a small, family-like church, coming from The Woodlands Church, but guess what, we really like it! Pastor Zach has even asked Trey to pray about helping head up a church wide mission next summer.  Wow, not even knowing Trey that well, he spoke directly to Trey's heart.  God's plan for us to arrive here was no accident and it has become more and more clear as each day passes and new opportunities arise.

Trey's heart has continued to ache for the purpose that God placed there, to serve others in third world countries through a sports ministry.  He is awaiting his approval letter from the IRS for his 501 c3 status for his charity called Replay Sports International.  He will continue to collect used and new sports gear and distribute through mission teams and those serving in underdeveloped countries.  Getting kids on the soccer field and off the streets can open up some pretty great conversations about life, sometimes without even knowing the same spoken language.  Through this, our hope is to show Christ through our actions.  Hope is always contagious.

We have decided to return to Roatan for a few weeks, this June.  After talking about it,we realized that it would be great to leave an open invitation to our friends' teenagers.  One of which, Lat Nichols, spent a some of his summer break serving with us when we lived there.  Well, wouldn't you know it, but not only is he wanting to return, but his sister and at least 5 others from the youth group at the church have been saving up their money!  Never in a million years did Trey and I see ourselves as caregivers to young people or any people for that matter.  God has a plan, it is not ours to question, especially when it just keeps coming up, everywhere we turn; HE's funny like that, GOD.

So, this June, Trey and I and our two oldest kids, along with 5-7 of the youth will be in Roatan, Honduras serving in any capacity available.  Clinica Esperanza, Living Water for Roatan, Care 4 Communities and rChurch are all in need of serving hearts and hands.

Jeremiah 29:11


"For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you...to give you hope and a future"



Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

We just can't stay away....

So we are about to complete our 5th month back in the states....the last couple of months have been pretty emotional.  We had many visitors as well as a great Easter and Mother's Day.  Our friends Wayne and Stacia that have four kids our kids' ages came in to visit us, the Nichols family was in for Relay for Life and stayed with us too, then we had or pastor Jeremy and his family from Roatan, come in for a couple of days too.  It was fun to catch up with everyone and truly awesome to see how easily we pick up right where we left off.  It had been over a year since we had seen Wayne and Stacia and the kids, almost two years since we all saw the Nichols family (their son Lat stayed a week with us Roatan last year), and four months since we had seen Jeremy and family in Roatan......needless to say, God placed each of these families in our lives for a purpose, many purposes really, and I can honestly say that they are all like family and will be for eternity.  So cool.

Well, we just can't seem to stay away from what God has placed in our hearts, the need to serve the kids back in Roatan.  This weekend we are collecting used sports equipment at the Conroe YMCA to send down to Roatan, Honduras.  The mission teams that we have gotten to know over the past couple of years as well as the engineers that are headed there for a month in June will be adding this gear to their baggage as they continue to give back to the community that we grew to love and still long to help.

Trey and I have been kicking around so many different ideas about ways we can use our non-profit to help others and it always seems to go back to gearing up underprivileged kids with sports equipment and enabling youth to GO and GIVE back through sports camps and VBS, volunteering at the clinic and our Church back in Roatan.....Awesome opportunities for young people and adults alike to step outside the box and follow HIM.

This reminds me that God has "a plan...for us to prosper...and give us hope and a future" (taken from Jeremiah 29:11)

Please be praying for us to open those doors that HE places before us and to grow in HIM for all that HE has planned for us.

God Bless,
Connie and Family

3 Months in The States....Who Knew It Would Take So Long To Adjust???

It has now been three months since we arrived back in the states.....WHEW!  It has been as hard to re-adjust to living in America as it was when we first arrived in Roatan, Honduras.  Who knew it would take so long to get back in the swing of things back home?  Thank God for our dear friends and family here for lifting us up in prayer and never failing to listen or just be here for us....even our friends back in Roatan have been so faithful to communicate with us, whether through quick FB chats or Skype or even just plain old email.  We are so very blessed in the midst of so much that is going on around the world.

So far our only health issues have been Anna with the flu and then a stomach bug, Wiley with bronchitis and Parker with some rare all-over body rash that was a reaction to the four vaccinations that she had just received.  Trey and I have managed to just deal with allergies and of course, my roller-coaster of emotions (I think he was getting pretty close to putting me in a straight jacket, just kidding!). 

Trey and I celebrated our birthdays on Valentines Day....he hit the big 40 and I am somewhere far being him and I am sticking to my story!  We also just celebrated our 12-year anniversary in late March, the time really flies by.  So, two big milestones and many more to come.

We have been really pleased with the neighborhood we are in, the kids all walk or ride their bikes to and from school.  They are so stinkin' independent, sometimes I just want time to stop so I can enjoy them for a just a little bit longer while they still need us and it is obvious.  Of course, there are other times that I could tell you the exact amount of time we have left until our two-year-old is 18....those are the tough days that always seem to be followed by some really rewarding moments when we realize that being a parent is the highest honor we could have ever asked for.

We have recently been battling an issue with our son, regarding his ability to focus in school and the possibility that he might be ADD or ADHD or OCD or all of the above....what a nightmare.  To be such a great kid and smart and respectful, yet unable to sit still or stay on task to the point that he may be retained for fear of failure in the next grade....anyway, we were already behind from being in Honduras so we are playing catch-up in not only a very competitive school, but also with a child that needs a little extra re-directing.  Please be praying that we can get him caught up and learn of new ways to keep him interested in the classwork so that he can be successful, without using meds.

Our  pastor, Jeremy and his wife, Melissa, from Roatan, are in the states for the next three months and will be making a stop in Conroe the second week of May.  We are praying about hosting a meet and greet/fundraiser for them while they are here.  It would be a great opportunity for our friends and family to meet some of the people that were a huge part of our lives while we lived and served in Roatan, Honduras.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Freezing temps on our tropical toes!

So, I totally had to blog about something a little more upbeat after my last blog.  You can only waller in your sorrows for so long, that self-pity thing can become viral if you don't watch it...thank God for his grace when we feel so doubtful.

So, the low for tonight is supposed to be around 18 degrees Fahrenheit....that is SO darn cold for our thin, tropical blood!  We only thought that our toes were cold when we first got home, there is even snow in Texas! 

One Month Back Home

So it has been one month since we got back from our journey to Roatan....Some days have been good, others not so great.  It is definitely difficult to adjust to such change:  NO ONE that we know or are close to could possibly understand or GET what it is I am speaking of.  We love our friends and family and enjoy sharing our journey with them, but seriously WE could not have understood the hardships that we endured unless WE had walked in our shoes that we are presently still in.  It is not so much that we need validation that we gave of ourselves and our family in HIS name, but just someone that GETS it to simply listen and really KNOW what on earth we speak of and need right now.

One Year and Back in Texas

Well, we completed our one year commitment to Roatan and are now back in Texas.  I cannot believe it flew by so fast!  There were days that I thought the year would never end and others that just seemed to fly by.  Each day was filled with such awesome opportunities to minister to others and just be a great example of what Christ's love LOOKS like.  We are truly blessed and thankful for this past year and know that HE has some great stuff ahead for us! 

Here is a look at our final hours on Roatan:

Pastor Jeremy and Melissa made us a yummy dinner on our last evening so that we would not have to worry about one more thing, we hung out and let all the kids play out side.  They made fern leaf headdresses and of course, Laney ended up streaking all of us with nothing but a fern headdress on!  Great fun and more memories to add to our unending list.  It was fun to just chill for a bit, but we had not even packed our bags!  I know, we are one crazy family of six, but we would not be "us" if we did things any other way, right?  We stayed up until around midnight, I woke up around 5am obsessing about our day ahead knowing we were nowhere near where we needed to be in order to board our flights...

Holidays in Motion

After getting through Halloween and being in charge of the haunted house at the kids' school,  we barely got a breath of air when we began the journey into Thanksgiving.  Our church hosted a HUGE potluck dinner at a local resort.  It was absolutely beautiful with tons of food and fellowship, the kids swam and played while we all ate more than our bodies could possibly handle. We were not sure what to expect of a Thanksgiving in Honduras, but a great time was had by all along with many new memories.  We actually spent Thanksgiving day at the beach with the kids.

First game of fall balll for the colonia Pirates

This afternoon we had our first game with a local team from West End, the Westenders.  They had a world of experience compared to our kids but our guys amazed everyone watching!  Our team hit the ball, ran the bases, had double plays, etc; all of it absolutely defying everything these kids knew.   Trey was in awe of what these kids were able to accomplish with what seemed as so little training...commiting to something they just learned to love and following through with it...and they have immediate results!   Wow! 

We thought our guests had ceased for a time, however, they had other plans....

Apparently, when you live on a tropical island for the better part of a year, there are a whole host of guests that creep into your life.  We have had friends, family, honey bees, tarantulas, geckos, monkey lalas, mice, rats, ants....what are we forgetting here?  Oh, that's right, BOA CONSTRICTORS!  How on earth did that not top our list of guests?  The two sweeties were perched above our washing machine, hissing due to the fact that we had spoiled their slumber.  Yes, hissing at me after I had finished what was my fourth load of laundry....I am guessing they were pretty peaved at that point.  Ezekial, the gardener of the house we rent, called his brother to come and help remove the boas and of course get rid of them.  Little did I know that they were about four feet long and pretty much harmless unless you are a small animal or child.  They put them to rest and we later found out that most locals do not appreciate visitors killing the animals of the island.  We should have simply bagged them and released them elsewhere....yeah, right.  In Texas we kill snakes, sorry, but that is what we do.  Grab a shovel!

We have had about five weeks straight of rain and a handful of tropical storms come over the island.  The pool overflowed continuously but we always had water in our cistern.  Non-stop rain on an island is not fun with four kids, let's just say that God knew we needed the sun, bad.  The morning after or latest tropical storm, full-on sun and perfectly flat turquoise water, heaven. 

On another note, it is with great pleasure that we announce that it has taken almost a year for friendly little blood-sucking lice to attack us.  What a nightmare, trash bag the pillows and clothes, wash everyone's hair with toxic chemicals, wear shower caps to bead, comb and pick at eachother's heads....a ton of fun.  Actually reminded of the scene from that movie "Switch".  So funny.  Needless to say, we were able to get rid of this without any problem.  We ended up helping a couple of the kids in our youth group get rid of it too, this stuff spreads like wild fire and won't go away on its own.  Good times here in Roatan.

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie and Family

More Birthdays, Goodbyes and Travel.....

This past week Trey went to Texas and Arizona for the week.  It was his first trip off-island in 10 months!  Not only was he able to gain a new appreciation for the the little things that we can sometimes take for granted here on Roatan but he was able to have a ton of quiet time while driving across Texas.  The slower pace of life was much missed, as he juggled his "schedule" to include meeting after meeting in various places from The Woodlands all the way to Flagstaff.  He was unfortunately too busy to stop and see many of the friends he would have loved to spend some time with, but Trey was able to make some contacts with others that would possibly play a part in our future in the next few months.  God has a funny way of placing people in our lives at just the right time to throw us off of what we "thought" or "planned" for our near future.  Gotta love the surprises!

We saw our lastest house guest, Holden, return to Montgomery.  It sure was fun having a teen ager around to help shuffle kids on the scooter and get to to know the youth that we spend so much time with.  It seems like each young person that we have had as a guest in our home these last few months, has bonded with not only our kids and family but also with the youth group. It is so much fun to see the kids grow to know oneanother and build life long friendships.  Both Holden and Taylor have succesfully recruited Kenfor, one of our youth group members, to come to the states once he gets his passport.  We have some amazing kids here on Roatan and the more they can see outsiders that have willing hearts, the more they can visualize all the potential for their future through getting an education and never giving up.

Our oldest daughter, Anna, turned 11 last week.  We had the youth group over to swim and play wii and eat cake and ice cream.  It was a blast!  The weather has been very rainy and cool at night, so the kids were freezing but loving every minute of throwing eachother into the pool and sliding on the make shift slip and slide on our tile patio.  It was crazy and the best part was Anna getting her cake in her face, she loved every minute of it!

We have quite a few things going on with youth group and church each week.  The toddler class that I started, mainly due to the fact that my two youngest are a little disruptive during the kids church class, is doing great.  We have at least three and sometimes four toddlers each week and the older kids are now able to learn scripture and pay better attention to the lessons each week.  We are getting more volunteers so that will eventually free myself and Melissa to actually attend a church service.  I can honestly say that is one of the things I miss most, of course air conditioning and Walmart are pretty high on my list, but attending worship would be wonderful.

Trey and Mike's baseball is still going strong, twice a week practice with their first scrimmage this weekend!  The kids are amazing and such a testament to what hard work and determination can do.

Please continue to pray for us as we make some large decisions about what our family will be doing at year-end.  We have a great opportunity to possibly stay part time here on the island while spending the other part of the year back home, not sure where home would be, but it would be a great break both ways if it should work out that way.  Eyes to see and ears to listen...

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Fam

Fall is here and a new guest arrives

Today is the first day of Fall and we are not anywhere near the cool temps most are enjoying back in the states.  But, hey, we do live on a tropical island with year round warm temperature and beautiful blue water & white sandy beaches....some trade off, huh?

Parker just had her 4th birthday, it was so much fun.  We had a Tinkerbell pinata that was bigger than her and the power was out the whole party too.  Roatan!  Gotta love not worrying about such things as melting icecream and the blistering heat and bugs while celebrating a young persons birthday.  She had a blast and never even noticed that we didn't spend much but instead enjoyed every minute of us showering her with love.

This past weekend we welcomed a new guest, Holden Smith - 19, he will be here for four weeks helping out in the community and getting to know the island.  He arrived with three giant suitcases full of medical supplies for Clinica Experanza, they were so excited and appreciative of the efforts from way back home in Montgomery, Texas.  Thank you to each of you that went above and beyond to ensure that the medical needs of the poorest in the community will continue to be met.  One of the other big things that Holden wanted to bring was the colonia baseball team shirts and hats.  His mom had them printed up and sent with Holden.  These are such special items for the kids on the team, they cherish these items for they have never been on a team or had a uniform before.  This week we will be taking team pictures and individual photos for them, a surprise for the kids that will blow them away.  Each week they continue to progress and will soon be ready for their first scrimmage and game. 

Trey and I have taken a day here and there while Holden has watched the kids for us, some much needed time to just chill and enjoy the island.  We went on a scooter ride across the island with our friends Jeremy and Melissa.  It was like a mini vacation for us and we were only gone a few hours!  This island is so beautiful.  It is hard to believe that within such beauty there can be the inner areas that are so poverty stricken and in need while surrounded by abundance.  We definitely have made a priority of making sure people that we know and meet are aware of what they can do to help.

Anna and Wiley were in the Honduras Indpendence Day parade, the first time their school has participated in this, so it was a very special day.  It rained like crazy through the entire parade, sooo much fun for the kids and of course it gave us parents and teachers an excuse to act like kids too.

Please continue to pray for our family as we begin making some major decisions about where we will go as our year here on Roatan comes to a close....sounds so weird to say that out loud.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Summer is over and school has begun!

Summer is over?  Where did it go?  We have been so busy that when we finally look up and see that we are entering the end of August, it is a little mind boggling....Our last visitor, Lat Nichols - 14, just left last weekend and completed a week of serving the community and doing lots of fun island stuff, Anna and Wiley have started school at the bilingual school here in Sandy Bay and we are beginning to prepare for the many fall outreaches with the church as well as baseball season kicking off.  Never a dull moment here in Roatan!

We are also in the midst of thinking about what we will be doing when we return to the states at the end of the year.  So strange to actually talk about that and even more strange to know that this fall will fly by and we had better be prepared for all that God has ready for us.  Our flights have to be booked by January 17th or we will lose them, so we now have to decide where in the world will the Vick family land next?  We have a couple of different ideas as to what we might want to do, however, we are truly waiting to see where God leads us and what doors HE opens.  Talk about dropping to our knees and letting HIM take control; faith in its most true form.  This not the easiest thing to do, but we know that our needs will be met and that God has awesome things planned for our family.

Please continue to keep in touch and let us know what is going on in your lives!  We love you guys and thank you for following our journey.

Take care and God bless,
Connie and family

 

The half way mark!

So it has been six months now that we have been here in Roatan, Honduras.  That's all???

Seriously though, it has flown by so quickly and we cannot even imagine how fast the next six will go by.  After hosting many different families in our home as well as two teenagers, not to mention helping out lw4r with their short term mission teams; we will be ready for some down time to possibly get off island and perhaps hit the mainland for some regular ol family time.  But it isn't over yet....

This fall we have a family from Michigan, the Corwins, that will be returning to Roatan, with their church this time, to help build a home for a needy family.  We are so excited to have them on the island again because they are such an amazing family and we miss them like crazy.  It will be very rewarding to stand beside them and serve in such a way for a family in need of a headstart to a better life.

Trey and his buddy Mike Tiche are getting the colonia baseball team ready to compete in the fall as well.  These kids are amazing and have grown like you wouldn't believe in their skills and eagarness to learn.  Each kid is so unique and has such potential to anything they want in life; maybe being part of this baseball team will help them get ready for all that God has planned for them.

Anna and Wiley will be starting school in a couple of weeks and we still have not decided whether we will take the traditional route and put them at the bilingual school or try our hands at home school again....hmmm, there are pros and cons to both choices and we just want to enable our children to flourish in whatever environment they are in.  Either way, we will be very busy making sure they have a great education while taking time to serve during our last few months here on the island.

We look forward to hearing from everyone, drop us a line if you get a chance!


Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Short Term Missions, House Builds and More Goodbyes...

The last two months have been so much work but so rewarding all at the same time.  We had five weeks straight of short term mission teams with lw4r.  This was an opportunity for us to help shuttle people, participate in VBS, take rice and beans to families and really just a way for us to help enable people with an abundance to give to others in need.  So much more to be said about all that occurred during the past few weeks, so many milestones and revelations about what our time here means and what it can mean to others that may not be able to actually be here in person but can participate from home.

We are in our last week of two with our dear friend's 16-year-old daughter, Taylor.  She has gotten to participate in much of what the short term mission teams do in the colonia as well as practice with the colonia baseball team, working at Gumbalimba Park as a photographer and guide, hanging out with our church youth group and surviving two whole weeks with three other children in the house!  Did I mention that she is an only child?  She cannot wait for some peace and quiet, God bless her!  We can honestly say that Taylor got to see almost all of the island because we went all the way to Camp Bay on the east end of the island on a cloudy, rainy day this past week.  What a trip that was, a fun little adventure that we had not yet taken in our past six months.  

So, this Sunday we will be dropping off Taylor and picking up Anna...we will miss Taylor and we have definitely missed Anna!  So looking forward to catching up with our Anna and her adventures while in the states the past two and a half weeks.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie  

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

This week we had a blast with the short term mission team from Roopeville, Georgia.  Having met them last summer, we picked up right where we left off and never missed a beat.  Anna and the youth pastor, Chris Altman, were up to their old pranks and rest of the team made it feel like we were back home with southern friends again.  Just hearing their accents when they speak was refreshing to us! 

The team let our youth group pair up with them while they delivered rice and beans and prayed for the families as we distributed care packages to the youth in the homes.  The packages were filled with shampoo, toothbrushes/toothpaste, deoderant, feminine products, etc., all items donated by rChurch members and the church matched the donations too.  Uphill, in the heat, through tiny foot paths into small shacks called homes is where we spent the better part of a day, our youth will reap the rewards of a changed heart for a very long time.

My mom and her husband came to visit and got to see firsthand the ministries that we are a part of here in Roatan, Honduras.  It was so great to see them in the trenches and to hear their response to the life we have chosen to live through the grace of God.  We spent some time at the beach and pool of course and the kids got some much needed grandma and grandpa time.  While we were sad to see them go, we had a wonderful visit!

When we dropped off my mom and Gary, we prepared to pick up our friends, Craig Vance and his 16-year-old daugher Taylor, visiting from our neck of the woods.  So great to see them!  Craig will be here for the next week and then he and Anna will return to Texas while Taylor stays for another couple of weeks to do service work here in Roatan.  So thankful to Ray Koehne for donating his Continental miles and the ticket to give Anna a visit to the states for a couple of weeks.  She is so excited and has planned to spend a few nights with several different friends and family while there.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

It has been an absolute whilrwind around here!

The last two weeks for us have comprised of spending most of our time in la colonia with the short term mission teams.  It has been crazy busy and we are enjoying every minute of it!  Well, the heat is a bit much, but at least we are surrounded by water to cool off with!

The team from Talapoosa, GA was awesome last week.  They had VBS, discipleship classes, soccer and baseball sports camps, delivered rice and beans to homes and so much more simply by setting a good example for other youth in la colonia.  This team is amazing in that they really bond with many of the youth and plan to skype with one of the lw4r interns to check on the youth and continue to keep up with all that is going on here with us and the kids in la colonia.  We sure do miss 'em!

One of the young adults from this team actually just announced to his church that he would like to serve in music ministry for his career!  Trey and I plan to help get him back to Roatan to help out before school starts again in the fall. 

Take care and God bless!

Connie

Fourth of July in Roatan, Honduras

On Saturday, after we picked up the team from Talapoosa, GA we got them settled in at the SonRise Mission Inn in Sandy Bay, grabbed some lunch and headed for church set-up.  Sunday we had church and take-down then an afternoon of swimming and hanging out as we prepared for the week ahead. 

As far as Fourth of July celebrations, we opted out  because we were gearing up for Monday and decided to stay at home and swim with the kids instead of venturing out.  There are a few gringo establishments that actually had some fire works and celebrations, small compared to what we are used to in the states, but still patriotic. The power actually went out at about 7:30pm and thank God it came back on in about an hour or so because it was a very hot and still night. 

Here are a few shots of children's church and the take-down side of all that goes into a church without a permanent home.  It is amazing that all of the equipment fits into a small enclosed trailer, it is like a jigsaw puzzle getting everything inside it.  We also started a toddler classroom about two months ago and it is going really well; this enables the children's church to really blossom and pay attention to the lesson.  Good stuff.

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie and Fam

Dropping off and Picking up...

So, every Saturday for the next few weeks we will continue to drop off one short term mission team and pick up another one.  It can be fun to go to the airport because you never know who you might see and get to catch up with.   It is also quite a sight to see our little pick-up loaded down with luggage as well as the lw4r truck all loaded down and then a van and another SUV busting at the seems with people.  We will definitely have to get a shot of that and post it so that all can truly appreciate it.

The team that we dropped off was from Jacksonville, Florida and consisted of 26 people.  It was a huge team for a short term mission trip but with a big team they can have a big impact.   They did VBS, soccer camp, added two rooms onto a house, laid water lines and ministered to the people of the colonia.  Because they had plenty of helpers and were pretty organized, we mainly helped move people from place to place and joined in on the activities.  These next few weeks will be a little crazier with smaller teams but so fun and rewarding.   

The team that arrived today is from Talapoosa, Georgia; 12 people total.  We had the opportunity to get to know them last summer when we helped out with VBS and sports camp.  They are just an amazing group of young adults and leaders, I definitely want to expose my kids to them every chance we get.  It is not often enough that you see first and second year college students that follow the Lord and choose to give back year after year; we pray that our kids will be the examples to others in the same way.  So, instead of using their money to go on some vacation, they have willfully chosen to help the needy children in Roatan, Honduras by doing VBS, soccer and baseball camp, running water lines and so much more just through leading by example.  The kids in the colonia actually remember them and call them by name because they have returned year after year; very cool stuff. 

This should be an exciting week and we look forward to sharing with you!

In the pictures above: Anna is with Aylisa, a girl from the colonia that she met last summer (see 7-6-09 blog); Wiley is in the window of the open-air church; and Anna and Eduardo are running around the house that the team added onto.

Take care and God bless,
Connie and Family

New Team Arrives

Trey helped pick up the first short term team of the summer for lw4r at the airport.  They ended up bringing in a ton more baseball stuff, so we are set to have some major baseball going on here in Roatan.  Might even get the men's baseball team to get involved and a teenage team started.  Good stuff.

This week Trey will be helping the team get from one place to another as well as assisting with some of the construction that they have going on.  The kids and I will be going to the VBS in the afternoons as well as photographing the team and the different projects that they have going on this week. The team is adding two rooms to a house, shelving and ventilation to a storage building, laying some water pipe, doing bible studies, vbs and distributing food; all much needed and very appreciated.

Tonight we are going to what is supposed to be an amazing puppet show that the team has hired.  This will be up in the colonia and should be fun for the kids.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie

Last Day of School and Kindergarten Graduation!

So, we had our last day of school and Wiley graduated from kindergarten.  They had a huge celebration and the entire school (about 75 kids) got to watch the program.  Afterward they had food and a present exchange with one-another.  He is growing up so fast, we can hardly believe it.  We'll be the first to say that he LOVES school; playing with his friends and digging in the dirt, but he could probably care less about learning in general.  If it doesn't involve cars, mud or catching bugs, you probably won't get his attention very well.  Thank God he had Mrs. Eleanor, she was a champ and able to keep an entire classroom of boys in their seats and learning.  We will miss her next year but will move full speed ahead into first grade in the fall at SBAS.

The older classes got to participate in their own last day of school celebrations: high school dance line, art presentation, end of year slide show, LOTS of food and the roatan radio show.  Check it out, the director of their school and Anna's teacher are two of the DJs, Athena and DJ Duke, cool stuff on the island of Roatan.  Anna got to talk on the radio, she was so excited about it too, made us proud to see her jump right in.  That would be a great job one day! 

Oh, did I mention that it was soooooo hot and the power was out?  Roatan, gotta love it!

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Fam