We'll Be Home For Christmas...

As we pack our bags and clean our apartment, we are so happy that we will be flying home tomorrow! We will be somewhere in the air between Houston and Nashville this time tomorrow night.

We will be in Mississippi for the first half, and then Tennessee for the second half. I am pretty sure that my whole family, including Samuel and his family, will be there!! This is a rare occurance! The whole Halbert family will be there as well, and we are so happy to see our families.

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

It's Not Just Another Day!

Hello to everyone. Aaron was so very gracious to update the blog this week for me. Some weeks, it seems like my grading pile grows when I look away. I know they are kindergarten papers to grade, but I have been wrapping up before Christmas holidays and my kids have done so many phonics papers this week!!

The Christmas party last night was fantastic. Even though there was not as much food as we had expected, we had plenty and it was good stuff! There was a good turn out on the number of kids as well. The girls were somewhat on time, and the boys showed up at least an hour late. This is to be expected in Honduras, though. The girls were actually going on our "American" time. Honduran time is always "an hour behind." A lot of times, brides are late coming to the wedding, people are late for funerals, and NOONE is EVER on time for a party!! Oh, well, we can't change the culture!!

We are headed downtown for some fun. Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary (hence the title), and we are celebrating a bit tonight. It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by since our wedding. It was so much fun, and I can't believe it was all a year ago.

Alot has happened in this year. Personally, I never would have thought that May would hold such shocking news for our family. On the other hand, living in Honduras has been a bigger blessing than I had imagined! So, the Lord has surprised me in so many ways through His grace and mercy this year. He is the constant in our lives-the only One who never changes and the One who brought us here- both Honduras and one year together as husband and wife. To God be all the glory, for great things He has done!!

This and That

Sorry it has been so long since the last update. These past few weeks since thanksgiving have been rather hectic. As Christmas draws closer everything seems to have become more stressful as we prepare to finish school and come home for a few weeks. The kids have been extremely difficult to handle because they are all just as antsy as we are to have a nice break.
Over the past few weeks it seems like every night there is something that we have to do. This last weekend Rachel had the Christmas concert for the elementary school and it turned out to be wonderful. She loved seeing all the work the kids had put in come to fruition. I was unable to attend because I got a stomach bug the night before and wasnt feeling better until Saturday morning. Saturday brought more activity as we went to Valle de Angeles to do a little bit of Christmas shopping but, it was the same kind of Christmas shopping you do in the States. It was not crowded, hectic, or loud. It was actually very relaxing for both of us just to spend some time together enjoying the areas where we live. Saturday night brought a Quincineara, which is the equivalent of a Sweet Sixteen birthday party. It was one of the most extravagant things we have seen yet in Honduras. It was like something straight off of TV. It was very enjoyable to see these kids in their element and I was able to take some pictures that I hope to be able to post.
To continue on, Monday brought my Christmas concert, but once they get into High School they just aren't as cute as the younger ones. It was well put together and the kids seemed to have fun.
What we are looking most foward to is this Friday night when we are having a Christmas party at our house for all of the tenth grade. They are bringing desserts and appetizers and we are planning the games and activities. I have been dying to do some youth group type activities since we left and I think this will be a wonderful opportunity. We did do alot of preparation for this party while my friend Mark was in town because we decided to decorate outside. It started like most ideas do with two boys saying lets just do a little decorating and it ended with a hand made Christmas tree, icicle lights, bannisters wrapped in wreath and lights, net lights, and a blow up 8 foot polar bear that Mark bought us, a penguin the girls upstairs bought, and a snowman. So it turned into much more work than expected but the turned out way better than we could have hoped for.
With all that being said I hope to post alot of new pictures today and we look forward to seeing alot of you over the holidays. God Bless and thank you for all your prayers, interest, and support over these last few months.

The Thanksgiving Feast at the Halberts

I have realized that cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal by yourself can be quite a task. I appreciate Mama and Jan-Jan (my grandmother) more now that I have tried it myself. Things were a bit different because of the Honduran shopping, but it was not that big of a deal.
I began on Wednesday night by making banana pudding. I was worried about this for two reasons. First, they don't have Nilla Wafers here, so I had to use a similar thin cookie. Second, they only had the old fashioned vanilla pudding, not instant, and I did not realize this until I mixed it in. Needless to say, the pudding did not "set" like it should have. Aaron and I were pleasantly surprised the next day when we found out that it tasted perfect!!
I began cooking on Thursday at 9am. I was thinking that I would be finished long before Mark arrived around three. Here is the original menu: Baked chickens, cornbread dressing and gravy, broccoli casserole, sweet potatoe casserole, and bread. My first attempt was cornbread for the dressing. I was skeptical from the beginning because they only had one kind of cornmeal here, and it did not look the same. I found out that it did not cook or taste the same either. So, I shifted gears and made home-made mashed potatoes instead. Aaron loves those, so I knew he wouldn't mind. The chickens were stuffed with onions and garlic and put into the oven around 10:30. I let them cook for several hours. Next was the broccoli casserole. That was a recipe from Aaron's mom, and it is his favorite casserole. I almost forgot the eggs, but I was able to mix them in before it began to cook!! Mark arrived right on time, and handed off the sweet potatoes from his suitcase. (I couldn't find any here, so he brought some for us!!) I mixed that casserole together, put some butter on the bread, and popped both of those in the oven for the final round.
The meal was finished and we sat down to eat at about 4:30. Thankfully, the guys had 7 layer dip to snack on while I finished cooking. (That was also made Thursday morning-I forgot)
So, the verdict was: The chickens were "amazing" and fell right off the bone, the potatoes were "Mmmmmmmmm......", the sweet potatoe casserole was "the best thing I have ever put in my mouth" (according to Mark), the bread was "so good", and the broccoli casserole was "good." Remember that I said broccoli casserole was Aaron's favorite?? Something happened while I was cooking, and it just was not the same. Maybe the altitude? Or it might just be "mother's touch." Whatever it was, I am going to get Mita to show me how she makes that and her enchiladas when I go home. Those are two things that I don't have the touch for, and I need to learn from the expert. I am very excited about it!!

We have been stuffed ever since Thursday! I noticed this year that around Thanksgiving and Christmas, I get uncomfortably full. Then, as soon as I get comfortable again, I eat more. So there is a constant feeling of uncomfort!!! Do you agree?? Why do we do that to ourselves? It is miserable!
Anyway, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. Christmas is around the corner, and we come home in three weeks!!! We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family. It was fun being here for Thanksgiving, but a little sad as well. This was our first year not to be completely surrounded by family the entire weekend. Mark was a wonderful substitute, though. I really enjoyed being a hostess this time!
We are decorating our first Christmas tree tonight, and pictures will be up soon. The weather here has been beautiful, but not at all cold. That is the weird part about putting up a Christmas tree. We have been in shorts all weekend!!

Thanksgiving Week in Honduras

Thanksgiving is not really celebrated here in Honduras. The school recognizes it, and we have Thanksgiving festivities in the elementary, but it is not that big of a deal. Pilgrims and Indians are not exactly relevant to these children as they are in the States. It's understandable, but I LOVE Thanksgiving! I have been talking to my aid this past week about traditions of my family. I am sure each of you have traditions that are unique for your family. It has been fun for Aaron and me to combine our families' traditions, do away with some, and add a few of our own this year. This is our first Thanksgiving together as a married couple. Last year, we both went home to our parents' homes for the last holiday as single people! As sad as it is that we won't see the Huttons and the Halberts (and Flemmings and Smiths) this Thanksgiving, I am thankful to have a wonderful husband to spend it with. It is hard to believe that I have been a Halbert for almost a year now!

As we are getting more and more settled here in a new country, we have a lot to be thankful for. As you spend this Thursday preparing a big meal, visiting with friends and family, and probably watching football, please remember the ones around the world who may not have family to spend Thanksgiving with or who may not have money to make a huge feast. There are many here in Honduras, and this is small compared to the rest of the world. We don't come into close contact with many of the poorest of the poor. Most of our students come from the richest of the rich, so there is a big difference. However, even our students don't have perfect lives. Some of them are raised by their maids, nannies, and chauffeurs. My heart goes out to them, as well as the poor of Honduras.

Last week was Spiritual Emphasis Week, as I mentioned in the last entry. Academia Los Pinares is a Christian school, but all of students are NOT Christians. There is a lot of joy in the high school as a result from last week. Please pray that the Lord will be ever present in the lives of these students. Some accepted the Lord as their Savior, which is worthy of praise to our God. Pray that the school will continue on from last week to encourage those in their new faith. Some are still hard-hearted, and they need your prayers as well. Here is the website of the speakers: www.rickandmick.com If you go to the photo gallery, there are some pictures from their trip here. There is one of the entire high school at one of the assemblies-you can't miss it!

Cold days in Honduras

So, last week was the first time we were out of school for a "cold day." I know what you are thinking- "It gets COLD in Honduras?" That is what I thought at first, until this cold front came in. The temperature is not unbearable on these kinds of days with it only getting into the 40s a little at night and in the mornings, but mostly in the 50s. The difference here is that there is no central heating in the school, apartments, or any building, really. Therefore, it is very hard to get warm. The classrooms hold moisture and the coldness, so teaching becomes difficult. Also, the parents of all the students do not like to send their kids in on these days. So, the school has to cancel school on such days. We missed 3 days last week!

This week is Spiritual Emphasis week for the high school. They have speakers named Rick, Mick, and Brandon. Rick and Mick are twins, and Brandon is the son of one of them- I can't remember which one. They are hilarious!!! Aaron has gotten to know them pretty well because they are VERY outspoken and funny. Kindergarten was left out the the school assembly yesterday morning, so I asked them to come visit us. They not only visited, but they sang and told jokes for the entire kindergarten for 30 minutes!! My kids loved it, and it was so special!!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Mark Fleenor is coming to visit us! I am going to try to cook a Thanksgiving meal, sort of. If you have any great recipes, let me know! I am up for suggestions. I have to go shopping on Saturday morning, so get them to me before then!! :)

Conferences, Conferences, and more Conferences

During the week I was in the Mississippi, all of the other teachers were given two half days out of school to complete their parent conferences. Since I missed that, I had to use every spare moment on Monday, Tuesday, and some of Wednesday to meet with my children's parents and give them their report cards. Talk about exhausting! So this is why it has been about a week since my last entry. I was able to get a lot of sleep at night, but the days would drain me of everything. I also had double the paper work and grading to do because of my absence. All is well now, and the weekend is welcomed with open arms!

Nothing else really took place this week besides school and basketball practices. Aaron was sick on Wednesday. The doctor says it is Tonsillitis, but he disagrees. :) He is feeling much better now, but he felt pretty crummy there for a while. I am trying not to be his mother, but he is terrible about taking medicine. Then again, I am not sure of any man who is! Please pray that the Lord will help him recover.

One last pray request for the day. I have realized that I have (but have not been officially diagnosed with) TMJ, or lockjaw. Over the last 6 months to a year, it has gotten steadily worse. For some reason, Honduras (or maybe just the timing) has made it sometimes unbearable. Please pray that the Lord will take away the pain and give me a way to be able to deal with it. I am wearing something at night, and it helps a little. Weather also affects it, and the weather changes in MS and here have sent me for a whirlwind. Not only does my jaw hurt and lock, but the inflammation in my jaw makes it feel like I have an ear infection sometimes. I know that is probably more than you want to know, but please just remember me in your prayers. God Bless!

October Birthdays in the Fam

We just wanted to wish all of our family members "Happy Birthday" in this month of October. I have a list, and I hope that I don't miss anyone!!!
Maggie Claire Porter was 6 years old on October 13
Emily Hutton's birthday is today!!!
Meredith Porter will be 1 on October 31st

Also, Happy late Anniversary to Andy and Renee Halbert. It was on October 18th, right before she flew to Honduras last week. I am kind of thankful that they got married! Also, Mita: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for helping me out in my classroom so that I could be here. It has been such a specail and wonderful time, and I cannot even tell you how much your sacrifice means to me and to my entire family. Everyone has seen first-hand what I already knew: I have a wonderful mother-in-law!!!

May God bless any other birthdays that were/will be in October!

Thursday, Thursday

Sad news for the day is that Cat had to be back in the hospital today. Her fever got up to 103.3 degrees this morning, and the doctor wanted her to come in. They think it is just the same infection just not responding to the original antibiotics. So, I am staying here with her in the hospital tonight. We are going to have just a sister night. It is nice for both Mama and Cat to get a little time apart once in a while. It is also nice to have a little alone time for the two of us sisters.

Mama and I went to the Elite restaurant tonight for supper. It was delicious, as usual. We even brought something back for Cat and Daddy. I have had great food all week!

I think I will have to shop by myself tomorrow, which is not exactly what Cat had wanted. I am hoping that she will not be in the hospital very long. Please pray that we will not be here for much longer!

Good Food

Cat went in to the doctor yesterday to get checked out and make sure everything is ok. She is doing better, but it is still hard for her to eat very much. She feels full all the time because of the infection. She is not feeling the best today, but we are hoping that she will get better as the day goes on. Please pray that she will feel up to going shopping at some point with me. I have always loved to shop with her, but it would be very special this week.

I was a bit spoiled yesterday! Emily and I picked up sushi from Nagoya to eat while the kids played on the playground in Back Yard Burger. Nagoya is one of my favorite sushi restaurants of all time. If you haven't tried the Dynamite roll from there, you need to go as soon as possible!! Cat's favorite is the Rock and Roll, but it is a little too big for me. Daddy came down yesterday afternoon to see Cat while she went to the doctor. He called me on the way to her house to ask me where I wanted to eat: ANYWHERE I want, he said!! :) I have been craving a good steak, so he took me to Tico's. The steak was to die for (even though it was not quite as good as Daddy's) and I enjoyed a nice glass of Chardonnay with my meal. Everything was wonderful! Daddy got a Banana Fosters Ice Cream Pie for dessert, while I opted for the "melt in your mouth" Bread Pudding. We had left overs to share with Cat and Mama, and they loved that!!!

Today, we are hoping to hit the shopping. I hope Cat will feel well enough to come. Otherwise, we might wait until tomorrow. Please be praying for her complete healing of this infection and protection from any other sickness. She is going to be extra careful now as we enter the cold and flu season. There will be a lot of germs floating around, and she has realized that getting sick while her immune system is weak is no fun! Thank you for your prayers!!

Weather Changes

There was a storm last night here in central MS, and I was hit hard with a pressure headache as a result. I guess my body finally got accustomed to the altitude in El Hatillo.

I am sitting here with Cat in Jackson, waiting on Mama to bring Subway salads for supper. Cat was supposed to come to Tchula yesterday and today, but her fever never went down. So, I just came to her this afternoon, and we will stay here unless she feels well enough to go to Tchula later this week.

I was able to visit with Jan-Jan and Henry Forrest today during lunch and Mrs. Beth Harris this afternoon. I love to go to my grandparents house in Cruger-there's just something special and unique about the smell of their house. Mrs. Beth is like my second mother, and her house is like my second home. Whenever I go, I have to stay for a while because it is so nice to catch up. Her daughter and my best friend in elementary school is getting married December 15 this year, which is the same weekend that Aaron and I were married last year. It is hard for me to believe that we have been married almost a year! Our move to Honduras has grown us closer together, for which we are so thankful. People say that moving away from all family will truly help a couple to leave and cleave. Not that we don't want to be near our family, but we have loved the time that we have together. We are each other's best friends, and we have so much fun together in Honduras!

The plans for the week are to go out to eat at a few of my favorite places and to shop at my favorite stores. Please pray that Cat will feel up to shopping with us. She was excited about it when she was getting out of the hospital, but she is afraid that she will not have the energy and strength. May the Lord provide that as He has so graciously provided for all of our needs!

Mississippi Girl

I cannot tell you how weird it was to walk around in US airports yesterday and today, and actually hear English!!! My mind is always racing in Honduras because I can only catch a couple of words of people's conversation. It was a good feeling to be able to understand what people are saying when I need to!

I arrived today in Jackson, MS at 10:45 am. I flew to Houston yesterday and stayed the night. It was an early morning today, but I was here so early! After we left the airport, Mama and I made our way to Target for a quick stop, which was time enough for me to see MANY things in the clothes section that I would love to buy! (Aaron, I hope you read this) ;) We then went to the hospital to see Catherine. Side Note: Catherine got a bacterial infection while on her beach trip and had to come back to be put in the hospital for observation. Cat got a little emotional when she saw me, which made me feel so loved. It did not take long until Cat and I started going back and forth to update each other on our lives. There is only so much you can say on Skype and we don't talk on that very often. It was so wonderful to sit there and tell each other everything! This was also my first time to see Cat in person since she lost her hair. I know that I am a little biased, but she is still gorgeous. Catherine Anna Hutton could never look bad any day of her life! I will try to put some pictures up after the week with my family.

Daddy came over to the hospital to pick me up for a Hutton cook-out in Clinton. That was a lot of fun to spend the afternoon with some of my Hutton cousins, aunts, and uncles. Emily, Ryan, and the kids are also here for some of the week, so we all had a ball! It was surprising to see how much my neices and nephew have grown in just two and a half months! I loved seeing everyone!

I will try to update once in a while this week. We have a lot of plans for when Cat gets out of the hospital!

Not Again

This week has been pretty normal, in some ways. Monday was very long for those of us who travelled over the weekend. We were all swamped with work and had very little energy, but we prevailed. Tuesday morning, I woke up with the stomach virus- YAY!! I stayed out of school for three days, hoping that the things would get done in my classroom. I was relieved knowing that my aid would be there to hold down the fort. Tuesday night I found out that she was out and would be for about a week because she had emergency surgery. Thankfully, two women substituted for me and did a fabulous job! They were great with the kids and taught to perfection.

Friday and Saturday were filled with ACSI conferences. We are all thankful that it is over, not that we did not enjoy it! :) On Saturday night, five of us went to the Sushi Bar downtown. This was mine and Aaron's second time there and the other three's first. Two of the three did not like the sushi they had eaten in the States. At the end of the night, however, they were ready to make this a monthly tradition (it is too expensive for our salaries to do more). Aaron and I were kind of proud of a successful night. We really love the Sushi Bar and the owner was extremely helpful this time!

Three prayer requests: First, that my stomach would get stronger and that my immune system would get stonger. Second, Aaron managed to break a rib in class the other day (don't ask), so please pray for healing and comfort with the pain. Third, please pray for my aid, Karla, that she would have a quick recovery. Tomorrow will be interesting without her! Thank you for your prayers! Love to all!

Amapala

We just got back from Amapala. Ten of us teachers stayed on an island this weekend in South Honduras. Aaron organized the trip, and he did a fabulous job!! It was just gorgeous every where we turned;we were amazed at the beauty of God's creation. The island is basically a dormant volcano, so the sand on the beaches is black! There are only two hotels on the island, so we stayed at the better of the two. I know what you are thinking-You stayed at the best hotel on the island?? :) We payed a lot for it, too: $25 a night (for Aaron and myself-the 6 singles shared one room and payed a lot less)! It was great! The hotel was definitely not the nicest we have ever stayed in, and I don't think that they would stay open in the States, but it is Honduras!!! We overlooked the bugs on the walls and got wonderful rest every night! I was a little worried at first, but we all had a great time and laughed at the things we could have been upset over. The beach time was fantastic, and we had the FRESHEST seafood ever! Some of it was interesting, and our stomachs weren't exactly happy with all of us, but it was a good adventure.

As we drove into Tegucigalpa, a lot of us expressed the nice, but odd, feeling of coming home. Sometimes it takes a vacation to make your house feel like home. For some of us, we think of home in the States as our home. There is a feeling of going home that we will get when we visit our families that we will not get here, but for the first time, I felt like I was coming home when we drove up to the apartment. It was a good feeling, but it was weird. I feel more and more comfortable with this foreign land with every day that goes by. Like I have said before, Aaron was "home" the moment he stepped off the plane, but it has taken me longer to feel comfortable here. I told Aaron and a couple of other teachers today that I now LOVE kindergarten. It took me a little while, but I cannot see myself teaching any other grade next year. My kids are adorable and EASY to love, my aid (Karla) is amazing and I can't even imagine her not being there, and I love the flexibility of kindergarten. It has been hard with the language barrier, but my kids and I are working with each other. They are understanding, and they get so excited when I say something in Spanish. I try to give them special attention when they say something new in English and they love it! I am definitely having fun with them, and I think they are having more fun now, too!

I now see why people like to take a "vacation" after a vacation. We are exhausted now. Aaron drove the 15 passenger van through pretty rough mountain driving, and I was tense the whole drive! :) Thankfully, we have a four day week this week. We have ACSI conferences this weekend, and the kids don't come to school this Friday because of it. After this Friday, we won't have another day off for a while. Alex and Andrew are coming towards the beginning of October, then I go home soon after that for a week. Time is flying by!

We hope you all have a great week!

A Praise from the Hutton and Halbert families

I cannot help but write a note about our good news. We received news through reading my sister's blog (www.caringbridge.org/visit/catherinehutton) that her cancer has gotten smaller in every area!!!! It has shrunk in her liver, lungs, and bones! After praying so unceasingly for complete healing, it is so encouraging to see the Lord's answer to our prayers. For those of you who know me, you know that my brother and sisters and I are very close. It has definitely been a rollercoaster for our family since May, but the Lord has blessed us in ways we never dreamed of. Our family is closer than ever before, and we are thankful for the grace He has shown us. I hope that you will join us in praying for COMPLETE healing of Catherine Hutton.

This past week and weekend have been so eventful. It was our first full week of school in a while, and we were all exhausted by the end of it. On Monday, we had "Day of the Child" celebrations for our classes (well at least in elementary). This is a day in Honduras where the children are honored. One Pinares high school student put it this way: It is the celebration of the future of Honduras. I believe it is a good celebration, although many parents and children take it a bit too far.
Tuesday was my 23rd birthday. I don't think that I have been told "Happy Birthday" so many times on one of my birthdays. My children were so excited for me. They sang for me about 8 times that day as well! Aaron surprised me with flowers while I was teaching, and my aid and one of my students' parents surprised me with flan and ice cream. After school, Aaron and I made our way down to my favorite restaurant for a nice dinner. Little did I know, Aaron had planned a surprise get-together with all of our close friends, and they were there when we arrived! It was a fun night, and I had a lot of fun. The best part of the day, however, was when Aaron told me about my present from him. He and his parents have planned for me to go home for a week in October. Mrs. Halbert is coming here during her fall break to substitute for me. Most of you already know about my sister, Catherine. She was diagnosed with cancer in May and it has been very hard to be away from home during such a trying time for our family. Anyway, I am flying home October 20 (I think) and staying for a week! This is by far the greatest gift Aaron could have given me this year. As much as I am beginning to love Honduras, my heart often yearns to be back with my family in Mississippi.
Those of you who will see Renee and Andy Halbert soon, please give them a hug for me!! Mita is sacrificing her whole fall break for me, and Papi is flying with me both ways!! My family and I are so thankful!
The rest of the week went by quickly and ended with Independance Day on Friday. In Honduras, if a holiday falls on any day other than Monday, it is still observed by schools and some businesses on that following Monday. So, we did not have school today even though the actual holiday was Friday.
One of our fellow teacher's parents came to Honduras to visit this weekend. We spent a lot of time with them. The teacher and her roommate are two of our really good friends, so they wanted us to get to know her parents. They stayed at a very nice hotel across from one of the malls here, and we took advantage of the nice pool there this weekend! We did not feel like we were in downtown Tegucigalpa!

We hope that y'all have a wonderful week. Thank you for keeping up with us and for praying for us.


ps. I know that some of you would like to know ways to help us here. If any of you are interested, our elementary school is looking to update their video collection to all DVDs. Videotapes have problems with mold here and they are not always reliable now. If you are interested in sending children's videos to Academia Los Pinares, you may mail them to Andy Halbert 9913 Tierra Verde Drive Knoxville, TN 37922. He will get them to me in October. We are looking for all kinds of children's videos: Christian (like Veggie Tales), educational, or entertainment. They can be short or long. It will be for Pre-K through 6th grades. Thank you!!!

Doing Well

We are thankful to report that it looks as if the storm is over!! The Lord answered the prayers of His people and protected us here in central Honduras. I have not heard of the extent of damages on the coast of Honduras, but I do know that Nicarauga was hit pretty hard. Please pray for the families there. It rained steadily all night and into the morning, but nothing like the 25 inches they predicted for us. The storm apparently slowed down a lot when it reached the mountains here in Honduras. They were afraid that it would have picked up speed and then stopped here in Tegucigalpa when it reached our mountains. (That is what happened in Mitch) If you look at a map of Honduras, you can see how the mountains curve. What happened in Mitch (and what everyone was afraid would happen again) is the storm slowed down at the first part of the mountains, went over them and picked up speed, then stopped at the next curve of mountains right over Tegucigalpa for a couple of days and dumped 50 inches of rain on the capital. With Felix, the storm slowed down and broke up a lot before moving on. It also moved through here rather quickly. It does not seem like we were even in a storm now that I look outside and see the sunshine. We are very thankful!! We are also thankful and surprised that our power only went off for a few minutes about 5 different times last night and this morning. The Lord is so gracious!!

Aaron is currently downtown with a fellow teacher, Adam Trout, who owns an army-like SUV. They ventured down the mountain to see how things were since the sun was shining up here. He just called me and said that everything is great and that there "is NO chance we are getting out of school tomorrow." We teachers are thankful for the two days off school, but we are all falling behind with our schedules!! It is indeed time to go back, even though I have enjoyed the mornings to sleep in.

Thank you all for your prayers. We will try to keep you updated as we find out any details of the damage done. You may find out more on your news channels, though. Have a great day!

Hurricane shift

The hurricane has shifted and as of right now we are in the path of the eye. We are extremely safe up here on the mountain. It will be a tropical storm by the time it hits us, so we will experience rain. As we said before, our building is completely concrete (no exaggeration) and we are on a flat spot on the mountain. Therefore, we believe we are in the safest place we could be. Our prayer right now is for all of the poorly built small homes in the country. They will not be able to stand very much. Pray constantly for the lives of those people because many of them do not have money to go anywhere but their homes. Our hearts go out to all the people here who have no hope of a God that will forever protect them. We have a peace that only comes from the Lord, and we pray that the Lord will save not only lives but souls as well. We hope you will join us in praying for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as the lost.

Our power will probably go out soon, so please do not expect a post any time soon. Please do not worry if there is no post for a couple of days. We are expecting to be out of power for a while.

Hurricane Felix

Hello to all,

I have had several comments about the hurricane down here. As of right now, we will only have some rain. It would have to come a little more south for it to really affect us. We will most likely lose power, but that is expected in a situation like this. Please pray that the Lord will not only protect us and keep the hurricane from our area, but that He would also protect those in the path. There are many poor people here in Honduras whose homes would not stand strong winds and rains, especially on the mountain slopes. We would most likely be okay because we are high up and in concrete buildings. Many of their homes are not even built on concrete slabs, let alone with concrete walls. The north coast is supposed to get the most damage, so please pray specifically for them. We will update you as soon as we know more. Thank you for your concern!

Hello from Honduras

First of all, let us apologize to anyone who we have not talked to since we left. We have been very busy and our internet has not been exactly stable until lately. We have Skype, which works only with internet!! We are starting this blog so that we can at least let people know what is going on and how to pray for us. We hope that you will enjoy reading!!
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We are now starting our fifth week in Honduras, and I must say that it has been an adventure. We arrived in Tegucigalpa on July 31st at about noon. (Honduras does not change times ever, so we are on Mountain time now, but once you have your time change, we will be on Central time.) Aaron and I came with our four suitcases loaded to the max and our cat, Polo, as my carry-on. Polo was a trooper, I must say! I think he is hoping that he never has to leave the ground again. Little does he know....

Aaron's parents and a couple from Knoxville came along with us. We were able to get a lot of things accomplished while they were here, including painting our apartment. The walls were mostly a dingy white, and I was anxious to make it look like our home. It has been so fun to decorate with Honduran accent pieces. We live on a mountain in a town called El Hatillo. It is much cooler and more peaceful up here. We have about a thirty minute drive down the mountain to get to the actual city. That is where we do all of our shopping on the weekends.

The Halberts and Fleenors stayed for about five days. A few days after they left, I became sick with a bacterial infection in my stomach and stayed in the hospital overnight. What a welcome to Honduras, huh? There is no telling what made me sick. I have not had any unpurified water yet, so it must have been something that I ate. Noone else got sick, so I guess I have a weak stomach!

About the time I got out of the hospital, all of the other teachers came in. We started orientation and soon after that the kids came! We have now had two full weeks of school. I am teaching kindergarten and Aaron is teaching World Geography and World History to freshmen and sophomores. We will both be helping coach a few sports as well. The first one: track. I will be coaching long jump and Aaron will be coaching shotput and high jump.

Aaron is having such a fantastic time teaching and getting to know his students. Teacher-student relationships are very different here. Relationships, in general, are extremely important here. For those of you who know Aaron, you know that he is VERY outgoing and social. I can say this because I am his wife: the kids absolutely LOVE him! I have been hearing so many people say that Aaron is one of the favorite teachers!

As for me, I receive LOTS of hugs and kisses from my kids. They are so adorable. I even had a couple of girls tell me that they loved me this week. (This was extra special since they do not know very much English) The first couple of days at school were kind of hard because my kids just stared at me. I would tell them to stand up and they would just sit there!! I laughed a lot at how silly I felt those first days of school. Now, my kids are more comfortable with me. They understand A LOT more than they speak. I have a wonderful aid who is a native Honduran. She has been my life saver in the classroom, and not just because she translates for me!! I teach in English, and the kids are learning a lot. Like I said, they understand more than they speak, so my teaching does not need to be translated.

Other than going to school, Aaron and I have really enjoyed the malls here. One of them has a movie theater. We can both go to a movie and get a coke and popcorn for under $10! The movies are about 3 weeks behind the US, but it is fine! We (mainly me) also really like the Espresso Americanos. This is a coffee shop that is a lot like Starbucks and is everywhere! I can get a small "granita de cafe" (a frozen coffee drink) for under a dollar! :) I figure that the calories are balanced by all the walking we do here!

Tomorrow we will be going to our church here in El Hatillo. It is a small Spanish speaking church. We meet in the pastor's home and there are usually about 80 people that come. The pastor's wife translates for all of us teachers who do not speak Spanish. We have really liked it!

So far, I am enjoying Honduras. Aaron has come home, so it has been really easy for him to adjust. I have had a little culture shock, but it is very normal. We are both content with where the Lord has placed us. We have wonderful friends and we work at a great school. He has blessed us tremendously!! Thank you for all of your prayers!