Hello Again

Ok, so I know I am REALLY late for an update this time. All I can say is I am sorry. As you probably assumed, our summer went by so very fast with only a few days of not doing anything. It was a great summer, don't get me wrong, but we are so glad to be back at our home in Honduras. Neither one of us liked living out of suitcases for 2 months. The time with family and friends was fantastic, and our trip to RYM with the students from Honduras could not have gone smoother. We are already thinking of how we could do it next year...seeing that all 13 students want to go again, along with probably another 15-20 of the next class.

Now that we are back in Honduras, and school is now in its 4th week, I will tell you some of the changes we encountered upon returning. First of all, there are many new teachers here, but we are providentially still waiting on 2-3 more teachers. We have a new couple living next door to us who are around our age. Their names are Ben and Joy. We all get along really well, and I am so thankful Aaron has a good male friend!

Another change was that Aaron had to pick up another class: Sociology. For those of you who know Aaron well, this is PERFECT for him! Aaron teaching the study of people could not be better! He is actually getting to teach his beloved 11th grade class again, which he is excited about doing. This is a good change for Aaron, however, this means A LOT more work for him and fewer planning periods. He is doing great so far and I am so proud of how he has stepped up to the challenge!!

Another change this year was that my aid, Karla, did not return to Pinares this year. In God's perfect timing and will, she was offered a better job at a different school that she could not turn down. I have been so extremely sad about this change, not because my new aid is not wonderful, but because my best friend here in Honduras is not in my classroom anymore. Please be in prayer for her and her children.

Now I can update what has been going on this weekend!! My birthday was on Thursday, and I felt so special at school! First of all, one of my student's mom is a baker, and she sent me a rather large and delicious cake that morning. We enjoyed that as a class at snack time that morning...just to start loading them up with sugar! ;) Aaron brought me flowers and a coke that morning while I was teaching. At lunch time, 2 mothers came and surprised me with cupcakes and sandwiches...just to seal the deal with the amount of sugar my students were getting that day! It was a fun day at school, and my kids were really cute!!
That night, Aaron took me to my favorite Pizza place with our closest friends and Karla! The food was so delicious!!!! Aaron also picked up my favorite dessert here: Flan!! When I got home, Aaron gave me a card to explain my gift from him...Friday night we were to spend the night at Honduras Maya Hotel in the city, go out to dinner, have the yummy breakfast buffet the next morning, get massages, and spend some time at the pool!!!!! It was ALL so amazing. On Saturday, Aaron surprised me with getting my nails done with Karla and going out to dinner with her as well--just the 2 of us so we can have some time together. This was so fun, and I loved having the time with her!
Karla drove me home, seeing that Aaron had gone on up the mountain to watch football. When I got home, Aaron came and got our suitcase out of the car and I was so excited to see him. The three of us were going to have Flan together, or so I had planned. Little did I know that almost 20 11th graders were hiding in our living room with the lights off waiting to surprise me with a party!!! They literally scared me to the point of screaming!! Aaron had planned it all, and I had NO clue that anything else was going to happen! He got me really good! He had been planning this for almost 2 weeks with the kids, and he called Karla to take me some places so that he could set everything up! He was not planning on watching football at all! He left the hotel and went to pick up a pinata and a cake. The party was so much fun and they all loved seeing my face!

I must say, I have never celebrated my birthday for 3 days in a row, but Aaron really went above and beyond! He was so very thoughtful about every little detail! The only thing I wish could have been different was having our families here. We both miss that aspect of living there. It wasn't until last year that neither of us were able to see our family on our birthdays. It's part of living overseas, but I know it is harder on our moms than it is on us!