Irony of ironies...

It rained all day yesterday and all night last night; and now this morning we have no water in the house!

Day long rains...

Thought we would pick up our air compressor today, but guess what....not finished again! Tomorrow I will take them some money and maybe they will complete the job. Their excuse today was they wanted me to pay for the valve before continuing...of course, they didn't call to tell me that; they just didn't work on it.

Rain all day and all night last night...they're calling for 2 more days of it. That's a lot when they're 7 kids trapped inside!

Will continues to stretch his 'legs' with the driving. Tonight he took the cook to the bus stop...with Fabi's help.

Mauricio's chest is sticking out pretty good tonight...he whipped me pretty badly in chess tonight! I may have to revert to cheating.

Bits & Pieces...

We continue to work on getting the house completely repaired for 'easy livin'... we still are having some problems with tiles coming up (the builder did a lousy job of putting down quikset, but just about everything else is in good shape.

We just picked up an 8 foot long wooden table that we had hand-made up the mountains. It's beautiful and it's nice to have us all actually looking at each other during meals. We had this made for $60 U.S.; can you believe that?

Our new home has a small in-ground pool which the kids absolutely love....if they've been good they are in it almost everyday the sun's out (remember we're in Honduras, always sunny). Will & I are still trying to figure out how to keep the water clear, but if you put our brains together it comes out like the pool water...cloudy!

Today Will and I went out to pay some bills and here's our experience: at the Immigration Office where I had to extend the Visas of Joyce & I the girl purposely kept us waiting for nearly an hour...why, because she can! Then we went to pay our vehicle insurance, which I did; however, they (the insurance office) didn't have any change so I had to make a return trip just to get my change (did I say it is on the other side of the city?) Next we went to pay our cable & internet bill, but despite the fact I gave them our contract they couldn't find any record of me in their system and therefore, couldn't take my payment. After waiting for 1/2 hour I told them to call me when they found something...haven't heard from them yet. We went to check on my computer which was supposed to have been repaired last Wednesday, then moved to Saturday...on Sat. they told me it would be done today...today they told me it would done tomorrow...anybody feel like betting?

Tried to pick up the air compressor, but they haven't finished it yet. They called and told me they had, but when I asked them about one of the problems we discussed they told me they forgot to check it. Then they said it would done yesterday, but it's still not ready...no surprises.

Will has been a real blessing to us..even though we haven't been able to drill yet, he has taken a big load off of us w/the kids. The kids love him and it is reciprocal. Right now he's in his room w/Fabi & Mauricio doing a Bible Study for them. He's worked up the courage to drive the kids to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. As soon as we get our compressor back I think we will be able to make some progress in the drilling area that will be a boone to us financially...at least that's our plan.

Everyone is healthy, just a minor earache for Antonio, and we're enjoying the benefits of our new home. Joyce is digging in the dirt everyday (planting flowers and vines) and it's like therapy for her, the kids love their new found space, and I love that we are twice as close to everywhere we need to go in the city. We are truly blessed........THANK YOU!!!

Lions, Crocs and........Coders!?

Mauricio and his new friend!

Smart idea?

Smiley the Crocodile!

Kiss me?

Poor thing...

All of the beautiful colors that God made...

Glad he was in there! Needs a haircut!

You'd be surprised how great the combination of the three worked out!!! No one lost their fingers or toes!!! The kids really enjoyed it and it was pretty sweet seeing all of the different types of God's creations. The crocodiles were really cool and Bob enjoyed intimidating them too! I think Joyce wanted to bring one of the lion Cubs home!!!! That would have been interesting.

BTW: Even though Bob encouraged me to, I did not kiss the little croc. Got smacked by the tail though! Pretty strong little critter!

Chess Wars!!!

Tonight there was a tournament of Chess between Bob, Mauricio, Fabiola, and I (Will). Why make a post about chess? Because Bob played Chess for the first time EVER!!! Who would've thought!?

The first game was Will v. Fabiola. Winner: Will

The second game was Mauricio v. Bob. Guess who won? Bob!

Maybe I can talk Bob into a game!!!

Anyway, here are some pics of the "King" in action!

Talking smack trying to intimidate his opponent.

Bob in deep thought.

Back to school....for some

Today Fabi, Mauricio, & Angel returned to school from their Christmas vacation. Funny thing...they were eager to get back to school because it was boring at the house, but now they're ready for another vacation since they have school work.

Mauricio, Fabiola, and I have been doing school work since 2:00 p.m. except for a break for dinner...and we're not done yet.

Will has been keeping the other kids occupied...they had a rousing game of dodge ball in the yard tonight and Pedro came in with a battle scar on his arm. They are enjoying their new 'mate'.

Child labor & a New Addition...

Child labor...you gotta love it! It's free and a few simple swings of a switch brings about great motivation! Fabiola labored all day painting the room of our newest family member, Will. She did great job, although she did paint her face and legs in the process.

Mauricio & Cesar really worked hard out in front of the house. Over time mud had built up and didn't allow the water to drain when it rained creating a lake in front of our house. They dug and dug, shoveled and shoveled and finally removed it all...great work guys!

Will Blackwell of Tellico Plains, TN. arrived this morning and will be living with us on a permanent basis. Will has known the children since Christmas 2008 and has felt God calling him to become involved on a full time basis. Pray for Will as he answers God's call on his heart.