Christmas Vacation

We are back from our Christmas vacation to Maine. It was wonderful to go back for the holidays! We had a great time visiting with friends and family, seeing lots of snow and “pigging out” on all the food we’ve been craving. I think we gave the local Chinese buffet a serious financial boost this holiday season!

Ashlyn accomplished some milestones while we were there. Her two, bottom front teeth came in! She was not a happy girl during this process, but now that they are in she looks awful cute! She also learned to walk while in Maine! It’s strange at times to have her just “walk” into a room like such a big girl!
It was really fun to see her interact with everyone around her. Once she figured out that people would say “hi” back to her, she was waving and saying “hi” to everyone. She also got to play with her “friends”. She was shy at first but by the end of the trip she was having lots of fun playing with the other kids.

I think everyone knows, but incase I missed anyone…we are expecting! I am about four months pregnant and due July 5th. We will be having the baby here which will give the baby automatic citizenship in Nicaragua. We are looking forward to our new addition!

Although I was a little sad to leave Maine, we are happy to be back! There has been a lot to do at the camp since we’ve been back. A mission’s team from Tennessee came down and ran a great kids camp. Now some church’s here in Nica. are using it to hold church retreats. And in just two weeks a team from Adam’s home church in Maine is coming down. We are excited to have them come!

Here's a picture of Ashlyn reaching in her stocking on Christmas morning.

Headed Home for the Holidays!

Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving for Managua (the capital) where we will be spending the weekend with friends. Then we fly out early Monday morning for Maine! I am very excited to be going back to the states for a few weeks. I love the Christmas season and have a hard time being overseas during it! I am looking forward to seeing friends & family but also little things that I miss. Like; hot showers, yummy food, electricity 24/7, carpet instead of tile floors, safe water right out of the tap, snow…the list goes on!

If you could please be praying for us as we travel on Monday (the 17th) it would be much appreciated. I naturally do not worry or stress about many things, but flying with a baby stresses me out!
In my foolish youth I had little empathy for mothers with “annoying” kids. My worst nightmare is to be “that mom” with the crying, crazy kid.
We have a two hour flight out of Managua to Houston and then a three hour flight from Houston to Boston. Then a three hour drive from Boston to Maine.
We will be leaving Nicaragua around 7:00 am and won’t arrive in Maine until around 10:00 pm. It will be a long day for Ashlyn!

Please pray that Ashlyn will somehow want to sit on my lap for hours at a time!
Also that she will be able to sleep on the plane. She has a hard time sleeping anywhere other than a crib. And for my sanity, I stress myself out worrying about if she’s going to have a “melt-down”.
Thanks so much! It’s a relief to know I will have people praying for us! I will see some of you soon!

Late Night Visitor

Last night our dogs started barking rather ferociously at our front gate. I went out to see what was causing all the commotion and there was a horse grazing on the grass by our gate.
I put the dogs inside and treated the horse a big carrot. She looked like she could use some extra meat on her bones! The thought crossed my mind that I could just bring her inside my gate and have a pet horse…but I resisted the urge.
Seeing horses everywhere is one of the things I love about Nicaragua!

Worm

As I walked in our house yesterday I noticed something moving in the corner. I went over to get a closer look and there was a long, skinny worm. I was about to pick it up and remove it from our home, but it seemed weird. Not your average looking worm; it was all black, very skinny for a worm and moved differently.

I started having second thoughts about picking it up as irrational images of the worm oozing “killer worm venom” crossed my mind. I decided to call Adam over (so he would get oozed instead of me). Adam started pushing the worm out of the house with his shoe and it started squirming around. We both stopped and stared at it as the “worm” made a perfect “S” pattern as it moved along.
As we were staring at it the weirdest worm ever, a Nicaragua friend of ours (who happened to be over) came to take a look. He quickly informed us that our “worm” was a baby snake and we should obviously kill it.

So our killer worm turned snake has been disposed of but leaves us with some questions…
Where’s the momma? Does he/she have brother and sisters?
And the question that is plaguing my mind…how did he get in our house??
Our house is raised up with about a foot tall cement step all the way around. There is no way such a little snake could have gotten up it. This leaves only a few options of how it got in, none of which I like. Our snake must have been hatched in our house, on our porch, or possibly in our drop ceiling.

We are keeping our eyes out for any more and hoping to find none!

La Purisima

“La Purisima” is a week long Catholic celebration here in Nicaragua. It is a celebration to honor the Virgin Mary, many people put alters to her in their homes and then neighbors come bring gifts to each other.

The locals seem to be having a grand time, but I must say, this is my least favorite “holiday” I have ever encountered. It’s so LOUD!
To celebrate there has been parades marching by, bands playing proudly down the street and music blaring at all hours of the day and night. But the one thing I dread the most is the constant explosion of mortars.
They set mortars off sporadically throughout the day and then quite a bit in the evening. But then they set them off precisely at 3:00 am and 6:30 am for about a half an hour straight.
At the 3:00 am mortar extravaganza a band even walks down our street playing! It is absolutely startling to be awaken by mortars exploding and a band marching down your street at 3:00 am. It feels like a twilight zone and honestly, I don’t know why anyone would get up that early for anything.

Tonight is supposed to be the “grand finale” tribute to our dear Mother Mary. The US Embassy in Nica emailed all the Americans and told us to stay inside our homes! I guess things can get a little crazy with people drinking and even shooting off firearms.
So here we are, safe in our home listening to a band playing somewhere in the distance and mortars exploding every few minutes. I am very glad La Purisima is almost over!


A parade marching past our house complete with a Virgin Mary float and band playing behind it.