Internet woes, "special kids" and Hannah's trip to the cayes

The internet has been down for most of the week. When it has worked it has only been for short periods of time. I think it is because a lot of this week has been cloudy and overcast which the satellite (which we get our internet from) does not like it! The satellite likes it sunny and not too windy. And guess what the weather is like right now?? Yep, sunny with a little wind. Anyways, we are still going strong. Lily and I have battled a little stomach bug (again) earlier in the week but I think we have gotten over it for the most part.

This week has been busy seeing patients in their homes. This particular time of the month we see some of our "special kids." Hannah checked them all out (who better to do it) while I played with Christy.


Last week Hannah accompanied some our our nursing students 0n a snorkeling trip to the Snake Cayes (keys). although the weather was not perfect she had a great time. She saw star fish, lots of pretty fishies and a big stingray! Check out the bathroom on one of the islands they stopped at!

Lily's tooth

Today a momentous thing occurred (and no I am not talking about the presidential inauguration), Lily pulled her first tooth out! She has been trying to pull it out for the past few days after I told her that contrary to popular belief (8/10 5 year olds believe this I think), her tooth was not just going to "fall" out without some help. Well she finally did it this afternoon (with a LOT of encouragement)! It had not been out 5 minutes before she quickly placed it under her pillow. We celebrated by going out to eat (she got a hot dog) and we all got an ice cream treat. I can't believe our baby lost her first tooth...

I should have a video up about the whole ordeal soon that I think you will find entertaining.

The sound of God's children worshiping

There is obviously something very moving when you hear people lifting their voices to God in song. Some of the most fulfilling times in my life have involved leading others in worship of our great God. For me, nothing gets me more that seeing Lily and Aidan and other children sing to their Jesus. This morning there were 3 young boys on the front row very near me. These guys were probably 6-7 years old. They blew me away with their passionate (and loud) worship! It was so amazing. They were smiling, some missing teeth, happy as can be, no shame. At one point we were singing "Here I am to worship" and I had to stop singing so I could listen to them lead the rest of us in an anthem of praise. It was great and I had to share the moment with you...

Rainy days and another sweet "Josiah

It has rained just about all week! There have been a few short periods of no rain but for the most part, wet, wet, wet! This however has not stopped us. We are still very busy taking care of the needs of the wonderful people here.

This picture is of a sweet little girl named Brittany (and her mother). This was the first time Hannah and Aidan had met her. Lily and I had taken care of her before. She reminded us so much of Josiah. Her demeanor and smiles we just like his. These kids are certainly little angels!

Back in the saddle

This is day 4 back in Belize and we are very busy getting back to work. Hannah is busy getting our new pharmacy student program up and running and we have both been seeing a lot of our home patients along with precepting Med/PA students. It is good to be busy, helps us not think about missing all of you so much. Lily is posing with one special lady Mrs. Trinadad. She is 96!

Tree House

I thought I would show you where we now live. They call it the tree house because it is elevated up in the trees. It's nice... kinda like camping in a rustic cabin all the time. We are very grateful for a dry place to lay our heads at night! The kitchen is to the left and the tiny bathroom and the 2 bedrooms are to the right. This was taken from the top of the clinic. The last pic is of the view from our porch.

Back in Belize

Hello to all. I hope and pray you all had the best of holidays! We sure did. Thank you to everyone for all the kindness, generosity and hospitality shown to us. We made it back to Belize late last night after a long day of travel. We left Pinola, MS at 4:15am and arrived in PG, Belize around 9:00pm. I know a lot of folks were praying for us because everything worked out smoothly including the flights (despite bad weather and delays), getting through customs (with stuff we were bringing back) and the LONG 6 hour bus ride. THANK YOU!

It is warm here but not too hot. Today is beautiful. I am sure most of today will be spent unpacking and getting things ready for the upcoming week. I will blog more later...