How's everyone doing? We're still in Honduras :) and doing good. This week has had various changes and new things from when we arrived, though.

First, it rained! And yes, the roof still leaks, but not as much as before. We only had to put 3 or 4 containers down and none of our stuff got wet. Harlan has ripped out part of the ceiling so we can see where it's coming in.

Then, the wind and cold came. And man, is it cold! It was at least 55 degrees outside and 60 degrees in the house when we woke up one morning. Now I know that might not sound too bad, but keep in mind there's no insulation, no furnace and very few airtight windows. You can see our curtains blowing. We feel very fortunate to have hot water in the shower, which is a great blessing!

The cold brought another first: we used our fireplace. Our kids loved it and most of you know how much Harlan loves a good fire, too!

Also, the daily rotation schedule has been changed. We are now “on” every third day. So this coming week we'll be in charge Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, and then the next Tuesday, etc. This means everyone (Alonso/Michele, Angel/Bertha, and us) gets every third weekend completely off. The rest of the things I listed on the last blog stays the same except our shopping day in Tegucigalpa may vary.

We will also have cable internet in our house next week, God willing! That doesn't mean blog updates will happen any more frequently (that would just be boring for everyone :), but maybe emails will get answered more quickly! Harlan's looking forward to being able to research some farming questions, etc on line.

We also have a new phone number. I was able to get my cell phone from the US unblocked and bought a new sim card. Since blogs are public I won't be giving my number here, but if anyone needs it they can contact our families or support team.

We appreciate your continued prayers for our adjustment to life here. I know it's kind of running joke about blaming everything on the high altitude here, but is does affect how you feel physically. And though we were used to have a bunch of neighbor kids at our house in Pa, this is taking it to a whole other level!

Also, please pray for Ali. She deals with some kind of allergy, which also then inhibits her breathing and now both her ears have been hurting. She rarely complains, which is a blessing :), but it also means we don't always know how badly she's hurting.

We thank God that He healed Angelica's foot without any further effort on our part. I can't even remember if I mentioned it before, but her foot had been bothering her. She has been helping in the Finca kitchen more often along with Ali.

Zack has many scratches and bruises, as usual, but is looking very tanned and healthy. He got to go for a horse ride the other day and is sure to become a cowboy someday :)

I enjoy many aspects of life here, but do miss just as many things from Pa. I especially miss family and friends, which is to be expected I suppose. I'm finally learning to remember that times of transition are always difficult and that's ok. I thank God that He is the constant in my life and that never changes.


janelle

Hello everybody! Today is a lovely day compared to what we were having. Although still a bit breezy, it's nice and sunny out. Only a few clouds hanging over the mountains.

Yesterday was our day to shop in Teguc. It was a full day of shopping and taking care of other business. We met a friendly gentleman (he invited us to eat our lunch with him 'cause there was no other tables available). He is a mutual fund manager with Deuche Bank, travels a lot , and has lived in the U.S. It's always great to make new acquaintances from the various sectors of society in Honduras.

I have been doing various odds and ends maintenance jobs along with some work down on the “finca”. We made some “hay” from the areas where the boys were weed-whacking the “monte”. We used some of it to cover the bare dirt around the fruit trees where the kids hoed out the grass and weeds. But with all the wind we've been having, I'm not sure if it's all still in place or not. I also had some of the kids helping me glean the left-over corn from a corn patch someone had planted and harvested from earlier. We didn't come up with much but what we do have we'll feed to the half dozen or so chickens that roam the place (I can here the soft cackle of hens under our deck as I write this). Today they actually laid a couple of eggs, a first since we've been here! They also moved the cattle from the other “finca” to here a few days ago. The banana plantation needs to be replanted and I think the plan is to let the cattle graze on the old stuff first. They aren't milking any of the cows right now because the calves are drinking what little they produce. I'm excited about taking part in improving these farm projects and developing new ones. It will take a lot of patience though with much trial and error. I'm looking forward to having Dwain's expertise in these areas.

Being part of the “in charge” rotation” is going pretty well. I do believe, however, that I feel more worn out by the end of the days I'm “on”. The extra interaction with the kids does drain the “battery juice” away. Sorry about all the words in quotation marks. I should mention again though, the overall improvements in the finca kids compared to when we started out here in 2000. That and everything we learned from previous experiences here combined with God's grace has made settling in here easier. Not to say life here isn't without it's challenges! Zack is enjoying roaming freely about, getting rides on a horse with Jorge, and doing all kinds of things with his new friends. Not surprisingly he gets annoyed with some of the kids who are, by nature, annoying. But they haven't kept him from roaming about, taking it all in. Angelica is more conscious of the language gap, but she's starting to loosen up about it. Ali is keen to learn Spanish but it will take awhile. We thank God that all in all, we are doing very well.

Harlan