Old news, new news, good news...

As you may have known or remember, Janelle's nephew Josh (her brother Jeff's son) was here for a couple of weeks. He came with Janelle's sister and her family and was planning on traveling home with a friend of Andrea. Various airline cancellations because of the political situation meant that Andrea's friend didn't come, but God provided a way home for Josh via a friends of friends connection. We all enjoyed having Josh here.


-------cutting firewood for a campfire----------


S'mores with Alex and Lilian after a pizza dinner.

We took Josh to El Picacho park, where the statue of Jesus is located, the morning of the day that he had to fly back to the States.










After eating Zack the dragon was still hungry...































































































































The next day after Picacho and taking Josh to the airport, we went with a large group of the older guys, Andrea and the Livengoods up to Oscar and Martha's house for a special lunch. Oscar is a mason that helps with the construction work here at the Finca. The boys all put money together to make a special meal as a "reward" for all their hard work. :) Danilo was the guy in charge and even helped do some of the cooking!















We took Javier's mom and sister, Brenda and Maria, with us up to Oscar's. Here Brenda and Janelle are mixing up a fruit salad.





--------------------------------Ali and Maria














The master of the barbeque (and his improvised sunshade :)



























Some people washed dishes...


----------Some people rested...












And some people played soccer ?...






















and Zack made a new friend












We also had a reward dinner for the boys in Harlan's Bible study class who wrote all the verses they were supposed to learn. This time we took the easy way out, but a favorite of the boys, and bought Chinese food in Teguc. We did add raw veggies, fresh fruit, ice cream and brownies, courtesy of Angelica.









Later popcorn and a movie...














The next day we took a walk to the top of one of the mountains behind our house to the "buena vista". The group of kids who went along all enjoyed the trip, but Janelle doesn't know if she'll ever even attempt it again. :)














This past Tuesday and Wednesday, we took a school "field trip" to Siguatepeque and Lago de Yojoa. Teacher Mrs. Livengood and Principal Mr. Livengood went along. First, we went to visit Gerald and Phyllis Martin in Siguatepeque and see the children's home and farm where they and others live. They have around 36 children at the home and many people to help out. We were able to learn how they make yogurt, cheese (including Farmer's cheese!) and ice cream! We were, of course, happy to sample the products! The farm with cows, chickens, pigs, gardens, cornfields and tractors was a little bit of Lancaster County in the middle of Honduras (although none of the residents are actually from Lancaster County :) We had a great time being shown around by Gerald. We visited on Phyllis' due date and have since learned that they had a little girl five days later and all, including two brothers, are doing well. Everyone hopes to be able to go back and visit them again and not just for the cheese and ice cream! :)

















Here's the cheese making equipment.







































Then we traveled on to Lago de Yojoa. We took an hour tour by boat around the lake when we arrived. The next day we drove to Puhlapanzak, a very large waterfall. It was quite amazing. We had a wonderful trip especially since we didn't need to worry about any border crossings. On our way back we were able to buy huge watermelons and honey as well as cheese, yogurt and more ice cream at the Martins.


























































































And now the event we've all been waiting for...
the first day of school! Here we are, all ready
to go with our snacks...






Are you ready for this, Mrs Livengood?!













We are very grateful to all who are helping us in our work here. Those who are with us like Andrea, Dwain and Audrey. Those who come visit us like our families and church teams. Those who support us through prayers and finances. We thank God for all of you!

Some of the good news from here is what God is doing in the lives of some of the kids here. Janelle has had several opportunities to spend time with several of the teenage and young adult girls. Sometimes just to listen, sometimes to give advice, sometimes to pray and sometimes to help work through problems. Some of the girls have been able to apologize and ask for forgiveness from others. We thank God for the work he is doing in many of the lives here.


And now for a couple of random pictures... which do you think is prettier? :)





















Our resident lizard that spends some of his time in our ceiling

"Springtime" Babies by Angelica

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Right now at the other finca there are "springtime" babies. A lamb, a calf, a foal, and a new puppy. Oh, and a LOT of chicks and half-grown chicks. I,(Angelica) took all the pictures when we went to visit the other finca.(I was practicing taking pictures.) Here are just some of the baby animals.
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This calf was born the morning we went over to the other finca. And this picture was taken in the afternoon.
We hiked across the field to see it back in the far corner behind a clump of bushes in a group of trees. It was a cute little big-eared thing.
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This little lamb was born a couple weeks before the calf. It's kind of thin because the mother thinks it's a nuisance and won't let it drink.










The mother just hops up into the feeding trough and won't come down. But the lamb is starting to eat the grass stuff that they give the sheep.
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The foal was born a week or so before the calf. The foal actually belongs to Don Pablo, who takes care of the animals at the other finca.

But the calf and the lamb belong to La Finca.










I couldn't get very good pictures of it because it kept laying down and the foal was far from the fence. But I finally got a picture of it standing up. It was so cute standing up and stretching.
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Here are some more photos of animals at the other finca.
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This ham of a ram tried to nibble at the camera and then got in the way when I tried to take a picture of the lamb! But then he started smiling for the camera so I took his picture. He is the father of the lamb and quite a ham!
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These horses I think also belong to Don Pablo and were in the same field as the foal and so I just to their picture.

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Anyway those were some of the new animals at the other finca. And now I've also done my turn for the blog!

My family arrived and Mel didn't.

My sister Jodi, her husband Amos, their daughter Karissa and my nephew Josh were all scheduled to arrive on Thursday, July 2nd, which was the day Honduras' deposed president, Mel, was planning to return. Well, my family decided to come a day early (yeah!) and then Mel never did come on Thursday. Although, he did try to come on Sunday, the 5th, but was not allowed to land and there was a confrontation between his supporters and the military at the airport. We had no problems picking up Jodi and her family and we were very happy to see them. They were also planning to return to PA on Friday, the 10th, (minus Josh who is staying until the 25th), but since the government had originally closed the airport from the 5th until the 10th and American Airlines had cancelled their flights, Jodi and family had to stay an extra day and leave Saturday. It was awesome to have them here and our kids loved playing with their cousin again. So many pictures, so little space... :)





























Even though we aren't in the USA, we still needed to celebrate the 4th of July, right? And what is the 4th without hotdogs and hamburgers? :)





























We finally had Zack's kindergarten graduation party and end of the school year program. Congratulations to Angelica, Ali and Zack!! And thank you Audrey for doing an awesome job.















Some of the invited guests...












Good job, Zack!















Now we're 5th and 6th graders!!














Josh had been planning to come to Honduras with Andrea's family and return with my sister's family, but had to change his plans when his appendix ruptured! Here's a pic of him celebrating by running around the house on the day he was allowed to return to "normal" activity. :)





















And this is what happens when siblings and their cousin decide to see who can dress the weirdest...


















Celebrating Lilian's 25th birthday! Angelica baked the cake, as usual... this time pineapple dump cake.
















Movie night... watching The Gods Must Be Crazy downloaded from a free movie website on the internet. Of course that meant we all had to try and gather around the computer!
















We appreciate all of your prayers as Honduras still faces an uncertain future. We thank God for his protection and peace. We pray that all leaders and people involved in negociations and decisions will be guided by God's Spirit. We pray that all people would choose a path of peace even if decisions are not made in their favor. We thank God that he is our refuge in times of trouble!

a tooth, a butterfly, celebrations and rewards

Zack lost his first tooth. Well, not lost exactly... He was so excited to have his first loose tooth and he wanted it pulled out immediately! So, I grabbed hold of it and finally on the third pull it came out. I don't know if that's the best way to do things and I don't know if Zack will ever let me do it again! He thought it was cool that it bled though, especially when it grossed out his sisters. Boys...!

Our escapee caterpillar finally came out of its cocoon. We had the caterpillar in a butterfly "cage", but it somehow escaped and built its cocoon on our back door frame. It finally "hatched" and we found it on our floor. Lilian named it "Brisa" since it came out on a misty, rainy afternoon. We kept it overnight and let it go the next morning. Anyone know what kind of butterfly it is?







Angelica's Bible study class had another "reward" event for all those who were able to write their 13 Bible memory verses. Angelica did an excellent job and even wrote about half of them in Spanish! The reward was dinner at a local restaurant with typical Honduran food and then ice cream for desert. Eating out at a restaurant is a rare and special event for most of the Finca kids.





























Andrea and Mirian being their "normal" selves. :)



Today, Alessandra went with her class for their reward for saying all of their 13 verses. Ali has also been commended by her teacher, Alonso, for being able to say all 26 verses in a row without any mistakes! I don't have any pictures since I didn't go along, but Ali's class had a special lunch of pizza over at the other finca, as well as ice cream.




On Thursday, June 18th, the new computer lab was "dedicated" and opened. HSBC bank funded the renovation along with the national newspaper, La Tribuna, and a national television station, Channel 10, under the "Donate a Classroom" program. Representatives from all three businesses were here, as well as their reporters and news crews. (We got to get our pictures in the newspaper, as well as Andrea's family who were here to visit :)
The Finca choir sang for everyone, all the representatives gave speeches, and there was a ribbon cutting ceremony. All the kids were happy to show off their computer skills to all the visitors!






























Angelica, Ali, and Zack are finished with school for the "summer"! Well, except for some "field trips" that we wanted to wait and do when their cousin, Josh, is here. They also want to have a graduation party for Zack and end of year party for the girls, but they wanted to wait for Josh and their aunt Jodi, uncle Amos and cousin Karissa, who all arrive this Thursday, July 2nd. My sister and her family will stay until the 10th, while Josh, my brother's son, will stay until July 25th.

No school means time to work in the garden!!















And, of course, some more birthdays!! This time it was Jimmy and Javier. Both fairly sweet guys and fairly hard workers. I think they both turned 15 this past week. Some "little brothers" for Andrea to pick on!! :)








Please continue to keep all of us here at the Finca in your prayers, as we struggle with frustrations and feelings of failure from time to time. We know God is our strength and only with His help can we show the love that He has for all of us. We want to show His joy and peace to all who know us. May you feel His presence and peace in the midst of uncertainty and know His joy in the midst of anxious times.