Happy Thanksgiving!

Well the last few weeks have been very not fun.  It all started when Juliana got sick  on November 3rd with a fever that just wouldn't go away and then a somewhat unrelated cough.  I believe it was the flu, or if not, then just some other virus that's been going around both the school and all our friends at church.  Then I got it 3 days later, and we were both completely miserable for a few days.  Just as I was starting to feel better, the fever came back and I ended up at the doctor, this time with a sinus infection.  Then after a couple days on an antibiotic, I was just starting to feel better, and then Kyle got it and missed most of last week at school.  I think we're all feeling mostly better now, but still pretty tired.  Juliana's been taking some GREAT naps (some days close to 3 hours) which has been great, since by lunch time I'm usually completely exhausted and in need of a nap myself!

The other sad thing that made the week not fun is that we attended our first funeral of the year :(  One of the young guys at our church is also an alumni of Academia Los Pinares (as is his 2 younger sisters who are both in college in Minnesota).  Their mother is a well known lawyer here in Honduras, who is known for being just and fighting corruption, when MANY other lawyers and judges in the country are corrupt.  In 2008 she was in an SUV, being driven to her home, when the car was attacked and she was shot (I think 8 times) but survived.  Then on the 7th we received word that she had been attacked again, in an SUV being driven to her home, in the exact same area.  This time she was killed immediately.  The thing is that this area is one of the most wealthy areas in the city, very heavily guarded, and during the beginning of rush hours (around 4 in the afternoon).  It's not known who attacked her, but they were very bold, and it was probably someone that she went against in court.  Funerals here are different than in the States, and most often take place within 24 hours of the death.  She was killed at 4 pm on Monday, and the viewing started at 6 am the next morning.  Because her daughters were in the States, they had to be flown in as quickly as possible.  We were at the viewing around 2pm that day when they arrived, and it was very sad.  I can't imagine how hard it would be to receive word that your mom was shot, get on a plane within a few hours, and arrive just in time for the burial.  Many of their friends and teachers from high school were able to be there as well, but it has to be a very hard time for the family.

This weekend we're not planning on going anywhere but Kyle has almost 2 1/2 days off work.  We do have 3 thanksgiving dinners: one at church this past sunday, one at school tomorrow, and a real Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday with the Mattica's!  Then on Friday I think we'll go downtown and do some Christmas shopping.  Thanksgiving isn't a Honduran holiday, and most don't celebrate it, so no big sales on Friday, but also not a crazy day in the stores either.  Juliana also has a birthday party to go to tomorrow afternoon...a friend of hers is turning 2, and the mom is throwing a party for around 10 little girls all around the same age....she's one brave mommy.

Sorry, no good pictures of Juliana this time...haven't done much recently except lay on the couch :(  I'll have to make a better effort for next time.

Basketball, basketball, and more basketball

Not too much going on around here except for a lot of BASKETBALL!  Kyle has been right in the middle of basketball season for awhile (actually, I THINK we might be near the end...at least, that's what I'm hoping).  This year Pinares has had a number of games take place at the school, plus they were invited to participate in another tournament that they haven't done before.  This weekend was the big tournament of all the bilingual schools of Honduras...thankfully in Tegucigalpa this year!  All that to say,  Kyle has spent a number of early mornings and late nights at school.  Yesterday he left at 6:30 am and returned at 9:45 pm, with work to do before he left at 6:30 this morning.  But, several of the teams are playing very well and they've won a few games.  

A couple weeks ago our school hosted a Family Game Day and Kyle was in charge of a good part of it (its a fund raiser for the Athletic Department).  There were several carnival type games that the kids could play as well as indoor soccer, volleyball, and basketball.  During the last 2 basketball games, Kyle had planned a a Balls and Dolls Toss.  During the first free-throw of each game, the audience threw balls or dolls onto the gym floor (balls during the boys game, dolls during the girls game).  All the balls and dolls were (or will be?) donated, but I don't remember where he said they would be donated to.  

Kyle will also be starting a bible study with a few guys who graduated from Pinares 2 or 3 years ago.  They are in college here, and he will be doing the Truth Project with them on Saturday afternoons.  

Juliana and I have been busy here reading books, playing dolls, coloring, and blowing bubbles!  I guess there's a lot more than that, but that's the fun part.  I have a women's bible study that I attend; we're currently going through 1 Samuel.  We also attend an evening home group every other Tuesday evening.    In the past we have always gone through a book (that usually correlates with a book of the bible).  However, because of things that are going on politically in Honduras, it was decided that we would go chapter by chapter through Nehemiah.  For each chapter we make a list of observations (characters, setting, history, reoccuring ideas, things that stick out, etc), write down questions that we have about the chapter, find the answers to as many of those questions as we can, and then finally write down life applications from the chapter.  This last Tuesday was our first week doing this, and it was very interesting.

I haven't gotten very many pictures taken lately.  But a few weeks ago she was the only child in the nursery, and Christa said she was pulling some funny faces, so they had a little photo shoot.  Thanks, Christa for passing on the photos.

Fun in the nursery

Currently Juliana is a little bit sick.  Not too bad, but she's running a fever, has a cough, and some congestion in her bronchiols.  She's now on a decongestant and nasal saline spray and hopefully she'll improve soon!  It was just disappointing, because she has a friend in town for the weekend and they LOVE playing together.  Hopefully she'll get better fast so we can fit a couple play dates in before Maddy leaves.  She is still pretty happy, plays a lot, and eating pretty well...we just don't want to get Maddy sick.  Today the sun actually came out and the weather warmed up, so we went outside for awhile.  It wore her out pretty fast, but she had fun at the time!