Well August is almost over, so I guess that means I'm past due for a blog post. Soon after I posted last we left for Hawaii and spent the next month visiting Kyle's friends and family and doing a little work. It seemed like a whirlwind of trying to fit in activities while people were around, while at the same time trying to fit in naps so Juliana didn't throw too many temper tantrums. I think if you asked Juliana her favorite parts of the trip she'd probably say the pool and waterfalls. She loved going to the kiddie pool with friends and throwing herself off the side so daddy would catch her :) Kyle's parents took us to the Big Island for a long weekend and we saw a number of waterfalls. She cried when it was time to leave a few of them and she still asks to see pictures of Umauma Falls. She constantly amazes us with how well she remembers names of people, places, and animals! During the day she'll bring up various family members from both Hawaii and Nebraska and ask to go visit them again.
In addition to going to the kiddie pool and waterfalls, we also went to the Honolulu Zoo, the beach a couple times, Kyle got to play volleyball a few times, and a few other things. Today I don't have time to explain everything but maybe in a later post.
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| All our stuff, getting ready to load the car to go to the airport |
When we got home we were a little surprised at how dirty our house was. For those of you who don't leave your houses for 2 months at a time, this is what our yard looks like every time we come back...actually that's what it STILL looks like right now!
But we had left our house closed up, with a dehumidifier running, and a friend changing the water every few days. Usually the house is a little dusty and smells a bit musty until the windows are opened. When we opened the door, we discovered that our dehumidifier had stopped working at some point, all of the windows were wide open, random wood chips on the floor in a couple rooms, and disgusting black dirt covering every inch of the house. We found out the next day that the school had fumigated our house again, so I guess they left the windows open to let all the smoke out. It took me about a week (and 1 day with a maid helping me) to get everything in the house clean enough to feel livable. And then I finally got around to opening and unpacking our suitcases! All 9 of them. In the last 2 weeks I think I've probably done like 30 loads of laundry (I usually do 3-5 loads a week) but I'm FINALLY caught up.
Right about the time I got around to working on the suitcases we had to make a weekend trip to San Pedro (about 5 hours north). Before every tournament Kyle has to go for a meeting with the other Athletic Directors in the Association of Bilingual Schools of Honduras (ABSH). In addition to that, all of the Athletic Directors have been taking classes together for the last couple years. (I think 6 classes, each about 4-5 hours long. Each class given in a single day with a test at the end of the class...all in spanish.) This weekend was the last class with a brief graduation and dinner the next day, so Juliana and I went along. It was the first graduating class, with 10 athletic directors graduating.
Wasting a little time in the car before the dinner.
Aside from laundry and weekend trips, school started this week! Tuesday and Wednesday were half days, with today being the first full day of school. Kyle is teaching PE for a little bit as the high school boys PE teacher will be arriving late. He seems to be enjoying it, but it keeps him extra busy, and he's been really tired this week.
Our last bit of news, and big prayer request, is our car. It was in the shop for the summer getting some things fixed, was back in the shop last week, and is now in the shop for a 3rd time. The last couple weeks have incurred some bigger expenses than we had hoped and basically we just need it to get it functioning reasonably well and sell it as fast as possible. Kyle has been going to some used car lots and test driving some cars, but because we're hoping to trade it in, we need the car running before we can actually seriously pursue a different car. The repairs this time could take as much as 2 weeks, and until its fixed we're without a car of our own. We're praying that it'll be working well enough to sell without costing us too much, and that as soon as its ready we'll know which one to buy. We're looking for small SUV's that I will feel comfortable driving but get us down some rough roads as well, and will run well without needing any repairs for awhile. AND we need it pretty quickly, with a baby on the way and its just plain hard getting to doctor's appointments without a running vehicle! Not too much to ask for :)
Speaking of the baby, we went to the doctor last Monday...he's still a boy, weighs probably about 3 lbs, and measures right below the 50th percentile. We got some very cute ultrasound pictures of his face that'll as soon as I can I'll scan and post. The doctor is convinced that he looks more like Kyle :)
Wasting a little time in the car before the dinner.
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| Kyle receiving a plaque from the President of the ABSH |
Aside from laundry and weekend trips, school started this week! Tuesday and Wednesday were half days, with today being the first full day of school. Kyle is teaching PE for a little bit as the high school boys PE teacher will be arriving late. He seems to be enjoying it, but it keeps him extra busy, and he's been really tired this week.
Our last bit of news, and big prayer request, is our car. It was in the shop for the summer getting some things fixed, was back in the shop last week, and is now in the shop for a 3rd time. The last couple weeks have incurred some bigger expenses than we had hoped and basically we just need it to get it functioning reasonably well and sell it as fast as possible. Kyle has been going to some used car lots and test driving some cars, but because we're hoping to trade it in, we need the car running before we can actually seriously pursue a different car. The repairs this time could take as much as 2 weeks, and until its fixed we're without a car of our own. We're praying that it'll be working well enough to sell without costing us too much, and that as soon as its ready we'll know which one to buy. We're looking for small SUV's that I will feel comfortable driving but get us down some rough roads as well, and will run well without needing any repairs for awhile. AND we need it pretty quickly, with a baby on the way and its just plain hard getting to doctor's appointments without a running vehicle! Not too much to ask for :)
Speaking of the baby, we went to the doctor last Monday...he's still a boy, weighs probably about 3 lbs, and measures right below the 50th percentile. We got some very cute ultrasound pictures of his face that'll as soon as I can I'll scan and post. The doctor is convinced that he looks more like Kyle :)
