Rainbow Bright, live poultry and me!

Thursday is one of the two big market days here in Tactic, the other is Sunday. So today I went out in search of sweet potatoes and pots for my plants. When I got there I ended up behind a lady with a panicking chicken in a basket on her head, which succeeded in jumping out of the basket nearly landing on me! Next I noticed one of the clothing vendors had a sweater for sale with Rainbow Bright on it! If you're not in your mid-twenties you may not know who that is, but man for me what a blast from the past to see the little girl in her colorful outfit! We had a record and book about her when we were little, the kind that a bell rings when it's time to turn the page. So after that I bought my plant pots, some sweet potatoes, an itty bitty pineapple I couldn't resist because it was so cute (and only costed 1 quetzal - about 16 cents!) It was a successful shopping trip:)

Feliz Navidad!

We had a wonderful Christmas Day! Here's a shot of our brunch, and one of Blaise modelling his new outfit from his proud Papa. I was more homesick the week prior to Chistmas than the actual day!

Mumma and Blaise and a Slightly Scary Reindeer

Christmas Eve?

I can't quite convince myself it's Christmas in this lush, green environment that I live in. No matter how many christmas carols I sing, cookies I bake, or presents I wrap. Maybe next year it will sink in more, unless we're in Canada for Christmas! So we're celebrating Christmas Eve tonight with a Nativity Play (complete with flying angels!), tamales, and firecrackers. All this starts around 8 so it will be a late night. I'm already tired too, since Blaise slept in our room last night and likes to make noises in his sleep, AND it was someone's birthday so we got the traditional firecracker and loud music wake up at 4:30 this morning. Ah well, what can you do eh? A big merry christmas to all!

I love a man...

...with dishpan hands:)

Trip

Our Honduras trip was great! And we got there in our new CAR! That's right, the same week we sold our car in Canada we bought one here. With a baby and the rainy season we are really appreciating it. It's a little blue four-door KIA, and we have not named it as of yet. We enjoyed the heat, mayan ruins and eating out at restaurants all the time. There were a lot of turists there though so it was good to come home. Blaise travelled well but I wouldn't want to do any longer of a road trip with him. Must go make supper! It's almost Christmas and I made cardamom and gingerbread cookies today, yumilicious.

Goodbye Ester

Hurray our car finally sold!!! Thanks Saison and Dean for taking care of selling it, and bless you Neil for liking it and buying it. I'm a actually a bit saddened that Ester Buck (our car's name) is no longer ours. We bought her just before we were married and she has served us faithfully. After growing up being mortified on a regular basis by the cars I had to ride in I really value a reliable and decent-looking car. Just ask my sisters about the mail car, the car that sounded like a duck when it started, and the suburban we dubbed "The Green Beast". Trust me I could go on.
It's a rainy, cool day so I'm going to go make some banana bread to help me warm up. Adios!

Precious Family

Here's us on American Thanksgiving (before you all get up in arms we celebrated it because of a an American friend we have here, don't worry we're still loyal Canucks:)
Aren't we a handsome family?! And as you can see from the photo of Blaise he's growing up - sitting up in his chair and grabbing the toys! What a kid. He also really likes grabbing the handles of mugs whenever Zaak or I hold him with up a cup of coffee.
I started a new job this week; over-seeing the child sponsorship program the ministry has here. I'm thrilled to be taking on this role as it's something I'd hoped to be involved with while we were still in Canada. So today we went to see two families who have sponsor children in them. At the first one we brought them a box of food, because their father won't provide for the family and is with another woman most of the time. He beats the mother and the oldest boy, maybe 11 years old, tried to protect his mom but then got beaten too. The kids in the home were wearing really dirty clothes (probably because they were the only set they own) but had the sweetest faces. Their house has a bumpy dirt floor that a nearby creek is slowly eroding away. We talked with them and then prayed for their family. The second family had a nicer house and the father is active in his church - it was a much better environment.
Puts life into perspective and makes me proud to call myself a Christian. Not a gay-bashing, anti-abortion, "holier than thou" Christian (which is what the world thinks of Christians for the most part), but a little Christ - giving food to the hungry, praying for healing in that hurting family, visiting and hearing peoples hearts. And it's only because of the grace, love, and peace God has given me that I am able to share these things with others. I am constantly humbled by the trust and confidence God has in me; that I will love the people He puts in my path.