Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to travel we go...

Well, I am back in the wonderful country of Honduras! The the sun is shining and the birds are singing. It's hard for me to imagine that I was just an Iowa a week ago where it was chilly and snow is in the forecast. I'm back, back to my place  I call home. I am so thankful to be back here where I feel the Lord has called me to do his work. It is not going to be easy getting back into the swing of things and going back to school. I hope and pray that I will have courage and wisdom is this upcoming year.


(Dec. 17) Well, I was blessed to get to go home for Christmas this year and spend a few weeks with my family. I enjoyed seeing my new little niece (Emma) and my other nieces and nephew. It is amazing how fast they grow. I enjoyed going to my Jill and Jena's basketball games and love watching them play. I also had a good time with my family and friends for Christmas and New Years, we celebrated together. Thanks again family for helping me come how for christmas!

A few days before I left to go home for Christmas, the school informed us that we would have an extended Christmas break until the 9th. Already having my flight paid for the 2nd coming back to Honduras, some of the other teachers and myself decided that we would take advantage of our break and do a little traveling. So, on Jan 2, I flew into San Pedro Sula and spent the night in a hotel with some of the other teachers. Early the next morning we headed off to the bus station to catch a bus to Porto Cortes where we would get on a bus to Guatamala. The bus dropped us off on the side of the road and where we got bombarded by many people wanting to exchange money. It was a bit over- 

The Guatamala boarder

whelming but we continued to walk. We walked passed a place that look like boarder control where they asked for one passport and then shooed us on to walk some more. On the other side of the boarder we caught a bus through Guatamala (2hour ride) where we saw the beautiful country side of Guatamala. We arrived at our port city where we ate a declicious meal and got ready to go on our boat ride which was called a ferry...but it was more like a small fishermens boat. The waves were fairly large and the rain was coming down so the captian gave us tarps to protect ourselves from the wind and the rain. This boat would then take us to Belize.

Boarder of Belize

On our boat to Belize

When we arrived to Belieze we asked for directions to get to Hopkins Bay. We got on the bus that we thought would take us to the beach. However, the bus took us to a fork in the road where we would have to wait for someone to pick us up. We were dropped off on the side of the road with a sign that says 5.6 miles to Hopkins bay. We thought and prayed about what we should do standing under the street light. A few miniutes later a police truck stops and asks if everything is okay. They told us to get in the back of the truck where they took us to Hopkins bay. We were so thankful for the ride.The people in Hopkins were SO friendly and kind. It was also comforting to know that everyone spoke English so we had no problem communicating with anyone. I instantly fell in love with the 
place.  We then looked for a nice place to stay and found this hotel right on the beach where our windows looked out into the waters. We loved our place! We ate a quick supper and headed off to bed because we were exhausted! The next day we spent most of the day enjoying the sun and the beach. We also rented bikes to go around the village and see more than we could of feet. I love Belize!

Our little Hotel where we pushed the beds together to fit 5

Our  view out of our hotel

Our new friend Jones

The next day we headed off to the city of Plecencia. This city is more touristy and also had many beautiful beaches. We stayed in a nice little cottage on the beach where we could sit in our hammock and watch the waves come in. We relaxed for most of the day, walked around the city and enjoyed eachother company. It was beautiful! I think one of my favorite parts were eathing supper at the Shak and watching about 5 dolphins jump out of the water. God is good. 


Our cottage in Plecencia

 The next mid morning (friday) we headed back to Honduras. We got on a ferry (more so a ferry than a boat but still small) and traveled 4 hours back to Honduras. I my stomach did feel a bit sick for a little part of the ride because the waves were large and rolling. But, we made it back safely to Honduras where we were bombarded by people wanting to exchange money with us. We headed from Porto Cortes to San Pedro Sula where we caught a bus back to Santa Rosa (only an hour from home). However, there were no more buses leaving for Gracias that night so we spent the night with a missionary family in Santa Rosa. We finally made it home early yesterday morning. Honduras welcomed us home with a fridge full of mold where Kendall and I tackled the mold with bleach, masks made from coffee filters, and bags protecting our hands. You got to be creative I guess! What a trip, four countries in about 24 hours (U.S., Honduras, Guatamala, Belize).



Well, hi ho, hi ho, its off to school  (and reality) I go.....(tomorrow)
I was so thankful to see all of you back in the states for Christmas and I am back in Honduras safe and sound. Thank you for all your support!