Semana Santa in Roatan

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we have decided to only stay one year here in Honduras. I took a one year leave-of-absence from my job in Northshore School District to come here and if we were to stay another year I would have to give up my position. I really do like my job in Northshore and keeping it is one big reason for our return. So, we have about five weeks left of school and then we head back to Washington on June 22nd. Unfortunately, our house is being rented and the lease doesn't end until August 1st but we have plans to stay with family and travel a bit during July. This year has been a blessing but we are also excited about moving back to Bothell. In our preparations for returning, God has really eased many of anxieties by providing buyers for our car and many other items we need to get rid of.

So, what have we been up to lately? Well, first of all, Kimberly's choirs participated in a music festival at the end of March. Kim was a bit worried up how they would do but the students stepped up to the occasion and earned an "Excellent" rating. A photo of the choir is below. It includes 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th grade students. Additionally, Kimberly's 5th and 6th grade choirs performed three fun songs for the Mother's Day assembly this past week and did a fantastic job. Her final concert is in a few weeks and prayers for this event are appreciated.

The once-in-a-lifetime highlight of the past month was our family trip to Honduras's most popular tourist destination, the island of Roatan. Roatan is rich with pirate history and has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We were blessed to have the opportunity to spend Semana Santa (Holy Week - AKA Spring Break) relaxing and enjoying recreational time together. If you have a list of places you want to visit during your lifetime, be sure to add Roatan to it.
Photos of Roatan

Another place we finally made it to was Picacho park...just 15 minutes down the road from us. It is a park overlooking Tegucigalpa that has a sprinklers, a zoo, some nicely maintained grounds, and a tall statue of Jesus. The girls had fun getting wet and following around a monkey who was searching for a snack amongst people's belongings.
Photos of Picacho

Lastly, I just wanted to share some parting shots of things we do at home to entertain ourselves. Kimberly has taught herself how to make beads out of recycled magazine paper and has created some beautiful jewelry. In a week or so, she plans to meet with some of the local women at our church to teach them how to make paper beads. Who knows, some of them might use the skill earn a bit of money by selling the jewelry. The other thing that our kids (or any kids for that matter) like to do is jump on our bed. I let them have at it one day and below are some photos of the fun they had.
Beading Photos
Jumping Photos

Praises
- After almost 2 weeks in the hospital (one of those in a coma), our neighbor's 4 year old son Timmy returned home. He contracted a virus that made his brain swell. He is still recovering and had to re-learn motor skills like talking, crawling, and walking. He's made great progress and is now almost back to his normal self.
- We have been able to sell quite a bit of our "stuff" including our car.
- Kimberly's choir concerts went well and the students performed better than expected.
- We were able to visit a dermatologist for Maddi's skin issues and the first round of medications seemed to help out.

Prayer Requests
- A job for Kimberly back in the states.
- Energy for a productive end of the school year.
- Kimberly's final spring concert in a few weeks.