Granted the title insinuates that all that we did while the kids were away is eat, which is not true, but it was one of the enjoyable things we partook of while they were absent. While the kids were away spending time with their families we decided to dine on a few more traditional dishes such as, for the 4th of July we had green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet tea, and apple pie. oh and we sang the national anthem as we brought it out to the table, and abby recited the pledge of alligence in Spanish. Needless to say, Pastor and hermano Andres found it very amusing. Apparently the appetizing nature of it all encouraged us to eat plenty. I say this only because while climbing into bed the other day it decided to give way… and im on the top bunk. Abby was not below don’t worry, but the whole mattress decided to give way me included and i ended up in a heap below. No damage done though, merely checking to see if gravity is still in effect, it is. We quickly ascertained the problem, merely a loose sideboard, and Brian had it fixed in a jiffy the next day. So I headed to the hammock next door for a wonderful nights rest. Meanwhile I discovered that there is indeed a bat that lives in Brian’s wall, when it did laps around the common room at around 4 in the morning. One mystery solved. But all beds are now very secure (we checked them all) and everyone is safe and sound.

The group from South Carolina arrived yesterday and we are glad to have them. They have already begun construction. The chicos are now all back and full of energy, yesterday several of the group members and kids played a rousing game of football, (soccer) girls vs. boys. Unfortunaetly the boys won, but only in the final seconds. The girls definitly held their own, I think our best player is Ruth, who is about 4 feet tall and 9 years old, she definitely showed the rest of us up. Life goes on here at the internado, and we are excited about the work that this group will bestow upon us and the group to come.

Ciao, Katie

Our vacation too rurrenbaque was INCREDIBLE.  When we set out…we had no idea what was instore for us.  The pampas tour sent us swimming with alligators and dolphins and searching for anaconda´s (WE FOUND ONE!!!  or rather our guide found one…but we got to touch one!) and we have pictures to prove it.  We saw lots of beautiful birds…many alligators and cayman…and some big rodent thing.  We took an early morning boat ride to watch the sunrise, and it was incredible.  It was a beautiful reminder that the glory of the Lord is all around us if we will just open our eyes and recognize it. Special thanks to a member of Christ Community Church for recommending the cheesecake at julliana´s it was INCREDIBLE. 

So we finished up our vacation and headed back to Ixiamas to prepare for the arrival of the kids this weekend…However…vacation has been extended….once again. The 2 week vacation is officially a month long now. 

We are sad to not have the kids back, but another week of vacation will allow us to finish all of our projects.  Abby´s cook stove is coming along very nicely.  She and Katy have been working hard making bricks and designing a beautiful stove (just pray it works….)  We´ll test it out this week before the kids get back.

Bryan´s working hard with Maestro on the new building, and it looks like my ferro-cement tank is going to come together afterall (i will never again take for granted sewing machine´s or cement trucks).  It´s been hard, but very rewarding work. 

Sorry for the lack of pictures.  Seems it´s a little more difficult to upload than we anticipated.  If we get a chance we´ll send some your way. 

Back to work for the day!

Tú Hermana en Cristo -Olivia