That Time of Year Again

We are in Gulf Shores for a week. This is like our sixth or seventh year in a row to come here with our small group from church. Two families have moves out of the Memphis area, but still came for our trip. It's funny how with good friends you can just pick up like you saw them yesterday. There are 15 of us here this year. We have a great house right on the beach. We consider the beach in front of our house "our beach" and have two tailgate tents up all week. 

I have decided that this may be my favorite week of the entire week each year for a couple of reasons. First, spending time with friends so close we really consider them family is a huge blessing. I'm so thankful that God brought these people into our lives. We sure do miss the Gosas and Zermenos though. (The Gosas live in Tuscaloosa and the Zermenos live in Denver now.) it also makes me realize we need to spend more time with the Worths and Dowtys when we are back at home. 

Second, I love this week because it's a week of nothing. No homework, practices, games, crazy schedules, work, etc.  Just wake up, eat breakfast, go to beach, eat lunch, go back to beach, eat dinner, and hang out. How perfect is that? Just time to enjoy family and friends.  If you've ever seen our family calendar, you know every year we NEED this trip. Like everyone else, we are just busy a lot. 

We've had perfect weather so far which is great. I find myself sitting under the tent or umbrella more than in years past. Probably because I know how bad the sun can be...two places of skin cancer last summer stays on my mind when I'm in the sun. I make sure we are all coated in sunscreen but we do enjoy being outside though. 

I've also been thinking lately how grateful I am that I have such a great family. Yes, occasional arguments between the kids but I think that's normal. Every day I am thankful that the stupid cancer is out of Chris. It makes me so happy to see him with Caleb and Carley. He's such a great dad! (He probably won't like me sharing all that-but who knows of anyone actually reads my blog. Ha ha!)

Anyway, tomorrow we are renting a pontoon boat with a slide and getting a tube and headed out! We've done this a couple of times in the past and it's fun. The men head out Thursday morning to deep sea fish. If they catch anything, we will have fish tacos for dinner. If not, I have to figure out something else to cook as it is our family's turn that night. We've had chicken and shrimp, BBQ nachos, and mexican night so far...it's all been delicious!

It's a great time and I love every second of being here! I'm so thankful to God for my life. 

Day Five: POI school kids and school for the blind

Today after breakfast we headed to the building where we went to church. This time, 50 kids from the POI program were there. They were kids who had good attendance and good grades. This was a party to celebrate their hard work! About 3/4 of the kids were girls. 

We led relay games, played with the parachute, indoor baseball, indoor soccer, and more! It was a ton of fun!

After game time, we all had pizza for lunch. We ate after we served them. We ran out of plates and the POI kids were so patient. After lunch, we said adios! They were too cute and so grateful! They loved the candy we all passed out. Yum!

We made a stop by baskin robbins before the school for the blind. Everyone enjoyed a scoop of ice cream!

We spent the afternoon at a school for blind children. They were such a joy! We gave them candy too and they loved it! 

We had three piñatas they broke and LOVED! (Not all the students were totally blind-some were just visually impaired.) They took turns and some were very strong!

After that, the kids from our team put on blindfolds and played soccer with their kids with a ball that had rocks or rice in it so it made noise. The blindfolds allowed our kids to experience being blind. 

After the game, we served cake and ice cream to the kids. They loved it!

Then, the kids sang to us. Two blind men played the piano for them and two girls played the recorder. It was beautiful. 

After that, we asked for one more song we could dance to...our interpreter said the kids from the school wouldn't dance, but we got them up and it was so great to see them dancing and smiling and laughing. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. The guy playing piano played "I Will Survive" so we were even singing! Just seeing the joy on their faces was such a blessing. One person said it may be the first time people have danced with them. 

After the show and dancing, we fed them KFC chicken, fries, and a biscuit. Ruth from POI told them it was a treat for them to have fast food. Overall, we had another amazing day!

Day Three Church and a Day at the Park

We went to a church today started by POI.  It meets in a warehouse. There was a praise band and words on a screen for the songs. We recognized "Because He Lives" and "How Great is Our God." 

Carley and I had to leave because she got sick (outside of church-thank goodness). Braxton was supposed to preach but he was sick all day Sunday, so a preacher from the church preached and they had a translator for our group. 

After church, the team went up the mountain to a type of park for lunch and a day with the kids from the POI house homes. (Carley and I were at the hotel all day-she slept about three hours and then watched Smurfs and Brave on HBO.) 

At the park, the team had lunch which included BBQ chicken, rice, salad, and vegetables. After lunch, options included volleyball, mountain biking, and horse back riding. Chris and Caleb said it was fun. Caleb rode a horse with Kevin from the house home. 

Apparently, some of the volleyball got pretty competitive. Chris said he had two good spikes. :)

After the team returned, we had dinner at the hotel-spaghetti, salad, and bread. It was yummy! 

The rest of the evening, we just hung out at the hotel. Some played ping ping up on the roof, watched Honduras play soccer on tv, played Phase 10, and just visited. Most turned in for the night by 9pm. Breakfast Monday starts at 7am. 

Day Four

Today we started with breakfast at 7am. We left for the POI Villa Nueve, which is a before and after school tutoring and feeding program for community kids. One group from out team took out "Love Tubs" to five different homes. They said most were one room homes with seven to nine people living there. 

Our group stayed to work at the POI school. 

There were 40 kids there in the morning. We had three activities going at once and the kids rotated through each station of recreation, craft, and Bible story. Our family helped with recreation. The kids had a ball jumping rope, playing a game with beanbags, and a big parachute. We didn't have much room for parachute play, but the kids didn't care and squealed with laughter the entire time. 

After three rotations, the kids ate lunch which was spaghetti and a tortilla. We said adios and many gave us big hugs. It was time for them to go to school. In Honduras, public schools have classes either in the morning or afternoon. 

After they left, we had lunch which was a sandwich and chips. 

The two groups swapped for the afternoon. 

Our group walked with the water truck instead of doing tubs of love. Normally, once a month a truck comes and will fill tubs if water at houses if they pay for it. POI pays for the water and fills their pails for free. It was great seeing the families get clean water. We also passed out candy to everyone we saw. 

We returned to the POI building and saw the afternoon kids. We saw a sweet first grader names Marisol. We found out she had no sponsor and decided our family would sponsor her. 

POI provides health care for her and her family, after school tutoring for her, and one hot meal a day for her. All that for only $30 a month. If your family is willing, I encourage you to contact POI and they can sign you up to sponsor one of these sweet kids. 

After leaving the POI building, we split up and went to two different shelters to serve dinner and a team member shared their story. 

We went to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation place. There were 42 men and 5 women there. They were very friendly and thankful for the meal. Van shared his story. The team passed out plates of fried rice and drinks. 

We toured the place. It was pretty rough. They have meetings there to help those staying there get off drugs. 

After serving, we headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. We are at a place called Tacotento. They serve family style with lots of meat, veggies, guacamole, and sauces to put on homemade tortillas.