My Family and Friends are AMAZING!

I don't deserve anything God gives me, but He has definitely blessed me with an amazing family and group of friends.  I give thanks everyday for the people He has placed in my life.  And they truly showed their love for me this Christmas.

One of my good friends Britni is home from Florida for Christmas (and by home I mean Michigan).  All of our good friends are planning on a New Years Eve party at her house this year.  I have been so happy for them to all get together, but at the same time I was so sad that I was not going to be able to see any friends over break, since I flew to Arizona.  But I was so excited to spend time with my family, and that was plenty good enough for me.  Then I got the news that Sarah was possibly coming to Arizona to see me from December 27th-December 30th.  You can imagine my excitement!  Then the biggest surprise of all happened--I found a facebook picture album tagged on my profile, titled "For the Love of Kendall :]" last night!!!!!!!!!!

THEY GOT ME SOOO GOOD!!! I was so shocked and filled with so much joy I didn't even know how to respond!! I cannot believe I will be in Michigan in ONE week :) :) :)!!!!

Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and the start to another beautiful NEW YEAR!

I'll be home for Christmas...in FOUR days!

Sorry it’s been awhile since I have written on my blog!

 

Two weekends ago, after the house church on Sunday we headed to a small town called La Campa. La Campa is known for its pottery. We got to learn a little bit about the pottery and the people who make it. It was a really fun town and fun to look at all the pottery.  

Last week it was Raquel’s (one of the teachers) birthdays.  One night we went to our neighbor’s for pizza and karaoke and dancing, which was a lot of fun.  Friday after school the 11^th graders (her class) planned a surprise party at one of their houses.  There was lots of pizza, snacks, a cake all the way from Guatemala, a piñata and even fireworks!  It was quite the celebration!

This past weekend the Circus came to town!  So a few of us went to it Saturday night, and it was quite the experience!  It was the Blue Smurf Circus and you better believe they had people dressed up in Smurf costumes.  The circus had dancers, tight rope walkers, rope dancers, and even lions and jaguars!  It had been awhile since I had been to a circus, so I was like a little kid, a full bundle of excitement!  

This half of the school year has flown by.  I can’t believe it is the last week before Christmas break, and that I will be in THE STATES Saturday spending time with my FAMILY.  I cannot contain my excitement!  

We have been preparing for our Christmas program for the past month or so at school and tonight we finally had the big show.  IT WAS WONDERFUL!  The power stayed on for the whole program, and all the parents seemed to really enjoy the program.  All of the students looked beautiful and all of the dances were great!  There was a lot of work put into the program, and all the glory was for God.    

Please pray for safe travels for all of the teachers, as we are heading to the states on Saturday!  We are traveling to San Pedro Sula Friday after a half day of school and then flying out the next day.  I will arrive in Tucson at 7:20 pm Saturday night, YAY!  The next time I write will be from Arizona, wishing everyone the happiest Christmas and New Year of all!  

Givingthanks 2011

Our first soccer game in Honduras!

Team Olimpia

Our trip to Tegucigalpa was a really great time, and I’d love to share about it with you-enjoy!

Apple cobbler---YUM

Jaime and I at dinner

Our Christmas hats that light up!

Soccer Stadium

Furniture store in the mall--first time on a nice couch since we've been here--amazing!

All dressed up for Thanksgiving!

Tegucigalpa

Our beautiful Thanksgiving dinner!

We left early Wednesday morning with some of the 10^th and 11^th graders at our school.  They were heading to Tegucigalpa for the jazz concert we attended that night at our Abundant Life School there.  It took us about 7ish hours to get there, and it very crammed and uncomfortable in our bus and very noisy too.  The jazz concert that night was a lot of fun with the students.  I was very tired from the trip and the music was almost too relaxing, as I almost fell asleep a number of times.  But still, it was a fun night!  The next morning all the students left and it was just our group of teachers from Gracias in town so we went to the mall for a bit, which had a Wal-Mart—crazy!  It felt like we were in the states again, which was a nice feeling.  Eventually all the other American teachers got into town and we all started getting ready for our big Thanksgiving dinner that we were going to have at Pastor Evelio’s house.  The dinner was absolutely beautiful and the food was delicious.  It was really great to spend the holiday together as the little Honduran family we have all become.  The next morning we got breakfast at McDonald’s and then went to Valley de Angeles, which was a small touristy area with lots of souvenirs to buy.  For dinner we went to a nice sushi place and then to the mall for a movie, which turned into all of us going to see the latest Twilight movie, since that was the only movie playing in all four theaters.  It wasn’t the best movie, but it was nice to go to the movies again!  The next morning some of us went on a hike to La Tigra, which was really nice!  We reached a clearing at one point where the clouds were below us and just rising over the mountain—the cloud forests always amaze me!  That night we had pizza at the hotel and then we headed out to what turned into my favorite event of our trip—the Tegucigalpa Olimpia soccer game.  It was so much fun going to the big stadium, singing along with the chants that our friend Jean was teaching us, and watching the game.   We left early Sunday morning and played Christmas songs over the ipod speakers in the bus and sang along to our favorite songs.  Overall, our trip was filled with fun adventures and was just the refresher all of us teachers needed, and for that we are all so thankful!

It surely is the most wonderful time of the year!!!  Christmas music has been playing in our house since we have gotten back.  I even bought a Christmas hat in Wal-mart that says Feliz Navidad and has stars that light up, and I can’t help but put it on at times.  It’s exciting to sing “I’ll be home for Christmas…” in less than 3 weeks!!!!

Psalm 95:1-6

Hello Hello everyone!

I hope this post finds you with a smile on your face and love and joy in your heart.

Friday night we had our first parent-teacher conferences.  They went really well, and a lot of the parents were very friendly and encouraging.  We had some of the older students in our school translating for us, which was a lot of fun.  I got to know one of the 9th grade girls a lot better.  I didn't really have any problems with parents at the meeting, which I was very pleased about.  I was hoping that'd be the case since my kids only get E's, G's, and A's for grades (Excellent, Good, Average).  But I must admit, my first year of teaching is flying by.  I can't believe it sometimes...I am a TEACHER. The weeks just go by so quickly--I'm even flying home in less than a month for Christmas!

We have a our Christmas program on December 9th.  This program is HUGE.  Last year over 600 people attended the one night event.  Each grade performs a dance, which the teacher had to watch on a video and teach to his/her students.  Needless to say, it's been interesting and sometimes frustrating, but nonetheless fun.  My nursery students are dancing with half of the K-4 class, and they are pretty adorable doing their dance.  I am also helping out with the opening number which is the 9th grade girls.  They somehow heard I had a dance background, and the office quickly told me that I was helping Jaime with the dance.  It's been a challenge to learn the dance and then also teach it, but we have had a lot of fun doing it.  Our dance is almost 4 minutes long, and we only have less than 1 minute down so far, and only 2 weeks to practice--so prayers for our dance are much appreciated! I can say that I am already very excited to see the overall Christmas program that we have all been working very hard on. 

Sunday we had a Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of American friends here.  We met a missionary couple when we first got here (Kevin and Melissa) and then there is another bilingual school in Gracias called Minerva, where a bunch of Americans teach at as well.  So we all decided to have a dinner together and all make a bunch of our favorite Thanksgiving foods.  The day was a lot of fun talking with one another and eating some delicious food and desserts.  We only have one more day left of school this week because on Wednesday morning we are heading to Tegucigalpa (the capitol) for the rest of the week until Sunday.  I cannot tell you how excited I am for this trip!  We meet up with ALL of the other American teachers at all the Abundant Life Schools and stay in a hotel that the schools put us in for free, along with food provided for us while we are there.  Now, let me remind you that they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, but our school is being extremely giving for this holiday that we celebrate.  Apparently they do their research and on Thanksgiving night we all dress up and have a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner together, with turkey and all of the other delicious food we all typically have.  All I have to say is...YUM!  Now, my grandma's pumpkin pie won't be there (and I absolutely love her pumpkin pie) but other than that, it seems like I will be very blessed this Thanksgiving in Honduras.  

I hope and pray that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends and family and that there are so many things you are thankful for.  

Psalm 95:1-6
"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."

Some things I find myself thankful for here:

*The things I continue to learn about God, life, myself, my students, and Honduras daily

*My students smiles, laughs, and how their faces light up with I smile at them

*The relationships I have made with many friends here

*The ability to see improvement, and to let that be enough

*Skype--to hear and see my friends and family that I love so much

*Our home, even if it often has cockroaches, ants, and a mouse

*Our Wednesday night Bible study

Have such a blessed THANKSgiving, and remember, I am thankful for YOU!