Home sweet home

Where to start???

We are in our home and settled finally. Our container did arrive on the 17th of December...just a couple of weeks later than we expected. Christmas seemed a little rushed, but we did have all of our decorations up and most of our things unpacked. It is nice to feel like we are home.

So many details rush to my mind that I want to share...petty unimportant things, as well as wonderful blessings! I will start with the petty.

Ant nests, I found 4 of them in my house, 2 of which were in my clothes drawers. One was in my kitchen cabinet. I opened the cabinet and they were EVERYWHERE! I was disgusted, and weak-kneed! I called Kevin to tell him, I saw dozens crawling out of the spout of a ceramic teapot, so I put the aerosol can of ant killer into the spout and sprayed away. I told him I couldn't stand the sight of all of those ants, so I would not be cleaning the teapot out, I would leave that for him! When I got of the phone I thought to myself, "Some missionary wife YOU ARE! Calling your husband crying over an ant nest!" (by the way they were bigger than carpenter ants, and had pinchers!) I just couldn't bring myself to even take the teapot out of the cabinet! So after a good scolding to myself, I brought the pot out of the cabinet, peeked inside, and almost threw up! They were ants in every stage of development in there, even the larvae! PUKE! After seeing them, I just accepted that I would not be cleaning out that teapot, and it was waiting for Kevin when he came home!

The ladies at church told me that even though the ants are scary, and they do bite, they are a blessing when they come to your house, because they march right through in scores, and hundreds, killing any insect in its path. Then they move on. They even eat scorpions.

Oh, I had one of those in my house to. A big black one called an Emperor Scorpion...about 3 inches long. Yep, that was quite a scream too!

Then you have to remember that I have boys. Lots of jungle trees to climb. FUN FUN FUN!! Right? Well, you forgot that little boys do not have developed brains until they are 25!!

Derek tells me he was climbing this tree, and he saw a tail sticking out of a hole! It was a mean looking lizard, but because the lizard wasn't moving, the boys decided he must be dead and started PULLING ON HIS TAIL!! Fortunately for them, the lizard did not attack them, just stayed in his nice hole. Crazy boys!

The water here is also nasty, you cannot drink it or brush your teeth with it. There are many parasites and germs that can make you very sick. Ellie was taking a bath the other night, and I went to check on her, she had taken the head off of a doll and was drinking water out of the head! So we have be trying to help her through a lot of dirty diapers and a small fever.

Because of the water...when I get home from market, I immediately put all of my produce into a sink filled with bleach water, and let them soak for a few minutes and air dry before putting them away.

I have learned to make homemade tortillas and homemade salsa. Yummy.

It has been wonderful to be a part of the church here. We are meeting in a tractor barn, and the people just keep coming! When it is hot, there are mosquitos and gnats that bite. One man even stepped in a bunch of ants during church, and was in the back lifting his pants legs, smacking and hitting them. We have a dirt floor too, that the kids love to run around and kick the dirt up in the air. Matt Leonard found a 6 ft snake right near the church a few weeks back...it was poisonous too.

Each day I wake up to the thought of how wonderful it is to be here...how good of God to lead us to this place of service. I look forward to seeing all that He has planned for us and the Leonard's.

Thank you all for praying for us as we made this move, please continue to pray!