The Benthem Four

My First Triathlon

2011-08-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today was supposed to be my first triathlon. I've been wanting to do one for a few years now. I was going to do one two years ago, but never got around to it for some reason and then last year I was pregnant, so this was going to be the summer. I chose the Millenium Triathlon because it is the shortest one around (500 yard swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run).

I got up this morning at 5, left the house at 6 and got to Millenium Park at 6:30. I unloaded my bike in the dark, pouring rain, set it up in transition, got my body marked and then parked the car. When I made it back to the transition area I heard that the race was postponed for an hour because it was thundering and lightening. I quick called Jared because he was going to come with the kids soon, but they were already in the car, so they decided to come anyway.

We hung out during the hour delay and then heard that we were to go to the transition area for announcements. I figured we would hear about how the race would start since the storm had blown over and the sky was clearing up. When I got there I heard that the race was cancelled. Their reason was that even though the front had passed they needed a four hour window of good weather and that the meteorologist couldn't ensure that. Nobody was too surprised since the weather was so bad and it has been cancelled in the past, but there were still many disappointed people. We headed to our van and promptly got stuck in a huge traffic jam.

So, my first triathlon has not happened yet. There is no refund, but at least I got a T-shirt, water bottle, and coffee mug. I'm thinking about doing the Reeds Lake Triathlon in a month so all my training doesn't go to waste. Maybe I'll wait to sign up until I see the weather forecast...

6 Years and Counting

2011-07-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

Today marks a special day for our family, 6 years ago Susan and I tied the knot. It was a memorable day in our lives along with the stormiest day for the month of July 2005. The storm clouds rolled in just as our guests were arriving and then the rumbling began as soon as the beautiful bride came down the aisle. Even with the rain it was a great day. There have been many wonderful events in the Benthem family since July 16, 2005. For a short time we lived in our first house.

It was a nice place to begin, however, after only 5 weeks of living in our first home we were led to our second home. We boxed up most all of our belongings, gave away many others to a neighborhood free sale, stored our car and countless other items with our family and moved to Honduras to begin life in our second home.

It was a nice three bedroom apartment on the end of a quiet street with a wonderful view of the neighborhood river and picturesque hillsides. Susan and I had the opportunity to teach at the International School Tegucigalpa for the 2005-2006 school year. We had a wonderful time, Susan taught 1st grade and I taught 4th grade.

It is most likely the only school where you can be teaching your 1st grade class and have a herd of cattle pass by your classroom window on a regular occasion. We had many interesting adventures that you can read about here or here. It was an amazing adventure that we are so grateful to be blessed with and something that we regularly talk about. Such as our wild horse back riding experience in the mountains of Copan. White Lightening didn't get his name just for his coloration, boy could that little pony bolt.

We returned home to Michigan and settled into an apartment and teaching jobs. We had other great adventures after Honduras, small ones and large, but our greatest adventure began in 2008 when we became parents. Our daughter, Julia, was born in April and you can read about her early years in our blog archive here. She was and still is a bundle of joy. She used to be so little and sleep all the time and now she's all grown up at 3-years-old.

Julia on the day we left the hospital

Julia, 3-years-old, at Sleeping Bear Dunes NP

In 2010 we added another bundle of joy to our household. Landon was born in September, and made us what they call a "Million Dollar Family." Well we haven't seen the millions but now that we are the Benthem four we have definitely had a million laughs, a million hugs, and a million wonderful moments. Landon is quite the character and he has the best belly laugh you'll find in a 9 month old.

Landon, 1 month

Landon, 9 months

What started 6 years ago on a stormy summer's day has turned out to provide countless adventures and experiences, four different homes, different jobs and positions, and two wonderful children. Our family of four is the best I could hope for and all this in only 6 years! How exciting to dream about all the years yet to come.

Jared, Susan, Julia, and Landon - July 2011

Back after a long break

2011-07-15T21:13:00.006-05:00

I've decided to get back to our blog that we kept starting in 2005 while we lived in Honduras to keep connected to friends and family and when our first child was born. Then we didn't keep up with the blog as much mostly due to other social media that we were using. I'm hoping to use this again now that the Benthem family is four and create posts that are interesting to any of our followers and family rather than using other sources. I have a lot of editing to do to catch this blog up to 2011 speed. We'll see how it really goes. So keep tuned.

Here's a family photo from our latest photo shoot. More to come...

While you wait for me to upload, write, share more great Benthem family fun. Feel free to search the archives of this good ol' blog to see what we were up to back in our earlier days.

Julia's First Birthday

2009-04-08T10:42:00.006-05:00

Julia turned one on Sunday! Here are a few pictures from her party with our families on Saturday. More to come...

Recent Pictures

2009-04-08T10:30:00.004-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of Julia. Sorry about my lack of posting!

January

2009-01-24T11:25:00.005-05:00

Julia loves the activity table she got for Christmas.

One of her favorite activities is watching Jared shovel the driveway.

Bedtime story!

November

2008-12-01T20:10:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures from November. Julia now has two teeth and is learning how to crawl. She mostly just scoots around on her belly, but is trying to coordinate her limbs to crawl on all four.

Hoffmaster State Park

2008-10-18T20:04:00.005-05:00

We spent the day today at Hoffmaster State Park. We hiked along the beach and in the woods. It was a great way to spend a beautiful fall day!

Julia Update

2008-09-15T20:45:00.002-05:00

Julia is growing quickly and seems to learn something new each day. She has learned to roll from her back to her front, but gets stuck on her front. She screams until one of us comes to rescue her. Hopefully she will learn to roll back over soon! She is getting better at sitting up, but eventually topples over. We think that Julia has enjoyed going to Pat's while we are at work. She comes home with a craft each day and seems to be very happy. Some of her favorite activities are taking walks around the park by our house, pulling on her mommy's hair, and putting everything in her mouth.

More Pictures

2008-09-15T20:26:00.003-05:00

Cousins!

2008-08-22T14:50:00.003-05:00

Katie, Anne, and Nicole were all in Grand Rapids last week, so Julia finally got to meet her aunts and cousins!

Addison, Julia, Quint, and Naomi with Grandma

Quint and Julia shared the bouncy seat for our photoshoot.

Future volleyball player?

Naomi with her Aunt Nicole and (future) Uncle Justin

Family Reunion

2008-08-22T14:36:00.003-05:00

There was a Benthem family reunion in early August at a campground in Cadillac. We had a great time with Jared's family and Julia got to meet lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Jared's aunts had a shower for Julia. She got lots of cute clothes, books, and baby stuff!

There was also a bridal shower for one of Jared's cousin's fiance. It was raining in the morning, so all of the women drove to Goodwill and found crazy outfits to wear for the shower.

Vacation

2008-08-02T14:12:00.004-05:00

We went on vacation to Pictured Rocks in the UP this week. Julia did not enjoy all of the car rides and one of us sat in the back with her for most of the trip. Other than that, she loved being outside and hiking with us and she got tons of attention from many strangers.

It started to rain during one of our hikes, so we put Julia's hat on so her face didn't get too wet and covered her shoulders with a blanket. She didn't mind the rain at all and fell asleep shortly after this picture was taken.

We spent a night in Charlevoix on the way home.

She's a Calvin fan who loves her Grandmas!

2008-07-02T10:09:00.002-05:00

Family Reunion

2008-07-02T10:05:00.003-05:00

We went to a family get-together this past weekend in McBain. Julia got to meet more of her extended family.

Here she is with her second cousin Ella. You can tell that they are friends already because they are holding hands!

Two Months Old!

2008-06-12T16:40:00.005-05:00

Smile!

2008-05-29T09:59:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I put Julia in an outfit that her cousin Addison let her borrow. She looked so cute that I had to take her picture. While I was taking pictures, she starting giving me tons of cute smiles!

A New Cousin!

2008-05-29T09:58:00.002-05:00

Susan's sister Anne and her husband Gabe had their baby boy this past week! His name is Gabriel Bethel Williams IV. They live in Columbus, so we haven't seen him yet, but we can't wait to meet him!

Aunt Stacey Visits

2008-05-29T09:37:00.002-05:00

Jared's sister Stacey came to visit for the holiday weekend. We had lots of fun together and Julia loved spending time with her!

More Pictures!

2008-05-19T12:50:00.002-05:00

The whole family!

Here's Julia on a trip to visit Daddy at work.

Rubber Ducky Race

2008-05-19T12:38:00.003-05:00

Jared's school had a rubber duck race fundraiser on Saturday. There were prizes for the first three ducks that crossed the finish line and for the last duck to finish. None of our ducks won any prizes, but we had fun cheering them on!

Mothers' Day

2008-05-19T12:34:00.003-05:00

Graduation

2008-05-19T12:22:00.003-05:00

Susan graduated from Cornerstone last weekend with her masters in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages). Julia was so glad that she could be there!

Family Picture

2008-05-05T10:19:00.003-05:00

Pictures of Julia

2008-04-23T10:50:00.002-05:00

Here she is asleep in her new bouncer seat.

A visit from Aunt Nicole and Justin!

Back Blogging

2008-04-10T20:52:00.007-05:00

After a long absence we are back with updates and pictures. Mostly because of our recent addition, Julia Mary Benthem. We welcomed her into our family on Saturday, April 5 at 2:50 pm. She arrived healthy and strong after an emergency c-section. The labor was going fine except for the baby's heart rate would drop during stronger contractions. After a couple of pushes Dr. Olsen decided that a c-section needed to be performed. It took only 5 minutes for the baby to be out and in 10 I was holding our little girl in my arms. We spent three nights in the hospital and came home on Tuesday afternoon. Now we are adjusting to life together. Thank to everyone for your prayers, emails, calls, and cards. Susan and I will work at posting updates and pictures as we can.

Jared

New House

2007-08-06T18:10:00.000-05:00

Last week Monday we moved into our new house in Wyoming, MI. It is a three bedroom ranch on a very quite street. Susan and I have been very busy unpacking, assembling furniture, and painting our living room. We are excited to have this new home and look forward to many years here.

River Bank Run

2007-05-19T14:59:00.000-05:00

Jared and I ran the River Bank Run last weekend. It was a lot of fun, although the training wasn't that enjoyable. Here are some pictures of us with our adoring fans. Jared's parents, brother, and sister were also there, but we didn't get any pictures with them.

Spring Break

2007-04-22T19:26:00.000-05:00

We spent spring break in Phoenix visiting Jared's sister and her family. We also went to the Grand Canyon. It was great to enjoy the warm weather, see family, and experience the desert.

Cancellations

2007-02-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

Last night Jared and I heard that church was cancelled today, so we decided we would have to get out and do something on Sunday to avoid cabin fever. So first thing this morning we headed out to do some snow shoeing.

Earlier this evening Jared got a phone call that he does not have school tomorrow. I was in agony for about an hour as I kept running to the computer to check if I would be going to school tomorrow. We did a little dance when we saw that my district is also cancelled. We'll have to come up with some good ideas of activites to do tomorrow (other than working on homework for our classes). Please comment with an idea if you have one.

We are alive!

2007-01-18T19:34:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone checks this anymore. You've probably all given up on us since it's been 3 months since we posted anything. To summarize the last three months: Christmas was good and we are back teaching. I am taking a new class (sociolinguistics) and Jared's new class starts in a few weeks. I am suprised to say that I'm actually glad it is snowing because I want to go snowshoeing. Usually I hate the cold and everything that goes with it, but it's nice that it finally feels like winter.

T.V.

2006-10-04T18:45:00.000-05:00

With the new season of LOST starting tonight we finally hooked up our television. It has been three and a half months with out. We have really enjoyed not having it and have read many books, and completed many tasks, but for the sake of the best TV series we needed to hook it up.

School is going really well for the both of us. We are crazy busy with our teaching responsibilities and with our graduate class loads. Tomorrow, my class has a field trip to the apple orchard. We were rained out on Monday so hopefully tomorrow will be better. You can check out my classroom blog to read other not so interesting information.

-JB

School Has Begun

2006-09-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

I have been sitting here trying to decide what to write about, but nothing came to mind. It's probably because the school year has begun. Since we are both teaching new grades and taking classes, we don't have much time to do anything exciting (or unexciting) that is blog-worthy. We are planning to go to McBain this weekend, so hopefully we can report back on that on Monday.

Phurniture Phinally

2006-09-02T20:29:00.000-05:00

Our couch and love seat finally arrived yesterday! Actually acquiring this furniture has been a long process. We ordered them (our first furniture purchased as a married couple) at the end of June and were told it would take three weeks for them to arrive. We figured we could stand that long of sitting on the floor. After three weeks we called to find out what was going on and we were told it would be another 6 to 8 weeks because the factory had run out of fabric. Thankfully, the store offered to deliver some loaner furniture for us to use in the meantime. Yesterday they came and exchanged the loaners for our actual couches! It may have been the longest wait for furniture in the history of mankind. I mean humankind.

Doug's Birthday

2006-08-29T18:12:00.000-05:00

Today is Susan's dad's birthday.

Hope College?

2006-08-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to see off Susan's sister Nicole to college. She is going to HOPE. We are really happy for her, even though we are both alums of a different college. Here are some pictures we took from the parents picnic on Saturday.

She's so happy to be a 'Flying Dutchwoman'

Nicole uses the map to help us find our way back to her dorm.

Best wishes Nicole!!!

A Great Movie

2006-08-23T08:27:00.000-05:00

I received this information in an email this morning. Check out the web site for more details.

Is GLOBAL WARMING a moral issue?

"The Great Warming," sweeps around the world to show the wide ranging effects of global warming, reveal show climate change is affecting us all, and shows the growing public concern about climate change. This film presents an accurate picture of the challenge facing God's gracious gift of creation.

www.thegreatwarming.com

Film screening September 18, 7 pm
Wealthy Street Theatre
Suggested donation $5 (students $2)
Panel discussion 8 pm
Contact Kate Kooyman for more information,
kate(at)cg-strategies(dot)com

It has been called "the best film about global warming ever produced.”

Panelists include:
·ICCF president Jonathan Bradford
·RCA general secretary Wes Granberg-Michaelson
·Calvin biology professor David Dornbos
·GR Environmental Protection director Corky Overmyer

Greenland Ice

2006-08-11T09:06:00.000-05:00

This from the BBC this morning. The meltdown of Greenland's ice sheet is speeding up, satellite measurements show.

-JB

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-08-10T16:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back we went to see the recent documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" with some friends of ours. It was an interesting film regardless of your political views. To see some of the images presented was shocking. It may seem to some like this whole issue is made up and that no one really is buying it. Fine, you can have your opinions, and I will hold to mine. But I am led to believe that whether you believe changes in climate are happening or not we have a responsibility to use our natural resources wisely. Using less electricity, gasoline, and creating less waste are simple ways to conserve and save what we have been given.

One simple thing anyone can do (and it saves money) is to switch the five most used light bulbs in your house for Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. These bulbs use less energy to light, and last 10 times longer. If everyone would change the most used bulb in there house "it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road" (www.energystar.gov).

For other energy saving advice look at the Sierra Club's list.

-JB

My new niece!

2006-07-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

On Sunday Jared and I went to Columbus to visit my sister Anne and her husband Gabe to see their two week old baby, Naomi. Isn't she cute?

We're Home

2006-07-04T16:01:00.000-05:00

Susan and I are now home from Honduras. We have been back for about two weeks. It is good to be home but we are busy moving into our new apartment, and getting settled. The coming weeks will be filled with unpacking boxes, finding things that we thought we had, and getting ready for our classes that we will be starting in two weeks.

2006-06-06T12:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went with some fellow teachers to visit some Lenca women who make pottery for a living. They begin with white colored pottery and cover it with a dark mud that they sqeeze out of a baggie. Then the pots of fired and the area you covered with the mud stays white and the rest turns black. This pictures shows the lady mixing up the mud to decorate the pottery. It was interesting to see the traditional way of life of the Lenca people.

2006-06-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

Jared works hards on his pot.

2006-06-06T11:55:00.000-05:00

This is what the finished pottery looks like (when done by an expert).

2006-05-21T18:23:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was crazy hair day. Here are some first graders showing off their wild hair dos!

2006-05-21T18:21:00.000-05:00

Here is Jared taking a rest while hiking in La Tigra national park.

Our Long Weekend

2006-05-21T17:33:00.000-05:00

This weekend we enjoyed a four day weekend here in Tegucigalpa. On Wednesday we survived a half-day of school. The reason we survived it was that it was "Crazy Hair Day" so the kids hair affected how they behaved during the day. When we returned home we went out for lunch and walked from lunch to the mall. As we were walking we went pasted a small group of protesters who were marching towards the president's house. We stopped a distance away from the protesters and watched President Mel's helicopter land and the police keep the protesters away from the main gate of casa presidential. We didn't linger long and continued on our journy to the mall.

The next day (Thurdsay) we rented a car at the airport to drive to some places we have always wanted to visit. We drove a few kms. out of the city to Zamorano, an agricultural university. We looked at the fields, and bought some shirts from the market there. It was fun to get out of the city and see a new place that we have never been to.

The rains have finally come

2006-05-21T17:27:00.000-05:00

After many days of extreme heat here in Teguc. the rains have finally begun to start. The rain is a welcome relief because it helps to cool off our house, the mountains are turning green once again, and it also removes much of the smog in the air. We need to make sure to have our umbrellas with us every day now so that we don't get caught in a downpour on our way home from school.

2006-04-22T18:41:00.000-05:00

2006-04-22T18:40:00.000-05:00

Here are some more people working on their design.

2006-04-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

On Good Friday we ventured to the Center of Tegucigalpa to see the elaborate sand carpets. The people spend hours carefully placing the colored sand into thier design. Later in the afternoon a processonal walks across them as they make their way to the Catholic Church.

2006-04-22T18:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of some folks snorkling on the reef.

2006-04-22T18:32:00.000-05:00

Sunset at West Bay. We really enjoyed the the beach at West Bay. Not only are the sunsets awesome, but there is a reef just off the beach were you can go snorkling.

2006-04-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

On Monday we left for the island of Roatan. We had a great time there. This is Susan when we arrived at the airport.

2006-04-22T18:28:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we went to Valle de Angeles to do some shopping and to eat at our favorite restaurant, El Anafre. They have the best bean dip at this place.

2006-04-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

Susan's sister and brother-in-law came to visit us during Spring Break. Susan and I waited at the end of the runway to see them land.

2006-04-22T18:23:00.000-05:00

We had crazy hat and shoes day before Spring Break. This is one of my students in the hat she made for the event.

Teacher's Retreat 3-9 to 3-15

2006-04-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

Sunset in La Ceiba

2006-04-08T19:26:00.000-05:00

A cool picture of the entry at Palma Real.

2006-04-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

This is Jared zip lining in La Ceiba during the teacher's retreat.

Semana Santa

2006-04-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

I know it has been a long time since we have posted anything but we have just had many weeks of straight teaching. So it is a lot of the normal routine. Now we are on our Spring Break so we have a week off from school. Today Susan's sister and brother in-law arrived from Texas. We watched their plane fly at noon and then picked them up at the International Arrivals. We spent the day showing them around our house and a few other places in Teguc. And Henry would like you to know that as we were driving back from the Mall we saw a bunch of vultures eating a dead dog.

On Monday morning we are leaving for Roatan for a couple of days. We are looking forward to spending some time on the beach. We are staying at Island Pearl Resort, I hope it is as nice as the web site shows.

Right now it is raining here which is a surprise because it hasn't rained since before Christmas. Maybe this is a sign that the dry season is over early. Usually the rains do not come until May?

Well, we will write more and have some pictures after our vacation.

-JB

GCS Link

2006-02-21T17:58:00.001-05:00

Grandville Christian just sent a group of teaches to Kenya to visit their partner school. They have a blog with some pictures and information about the trip. It is really interesting to read about their adventure to Kenya. The partnership they have with RMA is a great thing. Check out the link.

2006-02-19T19:40:00.000-05:00

Susan's mom and dad in our house

2006-02-19T19:36:00.000-05:00

Susan's mom, dad, and sister Nicole are here visiting for a week and a half. We are glad to have them here! This weekend we took them to Amapala, the island south of Honduras. Above is a picture of Nicole in the mall food court.

2006-02-19T19:31:00.000-05:00

Here is Dad on the way to Amapala.

2006-02-12T17:01:00.000-05:00

Here is Susan doing some yard clean-up.

2006-02-12T16:57:00.000-05:00

The first weekend in February we drove to La Esperanza to visit a missions group from our church in Grandville. Susan translated for a dentist and Jared helped with a construction project. It was great to see a small village, be involved in something new in Honduras, and to meet new people from our church.

2006-02-12T16:50:00.000-05:00

The dental team Susan worked with.

2006-02-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

Hike to a waterfall

2006-02-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

In January we had a three day weekend so we went to Amapala, an island south of Honduras. We took two buses, a water taxi, an a taxi to get there, but it was worth it. Here are Molly and Andrea on the water taxi to the island.

2006-02-12T16:43:00.001-05:00

Beach in Amapala

2006-02-12T16:43:00.000-05:00

2006-02-12T16:39:00.000-05:00

First graders making models of animal habitats.

2006-02-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

Over Christmas break we were able to be a part of Brandi's wedding!

Back in Tegucigalpa

2006-01-15T17:37:00.000-05:00

We have been back in Honduras now for a week and are almost unpacked and settled again. It is nice to be back into our routine and we are enjoying the nice winter weather here (60's and 70's and partly cloudy). Speaking Spanish again was a little hard at first. We went to Burger King the day we arrived back because we were starving and had no food in the house. We successfully ordered, but then I thought the lady was telling me that the price of something had risen a little and did I still want it. I said, yes, that's fine. It turns out she was asking if I wanted an apple pie with my meal. I felt a little silly, but it turns out Jared loves Burger King apple pies, so he was very happy.

Last day of classes

2005-12-16T16:45:00.000-05:00

Today was our last day of classes before Christmas Break. We will be heading home for three weeks on Sunday.

2005-12-15T20:37:00.000-05:00

Jared carrying our drinking water from the gas station.

2005-12-15T19:37:00.000-05:00

Jared and I were in charge of the pop bottle game at the Christmas dinner.

2005-12-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

Jared with some of his students at the Christmas program.

2005-12-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

First Graders

Christmas Program

2005-12-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

The International School elementary school has been taken over by Christmas program preparations! We have been practicing the songs in our classrooms for weeks and we have spend half of 5 days practicing at the church where the performance will be. Although it is a lot of work, it is an important part of the school year because it allows the students and their parents to hear the Christmas story.

It is strange to be here during Christmas season because it is so warm. It just seems sort of wrong to see Christmas lights on houses without snow, but we will soon be able to experience the Michigan winter! Just 10 more days!

-SB

2005-11-28T14:55:00.000-05:00

We had three days off of school for Thanksgiving, so we went to Copan with a group of teachers from our school. We saw three different Mayan ruin sights, went horseback riding into the mountains to see a rural village, and visited some hot springs.

2005-11-28T14:53:00.001-05:00

Jared rests on top of one of the pyramids.

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Some of the girls at the ruins.

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2005-11-28T14:51:00.001-05:00

We watched some of the women do their weaving.

2005-11-28T14:51:00.000-05:00

Some of the girls learned how to make tortillas with the local women.

2005-11-28T14:50:00.001-05:00

Jared named his horse White Lightening.

2005-11-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

We walked up a trail next to the stream of hot water.

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Enjoying the hot springs.

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Exploring the river.

2005-11-28T14:29:00.000-05:00

Our school's theme this month was giving thanks to God for everything. Celebrating Thanksgiving was a great end to the month.

2005-11-28T14:27:00.000-05:00

My class and another first grade class learned about Thanksgiving in the US by dressing up as Pilgrims and Native Americans.

2005-11-28T14:23:00.000-05:00

I can't believe you're 26!

2005-11-28T14:22:00.000-05:00

Celebrating Jared's birthday at King Palace. Notice the gigantic plate of fried rice. We had more food than we could ever eat!

Jared's Birthday

2005-11-28T14:11:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday Jared's class surprised him with a birthday party complete with cake, ice cream, a pinata, sandwiches, chips, and pop. They even invited me! They were so excited that they basically gave it all away to Jared, but he did a good job pretending to be surprised.

On Wednesday, his actual birthday, we celebrated by going out for Chinese with some friends. They we came back to our house for cake and ice cream.

-SB

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!

2005-11-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Jared!!!

Thanksgiving

2005-11-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the staff (Honduran and North American) at our school. We all brought a dish to share and the superintendent provided the turkeys. It was delicious and a lot of fun, but it made us miss Thanksgiving at home. Afterwards we played some intense volleyball with some of the other teachers.

The Countdown Begins

2005-11-18T19:07:00.000-05:00

Only one month from today and we will be getting on a plane for Christmas Break. Can't wait to see our friends and family back home.

-JB