marriage is worth the effort

Bryan and I recently got back from an 8 night trip to the Big Island, Hawaii, Hawaii! It was the trip of a lifetime! We left the boys in Fargo, ND with their grandparents and other family members and we had 11 days without them! That was the longest we have ever left them. I missed them more than I expected. It was so great to be reunited with them.

We decided to take a big trip over our anniversary this year because we knew we needed to do something special to boost our marriage and continue the recuperation from foster care. We celebrated our 14th anniversary on August 1st. We hadn't initially planned to do something big for year 14 but after everything we have been through in the last year, we knew we needed it. We talked about going many different places but in the end, we chose Hawaii. This was Bryan's year to plan the excursion since we take turns every other year. (Next year I get to plan a trip to London for our 15th anniversary, which has been the hope for many years.) Bryan planned an amazing trip to Hawaii filled with lots of snorkeling and volcanoes, along with some great places to stay. We did a lot on this trip but it was a long trip so it didn't seem too filled up.

We started out the trip exploring some beaches, swimming/snorkeling with sea turtles and watching the manta rays at night. We took a helicopter ride (checked off of my life goal list) over an active volcano, Kilauea, and got to see lots of red, hot lava. We did some hiking and driving around volcanoes. We explored the rainforest and saw many waterfalls. We played on black sand beaches and hiked to a green sand beach. We spent time relaxing on white sand beaches, surrounded by lava rock. We saw more lava rock than we thought possible. We also took a tour up Mauna Kea (inactive volcano) for a beautiful view of the sunset surrounded by gigantic telescopes. While there we enjoyed staring at the stars in the clear sky and high elevation (14,000 ft) and looking through an 11" telescope at some things we had never seen before in the night sky. We also included some local shopping and a snorkel/boat trip on our trip. It truly was an amazing trip!

Bryan and I have returned refreshed and loving life. There is no doubt that this boosted our marriage and made it better. This trip was not easy, especially for Bryan who did the planning, and it wasn't cheap. We invested a lot of time and money into this trip but it was all to make our marriage better. Our investment is paying off. We are huge proponents of taking time away from your kids to keep your marriage heading in the right direction.

After this trip, we are even more convinced that our marriage is worth investing in to make it better. Our marriage is great but it has also been a lot of work. We have been working at it for 14 years. We have learned that if we keep working at our marriage to improve it, then it won't go bad. We want to keep things moving in the right direction...to greater love, intimacy and commitment and further away from separation and divorce. There have been times when we haven't put the effort into our marriage and it showed. We both are fully aware that marriage isn't easy. It is not easy to stay in love and keep the romance alive. A great marriage takes effort and it is so worth it! Take some time...be creative...add a little spark back into your marriage!

call me crazy...for space

I am pretty sure I am crazy. I convinced my sister-in-law, Chrystine, to drive to Florida with all 5 of our kids together in the hopes of seeing the last space shuttle launch. We took 2 days, 28 hours in the van to get to Orlando from Minneapolis. The drive went surprisingly well for our two six years old, my five year old, her three year old and her three month old. There was much less fighting than expected. More adult conversation than expected and more fast food eaten while driving than anyone wishes.

We got to Florida as a tropical wave was coming in. Sounds like it is bringing lots of rain. We decided to try to take today easy after all of the driving and give the kids lots of wiggle room today. We decided to go to the beach and check out the public shuttle viewing areas. The beach was extra messy because of the rain soaking everything with us. And everything we seem to do takes more time than expected. We are going to get up insanely early to get a viewing spot for the possible launch on Friday. It is looking pretty unlikely but we don't want to miss it. There are already lots of people camping out in prime viewing locations but we should still be able to find a good spot around 6am Friday. Stay tuned for more of our adventure.

space shuttle launch attempt

I had a great trip with Jaden last week. We traveled to Florida in the hopes of watching the space shuttle Endeavor launch for the last time. The shuttle didn't end up launching but we still enjoyed our time together on vacation.

Jaden's favorite part of the trip was playing with other kids. We met my childhood friend, Sara, at a park with her 4 kids and Jaden played till his hair was soaked. We also enjoyed mini golfing twice and the Orlando Science Center. It was fun comparing it to the Minnesota Science Museum; lots of similarities.

My favorite part was being back at Kennedy Space Center. It brought lots of memories when I worked there for the summer of 1998. It was great being at the visitors center even though we only had about an hour to tour around. It was pretty cool getting to see the space shuttle again but I still haven't seen one launch. The goal remains on my life list. Maybe I will get to see the last one in June.

The worst part of the day was being on a bus and standing in line for 9 hours. Jaden was quite a trooper and did great. His first reaction after we found out the launch was scrubbed was that he wanted to call his school to tell them because they were planning to watch the launch. When we decided to return home without waiting for the launch, Jaden was quite sad. He was a little sad that he wouldn't get to see the launch but more sad that I wouldn't get to see it. That broke my heart. I love to see his compassionate heart growing.

We were six miles away from the shuttle so the pictures are pretty fuzzy but this was our view. Six miles is the closest the public is able to get to the launch.

disappointment

Disappointment is overwhelming me. We are not leaving for Honduras this Thursday. There is still a slim possibility that we will leave in another week or so but that possibility keeps decreasing.

There is too much political instability there for it to be safe for us right now. The US Embassy and State Department have made statements that all Americans should defer unnecessary travel to Honduras if possible. This may be lifted any time but probably not this week. I’m still hoping for next week. The ex-president Zelaya plans to return to Honduras on Thursday. I’m sure this will cause additional rioting and protesting no matter what is done. There are two sides to this controversy and both sides are unhappy.

There is more unrest in Honduras than the American media is publicizing. Some major roads and bridges are blocked, which happens frequently, by protestors so the missionaries are currently unable to get to the airport in La Ceiba. There are some short-term American travelers at Loma de Luz Hospital now that are unable to leave the country. They are trying again on Friday. We are not going down there if the airport is unreachable. We have also seen the violence in La Ceiba on YouTube videos. There was protesting, rioting and two random shots fired in the town square right in front of the hotel we will stay in our first night before we make our way by vehicle to the hospital.

The power has been off at times in the cities but that is not unusual. The power has been on at the hospital and they are pretty sheltered from the violence, rioting and protesting. The missionaries are only affected by it right now when they need to go to the nearest cities, La Ceiba or San Pedro Sula. There has been a curfew the last few days but not sure if it will get extended through tomorrow.

We are mostly packed and ready to go. We have about $2000 worth of medical supplies (Bryan’s estimate) that we have gathered together to take with us. We have 2 ½ weeks off from work and our flights are still going. We will not be on those flights and are in the process of deciding to delay our flights in the short-term or cash out our tickets for another trip. We will definitely return to Honduras but it is unknown when. We don’t know what we are going to do with our time off. Bryan can’t change his vacation days and has to use them now.

I have been so excited to go back to Honduras and help there and share my love with them; love that Jesus has given me for the Hondurans. I just want to help and serve the Hondurans and missionaries in any way that I can…and now I don’t get to do that. I am so disappointed. What are we going to do with our time off? Nothing we do will be as meaningful and fulfilling. Disappointment is settling in.

My heart and prayers are with the Hondurans and missionaries there.

honduras, to go or not to go

This has been a big day in the history of Honduras. The government and military removed the president by force today and took him to Costa Rica and he is now in Venezuela. The Supreme court states that he violated the law and it was right to remove him. The government voted to impeach him. The UN and US and other organizations state that it was a coup and was not right that the president was removed from power.

I am not sure who is right in this matter but all over our news, it states that the Honduran president should be back in power. I am not convinced of this. There was definitely wrong done on both sides by the government/military and by the president. The president was trying to have an illegal vote today to try to create a new constitution to keep him in office as president even though he has reached his term limit. The government/military probably used too much force and they used a letter of resignation by the president that was false and presented it to their congress. There are a lot of people at fault here.

Honduras is not in the best situation right now. There is definitely more military presence there and there is a loss of power in major cities and a curfew for Sunday and Monday nights. There have been relatively peaceful protests in the capital, Tegucigalpa, but other than that the citizens are calm. The Honduran people have been amazing through this whole instability of their government over the last few days. Let's hope it remains that way and rioting and looting don't breakout.

We are trying to get as much information from as many sources as possible to decide if we should still travel to Honduras this Thursday. We are talking to the missionaries there and one in the US right now. We are talking with our sending agency, World Medical Mission, who has people in San Pedro Sula and in the US. We are trying to read as many news sources as possible. And we are praying a lot. We are not sure yet what to do. We are still planning as if we will leave Thursday. We still have complications with our flight schedule that need to get worked out. We may delay our trip shortly or long term, but we will return. We love the people there and have developed great relationships with the missionaries there. They have an amazing organization that we hope to be apart of long term.

In case you are tracking the news, we are flying into San Pedro Sula and out of Tegucigalpa. The nearest city to where we are going is La Ceiba. The hospital is in Balfate, Colon (region) and is called Loma de Luz Hospital. It is along the nothern/eastern gulf coast and is quite a distance from the capital.

Please keep us in your prayers as we try to determine what is best for our family. There is always risk traveling to a third world/developing country but it seems there is increased risk right now. We know that God wants us to go there but we are not sure if this is the right time.

pray for Honduras--political unrest there

There has been a lot going on in Honduras with their president over the last few days. We have been asked to pray for political stability by the missionaries. The president is trying to write a new constitution in the hopes that he can remain the leader after the upcoming presidential election (later this year), even though he has reached the current constitutional term limit.

We have been notified by World Medical Mission (Samaritan's Purse) about the unrest in Honduras and the possibility of delaying our trip if things get worse or if the State Department does not recommend travel there. Right now, travel is still ok but at any moment things could change. The current president of Honduras is trying to have a vote to create a new constitution and the vote is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 28th. The Honduran Supreme Court and Congress are trying to stop the vote from taking place but now the president has the support and military backing of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

Our in-country airline, TACA, has suspended all flights in Honduras as of June 24th. This is money related to TACA owing the government some fees--not related to political unrest. There are other airlines we can use but that is who we had already booked to fly from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba. We are checking into this further.

You can read more about what is going on in Honduras here:
http://hondurasnews.com/

We will keep you posted about our trip but for now we are hoping and praying that things calm down there. I packed the boys clothes tonight but Bryan is definitely haven't anxiety about the trip. Pray for the Hondurans and our safety and guidance as to whether we should continue our trip as scheduled.

On a happy note, we have gotten about 7 large bags of medical supplies to take with us. We are very excited about what we are able to take. We got most of the smaller items on the hospital's medical needs list. We connected with 2 new organizations, 1 in Minneapolis and 1 in Fargo, that donated supplies for us to take. They have been very generous and we appreciate all they are doing to help us.

I am still praying for a miracle to be able to take an ultrasound machine, echocardiogram (ultrasound of heart) machine or portable x-ray machine with us. So far, we don't have any of these but these are what the hospital needs most. They have never had an echo and their ultrasound and x-ray machines are currently broken. It is very hard to practice medicine without these two machines. Please pray that these much needed machines get provided to Hospital Loma de Luz in miraculous ways!

shots hurt

Today Bryan and I had to get one more shot before we go to Honduras again in a couple of weeks. The boys, thankfully, don't need any more shots (after the 20, or so, shots our family had to get last year). Jaden asked me today, "Mom, are you going to cry?" Bryan said that was a very good question. I said no. I will take a deep breath to get through it.

Well, I took a lot of deep breaths today. I almost passed out! That has never happened to me before. The shot hurt a lot. I wanted to cry but Jaden was staring at me and the needle the whole time, so I held it together. I really tried to keep my arm relaxed and thought that I did. Not sure what caused all of the pain. I didn't cry but did take lots of deep breaths. After the nurse was done, she started getting ready for Bryan and I was feeling very nauseous. I thought, no big deal. I will get through this. Then I started getting dizzy. I said outloud, "I am not feeling well." The nurse quickly finished Bryan and left the room, telling Bryan to have me sit in the recliner. I then began giving an account of everything I was feeling.

"I am really naseous."
"I am losing my hearing."
"I can't hear."
Nurse comes in with juice. I put my feet up and within a minute, I am doing much better. She says, you are getting your color back. I didn't know I lost my color. Now I realize what just happened. I almost passed out! Jaden is begging for my juice and asking me what is 'passed out. Bryan thinks it is hilariously that I explained what was happening to me. It was so weird that it all happened slow enough for me to realize something was going wrong. Glad I didn't pass out but it did wipe me out for awhile. And now my left arm still hurts.

home from a great vacation

We are back in Minnesota! We had an awesome vacation and saw lots of friends. The boys got to play in the sand and the water on Saturday and Sunday and loved it. They wanted to go there again on Monday.

We had a fun barbecue on Saturday for Dan and Laurie's wedding and got to meet everyone going to the wedding. We played volleyball and hungout on the beach at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, MD.

Saturday night we had an awesome party with lots of friends, hosted by our family/friends, Brian and Kim. We got to see lots of people that we love and miss. It was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, Dan and Laurie had a beautiful beach wedding and reception at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The food was incredible and the location was amazing! It was so great and meaningful to celebrate with lifelong friends.

We got to explore Annapolis on Monday and see more friends.

We had a wonderful time and it was quite relaxing. I did come back tired, which I did not want to do. We stayed up late many nights talking with our hosts, Ryan and Heather, and their other houseguests, Ian and Bekah. The late nights were fun but slightly exhausting.

It was so nice to be on vacation and now I have to go back to work for the next three days. I need to get a good night's sleep to prepare and build up for the work I will need to get done. I am not excited to go back to work right now. I need some sleep to not think about it right now.

tourists

We have been having fun a lot of fun in DC. We toured the Air & Space Museum, the Natural History Museum and the new Capitol Visitors Center. The boys loved the rockets and airplanes and the dinosaur bones. It was so much fun sh0wing them around.

There has been rain off and on but it has been mostly beautiful weather around 80 degrees. I totally forgot how humid it is here. It definitely competes with the humidity in Honduras but it is less heat, for now anyway.

We have been enjoying staying up late and sleeping in and taking it slow and easy. So far, the vacation has truly been restful. We have gotten to hangout with lots of friends and there are more friends to come.

soooooo big

My boys are growing up. They are so big! On the airplane ride out to Washington DC, we had the boys sit together on one side of the aisle and Bryan and I on the other side of the aisle. They sat so nicely the whole flight. They talked to each other like big kids. They entertained themselves and watched some movies too. I just love listening to their conversation when they talk to each other. The loved flying on the airplane. Everything was so fascinating to them and they had lots of questions. I love answering their questions. Traveling to DC was a blast. I am sure the flight home will be fun too and I am hoping it goes as smoothly.

The downside is that I seem to have forgotten many things, mostly my things. My contacts, prescription sunglasses, shorts, pants in the dryer (still wet) and swimming suits (for my whole family). I think we are going to have Bryan's sister overnight my contacts to me. I don't think I can make it a week without them.

off for vacation

Our family flies out on Tuesday for a week in the Washington DC area. We can't wait to tour the city with our kids and see friends and celebrate a wedding. We are looking forward to lots of fun times. We love that city and it has a special place in our lives after living there for seven years.

I really tried hard to leave lots of down time so we feel rested and relaxed when we return. We'll see how that turns out.

Bryan's sister, Kim, is now living with us for the summer, or at least part of it. It will be nice to have her taking care of our house while we are gone. We can't wait to spend more time with her. The boys are really excited for Aunt Kimberly to be here too.

mexico city

Today I made a festive Cinco de Mayo dinner. We had chips and guacomole, Mexican sweet corn with green and red peppers and onions, quesadillas and chorizo pollo (chicken) con queso y tortillas. (I'm working on my Spanish in preparation for Honduras in July.)

Today I was remembering back to being in Mexico City in 2002, 7 years ago this summer. It was a great and challenging time for us. We were on a medical mission trip there where we set up a clinic in one of the many poor areas of the city. Twenty million people live there. Today they should have been having a great Cinco de Mayo celebration but the big fesitivites were called off due to the flu.

We tried to have a little fun around our house but it is nothing compared to the fun they should have been having in Mexico.

I think of the people we met in Mexico City often. They have hard lives but still feel very blessed. I have a lot to learn from them.

the Bison lost

We had a fun trip driving from Bloomington (our home) to Fargo and then to Laramie, Wyoming and back again. We spent lots of time in a minivan but it was enjoyable and relaxing. We enjoyed all of the family time and the long and heated conversations with the Jarabeks. It was nice to get a break from the boys and they had a blast with the Jarabek grandparents and Dracy great grandparents.

The NDSU Bison lost to the UWyo Cowboys but it was still a fun to be a fan.

We are back to getting settled in Bloomington. Life continues to be interesting and now we have some of my extended family staying with us for medical treatment in Minneapolis.

I am trying very hard to put the finishing touches on our Honduras update letter to be sent out to all of our friends and family but things just keep coming up to delay it. I am really hoping to have all of them in the mail by the end of the week.

On a side note, our 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan hit 100,000 miles on the way to Fargo last Thursday.