Tegucigalpa, Honduras

We traveled to Honduras last week, to the capital of Tegucigalpa. It's a city of 1 million people in a basin surrounded by mountains at about 3000 ft. altitude. The flight into the city was smooth but exciting as all the planes have to fly low and make a u-turn right before landing on a short runway. Well done, Continental pilot. The flight was a short 2 and a half hours from Houston, directly southeast across the Gulf of Mexico.

Central America is so colorful! The wealthy and poor areas of the city are inter-mixed, so there is great opportunity to serve those in need. We visited a church that is in the upper class area. This church supports 3 smaller churches in the surrounding barrios. We visited one church that feeds several hundred children each day. The kids come after school for tutoring, a bible lesson and a meal. For most, it's their only meal of the day. We also visited a clinic that helps people with HIV in the poor areas. We went with university students from the larger church to take care baskets to the patients. The baskets included corn meal, soap, toilet paper, pasta, a colander for washing food and other basic necessities. The patients walk to the clinic once a week for treatment, often coming from their home which has no running water, sewer or electricity. In contrast there are also many beautiful homes in Tegucigalpa. For security purposes they are often hidden behind tall cement-block walls with electric fences and large sliding metal garage doors, so you don't realize that you are in a nice neighborhood until you enter the home. The streets are narrow and hilly for the most part. And the drivers are daringly aggressive, making their own lanes, honking their horns and usually ignoring stop signs. It's commonly said that if you can drive in Tegucigalpa, you can drive anywhere. It's a loud, active city with lots of music.

We were able to stay in a luxury apartment overlooking the city during our visit. The man who owns the apartment was so generous to allow us to use his home. Here is a view of the city lights from the balcony. Reagan did great on the trip, being very patient while we stretched his schedule. He stayed up until 9, 10 or 11 every night and took his nap at random times, in cars, and at several different homes. We practiced having Reagan take naps on a blanket on the floor at our house in Texas. So by the time we arrived at the apartment, Reagan was accustomed to sleeping through the night on the floor. We are so thankful that he was so easy-going and flexible.

Keith and Dawn Moore, shown here with two of their kids, Chad and Kurt, started a church in Tegucigalpa 8 years ago with two other Christian couples. Since then 400 people have come to know Jesus Christ and 3 more churches have started. It was a delight to meet them and spend a week with their family and see what God is doing in their ministry

We went to Honduras to visit a church called Impacto. It has been in Tegucigalpa for 8 years and they have a church planting school called Sembrar (to plant). The first 2 years of courses are available to anyone who would like to study. And then the last 2 years are specifically for those who want to become pastors and start new churches in Latin America or around the world. During the last 2 years, students typically work as interns for the church to gain ministry experience and hands on training as leaders of the church. We are asking God if we should move to Honduras to be trained in the Sembrar program. It is a thorough set of courses including evangelism, old testament, new testament, church history, Greek and more.

On Sunday, we enjoyed worshiping at Impacto. The sermon was translated into an earpiece for those who prefer to listen in English. There are many Embassy workers and other English speaking business people who attend the church while stationed in Honduras. We loved singing in Spanish with the worship team and were welcomed warmly by the people. That Sunday six people were baptized and two professed a new relationship with Christ. Impacto is about 800 people with 1 service on Saturday night and 2 services on Sunday morning. We had the privilege of attending a plethora of meetings throughout the week, including women's study, couples study, Seminary (Sembrar) classes, youth group, young professionals, university gathering, men's study and children's Sunday School.

Reagan enjoyed playing in the nursery at church. The kid's Sunday School curriculum takes the children through the entire Bible every 3 years.

This is David and Jenni. David has finished the Sembrar program and is one of three pastors at Impacto. Jenni's English is flawless. We enjoyed a meal with them at Pizza Hut. In fact, we only ate one traditional Honduran meal while in Tegus, because the city is very Americanized with many familiar restraunts. Our traditional meal was a huge skewer of meat with rice, beans and corn tortillas. Mark ate a traditional breakfast at 6:30 AM at a men's bible study. The menu was rice, beans and pork chops. Here is another family from Impacto, Deybie and Binda. Deybie is in his last year of Sembrar. He and Binda live in a beautiful home overlooking the reservoir that supplies water to Tegucigalpa.

Reagan was in heaven in this helicopter at Wendy's. The restaurant was the cleanest and friendliest fast food joint we have ever seen because the Hondurans are thankful for their jobs and work proudly. Reagan's blonde hair is an instant conversation starter. Lots of people come over to pet his head, and little kids want to play with him. I loved talking to the children, especially since my Spanish is about the level of a 2 yr. old. Mark on the other hand was able to converse rather well in Spanish. It has been 25 years since he studied the language but once immersed in the culture, the words came flooding back to his memory.

By the end of the week we felt that the trip had been very productive. We believe that we saw an accurate view of the city, the culture, the people and the work that God is doing in Tegus. We are still mulling over our experience and praying that God would direct us where He wants us to learn and serve. We said goodbye to Dawn and Keith and flew back to the USA. When we drove into our driveway 4 hrs. later, we said, "Reagan, we're home." His bilingual reply was, "casa."

Need a rescue?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reagan's First Haircut

Here's the before and after. The curls of our little baby are gone and the big boy has emerged. We found this great little shop called Cool Cuts. Instead of sitting in chair, Reagan was inside a toy car. And he was watching Baby Einstein on a DVD player only a few feet in front of him. While we waited for his appointment, he played with a train-set. I know it's all a little above the top, but we couldn't resist. We weren't sure how Reagan would respond during the haircut because he hates having water on his head. While we were waiting there was a 3 yr. old screaming, "Don't cut me!" But Reagan thankfully didn't respond in turn and handled the haircut very well, even when the buzzers came out. Maybe n0w people will stop mistaking him for a girl.

Halloween in Houston

What a fun weekend. We drove a few hours out of Houston to take part in the Bizarro Duathlon. It's a biking and running race where the participants dress up in costumes. We decided to dress Reagan up instead of going in costume ourselves. But some participants really went to town and actually biked with bunny ears, brownie costumes, super-hero tights and other absurdities. Mark and I did the relay style race with Mark biking 18 miles and me running 3 miles. We ended up winning the relay category (which only included 4 teams.) We took Brenna, our dear friend and baby-sitter, along to hang with Reagan while we were racing. That evening we went trick or treating with Reagan. But every time someone opened the door, Reagan just walked in. Good thing we were only at friend's houses, so we just followed him inside and chatted for 10 or 15 minutes. It was fun to walk behind Reagan when he ran because his little fish tail wagged back and forth like a fish fin. So cute.

Our Ball Boy

World Championships

Mark qualified for Duathlon World Championships for the 4th time. The competition was held in Charlotte, North Carolina at Lowes Motor Speedway. Mark ran a 10K, biked 25 miles and ran a 5K to finish for team USA. It was a successful race and he came in exactly at the time he had planned for. The weather was sunny every day of our trip except for race day when it rained all day long. Reagan and I were out in the weather for 4 hours but we were prepared with baseball caps, rain jackets, umbrella and stroller guard. The race venue was fantastic. The course wound all around the racetrack, infield and surrounding roads. Mark was careful not to crash on the slippery bike course, but enjoyed the cooler weather for the runs. He got quite a rush speeding around the slanted race track at 27 miles an hour. (slightly slower than the 180 mph of the nascar racers.)

Off-roadin'

Some friends from church gave us this great jeep for Reagan to play in. He has so much fun because the doors open, there are "gas cans" in the back to fill the tank, and the steering wheel actually works when you push him. It used to be powered with a battery pack, but no longer works. We have no plans to fix it. But Reagan plays endlessly in the jeep, especially when I'm out doing yard-work. Thanks Robbyn and Sean!

Denver, Colorado

We spent a long weekend in Denver at Mark's sister's house. We were traveling for a duathlon that happened to be on his birthday and also happened to be just a few miles from his sister's home. Fifteen members of the Voss family ended up gathering for a few crazy days together. The cousins had tons of fun running around together. The weather was wonderfully cool, and after 5 months of relentless Houston heat, I spent each morning in front of the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate. Everyone else of course was wearing shorts.

Borris

What a sad day. Our cat, Borris, is no longer with us. He was 17 years old and was a special part of our lives. We miss him very much, but now Reagan won't get in trouble for tackling the cat and pulling it's tail.

Come Sail Away...

I went sailing with some friends from church a few weeks ago. John, one of my violin students, knows how to sail so he took us out on the bay for an afternoon of sun. I enjoyed laying on the front tip of the sailboat with the breeze blowing over me and the boat bobbing up and down over the waves. It just doesn't get much better than a nap on a boat. When it was hot, I jumped in the water, held on to a buoy and let the boat drag me in the water. It was crazy to see the seaside mansions with yachts parked outside instead of cars. We ended the day with seafood on Kemah Boardwalk. Thanks, Scarlett, for watching Reagan all day so that I could enjoy the ocean.

Baby Curls

We love our curly haired mop-top. His hair is always crazy. And as the curls grow longer, people are starting to accidentally refer to him as a girl. We would give him a haircut, but we know that as soon as we loose the curls, he will look like the little boy that he is, and not as the little baby we are trying to hold onto. We love you little Reagan.

Monica and Reagan Go to Nebraska

We just returned from a fantastic trip to see family in Nebraska. We were able to spend lots of time with both the Voss clan and the Sperlings, who conveniently live only a half mile apart. We even made it down to Kansas to see my grandmas and attend my cousin's wedding. Sara Voss spoiled us by taking us to the Zoo and serving Valentinos Pizza for dinner. Sara's new puppy, Zoro, let Reagan chase him around nonstop for 3 days. My mom spent a lot of time playing in the backyard with Reagan and Charlize (Reagan's cousin). The three of them played in the sandbox, in the kiddie pool, and in the grass. My mom taught Reagan to smell flowers and Charlize taught him to say some new words. Praise God for beautiful weather, a miracle for Nebraska in late July. I was even able to see my sister, Tonya, who is 6 months pregnant. It was exciting to put my hand on Tonya's stomach and feel the baby kicking. Thanks for cooperating baby Jolly. We miss you all so much. It was hard to leave this time for some reason.

Couch Potato

Reagan loves to watch videos. His favorites are Winnie the Pooh and Little Einsteins. We're trying to teach him not to touch the TV or remotes, but the DVD remote was missing the other day again. I eventually found it stuffed inside the VCR. Nice.

Blueberries

A few weeks ago, my friend Kim invited us to pick blueberries with her. We drove to a blueberry farm where we were all able to pick beautiful, plump blueberries. And we only paid $1.50 a pound. So Mark now puts blueberries in his oatmeal and yogurt. And I'm going to make blueberry pancakes for Mark for Father's Day.

My Da-Doo

Happe Faders Day, Da-Doo.

I wuv yoo. -Reagan

PS. Mama helpd me wif dis.

She thenks yor grate too.

Summer Fun

My friend Dana has planned a fun activity for every Wednesday this summer. So each week a group of moms gets together to take our kids somewhere in Houston to enjoy the town. Last week we went to Nottingham Spray Park. The sun was out (as always), so we plastered on the sunblock and set our children loose. Reagan just stood by my side for about 10 minutes watching the bigger kids running around in the water. Then, he just waded on in and joined the chaos. I can't wait to see what is on schedule for next Wednesday.

Bike Ride to Remember

I went for a bike-ride with Reagan at Brazos Bend State Park this weekend. We have seen alligators there in the past, so I was hoping to see some sunning themselves on the bank of the island in the lake. To my surprise, they were not being laying 30 yards away, but just feet from the bike path. I stopped several times to take pictures and didn't even need to zoom in on the toothy lizards. I rode up on a 6 foot animal, and just before I got to him, he stood up, walked right across the path in front of me and slid into the mossy pond. It took a little while for me heart to slow down after that.

Do you see the monster?

Duathlon Dismount

Mark placed 2nd in a recent duathlon. At the end of his 48 mile cycle, I caught his bicycle dismount on video. He's coasting in for the last few meters with both legs on one side of the bike until he comes to the dismount spot where he can jump off and start running. And you'll see that by the time he comes rolling in that he already has his feet out of the shoes. I wish I could have recorded him as he continued to run towards transition where he shelved his bike, put on his running shoes and took off for the final 5 mile run.

He's Walking!

What does it take to motivate a child to walk? Well for Reagan, it was a neighbor kid who was watering his lawn with a hose. Reagan and Mark were in the driveway about a month ago when Reagan saw the spraying water. So he took about 20 steps across the driveway and walked onto the grass where our neighbor was. We hadn't seen Reagan take any steps unless we were pushing him back and forth between us, and even with the forced walking, we had only seen 2 or 3 steps at a time. So we were shocked to see him walking across different, uneven surfaces. But Reagan enjoyed his new skill only for that day and then returned to exclusive crawling for a week. The day before my parents came to visit, he turned on the steps again and walked with Grandma and Grandpa through the airport to welcome them to Houston.

Sorry that the video is sideways. I tried without success to correct it. Enjoy.

Reagan is into everything these days. He loves to pull out all of the tupperware from my kitchen cabinets, empty all of the DVDs onto the floor, pull out the toys from the toy box, unroll toiletpaper, scatter towels from the bathroom drawers and just make a mess in general. And he's begun to hide things. The other day I couldn't fine my violin tuner. Reagan loves to play with it because it clicks to different speeds. So I gave up looking for it and just waited for it to appear. Sure enough, a few days later I found it in the bathroom in a drawer with the spare toilet paper. Reagan also loves to stack things. Mark found him trying to stack his cheerios the other morning. So here's a photo of the tower of blocks that he built a few weeks ago.