The Latest

We've had a couple of fun excursions and a whole lot of everyday adventures in the last two weeks!

Monday May 1st was May Day. In Nicaragua it's a day off so we took advantage! Our bishop and his family invited us to explore a location neither of us had been to before. We jumped at the chance and took off! It is an off the beaten path location called Los Saltos. It was only about an hour drive from our house in Managua but it felt pretty remote. It's rare to see rivers here. The volcanic soil is so porous that most of the ground water is absorbed and collected in natural underground aquifers. At Los Saltos there is a river that has been dammed and allowed to form a small reservoir. The dam has release gates that expel water and look like waterfalls. Since it was a holiday the place was packed but we had fun anyway. 

A beautiful mural near the parking lot

One of the "waterfalls"

The kids wanted a closer look from on top of the rock

Some locals were enjoying jumping into the reservoir from this tree. My kids got a kick out of watching them. One man who was much older than the teens and young adults who were mainly jumping climbed up there with all the confidence in the world. When it came time to actually jump, however, his confidence made the leap and left him behind! He couldn't do it. In effort to be encouraging (or maybe to call him out!?!) my kids started chanting "dale dale!!" (essentially, "go for it! Jump!) Poor guy! He was really called out and was a good sport about it but it took him probably 20 minutes to finally get up the guts to jump! He thanked my kids for their encouraging chants and jeers.

Mitchell capitalized on the opportunity to be a brave hero for his kids and he took off his shirt and climbed the tree! It only took a couple of minutes of side-line chanting "dale dale dale!!" before he took the plunge! It was fun to hear the kids squeal with delight! 

On Wednesday I got to witness the culmination of a series of miraculous events! Meet Roger and his mom Martha. I met Roger in December last year. Our friend Dean introduced us at his Christmas party for the kids in his ministry. Roger is 14 now. 5 years ago he was playing in his yard and found a washed up piece of debris and began throwing it around. Little did he know it was a hand grenade from the revolution that had washed up after a rain storm! Unfortunately, the grenade exploded as he tossed it around. His poor mom heard the explosion and ran out to find him badly hurt, the concussive force from the explosion caused his eyes to come out of the sockets. Incredibly he was able to get medical help quickly and the local doctor was able to save one eye. He even has sight in his eye! THAT is already a miracle to me!! His left eye was not able to be salvaged though. Not too long after the accident a group of foreign doctors happened to be in the area on a medical mission trip. Miraculously they happened to have a prosthetic eye in their kit and it amazingly fit the 9 year old Roger! 

With the passing of time Roger has grown and the eye doesn't fit very well anymore. Back in December Dean introduced me to Roger and just casually asked me if I knew an eye doctor. I am certain that he was inspired in that moment because my dad is an Optometrist. My dad was able to refer me to an ocularist (prosthetic eye artist) who was generous enough to help us and offered to make Roger a new eye! That is no small gift! After 5 months working on this, making impressions of his eye socket, sending materials back and forth from California and taking many measurements Roger was really ready to get a new eye. 

In the end, an optician that Dean knows got a couple of prosthetics made and flew in from Coco Beach, FL for 48 hours especially to deliver them to Roger. It was humbling to watch and take a small part in this miracle for Roger. 

I wish I had captured his reaction on video of when he saw his reflection for the first time! What a moment!! 

  

Reid is my "sports kid" always finding a way to hit a ball or score a goal

While we were out in the rural area near Roger's house waiting for Dean we made friends with a family who was out sitting in the shade in their front yard. They had about 30 two month old chicks. They were so cute! Reid had so much fun scrambling to catch them!

Layne thought this doggy mannequin at a department store in the mall was so cute! I think he's cuter! 

My grandparents send us the National Geographic and it's a big hit around here!

 

We did lots of reading, coloring and crafts, swimming and other fun stuff in the month of April. After the Homers went home I decided to keep up our no screen momentum that we had achieved by filling our days with outdoor adventures. In the entire month of April the kids watched only 23 minutes of screen time! and that was one episode of a show that Kessa and Abby had been excited to share with their friends. It wasn't nearly as hard a fast as I thought it would be either! Plus, the kids fought less and played more. 

This is a pretty authentic look in to what our days look like at home. Kids making awesome crafts and the Moana soundtrack blaring in the background. Haha!

One of our favorite places to hike is at Chocoyero Nature Reserve. It is beautiful, peaceful and really close to our house! By now we are old regulars and we know the tricks out there. Today we brought a rope with us because we know of a spot, a little off the trail, where there is a cable hanging down from a strong limb of a tree. We made a really fun swing! 

  

Redick only wanted to give me booty shots!