Fair Day

Today we took the kids to the Pierce County Fair. We had a great time. We got to visit a lot of free exhibits and the kids went on a few rides.

It did our hearts good to hear what their favorite thing at the fair was. They all said that their favorite part of the fair was hearing the Bible story at the Child Evangelism Fellowship Tent.

What a wonderful testimony that our kids love the Lord.

We talked with the couple after the other kids were gone and found out that they go to a independant Baptist church in Chehalis, WA. They have even been to our church. It was the first booth we went to, and it was a great start to the day.

Tate Update

Ok, so I know that it has been a while since I have written anything and I am not going to start off by making excuses. I will just say that I am sorry and will try to do better in the future. :-)

So many things have been happening to our family. We had a great time with the East Hill Baptist Church teenagers. They came down the end of June for a Missions Trip. It was during this trip the President of Honduras was arrested for trying to put through an illegal vote allowing him to rewrite the Constitution.

Because of the after affects (and threats) of this event we left the country and came back the US for a time. We are monitering the situation in Honduras and are looking forward to the time when things have cooled down enough for us to go back.

At this time we are visiting supporting churches near our sending church trying to raise the money needed to buy plane tickets back to Honduras. Please pray with us about that.

This morning we called a supporting church, Riverview Baptist church, to let them know what was going on and they asked us to come and visit tonight. This church has been a faithful supporter since we left for language school in 2002. We had wanted to visit as we have many friends here, but the timing was never right. Anyway we had tonight free and they asked us to come.

I was able to see my best friend that I had all of my growing up years. Her name is Stephanie Erquiaga and as she was showing me to the nursery, I saw someone walk down the hall toward me. It was my best friend from college, Audrey Longo (now Coffman). I was so excited to see her. I have tried to get a hold of her many times, but could never find her. We were able to talk and had a great time. It was so funny because I introduced my friend Stephanie to her. During the service Stephanie remembered that her and Audrey had both been my bridesmaids. I had even forgotten. When she reminded Audrey at the end of the service she said, "I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn't remember from where."

I am so thankful that God has used this time to refresh not only our spirits, but has also allowed to us renew old friendships.

Need for coffee

Have you ever had one of those days where you just felt like you needed a cup and coffee and some time to relax? Well, this month has been like that. We had a missionary family come and visit us. They are moving here the end of July and so they came from Costa Rica on a bus to spend two weeks with us. They ended up finding lodging for themselves free of charge. Our good friends the Jacksons are going to be going back to the states for 6 months to help get their kids adjusted to college life and they offered the Jacobos their house for those 6 months. That will help both families as the Jacobos will have some time to save up for their move to Campamento and all of the household things they will need to buy at that time.

The Jacobos ended up staying a few extra days because we all (Matthew was the only one who escaped) got sick with Rotovirus. It makes you very sick for a few days and destroys all of the good bacteria in your intestines so everything runs right though. We had to be put on a very strict diet and some recovered faster than others. I was the last one to get sick. I thought maybe I had dodged the bullet, but I was not so lucky. I was sick for almost 3 weeks. I finally had an appointment with a specialist, but was able to cancel it when I started feeling better. The plus side of this sickness is that I have lost a lot of weight. I am down 17 lbs at this time. I only lost 13 on the sickness, but have lost the rest because I am not eating as much as I was before. Hopefully I can continue to lose weight. I would love to wear size 10 again. :-)

A few weeks after the Jacobo family left we had a group from the states come in. We had a great time with them. They just left. We have another group coming in a few weeks and so we are rapidly trying to finish school before they get here. Hopefully once our summer vacation starts I can feel a little more rested.

Please pray with us about the kids' schooling. We have a courier service to get our school materials, but we were just advised by them that the Aduanas (customs agents) are confiscating all packages over 4 lbs and charging a "holding fee and inspection fee". We already have to pay $4.00 a lb (last year for two kids we spent over $100 just on shipping) to the shipping service, but this new "fee" can be whatever they feel is fair. We haven't purchased the kids' books and videos yet, but are dreading the cost to get them here.

My kids use the Abeka video school and I love it. Audrey was the only one last year, but Jordan will be joining her in using the videos this year. Since we are missionaries we get to keep the videos for future kids. This year we have to buy two complete grades which is a huge upfront cost, but this is the only year we will have to do this. We are praying that one of the missionary groups that is coming down this summer could bring the books down for us.

This past week we had an earthquake. It was located about 200 miles north of us in the ocean off the north coast. It didn't cause any problems where we live, but it seemed like it lasted forever. I was up feeding Matthew at the time (yes, he is 5 months and still doesn't sleep through the night). It is a good thing because if I had of slept through it, I would have never heard the end of it. Everyone has been email making sure we are okay.

Spring Break

We are enjoying our spring break. We did school Monday and Tuesday to make up for some days we have missed. When we moved we had to take vacation time and now have to make that up. We have several missions groups this summer so we must make those days up before they come.

Tonight we are at the Jackson's house. We are enjoying a good time of fellowship and food.

We had the church over on Wednesday for a service and swimming time. We have a river that runs through our property that has several swimming holes. Everyone had a great time.

In this country everything shuts down from Thursday to Sunday. Contrary to life in the US, Easter Sunday is the least attended church service in Honduras. Since everything is closed down, we have a few days at home to catch up from the past month. It has been a nice time. We filled the pool and the kids have lived in it. They are all quite sunburnt today.

Tomorrow Jason will be teaching a marriage seminar for a church in the colonia of San Miguel. They will not have childcare, so I will be staying home with the kids. I am hoping to use the time to catch up more. We will see if that wil happen. :-)

San Pedro Sula

We are in San Pedro Sula as I write this. We found out on Monday that the US Embassy couldn't process Matthew's application for Citizen Birth Abroad until April 30th. They did inform us that if we went to San Pedro Sula we wouldn't need an appointment. We got Ernesto and Nelly to watch our older kids and off we went.

The US Consulate office here is only open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. We got there shortly after 1:00 and were able to be seen after only waiting 30 minutes. The Consular was impressed that we had everything all ready and set up. We started going through our papers and found out that we were missing a key paper.

It was Joey's birth certificate of all things. Joey's birth certificate proves to the US government that we have lived in the States in the past. Don't ask me how his Consular Report of Birth Abroad certificate proves this, but it does.

We had to call Ernesto and have him take Joey's certificate and send it to us on a bus. Thankfully He was able to go this morning and we now have it in hand.

We will be going back to the Consulate tomorrow and are hoping that everything goes well.

Last night when we got back to our hotel we were shocked at the sight of all outdoor personnel. Every last one of them had on bullet proof vests. I thought the motel was in a good neighborhood. It just brings to mind that San Pedro Sula is a lot more dangerous than Tegucigalpa.

We are planning on going home tomorrow and are looking very forward to it. It has been a nice vacation for Jason and I, but we feel guilty leaving Ernesto and Nelly with the kids for so long.

This picture is of the Dining Room decorated for the party. The gray spots on the walls is where the plaster is being repaired. Only another week and we should be able to paint. YEAH!!!! Joey and Brooklyn (Hodges) eagerly waiting for cake time.

Joey hitting the Lightning McQueen Pinata

Joey loved his cake. He was so excited to get a race track cake. It was so easy to make. Jordan is already putting in his order for one on his birthday.

Video Games

Joey had a birthday last Friday. He turned 5. We had a birthday party for him and it was good to see all of our friends again. Even though we had just three families over, our house was packed. We had hot dogs and everyone brought a side dish for potluck.

Thursday evening, while on the way to church, Ernesto (the man who helps us in Ojojona) got a call from his brother saying that his mom was doing badly and they were taking her to the hospital.

After church, Jason took me home and then drove Ernesto and Nelly home. When I got out of the car at our house, Ernesto was explaining to his brother that his mom was 96 and had smoked most of her life. She had been saved for the last 12 years and in that time had not smoked once, but her lungs were permently damaged. He told his brother that if she didn't die that night it wouldn't be long for her.

We got a call Friday morning saying that she had died during the night. Jason left to be with Ernesto and Nelly (who were supposed to come to the party) and help them in any way he could.

We couldn't cancel the party as most everyone invited had a fully scheduled month already. Thankfully everyone was late and Jason got home just after the last guest arrived. Ernesto and Nelly couldn't come as they had to stay with the family for the viewing.

Joey was a little disappointed that Ernesto and Nelly couldn't come. Jason almost didn't get to come so we were thankful that at least he was able to be home in time.

Joey loves cars so we had a car theme. I made him a race track cake. He loved it. His favorite gift was the Leapster educational video game player we got him. He ties to sleep with it at night. Jordan has had one for a few years now and it is a much fought over toy.

Today Jordan told Joey that he was going to let him use some of his games as soon as he gets his out of toy jail (he was playing with it at night when he was supposed to be in bed). Jordan prayed for lunch today and when he was done Joey said, "I thought you were going to pray for the video games to get out of toy jail."