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Over the past month we've had two teams, Holy Week, and internet in spurts - so be sure your in your comfy chair - this blog is going to be lengthy!

Thanks, Trinity Christian School.
In mid-March a group from Trinity Christian School from Lubbock, TX came for a week. We had a medical clinic, construction projects, soccer games, lots of UNO games, and just an all around great time. TCS has what they call "missions week" the week before spring break. All students in the school were involved in various missions projects in and around Lubbock, Texas, and around the world.

Thanks, Lifesong Church.
Lifesong Church from Orlando, FL spent a week with us late March - early April. The pastor of the church lead the team, he and his wife had been here before leading teams for a church they pastored before they moved to Florida. For every other team member it was their first time to be here. We enjoyed so much getting to know them. We also enjoyed how much help they were. Their main project was helping to put in parts of the sewage system that will be used by buildings yet to be built. They also helped with a big cleaning project, made banners for our dining hall, did some painting, and taught us a new game called "move your buns".

Holy Week.
Our kids spring break changes between various parts of March and April each year to match Holy Week. At New Life Children's Home there are some die hard traditions like "Holy Week Olympics", sleepovers, and special foods. During that week, everyone went to the swimming pool on Tuesday - and most everybody came home with a sunburn! Usually, only kids that are on good behavior levels get to go to the pool - an exception was made this time. It was great to watch them all enjoy such a good day together. Wednesday - Friday we had the "olympics" each afternoon. Wednesday was "Rally Day" which was much like what I remember "field day" being in elementary school. For 2 hours there were all kinds of relay races. Thursday was "food day" and for another 2 hours we played various games that all involved something edible like a bubble gum blowing contest, saltine cracker eating relay, blindfolded apple eating contest, and a cake decorating contest. On Friday we had another 2 hours of water games. We ended that day with tug-o-war in a mud pit. For all of these days the kids were broken up into teams - they worked together and cheered one another on. At the end of the games each day a theme was announced for supper that evening. They had just about an hour and a half to shower and get ready as a team for supper. We had 3 theme nights: ocean night, clown night, and zoo night. It's really fun watching how creative they are and how fast they can come up with ideas. Also, during the week each age group of kids had a sleepover. On Wednesday we had the younger girls in our place, and then on Friday we hosted the older girls. We learned that we're not as young as we used to be, staying up past mid-night is such a stretch these days. Some of the older girls stayed up until 5 am watching movies and eating junk food.
On Friday night, we had a Good Friday Service, and then on Sunday morning we had a sunrise Easter service. The Easter service was followed by a special breakfast of breakfast burritos.
We were so thankful to have the help of Chad, Marlana, Dave, and Lindsey this year, along with a few of the older kids here at the home.

Dave & Lindsey.
We have two interns here with us these days. Dave is from Seattle. He came late February and after studying spanish in Antigua for 3 weeks has joined us here for the remainder of his time until late May. Dave graduated from the University of Washington in December and will begin Med school this August. He's helping out in the medical clinic in the mornings and then helping with homework in the afternoons. Lindsey is from Abilene, TX. She is married to Ben, who is a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He is currently deployed and so instead of staying in Abilene in a quiet house, she's spending a couple of months in Guatemala. She has completed one week of language school and has one more to go. Once she's here with us she's going to help out in the kitchen in the mornings and then with homework in the afternoons.

Lee & Staci.
We really enjoyed the two teams and Holy Week - we also enjoyed the long nap that followed the ending of the three events. We will receive our next team in June. Until then, we have several other things going on. The accountant/bookeeper here is on maternity leave so Staci is helping out some in the office. We're not finished with the sewage project, so Lee is about to become good friends with the backhoe. We're also looking forward to having groups of kids back in our apartment. We're also beginning to gear up for the summer as we anticipate several groups and interns.

Baby Jarvis.
Yes, that says baby Jarvis! We're expecting to welcome baby Jarvis into the world in late October. We went to the doctor for the first time this week. He did an ultrasound, and we got to see the little baby show off a bit. Baby was pretty active, and everything appears to be very normal and healthy. We plan on staying here to have the baby. We really like the doctor and hospital a lot, and feel very comfortable with going through this whole process here.