Today June 16, 2006

We all slept in and then took my grandma out to lunch. We got our food and then went down to the River and watched people on there boats and Sea Doo’s. Grandma enjoyed the time out I think. That was the excitement today. Below I am writing a quick blog about our vacation and mission trip to Honduras. Sorry if this is really long. I just have not have enough time to sit down and blog!!

June 10-15th
Myrtle Beach S. Carolina

On June 10th Diana and Chris were married!! They had an early afternoon wedding which worked perfect for Ruthie and me because as everyone was eating we dashed out the door (after making our rounds talking) and started on another adventure ~ driving to Myrtle Beach about an 11-12 hour drive. Ruth was the navigator and I was the driver. It is really fun just driving long distances! Ruth got us there with only a few turn arounds by approx. 2:30AM. We slept in our parent’s hotel room for a few hours and then moved into our “Sweet” with Alicia, Becca, and Aimee. Some friends, whose parents go to the same conference as ours? We always stay at the same hotel, which is nice because they have several pools, a lazy river, a large beach (which the other hotels are further down beach) and a long pier. Each morning we babysat for the parents who were in the conference and Bible study. The first day we had 18 kids. Ranging from 2-13. That was a room full!! But we all made it. We laid out on the beach for a short time, went swimming for a while, got a little sunJ. The next two days were windy and rainy. We tried laying out Tuesday afternoon, but the wind was blowing the sand against us and our towels were blowing around. So we all got in the water, which the undertow was extremely strong. I have never felt that much force from the ocean in that shallow of water. (I guess the tropical storm, Alberta, coming up from Florida was really coming!) We all had fun. The last night after the banquet Ruth, Alicia, Aimee, Josh, Brian, Becca and I all went swimming in the lazy river which was freezing then we all jumped in the inside pool which was warm in the beginningJ. We then went up to our room ate ice cream played cards and other games Conga and another that I can’t remember right now. Then on Wednesday we discovered Alicia, Becca, Josh and their parents were headed to the same Army base Ruth and I were going to. So Alicia and Becca rode in the car with us for a couple hours then we parted ways. Ruth and I went to visit Jessica and her husband Chris! It was great to see them again. The last time we visited them was when they lived in Colorado! Jessica then took us to another friend’s house and we all went out to eat at Crackle Barrel. It was a great time. Then we drove the hour back to Jessica’s house watched some TV, discovered, yes we do live in North America, and Jessica discovered that there was a Central and South America too!!! (Long story, but absolutely hilarious).

May 20-28th
Villa Nueva, Honduras

Ruth and I were able to take time off and sign up for a mission trip to Honduras. This was my second trip, Ruth’s first. Again, the trip was absolutely amazing. We flew from Indy to Miami where we met up with half of the group. The other half had made there own arrangements of traveling. From Miami we flew into San Pedro Sula then to Tegucigalpa. This is where our home base was for the week. Once we got to the airport, Ruth and I discovered our luggage was no where to be found. Dale our team leader had told us in Miami the only time someone from his trip had lost luggage was when they checked it all the way through. (Which is what we had done). Thanks DaleJ. We met up with some of the interpreters/leader(s) and our bus driver Fernando. We drove to the hotel and received our room assignments. Basically, we went to the school where the clinic would be located and went to our first church service on Sunday. Each day we ate breakfast at the hotel and traveled out to Villa Nueva. The patients would go through evangelism then through triage. I was one of the four nurses that triaged. From us we sent them to general, pediatric, or GYN. We also had Opto and Dentistry which were run by Honduran Dr.’s, but several people from our trip worked in these clinics. I absolutely love the Honduran people. If I could, I would stay and work as a nurse in these clinics. The people are so thankful, smile. Pretty much everything most Americans are not. I was telling Dale that in the states I feel as though I am treating the machines, medicine and charting and not the patients. I again had a wonderful interpreter Marel. I did not see Frank on this trip (he was my interpreter from the Oct trip if you read it on here before). All three Fernando’s were there along with Milton and Tom. Tom is a great and wonderful man who is truly a gift from God. All in all, I started a couple IV’s on some kids, the youngest 3 months old, dehydrated, not feeling well. I had Trish another RN holding the child as I put in the IV and held it in place as Marel was squeezing the IV bag to get the fluids in as fast as possible. It was a great team effort and successful. I helped with a removal of a thumb nail. A guy was sharpening his knives and cut his thumb. That was exciting for me since I have never worked in the Emergency Room or Surgery. I loved it. Gave a few injections, saw several children and adults. Marel was amazing and lead some individuals to the Lord in triage. This is just unbelievable to me how he was able to do this. I have not discovered this gift yet. I have so much to say about Honduras but this is getting really long. I met some wonderful friends on this trip that I hope I am able to stay in contact with. I know we will all meet again!

Okay so I think this is my longest blog yet. Sorry if you have to read this is parts. I will blog about work and possibly switching jobs later!