Week 7

What a fun week! Monday was my (Jes's) birthday. We had the idea to go to Goff's Caye but we thought of it a little late in the day so decided to go on Tuesday since we knew some friends that were going. So we followed them out there early Tuesday morning, it was a great day! It's a little tiny island on the reef and we went swimming and snorkeling and fishing all day.  It is so beautiful out there.

After our fun day off Joel got to work on some cleaning up projects such as the container:

And cleaning under the directors house:

He got a trailer put together:

 As of Monday we got a new lawnmower! So he has been mowing all week, he got the front done again (it had been like a month already - quite a long time when it rains every day!) and now has the back done as well, it looks like a nice yard back there.

 Before:

After:

ALSO we started an orchard! We love fruit and it's hard to store here after you buy it. Plus we just love it fresh, and free :)  So we got a lemon, 2 plum, 2 almond, some more mangoes, 2 soursop, and a papaya from some people in the village.  Those in addition to the one mango we bought, and the papaya, coconuts, banana's and lime that are already here, we are super excited :) Joel mowed this field for the trees:

Some went there and some went around the yard. We know it'll take a while for some of them to produce but we just like the idea of it.  They also found some cassava in the back, we've had it once in the village and it was really good so we're excited about that too.

Cassava:

Friday night a bunch of ladies from the village came out here for a sleepover as a goodbye party for Sarah, that was fun! Just hanging out, playing games, and eating some good food. Sage had fun playing with the kids too:

This morning (Monday) the Bradbury's left for the states. They will be spending the holidays with their families and then coming back to Belize to serve at an orphanage in Punta Gorda. Here's their blog if you want to read all about it:  missionariestobelize.blogspot.com  Exciting stuff for them, also sad for us to see them go.  It's a lot of work to maintain a place like this, especially with just 2 people. But we know God has a plan in all of it so we are trusting Him to provide!

Week 6

 We had another rainy week, I mean it rained a LOT every day. It was a really nice break to have cooler weather! Especially at night, we were using blankets and everything. However it made it a little harder to get work done because when it did stop the bugs were really bad. But we had a good week, Joel got a lot done, the guys went to Dangriga for groceries and luckily the driveway wasn't too bad to get out for that and to go to the village for bible study on Tuesday.

We finally managed, in between the rain, to completely finish painting the guest cabana's - they are DONE, yay! I never got a good before picture but you can kind of see in the one above how much they needed it.

The ministry owns this Toyota Tacoma and it was available for us to use if it could be fixed.  So Joel has been working on it a lot and finally got the new starter in this week. He also fixed the lights, the grill, put a new bumper on the back,fixed the tailgate  and got the 4 wheel drive working. The gas tank is ready to fall off but he strapped it up temporarily to get it to Dangriga where it can be welded and then get it registered. This will be our vehicle when Mark and Sarah leave because we've all been using theirs.  

He had found a piece of steel in the backyard for a bumper (forgot to take a picture of that). Wiring and screws were already here. Found a broken bushing from Mark's Jeep to fix the 4 wheel drive (yes he knows....). The starter was $160. Not bad to get a vehicle running!

This outdoor shower was in the container so he got it hooked up - it looks really cool down there and can be used when you come in from the beach! Or even as a backup in case ours or another shower wasn't working or out of water. With the shower already being here and finding the plumbing under the lodge the total cost = $4 for one connector.

This is his pet project for the last couple weeks.....he had to go out in the swamp to get the wood, a red mangrove. He cut a hole in the cement pad for the post (at tree!), set and re-poured the concrete. Then he used a chainsaw to notch all the connections. Once the frame was made he went and cut a bunch of palm branches and split each one with a machete and nailed them to the frame. 

Look at our beach now - it looks like a resort! So cool :) I think it will be a fun place to watch storms too.  So with all of the materials being found right around here along with some nails and a bag of concrete we had laying around, the total cost = $0. 

They also got Mark's Jeep fixed, plus some other smaller things like making a new hatch for the crow's nest and working on the generator. I think he needs to get a little more done don't you??!? ;)

Week 5

So 3 rainy days in a row means Joel had time to get creative inside. Can you guess what he did with this??

Here's a clue.......

New pot rack for the kitchen! He also moved the fan and painted behind the stove and hood - it wasn't able to be cleaned any more so a new coat of paint looks awesome.  We also did a lot of cleaning behind things in the kitchen (slightly scary!). 

And here's what he did with that bamboo:

It looks soooo cool, it blends in well unlike the white pvc, you hardly even notice it's there. If you

We've all been working on painting the guest cabana's, Joel put up new trim and soffit and we painted that and some more of the blue this week.  

It was a quiet week, the Bradbury's left on Wednesday morning to go to Punta Gorda to check out a ministry opportunity at an orphanage there, so we were alone all week, it was different! But having all that time to spend together was really awesome, I love that about living here, we all work together. Sage helps me in the kitchen, like actually helps, she made corn tortillas the other day by making balls and putting them in the press and taking them out so I could cook them. She also rinses the dishes after supper and mixes whatever needs mixing. Whatever we work on she's right there helping it's so cool.  

We were without a vehicle since Wednesday so we didn't get to go to church today, but we watched an online sermon together which was neat too.  The Bradbury's will be back today :)  Like I said it's been raining for 3 days but it did stop long enough yesterday to wash some clothes and get some of them dry. The rest are getting super washed ;)  It has been a lot cooler too and it's been a nice break.  

Oh Monday we went to Dangriga, it was my (Jes's) first time there so it was fun to explore. We also got  parking ticket so now we know where to pay those ;)  It's funny that going to town takes up a whole day!  But we took our time and even stopped at a nursery, that was really cool to see all the different trees and flowers here. What a beautiful place!

Week 4

Joel got the seawall and gate done! It's working great and will make it a LOT easier to launch the boat.  

Joel's been working on gutters and Mark and Sarah have been painting trim, the cabana's are really looking great!

We borrowed a lawnmower and got the lawn all raked and mowed, it looks like a lawn now :)  

Friday night the youth group from the village came out for the weekend!  Friday night the boys went on a scorpion hunt with black lights - I believe they got 21 altogether. Joel really enjoyed this of course, it seemed like all the boys did ;)  

Saturday morning they were put to work before they could go swimming :)  They got some more dead trees cut down.....

........and hauled into the sea to float them away. 

We all worked on cleaning up the beach - pulling weeds, raking and hauling it all to the burn pile, and floating a whole bunch of the cut-down palm trees away (the boys didn't mind volunteering for this!)

Some of the girls posing :)

The beach looks AMAZING!

So clean!

There were about 20 kids that came out plus the youth leaders, the place was nice and full :)

Playing cat-and-mouse (good thing the lawn got mowed)

Saturday night we had church in the chapel here, Mark did praise and worship music (with Shannon on the water jug drum lol) and Joel shared our testimony and Shannon also gave a message. It was a really neat service. Fun fact: the night before they got a bunch of scorpions out of the chapel, and that night they found a boa! It was a little guy who was released without any harm :)  He was cool but I wouldn't mind if he went back to the jungle lol. 

It was fun to watch them all pile in one vehicle to get back to the village today - what a fun weekend!