Archuleta Adventures

Haiti

2010-05-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

Our team

I have been waiting for a week to try to bring some clarity and words to our experience but I am still having a hard time... so here are some of the pictures we took and a few of our experiences...

arriving at the airport to faces of desperation..not waiting for anyone in particular but for anyone who can give them anything...

a street in Port-au-Prince

the streets are lined with people selling stuff but no one is buying anything...

signs of the earthquake and devastation are everywhere

tent cities fill the city and provide shelter for some of those who lost their homes

we arrived at the orphanage where 70 beautiful children live

the older ones take care of the younger ones

Kelly connected with Berson, a young man (21 years old) who became a believer in February. Now he has started a Bible Club (he has gathered many of the kids in the area) and they meet every week. Kelly went and spoke to them and had a really encouraging time.

the house where all the girls live

the house where all the boys live

Jean-Mark was looking intently at the ground so i went over to see what he was looking at. I eventually realized that he had planted some seeds in the ground. i started helping him clear the rocks out of the way and make a little "bed" for the seeds (look closely at the bottom left corner of the picture). He took a picture that day and then a few days later he took another picture...

we met every day to water them and take care of them. He was very proud of his little plants and I was very proud of him!!!

the boys were thrilled to have a picture taken in the bus

this is a school house. we arrived to all of the kids clearing out of it so we could set up our medical clinic for the afternoon.

Here is Doctor Jefferson and Kelly, his right hand man! These two were quite the pair- it was really neat to watch them work together!

some of the kids from the school

Kelly playing soccer at the orphanage
this is where we all slept (the rooster's and dogs were quite the symphony throughout the night..)

kids we saw while driving around

this was the 3rd medical clinic we put on at a nearby church. we ended up seeing about 500 people who received treatment and got medications. We also had a dentist doing extractions and fillings.

we drove through Port-au-Prince and this is the government building (Palace) where the President used to live.
looking down a main street (most of the streets were much narrower and busier).
we walked past this man (who was blind) and his son. he was singing about the earthquake and how Haiti would never forget.
The priest of this catholic church died in the earthquake.
this man was chipping away at the rubble of what used to be his home. many people are still looking for loved ones.

I got to know Michaelange throughout the week and she is such a loving person. She was cooking for us all week and I learned lots from her!
here are some of the kids when they got home from school
we played "keep away" games and the girls did lots of braids in my hair but they never stayed in because we didn't have elastics!

our team spent half a day measuring and bagging rice and beans. 200 people from the surrounding communities came on the second last day that we were there to receive some food and water.

...lining up for food

The people we met were so resilient, strong, talented, loving, positive, and faith-filled despite their circumstances- we are so thankful to have shared a bit of their lives!

What a time...What a Grandma!!!

2010-05-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

Even though our time with Ellen was short it was so refreshing to be together again! She got a whirlwind tour of the important places on the island and had her first ever driving experience from the other side of the car, driving on the other side of the road! She is such a trooper! I will have to get the boys to blog on their experience with Grandma while we were gone, so you get more of the details, but what I did see was evidence of a full week of fun and bonding with Grandma!

2 more sleeps...

2010-04-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

the countdown continues as we await the arrival of Grandma Ellen and it can't come fast enough (especially when you are 4 and 5 years old)! Grandma is coming to hang out with the boys while Kel and I go to Haiti for a week to spend time at an orphanage with people from our church. this is an exciting time for which we are very thankful...

if you are interested in checking out more information the website is:

http://plow.org/haiti_restoration/

and the missionary we will be working with is Phyllis Newby.

...bless you...

..............................until we return.............

^"21In His name the nations will put their hope."

Matthew 12:21

T&C's Wedding- Day 2 of 2 and more!

2010-04-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

Following the Ceremony

The Reception

Cutting the cake

the very funny shoe game, which they passed with flying colors!

First dance First family dance

The chicken dance

The Photo-shoot

My sweet sista!

The Honeymoon

Beautiful!!!!!

my sweetheart is 31!

2010-04-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

handsome boy if i might say so myself...
let the parties continue... Kelly's big day was filled with his favorite 3 f's- family, food, and friends. i made his favorite lasagna, cheese buns, salad, veggies (not his favorite but he humors me by eating them) and ice cream cake!

I continue to grow more in love with this man God has given to me and appreciate our journey of growing and learning together (not always the easy road but definitely a fulfilling one)- I am very thankful for you babe, and every day we get together.... may there be many, many more!

Happy Birthday to you... this does make you my old man!!
our canadian friends, the Hayes', gave him his unofficially official Canadian status certificate and paraphernalia.... now that he is starting to study for his canadian citizenship exam!
thanks Hayes family for thought provoking discussion, laughter, and for providing the pool!!!!

He is Risen....

2010-04-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

and He has invited us to His banqueting table- and did we ever eat !!! we celebrated for a couple of days... had a couple of hunts, a couple of decorating sessions...our time was filled with gourmet food, unending...from breakfast to lunch to dinner- it didnt seem to end....beautiful times of worship, and reflecting on our precious Savior!!! it doesnt get any better than that! and with the heat we find ourselves spending lots of time in the pool....the kids dont seem to get tired of it.

thank You Jesus for being the reason we have hope for eternity!

rapid fire...

2010-04-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

...so here goes....

Teri arrived for a visit and we had a great time with a mixture of checking out the island experiences, and relaxing on the beach. we ventured out to timbuctu (a new local restaurant on island) where we had great food at a great price (i had a slow roasted pork curry that was amazing but also got to sample my family's dishes- my favorite thing to do)! snorkeling has fast become a family favorite and we ventured to the turtle farm again- but the boys were catching turtles for the first time... the DuChene's joined us to make 4 carefully sunblocked peas in a pod!

Father and son snorkeling with big fish and turtles
watching reef sharks and nurse sharks hover in the mossy water
a rare moment.... sitting still and quiet

fun was had by all and Teri even managed to make it through without any serious sunburns!! no lobster tourists here...

Baseball... "No Dad, it's called T-ball!"

2010-03-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

we are in full swing and the boys are really enjoying it! it is really neat to see how differently they approach it though-

Koen is all about the social aspect and participating because it's fun. when he bats the ball he very gently sets the bat down and proceeds around the bases at whatever pace he feels like. his comment to Coach Dad today at practice was "Dad, why don't we just take winning out of the game"!

Kace on the other hand, is all about winning! He does have a full set of the competitive gene's from both parents. He wants to be where the action is most intense and he wants to be partners with the 6 year old superstar on our team (Justin).

one of the highlights of the game actually happens after the official game is over when the teams line up- one team at home and one team at 2nd base- and they have a relay race- maybe it is a highlight because we always seem to win that part!

our first visitor's

2010-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Nathan and Alex came to visit and what a memorable time we had!!!!!! We all decided that we could get used to living together permanently....so boys, you always have a place waiting for you here!!! Koen and Kace were lavished with attention and lots of adventure...i never realized my brother was actually Calgary's version of the crocodile hunter! He was like a kid in a candy shop exploring uncharted territory, stepping on sea urchins, catching eels and fish, snorkeling off jagged iron shore and kissing stingrays.....it was quite a sight! These boys are keepers ladies- they cook, clean, entertain children and adults alike (i thought i was on holidays)!!!! We are so thankful for your visit Uncle and Alex!

One of those moments...

2010-02-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

So Kace woke up at 6:30am (pretty consistent no matter what time he goes to bed) and crawled in beside me.....after about 10 minutes he said, "I wanna cuddle with you always Mama". "I wanna cuddle with you always too," I replied- wishing we could, but knowing better. Then I had the thought, you know, deep down that is how i feel about my Heavenly Father too. Thanks Kace, for another reminder of what matters- nothing compares to the heart of a child!

"Abba, I wanna cuddle with You always!"

Sport's Day!

2010-02-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

Our school is divided up into 3 houses: the Kings, the Saints, and the Angels. Everyone belongs to a house. Our family is part of the Kings house. Every year there is a sports day where the houses compete against each other. There are 3 different sports days according to age, and then all the points are added together for a grand total. The boys were very excited about their first sports day and they competed in the potato race, the sack race, and the relay. they both came home with ribbons and medals and Mom and Dad even brought home a medal for the parents race! The grand total was counted and although the Kings were behind most of the way, we pulled ahead and ended up winning by 7 points! There is a picture of Kace's class, and Koen's teacher is the one with the crazy hat wearing green and yellow. The other pictures are their classmates. Go King's Go!

oh the sweetness of swallowing salt...

2010-02-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

the waves have been bigger than usual and have added a new dimension to swimming (mommy on the edge of her seat watching as the waves topple the boys over onto the shore)....but it is followed by holler's of laughter and only the occasional cough as they ingest extra sodium!

trying to put some words to that beautiful day...

2010-02-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

On Jan 2nd at 6pm Tandela and Carlos tied the knot- tears of joy and gratitude for what the Lord has done abounded! Koen and Louisa were the flower children and Kace escorted Mark, who was the ring bearer. Both pastor's from their church performed the ceremony- one spoke in english and the other in spanish throughout the evening. Carlos and Tandy both wrote their own vows- he said his in english and she said hers in spanish- they kept them a secret from each other until the ceremony. Carlos also had some words of commitment to Mark- let me assure you there was not a dry eye in the house!

The ceremony was followed by cake and beverages in the church basement, a slide show, and Kelly did a wonderful toast to the family (if I may say so myself)! Many people came from all over, so it was wonderful to catch up with friends and family that we have not seen in a long time. The scripture that Tandy and Carlos had on their invitations is a fitting one to post here:

"The LORD has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23

There was far too much to celebrate, for the wedding to end here, so we reconvened at a salon in Canmore (a scenic spot in the mountains) at 8am the following morning, for another day of festivities and fun! It was actually a very special time with the newly weds (and both families), for which I am very grateful- thanks guys for hanging around for a few extra days before taking flight to the Dominican Republic! I know you are on the edge of your seats....but i gotta go, so....there will be more pics and stories to come...

T&C's Wedding- Day 1 of 2!

2010-02-05T12:42:00.001-08:00

all i've got to show for the last 2 days...

2010-01-30T16:55:00.000-08:00

i was very excited when i went to Michael's craft store (in calgary- which i really miss, as there is nothing at all on island with crafty stuff that i have found) and got a few crafts to do with the boys. one of these crafts made it in our suitcases because the boys had started painting them and wanted to finish them. well, i sat down with the boys yesterday to finish them and i had no idea what i was getting into! what i thought was a good idea is something i will think twice about next time...(i vaguely remember sending this craft to my nephews in idaho- Aub, if i did- i'm sorry- and i would love to hear how it went for you!) picture broken pieces and messy wood glue- after 2 and a half hours i was closing in on koen's castle- that was yesterday. after 3 and a half hours this morning, i was finishing kace's race car. i dont know what would be an appropriate age for these...retired with lots of spare time- can anyone say marathon???... but it definitely turned into "Mommy's project"! although the boys had so much fun with them, i might be tempted to say it was worth it!

hilarious...

2010-01-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

so you will need a little background...kace decided to "decorate himself" with his lightning mcqueen stamp- all over his legs and stomach (and then proceeded to stamp his eyeballs)! then he and koen decided they wanted to help me by peeling a cucumber... they have become quite the little helpers in the kitchen- cooking up a storm. koen peeled the first half of the cucumber and then gave it to kace. kace was very meticulous with his peeling- intently focused on getting every last little bit of dark green "off" the cucumber. when he finished, he raised the cucumber above his head with a victorious shout, held it out to koen, who broke off half of it- then they both broke out into the loudest belly laughs and they couldnt stop. kelly and i joined in the laughter at the hilarious sight... when i regained my composure i ran to get the camera and these were the pictures...

Kace's first blog entry

2010-01-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

I got a nerf gun for christmas and it is my favorite toy to play with right now. mark, i really miss you and i really like you. this is a picture of me climbing up a rock wall. my school is fun and my favorite friend is Peyton. i like to play at center's and i really like the drawing center. i like having pizza lunch on friday at school. that's all. kace

2010-01-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

THE CASTILLA FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!!
we are so excited to welcome Carlos into the family! It feels like we have known him forever- a man who is passionately in love with Jesus, and who adores Tandy, and Mark! He is such a special guy- we love you Carlos!

2010-01-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas sing-along with Bumpy and a whole host of other musicians
cuddle time and movie night with Uncle and Amy
Christmas would not be complete without the crackers (poppers) that come complete with toy and crown and all those HILARIOUs jokes.....
such a special time to share with Tand before the wedding (which was amazing, joyous, emotional, and beautiful)- i will be sure to post some pics when i get some.

CHristmas morning...

2010-01-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Merry CHristmas! we had a wonderful, laid back morning... so much to be thankful for! "Happy Birthday dear Jesus, Happy BIrthday to YOU!!!!!!!"

onto the rink again...

2010-01-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

we borrowed everyone else's snow gear and headed out to the rink across the street for some skating. koen picked it up quite quickly and enjoyed practicing his new moves. kace, on the other hand, wanted to play hockey and keep up with the big boys so learning to skate quickly became an annoyance- he much preferred to run around with a stick and his boots. mark has become quite the hockey player now- way to go Mark, it was so much fun watching you!

flying home

2010-01-07T16:49:00.001-08:00

with 18 hours of travel time, one sick boy, and 4 santa hats- you can imagine the relief i felt when we arrived in snowy calgary all in one piece. it worked out well that our friends the Duchene's had the same flights as us so the boys were able to entertain each other most of the time!

i blinked and it is 2010!

2010-01-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

so i just have a little of catch-up to do after our whirlwind of a christmas!

this is christmas in the cayman's where we walked through lit palm trees, fake blowing snow aka "flying soap suds", and a boat parade (where all the boats -kelly says "yachts"- were covered with different themed lights). this is what i get when i try to take too many pictures and ask the boys for one more smile!!!!

Koen's first blog entry

2009-12-15T15:42:00.001-08:00

My heart is happy. I really like my school. My teachers are Ms. Rattary and Mrs. Rivers. They are the best teachers. They give me stickers because I am working hard and learning to read and write. My friends are Isabella, Jaina, Carter, and Ezrie. I like to play on the playground and we get sand in our shoes! I like to walk along the ocean because I love watching the waves. I like to play with my Mama and we explore the ocean for rocks and shells and I like to play with my brother on the ocean with my Mom and Dad. I like to get sprayed by the blow hole. I have been learning to dive to the bottom of the pool and bring up stuff that is sitting there. Good-bye to all my friends and family. I miss you! love, Koen

sports heaven date night

2009-12-09T17:34:00.001-08:00

our friends took us out on a date to a gigantic sports auction where kelly was fascinated by the autographed pictures, jerseys, and weekend getaways to see the dolphins play the patriots!!!! (he wants me to add lots of exclamation marks)!!!!! This sounded rather unappealing to me but we actually had a great time and managed to get out of there without spending a dime! The boys got to indulge in lots of candy and stay up way past their bedtime which made for an all-around good night.

Kelly's

pre-cayman hair

2009-12-09T17:25:00.001-08:00

well, a friend just sent me these pictures and reminded me of life before cayman! i must say, short hair is much more practical in the heat, and swimming every day...sigh!

hospital, hospital, hospital

2009-11-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

lest you should begin to think that we are living in paradise here let me fill you in on our latest...we have been to the Georgetown hospital precisely 5 times since our arrival! Kace has been throwing up for 24 hours and threw up again before bed tonight...but he is such a trooper...he insisted we play our new favorite family game- rukus, before he curled up on the couch for the night! not sure you wanted all the details but there you have it... do you want to know what we had for dinner tonight? i should have taken a picture of it all over the floor!

Boat, beach and conk!

2009-11-30T17:32:00.000-08:00

ok, so i do not have a camera cord but wouldnt you know it- i met a girl whose mom has the same camera as me and she lent me her cord for a week! so that will tide me over until i get mine over christmas!

we headed out on a sunday afternoon with the Tibbet's to a new part of beach where we saw our first starfishes! after building sand castles and sand animals our friends went diving for conk (i will try to get a picture soon) and they found 2 within 15 minutes. we took the conk home, they sliced them up, added some marinade and we ate it on crackers (tasted like squid to me). i really enjoyed it but the jury is out on the boys- and kelly was NOT a fan! so he probably wont be doing any conk diving any time soon.

Pirate's Week

2009-11-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

well the pirates are out and they are everywhere! the island has lots of activities as well as fireworks every night. we had the pirate invasion where a pirate ship came to the island loaded with pirates who stormed the island. it has all been a bit overwhelming for the boys i think but they really enjoyed the fireworks (koen just needed to have his fingers in his ears the whole time)! the fireworks were set off over the water and they were better than any of the fireworks i have seen in Canada- quite the show! you will be relieved to know that there is a dairy queen on island, so we walked along the water with our ice cream cones to finish off the evening.

sweet, sweet family time, and a Daddy who rocks!

2009-11-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

we have been soaking up more than just sun here- we are cherishing, and loving, our time together! It has been so fun for me to watch Kel in action: such a hands on, committed, loving Dad! I am so thankful for him. Whether they are wrestling on the bed, sword fighting with foam swords, playing surf board on Daddy in the pool, washing the car together, or chasing each other at the park- there are constant squeals of excitement as they relish in their Dad's undivided attention. We can't get enough of it and thank the Lord every day for it!

movie night

2009-11-08T11:49:00.001-08:00

we met a family at church who had us over for dinner and the kids had a movie night together. they were hyper as can be and proceeded to start a dance party that all the adults ended up joining! our new friends names are Kaycee and Joshua. Kaycee is also in one of the classes that i teach in so it is fun to see her at school as well.

turtle farm!

2009-11-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

cayman islands is known to be the turtle capital of the world and turtles used to be the primary source of livelihood for Caymanian's for hundreds of years. since then the turtle population has drastically dimished and they have created a turtle farm to breed and keep turtles safe (for preservation and research). We have seen a few baby turtles in the wild that are very cute. the turtles on the farm range in size from huge to tiny. people keep telling us EMPHATICALLY that we need to try some local turtle meat so when we do we will let you how it goes! these pictures are from one of our trips but if you are interested in reading up a bit more on the history here is a few links that has more pictures. the other animal that you see all over the island are iguana's. along walls, in tree's- brown iguana's and green iguana's are the ones we see the most of (don't know if they have different names).

http://turtle.ky/video.htm

http://turtle.ky/history.htm

my excuse...

2009-11-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

so we forgot our camera cord in calgary and i have not been able to download any pictures onto our computer (i did go to our friends house and download the ones that are posted, onto her computer) but that is just not a practical thing to do every time i want to do a post. so there you have it...until i get my cord...the pictures are going to be limited!

we made a new friend (yes we did) and she was housesitting at a beautiful house on an inlet. She invited us (and another family) over for a swim. we had a great time eating fruit, chatting, and checking out the boat that was parked a few feet from us!!!!

oh wait, that was last year at this time...

2009-11-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

no i dont want to rub it in...just remembering where we have come from :) we will not be doing any ice skating around here...

sharing a bed

2009-10-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Koen and Kace share a bed for the first time ever and it is going really well except that Kace tends to wake up earlier than Koen every morning and wake him up so we are working on teaching him how to leave the room quietly!!!

Off to church

2009-10-11T15:05:00.001-07:00

trying not to be too sweaty by the time we get there (we are borrowing our friends vehicle that doesn't have AC) but we are hoping to buy one this week that does have AC! Kelly is excited about that as he has had to wear dress shirts, pants, and shoes to work every day and he says his blood is way too thick for that!

Kace's 4th B-day

2009-10-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Kace's birthday on the friday where we went to the turtle farm with our friends the DuChene's. We got to walk around and look at (some of them we could hold) all kinds of turtles that were all different sizes. There was also an aquarium that had sharks and other large fish as well as huge wild iguana's everywhere. we came back to our place where we had supper and cake together afterwards. Happy 4th Birthday Kace! We are so proud of you and thankful for you!

First day of school

2009-10-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Koen is in Kindergarten and Kace is in Pre-K and they both go to school from 8am-3pm m-f. This has been an adjustment for all of us but they really seem to be enjoying it- making new friends, learning lots of new stuff and fortunately they do have the option of taking a nap in the middle of the day if they need it (we have been encouraging Kace to do that but when he has all these people around him who he can talk to it makes it a difficult decision!) Kace was excited to have "door duty" for the week and he did a great job of holding the door for everyone (although he did have a hard time being last). They both leave their classrooms for PE and Music and are coming home with new songs every week. I will have them do a post to give you all an update from their perspective soon.

2009-10-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

watching waves crash on the iron shore

family picture

2009-10-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

a walk along the water before bed

into the water...

2009-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

the boys swim almost every day and can't seem to get enough of it! koen can swim the length of the pool now without any flotation device and kace is the jumping king (but doesn't want to take his water wings off in the deep end yet)! the pool is just out our back door and is a refreshing place to go when we get home from school sweaty and covered in sand (because the playgrounds at school all have sand! it has been between 32-38 degrees Celsius every day with periodic rain showers.

we are on the ocean!!!

2009-09-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

we have now been on grand cayman island for just over a week and it is starting to set in that we are actually going to be living in this surreal climate (minus the hurricanes!) we hear the ocean waves hitting the shore 24 hours a day from our condo and we step out the door any time of the night or day to a very warm and humid air- wow- i could get used to this! my only complaint is that the school we work at has way too much airconditioning happening...my co-worker looked at me and said "what happened to your lips?" and they had actually turned blue from having goosebumps and freezing ALL DAY!