Spring Break Living Hope Team

There are so many experiences from the past few weeks that I would like to share, but it's been hard to find the time to blog.  I'd like to start off with sharing some pictures from the Living Hope Spring Break team.  We had a wonderful time with them and were greatly encouraged by their presence.  After the team had left, Jader mentioned to me several times how he missed having the team here with us.  :)  Caroline and I were able to join them only half of the week because the first half of the week they did a very long road trip and Caroline was still recuperating from her stomach issues, but we were glad to be with the team for the second half.  The team was able to go to some islands and share Jesus island to island :), preach the gospel through sports like baseball, high school retreats, evangelism in a hospital, and shared Christ to college students.  Many put their faith in Christ and God not only did a work in their hearts but also in our own hearts as well. 



Happy Half Birthday Caroline!!

This past Monday Caroline turned 6 months old!  Monday is always our day off so we were running some errands and doing things we hadn't had time to do like getting Caroline her Nicaraguan passport.  Her little passport photo came out so cute.  There is a line for her to sign her name, but I guess she'll do that further down the road.  We're looking forward to starting her on solids this Saturday.  We haven't decided what to start her on yet.  We're thinking either rice cereal, bananas, or avocado.  Avocados are in season now and we have an avocado tree here in the yard that gives a lot of fruit!  Also, she is finally over her stomach issues!!!  God was so good to lead us to the pediatrition who knew how to fix her!  Here is a picture of her on her half birthday!

20 days

Caroline has had diarrhea for 20 days now!  Thank God she's doing really well and staying hydrated!  We were told that she had a bacterial infection and she was being treated antibiotic after antibiotic and nothing seemed to do the trick. 

Jader was sharing with some youth about Caroline in a church that we work with and someone called over a pediatrician who is a member of the church.  Jader talked with the pediatrician about Caroline's situation and he said he'd like to see her.  So we brought Caroline to his office the next day and he said that based on the bloodwork we showed him she actually had a virus and the antibiotics were causing the diarrhea!  This was very different from what the other doctor was saying.

We decided to follow his treatment for Caroline and get her off the antibiotics and onto medicine that will help restore her little tummy back to health.  He said her diarrhea could keep up for the next week even while being on this new treament.

We thank God for ordering the circumstances so perfectly to where Jader was sharing and it "just so happened" that there was a pediatricion there nearby who offered to help.  :)

Leadership Retreat

This past weekend we had our annual leadership retreat for the leaders of the Bible Clubs.  They're getting prepared for a new year of ministry and will have their kick-off activities mid-March. The retreat was a time to study the Bible, plan and set goals for the upcoming year, and pray for God for to empower us for the work ahead of us.  



Caroline passed the time chewing on her bee friend and bee-ing super cute!

Endoscopy in Nicaragua

This was an amusing experience to me so I thought I would share.

Jader has gastritis and he periodically has to get an endoscopy in order to monitor the condition.  Yesterday morning we went to get his endoscopy exam done.  We arrived at the time of the appointment and there was not a person in sight.  So we just waited outside.  Eventually the doctor arrived and he was very friendly.  He sat down and talked with us as we were waiting on the nurse.  Once that nurse arrived we were ready to go.

The nurse sprayed a lot of numbing solution in the back of Jader's throat which he said tasted horrible and made him gag.  Then right as they were going to begin the exam the power went out.  :)

The doctor left the office and went walking down the road.  He was gone a good bit and when he returned he had a long extension cord in hand.  He plugged it into a generator and cranked it up. It sounded like we had a high power lawnmower in the exam room.  I was pleasantly suprised to see that Caroline wasn't bothered by the noise.  I think she actually liked it! 

They gave Jader the numbing spray solution again because too much time had gone by, but the doctor was able to successfully do the exam write up a report, print pictures and we were on our way. :)

Pobrecita/Poor Thing!

Caroline has had diarrhea for 11 days now!  I didn't know that babies could have diarrhea that long and still be functioning well, but she is a trooper!  Based on exam results, the doctor said she has a bacterial infection so she's taking antibiotics.  She hasn't finished the course of the antibiotics yet and we are hoping the medicine will help her get back on track.

Who knows where she got it from...we've been super protective in telling people to not touch her hands because they go right in her mouth and keeping her toys clean, avoiding obviously dirty places, but it looks like the germs snuck in somehow.

In spite of it all she's doing really well.  The doctor said with her lab results any other kid would have a fever and appear tired and weak yet she's been fever free and still enjoys jumping up and down in her toy jumperoo.  She's had about 5 bottles of pedialyte and is staying very hydrated. 

A needed rest

Camp season was super busy for us and it ended late January.  February has been a much slower month as far as ministry goes and it's like that on purpose so as to recharge our batteries for the ministry year which basically picks us again in March.

Throughout the month of February the youth that we work with keep meeting in their churches and we support them and attend their Bible Clubs but it has been low key.  We took a week of vacation and that's when my parents came to visit us.  They had a  great time here and especially enjoyed interacting with Caroline!

Here are some pictures from the time my parents were here: