We made it to the village about 3:30. The 4 hour bus trip turned into 8 and a half so it was a really, really long day.

We worked all afternoon unpacking and organizing supplies. We will start clinic bright and early in the morning.

On a good note, we do have water so I was able to shower. It was ICE cold but it was a shower nonetheless. You never know, we may not have water tomorrow.

It's raining hard here now, thundering and lightning.

My mosquito net worked perfectly. I am about to put it to good use and go to sleep.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for us tomorrow.

Love you MUCH!

=],
Gracie

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round.....

And so our wheels go round and round as we head to our destination.

We are traveling on an old school bus. It has no air conditioning but with all the windows down it is quite comfortable actually.

It is packed full. There are 31 of us plus all the translators and support staff that have joined us.

So far I've seen a dead horse on the side of the road that was being eaten by buzzards. They didn't let us zooming by bother them because they didn't move.

I've also seen some beautiful countryside. Lots of banana and coconut trees. The mountains are gorgeous.

The roads are still paved right now but are getting worse. They will continue to get worse the further we go and will soon only be dirt.

I have many, many pictures to share with you when I get back.

I'm not sure I will have service for much longer, probably won't but I will update as I can.

Love you MUCH!

=],
Gracie

The Journey Begins.....

The journey begins.

The journey to Honduras that is, most specifically to San Bartolo, Lempira.

We arrived in Honduras about 12:30PM. Our flight was a little late due to some turbulence. For the record, not a fan of turbulence, just sayin.

What I am a fan of is looking at God's creation from an altitude of 38000 feet.

I sat by the window looking out the entire time and basically looked like a kid at Christmas. Though I have flown before, there is always something about it that takes my breath away every time.

I am in awe that all those gorgeous, billowy, white clouds were just spoken into existence by The Creator who loves and cares for ME, whose heart aches when mine aches and who is angry when I am treated unkind.

Yes, my dear Friends this journey has begun.

We are spending the night in the city and will be heading to the village at 7 in the morning.

The bus ride is estimated to be 5 hours long. It is 90 degrees here and the only bus air conditioning is from the windows being rolled down.

On a very positive note, the Hotel has water so we were able to get a shower tonight as well as in the morning. Not so sure about the village yet though. Showers are good! ;)

I am operating off 1 hour sleep last night and I am TOTALLY exhausted. I will update you all as I have service and can.

Love you MUCH!

=],
Gracie

As I type this on my BlackBerry, I am on a church bus with 30 other people heading to the Atlanta airport to fly to San Bartolo, Lempira Honduras for a medical mission trip.
I am not really sure what kind of conditions we will be staying in yet, if it will be bad or worse, but I hope to be able to update you throughout the week.
I am so excited. Everything has worked out perfectly for me to go on this trip. I anticipate a life changing experience. Any Nurse could go and do this, so it's not what the Hondurans get from me but yet what I am getting from them.
Life changing experiences.
I love you all MUCH.

~~ Gracie =]

Waiting For The Storm To Pass, Literally.....

So, here I sit, bright and early this Saturday morning, at a softball field in Madison (Huntsville), Alabama, waiting on this to pass so our Lady Panthers can play.



Hope we're not in a hurry, huh? May take a while.

So, I am catching up on you while we wait the storm out.

Waiting the storm out, sounds familiar, huh?

Been there, done that. Haven't we all.

Hope you all have a fabulous Easter weekend.

Love you MUCH!

=],

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.....

The girls and I loaded up Sunday morning and headed to Gulf Shores where Haley played in her final *sniff, sniff* Gulf Coast Classic High School Softball Tournament.

We played teams from Opelika, Scottsboro, Hazel Green, Hartselle, and Bob Jones all from Alabama as well as University High School of Tennessee and Tishomingo High School from Mississippi.

Southside High School Varsity Softball Team
Haley Johnson, front row center

Lady Panther Dance

Lady Panther Dance

He called her out, but OF COURSE she was safe ;)

Workin' those bases

Gettin' ready to steal

Superstar at bat

We were seeded 13th out of 56 teams.
The Lady Panthers went 4-2-1 in the tournament.


Once the games ended, we were able to move on to Spring Break Mode, which meant doing whatever we wanted to, whenever we wanted to.

It meant quiet time on the beach for Gracie

Complete with early morning walks while the girls slept

Spring Break Mode was FABULOUS!

We rode the Ferris Wheel

And went really, really high.

Of course, my kids are scared of heights

Really, really scared of heights

I'm not sure how Kylee thought holding on would help her if we fell, lol.

I loved it!

They loved it too once it was over =)

Then we topped it off with ice cream

From Scoops, our favorite Ice Cream Shop =)

We are winding up our trip at the beach, enjoying our last day.

I love spending time with my girls.

Fun times, wonderful memories and lots and lots of laughs.

Love you MUCH!


=],

God Keeps His Promises.....

I love how God sends us reminders of WHO He is.

This picture was taken today at my Church.

It is breathtaking.

I wanted to share it with you.

=],