We had a nice lunch with a family we met at a huge Baptist church who have 9 children and have home schooled them all! They were a joy to be with. In both the parents and the kids you could see Christ's light shine bright. What a nice family to spend the afternoon with. They all left the island last week to go back to the mainland for the summer. It seems many families do that here. That will be a blessing for us! It's much easier to get school done when we have less socializing to do. LOL!
Last Monday we hiked to Pagot Cave with a group of about 6 families. They all had children, mostly Levi's age and under. Pagot Cave is a cool hike! Most of the trail is shaded and you desend about 400 feet walking down a rocky step path where some places had a rope railing. Once we reached the cave entrance Russ and Matt went in ahead with the kids and lit tea light candles all over the place. It was magical! Once you descend into the cave you walk through water up to your knees and then move through a narrow tunnel for about 10 feet, which opens to a huge pool that has rock to get up on and sit on, or you can swim in the cool refreshing water. A water camera is a definite plus here - along with cheap lite tennis shoes that can get wet and be washed several times!
After playing in the cave for a while we retraced out steps out and
hiked to the top of the hill to a well known cliff jumping spot. The
views were once again breathtaking! The water is so blue looking down
at it. But the waves crashing against the rock scare me. There was a
spot that was calmer where you jump into but nearby the water swished
around like a washing machine and to get out you have to climb up the
side of a cliff which was starting to get pounded by waves. One of the
ladies was going to jump... but decided to do it another time. WHEW! I
was thankful because the girls wanted to jump if she did. I'm just not
that comfortable here with the water yet to cliff jump there.
Our friend Matt joined us. Russ and Matt used to fly together in Alaska and now both live here! What a small world! Matt took us tubing behind his jet ski about a week ago.
Jessica and Katlyn really enjoyed meeting these girls...
but they move in a week back to the mainland for good.
Just about back at the car! Good thing... we are hungry, sweaty, and out of water.
Other than school (which seems to go from 9:30-1 pm) the days have passed by with us getting phones that work, buying some groceries for easy quick meals in the hotel, learning where places are like the post office, and finding out where to buy water. Everyone seems to have the 5 gallon bottles of water that you flip onto a water cooler. We've been told not only to drink that water, but also to cook with it. The first week we bought water bottles for drinking in the hotel and hiking - but now we have a 5 gallon jug in our hotel room and at our house.
The girls and I attended a free class at the hospital this past Saturday. It was to learn "Hands Only Adult CPR." I know I've learned CPR and First Aid many, many years ago but couldn't remember the details. The class was 1 hour long and very informative. They started it out with this crazy You Tube video which promotes giving CPR at the same speed as the "Staying Alive" song! That little piece of crazy information will stay in my head forever! LOL! We hope to take the actual certification class soon for both CPR and first aid. With all the small children in our new neighbourhood, we've already had a couple families express interest in having the girls babysit. I think it will be very helpful to have that knowledge tucked away in the girls heads.
We visited Island Hope Church today. It's a four-square church, which I don't know much about other than my niece attended one for 10 months in Los Angeles when she went to the Movement there. I visited it with Piri and my sister Maggie when we visited Megan in L.A. 2 years ago, and really liked it. The way they work withing their body of believers and reach out to the community around them is just how I'd pictured the church described in the book of Acts. This church met on the 2nd floor of a strip mall and was the size of a small community center. It was full with folks standing in the back today but I heard there are usually about 70 people there. One thing that impressed me was the praise group - it was made up of mix of high school age boys and girls... and apparently the Jr. high kids led worship the week before. It was really good! They had a piano, drums, an electric and a regular guitar. It felt a little like life group (with a much larger group). The kids all liked this church the most out of the 3 we've visited... and they haven't even spoken to another child their age there. The last 4 years in Texas and our wonderful life group has definitely changed us and grown us closer to the Lord than we had been before.
There are 4 more churches I'd like to visit but that'll have to wait an extra week now. We were invited to snorkel at Gab Gab Beach with one of the families next week after church so we'll go back once more at least. Gab Gab Beach is on Anderson Airforce Base so we can't go without an invitation and being signed in. I've heard it's one of the most beautiful beaches on the island and the snorkeling is supposed to be amazing. This family said they swim out past the reef and 'catch the fin' of a nurse shark and take a ride! So maybe we'll swim with sharks next week! LOL! I'd better look up nurse sharks before then... just make sure they don't prefer human flesh for snacks!
Here are a couple more hiking pictures from the past couple weeks. These were taken at Sigua Falls just 45 minutes from out house... practically in our 'backyard.' :D
We did this hike on a Thursday after buying hats with wide brims for everyone to protect our faces and necks from the sun. Well... as we hiked... and stopped and swam... and searched for fresh water shrimp... and followed a gurgling stream winding through the jungle above the waterfall... and swam some more... and finally headed back after 2 hours of playing in the jungle... we realized Levi did NOT have his hat on anymore!
Soooo, 2 days later we did the same hike with some friends and retraced our steps. I kept telling Levi that we were not going to find it and we should turn back but he insisted "It's just around this bend Mom... I remember where I put it."
Lo and behold! IT WAS THERE!!! Exactly where he left it! Which was on the rock of the middle picture above. That boy amazes me every time with his memory! I'm so glad he found it. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment