Wednesday, July 22-Lily & Lilies

The day began as a normal Wednesday...actually kind of quiet. Aaron had taken Caden & Maya to town to scout out bike info for Caden in his quest to spend the money he's earning this summer, and I was getting a great jump on laundry & housework, getting ready for our trip out to Iowa this weekend. Lily was playing outside with her friend Shantay from next door and I could hear them playing pretend as I stood in the bedroom folding clothes. At about 11:30 Lily came inside asking if she and Shantay could have a drink. I asked why and she told me they had just eaten some yucky berries and they needed a drink. You know as a mom you hear certain words and your heart beat goes up about 20 bpm. I had her show me where and she walked me around the north side of our home where we grow some Lily of the Valley plants (Yes I hear all of you botanists gasping...and I'm getting to that in a minute) and she showed me some little green round seeds (berry looking pods) on the stems of the plants. A little more urgent I asked them how many they "ate" and Shantay said she had one in her mouth but it tasted yucky so she spit it out. Lily told me 4. So on my quick walk back into the house I gave the "we should never put plants in our mouth" speech and got on the computer to look up the flowers. Aaron pulls in the driveway and a second "we should never put plants in our mouth" speech commenced, but when my scroll down to the bottom of the web page showed me the word poisonous written in red...The day turned from quiet to urgent very quickly. A call to poison control had us packed up in the van with plant specimen, and backing out of the driveway when Aaron said that Lily had told him she spit out the berries because they were yucky. With Lily in tow I headed back to the scene of the crime but no "berry" bits could be found...considering they were green bits in green grass not too hard to miss. And feeling time was of the essence headed out to the nearest trauma center...15 mins away. They checked us in and brought us back to a room within 10mins and after another 10 mins waiting, the staff came in and said they were sending us to the emergency room because she needed to ingest charcoal as soon as possible to bind the poison...for Lily of the Valley plants are used to make 38 different heart medications...good when you are 78 not 4. So not able to wait for the ambulance we made the 10 minute trek across town and reached the emergency room about 1pm-ish? We checked in and they took us into a room in the ER where they hooked Lil up to an EKG and then the charcoal procedure came. At least a cup or more of powdered Charcoal mixed with water needed to be taken...I can't even describe it for you...I've tried to block it from my memory. How do parents do such things? By the sheer grace of God and the help of 4 nurses we got most of it down her (the rest was on her and we looked like the 101 Dalmatians when the ordeal was over). That's when the nurses came in and said that Poison control called and said Lily needed to be taken to DeVos Children's Hospital to be monitored for at least 24 hours. We came to find out that the plants cause the heart to slow down and are very potent. Mom & Chad showed up to see Lily & take Caden & Maya home, and Aaron ran home for Boo-Boo Bear and other essentials for a night. Around 5pm we were packed up in an ambulance and rode 30 minutes to DeVos Children's Hospital where Lily was hooked up to more machines & stayed for the night. She was able to eat something around 7pm and was thrilled to watch High School Musical 3 while she let the machines check her vitals. We "slept" there and this morning were the first stop on the doctors rounds and they sent us home with a good bill of health. Miracle 1: Lily never had any heart issues and she is just fine. Miracle 2: All the people we encountered throughout our tour of the fine medical system we have here were amazing...each purposeful in preserving Lily's health, and absolutely caring and generous with her & her parents who had to watch their daughter go through so much. Miracle 3: Things worked out fine for Caden & Maya to stay with my parents...this past month has been so crazy with traveling & many other things that not many other days would that have been possible. Miracle 4: We do not have a new washer & dryer...My current washer & dryer are on their way out and there was this great deal so we purchased them two weeks ago...Monday we realized as good of a deal or how much we needed them was irrelevant, we shouldn't get them until Aaron gets paid...so we cancelled our order and returned them...they were supposed to be delivered yesterday afternoon..Doesn't God have a good sense of humor? And he helped us pay for our ambulance ride! Amazing...I'm sure this tale is not done but I am for now. Insurance...we'll have to see how God works to provide for our needs, how he uses this experience for our future work, and what will come out of all of this. We do know that God's strength and love brought us through and hopefully Lily's lesson of "Don't put plants in your mouth" will never have to be taught again. God is so good...

Life on the other side...

Here we are at the beginning of July 2009. Hard to believe we are here already...yet I sit typing to you from the living room of our home in Hamilton, MI. In some ways Guatemala seems like a dream...some great times that could have only been a fantasy in my mind, but then you get e-mails and facebook notes from your loved ones there and the reality sets in. Hard to be the ones not there...but...there's always a but....but our decision to return to the states has been reaffirmed again and again in God's amazing ways. Through needs, through conversations, through what we see or hear, through the miracles of God's perfect timing in so many things...impossible to doubt a God who has orchestrated things so perfectly. For instance, our last two weeks we were in Guatemala my grandmother got very sick. We started thinking about how we would make it back as we were packing up our lives but in God's graciousness we made it home and had a chance to see her in the hospital and talk with her and see her smile at her great-grand-children. Then we went to Mendy & Steve's, and she was doing better and they moved her to a nursing home to recouperate, then she took a turn for the worse again. But once again God provided mercifully and we were able to visit with her, in a weakened state but very responsive and very happy to see pictures of Mendy & Steve's family doing so well. Early this past Sunday morning she died, surrounded by her children, and yesterday we had her funeral and all 17 of her grandchildren (and many of the 24 great-grand-children) had the blessing of being there and celebrating Grandma's life together. We figured out that the last time we had all been together was at my cousin's Julie's wedding in Texas, June of 1995, 14 years ago. It was a sad day, but glorious as we gathered for pictures and enjoyed company, knowing that this unique opportunity may not come again. What a treasure and one I will continue to thank God for. What an awesome God we serve, merciful and loving. And he takes care of us. I pray that that testimony is my legacy as God works to shape me into the person he's planned for me to be. Thanks God!

Too Facebooky!

The title is my only excuse for not adding more here in the past month. Forgive me So I'll add a few things now!
Photos of our trip to WA: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26400&id=1268589118&l=46daa30161

Our last newsletter is going out today from our time in Guatemala...hard to say good bye but hope we can still share in other ways how God is working in our lives. Crazy to think about that year going by so fast...yet here we are. Can't wait to see what he has in store for the year ahead!

I'll try to be on here more and update with news. Praying for Aaron's job (which one he will receive not if he will receive one) and ministry opportunities that will open. Thanks for your prayers.

The exodus begins...

Days we've been in Guatemala: 310
Days left in Guatemala: 4
Bags we have packed: 2
Bags open to be packed: 5
Bags yet to be begun: 3
Items to put in those bags: Seems like millions.
Good byes said: Many
Good byes yet to say: Not as many
Tears shed: Thousands
Knowing God is in control of it all...priceless.

Links to more pictures...

Click below to check out more photos...

Last Drama Class

Middle School Drama Performance

Choir & Band Concert

Random Drama Photos

Graduation 2009

Posting more when we get a chance.

Our Morning at the Auto Safari

On Wednesday, April 8 we headed with friends down to the Auto Safari towards the beach. This is the best highway in the country (very nice...really) and one of the views that we are going to miss heading back to the flatlands of Michigan. (Volcan Agua)
Our beloved Pacaya (the smoking volcano on the right).
Another view of Agua with the town of Palin in the foreground.
A sight of Michigan, here in Guatemala. Very rare here and reminded us of times past, and hopefully times to come.
The toll booth is more like a party zone, music blaring, venders shouting and anything you want to buy available right at your car window!
On the way to the beach!
Turning off the main highway in sugar cane country (the beginning of the season).
Typical mode of transportation in Guatemala. And not even that many people in the vehicle.
The drive into the Auto Safari.
Our first animal encounter. Zebra.
Water Buffalo & school bus of tourists. We just wove through the park following the line of cars & assorted vehicles.
Emu...didn't trust this thing. Rolled up my window with it only about 5 feet away.
That was one big sheep!
Our first lifer in the park. (Wild bird we had never seen before...yes he was wild!) Boat-billed Heron.
Lifer # 2...Northern Jacana...so cool!
Lifer #3-Groove-billed Ani. Just hopping around on the ground and in the trees...Wow!
The children in this photo pulled their heads in the car and then the giraffe reached down to their car and stuck his tongue in the window! Maya was not impressed.
Maya's in the back seat saying "Dad, that giraffe is looking at you, you better roll up your window." It was pretty cool, but we didn't get any tongues in our car.
Spider monkey just chilling with a snack!
Then we got to the lions. Wow...obviously we had to have the windows rolled up (a little dusty to take pictures through). They roared for us too...it was incredible.
And then they were off and we drove with them as they walked to a different patch of shade.
Play break. Lily's swinging and has her friends around to join her!
Part of the group...minus some explorers (Aaron, Caden, Lil, Amanda Agrellas & Eric Larimer). Generally families from left to right are the Agrellas', Soderlings, Kinmans, & Larimers.
Classic end of our safari picture. Then off to lunch & more exploring.
Caden found a large tree to hang out in!
Our tickets included a boat ride and we had the privilege of sharing our boat with our friends the Larimers.
This little monkey was so close to the boat, Maya thought for sure we were going to be boarded. And he probably could have. But he was a very cooperative monkey!
This is one of the large iguanas that ran wild all over the Auto Zoo. Every feed trough had a lizard and most seemed well fed like this big guy. It was a great day and we enjoyed our time to explore. Thus ended our planned activities for the week. Little did we know one more was in the works for Aaron. (which he will share about soon.)

Caden's 9th Birthday-April 7

A late lunch at the mall on our way home from Casa Bernabe. Adobo burritos...burritos as big as your head and delicioso...Caden's first...what a big boy he is!
Girls happy with their Mc'y D's.
Later at supper (still dark here by 6:15ish) and Caden's cake. And it was pretty good if I do say so myself!
Here is the whole family showing off the presents Caden got (soccer fans, note the Chelsea jersey in the back). And yes those are socks...good Dutch family we are. It was a good day and we continue to pray that God bless Cade with many years to celebrate ahead.