Perfect Way to end Christmas Day

After our day together we headed down to the Children's Center for a perfect ending to our Christmas day.  I have included a lot of pictures, so I will try not to include too many words.  I think the pictures speak for themselves

 Thanks to The Freeman CP group from our home church, we were able to buy food for the meal of choice for Christmas dinner.  The children chose Chinese rice with shrimp and watermelon.  Not our thoughts of a typical Christmas meal, but that is what they wanted and that is exactly what they got.  

Then we got to have fun and serve homemade ice cream and brownies.  

Just in case that wasn't enough sugar we had bags of candy for each of them also.

Then we just got to hang out for awhile.  

This is Iain and a couple of the children.  Iain and his wife, Liz, started and run the children's center.  

Blessed to be able to share some Christmas joy with these precious ones.  Hoping this will become a new Pirkle Christmas tradition for as long as the Lord has us in Honduras.

Christmas 2011

One of our traditions is that the kids draw names among themselves each year.  They always try to keep the secret of whose names they drew until a few days before Christmas when they wrap the gifts and put them under the tree.  Of course, there is always the trying to figure it out or trying to get one of the others to spill the beans on whose name they got.  We have had some episodes where not only the name has been given, but also what the gift was.  However, usually they do fairly well.  Then, on Christmas Eve they get to open them.

Sibling gifts from this year

Everyone seemed happy with their gift and there have been several games of Battala Naval (Battle Ship) and Dawgopoly played.  

The calm before the storm.

Christmas Morning

Sarah and Elizabeth were pretty excited about their Bulldog Pillow Pets!

Sarah had a "Bulldog" Christmas.

Elizabeth with her new bag and some money to buy things to put in it.

Along with the always asked for Legos and Nerf guns, Caleb also got a remote controlled helicopter.  So far only one crash.  Hopefully it will survive!

Rebekah with her guitar and soft, fuzzy bathrobe.

No surprises here - Legos and Nerf.

Christmas Dinner

Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce.  The kids were excited that we were able to have all their favorites even here in Honduras.

Like father......

Like son. 

We had a great Christmas day.  It was nice to spend a relaxing day enjoying the new things and spending time together.  Then, that evening we ended our day in the perfect way.  More to come in the next blog update.

Macaw Mountain (Copan Day 2)

On our second day in Copan we visited Macaw Mountain.  We got to see and learn about lots of amazing birds.

 Our transportaion. Yep, we fit four plus a driver in each.

 Rebekah wasn't to sure about being the first to hold the birds.

Caleb's friend was getting a close on his shoulder. 

 Elizabeth and the blue macaw seemed to get along quite well.

 "It was this tall."

 Sarah using her jacket as armor.

Jesse keeping an eye on Mr. Green Macaw

"What's that in your pocket?"

As the macaws get older their feathers become brighter.  This young lady is 80 years old.

The whole gang

We had a great day at Macaw Mountain.  The birds were beautiful, as well as, the scenery.  Our guide did a great job teaching us many interesting facts about the various birds.  We also got to enjoy some yummy food at the cafe that was over the river.  

After leaving we headed to the town square for some shopping and that evening we got very brave and tried some of the food from the street vendors.

 Checking out the options.

 Cooking our food.

 Caleb is pretty excited about his food.  Of course,  that is pretty normal these days.  He is definitely hitting that "teenage boy who never stops eating" stage.  

 Chicken, salad, beans, and tortillas.  Yummy!

Jesse may have been a bit uncertain, but was willing to give it a try.  Turned out to be very delicious and no one was sick on the trip home the next day.  

Copan is a neat little town and we definitely enjoyed our couple of days exploring it.