Day 64: A Visit to the New Place!

This morning our day started off (after we realized we had no eggs for breakfast) with a drive over to the house where we'll be staying until the end of the month. Hannah has been very excited to go because 1) it's all cement so there won't be mosquitos coming up through the floor, and 2) they have two dogs she'll get to take care of. This couple is from the states and will be gone for family and medical visits, so they need someone to care for their home. It works out perfectly for us!


When we arrived to meet with Al, Hannah was not disappointed. The house sit up on a hill bigger than Resaca hill, where we are now, and has a breath-taking view. We had to be very careful as we drove up the driveway so we wouldn't knock down the ripening mangos hanging from one of their trees, too, which was a plus for me! The two dogs came out to greet us and they were instant friends. One is a black lab, so we were both reminded of our sweet dog, Jen, who died last year. Then Al set out showing Hannah what she needed to do to be sure they are properly fed and given their vitamins. Once he was satisfied that she was educated properly, we went off to check out what my duties would be while they're away.


Their house is completely run on solar power (Dad, it reminded me of our house in Jackson!) and just in case the reserve drops, he has a Kuboto deisel generator to get it back up to full power (Stan, I told him you'd be jealous on that one!). He also had several holding tanks built for water, but I can't remember how many thousand gallons he said each one contains. His goal when he had it all done was to be able to be completely self-sufficient so if some disaster happened they would be fine. So far, everything has worked really well, too. When the rest of the island loses power or has the water shut off, Mary and Al are unaffected. Pretty cool!


We left to get back home so we could catch Westwinds on-line and Al let us take four of the mangos he had just picked with him. He voiced his disappointment that he will be gone just as they all ripen, so we'll have to use them. Oh, darn!


After church we went to school so I could work on some things and Hannah could wash Nadeen's car. It's still amazing to me how dirty it gets. But the salt from the air makes it harder to clean than if we were back home, so Hannah's chore was very much appreciated!


This afternoon we decided to go snorkeling at Melones Beach, where a couple of people have told us they have beautiful fan corals. No one else was around and we saw some fan corals that were huge! I don't think Hannah was all that interested in them, but when I asked her if she was ready to turn around and go back, she told me she wanted to keep snorkeling! She loves watching the fish. Eventually, though we decided it was time to go and when we finally emerged, we realized we were both pretty pooped out. So home we went!


The rest of the day was spent playing Sequence and doing school work (well, I did school work). We had a nice evening together and Hannah let me know by 8:15 that she was ready for prayers.


Thank you, God, for a day filled with doing things together. Thank you for Hannah's willingness to try new things. Thank you for the growth that we have both had since we arrived!