Go Tell it on the Mountain

I'm back Stateside and enjoying all of the luxuries.  Mom's jacuzzi bathtub is like Heaven on Earth.  I hope you all are enjoying Christmas with family and friends.  Here are my little guys wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Spectacular

Neither power outages, nor rain showers could ruin the anual Minerva School Christmas Parade and Show.  This year proved to be bigger and better than ever.  In case you missed it, here's the rundown of what happened...

5:30-  We gather up the Reindeer, Presents, Snowflakes, Elves, Lighbulbs, Snowmen, Santas and children representing Christmas around the world.

     

6:00- Armed with our 3 carriages (floats), we take on the streets of Gracias to spread Christmas cheer.

 

6:15-  Gracias loses power.  This is what a night parade looks like in complete darkness. 

6:16-  We don't let the power outage spoil our fun.  We forge on.

6:30- As we round the corner to the Chinese restaurant, my kids begin to chant "Arroz Chino" (Chinese rice is a favorite dish in town).  I quickly change the chant to "Merry Christmas!"  I just love these little locos.

7: 00- We arrive at the Parque Central.  First Grade opens the show with "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... mis renos.  (Susan on the far left really stole the show!)

There was even a special dance performance by the teachers this year!

Whew!  We really earned our vacation this year.  Next stop...the good 'ol U.S.A.  I'm going home for the holidays!  Wishing you and yours a very Feliz Navidad filled with family and friends.

The Greatest Gift

Minerva School teamed up with our favorite missionaries, the Goodwins, to collect and distribute nearly 90 gifts last weekend.  I learned that most of these children have received less than 3 presents in their lifetime.  We loaded up the truck and took some students up the mountain to distribute the gifts. 

Nurse Beatty runs a food station out of her house.  She was a huge help getting the list of kids together and helping distribute the gifts we had collected.

After the kiddos were fed...

                                   (The dogs wanted to be fed, too)

Each child received a gift to take home...

It was such a wonderful Service Learning opportunity for our students.  They even walked to the pulperia and bought balloons to share with the children.

One of the sweetest moments was watching our students teach the children how to open presents.  It was the first gift this child had been given.  Such a humbling sight.

Sometimes the greatest lessons in life can't be taught in a classroom. 

Glitter

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Minerva School.  We have exactly 14 teaching days until our Winer break.  And living in a place where they don't celebrate Thanksgiving, we are totally justified in starting Christmas crafts.  Here's a little sample of the messy fun we've been up to this holiday season...

Run, run as fast as you can!  You can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man...

The Best Gift of All...
 

Letters to Santa...

Christmas Stockings....

Smiling Snowmen...

And of course our Countdown to Christmas Santa calendars...

Feliz Navidad from Honduras!



(Stay tuned for more Christmas cheer...)