We had a very nice Christmas day. Joseph enjoyed opening a few gifts, it kept him out of trouble the rest of the day. Hannah made a real nice lunch for us, we were stuffed, it was soo good. We definitely missed being with our families but at least we were together.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas! Enjoy the time with your family and friends and celebrate the birth of our King!

Love you all,

Eric, Hannah & Joseph

Joseph making muscles in the bumper of our car.

Joseph playing in a river near a beautiful waterfalls in a place called Buena Vista. He loves the water. This place was absolutely gorgeous.

One place we like to take visitors is to lake Yojoa. There you can eat fried Tilapia caught right out of the lake. It is so delicious. This time however, our fish tasted a little muddy. hmmm oh well, it was still a beautiful day to enjoy at the lake.

Joseph looking out a motel window on the town square.

Comayagua is a town rich in history and colonial architecture. It was once the capital of Honduras. Today you can visit the old cathedral that has recently been renovated, stroll the streets that still holds the flavor of ancient Spain and visit museums filled with interesting artifacts. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

My mother-in-law has a missionary heart. She wanted to do something special for the homeless. So she and Hannah cooked a chicken, rice and beans enough to feed 30 people. We decided we would take the food at night to those who live on the streets. A few of our friends heard about our act of kindness and wanted to come along. So we had a car full of people. Mom was sitting with me in the front and Hannah was sitting in the truck with the food. It was so much fun. We are learning where certain groups of people always stay, so we are getting better at this each time we go. God protected us and we were blessed being a blessing.

Joseph likes to do everything I do, sometimes it is so funny. I had a toothpick in my mouth so of course he saw it so he grabbed it out of my mouth and put it in his mouth and had it hanging out just like dad did. haha. What a kid.

He`s all slicked up and ready to go. No more curls, at least for awhile.

This past Wednesday night was a wonderful Bible study. We had pastor Luis (I can never remember his last name) and his friend Roldan visit our service. Pastor Luis gave his testimony and sang several songs that he has written. God`s presence was so real. The songs really ministered to our hearts. Several had tears in their eyes. I didn`t even have time to get into our study of Romans 6 that I had planned for the evening. We were all touched in our hearts. Praise God for a really good night.

Since my mother-in-law has been here we have visited some new places Hannah and I have never been before. One of those places was Danli. Just 50 miles outside the city. We had heard of an Egyptian restaurant being run in the area so we made the trip to try it out. We never found the restaurant. I was told by a friend later, that the restaurant is in the next town. We were dissapointed but nevertheless enjoyed our trip.

One night while showing mom around the city. We saw several homeless people sleeping on the streets. Wanting to help them mom got the idea that maybe we could buy blankets and distribute them at night to the people on the streets. So the other day we bought ten blankets. Last night was our mission of mercy. We went to the market, one of the worst parts of the city at about 8:30 or 9 at night. It was incredible. In the picture is a drunk man passed out on the street. We covered him with a blanket and gave him a bag of fruit along with a gospel tract. It was so sad. We pulled up to one corner where there were about 12 to 15 people all living together on the street. I rolled down my window and starting handing out bags of fruit and tracts. They jumped at my window like wolves grabbing for the bags. It kinda scared me, I didn´t want to start a riot. One man even followed our car to the next intersection begging for something to eat. It was so pitiful. God protected us and we were able to pass out all the fruit, tracts and blankets.

Just a few miles down the road from Santa Lucia is another well known little village called Valle de Angeles. Full of rich history, you can stroll the streets of this little town and watch artisans craft leather bags, unique souvenirs or hand carve wooden boxes. It was here in this Cathedral that one of the presidents was married. Inside the church in an inset in the wall is a little baptistry with a mural of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. It is very beautiful. A great place.

Yesterday we took mom to a little town twenty minutes outside of the city. Santa Lucia is an old mining town nestled in the mountains, that was used by the Spaniards during the 1500´s. The town has such a laid back pace of life. It is absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing and the birds were singing. It was very relaxing.

Today was a fun day. We decided to give mom a taste of catracho life. Catracho is just another name for Hondurans. So today she ate a burrito manzo with yucca, rice, and chismol. She really likes the yucca root.

We then took a bus ride into the market. Most Hondurans have to use bus transportation because they cannot afford vehicles. While on the bus we had a little wreck with a motorcyclist. Mom saw the whole scene. Some guy tried to pass between our bus and another oncoming bus. He apparently hit the bumper and whiped out nearly falling beneath the wheels of our bus. It was quite a commotion. But the rider was ok, he picked up his bike, pulled himself together and kept going.

Once we got to the market we visited our Arab friend Arlett. She and mom jabbered in Arabic for a good half hour while I just smiled and tried to keep Joseph out of trouble.

The market is just a whole other world. Mom said it reminds her of what Jordan was like in the late 70's. People were grabbing our arms trying to sell us things. It kinda gets annoying after awhile. But we enjoyed our time together today and came home tuckered out.

Mom really enjoyed the Sunday school class with the children. I translated for her as she told them that she loved them and would pray for each one of them. They were all ears as she spoke and cried. They thought she was really great.

I have been working on a clandestine operation now for about two weeks. I knew mom was coming but I had to somehow get Hannah to believe a missionary was coming to do some paperwork here in the city. It was a tough job. I would make my phone ring and pretend to be making arraignments with the missionary but I was really talking to myself. The toughest part was when mom had to postpone her flight by a day because her passport showed up late. What was I going to tell Hannah? The morning the "missionary" was to fly in from Houston, I made my phone ring once again and pretended to be talking with him. Houston airport was on lock-down with a bomb threat and all flights canceled, the missionary wouldn't be coming until the following morning. haha Hannah bit for the whole story! We were thanking Bin Laden for delaying the flight because we had more time to clean up our house and get things ready. haha what a gag. Boy was she surprised!

Grammy is just enjoying every minute with her little grandson. He always wants to be with her. They are having a blast!

Yesterday was like Christmas! Mom brought suitcases full of goodies. We didn't know what to do with it all. It was a great time. Thanks to all our family who sent gifts. The new clothes, toys, food, candy, medicine etc was such a blessing. Thanks mom and dad for the peanut butter and the book for Joseph, he loves the sounds it makes. Thanks to our friends in Ironton, Ohio for sending me some Mt. Dew, it tastes sooooo good!! Thanks a million.