Cecilia, your makin' my heart

So, how about some more fun-type news? We have some, I swear!

1. Cecilia's birthday was the 4th. Eight years old. She is getting really tall. I think she will be able to take Valerie two out of three falls in a year or two. She enjoyed her day....with her second piñata ever...that she got to pummel at school. Soren was kind enough to help carry it out that morning to the car. Nothing quite like a Disney princess purse for your piñata. Quite fitting I thought for Cecilia. Soren was bummed however that even in a small school...he was not invited to come help with the piñata...or the cake that they had. Go figure, I just assumed they would have had him there with her. Her only having her second piñata ever may sound ok if she lived in the US...but not having eight for eight in Honduras is unthinkable. Hopefully you do not think we are terrible parents. Or at least not any more terrible than before. She enjoyed her gifts from grandparents, aunts, and friends, including this snappy Hannah Montana outfit that she wore to the UCC pizza/games night that was that night. Here she is styling like J. Lo as we waited at 9:00 PM at the grocery store for Valerie...perfect time for sunglasses.

On the bonus plus side, Simone (sitting behind Cecilia here...soon to be holding her head as she fell asleep on her) was there, exposing myself and Cecilia to some more of that great British accent. Cecilia was soaking it up...but hesitant to use it until the next day. It is coming along nicely. I on the other hand proceeded to speak with the accent the entire night...except for when translating for the Honduran bloke who was there that spoke no English. Nothing like going back and forth all night from normal Spanish to British while playing Mexican train dominoes. I still maintain there is something racist about it being "Mexican train" but can not prove it....yet. A good conspiracy theory never dies...just ask me about Pat Sajak's spinning ability.

2. We were invited to visit an old friend from ICCC (she started attending another Church about eight years ago or so) on Saturday morning. She had invited us over to give her 85 year old mother an eye exam, which Valerie has done for her before at their home. This time Cecilia, Soren, Jana and Nick all got to go. Jana was in the midst of enjoying the battle of getting rid of her four parasites she somehow has been collecting, so she was not as enthralled with the visit, but managed quite nicely regardless. Sandra has always demonstrated hospitality above and beyond the call, and in the midst of our visit had baleadas galore waiting for us...plus awesome raspberry juice (extra sugar? You bet...every fruit drink...or in Honduras just about any drink...is always better sweeter, right?) Tamarindo, and some very nice looking avocados to take home with us....along with some more raspberries to make more juice at our house (sans sugar this time...just as good by the way!)

3. I translated at ICCC on Sunday for the sermon and some testimonies. I remember a missionary whose Spanish I respected many years ago come off stage translating very well say "that was terrible." I was dumbfounded...how could he think such a thing, he did great? I had a similar such experience that day. The funny flub was me getting tongue tied on some conjugation of circumcision. Those words that are the same basic spelling in English and Spanish (Latin based...medical terms most) are always the most fun.

At any rate...someone after Church made a specific point of coming up to tell me how much they appreciated the translation...and how much my Spanish has improved over the years. I did not get a sudden sense of pride or anything...but I was reminded of that time many years ago.

4. What kind of bird is this? Anybody have a clue? I was just walking up to the office and saw it (much more impressive through my eyes than this blurry picture caught on the fly as you can imagine) and was impressed...and watching birds is not something that would normally catch my attention...but this was a very bright orange/black with a tinge of white.

Sisko keeps killing birds...and bats...but he has yet to deliver one of these beauties to our door.