happy independence day!

Today is Independence Day here, which means no school, and a half day on friday and yesterday! So we took advantage of our free time to go up to Comasagua and check out the new, almost finished house of our friends Pastor Jose Luis and Sylvia and their 7 kids. Sylvia greeted up with homemade corn tamales and atol, a hot sweet corn drink made from corn that was just picked on Sunday. Marty and Sara, yall would've loved it! You have probably heard us talk a lot about this family, and we are so excited that they finally have their own house after all the struggles they have gone through, big enough for all of the kids to even have their own room! God provided this miracle for them through donations from Quaker Gap Baptist and First Baptist Wallace. When the mission team came down in July, they worked on starting the foundation and moving the dirt to make room for the house, and now just 2 months later, its almost completely finished, with fancy tile floors and a second story balcony seen here:Here is cute little Ashley, growing up quickly: The 4 youngest of the 7 kids and their favorite playmate, Elvis:

Their eldest daughter Elizabeth's room:

We also took advantage of the half-day to go on a picnic at our favorite park:

A huge locust that was as big as Elvis's hand:

Tonight we are having an Independence Day party, ironically enough for our foreign co-workers and friends. What better way to celebrate independence than with pupusas!