just so you know

I will try to figure out how to add tons and tons of pics next time.... We have so many to share, including our first day in the ministry!  Hopefully I can get back to the internet cafe tonight or at least by the end of the weekend.

Love to you all!

To Catch You Up.....

I am prewriting these posts as each time I attempt to get to the internet cafe- it is closed.
So we had a big day Thursday-- Huge day really...
It started with a trip to Georgetown (the capital of Guyana) about 45 minutes drive from Haslington.
Jace had gone with Jean Singh (a sister in the congregation) to take a spanish class @ the Venezeulean  Embassy, also located in Georgetown.

So Brandon, myself, Kaden, Rayah and Raj Singh all took a bus to Gtown separately.  We had an appointment to meet a brother from Trinidad that is serving as a needgreater in Guyana named Brother Dinoo, at KFC!  He is such a loving, balanced brother with a great sense of humor (see pics)
Then we went to the mall - about 5 stories high. Very nice and had delicious food.  One thing memorable was we had to pay 60 (Guyana dollars) to use the restroom- about 40 cents USD for the cost to cover soap.  I had never seen that before! Something to appreciate when we get home... SOAP!!!  :)
Then we went to the Guyana Zoo!!! (hopefully I can figure out how to post all these pics)
It was pretty run down but, it still had some exotic animals we don't have at our zoo's at home.
The kids had SO much fun!!! Especially Rayah, she was hilarious to watch making all sorts of sounds and squeals of delight at each animal.   The kids loved the monkey's especially!

Between the heat and being on the go constantly we were exhausted!  As we were walking out of the zoo we went to sit for a second in a little gazebo.  I spotted a man quietly reading his bible, I was very excited about the prospect of a biblical discussion! I took a deep breath just about to speak when....
Raj, thinking faster than I seized the opportunity! We all ended up speaking with him and looking up many many scriptures for just over an hour!
What a perfect ending to our day!!!!

I apologize again....I just realized that the pics from the zoo etc have not been uploaded to the computer from our camera yet... I will post some other pics that have nothing to do with this post but are nice :) Next post I will post the zoo pics etc.  IM SORRY!!! (its about a 20 minute walk to the house to get the camera so I'll have to do it later)

The kids loving "five finger" as they call it here...aka star fruit.  This was picked off the tree just for them to eat!

Brother Raj Singh and Brandon

This is a fresh Guava. It is Angelique's all time favorite fruit she has EVER had! Brandon however, broke a filling eating it so he has some animosity toward the Guava!!!!!  =)

 

 

Out of the whole trip Jace couldnt wait to have fresh coconut!! 

 

 

Our little domestic Rayah helping to do laundry by hand!!! 

Quick Update

I apologize in advance, this is not going to be a very long post nor will there be pictures...again.  :( 
The internet connection that I am able to access at a brother and sisters house in the congregation is basically dial up.  It is very challenging to try to do a proper post with pics when we have the kids to tend to and it feels rude to be on their internet for long periods.  But rest assured they are coming. We have sooo much to share!
I went to an internet cafe today but it was closed as the owners wife was having a baby!

We have the circuit assembly Sat and Sunday so we will post more next week!

Love to you all, we miss all of our friends very much!  Thank you so much to those of you who have emailed!  We love reading them!

Brandon, Angelique, Jace
Kaden & Rayah

GuYaNa!!!

This is going to be a very short post as an incredibly hospitable family we met at the congregation meeting today, has prepared us a meal and I am in the other room utilizing the internet.  So far it has been challenging to find an internet connection.

We are here and doing good.  There are a few kinks that we need to work out but, we know with Jehovah's help nothing is insurmountable.  We have so many incredible pics to post but as I said not much time right now. 

We went to our first meeting today and it was so encouraging and wonderful.  We are so thankful for the brotherhood.  Our children have already made friends and we can't wait to experience the ministry. 

Ok, so I will post pics and much more as soon as I can.  Now you know we did make here safely and can anticipate pics for next time   :)
Thank you for the emails and comments!  We miss you all very much!

We Made It!!!!

Greetings from Trinidad!!!!
We arrived last evening right on time and so began a wonderful friendship with the Dinoo family, who came to pick us up!  Although we had never met them prior we instantly felt like family and were laughing until late in the evening!  One thing was for sure...We were not in NY anymore! :) Wow! Is it hot.  Around 85 degrees at 9 pm 
We are very pleased to say our children were unbelievably well behaved on the flights all day.  We even got delayed in Cleveland for over an hour just sitting there before a 2 1/2 hour flight because the computers were down.  Rayah did finally break out in tears as we descended to land in Trinidad (approx 5 minutes of hysterics! lol).  Our first meltdown from any of the children all day!!!!  What a relief, and shock as they were amazing!!!

So this morning we all got up and had an incredible breakfast made by Sister Ramharrack (the grandmother of the family) called curried chataigne with sada roti.  Brandon ate so much of it that he literally struggled to eat any other meals the rest of the day!  It was delicious.  He hopes I can learn how to cook it for him while we are in Guyana.  I admit I have serious doubts that I could ever cook things as tasty as "the Trinis".  
After breakfast we drove to visit the Trinidad Bethel (this is a very side topic but there is seriously a ROOSTER cockadoodling as I type this post late in the evening!!!! So funny)  
Anyway we arrived at the branch at 11:00 and had a wonderful tour of the facility and then we were so privileged to get to eat lunch with the Bethel Family.  Again an amazingly delicious meal.  I will post pictures from our visit below.  After lunch we were invited up to Brother and Sister Headly's apartment for tea.  All 3 children fell asleep and were able to nap for a couple of hours before we had to leave.  It was truly a memory that we will never forget.  Even our tour guide was such a lovely sister, we hope to stay in contact!


This was a jam-packed day...then we went to the beach!  The children were able to play in the waves and Rayah got to experience the sensation of sand between her toes for the first time!  (she didn't really like it, but her expression was precious)  Then we had another amazing meal....did I mention that they feed us CONSTANTLY?!  Seriously, we are so well fed, it has brought into question if we eat enough at home!!!!!  :)


Ok, so tomorrow we catch our flight into Guyana in the morning and the next leg of our adventure begins.  We are anticipating this with so much excitement, especially getting into the ministry. 
Even though we are truly having the time of our lives and hopefully making lifelong friends, we love and miss our friends and family back home.  Please keep the emails and comments to the blog coming and let us know how you are all handling the snow!!  Just kidding, for real though, stay in touch!!! (We will add more pics soon, still getting the hang of blogging)


Sending all our love,

Brandon & Angelique
Jace, Kaden & Rayah

Happy Boys on the Plane!

Is it real? Is our son actually eating???

KFC Soup!! I took this pic because I had never heard of  reusing fast food to make another meal!  (plus Ramen noodles)

                                            

                                          The boys bonding with Dishan Dinoo! They love him!

The breakfast referenced above...

Happy Girl sitting with her Daddy

                                                                 So Yummy!

This really cracked me up.. it is common practice for the women in Trinidad to have beautiful manicured nails but, they leave the other hand completely bare and shortened so they can cook easier!  Very practical.

Grandma loves Rayah

Camille Dinoo

Jenny Headley (who helped us so much in planning our trip!)

With Bro Headley and Bro Hinds

Georgeous Mountains

My dear friend Sister Headley

On the way to the beach!