Visitors

One of the many good things about having a baby is that it has brought of lots of visitors! We've had visitors almost every month this year. Each time is has been a blast!

It started in January when my mom came for 3 weeks to help me at the end of my pregnancy/beginning of life as a mother. We waited around somewhat patiently for 2 weeks for James to make his debut. She did a good job of keeping my 9 month pregnant body busy and also helped A LOT with cooking/cleaning/etc.


Me 9 months pregnant hiking to a waterfall. We successfully walked James out of me because that night I went into labor!

The last week she was here my dad was able to come down as well. They were able to spend lots of time with little James and took on lots of my responsibilities as I recovered from my C-section.


My Dad paid special attention to Booper as she was jealous of the new baby we brought home.


My mom with James after she gave him a bath.


Meeting Grandpa for the first time


Grammie holding the sleeping baby

In March our 3rd visitor came...my sister Emily! We had a lot of fun just playing with James and going around to different places in Jarabacoa. We also got to take a short day trip to Santo Domingo. For me it was great just to hang out and have fun with my sister since we don't get to see each other a lot anymore.


Having fun with Auntie Em


Taking a nap


Being crazy at the ocean

Next up we had Ryan's parents. We kept them busy with a motorcycle trip, a day at each of our sites, a trip to the beach/Santo Domingo, waterfall hikes, and some other random stuff around Jarabacoa. You can read more about their trip in an older blogpost here. It was so great to visit with them and finally be able to show them our home for the past 3 years.


James with Grandma and Grandpa Holloway


At the beach in Boca Chica

My mom couldn't stand being away from little James any longer, so she came down again in June for a month. Again my Dad was able to join for a week too! We spent most of our time playing with James and going around Jarabacoa, but we also got to go to the beach and the capitol for a weekend. My mom was very willing to babysit, so Ryan and I were able to go off several times without James, which was a huge blessing!


Grammie and James at a waterfall


at the waterfall with Grandpa

Our most recent visitors were Scott, Monica, and Jessica- Ryan's uncle, aunt, and cousin. They had just a short trip, and unfortunately Scott and Monica both got sick for a couple days. But they were able to serve at both of our ministry sites and blessed several of the people we minister to through bringing them gifts and sharing encouraging words with them. We had a great time catching up and sharing our lives with them.


They brought over 200 diapers for this severely disabled boy who's mother is in one of Ryan's micro-banks.


Jessica sharing her testimony with the girls at the Social Work site.


She also made balloon animals for all the girls. It got a little crazy but the girls LOVED it!


All of us on our porch

Our last visitor is Brian Shields, who has been one of Ryan's best friends since high school. He comes in this weekend. He will be here for Ryan's vacation week, so I'm sure they will do all kinds of crazy boy things. We're really excited for him to come.

Brian most likely be our last visitor before we leave in December. It's been so fun having so many people visit, and has made being away from home for James' first year of life a little easier. Thank you to everyone who came and allowed us to share our life with you!!

Summer's Best 2 Semanas

God really worked in the lives of my boys during camp. Their counselors did a great job pouring into them spiritually and they came back eager to tell me all the stories of what happened during their trip. Enjoy a few pictures.



All 6 cabins getting ready to watch a skit. Each cabin has 10 boys and 2 counselors. The first week was for boys 8-12 and the second week for boys 13-17. I sent 5 boys the first week and 10 the second. All the pictures are from the first week.


Jim Welch with two of my boys. Jim is inspiring and I always love when I get to connect with him. He's the founder of SB2W and his son Kyle was in my college small group.


Morning exercises.


Gotta show those teeth if you want your table to get dismissed. The boy in the blue jersey is Luis Miguel, one of my favorite boys from El Callejon.


Back in 2005 these steps were just a river bank. Ryan Joyce (My college small group leader) and I labored hard on creating this river access.


Romans vs Galatians. All the boys are part of one of the two teams and they compete throughout the week in various sports and activities. The Romans one for the first time!


Galatians.


That's a Tarantula. I found it outside my bunk. Definitely the biggest spider I've ever seen.


Have you ever wondered what a pineapple plant looks like?


Gladdeus help clear the land and dig the footer holes for this cabin.


The view from below the spider web. Each boy has to pass through a different hole, but if you touch a rope you've gotta start over.


Learning how to play Ultimate Frisbee.

Dominican Traveling

I had a uniquely Dominican experience today:

I spent the last 2 days in Monte Plata (about 4 hours from Jarabacoa) because I took boys from El Callejon to Summer's Best Two Weeks DR. SB2W has a special place in my heart. My first time in the DR was in 2005 when I came with my small group to help build this camp. Now 6 years later I'm sending 15 campers. More on this in another post.

I awoke this morning to the sound of rain pounding down on the tin roof over my head. It was a pleasant for sleeping but a problem for my morning departure back to Jarabacoa. The heavy rains raised the river about 4 ft and made the gravel road to the camp unpassable...for a car.

So, my journey back to Jarabacoa began with me crossing a fast moving 4 ft deep river on a horse. I rode the horse about 20 minutes out to the highway that happened to pass right by the camp. I dismounted and began walking down the highway waiting for someone to respond to my thumb, which only took about 30 minutes. (check hitch-hiking on my life's todo list).

I rode standing on the last step of the entrance of a bus for about an hour back to Santo Domingo. From there I hopped into a concho along with 7 other people on my way to the bus station. What's a concho? Have you ever wandered what happened to all the Toyota Corollas from the 90's? Answer: they're used as public transportation (conchos) in the DR.

I waited about 2 hours for the next bus to Jarabacoa, where I arrived and then walked about 15 minutes to my house.

MiBanco 2.0

The first quarter of 2011 had a "catch our breath" feel to it in the MF Site. Instead of being quick to keep adding groups, we stayed with 5 for 6 months and spent time reevaluating the program. We've come up with some interesting changes:

1. Individual loans start with loan #3 and allow us to be more discerning with who we lend to and gives borrowers a lot more flexibility
2. Lower Interest. We're dropping our interest rate for individual loans from 2%/month to 1%/month.
3. Collateral: We continue to only use "social collateral" with the first 2 group loans, but starting with loan #3 associates will be signing loan contracts that include something as collateral

I've also developed a curriculum for the first 30 meetings we have with any new group. It's a personal finance course that teaches everything from giving, to saving, to budgeting, to how to teach your kids about money.