What were YOU doing New Year's Eve (Day)?

Hey Kids!  Sorry the posting dropped off there for awhile.  I'm back now to continue telling my Honduran tales.

Now where were we?  Oh yes.  Here.  At Victoria's.

Opinions may vary, but I thought that Monday (December 31st) was the most grueling day as far as work was concerned.  But grueling in a good way.

First, we had to dig footers by hand.   There were 6 footers to dig, and they were 24x24 inch holes that needed to be 30 inches deep.  We all paired up and each pair chose a hole and went at it.  Ellyn and I were partners, and it was slow going at first since we didn't have the tools we needed and kept running into rocks. But then, like a knight in shinning armor, Nancy arrived, bearing a pry bar.  It reminded me of that time in summer youth group where our team was about to get killed at kickball, when suddenly Daniel arrived from work.  The sight of him jogging over the hill to the kickball field may as well have had light glowing around him and angels singing.  Sorry... that probably sounds kind of weird and a little creepy.  I was just glad to have another competitive player.  As I (chose to) remember it, we went on to win kickball that night.

But I digress.  Back to Nancy.

Nancy is on the left.  Ashytn is on the right.  Ashtyn took all of the worksite pictures in this post.  Thanks, Ashtyn!!

Nancy is a girl in the neighborhood that is only 13 or 14, but she works hard enough to put the majority of our team to shame.  And she REALLY knew how to dig a hole.  She knew just the right tool for each situation and how to use it.  Basically, Nancy digs holes like a boss.  She's awesome.

The hardest part was keeping the hole to 24x24.  There were lots of rocks, and when you got them out, the sides would cave in.  But you had to take them out so you could dig deeper. 

While we were digging holes, a contractor from the church that was volunteering his time was making these supports.  He was using little bits of wire to tie re-bar to these square frames.  Worth mentioning...he also made the square frames by hand.

Its hard to explain from this picture...I may have some other pictures I can share later to explain how it was done.

Once the holes were dug, it was time to mix the concrete.  We formed the first of many (many, many) bucket brigades to fill a barrel with water so the water would be ready for the mixer.  Seriously... I had a few dreams about bucket brigades.

Dago and Scott both had shoulder injuries, so Tim and Daniel were the only ones strong enough to dump the 90 pound bags of concrete into the mixer.

Then others would scoop sand into the mixer.

  

Tim and Daniel were also the only ones strong enough to drive the cement-filled wheelbarrows.  They worked crazy-hard.  But, you know what they say...Big Time Timmy Jim Does Not Mess Around!

We re-purposed a lot of the rocks we had dug up to help supplement the concrete.  After all that work of getting them out of the holes, we just ended up putting them back in.

So basically, I had nothing to complain about.  Tim and Daniel worked like a whole team of horses, and all I did was move rocks.

Around 11ish, half the team went back to the home since there wasn't enough work for everyone, and the other half stayed with Tim and Dago and I to finish up.

We definitely ran out of water.  It was definitely hot.  And Tim and Shane definitely stopped sweating...that was kind of scary.  If Licia had been there she would have rushed them back to the home for water, STAT.  But Licia I am not.  So they had to suffer.

Once the work was finished, we went back to an AMAZING lunch by Delia.  We also got to relax for the afternoon until the evening's festivities.

At this point, I would like to point out how God did above and beyond all we can ask or imagine (yet again).    Dago was surprised with how quickly we dug the footers, and I don't think were even going to start pouring concrete until the next day.

"Unless the Lord builds a house the builders labor in vain..." Psalm 127:1 a

First, we had a special meal with the kids and staff in the home.  Then, it was time for fireworks.

I'm not gonna lie... the fireworks were a little harrowing at some points.  Like every time they went off.  But even more harrowing was when they didn't go off... and they just sat there...burning.

It was an experience.

Then we went back inside for a little dance party.  Let me tell you... some of those girls can dance!  And then Tim dissolved us all in giggles with his goofy dance moves.  If I can figure out how to share a video I will.

After all that hard work, we didn't stay up til midnight to ring in the new year, but apparently the rest of the town did.  Reports were that there were fireworks late into the night and a big huge hurrah at midnight.  I didn't have a clue.  Where you sleeping with ear plugs, Steph?  Nope.  Sure wasn't...


Thanks for the pictures, Ashtyn!!