November 9-13, 2019
This week we spent in Billy White in the Cayo District of Belize about two turns away from Spanish Lookout. We hopped on Western Highway from Ladyville and drove it all the way through Belmopan (capital city) to Spanish Lookout (If you were to stay on Western Highway you would end up in Guatemala). It was a refreshing week for me. Although we didn’t have a pool or the sea, we had the howler monkeys and mountains to look at. It was such a refreshing week for me because I was able to relax a bit not worrying about the little kids getting out to the pool or falling off the staircase (although we had soooo much fun in Ladyville) and my dad was able to come help us for a couple of days. We also checked off a couple of boxes for the adoption which is always so fun! Though we had a lot more to get done, we hit some big ones this week.
Some fun/interesting highlights from this week:
- One of the first things we all noticed walking into the house was a white, lace dress hanging on a clothing rack at the top of the stairs. The big kids all had nightmares that first night about the dress. Matt removed it the next morning, but we found out that the big kids have a very imaginative mind and a history with spiritual warfare in the form of nightmares. Their family was from Guatemala and they all had pieces of memories from being back there from their recurring nightmares. Isaac remembers being around a campfire, describing it almost in a spiritual ceremony type situation.
- The owners of the house told us about a beautiful creek down the cow pasture that the kids loved!! I’ll show some pictures!
- Matt was able to get some quiet time on the porch with a guitar he found in the house. This is always rejuvenating for him!
- I am so glad my dad came to visit and help. I would have had to spend a night by myself with the little kids, in a foreign country, in the mountains with jaguars, with doors and windows that don’t lock that well while Matt went back to Belize City for the big kids’ blood work appointment. This was something we had not planned on originally doing so my dad deciding to come last minute was perfect and I wasn’t alone that night. Also, him coming allowed Matt and I to go to the Embassy appointment with just the big kids, which took hours in a small waiting room. That would have been a nightmare trying to keep a 3,4 and 6 year old occupied for hours. This was one of the first times I remember thinking how incredibly behaved and patient the big kids were!!!! My dad also treated us to some fun excursions: the howler monkey sanctuary and trail walk, the mayan ruins and a dinner out! All things that were not in our budget for the trip. Here’s something interesting for you. I had been to the Altun Ha Mayan Ruins many times prior to this trip. That site was used as a trading post for the Mayans because it was close to the ports; however, I had always heard about the ball court games and the history so I wanted to see one. No ball courts were recovered at Altun Ha. Here’s some history taken from Wikipedia, “Maya Ballgame, which is a branch of the Mesoamerican Ballgame, is a sporting event that was played throughout the Mesoamerican era by the Maya civilization. The Maya civilization was spread out throughout much of Central America. One of the common links of the Mayan culture of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize is the game played with a rubber ball, about which we have learned from several sources. Maya ballgame was played with big stone courts. The ball court itself was a focal point of Maya cities and symbolized the city’s wealth and power.” The story I was always told was that the Mayan tradition saw this sporting event as not only a game but a spiritual ceremony. They saw it as a way to honor their gods. The legend says that the winners of the game were sacrificed to the gods and this was seen as a high honor. To be sacrificed meant they could skip all levels of the afterlife and go straight to the highest rank. I always wondered how eerie it would be to stand on a ball court knowing how many lives were sacrificed there! Well dad took us to the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins on the border of Belize and Guatemala where I was able to stand on a ball court. Standing there, I remember praying to our Heavenly Father and thanking Him that all I had to do was accept Him in my heart and life and He required no other sacrifice from me to be welcomed into His eternal home!!! I couldn’t help but think of all the lives that died for gods that I did not believe in, but such rich history my family was seeing!
- Because this house was at a higher altitude, it was a lot cooler than down by the Carribean. This was refreshing and a nice break from the heat. We opened the wrap around windows/doors that led to the deck and were able to enjoy the breeze.
- Because I am a HGTV fanatic, I loved our bathroom! The shower was made of all stones they had collected from the creek. It was absolutely beautiful!
- The cows kept getting out of the fence and wondering over to the house so one day in the pouring rain, the son of the owners, Charlee and Levi were out hammering the boards back up. It was very sweet seeing them out there helping!
Here are some more pictures from that week! Also, Matt’s social posts go into more detail on the adoption logistics!