Erin :o): June 2008

We may not be the best at it, but we're also not afraid to admit it! We both really really like to bake! Since I didn't have to work yesterday and Bryon did not have to mow or work at home, we decided to make a trip out to the farm (my dads house) and go fishing. We packed a lunch and took our poles (I also grabbed some Vacation Bible School crafts to work on and took my lesson to look over for that evening) and we were off. Bryon caught a small mouth bass and I caught a blue gill! Anyways...after we were finished at the pond that afternoon, we went back up to the house to get Bryon's truck, and my dad was pulling up the driveway from work. We were all three standing in the driveway talking, and that's when Bryon looked over and saw the cherry tree! My ambitious boyfriend then asks the question, "Hey! Wanna pick some cherries?!" What started out as a casual walk over to the tree, my dad, Bryon, and me, turned into a quest for just the right color and ripeness of enough cherries to make a pie. My dad was explaining to Bryon and me how to cook a pie as we were picking, and we decided to attempt one on our own after Bible School that evening! Considering we have pretty much perfected our own version of an 'ice cream cake' and also cakes such as strawberry, chocolate, and even lemon, but have never tried a pie, I really think we did a good job to say the least. I hope that didn't sound conceited, but I'm serious! I had some for breakfast this morning, and it was good...really good! I will leave you with the steps that this task of cherry-pie/cobbler-making consisted of! If anything...even if this pie had turned out terrible (which it really didn't!), Bryon and I had a really great time just working together and giving our pie making skills a shot! Man I'm gonna miss him after July 7th...anyways...here's Bryon and Erin's directions on how to make the perfect (at least I'd like to think the 'perfect') cherry pie!

-Find a cherry tree, preferably after a day of fishing and eating pb&j sandwiches at the pond.

-Have one person climb the tree and pick the cherries at the top, while the other stands on the ground with a container for the picker in the tree to drop his cherries in. (This person on the ground may pick cherries off of the low limbs when she or he feels like it.)

-After gleaning enough cherries, take them home and refrigerate while at Bible School.

-Come home, and begin process of de-stemming cherries.

-After de-stemming, soak in water until debris floats to top and cherries are clean

-Take clean cherries and remove pits (we used the tip of vegetable peelers)

-Now, for filling, take the cherries with pits removed and put them in medium sized pan with 2 1/2 cups of sugar.

-While cherry mixture is heating, have a separate mixture of equal parts cold water and cornstarch smooth and ready to pour.

-Add cornstarch mixture to cherries.

-Bring the cherry/cornstarch mixture to a bubbly boil on stove at medium high heat.
-Allow this cherry filling to thicken to desired consistency.
-Have 4 refrigerated pie crusts (Pillsbury are good) ready.

-Use two crusts to line the bottom of a 9x9 casserole dish, and add hot cherry filling from stove.

-Unroll and overlap remaining two pie crusts over top of filling in dish.

-Brush top of crust with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

-Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 35 minutes!

-Enjoy! :o)

I pray that this entry will be a blessing! Thank you...more than you'll ever know...to those who prayed for the trip. The products of our efforts, those who have prayed and also those who went on the trip, will only truly be experienced in heaven someday when one comes up and says, "Thank you for praying for mission trips. That's where I first heard of Jesus."

(oh...I almost forgot! They start in order from bottom to top. I have no idea why!)

Matthew with, I think, Javier.

Henry (brother).

Ethlyn (sister).

This is Karyn. She also lives at the orphange. I love her eyes.

Here's what they sent us home with! Yummy!

We were not allowed to take pictures inside, though! Bummer.

Towards the end, whoever wanted to got to go visit the Dole Pinnapple headquarters in Honduras. This was really cool, and we even got free fruit before we left!

Check out the view of the ocean from where we were eating.

Me with my twin cousins, Matthew and Emilee at dinner on a free night..

A Honduran rainbow.

This is Marlin, participating in the obstacle course!

Erin and Michelle.

It's time for the lesson at the orphanage! Look at those tiny little crocs! They all had different colors!

I think Emilee was a little caught of gaurd when this picture was taken, but nonetheless it's her with Nelli, and me with Javier.

I love this picture of Emilee with Brayci and Nelli. None of them knew I took it.

Here's Jefferson. He lives at the orphanage.

Precious. This was a wonderful kid, with aunt De.

This picture of the Guacamole Pringles is dedicated to Bryon. I don't think an explanation will be needed! Remember...?!

Bible school.

Water...in a bag!

A quick picture with my friends from Mesica before Vacation Bible School starts!

This little boy is adorable. Just look at him.

Children singing at the beginning of VBS.

The finished product!

Time for glitter! Talk about glowing children. These kids had it everywhere once they were finished. It was great!!

Emilee and me, with looks of intense concentration helping with crafts at VBS! haha...

Two girls from Bible School. Check out their bracelets! We helped em' make em'!

Alex turns 5 years old!

Oh my goodness! Bless this man's heart...he sang...the entire time we were eating at this restaurant, even 'Happy Birthday' to my pastors son, Alex.

Suppertime. Fried plantains, with refried beans, chicken, beef, or pork. Needless to say, our group did not go hungry while on this trip!

This is Henry. He is Ethlyn's twin brother, and is precious.

Playtime!

Javier, upside down!

This one and the one above are probably two of my favorite pictures. This is Brayci, from the orphanage.

Haha...check him out!

This is Ethlyn. Oh, this picture...

Uncle Doug with Marlin.

Here's the newest child to the orphanage.

Here's a blurry picture of some palm trees. I love these things.

Clothes, hanging out to dry.

Mmmmm. More Pollo Rey chicken!

Honduran style political campaigning. Pretty different, huh?

Here's Pastor Jorges church. Monte Horab Baptist Church. There were some bilingual teens from this church(Rina, Jonathan, and Nicole) who went with us to the different missions in both Mesica and Porvornir to do Bible Schools. They were such huge help because they translated and helped us communicate with the people there.

Pollo Rey...aka-"King Chicken". Really really good chicken.

Hey Bryon!...I thought of you when I took this picture. Look what they were wearing to weed-eat (is that how you spell it?)

Here are some tables that the men built for Pastor Jorges while most everyone else participated in Bible School.

The little boys are really good soccer players.

( My head looks huge in this picture compared to my friend, there.)

Balloon animals for the students! Matthew, Brandon, and uncle Doug were such great sports about this task. They took an whole evening at the hotel to practice making the balloon animals for the kids the next day! The students loved the balloons!

Look at their faces. I'm talking about the kids...not the puppets, by the way.

Here are some boys who wanted a good seat for the puppet show.

Here are the students who attend the 'middle school'. It is literally right up the hillside from the kindergarten building.

We brought pencils and paper for the schools as a 'thank you' for allowing us to come.

Supplies at the Elementary school that we vistited. We were able to share the story of the good samaritan here through a puppet show, and then my pastor got to share the gospel to the children. Oh if you could have only heard this little kindergarten class as their teacher lead them in a prayer when we first arrived. Talk about humbling!

We made it, finally! Here we are on our way to the hotel with the Bowling family!

After arriving in La Ceiba, our 26 member team filled two truck beds with luggage! Good grief!

Lovely Ladies. Haha...lookin a little rough, though. Emilee's brother, Matt, in the background!

My cousin, Emilee, and me! We were soon to become roomates for the next 10 days in this picture.

This layover in Honduras seriously lasted 5 hours! We managed to eat dinner here, and I know that the Lord was testing us to see how patient we could be!! We survived it.

I think this might be a picture of when we flew out of Miami. I can't remember...but I thought it looked cool.

Cows on the beach?! Only in Honduras! ( I took this especially for my dad)

Here are the girls at the orphanage, having lunch. Beans and rice, but when the adults ate, we also had chicken and homemade corn tortillas to accompany the beans and rice. Yummm.