Water Cay, School, Internet Trouble,Blessings~by Denise

HELLO!!!!!!! We're all so sorry it's been so long since we posted, but we've sure enjoyed today seeing all your lively comments - to us, and to each other! We love you guys!
Right now the entire island is without wireless, so we are paying an internet lodge for a connection on a landline for an hour. The girls and I are now all here around the computer reading all your comments!
Well, our day at the Cays, pronounced "keys", was so wonderful. Our 18 year old friend, Erin, came to pick us up at our house and walked us to the boat where her 13 year old brother, Devin, was waiting. Devin drove(if that's what you call it) the boat. He was good at it. It was a 30 minute ride across the Caribbean- the most beautiful hues of blue water I've ever seen! We could look down through the clear water and see coral below. We finally arrived at their home; their mom, Karen and youngest sister,Deandra, were waiting at the dock. They welcomed us inside then took us on a walking tour of the island, "Pidgeon Cay" which was connected by a yellow bridge to an even tinier island, " Diamond Cay". The islands reminded us of the Truman Show. Everything was pristine, quiet, orderly, small, and surrounded by water. Everyone knew everyone. Some lady even called out, "Erin, your friends finally came down! " with a strong Caribbean accent. 'Down' sounds more like "Dowwwnnn ". Sometimes we can't tell that people are speaking English. There's only one sidewalk down the center of the island that takes 5 minutes to walk roundtrip. There's about 4 churches, 4 stores, 3 restaurants,and many houses on each side with a view of the ocean where ever you look. That's the whole island! After eating a delicious meal : chicken rice, plantain bananas, and potato salad, we got back in the boat and went to Water Cay. Wow! I think we had the whole island to ourselves. First everyone got to eat sea grapes from the trees, then we swam in the clear water with white sands (more like finely crushed shells) . I can hardly describe it! I 'll just have to post pics of it. Beautiful and Peaceful! The daddy,Toby, came home from his day of fishing and he and Devin took us back home in the boat. The girls and I sang most of the way back. What a beautiful day with a lovely family!
School is going great. We've each taken turns getting overwhelmed. We're encouraged that 'we know more than we did when we came here', as so many of you have reminded us when we're discouraged. Thank you. We're surprised at ourselves when we walk away from a conversation and think, "Wow, all that was in spanish and we understood it all! " We've got a long way to go, but we're so glad we're learning! and so excited that the Weber family will be joining us here in only 10 days!!! yippeee!
The weather has been extra hot, and the natural winds were only for July. They've informed us that September is their hottest month of the year and has no wind. Miserable. Stephi has the hardest time with it, but it bothers us all. Whew!
The pastor of the church needs to postpone the VBS for one week. Praise the Lord! That will allow time, hopefully, for our Spanish supplies to arrive in the mail , thanks to Martha at CEF! We can hardly believe that we only have less than 6 weeks left here! We look forward to seeing all of you soon! Even you , Aunt Becky and Uncle Ed, if you can make it to Texas. David P, glad you're settled in college. How far away from the ocean are you? The Divers in our group may want to try out some Florida waters sometime. :-) David S. ....it's from the movie"Field of Dreams" -build it, they will come. Good one. Deanna, Rob, Jeffrey, Taylor- so good to hear from you! Gary, glad you got assigned 'blog duty'! It'll be good to hear from You and see how Aunt Hattie and Lennie are , too!
We'll hope to put pics on soon too! With lots of love from me and the girls! Denise