School Time

This lovely garden welcomes students and their families to the Academia Lynn Barta...it's where the students can wait for school to start.

When they arrive, they are really itching to get in...they can hardly wait. They know this bicycle track is waiting for them behind the gate.

And this casita, their own little play house.

Complete with tile floors, windows and doors that open and close, and two brooms for keeping it tidy. (I encourage both boys and girls to sweep...we're all about gender equality in this school.)

They also know that inside, their classroom is waiting.

With the dolls, the books, the trucks, the puzzles...

And a little room where we can trap them in for some group learning.

Where they'll be able to put their own name tag on the wall. The school is quite beautiful, and we're thankful for the space to spend our time.

But the kids who come to the school are even more beautiful. Plus, they're funny. And smart.

They like to play with the dolls. Luisito was playing "doctor" this day.
They love to paint.

And more than nearly everything, they like to run and play.

Some kids weren't so sure of the place on the first few days. So they sat and watched for a bit.

(This one is never afraid...he's hard to keep still.)

Here's Joshua (you might remember him from before). He was as goofy as ever. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open for his portrait. As you can see, he's quite a problem solver!

We've had a blast our first two weeks!

Inauguration of the Lynn Barta Academy

Here starts another chapter for A Mother's Wish Foundation. On January 11, 2010, hundreds of folks from the Dominican mountain village came (in the pouring rain) to help us inaugurate the Lynn Barta Academy.

You might remember my early posts about the school--I started giving preschool classes to test-drive if the community would be receptive to the opening of a top-notch preschool for their kids. They were very receptive. And with the blessing of a large donation from the family of Lynn Barta, a Nebraskan woman who recently passed away, we got to building a real school for the kiddos. It's beautiful, and we had a great turn-out for its grand opening.

Soccorro led the troops on the decorating committee. She was sure to dress for the event!
The girls club members prepared treats and punch for the crowd.
Homie, the husband of Doctora Corina, gave a blessing, and Rita & Diego gave speeches.
And then cut the ribbon.
The crowd waited anxiously for a tour led by the Girls Club members.
While the Boys Club members lead games, and got their faces painted.
Micah judged the hula hoop contest, and eventually awarded prizes to anyone who lasted over five minutes...they were quite good at it!
The older guests chatted inside the clinic in peace...
...until we started a karaoke contest for the kids in there...
SO MANY people helped to make this dream come to reality. For that, we say a giant GRACIAS, THANK YOU!
We thank you for your donations, your time, your help writing curriculum, your building skills, and your prayers.
We know that the kids who attend will be blessed by it.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! We were blessed to get to spend the holiday season with our (growing!) families in Minnesota, and hence, we fell behind on our blogging. Today we'll make up for it with a photo recap of our snowy, really really cold time in the north land.

We spent our first days in Duluth, with Nathan and Rebekah, who were patiently (it seemed to us, at least) awaiting their first child. We got a tree from the Farmers Market, ate at wonderful restaurants (wild rice burgers--who knew?!) and relaxed together. It was quite a temperature change...we left the Dominican and it was 85 degrees...we arrived in Minnesota and it was 30 below. Whew!
Because we're slightly crazy, we drove from Duluth to New Ulm, MN where we ran a 4-mile fun run with the Lundquist parents. From there, we drove to Gustavus Adolphus to celebrate Zach's football season at the team banquet (and cheered for him as he was voted captain!).

We made it back to Duluth in time to welcome baby Katherine Joy to the world...
I'm quite sure her uncles are head-over-heels with her already.

From Duluth, we headed to Euclid, MN (near Grand Forks), via Pine River, to spend time with Jessi, Brian, and our nephew Cormac. It was a bit of a drive...but this guy is worth it!
We celebrated Zach's 21st birthday with him, and woke up to the Christmas Storm (we heard it referred to as Stormaggedon on the radio). The northern part of the state was hit the least, but we still got over 2 feet of snow. Still, we made it back to Pine River in time for a lovely Christmas breakfast with the Johnsons.
We were snowed-in on Christmas day, so we held the Johnson Game Olympics to keep ourselves entertained. Here, Owen and Christine are in a heated puzzle race.
On the 26th we made it back to Duluth...
And enjoyed an entire day of admiring Kate.
Soon after, we headed back to Pelican Rapids for the Lundquist Christmas-New Year-Extravaganza. We gathered in the new garage/family room and played games...
...and held the annual venison sausage making fest...
...and drank beer as the Germans do...to help Zach acclimate to the culture he was getting ready to experience during his trip to Europe, of course...
...but mostly we enjoyed just relaxing together (and admiring Cormac, too!)...
So, if you feel like this blog was a whirlwind of adventure, then you have gotten a taste of our time in Minnesota. We had a great time and are ever thankful for our awesome families. They put up with our nomad-ness and the fact that we never really "move out" of their homes, just leave a trail of our belongings...
We're so excited to be back in the Dominican, and we've got some big projects that we're working on. Stay tuned for some photos from the inauguration of the new preschool. Meanwhile, we'd better go soak up some of this Caribbean sun...it was a snowy December!