OUR LAST BLOG!

Today we started our morning by packing up. We did this enthusiastically because we are so excited to come home. After working out and eating breakfast we loaded up Rip's furniture and headed to Masatepe. We took the furniture to Yitza and Oscar's house and set it up in their living room. They had no idea what was going on and it was a special gift from Rip. After this we went to the market to buy some last minute gifts. In the evening we went out to eat with all of the people who guided and supported us the most during our stay in Nica. We enjoyed a delicious meal and prayed together as a family. We are so blessed to have these people in our lives and thank God tremendously for them.

Well people, we have finally made it to the end of our journey here in Nicaragua. The past two months have been filled with excitement, adventure, laughter, tears, and joy. It's been quite a wild ride and we thank God for presenting us with this beautiful challenge. We have been extremely blessed to meet some extraordinary people and missions here. We are also very blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives. With that we want to take some time to thank all the people who gave incredible support to Prilanie during this mission. We want to give a shout-out to the following: God, our mom's Lynn and Ruth, our dad's Jon and Hector, our families, our church, The Matchbox, all who donated and supported us financially, all who supported us spiritually, every single one of our friends, our boys Ian and Rusty, and everyone else we may have left out! Our time here has transformed us forever and we hope that God continues to change our lives dramatically. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. Oh, and thank you for reading our blog!

Over and out.

Prilanie : )

p.s. A SPECIAL THANKS TO SUE AND ROGER FOR ALWAYS LEAVING US MOTIVATIONAL COMMENTS! WE APPRECIATED THEM GREATLY!

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

OUR LAST PICTURES!

The VIP's of our trip: Oscar, Yitza, Victor, Angela, Rip, Bernie, Prilanie, Sharon, Angie, and last but not least, Caitlin

Miss Caitlin

Keydi Hunter

Victor and Angela

Rip and Bernie

Sharon and Angie

Yitza and Oscar

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday:

Today started off very early. We left the house around 8:00 a.m. We picked up our friend Bernie who introduced us to a new mission at a place called El Colegio Maranata. We got the chance to meet a wonderful group of people who have a church and school for the local neighborhood. Rip got to know the lead pastor from this organization and they bonded right away. We got the chance to give a 20 minute bible study and meet the leaders of this church/school. Priscilla translated so much she thought her tongue was going to fall out of her mouth. In the evening Caitlin made us her spectacular spaghetti. We had a great day meeting yet another group of amazing people.

Sunday:

Today we went to Verbo Church to say goodbye to the kids from Casa Bernabe as well as the Poplar Creek team. We couldn't find the church and it was quite frustrating. It was a miracle, but eventually we got there. The air conditioning was out and it was a little bit of a challenge to sit through a 2-hour service in the blistering heat. After the sermon we quickly said our goodbye's to everyone from Casa, it was sad but we had a great time with them this summer! It's great to know that we continued to build relationships with these extraordinary kids. After church we drove out to Masatepe. We ate lunch at Angela and Victor's house which was incredibly delicious (Paz makes the best tacos in the world). In the evening we went to another church service at El Centro De Fe, Esperanze, Y Amor. Rip introduced each of us on the stage and the congregation prayed over all of the mission teams that were there. Today was a very "churchy" day.

We are now on our LAST day here in Nicaragua. We are sooooo excited to come home tomorrow, you guys have no idea. Please please please pray for our travels tomorrow. We only have one hour to get from customs in Houston to our connecting flight. It's a little risky and if we don't make our flight we run the risk of not coming home tomorrow evening! We are pretty anxious about this and are praying that we make it. Thanks for supporting us during this whole trip, we love all of you SO much. Over and Out.

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures From Saturday and Sunday

Delanie and Stanley

Freydel, Daroling, Mileydi

Rip and co. praying for a baby

The Chicago Gang

Julio and Bernie

Pastor love!

Delanie adopted 5 more kids!

Rip Rop Is back!

We picked up Rip from the airport successfully last night! It's so different having a boy in the house now. There is now a responsible adult back in the picture (or is there?).

The day started with a trip to a store called Price Smart. This place is the identical twin to what we know as Sam's Club. We literally felt like we were back in the states, it was quite a trip. At the store we picked up a birthday cake for Angela's daughter, Sharon. Sharon turned 12 today and they threw her a birthday party! The cake was our mission, hence the trip to Price Smart.

We couldn't stop talking about Charity and New Hope Children's Foundation so Rip asked us to take him to El Crucero to be introduced to the gang. Charity and Rip talked grown-up jargon about missions, Nicaragua and politics. They decided to keep in touch to collaborate on Charity's foundation in the future. Rip really enjoyed meeting the children and being introduced to a wonderful organization.

Sharon's birthday party was next on our list. We got to spend some time with Caitlin and it was so nice to be reunited with her (hey, 5 days feels like an eternity!). Sharon had a great time at her bash playing games, opening presents, and eating cake. Towards the end of it the children decided it would be a good idea to climb the tree like a bunch of monkeys (see photo below). We had a great time.

In the evening Rip took his three beautiful interns to a little Italian restaurant overlooking a lagoon. The pizza was amazing. We had a blast laughing together. I bet we are driving Rip absolutely insane already! We are now having a sleepover with Caitlin and look forward to our busy day tomorrow. Over and out.

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Rip and Leoito

Leoito is out of control!

Caitlin and Delanie

Happy Birthday Sharon!

This would NOT happen in the states

Attempting to look tough but failing miserably at it

Starting To Say Goodbye

We are starting to say goodbye to the different organizations and friends we have made here in Nicaragua. Today we had to say farewell to Charity and all of our pals at New Hope Children's Foundation. We went to El Crucero after having lunch at McDonald's with Jocelyn, Charity and Emily's mom and Delanie got a chance to cut Jocelyn's boys' hair. We believe this is the last time Delanie is cutting hair here in Nicaragua. She has done such a fantastic job these past couple of months. After Delanie was done we had to say goodbye to all the babies and children we have worked with. It was sad to leave them but we know our paths will cross again.

When we got home Keydi was at our house. Our guards came in and attempted to fix our insane washing machine but were not successful. We thanked them anyway and had a few laughs while they were here. Keydi is a cuckoo bird and began to wash our clothes by hand. She is such a people pleaser and we can't really stop her when she is determined. I think we are going to miss her the most and she has already told us that she is sad to have to say goodbye to us when we leave.

Our next goal for the day is to pick up Rip from the Managua airport at 8:09 p.m. We are hoping we can remember how to get there! We are excited to have him come back and be with us for our last days here in Nica. He is still not feeling well and prayers are very much appreciated on his behalf!

It was a bittersweet day because we are now realizing that the end is near. It stinks because Nica feels like home now, and it's awesome because the word Chicago sounds like music to our ears! Let's see how everything winds down from here on out...

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Team center at Charity's

This is Delanie's last day of cutting hair (fingers crossed)

Big smile!

Jocelyn and her boys

Beautiful foliage

Charity, Emily, and her mommy

6 Days Left People, 6 Days Left

Our original morning plans got cancelled (no surprise here). We were going to go to El Crucero to cut hair but the team was not in town so we rescheduled for tomorrow. Since we had some free time we played arts and crafts all morning. We then took a dip in the pool down the road, it will probably be the last time we get to swim there!

Keydi came over around 2:00 in the afternoon. She started a load of laundry when all of a sudden the washing machine went haywire and almost blew up! It started to jump up and down all on it's own and then it threw up all over the kitchen floor. There was water and soap to our knees. It was a disgusting scene altogether. We now have three loads of dirty laundry and will probably have to bring it back to Chicago with us (yuck!).

We left the chaos of our house and headed back to Casa Bernabe. We really wanted to meet up with the team from Poplar Creek again and hear about their adventures of the day. They visited La Chureca today and finished painting the teen house at Casa. God is doing such wonderful things with them and we are excited to witness some of it. We had a little bit of time to visit with our friends at Casa and told them these were our last days here! We are going to miss all of them soooo much. We are so blessed to have them in our lives.

Tomorrow we plan on going to Casa and then we are picking up Rip from the airport in the evening. We won't have our own car anymore! But we are happy that he will be with us once again.

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Poplar Creek represent!!!

Teen girl house at Casa Bernabe (painted purple by our team!)

Our guard Fernando loves us and gives us his mom's homemade tortillas

The "hotel" where the Poplar Creek team is staying

A Little Taste Of Home

Delanie is feeling better! Thank you for keeping her in all of your prayers, because it worked! Yay God! Okay, enough sentences with exclamation points. We started our day by sleeping in (ahhhhh). We wanted to make sure Delanie was really ready to go back into the real world so we relaxed for the first part of the day.

Our team from Poplar Creek Church arrived in Nica last night and we wanted to go see them this afternoon. There was just one small problem...our car did not start. We tried to get help from our neighbors but that didn't work. We called our friend Jimmy who then called our taxi driver Enrique and about 2 hours later he arrived. He toyed around with it and he got it to start!!! We hugged him and gave him some money. He told us that everytime we see him we are a blessing to him. We really think that our car trouble was almost meant to happen so that we could help out Enrique. God really does work in funny ways sometimes, doesn't He?

By 5:00 in the afternoon we were finally on our way to Casa Bernabe. When we saw our girls it felt amaziiiiinnnngggg. It was like having a little piece of home. We are so excited for all of the great things God is planning on doing with them while they are here this week. We spent a few hours with them at Casa and caught them up on everything we have been doing. After eating dinner with our church family we came back home. I think we have finally learned how to NOT let Nicaragua win...you just need good connections!

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

pictures of the day...

The Poplar Creek Gang (from left to right): Sandy, Stephanie, Lori, Priscilla, Stefanie, Becca, Delanie, Cassie

Prilanie

Delanie is SickenMcChicken

We did not have an eventful day whatsoever...Delanie is still feeling yucky so we stayed in for the day. Here is our exciting list of events...

1. Woke up

2. Cancelled our plans with Jocelyn and Angela

3. Watched Home Alone

4. Fell back asleep

5. Ate lunch

6. Watched 9

7. Fell back asleep...again

8. Picked up a pizza

9. Watched Garden State

10. Ate more pizza

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Delanie's phone is very large and in charge

Prilanie (with no make-up!)

PIZZA!

Ingles is bueno

This wonderful Sunday morning we went to an English church service. It was so nice to be able to understand everything that was being taught. Our good friend Charity invited us to come to this church with her group and all of the children we have been working with. The pastor called charity to the front with all four of the babies and the congregation prayed over them. We also got a chance to meet so many other American English-speaking missionaries. Some have been here for a couple of weeks and others have been here for years! It is encouraging to know that it is possible to be in Nicaragua (or other parts of the world) for a long period of time if God calls us to be.

After church the three of us ate lunch at home and rested for a few minutes. Caitlin has to go back to teaching English in Masatepe tomorrow so we drove up to drop her off in the early afternoon. Angela and Victor came back from Mexico this morning and we were so happy to see them. This was also the first time Caitlin was meeting the people she is basically interning for! They welcomed her right away. Priscilla also had to confess to Angela that she "tapped" the taxi at the market. Angela just rolled her eyes; she wasn't mad at all.

Tomorrow we are heading back to El Crucero to cut three of the boys' hair at New Hope Children's Foundation. After that we are going to Masatepe to have lunch with Victor, Angela, Caitlin, and their family. We ask for prayers for Delanie because she is not feeling well. Please pray for her health and a speedy recovery. Other than Delanie being ill, today was super duper.

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Caitlin is a cuckoo bird

Prilanie

Berta Calderon

We finally made it back to the cancer hospital today. After three weeks of telling our friend Martha that we would come back to finish cutting hair, we finally returned to Berta Calderon hospital. Martha is a missionary at this hospital in the women's cancer center, she has been there for 4 years now. This section of the hospital houses women who are in remission and/or are going home soon. We came to know this ministry through Rip. When we first visited this place, Martha asked us if we could get any donations of beauty products (combs, brushes, hairdryers, towels, haircutting scissors etc.). Many of you donated more than enough of the supplies needed but sadly to say they were all stolen when Rusty (Delanie's boyfriend) got robbed in Costa Rica. But we have kept our heads up and ask again if you are being lead to donate any of the above items to send down with the missions team from Poplar Creek Church that will be coming down to Nica this Monday.

As you have read, our plate has been filled with many missions and adventures so it had been quite some time since we had last visited Martha and her ministry. We came to the hospital today and Delanie got to cut 8 heads of follicles. They were all very happy with their new stylish do's and Delanie felt that she had finally accomplished her mission here at Berta Calderon. Priscilla and Keydi helped out by doing the usual translating. We also got to talk to Martha and get to know her on a deeper level and how she was called to work with this hospital and these brave, amazing women. Martha is such a fighter and has such a strong relationship with God. Please pray for this ministry and the women who are fighting cancer.

We are planning to go to an English church service tomorrow and we are super pumped about it! We really haven't gone to a service where we felt we got a full serving of spiritual food so we hope that tomorrow will fill us up. Charity (New Hope Children's Foundation) invited us to come with her to this church and we said yes right away! We now have 10 days left before we are home!

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Delanie is a pro now

Caitlin aka Rumps

Cancer center at Berta Calderon

Keydi and Priscilla

Delanie adopted a baby! ...just joking

Back On Schedule

We started off today by driving to the town of El Crucero to cut some hair. Charity asked us to come to her place (New Hope Children's Foundation) today to chop off a few of the girls' hair so Delanie went to work right away. The babies who were at the hospital last week are better/back home and we want to thank you for all of your prayers because they helped! Ofelia is still sick but is doing better than before.

We picked up Caitlin in Masatepe in the early afternoon and brought her back to Managua. She has officially taught for an entire week in Nicaragua! When we came home our friend Andrea dropped by and Delanie cut her hair. She absolutely loved it and we chilled with her for a while around the kitchen table. We drove Andrea back to her home at a Christian University where she is a missionary. As we were driving back from dropping Andrea off we saw Keydi sitting outside of her house. We pulled over and she showed us her home and introduced us to her family, it was so great to finally meet them!

In the evening we drove to Casa Bernabe to watch our friends lead a worship service. It was really neat to watch Freydel (Delanie's sister) play the drums. Jonathan and Maryuri sang beautifully and Stanley played the bongos. It was so great to see the teens praising God. We were beat from doing so much during the day so we didn't stick around long and drove home after the service.

On our way home we got pulled over again. Priscilla made the same mistake she did the last time - turning into the far lane instead of the closest. The police thought we were quite entertaining and made fun of Priscilla's Mexican accent. He also thought she was 18 years old and almost didn't believe that her real age is 25. Priscilla laughed the whole time and made jokes with the officers, it was actually very entertaining. They asked who's car we were driving and after telling them it belonged to a church and that we are missionaries they let us go without a ticket!!! It was worth looking like foolish, young, American girls tonight!

It was a busy busy day but we accomplished so much and that feels so good. Tomorrow we are planning to visit the cancer hospital to spend some time with the patients and cut hair. Caitlin will be with us for this as well! Yay! Thanks for all of your prayers! Peace out.

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures of the day...

Amy and her sister

Grace (Charity and Leo's daughter)

Delanie cutting hair (again!)

Jelka

Amy and Priscilla

M, T, W, Th

The past four days have been filled with insane adventures with our guests. We "got rid" of the lasts guest this morning. We have not blogged due to the busyness so here are our events of the week in chronological order...

Monday:

Priscilla, Delanie, Rusty, Paul, and MK went to a VIP movie at the theater where you get your own recliner, table and food/drink service during the entire film. After the movie we picked up Caitlin from Masatepe and visited a town called Granada. It is a colonial city in history and architecture. We attempted to eat dinner at a restaurant on the beach but they had none of the items listed on their menu. We ended up at a little place called Imagine which had great food. We had a blast.

Tuesday:

We drove Paul and MK to the Ticabus station in the morning after a hearty McDonalds breakfast. Afterwards, Delanie, Priscilla, and Rusty went to Casa Bernabe so that Rusty could meet Delanie's sisters as well as the other friends at the orphanage. In the evening, we went to a couple of bars/restaurants and caused complete mayhem (just kidding!). It was great to go out at night since we always come home by sunset!

Wednesday:

Priscilla, Delanie, and Rusty drove to Masatepe to pick up Caitlin and came back to Managua to go to the movies. We watched Knight and Day which proved that Tom Cruise still looks decent and Cameron Diaz is looking a bit saggy. It wasn't that great of a movie, we don't recommend it. When the movie was over we stuck around and chilled out at a bar/restaurant for a while. It was nice to let go and laugh/be goofy together. We drove Caitlin home in the evening and continued the goofiness when we got home. We didn't go to sleep until 4:30 in the morning which was a baaaad idea...read Thursday now...

Thursday:

We had to drive Rusty to the airport this morning and we left the house by 6:00 a.m. We were on one hour of sleep and didn't even know how to get to the airport. After asking our guard and several strangers on the street for directions, we got Rusty there on time. We prayed and said goodbye to our last guest. Driving while exhausted is kind of yucky and we got lost on the way home. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time we got to come home and crash for a few hours. We woke up at 2:00 p.m., went grocery shopping, and just finished working out.

It was great having friends come to our house this week. We did a lot of driving, laughing, eating, and getting lost. It feels a bit strange to be alone again but our busy schedule is back on track so stay tuned tomorrow. Oh, by the way, we only have 12 days left!

I am today what yesterday has made me; tomorrow I shall be changed by today's experiences.

xoxo

Priscilla and Delanie

Pictures From Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs

Prilanie

Rusty and Delanie

Priscilla and Caitlin

The gang (+1 server)

The beach in Granada

Jonathan and Priscilla at Casa Bernabe

Rusty and Delanie at Casa

Priscilla and Freydel at Casa