Our vacation in Belize is almost over. I want to thank everyone who has been following our journey around this beautiful country. It has been a great time hanging out with family and taking in a new and different culture. Here is the recap for Tuesday (Day 9) and Wednesday (Day 10).

Yesterday (Tuesday, Day 9), we got up early on account of a little girl. However we didn’t get around to doing much more than that. We spent the majority of the day relaxing and enjoying each others’ company. At one point we decided to try to visit one of the Mayan ruins nearby. I was so excited to see some of these ruins. I mean, this is like 2012 stuff after all ;^)> Unfortunately, on the way, it looked like we were about to get poured on and there was little sign of it letting up. So we decided to turn back for the house and enjoy the sights. We also got in some good practice at doing crossword puzzles. Once we got back to the house, we finished up the day with a full game of  double-15 dominoes…it was long, but I ended up in second place, by a mere 200 points!!! Then it was off to bed.

Today (Day 10) was a new day. The original plan for today was to go on a tour of the jungle via a boat on the Monkey River. Once again, the rain had its own plan. We instead decided to come up to Belize City a day early and stay in a hotel for the night. The cool thing about Belize is that there are several excavated Mayan ruin sites around the country. One of the ones that I had seen online and was pretty impressed by was “Altun Ha”, only about a 30 minute drive outside of Belize City. After the change of plans to go down on the Monkey River excursion, a trip to Altun Ha was placed on the agenda. It did not disappoint. Here are some pics from our trip to Altun Ha.

You may have noticed that I took a break from updating yesterday. So here’s the recap. First let me say that we were able to be a part of our home church in Broken Arrow, OK, Destiny Church, via their online video feed. I was really glad to be able to feel like we were still connected even though we are thousands of miles away. After service was done, we were able to just kick back and relax. Jim and Lois’ church meets on Sunday evenings, rather than having a Sunday morning service. The reasoning for this, because that’s what the people in the church wanted. As Jim explained to me, they have a large hand in directing which way the lessons go. They are more like in-home bible studies than what most of us would consider a church service. Yes, they have a time of worship, but after that, the adults break up into their group with Jim and Lois takes the kiddos and teaches them. I was honored to be a part of their church service (sorry, no pics. I didn’t want to be a distraction).

Now for today (Day 8)! We spent the entire day in Placencia, a beach town that boasts the most narrow Main St. in the world (It’s a sidewalk that can fit about 2 people wide, and Jim says that they’ve widened it). We first did a little shopping, then made our way to a little beach-side restaurant for lunch. After lunch we spent the rest of the time on the beach, enjoying the ocean. It was great fun!

But if you are getting really jealous at this point, it has all come at a price. Both Denise and I have quite chewed up ankles/feet…not fun, but completely worth it ;^)>

Now for the pics!

You know that Blind Melon tune, “No Rain”? Well, the band obviously did not write it in Belize during the early part of the year! Wow, I don’t think that I’ve seen so many days strung together with rain!

Today after breakfast, Jim and I went for a drive around town to deliver some of Lois’ baked cinnamon rolls and drop Dave and Danielle off for some shopping. Here are some pics from that adventure:

Thankfully, today had a break in the downpour long enough for the guys to continue our building work on the patio. We were able to work swiftly and complete another 11 ft. or so of the wooden framing for the cement. Hopefully before we leave, we can fill in the forms with cement and Jim and Lois can have another portion of their patio/porch completed. While the guys were out in the quite humid Belizean air, the ladies were working on baking some tasty goodies (take my word for it, they were delicious).

Today seemed to fly by with the ability to go outside without fear of being completely drenched in a torrential downpour. Jim and I worked on setting up the AV equipment for Sunday services early on in the day and following a beans and hot dog lunch, the men were off to work. Here are some pics of what we have done and some neat sights around the yard!