Honduras...un pais de cinco estrellas!

Honduras IS in fact a "five star country"!

My dream (and that of my deceased brother and sister) had ALWAYS been to go to Honduras. Never did I -in my wildest dreams- think this wish would ever come true.

During my three week stay in Honduras while visiting my father, I wanted to go sight seeing around this beautiful country that had me breathless no matter what turn I took up and down its slopes and hills at every corner I turned. Although my visit had a different purpose, I was not sure if I would have the opportunity to come close to "getting to know" my country as well as my roots. Remarkably enough, my new found relatives, my maternal cousins, and my Tia Pili were extremely hospitable and gracious to take me all over Honduras when possible. Looking back (at my 500+ pictures!), I realize just how fortunate and blessed I was to have actually gotten that once in a lifetime opportunity in such a short period of time. After all, I don't know (exactly) when I will be able to make such a trip again. Of course and without a doubt, I hope I do, someday-in the very near future. In the meantime, here are (A FEW) some breath-taking photos I took of Honduras' wonderful splendor and amazing topography.

 Aguilar Prado Family

Prado's

 With my cousin, Luis Guillermo and his family

 With my loving Tia Pili

With my sisters and their children

 Arriving at the Toncontin Airport

A view of the night sky at the Plaza de Espana

 Off to Choluteca

 How the Hondurans sell their vegetables

 Me at the delicious restaurant Los Manglares

Don't you agree now why my country coined this expression?

Reunited

I realize I haven't blogged since last November as you can observe from my last post. Not that I haven't wanted to do so-it's just that so much has happened since I last blogged on our family page. There have been many developments in my life since then. Coincidentally, about a year ago this month. So I thought I'd share them with you now.

Last April, I received an unanticipated message through Facebook. To my astonishment it was from my birth father whom I had never met, seen, much less remember since I was seven years old. He had found me after 29 years of not knowing anything about him. I was bewildered to say the least after many years of absenteeism. However, I couldn't help my curiosity to find out if, in fact, it was my father. After promptly replying to his request and confirming the add he and I established an amiable relationship and communication throughout the next five months (even though it was another world away in my native country of Honduras). Precisely ten days after my Thanksgiving post, I received yet another message that devastated me. This time it was to inform me of his incurable lung cancer. I was told he had a little over a month to live and that he didn't want to worry me by telling me of his condition (this explained the reason why I hadn't heard from him during those three months). Oddly enough, his last post was on August 20th (my 36th birthday). I think (now) that it was his way of saying "goodbye" to me before departing this life. At that moment the only thing that crossed my mind was that I wanted to be there for him in the "blink of an eye". But it was easier said than done. You see, since I came to the United States in 1981, I had never returned or traveled out of the country ANYWHERE. As many emotions surged throughout, my question was: "How was I going to travel to Honduras and defy TIME at the same time? It was literally, borrowed time. After sorting out the details of what was to be my trip to meet him and bid him farewell at the same time, I had another pending matter to take care of here, at home, with my family. I had NEVER been apart from my three children nor husband-ever-especially for the length of time I was going to be gone for. It was an extremely difficult time for them since it was so close to the Christmas holidays and the fact that I would miss Christmas and New Years altogether broke my heart even more. I was torn. It was just as painful for me as it was for them.  I spoke frankly to them (as much as three young children could understand) and to my amazement, my kids understood the situation and were 100% behind me, supporting every decision I made along the way. I must admit I underestimated them and tend to forget that they are no longer babies. To this day, I will NEVER forget how compassionate and positive their attitudes were towards the entire time this was going on. But I had faith that God would sort all of these things out for me if this was meant to happen for me. Granted, I had some setbacks here and there along the way, but God prevailed in the end. With the unconditional support of my wonderful, loving husband, his parents, and some close friends I was on my way to my place of birth of Tegucigalpa after an entire life away from it not knowing exactly how bittersweet my trip would actually be upon my return.

My time in Honduras with my father was QUALITY time well spent. I will never forget the time I spent with him-caring for him and just sitting by his side tending to his every need or request. I am forever grateful to God for allowing me that opportunity as I know he had already planned this for me before I even knew it. Those moments we shared together will eternally be engraved in my heart and my memory. My faith in God has grown even more after this wonderful encounter. I just pray he will continue to give me strength and fortitude for the next chapter in my life.

Rafael Castro Avila

December 20, 2010

Fabulous Fall

Signs of fall are rarely seen here in Laredo. Laredoans are not as fortunate to experience all four seasons of the year. We don't get the see the colors change from season to season as other cities and states do. So when we recently got a cold front down here we were very grateful and lucky in finally feeling cooler weather. Now by a "cold front" I mean 70-85 degree weather for us. At this point, we'll take whatever we can get!

For the past three years, we have gone to a local church to take our family "Fall" pictures. It amazes me just how much our three little pumpkins are growing every year. As a mother, you don't want this to happen but you know that you can not stop the inevitable. It does however put a big smile on my face how they are each developing their physical and mental abilities and with a different personality respectively. Every year I continue to count my blessings for allowing me to be a mother to my three beautiful and happy children.

October Fest!

The month of October was a busy one for us. We had so many activities going on that I can't believe how far behind I am on my scrapbooking! Towards the later part of the month we took the kids to Lowe's where they got to build their own bats during their "Build and Grow" series for kids. This wonderful program brings families together to share experiences with their children by building an item in a family oriented atmosphere. The kids enjoyed building their bats while Daddy helped by their side. At home Charlie took the project a little further and painted the bats and hung them up on the tree by our front lawn to make a nice touch to our quaint Halloween decorations.

While the kids were so anxious to do their pumpkin carving, we had to carefully explain to them (mainly Carolina) that we had to wait in order to take full advantage of them and not let them rot before Halloween would come. Luckily they understood and we waited to fully carve our colorful pumpkins. After the carving, we placed them in a table to decorate our garage and later moved them to the lawn when the evening got darker to fully appreciate the lighting. They definitely added a special touch to our Halloween night.

Speaking of Halloween, we couldn't have asked for better weather than the one we got that Sunday. It was a perfect evening to receive our neighborhood Trick or Treaters. We truly enjoyed dressing up and being hosts. Stay tuned for next year.....there may be a nice surprise regarding our costumes!

An unlikely Halloween tradition

As soon as my babies could go "trick or treating" we thought that it would become a typical tradition for us to do every Halloween. Boy, was I wrong! To our surprise (and as we have come to accept by now), they enjoy giving out candies instead. So now every Halloween they enjoy picking out the candy, look forward to decorating the house, going to the pumpkin patch, and carving a pumpkin. So as it turns out for the past five years we sit outside the garage for trick-or-treaters to stop by our house as our kids enjoy the evening giving out candy and admire the costumes.

Here are some pictures from last year's Halloween!

I had a lot of fun making my costume (along with the rest of my 3rd Grade Team!)

I wish I could take credit for this one....Caro's day care teacher let her use her daughter's costume (from last year) since Caro REALLY wanted to dress up as a Cowboy's Cheerleader. Her teacher's mother did a wonderful job in making it. Don't you think?

Without a sewing machine at my finger tips-I was still able to make Cristina's cowgirl vest as she wanted to. Not bad for a no-sew project.

I love his dimple!

 

New school year brings new changes!

When I found out I was being moved to 5th grade I have to admit I was shocked and it took some time to process this new challenge since for the past five years I have only taught 3rd graders! It would definitely be difficult parting with my team and classroom. After having all summer to do this, I also realized that five years ago Charlie and I both started together at Malakoff Elementary and now we were both also moving on together to 5th grade. I took this as a blessing in disguise as this will be his last year in elementary school. It will be a bittersweet change for me when he leaves me for middle school. I have all year to process that....

With Caro in 1st grade and Cristina in 3rd, I knew they would both be fine. Caro will be reunited with her Kinder teacher (who was also moved) and Cristina would be with my mentor/team member and good friend (who was also Charlie's teacher). I know they are in good hands since I will not get to see them as much as I am in a portable outside the school now.

As for me-well, I would be reunited with my former students and 3rd graders from two years ago. This is definitely going to ease the transition. I have also entered the Master's Program at Texas A&M International University. Five years ago I set a goal to return to school to pursue my Masters' Degree in School Counseling after Carolina completed her first year in school. And now, it is actually here. If all goes as planned, I hope to graduate and complete the program in two years.

This year will definitely be a year of new challenges and good changes for the Martinez family!

Turning 36...

After a long week preparing for the new school year with meetings and trainings, we went to Salsa's Restuarant for my birthday. The ambience was nice and calm. It was just the antidote I needed after a long hard day meeting my new parents and students. In the middle of our dinner I was serenaded with a trio of singers. The "serenata" was beautiful and the food was delicious (I love Sushi)! For my gift, Charlie gave me a gift certificate to Studio 55 Day Spa & Salon. I can't wait to use it!! I had a very good birthday....most importantly, I got to spend it with the best people in my life!

 

Unforgettable Summer

I can't believe that after three months of much needed rest, the kids (and I) will be going back to school. Our summer vacation couldn't have been any better this year. We were very fortunate to have taken several trips despite not having an extra paycheck this summer(which we had gotten used to). For the past five years I've worked straight through until July leaving me with only about six weeks of vacation and rest to re energize for the following year. But this year I actually had my first summer off since school let out. I have to admit that I felt strange at first with so much time on my hands, especially since I was not accustomed to it. The forthcoming days ahead turned out to be the busiest of any of my summers. Not by work, but by all the activities I did with the kids. I loved spending time with them and meeting everyone of their needs no matter what they were or requested. Of course being a mother comes with the territory, but the role of mom was much more fun and one of the most rewarding.

Our vacation started immediately after my official last day of work. Our Memorial Day weekend turned out to be the perfect antidote to my overwhelming year. Charlie was so supportive and convinced me to leave (and pack) right after he got out of work. That evening we headed right to San Antonio. While there, Charlie and I took the kids to the Alamo and surrounding attractions such as the much talked about cruise by the riverwalk on the boat, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

Since we were not far from my sister's in Austin, we planned on visiting her as well. However, she had a much better idea. We met halfway for lunch in historical Lockhart, Texas.

 We ate at the internationally known restaurant, Blacks Barbeque. We were so impressed at how big their BBQ Ribs were and especially how delicious their food was. It was definitely a family affair and one we will certainly have again sometime.

 After our delicious lunch, Omar took us to a park nearby. When he told us about it I wasn't expecting what we saw. We were impressed to find out it was much like Garner State Park where the kids had so much fun swimming in the Five Mile Dam. Our afternoon at Dudley Johnson Park turned out to be perfect considering it was Memorial Day weekend. There were just the right amount of people and the weather couldn't have been better.

Last week we planned on going camping but our plans changed and went to San Antonio and Dallas instead. That evening in San Antonio, Charlie's aunt and uncle offered to take care of the kids while Charlie and I took a stroll down the Riverwalk. Since it was already late we went to Howl at the Moon. Charlie had never been to that bar and admitted to having a lot of fun and enjoying the humorous atmosphere.

 

In the morning we took the kids to Schlitterbahn. They were so excited that they didn't even hesitate to take off their clothes and rapidly changed into their swimsuits. My first and only trip to the water park had been when my sister, Sandy and her husband, Alex took me and Melissa (Alex's sister) 13 years ago. I was just as excited as the kids were in getting on the water rides. We managed to survive the heat and stayed until the park closed. Needless to say, the kids had a blast! Take a look at the slideshow!! I took so many pictures of the fun we had.

We stopped at my sister's house for a quick visit in Austin after leaving Schlitterbahn. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures since we arrived late in the evening and left early in the morning for Dallas. For the following days we took a tour of the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, traveled to Oklahoma to gamble at the Winstar Casino (the kids stayed with Cindy and George and went for a swim in their pool! We ate at two great restuarants-Rio Mambo and Macaroni Grill, on two separate evenings, were treated to a delicious dinner at Amanda's and Manuel's house, ice skated at the Galleria, viewed a Red Bull Art Show, went swimming on one of our last nights and managed to drop my phone in the pool! Luckily, I was able to recover it (thanks to Cindy's advice).

I still can't believe we did so much!! We can't wait to see what the summer has in store for us next year!

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