The Hanson Crew

I'll warn you that this post is a little longer than most... So we all made it safely back to the US last night around midnight. The entire team experienced some kind of stomach bug, probably something we ate the last day, while traveling back home. Those that weren't sick yesterday while we traveled, woke up to the horrible thing I experienced with most of the group yesterday. We all wore really bright orange Vision Trust shirts yesterday so it would be easier to find one another through custom lines, baggage areas, etc. I'm glad we did that through Atlanta especially where it was crazy. We all were one big orange family by the last day! I was so thankful to get sleep in my own bed last night although I didn't sleep a whole lot again. It is so hard to explain how I feel after this trip. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have gone. So many prayers and many servant hearts made it possible for me to leave my busy schedule, family and sheltered life to go.

Hard to believe tonight was our last night here in the Dominican. What a lasting memory this trip will be. We get to vivist an Aids Orphange tomorrow for an hour. Please pray for the 24 children we will meet then. Please also pray for our travels most of the afternoon and evening. We arrive in freezing Kansas City around midnight. Because I haven't been able to upload any my photos yet from the trip, I highly recommend you look at Hererra, Domincan Republic - near Santa Dominca on Google earth. That is the small town we ministered to all week. I also wish to add Hot showers to my list of things I take for granted from the other day! Buenes Noches!

It's so hard to believe it is Thursday already. Today is our last full day at Grace School doing dentist stuff. Tomorrow we will be here in the morning and then clean up and pack in the afternoon. We will also visit a market tomorrow similar to flea markets in America when we are done packing. Last night was a little different than it has been the rest of the week. We finished our work around 4 and then headed back to the hotel (30 minutes away from Herrera). We usually go straight to dinner after leaving Hererra. We got cleaned up and then left again for dinner at 6:00. We drove alond the coast where the University is on the island. The water is really bumpy right now. There were again some very interesting things along the drive (a naked man sitting on the rocks, a man going to the bathroom on the sidewalk, and many crazy drivers along the way). The restarunt we ate at reminded me of somewhere in Florida. It was American type food - hamburgers and french fries which was a little

Electricity (we have lost power multiple times while here, even during church service) Traffic Lights (they have some, but they lose power alot) Turn signals on cars (they don't really use them ever - just come over right in front of you) Purified Water (we got a gallon when we arrived and fill it up each day at the school where they have built a purification system for their building. They sell jugs of it to the community for 1/4 of the price as the market The ability to flush toliet paper (we throw the used tp in the trash can next to the toliet here at the school) a yard (kids here just play in the street all day) diapers (have seen a few children walking around without them bath tubs and showers (Herrera kids take baths in a large bucket in the front of their house) trash service (there are piles and piles of trash everywhere because they have no place to put it Clean rivers (the river through town is filled with sewage and waste from the village - the smell obivously goes with

Wow, it's hard to believe it is only Tuesday! I am really enjoying it here. The food is slowly growing on me. I have eaten yuca and plantines a few times, which is common here. Yesterday our group leader explained to us that the DR flag is red, white, and blue so their national food is based on that color. Every meal usually includes white rice, red beans, and well, since there is no blue food, chicken! He is right. We had red beans, white rice and more plantines and bananas for lunch today at the school. Our system of moving kids through our "office" has really improved since yesterday too. The kids love Americans and it is so neat to see their expressions when they see us. We enjoyed another night of fellowship, worship and small group bible lesson night from Caleb. The Lord is working in each of our lives in different ways. It is neat to hear everyone share the reason they are here in the evenings. It sounds like things are going well at home while I am gone. I am curi

So today was our first day at the school doing dentist work. It is a holiday for Herrera, which means not a school day for the community. So Vision Trust told the other villages to bring their children today to see us. We also are seeing the older children that go here with major dental pain or problems. It has been interesting so far. The language barrier is really hard. I have a great opportunity while they are waiting for the hygentist to talk to the children. They say alot really fast and I don't have a translator in that area. So I tell them my name and ask theirs. Then I have been taking their picture and showing it to them. They love that. They ask for more photos and are sillier the second time. I do that in between sterilizing all of the trays and tools for the 3 hygentists. I also run charts back and forth between the dentists and the charting room. I am working side by side with Ashley from my church and have enjoyed visiting with her too. We get an hour lunc

So today was another amazing day. We slept in until 7 and ate breakfast at the hotel. then we took a bus to the village Herrera where the children's school is that we will be doing the dentist work at. the first timers all got a tour of the village. it was indescribable. words can't explain the poverty there and the sewage everywhere. i didn't take pictures on the tour, but got some shots from the roof of the school of the houses. the people are very friendly. i said bienas or hola alot on the tour. there are also a lot of people from haiti here. after the tour, we setup our dentist office. we setup 3 hygenist stations, 2 dentist stations and an area where the younger girls will teach them to brush their teeth and play while they wait. i am in the hygentist room. ashley and i are going to be in charge of santitizing all the equipment and setting up trays for each patient. we will also help the hygentists with any errand running they need from brent and caleb&#

hola! i made it today at around 12 thirty KC time. as you can tell , i am still learning some of the cultural differences here , including this keyboard ! our luggage all arrived with us . we made it through the drive from the airport , which was completely crazy ! no lights , no lanes really , and alot of merging in and out . oh, motorcycles weaving everywhere ! if you know me well at all , you can picture my face the first 30 minutes in the car ... but i survived ! then we had pizza by the hotel, got cleaned up , worshipped together , and planned out the day tomorrow . i am excited for the breakfast , tour of the school and town , and rooftoop church service tomorrow . the weather is about 75. i am wearing capris and flip flops . i miss john and the kids , but really enjoy my roomate jerry . please pray for my first meeting tomorrow with the village we are serv

I've got my luggage all ready to go. My Vision Trust T-shirt is set out for our team meeting at the airport at 4 a.m. Most of my children are healthy right now (only 1 still sick) and I am not showing any symptoms! I have been praying for safe travels, good health, and for God's will while I am there. I can't wait to meet all of these children! And I can't wait to see a third world country for the first time. I just told Ashlyn while I was zipping up my carry on that I don't think I have ever been on a trip for a whole week without John (since we've been married). It kinda feels a little weird. I was told that I will have access to the internet at the Children's School so I will try to update the blog once in awhile with what I am doing. I won't be able to put up any pictures until I get back. But I will be taking ALOT while I am there. Please continue to pray for me and my family while I am gone. I am excited to see God's hand over in

Joshua lost his second top front tooth last night. We had forgotten how funny the next few months looks and sounds....

Yesterday around 3:00 pm, another band of snow started making its way through Kansas City. Caleb's school was canceled by 5:00 pm for Thurs. It snowed all night through 6:00 am... We ended up with about 6 1/2 inches. It is really pretty. The street out front is even with our sidewalk curb this morning. We are thankful for 4WD so John can get to work. Ashlyn got sick right after school yesterday so she is still in bed. Caleb's cough has worsened tremendously and we are deciding whether or not we should take him in for some prescription cough syrup and antibiotic - it's clearly bronchitis now. Joshua's cough is getting better and Jonathan has no symptoms right now. I have a really sore throat today and my stomach is a little queasy (Ashlyn's illness). I leave for the Dominican Republic at 4:00 in the morning on Sat. Please pray for healing for everyone before I go. I would hate to leave John with 3 more throwing up. Here is the result of the snow storm in o

We made chocolate peanut clusters this weekend...they were easy and fun to make. Here are the helpers trying it out...they turned out very good and are so easy to make.

This weekend was a fun treat for the kids. Sleepovers with both grandma's in one weekend. Friday night, Grandma Peggy came and slept over while I went to church to setup a women's luncheon I organized. They watched a movie, played hide n seek, had an egg hunt, and enjoyed Saturday morning together while I attended the lunch. After she left, we cleaned up the house and got ready for Grandma Sue and Ella to come spend the night. Everyone was so excited. We got to hear all about her trip, watched a movie, played Scene It, and enjoyed church and Panda Express together. John and Gary were supposed to arrive back in Kansas City late tonight, but we just found out that there flight was canceled. So we won't see them until tomorrow now. It was a refreshing weekend for everyone I think, even John who got to visit with other franchise owners and nap some. Back to the normal routine this week before I leave them all alone for 8 days....

We decided to venture outside today and finally enjoy the snow since it was warmer, 25 degrees - a heat wave! We went sledding down the hill in our front yard just in case it was still too cold to be out very long. They flew down the hill, skid across the once cleaned off sidewalk and over a big bump of snow into the street. They love it! All but Jonathan. He got snow in his glove his first time down and decided he was ready for hot cocoa. Joshua jumped at that idea and went in soon after to join him. Caleb and Ashlyn stayed out for a long time and started a snow fort too. We are excited to hear what Grandma Sue thinks of all this snow. She comes home tonight from the sunny Philippines!

Wow, what a winter surprise! We ended up with about 8 inches of snow in 24 hours. The kids and I have stayed inside since Sunday night, except for some snow shoveling. We chickened out of sledding and snow fort building because it was freezing outside. Here are the 2 brave ones who shoveled... FCA was out of school on Monday, but we still had homework to do for both Monday and Tuesday (our typical homeschool day). Line Creek was out Monday, Tuesday, and we just found out tomorrow (Wed) too. Caleb and I spent some extra time reading and working on speech cards, while the others worked on their homework. It was pretty relaxing, minus the computer drama we have had all week. Today, our desktop monitor went out, which was plugged into our broken laptop. John surprised me with a new flat screen monitor to replace that one, which is really nice. We will send in our laptop next week to fix that screen. The two little boys and I will venture out in the snow tomorrow for some errands for

About 4 inches exactly! We might get about 5 more inches before midnight. The kids were almost certain last night that they would not have school today. John and I got up at 6:00 to see. They were right. Then John had to pace around for awhile deciding what to do for work. Do I send 20 vans out in this mess all day or try to re-schedule all the cleans? The mess for both is about the same. He decided to go ahead and stay open today with the thought that tomorrow might be the day he will need to cancel. Tonight it will all freeze into ice. We did get our friendly FCA emails already. The ones that remind us that tomorrow is still a homeschool day. So we got the lesson plans and homework for today and tomorrow that will be due on Wed. One child's is much more than the other one of course. It looks like we might do half today and the rest tomorrow. Caleb is in snow heaven right now. He wants to go shovel with me and then practice speech homework since the others have so

It is becoming clear that our crew should strictly be desktop people. Yesterday, an adult, not a child this time, accidentally stepped on our new laptop and damaged the LCD screen on this one too. He shall remain nameless. The good news is that after last year's laptop crisis, we remembered to buy the 2 year warranty on this one. We will be mailing it to the warranty company for a new screen next week. Then we will get it back 10 days later. I wonder how long that screen will last?

is on its way.....Caleb along with some meteorologists are predicting a little more than 5 inches for Monday! Yeah!

John will be in AZ for a few days for a work meeting Deanna will finish planning her first Women's Ministry event and then see how it turns out (the weekend John is out of town) First mission trip to the Dominican Republic for 8 days First full week of school schedules, homework, carpools, etc without mom and with dad Couples getaway to AZ for John and Deanna for a few days (thanks to some free tickets from our stranded time in Hawaii last Feb) Sue gets back from her 6 week stay in the Philippines (the one who will hold down the fort while we are in AZ for Valentine's Day) Seems like alot of travel the next month or so, but we are still looking forward to cold days at home too. All 3 trips are to warmer climates! Things have been pretty busy around here lately preparing for different future events/trips so I thought I would share what we are going to be doing. Hope you're having a great week! The weekend is here...

I have enjoyed going through some of Ashlyn's videos she has recorded over break. She is really quite funny. Her teachers and classmates wouldn't believe how much she talks and jokes on these videos. While I was watching a few this morning, I noticed one that is so typical around here. Anytime we try to Skype or record something, this happens....you will see what I mean when you watch the video. What would our lives be like without our Caleb!

when your ornery little brother kicks you in the face while you have a loose front tooth... That is his first missing TOP tooth. It's hard to take him serious with his new look! We can't wait to see what he looks like soon when the other one falls out (hopefully on it's own next time!)