Our trip in food.

When we landed at the Miami Airport three weeks ago, we shooed our bags through customs and hightailed it to California Pizza Kitchen. Land of flavorful food, free refills and cashiers that acknowledge your presence and speak politely in English.

As we inhaled our pizzas (BBQ chicken and Thai), I thought it would be fun to keep track of the massive quantity of food we planned to eat.

We forgot to write everything down, but we did take an inordinate number of food pictures. I will also tell you that I, Holly, gained 11 pounds in 10 days. It was quite a feat!

So here we are, eating our way across the country.

ps - I'm back to my normal size, now.


We never get tired of America's ubiquitous free refills.


The house Italian at Debbie's Diner in Morgan, Utah.


The smoked sausage is not to be missed at Mac's BBQ in Skiatook, Oklahoma.


Dad can't even put his fork down long enough to smile for the picture.


TJ's mom made this heavenly birthday cake from scratch. Fresh strawberries and cream cheese icing, plus his Mimi's homemade banana ice cream on the side.


TJ's mom packed us a lunch for our drive to Nashville.


Hard to beat these hamburgers at Blake & Moriah's.

Something cheery...

Sometimes TJ & I wish we could find someone else to write a blog for us. Especially right now, when we're not feeling especially cheery, yet we're tired of seeing the last post. (You know, the one that makes us feel like our work here is for naught.)

Unfortunately, there was a LOT of other stuff stolen. Even worse, he's not sorry. Not even sorry enough to give it back, though we have recovered almost everything.

We're ready to pull ourselves up out of the despair of the last few days... I planned to post pictures of all of the delicious food we ate while we were home, but there's no power, therefore no computer with stored pictures.

So I'll find something else cheery to say... Wednesday night Bible study with the boys is going great. We're studying the book of James, and they love his practical, tangible thoughts. They also love The Princess Bride, which we showed last night.

TJ's mom is in China with her Chinese friends right now - they asked her to come tell their family the good news of Jesus. My dad broke his heel, but it's healing very well. I'm looking forward to making Carrie's Cool Cucumber & Avocado Soup. We're planning a trip to Europe in a year to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. And even though we don't have power, we DO have running water.

Happy Birthday, Thomas Carlton McCloud, Jr.

(Pictured here with Thomas Carlton McCloud, Sr.)

I thought about posting 27 reasons why I love my sweet husband, or 27 reasons why I'm glad he was born 27 years ago today.

But let's face it - in the blog world, that's been done.

So instead, I'll tell you the truth about what happened today, what it is often like to fight for God's kingdom in RioSanJuan. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows, with barely a chance to breathe in between.

We had a fantastic birthday celebration at a local beach cabana, complete with good food, good books, and new friends.

We came home to find someone had broken into our house, and stolen something of great sentimental and monetary value. The thief was one of our boys, the one we are closest to.

We have the item back, though we never expected to see it again. Nevertheless, we are reeling and our hearts are broken.

I guess Satan doesn't rest on birthdays, but praise God, neither does our Father.

Not chicken? Not interested.

Apparently, this tasty Cheez-It wasn't enough to rouse our resident beach dog, Batman, from his nap.



TJ tried tempting him with an M&M, but that didn't work either.




ps - TJ says we need another about the boys, so everyone knows we don't just go to weddings and hang out at the beach. So... more posts about your favorite RioSanJuan Pescadores coming soon.

We owe you pictures from the boys enjoying pizza & bowling in Santiago, and possibly a video of summer fun. We're also planning an end-of-summer, back-to-school blessing, complete with Goldfish crackers (which they've never seen) and a fish-shaped cake. We're hoping this back-to-school party will motivate the teachers to actually begin classes in the next few weeks.

What do you think?

Do we look different in the States? We think so. We almost don't recognize ourselves in this picture. This was taken from the balcony of the lake house where we stayed with the Farmers and the Lavs. More pics of Center Hill Lake fun on Moriah's blog.

While we were there, Lynn asked this question: distance & cost being equal, would you choose 1)a ski chalet 2)a beach house or 3)a lake house. I thought about it long and hard (important, since it's soooooo likely to happen), and though I'm a lake girl through and through, I think beach house is the definitive answer. It's lower maintenance, without the boat, water toys, ski gear or lift tickets. AND you could go there practically year-round, whereas the other two are seasonal.

For a fair comparison to the above picture, this is what we usually look like in the Dominican:

Thanks for hosting us, Blake & Moriah! We had a fabulous time in their fabulous new home.

Many thanks to babies Hannah, Elijah & Jay for hours of entertainment. Seriously - check out Jay winking for the camera. Has anyone EVER seen a baby do that?! Incredible.

A few pics to tide you over...

Adding to the Family!

We are adding to the Family.

No- we are not pregnant.

But- we did just gain a sister-in-law!

We have been in Utah for Holly's brother's wedding, and are now driving back to KS/OK through Denver. We are loving the family time and the American food ( we are way overwhelmed with the choices!)

Anyway- we promise more pics and info soon!

¡Te extrano, Baja Burrito!

Do we say enough that we love living here?!

Well, we do. We love it.

But sometimes... It sneaks up on us. We miss home. Usually food or friends. And the other day I REALLY wanted some pineapple salsa from Baja Burrito.

So gosh darn it, I walked to the fruit market, picked out my ingredients, pulled out my trusty As-Seen-On-TV Magic Food Chopper (no electricity required - thanks, Linda!), and made some TASTY pineapple salsa.

Our friend, Lindsay, was staying with us, and I fear she was the true master behind the recipe. I probably won't be able to make it just right until she moves here with her family in the fall.

But here's what how we made it, more or less...

Pineapple Salsa:
2/3 pineapple, peeled & diced
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalepeño (didn't have, so we used crushed red pepper)
1 stem fresh cilantro
dash of orange juice (drain pineapple juice first)
1 teaspoon cumin (used Maggi seasoning instead)
salt and pepper to taste

*Plus a few secret ingredients I snuck in while Lindsay wasn't looking...

Today's coversation with Mac help

Me: Hello. There's an ant trapped in my computer screen.

Mac: Huh? Can you brush it off?

Me: No, it's on the INSIDE of my screen. I can see it crawling around, but I can't get to it.

Mac: Hmmm... Maybe turn the computer off and hope it finds it's way out?

Me: Okay... thanks.


I don't know what I was hoping they would say, really. I just didn't want to stare at an ant carcass for the rest of our iMac's life.

The ant found it's way out, hallelujah.