This past weekend we took a road trip down to Texarkana.... a place for those undecided which is their favorite state... Arkansas or Texas. My sis chose to live in Arkansas, but work in Texas... the best of both worlds! We decided it was time to visit her. My mom flew down to SA and she and I and the three kids made the 8 hour road trip. I must say, this was not bad at all. Maybe I'm a pessimist, but I really had prepared myself for half of the time filled with baby cries. I cringed when we were just outside the SA city limits and Lucy asked, "Are we close to Lacey's house?" But, surprisingly, all went well for both the trip there and back. All three kids were little angels.
One of the keys to the success of the trip is a Nursery Rhyme book my mom brought. It is a thick book, but I'm positive it was read all the way through, with some stories (such as Rapunzel) being read multiple times. Way to go, grandma Cindy! The pic above is Lacey reading with her "elementary school teacher" voice, which I love and so does her niece. Even though the stories have been read over and over, Lucy still gasps and covers her mouth at the "scary" parts and assures everyone that someone will save the day.Trips with Lacey and my mom can be summarized by two words: SHOP and EAT. This trip was heavy on the SHOP. I had a great time because, for once, I could buy whatever I wanted and not have to worry about shoving it in my suitcase. My mom was not as lucky and it was quite comical to see her red suitcase BURSTING at the seams and her kneeling on it to get it shut! Fun times! I wish I had a picture of it. In fact, I wish I had a bunch of pictures. We had so much fun that I hardly took any photos. Below is a pic Lucy took though. It is probably one of the worst of all three of us, but I had to post it because of the story behind it. Lucy loves to take pictures and ordered Lacey to sit in a certain spot so she could take the photo and really got after her when she moved. We were laughing so hard, we were crying. Can you see the tear in Lacey's eye? Embarrassing that my child is so bossy, but still very funny. Its sad because I could totally hear my tone of voice as she said it. Kids certainly pick up everything!
Indeed, it was a very nice trip! Thanks ladies!
Our first day out two of the HMMWVs got stuck on basically the same driving error (cutting the corner to tight not realizing the rear wheels may not track the front). We pulled them out with only a little difficulty. 
These two gals came down the hill past where we were eating lunch with some beautiflul lillies that I assume were headed to market eventually. The older lady had a baby papoosed in the blanket tied around her chest.
Another shot of our team. Dr. Cruz is the lady on the right - she joined us for the last day - she's a local Honduran doc.
Coffee is the predominant industry - these are coffee beans picked and drying in the sun. I assume the chicken is pretty clean.
Local girls who got some new shoes courtesy of the crew from South Dakota. Kimi picked up some bubbles which is what they're holding in their hands.
Action shot of a blood draw. After 5 days out in the mountains we came back and toured the pediatric wards at a regional hospital and the national teaching hospital in Tegucigalpa I was amazed at the severity of illness supported with bare bones ICU equipment and anticipate that if I had done residency in Honduras I would of necessity have become a much better doctor than I am at this point. 
Since Valentines is really busy at the restaurants, Geo and I usually celebrate before. On the actual day, we have a home cooked meal. Every year, I try to make something sort of exotic that I've never made before. I must say, we've tried some 
shirts for the babies from our 
Learned how to kick in the tubber. And he smiles more. What a cutie!
Side note: I miss Geo today. It is Groundhog day and we always watch his favorite movie to celebrate it. 