NOTE: if you are viewing this on Facebook, click on over to our blog to see the photos and videos – http://www.toonesalive.com/blog/family/?p=2960

I woke up early Monday morning and was out the door by 6:30 AM on a 123 mile bike ride north. Kristine was leaving a few hours later with the kids to drive up and pick me up somewhere in north Alabama for us to finish the drive up to Wisconsin. Along the way, we stopped to visit our cousins in Franklin and drove through a LOT of rain from Tennessee pretty much ALL the way to northern Indiana where it finally turned to snow. By the time the sun came up after we made it through Chicago including a couple sleep stops in the toll road rest stops, it was clear and cold but not a lot of snow. It took until the last 50 miles of our trip before we started seeing snow more consistently. And then by the time we made it up here to Telemark near Cable, WI that snow was covering everything. After an inch of snow last night, I feel like winter has finally arrived! Enjoy the pics and videos!

If the flickr slideshow doesn’t display, then trying viewing it on flickr here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/10762744@N05/sets/72157628622089321/

Josiah and Papa Dale are camping out at Oak Mountain State Park, while Analise, Kristine, and Grandma Sandy are camping at the zoo! How fun! I am missing out on all the fun, but getting caught up on stuff at home. I hung out with Josiah and Papa Dale before heading home … here are some pictures!

Meanwhile, Analise and Kristine are having a great time at the zoo!

This post has a bunch of videos, so if you are reading this on facebook you will need to view the post on our blog in order to see the videos. Here is the link: http://www.toonesalive.com/blog/family/?p=2863

Here is a collage of videos from our trip … enjoy! But before you watch our videos, you should watch the first video below which explains the work of Nuevas Esperanzas in the community of El Ojochal.

Here are all of our videos with descriptions ABOVE each video:

This is a video of a short segment of the road to the El Ojochal community. The road is extremely rugged, but the Toyota Landcruiser is able to make it up and bring supplies for building rainwater harvesting tanks and other projects.

Andrew explains the view that we are seeing around Volcan Telica. The communities of Agua Fria and El Ojochal are high up on the volcano. Agua Fria was temporarily evacuated after the recent eruption. Hopefully it has settled down, but there is no evidence that the magma activity has subsided.

A gecko grabs a moth off the wall right outside our room. These geckos make a sweeting kissing sound when they are calling to each other. They are lightning fast and catch all kinds of insects – if only they ate mosquitoes!

Andrew explains some of the views from our vantage point on a hillside summit overlooking the crater of Volcan Telica.

A member of the El Ojochal community explains some of the challenges with the reforestation project.

Horseback riding from the lower part of El Ojochal to the very top. The road built by Nuevas Esperanzas stops at the school, which is the central part of the community. To get to the highest houses, you have to hike or take a horse. We chose to take a horseback ride up the steep mountain.

Members of Nuevas Esperanzas see one of the bee hives up close. Amazing that team member Erica (in the white shirt) didn’t even have gloves on!

Enrique from the Nuevas Esperanzas team explains to us the gardening project.

El Ojochal preschool (3-5 yr olds) kids welcome us with a short song.

More video of the drive up to El Ojochal on the road built by Nuevas Esperanzas.

A collage of videos from the arsenic project in the communities of Nuevas Amanecer and La Union.

Video of the school in the community of Nueva Amanecer – plus view of the El Ojochal hillside.

Riding in the back of the truck to Nueva Amanecer and La Union.

Anna plays a very large game of hopskotch after church.

If you had told me last week how much we would accomplish in our short visit to Nicaragua, I would not have believed you! What an amazing visit this has been seeing this beautiful country, seeing the impact of Nuevas Esperanzas on the communities of El Ojochal through the effective long-term development strategies being implemented in projects as diverse as rainwater harvesting and beekeeping. Yesterday was a special opportunity to worship alongside most of the entire Nuevas Esperanzas team during Friday tea (moved to Wednesday to accomodate our tight timeframe). With Leo on the guitar, Andrew on the trumpet, and Emma on the flute it was a special time of reflection thinking of what we are thankful for and for what we would petition God for Nuevas Esperanzas.

Before the photos, some maps of where we went on Monday and Tuesday … on Monday, we spent the day in the communities of La Union and Nueva Amanecer

Tuesday was our day full of hiking, horse-back riding up a steep volcano hillside, beekeeping, and meeting people from the community of El Ojochal.

Only a few more pictures to post from our day full of meetings and reflection yesterday including a very early bike ride to the beach. I’ll be posting several videos over the weekend.

What an amazing day today was at El Ojochal del Liston on the side of the Volcan Telica here in Nicaragua. We saw firsthand all of the project work that Nuevas Esperanzas has been doing in the community – road building, rainwater harvesting, gardening, beekeeping, and reforestation. It was quite the adventure as told by all the captions in the pictures below!

Yesterday, we had a great day visiting two communities at the base of Volcan Telica. Then we came back to the main offices of Nuevas Esperanzas and had a couple meetings reflecting on how the organization has gotten to where it is today and how everything fits into the strategic plan for the future. A common theme was how it is easy to see the hand/guidance of God throughout the entire process.

Great day today here in Nicaragua. I started out with a 45 mile bike ride, spent the morning catching up with board members who arrived late last night, and spent the early afternoon working with Leo on our Joomla vs. WordPress decision. Then at 5pm, we headed over to La Iglesia San Sebastian for mass where Andrew and Emma were playing in the worship band. The whole experience was surreal as we worshipped in Spanish in a church rebuilt on the grounds of a church that was bombed during the Sandanista revolution in the 70s. Afterwards, everybody from the board gathered at Luke and Stephanie’s house for a cookout and an excellent time of relaxing and reconnecting.

After an awesome night’s sleep, we spent a leisurely morning with Jane and Andrew followed by a working afternoon exploring the website framework options for Nuevas Esperanzas — Joomla or WordPress. Both of have great features, but which will be better in the long term? Hoping to have that question answered in the next couple days! Also, Luke and I went to the market and bought a bike. Hoping to ride out (and possibly partway up) a volcano (Casitas) in the morning.

Great flight on the way down to Nicaragua – flew over lots of really cool places – downtown Nashville, Sand Mountain/Lookout Mountain southwest of Chattanooga near Mentone, Stone Mountain in Atlanta, a nuclear power plant (I think), Cape Canaveral, West Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Miami, the Florida Keys, Cuba, and finally directly into Nicaragua (at night in thunderstorm). Here are the pics!

With Brian’s wrist still sore from the previous weekend of racing, we left Friday morning of Mother’s Day weekend for the last 3 races of the Speedweek series to be held in South Carolina, North Carolina and Atlanta (Friday/Saturday/Sunday). Traveling has gotten so much easier as the kids have gotten older. I can tell them to pack a bag, and they’ll get whatever toys they’d like to have. We’ve gotten pretty well-seasoned at knowing exactly what we need and how to do it.

But this Friday, I was having a bit of a pity party. Brian was a little stressed from the last day of classes/looming exams to prepare and a sore wrist and 3 hard days of racing ahead. The kids were edgy, probably in anticipation of a 5 1/2 hr car trip. And I thought, “This is my Mother’s Day weekend?!?”… before God reminded me, “Yes… with the ones you love, doing what you do as a family. You are blessed.” Indeed. I wouldn’t have wanted to be with anyone else, and this was where we were. [Thank you, Lord, for the attitude of gratitude!]

The Spartanburg, SC race was fine, the kids were well entertained with their scooters and sno cones, and I had the most amazing pork quesadilla for dinner. The kids were asleep within minutes of getting in the car after Brian’s race (all details can be found on his cycling blog!) Except that we had to wake them up for their first ever Waffle House experience, which they did not fully appreciate at 11:30pm. We drove 1 1/2 hrs to a suburb of Charlotte, NC, where we were staying with another really wonderful set of friends, the Timberlakes. Again, great kids for our kids to play with, wonderful “open door” hospitality as we arrived in the middle of the night, and they left us to stay in their house without them so they could spend Mother’s Day with their far off families. And great fellowship for both Brian and I with Darol and Donna. [Thank you, Lord, again and again, for amazing friends who make these bike race adventures so enjoyable!]

Saturday, was another quiet relaxing day with the Timberlakes and a long run for me. Brian rode downtown to his afternoon race in Charlotte, as the kids and I drove, and I managed to get my 2nd half-price Starbucks Frappucino of the weekend. Awesome! The course couldn’t have been more fun for the kids – around a fun park, and the kids played on the playground for the whole race while I stood up the hill on the edge of the course and cheered. The race was ok, but I think Brian was a bit disappointed with his lack of great results due to racing with a still sore wrist. To be fair, he’s racing with the fastest guys in the US, and finishing in the top 50 of 150 starters is not bad. But when you place in the top 30 in one race, you start to expect better results. We had a great pizza dinner, caught the quick running of the Derby which Analise loved, and treated the kids to yogurt and toppings. We went back to the Timberlakes to an empty house and an early bedtime.

Sunday, the kids decided I needed Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast. No argument there! YUM! Then we headed out for the long drive back to Atlanta for the final race of Speedweek. Hooray! I was looking forward to half-price Frapp #3 of the weekend, a long-anticipated trip to Trader Joes, and finally getting home by 9 or 10. I got the frapp, and the kids again were happy to ride their scooters while I cheered. Brian was riding really well, near the front, and I was thrilled for him and hoping he’d stay near the front for the sprint finish. With 3 laps to go, I didn’t see him come by, and the next time the lead pace car came by, Brian’s teammate and USA Cycling official, Stuart, leaned out the window and yelled, “Brian is down!”

I thought he said turn #4, so I hurried the kids (and their scooters) back towards the finish line, where the motorcycle official was coming through after the race was finishing. He knows me, and he yelled, “No, the other direction!” I hurried the kids back the direction we’d come from, now halfway around the course. I tried not to panic, thinking at first, “No big deal” until I realized that Stuart wouldn’t have yelled at me if Brian had just crashed and was walking his bike back to the pit or something. At the corner near where I had been standing originally, a police officer and a kind woman, encouraged me to leave the now-walking kids and go ahead, so I raced down the block. I found Brian laying in the grass, already in a neck brace, being attended to by the EMT’s. They were getting ready to put him on a back board, and he was in a lot of pain in his shoulder/neck/collarbone. The EMT’s were cool and calm, and were going to get an IV started so they could give him something for the pain. [Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord, that he wasn’t hurt worse and that no one else crashed from him going down.]

Stuart came up with Brian’s bike, and he offered to take the kids so I could ride in the ambulance. But I knew we’d eventually need to have the car, and the EMT’s told me I could follow them. Bill, the moto official, was there too, and the kind woman was nearby with the police officer and the kids. Stuart walked the bike back to the car, and I comforted the kids, telling them that Daddy really was ok. Bill carried their scooters, and the sweet lady helped us get settled into the car. [Thank you, Lord, for keeping me calm and for surrounding me with people to help me and stay with the kids.]

Analise was, of course, really upset, but we got settled in the room in the ER with Brian. He was still in extreme pain, but they took amazing care of him at Northside. Honestly, it couldn’t have been a better ambulance/ER experience. [Thank you, Lord!!!! and please let the billing be so quick, easy and painless!]

While we were waiting for xray results, the nurse was going to clean up Brian’s road rash, which I knew was going to be miserable, so the kids and I headed off to McDonald’s. On the way there, my friend Brenna, texted me to see how the race weekend had gone. Oh my goodness… the perfect timing… I told her what had happened, and she replied they were just leaving Atlanta for Birmingham, and they would come get the kids. [Thank you, Lord, for knowing exactly what we needed, for giving Analise a great end to a stressful day, and for giving me a chance to focus completely on Brian for the drive home and the next morning. Thank you for perfectly timed texts and perfectly placed friends and answers to prayers that hadn’t even been prayed.]

The kids were THRILLED to ride back with the Mabrys, and after the fastest shopping trip at Trader Joes (please don’t think I’m terrible… Brian was well taken care of and it was super close to the hospital/McD’s), I headed back to the ER. I walked in to find Brian sitting up, and getting ready to go… so much better than the state I’d left him! Although he was badly bruised and battered and scraped up, the only broken bone was in his toe. [Thank you, Lord! That is amazing and almost miraculous for hitting the metal barrier at 33mph!]

The nurse compassionately gave us a dose of pain medicine before we left since we couldn’t fill the prescription before our 2.5 hr drive home. Regardless, it might have been the longest drive of our marriage. [Thank you, Lord, for pain medicine and muscle relaxants. And this prayer is echoed at least 10x for this past week.]

We got home at 12:30 am, and slowly got Brian cleaned up and settled in for a painful night. It was so very helpful that the kids were taken care of at the Mabry’s, so I could just take care of Brian. Brenna got Analise to school with her kids, and she brought Josiah home mid-morning. [Again, thank you, Lord, for taking such good care of my kids so I could take care of my husband! Thank you for friends!!]

So it’s been a long painful week for Brian (again, more pictures/details on Brian’s cycling blog). After seeing the ortho again on Tuesday (they, of course, remembered him from his visit last week), Dr. Powell diagnosed a Grade 2 shoulder separation. [Thank you, Lord, it wasn’t worse!]

He’s still got tons of muscle spasm in his biceps/triceps/neck, his foot/toe are bruised and sore, and his road rash wounds are finally scabbed over. His shoulder is still amazingly swollen, but he’s making slow progress on regaining movement. Brian’s teammate, Chris Allison, is also a PT, so he offered some great help Friday. [Thank you, Lord, again, for friends offering help.]

I sent out a tweet/FB message on Sunday immediately after the crash as we were leaving to follow the ambulance. I was overwhelmed with the responses, text messages and phone calls I got. I *knew* we were being prayed for, and I couldn’t have felt God’s hand of calm more gently around us in the midst of the stress. [Thank you, Lord. I can’t say it enough… thank you, Lord. It could have been so much worse, but I pray that no matter how good/bad the situation, I can walk in your grace and calm and confidence that You are in control. Thank you, Lord.]

Life has been just flying by, and I’m really tired lately, so of course, none of this got posted in a timely manner. But there were so many emotions and amazing God-moments and gracious people involved in the crazy past few weeks, that I have to write it all down.

I know everyone wonders how I/we manage the constant go-go-go of Brian’s racing schedule, especially when we had several back to back weekends of travel scheduled for April/May. But one big bonus of traveling with him is seeing amazing friends at different races. Such was the case 2 weeks ago, when we left Friday for Athens, GA, to stay with Wayne & Jane Lunceford, and their lovely kids (who Analise and Josiah call their “cousins”. Awesome!). Brian wasn’t racing until 9pm on Saturday night, but we wanted to beat Friday’s Atlanta traffic and have a quiet Saturday before the race, Athens Twilight, one of the biggest/fastest/craziest races of Brian’s season. The kids and I went to the Relay for Life with Jane and the kids Friday night, went to bed late at their home, and had a super quiet Saturday morning relaxing with them in between baseball games. Such awesome hospitality. We look forward to hanging out with them every year. [Thank you, Lord, for amazing friends on our bike racing adventures!

The kids stayed at home for the race, since it wasn’t even starting until bedtime (thanks, Jane!!!), and Brian and I headed downtown to meet our friends from Birmingham, Ashley & Stephen Stepkoski. They are University of Georgia (located in Athens) alums, and we are in their Life Group here. When they heard Brian was racing in Athens, they immediately decided they wanted to come watch since they were due for a visit. It was so much fun to have their company for this race (which is really very stressful for me). We had fun cheering, and when we lost sight of Brian for 3 laps, having them there kept me from panicking that Brian might have crashed out. Which in fact he had… but he had gone to the pit and gotten put back in the race… and we finally caught a glimpse of him. He finished the race well, in 26th place, and even grabbed a $100 prime with 10 laps to go. It was really exciting, and again, so awesome to have them there. [Thank you, Lord, for keeping him safe!]

Back at the car, Brian was still hyped on adrenaline, but he mentioned that he landed hard on his hand, and his wrist was sore. Uh oh. But not too bad, at least with all the excitement of the great race still coursing through his veins. Another race was less than 20 hours away on Sunday afternoon in Roswell, GA, so we’d see how it felt in the am. [Please Lord, don’t let his wrist be broken…]

Sunday morning we got to go to Athens Church with the Luncefords, and had a leisurely lunch before we headed on our way towards Roswell. Brian’s wrist was really bothering him, though. He took something for the pain in the morning, and as we left at 1pm, it was starting to hurt more, so he took something else. Probably the worst decision of the day. On our way to Atlanta, he got really sick, and we arrived at the race with plenty of time to spare, which was great because Brian was sleeping, hoping for the sickness to wear off. He felt progressively better, and he was determined to at least start the race (the races are all in a series, and you get points for good finishes, finishing at all, and points for starting, so he wanted to get those, at least). When he finally got on the bike to see if he could even hold the handlebars, it was painful, but he was feeling ok enough to start. [Thank you, Lord, for getting him over how sick he was. And please, please, please let him finish in one piece…]

This was a rough race. Brian’s avoided crashes for the most part in the past couple years, but during the Roswell race, it became apparent that his luck had run out. Details are over on his cycling blog, but he got caught behind one crash, and went down in another. He cramped before the finishing stretch, which actually spared him from coming upon a bad wreck in the sprint finish. After the race, we headed home to Birmingham with two tired kids, a beat up, hopefully-not-broken Brian, broken bike, and one exhausted Kristine. [Simply put, thanks, Lord.]

I was afraid Brian might have broken his scaphoid, a tiny bone in his wrist with a poor blood supply. A great friend, Sheryll Coleman, responded within minutes to a FB message, and got in touch with an orthopedic in Birmingham who could see Brian on Monday. Whew! [Thanks, Lord, for well-connected friends!

Dr. Powell looked hard at the x-rays, and he was pretty sure Brian hadn’t broken the bone. Whew! [HUGE answer to prayer] And so he kept a wrist brace on and finished up classes at Samford (where he was awarded tenure last month! [HUGE answer to many, many prayers! Thank you, LORD!!]). Then on Friday, it was off to the races again, the last 3 races in the Speedweek series.

To be continued…