I'm a bit behind on posting this

Life is busy here right now. With the new kittens, making and distributing Christmas gifts for the pastors and their families, renewing passports and continued work on our new home, I haven't yet posted about Russell and Iris' engagement event!

But first - there were five kittens! Bethany tried to get some pictures for me to post, but they all came out too blurry, so I'll try again soon. They're darling!

Okay, so last Saturday was the big night. Russell planned a dinner for both families, to be held at Iris' parents' house. He moved (from our house) folding chairs, our gas grill, several large pots, plates and silverware, and a cooler full of marinated steaks and corn on the cob.

Allen and Rachel did most of the cooking. Here's Allen at the grill (click on the photo for a closer shot, and check out the expression on David's face):



Here's Rachel, boiling corn and throwing together the (instant) mashed potatoes:



We all sat down for a fun family meal, Allen and I with 5 of our 6 children, and Juan and Paz with their 5 children plus the gal who will be marrying one of their sons later this week, for a total of 15 people. Here's the group starting to gather for the meal:



Iris' family is every bit as funny and silly as our own, so together we have a fun time, in spite of what still exists of the language barrier. Here are Melvin and Haydi, who you might think are practicing for feeding each other cake at their upcoming wedding - but Russell tells me that particular wedding tradition doesn't exist in this part of Honduras (although he and Iris might do it, just to add some US culture to their event):



After dinner, Russell popped the question, in a very family-inclusive manner:



In case you're wondering, she said "Si" and just to make sure everyone understood, she also said, "Yes!"

Afterwards, the men of the family played a few songs for us, because we asked them to:



So there you have it - the engagement of Russell and Iris is official!