If you are looking for our updates please click over to our new wordpress blog "kiwicatracho"- this one is no longer being updated. See you on wordpress soon!

It is hard to believe that another year has gone, until we look at Maya and see just how much she has grown and changed. She is definately not our little baby anymore, but an active and very independent toddler.
Christmas here was busy but good. We had friends and family around for Christmas Honduran-style on Christmas Eve- my attempt at tamales was somewhat successful but the rompopo (eggnog) was enjoyed by all! On Christmas day we had a kiwi-style christmas dinner here in our new home, with my parents and sister Deborah. Maya had a ball unwrapping Christmas presents, starting with her stocking in the morning, a present sneaked from under the tree (when we weren't looking) after church, then the main event before lunch. After lunch we went over to Deborah's boyfriends home for more drinks and food... and more presents for Maya! The rest of this week has been much quieter, as family and friends have mostly gone away for the holidays... but we have to work. We are planning to have our holiday (vacation) in February.
I continue to enjoy my new job, there has been (and still is) a lot to learn but I am enjoying the opprtunity to broaden my skills and deepen my knowledge in a very interesting workplace. My challenge for next year is to take on the role of Sexual Health coordinator for the centre. I have already done some training and will do more in March, along with some personal reading and study. I find this area very interesting, and look forward to learning more.
Luis continues with his work in Mental Health, and will probably stick with this over the next year as he works on completing his degree. He had hoped to get this done this year (2006) but unfortunately he has been struggling with frequent and severe headaches and was unable to do so.
As I would like to stick with this new job for a while, and Luis is studying, we will be staying in Wellington for a while longer. Our long-term plan is still to return to Latin America- we would really love to introduce Maya to friends and family there- but it is going to take a little while.

It's been a very long, cold winter here, and very busy, which help in part to explain why this website hasn't been updated for so long. The main reason for the lack of updates however has been Maya's increasing mobility. I need to have eyes in the back of my head so I can sit at the computer and watch her at the same time!

Anyway our news in brief....

New Home: We have moved again- just up the road this time. In May this year my parents bought a house here in Wellington as an investment property, and after a quick clean up and redecorate we moved in as thier first tenants! We are supposed to be helping them with some of the work that needs to be done here (not too much done yet...) while we find our feet financially and work out the next step in our lives.
Here's a picture of our little house:
















And heres Maya looking on while Grandma and Papi work hard stripping wallpaper...


New Job: For me (Sharon). Last month I went back to work three days per week as a Primary Health Care Nurse. Luis has reduced his hours to four days per week (still in Mental Health) to help care for Maya, and she spends one day each week with her Grandma.
The job is at a health care centre that cares for a low income population, with a large proportion of immegrants and refugees. This makes it quite challenging but also very interesting. Although I miss Maya when I'm at work I am also getting a great deal of satisfaction from being able to once again use my skills and training to help others, and am really appreciating the intellectual stimulation of the workplace.

Other news includes the completion of my thesis, which was submitted in March (I will graduate late this month). And of course, Maya continues to grow and change- you can catch up with her news on her baby page.

Maya has finally met her Aunty Ruth! Sharon's sister Ruth has been back home from London for a couple of weeks visit and spending lots of time with us, and with Maya. As expected Maya has stolen her heart! "Aunty Jo" also came down from Auckland for the weekend and so for the first time in nearly three years all the "McLennan girls" were together. We had a great weekend, walking to Butterfly creek for a family picnic on Saturday (first prize to Luis for pushing the baby buggy all the way up the hill) and more eating at a family lunch and family and friends bbq on Sunday. The das part was saying goodbye to Jo as she won't be back in Wellington before whe also heads off to the UK in April. And while we have a few more days wirh Ruth, she too will be saying goodbye soon :-( . But it's been fun, and made some good memories, thanks "twins" for visiting!

Summer is over… and the first few days of autumn were wet, windy and cold. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come because I’m not ready for summer to end yet. Another month of warm sunny weather would be wonderful!
Not only is the summer coming to an end but I feel Maya’s babyhood is going to come to an end far to quickly. Although she is only 8 months old she is not only crawling but also standing and cruising the furniture- and attempting to stand alone. She is very determined to get moving, and I am anticipating having a toddler on my hands far sooner than I would really like. She is growing into a happy, bubbly little girl and we are very proud of her.
We have settled back into Wellington very happily and are enjoying being close to family and friends. I am also enjoying being a "SAHM" (stay-at-home-mum) for the moment, having finally completed and submitted my thesis. It was an amazing moment when I finally had my other "baby"- a printed and bound copy of the thesis in my hand- with my name embossed on the front. Now I just have to sit back and wait for the results… and get motivated to complete a report for the individuals and organisations who helped me (coming soon I promise!).
While my life is now revolving around Maya (and the housework) Luis is working hard to pay the bills and debts accumulated over several years of study. He is back working at the local hospital as a health assistant in Mental Health. He is employed on a casual basis, working wherever they need help across the hospital, however he has been able to get more or less full time work, he is quite popular both in the general mental health units and also in the forensic care units.
Unfortunately however studenthood is not completely behind us as Luis has found out that he needs to complete three more papers to graduate. So he has re-enrolled as a part-time, extramural (distance) student. He will actually do four papers this year- the extra paper will enable him to graduate with a double degree, so the extra study will definitely be worthwhile.

We made it. We are here in Wellington in time for Christmas. I've been looking forward to this Christmas- Maya's first Christmas- for so long it seems almost strange that it is here now. But it is Christmas Eve, and soon we will be celebrating the birth of another baby long ago. It seems appropriate to have a baby at Christmas somehow.
We will spend this evening together, our little family. We plan to have a "catracho" style Christmas dinner together in our new home then go to church, and open some gifts before bed. Tomorrow will be a "kiwi" style Christmas dinner with Grandma, Grandad and the aunties, at Grandma and Grandads, and more gifts! We get a 2 day Christmas as Hondurans celebrate on Christmas Eve and New Zealanders on Christmas day.
Although we are just staying here in Wellington for Christmas and New Years it will be wonderful to relax. We have been very busy over the last few weeks with moving and setting up house. Luis has gone straight to work as a Mental Health Support Worker for the local health board, and I have been busy with baby and finishing my thesis. The final draft is now completed and in the new year I will need to have it printed ready for submission. Finally!
Maya is growing fast. Her latest achievement include backwards shuffling, eating solids (bananas and baby rice... she thinks it's great!) and sitting unsupported for short periods. She is very curious and very active so we are starting to think about making the house child-safe... she's so determined I'm sure it won't be long until she is crawling!

We are moving.The studies are (all but) over and we are on our way back to Wellington. We will be moving into our new home in Newlands, Wellington this Saturday (3rd). Consequently I am writing this surrounded by boxes and piles of "stuff". It is amazing how much junk can be collected in a little less than 3 years.
We are moving for a couple of reasons. Firstly to be closer to family and friends while Maya is little. And secondly because job prospects for Luis are better there. He already has casual work lined up at Capital Coast Health, where he worked before we started this university journey. He will be working as a "Health Care Associate" (support worker/ nurse aide) in mental health. This is however temporary while he applies for permanent positions. I plan to stay at home with Maya until my thesis is completely finished. I have completed a final draft and am just awaiting feedback from my supervisor before having it bound and (finally!) submitting it. Submission is planned for January, after which I will be looking for part time work.
It is a little sad to be leaving here. People have been good to us, particularly since the birth of Maya. We have leaned a lot, achieved and lot and have a lot of memories here. But live moves on and we are really excited to be "getting on" with our lives after three years buried in books.
However now I must get back to packing... next update from Wellington!