Holley's Visit

OK- We had a great weekend with the Holleys! It was a welcome piece of home for us! Marci was happy to be safe at our house and didn't appreciate the driving experience in Costa Rica! Also, I didn't know she was afraid of heights when I scheduled the canyoning experience either! Marci was quite a trooper! I am so proud of the kids for evening trying it! We all had a great time! Our entire family is so thankful that the Holley's made the trip. I know there were some boring times when they couldn't understand a word of anything and some hard times, but it was so fun for us to have them here with us! It is always hard for us when our friends or family leave, but it is worth getting to be with them! Thank you for all of the goodies! One funny thing... I asked Marci if she could bring Skittles for me! :-) She did and she said she thought it was a funny request because she could live her entire life without another Skittle!

Visit from the Holley's

Charlie rappelling from a waterfall (catarata)

Saturday we went Canyoning with the Holleys! We rode 3 ziplines, rappelled down 2 trees and rappelled down 4 waterfalls! It was a little scary, a lot of work, and a ton of fun!! We all enjoyed the amazing scenery and God’s creation! I promise to post more about the Holley’s visit this week. Wednesday we leave for Panama for a long weekend.

Kipplyn hanging tough

Chandler rappelling from a tree stand high in the rain

RandiKate getting soaked

¡Buena Salud! (Good Health)

Finally, I am feeling better! I have one more day of antibiotic and hope that this is the end of my time being sick in Costa Rica. Thank you for your prayers and concern! Now I am back to eating a ton of delicious food and I am sure I am on my way to gaining 20 pounds!

RandiKate, Kipplyn & Chandler at school

Saturday, I had the privilege to participate in prayer for my friend Rachel and her baby Ava Milagro. My dear friends took the time to call me and allow me to listen in while they all gathered around her to pray for her family. I am increasingly thankful for the amazing women that I have the privilege to call friends. The doctors have given grave news to Rachel that her baby is very ill and without a miracle she will not live long after her birth. My friend is around 37 weeks pregnant and waiting for the day she can meet her daughter. She is cherishing this time that she has with Ava now. I have been increasingly preoccupied with thoughts of my friend. I am amazed at how God sustains us when we need Him so much. To witness it (again) in my life has such an impact on me. I could picture my friends all gathered around praying for Rachel and her family as they walk this most difficult road and pleading for a miracle for our friend. I felt so impressed to pray for peace and rest for Rachel. I can imagine how impossible it must be to turn off your mind and sleep. And as she grows larger in her pregnancy how uncomfortable she has to be. In the quiet moments of the night when I stumble into Lily’s room to curb her hunger, I pray for Ava to be healed and for Rachel to be sustained. I thank God for this precious healthy little child for whom I have the privilege to have my sleep disturbed. I am able to save each moment with her and be thankful. I remember an old friend saying she would try to freeze these “heavenly moments” in her mind with her children. These are those special moments with our children we get glimpse of Heaven.

Lily in her new swing that Daddy went all the way to San Jose to buy!!

Earthquake

OK, it was actually just a 7-10 second tremor. This was a first for everyone in the family except me. I was watching the television and the whole console began to rock. I started to run towards it and I felt really strange as the whole room was moving. I remember a couple of times when I went to school at Biola University in the Los Angeles area that we had similar ccurrences. When it stopped, I said, "I think we just had an earthquake. " Kipplyn had been nervous because she was holding Lily and thought the movement was a reaction to the medicine that she was taking. She thought she was about to pass out and needed to lay Lily on the floor. We all walked outside and watched as others began to do the same. I am not sure how strong it was. Some of the people in the street did not realize it happened, but everyone that was in their house definitely felt it.

That definitely added some excitement to our Friday night. Charlie went with another family to the next town to watch a soccer game. The rest of us are going to stay home and watch CARS in Spanish.

Sickness, OUCH, cooking class and hiking

This is a photo of the Turrialba volcano. It is located approximately 30 miles from our home. It has been spewing gas at various times over the last 6-7 months. If someone could find more information about its activity online, please inform us.

Kipplyn has still been sick. She thought she had been feeling better, but it was shortlived. She went to the doctor yesterday for testing. They received the results today and she has a bacteria in her stomach that the other medicine would not (obviously) remove. The doctor wanted the test because he had an idea of what it was, but he wanted to be certain because the medicine is strong and he did not want to prescribe it unnecesarily since she is nursing Lily. I came into town today to pick up her medicine and post to the blog. I have a bag with the medicine beside me and I am thankful to God that they were able to pinpoint the problem quickly.

The kids have had a number of bumps, bruises, cuts, etc... since our arrival. This week was no different. On Saturday evening, I was getting ready to leave the house for a bible study when I heard John David yelling at the top of his lungs. At the time, we had about 20 kids inside and outside the house. I asked him to go to his room. At first glance, he appeared to have a little cut under his nose. The other children (6 or more talking at the same time in Spanish) were trying to explain to me what happened. Based on their excitement, I figured it might be a little worse than I first thought. They said he had been running at a full speed when he tripped over a retaining wall and landed on his face. We asked everyone to leave and I went to talk to John David again. I notice he had a lump on his forehead that was between the size of a golf ball and a baseball and protruded more than an inch from his head. There was no ice in the freezer and the store did not have any. Kipplyn had some ice cream treats in the freezer that she has been unable to eat for the last few weeks. They served a different purpose that night. John David seems to be doing well now.

Earlier in the week, Randi Kate decided to borrow a friends bike and race down the street (pretty steep grade). Her experience on a bike did not include rapid braking on loose gravel. She scraped up her right leg pretty good. Randi Kate also seems to be doing well now.

The kids gather in the street to roast marshmallows over the fire. It's a fun thing to do on "cold" evenings when the temperatures drop below 70 degrees.

Every Thursday, we have a cooking class at the school. Normally, we make traditional Costa Rican dishes. Kipplyn and I normally take turns staying home with George and Lily. This week it was my turn to go. We made upside down pineapple cake. Basically, it is about the same as home except the pineapples just came off the tree.

John David is a very selective eater. However, when he is involved in the process of making the food, he is usually the first to request "seconds".

Carolina (white) and her mother are neighbors of ours. They were teaching the class this week.

Charlie pays careful attention to his tasks.

Chandler and Randi Kate came to help.

Last weekend, Chandler, Charlie and I went on a hike with Adrián and his son Andrés. They live down the street from us. Adrian works at the mission with the handicapped indigenous persons. A new student, Garrett, arrived from California. He is staying with Adrián and his family. We all hiked to the top of a nearby mountain to view two different coffee farms that owned by Adrián's family. He has a river that runs through both of his properties. The view of the mountains and the many rivers are amazing. Sometimes, it seems the people that live here don't realize their land is so beautiful.

This is a very typical site in our area. There are many beautiful small rivers running down the mountains.

Garrett, Charlie, Andres, Chandler, and Adrian as we began to ascend the mountain. It is difficult to view the magnitude of the mountains in this picture, but it was pretty amazing.

This is a picture from one of Adrian's coffee farms. The coffee trees are called "matas de cafe".

This picture is taken at the top of a waterfall on Adrian's property. About 2 feet to the left of the picture, there is a 40 foot drop. The river continues for about 100 feet before dropping another 60+ feet. Sorry I could not get better pictures, but I don't have the same daring abilities that I had when I was a WildMan at Kanakuk. I'm not sure if it is age, wife and children, or wisdom.

On our return trip, we found a great spot for a photo.

Chandler, Cassandra, Taty and Lily

One of Chandler's friends (Cassandra) received an Ipod for Christmas and had not been able to load the music and pictures. Now that Chandler and I are experts, we were able to help them this week. We have not figured out how to add video yet. Maybe someone can help us with instructions on how to easily transition an MPEG2 file to an Ipod.

Every day seems to be an adventure. We have been busy learning Spanish and we are beginning to see an increase in our ability to understand and speak the language. Please continue to pray that God would give us the gift of language. We are really enjoying the people in our town. We expect to have a lot more interaction with other families in the coming month.

It Is ¨So Cold¨ Outside! & A Lessson

It has been “really cold” here the past week. The temperature dipped down to the low 70s and the people broke out the winter clothes. Here is a picture of Charlie and JD with a friend Tommy. Soon after this Tommy’s mom dressed Charlie and JD in jacket also¨:-)

Another lesson in appreciation…Maybe my time here is to help my family and me to be more appreciative of this life. Almost daily, I find myself immensely thankful for one thing or another. On Sunday this week, I spent about 3 hours bleaching and scrubbing (with a lot of muscle power) J our strollers and 3 backpacks. You see, many things here grow mold. Each week, the people here pull out their bleach and wash everything. The climate is very damp everyday. Our strollers get wet in the rain and just don’t dry. George’s car seat has been setting on top of a dresser for 2 months and I just happened to find it covered in green furry mold!!! OK, what would I do at home?? THROW IT ALL AWAY! Well, I can’t do that here. I can’t buy these things very easily or very cheaply. Nor, can I buy new ones every week, so what do I do? I roll up my sleeves and scrub them until my fingers are raw with the rest of the women in Tuis. I have to be a good steward of the things with which God has blessed me. At home I would argue it is not worth my time. Maybe not, but here, it is just not an option. Well, I never knew bleach kills mold and doesn’t change the color of my strollers, or backpacks, or carseats. Now I know. :-)

Happy Day Lily!

Lily is 5 Months Old!

Number 6! Most of the time it seems like yesterday that Bo and I were married and only dreamt of having a large family. Sometimes, I look around and think “who are all these people and why are they calling me Mommy?” LOL! I am too young to have 6 children, right? No really, I absolutely love being a wife and Mommy! I don’t think I could be more blessed! I am so thankful for each of them and enjoy (most) every moment. I am awed that the Lord would entrust these precious little lives to me and Bo. Lily is such a joy to all of us! I think she certainly has the privilege of spending a lot of time with her siblings and parents. Especially more time with Bo! We call her our “little Latin baby” because she is totally spoiled with attention here! She is rarely put down! Often she can be found napping in someone’s arms. Cruz would be so happy!! Occasionally, Bo or I have put her in her crib and allowed her to cry for a few minutes. If the neighbor hears her, she will come over and ask if she can hold Lily. It is pretty funny! Lily doesn’t mind, and neither do we. It is something different and fun to experience a community that helps all the moms with the babies. Often, I see women walking the neighborhood with other people’s babies. It is a welcome help! Lily has started to roll over (both ways). She smiles most all of the time! She is starting to sleep better at night. Last night she slept from 8pm-6am with only 1 visit from Mommy. :-) She normally takes 2 naps each day for about 2 hours. She recognizes each of us and always has a big smile for us! She is starting to push up on her arms when she is on her tummy. I wonder when she will crawl since she is so rarely put down and the ground is only cement and seems dirty to me. ?? This past 2 weeks we have introduced rice cereal and she seems to really enjoy it. I tried the cereal with soy formula a couple of times and she broke out in red splotches, so I haven’t tried that again. I wonder if she has a soy allergy. She is our first bald baby! Well, she has a little bit of red hair, but compared to the others, she is without hair! She is so adorable! I love all of the precious time I am able to spend with her. I KNOW how quickly this time will pass!