What a Weekend

As Becca stated earlier, last week was great, but very tiring. We are definetly using the weekend to recover. Friday night we went to a fun and good restaurant with some friends. It is called "Friday's" and is modeled and looks exactly like the "T.G.I. Friday's" of the states. Even down to the menu choices and appearances, but it is a knockoff resaurant. And they do a pretty good job of it, one of the few places here to get a good American style burger. My pregnant wife would have nothing less than some American grease bomb last Friday, so luckily "Friday's" exsists. Yesterday we had planned on going with a group of friends from the school to Irazu Volcano and afterwards to a hot springs/swimming pool. At the last minute yesterday morning we backed out. Becca was having a good bout of morning sickness, Brooklyn didn't sleep well which always makes for an interesting day, and I had a very bad headache bordering on a migrane. I had had a headache and really bad neck pain since last Wednesday. Friday after school, and yesterday it knocked me out for two 3 hour naps. Today I feel much better. Probably 95%. I don't know what it was. It sounds a lot like just stress, but I dont know what I am stressed about. I know weird things happen when you are adjusting to other cultures, and the process doesn't end after a few months. Maybe this is why my headache exsisted. Either way, I felt awful. After whining to the Lord about why I was "sick" and not really feeling a response from Him, He did tell me that without being sick, you don't know what it is to be healthy. Very true, but it doesn't make the process easy. We are all getting ready to head out the door for church. It is looking to be a great day. Everyone feels great, the sun is out and bright, and of course the tempurature is perfect. Looks to be another relaxing day, as we gear up to start week number 8 of 16. We are getting more and more excited about our move to Ecuador, and less and less motivated to be at school. It is a natural response I suppose, but you could pray for us that we would stay ecnouraged and focused for our last few weeks.

Spiritual Emphasis

This has been "Spiritual Emphasis Week" at our language school. That means that we have chapel everyday instead of just twice a week and we also have evening services. A pastor from Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands came to speak. He's done a great job of challenging and encouraging us. It has been a spiritually refreshing week. Teachers aren't allowed to give homework or tests which, of course, is always a bonus! It has not been a very restful week - we seem to never be home and all three of us are exhausted but it was well worth it. We realize that this is likely the last time we will have an entire week to attend services of this type in English. In a little over two months we'll enter a whole new world!

It's time to really get serious about the visa process for Ecuador. There are lots of little things to get done - passport-size photos, police reports, other paperwork, translating our shipping list, etc. You can really be in prayer for us as we get into the hard work of visa application. We remember the 30 page applications we both had to fill out in order to begin the process with MAF. This is much bigger and I wonder if maybe they just wanted to see how good we are at paperwork. A good missionary is an expert at paperwork...especially paperwork in another language with totally different "rules"!

Looks like we'll have a pretty slow weekend. We probably need that. I've got some shopping to do. I'll be buying lots of Ginger Ale and soda crackers. It has been hard to keep those in stock in this house these past couple of weeks. Ugh. I had forgotten this little aspect of pregnancy. I'm counting the weeks until this morning sickness (in my case it's morning, noon, and night sickness) is supposed to magically disappear. What are my cravings? I'm already craving fruit like crazy (this is a good place for that) and any kind of good, old-fashioned, American junk food (this isn't the best place for that). Pizza, hamburgers, french fries...well, you get the idea. Typical Costa Rican food is not hitting the spot for me at all. You know what I really want? REAL Mexican food...like Cavillo's back home. Ooohhh. Anybody want to wrap up a Santa Fe Burrito and send it on down? No, you're right, that probably wouldn't work.

A Monumental Year!

Today is Becca's parents 39th wedding anniversary. Happy Aniversary guys, and great job! If anyone can live with Ron for that long they must be a very special person. :) Also, it was the 19th of February 2005 that we left our beloved home in Colorado and flew out to California to really begin this crazy missionary process. Here are some interesting facts of our past year:

• We have lived in or visited 4 different countries this past year. (USA, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica.)
• I, Sean, have flown all over the western USA learning the MAF way.
• We are expecting another addition to our family
• We have gained (in my opinion) a good hold on the Spanish language, thus making us Bi-lingual.
• Brooklyn has become pottie trained!!!!!
• We have lived without a car for a year. (I dont know what to think about this yet)
• We have lived without TV for a year. (This is definetly a good thing)
• We wear coats now when the temperature dips below a fridgid 70F.
• We have eaten a lot of rice and beans for all meals of the day, and we like it!
• Brooklyn says "please" in English and "thanks" in Spanish.
• We have become employers, since hiring a maid in C.R.
• We have become friends with people from all over the world.
• Brooklyn can now wear a ponnytail in her hair.
• There are more than 2 types of pineapple
• Roosters crow at all hours of the day, not just sunrise.
• We don't wake up anymore when the local Catholic church shoots it's cannon.
• Unrefridgerated eggs are the norm, not the exception.
• Put the toilet paper in the toilet, ONLY if you want problems.
• The nighly sounds of footsteps upon our roof is just the nieghborhood cats.
• Missionaries aren't perfect
• If you want if bad enough, you can make it from scratch.
• Tuesday the 13th is bad luck.
• Stepping in dog poo in good luck.
• There are over 36 varieties of canned tuna.
• That God is faithfull, no matter what.
• We have a great team of supporters.

As we look over this past year, it is amazing to realize all of the experiences we have been through, and give ALL the glory to God. He called us to this path. He will, and does provide for our every need, feeling, lack, whatever. He has been able to prove Himself to us in ways that we would have never understood if we had stayed in the USA. We would never trade this life for anything. The perspective that we have gained on our world, let alone our Savior, is priceless. As We look forward to what we know is in store for us (moving to Ecuador, having another baby, ect.) it is always exciting to anticipate what else God has is store for us that we don't know about. As one of my favorite verses says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 Praise be to the Lord, for another great milestone, and many, many to come.

News travels fast

Okay, okay, okay. So, we set up this blog to share news with our friends and family members but it seems news travels faster by mouth in my family. Good grief. I've been accused of holding back on a special announcement...but I've hardly had time to share the news before the whole world already knew!

YES, IT'S TRUE. WE ARE EXPECTING OUR SECOND BABY! The baby is due in October. I'm feeling okay, a little sick and very grumpy but I have a good husband that is helping me out! Yes, we'll have the baby in Ecuador, there is a very good mission hospital there in Shell and we'll be well looked after. We're thrilled, of course. Brooklyn has no idea what we're saying when we tell her that she's going to have a new baby brother or sister. She just smiles and says "baby?" but I suppose the reality of it will hit her soon enough.

Happy now Jared? Jared is my cousin, a pastor in Kansas City. And he even pestered us on his own blog about sharing our news. By the way, you might enjoy checking out his blog, we love it - or at least we did until he used it to tease us!
Check it out at www.notgreener.blogspot.com!

He's wonderful

Sean set up a very special weekend for the two of us. Friday after school we rented a car, left Brooklyn with a babysitter and went to spend the night at a special and very nice hotel. My wonderful husband set the whole thing up without my knowledge and whisked me away right after school. Brooklyn, by the way, had a fabulous time with her babysitter (her teacher at school) who took her swimming and all over the city with her family. We had a great time - feeling like adults again, sleeping in, eating at a nice restaurant without having to grab silverware out of grimy hands or clean up spilled milk, or say "shhh" even once. Funny though, even though it was nice not to have to worry about Brooklyn getting into anything, breaking something, or falling into the pool, we were missing her something terrible. Why is that? Oh well, we enjoyed our 24 hours of sophistication and civilization...now it's back to the real world!

The hotel we went to had lots of fun things to do and see. I (Rebecca) got to hold this frog...but then it peed on me. A special souvenir, huh?

The hotel is also part of a "waterfall garden" which means we were able to hike along an incredible trail and see plenty of beautiful waterfalls. Here we are in front of one of several.

Week #5

We just came off of a great weekend. It seemed long, and we were able to do a few fun things, and at the same time relax. Sometimes the two don't go hand in hand. Most of the time, playing is hard work, and you are tired afterward. Friday night we watched half of "Gone with the Wind." We really enjoyed it. We both did not realize how long it is, so we will have to finish it some other time. It was nice to relax with it Friday night, after a day that just made us want to go home. It doesn't happen much, but this past Friday it did. Not because of anything major, just little things that keep adding up all day long until you just want to run back to the "good ol' days." Even though we all know the good ol' days are happening right now, and when you take your eyes off of the Lord for even a moment, the grass always looks greener on the other side. We were encouraged greatly Saturday, and fell in love with Latin America all over again. We took a couple of buses to a zoo, that is basically out of the city and out in the countryside. That was really refreshing for us, and a great time as a family. Very nice little Zoo, and afterwards we ate at a little "roadside cafe" that was very charming and typical. Yesterday was also a great day. Church was very good. Our pastor is Columbian and can really relate to the same things we go through since he is a foriegner as well. Even though he speaks Spanish and is from the Latin Culture, there is nothing like your own country. Anyway, he spoke a powerfull message about not playing christian, and always being ready to defend your faith, through prayer and intercession mostly. He said he just came off of his hardest week ever in Costa Rica after being here for a number of years, and he was just being honest with us and letting us know that we need each other to bear our burdens, pray for each other and care for each other. Afterwards I (Sean) went to a friend's house and watched 6 hours of TV, mostly the pregame of the Superbowl, and then the Superbowl itself. Becca and Brooklyn showed up for the actual game. It was great. But I must say after not seeing American TV for such a long time, you guys are weird. It is funny what you grow accustomed to, and after a little time away from it one can see how silly some of that advertising is! (Although, we must admit there were some pretty funny commercials this year!) Today we began our fifth of fifteen weeks left here in C.R. We are beginning the process both mentally and logistically of making the next move sometime at the end of April. It is getting really exciting. Below are some pics of our time at the Zoo.

Africa, Football, and MAF

Even if you aren't interested in football, I hope you'll tune in for the human interest story that will air during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The following memo was sent out by MAF headquarters.

"Sometime between 4:00 and 4:30PM EST, in conjunction with the Super Bowl football game, ABC will air a ‘human interest’ story. Seahawk Head Coach Mike Holmgren’s wife, Kathy, and their daughter, Calla, are in the Democratic Republic of Congo this weekend on a mission trip.

MAF will fly them , along with an ABC film crew, on Saturday from Kinshasa to Karawa where they will participate in a medical mission. On Sunday morning, MAF will fly the ABC crew back to Kinshasa where the MAF IT crew will transmit the clip to the US for broadcast in the pre-game show. "

And tomorrow is Friday

• It has been a long week, but a good one. We're looking forward to Friday, of course! A lot of our class time is spent just practicing conversation - usually talking about deep or controversial issues. We long for a shallow talk in English!
• I can't believe we're already in February. Where did January go? (I know I say that every month but it's the truth every month!)
• Brooklyn is more little girl and less baby every day. Today we watched her arrange her puppies for a "dinner". She was teaching them how to put their hands (paws) together and pray before eating. Precious. If we leave her any heritage, I hope it is a real faith in God and a desire to talk to Him all the time. When we see her playing like that, our hearts are very glad.
• Brooklyn is giving out more genuine kisses and hugs. We used to have to beg for those. Another thing that makes us smile.
• Will we watch the Superbowl? We'd love to. We'll probably go over to our fellow MAFers house since they have cable. The problem is that they aren't positive it will be on any of the channels that they have. Oh well, it isn't like the Broncos are playing anyway. Ugh.