Countdown...

We only have 1 week left here in Costa Rica!!! We are beyond excited to make our next move to Ecuador. We have not been doing much of anything in school or afterwards, so we are really looking forward to having something to do (i.e. a job). Tommorow at the school we have a schoolwide garage sale in which we hope to sell most of everything we have adquired this year. It doesn't amount to much, and we won't walk off rich afterwards, but at least we will have that much less to pack. That is our plan this weekend, to pack our things. We do still have school Monday but we have already decided that we are not going. So that leaves tommorow as our last day of Spanish Language School! Today at school for Brooklyn they filled up a few of those portable swimming pools and let the kids at it. Supposedly Brooklyn was the first in and the last out. She loves to be in the water and "swim." Because of that we are all looking forward to staying our last night here in Costa Rica at a hotel which does have a pool, and having a time to "relax" before the big move.

Also, you may have noticed I put some links on the sidebar of our blog a few nights ago. Hopefully these will help if people have interest in what we do with MAF and the various ways to be part of it's ministry. Check them out!

Yo quiero Taco Bell...

• As we told you a few weeks ago, we took an exit exam. Today we recieved the results. I think we were both pleased with our results, although they still have to be taken with a grain of salt. The results we received are still someone's opinion, the test was not an objective one, it was very relative. That said, my "level" of Spanish is considered Advanced Low. Rebecca recieved an Advanced Medium. The only other levels higher than us are Advanced High, and then the Superior level, which practically nobody receives. What the Advanced level signifies is that you can converse about practically any subject in a manner that makes sense, as well as understand a complex speaker as well. While it is great to have reached the "Advanced" level, we both know we have tons of work to do, and there is always more to learn. In fact, when we arrive in Ecuador in about a week, we will be learning all over. How the Ecuadorians talk, what their accent sounds like, their sayings, ect. are all going to be part of our new learning process. That is fine, it is all part of the process.

• Tonite we also had a little party at the house of one of our classmates. Most of the people that started school with us a year ago were there, and it was neat to have one last shindig and pray for each other. Among our class, people will be serving in Mexico all the way down to Argentina. It was neat to see all the comraderie (sp?) and especially how the Lord uses all of us in our individual ways and ministries. But, the hard part of being a missionary has begun once again, and that is the good-bye part. But we all leave in the hope and promise that one day soon we will all be together gathered around the One who called us together in the first place.

Sacrilege or Sacrament?

Okay, so what did we do to celebrate Easter? We gave Brooklyn a small Easter basket complete with stuffed bunny and jelly beans sent from the United States. We went to church. We had an Easter Egg hunt. We ate at "Denny's".......

"Denny's" on Easter Sunday? I know, it sounds horrible but you have to understand. First of all, because it is kind of far away, we never go there. Second, it's as "American" as you can get - something we all crave being so far from home on this special holiday. Third, they give you free refills (completely unheard of in most restaurants in Costa Rica). Fourth, there is no way I'm cooking when we're in the process of sorting, pricing, and selling just about everything in our house. So, "Denny's" it was. It was a very good meal, by the way.

I'll admit that I would have rather been sitting around Mom's big dining room table eating ham, potato casserole, layered salad, deviled eggs and homemade rolls. Mom usually invited old family friends or neighbors over and we'd all spend hours talking around the table. It would be getting warmer outside, Dad would probably saddle up Camper and we'd take turns riding the horse around the lot. If we did an egg hung, Jake the dog would be right there with us nosing around the yard for one of those stinky hot pink eggs. We'd lay around on the nice, soft sofa. Maybe take a nap. Later we'd warm up the left-overs, make a small ham sandwich with a homemade roll and a small slice of ham.

Of course, Mom and Dad are actually in Kansas (I wouldn't mind being there visiting Grandma, either, by the way). Jake is now in doggy heaven. It's probably still too cold to ride a horse anyway. And I really never was a huge fan of ham either. And, Mom told me she got rid of that nice sofa I was thinking about taking a nap on.

I'm probably more sentimental about not being home for this day than I have been about any of the other holidays that we've spent away from "home." That is probably because this is our second Easter away from home (last year we were in California at MAF headquarters doing training - we ate at the "Macaroni Grill" last year)! Something about that makes it more real to me that we really have moved, that "home" is not Colorado anymore. We've been away from "home" for well over a year now - longer than we've lived outside of the San Luis Valley in our lives. "Home" is now wherever we are and it's our turn as parents to make family traditions that our children will someday remember. That is a fun aspect of where we are. To Brooklyn this is normal. She's going to remember some very extraordinary holidays in South America!

I don't want you to think that I'm sad or miserable! No, today was very fun and very special. We had a great time at church today. We worshipped in Spanish, we understood the pastor's message about the real importance of this day - the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and we have true victory! We can count on every promise in the Bible because He rose from the dead. We have hope! We're not slaves to sin, but we are free! We celebrated Resurrection Day in a language that is not our own but that is fast becoming a very dear part of who we are. We ate out with friends that we will have the joy of working with in Ecuador, people who truly have become our "family away from family." It is time for new traditions, new memories, new friends, and even a new language!

And it is almost time for yet another new home in a new country. We can't wait! Did you know we're down to 10 days before we leave for Ecuador? Our dream is very close to becoming a reality after more than 6 years of hard work. God is indeed very good!

4/15/2006

• We have sure been bored lately. With our time winding down (11days left in C.R.) we cannot go anywhere, cannot spend money, and are trying to use what we have in the kitchen so we don't buy food we won't use.
• We did go downtown today to buy some things. We realized it will probably be our last time to that part of San Jose and it didn't really break our hearts. As we ate our lunch (Quizno's, it was great!) and watched all the people, we were just assured again that cities are not our preference. The town of Shell where we are moving to in Ecuador is no more than 10,000 people, maybe less, and that suits us just fine.
• Brooklyn's vocab continues to expand, as does her ability to put together a complete sentance. With the abundance of dog log (puppy poo) eveywhere, sidewalks, parks, streets, ect, Brooklyn has added a new sentance. "Look Dada, puppy poopoo. Guacala"
• The word "Guacala" (think guacamole for pronunciation) for those of you wondering is Spanish. It basically translates as gross, yuck, and icky all in the same package. How is that for a deal?
• Tommorow we have an interesting Easter Lunch planned. Rather that spill all the news now, we will wait to see how it goes before we say to much. I will give you this hint..."Grand Slam."

When things go bump in the night...

To remind those of you who forgot, or those who don't know, this is "Semana Santa" here in Latin America, or Holy Week. Try to imagine Spring Break in Florida, except the whole country is on spring break, not just the crazy college kids. Therefore, this time of the year doesn't have a very "holy" reputation. We have heard from our friends that the roads aren't safe, there are always crazy people out, ect. Try to imagine Labor Day weekend in the States for about 10 straight days. That is probably a good comparison. OK now where am I going with all of this...? At about 2:30 this morning I was startled awake to the sound of a loud crash, and what sounded like our front gate clanging on its hinges. I quickly ran to the window to see what was happening and there was a car turning around in front of our house. Our gate seemed to be intact, and no one was breaking in, so I went back to bed, and fell asleep about 45 minutes later after the adrinaline wore off. When I woke up this morning sure enough that car had run into our gate and smashed it into a concrete supporting structure. Ultimately, it made more noise than damage, and after a little bending and pulling, our gate works and even looks fine. Later this morning I was telling our street guard Jose about the whole story, about how someone basically ran into our house, and he didn't even crack a smile. He said "oh yeah, the last time this happened was a lot worse. I had to got get a big metal bar to pry the gate back into place, and then I spent a while trying to straighten everything out." In other words, this is a common occurance, yet not frequent. You never know what a day will bring.

A Few Thoughts

• This has been bothering me. Where do we get seeds for seedless grapes? Or for any "seedless" fruit for that matter?
• I found all the ingredients to make a taco salad. This is a family thing, not really Mexican at all but such a mainstay during my childhood that I've really been missing it. I told my mom it was like the stars have aligned or something since I was able to find everything I needed. You have no idea how hard it is to find everything necessary at one time to make good, old-fashioned Clark Family Taco Salad. A big deal - I had been searching for something like two months for all the right stuff. It was was VERY good. Whew. I might survive this overseas living stuff!
• I think Sean and I might be losing our English skills. The other day Sean was about to tell someone that we were on the footstool of Ecuador. That would be doorstep. But together we make a very bad mix. Tonight's conversation... Sean, after I confessed that I might be kind of a dork:"Rebecca, I knew I married you on reason." Me, thinking I'm being smart but instead falling into the trap:"Thanks, Sean, I married you for your lingwish skills." You may not be laughing. That's okay, maybe you had to be here...
• We went to our househelper Isabel's house tonight. It was a special time. She cooked us a nice dinner. We had a great time using our Spanish for the first time this week! Two of her sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandbaby were there also. Brooklyn loved their little dog! It was neat to see her home, which was very cozy though simple. She built that house from the ground up, all by herself, while working and caring for her 5 children. She has some pretty awesome stories of how God provided every room, and every piece of furniture little by little over the years. God is indeed very good. We probably won't see her again before we leave. She'll be in the States for the next two weeks, raising support for her mission work in Mexico. We're going to miss her.

• Brooklyn is getting bored being home with Mommy and Daddy all day. We caught her playing in some paints we had thrown into our "sell or give away" pile.
• We found out today that we won't be moving into the house we thought we were in Ecuador. Instead, we're going to "house-sit" for another MAF family for a while. It will work out well for us - we'll have a car to use right away and more time to buy our own stuff without the pressure. The drawback, of course, is that it is temporary. But we see it as God just doing something bigger than we can see. He's never failed us before! And after seeing how he provided even the simplest things for Isabel, we can't doubt that He knows our needs and wants to take good care of His children. So, we're looking at possibly up to another year in a "temporary" situation. Guess when you look at it from Eternity's side, all our years here on Earth are temporary anyway.

They have arrived...

Praise the Lord!!! The highlight of our day was going to the Ecuadorian Embassy and finally receiving our missionary visas. It has been a long and drawn out battle, about 2 months, but we have them now. Also we have our shipment list aproved which will enable us to get the shipment out of customs in Ecuador tax free. And now, I just got done buying our airplane tickets to Quito for the 27th of April, just over two weeks away. The funnest part about the tickets is they are First Class. I upgraded because we get to take 3 bags instead of the allowable 2 in Economy Class. We are going to have to take a few extra things, and upgrading to 1rst Class enables us to take the extra luggage and save $20. Hows that for a bargain?! As we look over the whole visa process, the ups and downs, we realized that the folks at the embassy were really on our side the whole time. Many of our personel in Latin America are new to their posts, and because of this we were given wrong information or documents that ultimatly delayed the process. Thankfully, the folks at the Embassy were patient with us and continued to tell us what we needed and how to go about getting it. In the end, it is only important that we have them before we have to leave for Ecuador, which 2 hours or 2 weeks, it is the same difference.

We have been enjoying a fairly busy and productive week "off" from school. We are starting the packing process and are also busy with dinners and meetings and things. This is good, as the alternative boredom is enough to kill a man.

I have also been logging some serious hours on the ol' Microsoft Flight Simulator lately. This has helped dust a few of the cobwebs off, although there "ain't nothing like the real thing baby..."

Its getting close...

Yeserday at school we had our "exit exams." They are similar to a final exam, except they are not counted as part of your final grade. They are used to determine your current speaking level in Spanish. We will let you know what ours turn out to be. Really, it is still very subjective. We could have had a bad or a good day, the teacher performing the oral test with us could have thought we did better or worse than we really did. So luckily it doesn't really matter, although we may be able to use our year of Spanish here to add to a degree as a minor with some schools, and that is where this official test comes to play.

We are now just under 3 weeks out from leaving for Ecuador. We are stinking EXCITED!!! Now that the visa process seems to be under control, we have really felt released to start thinking that all these years of work are really going to put us in Ecuador doing exactly what we have trained and prepared for. This coming week is vacation for us, so we are going to pack and get our things in order. Pray that Becca and I get along good as we pack. We joke with each other about packing, but for those of you who have packed anything (who hasn't?) then you know it can be stressfull.

On a lighter note...We locked ourselves out of our house today, well kind of. You see, we had our keys with us, but there was also the other set of keys in the other side of the lock, which prevented us from turning the deadbolt from the outside. The locks here are a bit different than in the states, and our front door is the ONLY way to get in and out of our house, so we couldn't just go "around to the back." What I ended up doing was removing 2 small panes of glass from our louvers, cutting the screen (never know when you'll need your Leatherman), and using a long piece of metal to kind of jingle the keys on the inside loose. Thanks to Jose our street gaurd for his help and the metal "thingy" he supplied. All in all, it took us about 5-10 minutes to get into our house and we can now chalk up another "don't do that again stupid."

Good News

The visa process is looking good! Sean just went to the embassy today to take yet another document in. It was the one apparently that they've been looking for all this time. They gave us and the other MAF family here going to Ecuador an appointment for 2:30 pm on Tuesday to go in and get our visas. Although we still don't have the visas in hand it is pretty certain that we will have them on Tuesday of next week. Thank You, Lord! But keep praying...we're a little nervous about any little snag coming up until we actually have the visas in our hands!

Tomorrow is our big oral exam. It doesn't affect our grades but will tell us where we are as far as our Spanish speaking abilities. We're not particularly nervous about it - but, of course, would love to come out with high scores. Ultimately how well we do isn't what is important. We were told when we first arrived by our Regional Director that we would leave here with the basic tools to use in really learning the language over the next 5 years. So we're at least on our way!

Also, tomorrow is a big celebration for Dia de Juan Santamaria. The actual holiday is on April 11 but since we won't be in class that day, they want to have a celebration at the school tomorrow. Juan Santamaria is one of the very few Costa Rican heroes. He was a 15 year old boy that burned down a house where a bunch of misguided Americans were holed up. The "misguided" Americans were "Filabusters" - mercenaries from the South of the United States looking for more slaves. (No, the US government did not send them here, they were acting on their own.) This all happened in the 1850's, I believe. Although poor Juan died in his effort and the Filabusters escaped, he is revered as a national hero. Eventually the Filabusters were either killed or chased off and the people of Costa Rica and Nicaragua were not enslaved. Costa Rica does not have much of a military background (they don't even have a military now) and they have very few wars in their past so this is a big deal to folks down here. So, tomorrow we celebrate! It should be fun - a big assembly and then a drama acted out by some of the students and teachers.

The Truth about Pregnancy

Sean's aunt forwarded this to us and it's just too good (and too true) not to share it with everyone! This one really hits home for me...and I suspect for my sister, as well, who is 7 months pregnant.

Pregnancy Q & A & more!

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's
borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor,
but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife
is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and
act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

Most Wanted List...

Have you seen these women? If so please contact your local authorities. They are a mother and daughter team. Please heed CAUTION if seen. They have been known to be armed and very dangerous.

The mothers name is Vicki. She has been known to say "dangit" and other very vulgar words.

The daughters name is Becca. She is the Brains of the pair, and is known for vomiting in public to take advantage of her victims.

They are both easily recognizable by a very distinct laugh, which tends to sound the same when they are together. They both have a tendancy to begin patting you on the shoulder or back to express thier love, when in fact it is part of thier scam. Please be carefull with these two. Although they don't look very intimidating, they use this to their advantage and have affected many people with their sincere looks. Thanks for your cooperation with this matter.

-Office of the Concerned Citizen Watchers-

Como ha sido todo? (How have things been?)

Whew, what a crazy past few days! Backing up a few days, Saturday after Becca returned from puking all over down town San Jose, I went to our pastor's house to have worship practice. The worship team realized that I sing and play guitar and they wanted me to help if I wanted. So I did go and it was a good eye opener once again of how little Spanish we know. Being out of the classroom setting, hearing a very comforable and relaxed type of vocab at our pastors house, I found myself concentrating real hard to mantain involvement. This isn't to say that I was lost, I wasn't, it was just the real world. I didn't have teachers speaking every word real clear and deliberately. But it was a good time.

Later that night I was slated to have a "guys night out" at the school to watch the Final Four basketball games, but CBS happened to be cut off that day. Go figure! (We ended up having our guys night out last night, Monday, and watched the championship game.)

So Sunday rolled along and I helped with worship at church, and then we actually left a bit early, so that we could make it to another pre-planned engagement. We have an Austrailian friend at school and I guess they are really into Formula 1 car racing in Australia. This race just happened to be in Melborne, Australia and having never sat and watched 5 minutes of a Formula 1 race, I found it really fun. They last only a little over an hour long (not like NASCAR) and there are lots of good crashes!!! It was a good time. It was interesting all the sub-cultures we had at that get together. We had the Aussie and his family, a British family, and us. How different could a bunch of English speakers be...it was interesting, but a blast.

These past two days have been turning out like the last few weeks. Go to school and be bored, come home and see what's new in the VISA process today, and then try to fix or get whatever is needed. It has really been wearing on us, but I think we are getting close. (I've been saying that for a while...) Continue to pray with us that we would not only get our VISA for Ecuador, but get them this week. You see, next week is holy week. In Latin America, everything shuts down for about 10 days. No one works, everyone plays, ect, ect, ect. So if our VISA's don't get done this week, we have to wait until two weeks from now, which will be about 1 week away from our departure date to Ecuador. That's kinda cutting it close, BUT..., God has called us to this work. He will provide what we need to do it, He ALWAYS has!

Tommoro we have our Conversation class finals. I am doing my theme on the first time I took Becca flying. For those of you who know the story, you know it is pretty funny, and a testament to the Lord's ongoing protection.

Today I had to run and pay the electricity bill, and buy a few groceries. I took Brooklyn along for the fun of it. It ended up being a good time. She likes going and having the little responsibilities that I give her. She got to push the grocery cart today (a minature one of course) and that just makes her day. She really feels like a big girl. When we were at the checkout counter, the man in front of us asked us if we were Canadian. Of course I said no. We are usually taken as Germans, for being so big and blonde I guess. One thing is for sure, We are not going to be learning German, or any other language soon. Spanish is hard enough!!!

Echaques

I had one of my famous "Becca experiences" today. I suppose I'd better share it. Maybe it will be like therapy. Maybe not.

I went shopping today with three other ladies from school. There is this great used American clothes store and I'm in the market for some maternity clothes now. So, we all happily went. After about an hour and a half of scouring two floors of randomly organized clothes, I had basically found all I was going to find. I managed to find two tops, both very nice. The other ladies were still busily looking through the clothes upstairs and I realized they weren't near done - their options weren't quite so limited as mine and they were making some great finds. Normally I would have been right in there with them but it was getting hot and I was starting to feel naseous...again. I nervously drank my soda and tried to eat some Mentos to calm my stomach but it didn't appear to be working.

Finally I went and paid for my two shirts. As I stood in line, I could feel sweat breaking out on my face and I knew I was going to have either get out of that store or find a bathroom soon. Finally I made it to the front of the line and paid. I ran upstairs to tell the other gals that I had to go. We agreed to meet at a restaurant just a few blocks away and I ran off doing my best to tell my stomach to CALM DOWN.

As I hurriedly walked the two blocks to the restaurant I was feeling worse and worse. Please, Lord, help me! If I could just make it to the restaurant's nice bathroom.... But it wasn't meant to be. Before I knew what was happening I was throwing up in the gutter. I was a mess and everyone was staring at the wild-haired gringa puking in the street. I had nothing with me to wipe my face with so I just kept walking, trying to be inconspicous (ha!) as I took about five more steps and threw up again, this time in front of a cute little bakery. Thankfully, a lady from the bakery hurried to my help and led me through the bakery (yum, sanitary -a puke covered gringa walking through their nice kitchen). Anyway, I was able to clean myself up. And I felt just fine after the fact. I went back out and explained to the kind lady that I was pregnant and still having morning sickness - it is called "echaques" here in Costa Rica. She didn't seem to want to get too close to me but she did understand. I may have still smelled.

I wasn't like this with Brooklyn. I'm 3 months along now and hoping that soon my stomach will calm down. I'm not a normally weak-stomached person and so I continue to be shocked just about every time I throw up, which is often. And I'm starting to get pretty mad at the situation! Especially after my lovely experience today. All I know is that this kid better be worth it! :) I know, as soon as I see that sweet, pinched little face I'll forget all of this...that is exactly why I am writing this down - so I don't start to think I want to do it again!

Women Preachers...

This past Tuesday I heard one of the best preachers I have heard in a while. The preacher was really sharing from the heart and you could tell the audience was really captivated by what was said and wanted to continue to hear more. The words seemed to flow so smoothly, and the thoughts were deep, yet said in such a way that the common man could easily understand them, and also put the ideas into practice. The words were said in love, yet they were laden with a touch of conviction, but only in service to Jesus from a right heart.

This "preacher" I encountered was in my own home. The preacher just so happens to be my awesome wife Rebecca. I happened to come home during her Maid's Bible Study last Tuesday and was really blown away by what I saw my wife of almost 6 years doing. Not that I ever doubted her teaching abilities, I had just never seen them in action. Not only was I viewing her heart and teaching for the first time, but it was also in Spanish!!! She did so awesome. She filled the heart of her husband with tons of pride, knowing that my wife can spiritually hold her own, not only in English (the mother tounge) but in our new adopted language of Spanish. It is awesome to be able to see ministry take place first hand, and it is even sweeter when it is coming from a family member, in this case my wife. If make me wonder about some of the sermons recorded in the Bible, and how they may have been in Greek, Hebrew, and even Latin all in the same day by the same person. Learning this language has at many times been hard, but to see the fruit two days ago was worth all the pain and studying and embarrasment ect. I was and still am so proud of my "little preacher wife" and cannot wait to see how God is going to use her and her new language in Ecuador as well.

Saying Good-bye

It has already begun. Yesterday was my last Bible Study with the maids. We had a party here at our house. There were 16 of us ladies packed into our little living room...and Sean. I shared a short devotion and a friend came and led us in some worship time. We ate lots of food - all "american" style food that they don't normally eat! It was a special time, though a little bittersweet for me. I am glad to be done with the work that was involved in the Bible Study because my mind is hardly functioning on anything except moving to Ecuador lately. But I will miss each of these special ladies and the time we had sharing together. It went so quickly that I hardly feel that it really happened. But I'll treasure the memories that I have.

It is hard to believe that one month from yesterday will be our graduation. Is it really possible that we've been here for almost a year already?! It was a very fast year. We are done with our Grammar books and our Conversation teacher told us today that we've already breezed through all that she had planned for our class this trimester. There are still things to learn - the nit-picky stuff that many students never learn and we'd be just as happy to go without! It is hard to keep going to school when your teachers admit they've done all they can with you! Oh well, we really only have 2 weeks of school left after this week. We'll go to school all next week but the following week will be "vacation" for Holy Week which is a big deal down here. After Holy Week we'll go to school one more week and a Monday and graduate on Tuesday, April 25. That's it. Doesn't seem real.

Prioridades...

Yesterday my girls went to a birthday party for one of Brooklyn's classmates at Burger King. It sounds like they had a good time, and of course the kids always enjoy things like that, and the energy burn is great, it always makes for good sleep. Last night we went to Outback Steakhouse with another family from school and had a great meal. I guess from reading these last two sentences you wouldn't even know we were in Costa Rica. Yes, Burger King, McDonalds, and the like have covered the Globe. Outback Steakhouse is in the nicest part of San Jose (of course) which means about a 30 minute drive for us. When we got to the restaurant, there were a few other students from our school there. You never know who you will see. It ended up being a good time, not to mention great food.

As we gear up to make our move to wherever, we are trying to really soak up what San Jose has to offer. We don't really know what is offered on "the other side," meaning something as simple as milk in a jug may not exsist, or fresh produce, or my brand of deodorant, ect. Yes, of course these things for the most part are trivial, but you just never know what you truely have until you don't have it, be it a material possesion or something more significant like a relationship.

Beaurocracia (Red tape)

Things are still in limbo with our visa process. We have done everything possible from our end here in San Jose, and our legal representative (lawyer) in Quito, Ecuador is helping us now from that end to get our visas. We should know something more at the beginning of next week. So please continue to pray with us that this will all get worked out.

Nothing other great and interesting to report. We have less than five weeks left here, and it continues to fly by. We finished our grammar book yesterday in class, so now we are going to be learning things that most students won't get to which will probably amount to busy work, trying to keep us occupied for the last few weeks of school.

Of the 6 people in our classgroup, at least one of us has been gone everyday for over the past month. We are not the only ones trying to get visas, buy plane tickets, and really do whatever comes logistically in order to go to our respective countries. One family in our class is going to Mexico, another Panama, ourselves to Ecuador, and another family is staying here in Costa Rica (They were going to go to Venezuela but are unable to now because of the ban on American Missionaries because of certain statements made by a certain televangelist/christian news guy). So among all of us, there are many things to be done, and many different processes to figure out as well.

What a week...

For those of you, including ourselves, who thought our visa process was basically ended and done...well think again. It seems everyday this week we have found out something, or maybe couldn't find out something, regarding our visa process. Yes, the Ecuadorian Consulate accepted our application last week, but we don't have the actual documents in hand yet. That said, we have been asked to bring in more paperwork this week that is unsubstanciated (SP?) and basically stupid, if I may say so myself. In other words, could you all continue to pray for us in this process. Also, the certification of our shipment from Colorado to Ecuador has proved to be nothing short of a challenge as well. It seems for every person we talk to, we get at least that many answers on what we need to do, and when we talk to them the following day, it has changed again. Anyway, this has really worn us out this week, on top of trying to finish school and do well and continue to apply ourselves. We really feel like the enemy is attacking us and trying to discourage us and ultimately damper what we are going to be doing in the jungle. From putting various news items together from around South American jungles, the enemy definetly does not want to give that ground up. There is a LOT of opposition in its various forms throughout all of South America right now for work in the jungle. If something so simple as a visa can be delayed or even denied, that prevents change and life from being brought to the far reaches of the earth. Continue to pray for this as well, that the strongholds will be brought down by the power of Jesus!!!

Cheap Entertainment

Last night we bought Brooklyn some flip-flops. She had been wearing our flip-flops around the house and obviously really wanted a pair of her very own. So we got her a pair for a few bucks last night when we went grocery shopping. She hasn't taken them off since. The kid is thrilled and very proud of her new shoes. When we went in to her room to check on her last night before heading to bed ourselves, we found that she had gotten out of bed, found her new flip-flops and put them on before crawling back into bed and falling asleep! Then this morning she came traipsing into our bedroom with her little flip-flops a-flippin' and a-floppin'. What was really funny was that she had already removed her pajama bottoms and her nightime diaper so she was naked from the waist down wearing her new shoes with a big smile. Who needs pants when you've got some cool new shoes to show off?! Sean and I got a big laugh out of that. Who knew some cheap little flip-flops would provide so much entertainment for all of us?!

Check this out!

Every week we receive an in house e-zine from MAF basically telling what is happening around the world with our personel and any other newsy bits. This week had a cool article, here it is...

"Ever see a plane on standard floats at an airport and wonder how it got there? Or, even better, how it's going to leave? Well, it takes a combination of common sense and air show bravado but, as the video shows, getting a water-equipped Beaver back to work in the spring is a fact of life for bush pilots. Hill Aviation, of Prince George, British Columbia, shot the sequence of the Beaver heading back to its natural habitat. When lakes start to freeze over in the winter, many operators want their planes hangared for the duration of winter -- for maintenance and to keep them out of the weather. The alternative to disassembling the planes and trucking them to their winter home is a visually compelling but relatively common practice. (See NewsWire for the video.) Before the ice seals the lake or river in late fall, the plane is flown out and then landed, on the floats, on the grass median at the chosen airport. As dangerous as it sounds, it's most often accomplished without incident. Then, in spring, the plane is hoisted onto a dolly and pulled down the runway by a truck. At takeoff speed, the pilot lifts off the dolly and heads for the water. A Hill Aviation spokesman said the company has received calls from all over the world since the video [available for download if you have an Internet connection http://www.avweb.com/newspics/seaplanetrucklaunch.wmv ] hit the Internet."

I was able to download and view this video even with my dinky-dail-up, so for those of you with good dial-up or high speed internet, view it, it is AWESOME!

Flying is wonderfull!!!

(Update: Despite the awesome aircraft in this video, the DeHaviland Beaver, I guess only a Ford Truck was worthy enough to get er' airborn again. Ford Tough! Viva la Raza!)

Visa update...

We went to the Ecuadorian Embassy this morning. Actually, we took Brooklyn to school first, picked up our passports with current Costa Rican visas (Praise the Lord!) and then we spent the next hour or so on 3 differnet buses to get to the Embassy for Ecuador. We finally made it and got in line, which thankfully was short, and shortly thereafter we were talking to the "middle man" for the consulate. We had all of our paperwork in order, and it looks like our actual visas will be ready to pick up sometime next week. There was a very funny moment during our meeting, or maybe a tense moment, depending on your perspective. One of the items on the general visa application asks for the "estado civil," or married status. Rebecca with her much nicer handwriting filled in the applications and put "cansado" in the blank. What she should have put was "casado." The first answer meant "tired," "casado" means married. So the "middle man" had a very good laugh at us while we wondered if our appointment was over because of it. He asked us if we were tired because we are married, and we said "sometimes." Anyway, after the dust settled we left with some good handshakes and smiles. We did not get our shipment list approved yet, although it looks very promising as there are a few more things we need to do first. So thank you all for your prayers for this logistical stuff, it surely made a difference.

The visa process continues...

Be in prayer with us again tomorrow and Friday. Tomorrow we should get our Costa Rica visa renewal. Pray that this not only happens, but that we also get our passports back in hand. The reason being we are going to the Ecuadorian Consulate Friday morning to turn in the application for thier visa. If we don't get our passports back, there is no point in even going to the Ecuadorian Consulate. Join with us that our Spanish will be smooth and gracefull, that we will be able to communicate everything that we need, and that ultimately the Lord will be glorified. That is the whole point right? I am finding lately how much I put my own glorification, or that of goals or plans before those of the Lord. God cares about these logistical processes, and we just want to be in tune with the manner in which He wants us to do them.

Tomorrow in class we all have to teach each other something, something in which we can also do and participate in. I am going to take our laptop and my flight simulator game in order to teach the class how to "fly." It should be interesting and definetly worthwhile to learn and integrate this type of vocabulary. If things don't change in the next few months, I might go into anaphelactic (sp?) shock or something. You see, I am extremely groundsick, and I am in need of a birds eye view and the ability to breath some thinner air. Over this past year I have logged some serious time flying the computer, to which I am very gratefull to have, it is much better than nothing.

We should get our fill of the aviation/airport scene when we move to Shell. We just found out that our house location has been changed, and it will put us about 100 yards from the runway and the hangar. Our house is actually the upstairs of the original Nate Saint hangar, for those of you who know his story. We continue to get excited about our move to Ecuador, although it is also getting real thinking of leaving some great friends that we have made here, classmates and Costa Rican's alike. Something else to pray about. Doesn't the Apostle Paul tell us something about praying in all occasions and doing so without ceasing. Here we go...

There Is a Baby in There!

As Sean mentioned in a previous blog, we went in for an ultrasound yesterday. The baby is tiny - just 2.7 cm long - but all is normal and healthy. Honestly, it was nice to have some real confirmation (and proof) that I've been sick for a reason! And it made things more real. We're incredibly excited now. Before it didn't quite feel real but now there is no doubt that there really is a baby in there! We're excited to be parents again and to enjoy those very special moments between now and, well, forever! Brooklyn was actually there at the appointment with us but didn't understand what was going on. The only real participation she took in the event was to tell Daddy she had to go to the bathroom so that he missed the cool 4D image of the baby and hearing the heartbeat. Oh well. We'd like to do another ultrasound later on (perhaps in Ecuador). I'd really like to find out what we are having but Sean still likes the "thrill" of not knowing until the birth. I just want to know how to plan (yes, I'm a control freak)...who do you think will win? Some people take bets on whether they'll have a boy or a girl. I'm thinking we could take bets on whether Sean wins and we wait to find out or I win and we find out the moment we can. Hmmm. Could be interesting! We both agree that we would be just as excited for a boy or another girl. As long as it's healthy...(sorry for the boring, predictible cliche - I always hated it when people said that but, well, it's the truth!)

Around the dinner table

Last night we had a good ol' American dinner of fried chicken, mashed taters and gravy, and corn on the cob. Of course Rebecca cooked it and it was awesome. But the funnest thing was watching Brooklyn eat the meal. Now you must understand, the girl loves butter. If we don't keep a close eye on her when the butter tub is out, she has been known to take a scoop with her hand and put er' right on in. So when she saw the butter all over the very good corn on the cob, she was in heaven. She kept on raising the cob up the the sky, and bringing it down with an uuggghhhhmmm sound, and then chomping down. She liked it so much she ate 2 whole cobs, with plenty of butter of course.

Now what happened at the table after all the food was eaten was even better, well at least for me. Some would take offense to this, so there is your disclaimer. Like all kids, Brooklyn has been learning some interesting things with her other classmates at the school. So after she ate all her food, she proceeded to show us how she learned , pardon the frank word Vicki, to make farting sounds with her arm. She would just lay on her arm as though she was going to sleep, and then let er' rip. It had Becca and me in stitches. Of course we taught her that there is a time and a place for that kind of behaviour, but it is so funny sometimes to see what they are learning. One of the best things about it all was to see us all laughing and having a grand ol' time as a family around the dinner table. Sure, some of the behaviour might have been objectionable, but seeing Brooklyn taking an interest in making her parents laugh, and being comfortable doing so was a neat development. As she gets older it is sure neat to see her personality develop and be able to just stand back and laugh as well as stand in awe of God's little gift to us.

We are "skipping" school today. We are having culture day which consists of various workshops abut the Costa Rican and Latino cultures. It is good stuff, there's no question, but after being through it twice there wasn't much new to see. So instead we have already been to the medical clinic to get some general lab work done for Becca and the pregnancy. Latter this morning we are off to a hospital to have our first ultrasound. On the way home we are going to get some passport pictures taken for our Ecuadorian visas, and then we are going to buy a certain feather for a certain fella. Our remaining days continue to fill up and be busy with logistics. This is a good thing.

Speaking about the visa thing. Our Costa Rican visa should be issued next Thursday. As far as the Ecuadorian visas go, we shouldn't have any problems. The Baptist couple that we have been talking about got their Ecuadorian visas yesterday, so that sets the precedent for us to get ours. We are planning on turning everything in next Friday, a week from today. Thanks for praying with us about this stuff, it is what gets things done!!!

The "Corn Goblin"

Guess what I did?

Can you guess what I did today? I scrubbed our toilets, cleaned the bathrooms, did some laundry, and even mopped. Do you know how long it has been since I've done that kind of work? Over 10 months. This sounds a little weird but I enjoyed it. Our househelper, Isabel, is in Mexico and I've had a little more housework to do. I didn't realize how good old-fashioned work can really make a person feel. We love Isabel - she really is a big help. I miss doing some housework but I know Isabel needs the work and the money more than we do. Plus, it has been such a special opportunity to get to know her. And it has led to minsitry with not only our own maid but also a group of ten other maids. I miss the satisfaction I get from housework (sounds ridiculous, I know) but I wouldn't miss the opportunity to know, love, and work with such an amazing group of women.

We've discovered that the work we do here is a different kind - mostly mental. Sean and I both are the type that need to do some kind of physical work in order to feel that we've actually accomplished anything. That is one thing that has been particularly hard for us here - neither one of us do a lot of physical work and although we are working very hard mentally we still somehow feel like we're not doing much. I don't understand the phsycology behind it but, if anything has discouraged us this year, it has been a feeling of "worthlessness" that really has no basis.

Whenever we doubt that we've done much this year, God is faithful to show us what we have accomplished. For instance, today we went to eat hamburgers at a little place that a man runs out of the side of his house. It isn't far from our house but we hadn't tried it yet. As we sat there we talked with the man (in Spanish, of course). Later it occurred to both of us that 10 months ago there was no way we would have been able to have the conversation that we had. We might have caught a word here or there but as we sat talking to this man neither one of us was even flinching. We understood everything that man said and were able to respond to what he said in complete senteces that even sounded intelligent...and we didn't think about it. Sure, we still have so much to learn. But we've come a long way. Thank you Lord for that little encouaragement!

What have we been up to...

This week is already beginning to fly by. We have been busy with school and other things as well. Yesterday after school I went with a friend and we "climbed the cross." Supposedly about 15 years ago there was a massacre of many women and children by a random crazy guy in the mountains near San Jose. So to "commemorate" the event, San Jose erected a set of 3 crosses on this mountain that overlook the city. It is about an hour's hike to the top from the starting point, and the views are impressive of the valley in which we live the whole way up. Becca and I did this same hike back in December, and yesterday was just as fun.

Today after school Becca had her maids bible study. She "contracted" out her work, so to speak, today. The theme for the past 2 weeks has been worship, and today they actually did that. A classmate of ours, who is also from Colorado, prepared the lesson and led worship with the piano.

While Becca was doing that I was at home with Brooklyn trying to gather info on the process to get our household shipment from Colorado to Ecuador. After a lot of phone calls, a lot of phone calls, I think I know enough now to battle the enemy. It is just like G.I. Joe used to say, " knowing is half the battle." So next time when we go to the Ecuadorian Embassy we will be armed to petition for our missionary visa as well as the documents that allow our shipment to ship.

Be in prayer this Thursday. Currently our Costa Rican visas are expired. In order to recount the whole story as to why, I would be here all night. So rather than bore us all with the detail, this Thursday the Costa Rican visas should be renewed. Join us in pray that they will be renewed without any hitches. The enemy can sure use simple things like paperwork to discourage his opposition and try and send us home. But we don't go down that easy! By the way, only 7 weeks from today and we graduate from language school!!!
























This is the first of the 3 crosses.



























Cross #2 a little bit higher.

























The highest cross. We can actually see this cross from our house which is about 20 miles away as the crow flies.

For all you whiners out there, here you go...

Brooklyn and her favorite thing, a puppy.

























Some of the local produce. That carrot is longer than her little arm. And that is they way most of them are. Suprisingly they are very sweet and tasty.

Just another boring Saturday...

Today we had a lot on our plate to try and get done. Becca began the day by making some great French Toast. It had been a while, and sometimes you don't realize how "homey" a particular food may be when you haven't had it for a while. The Costa Rican's don't even know what French Toast is.
Afterward, Brooklyn and I went to the farmer's market. We showed up a bit late, and found that some of the things we normally like to buy were gone already, like strawberries.
The main task to try and accomplish today was working on some of the logistics for our shipment that is in Colorado and needs to be sent to Ecuador. Becca did most of the work, which entailed putting all of our items in a special little form that itemizes EVERYTHING, while I began a little bit of the translating. We have to have our list in English and Spanish of course. It is wierd to read what we packed over a year ago, and to a lot of it say, "why." But for the most part we are really looking forward to being able to use some of those things and make a cosy home in Ecuador. We were realizing the other night, that after almost a year of "camping," it can start to get old, and nothing really seems "homey." Not to mention we are just getting flat out anxious to make our move to Ecuador. You can also be in prayer for our shipment process. Should be pretty straight forward, but there are a lot of logistics and translating involved.
By the way, the Baptist couple that went to get their Ecuadorian visas had success yesterday. The consulate decided to process thier application, which should make it easier for us. Praise the Lord!
While Becca was working away at the computer today, our neighbor was doing some car repair in the street. This is nothing uncommon nomatter where you live, but he was fixing his horn. You can imagine how well that was going. Always something new here in Latin America.
We just watched the movie "Chicken Little" with Brooklyn. It was pretty good. It has been fun to have all 3 of us sit on the couch lately and watch a whole movie. These beginning "family nights" are pretty fun, especially when Brooklyn cuddles with papa for the whole thing, after eating all of the popcorn of course.
Tommoro we are off to church in the morning and then back to the grind with our shipment stuff. Hope to get it done tommoro. Becca and I have a good chunk of homework for tommoro also. This past week I did a report on Che Guavara (Motorcycle Diaries) and Monday I have to present Hugo Chavez, the current Venezuelan president. I have to present him as thought I were really him, and afterwards allow my classmates to drill me on why I belive one thing or another ect. Should be interesting. One of our classmates was going to go to Venezuela after language school, but he and his family are now going to stay and pastor a church here, because Chavez isn't letting American missionaries into the country. For those that dont know, he is very controvercial and basically communist. MAF just got done pulling out of the Venelzuelan jungle, and the country altogether because of a mandate ordered by him. Of course many MAF'ers are displaced now at HQ and praying what to do next or where to go. He had accused us of hauling illegal contraband out of the jungle (gold, silver, drugs, ect.) and helping the CIA in infiltrating the jungle and the Venezuelan outskirts in order to overthrow his government. Of course this was all published and broadcast over the government controlled media.
The media is just a bittersweet thing, huh? Give them freedom of press, and they screw things up and make the truth whatever they need it to be to make a dollar or promote an agenda. Tell them what they can say, when they can say it, and how, and it is just as bad.
Anyway, all that said, we have a lot to do as the days begin drawing to an end for us here in Costa Rica. It is good that way, so we stay busy and allow the days to go by faster.

Did you know?

Did you know that we only have 8 more weeks in Costa Rica? Woo-hoo! But lots of work to do.

Did you know that we are still working on gathering all the necessary information to obtain our visas for Ecuador? Keep praying for that process. Another couple with a different mission that is going to Ecuador from here was denied their visa last week.

Did you know that we didn't have school today (Friday)? It's a mid-term "evaluation" day. Which means we had an hour-long (optional) grammar exam but no classes.

Did you know our due date is Friday the 13th (October)? Doesn't matter - the bad luck day in Latin America is Tuesday the 13th, so we're safe.

Did you know that Brooklyn likes to pick out her clothes....and that she really has good taste? And she's very picky about wearing what she wants to wear. Is this a bad sign?

Did you know that our househelper, Isabel, is in Mexico? She's there for conferences/training for her future missionary work there and will be gone until March 19.

Did you know that we can now hold real conversations in Spanish? There is nothing quite so thrilling as holding a meaningful conversation in another language with someone that a year ago we would never have been able to communicate with.

Did you know that God is good...all the time? That about sums it up.

Growing

I'm sitting here listening to Brooklyn sing one of her songs. I can't understand many of the words but the tunes are similar to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm." She has a little stick that she's using to bang things around the house as she sings. She's got a pretty good beat going. We are constantly amazed at how much she is growing up and becoming a regular little girl. The other day she grabbed a book of hers and called me in to our bedroom where we have a lamp set up on the headboard for reading. She wanted to just "chill out" with Mommy and read our books side by side. We did that for about an hour and she'd occasionaly reach over and give me a loving pat on the shoulder to mention something interesting she had found in her book. I found myself watching her more than reading my own book! Yesterday I marveled as I watched her play. She's got "imaginary friends" now. She'll just talk away at the "friend" sitting in the swing and then she'll give that swing a good push and say "Weeeee!" Yes, she needs a sibling! We're working on that one. (Speaking of that - everything is going well so far with the pregnancy.)

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.

A Toddler

Brooklyn is an excellent kid. She is also a toddler and with that comes some unavoidable crises. Usually we're fighting over taking a nap - praise God we've worked that out and changed "nap-time" to "rest-time" where she can take a book to bed with her and just "rest" although she almost always falls asleep and takes a two hour nap anyway. Sometimes it's a matter of teaching her not to hit, throw or bite. Sometimes it's a simple matter of grabbing her before she defiantly steps out onto a busy street. Most times we're not amused but sometimes, it's just too hard not to chuckle.

Like yesterday, for instance. She was up and ready for her usual Saturday morning video. I got her all set up and she asked for juice - even said "please" - so I went to get her some. I picked the wrong kind, and unfortunately she saw the juice bottle, so she was quite upset with me. I kept telling her to just try the juice, which I knew she would like. But it wasn't to be. I even tried "tricking" her by pretending to put milk in the cup. YOU DON'T INSULT A TODDLER'S INTELLIGENCE LIKE THAT. Well, the cup went in the fridge still full of the dreaded juice.

Later in the day, she asked for juice. Yes, of course, I got out that same cup. But she's no dummy.... Sean and I both were trying to convince her that she wanted to try the juice. We both took several sips and swooned with exaggeration over it's excellent flavor. She was not impressed. Finally, it came down to "You take a drink of that juice right now or you are not getting anything for the rest of your life!" With big tears, she still refused. At this point, of course, Sean and I are convinced that we are not good parents and are abusive to ask her to try a silly juice. But pretty soon she disappeared. A look around the corner revealed her sucking away at the straw of her cup, loving this new juice. Then she was asking for more.

She's two and a half. I know a million stories similar to this one from parents all over the world. And yet, somehow, Sean and I expected our precious child to be different. Or at least, we expected our parenting techniques to be better. Who got the last laugh? Somehow, I still feel like Brooklyn won this one.

How's it goin'?

Yeah, I know, we don't write as often as we should. You have to understand that our lives are incredibly dull. We go to school, we come home, we study, we eat dinner, we go to bed, we get up, and we go to school. Why would anybody want to read about that?! But we know you care (or at least there are 4 of you with the word "grand" in your names who care) and that means a lot, so we keep writing.

What have we been doing? We go to school, we come home, we study, we eat....you get the idea. School is in full swing now. Sean and I are in classes together and we have great teachers. We already did a two-hour presentation in class on Ecuador. That was fun because we got to talk about our favorite themes - Ecuador and flying!

Do you realize that 3 months from yesterday we will graduate from language school?!?! April 25 is graduation and we'll leave for Ecuador just a few days after that. We are starting the visa process already. I know that the next three months will go by very quickly. We're ready and we're excited. And we're doing our best to concentrate on things we need to get done right now but I must confess, IT'S HARD! We've never been so close to actually being there before. You know, the place we've been headed for sooo long? Anyway, it is an exciting place to be.

Gotta laugh

Okay, I just thought this was a good story. For class we often have to find an article in the local paper (in Spanish, of course) and explain it to our classmates. Well, I found one that, although it didn't exactly fit the teacher's requirements, I just had to share with the class. You may have heard about it, but I was amazed that the story made it all the way down here!

A New Mexico man is now homeless...the result of a very unfortunate turn of events. After catching a mouse in his house, he threw the (still living) mouse into a pile of burning leaves. But the mouse had its final revenge when it ran, flaming, back into the house, catching the house on fire and burning it down.

Now, I'm accident prone but I must say this guy has me beat!

Go Broncos!

We have been enjoying a good weekend. We realized that it is the first "free" weekend we have had since the beginning of December. So we have been finding ourselves bored and not knowing how to handle it. We both have a 2 hour presentation that we are going to present this coming Wednesday in class and had talked of doing it this weekend, but their just is no substitute for last minute procrastination and inspiration. It is neat to look back at when we arrived at language school and we could barely tell you our name, and maybe our phone number (Becca still forgets our phone number, must be those Spanish numbers:) ); and now we are giving a very professional and long presentation for 2 hours and we aren't even worried about it. Time will tell if we should have been worried I guess. After church this morning we are going to a friends house to watch the Bronco game. There is going to be a big crowd there; a few families from Colorado, just some general groupies, and even a few Costa Ricans that want to figure out this other kind of "Football." We are looking forward to it, should be fun. And of course we are all bringing food...yeesss! We are all making things with a mexican type theme. It might be interesting, because most of the Mexican ingredients we are used to in Colorado don't even exist here. The Costa Rican's for the most part dont eat spicy food. The food really has a tendancy to be a little on the blandish side, not always, but most of the time.

Movies

We went to a movie last night (it's been a while) and saw "Chronicles of Narnia"...finally. Wow. It was so good! It was nice to have a night out too - we went with friends and shared a babysitter. Wednesdays are also 2 for 1 days at the theater...let's just say that for both of us to go was more than half the cost of one ticket in the U.S.

By the way, don't forget to go see "End of the Spear" in theaters Friday, Jan. 20, I think. It's about Ecuador!!! Many of you may already know this but it's also about an MAF pilot and 4 other men who wanted to reach a tribe in Ecuador that had never heard the Gospel. The base called Shell is where we'll be living. We've seen the trailers and it looks like a good one. Don't know if it will make it to theaters down here but you can be sure that we'll be excited to see it as soon as we can.

What's happening...

It's been a whirlwind weekend. I can't believe that it's already Tuesday evening! As things get spooled back up at school we've discovered that we are way too busy. Here's a quick update:

• Over the weekend we hosted some friends from MAF in our house. What a precious time! What an encouragement it was to hear news from Ecuador (where our visitors had just come from) and about MAF, in general. Once again we were reminded what we are doing here, why we're working so hard to learn this language.
• Things in Ecuador are looking better. We mentioned before that there were some issues about whether or not MAF could fly down there. Apparently, the problem is not with the government officials but they are responding to a complaint - they definately want to work with MAF so that we can stay. We'll be in the process of training and placing two new Ecuadorian pilots over the next few years in order to continue flying. This is something that we want to see happen anyway! Continue to pray for MAF as we work to make this happen.
• Last night we watched "The Cosby Show"! We have Season 1 on DVD and we finally had a night when we could sit down and enjoy watching a few episodes. My goodness has television changed since then! But "The Cosby Show" is a classic. We laughed pretty hard - I remember watching the show as a kid but now that I'm a parent I get much more of the jokes!
• I lead my first ever Bible Study today! It went really well. They even understood my Spanish. There were about 9 of us in all and they all participated. We had a great time in the Word and sharing about God's work in our lives. God certainly helped me out. To those of you that were praying for this, thank you - and please keep up your prayers. It was a fantastic time and we're all excited to see where God leads us in the coming weeks and months!
• Brooklyn is losing it so I'll close here. She didn't get her nap today and she's a little sick. We're gonna watch some Strawberry Shortcake and then take a bath and go to bed!

Pictures

Volcano Irazu 11,500 ft. Still very active.













Crop spraying the "Old fashioned" way.













Culivating potatoes with an oxen team. Very common.



















Check out the legs on that one!













Cuahita, Costa Rica. Caribean side
(How did the little one get so cute?! Must be the fella taking the picture.)













Brooklyn at the Catholic National Basilica.

The Ocean is for fish

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always been a little afraid of the ocean. Now I’m deathly afraid of it. And I’m never going on a boat again.

Dad wanted to go deep-sea fishing. We were able to find a really good deal (note: cheap doesn’t mean better in this kind of thing but nobody told us that) Anyway, we even decided to take along Brooklyn so that we could all go. It was going to be a fun day out on a nice fishing boat (we didn’t realize that “good deal” does not mean “nice fishing boat”) We were sure we could handle Brooklyn between the four of us and thought it would be fun for her to see us catch fish. And we packed some toys to keep her entertained.

Mom and I worried the instant we saw the boat. No bathroom. This was an 8-hour trip and there was no bathroom? Not only was it not a “nice fishing boat” it was not a very big boat. There were already three “guides” plus three other tourists that joined our little trip and the five of us. But they had brought the “big” boat. As we loaded into the boat (not easy for us land-lubbers) I realized that the only way to get around to the front of the boat was by climbing outside the cabin along a narrow ledge. No thank you. So mom and I settled in on the only bench in the boat facing the rear of the boat right behind the “captain” in the cabin.

As we moved away from shore I could see it would be hard to hold Brooklyn but I figured once we stopped to put in our lines that we could figure something else out. As we moved further out to sea the waves got a little bigger. Pretty soon the boat was slowing down so that Sean and Dad could climb back to the cabin. Mom and I were shocked to see that they were absolutely drenched! They had been sitting in the perfect spot to get splashed by every wave that the boat slapped over. They were cold and wet but we were all still excited to go catch us some fish.

I was holding Brooklyn and trying to balance myself on a tall bench when suddenly my feet were not under me anymore and I was landing hard on the floor of the boat. (Not that my falling is such a rare occurrence but it adds to the adventure of this story!) Brooklyn didn’t like that so Sean took over my seat holding her. I must admit I was glad, because I was starting to feel a little nauseous.

At some point, as I was barely holding on, somebody mentioned we were about an hour out from where we would stop to fish. In the back of my mind I was wondering how I would survive just the next hour (remember: 8 hour trip). Then Brooklyn started throwing up. She’s always been pretty sensitive to motion. Poor thing hadn’t even had breakfast yet but I had a bag ready for her and she let me know whenever she was going to need the bag, which was often.

Then one of the men that came along with us lost his hat. Why in the world they thought it was worth fishing back out of the sea, I don’t know but they did and so they stopped the engines and were going in reverse and bobbing around in the sea trying to get the hat back. At this point I could see mom wasn’t doing so well and neither was I. Actually, Sean and Dad looked a little green themselves. The men that were in the front of the boat also moved back to the cabin where they could warm up. (I’m not talking about a big cabin here.) We got the hat but next thing I knew Mom was leaning over the side of the boat. Yes, she was sick. And then (no joke) the man next to me breathed on me. And his breath was bad. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was a good thing I had Brooklyn’s sick sack in my hands at that moment.

By then it was pretty obvious to everybody that this wasn’t going to work. We did end up turning back around, PRAISE THE LORD! The other men decided to go back out and get their money’s worth (they weren’t ready to “count their losses” yet). They ended up finding even rougher seas and not much else. Not a good day to fish. Dad, why did you think that was going to be fun, anyway?

I’m never getting into a boat again.

And back to school we go...

• Well, that was a quick break. Here we are already back in classes. We had a great vacation time. We just finished our last extended vacation time in the foreseeable future.
• We said goodbye to my folks yesterday. We had a special time together visiting the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and also going to the tallest volcano in Costa Rica. Nevermind that we all were miserable sick in a boat on rough seas or that winds at the volcano were so strong we were nearly blown into the crater!
• I’m going into mourning. Brooklyn is apparently done with afternoon naps. Short of drugging her, I can’t think of any way to keep the naps going.
• Brooklyn’s teacher was telling us today that Brooklyn is a little on the bossy side. She tells her classmates to eat (in Spanish) and if they don’t do it she gets in their face and says “TIME OUT!” At least she isn’t giving spankings…yet.

Pray

Please be in prayer for a meeting between MAF officials and the Ecuadorian government tomorrow. We're hoping to get things ironed out so that our pilots can fly again.

Thoughts

• We welcomed the Dickson family to Costa Rica yesterday. They are here to learn Spanish before Rick takes over as Latin America Regional Director. They have been in Africa with MAF for several years. That makes 3 MAF families in Costa Rica again.
• I'm ready to go to Ecuador. It feels weird knowing that we'll be going in only four months. In many ways, I've already said good-bye to Costa Rica and I'm skipping ahead to the next phase. But I know that isn't how God wants it. We still have lots to do here in Costa Rica and we can't be missing out on what God has for us in the next 4 months. But our house has taken on a more temporary feel again, knowing we need to be getting rid of the extra stuff again before we leave.
• How weird. School begins in a week. And we're the "big kids" now. 3rd Trimester. Seniors. Wow. And we're supposed to be the smart ones! This should be a fun trimester of practicing what we've learned and digging a little deeper into the heart of the language. I would definately say that Sean and I know Spanish now. That doesn't mean everything comes out as it should or that we are totally clear on some of the rules - that's what this third trimester will hopefully help us with. Pray for good teachers for us!
• I'm getting anxious about the maid's Bible Study. I'll probably start it in 2 weeks. Yikes! God gave me an excellent outline for the study. We'll be studying on Christlikeness and what that means. I'm looking forward to it but I really don't feel ready and I feel a lot like Moses must have - "but Lord, I can't talk!" Please pray with me for these ladies. I don't want this to be a mediocre study or one of those things that doesn't "stick". I want God to use this study to change our habits, our attitudes, and our lives for the better. And I know that is what He wants too. Let's pray against the enemy's tactics to stop our progress!
• Sean just got home. He was downtown most of the afternoon working on getting his Costa Rican Driver License. He's official now. And only after standing in 3 differnent lines for one hour each!!

She's just so cute

Brooklyn is getting really talkative. We can't understand much of what she says but she's very expressive. Occasionally we catch words like "moo" or "puppy" but the majority is still blabber. (unless, of course, it's Spanish!) I can tell she's going to be quite a talkative young lady. She's also been singing a lot. She makes up her own songs and sings a combo rendition of "Twinkle Little Star" and the "Alphabet Song".

And she loves animals...can't leave them alone. She was funny with the beagle last night. She carried the dog's food bowl all over the house so he would follow her. Pretty soon she was feeding the poor dog one kibble at a time - but not before she tasted it first to be sure it was okay. That's what we call "GUACALA!" in Spanish. It is a combo of "yuck, gross, and icky" and says it better than any English word I know.

Brooklyn is still convinced that everything that flies is a "ducky". We have a hummingbird feeder that Sean fills with sugar water and the other day Brooklyn was outside playing near it. A hummingbird came and was drinking the water (agua in Spanish) and Brooklyn yelled very loudly, "NO, Ducky, dat's Dada's agua!"

Happy 2006

Is it really possible? Wow. A whole new year already. We're amazed when we look back at 2005 - we sold and moved out of our house, finished packing all our earthly belongings, finished raising our support,"moved" to California to MAF headquarters for training for a few months, and came to Costa Rica. And now our time in Costa Rica is over two-thirds complete. What a year. God has been good.

Well, last night we got a bit of a feeling of what "shock and awe" must feel like. Fireworks. Loud, big fireworks. They were going off in spurts throughout the night but we definately knew when Midnight hit (yes, we were in bed and I don't see anything shameful in that). A lot of U.S. cities have fireworks shows. San Jose doesn't have its own show but every citizen of San Jose sets off his own little fireworks show. You can probably imagine. We could hear the whole city shouting and yelling, sirens, and fireworks going off right beside our house and all across the city. It was actually a bit unsettling, considering we had been sleeping peacefully for a couple of hours already! We might have been running for cover if we didn't remember that it was the New Year. Surprisingly, Brooklyn slept through the whole thing. I don't know how. It was pretty cool at first but it went on and on and pretty soon I was kinda mad at these people disturbing my sleep. "All right all ready, so it's a New Year. Now go to bed!" If we could have had a nice view of the city, I'm sure it would have been amazing. As it was, we couldn't see much from our little house.

Don't get me wrong, we did celebrate the new year. We ended up going to the house of some missionaries from White Rock, British Columbia. We went to school near White Rock for a year and used to love taking a drive to White Rock, which is on the coast. Anyway, we just happened to meet this family at a Chinese restuarant on Friday night and were invited to their house for New Years! They have a couple of acres (totally unheard of in this city) and so it was nice to have a little space. They also have a kitten, a beagle dog, fish, and a hamster. Brooklyn was in heaven. The girl could hardly contain herself. At one point she walked into the room carrying the kitten.... with hands wrapped tightly around its little neck. It's eyes were bulging a bit. We hope it recovers okay. We set off a few fireworks ourselves. It was a great time.