Surrounded

Surround (v). be all around someone or something

As I shared in the last post, we have been blessed by being surrounded by an amazing landscape from our home, as a constant reminder of the Lord's faithfulness and majesty.  This has been such an encouragement as we have encountered frustrations and trials of learning a new culture and people.

We have been surrounded by the prayers of many, and are very thankful for those prayers on our behalf.  Transition has not been easy, but yet confirming of God's call on our lives here in Cusco.  Please continue to surround us with those prayers.

The angel of the Lord surrounded and delivered us (Psalm 34:7) as we were poisoned by carbon monoxide in our apartment by our hot water heater.  (I'll post more details later) Although it was initially a frightful experience, the peace of God surrounded and comforted us and has resulted in greater joy and praise to him who protects, provides, and loves us deeply.

We've enjoyed and are thankful for being surrounded by our MCO Cusco family and MTW Cusco team.  How sweet it is to be seeking God together and asking him to make himself famous here in Cusco.

Finally, we have been lavishly surrounded by the grace and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We have often felt his presence and strong arms holding us, while we were weak, frustrated or tired.

And now we pray that we will continue to be surrounded by his presence and favor as we begin ministering the Gospel through faith, word and deed.

We're in Cusco!

We've arrived in Cusco and are in the process of unpacking and settling into our apartment.  We live in a neighborhood of Cusco called Larapa.  It is located about 20 minutes from the center of Cusco.   We are living in a 3 bedroom apartment on the 3rd story, which gives us these amazing views from our living room.  These views remind of us the glorious hope and promise found in Jesus Christ and spur us on as we desire to make His name known here in Cusco.  God has been faithful to us in many ways over the past week and we look forward to seeing how he provides in the months and years ahead.

Thank you for your prayers, and please continue as we make a home here in Cusco.

Birthday Celebrations!

We've had a fun week celebrating Anna Grace's 4th birthday and Caleb's 1st!
Anna Grace had a Girl Spa Party- complete with stations for makeup, nails, hair, oatmeal hand moisturizer/lotions and edible jewelry.
We had such a great time with all the "ladies" of the team (except Kristen- who is waiting for all of us in Cusco!)

Anna Grace and her verse that David prays over her every morning

Eliza and her edible bracelet- which didn't last long!

Birthday Girl- after the make over!

The Daniel Spa

 

Manicures

This afternoon, we celebrated Caleb's 1st birthday with a Dino-mite party at the park. (Though all of the Ticos looked at us strangely, because the park is the LAST place they have birthday parties!)
Can't believe he is already 1... I've joked that his first word would be in Spanish, but he proved me wrong by saying "Up" yesterday.  Very useful word- especially when you like to be carried around everywhere!

Birthday Boy!

Celebrating at the park

Dinosaur cake- yum!

The line-up... waiting for cake and ice cream!

Caleb's cake

A little help from Eliza

She's 4!

I want to celebrate the life of our sweet Anna Grace.  We are so proud of her.  She is a great big sister to Eliza and Caleb.  She is also very thoughtful, making special gifts or surprises to deliver to other people (almost every day!)  AG loves to sing (in English & Spanish), dance around the house in swirly skirts, play kitchen, read books, watch movies (especially Princess, Tinkerbell, Dora & Strawberry Shortcake!), and help mommy and daddy.  Although she may not be the first to volunteer, she likes to try new, brave things.  School has been so much fun for her- she consistently talks about her friends, Teacher Pa-ME-la (said in a Spanish accent, of course) and brings home fun crafts and projects with the letter "A" written on them by her sweet, little hand.
We love you, Anna Grace and thank God for you beautiful life!

For the Love of Ibuprofen and Spanish Subtitles

The last week has been really long and super fast at the same time.  How does that happen?

Celebrating David's Birthday- the girls started the "Happy Birthday" song in English and finished in Spanish!

David's family came to visit us, and that evening, David began a high fever.  The next day, I began to have a sore throat... but we kept on, finishing classes and spending time with our family.
Such was life for the next week- we've been through at least a bottle of ibuprofen, but our time with family was sweet and encouraging- at least what I remember of it!
Here are a few photos from our time together:

The cousins had a slumber party!

The cousins- except the babies Reide and Caleb

Emmie and AG- water ballet

Eliza & Abe- always up to something...

And now that we are home... this is a normal scene- especially when both parents are still not feeling 100%.  Now before you think how detrimental all this TV watching is for our children, it helps to focus on the positive- they are getting extra Spanish learning time by watching Spanish cartoons and movies!  Actually, we have found that watching Spanish cartoons and movies (which is our comprehension level of Spanish) and reading subtitles has been a good way to continue to grow in language learning.

Classes resume tomorrow (the Institute allows short breaks for students to travel to renew their Costa Rican visas), and hopefully my mind and body will be functioning well enough to concentrate.

Thanks for praying for our family!  And praise to Him who has kept our little ones healthy!

Caleb's favorite toy- he carries it with him everywhere.

Family Day

Family Day at ILE

The language school in Costa Rica has been such a blessing, not only for learning Spanish, but for our family. They have really thought well for our family, marriage and especially our children.

The girls' teachers have been excellent, and this has freed us to study Spanish without concerns of if our children are being loved and engaged both spiritually and educationally.

The other week, the school planned a "Family Day" in which the children sang a song, the school principle encouraged us as parents with scripture, and then we sat together as a family to do a craft. It was a sweet time, and a great remembrance of the blessed call of parenthood.

Don't want to leave out little Caleb!
He is into everything and is completely boy (which I love!) Though I am glad I have this picture of his sweet little front teeth, because yesterday he chipped off a little bit of one while crawling at a reckless, high speed down the hallway... Hope this is not a foreshadowing of things to come with our only boy!