Our Family

I just want to take this opportunity to thank God for my precious family!   

God has been so good to David and I by giving us 3 beautiful children, each with unique personalities and gifts.  

 Anna Grace is sweet, loving & reminds me of God’s tender heart.

Eliza is funny, outgoing & reminds me of God’s loving-kindness. 

Caleb is just plain cute and chubby and reminds me of God’s faithfulness and provision.

Thank you for loving and praying for our family!  You are our family, too, and remind us of God’s goodness!  Please keep us updated on how we can pray for you.

Princess Dancing Party!

 Eliza turned 2 on October 10th, and we celebrated with some friends here at Language School.  First off, it was a “Princess Dancing Party.”  Dressing up was not optional- dress code was strictly enforced.

We made princess crowns out of construction paper and stickers, and they ate yummy snacks (thanks to those great care packages from Aunt Debbie, Emmie & Grandma!)

Next, David read a sweet princess/daddy story.

(More like half of the story, because the sugar had hit our princesses!)

We sang “Happy Birthday” and Eliza blew out her candle right on cue.  She knew exactly what to do.  Please notice the cake we bought at a local bakery (complete with bright icing and M&M’s. Interesting....)

On to the dancing... to Spanish Bible songs of course!

What a great time we had with Eliza and Anna Grace’s sweet friends!

By the way, who needs tricycles when you can share a rock?

Drumroll please....

The cost for all the items at the market was . . .

11,000 colones (Costa Rican currency) or about $22.00

Congratulations, Rachel!  Your guess of $17.50 wins you some Costa Rican coffee (are you drinking it now that you are a mommy?)

Some things are surprisingly expensive here in Costa Rica, and then others are amazingly cheap!  Toys, electronics, and anything from the US is over-the-top expensive.  Thank you to many of you for sending us some great things from the US!  We have really enjoyed getting little surprises every now and then from home.

We have found several Costa Rican brands that we really like!

These are some of my favorites:

CR coffee, Chiky galletas (yummy cookies with chocolate on one side), Guisantes petit pois (yummy peas), Jack's snacks (funny name for a snack company in Costa Rica- but they have the best junk/snack food for great prices!), and Lizano Salsa (Ticos add it to many of their traditional dishes).

Contest- How much???

As mentioned before, Saturday mornings we walk to a local farmer’s market for our fresh produce for the upcoming week.

  How much do you think these yummy, fresh items cost?  That is our first contest!

The rundown of items (left to right):

2 green leaf lettuces

5 potatoes

4 plantains

1/2 kilo green beans

16 bananas (yes, 16!)

2 pineapples

1 cilantro

1 chayote

3 avocados

4 carrots

5 cucumbers

2 broccoli

1 chile dulce (pepper)

2 mangoes

1 celery

1 bouquet of flowers

How to enter: Leave a comment with your guess at how much our trip to the market cost.

We will announce the winner on Wednesday.

What will you win?

Some yummy Costa Rican coffee (or another tasty option if you don’t drink coffee!)  We had the opportunity to go on a coffee tour a couple weekends ago- very educational.

Did you know that the best coffee beans are perfectly round?  Beans are sorted out to produce different grades of coffee.  Many coffee companies in the US sell coffee that only has a small portion of the best grade mixed with the mediocre grade.

After the tour, we did coffee taste tests (just like the experts!) 

See picture below: you smell before you taste..

Boxed milk, monkeys & my baby in a tortilla?

 The girls have several “favorite” activities here in Costa Rica.  Some of them are unique to living in another country.

For example, who needs a jungle gym when you have a gate as a front door?

Also, who needs drums when you have empty water jugs?  They actually LOVE to play them, but unfortunately in the morning before school (around 7 am).  Not so sure the neighbors love them too.

They also like their juice boxes, but we actually buy milk boxes.  Yes, you can buy boxed milk (non-refrigerated) in many different sizes, flavors and types.  Entire aisles in los supermarcados (grocery stores) are devoted to boxed milk. 

And one of the most beloved pastimes of children (or monkeys) everywhere...

What about Caleb?  Well, he is still hanging out in his carseat (though we have a bouncy seat coming with a friend soon!).  He continues to be gushed over in Español.  “Que lindo!” (What cuteness!) “Gordito!” (little fatty- but used endearingly) “Delicioso!” (delicious) and the other day someone described (in Español) how they would wrap him up in a tortilla and eat him!

All in all, we are healthy, joyful and continuing to trust God’s call on our lives.  Praise be to thee, O Christ!  Thank you for your prayers, emails and comments.  It encourages me so much and reminds me of the faithfulness of our Lord. 

Nosotros vivimos en San Jose

we live in san jose


5:45 am- En la cocina

Chef David prepares breakfast for the family.  This morning it is eggs, toast, and orange juice. Yum!

7:10 am- En la calle

We are on the way to school.  It is currently the rainy season in San Jose, so it usually rains every afternoon and evening.  The Ticos tell us that in October it rains everyday, all day.  We have learned to never leave home without an umbrella and the rain cover for our stroller!

7:35 am- En la clase

It has been very encouraging that our school day begins with prayer.  We are reminded of the purpose for our language learning. 

12:15 pm- En el comedor

Our family has really enjoyed trying many typical Tico foods.  Lunch is the “big” meal of the day.  Below is picadillo with vegetables and beef, rice, fried plantains and fresh fruit salad.  

All of our produce is bought at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning.  These were our purchases the other weekend. I’m planning a little contest soon about the cost of our fresh produce, so keep following the blog!

The Love of Powerade

Well, last night was an interesting experience.  I unfortunately had a virus, which resulted in several (5 to be exact) long episodes of nausea/vomiting.  From 6:00 pm until about 12:30 am, David took care of me.  Whether it was relining the trash can, getting me a washcloth, or just praying, my sweet husband just wanted to serve.  He even went out at 9 something to get Powerade from a nearby little store (which is a big deal in San Jose- walking alone at night after 8pm.)

Those are all great ways that he served, but what meant the most last night was while I was awaiting the next episode in the bathroom, I looked up at the mirror to see this:

To understand the sweetness of this verse, I have to rewind about a month to when we first arrived in San Jose.  I was really struggling with our house, the transition and way of life in another country, and was only about 5 weeks postpartum.  Basically, I was miserable and just wanted to go "home."  I even looked at the price of plane tickets! (But they were WAY to expensive!)  During that first week, David hung up several scripture verses throughout our house to encourage my faint heart, including the one pictured above.

So why am I still here in San Jose?  Life is not about me- my comforts, needs, health or anything else.  Life is about knowing "the springs of living water" and making this living water known.  In the midst of trials (or in my case episodes of vomiting), I was reminded of the great God we serve.   He is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer- not just from illness or difficult living situations, but more importantly from death.  If not for Him, I would have been back on a plane to Georgia.

What does this have to do with Powerade?  Well, after the illness, Powerade has rehydrated my body and kept me alive.  Likewise, I see Jesus Christ as my Powerade.  Refueling my soul and heart for bringing the gospel to the students in Cusco.  It is because of Jesus that I am now not just surviving in Costa Rica, but I am thriving.  It is because of Jesus that I can rejoice in my struggles and illness, being reminded of this truth:

"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Revelation: 7:17

On a side note, Caleb is just too cute!
Please continue to pray for his health as well as the rest our family and the MCO Cusco team.