November Fun

Here is a little peak at our life through a lens.....

NOVEMBER 2013

Face painting at the daycare!

Dress up your guinea pig day?

Leyton got to sit in a firetruck

And now we are skateboarding with Fluffy--Emme's guinea pig

We found the new DQ in downtown! SCORE!!

Sonya, taught me how to make miel de coco

and arroz con pollo

and enyucados

Our first experience with a tow truck in Costa Rica

Leyton and Isaac at our final good bye dinner with the Griffith family

My first major injury in Costa Rica--walking to the bus stop

This would be the "splinter" that caused my first major injury.  Took 6 weeks to heal completely

The beauty of Costa Rica--in our back yard

I ran the Color Run 5k with some friends--fun and colorful!

We met new friends at the airport

The Tipton family were here adopting and we were able to help

Emme and Landyn

Awwww....

The biggest spider wasp that we have ever seen!

Meeting the kids for the first time--Wagner, Gina and David

Audra chasing the gaggle of kids! haha

The boys playing

The girls playing

Steve and Bruce and.....turkey legs!

The kiddos enjoying the gringo Thanksgiving food!

Audra (with a mouthful), Michael and Gina

Our last night with the Tiptons!  Hope to catch up with them in Ohio some day!!

November was such a great month.  We met friends, celebrated new families, saw other parts of Costa Rica, learned to make some more Costa Rican food, celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends, and learned to say goodbye and good luck to new friends.  Overall a very fun month, but most of all, giving the glory to HIM for making all of this happen!

Blessings!

Family Beach trip

So in December, mostly for Emme's birthday, we decided to take a family paseo (outing).  We finally were able to go to the beach--as a family!  Just a one day trip to Playa Herradura (name means "horseshoe") on the Central Pacific side of Costa Rica.  The ride was about 2 1/2 hours, but not that bad at all, a very easy drive.

We packed all the food we would need, clothes, towels, etc. and we were off!  The kids were so excited and we really had a good day!

We were so thankful for this time as a family.  It was such a blessing and it was nice to actually be able to see some of the country where we are living.

We hope to go back there soon, as it is close and a cheap family trip!

Here are some of the pictures from our day:

We basically parked right on the beach!

Our drive there....pretty!

The beach

Leyton wave jumping!

Mommy, Emme and Leyton in the water

Leyton showing his muscles

Emme, of course, made a friend!

Running from the waves

Emme body surfing

The beach the other way

Leyton rolling in the surf--kinda like Mimi (Sandy Figel)

This is when the rain started to come in--at the end of our day. But still such a pretty day!

We had such a great time at the beach! Thank you to everyone for your love and support.  As we have learned, it is important to take time as a family.  As you can see, we were blessed and refreshed!

Blessings to all!

Joshua Expedition Team January 2014

January 8th was the first team of 2014.  It was a Joshua Expedition Team of 48 (mostly high schoolers) check out their website Joshua Expeditions

Between Steve Jr, Bruce and I and the kids, we had a great day and moved A LOT of wood from Phase 1 to the Phase 2 property.  It was hard work, but the team did great!  We wanted to make sure to thank them for all of their hard work.  Not only did they move wood, but they were able to do a couple of crafts in the daycare and play soccer with the workers and some neighborhood kids.  Not only was it moving wood, it was salvaging the donated wood from termites, the same wood that will be used to begin construction on Phase 2--more children homes--hopefully 4!!

The work they did was such a blessing to us and to the Project!  Thank you Joshua Expeditions for your continued relationship!  And a big shout out to Beth Anderson--the JE coordinator!

Not only was this our first team of 2014, it was also the first time we were trying to work with the team as a family.  Emme and Leyton were both instructed on rules about what it means to work with the team and how it is going to look.  At first, it was a little bit rough, they were both WANTING to work (I told them to wait until everything got started), Emme wanted to climb trees instead of working, Leyton and Emme were fighting over the one pair of small gloves (to protect from splinters), but after awhile, everything fell into place.  They worked the whole day, they bonded with some of the team members, they got rides on the medical gurney (were used to move larger loads of wood--and such a blessing!), and had a really great day!  We were so proud of them!
One of the coolest parts of the day was watching Emme do her thing with some of the girls on the team.  One girl had a Polaroid camera and took a couple of pictures with/for her.  The kids were ABSOLUTELY AMAZED by the "NEW" technology" of instant pictures!  So sweet!

Here are a few pictures from their team:

Leyton helped carry wood all day!

The JE team--and Bruce

The smart Gringo kids sitting in the shade

Getting a tour of the AP with Steve Thomas

Lunch time--we were packed!

After lunch soccer time!! 

Moving wood from the bodega to Phase 2

The girls hard at work!!!

Friends for a visit!

On Sunday, January 5th, we were blessed by a visit from friends Tim and Lisa LeDonne. But this was no ordinary visit--they were on a cruise and pulled into port in Limón, Costa Rica.  So, after much coordinating, we planned a day to drive down and pick them up and spend a day with them in Limón!  We were so excited!

We got to Limón about 8:30am and we were going to pick them up at 10 from the port exit.  So we decided to drive to look at the beach we had planned to go to.  It was only 10 minutes away!  A small man-made beach called Playa Bonita (It was man made because most of the coast in Limón is volcanic rock--not much beach!).

10am-we met up with Tim and Lisa--hugged and we were off!

We found the beach and started setting up tent--which Bruce made out of bamboo, rebar, rocks, rope and rebar.  Played in the ocean, grilled out on the beach and just sat and talked and took in the culture and food of Costa Rica.

We introduced them to pipas (young coconuts-you drink the juice out of them), Cafe Britt coffee drinks, Cafe Britt cookies and chocolate covered fruit and coffee beans, and Té rojo.  YUMMY!!!!!

We--Lisa and I--had a wonderful time playing in the ocean.  I think it was the strongest waves, rip current, etc. that I have ever experienced in my life!  All I have to say is thank goodness no one had a video camera!  It was too funny!

Although the weather wasn't the best-overcast, slight rain- it was warm and not miserably ridiculously hot, like normal.  It turned out to be a great day!

After the day at the beach, we went and had coffee near the Port and then said our goodbyes.  It was sad to say goodbye, but it was also such a blessing to share our lives with friends--to give them a taste of what our lives look like now.  The whole day was such a blessing in too many ways to even explain.

Thanks Tim and Lisa!! We love you!

So if you happen to be on a cruise that pulls into the Port of Limón--let us know! It is only about 3 hours away!

Here are a few pics of our awesome day:

Our shelter--only cost 846 colones or $1.85ish

The beach

Overcast, but perfect!

Lisa and I

MMMMM...Britt iced coffee

We almost had a family dog--this beach dog was soo sweet and was loving on Bruce....

Tim and Bruce--being Bruce

The damage....so good!

Friends and a day at the beach and coffee--nuthin' better!

Our drive home at night....driving through the rainforest--no street lights!