The weather's beautiful here in "the South." We've been enjoying sunny and warm weather. OK, so I'm not sure the people around here would call it warm. But us Cannucks think it's great.

Scrabble, Bird-Opoly, Phase 10, chocolates (not many--an unusual phenomenon in this household), turkey, tea, coffee and books. The snowshoes don't work without snow but we look forward to trying them out at home.

Most of the family is home and we speak frequently with the new Mom and Dad who aren't here. Hope you're enjoying your Christmas as much as we are!

Isn't he precious?

His name's Zachary and he's my brand new nephew!

This month is flying by. We've had family for nearly 2 weeks and are driving to visit the rest of them next week for Christmas. But not the new baby. Bummer.

Virginia in fall is as beautiful as in New Brunswick lacking only the flaming red of the sugar maples.

Costa Rica is full in our minds. A year ago we had been there for just a month and were watching "fall" there as the leaves did fall leaving trees still full of new green leaves.

We're considering a mission trip. Starting to talk with the people involved (OK, starting to make a list of the people we need to talk to.)

As we go about our daily affairs we wonder what will be our "permanent" future. Last night's comment from someone we appreciate; "I thought you liked to move. You've been doing it since I've known you." A wry yes was my reply. It's wearing thin.

Just got back from our weekly Spanish conversation. The kids and I. Had a most satisfying conversation with a Colombian. Makes me glad I speak Spanish! And the coffee shop had Costa Rican coffee on tap. Yay!

Omelette for lunch today. We get to travel south for a week to visit Virginia and I'm using up vegetables. What a yummy way to do it. We've spent the morning (before Spanish) cleaning and sorting and organizing. The kids were troopers to keep up without complaining. My goal is to get the boxes out of the dining room today. And then I can reorder the bookshelves so that they're more useful. I'm already anticipating the good feeling it'll produce.

Not today's photo. One I love from our last few weeks in Costa Rica.

It's Monday morning again. It's a dark, dreary but cozy morning. We're being a bit lazy about getting school started. But then we've got an errand to do this morning so really school first thing would mean only a few minutes. So blogging instead. The kids are still eating breakfast anyway.

A busy day yesterday. Lots of people and friends. Lots of fun. We made platanos maduros. Yum.

OK. My coffee's cold. It's already leftover from last night and reheated in our new microwave. Everyone should live for 2 weeks without a microwave. It's an interesting experience.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Satisfyingly stuffed with turkey and pie we have enjoyed a beautiful day. Friends, biking, and eating. Did I mention the mashed potatoes and gravy? It's what I make a roast for. So the kids don't like gravy...more for me! We often have turkey on Sunday instead of Monday. But we were given tickets to see Twelfth Night so enjoyed an afternoon of Shakespeare instead. Everyone enjoyed it. Thank you, L!

It's been a month at least since I've blogged. You of course know that. We are feeling somewhat settled back into Southern Ontario. Enjoying the colours of Fall. What fabulous phenomenons.

Strange to be back in some ways. Perfectly natural in others. Change seems to come more easily to us now. It doesn't carry the same shock value anymore and we're more accustomed to the feelings and signs of transition.

But what are we up to?

Well, we have found a house to rent for the winter. Friends have lovingly taken it off the market for us for this time. The majority of suitcases and boxes are unpacked or stored in the basement. We are flipping through all the possible options for the future. Regularly. We don't have anything more concrete than that. Sorry!

Time to put kids to bed. 'Night!

With an international move (again) coming up in just a few days, I surprise myself by reviewing again our homeschooling life. We started our "move break" from the routine of classes nearly 1 month ago and I foresee another few weeks before we renew that routine. As often happens I wonder if school might not be a better option. But then I read an article like the one tonight on the delight of having children who love to be honouring to their family and their Lord. Children who are eager to learn more about the world around them, not jaded and dulled by one more test or one more essay, due Friday. It reminds me that this homeschooling life is something that I love despite the difficulties and pressures.

So, our international move (again) is running smoothly for the most part.
Our boxes left our front porch nearly two weeks ago and are sitting in a warehouse in Toronto waiting for us. We are grateful for the ease of the shipment and our good friend who seems to be willing to help us out with whatever predicament we find ourselves in. On the way into town from picking up our boxes he stopped off at the inept mechanic's to encourage him to repair the part that he didn't repair properly the first time. And to do it by Monday, if you please! (He didn't, but that story is for another time.) Simon tried to make his Spanish forceful but a kindergarten level just doesn't come across with the intensity required. Eventually we did get the vehicle running and were on our way to the beach for some last minute browning before returning home to Canada. After all, all our tanned friends who've had a summer of beautiful Ontario weather will wonder about us pale folk who have been living in Costa Rica for a year. Our chilly and foggy mountains just don't lend themselves to suntanning.

And now, sleeping children and the tranquil sounds of city life.....at least there aren't currently any car alarms.

We'll miss Independence Day here next week. But we'll be home for Thanksgiving. Day of the Child comes in two days. It seems to be a big deal. We had a child reach his "half-birthday" yesterday. You know, he's now 7 and 1/2. So we had half a cake. Fun times. We're counting down till next Wednesday.

A beautiful little orchid, hardly visible unless you know it's there. We had forgotten to look for it since there had been nothing in this place since we arrived. A. pointed it out to us yesterday. But I don't know my orchids and don't know what kind it is. Anyone?

What is it about guys? This morning the moving truck arrived to pick up our stuff and take it to the shipping people. Our truck is having problems and was "parked" in the middle of the driveway, blocking the way for the moving truck. Between Simon and the 2 moving guys, there are 3 men. They all, with hardly a word, start pushing the truck out of the way while I stand there waiting to be told what the plan is so that I can help. How did they know?

Simon beside me is laughing!

Anyway, the stuff is gone, our truck is now in the garage still awaiting an alternator, and it's lunchtime.

Five days away viewing the sights of Costa Rica. Arenal, a beach in Guanacaste. Just long enough for 4 of the 5 of us to get sick. At least we rotated days. But we enjoyed most of the time away. Didn't get to see the top of Volcano Arenal due to clouds, but had a great view of Lake Arenal and heard some good rumbles. We stayed in the Observatory Lodge and were able to watch a seismograph measure stuff we couldn't feel. Roasted on the beach and some of us saw a great sunset. I saw the pictures. I'm the only one who's still sick. So we did get to see the tropical side of Costa Rica. Added a few birds to our collection including a toucan and I want to convince myself that the unknown one was in fact an umbrella bird. It is possible....

Now back at camp we are seeing the calendar tell us we have just a week left to pack. We're waiting for confirmation of the moving truck date. And we still hope to get to Panama to see the Canal. In any case, look for us to arrive in Stratford mid-September.

Hi Folks

Just to keep you up to date somewhat with where we are. We will be leaving camp August 27, will do a bit of travelling. We get to visit the Panama Canal! Sept. 13 (still to be confirmed, but the likely date) we will fly to Toronto and spend about 1 month in Stratford. We want to see you all! After that, it´s still anybody´s guess what we´ll do. We have run through a few ideas but so far haven´t settled on anything.

We may have to take the full 6 month furlough given us by LAM to decide. That decision boils down to whether we want to be reassigned through LAM to another mission assignment. We have a lot of praying to do and would love for you to help us in that.

In the meantime, we will enjoy the next few weeks here and are looking forward to Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire!

I'm reading a book called "Girl meets God" by Lauren Winner. In it I read a quote about God's love that reminded me of a friend. Once she reminded me of the nature of God's love. That God is love just as wood is wood. In this book Lauren Winner quotes from Jane Vonnegut Yarmolinsky;

"The whole concept of God taking on human shape, and all the liturgy and ritual around that, had simply never made any sense to me. That was because, I realized one wonderful day, it was so simple. For people with bodies, important things like love have to be emobodied. That's all. God had to be embodied, or else people with bodies would never in a trillion years understand about love."

Kind of neat, huh?

Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2006 16:17:15 -0400

Dear friends of Simon and Laurel:

Thank you for standing by due to technical difficulties. Below (in the Aldridge Newsletters link) is a text only version of the letter from Dr. Garth Wilson in the event our previous attempts to send the letter either as an attachment or as part of the message resulted in only techno garble on your end.

Stephanie Obando, Office Administrator

Hi All, I´ve been trying to upload our latest letter from the Office but no go. For that matter, I´ve been trying to email it to everybody and it´s only being received by about half of you. Sorry!

The upshot--We are leaving Costa Rica this September. We will be on furlough for six months while we reassess and decide what to do next. Please continue to help us as you have been doing for the last two years either prayerfully or financially.

If I can make any headway with posting the original letter I will do so in our Aldridge Newsletters section.

Sorry for the mess of emails in your inboxes. And we will let you know as soon as we know what our definite plans are.

In the meantime, we are enjoying our surroundings. We have been able to run into a few friends that we had not anticipated seeing before we leave so that´s been fun. Packing is coming along and we´re still managing to get some schooling done. Today Bronwyn and I are in San Jose to get some dentist appointments taken care of. I received a fun email from a friend whose email I had lost. She had been reminded to write me due to running into a mutual acquaintance in Toronto! I love those kind of connections.

Have a fun day!

Thought I'd say a quick hi. It's been an eventful couple of weeks. If you haven't heard our latest NEWS please follow the link on the left to Aldridge Newsletters.

Meanwhile life here carries on. We've had two workgroups here this week. One doing general work--and man did they ever get lots done! New paths, potholes filled, framing of the recreation shed extension, painting a whole house. And they were only here for two days. And we had a gardening crew in who spruced the whole camp up. The chalet looks fabulous with much needed flowers and landscaping. Now the guests there can also enjoy the hummingbirds we are priveleged to watch each day.

Groups in most weekends. We've just had to say goodbye to the Young Life summer staff who were here for two months. We've loved having them and feeding them coffee and brownies. Oh yeah, they did lots of work too and learned lots about the camp and grew in amazing ways individually and as a group. Beautiful to witness. But the best part was the coffee and brownies.

It's good to be home and back at camp. Life is moving along. We've been here for 9 months already. Depending on how you look at it that can be a long or a short time.

I'm mentally re-organizing myself after my solo trip to the States. The kids for some reason aren't pushing me to get back into the school routine.... If I only had some bookshelves for the books I bought. I keep hoping my boys will turn their desire to learn woodworking into a bookshelf. But that will come in time. I've already used up all the bricks and lumber I can find. We try to school quasi year-round so that when situations like this come up when we miss a few days, or when family comes and we take time off, it doesn't matter in the long run. It seems to work for us.

Journeys shared

I (Laurel) just bought a new computer. I am currently in Virginia visiting my parents. Simon and I had decided that it would be a good opportunity to buy a new computer at cheaper prices than in Costa Rica. So we prayed and researched the options and then I bought one. But I still don't have pictures on it--I'll try to borrow some from my mom's computer while I'm here this week. And Simon's having internet problems at our place anyway, so who knows how consistent I can be with writing.

We've had a big work team from the States just spend a few days at camp. They had such wonderful attitudes. They had to do some hard work in even harder rain and didn't complain. So we got our new footbridge almost completed--a good thing because the suspension bridge has fallen out of usability. They also chopped wood, filled ruts and holes in the road with gravel, revarnished buildings, poured concrete to enlarge the kitchen--something that will make the cooks happy and one always wants happy cooks, dug a really big hole for the belay pole (sorry--I don't know what that is except a new idea from the program director who's been in training and has come back with some great ideas. I'm sure it will be a good asset and I will eventually figure out how it works.) This weekend the program director and some climbing buddies are volunteering for a day to finish up this and other climbing building projects. Their "payment" is a day of climbing. We have been encouraged by the fantastic attitude of our work teams. People like them keep us going.

Over the last few months our lives have been enriched by relationships with volunteers who come to work for periods in their lives. We've been able to share brownies and coffee and our lives. It is a great privilege to be allowed to step into another person's life and share in their journey. If you feel an inclination towards joining us for a time, please get in touch with us.

Our network of friends in Costa Rica is growing. We are forming some beautiful beginnings, and Simon is getting to play football more often. The kids too are growing and are becoming more interesting as I get to know them better. Please pray that we will continue to grow "in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man." Our faith in God is being tested daily and our understanding of what it means to trust God is much greater than what it was a year ago and yet so immature compared to many I know and read about. That too you could pray about. This business of "being a missionary" is not necessarily what we expected it to be. A good thing as it leads us closer to God and deeper into His world and knowledge.

God's word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

So we have a computer that still is "being looked at." I managed to borrow one from a volunteer and am putting a lot of minutes on our internet account. But no pictures. Sorry. Hopefully the computer will either come back to life or the files will find their way onto something else to be reloaded onto the computer we'll have to buy. We'll let you know.

In the meantime I thought I'd let you in on my latest accomplishments. I can now drive a car in a foreign country, navigating through strange streets to a new destination while reading a map and talking on a cell phone. Ok, so the guy on the phone was talking me through the streets to make my way back onto the map that he had drawn for me. But still, I didn't even drop the phone while turning corners. And I didn't hit anyone or even veer to far off a straight line. Not that there are many straight lines around here....don't let me mislead you. I made it there and back! Simon obviously wasn't with me. He isn't directionally challenged.

However, he almost didn't make it onto the plane from England due to a passport mixup. He was travelling on his British passport and didn't have his Canadian with him to prove that he doesn't need a tourist visa to get into Canada. They let him on half an hour before his flight left.

The clouds are coming in late today but with a vengeance. If you've been to England in winter you can know what kind of weather we're having here in the mountains. We drink lots of coffee and tea to keep warm.

I don´t remember how to build in a link to a sentence. Anyway, here´s a link to the official web site of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

http://torre.duomo.pisa.it/towersposters/english_version/

Did you enjoy it?

Friday morning. Internet is down at our place. I'm not at our place. Our computer too wouldn't turn on yesterday. Fun. Ha. Ha.

Dress Like a Teacher day at school today. The kids picked their favourite teacher and asked me to help them dress like him/her. One of the kids was easier than the other. Hope they have fun.

I have a class party to prepare for this afternoon. My daughter invited her class and is so excited. I imagine that about half will actually come. It is Friday afternoon after all. Families have things to do and this was a last minute plan. But I know of at least two that are coming so she won't be crying into her juice and brownies.

Have a great weekend!

I´ve been hearing that people are actually reading this blog. I find that rather amusing, but in a surprised, gleeful, pleasant kind of way. And so I will continue.

The kids first few days in school have been fairly good. They enjoy meeting up with some old friends and teachers. It will be a month in which they learn lots--both academically and also how to do things they don´t want to because they have to. As in homework. Also my secret is out in that since Keanan is the third child he still doesn´t have his alphabet down pat. So much for a brilliantly homeschooled child. But at least we can work on it now that Mommy is sufficiently embarrassed into action.

My internet connection is slower than molasses in winter and I have spent far too long this evening moving from one page to another. At least I've been able to multi-task and get some book reading in, laundry, dishes, phone call..... But the end result is that it´s later than I wanted in order to still finish off my day´s chores. I want to read some more in my book L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer. I finished the kid's book I had picked up yesterday to pre-read for my daughter. It is called Wild Geese Flying. Can´t remember the author. Published in the 50's I think. I recommend it. We bought 32 books at the library sale plus a few free ones. Bronwyn´s in heaven but Keanan´s upset that there are only two picture books. What are you reading?

Giant pink moth later eaten by a tanager

We receive regular emails from a friend who works with a people group in Northern Ontario. Her emails are so often filled with hope that it makes me cry and gives me hope. Another set of friends here also send emails that speak of God's faithfulness in their lives. This week we have received many emails that have encouraged us that staying here is a good decision. God does work in us and often through the lives of those around us. Thank you to those who have allowed God to use you.

Wacky Definitions

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are some of the 2005 winners:

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone: The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Giraffiti: Vandalisim spray-painted very high.

Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

Arachnoleptic fit: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

Beelzebug: Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

Caterpallor: The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.


PS: 5 eggs today!

Happy May 1!

Monday morning. May 1. A beautiful, sunny day. We're about to start school. The boys are checking on the chickens and Bronwyn is finishing her breakfast. Simon is cleaning out the dog cage and our working guest is ready to start building a new chicken coop for the neighbour's chickens that are right now sharing our coop. Have a good day.

It's been a long time

I had no idea it had been so long since I last wrote. Oops.

• Keanan's forehead is beautifully displayed in all its accidental glory--the lower "wound" is from contact with a hockey stick, the upper from a flying stone. No need to mention from whose hand the stone flew. These within 3 days of each other. He played hockey well and fortunately in the case of the stone, we had a visitor who is well versed in the ways of applying pressure to cuts, having had lots of personal experience. (Ev, you get to guess who it was.) Keanan hardly even cried.
  
  So, due to electrical friends who love us, we now have lights throughout the camp in obscure places like the workshop and the camp dining room. They're flying home early tomorrow morning. We'll miss them. I wonder what tomorrow will hold. Three people who are here helping at camp are leaving tomorrow. The place will be quiet. As if in response, the clouds are crying today.
  
  Bronwyn is making shortbreak cookies. Keanan is making stacks with the measuring cups. Cai has gone over to the gym to find some futbol action with the current group of young adults. We have a guest sitting in our hammock chair reading a book; she's had a busy week doing a medical mission into the "jungle." An 8-hour hike over a mountain. She was pretty tired when she got back!
  
  The kids will enter school for the month of May on the 7th. They should get a good dose of people and Spanish. They'll be in the same school they attended while Simon and I were in language school so they'll each have either a teacher or a friend in their class that they know. I'll get to work on my Spanish with a tutor and some friends who are eager to help with practice.
  
  This week's projects:
• a new chicken coop for the neighbour's 8 hens that are currently living with our 10. We're up to 2 eggs a day, but not sure if they come from the 8 or the 10.
• varnishing decks
• woodcutting
• dreaming of making small group areas
• more organizing of the bodega to make it more usable

Happy Easter

Christ the Lord is risen today, Hallelujah!

And the bunny showed up too. Chocolates all around.

We are expecting friends today. What fun. Plus we get to pick up another friend at the airport this afternoon. She is coming to stay for a month to help around camp.

Enjoy your day!

Where does it go?

It could lead you anywhere. Where do you think you'll end up? What's around the corner?

Saved

The chickens were on the brink of arroz con pollo. They managed to save themselves by producing three eggs. Whew! I was out of eggs. Cute little eggs. Tiny.

By the way, have I ever explaimed what arroz con siempre means? It's another name for arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Arroz con pollo is a staple at each and every function. Therefore it is siempre (always) there.

I am writing a newsletter while I wait for this to upload. Look for it to come to your ebox soon. Also I'm going to try to set up a link on this blog to the newsletters. Wish me luck! Computers and I don't always get along.

Do, a deer, a female deer

Re, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Fa, a long, long way to run
So, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow So
Ti, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do!

Happy birthday to me!

Birds, birds, birds

I tell you, with Mom and Dad here we're seeing so many more birds than were here before. It may have something to do with the amount of time being spent looking I suppose....

This is the Emerald Toucanet. The funny looking tree is....a funny looking tree. (I'm being corrected. Named a waving palm by some in my family, a fishtail palm in no uncertain terms by another.)

We also got to Los Cusingos as hoped. Hmmm....took a different twist than expected though! As we start to explore the Skutch house/garden area and head off into the paths that run through the property we see a large dark cloud. Oh well, won't affect us too badly we say. What's a little shower? ....Did I say "little?" Torrential downpour. We decide to keep going instead of turning back because it'll be a grand adventure. One of our party didn't 'fess up to the pressing need for a bathroom. Later to be regretted in the mad dash back at the end. Oh, and the search for toilet paper. So we start, miss the path to do the loop and instead head off on the 3 km each way path down, down, down the side of the mountain. Soaking wet. To the skin; through the passports, money, vital papers. Then a little one starts voicing his concerns about falling branches. It's ok, honey, it's just little twigs and leaves. Crash! Down come about 3 or 4 branches almost on our heads--two of us received (thankfully) indirect hits. Finally reaching the path we had started on, we see a large tree across the path and have to crawl our way through the branches. Kids finally start crying. They had been doing so well up to that point. This is also the point at which we find out the need for the bathroom that has been mounting since we started. Walk faster, as fast as we can through the river that has developed at our feet, over the roots and such. Finally we see the end. A "bonhomme" comes to find us, seems relieved that we're ok. Understands that we were scared in the face of falling trees. Points us in the direction of home and a bathroom. (OK, bonhomme is French. Spanish is muchacho.) Back into the truck, off to find some lunch. What a crazy morning! But we all have more or less fond memories.

Pizza Day

We're on our way into San Jose today. Our 7-yr old has requested a pizza party for his birthday with his friend at A La Lena Pizzeria. The best gourmet pizza in town. So we're off to explore a museum downtown and the Mercado Central and then follow it up with pizza. Should be fun! The downside is that we'll be driving the Hill of Death road at night to come back. But hey, that's part of our life.

Saw a toucanet yesterday and more quetzales. Have been having fun with my parents these last few days: bird-watching, horseback riding, pruning roses. With any luck we'll get in at Alexander Skutch's place that has been turned into a research center. http://www.cct.or.cr/en/cusingos.htm

The bridge is almost ready. Just some welding of handrails (If the welders come. Not sure what has happened to them. They're two days late.) Then it has to sit for a month for the concrete to cure. But it looks great. Speaking of sitting, we had planned to be on the road by now, but have had to wait to fix a leaky pipe with parts that we don't have. A group in late last night discovered their bathroom floor to be a lake.

Just having a discussion about cold hard butter on toast, cold hand lotion and toothpaste that doesn't squeeze because it's cold. Last night was milder--it only got down to 10C.

Have fun today!

Mouth Appliance

Bronwyn says:
Sometime in February I got my appliance in to help my teeth grow the proper way. So I have my appliance in and for a few days it was really hurting because it was digging in to the roof of my mouth. But now I can't feel it digging in to my mouth because my dentist said it wouldn't be hurting in 4 or 5 days. So I'll see ya later!

lost tooth and fungus

Cai lost his tooth while brushing one night. He wanted everyone to know. Also in tooth news, Bronwyn was devastated when Tigger chewed on her little tooth keeper that the dentist gave her to store her pulled molars and then swallowed the molar.

Fungus? Or flower? Or what? Anyone know?

Quetzal!

I tried posting this the other day and it apparently didn't because it isn't on the website--unless it's hidden in some obscure corner that I can't find. Que lastima! It was an incredible morning. Five quetzales in total--two males and three females were literally right outside our door. This photo was taken from 25 feet away. And they stayed around in the trees for an hour while we oohed and aahed. Hope they come back while parents are visiting next week.

Meanwhile, the hummingbirds are still fighting over the feeders. The sun is hot these days and it's hard to imagine the gloominess of rainy season.

The kids have had some great times with their art and Spanish tutor in the last 2 weeks. They've also been reaping the benefits of an environmental science graduate who is working on a science program here and needs guinea pigs to help work it out.

New Bridge on the River Savegre.

The company moved the logs from the old bridge to make way for steel I beams and structural decking. Re-bar enough in case a bomb gets dropped on it and lots of concrete. A constant supply of sand and gravel comes from down the road, 1 1/2 hours away. The projected finish date is for March 31st.

The computer works

An hour or two and $50 later we have a renewed computer. This is just to let you know. I'll try to post some pictures of camp life this weekend. Our bridge crew is moving right along and it's looking great.

The kids had an art and Spanish tutor for 2 mornings this week. "Mommy, this is so much more fun than regular school!" Today reality hit when we had to try to catch up on 2 days missed work, but we all survived. Tomorrow they get a special science class from the volunteer environmental science worker here. She's trying to work out a curriculum that is very close to the ideal way I want to teach science. It's a great partnership. She gets 3 willing guinea pigs for her projects and my kids get some fabulous teaching. She also makes great brownies and comes for coffee every day.

I'm reading a number of books right now: Mujercitas by Louisa May Alcott, Grace Abounding by John Bunyon, Nice Girls Don't Change the World by Lynne Hybels (a fast read--try to find it), A Guide to Tropical Plants of Costa Rica by some scientist and a host of school literature like Pilgrim's Progress, Shakespeare, Story of the World, etc. Waiting in the wings are Las Aventuras de Tom Sawyer, El Patito Feo y Otros Cuentos, Frankenstein, two others whose titles have escaped me by the same English author, a book on climbing, one on reading a compass and map and a couple of other rereads I want to get back to. Bronwyn received a history book called Our Island Story for her birthday in January and had it read within a week or two. The rest of us are waiting for our chance to start it. But first we have a book on pirates to finish and Farmer Boy and ..... I'm not sure we'll get to the history book before Keanan starts to read! And then there are those 18 hours a week of letter writing to fit in....

We have enjoyed beautiful papaya today and the sweetest pineapple the other day intermingled with bananas that taste nothing like those at home and mangoes...oh my! As I sit here I look at my windowsill full of gorgeously red tomatoes that are just coming ripe. We had the whitest head of cauliflower you've ever seen for supper last night and I can't wait to get at the avocado in my fridge. Yum-my! Come join us!

Too late

In a lifestyle where morning comes earlier than it did in my previous life, I shouldn't be online right now, I should be sleeping. However, I have people to write, emails to read, bills to pay!

Death by morning. Or Cerro de la Muerte at sunrise. Sounds the same to me. It was beautiful. We all enjoyed good naps after our coffee. The kids said: No, not again! but got up in the dark with no complaints and had a good time on the mountain despite their hunger. This was a repeat of our New Years day expedition to meet the sun, this time to show my sister.

The cat is sleeping cozily next to me, the heater is keeping my feet toasty and the house is dead quiet with everyone in bed. We started school today after a week off for the visiting aunty. Everyone enjoyed the break but getting back was fun too. We had a lovely visit with friends to extend the morning's scheduled coffee break through lunch to the afternoon coffee break, interrupted by the show of a 8 tonne truck stuck in the river being pulled out by the other 8 tonne truck. The bridge crew is at work on our bridge. I got to chat with a nice couple from Indiana on holiday and needing to wait out the "stuckings" to get past to their hotel.

Sleep tight!

Sisters and Teeth

I would love to put some pictures on this page. But...our computer is having issues. It´s shy, doesn´t want to perform when we ask it to.

We had teeth pulled yesterday--Bronwyn´s doing fine. She had a few tears to say the least, and an uncomfortable afternoon. But she got to keep the teeth!

Picked up ´the sister´from the airport and had a quick turnaround back to our sleep place. Fortunately the construction workers don´t work at night. But they´ve started work now and we have poundings reverbing through the building. It will be nice when it´s done but it´s a huge project. They still have the upstairs to do once downstairs is finished.

Simon wants to get back to camp by noon so he can say goodbye to some of the people he connected with in the group. So maybe it´s a good thing we´re being forced out of our beds by saws and hammers. We get to show off our old feria stomping grounds in an early morning tour for fresh fruit before we start climbing the Hill of Death. Welcome to Costa Rica!

A New Day

I just read a friend's blog for the first time. She writes every day!

And I read my sister's email that encourages me to read a book in the sunshine while eating chocolate. Good advice for everyone!

Lucy the cat is cuddly this morning after having spent the night under the house last night. My boys are up and ready for the day, while Bronwyn is still in bed likely reading a book. I got to belay a group of climbers yesterday but realized hours later that I didn't get to climb. It made a full day of school fuller but we all had a good time. Today I plan on finishing up yesterday's loose ends and getting ready for my sister to visit tomorrow! Yay! We plan on climbing Chirripo, visiting Arenal and perhaps Tortugera and who knows what else. Botanical gardens, children's museum, beaches...the ideas are limitless. For sure I want to meet the sun on top of Muerte.

My beautiful daughter is due to have two teeth pulled tomorrow. Yuck. Then she starts "treatment" and "manipulation" of her upper jaw. What fun. But hopefully this will prevent surgery in a few years.

Camp, I haven't mentioned that yet. It's still here! We have a really good group in this week. They are learning to train leaders to work with young people. They've got more energy than I've seen anywhere except in J.F. from Wales. We're enjoying having them here. We've also started morning staff devotions and that's proving to be a good time of connecting with each other each day, as well as encouraging each other to keep the faith.

Breakfast time.

Sunday afternoon

A drowning accident in the valley this afternoon. One person fell into the waterfall area, two tried to save him (her?--don't know yet) and all three drowned. Que feo!

Makes writing anything else right now trivial.

Open camp a success

Just finished a 4-day open camp with 45 kids from all over Costa Rica. They were a great bunch of kids. They all seemed to enjoy themselves and many were stretched in the various activities--mountain biking (one guy learned to ride), high and low ropes, rappelling, indoor climbing, crafts. Each activity was linked in to the Bible study topic. It was fantastic.

Gotta go. We're off to Panama for a few days. Sunshine and warmth here we come.