Thursday, August 25, 2011

August Weddings

Our friends Jessica and Daniel got married here in Ecuador! We were overjoyed getting to celebrate with them this life changing moment! They are missionaries here too and don't live too far away from us and we look forward to hanging out more. Daniel and Jessica did a special celebration that when they took communion they also served it to their wedding party. Announcing Husband and Wife! The beautiful bride and her groom! Our classmate from high school, also named Jess, got married here in Ecuador. (Loren and I are high school sweethearts). It was a blessing getting to see her and celebrate with her! She was stunning in her wedding dress! She married an MK from Kenya. I actually went to college with his cousin! What a small world it is! Two other ladies from our class were there -Laurie & Jamie- we hadn't seen either of them since we graduated 6 years ago. They looked beautiful like always and are both married now as well. 8 months pregnant and dancing at a lively wedding is definitely a sight to see! It was a joy to get to move like that although I realized its a different game when you're this pregnant! This last weekend we had our first Road Trip in our Ecua Car! Jungle here we come! We are so thankful we made it there and back with no car trouble. It was the last week I was allowed to travel- so we took advantage of it. Talking about weddings in August...We had the special privilege of spending the weekend with my parents as they celebrate their 30th Wedding anniversary the 22nd of August! About an hour from where they live in the jungle there is this beautiful place you can eat and look over the little town. It was a joy getting to be with them at this special time in their lives. My sister AJ who is 12 made this wonderful fold out card for my parents. She is so creative! We officially are in our new apartment now. What a blessing it is to have HOT water and water pressure! God has blessed us. ~~~FYI: Pray that with our old landlord we can cut off ties on a good note. She sent plumbers in (3 weeks too late) to put in a new shower head at our old place to 'fix' the problem so we wouldn't leave. We were already at our new place by then. Plus that wouldn't have fixed anything. Pray we can be honest but are able to balance that with kindness when we don't always feel like saying nice words.~~~ This is the panoramic view from our new balcony. As you can see we live right across from a park which is such a blessing when you live in a big city of almost 3 million people. We tried to get a photo with the mountain in the back- but the camera focused on us and didn't capture the mountain Cotopaxi which is the second highest summit in the country and 17 miles south of Quito. Mount Cotopaxi is the the fifth highest active volcano of the world and stands at 19,347 ft (5,897 m). Since 1738, Cotopaxi has erupted more than 50 times and is still active to this day. This is the view from our bedroom window. LOVE waking up to God's majesty in what he has created!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

moving... again

To keep our house cleaner- to de-clutter- and get rid of stuff you don't use anymore everyone should move every 6 months. ;-) This move was unplanned and unexpected. We thought we would be here for as long as we were in Ecuador. Little did we know that the future held... a landlady who refuses to help get our water working. Our Califon (what heats our water) randomly works and went out for 4 days straight. It needs replacing. Our pipes are very old and have a lot of build up- and need replacing. The pressure never was great to start with either. If we do get hot water it is so scalding you cannot enter without burning- or extremely cold. Fun. With a baby coming we prefer not to scar him for life. Unfortunately, as I am now 8 months pregnant, it will be more challenging to move. Thankfully we have friends here who can help Loren with all the lifting! Look at how much baby boy Holland has grown! Blessings with having to move: We will have working water. Our new place is across the street from a park that our child can play at. It is walking distance from English Fellowship Church where Loren will be working as the youth pastor. I am trying out my green thumb again- this time in planters. I see little sprouts forming and it makes my heart leap with joy! My first attempt in our little yard you might recall failed permanently when some plumbers came and dug up my yard. This time- I will protect these little guys and hope they produce something! I have planted tomatoes, onions, oregano, and cilantro.