Happy Birthdays!

Here are the promised pictures and video footage of Noah and Michael's celebrations. For both of my guys' birthday breakfasts they enjoyed a chocolate chip bagel (somewhat of a delicacy here - since chocolate chips and bagels are not easy nor cheap to come by). On Sunday, after naptime, we celebrated Noah's 3rd by taking him to "Parque de la Amistad," a beautiful park, complete with its own steam engine train! We got there just in time for the last ride of the day.

Monday, Michael's birthday, we celebrated with a big party for both him and Noah. This year I tried my hand at making ice cream cakes for each of them. They turned out pretty well aside from a mishap with the writing sticking to the lid of Michael's. But you really can't go wrong with these things because all the ingredients are so tasty, it's bound to produce a yummy cake! Michael was the master of events for the kids and came up with a fun musical game and the classic fishing for treasure game. Noah did pretty well for the party considering that he had skipped his nap that day - there were only a few small outbursts. His favorite parts were probably near the end when he was the center of attention, kicking a ball around the room for everyone and then getting to hold Tio Carlos' Army Saber - Carlos had come straight from work.

The following evening, we went to Robin and Elita's home and had another little party, since neither they nor our friends John and Heather (whom Elita also works with) could come the night before. We got to meet the Chapman's new baby girl, Michaela, just a few weeks old at this point.

Enjoy the video!

Peruivian Ingenuity

We've seen this many times, but this time it was happening right in front of our house. We couldn't help but take a video to share with you the marvels of bricklaying teamwork here.

Double the Fun Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from the Baby Shower for Amanda and I last weekend. It was held at our church (the school building where we meet). They made us feel like princesses, decorating our "thrones" and placing crowns on our heads. It was fun to have both girl and boy baby things represented, resulting in a lovely mix of pink and blue decor. (c:

We played some silly games too!

It was just so fun to have friends here to celebrate with! We felt very loved and cared for by our dear teammates and church friends. Amanda is in her final days of this pregnancy now - you can be praying for her! I'm not far behind. I think it'll become more real for me after Amanda has hers.

This was from a girls morning out last week. We went to our favorite Cafe, San Antonio's for lunch - one of the safe places where you can get a good salad!! These are the ladies of the team in order from left to right are Susan, Lori, Sara, Amanda, and me.

The Celebrating Continues

Just this evening, we celebrated for the third time in just three days! Saturday, the ladies on our team and from church hosted a sweet double baby shower for both Amanda Ross and me. Her baby is due just a few weeks before ours.
Sunday, was Noah's 3rd Birthday! It came and went so fast, but we tried to make it a special family day, going to church and then to a special park with a train after naptime. It was lovely for just the "four" of us to celebrate.
And, today, before the clock turns midnight, I want to wish my precious husband a happy 29th birthday! We kinda did a combined party for him and Noah this evening, as our teammates and lots of friends from church came to "festejar" with us. With baby brother only getting bigger and bigger, this "simple" party was just about all I could do this year. It was fun though, to have our home filled with sweet friends that care so much for us.
All this to say...the pictures are coming....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL! I am SO blessed to be your wife and I look forward to celebrating many more double birthdays for you and Noah!

After a break

Well, after two weeks off, I can safely say that is one resolution not kept. We had a great New Years on a church retreat/prayer vigil, and it has been busy since. Still, I have had a lot of good time for reflection and regrouping, both for the new year, and to make the most of our last several months here. In this year I do plan to share more of those thoughts and reactions on the blog. I always find I can organize my thoughts more clearly when I write, and it makes sense to post them, especially when they can give a more thorough picture of life here, in all its highs and lows. And with how inconsistently we send our prayer letters, its only fair to those who have so faithfully supported our ministry in various ways. God is at work here, and it's both trying and thrilling to be a part of it. Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers, and we hope 2009 is a beautiful year for all of you!