Happy Anniversary!!

 August 4th was not only our three year marker of living in Ecuador it is also our four year marker of leaving the United States. How crazy is that! Each year we have grown more intimate with our Ecuadorian friends and each year we miss our old ones more. It's amazing how much the Lord has touched our lives and the lives of those around us. I know there will always be hardship and pain in our lives. I know we will always feel like a little part of us has been left in the states in the hearts of our family and friends. But I also know that we are meant to be serving here in Ecuador. Every year that passes makes that even clearer. In the end we all know that Dios es fiel, God is faithful. We will look at the years to come with confidence that God will never put us somewhere he doesn't want us to be.
                                                   
                                       Thank you all for four great years abroad.
                                           Let many more come after these.

                                                                                                                                         

A beautiful cake made by our friend Lady to celebrate.

                                                                                                   - Georgia

Thank You Rock Team!!

Eating maitos with friends

Church in Sicha Puma. 

                                             
 Thank you for being willing to leave your comfort zone to come here and be a part of our lives. I know we've said this a lot already but you are true blessing. Your undying passion to serve and touch the hearts of others is only surpassed by the encouragement you are to us. You all are the hands and feet of Jesus in our lives. Thank you for letting us share our home with you.

                                                                                                                          - Georgia

In Case You Get Stuck In Ecuador...

Hey Guys! Today I have decided to share some tidbits on the Spanish language. Here are some quick and easy go to's if you ever get stuck in Ecuador-

~ Ok- Ok. Same in both languages just be careful, you don't want to agree to anything crazy. One      time I heard a story about a guy who almost adopted a baby...

~ Puedes hablar mas lento?- Can you speak slower? Useful in situations when you don't know what the heck is going on. I get to use it a lot.

~ Lo siento. Mi (Mami, Papi, Amigo/a) no esta aquí.- I'm sorry. My (Mom, Dad, Friend) isn't here. Very popular with Reese. Usually followed with a Chao.

~ Chao- Casual goodbye. Chao, kiss on check, Ok bye bye now.

~ Puedes ayudarme?- Can you help me? Sometimes asking for help is the only way to get around.

~ Vecino/Veci- It's a name for someone who's name you forgot or don't know. Translates directly to neighbor. I wish there was a word for this in English.

~ Loco/a- Crazy. Mi perro es loco, mi hermana es loca, y mi vida es loca. Good fallback word if thing get loco.

 That's all for now vecinos. Comment if you liked this post so I can decide if I should do it again.

Chao amigos,

Georgia

Our Grandparents Are Here!

    ... And we're so excited to show them around our home! Them coming has been so exciting and we can't wait to show them around our country and daily lives.

Our version of fine dining. We've been taking them to all
our favorite restaurants. No complaints here!

                                     

Our day trip to Paseo de Monos (The Monkey Walk)

Meeting our friends parents. Such a beautiful moment

So that's exciting, 

Georgia

Llamas!!! Our amazing trip to the Andes

Mom and me at the Basilica

  Buenos días! At the beginning of February, my family along with our friends the Macys took a trip to Machachi (a smallish town about a hour from Quito) to renew our friend Jessica’s tourist visa. Although it was technically a business trip, that didn’t stop us from having a lot of fun on the way! We stayed at a little granja (farm). The guest house we rented really looked more like a trinket museum than a place for us to stay. I actually made a scavenger hunt for us all to follow, ranging from an antique record player to a statue of a cow. We got to spend some time with the animals on the farm too, including a not-so-sweet llama that we affectionally nicknamed Cusco. We even got to ride him in small circles around his pasture! Even though I’m pretty sure Cusco is probably complaining about his gringo-related back problems, it was a great experience.

Cusco smiling for the camera

On the fourth day of our five-day trip, we went to Quito to do the actual work. Jess’ application for her new visa went off without a hitch and took less than thirty minutes to handle. With all the extra time to burn, we all decided to show her Old Town Quito. First, we decided to take a walk inside the Basilica (see above) and even got to climb all the way up to the steeple! It was so high! It took at least fifteen minutes for my legs to stop shaking! The climb was dizzying but once we got up there it was even worse. It took everything I had to stay calm. (If it’s not obvious already I have a small fear of heights.) But ,to be fair, the view was amazing.

                                                                                                       

                                                                         Remind me to write soon,  Georgia  

                                   

Climbing to the dreaded steeple 

                                                                                                                                                                                           

The Morning Surprise!

Dear Everyone,

Hi everyone! This is Reese speaking. It has been a little while sense we talked. Now we have a friend amongst us. Her name is Jessica. The reason she is here is to help us like wash dishes, encourage us, and make us laugh.

One day, when we were heading to Puyo which is 15 min away we saw our friend Marco.
He is the Pastor of our small church. So OF COURSE we stopped and asked where he was going. He said he was going to Puyo like us and getting gusanos (which are beetle larva) in the feria. (The feria is like a market but in Ecuador.) And that was the exact place we were going! We asked why he needed the gusanos and he told us that his wife Alex is sick and her throat is really bad. Gusanos help heal the throat so he was going to buy some.

So we drove off with all of us in the same car. When we arrived we all walked together but Marco broke off of the troop and went worm hunting. My mom told me and my dad to go follow him so Dad and I set out. We couldn't find Marco. We only saw peeks of him so we went back to Mom, Jess, and Georgia. They were buying fruits and vegetables. Finally we crossed paths with Marco and started walking back to the car.

When we were driving down the road he brought out a worm. Its body didn't wriggle like the worms you have in your dirt. It's body sort of moved like a walrus! He told us you can eat them raw or cooked and the meat inside is supposed to help your throat. Then he hooked us up to eat some. But we asked if we could eat them cooked, and he said yes. So when we got back he cooked them up and put in some potato's and a salad. Then we cut them into bite size peices and started to chew. My mom said it tasted like penuts but in my opinion it tasted absolutely horrible.

Reese