Sir, get up on your feet Sir!

Ok, I have to tell this story on Mark. While we were at the beach he decided to learn how to SURF! So, he and Jonathon went to the surfing school. This young local guy was their instructor and had been surfing since he was 4 years old. In Mark's defense, he says that the sport is much harder than it looks.....but then he says that about Golf....about tennis.....pingpong, etc...... After 30 minutes of eating waves, the instructor say "Sir, you should get on your feet. Get up on your board and get on your feet."

Mark said the ultimate blow to his ego was when the guy carried his board back to the beach for him because he said "Sir, you look really tired". I have posted what Mark was SUPPOSED to look like surfing and what he ACTUALLY looked like.

Fun times with old friends

The Parsley family came to visit while we were on school break. We had a great time traveling around Costa Rica. It was neat to watch our kids interact. Our friendship goes way back to before either of us had children and now to see our families in fellowhsip is really neat.

We had a great visit!

A visit to the ER

Well, you always know that it is coming but you just don't know when.....the dreaded first trip to the emergency room in A FOREIGN COUNTRY (background music starts now). Seriously, that is one of those hard things about living away and being a Mom......"will I know how to take care of my kids, where to go and what to say?"

Olivia had a bout of croup that landed us in the ER at 12:30 AM. She woke up and couldn't breathe, had chest retractions and we couldn't ease up her breathing so to the ER we went. We called a cab and my next door neighbor for Claire and off we went. God was in control of the whole matter and things went very smooth.

After we got back home and could collect our thoughts enough to realize how God had worked out everything from waking us up in the middle of the night to calming Liv's nerves at the hospital to giving Claire peace to stay with Aunt Paula next door. It was incredible to see His hand in all of the details.

Arenal Volcano

Yesterday we returned from a nice couple of days of relaxation (and some fun!) at Arenal Volcano. Yes, it is an ACTIVE volcano!!!! We had a great time visiting with some old friends from the States, the Parsley family.

Mark, of course...Mr. Adrenaline Junky....did the 17 platform zip line across the treetops, the girls played in the pool and I "processed my loneliness" in the spa getting a volcano rock massage and facial (the facial thankfully didn't include using volcano rocks...YIKES!!). We had a great time going around to the lava side of the mountain each night to view the falling lava rocks and spray of fire from the top of the mountain. It was an awesome display of the POWER of God!!!

Here are some pics from the trip.

SCHOOL IS OUT!

Wow, I can't believe that we are done with our first trimester of Spanish!!! We are so excited to have a break from school. We ended the trimester with 3 A's each in our 3 classes.....boy, how I wish that Mark's high school Spanish teacher could see him now!!! Actually I wish ANY...ANY of Mark's teachers could see him now...working and doing homework. It so cute! HA

Anyway, we are ready for a few days of vacation with some friends. The Parsley family is arriving Saturday for a visit and we have some fun things planned.

El dentista!

OK....you know those things that you absolutely dread to do the FIRST time in a FOREIGN COUNTRY?? You know...... go to the doctor, visit the hospital....OK just about any first time thing in a new country can be traumatic (drama queen enter stage right). Well, it was time for our 6 month DENTAL CHECKUP...."Jaws" background music plays now.....and today was the day! We wanted to avoid any dentist that might possibly clean his tools in the blue barber shop liquid jar.....or some of the local dentist who operate out of what appears to be his residence.
Scary, huh? So with much apprehension, we arrived in a part of town we had never been in and saw the dentist. WE SURVIVED!!!!

Actually it was a very nice office with very nice staff and NO, they did not speak English! Mark and I figured that if they started to work on the right end then we had a victory because we have learned enough Spanish to at least express what service we need! HA It was indeed a day of victory and we have learned to bask in the small victories!

The Toucan

Olivia had to make a 5-10 minute presentation on the Toucan for her class this week. Naturally Mark was satisfied with her preparing a simple poster with Toucan facts but.....I thought that her presentation needed a little spice!!! I prepared her a power point on the Toucan! I thought it was a grand idea and Olivia did a great job! I will post the video...it is so cute with her little remote control clicker in her hand. For some reason, Mark has been referring to me all week as a "Texas cheerleader Mom?".......not quite sure why?