Feliz Año Nuevo de Ecuador!

I don't really know all the details of this holiday here in Ecuador but this is what I have heard.  There are a lot of superstitions on this day.  They sell dolls on the streets to be burned.  Men dress up like women and put roadblocks across the streets and want you to give them money.  If you are taking a trip in 2011 you are suppose to fill a suitcase and run around the house one time.  For good luck the ladies wear yellow undergarments and if they are looking for love in 2011 they wear red.  To get a good look at all of these we went for a little drive today and here is what we saw.

Please note that all of these pictures were taken from inside the car and may not be the best quality.

These kids were dancing in front of our car.

Here are the dolls that they were selling all over the place.

They had booths of them.

There are lots of masks for sell too.

They put these things on top of their cars or tie them on the front or back.

Here is a man dressed up like a woman asking for money.

Selling fireworks on the street.  (some of them were homemade.)

Goofy!

The person behind the man on the motorcycle is a doll.

A little girl running across the street in a mask.

They are burning one of the dolls.

Lots of these on the streets.

Here is a roadblock.  Notice the rope in the girl/boys hand.

Asking for money.

This is crazy!

We think it may be a long night due to all the fireworks, roadblocks, burnings, and parties.  But don't worry about us because we will be in our house safe and sound.  Happy New Year to all our friends and family.  We pray that your new year is blessed beyond measure!  Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Christmas and The Coast

We had a really great Christmas.  We have been so busy that I haven't had much time for blogging.  We had the opportunity to spend Christmas Eve with a pastor friend of ours and his family.  We had a really good time with this family and are very thankful for them having us in their home.  (Not the greatest picture.  It was taken with Meg's camera)

The next day we opened Christmas presents and then went to another missionaries house for lunch.  Here is a picture of the kids with their stocking loot.

The next day we went to church and then headed to the coast.  We were very excited about seeing some more of the country.  Here are a few pictures of the coast.

 The beach was full on people.

 Look!  There is a little restaurant on the beach.  Not sure if I would eat there or not.

Ethan and Megan 

Now on to more of the country.  This was taken on a rainy morning.

This part of the country had a lot of these, Mototaxis.  

And there is a lot of this.

Oh and a lot of these little restaurants.  This was taken from the car window and that is my knee reflecting in the window.  Sorry.  

Another picture of the restaurant.

These are a whole different story.  Stay tuned for more....

The Teleferico

We have been waiting forever to do this.  Because of the weather there hasn't really been a good day to go, but we decided today was the day, no matter what the weather was like.  We had a really good time and the kids thought it was awesome.  We will be going back when the weather is clearer, there were lots of clouds.  We went up almost 13,000 feet and it was some kind of cold up there.   Hope you enjoy some of our pictures from the trip.

See the hills behind the church?  Note to self: don't try to climb hills in high altitude.

Here is a picture of Quito through the clouds.

Going back down.

A Traditional Nativity

We went to a local Artesian market last weekend and this is what we bought. Since we are celebrating Christmas in a different country we decided we wanted to use some of their decorations.  The nativity is handmade by wood from here in Ecuador.  I really like it and it will be a great reminder of our first Christmas here in Ecuador.

Now onto a nice little surprise from the states.  We received a bag of these in the mail yesterday.  And let me tell you, they were such a good surprise. (they brought tears to my eyes)  I love reminders of home.  Especially this time of the year.  A big thank you to our friends, the Cartwrights.  Not just for the Kisses but the other candy and the chocolate chips as well.

Merry Christmas!

Personalize a greeting

Chocolate

Not just any chocolate, the best chocolate I have ever eaten.

We had the opportunity to go to a retreat with the district officials here in Ecuador.  It was about two and a half hours from Quito in the rain forest.  We had a lot of fun meeting new people and hanging out with friends.  All the food was great, but I think my favorite was the chocolate.  We made our own chocolate straight from the bean.

Here are the leftover husks/shells from the cocoa bean.

Putting the beans in the grinder.

All done and ready to add the ground up beans to the hot water.

Cooking.

Getting ready to add the milk.  

Now it's milk chocolate.  For dark chocolate you don't add milk.

 Still stirring and cooking.

The finished product.  Yes, I had two plates.

This has nothing to do with chocolate, but it's a picture I took of "the love birds".

And a rare black parrot in Ecuador.