One Year (give or take a day)

A year ago today we were packing, weighing, and shuffling around stuff until we reached the perfect weight of 50 pounds, in all 20 suitcases.  It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since we arrived here in Ecuador.  I remember last summer finishing up our language study in Costa Rica and telling all of our really good friends goodbye.  And catching a plane to the states so that we could spend two short weeks with our friends and family before moving to Ecuador.  It's always great to see friends and family but we always have to say goodbye over and over again.  Goodbyes stink, but we were ready to get to Ecuador.  I mean that's where we were moving and we were excited about seeing this great country.

Little did we know that when we left Houston on September 1, 2010 that we wouldn't be arriving in Ecuador until the next day due to the weather.  So I'm not really sure if we should say our one year anniversary is on the 1st or 2nd because in reality we did come to Quito on the 1st but couldn't land.  I do remember it being the longest plane ride of my life.   When we finally landed at 7:00 the next morning it was cold and rainy.  We froze to death those first few nights.  I don't think we were prepared for the weather here but I can honestly say that I love it.  And the rest is history.  The kids started school, we found an apartment, went furniture shopping, bought a car, and so on.

We feel very honored to be here and doing what God has called us to do.  We have no idea what this next year holds for us, but we know who does.

A few pictures from our first year here.  These are in no certain order.

Megan broke her arm.

Shannon preached a lot.

We made homemade chocolate in the middle of the rain forest.

We drove through flooded streets to share the good news.

We were confused a lot.  (and still are some days.)

We made our first turkey for Thanksgiving.

We ate lots of ice cream from Crepes and Waffles.

We started the dirt work (and more) for our first construction project that we will be doing in January 2012.

We went to the middle of the world many times.

God blessed us with a great pastor and friend.

God placed us in a great church.