Painting and Praying

We are getting closer to making our house a home.  I've been busy painting a few things and a few walls.  We've also been busy getting back into the swing of things at church. Shannon preached last Sunday and did a baby dedication.  He will be preaching tomorrow as well.  We both need to take some time to study more Spanish, it's amazing how much you forget.  We've both had a lot of laughs when we say the wrong thing or can't think of the right word.

The kids are all registered for school and will be starting Monday.  They both will be taking Spanish 4, in the same class, at the same time.  They are both ready to begin the year and get it behind them.  They've changed the calendar here to match up more with the Ecuadorian schools and they won't get out of school until the END of June.  We're thinking Ethan won't graduate until June 29th, which is Shannon's birthday.  We're not sure about that date but that's what it looks like on the calendar.  They also changed the grading scale, it's now the same as in the states.  That was a huge relief.

 Here are a couple of things that I've redone.  We had these pieces the last time we lived here and I wanted to redo them but I just never got around to it.

This is the before.

And this is the after.  It looks blue but it's grey.

Before.

After.

And this is my favorite part of our apartment.  We love this little yard. 

We built our first fire in our fireplace.  It was awesome.  I've always wanted a fireplace, that worked.  We had one last time but it didn't work.  It was like a teaser.  It's nice to have a fire on cold nights, which is almost every night.  We do have a gas heater that we use when we don't build a fire.  We've only built one fire because we don't really have a lot of wood.  We've got to find someone that sells it.

Shannon doing a baby/children dedication last Sunday.

Shannon preaching for the first time since being back in the country.  I'm gonna say that he's one brave soul because of the loss of Spanish vocabulary.  He did a great job and the church is very forgiving of his (our) Spanish.

We have a couple of ladies coming from Arkansas next week to stay with us for a week.  They are going to help do a few things in the house and do a little ministry.  They are here to scout out a missions trip for the WM's of Arkansas that will be coming next summer.  We're really excited about having them and working with them.  I'll go ahead and tell you who's coming because I know all you Arkansas AG church goers are wanting to know.  It's Angelia Carpenter and Jackie Underhill.  Be praying that they have a safe trip here and have a great week while they are here.

Slowly but Surely!

We are getting moved in, slowly but surely.  Most of our efforts here lately have been dedicated to getting our visas.  You know that's important because without visas we will have to leave the country by November 6th.  We are praying we get them before that date.  We've also been working on getting the kids school stuff squared away.  They start school September 2nd and there are tons of papers to fill out before that day and a lot of meetings to go to.

We are loving be back in Ecuador and I'll be glad when we get everything put where it needs to go and purchase all the things that need to be purchased.  Top on the list of items to be purchased is a vent-a-hood.  No, the house didn't come with one.  Weird.  Next on the list, curtains.  We. need. curtains.

Did I mention that we need to paint?  I hate painting.

Oh and our lights don't work in our bedroom and bathroom.  The guy was suppose to be here today and it's already 2:30 and I'm not sure if he's coming.  I would like lights in my bedroom, it really helps at night.

Here's a picture of the outside of our house.  

Ethan decided to make his mark on the house first and hang up this sign. (It says, Razorback Fans Live Here)

 Here's my favorite part of the house right now.  It's because it's the only part of the house put together. Don't worry, Ethan's sign is still hanging up, just in a different place.

We made it! (and a little catching up)

Well, we are officially in our house and we got internet yesterday.  Can you believe we did all that in one week?  I can't.  When I say we are "in" our house that's exactly what it means, "in."  We've still got a lot to do, but we are honestly tired.  We were tired before we got here but the altitude makes it even worse.  Oh and the fact that our apartment has stairs doesn't help either.  We are hoping our bodies adjust really soon.

Ok, now to play catch up.

On August 4th Shannon and I celebrated our 20th anniversary.  We knew that things were going to be crazy for us in August so in January of this year we went on a cruise to the Bahamas.  It sure beat our honeymoon to Branson, Mo.  That was the first trip that we have taken by ourselves (like that) since we've been married.  Yes, the kids were mad because they couldn't come.

I got this great cup of coffee instead of a card. 

And just for a great memory, this is us 20 years ago.  

 Also on Aug. 4th the kids had a going away party with their youth group.  

Here's their cake, it says good-bye in different languages.

.

Praying for Ethan and Megan.

Here's a picture of a family that has become very special to us, the Bowermans. They pastor a local church in West Fork and we love them very much.  God always places people in our lives to help us wherever we are.  

And here we are at the airport (August 6th) at 5:00 a.m. Let me just say that we had a perfect day of traveling, which rarely happens.  We flew from XNA, to Dallas, to Miami, and then to Quito.  And we arrived with all of our luggage.  We made it through customs without any problems and we didn't have a problem with our dog either.  

We arrived in Quito on Tuesday and here we are waiting to move into our apartment on Friday.  Megan asked me on Wednesday if I thought we could be in our apartment by the weekend and I told her there was no way.  Well, I was wrong.  

Our counters were covered with dishes that had to be washed before we could put them up.  Yeah, that was fun.  

On Saturday night we enjoyed a dinner with our pastor and deacons from the church.  We could not have done any of this without the help from our pastor, Luis.  He picked us up from the airport, looked for apartments before we even got here, took us places that we needed to go, and much more. We are very thankful for him, his wife, and his family.

It feels good to be back and we can't wait to get settled in and get back to work.  We are still raising money for land for our church.  We have to move within two months.  If you want to give to this you can do so here. Just write the project number in the comments section, which is 14607.

Also we sent our our latest newsletter.  You can click on "newsletters" at the top of the blog.

And lastly we just want to say thank you for your support and prayers.  We could not do this without you!

Last update before Ecuador.

Today is our last day in Georgia, we fly back to Arkansas tomorrow.  I wanted to do a quick update because when we return home, back in Arkansas, we will not have internet or cell phones.  So, if you need to contact us for any reason please send us an email or you can send us a message on Face Book, we will check our emails on a regular basis.

We have been in Georgia for an Andean Regional Retreat.  We also had the opportunity to spend a couple days at the beach, that's what we called our vacation.

We fly out to Ecuador on August 6th, which is this Tuesday.  I can't believe that the time has already here.  It's crazy.

Please be praying for our kids as they say goodbye to friends and family in the next few days.  That is something that I'm not looking forward to.  But I have comfort in knowing that they are ready to go.

Having lunch with some fellow missionaries to Ecuador.  Awesome people right here.

St. Simons Island, Georgia.  Beautiful place.

Lighthouse in Georgia

Huge oak tree in Georgia.