What we've been up to.

We are currently in Texas and will be flying back to Quito this Sunday.  I know that I haven't blogged as much as I wanted to because of the lack of internet.  I also haven't taken as many pictures as I wanted to either, but oh well.  We have enjoyed our time in the states with friends and family.

Ten Days

We have been in the states for ten days now and we are having a good time.  We have been busy eating, shopping, and visiting.  It really can wear you out, you know?

Let me go back and recap on our traveling day ten days ago.  We started our morning at 3 a.m. (I actually woke up at 1:30 and couldn't go back to sleep) and we got up and had breakfast and coffee before we left for the airport.  I know it sounds crazy but the kids travel better when they have had time to wake up before we leave that early in the morning.  I was thinking since it was a Wednesday and that early in the morning that the airport wouldn't be that crowded and boy was I wrong.  I think it was probably the longest line that I had ever seen at any airport.  The kids and I got in line and stood there about ten minutes before I spotted a line that said "check suitcases" and I was curious to know if I could just check our bags since I checked in online the day before.  So I went to ask the guy and he told me that he would check us in right then.  What?  So the kids brought our bags and the guy checked us right in and we were on our way.  How awesome was that?  We arrived in Florida around lunch time and we were starving.  Ethan had a double cheese burger from Wendy's and Megan and I had Chinese.  I decided that an airport is not the best place to go when your kids have been out of the country for almost a year and they want everything they see.  It gets expensive.  We enjoyed our lunch and then went to Starbucks.  Then it was time for our next flight to Dallas.  We finally arrived in Little Rock at 7:40 that night and were surprised by friends.  We had a great traveling day!

Megan and I are currently in Texas with my mom and Ethan is in Arkansas with Shannon's mom.  We are enjoying our time with family and friends.  Oh and eating lots of yummy junk food.

I don't have any pictures to share because I haven't had much time for taking pictures.  I just wanted to give a quick update and let you know that I'm still here.  Have a great weekend!

Leaving.....

We are leaving in less than 12 hours from now and we are just a little excited.  I just wanted to do a quick blog update stating the fact that I don't know when I will be able to blog again.  I have a pretty big schedule the next few days and I'm not sure when I will have internet.  You know it would really break my heart to have to go to Starbucks to get internet.  Please pray for us tomorrow as we travel.

Please pray for our pastors as they are in Argentina this week.  

A little boy at one of our outreaches last week.  Was that last week?

One Long but Awesome Week.

We finished our outreach yesterday and we are completely worn out today.  We had a great outreach and are very thankful that our kids got to be a part.  I didn't take any pictures yesterday because it was so dusty where we were and the wind was blowing, it was just crazy.  Before we would start our program our team would walk around the area and knock on doors to get kids to come.  Yesterday when Megan got back she said, "Mom you would not believe some of the stuff I just saw."  She was talking about some of the living conditions that she had seen.  When you go out into some of the barrios here you really see how poor some of these people are.  I can't help but feel completely blessed by what God has given us and blessed that God has called us here.  It's really easy to forget about how blessed you are until you see what other people live like.  Thank God for your blessings today!

Some of the kids from our outreach on Thursday.

Shannon in one of the skits with Hobo.

This is where Ethan lost his wig.

Megan and Moriah rocking out with Hobo in a skit.

Look at these faces.  This was after Hobo did a magic trick.

We got up early this morning and took Moriah to the airport.  We were all really sad to see her go.  It's hard to believe that just 5 weeks ago we went to the airport and picked up a girl that we barely knew and then today we were all sad to see her go.  We had a really great time and she fit into our family perfectly.

Thank you Underhills for sharing your daughter with us! 

The kids and I will be leaving in four short days.  (What am I talking about?  Short?)  In four long days, we will be flying back to the states to spend time with friends and family.  Please pray for us as we travel.  I always get really nervous on travel days, I don't like going through security and customs.  Why?  I don't know because I don't have anything to hide.  But we will be in Arkansas Wednesday night and we are all excited.  

 

Outreach Day 1 and 2

Monday and Tuesday we did outreaches in the community of Llano Grande.  We did skits, dramas, and songs.  At the end of our presentation we give the kids an opportunity to accept Jesus as their savior and then invite the kids and their parents to our church, La Presencia.  Our team is a group of youth from our church.  They are doing a really great job.  Megan has been helping with the team and Ethan is being a clown.  No really, a real clown.  His name is gringito, which means little white boy.

Day 1 - We went into a, I guess you could say, private neighborhood about two blocks from the church.

This is Gringito and Hobo.  (Hobo is Pastor Luis but don't tell anybody.  He is a great clown, by the way)

Here's the team, this is a great group of kids. (excuse the picture it's a little blurry)

The kids that came to our program.

Megan introducing herself in Spanish.  Way to go Meg!

Day 2 - We went into a poor neighborhood with lots and lots of kids.  This one really touched my heart just seeing all the kids, some with no shoes on.  This was the first time that Ethan and Megan had experienced anything like this.  They did a really great job and we are very proud of them.  

This little girl is the daughter of one of the deacons at church.  She is so cute!

A couple of the kids that were the first ones there.

Moriah and Megan

Here they come!

Gringito and Piña the monkey.

We have two more days to do the outreach, please pray for us.  And please pray for these kids, some of them don't have much of a home life, I'm sure.  It really breaks my heart, but this is what we came here for and we are loving it.  

On a side note:  Moriah leaves us this Saturday and we are going to be sad to see her go.  We have had a lot of fun with her. Then on Wednesday me and the kids are flying to the states.  We are looking forward to seeing family and friends.  And I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to buying new jeans that actually fit and going to Starbucks.  I've been on a strict "no dairy" diet and haven't had a latte in almost three weeks, so I'm looking forward to having a soy latte.  It really is about the smaller things in life.  

Hint

Here's a little hint of what we are doing this week.

Church Today

We had the opportunity to be a part of a baptismal service today at Llano Grande, this was our second time.  It was really hard for me to pick out a few pictures for the blog because I took so many.  I love watching baptismal services because they are so special.

There were 15 people baptized today. 

Pastor Luis freezing because the water was so cold.  

These boys are checking out the water.

All the kids had a roof top view.

Can you pick Moriah out of the crowd?  Hint: she's the blonde.

And these next few photos speak for themselves.

Shannon prayed for all of those that were baptized and then preached.

 We finished the service with communion.