A day of firsts

Yesterday was filled with "firsts" for me. Shannon was sick and stayed home from school. So, I walked to school with Lorin and Rebecca, my neighbors. After school, I took a taxi home and for the first time, I told him where to take me. ALL BY MYSELF! Later that afternoon I had to take the kids back down to Cincel to get their haircuts. Side note: there was a team in working on the new dorms for the school and a lady was giving free haircuts. For the first time, me and the kids walked down to Cincel by ourselves. After their haircuts, we decided that we would take a taxi home. Guess what? I called the taxi company all by myself and again gave directions to our apartment. I felt like I had really accomplished something at the end of the day. No, it wasn't an A on a test but it was a real life accomplishment. It was a great day for me!

A day trip to San Carlos

Last weekend we went to San Carlos by bus. This is the first time that we have really ventured out of the city. We got up early morning and met our friends at the bus stop at 7 a.m. We had a really fun and relaxing day. Let me describe the thermal springs to you. There many different pools of heated water from a nearby volcano. All the pools are different temperatures, so you decide how hot of a pool you want to get in. The kids absolutely loved there. Megan kept saying she wanted to go back there for her birthday. We got back late Saturday night very tired but so glad that we went.

Here we are walking down the road that leads to the springs.

This is what the trail looked like on the way to the springs.

This lady was amazed by Ethan's white skin.

Do you think that 11 people can fit into this Land Rover?

We did!

The struggles of learning a new language

Where to begin? I don't usually "write" very much on my blog because I am no writer by any means. But, I have all the feelings bottled up and want to put them on paper, so to speak. I want people to understand how it actually feels here. When I say here, I mean in this place in life. In a different country, in a different culture, having different emotions and struggles, and so on. Learning a new language is the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I am 34 years old and have went back to kindergarten. Most of you that know me, know that I don't like talking, especially in front of people. Did you know that most of our tests are oral and in front of the class? No, our classes are not big, but it's still talking in front of people. There are days when I dream of going back to a normal life. Whatever normal is, I'm not sure anymore. Days when I could go out in public and not have to think about what I want to say in Spanish. When we go to the food court at the mall and order the kids their food the way they want it, that is such an accomplishment. Or all the Dr. appointments that I have had, checking in for the appointment itself is an accomplishment. Just to show you how childish this all is, today in one of our classes, we are having to tell a childhood story in Spanish. Mine is the three bears. I don't even know how to say bear in Spanish much less goldie locks. Can you see my frustration? Some days I think, all this to tell someone about Jesus? I know in the end it will all be worth it but right now I'm just thinking, this is so hard. With HIM all things are possible. Please remember us in your prayers. We just want to make it through language school. We can't wait to tell someone about Jesus in Spanish!

Change of Plans....

I've tried several times to upload our newsletter on here with no success. We announced a big change in our lives in our newsletter. Which is, we are now going to the country of Ecuador. It's a long story, so to make a long story short, we are going where we feel like God wants us to go.

God really began to deal with us when we first got to Costa Rica about the country of Ecuador and we knew that God was wanting to change our direction. So, we decided that if God wanted us in Ecuador that He would make a way for us to get there, and He did. We are very excited about this change and can't wait to get there. We will be living in the capital city Quito and will be planting churches there. And, who knows what else God has in store for us.

Crossing the Auto Pista

We cross the Auto Pista every morning on our way to school. This is right out our front door, so you can imagine how noisy it is in our apartment. This is like the interstate in the US. I know, it's crazy what we do to save 5-10 minutes on our way to school. There is nothing like a good adrenaline rush first thing in the morning.

In the video: Lorin and Rebecca Harris, our good friends and neighbors here in CR. We walk to school every morning together. One more thing, to Shannon's family that is watching this, Ethan told us that we shouldn't let you see this.

Thanking God for Skype

Update from grandma Pruitt's funeral:

Shannon left for the airport yesterday afternoon. He wasn't there 30 minutes when he found out that his flight had been cancelled. There were no more flights out for the day so he was left brokenhearted. Needless to say, yesterday was a sad day at our house. Not only for Shannon but for his family back in Arkansas as well. They were all sad because he wasn't going to be able to make it to the funeral. Well, we got a call last night from his aunt Linda and she said that they would try to skype the funeral. To some people this might be morbid or weird but, for a grandson that is over a thousand miles away, it was a blessing. I went ahead and went to school this morning but I couldn't stand the thought of Shannon having to watch the funeral by himself so, I decided that I would come home at 10:00. When I got home Shannon already had connected to skype at the church in Hector. We got to see and talk to all of his family and watched the whole funeral. It was such a blessing for him. Not only a blessing but it gave him the closer that he needed. A big thank you to all who have left us messages, comments or phone calls. We are so blessed to have such great family and friends.

Grandma Pruitt

Shannon's grandma Pruitt passed away yesterday afternoon. She was such a precious woman and she will be truly missed. Shannon was not able to see her before she passed away and that was really hard on him. They did say their goodbyes before we left and I'm thankful for that. Shannon will be leaving tomorrow to go to the funeral. Please pray for his safety as he travels.

What we've been up to...

Here are a few pictures from the past week. We have been so busy with school that I haven't had time to blog.

We have gotten rid of all of the bananas in the last week. I have made banana bread twice and will make some more tomorrow.

We've had a game night at the school.

We've made Ghirardelli brownies that were so yummy.

We've went to school. This is where we all hang out at break time.

Here we are in one of our classes.

This is our chapel service that we have every Wednesday with our teachers.

I took this picture waking to school one morning. The mountains are so beautiful here.

We had a little get together at Becca's last night. All these kids are from Argentina. Their parents go to Cincel to learn English.

We've went to the Feria.

Here are our purchases from the Feria all for about 10 bucks.