One Great Sunday

We had the pleasure of being in a baptismal service this morning.  And let me tell you, it was great.  It was a great experience for us.  This was our first one in Latin America.  I'm sitting here trying to think of the words to describe it and there are no words.  After the the baptismal service Shannon preached and did communion.  The communion was his first.  He did such a great job.  I really don't know how he does it because I don't think I could do it.  He struggles with some big pronunciations due to the King James in Spanish, but it doesn't phase him any.  It really helps that the people are behind him and are so willing to help him when he needs it.  I'm very proud to say the least.  (I think I said that last time he preached)

I really had a hard time trying to decide which pictures to post.  So I'm probably going to post too many. If you have facebook you have probably already seen these but I'm posting these for those who don't.

The Chiva Bus

Quito is celebrating Quito Day.  What is Quito Day?  That's a good question.  I asked the kids and they said that it was the day that Quito was founded.  So, I think I will go with that.  They celebrated at the kid's school today and they are out of school Monday.  As part of the celebration today the kids went on Chiva rides.  I went to take pictures but I got there too late and missed them.  I was able to take a few pictures of a Chiva because they are all over the place.

This is a chiva.  It's a bus with a live band on the top.  Or some of them have really loud music.  People are riding these all over the city.

Here is a Chiva that does not have a live band on top.  It just plays loud music.  Believe it or not, it's mostly English music.

These little girls were pointing at the Chiva and it's loud music.

I got this from a friends blog.

Sick

I am on day 3 of being sick.  Let me be the first to say, it's no fun.  I was sick all day Tuesday, felt better yesterday, last night the sickness came back, and today I'm still feel sick.  I finally got brave and decided to eat a cracker.  We'll so how that goes.  I'm not the only one that has been sick.  Shannon has been sick since early Saturday morning and still not feeling 100%.  At least the kids are feeling good.  It just seems like every time I turn around there is something wrong with me.  First my back, which just got to feeling better, then I had a big blister on my lip, and now this.  If anyone ever thought that being a missionary is a dream job and everything goes perfect, and you have the perfect life.  Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Ok, enough of that.

Here is picture of Megan and Molly that we took yesterday.  I can't believe how big Megan is getting.  Kinda makes me sad.  She is in the seventh grade this year and will soon be a teenager.

And here is a picture of my cute little nephew, Tucker.  I've only got to see him once, now that does make me sad.

I think he looks a lot like my brother, Patrick.  I love this picture!  For those of you who know what Patrick went through, this picture should make your heart happy.  

Patrick and his cute little family.  I can honestly say that Kristi and Tucker are God's little miracles.  Kristi fought a battle with cancer and won.  I'm very proud to call her family.  I love and miss you Williams'.

A Little FYI

Today is the national census day here in Ecuador.  Everyone in the country is required by law to stay in their houses from the hours of 7a.m. to 5p.m.  Anyone caught outside will be fined.  Here is the information sent out from the US Embassy, if you want to read it.

The U.S. Embassy in Quito advises U.S.  citizens living or traveling in
Ecuador that an upcoming census day in Ecuador could seriously impede
movement in urban centers of the country for one day, Sunday, November
28.  While details are not entirely clear at this point because the
government has not yet released the regulations, the census agency,
Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censo, has indicated that on Sunday,
November 28, from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., all urban residents are
required to remain in their residences. At this point, this also appears
to include hotels.


There will only be limited taxi service available in the major cities
and no bus service. If you do need to travel that day, authorities
advise you to do so before 7:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m.  Also, please
prepare in advance for basic needs, such as food and water.  Some hotels
may have food available for their clients; check with your specific
hotel for more information.  Tourists planning travel in Ecuador that
day may want to arrange to be in rural areas on that day, November 28,
as the travel restrictions do not appear to apply outside of urban
areas.  It has also been reported that no alcohol will be sold in urban
areas the entire weekend.


Everything is closed today.  The whole city is shut down.  It's a little crazy to say the least.  


So, we slept in this morning and ate a late breakfast.  The census guy showed up around 9:30  and stayed for about 30 minutes.  All the questions were in Spanish.  I sure hope we understood them correctly.  He wanted to "see" Ethan and Megan.  And he also wanted to know how many light fixtures we had in our house (??).  Where we get our water.  If we use electric or gas.  And so on and so on.  We have spent most of the day watching movies and the kids have played the Wii a lot.  (All in our pj's.)  I am making a big pot of potato soup as I type this.  We have no plans of leaving our house after 5.  It's kinda nice to sit around and have no where to go or nothing to do.    

Giving Thanks

The night before Thanksgiving I finished decorating the mantle.  I have always wanted to decorate a mantle for Christmas.  It was really hard to find decorations here that are affordable.  They have Christmas stores (Salon de Navidad)  but they are starting to run out of stuff already.  I really wanted to make a wreath but when I went back to the store, they were gone.  There are three stores but I didn't want to run all over the city trying to find a wreath.  So, I saw this little tree and thought it would do the trick.  I think I like it better than a wreath.  I decorated it with flowers that were for a flower arrangement.  I just cut them off of the stems.  I think it worked out nicely.

We got up on Thanksgiving morning and watched The Macy's Parade.  I wanted to find something fun for the kids, but not too kiddish, and came up with Thanksgiving Day Parade Bingo.  I think we all liked it.    (Ethan looks more than thrilled.  He really did like it.)

Molly enjoying the parade.

Our first turkey.  Yes, it's big, but it's all they had.  It was really good too and cost a small fortune.  

This is kinda funny.  We were not able to put our food on the table because we didn't have anything to put it in.  No serving dishes.  I might need to put that on my list.  (But, there were less dishes to wash.) 

 This was his favorite part.

 Shannon talking to the Pruitt family in Hector, Arkansas.  This was the first Thanksgiving without grandma Pruitt.  She was such a precious lady.  I'm sure she was greatly missed.  

Skyping with Shannon's family in West Fork, Arkansas.  

Skyping with Shannon's family in Fresno, California.  

My mom and brother, Patrick (and family) spent Thanksgiving in Hot Springs, Arkansas with my Grand dad.  And my sister, Laura,  was in Germany with her new husband, Doug.  My brother, James, was in Pennsylvania.  I am thankful for my family and love them very much.  

Needless to say, we are thankful for Skype.  We had a great first Thanksgiving in Ecuador.  But, I'm not going to lie, there were tears shed.  I guess to know what you're missing out on can really get to you sometimes.  We are thankful to be doing what God has called us to do, but sometimes it's hard.  

Please pray for Shannon today.  He has been sick most of the night and is still in bed.  He is preaching tonight at a church here in Quito.  I pray that he is able to because I know I can't do it for him.  

Happy Thanksgiving to Our Friends and Family Around the World

We hope all of our friends and family have a great Thanksgiving.  We love and miss you all.  We would not be able to do what we do without your love and prayers.  We appreciate you all very much.

Hope you enjoy the video.  We decided to leave us all laughing at the beginning because that is our family at it's best.  

Surprise Letters

We got letters from the children's church from Scottsville Assembly.  There is nothing better than getting mail from home.  Here's a funny story.  We opened a post office box because we knew that it would be safer to get our mail from the postoffice, rather than going through 2 or 3 more people's hands.  You know who gets the most mail?  Ethan and Megan.  I think Shannon and I have gotten one thing and all the rest is for the kids.  I guess the kids have their own personal mailbox.  It does bring great joy to the kids to get mail.   I have had several ask for our address and if you would like it please send us an email and we will send it to you.  Thanks for thinking of us and thank you Scottsville kids.  We appreciate all of your letters!