Birthday Pics

We had a great day celebrating Megan's 13th birthday.  We started off by decorating her door with birthday signs so she couldn't get out of her room.  

We thought about buying a cake but wasn't sure where to buy a good cake.  So I decided to make it myself.  

This might be a tradition.  For the last three birthdays that we have celebrated we have went to Fridays.  I think it might be because it's North American food.  

And free cake.

Then we went to the church to have cake with friends.

They sang and carried out a table filled with goodies.

Megan was the first one to experience a true Ecuadorian birthday.  This is her face when she found out that she had to stick her face in the cake.  I don't know why, but they do that here.  She was a good sport.

And here it is.  Face in the cake.

She also enjoyed a Subway lunch brought to her at school by her dad.  Shannon kept telling her that he was going to stay and eat lunch with her, but she didn't like that idea.  I guess she is growing up.  

Thank you to all of our friends at Lleno Grande for celebrating this special day with our family.  We love you all.

¡Gracias a todos nuestros amigos en Lleno Grande para celebrar este día tan especial con nuestra familia. Nos encanta a todos.

Los Ninos

Before game entertainment.

Notice the right eyebrow. (his left)  He is so talented.

And this is what I get from Megan, the hand.

But here is a smile.

All dressed up.

Ethan all dressed up for a party.  The first one looks like a mugshot.  This is what I get when I try to take his picture.

 Or this.  I like this one better because this shows his true personality.  (he's a lot like his father)

This is funny.  On the way to the party Ethan asked me to please not pick him up at 10:00 because he did not want to be the first one to leave.  So, he ended up coming home at midnight.  He's a little party animal.  :)

Consider it all JoY

Reflecting back on my year at CINCEL.

Was it hard?  Yes!
Was it fun?  Yes!
Did I cry almost everyday? Yes!
Did I have lots of homework?  Yes!
Do I miss my friends that I met there? Yes!
Do I miss my little apartment with all the great neighbors?  Yes!

Do I miss Katie Day?  Yes!

Do I miss coffee with the Ogden's?  Yes!

I have been thinking a lot about our time at CINCEL and how thankful I am that I went there.  I never  thought that I would be saying this a year ago.  But I am here to tell you that I/we could not do what are doing without that language training.  Is my Spanish perfect?  No.  But I do know enough to do things that need to be done.  That is big!  I have thought so many times, if I had not went to CINCEL first, I could not do this.  I would have gave up in the first month and went back home.  It might have been the hardest thing that I have ever done but it was well worth it, now that I see the bigger picture.  I always told the directors of the school, Don and Jacquie Cartledge, that I was never coming back and I really meant it.  But I think I could do it again.  (Don you should print this out so you will have proof that I just wrote that)  Is the learning over?  No.  We are still studying weekly and I'm not going to say that it just excites me when I know I have a class because I actually dread it.  But I learn so much every time.  One of the best ways I learn is to hang out with Spanish speaking friends that DO NOT speak English.

I am considering it all joy that I went to CINCEL.  Not just for the language and culture, but for the great friends/family that we met there.  

A few pictures with our friends.

Pululahua

This is pretty cool.  This is a crater of a volcano where people live.  Here is some information that I got online about the history of this volcano.   I know it's a lot of reading but it's interesting.  

Location:Pichincha Creation:January 28, 1969 Area: 3383 hectares Altitude Range: 1800 - 3356 meters The Pululahua Geo-botanical Reserve is located 30 minutes North from Quito near the Mitad del Mundo Monument. Pululahua means "smoke of water" in the indigenous language Quichua. The Pululahua is an inactive volcano which its last eruption was believed it happened around the year 500 b.C. Around the Pululahua crater there are visible three other elevations which are Pando ña, El Chivo and El Pan de Azucar. The Pululahua crater is completely inactive and in its surroundings it's inhabited mostly by farmers, with is a town called Nublin. The first settlers in the Pululahua Crater were the Incas. Later in the year 1825 the Dominicos monks settled in the crater to search for treasures, extract lime and tosow the land. In the year 1905 with the Liberal Revolution the lands were confiscated by the government and later in 1979 given back to the huasipungueros,(farmers). The Pululahua was declared a National Park in 1969, being the first in Ecuador and the continent. The hillsides of the Pululahua are a Geobotanical Reserve that protects more than 53 botanic species and 21 animal species; all of this is under the administration of the "Instituto Ecuatoriano de Areas Naturales y Vida Silvestre (INEFAN). Among the fauna species found in the Pululahua are: rabbits, chucuris,sparrow hawks, wolves, bats, raposas, lizards and frogs. The flora species are unique and numerous some of those species are granibeas, briofitas, bledo, chilca, llanten, peralillo, suro and uña de gato. Hiking and mountain biking are some of the preferred activities by the tourists and many tour operators organize this kind of trips to the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve. Shannon is going to kill me for putting this on here, but he will get over it.  He is wearing my bag.

Church

This is one of the largest churches that I have ever seen.  It's so big that I couldn't get it all in a picture.  

Speaking of church.  I didn't get to go today because Megan woke up sick.  Poor thing stayed in bed most of the day.  She finally fell back to sleep around noon and didn't get up until 4:30.  But I think that she is finally feeling better.

Meg's Game

Megan had another game tonight.  I thought that I would share a few pics from the game.  (again, pictures were taken in a dark gym)