Otavalo Baptism Service

While I was in the states Shannon went to a baptismal service in Otavalo.  This is one of the churches that Shannon helped build in January.  

The service was held at a local park.

Home Sweet Home

Well, I'm back home here in Quito. It's kinda of funny saying that I'm home here in a foreign country and I just returned from my home country. It's just all so confusing.

I'm going to be honest and tell you that it was a long two weeks of sickness.

Let me start off by saying that I have had a lot of problems with my stomach since we moved out of the country almost 3 years ago. And I can't tell you how many times I was told that it was all caused by stressed and I believed them. I mean I just moved to a foreign country that speaks a foreign language and it was all pretty shocking to my system. It's shocking to every one's system that has done the same thing. Not sure if it was enough for 4 colonoscopies for me but....

Over the last three years I haven't been to the doctor for anything else but stomach problems. I was finally told in October that I had IBS. Ok, I guess. I started doing everything trying to help my stomach and rid myself of my stomach pain to which I was unsuccessful. So back to the doctor I go. By this time I am down to 105 pounds and miserable. I was really in need of some medical testing that I could only get in the states but I thought that I could just wait until June when we come back home. (to the states, I'm so confused as to where my home is)  Shannon thought differently.

We found a specialist in Seattle Washington and made an appointment that I had to wait three weeks to go to. And I must say that it was a long miserable three weeks.

I flew to Seattle and then to Houston to spend a couple of weeks with my mom. It wasn't the greatest trip to the US because I was too sick to eat at my favorite restaurants or even drink Starbucks very much. (you know I'm sick if I don't drink Starbucks every chance I get) But I did get some much needed rest. I guess when you're sick there's nothing like having your mom by your side.

Results:
I do know that I have some food allergies, ok a lot of food allergies. I'm not going to say much more because it's all unofficial because I haven't went over my test results with my doctor yet. I should know all the results in a couple of weeks. I will let you know one thing that I'm allergic to and that is coffee. NO, I'm not lying, I'm allergic to coffee beans. I'm pretty sure that I'm only going to be able to drink it on a rotation of every four days. I don't think it will be too hard for me to do because I haven't really drunk straight coffee in two weeks. Ok, I'm lying, it's going to be hard. But I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to get better. Maybe there will be some kind of miracle and I will be wrong about the coffee beans, but I doubt it. Actually some of the other allergies are worse than the coffee beans, I wish it was just coffee.

So, I guess I will be back to blogging. I'm sure I will be filling you in on some of my struggles with food allergies in the coming weeks. I would really appreciate your prayers because it's going to be hard. While you're praying I have a very dear friend of mine that is a missionary in El Salvador that has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Please remember her in your prayers too.

Goodbye Starbucks, hello healthy. 

A blogging break

Just wanted to inform you all that I will be taking a blogging break.  (It's not like I haven't been taking a break already.)  I think I told you in my last post that I have been sick and haven't really gotten out of the house much, well it's actually been like that for over a month now.  I am needing some medical tests done that are not available here in Ecuador, so we made the decision that I should fly back to the states.  I will be flying out first thing in the morning.  Please pray that my flights go smoothly, I don't think I could handle any delays or canceled flights.  I must also mention that I'm not very excited about this trip because I'm not really sure how long I will be gone and my family will be here without me.  But, what do you do?

Well, that's about it in a nutshell.  I'm not sure when I will blog again, probably when I get back to Ecuador.

Please pray for these guys.  They will miss me and I will miss them.

The Night Sky

I took these pictures from my bedroom window last night.  I'm not sure if the pictures really do the sky justice but it was a beautiful sight.  

Photo Challenge is Over!!!

Next time, if there is a next time, I'm going to day a photo challenge with less days because I stink at this.

Day 26 Night- I took this out of our bedroom window.

Day 27 Money - this is money that we still have from Costa Rica.

Day 28 Something I ate.  

And this is what I wished I would have ate.  This is have nothing to do with the challenge, I made this up.

Day 29 Something that I'm listening to, the news.  I'm so boring!

Here's the real deal, I have been slacking on my blog because I haven't felt very well over the last few weeks and have been staying home a lot.  So there really isn't much to share about our lives right now.  

Maybe I will find something interesting to blog about next week.  

Picture-a-day failure.

Is it sad that I can't take a picture once a day for a month?  It's not that I can't, I just get bored with it.  

So, here are three pictures for the Photo Challenge.

Day 23 A picture of where I work.  When I do any kind of computer work it's usually on the couch in our family room right next to the heater.  Why next to the heater?  Because I freeze to death everyday of the year.  haha!  I'm not kidding.  This last month has been rainy, sunless, and cold.  Ethan got up this morning and put shorts on because he said it looked warm outside.  Wondering if he is regretting that decision right now?  Seriously, I'm wearing jeans and a turtle neck.  

Day 25 Something green.

Day 25

And wait for it......a picture inside my bathroom cabinet.  Why yes, I do have 8 boxes of Crest Pro Health toothpaste.  They don't sell that kind of toothpaste here and it is the best you can use for your teeth.  Our dentist in the states recommends it and my orthodontist here recommends it, so it must be true. And that lotion you see in the picture has been to three countries, gotta love the Equate brand.  Speaking of Equate, I miss Wal-Mart.  I see lots of posts on Facebook about hating Wal-Mart but I promise if you didn't have a Wal-Mart to go to you would miss it.  

We are officially coming home in June.  We haven't set a date yet but we will next week.  It will probably be the end of June because of my braces.  I'm getting them off before we leave and I'm really, REALLY, excited about it.  I think the first thing I'm going to eat is popcorn and then chew some gum.  haha!

We are looking forward to coming home and spending the year in the states.  If you would like for us to come to your church and share about Ecuador and what we are doing here send us an email and we will set something up.  

PC Day 20,21,22

Well, I'm obviously one day behind so I decided to post three days at once.  (I'll be glad when this is over haha!)

Day 20 a picture of my shoes.

Day 21 a picture of handwriting.  I wasn't really sure if handwriting would be considered cursive writing or print.  I chose print, actually Megan's print.

Day 22 a favorite picture of myself.  I really don't have a favorite picture of myself but this one will do.

What we've been up to?  We have been staying indoors because of Carnival.  Really don't want to go outside and get drenched by a water gun or water balloon.  Yes, that really happens.  Ethan has been sick running a fever and hasn't really felt good anyway.  What a way to spend his school break, huh?  Megan has been reading a lot and just enjoying time in the house.  Shannon and I have done some cleaning, watching movies, and cooking.  That's is how we have spent the last two days or maybe I should say our Carnival vacation days.