While it's still July...

... I should post about our celebration of the USA's Independence Day here in Costa Rica...

I really love the 4th of July.  I love the patriotism of celebrating our country's freedom, I love the fireworks and picnics, and the time together with family.  It's funny, though,  that I've spent a lot of 4th's of July in other countries: 2 in Ukraine, 1 in Russia and 4 here in Costa Rica.  This year, Dan worked like it was a normal day, but we did get to do a few things to celebrate.  Here are some photos of our day:

our little family all in red, white and blue

our little dual citizen sporting her American side on Independence Day 

having fun together before our celebration

grilling out at the EMI office (interns Tripp, Andrew and Wes, and our teammate Micah)

 
We did get to have a little celebration at the EMI office for lunch.  All the staff families and interns got together to grill hamburgers and hot dogs (real American style burgers - such a treat!).  Here in our basement office in a small Costa Rican town, we sang America the Beautiful, shared things we love and miss about our birth country, and prayed for the USA.  We finished off our celebration with some good apple pie (again, another special treat here).

That night, I happened to have tamales, seasoned beans, and Tico-style rice on our meal plan.  After our lunch of burgers, hot dogs and apple pie, I laughed at how bicultural we're becoming... even on the 4th of July!

Brother and Sister

Timmy and Tabitha are having more and more fun together every day, it seems.  Our parent hearts swell with joy when we see their love for each other; it is so sweet.  Tabitha adores Timmy, and when she is awake, all of Timmy's energy is expended on getting her to smile and giggle (which always starts out cute, but often ends in more hyperness than Mommy can handle!).  Timmy likes to make sure Tabitha is never alone, and Tabitha has a cute little razzing sound that she makes only when she is looking directly at Timmy or when he's running away from her, as if she's trying to call him back!  Here are some photos of our two cuties (taken last month; I'm really slow on blogging, mainly because of these two!):

Three Years!

June 3rd marked the three year anniversary of our family living here in Costa Rica.  Last year, I was very nostalgic and pensive on this blog about the changes our move here brought to our life (in this post and this).  This year, my thoughts were more along the lines, "Wow, it's been three years... we've had a baby here, we're established here, we love our church family, we see God using us in His work here... this is home." 

We didn't have any plans to celebrate the three year milestone, but, in view of the dramatic flair our life has here, we ended up having it be fittingly memorable.  The power meter for our house, which is located down by our front gate, caught on fire!  Dan and I heard really loud, cracking noises and looked outside to see big electric flames shooting across our driveway repeatedly. A small fire was ablaze on top of the box, very close to some branches of our neighbor's mango tree.  The next few moments were a little crazy as we were running around turning off all the breakers in the house and calling 911.  We heard the sirens of the firetruck a few minutes later... just as the afternoon rain started and did its part in putting out the fire. 

Timmy was thrilled to see the firetruck at our house and to shake the fireman's hand.  He's been pretending to be a Spanish speaking fireman ever since!

We were thankful that the rain began just then, that the power box is down by our gate and not on our house (!), that our Spanish speaking empleada and friend was here to help call 911, and that it wasn't just me at home by myself... because, to tell the truth, living on the mission field for three years still hasn't given me the clear head you'd think I'd have in these circumstances.  I'm still more the type that runs around in circles screaming before figuring out what to do... I've definitely gotten a lot more tranquila (calm) about such things in the past three years, but I wonder how many more years I'll need before I'll be that Tough Missionary Wife that knows just what to do calmly, bravely, and, of course, fluently in Spanish in the face of any crisis?  I'm thinking it's going to take quite a while longer...

home again

We're home in Costa Rica!  And, if feels GREAT to be back!

We've actually been home for a week now.  Dan and I often joke that our life tends to be rather dramatic, especially since moving to Costa Rica.  You know, with the robberies, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions (ok, haven't fully experienced that yet), ant invasions, flooding houses, exploding water heaters, preterm labor in a developing country, having our baby the day the country is in a state of national emergency (have I not written about that yet?  I should.)... we have a lot of drama...

... and, our homecoming was rather dramatic...

First, due to cancelled and delayed flights, we actually got home to our house in Atenas at almost 1am very early Friday morning.  We had originally checked in in Kansas City at 11am on Wednesday. 

Then, on Friday afternoon, while Dan was meeting with some interns, the real drama of our homecoming shook us up.  Literally.  Tabitha was playing sweetly in her pack and play; Timmy had just woken up from too short of a nap and was dancing around me as I unpacked.  Everything started shaking.  I grabbed Tabitha to keep her falling over, while glancing at our bottled water.  (That's my earthquake test; if the water is really sloshing back and forth, I'm not just dizzy AND it's a little bit bigger than just a little tremor.  Oh yes, I'm much more experienced with earthquakes than my first experience 3 years ago). 

The water was really sloshing.

Just as I grabbed Timmy's hand, I heard a terrible, thunderous, roaring sound and the shaking became really violent, the most violent I've ever felt.  I heard neighbors screaming.  We ran outside into our garden and I saw all our neighbors run out at the same time. 

My first thought was...  welcome back to Costa Rica!

All of the neighbors stood outside talking for a while.  Who knew that an earthquake could be a great ministry tool?  I got to meet a neighbor I've been wanting to meet for awhile, another mom with a 6 month old baby.  We found out later that the earthquake was magnitude 6.0 and that the epicenter was really close to us here in Atenas, which is why it felt stronger than others we've had.

No one was hurt; nothing was damaged.  I heard others say later their coffee tipped over or that books had slid out of place.  The only thing I noticed in our house was that all the pictures on the walls were crooked.  Every time we have an earthquake here, I think of Haiti and, now, Japan, and am reminded to pray for those places that have been so devastated, realizing that we could have such devastation any of these countless times we feel the earth shake.  It's sobering.  I think of the many lives that were lost in those two places, so many lives of people who did not know the love, forgiveness, redemption and hope that we have in Jesus. 

It's a good reminder of why we're here.  Dan, a structural engineer, is designing strong buildings in earthquake zones.   These professional designs will potentially save people's lives when earthquakes strike.  We're serving ministries that make Christ known to those who are lost.  We ourselves are seeking to be a light among our community here, to bring eternal hope to our friends and neighbors.  As dramatic as it was, I was thankful for this reminder as we returned to our home and work here!

You know you're a missionary...

... that's been living in the tropics for almost 3 years when...

- you feel like you're leaving home when you come back to your parents' house,

- you realize you don't have any socks or closed toed shoes to pack,

- you only have two long sleeved shirts to pack,

- you know all the clothes you are packing are worn out and out of style and suddenly (sadly) that matters to you when it usually doesn't,

- you're in the airport in Dallas and are happy that the cashier at McDonald's can talk to you in Spanish,

- you're freezing when you arrive in Kansas' spring weather (and you are shocked to see everyone walking around in short sleeves!),

- you have reverse culture shock as you walk three blocks through town (Where are all the people!?  Why is it so quiet!?  Is this other pedestrian seriously waiting for the crosswalk light to change before crossing the street when there are NO cars coming?  Wait - do I HAVE to cross at a crosswalk?  Oh my, HUNDREDS of Costa Ricans would have crossed the street in the time we've been waiting for that walking figure to light up!!!),

- you keep forgetting that you can flush the toilet paper and that you can actually get hot water out of the tap,

- your 3 year old keeps whispering to you when you're out in public, "Why are you speaking English to them?" and talks to you in Spanish when you are home alone with him,

- your 5 month old usually cries when a light-haired, blue-eyed person speaks to her in English, but lights up when someone speaks to her in Spanish,

- even though it's wonderful to be back "home", you think about your other home in Costa Rica every day...


Yes, we are back in Kansas for a few weeks while I deal with and recover from some health issues.  The kids and I came up here first (and can I just say international travel with a baby and a 3 year old is quite the adventure?!), and Dan joined us a few days before Easter.  Tomorrow, I will have a surgery to repair a couple of hernias.  We are praying for a successful surgery and a smooth, easy recovery.  We have been told to expect a two week recovery and, God willing, we will be heading back to Costa Rica as soon as that two week time is up!

orange races

When you have more oranges ready to eat or make juice from in your front yard than you or your friends can use, racing them down the driveway is a very fun activity for a Saturday family day at home.

Each person chooses in orange, rolls it down our steep driveway, and the orange that hits the gate first, wins!  It's always especially amusing when someone's orange is disqualified because it goes through the gate and rolls down the street. 

Good, simple fun here in Costa Rica!