a letter to las hormigas

Dear ants invading my kitchen,

I feel like I have been patient with your presence in my kitchen for a long time.  You have come and gone, and come back again numerous times, and I've remained relatively calm.  But, to be honest, my patience is starting to be tried.  You see, I never really invited you in, and, quite frankly, you often create more work for me in the midst of my all ready very busy days.  I also feel like you have become increasingly more inconsiderate in your actions in my kitchen.  For example, I can understand and accept that you would go after crumbs fallen on the floor or the counter.  Sometimes, though, I wish you would give more than a 2 minute margin of time to have the opportunity to clean up those crumbs.  And, I must say that there really seems to be no excuse for crawling all over my clean dishes in the drying rack, or for your unexplained curiousity in my container of dish soap. 

Additionally, there are times that I'd wish you were more like that huge, tarantula-look-alike spider that was considerate enough to make his solo appearance in the kitchen while my husband was at home, so that he could dispose of him himself while I squirmed and squealed in another room.  But, instead, I can't help but feel that you all revel in showing up while my husband is at work or gone for the week on a project trip. 

Finally, the last straw came when you decided to take advantage of a five minute break in dinner preparation when our crying toddler needed some comforting.  You crawled across a spotlessly clean counter and quite inappropriately partook of our chicken pot pie.  That was just too much, and I now must be totally open with you:  we would really, really like you to leave.  Maybe you could find a new home with the other ants that live in the large ant hills in the empty field next door?  At any rate, you really are not welcome in our home.  I can give you the rest of the day, if you need.  But, tomorrow, please be gone.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sarah, on behalf of our whole family

Photo Friday: a boy and his lemon

The other day, Timmy was begging for a taste of lemon while we were cutting them up to make lemonade.  I gave him one, thinking he would no longer be begging for them after one taste.  To my surprise, he loved it!

2009 Summer Presentation

This post has been a LONG time in coming! Last summer, we put together a video to share with our home church in the States to provide some images of our first year living here. We wanted to share it on our blog, but we couldn't figure out a way to do it.  But, better late than never!  The video quality here isn't as good as the original, and it is split into two different parts.  The first video highlights our family life as we moved from the States, did language school in San José, and then settled into our home here in Atenas.

The second part focused on our ministry roles as coordinators of the intern program, and as a project leader.

We made this video after we had lived in Costa Rica for exactly one year.  As I watch it now, I feel overwhelmed by the memory of the emotions of our first impressions, our culture shock, and our struggles as we studied Spanish and got settled into life in a new country while also learning how to be new parents.  God has carried us through it all, and He has abundantly blessed us. 

Christmas Day 2009

It is, of course, way past time to be blogging about Christmas, but I said a while ago that I was going to do one last post about what we did on Christmas day, and it seems like I should get that done before Valentine's Day!  If you didn't read about our wonderful Christmas visit with my family, you can look at this post.  For this post, I'm just going to highlight some of things that made Christmas Day 2009 different from any other Christmas day we've experienced yet:

- We woke up to sunny skies, a warm breeze, and the sun rising over the volcanoes, just like every other morning of the year here!

- Timmy's and my brother Andrew's stockings were hung from our staircase; no fireplaces here!

- My family has a tradition of eating a "picnic" dinner in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve.  I decided that for our Costa Rican Christmas, we'd change the tradition a little, and have a real picnic outside, since we could!  Dan and my dad drove to San José earlier in the week to buy crackers, different kinds of cheeses, and other things that we traditionally have for our picnic, and we added some good fresh fruit and batidos, a popular kind of drink here made from fruit and ice.

 

 - For dinner, we had a traditional Costa Rican meal.  As I put the dishes out on the table, I was so thankful for the friendships with Ticas each dish represented.  We had a chicken tamales wrapped in plaintain leaves, which my friend Nuria made with me, seasoned beans and rice, which my neighbor Ana taught me how to make, and a traditional cabbage salad, that my sweet friend Iveth showed me how to prepare.  We ate by candlelight. 

- After dinner, my mom played piano and Andrew played violin while we sang Christmas carols, still by candlelight.  After Timmy went to bed, we finished the day's celebration by reading the account of our Savior's birth in Luke, both in English and in Spanish.  It was a beautiful end to our Costa Rican Christmas.

Daddy's little helper

After Christmas, we bought some shoe racks to go in our closet.  Dan decided to put them together quickly one day, and Timmy decided to help!

"Let me see what are you doing, Daddy."

"OK, I'll go try that on the other side."

"This seems easy enough."

"I think it would be better if I had that other screwdriver."

"Daddy, can I trade you?"

"This is better."

"Much better!  I like helping my Daddy!"

Photo Friday: It's summer here!

... and this is one of Timmy's favorite summertime activities...