Current Events

Just wanted to let everyone know we are doing well here Everything seems to be quieting down politically. We will keep you updated if anything else goes on.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39441275/ns/world_news-americas/

Please keep my family in your prayers today and this weekend. We have several things going on right now and would appreciate your prayers.

God Cares About the Little Things

Well, many of you have written asking about the car situation and may I say, our God is amazing! It is a very long story, but let me just say that God provided peace, wisdom and some mighty good mechanics through it all- not to mention amazing neighbors who let us borrow their car many, many times without even a second thought! Thanks Kim and Paul! The problem was that the computer decided the chip in our key wasn't the right chip, so it completely shut down everything. The mechanics at the dealership in Ambato reprogrammed the car and then checked everything else out. We got it back last Friday afternoon and we couldn't be more excited. Having car problems in a foreign country can be, well.... frustrating at best and almost scary. Everything is done so differently here and then there is the language issue, so prayer was vital and our God provided. Not only was it an easy fix for the mechanics, the charges were only a fraction of what we were anticipating (the kids can still go to college!). Praise God and thank you all so much for your prayers! Now we just need the construction in town to be finished so we can drive somewhere!

Jungle Ballet

Isabella had her first Ballet recital a few weeks ago. She was so excited to finally perform in front of people, but wouldn't show me any of their dance before that night. So, I was so excited when the program finally began. I had no idea they would all do such a wonderful job. The recital was so much more than just the girls dancing- several town official spoke, 3 different people sang, and a dance troup performed a traditional Ecuadorian dance.

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School Supplies- Ecuadorian Style

Ok, so I have to admit, I am not an expert at buying school supplies. Since we home-schooled in the states, I have never seen an USA school supply list, but I bet there are a few things on Isahella's list for Ecuadorian school, you would never see on a list in the US. Some of these things I will be interested to see what they do with- my mom just kept saying "art project, art project." We will see..... So, first lets compare and contrast (that a school thing- right?)






The saddest part was that the one thing on the list I really thought I understood was "pinturas"- paints right, no problem- well, actually this meant colored pencils- who knew. One good thing is that we now know the Spanish word for hula hoop- ula ula, that might be useful some day.

Prayer Request

Please pray for our car- I know that sounds strange, but last week our car just stopped working. The battery was good, there was gas (believe you me, the kids asked- run out of gas just one time and.....), it just wouldn't start. Friday afternoon, Joe had it towed to a recommended mechanic who said it was probably the starter- Ok, the starter, not a big deal. Well, it wasn't the starter. Evidently the computer on our "smart car" decided that our key wasn't the correct key and so the car has completely shut down and they can't fix it here. The car is being towed this morning to Ambato (2 hours away) to a Ford dealership. Please pray for safety for the driver who is taking our car, for the people in Ambato who will be working on it and for the whole thing to be fixed quickly and for as little as possible- we are a little concerned about things adding up.
The upside to the whole thing, the mechanic here in Pastazas checked out everything on the car and said it is in great shape- just computer problems. Plus (praise God!) he charged us the bare minimum for all of his hours of work trying to work out the problem. We are very grateful for even having a car, but man, do we miss it!

First Day of School- Well, Kind of...

Well, since we have been here a year and are starting to feel more and more at home, we decided to mess the whole thing up by sending Isabella to an Ecuadorian school for kindergarten this year. Today was technically, Isahella's first day of school at CELE, an Ecuadorian school associated with a church here in Shell.
The first day was in reality just a welcome presentation at the church where a bunch of people talked, one man gave a small message and then they introduced the teachers. We got to hear the Ecuadorian National Anthem for the first time ever, met Bella's teacher and I think we are all a little more ready for tomorrow- the real first day.