Celebrating Four Years!

Today we celebrate our 4th anniversary. I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and see how our lives have changed!

Here we are on our wedding day, October 28, 2006! We were blessed to get married at a hosteria just outside of Quito that had such a gorgeous setting! And it helps that roses are super cheap in Ecuador - we had lots of roses!

Our first anniversary, October 2007 - waiting for Nathan to arrive (he was born Dec 25, 2007)

Our family keeps growing - here we are in October of 2008!

And then along came little Isabella. This is October 2009!

And here we are today! October 28, 2010! We have been truly blessed during these four years. God has been good to us. We look forward to many more years together!

Tidbits

Our life seems to be full of tidbits lately! Here are a few of them:

1) We are still waiting to hear from the US Consulate in Guayaquil (a coastal city here) about Santi's next appointment for his US visa which will allow him to travel freely between the US and Ecuador (his current visa expires in February).

2) we still have some paperwork and appointments to get done before the above appointment - pray that we will get it all done. Santi will need to get a copy of his police record (or lack thereof - LOL) from the police headquarters here in Quito. He also needs to do a medical exam with a doctor appointed by the US embassy for these visas. We are also waiting for some paperwork from the US.

3) Ruth has been spending lots of time at the dentist lately - as in about two appointments a week for the past two months. Lots to get fixed after not going for about 3 years (yes, I know, this is shameful! chalk it up to never having time between being pregnant and having babies the last three years! I promise I will never wait that long again!).

4) Tomorrow, we celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary! Lots of great memories and hopefully many more to come. God has been good to us!

5) The Kids Club at the dump on Wednesday afternoons has been going well. We seem to be having lower attendance this year (but it will surely pick up by Christmas time). But those who come are doing great - learning the Bible stories and the memory verses.

6) Santi and I just attended a two-night marriage seminar hosted by HCJB. It was great to get some good tips and ideas for us as a couple! And it was great to have a couple of evenings out.

7) This coming weekend begins a three-day holiday - which including the weekend is actually five days long! Yahoo! So Santi has off of work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Sunday, after the service at the Bethany Home for the Elderly, we hope to take a little mini-vacation to Shell - the jungle where HCJB has a hospital and visit the sites there. We plan to return to Quito on Tuesday. We are hoping for some good family fun.

8) Santi is busy at work getting ready for HCJB's Annual Radio Sharathon, coming up in December! There is much to prepare and less people to help due to staff cut-backs at HCJB. Please pray for wisdom and time to get everything ready.

9) and the Extreme Response office is busy getting things ready for the upcoming annual Christmas Outreach to various poor communities in and around Quito. We look forward to working with the 50 volunteers coming from the US and Canada! We are so blessed to be a part of this outreach every year - such a wonderful way to start off the holiday season!

10) Isabella is now walking everywhere and Nathan seems to think it's his duty to pick on his little sister all the time! This keeps mom very busy (some days I feel like a referee). Nathan has great conversations now too - it's fun to hear him talk more and more.

Thanks for all your prayers for us! God is so good to us and we are reminded daily to be THANKFUL! We can't wait for the month of November to celebrate THANKFULNESS!

Soccer 2010

The computer department at HCJB in Quito was invited to participate in a soccer tournament with other communications businesses in Quito. They were invited by the communications area of the Ecuadorian military.

So this past Saturday was the inauguration ceremony on one of the military bases here in Quito. It was interesting to be there and see all the formality and watch the various teams gather together. Various communications companies were represented including Porta (cell phone), TV Cable (cable company), Telconet (internet), among others. The ceremony was very formal with all the teams marching in.

It was fun to be there - Nathan enjoyed playing a little soccer with daddy too! :-) (somehow I didn't get any photos of Isa!).

The HCJB team lost their first game (against the hosts - the military team!). But they are still in it - so we'll have soccer games to attend the next few weekends!

To see more photos, please click HERE!

Appointment at the US Embassy - Quito

Please pray for us today as we have our appointment at the US embassy today to apply for a US visa for Santi. From what we understand, we will be turning in most of our paperwork along with proof that we are married and a family. After today's appointment, our paperwork will be analyzed by a special department in the US and then hopefully we will have another appointment soon with the US consulate in Guayaquil (a city on the coast of Ecuador).

Please pray that all our paperwork in order (we have spent two months trying to gather it all) and that all will go smoothly. Needless to say, it's important for us and our family.

Thank you!

Family Photo

We were all dressed up today for church so we thought a family photo might be nice. Becky, the Extreme Response short-term worker living with us for a few months, was kind enough to help us out - which is truly no small task with two little children!

Crisis in Quito

Many of you have been praying for us since the uprising by police yesterday here in Ecuador. The faction of the police were protesting a law put into place that would lower their benefits provided by the government.

We appreciate your prayers for our safety and that the situation would be over soon. God certainly answered your prayers as Santi was almost held up at gun point while at a gas station near our house - he was trying to fill his car with gas before arriving at home and the gas station was taken over by a band of 4 - 5 thieves. Thankfully, the attendant hadn't started filling his car with gas yet, so Santi was able to just start his car and get out of there as quickly as possible! We are very grateful. Without a police presence in the city, looting and robbery was of concern.

Today, you cannot tell that there was a prolonged late-night firefight last night between the military and the police in a violent operation to rescue Ecuador's president from the National Police Hospital, where he was being held by disaffected policemen. He was safely rescued, under fire, and about 10:00pm he appeared and spoke briefly at the Presidential Palace in Quito's Independence Plaza. All of this was televised on Ecuadorian national TV stations.

Today, so far as we can tell around here, all is calm. News reports say that the National Police have returned to their duties, after the resignation of their commander. Businesses are open; taxis and buses are running as usual. Schools are closed, but will most likely re-open Monday.

During 14 years here in Ecuador, I've experienced several similar events, each one unique, some resulting in a sudden change of government. This one, sadly, cost the lives of two policemen and resulted in injuries to other police and military persons. Yet it ended quickly. The current government continues; President Correa is still the president. He is considering dissolving the congress, and has declared the National Police will be "purged", so there will be repercussions. But every day life has returned to near-normal.

Continue to pray for the country of Ecuador and the people here. We praise God for his protection!