Juan, Jo & Kids

Christmas Fun!!!

2010-01-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

We had a VERY busy Christmas season, worked VERY hard, and thankfully were able to be all together to celebrate Christmas.

Da whole gang!

My beautiful family!!!

Some Christmas cheer...um...

I miei tesori piu grandi!!

Some of Nicky's photography!!!

PIZZA Night!!!!

2010-01-20T05:54:00.000-08:00

Of course, this was just one of the many times we've had pizza, especially since we've got one of those AWESOME pizza ovens most people could only dream of having (yes I'm assuming you're a fellow pizza fan). Try not to be too jealous...:D

Preparation...

Sizzling!! I'll bet you can smell it from there :D

Many hands make light work...but these guys are pros!!

Sorry, no pics of the final product...we were waaay too busy eating it!! :D

And Heeeres Pisa!

2010-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's been too long in coming, but here are finally some pics from Pisa. We've been pretty busy since arriving here, so this is a bit of everything! Hugs to y'all.

Nicky and her new friend Cloe

Studying together (both in the 6th grade)

A shot of the living room, and Nicky running for cover...

The boys having some fun

A beautiful Tuscan sunset, early autumn!

A few of the house.
You GOTTA love those arches...sigh

And over the front door...

A bit of our front yard...

This is definitely an amazing place!

And Now Back to Switzerland!!

2009-10-05T04:10:00.000-07:00

Since we'll be leaving the lovely Switzerland in about 10 days, heading to Pisa, hopefully where we'll be staying for a good while :D, I've decided to post some pics we've taken here over the past three months. They're in no particular order, just some cool moments (when I happened to have the cam on me).

Mother and daughter

Just me...

Mother and son

Nicky

Sheesh they get big fast....

I couldn't decide which of these to post...so I just posted them all!! :D

Vitor creating...

Romantic...Lucern is gorgeous at night!!

Lucern Lake (just before their Independence Day fireworks)

My little heartbreaker!

Focused!

The view from our attic window...

And Then There's Vitor!!!

2009-10-05T03:57:00.000-07:00

Vitor, of course, got caught up in the modeling fever as well...

Stealing peanuts...Shhh!

Nicky's Photo Shoot--Part 2 Trampoline Fun!!

2009-10-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

Embrace the Sun

Nicky's Photo Shoot--Part 1

2009-10-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little out of the order of our travels, but I've only just gotten around to posting it. This is a lovely photo shoot Nicky did several months back, in Ireland, with the talented Cathy Lykins ;)

Swiss River Rats!!!

2009-09-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

Latest update: We're now in beautiful Switzerland, enjoying the AMAZING mountains, and scenic lakes and rivers. The kids are starting school on Monday, and so ends an exciting, travel-filled summer. The next batch of pics will likely be of us thrashing through golden-red leaves, wielding rakes and sporting overalls, rain boots and hats :D. (hmm...)

There's a great river beach near our house, made for loads of fun these last few summer weeks! Here are a few pics:

a

Shhh!! Promise you won't tell....

Shawn...!!

Planning world domination...

We did it!!!

There are no words.....rsrsrs

Crooked smile for the camera!!

Silas and Juan

Smeegle...

Animated conversation...

We made you short!!

Vitor's turn!

Water fun!!!

The Princess

Busy at important work (Digging a giant hole!!)

Baby wants to help...

Ruuuuun!!!

Ok...Time to stop for a pose! :D

Riverside Chat...

Tranquility

Barbeque!!

Duckies!!!!

Sunset on the River--the end of a wonderful Day!

Beautiful Ireland!!!!!!

2009-06-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

The day after we arrived we went to a horse show, in a town close by. Any horse lovers will agree with me that these are just beautiful!!!! (Any non-animal lovers won't really understand why I'm posting a bunch of pics of someone else's pet...lol)

Niiiiice!

The kids, enjoying the show

A few contestants waiting.

The show was held on the grounds of this old manor/riding school

The old manor

Such beautiful horses...

Esta es para Abuela!!!

It was cooooooold!!!! This icy wind just chillin' to the bone...

A few more, just for fun. I took them in the garden, the other day.

Our Trip to Ireland!!

2009-06-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, in keeping with tradition, I'll post some pics of the trip over to Ireland.

It was a 17 hour trip, with several stops. Nothing too interesting, but I thought the animal displays in the San Diego airport, were both awful and incredible at the same time. Have a look!!!!

San Diego airport, waiting around for our 6 am flight.

Displays of animals native to the region....stuffed..
I didn't know whether to be horrified or interested.

In JFK, waiting for our connection to Dublin.

We arrived safe and sound, thanks to all who prayed for us!!!!!!

San Diego!!!

2009-06-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

For Vitor's birthday, we went across the border to San Diego, and had a great day hanging out all together. We watched a movie, played games, ate out, shopped (whew...).

There were so many great things we would have liked to do in San Diego if we'd had more time, it's got so many great attractions. Guess we'll have to get back there sometime and check them all out!

Here are a couple pics from our day out:

And here's me...! We went out one night, with some great friends here in Tijuana, just before we all went our separate ways.

Updates...Updates!!!!

2009-06-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

The view from the rooftop (Tijuana, Mexico)

Hmm, yes, it's definitely been waaay too long since I've posted anything up here, and as many of you know, plenty has changed in the meantime! But I thought you wouldn't mind seeing a few of the recent pics we've taken along the way.

I'll post the ones from Mexico first, then a few that we've taken since arriving here in Ireland. I hope you all enjoy this little update, and I'll keep you posted on the news and events!!

Thanks for you prayers, we're praying for you too!!
Love you all!!

The whole gang!
(This is actually Ensenada, about an hour down the coast, from Tjuana)

Silly

Meditation..

Focused...

My little man!

Father, son, moments...

He was chasing this strange seabird

Tallest flagpole in the world!!! (I don't actually know that...lol) But it was pretty darn tall.

This was the base...

Daddy and kids (mom's taking the pic of course...)

Our Central America Trip -- Day Five

2009-05-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Saturday, April 25th, 2009

6:30 am, We're now closing in on the final stretch of the trip. Thank God it's almost over, it was fun, but we're getting pretty stir crazy now, and desperately need some exercise, a good stretching and the ability to sleep in a horizontally.

The kids have been very well behaved, I think I whined more than they did (heehee), I'm very proud of them.

(Later) We're supposed to arrive in TJ around 10:30 am, but we're locked in a military check (they're getting more frequent, probably because we're nearing the US border), for about an hour, with something like seventeen buses ahead of us...sigh.

I'm loving the cacti everywhere, and did I mention the desert sunrises...wow!! There's a mist hanging low over everything, and with the sun shining through it, looks almost magical. Wish I could stop and take decent pictures of this, but the bus is moving again now, thank God this checkpoint didn't take longer.

Funny how things seem to take so much longer when you're waiting around for them to happen. We finally arrived in TJ around 3pm, because of all the delays, a lot later than we expected of course (we kept our poor welcoming committee waiting at the station since 10 am...), but we've arrived safe and sound, and we're very thankful for that.

We're amazed that any of our bags survived the trip at all, given the rough treatment they went through, most are torn or a lot worse off...again, at least we're here safely!! (Tip: Don't take bags you're too attached to on a trip like this, you might be heartbroken :P)

Home SWEET Home!!!!!! We're finally here, YAY!! Ready and raring to get started, we unpacked in a flash, and are settling in for this next phase of our lives.

We'll keep you posted....

Our Central America Trip -- Day Four

2009-05-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Friday, April 24th, 2009

8:30 am, The sun goes down very late around here, it also comes up pretty late as well, guess we're moving away from the equator now. Today we saw our first desert sunrise...Beautiful!! We have no map but we're about 16 hours north of Mexico City (guesses anyone?).

There were all sorts of police checks last night, and we've just passed a military checkpoint a few minutes ago. Main things they're looking for are drugs and weapons...fair enough.

11:30 pm, The day was pretty uneventful, sleeping, reading, etc. Oh yes, and I flashed one terrifically old man, I've since discovered that the lock position on the restroom door doesn't quite lock if pulled open, and...well, the rest is history. I think he went into shock from the surprise, hope it didn't give him a heart attack...lol.

After the usual plethora of movies, we can finally get some sleep...in between police checks...

Our Central America Trip -- Day Three

2009-05-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

6:30 am, We're up bright and early, with the sun starting to come up over the hills. The landscape has changed so many times throughout this trip, and now it's mountainous. We've seen several smoking volcanoes with snowy peaks, pretty cool.

I have to comment on the roads (highways) here, (I don't know if it's just because I've come from Costa Rica) they're wonderful, decent road signs, nearly European standard...gotta say, I'm pretty impressed so far. It's going to be a pleasure to drive here.

10:30 am, We're now nearly to Mexico City, it's pretty dry here, starting to look a bit like desert.

Juan liked the police car...rsrsrs

2pm, Finally at Mexico City station, this place reminds me a lot of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

After nearly giving the porter a heart attack, and definitely a hernia from hauling around all our stuff, we bought the tickets for the final leg of the trip, to Tijuana. Our bus left at 4:30 so we had a couple hours to have lunch and wander around the station before boarding.

(Later on the bus) For the first four hours the bus was practically empty, just us and a couple of elderly men, so the kids had great fun running up and down the isles, somersaulting in the seats, and smashing their faces against the windows. All of which they managed to do so very quietly, they never disturbed our geriatric company, or the driver...

After watching another beautiful sunset, we settled down for the night.

Our Central America Trip -- Day Two

2009-05-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

5am: Good morning world! After a good night's sleep, we're up bright and early, ready to catch our 6:00 bus the rest of the way to Tapachula, Mexico.

After hauling all 104 tons of our luggage down to the front of the hotel, the next great feat was waking up Vitor, who's become quite the heavy sleeper.

We want to thank everyone who's praying for us during this trip. Thank God so far it's been without incident, and though that might sound boring to some, I'm pretty thankful the only one toting guns around here so far have been the guards at the border checks.

This morning we'll be crossing the Guatemalan border and passing through the danger zone (the 2 hour stretch before Guatemala City, where we were attacked last time).

Given the amount of prayers we're sending up, the Lord must have a battalion of angels around this bus, the other passengers would thank us, if they only knew...

See ya after the border!

(A couple hours later) Yes, yes, I know this sounds exaggerated, but I'm definitely breathing easier now!!! The Lord protected us, and we made it through safe and sound. We are SO thankful for all your prayers. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

5pm We crossed the Mexican border, and are now in Tapachula. The next bus out to Mexico City left right away, so we pretty much took our bags off one bus, and put them on another. Much better than spending the night for sure.

Time to bunker down for a night on the bus. See y'all in the mornin!!!

Our Central America Trip -- Day One

2009-04-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

So many people were curious about this crazy trip, that I decided to keep a log on it. It went very well, and I hope you enjoy...

(The pics were all taken with a cell phone since I really didn't want to pull out my big old cannon somewhere it might get swiped, being that we had to get on and off the buses so many times for police checks and the like.)

Day 1: Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

3:00 am
Departure! And so begins a new adventure, we're on our way to Tijuana, Mexico by bus. Crazy? Probably, but we'll have traveled the entire length of Central America when this trip is over.

It's a good thing I'll be typing this up, cuz the handwriting on a bumpy bus looks pretty unreadable. We've taken the TicaBus from San Jose, Costa Rica, and in a long straight shot will cover Nicaragua, Honduras and half of El Salvador on the first day.

We're allowed two bags per person, but no weight limit, so obviously, each of our bags weighs about 13 tons...much to the dismay of the porters at the border checks.

7 am, Nicaragua border, we had to take all the bags off the bus to have them individually checked. The official got about halfway through our eight big bags, and then got bored, or distracted with something else, so off we went.

3pm, Honduras border, Welcome to Hell! Temperature wise anyway. I don't know if it was because of the air con on the bus, but stepping off into the dusty desert that emanated heat from the ground and felt like 50 degrees in the shade, seemed pretty close to it. The border area is populated by the skinniest dogs you've ever seen, and lots of children begging, so sad to see.

All the crossings went smoothly thankfully. On the El Salvador border, (at 6 pm)there is a thorough narcotics check, dogs, the works, and the bus was held up for about half an hour, while the luggage was sorted through, and the dogs did their "sniffing duty".

We're stopping for the night at a little hotel in San Salvador, because it's only safe to cross the Guatemala border by day. We've already learned that lesson the hard way, and are VERY glad they take this precaution. It's a nice little hotel and costs only 12 dollars per person.
They've fed us on the bus today, but starting tomorrow we'll have to fend for ourselves.

We've completely unloaded the luggage off the bus for the night, since a different bus will be picking us up in the morning, our room looks like we're under siege with barricades everywhere, navigating through it is a feat.

11:45 pm: After a nice hot shower, we're collapsing in bed, Goodnight!

Good bye Costa Rica!!

2009-04-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

And so ends one more phase in all our lives, and begins a new one.
Our little family is going to be moving to Tijuana, Mexico, ready to start a whole new adventure and life.

Here are a few pics we took in the center of San Jose, CR, a couple days before leaving.
(Why do we always wait till the last minute to do the tourism...tsk tsk)

Feeding the pigeons in the plaza

A painted cow...

Some kind of monument to coffee...

Iguana encounter....

2009-02-13T10:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is a short post, just so that I can put up these cool pics...

During school time one morning, the dogs chased what we thought was a big rat into the pool, when we ran to see, we discovered it was actually an iguana, lying at the bottom under water.

I of course worried that it would drown, and so brave Juan dove down to fish it out of the pool (the kids have since informed me that iguanas can SWIM).

He managed to get it off the property and away from the dogs, but as soon as he let it go, it flew back in through the gate, and had another stand-off with Max before taking off again (Max getting the worst of it of course, cutting his mouth on the spines). Must have been payback for his forced bath.

Oh the joys of tropical life......

Kiss the...umm...hmmm

Playin' dead....

Seeing if it likes lettuce...

Nope...it prefers dog.

Crocodile Crazy!!!

2009-02-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

The day of Richard's birthday the kids went on an awesome boat ride down one of the most crocodile infested rivers in the world, which happens to be nearly in our own back yard (yikes).

They had great fun, even though mom (aka: me) was sitting at home anxiously writhing her hands, biting her nails, and worrying about them coming home safely. As they filed in through the door coming home, I did a quick mental limb count on 'em...two legs each, two arms...heads...ok, WHEW!!!

Needless to say my worrying was unfounded, since they all came back in one, fairly decent piece, ready and raring for the evening's pirate fun to come.

(Special thanks to Joy Renold for the pics ;)

Getting ready for the tour

Concentration beforehand....

Ok...ready to have fun now

The Tarcoles River has a population density of 30 crocs per kilometer of river bank, one of the highest in the world.

Giant American crocodiles

Somewhere to rest your eyes for a sec...

He wasn't too interested in the chicken...

Ok, maybe just a tad...

zzzzzzz...........

Time for a bath...

Here, here little croc...

Some of the gorgeous scenery around the River Tarcoles...

PIRATES!!! AAARRRGGG!!!

2009-02-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hey all,
I'm back with more posts...didga miss me???

Ok, so we just had a cool pirate party for Richard's 9th birthday, the kids had great fun dressing up and I think I had just as much fun helping them go through just about every jewelry box and puffy white blouse in the house.

The fierce crew...

True Love

Vitor the Pirate

Nicky the Pirate: we made a whole photo shoot out of it...Hey why not, it's not everyday that we're pirates.

Ok, ok, I admit, Charlotte is actually a mermaid. Rilley on the other hand, looks like he got on the wrong side of one of his mateys...

striking a "Jack Sparrow" pose

Max of course, participated in the party, even though the dress code was imposed on him...

I just think he'd have picked another color...

Being "one of the guys"

Umm...hey, about the pink scarf...

Games and fun
(there was a pinata too, but we we're all to busy destroying it to take any pictures of that grand event...)

And finally....the pirate ship birthday cake, Thanks MOM

YUM, Richard got his face smashed into the cake by Juan, so with it conveniently ruined, the kids all dove in for finger lickin' fun.

Our Vacation--part 1

2009-01-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

A week ago we took a great little five day vacation with the kids, and some friends.

It was beautiful, we got to see lots of Costa Rica, plenty of awesome views, volcanoes,
waterfalls, caribbean beaches, etc, etc, (you jealous yet??)

Here are some of the pics we took, enjoy...

Check out the view...and coffee plants...

Getting water along the way

I loved the painted pool amphitheater

Cute hotel room (they call them "cabinas" here)

Fun in the pool

Our lovely lil hotel

Arenal Volcano, Fortuna, CR

Our Vacation--part 2

2009-01-16T16:18:00.000-08:00

More pics for you all...

Eating out together

Pensive...

The lovely princesses

Us with the trusty ol horsey...

Great big bug

Continental breakfast at the hotel in Fortuna, CR
NICE...

Jus' being silly...

Hiker look

Oooh, cool...

The waterfall Fortuna, CR...awesome

My loves

La familia

handsome guys

Horse riding FUN!!!

Horse riding up to the waterfall,
(yup I know the pic is shaky, but try taking pics on a trotting horse...)

Cute towel sculptures

Swans

and a puppy...

Hot springs with the whole gang

Fun with the kids in the hot springs

Hot springs with lights...fun

The guys...

Baby and I

Hot springs with friends...

Investigating the spider and web...

Looks like a crab...

Italian...Yum

awesome colors....

Fun in the Caribbean

Beach Bum...

La Principessa

Buried Treasure

Very Concentrated

almost bigger than him...

Sluuuuurp...

Coconuts

Hmmm, I have no idea what he's doing either....

Infinity...

The Painted Palms beach, Limon, CR

New Year's Fun

2009-01-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

We had a fun celebration with the kids at the beach for New Year's, with hot dogs and marshmellows. It was great fun and we got to watch this incredible sunset to boot....

Gorgeous....

Lil' bit of Heaven...Hermosa Beach

K, don't ask about the face...

Hot Dog fun...

Big Marshmellows

Smokey...

Tender Moments...

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

So yes, we know it's a bit late in coming, but Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

We celebrated it a day late anyway, since we had shows right up to the 24th. So we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, with lots of all those great little things that make Christmas so special.

Here is a video slide show of pictures of the shows our team here did over the Christmas season, hope you enjoy. We love you all!!!!!

Christmas Is a Time for Love and Fun

Christmas is a time for love and fun,
A time to reshape souls and roots and skies,
A time to give your heart to everyone
Freely, like a rich and lavish sun,
Like a burning star to those whose lonely sighs
Show need of such a time for love and fun.

For children first, whose pain is never done,
Whose bright white fire of anguish never dies,
It's time to give your heart to every one,

That not one angel fall, to hatred won
For lack of ears to listen to her cries,
Or arms to carry him towards love and fun,

Or friends to care what happens on the run
To adult life, where joy or sadness lies.
It's time to give your heart to everyone,

For God loves all, and turns His back on none,
Good or twisted, ignorant or wise.
Christmas is a time for love and fun,

A time to give your heart to everyone.

Merry Christmas

Our Guatemala Adventure!!!!!

2008-11-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

For all of you who are wondering what on Earth happened to us...here's the detailed account. Make sure you're sitting down for this!

(As told by Cheryl:)

“GET OUT OF THE CAR!!! OPEN THE DOORS! ABRE ABRE ABRE!!!!!!!!!!!”

The six gunmen with flood-lights glaring in our faces yelled in unintelligible Spanish as they surrounded our van. They’d pushed us off the road in their red pickup, overtaking us on a small country road just after dark.

We were about an hour from Guatemala City, and we knew this area was dangerous but just before the border we’d been assured by several locals that incidents such as these only occurred after nine or ten in the evening. By our calculations we would be in the city by eight. But just past seven, on what seemed a peaceful winding mountain road, we were suddenly overtaken by a red pickup with six armed men in the back with hand held flood lights, pointing their weapons our direction and ordering us to pull over.

Joana & I burst into desperate prayers as Andy slammed the brakes, put the car in reverse & tore backwards for about 800 meters, the gunmen firing several shots our way, thankfully most of them missing and only one of them hitting the front of the van. The pickup carried on forward and it seemed we’d lost them. We waited for a couple other cars to pass us and then continued on. Behind us were only more dark roads and the border about an hour away. We could only hope to find a hotel in the nearest town.

Following a beat up black Subaru for company we continued praying as we drove, thanking the Lord for His protection & warding off any further incident. After about 5 minutes our hearts nearly stopped as the same red pickup repeated its attack; again overtaking us from behind. Same scene: shouting, floodlights, firing in the air this time for effect. Again we tried backing away, but the black Subaru that had by now pulled behind us was blocking our retreat. We swerved to avoid collision & found ourselves dangling a wheel off the side of the slope. Sitting ducks!

The gunmen now surrounded the car, aggravated that twice we’d nearly escaped. They opened the driver’s door and pulled Andy out; with a gun to his belly they started dragging him to the back of the van. Desperate, but knowing that the Lord was going to get us out of this somehow unharmed, we turned up the heat in our prayers. Andy, (ever the street-fighter) instead of struggling against several armed men, said loudly above the din of their yelling “WE ARE MISSIONARIES, WE WORK FOR JESUS, GET BEHIND THE CAR AND PUSH US OUT!” Amazingly, they let go of him and clambered to the edge of the slope to try and push the van back onto the road, while others grabbed ropes to tow us with the pickup. Andy jumped back into the driver’s seat & locked the door, revving the engine and trying to force the car back onto the road.

One of the gunmen with a very crazy look in his eyes came to the passenger’s side, pointing his gun in Jo’s face he yelled at her to unlock the doors, banging his fists loudly on the glass. When she didn’t comply, he came to the sliding door where I was. I held up a poster of Jesus to the window yelling back “WE’RE MISSIONARIES!” A shot went off, glass shattered, spraying my side with shards. He’d shot right through the poster in my hand and the seat on which I’d been sitting only moments before. I jumped into the front seat, landing nearly in Jo’s lap.

Now we were angry! Both Jo & I started shouting “I REBUKE YOU IN JESUS NAME! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE SATAN! YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER US” as he reached through the shattered window, unlocked and slid the side door open & started to climb in.

Suddenly he sprang backwards out of the van and dashed to the pickup. The same instant the whole gang clamored to get back in their truck and took off like a wild tiger was on their heels. They even left a man behind who chased them several meters and managed to climb into the back as they sped away.

We were incredulous. They’d taken nothing and we were unharmed! We started breathing again, but we were still stranded in the middle of this dark mountain road. Not knowing how long it would be before they came for us again (we were sure they would), we desperately tried to flag down any passing vehicle (including a little scooter on his hurried way to the border).

After the very longest five minutes we’d ever experienced, Andy practically body blocked an approaching truck from which emerged four locals, as calm and slow moving as you can possibly imagine (or so it seemed with our high levels of adrenaline). They casually asked what happened and after our high-speed (hopefully semi-intelligible) explanation, they agreed to tow us out and escort us to the nearest hotel, about two km’s down the road.

You’d have thought we were one vehicle by how close we tailed that truck. Behind us on the road, was a pickup with hunting lights just a little too close on our tail. “You’ve gotta be kidding. Not again!” But we heaved a sigh of relief when it passed us by in the little town & we saw that it was a white pickup with no gunmen. Our rescuers pointed us to a hotel they told us we’d be safe in, and left us.

Still trembling, we approached the hotel owners who gladly put us up for the night, and offered us their private parking place for our now very vulnerable van. Still not entirely comforted, hearing gunshots & shouts not very far from our hotel room, we did our best to settle down for the night. We were reminded of so many promises of the Lord’s protection, especially “A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten-thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.” (Psa.91:10)

The next day we made sure to not start driving till light had fully engulfed the world, and in the broad daylight we happily (albeit nervously) made it safely to our destination in Guatemala City. With the help of our local Family we went around the city to find replacements for the shattered window and the shredded tires. Amazingly, the Lord not only supplied repairs, but we were also able to tint the van’s windows.

Everyone we told the story to would exclaim what a miracle it is that we’re still alive and tell us much more frightening stories of “what usually happens” on that road. There was no visible reason for our attackers to leave us as they did, having gained nothing, but they did –and in such a hurry, it can only be for fear of the Awesome Heavenly Protectors the Lord sent to our rescue and in answer to our fervent prayers.

Please pray for our return trip, as it is three days back to Costa Rica from Guatemala and we’ll be retracing our steps… in daylight this time, with a large shipment of books for distribution in Costa Rica and Panama.

Where we reversed the first time...

Then the second time....

Beach Fun!!

2008-11-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we go to the beach often...and yup, we all look tanned and great. Probably not much comfort for those of you up there in Europe, winter and minus zero degrees fast approaching and all.

These pics were taken during the past 3 months that we've been here in Costa Rica, but since I've been pretty busy lately, I'm only getting them up now.

So just enjoy the pics, wish you were here, and feel free to leave comments, but don't forget to sign your name to them, so we know who they're from...

These pics were taken at a beautiful little place called Manuel Antonio...

Paradise

Beautiful Princess

No, I have no idea what he's saying to them...

Hmmm, don't ask me what's with the clothes...

Check it out...a sloth...

and an iguana...

Lovely Ladies

Castaways...

Having Fun

Yeah, Juan too...

a tender moment...

Just us...

Robinson Crusoe

Sunset in Manuel Antonio

a few of me...

Panama Trip

2008-11-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a trip to Panama, we went to organize some Christmas events at different children's centers we'll be doing over there during the month of December.

Here are a few pics of the great place some very wonderful friends of ours put us up in.

Here's the reason, I'm not in most of the pictures...I'm taking them...

I loved the bedroom...

Living room (more on that view later...)

Us with a very good friend.

Here's the view from the living room window...Panama City

Soap Fun

2008-11-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

Yup, it was the first time I'd seen it too...the kids had a blast though.

Ingredients: a bit of soap, water, and plenty of fun.
I recommend this for anyone needing to get stubborn dirt off a floor...plus it gets the kids clean too...multitasking at it's finest.

Excursion to the Butterfly and Frog Farm!

2008-11-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we all went to this great little butterfly/frog/snake farm. It was a great experience for the kids, they got to learn about some of the local fauna, and of course, the most poisonous snakes and frogs in Costa Rica.

Our host, Randall teaching the kids about the frogs...

and the butterfly's coccoon...

Tarantula....

Meet Micky, he totally stole the show, the kids had the greatest time playing with the little guy...

How about some pythons now??

and on to the next terrarrium...(Randall had almost more fun than the kids)

Learning about the World's most poisonous snakes.

Getting to hold a harmless one....

A few of the stars of the show...

Ice Cream and Fun!!

2008-10-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Couple days ago, we all went into downtown Jaco (aka, walked 2 blocks), and had a lovely treat, bubble gum tasting icecream (Italians will sympathize with me on this one...).

Oh well, the kids really enjoyed it as they usually do with anything bubble gum related, and here are a couple of pics...

A short park stopover before icecream...

Icecream!

Everyone knows that kids absorb food through their faces...

Fun in the Pool!!!!

2008-10-12T18:33:00.001-07:00

The Lovely Nickys

Yes, CR looks good on him!!

Meet the Kids!!!!!

2008-10-12T18:01:00.001-07:00

Since we've been spending a whole lot of time with these crazy characters, it's about time y'all meet them too. Here are the fun, unique and wonderful kids we live with!!!

Richard, the sweet one!!

Charlotte, the Princess!!

Reilly, the feisty one!!

Jordan, the clown!!

Jessica, the cuddly one!

Nicole, the grown up one!

Nicky, Nicole, and Jessica
ready for soccer practice.

First Fun Weeks in CR!!

2008-10-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we've been here nearly a month officially, though it feels like less. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Since it happened that all the parents are gone for a few days for different engagements (See Andy and Sharon's Blog above), we're in charge of the house, and all the kids...yup 8 of them all together!!

It's been a LOT of work as you might guess, but great fun and challenging for sure!
Here are a few pics of what we've been up to during the past few days. Pura Vida, as they say here!!!

The guys!!

Fun in the Pool

Wrestling of course...

One at a time....

Ready...Set...

Vitor

Jump!!

A Storm front. We see this every single day!
Check out the razor wire on the front of the house.

A little macro photography....

First Pics in Costa Rica!!

2008-10-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here go the very first pictures here in Costa Rica!!

The car the Lord supplied for us right away!!!!
So much fun to drive on the potholes around here, splashing in the puddles...

The kids having fun at the Punta Leona Beach!!

Pics from our trip!!!!

2008-09-19T05:11:00.000-07:00

At the Venice Airport, waiting to do the check-in

Still in Venice waiting to board

Boarding the plane from Venice to Madrid

Wow, we are sooo high up

Lunch in the Madrid airport.

Cool! Plane toys

Giant Airplane lunch!

REALLY tired after the 15 hour flight, at the San Jose airport

Hurrah we made it!!! Waiting outsude the airport to get picked up

We MADE IT!!!!!

2008-09-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hurrah!!!!!!!! We made it!!!!

Thank you all for your support and prayers, we have officially arrived in beautiful Costa Rica!! The trip went very smoothly without a single glitch, which we are REALLY thankful for.

We're still very jet lagged (about 7 hours), and falling asleep all over the place at 6 pm, but that should be just for a couple more days and then we'll be up to speed.

We'll be posting the pics from the trip asap, so stay tuned for those!!

There's a whole lot to do, and we've been blessed with wonderful people to work with, so this is an exciting new beginning of a new life! Please keep praying for us, we'll need it for sure.

Hugs from Costa Rica!!!

Playin with our new cam!!!

2008-09-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, sooner or later we'll actually take seriously useful shots with this lovely new toy, but till then, we're just having a bit of fun (aka Jo's learning how to actually use the monster). Here are a few for fun...

PS: One week to our big jump overseas...and counting!!!

The view from our windows...

Just Some new pics for Y'all!!

2008-09-03T01:05:00.000-07:00

We are now on the AGONIZING 2 week wait before travelling to Costa Rica!!!!! We're packing (well mostly packed already) and waiting...waiting and packing!! And of course saying goodbye to all our friends and family here in Italy (who knew one could eat so much pizza...)

The Lord has supplied a great new camera, so goodbye (for the most part) to fuzzy, blue cell phone shots, and hello, to gorgeous color!!! YAY!

These were taken by a friend!! Some fun at the park!!

Weeeeeeeee!!!!!

Pensive boy

King of the....um...park

Portrait of a dog

Our Greatest Fear!!

2008-08-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

I find this passage just beautiful, inspiring and liberating!! It's quoted in movies, and was quoted by Nelson Mandela in a speech.

Given that we are now embarking on a big, challenging and exciting project in Costa Rica (that I will write more about in later posts...) it seems fitting to post this introduction!

So without further ado, here it is:

Our Greatest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson

(Often said to have been quoted in a speech by Nelson Mandela.)
The source is Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

Trip Date SET!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-17T01:33:00.000-07:00

Awesome!!!! The Date for our departure to Costa Rica has been officially set!!! The 17th of September, 2008.

We're REALLY excited, and furiously packing, selling surplus stuff, furniture etc, etc. Today we go to pick up the tickets at the agency, and we've just had the pleasant surprise to find out we AREN'T going to pay a fortune to bring our large dog with us to CR!! We're happy about that too...lol!

Hopefully two months will go by in a flash, and before we know it, we'll be getting on that plane, jetting off to our new home, new life, and lots of exciting adventures!!!!!

The Kids having some summer fun in the Piave river.
Soon it will be Costa Rica's beaches!!! Whoo hooo!!!

Our Trip to Portugal!!!! Part 6

2008-07-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, this title is starting to get tiring, but since it pretty much sums it up...we'll keep right on using it!!!!

These next pics we took in Caiscais and Estoril. We took the train into Caiscais on the last evening we were in Portugal, wanting to walk the beaches a bit, party and then crash on the beach! As it turned out, we were so tired from walking Lisbon all day...We just crashed!!!!

A bit of the walking in Caiscais...

A bit of the sitting...

The tiny tent we called home for a night, on Estoril beach...

My night watch...Poor Juan stayed up a lot of the night, and when he did fall asleep, I'd jump awake at every sound, and call him...(I guess that makes me a pretty good guard dog...hehe)

Having survived the night intact, we're ready for another day!!
(Note the point of the beach behind us, we walked to that point and beyond....)

I thought this was the coolest thing,
during the night when the tide is high,
this pool fills up, then at low tide,
its a natural, salt water pool!! Awesome!!

A great big anchor!

Dreams of greatness...

...Are we there yet???

Caiscais marina

Juan looking very much the part of the tourist
at the Caiscais marina!!

And me too...

Looks almost like Egypt...Still Caiscais!!

Cool rock formations and crazy divers!

And here we have...drum roll please!!!!!!!
The Boca Do Inferno--The Mouth of Hell!!
Awesome, and deadly rock formation,
someone please tell Juan to quit leaning so far over the side....!

From da inside...

From da outside!!

The Panorama

A stone slab here tells the story that the priest
of "Scarlet letter" fame faked his death
here with the help of a poet and journalist friend.
No idea why, it doesn't say, but my guess is that it
was to get the paparazzi off his back... :D

But let us think of happier things...

Like going home!!!! YAY!!!!

There's always time for a silly picture...

Catching some ZZZZ's in the Airport before catching our flight home!!! It was a great trip, but we were HAPPY to go home to the kids and our own beds...SIGH!!!!

(We'll leave you to figure out on your own how we got this pic...lol)

Our Trip to Portugal!!!! Part 5

2008-07-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

By now, you're probably tired of looking at pics of us posing in front of objects and scenery...

(Unless of course you're reading this blog from the top to the bottom, and haven't seen many pics yet, in which case, welcome to our trip to Portugal!!)

But we don't really care, because we have plenty more pics to make you suffer through...hehehe!!
And given that lovely introduction, here's the 5th installment of our Portugal pics!!! Enjoy!!!

These were taken in the Belem area of Lisbon, after this we went out partying at the Docas till the wee hours...unfortunately for you, and fortunately for us (hehe), there are no records of that latter event...we were too busy...um...well, partying!!!!!

Without further ado.....!!!

Goofing around on the metro...

Ravenously hungry after having walked all day...
(Also my first KFC...amazingly enough!)

Belem, big walking park, framed by museums and monasteries!

Sunset and water!!

Trying out the whole sun-in-the-hair pic thing...!

It's finally cool again!!!!

Monument to the explorers...

Where's Walt????

Do you see him now??

Lighthouse kiss...

The Rio Tejo by night!!!

Another lovely Brazilian restaurant!

Warming up before the night out!!!

Our Trip to Portugal!!!! Part 4

2008-07-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Being Tourists in Lisbon!!!!

After having somewhat recuperated from the gigantic dinner the night before...We decided to walk it off in downtown Lisbon, like good and proper tourists!! Now, we don't remember the names of every little park and statue, and that would probably be too boring anyway, so just enjoy the pics...lol and know that it's downtown Lisbon!!!!

A lovely pic of us, courtesy of the security guard who took it only because I was "Brazilian"...hehe little did he know, accents can be deceiving!!

A Fountain...lol

Posing....

Posing again....

Juan posing....:P

A park overlooking Lisbon and the Rio Tejo!

Loved this fountain, all made out of sea rocks and shells!!

The little tram...

Welcome to my town!!!!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
This was the funnest thing to do in Lisbon!!!

Juan loved that thing, kept running back to it
(maybe the fact that it was ice cold air, helped...lol)

Posing like the statue....

Having some nice, refreshing lemon icecream....!

Juan being goofy...

On the little streetcar, going up to the Saint George Castle...

Nearly up to the castle, a nice place to stop and admire the view...
pity that metal roof was there to mar it...tsk tsk...

A pose for him...

Picturesque pillars and vines...loved them!!!

A few for fun...!

Juan drinking undrinkable water....
His saying: " What doesn't kill you makes you stronger..."
Me, I tend to see it the other way around...lol

We made it to the top...YEAAAH!!!

The way we really felt about it....

Grabbing something refreshing after the climb....

Tired feet.....

Juan the eternal quality control inspector....

Ok, approved!!!

Taking the metro to go party at the Docas!!! Whohoo
(No worries grandparents, we took a key and a cab home at 4 am...lol)

Our Trip to Portugal!!!! Part 3

2008-07-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

Alright, so after we did the whole tour thing with Grandpa, he went home and we decided to look for a Churrascaria and then catch a movie (Indiana Jones--The Old Guy). We got home after 1 am which ticked off the grandparents, and had them waiting up for us with big sticks...hehe (Just kidding, the sticks weren't that big)

We had a whole 10 minutes of my grandparents razzing us "Don't you know how dangerous it is to stay out after dark in the city?" Kind of thing, but after assuring them for another 15 minutes, that Juan was big and strong enough to take care of me, they relaxed a bit, and let us go to bed...we were GRATEFUL, and dead!!

Jo with a palm tree hat...

Caipirinhas...Of COURSE!!

Cheers!!!!!

The OH SO GOOD buffet, that comes along with the Churrasco!!!

Juan's huge (first) plate--Before the meat came along...!

Carnivorous!!

The PICANHA!!!!Oh yeah!!
Oh, and the waiter that wanted to be in the pic...hehe!

Juan was in a hurry to get the meat...do you blame him....?

Guarana Antartica...the penguin brand!! Missed that stuff!!

He ate till he got sad...

Dessert....The 124th course!!
We're struggling to breathe, can you tell??

Running to catch the movie in the Vasco Da Gama...See y'all later!!

Our Trip to Portugal!!!! Part 2

2008-07-03T01:52:00.000-07:00

(WARNING: This 'part 2' contains lots photos of my grandparents and baby pics of me, so if you didn't come to this blog to look at pics of my oldest living relatives, go ahead and skip to 'part 3'...lol.)

(PS: This section is mainly for my mom's delight!!!! Mata saudades maezinha!!! :D )

So once we landed safely, we we're picked up by my grandfather, who didn't recognize me at first, and (snicker) neither did I, since he's gotten...well, old...

But thankfully in the end we found each other, or we might still be standing around the Lisbon airport...

Grandpops in the little cinquecento
he drove us all around Lisbon in!

Right after having spent 3-4 hours waiting in a line for the ID
...but we got it the same day!! YAY! Thank God!!

Grandma, who as usual, made us eat till we were
begging her to please not make any more food!

Ok, here's a tender moment...One of the earliest pics of mom and I.
Grandma is the only one that has it, so I took a pic of it...:D

This one's for you mom...Don't cry...!
(Grandma keeps this pic like a trophy :D)

Juan and Grandpa watching soccer,
Germany vs. Turkey Euro 2008

Aunt Gena!! One of my six aunts!

Shopping at the Jumbo with Grandparents!
(For goiabada and cheese...just your basic, bare necessities...)

Grandpa, showing us around!
This is at the Oceanic museum in the Parque Das Nacoes.
(apologies to those who can read Portuguese,
I have no accent keys...American keyboard...tsk, tsk!!)

Water park at the Parque Das Nacoes.

Juan looking ethereal...

RIBBIT...RIBBIT

The Parque Das Nacoes,
was built for the Expo '98, it's theme is Oceans.
Nice place to walk..and man did we walk...and walk...

Juan looking hot...

The Rio Tejo next to the Parque Das Nacoes.

Our shadows in the water...hehe

The View from the balcony of the Vasco Da Gama Shopping center,
Parque Das Nacoes

Our Trip to Portugal!!!! Part 1

2008-07-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

Yup, we've just come back from a "Daddy and Mommy only" trip to Portugal!! The kiddos stayed with Grandma, and off we went for 5 days of (YAY) paperwork...

Well thats not entirely true actually, as we did all the paperwork in the first couple of days..hehe! Then used the rest of the time to get to know my hometown, Lisbon (I haven't been there since I was 'nee hi 2 a grasshopper').

Frankfurt Airport

Having the worst coffee of my life....(The smile is actually hiding a Blllleeeeahhhh!!!)

Lovely couple!! Just waiting around for the plane...

Look!! Airplanes!!

Don't remember what he was saying...something like "Quit takin pics!"

On the plane to Lisbon

One for the road...or um...air...

A little ad for Lufthansa

Lisbon runway

We had to take a shuttle to the airport, it was about 300 degrees...

Mountains, oh mountains!!!!!

2008-06-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

A nice relaxing picnic in the mountains, a wrestle with the dog...lovely!!

Max won this round...

Such love!!!

We were expecting a singing nun to come over the rise at any moment...honestly!!

One of the many caves dug by the soldiers during WWII.

Panorama!!!

Kodak moment...flying a kite!
During the 30 seconds of wind we had that day...

Daddy showing Vitor how it's done!

Night out on the town!!!!

2008-06-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

Since we'll be leaving Europe soon, we've decided to finally give in, and do a little local tourism!! This is Treviso at night! Lovely lil spot, wouldn't you agree??

A tender moment, next to a wine shop...

Wow, look at...um...

You gotta love those Italian piazzas...

The wine shop

Welcome to my town!!

Um, can't see it so well, but those are chocolate tools!!!

Yup, we'll miss Italy a bit!

....The Eye of the Tiger.....huff, puff...

Now for all of you pro photographers out there, who might be all.."Shish, the quality of those photos is enviable..." Let me make a special note here, that most of these were taken not with a camera, but with a cell phone!!! :P

The Kiddies

2008-06-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

Some pics of our beautiful kids, Nicole and Vitor!!!!!

Princess Nicole

Vitor, natural born entertainer!!

War paint

Look! A giant lemon!!!

Such love...ahem!! Sometimes

The two of us!!!!

2008-06-03T04:52:00.000-07:00

Yup this is us...
Well, the two of us anyway, the kids are running around in the back trying to get us to stop being "mushy"!! Tsk, tsk!

Right now we're freakin busy getting everything ready for our big, exciting jump to Costa Rica, so we won't have that many interesting pics to post...unless of course, any of you happen to find pics at the city hall, or WOW, travel agencies... interesting..lol

We will however be going to Rome before we leave (Finally), because as it appears, Jo's gotta get down there for her paperwork! So I guess we'll take a few for you over there.

Just To Get Warmed Up!!

2008-05-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so every beginning blogger has to add an uncertain opening comment to their blog! So here's ours...

Hi everyone! This blog is going to be our attempt at keeping you all up to date on our travels and what we're doing.

As many of you know, we're on our way to COSTA RICA!!!! Now before you all go full out into your jealousy fits...here's a bit of wood for the fire: We're NOT ONLY going to be living in a beautiful, tropical beach paradise, we're also going there as Missionary Volunteers!!!

Now how amazing can a lifestyle get? Personally, we think it's the best of many worlds, and totally the best way we could ever raise our two beautiful kids (imagine the stories they'll be able to tell their friends about what they and their parents do...)

Right now we're at the 3 month-to-move mark, and we should be traveling in late August from Italy where we currently live.

Ok, gotta run, we're gonna watch a movie with the kids with a great big giant bowl of popcorn, and a dark, rainy storm brewing outside...(you gotta love those summer storms!)We'll keep you posted on how the storm turns out...and on all the rest of course.

Baci Bellissimi, Vi vogliamo tanto bene!!!