Christmas/ New Years 2009

Well, we're back. :-)

We were very busy leading up to our trip to Ecuador as you already know. IT was a long awaited vacation trip for us.

WE left really early on Christmas Eve with Jerelyn and her family to fly out of Newark about 2 hours from our house. I don't really feel the need to go into detail about our trip. But I will say that it was a very hectic pretty stressful, long and tiring day of traveling. But God also took care of us, our luggage and the schedule. He had a plan, and thankfully we did arrive in Quito and then had a 4 hour drive to my parents house. It made for about 23 hours of traveling, but God worked everything out.

Needless to say we didn't do too much on CHristmas day. Between my being 26 weeks pregnant, my mom's blood pressure, and (big news!) Jerelyn being 9 weeks pregnant!!!! we didn't do too much. Us pregnant people were just laying around alot of the day chatting with our mom and loving the little baby that was there.

The altitude didn't affect me too much, just maybe a little extra tired and out of breath after walking up the stairs. I did take naps just about everyday.

I think the best thing about the trip, is the laid back atmosphere of living in a 3rd world country, cooking with my mom, helping her with things, chatting with all the girls in the family and speaking spanish again. Juli came the 28th of Dec and left a few days after us, but we did have one full week together and we enjoyed every minute of it.

In Ecuador the big holiday is not christmas but New Years. Its an experience that is very hard to describe to someone, and you just pretty much have to see it and experience it with your own eyes. They burn an "Old Man" which supposedly is the old year and then bring in the New Year. So all day on New Years Eve people construct the old men to burn that night at midnight. The town is crazy and does a lot of crazy things. OF course what is saddest to us, is the profanity, and sinfulness that is associated with this time of year, but its also neat to show the new christians how to experience it in a God honoring way. So we had a get together with the church and burned our own old men. The years I have known Richard I had told him about this, and finally he was able to experience, the sights, the sounds, the smells of the town of Riobamba during their festivities of the New Year. We were so thankful to be there during this time, with my family.

WE have a lot to be thankful for over the past year. But especially for his provision and protection and the enjoyment that we had on this trip. It was a great way to end the old year, and start the new year.

The trip back was pretty uneventful but also very tiring again, and had a day to rest before we are back into the grind of things.

Meanwhile, my pregnancy keeps progressing without complications so far, Praise God. Things are going well, and I definitely can feel the baby kicking me a lot! and am starting to get bigger and bigger every week. ITs a little hard to get used to, but that is life. :-) This was my 26 week picture in Ecuador. I loved that I could take one in front of the snow capped mountain. :-)( I am now 28 weeks along though)