here we go....isa's first day walking

Isabella is...

walking!!

We are so proud of our little girl. At first, she didn't show any signs of even wanting to try. Then the other day while waiting for our number to be called at the bank we went next door to a shoe store (cause the bank smelled really bad and we didn't want to wait there). Isabella took her first steps! It didn't stop there and by the evening she was walking across the living room.
Sorry this is burry. I'm trying to upload a video but this will have to do for now.

this weekend

The kids were waiting for us to arrive. As always. Some were worried that we wouldn't be returning. The older ones assured them that we would. And we did. Aside from a few new faces here and there, the children look the same. A few lost teeth and a few bumps and bruises. I'm glad to be home to our Cusco family.

"Chinito"

leading some games with a few friends from the UK

our Valentine's Day was perfect. We spent the morning in the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, chasing pigeons and dodging all the little kids trying to sell finger puppets.

Isabella is practicing her walking skills.

At my favorite place for breakfast

her good morning hair

enjoying some milk with "babybaby" in hand (wearning her new jammies that Gramma Patti gave her)

finally, some more pics from santiago

Angello and Maria Laura with their precious little boy, Pedro Pablo.

Isabella flying. She has a fascination with airplanes. She hears an airplane, looks up, points to it and says, "ahpum...brm brm"

Our sweet nephew was born January 14th. Que lindo es!

Isabella checking out her new cousin. A little jealousy sparked here and there. Un poquito celosa de su primo!

Descansando con su abuelo, tratando de estar frescita. She climbed up on the couch and layed back on her abuelo... glad I caught this one, it's so cute!

home

we're home. in cusco that is. it feels good to be back, but it's a bitter sweet feeling. we love santiago. i love santiago. we had such a good time, and although I felt ready to come home, it feels a little empty being here. maybe part of it has to do with the drastic change in weather. It was in the 80's -90's in santiago.. and here it's raining and pretty chilly. I feel bad for Isa who has to start wearing layers again.

She's pooped the poor thing. but she travels exceptionally well. she doesn't fuss at all, except for a few minutes here and there when we won't let her put herself into danger. but everyone on the flights comment about her, what a good baby, they say, she didn't cry at all. i'm proud of her. i'm also proud because she says "airplane", though its very difficult for anyone else to recognize. the flights were relatively short. only 3 hours to Lima and then another hour and a half to Cusco.

i jumped out of my skin, grabbed the seat in front of me and started praying only ONCE on this flight. we get the worst turbulence while coming up through the mountain clouds. I never used to be nervous to fly, until we came to Cusco. But thank the Lord we are here. we immediately cleaned the month and a half of dust accumulated in our house before even sitting down. I'm a little anal like that, but I can't actually relax until i have a clean house.

i also love Ricky for forgiving me. do you know what i did? I accidentally left our backdoor unlocked. yes for an entire month and a half, our house was like a sitting duck waiting to be robbed. but we have the best anti-theft protection. our neighbor. she owns the small convenience store across the street from our place and thankfully keeps a watchful eye on the neighborhood. mostly out of curiosity of course. in spanish we call her "sapa". i think nosy would be the closest translation. but we love her anyway. however, she collected our mail for us and a few things came back open!

we're looking forward to the new year of work here in cusco. looking forward to seeing the people of the church and the kids...