sorry for the absence... i just haven't been in the mood to write lately.

we are in the middle of moving. half of our stuff is in the new apartment, and the other half still here. we have till Thursday, so i think we'll get everything done in time. Ricky is being amazing... He has taken like a million van loads over to the new place... and unloaded by himself! I stayed home with Isa all except one trip, cause it's a job in and of itself just watching her. But i did get a lot of cleaning and packing done. the nice thing is that our new apartment is on the first floor, thank you Lord! and it's maybe only a 10 minute drive from here. But as things are going into the new place, we are realizing that we need to sell some church things. we just won't have enough space. the extra bedroom/office of the apt is full of all this stuff... like 14 beds/mattresses, 20 blankets, a million sleeping bags and tons of towels and sheets. I don't know, but we'll figure something out.

one thing i like about our apartment is that it is located in an actual neighborhood, instead of down a side street off a super busy road with a commercial center, people and taxis all over the place. It will be quieter! I love that we have a little park only half a block away from our apartment. I can take Isabella for walks without worrying that we are going to get hit by a car!! j/k (well... not really)

the only thing i don't like is that the bathrooms are so tiny that you can hardly turn around in them. there are 4 bathrooms! it seems highly unnecessary to have 4 bathrooms for a 3 bedroom apt. But we'll just take one for each of us! haha. I also don't care for the color of the walls in the room that will be Isabella's. They are orange.. Ick! But the landlady said I can paint as long as it's not too bright. Yes!!

What will i miss about our current house.... the lovely doors. The back patio. The sun coming in the windows in the morning. Being close enough to the center of Cusco to walk. The huge kitchen.

What i don't miss about the current house... the cold stone floors. the dogs in the neighborhood that mate and fight all night long. the drunken lovers quarrels at 3am. the tourists walking past at 2am after clubbing and talking as loud as possible. all the neighborhood construction.

Overall, I think we are going to be good in the new apt.

Something else I will share with you, is that I've been going to the orthodontist for a few months now. I have a problem with one of my teeth, I won't get into it, but in order to fix it I will be getting braces. I'm strangely looking forward to it. And to straighten my smile while i'm at it. the process has already begun, have a few brackets on already and a miniature titanium screw lodged in the bone inside my mouth. Oh fun. the first 5 days were terrible, but now i'm ok. I wonder how i'll do once I get the rest of the brackets on. I've never had an obsession with brushing, but now i do. So braces at 30 (well 29), is more and more common nowadays. I was nervous about having this all done in Cusco. However, we found this great Ortho that comes to Cusco only once a month, from Lima. We have to do this without insurance of course. And on top of our other financial worries.... haha.. this began before we heard the latest "news". but it's really something I needed done. And it's less expensive than in the U.S. Be excited.. or scared.. to see some updated photos of me!! hahaha

Instead here are a few photos of my little toddler. Isabella is definitely not a baby anymore! She is saying these words: "light", "agua", "amen", "mao" (more) "mas", "mama", "dada", "papa", "Nina" (Ricky's mom), "ee-as" (Matias, Ricky's brother), "kaka" and "kakita"(for a good laugh), "up", "alla", "aca", "ahi esta", "eeee" (please), "ma" (milk), "baby", "bye-bye", "oh" (goal), "Uu" (la U, Ricky's futbol team), "book" - updated.. i forgot a few! "dog", "ball", "bear", "angel"

phrases include: "hola papa" and "ahi esta" "I-uu" (i love you)

"loser!"
Don't know how she learned this! I think she's just being silly for the camera.

This is her response when we say, "enojate!" which means, "get mad". She likes to roll her eyes too.. Oh man, i think it's a preview of what it's gonna be like when she's 14!

Our silly little loverbug

some news

First off, my sis in law, Cynthia is pregnant! I'm going to be an auntie again. I can't wait! Congrats Cyn and Nathan, we love you!

Secondly, we celebrated 3 years together as a church in Cusco, Peru! Sometimes it has gone by quickly and other times veerrry sllow. BUT, God is so good.
But.... some come only for the food.

Ruth is the perfect example. Ricky and I actually bet one another (terrible i know) that she would show up for the anniversary. And she did! I confess, I was very irritated. We've known her for at least 2 years. She kept asking and borrowed money from us. Never paid it back (although we never planned on asking her for it). She felt guilty. Stopped coming to church. never talked about repaying. Instead she hid from us. We'd walk by and she would literally duck behind a tree or turn her head and not look at us as we passed by. It was SO obvious that we would laugh about it. Sometimes we'd see her head on and she didn't have anywhere to hide, so we'd stop and say hi, chat for a bit, try to invite her back. and Voila!, she appears on the anniversary (she knew there would be food because her daughter and niece faithfully attend church and told her about it). Anyway, I talked to her and said how glad i am that she came. and asked if she would be attending regularly. and her answer was absurd. She said, "yes now we can come weekly because now I live close by." What?? She has ALWAYS lived close by. We know where she lives.. we have been to her house before. It was just a silly silly answer. My response was, ok, great! (in spanish of course..haha) we will see you next week! Today, no show.

Another neighbor lady saw that we were carrying food down all the stairs. If you have been to Cusco, you know what I'm talking about when I say stairs. Anyway, she said to Ricky... oh Tio, you didn't invite us to the party, what a tightwad (this is my very loose translation). Ricky said to her. You live upstairs from the church. We have invited you for years. You know that we meet every single week. You are more than welcome to come whenever you want. Again... what silliness!
Thirdly, some great news is that on Saturday, 37 children raised their hands and prayed with me to accept Jesus in their hearts. it was so precious. i felt the Holy Spirit moving among us that day. Pray for those kids!

Fourthly, Isabella is 15 months old. I can't believe that my little baby is nearly 1 1/2. She amazes us every day. I'm probably biased, but she is so smart. She understands in English and Spanish. When people say "chao" , she says "bye bye". When we say "hi" she says "hola". Her English and Spanish are all mixed together at this point, but it's fun watching her learn. She surprises me all the time by the things she knows. The other morning, I was giving the official "lets leave the house annoucement" and I said, ok we are leaving now, Isabella go get your shoes on. And she went and got her shoes and brought them to me! We love her to pieces.

Fifthly and definitely not last- Happy Resurrection Day! We are not surrounded by the commercialized Easter, which is, on one hand, awesome. but on the other hand, a little sad for me. Isabella wore sweats today.. No pretty Easter dress to church (it's cold and dirty.. why put her in a dress... ugh!) Oh and Easter dinner consisted of a Ham and Cheese omelette (for Isa) and Brocolli Cheese Pasta. We are so lame! But yet again I awoke humming the Easter song by Keith Green. It's been close to 6 years, where I haven't listened to his music at all, but every year on Easter morning, I wake up with that song stuck in my head. I love it!

Here is a part of the song:

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again
Here the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead
The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead
Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah



Lastly, (and seemingly not nearly as big a deal as Cynthia expecting- but believe me, it IS!) My chili seeds sprouted (the Aji Verdes from Chile) and are GROWING! They are bearing the cold nights and even managed a few rain storms in their mini greenhouse when I forgot to bring them inside. I am SO excited. Being among my plants is one of my favorite places. I could snip, prune, water and talk to them for hours on end... or at least until Isabella comes and innocently tries to destroy all my hard work.

a stormy night

Although these days we are seeing the sun more than rain, when the rain does come, it's been looking like this

stealing... ugh

it's frustrating that after 3 years of dedicating our life work to reaching out to the people of San Marcos, Cusco, that a few of them would steal from us. The day of the baby shower at the church in San Marcos, things went a little later than planned. It had gotten dark and a thunder storm rolled in. It began to pour down rain. Just as I was about to serve the cake, we heard a loud knock at the door. It was a neighbor, the mother of one of the girls in the childrens ministry.

She said, "they are stealing your van!" that was all she needed to say before Ricky and a few others bolted out the door and started running up the stairs, then up the muddy road to where the van was parked.

It turns out that another neighbor, saw it happen. She phoned the mother of the girl, knowing that the church is near by her house. The robers were scared away and made away with the whole side mirror. and were only one bolt away from having the other side mirror too. It was probable they would have taken the van if they hadn't been scared away.

We know who did it. We have his name and we know his sister, a "friend" of ours. None of the neighbors will be witnesses. because of fear. after telling us that they saw it, and told us the guys' names, they begged that we wouldn't say they told us. It would be terrible for them if we did. The problem is, the police will likely do nothing.

It's just frustrating. Everyone in the area know that the van is ours. They know we are here to help the people, we take nothing from them. To the contrary, we give to them. Unfortunately there are always those who have bad intentions. And "friends" turn out to not be friends after all. They defend those who do wrong.

Baby shower

Having a baby shower in Peru is practically unheard of. And especially not among those who are not economically privileged. You can imagine Vanessa's excitement when I told her we are hosting a baby shower for her. She is due the end of April, with a boy. Luz Marina told her, "you are so lucky, I never had a baby shower." And all the women who attended have never even been to one before. So this was fun for me! We had some games, food and even gifts. It was great that she felt so blessed by her church family. She expressed that she really wants to raise her son in the ways of God. Amen.

Isabella, monkey style... estilo monito

Saque este video cuando Isabella todavia no caminaba. La estaba mudando cuando se me escapo. El piso estaba muy helado, entonces se puso a caminar asi... mi monita!

When I took this video, Isabella wasn't walking yet. I was changing her diaper when she escaped. But because the floor was so cold, she walked like this... my little monkey!