more pics from la playa!

Such a happy baby

In the cabin...
In the sand...
Ricky's brother Angello with Maria Laura, they are getting married in May!
My suegros, Nina and Peter, enjoying the sun. Isabella likes to sleep in her carseat...and it keeps her out of the sun.
All the guys swam, but it was too cold for me... i'm a wuss. (ps, dont know who the guy in the foreground is, but it looks like he's saying hi)
playing with daddy
Now we're ready to get back home to Cusco. I miss it there so much and can't wait to see the kids and the people of the church. They are eager to meet Isabella too!
(Isa was 7 weeks old here)

a day at the beach

Yesterday we spent the day at the beach. There was a cool breeze and not very many people. And then what seemed like minutes later, the beach looked like this! (Notice the red flag, which means danger and no swimming, but also notice the emmense quantity of people.. all in the water!)

We kept cool in the shade

Claudio, Ricky's brother, and his girlfriend.

Our happy girl! Isabella stayed awake long enough to eat and play for a bit.

Such a sweetie!!!

That didn't last for long though... soon she was off in dreamland again

So this was Isabella's first trip to the beach. She was only in the sun for a few minutes because she can't use sunblock yet. We enjoyed our day and look forward to coming back next week for a few days! (ps, so i dont forget... isabella is 5 1/2 weeks old)

my dear one at 4 weeks

our recent travels

Our little Isabella is an international traveler. She first took a short flight with us from Washington to California, and slept the whole way (photo coming soon). Then after just a few short days in Southern California, we took a 12 hr, direct (thank you Lord!) flight to Santiago, Chile. We arrived with a 5 hour time difference, completely exhausted. But we are recovering well. Isabella is doing great. While in California she began sleeping incredibly well, only waking us once during the night to nurse. Then with the change of hour, she got mixed up again as to what is day and what is night.... so we're back to waking up a few times during the night.

Ricky is a great daddy; changes diapers, burps, wakes up in the night with the baby...

She's smiling. They are real smiles, which are absolutely precious! (more photos coming soon!) and she's holding her head up, which although doesn't sound like much, it is quite an accomplishment! She's the love of our lives. God is good. We are so thankful for her.

We are beginning to get 'back to work', with reporting and meetings and planning and... lots of stuff. We love it. Though, we're hoping to get a few days of rest and even make it to the beach while we're in Chile!

More soon, for those who read this... sorry we are behind on sending our monthly letter. We have Cusco Christmas updates to give still!!! God bless

Tracie, Ricky and Isabella

Isabella Amaia

Isabella arrived at 1AM on Thursday, January 10th. She weighed 6lbs 14oz, 20 1/2 inches long.

Here are some photos... we'll post more when we have some time!