Peru Update

We found out on Saturday that the school in Peru has hired someone else for the position that Robert applied for. This has been a long journey (Robert applied in April), so I am glad to have some closure, even if it didn't work out the way I had hoped. From the little we know about the candidate that was hired, she is a better fit for the position than Robert would be, so I definitely feel that the school made the right choice. And, I'm so grateful that God took the decision out of our hands. I have such a passion for Peru and Robert really doesn't (at least not yet!), so I'm thankful that it didn't come down to Robert having to make a choice, and me resenting him if he said no.

Now, I still have this passion for Peru that I believe God has placed in me, so we'll have to figure out what to do with that. Maybe that just means we make adjustments to our lives here so that I can take more trips to Peru and support others who are called to Peru, or maybe that means we'll move there at some point in the future. Either way, or if God has something totally different in store for us, I'm confident that He has led us through this time in our lives for a purpose; we just have to be open to seeing what that purpose is!

Back to School

I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that the kids have been back in school for three days now! The summer - especially the last half - just flew by. I say that every year, but it seems even more true this year...but maybe that's just because I'm getting older...but I digress...back to the subject(s) at hand - my three amazing children! All three were ready for school and are off to a great start.

Cullen and Camden (who is actually smiling this year!)

Cullen got in Mrs. Hendrix class - the best 4th grade teacher; we're super excited!

Camden is in Mrs. Cullen's class; I've heard good things about her. Only problem is, I already mix up Camden and Cullen's names - now I have to add "Mrs. Cullen" into the mix - oy!

And my seventh grader - how did she get so tall and grown up looking? She's almost as tall as me now!

Peru Trip - final days

It's hard to believe that we've been home from Peru for a week now. I've been meaning to get this post done all week, but a lot has happened, and I just haven't made time for blogging.

In my last post I mentioned that the trip back to Lima from the mountains was an "adventure". Not long after leaving the lodge, driving down the winding, rocky road, we had a flat tire - changing it was a group effort!



We made it down the mountain, only to have another flat, this time in Lima, on a very busy expressway. Our driver pulled over on the "shoulder" for yet another tire change. Luckily, he had the first flat tire fixed while we ate lunch, so he had a good tire to put on.



What should have been a five hour drive, took more like seven hours, but we made it safely to our hotel, La Posada del Parque.

On Friday, we spent the morning talking to some folks at the International Christian School of Lima and touring the school. Robert has applied for a position there, and we are considering the possiblity of moving to Lima. At this point, we have not received clear direction from God that He would have us go there, and the school has not extended an offer, so we we will wait until God makes His will known to us.

In the afternoon, we went back out to the orphanage in Ventanilla. Lauren brought out some crayons and paper and we colored with some of the kids, including Yesenia, the girl I met and made a connection with back in January.

Yesenia and I drew pictures for each other. I found out from Lauren that Yesenia calls me her "godmother".

Lauren and Nancy rode back to Lima with us. We went out to dinner that night - Lauren was so excited to have pork chops and baked potatoes! It was such a joy to watch her enjoy that meal!

We spent Saturday in Lima Centro - shopping and sight-seeing.

We took a tour of the San Francisco church, including the catacombs.

We had such a great time with Lauren and Nancy - even though I'm technically old enough to be their mother, I like to think of myself as an older sister! I love this picture of me and my little sisters!

Back in Lima

We're back in Lima today, after a great trip to Yauyos. We left Lima on Monday morning and shared a ride with a couple from Miraflores, who had gotten married on Saturday and were going to be spending their honeymoon at the same lodge as us in Yauyos. They were super nice and both speak very good English, a fact that came in very useful when we got to the lodge. Once at the lodge, we found out that their English translator was sick! We speak very little Spanish and the staff at the lodge spoke even less English - we were so thankful for our new friends!

"Refugios del Peru" lodge:

View from our room:

On Tuesday we took a 6 or 7 mile hike to "La Florida" - a small town near our lodge.

During our hike we came upon a family and their small herd of goats and donkeys. One little girl in particular caught our attention. She was very shy and did not want her picture taken:

One of the baby goats tried to nurse from my finger:

My mountain man:

The hike ended at this "river" - since it is the dry season,

it was more like a creek:

On Wednesday, we went horseback riding:

Lunch at the lodge, overlooking the mountains:

Resting and reading:

This morning as we were preparing to leave, with our new Peruvian friends - Veronica and Gonzalo:

The trip back to Lima was an adventure, but that's a story for another post. We go back to the orphanage tomorrow afternoon, and then will spend Friday evening and Saturday with Lauren and Nancy in Lima, before we catch our flight home Saturday night.

Technical difficulties

We are still having a great time here in Yauyos, but I won't be posting pictures today as I had hoped. Our internet connection is very weak and everything takes a long time. For someone with as little patience as me, it is very frustrating, and I don't think it's wise to spend my vacation time waiting on the computer! So, I'll try again when we get back to Lima.

Kenna, Cullen and Camden - skype isn't working, so we won't be able to call you until we return to Lima on Thursday. I hope you all are having a great week so far. We love you!

Dad, I read your email about the roof but couldn't respond - do whatever you think is best. If you have time and your schedule works out so that you can meet with the roofer that would be great. If not, we'll take care of it when we get home. Thanks for all you've already done!

Hasta luego... (Until later...)

Yow!

Today we traveled by truck to a region of Peru called Yauyos (yow-yos). We are staying at a lodge in a town called Vinak. It is beautiful here! It was a 5 hour drive and the last couple of hours were on a bumpy, dirt and gravel road of switch backs that took us up into the mountains. The ride was tough, but so worth it. God has really created some amazing landscapes! We had a wonderful lunch, and then went to our room for a "short" nap to recover from the ride and allow ourselves time to adjust to the altitude. I ended up sleeping for 2 hours!

Now we are sitting in front of a fire in the lodge's gathering room. For the next couple of days we will get to enjoy hiking, biking, and horseback riding. I will post some pictures tomorrow. If you want to see what the place looks like, you can check out their website: http://www.refugiosdelperu.com/ The rainy season ended here in March, so it is not as green now as in the pictures on the website, but there are beautiful flowers all around the lodge, and the mountains are still breathtaking.

Kenna, Cullen, and Camden we love you and miss you!

Sagrada Familia

Today we visited La Sagrada Familia Communidad de Ninos. It was amazing to watch Lauren and Nancy interact with the children - God is definitely using them in a mighty way! We had fun distibuting the bracelets that some of the youth from our church made and the cards that the Mission Denton kids made to go with them. We also got to meet briefly with Miguel, the founder and director of the orphanage, and give him some money that the children at our church's Vacation Bible School collected. He said he will use the money to complete a preschool building that has been started since our mission trip there in January. Robert took over 700 pictures today! I may make a slide show of some of them when we get home, but for now I'll just post a few:

What a blessing today has been!

Celebrating 17 years!

Yesterday Robert and I celebrated our 17th anniversary!! We had a wonderful day - we slept in a little, had breakfast, rested some, had lunch at the hotel, and then headed out to walk around Miraflores. We went to Parque Kennedy to do a little shopping and then to Parque del Amor (Lover's Park). After that we came back to the hotel and changed to go out to dinner at Restaurant Huaca Pucllana, which is at the site of a pre-Incan temple - amazing food in a very unique atmosphere. I'm so grateful to be married to such an amazing guy and to be celebrating this anniversary in such an amazing place!

Lunch on the roof of our hotel:

At Parque del Amor:

In front of the famous "love statue":

View of the Huaca Pucllano site from the restaurant:

"Cuy" appetizer (guinea pig):

After dinner we took a brief tour of the ruins:

View of the restaurant from the tour:

We're in Lima!!!

We made it safely to Lima last night. Our plane landed at 9, and we made it through customs and immigration with no problems. Our hotel had sent taxi to pick us up. On the way to his car, he motions to our two carts full of luggage and asks "how many months are you staying in Peru?" Hated to have to say that we're only staying a week! I did explain that much of the stuff we brought was for our friends who volunteer at an orphanage in Ventanilla.



Speaking of Lauren and Nancy, we got to see them last night! We had made plans to meet up with one of the translators from my January trip. He was going to be leaving Lima this morning, so last night was the only chance to see him. Lauren and Nancy were in town for a concert, so we all went out after we got to our hotel. It was a lot of fun, but a very late night - we're not as young as we used to be! We slept in this morning and are getting ready to go take a tour of Lima.

Carlos (and Manny) at our hotel, trying to give Lauren directions.

Out at "Mangos"

Lauren!

The view from our hotel window this morning: