Home Alone

Well, I post that as a title, because it the first time this has happened since we left the states....I am actually home ALONE.
Lane and Abe left early to take the girls to school and then the two of them continued on to Liberia to figure out something on our car. You might ask what would motivate Abe to get up early and be excited for 2 hours+ in the car. Three words: McDonald's in Liberia! ha ha

It has been really nice to have several hours to myself. I did some dishes, caught up on my journal, read a chapter of the Book of Mormon in Spanish (even though comprehension is still at about 5%) and studied out of a couple other Spanish books we have. I am actually waiting now like an impatient mother for Alex's weekly email to arrive.....it is usually at about the same time every Monday, but now and then he throws me for a loop and he does something totally bizzarre, like goes to the dentist and I don't get a letter until way later....oh I hate when that happens! Writing to your mom is way more important than clean teeth. Hasn't he figured that out yet? Not to mention that the Spanish version of "what not to wear" is really getting on my nerves in the background!

As I am walking around my house this morning....I just keep thinking to myself, "I am living in Costa Rica" It still seems a little surreal to me. I guess it is proof that actions always start with a thought and if you think about something long enough, it WILL happen. This is a lesson on the power of thoughts huh? This concept, like most things in life can be good or bad. Maybe that will be our FHE lesson for tonight.

OK, Alex's letter just came and now I have to dry my tears. His letters always choke me up. I miss him more than I can even explain, yet at the same time, I don't want his mission to end because being a "missionary mom" is one of the best titles I have ever had. It is hard to explain until you are there. Ahhhh....deep breath. Love that boy.

My heart has become very tender for the missionaries since he has been out, expecially since we are living out of the country. I see the sacrifices that they make and yet they are always wearing a smile. One of the cute missionaries in our branch here was saying yesterday how much he misses "Cheez-its" but that was followed quickly by his energetic attitude toward the work. They shine their shoes every morning and yet they are muddy and dull within just a few minutes of tracting in the rain. I believe that is why they are always so happy: they have learned to be obedient in the little things, even when sometimes the "rule" doesn't make perfect sense.
When we put forth just a little effort, out Heavenly Father blesses us more than we can imagine.

My heart is full today with love for my family back in the states. All of Lane's family....I love them so much, and all of my family....they mean so much to us. And my sweet kids, Alex and Mariah....remember, we are looking at the same moon.

From Abram's kitchen...

Abram has always enjoyed being in the kitchen, and it is no different here. He made this yummy omelet for the two of us the other morning and that same night he made homemade chicken noodle soup for the family. Both meals were delicious! He is wanting to make homemade pizza tonight but the store closest to us does not have yeast....we have to go a bit further and hopefully the "big" store will have it. It is frustrating to not be able to find things that we are used to and then when you DO find them...they cost at least double. I guess the positive side of this is that when we return to the states, buying groceries will feel like such a bargain! That will be nice for a change.

Abe is always my "go to guy" when I need a recipe. He is getting really good at looking them up online and figuring out how to make things. I had my recipe book packed at home, but it was one of those things that I had to take out last minute because it was either start taking things out, or bust the zippers open on the bags.

Church on the Beach

Sunday we had an interesting experience. We attended our normal sunday block of meetings in our Santa Cruz Branch and then had the opportunity to attend another sacrament meeting.

Apparantly there used to be a branch meeting in small town called Brasilito which is about 10 minutes from our house. This branch started about 25 years ago and had a fairly good group of people. Over the years the number attending dwindled somewhat and there were more members in the Santa Cruz area, so the branch had to move to Santa Cruz where more of the members lived.

This unfortunately meant that the branch in Brasilito dwindled way down since hardly any of these people had transportation to get to Santa Cruz. When Lane went out with the missionaries last week, they visited many of the members in Brasilito and promised them that the church would again be organized there in time. As of now, we are going to hold a sacrament meeting there every other week. There is no building, but we will meet in a covered patio area of a member's home that is about 30 meters from the beach.
Aside from our family, the branch Pres. from Santa Cruz and the missonaries, there were 7 other members there from the area. They were so grateful to meet again and we are hoping to help in the reactivation of the many members there.

I led the music and Abe passed the sacrament. The waves were crashing in the background and there was a sweet spirit there. It makes for a long day, but we are anxious to help them get a branch going again in this area.

Saturday Sailing

Lora is doing a good job at her lifesize burrito!



A few interesting road signs...




these are some monkeys hanging out in the trees by our house.


We had a great opportunity to go sailing in Saturday with some friends that invited us to go with them. This family has been here on vacation from Canada for the last 10 days and are staying at the Pirate's Bay Hotel, where we hang out alot because it is close to our house, great beach and beautiful pool. The guy that runs the hotel has become a great friend and he loves to have us come and hang out there.

Anyway, the family from Canada are Joe & Eva and their two children, Niki and Luke. Sailing was at 2pm so our family took the morning hours to explore another beach and we ate at this great little taco shop.

On the sailboat, we were able to see a few Dolphin jumping in the distance as well as sea turtles. It was amazing. We did stop in a bay to snorkel as well, although we have had so much rain lately that the water is not that clear. In the summer months (November-April) the water is much clearer we have been told. We did see a few interesting fish though and the whole thing was just beautiful and amazing. We really really loved it and can't wait to take family on this excursion when you come to visit!

In case you are wondering, the temple trip for the branch was cancelled yet again this past week, so we did not go. We are hoping to go this Saturday, but it may not be until the next week. We are very anxious for that experience as well.

Our Little Santa Cruz Branch

This is the small building that we meet in. They are planning on expanding it sometime within the year hopefully.The first picture is actually the chapel, but this was after the meeting so all the chairs were taken down. There are 2 classrooms and the Branch President's office and then the bathrooms. That's it. The primary met outside today for part of it and the girls said that there was a family of monkeys in the trees across the street that were picking mangoes and eating them, so they thought that was really fun to see.
Sweet Elder Martinez is being transferred this Wednesday. It was sad to say goodbye to him. He really has a great spirit about him and we will miss him. At least we get Elder O'Dell for awhile longer.
I really missed my friend Mirna today at church to help translate for me. It feels so frustrating to not understand much at all. I hope that the speed at which we are learning will start to pick up soon. I will be subbing everyday at school again this week and so I know I will learn at least a few new words. I told one of the 2nd graders last week that I wanted her to be my spanish teacher. She took me VERY seriously and at the end of the day handed me a paper that she had written about 10 words on for me in spanish and told me to write them all 3 times each and that she would be giving me a test on Monday! WOW! I better be studying. I don't want to disappoint her! What a cutie.
Another Gringo family has moved into the Branch as well. They have a similar story to ours, just wanting the adventure for their family and they really want to learn Spanish. The husband served a mission in Argentina so he already speaks the language but his wife and kids are wanting to learn as well. They have five kids and the oldest is only 10, so they have their hands full. They seem like great people. We had them over tonight for cookies and had fun getting to know them better. I am sure they will become good friends. Their names are Zach and Kristy. They are going to watch Lora and Emma this Saturday while Lane, Abe and I go on a temple trip with the branch. Next time we can switch with them and they can go. The temple is in San Jose which is about 4 hours away, so it will be a long day but I am so anxious to go. I have missed the temple so much since leaving home. Makes me so appreciate that we were only 45 minutes away before.
My thoughts have been on Ometepe today. My emotions are so close to the surface when I think about our experience there. I wish that we could pick up this house that we are in now and just put it on the island. I wanted it to work for us there so badly. I can't help but feel that we abandoned those people there and that is just haunting me. I know that we felt so good about going there and so it is still confusing to me that we had to leave. I am praying for an answer about that even still. I am happy here, but my heart is still there on Ometepe and I think about Leyla and her family constantly. I hope that I can find ways to really interact with the local Tico people here like I want to. It is important to me to feel like I am making a difference. I don't just want this to be a "vacation". That was not our purpose in leaving the states. I pray for guidance everyday that we can find ways to make this the experience that we want it to be for our family.

Just hanging out at home

Who knew that a swirly staircase could provide so many hours of fun? Seriously, I am thankful for these stairs as they act as an indoor playground for the kids. They find very creative ways to play on them and are constantly just "hanging out". Me, on the other hand...have trouble navigating up and down them while holding onto the railings, let alone with a basket of laundry in my arms. Let's hope I don't trip and fall one of these days. If you have ever seen me step onto an escalator at the mall though, you know that a trip and fall wouldn't be too unlikely. I am a little challenged in the art of balance and timing. Enough said.

En la Cocina

The missionaries called up the other night and asked if Lane could go with them to a teaching appt. of a brand new investigator that lives in our area. They were going to take a bus as close as they could get to our house and then needed a ride. Turns out that their schedule allowed them to be at our house for about an hour and half before their appt. so of course we grabbed the opportunity to feed them! I hurried and made some chocolate chip cookies and some spaghetti. Can't go wrong with those comfort foods right? We also had some plantains that I had bought but didn't know what to do with, so I had Elder Martinez (from El Salvador) give me a little lesson on how to cook them. They basically tasted like fried bananas would taste if you fried them....pretty good, but not our top of the list favorite.
It was so great just having them in our home. I just love the missionaries. There is such a special spirit about them. They are both just awesome young men and they are helping us so much with our Spanish. They are Elder Martinez and Elder O'Dell (from northern CA)
Lane went with them to their appt. with a family that consisted of a mom and her 3 teenage kids. He said it was such a sweet spirit and they plan on more lessons. I am hoping to go with them next time and get to know the mother. We always welcome any opportunity to spend time with the missionaries .Any bit of them that can rub off on us is a good thing. Elder Martinez had never had choc chip cookies before and I wished I would have had a picture of that. I think he has a new favorite food!