Don't eat the yellow ice

It is odd enough that there is an ice machine in Peru, much less to look inside it and see yellow ice. Here's what it looked like when we were checking out at the grocery store yesterday. Having just watched ELF the other night, I am wise to the fact that you are supposed to stay away from the yellow snow and think that this should probably be extended to the ice too. For those still curious, it was lemon flavored ice cubes.

Never be surprised by what you might see here.

The sky is falling

...or maybe it's just raining hamburgers. That's what they call "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" in Peru: Raining Hamburgers.

Last month I helped lead some training on how our team works with volunteers from the US, or rather, how volunteers from the US work with our team. I spent 6 days in Temuco, Chile with a great bunch of missionaries whose job is to get the gospel to millions of Mapuche people. Being a small team, and getting smaller, they were looking to us to explain how church's back home are stepping in to help out.

The day before I left for the training, I took the day off with the family and we went to seeing Raining Hamburgers in 3D.

These glasses are way cooler than the ones we had growing up. Remember those paper ones that came in the cereal boxes?

Excellent Mouser looking for a Good Home

As we get ready to leave Peru for our time at the New Orleans Seminary, we have a mixed bag of emotions. Sad to leave good friends, happy to be with family again, nervous to be full time students, and concerned we are leaving something out that we have left to do!

Part of the preparation that has us concerned is what to do with Rachel, the promise kitty. Three years ago she came into our lives because of a promise we made to Patrick, well it was more like a bribe om his part, but who is splitting hairs. The fact is, he came to the mission field knowing he would have a cat when he got here, and so we do.

Rachel is in a lot of ways more like a dog. You whistle, she comes. You sit, she's in your lap. There's a knock at the door, she is there to greet.

Now, we are wondering what to do. Emails have already gone out and there's no one wanting to watch her for 8 months in Peru nor take her on permanently. We were hoping she would at least go to someone we know.

It is possible that she go to the US with us, it's just not financially feasible, costing about $400 to get her to the US and back to Peru again.

Our prayer...that a good home opens up to Rachel either for the time we are gone or a permanent home that will take her.

By the way, if you are wondering, the mouse in the picture is fake. It's the best $1.25 I have ever spent.

Where yat New Orleans!

New Orleans has something to look forward to: US!

This week, Susie was approved as an undergraduate student at Leavell College for the Spring 2010 semester. She will be a full time seminary student for one semester while we are back home.

I am still waiting for my acceptance into as a graduate student at NOBTS. It should come soon, since today I was notified of my qualification to receive a $500 scholarship as a new student. Every little bit helps! I need to take two full semesters of seminary, so I will enroll for both the Spring and Summer 2010 semesters.

Pray that other financial aide comes through for us as our family now has 3 full time college/post-graduate students this coming year!

Anticlimatic...

So we moved from our concrete box to our glass one.

As we did so, I mentioned that it would be interesting come our first earthquake.

well...

It wasn't all that. In fact...we missed it! We had a 4.0 pretty much centered in Lima just after midnight. It was about the time I finished setting up my home network (We got internet...another story) and then...nothing. We didn't even notice. We had to hear about it from friends this morning who felt it. I guess my glass box has some strength in it in all the right places.

Movin' on up!

Just as the summer missionaries left and we were ready for a second wind (by that I mean day of rest), we up and moved. The original plan was to take our time, having the whole month of August to slowly move (after all it was only 5 blocks away).

So August 2nd we got the keys to the new place and started moving things that we keep in storage. Well, as things go (when I am involved), we ended up 80% moved by the end of August 3rd. As we continued with the madness into August 4th, Susie called the mission office to ask if we could get some help moving the big stuff (frig, freezer, washer, dryer, bedroom furniture). After all, we were moving to the 5th floor and the only way up was the stairs. (As a side note, all that heavy stuff was moved up 5 flights for about $120 total...not bad!) Back to Susie's call...What she left off was the phrase "next week" when she requested the movers. The result: 3PM August 4th the movers arrived and by 8PM we were completely moved out of the old place. The new place was a wreck for a good long time, but hey, we completely packed up and moved in about 2 days. That may be a record!

Here's the new place. We went from concrete box to glass box.

Summer's End

I have gone to keeping Facebook notes instead of our blog for the most part, but therein lies a couple of problems (as have been pointed out to me). The first is that I advertise this blog in my email signature, as well as on my business cards. The second, and even more important, is that many people do not use Facebook (I know, I say the same thing). So I will do better to update this blog as well as Facebook for those who prefer to come here.

This entry is about the summer, or winter, as it is in Peru right now. It's at an end. Not scientifically, of course, but for our summer missionary program, it has come to an end. Our family (minus Alisha...another story, only published on Facebook) will travel to Chosica to meet up with our 100+ summer interns to hear testimony, sing praises, and glorify the Lord for what he has chosen to do in and through us this season. Keep coming back, if you haven't abandoned this blog completely, and I'll let you know how things went for our 19 teams.