PawPaw is here!

PawPaw made it here safe and sound and we have already begun enjoying a nice visit with him! Today and tomorrow are holidays for our school so we are heading out on an adventure with MawMaw and PawPaw tomorrow. We will blog all about it when we have pics.

PawPaw brought lots of goodies but the best thing is he is here. We hate that he and MawMaw will be leaving on Saturday. Please pray for a nice, safe and blessed visit!

Que Dios Les Bendiga!
His
Susie

What a MAN!

Yesterday, Costa Rica celebrated the Annexation of Guanacaste. The School celebrated by having a special program complete with typical foods and dancing. Some of the teachers dressed in typical costumes and presented a few typical dances. It was so much fun and very interesting. (I was even pulled up to dance at one point by a former teacher!)
Ben was part of a special dance done by the middle school. He was the ONLY boy to participate and he was able to dance with 3 girls at once! He was so brave and did such a great job. What a stud!!!
It was a great experience for MawMaw to witness. She said it was different hearing her grandchildren singing the national athem of Costa Rica (but I heard her singing too!)
Miss you all!
His.
Susie

Who's scruffy looking?

Most nieghborhoods have a dog. No one owns them, anybody feeds them. Our dog is named Bodi.

This is not our neighborhood dog.

We have a new IMB family arriving Thursday and we are their Big Brothers. This is their neighborhood dog. I am not sure why he's muzzled, but having him follow my leg closely wasn't too comforting.

He seemed nice enough, but them again, he's muzzled for a reason.

Volcan Arenal

We finally got out of this big old dirty city to see the "real" Costa Rica. Boy was it Beautiful. The Volcano view was clear Friday night. We just sat on an adjacent hillside and watched the fantasitc lava explosions. I am amazed that the hotel still exists. It sits right at the base. They had waterslides there! I had my fill of going up the hill time after time, hour after hour. Here are a few pics:

A LONG WEEK!

This week has been one of those really lonnnnng weeks and the bad thing is that it is only Tuesday! Both Arnold and I have had and will have quite a few exams and presentations this week. Please keep us in your prayers as this can tend to be a very stressful time. We both are already pretty tired and ready for the weekend.
It has been really nice have Arnold's mom here and we are looking forward anxously to the arrival of his Dad. She's been doing lots of walking and enjoying some quiet time reading. (She has already read 3 books while we have been at school.) She also is getting to know Marta pretty well and is speaking a little spanish. She has already been with us twice to church and I think she is really enjoying it.

Please be in prayer for Arnold's conversation teacher, Yolanda. She was taken to the hospital yesterday by ambulance from school because of her blood sugar. She has pretty serious diabetes. Please pray for her as she gets this problem under control.

We love you all and it makes us smile when we think of you. Thank you for your emails, phone calls and prayers. We thank God for you all!
His.
Susie

¡¡¡Cumpleaños feliz!!!

Happy Birthday to Arnold! Today my sweetie turned 38! We had omlets for breakfast and tonight we are having a b-b-q at the house with some Tico friends from church. Their daughter loves to bake so she is bringing Arnold a lemon pie for his birthday (pie is not very common here at all so that is a treat!) We are looking forward to a fun day just enjoying each other!
Please say a special prayer for Arnold as he begins his 38th year of life in a new profession, learning a new language and in 6 months moving to another new country. (And as he deals with having 2 teenagers!) Please pray for his health, happiness, cultural acquistion, his love for the Quechua and Amayara peoples and for him to walk daily close to the Lord.
God Bless you all!
His.
Susie

Happy Carlota Day!

Yesterday Carlota came by after her Doctor's appointment and told us that she is still forbidden to work for another month. It is funny how God answers prayers, we prayed for Marta to have work and she will for another month with us and then a whole group of families will come in and she will definately have work. Praise the Lord. Carla will also get the therapy she needs while still being covered under her disability.

Back months ago, while she was cleaning off my dresser, I let her smell my "good" perfume and put some on. I also had a brand new bottle of avon perfume that I never used and I gave to her because she had never had any. She just cried and cried. A little while later she asked that MawMaw bring her a small bottle of "my" perfume but only a little bitty bit because she could only afford a little. Well, when MawMaw, Jenny and Karen heard this (Arnold's mom, and 2 sisters) they fixed her up a goodie bag with lotion and perfume from Victoria Secret in a BEAUTIFUL heart shaped bottle and also a HUGE bottle of "My Good" perfume.
When Carlota came by today she was feeling a bit low because she really wants to get back to work. You should have seen her face when MawMaw came bearing a gift bag of goodies. Thank you MawMaw, Jenny and Karen for making Carlota feel special. She is so special to us!
Please continue to pray for her recovery and her patience during this month. We also praise the Lord for providing work for Marta until a new group of students come in at the beginning of August. God is SO good!
His.
Susie

Partying at Otero's

Tonight we celebrated (a few days early) Arnold's birthday with some of our friends at Otero's pizza. His real birthday is on Saturday the 8th. We had a great time of fellowship, laughter and of course CAKE! This cake was HUGE-MON-GUS!!!!! A 3 layer chocolate cake with whipped cream icing and strawberries. It was a mess to cut and we even accidently got a little on our faces. I went to give my sweetie a birthday kiss and instead I gave him a kisser full of whipped cream, he then in turn kissed all over my face. What a sight! It was alot of fun. Wish you could have been here for some cake!
(SHHH... Remember Arnold's big day is Saturday and it would be really great for him to get some well wishes from the states! His email is arnold@reapsouth.org ) God Bless you all!
His.
Susie

MawMaw is learning to cook Tica!

Today, Marta taught me and MawMaw how to make her yummy Enchiladas de pollo. (Chicken Enchildas!) I had to translate during the recipe and both of them seemed to understand so that was really good. So needless to say, that is what we are having for dinner tonight. Not a typical CR dish but a really good one!
Today was Marta's last day. Hopefully Carla will get the all clear from her doc on Friday and be back with the family by next week. She stopped in for a visit yesterday and I must say I sure have missed seeing her. Please continue to pray for her as she begins physical therapy. Also please pray for Marta to obtain work soon.
We love you all and wish you were sitting down to dinner with us tonight. God Bless you!

His.
Susie

Happy 4th of July!

We hope each of you had a good 4th of July. We celebrated it like many of you in the US, with friends and a bar-be-que. The institute gave us all the day off and so the student body hosted a grand picnic. It was a great day. We had chicken, burgers and dogs. The kids all had cardboard boxes and slid down a really tall hill. (Patrick even tried it once on his scooter but I guess it did't go too well since he only did it once!) We ate plenty, talked alot and made some memories. Maw Maw got to meet all of our friends too! God Bless America!
Alisha was invited to go to an amusement park here in town with a Tica girl from church. They left this morning about 8:00 to head to Parque de Diversiones. They had a great time! She came home about 8pm tired and ready for bed.
We miss you all and we pray that you all had a wonderful day full of laughter and good times. May the Lord of heaven and earth bless you greatly as He has been so faithful to bless all of us here!
His.
Susie

Ya want Fries with that Shake?

We had our first little tremor today. It lasted about a second. About 90% of the students felt it. Our teacher grabbed her desk. We thought that was a good move and grabbed ours too. Alisha and Maw Maw were at home and didn't feel it at all. Que Triste!

(BTW, the USGS site hasn't updated to include it yet, so the picture here has been modified by me to show you about where we were when we felt it.)