When the Parents are away......

The children will play!

Our 4th for 10

We had the privilege of having a 4th child for 10 days. Although she was marvelous we could only borrow her until her parents returned from network meetings in Mexico. We had such a great time with Kailey, it was hard to see her go!

It was nice for her, because as the youngest in her own family, she got to be head honcho in our house, being over a year older than Joel. She shared a room with Kezia (which was utterly thrilling) and played continuously with Joel. Every time Asha got up from her nap her first words were, "Where's Kailey?" She was a huge help, and loved to visit with us. This was the first time she had been away from her parents without having one of her siblings staying with her.

Well, Hans and Elma, if you ever want to have Kailey over again, we'd be thrilled. And if you re-consider Joel's offer to buy her for 30Bs, just let us know.

Just for Fun Shoot

Weekend Getaway

We were long overdue for a little family time, so we decided to drive 90 minutes north to a quaint little town called Buena Vista. It's right on the edge of Amboro National Park, which is beautiful. We swam, ate good food, read, slept, played at the park and visited with the Toucan (who was re-named, YouCan! by Asha). We also went to Saturday mass in the beautiful church off the plaza. One afternoon, we went to a Cafetal, a coffee plantation, and saw the plants and how they process the beans. They are certified organic and sell some of their beans to Starbucks. The company sells 90% for overseas export, keeps 8% to sell in country under their brand and then the 2% that isn't quite up to par, they sell to other coffee companies here in Bolivia. I found out that low grade coffee has a lot of roasted husks and not so much bean. It was good for our kids to see where coffee comes from and we've discovered that Bolivia does in fact have really good coffee (please don't stop sending us Starbucks though, okay?). Did you know that a mature coffee plant only produces 1kg of processed coffee beans per year? So for our family, we would have to add another 14 coffee plants to our solo plant in our front yard to support our yearly consumption of coffee. Wow! So on Sunday we headed back home, feeling more refreshed and ready to face life again. It's good to escape once in a while and have someone else cook your food and wash your dishes.
 

Glimpses from Easter

Here's a few pictures from our Easter weekend. If you notice, Carl and I aren't in any of the pictures. Carl was Mr. Photographer while I was in bed with the worst flu this century. Augh! But I must say, I was very proud that Carl made sure to capture moments since I couldn't participate.

We had a service planned on the grounds because it was election day and no public gatherings (like church) could be held. So we had an informal time with the MCCers and family members who could walk to the office. Carl had organized a brunch potluck and then afterwards, singing, a children's story, then a meditation/reading. Everyone said they really enjoyed themselves and felt blessed.

And of course, we had to have an Easter Egg hunt. We learned from California that you don't put chocolate in the plastic eggs. Only hard candy, unless you want a royal mess and crying children.

And up from the Pile...

Of papers and books that we have on our bedroom dresser, arose this piece of card-stock paper. Carl always had it up in his office at church and certainly not by coincidence, we found it yesterday.

"To be authentic,
by the standard of Christ,
is to die to everything
we hope people will admire about us
and all personal desires
for power,
wealth,
or public standing."

-Living Authentically By Accepting Weakness by Ryan Taylor


This brought tears to our eyes......