Oh, How I Miss Fall!!!!

People joke about not having seasons in Texas..... Those people should move to the rain forest here in Ecuador. :-) We literally have 1 season here...and it's always green. I'm definitely not complaining- I love the weather here!

But.... I miss fall colors, so my blog background is my outlet for that right now. I know it's only for a couple of more days, but that's ok!

And I also know, Daddy, that it's hard to read. Sorry! :-)

Thanksgiving

I realized I need to share a few things that we're thankful for right now....

Wow! Holiday season is in full swing, and things are becoming increasingly crazy. :-) We're having a big parillada (BBQ) tomorrow for the kids for lunch. Although Thanksgiving is an American holiday, we still teach them about it and celebrate what we're thankful for. On Thursday, Shell has a big parade, and the kids will all be in it. The teachers have picked 3 songs (English & Spanish), that they will sing while they walk. :-) I hope to get some good videos and pics!

We had a huge unexpected blessing recently as well! We got a random email from "The Gerardo and Kathy Mejia Foundation" the other day. This couple started a foundation in the U.S. to benefit children in Ecuador, and they received a HUGE toy donation from a large company. They emailed asking if we'd like to receive some for Christmas.....and we said, YES! Patti Sue and I had been shopping just the day before we got the email, and it was overwhelming to think of what all needed to be bought for each child to have a Christmas present. Receiving the email was such a huge answer to prayer! I'll share more about this at Christmas-time.

Another praise... Anita-bebe went home to her family. A lady came up to CDF last week, and she was describing a lost family member. When I showed her a picture of Anita on my computer, she just burst into tears. Apparently an aunt was supposed to be taking care of Anita, but when she went missing....the aunt didn't inform the rest of the family. Anyway...the next day her mom (whom we thought was dead) and another family member came to pick her up. She seemed very happy to see them, and it's always fulfilling to see a family reunited. But- please continue to pray for this little girl! If you remember, she has "episodes" of convulsions, followed by self-destructive behavior afterward. There is some very intense spiritual warfare going on, and she needs prayer! She's a beautiful girl with a servant heart!

We LOVE rain right now! :-) Ecuador has had a crazy drought for the past couple of months. Since the major of our electricity comes from hydroelectric plants.... We've had scheduled power outages for the past several weeks now. At first, it was sometimes the majority of the day! VERY frustrating to not be able to use internet! But....the situation is improving, and we're now down to 2 hr. segments per day. Every time it rains, we celebrate!

Dwight and I have decided to extend our time here for an additional 6 months, March-August. We weren't sure what we were going to do for housing, but God has provided....of course. :-) Some friends are going on furlough, and we'll be able to stay in their house next spring/summer. God is good!

I feel like I could keep going, but this is a ridiculously long post. Once again... for our families. lol...

Love you all and pray that your eyes will be opened to the blessings you've been given!

Weekend O' Fun

Wow! We had a busy, but very fun weekend.

Last Thursday afternoon, we had a group from a church in South Quito arrive. This was our first time to have a group of Ecuadorians, and it was exciting in a different way. The church wants to become more involved in missions within the country, and they're trying to do them as low-cost as possible. So... they slept out at the property on the 2nd floor! They were a huge help to Dwight with preparing the bottom floor for the final layer of cement.

On Saturday, we took the older kids out, and they were so excited to be able to work at their new house. The older girls and I were handling the shovels like pro's. ha! After all of the hard work they had an impromptu swim time in the river.... in their clothes. Actually...that's how most of the Ecuadorians in Shell swim. :-)

Sunday, the group led a little church service for all of the school-age kids. We were walking them up to the property, and they were just so excited! After church, we had a lunch of hot dogs and chochos :-)....followed by watermelon by the river. The group left after lunch, and Dwight, Patti Sue and I stayed with the kids swimming for a few more hours. I was exhausted when we got home around 4:00!

I didn't get any pics of the work being done.....only the fun stuff. :-)

If you can't see the full picture, just double-click on the slideshow. It should open in a separate window.

Unicorn Princesses

Yes... that title was just for you, Emily. :-)

I guess it would be more correct if I said "Unicorns AND Princesses," but I couldn't resist the opportunity.

So yesterday I was covering P.E. for Dwight, and the older kids were going to play kickball. I always make them decide a team name together... and it usually takes A LOT of team effort to pick a name. They act like it's the hugest decision in the world. ... Needless to say, I was surprised when one of the teams had decided in less than a minute. Abigail came running up to me and said, "Ms. Tendy. (That's how it sounds when they say my name.) We (pause) is going to be (pause) THE UNICORNS!" She said this very directly and with a lot of authority. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. lol....

Seriously... How on earth did a group of boys and girls decide to be Unicorns so quickly?!? Of all the animals they could have picked..... :-)

Moving on to the Princesses.... Last night the preschool and kindergarten aged girls came over to watch Tinkerbell. They were SO EXCITED! I had already turned the lights out before I remembered to take pictures, and I didn't DARE interrupt the exciting previews by turning them back on!

I don't think pictures could do them justice anyway. They were so cute in their pj's, practically shaking with excitement. I loved watching their faces as different scenes unfolded....the yellow princess....Tinkerbell's new outfit.... the music.... it was world-changing for them. lol....

Here are Nicole (left) and Veronica giving me a smile... It took 3 tries to get their eyes off of the screen. :-) Take note of Veronica's smile...It's fake. She really just wants me to get out of her way so she can look at TINKERBELL!

Ruby was not amused at my distracting photo attempts. Um... but please take note of who is on her pajamas.

Lorena (L) and Tatiana being goofy.

We are family (play the music in your head........) I got all my sisters with me! I feel like this could be our mantra. :-)

I wish you could all be here to experience these "normal" things that I just can't even put into words!

Ouch!

I can't believe Dwight has made it this long without getting some type of injury out at the worksite. I guess his time was coming for this.....

The other day his machete "slipped" and sliced into his left hand, cutting the tendon. He called our friend Paul, an anesthesiologist at the HCJB hospital, and he took care of Dwight. Paul was at home, but took D to the hospital and gave him these manly looking stitches. :-) Dwight said when he moved his fingers, he could see the notch in the tendon where he'd cut it.... it was sliding back and forth. (gag)

Another update: Maria, the little girl I posted about last time, went home last week. We only had her for 2 days, but I pray that she was able to experience God's love while she was here. Thanks for praying for her!

A Day in the Life.....

Or a few days, I guess I should say. :-)

BUGS... a very normal part of life here. Last Thursday I found this creature crawling into the office. The kids all informed me that he is a centipede and VERY safe to hold in your hand. ........ I didn't try. :-)
Check out his red legs!

The next day at home, I found this little guy crawling on the wall INSIDE our house. I decided it was a teddy bear caterpillar. That name is based solely on the way I think he looks....nothing to do with what it's real name might be. :-)

And apparently we're not the only ones who have been so privileged to have a pet rat. The girls (our teachers) made a birthday cake for some friends and left it covered with a towel on the stove. They got home and found that a rat had eaten a hole through the towel...and proceeded to eat the cake as well. Apparently, the girls deemed it ok to eat, since the rat had to have been standing on the towel during his little snack. Totally logical, right? Um.... can we say, EEEEWWW!?!

Sunday night we were walking out of some friends' house, and there was a huge black tarantula right above Dwight's head. Poor guy... If you know him, then you know how serious of an experience this was for him.

Moving on from bugs.... Roses! I thought I should brighten the mood of this post. Patti Sue picked these up for me in Quito... 25 for $2.50. This is half of them. I was taking a picture, b/c they are HUGE! The blooms are about 5 inches in diameter!

Sunday Haircuts....

Monday..... Kuka with her shirt off, looking through the window.... No idea why....

Maria! Maria was just dropped off earlier today by the children's police division, who found her wandering. We still don't know anything for sure about where she came from or why. (She's on the left.)

She wasn't so sure about my camera. :-)

Please pray for her. She could be here for 2 days or 2 years.... We trust that God knows what's best for her.