What a beautiful morning. 

Some of these pictures are from June, but I guess that's ok. :) Our anniversary was the end of June, and the Summy's sweetly took care of Deklin, so Mike and I had the entire day to ourselves. It was so much fun!

We had lunch at one of our favorite fish restaurants...(yes we have several favorites) :) 

Then we went exploring. 

It was one of the best days ever.

And of course, coffe at El Dorao. :)

The highlight of the last month or so was having a team from NC here for awhile. One day they planned to go to a mountain about an hour from here to give out food and visit people. They needed another truck and a driver, so Mike and I and Deklin went along too. What a fun day! It was so gorgeous and cool up there.

I have to admit  I didn't enjoy the ride up all that much...We started up this steep, mountain trail, around gravel corners with steep drop offs and memories from our wreck and going down that steep grade kept flooding back. So I hung on tightly (which wouldn't have helped anyway, I was inside the truck) and prayed to God and just took pictures. :) The poor truck could hardly make it up those steep hills. We had to stop right in the middle of the steepest road I've ever seen because the truck just couldn't do it. They had to put concrete over the road here or I don't think anyone would ever be able to make it up there. Everyone piled off the back, and after some work, we were able to make it. It was worth it. It's so beautiful up there! It reminds me of Montana or Idaho. The air is so fresh and crisp and the sun is intense. Also, there was hardly any trash. Not like Peña at all. Even the poorest people kept their places looking very nice and neat. 

Love these precious people. :)

We were up there most of the day going from house to house, praying for people and giving out rice, radios, and candy for the kids. 

They became good friends.

Stopping for lunch.

Deklin had a great time

Hog dot. We definitely got a good laugh out of this. :)

On the way home we took a 'shortcut.' That didn't go well. The road was even steeper than on the way up. And there was nothing but gravel. Finally we turned around and came back the way we'd come.     

I was really glad to be back in flat Peña. ;)

One day while they were here Mike let me leave Deklin with him for one whole day so I could go with the group to visit a hospital in San Pedro.  That was quite the experience! We parked in the woods and walked through a field to the little chapel, where the pastor wanted us to write a verse on the wall behind the pulpet in english and spanish, so 3 of us girls did that while the others went into the hospital. Right as we were finishing up, the group came back and wanted to go to the cancer ward so we got to go along. It's a government hospital and the pastor there said they don't have enough money for cleaning supplies right now. :/ They said the other parts of the hospital were pretty bad and gross but they keep the cancer ward clean, and there's also AC. But still, there was dried blood on the floor. :/   All the patients were in their chairs in the same room, there was about 15 of them, and some of their moms. I was SO delighted cuz now that I know more spanish i was able to talk with them. There was a mom in there with her 2 little boys, her little 5 or 6 year old has cancer and he started just weeping in pain, so she let me hold her little 6 month old baby while she tried to comfort him. I almost couldn't stop crying cuz I felt so so sorry for her, and her little baby just cuddled right up to me and almost feel asleep on my shoulder. Oh I wanted to take him home. 

Things are going well in the bookstore. Mike is learning more and more Spanish so fast and it's making things a lot easier for him. He's been going on a lot of bookroutes lately and enjoying it.

Before we got 11 pallets of books in June:

And after:

Right now they're working on extending the dock and building a garage.

Yesterday I was able to go with Mike on a book run for the first time. It was so much fun!

Deklin and his little nextdoor buddy. The warehouse is their very favorite place to play.

He LOVES sitting up on the counter to watch me make supper.

Last Sunday we went with Summy's to the lake for a picnic. It was so gorgeous there! We had lots of fun, after lunch and playing in the lake we went on a mountain drive.

Love these dear girls.

He would have stayed in the lake all day if we'd let him. 

I can't believe we've been here for over 4 months now.....

I don't really remember feeling 'culture shock' when we first came. There were things that amazed and surprised me. But it wasn't like I was shocked at what I saw for 2 weeks and after that it was over. 'Culture shock' if you can call it that keeps coming in waves. I can't get used to seeing little kids half naked and dirty in the streets and no parents around. The poor little things need love so badly..I just want to take them all home with me. I know there's tons of needs in the States too. I guess I'm just more exposed to needs here, nothing is hidden seems like. I'd never even been close to a drunk person before in the states, but here you see it all the time. And it seems like more people die here. Seems like there's always a funeral procession going past our house...it's so sad...

Thank you dear friends who pray for us and let us know you're thinking about us. We love hearing from you....we miss you all! 

It's amazing we've had Deklin in our lives for 1 year already! He's such a little sunshine in our lives and more fun than we could have imagined! 

His birthday was the end of May, so we had a little party for him. 

                                   

We had so much fun making his cake.

I guess I can share a little bit..

The sugar high

He went absolutely wild after all that cake. (oh and, he didn't actually eat that huge of a piece, at least half of it fell on the ground.) But he did eat a lot. He scrambled all over the house screaming at the top of his lungs for quite a while that evening. :) 

Deklin took his first steps this month, but he's not walking yet. He gets way too excited and tries to take off running. 

His favorite happy spot is out in the warehouse with the tools. He plays out there for hours at a time. 

A hard working guy's gotta have water. 

Mi Guapo  <3 

Mike's spanish is coming along nicely and he enjoys working in the bookstore and going on the book runs. Once he knows where all the different bookstores are, Deklin and I will get to go along. =)

I'm amazed at how fast Mike has learned to communicate in Spanish, and he does a wonderful job taking care of the bookstore and all the responsibilities that come with that. He's also found time to build shelves and picture frames for our house to make it feel more like home. It's the most wonderful thing having him right close by all day. :)

One of Deklin's really good buddies. Luis helps in the bookstore and around the mission. 

It's been very hot this month, but it has rained some so that really helps cool things off. We're enjoying life here...there's still a lot of adjustments, but we're grateful for our next door friends Alan & Delores Summy, and the teachers Renita and Marta. Mike's cousin Julie is here for the month of June and it's been fun catching up with her again.

Last month we had a rat in our house. Yes, a rat. I still can hardly believe it, I'd never even seen a rat in my whole life. It had taken one of our chocolate bars John Weaver had just brought from the states. It drug it down under the fridge where it sat, for days, rotting. We could not figure out what HORRIBLE smell had taken over our house. When we finally found it and saw that it had been chewed on by something, we thought of a rat...but surely not..in our house?? We went to bed, then at about 3:30 am we heard a cup tip over on the kitchen counter. We hurried out to the kitchen, and heard something scuttle behind the fridge. Mike sent me out to the warehouse for a board to smack it with, and in the meantime it ran under our BED. 

We closed all the doors in our house, turned on the lights, then chased it, all over the place. In all the chaos Mike was able to hit it once or twice. Finally it went into the stove, and that was it, we tried everything to get it to come out. We went to bed, and the next morning took the whole stove apart looking for it. Finally we gave up, then that day when I was cleaning and disinfecting everything, I saw rat footprints on the window, and a hole in the screen. So, at least we know it's not still in the house. But it did get away with most of our precious chocolate!! :( We think there must be a whole colony living in the warehouse. 

This Sunday we have a Spanish teacher coming! We're so excited. Michael and I are planning to study with her 3 hours each day. Between that and homework we'll be pretty busy I think. 

Last Saturday we went to help Dennis & Yolanda with the little kids again....=)

These little darlings just LOVE Dennis & Yolanda. 

They have the biggest hearts for these children

Pedro. 

What a precious little man. He's very patient with my slow, very hard to understand Spanish. 

Josesito. <3 

He is TOO cute and his personality is just precious. So full of life. 

Making tortillas!

Deklin was so exhausted by the time we left...he fell asleep almost instantly. 

So there hasn't been a whole lot going on...besides studying Spanish and adjusting. I have to admit I've been lonely and even bored at times...but yesterday Dennis & Yoley came to visit and she asked if I'd like to come help with the kids every Saturday! I am THRILLED. I've been trying to find my nitch here, and I think this is it. :) My job will be to play with the smallest kids, color with them and just spend time with them..I think I'm also supposed to teach them bible stories...... not quite sure how I'll manage that! (I could use prayer that I'd be able to learn spanish quickly!) 

We appreciate you all, and your prayers.

-Mike, Kyla & Deklin