Thank you so much for the mail at Christmas! It is so fun for us to hear from you and to hear what your families are up to! And we LOVE all the pictures! My, how your kids have grown!
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Opening the mail is an afternoon event!
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The kids really got into reading the letters this year. Fun to see them interested in your lives as well.
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Precious letters and pictures!
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Rebekah reading one out loud to us.
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We love our house helper, Dona Mercedes, who is with us two half days a week. She loves to talk with us, helping us with our Spanish. She also keeps us closely connected to the culture, as we learn about the challenges of her life. And she and Rebekah have become cooking buddies. Here they are making corn tortillas. One of my favorite moments with Dona Mercedes is just before she leaves - she always says, "Hasta a Martes, si Dios quiere." which means "I will see you on Tues. if that is what God wants." Her words are a continual reminder to me to live in moment by moment surrender.
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Here are Rebekah and our friend Dayana doing a magic show with some neighbor kids. I love the expressions on their faces.
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Here they are "pulling a string" through Alia.
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Rebekah made supper for us - grilled cheese, corn bread muffins, and tomato soup. She added the special touch of candles and turned out the lights. I call her "my 12 year old Martha Stewart".
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I'm so proud of the man with the number 11 on his legs.
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Dan and 68 other NCA teachers and students competed in NCA's second annual triathlon.
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Here is the first heat at 8:30 AM. Many NCA teachers were motivating their students to participate by offering extra credit to anyone who completed the triathlon. It was quite a challenge for many of our students, but we were so inspired by their effort and determination. As I look at this picture, it seems that most of the Americans chose to run the first heat.
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Here is Dan before the swim with Will who was beaming with pride.
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Here is everyone in the Laguna before the start of the race where they will be swimming 200 meters before transitioning to the biking part.
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Here is Dan coming in from the swim. There were life guards stationed every 10 feet or so. Some of our NCA kids did not know how to swim well, but they did it!
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Here is Dan after the swim, putting on his shoes, shorts, and shirt for the biking part.
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And off he goes for the 10 K bike ride. This ride was up hill most of the way and Dan was riding a bike that would not change geers! So, he had to work quite hard to get up the hills.
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And here he comes in from the biking part! Go Daddy!
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I drove the kids out to the 2.5 K turn around for the 5 K run and they and a couple of friends joined Dan for the rest of the run.
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The run was fun for them as they passed several people before getting to the finish line. This was Dan's strongest part of the race. It was a good challenge and goal for the kids and for Dan.
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They made it across the finish line! Dan's time was 1 hour 20 minutes. The fastest time was 51 minutes, the next fastest times were around 1 hour 10 minutes, and the slowest time was around 1 hour and 45 minutes.
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Will celebrating by pouring water on his head.
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Picture after the race.
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During the second heat of the race, our family was stationed at the bike turn around. We needed to check off all of the bikers as they turned around.
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Here is one of our NCA seniors. The night before last year's triathlon, he learned how to ride a bike in the NCA parking lot! Another Nicaraguan student who inspires us.
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The beautiful Laguna. God gave us a beautiful day as well.
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Here is Dan and I with David and Claudia at their home. They are the couple with whom we are planning the marriage conference with.
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