Thanksgiving

We are so thankful this year for everyone that continues to support us and pray for us! We had a great thanksgiving with our CINCEL family here at language school! We are looking forward to graduating on December 10th and heading to Argentina in January.

Chris preaches in Spanish Chapel

Chris had the opportunity to go share a short story at a youth meeting in a town about 2 hours from San Jose with missionary Jon Dahlager.

Chris also spoke in our Spanish Chapel. He shared his heart about God's love.

Here are some clips below. He used scripture verses from Matthew 22:34-38, Genesis 1:27, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Romans 8:38-39, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:10, and Revelations 2:1-4.

Recent School Trip

CINCEL gave us the wonderful opportunity to head out to the Irazu Volcano and to the city of Cartago. It was a wonderful time (without our kids - they were in school)! We thought we would share some pictures with you!



















This coatimundi wandered through the small eating area by the volcano. He continued to saunter up onto our table, steal quickly a donut, and then jumped to the ground to eat it in peace.










This is the most famous church in San Jose, called La Basilica de Senora de Los Angeles. The story goes that a little girl found a small statue on a rock and took it home. The next morning she found that the statue was not there but back at the rock, so she took it to the priest and he locked it up in a small box. The next morning the statue was back on the rock. This statue is now proudly displayed at the church and the healing holy water is brought from the stream where the rock was found (and blessed by the priests).




Then we stopped for lunch at a wonderful little restaurant on a lake. They offered "sock coffee" for everyone.

Puddles during the Rainy Season

Here in Costa Rica the rainy season is from May to November. Today we went out and played in the rain after naptime.

Volcán Poas

When grandma and abuela came to visit, we took one day drove out to the volcano Poas! Jonny got carsick, so we stopped and purchased some medicine. He then fell asleep on the way up there. We saw a traditional ox-cart with plants in it. We also saw HUGE leafed plants which are called the poor man's umbrella. They are very stiff and rough (on both sides). We can see how someone could totally use it for an umbrella!

Nathanael absolutely love volcanos - he thinks that they are so cool! This volcano is active. It steams all day long. We got to see the steam and smell it too! It was so cold walking up to the volcano. When we got up to the top though, it was so hot!

Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

We decided that we needed to get out of the city for a couple of days to experience a little more of Costa Rica. So, we headed out to the Pacific Ocean to the towns of Quepos and Manuel Antonio. It was a pretty warm day in the van. We went with Katie Carter (missionary associate headed to El Salvador) and her mom (visiting from Tennessee). Roxana & Jose Antonio drove us - they are such a wonderful couple!

Our first stop along the way was at a bridge. Living in the water under this bridge are quite a few crocodiles. The kids loved seeing them!

Then we drove for a few more hours until we finally arrived at the beach. We headed immediately down to the water! The kids started by digging in the sand for an hour. Then they got brave and went with us to jump over the waves.

Manuel Antonio is known for monkeys. We never did see any monkeys (because we didn't pay to go on a tour). But they had statues all over of monkeys. Here is a picture that someone else took of a monkey in Manuel Antonio Park.

At our hotel, there were some lizards and many birds. We were surrounded by a little jungle of our own. There was a swimming pool that Katie & her mom, Karen, helped us swim in. It was not very kid friendly and we forgot our inflatibles. There was also a small restaurant that we had dinner at. The kids ate cheese pizza (a favorite)!

Oh yeah... and after being there for a few hours, Heather fell while carrying Aliana. Heather sprained her ankle and split her knee open. She received four stiches. Aliana was fine with a small scrap on one knee. We got to know a clinic in Quepos!