We took a trip to Quito at the beginning of the month, to see about our visas. Here in Manta, we had been told that we would have to leave the country and return with a tourist visa, and then start the process to get a permanent visa. But, in Quito they accepted our documents requesting a missionary visa. We have spent the rest of the month, waiting to hear if this visa was granted or not. On Monday, we received good news that the documentation was accepted as is, and they took our passports in order to apply the visas, which now have also been paid for. Now we are waiting for the return of the passports with the new visas applied. Oh the joy of dealing with red tape! :-)
Besides, the drama of our visas...we have enjoyed celebrating my birthday on the 10th, and Matthew's birthday, which was today, but we celebrated it on the 21st, so that today, we could focus on Thanksgiving! Why have just one celebration, when you can have two?!
Carla, has been sick this month, but is doing much better, and we think she is on the mend, after a round of antibiotics and breathing treatments last week.
All 3 children are doing well in school. Teddy finished a unit on New Zealand, and his end of unit project was to make a Pavlova for dessert. He also did a short report about its origins. I have to say that the dessert was excellent and not near has hard as I had thought it would be. I can see it being made more often in the future! ;-)
Matthew and Carla have been learning about Egypt in Ancient History. Last week, we read about "King Tut", and they also built pyramids with blocks. There was actually directions in the book about how to make a "chicken mummy", but I decided that was not something we were going to get into! LOL!! They had a great time making the pyramids, and we didn't have to wait 6 weeks or worry about stinking bacteria ridden chickens!
Because we made a trip up to Quito at the beginning of the month, and because Tony flew back up there on the 9th to check on the visa situation, and because Carla has been sick, we decided that it would be better for us to stay put at home this Thanksgiving. We really missed the opportunity to be with our friends there, but we had a wonderful day here celebrating with the kids. Today at dinner, we were talking about how much has changed since the first Thanksgiving Matthew and Carla were with us. It is really quite amazing and remarkable. I will post a couple photos to let you see what I'm talking about....
This was taken Thanksgiving day, 2010. We had a couple kids that just weren't sure about any of it...
This was taken at dinner today!
We are counting our blessings, and naming them one by one. God has been so very good to us!
Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta. God is working. The church is growing and lives are being changed!
Blessings to you and yours on this very special day!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Joy
No comments:
Post a Comment