Family Photo Album for November, 2012

Here are a few pictures of some of the things that have been happening in our life this past month...

Nov. 2, we celebrated the Ecuadorian Holiday, "Día de los muertos".

Carla and Matthew made pyramids out of blocks when we studied about ancient Egypt.

 Nov. 10, we celebrated my birthday.

That afternoon, some of the sweet people from our church hosted a surprise party for me!

At the close of his New Zealand unit, Teddy, made Pavlova, and wrote a short report about it's origins. 

 We hosted a get together with new attendees from church so we could get to know them better.

Matthew celebrated his 8th birthday.

Our Thanksgiving Celebration.

Family Update... Thanksgiving Day, 2012

I get so behind posting on here...I have great intentions, but then there just doesn't seem to be any time to do it all! :-)  This has been a full month, full of blessings and activities.

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

Teddy's Australian Meal

This year Teddy is studying the Eastern Hemisphere   It has already been very interesting.  He started out studying the Pacific Islands, and a week ago finished up the unit on Australia.  Last week he started a unit on New Zealand.  At the end of each unit he as a project to do.  For Australia he wanted to cook a meal.  Because of the Ladies Conference at church and then our unexpected trip to Quito last week, we had to put it off, a little bit.  Over the week-end he and I together, looked up different recipes on-line and came up with a menu.  This morning he and his Dad when shopping, for the needed items and together we fixed a delicious, "Australian Meal".  (Actually we aren't sure how authentic it was, BUT we will say, it was very yummy! :-)

Teddy making the Lamingtons.

Showing off the Damper.

"Not So Crunchy Chicken Casserole"

Everything is ready for dinner.

Teddy's Centerpiece.

Here are a couple links to the sites where we found our recipes.

http://www.food.com/recipe/not-so-crunchy-chicken-casserole-482062

http://www.aussiecooking.com.au/cook/recipes/451/Damper/

http://www.aussiecooking.com.au/cook/recipes/285/Asparagus%20in%20Lemon%20Garlic%20Dressing%
20/

We got the recipe for the Lamingtons we made from a magazine, FACES the Magazine About People, Australia Through Time.  Volumne VII Number IX, May, 1992

Lamingtons

To make the cake, you need:
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

two bowls; measuring cups and spoons; mixing spoon; electric mixer; baking pan, 9x12 or 10 x 15 inches, lined with wax paper, wire rack; sharp knife

Prepare pan by greasing it lightly or spraying it with cooking spray.   Cut wax paper to fit inside the pan so that the bottom and sides are covered.

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Separate the egg yolks and whites into two bowls.
3. To the egg yolks add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla.  Blend, then set aside.
4. Beat the egg whites with the electric mixer.  Gradually add the remaining sugar (1/2 cup).   Beat until stiff peaks form.
5.  fold the egg yolk mixture into the whites.  Add the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Mix until the batter is smooth.
6.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 12 minutes, or until the center springs back when tested.
7.  Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes, then turn it out onto the wire rack.  Allow it to cool for a few minutes more, then remove the wax paper carefully.  (Loosen all the edges first, then peel off the paper in strips.)
8.  With a sharp knife, cut the cake into squares.  Allow them to cool completely.

To Make the Icing, you need:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons cocoa
boiling water
7-oz bag (about 2 cups) coconut.
measuring cups and spoons, 2 small bowls, mixing spoon, fork, plates

1.  Mix the powder sugar, melted butter, cocoa, and enough boiling water (about 4 tablespoons) to make a runny icing.
2.  Using a fork, pick up a square of cake and spoon the icing over it to cover all sides.  Allow the icing to drip for a few minutes, then place the cake in a bowl of coconut.  Coat the cake with coconut, then place it on a plate to dry.
3.  Repeat the process until all the squares are covered.  Lamingtons can be refrigerated or frozen.

What's been happening...

The last couple weeks of October have been really busy.  We enjoyed great services at church.  185 two weeks ago and 162 last Sunday.  God is working and moving in hearts.

Our daughter, Carla, celebrated her 9th birthday on Oct. 22.  Here is a link to some pictures from that special day.

Carla's Birthday

The Ladies Conference we had planned for the 26th and 27th was wonderful!  We had 58 ladies participate that is only short 2 of those who had signed up.  I don't think we have ever had that kind of turn out before.  The ladies did a great job of helping with the planning and carrying through with their commitments.  By taking on the responsibility of so much of the conference it allowed me to focus the bulk of my attention on the lessons.  What a blessing!

If you would like to see photos from that event, please visit the link below:

Manzanas de Oro

It is also that time of year, when we need to re-new our visas.  Tony started working early in the month, to get together all the necessary paperwork.  It has always been a fairly simple, straight forward thing, (well as simple and straight forward as you can get when the government is involved! ;-)  Anyway, the first time he went they told him he was going to need some extra papers this year.  They also told him the name that he was to address all the letters to, (the coordinator of visas for this area).  Well, when he went back about 5 days later to turn in all the paperwork...he was told that the coordinator had changed and that the letters now needed to be addressed to a different person.  Also was told that one of our papers we had received from the National Mission here was out dated.  It needed to be less than 2 years old.  So we again, talked to the Mission leaders in Quito, and they re-wrote the letters, (these have to be written, signed by the president of the Mission and notarized, all of which takes time).  They also found a more current document on file and had it copied and notarized.  All was done and sent to us, within a couple days, (which was really amazing in itself)!  When Tony, went last Friday, to again turn in our folder of documents, he was told that they were unacceptable, because the paper, that we had been told needed to be less than 2 years old, now, had to be dated this year!  We found out all of this on Friday morning, and I was preparing for the Ladies Conference starting that evening!  Can you see Satan at work?!   Well, despite all of that we had Wonderful conference and God blessed!   On Monday we headed up to Quito.  We were going to try applying for our visa there, and if that didn't work we would head across the border on Wednesday, to return to Ecuador with a 90 day tourist visa.  Well, we found grace in the eyes of the officials there.  Our documents were accepted, entered in to the computer and our photos taken.  We have an appointment to return on Nov. 9.  At this point it looks like everything is on track.  Appreciate your prayers that we would be granted our visa with no more problems.

Today is Día de los Difuntos.  It is traditional to eat Guaguas de pan, (bread babies) and drink Colada Morada, it is a thick drink made from blueberries, blackberries, lots of spices with chopped up fruit in it.
if you would like a recipe for it, you will find a great one here .  We enjoyed the traditional treats and spent some time talking to the children about the history and meaning behind it.  Here are some pics from our own family celebration.

Day of the Dead, celebration

Thank you for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in  Manta!
Blessings to you!
Joy