Then There Were Four....

Go Tar Heels!!!!!

A La Playa

Costa Rica has many wonderful things to see. They have cloudforests with thousands of animals, cities with dozens of museums, and beaches with beautiful water and wild monkeys. That's right, white-faced monkeys roam freely on the beach as if you are invading their space. Near the end of February, we had the opportunity to take Micah to Manuel Antonio, one of the closest white sand beaches in Costa Rica. Manuel Antonio is very popular and very touristy. Along with a beautiful public beach, Manuel Antonio has a National Parque that offers visitors the chance to see various types of animals. We decided to take Micah into the National Parque since we both love monkeys so much. On our short hike through the park we so several sloths, butterflies and a Jesus-lizard (it gets it's name because it walks on water).

The walk was great, but the 3 private beaches inside the park were what we were really there for. These beaches are beautiful white sand beaches with beautiful blue water dangling on the edge of a rain forest and are less populated than the public beach. Micah played in the sand and water with several of his friends from school all day long! At one point, the infamous white-faced monkeys begin strolling the beach and looking for things to steal. That's right, they walk directly over your towel and steal any food that you have lying out. Then the beach racoons came walking down the beach followed by the massive lizards. Talk about wildlife, this place is truly a paradise. Praise God for the opportunity to relax and play in the sand with Micah.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!

Monday-Friday we leave our house shortly after 7:00. On a good morning, we are out by 7:15 and we enjoy a leisure 5-10 minute stroll to school. We drop Micah off at his school first. After tearful good byes, Ryan and I head up the hill to the other side of campus where we begin our day's work. We don't punch a clock and our teacher's don't even seem to care if we are a few minutes late, but don't underestimate the task that lies ahead each day. From the moment we enter the classroom, our focus is LEARN SPANISH. We listen to Spanish, read in Spanish and try our best to speak Spanish. Our teachers have gotten a bit more ridgid since they welcomed us less than three months ago because they too understand the task at hand. We MUST learn Spanish. In order to function in our daily lives, it is necessary. Whether giving directions to a cab driver, talking to Micah's teachers, or meeting people at church, it is necessry. But that is just our day to day living. In order to answer God's call in our lives to minister to the people of the Dominican Republic, it is most necessary.

Date Night- Feb 21

Ryan and I enjoyed a beautiful evening with some friends high atop the mountains of Costa Rica at a wonderful restaurant, Ram Luna. We enjoyed fine dining and local music and dance. I even got roped into participating in a traditional dance. It was wonderful for us to leave our son with a trusted babysitter and have the time to enjoy one another. Our friends, that we dined with are also missionaries. We enjoyed hearing about the passion God has written on their hearts to serve the people of Central America, as we had the opportunity to share our heart for the people of the Dominican Republic. It's amazing how God used that one night to refresh and renew us. It also allowed us to see how God is preparing us and others to serve as missionaries throughout Latin America. We praise God for our date night!