On Thursday the 5th, David and I headed to a small town 2 1/2 hours south of Trujillo. We celebrated our 16th anniversary on July 6th. It was wonderful! The town doesn't have much to offer but that wasn't our interest. We enjoyed walking together, playing table games, talking and checking out the beach areas. It is known as the city of eternal sun. While the rest of us haven't seen the sun for days, there it was warm and sunny during the day. We had a nice hotel room and enjoyed a few local restaurants. Most of all we enjoyed getting away from the hustle of life and just relaxing together. The children stayed with Aunt Martha and had a blast.

Abigail is 11

June 19 was Abigail's 11th birthday. She was SO excited waiting anxiously for the day to come. At each meal she got to open one present. She enjoyed each gift. Since it was family night we played table games and she got to pick the games. She learned how to play pit and also chose yahtzee. For supper went to a chicken place that has a large trampoline. They took turns jumping and we played fuseball. The chicken was delicious too. On the way home we picked up the birthday cake and some ice cream. She had a great day. I am so thankful for my blue eyed "baby girl." She is a joyful daughter who is growing each day to be more like Jesus.

Almost Done

One week and 3 days left. We are all excited for school to come to an end. It is easy to get lazy these last few days but we are wanting to finish strong. It has been a good year for learning and growing. I am so thankful for David's sister Martha who has taught Jacob this year. She has been a BIG help and Jacob has really learned a lot with her individual attention. Tirzah Brown who was with us for a few months taught Abigail. I was able to give more attention to my oldest students. Since we don't have school in the months of Jan and Feb (it's summer in those months and camp season is in full swing), it takes us longer to finish the school year.

David's Missions Trip

On Monday David returned from a week long missions trip to the city of Caraz. He went with some of our church family. They had a great week. During the afternoons they had VBS. They planned for 65 children but on Wednesday they had 97! In the evenings, he preached a series on the Family. On Saturday they organized the first fellowship of churches in that area. It was very hot during the day but very cold at night. They were at 4,000 ft above sea level. On they way home they were delayed 3 hours by a landslide that closed the narrow, dirt road. They had to wait while a small tractor opened up the road. By this time, as you will see, it was pure mud.

David poses for a pic in front of Mount Huascarán.

View from the city of Caraz. Isn't it beautiful? Hot during the day, cold at night.

The missionary family our church supports and the ones they went to help.

Sunset on the snow capped mountains.

This is the most narrow part of the trip. Pretty narrow!

Waiting for the road to be cleared from a mudslide.

Guest in our Backyard

Last evening we found this spider in our Rose of Sharon bush in the backyard. It spins a unique web and is huge! The encyclopedia calls it a yellow garden spider. Poisonous or not? We weren't about to find out. Most of the spiders we find get fed to the scorpion we have here in a covered paint bucket, but this one was given to one of the male seminary students who thought it was great. He can have it! The lego piece gives you an idea of just how big it was. Thankfully we rarely find spiders of this size. Please let me know if you read our blog. I am curious as to if anybody is checking it any more. Thanks!

Benjamin's birthday

He is now 14. It seems impossible that he is that old. He will soon be taller than his mom. We enjoyed celebrating his birthday with Uncle Jon, Aunt Julie and the cousins. His gifts are getting more electronic :) There is a custom here in Peru to egg the person who is having a birthday. Benjamin got egged by his brother Jacob on Friday night. He got the egg at the side of his head and even had shell behind his ear! Try as you might it is hard to avoid your egg.

Renewing Our Wedding Vows

Last night at church was our last service for family month. Since it was the 5th Sunday of the month the youth were in charge of the program. They decided to have a service where the married couples would renew their vows. It was a nice program and they had even decorated the church for us. It was a fun time. I received a dozen red roses for the occassion. Roses are very cheap here compared to the USA but they are still just as beautiful.

After the service we took some family shots. The girls and I enjoyed taking this silly picture.