Catching up and remembering my Grandma

I should warn you that this is going to be a long post. I have to apologize to all 3 of my readers :) for my lack of posting. As you will see there has been lots going on.
As I write this post I am sitting in the Denver airport waiting to fly home to Costa Rica. Last week my sweet Grandma went to be with Jesus and I was able to fly home and spend some precious time with my mom and family as we celebrated her life. More on that in a moment......
Tim and I have finished our first trimester of language school and we have passed with flying colors! I will tell you there were times that I wondered! We had our first language evaluation with the International Mission Board. We are expected to be at a certain level by the end of our year in Costa Rica. Well, we were both beyond pleased with our rating as it was higher than we had anticipated. It feels good to know we are on the right track! We are on a two week break from school and look forward to doing some traveling. Our friend Tresa is flying into San Jose tomorrow and we are headed to the Cloud Forest for a few days. I will be sure and post some good pictures!
I want to close with some personal thoughts about my Grandma. I have been able to reflect the past few days on all the wonderful memories I have of her. My brother and I talked about how much fun we used to have as little children hanging out at Grandma's house, drinking coke on crushed ice and eating strawberries. Perhaps, the most precious memories I have are when I was older and becoming a young adult. I remember so many times sitting in my Grandma's living room. She would sit in her rocking chair and I would sit on the sofa. I would talk. I would share my frustrations and thoughts on the world. I would ask questions about why things were the way they were. She would listen. She would always offer some wise thoughts on my situation. Somehow, she would always make it seem better. She would always point me to Jesus. Looking back I see how she was pouring her wisdom into my life. Not in an abrupt forceful way, just in her quiet strong way. I was to young to really appreciate it then, but it is sure priceless to me now. She was one of the finest woman that I have ever known and so much of how I think and who I am came from her pouring herself into me.
Please pray especially for my mom and her sister as they grieve the loss of their precious mom. She truly was a remarkable woman and I am blessed to have called her Grandma.

The Circus, Coloring Easter Eggs, American Idol on the Wii and other random thoughts....

We have been out of school since Wednesday. We have really enjoyed a much needed break from learning and had some great family time!
Grandma sent us American Idol for the Wii and we have been having some serious get down music contests around here! I think the kids have played it at least 10 hours each day! I am sure the neighbors are enjoying our loud American music. Paybacks for all of their parties....
We went on an outing to the Circus. It was AMAZING! In fact, the kids rated it up there with Disney World. Impressive huh. :) I was not sure what to expect but it really was cool. It was not an animal circus but more of an acrobatic, magical show. The music and the costumes were outstanding. It was a great night!
Our town is basically shut down for the Passion Week celebration they call Semana Santa. There are no buses or taxis running and all of the stores are closed. Since we are pretty much home bound, we decided to have an Easter party with some of our new friends. Meet the Gillen family. They are headed to the Dominican Republic after their year of language school. (You will see them in the picture video) We cooked a good ole American meal and colored Easter eggs. We also made Easter Story cookies which if all goes well will look like an empty tomb in the morning when we get them out of the oven. It was a great day!
So, I made a little slideshow of the past few days. Enjoy a little peak at our world.
Happy Easter, He is Risen!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our "Fools" Star

We have had a great weekend enjoying our actress in her first big school play! Trinity did such a great job and we were so proud of her! The cast has been working faithfully for the past two months and it really paid off. They all did such a great job. It was a Neil Simon play called "Fools" and it was hysterical! The whole town was cursed with ignorance and the new teacher in town was trying to take the curse away. Good times. Anyway, the whole event has been so good for Trinity. She has made some great friends and gotten a chance to do the thing she loves to do. :) Enjoy the pictures.

I am cranky.

So, I have been a little cranky this week. I have pondered the reasons for this and cannot really attribute it to one particular thing. I guess there are lots of little things that have all snowballed. I miss my friends a lot. I miss seeing and talking to people that really know me. I miss sharing life with them. Thank goodness for internet and for Vonage (when they work) but it is just not the same as being there. Not to mention that there are just not enough hours in the day to keep in touch like I want to. Since we have to walk everywhere, things just take about 10 times longer than they used to. As I have reminded myself at least a million times the past few months, this is a new normal and I have to adjust to it. It takes time. I have to tell you that I do not like it some days....at all.
Last week I spent a morning at home instead of going to school. I had been sick all weekend and wanted to make sure that I was better before heading back. I loved being at home so much! I really miss being at home and being able to just take care of my family and my home. I am SO grateful to have Regina to help me since there is no way that I could go to school and take care of the house and family. However, I don't want some one else to be doing these things! I want to do them. Ugh, I really do not feel a strong bonding in my heart with going to school full time. Again, don't get me wrong, I am so blessed to be able to attend such a great school and I know that this place is where God has me at this time. I am just saying again....I don't always like it.
So, thanks for letting me be real and honest tonight. I will try to be in a better mood next time I blog. :)