Momma's boy is growing up

Isaac is very much a momma's boy.  Not that I mind!!  He has changed a lot since we arrived in Cusco and everyday seems like he's losing more of his "little boy" ways and becoming more "big boy".  He has started to take guitar lessons and has really become very interested in soccer.  He played in his first "competitive" game this last month and it was so fun to watch him run up and down the field with the other boys.  He speaks better Spanish than Daniel or I, being able to carry on conversations without missing a beat.  We are so proud of him and the way he has adapted to Peru and we can't wait to see how God uses him in the future!!

A Peruvian Parade

This was a parade through the town of Pisac, to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Tambo De Gozo.  Tambo is the camp where we live, the Johnson's live and the kids go to school.  There is a bilingual school there where I teach English to 1st grade.  All of the parents and kids had to dress in typical Incan garb and make "torches" to carry.  Well, our definition and their definition of torches differ.  As you can see, we literally made torches, where as the other kids made something different.  They take a reed (a stick that can bend) and they put kite paper (a real thin paper) over it and then stick a candle in the middle.  There were butterflies, airplanes, boats, houses and various other random items.  My poor kids were embarrassed at first, but they did get to lead the parade with their "real" torches!  We had fun and a ton of people came out to see us!

Another one for the Kingdom!

On Friday night, after his youth cell group, Daniel came home with a huge grin on his face.  His words were, "I led someone to the Lord tonight!"  What an exciting thing for us!  This was his first Peruvian that he personally got to lead to Christ.  This young man has a very bad family life, so maybe by the change in him, we will see his older brother and parents come to know the Lord as well!  

Katelynne and Emma's new (painted) room

 

  

A youth group from Kentucky came and the girls helped me paint Katelynne and Emma's room. I love the way it turned out!!

Working hard or hardly working?!

There's always work to be done around our new house and one of those things is cutting down trees and digging up the large trunks in the yard.  We have eucalyptus trees all around us and those things get so tall and have HUGE trunks and root systems!  After the trunk is dug up, Daniel cuts it up to be used for fire wood, or the dirt is picked out and the trunk is moved to another location.  The kids LOVE to "help" daddy, especially when a wheelbarrow is involved!  Even little Emma decided she wanted to help her big brother pick out some of the dirt!

Happy Easter!

Last year we had only been in Peru a few short weeks when Easter came, so this year we were able to celebrate a little more American style.  We dyed some eggs, had ourselves a little hunt and even found some chocolate eggs with toys inside!  The kids had fun decorating the eggs and even more fun eating the chocolate!!  We read the Easter story in the Bible and even had a video to go along with it.  Here in Peru, Christ's death is celebrated a lot more than His resurrection.  It is up to us to teach our kids the importance and the significance of the Resurrection and what it means to the world.  We had a wonderful day celebrating Christ and hunting eggs!

It's the little things in life...

Tonight we made our almost weekly McDonalds run for dinner, and after decided to take a little walk around the Plaza.  We ran into this little market and decided to run in and look around.  Well, needless to say, it was very touristy.  However, we saw things we hadn't seen in a year!  Mr. Goodbar, 3 Muskateers, York Peppermint Patties, and candy canes!!  We felt like kids in a candy store.  There were other things there, but we didn't feel like paying triple the amount we would in the States.  We did grab a few candies though!!  Last week we were thrilled to see Dr. Pepper in our grocery store.  We've only seen Dr. Pepper one other time since we've been here.  We did splurge a little on that as well!  I never thought that such little familiar things would make me so excited, but I now can say how much I took the little things for granted.  I think it's part of God taking care of His children and showing us just how much He loves us....even in the little things!!

1,519

That is the number of people that we saw at the camp yesterday for our 4th anniversary celebration.  I was sick with a sinus infection, so I didn't get to enjoy the day like I wished I could!  About 20 people raised their hands to accept Christ as Savior and I was able to talk to 3 of them.  They were 3 college girls and I was able to invite them to our new college ministry starting this month.  It was a great day!