So Long Ordinary

It has been raining a TON here lately. So much, in fact, that it caused several landslides in the mountains. One of those landslides took the road with it. The main road that we take to Quito is now completely impassable. Guess that means that next weekend when we go to Quito, we'll be taking the long way. On the regular route it takes about 4-5 hours to get to Quito. The other way will take 8-9 hours...if we don't get lost! Ugh. I'm thankful there is "another way." I've heard parts of it could shake your teeth loose and I can't imagine sitting in the car on Ecuadorian roads for that long but at least we KNOW it will be beautiful. It's weird how drastically different I feel about Shell, knowing how much more isolated we just became because of a little piece of missing road. Suddenly I'm feeling a touch anxious about being w-a-a-a-a-y out here. That's silly, of course. I happen to know a great MAF pilot. Sean could fly us out of here ...

I just haven't had much to post lately. Sorry for those of you that I kept waiting on the edges of your seats. We went to a little bird zoo place in Puyo on Saturday. Sean got some great pictures (see his blog) and Brooklyn really enjoyed looking at the birds and monkeys. That was the highlight of the weekend. It all went pretty much downhill from there. We tried a new place (that we'll probably never go back to) for lunch in Puyo on Saturday. We decided to go to Angel's after discovering that the pizza place was barely opening and "didn't have the oven preheated yet." There was also evidence that they were going to be having a birthday party there and we knew it would take eons to get a pizza - we weren't in much of a mood for a lesson in patience. Where we ended up eating was so-so. Sean and I were both lucky enough to get a chicken foot in our soup. Dessert was just...funny. See the picture below. Fancy. I started getting a bad headache on ...

Well, because the internet is so s.....l.....o.....w..... this morning, I'm going to do all this in in one post. Here's the latest around the Cannon Farm. (No, we don't really have a farm but I want one and this is the closest I'll ever get to it so I'm naming our little patch of land in the Amazon jungle "Cannon Farm." We don't have chickens of our own - but we're still awakened by the crow of roosters every morning - that's got to count for something. We do have a sweet but naughty dog and a lazy cat, three citrus fruit trees, two banana plants, and nothing better to do on weekends than play in the dirt...isn't that farming?!) Anyway. I finally went to the butcher's to get some meat. We were out of everything and it just had to happen. The shop was shining in its usual bloody splendor but didn't smell quite as bad since I went early in the day. Brooklyn saw the naked, dead half chicken on the counter (it wasn't half-d...

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this afternoon. It feels like summer all of a sudden here. Yes, I know we get "summer" weather all year round here on the equator but after over a week solid of rainy, chilly (meaning below 70 degrees Fahrenheit) weather, the sunshine feels like a breath of fresh air - like summer. Makes me think of vacation, lazy days by the pool, lemonade, and coconut suntan lotion - and a meringue pie for dessert! Anyway, meet Grandma's Chocolate Pie..... Yum. Yum. My photographer of a husband couldn't resist taking a picture! This will be great after our dinner of homemade macaroni & cheese and fresh salad. Mmmmmm......

Floor time with Sissy 50% Mommy, 50% Daddy, 100% Cute Nice shot of the Drool Baby! We found a "beach" by the Pastaza River on Sunday...and the rest is history.

Ground beef that is. I have had quite a time trying to get ground beef this week. I ran out of what I bought pre-packaged from the big supermarket in Ambato. I went searching for packaged ground beef at the two stores in the area that usually have some in the freezer. No luck. One place was "cleaning their freezer" (never a bad thing, just not good timing for me) and the other place has a "broken freezer and no parts to fix it with." I can't imagine what it would be like to just go to the store and pick up my ground beef in its pretty, sealed package whenever the whim to make meatloaf or spaghetti hit me. Can't imagine. Anyway, I'm not totally out of options. I could go to the butcher and ask them to make me some ground beef...but I'm not in the mood to endure the sights and smells of that place today. That doesn't sound like something a good missionary would say...but it's so gross there! We've lived here in Ecuador just over a y...

Here are two related posts on two of my favorite blogs that I think we should all read: Explanations by Antique Mommy $800 Pants by Owlhaven

A few weeks ago we moved the girls into the same room and then painted their room pink. Today, we made the final touches to it (hanging shelves and pictures). I'm pleased with how it turned out. Brooklyn thinks it's pretty cool - she even told me "thanks, Mom!" The room was cute to begin with but I decided we needed to change it all around to reflect Brooklyn and Maddie. It is a very pink room. Very. Pink. But cute and girly and fun for two little princesses to share as they get older. Entering the room - Brooklyn's bed. Another view of Brooklyn's bed and the wardrobe/dresser that holds all the girls' clothes. We bought that in Puyo at a great price and it's really cute and holds lots! Here's a peek at Maddie's crib, also found in Puyo for cheap. The door out to the hall is to the left. This is a little recessed area that is supposed to serve as the "closet." None of the bedrooms have real closets, just set back places where y...

Same hat, same backpack, same Daddy, different baby! Brooklyn - June 2004 at age 10 months Madison - June 2007 at age 8 months

Today we had a wonderful family outing to a waterfall down the road called Hola Vida . It was so good to get out, enjoy some sunshine (at last), and play together as a family. Sean and I really love the outdoors. We'd heard about Hola Vida but hadn't had a chance to go there yet. We were not disappointed. Pictures can't really do it justice but it was just so beautiful. I kept having to remind myself that we weren't at a theme park - it was 100% real! Really, there are lots of theme parks that try to create just that spot where we were today. It was a nice hike to get to the falls and once there we sat by the edge of the pool and let Brooklyn play in the water. As I sat there on a rock looking up at the falls, I just couldn't get over God's creation. The way the sunlight played on the water as it made it's way down the 80 foot drop, the way the overgrown house plants and flowers shone in bright daylight, the blue sky above, the butterflies lazily flu...

Today is my niece, Audrey's, first birthday. Oh, how I wish I could be there to celebrate with her! I've been so blessed to have been able to see Audrey twice in her first year...I'm very thankful for that. But today, I miss being just "over the mountain." I miss getting to load up the car and take a three-hour drive and share special moments with my sister and her family. I miss seeing my precious parents dote on their grandchildren, children, and sons-in-law - all of us just so happy to be together and content to laugh away the evening. Even though I hate that I can't be there for the little things like birthday celebrations, I am so glad for the times we do get with our families when they come to visit (or I take short surprise visits to see them!). You have NO IDEA how special those times are for all of us. Sean and I don't take for granted the fact that both of our families not only want to come see us but they actually do come see us. We...

I'm pretty accustomed to making our meals from scratch now. I do it regularly and I really enjoy cooking - so it is a usually pretty fun for me. Some nights I do like a bit of a break, though, and will try to think up something that is a little simpler to make... Sunday night I made biscuits and gravy. I haven't made this since living overseas and I've certainly never made it from SCRATCH. Okay, biscuits and sausage gravy is basically three things - biscuits, sausage, gravy. Shouldn't be too hard. I started making this "simple" dinner at about 4:30 p.m. We ate at around 7:30. I had no idea. Okay, biscuits. No easy Bisquick mixes or Pillsbury Grands biscuits in a can here. Who would have thought biscuits were so labor-intensive? I hadn't read through the entire recipe that I chose for biscuits - they had to rise for an hour and a half before going in the oven. They didn't rise, by the way - even though they sat in a nice warm spot for nearl...

Our neighbors are building a second story to their house (almost every house here is built with a flat roof for future expansion). And as they work, they like to listen to music. Grrrrr. I don't really mind it so much except that it is terrible rap music. I can't understand most of the words - which is probably a good thing. What's worse is that I keep catching myself tapping a foot to the beat...even breaking into dance. Am I weird or what?! I can't help it, the constant beat just causes this white girl to dance and its making me crazy. It is just impossible to get away from the music - even with all the windows closed and my own music blaring, all I can hear is that "music" blaring across the street. I know music is nice to listen to when you are working and I don't really have the guts to go over there myself to tell them to turn it down. Besides, it's one of those cultural things I don't really understand but am trying to be sensitive...

Yesterday, Brooklyn "graduated" from her swimming class (called Minnows). We went to see her perform all that she had learned and were amazed at our little water baby! She did great and is was so cute watching the little kids demonstrate with pride their newfound confidence in the water. Considering Brooklyn always hated putting her head under water and can now dive down to "rescue" a toy, I'd say she made some serious progress!! I'm sad swimming is over now - it has been the highlight of Brooklyn's week for several months now! A huge thanks to Kristy for teaching our kids how to swim!