Summer in Peru (Part 2)

We were blessed to go from vacation to our team retreat in Arequipa which is about an 8 hour drive from Cusco.  We stayed at a nice little hotel called "La Casa de Mi Abuela" which translates to Grandma's house.  There was a pool and plenty of space for the girls to run around.  There were even goldfish and birds to keep the little ones entertained.  We enjoyed a refreshing week of studying God's word and enjoying the company of the team from Strasburg, PA who came to provide childcare and leadership to the retreat.  Here are a few pictures of our week.

We also had fun one afternoon visiting the Arequipa Zoo.

 

 Gotta love the concrete slides of Peru!

 

 

And lastly here is the team, we were excited to have them over to dinner the night before they left to head back to the States.  We truly appreciated the friendships that were formed in such a short time with not only ourselves but with our children.  Danica still colors pictures that she wants to send to Mr. Steve.  Love and blessings to you all!

 

Praises and Prayer requests:

 

I want to praise the Lord that my brother Mark was baptized the Sunday we returned from our trip.  It was a blessing to be able to watch via Skype.

 

Please pray for Chris' uncle Lowell.  He was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and started chemotherapy recently.  Please pray for him and his family to feel the Lord's love and  presence especially during this time.

 

Chris and I are getting ready to go to Lima to work on our visa process.  Please pray for the girls and for us to have safe travels and a smooth paperwork process.

 

School will start for all three girls in March, so please pray especially for Hannah and Katie to adjust back to school in Spanish.  Danica  will be going to preschool 2 days a week and she is ready.  A praise is that H & K both recently did some tutoring in Spanish and enjoyed it while learning a lot. 

 

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

It's summer in Peru! Vacation & Team Retreat (Part 1 of 2)

I know it's not fair to brag about summer here in Peru since most of you all have been enduring one of the coldest, longest, snow and ice filled winters to date.  Summer here isn't really like summer in Southern Indiana, but it is quite pleasant and there have been many sunny days which is perfect for drying the laundry.  We were able to join the Kreider family for a week of vacation at the end of January before our annual team retreat.

 

The view of mountains was amazing, the middle picture shows there is always roadside shopping, and the bottom shows a perfect spot for a bathroom break since there is an abundance of rocks and bushes.

 We even ran into a few snowflakes in our travels!!!

Stretching is important after being in the car so long.

We had a great time visiting Puno and Lake Titicaca.  Puno is about 5-6 hours from Cusco and Lake Titicaca is the world's largest navigable lake.  We spent a day on the lake that included visiting the floating islands and a 2 1/2 hour boat ride to the island Taquile to eat lunch and enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

 Danica made a friend and they decided to man the shop.

 Enjoying the floating islands.

 The island of Taquile with Lake Titicaca in the background.

One last picture of Lake Titicaca for my dear friend Greta :)

 From Puno we headed to Colca Canyon to see the Condors.  Unfortunately, we waited and watched for about 2 hours and finally saw one right as we were leaving.  They are amazing birds and have a huge wingspan, sorry I wasn't ready with my camera, so you will have to take my word for it. 

 Hannah patiently waiting to see the Condors at Colca Canyon.

 This is news when traveling in Peru, not all bathrooms are free.

 

 From Colca Canyon we headed to Mejia which is a nice little beach town that is about 3 hours from Arequipa.  Needless to say it was a long day going from Chivay or Colca Canyon to Mejia, but the sound of the waves greeting us made it worthwhile.

We stayed in a mission house that was about a 5 minute walk to the beach.  Danica preferred to play in the sand and Chris and the girls enjoyed the water, but it was quite cold in my opinion. 

 

 

Stay tuned to hear about our team retreat in part 2.