Jaco For Him

It has been a few days since I've done an update so I am going to give an overview of the past few days. On Thursday, we didn't do much. We just hung around the condo...JD still wasn't feeling great so after grocery shopping, Joel and I went to the pharmacy and got him some of the "magic pills" that I had taken. They helped a bunch with the pressure in his head. He is still fighting a bit of a headache...we all kind of are, but I think that that has more to do with the change is air pressure here than actually being sick. The headaches come and go as the clouds roll in off of the nearby mountains. I have been told by numerous people that the first year of being here, you can expect to be sick on and off the whole time until your body adjusts to the atmosphere....yuck! On an exciting note, the boys have made a friend here in the condo complex. His name is Joshua :) and he has a sister named Gabby. They are from Ohio and have lived here in Jaco for about 3 years. Joshua is 13 years old and Gabby is 15. They both surf, so the boys have been surfing with them and just hanging out with Joshua. He and our Josh seem to have a lot in common :) Thank God for providing friends!!!

On Friday, Joel went surfing in the morning and when he came home, I met with April. I am working on some promo material for them that they are going to use to do a fundraiser in the states to help raise money to pay off the loan on the property. After our meeting, the family all went to the Farmer's Market. It was the first time Joel and the boys have been. We did very good this week...we got a ton of veggies & fruits for about $15. The best purchase was 10 starfruit for $1!!! Our Friday trips to the Farmer's Market are becoming a highlight of my week....you never quite know what veggies and fruits they will have. There are some Amish that come down off of the mountain to sell their breads....I was not expecting to see the Amish here in Costa Rica :) In the early evening, Joel, Josh, Bella, and I took a ride to the nearby town of Hereduda. Joel was interested in getting a boat ride to a remote surf spot so we drove down to the beach to check out the town and the prices. While we were there, we saw the prettiest Macaw up in the tree above us. He was eating the nuts and dropping them right down on our heads!!! It is so amazing to see the different kinds of lizards and birds here! Our God is so creative :) The rest of the day we just hung around the complex.

On Saturday, Joel and some of the guys took their boat ride out of Herradura to surf for the morning. They had a great time...Joel said that it was one of the best waves he has surfed ever :) After lunch, we all went back to Hermosa and spent the day on the beach and playing in the water. One of the annoying things here are the stray dogs...they are everywhere!!! Joel isn't fond of dogs since he was bit by one a few months ago, so he spent the time on the beach with a big stick...protecting us :) On Saturday night, there was a huge concert in the park right near our house that was so loud. We were all tired and tried to get to bed early and just when the concert ended at 10pm....our neighbors started a party of their own :) These Ticans know how to have a fiesta!!! They were playing loud music, and yelling and banging on pots...poor Josh, he had a hard time falling asleep and just kept yelling "COME ON!!!" from his bed :) Eventually we all fell asleep and I was happy to see that those neighbors checked out this morning :)

Today we went to Calvary Chapel here in Jaco. It is a nondenominational bilingual church. Joel and I had visited Calvary the last time we were here. They have grown so much! They meet in the covered soccer field here in town. There is at least one soccer field in every town here....no matter how poor the town! It was so nice to be fellowshipping and worshipping with believers! We didn't get to go last week since three of us were still sick so it had been two weeks since we had been to church.....it is amazing how refreshing it was to my soul!!! We are going to have dinner sometime this week with the assistant pastor and his family. They have been in Jaco for about two years now. After lunch, we just went out the beach here in Jaco so the boys could surf with Joshua and Gabby. I was supposed to be taking pictures but I didn't have my glasses on so I ended up taking pictures of other random surfers :( Needless to say, Joel will take the surfing pictures next time :) The sun is so hot and draining here...it is amazing how tired we become after just being out and about for a few hours. Everyone says it takes a few months to get used to the heat so that it doesn't exhaust you. Tonight we finally were able to go into town after dinner and get some ice cream at the Heladeria :) This town triples in size on the weekends as everyone from inland comes down to spend the weekend by the beach. A lot of people just pitch tents on the beach and spend the weekend camping. So we try not to go into town on the weekends as it becomes a mad house! This weekend happened to be "Biker weekend" too so there was the added craziness of hundreds of bikers to the mix.

Well, that is our last few days in a nutshell. Tomorrow the girls and I are going to go to Hannah's office to help her get some filing done. She is very shorthanded right now and could use the help. Joel and I will also go to bible study tomorrow night. Please pray for me as I will be teaching the ladies' study. I am looking forward to sharing with them what God has revealed to me over the past week of studying :) Please continue to pray for the kids' adjustment and for their hearts to be open to moving here, if that is what we feel we are being called to do. Also, please pray for continued good health. Please pray also that God would bring people into our path that we can share Him with while we are here. Lastly, please continue to pray that Joel and I will know God's will concerning this move.

A Dios sea la gloria!!!

Kelley (& Joel :)

Here are some pictures of the past few days.