The long awaited digital camera has arrived and so in this update we want to give you a photo journal to enjoy. We are continuing to settle in our house and love the home God has provided for us. The weather here is cooler and we are heading into the rainy season. It makes for less sweaty bodies (hence, less BO) and more enjoyable times outside. The children are healthy and we are continuing on with school through the “summer” as our last 6 months have been so wacko with lots of change and not much stability. They are champs and are doing great…Josh and Sam both have real minds for math and Gaby reads and reads. We have found a potential piano teacher at the cost of $8 per hour…can you believe that? The cost differences are amazing here. It cost only eight dollars an hour for a piano lesson, but almost $30 for a box of laundry detergent. Amazing huh? On the other hand, we can buy 6 pineapple-sized avocados for less than $2! We can get tons of fantastic fruits and veggies and are really enjoying those.
I want to give you a little glimpse into my kitchen. As you know, I love to cook…and still do here, but things are a bit different. If I want to whip up a batch of pancakes here, it is not as easy as opening a box of Hungry Jack and mixing. First of all we need to make sure we have milk made up. Here we use full fat milk powder that actually comes from Ireland. We love this milk and it is reminiscent of Switzerland for Gilles. Once the milk is made up, we need to make sure we have flour that has been sifted. We need to sift our flour because of all the “flour bugs” that like to get inside. Once we buy the 100 lb. bag, we sift it into a large holding container and then we stay bug-free. We also need to crack our eggs one at a time into a separate bowl to make sure that they are not bad. Then one at a time add them to the mix. It is not uncommon to come upon several bad eggs per tray and it would be a shame to have to throw out all the dough if we don’t check them separately. So, as we are mixing all this, we also need to “sift” our baking powder and soda. This is not for bugs, but rather because it is so humid here and it clumps. We have unfortunately learned this the hard way. The kids are not too keen on a big bite of unblended baking powder in their waffles. We have to use either vanilla-flavored “essence” or vanilla sugar, as vanilla is not found here, either. The rest of the ingredients are pretty much “trouble” free, except making sure the sugar is sealed super tightly. We have these miniscule ants that can get in the tiniest places known to man!! Once we get them all mixed up (oh, and make our own maple “syrup” too), we can put them away with the best of them. They sure do taste good, but it isn’t one of those suppers that you can throw together in no time, anymore. I am not complaining (not really, anyway) but want to help you understand why my friend Julia says, “It just takes time to live here.” Ain’t that the truth!!!
Enjoy the pictures of our house, kiddos and our dog, Smokey. We love you and are so blessed to have you on our “home team.” Your cheers and prayers keep us going.