The Graefs Abroad

Transitions

2011-06-16T23:04:00.003-06:00

Mom with Olivia, the day she came home from the hospital

Transitioning through stages in life is often a hectic time - but they create vivid memories as you leave one stage and move on to the next. We are facing several transitions at once, and I am not sure if that makes it easier or harder. Having just lost my Mother a few weeks ago, I think it makes things a bit easier for me in that the change in routine will lessen my loneliness without her. However, I wonder if I will ever lose the urge to call her and update her on all the things that life as a missionary brings our way.

We are also transitioning in our ministry as we prepare to return to the States for furlough. We are saying our goodbyes to both the people and the country after 5 years. Not only will we be spending our time visiting churches and raising support, but also evaluating what our next step will be in our future. This transition brings both excitement and anxiety for the unknown future. When my position sways from the positive to the negative, I try to remember the scriptures that talk about worry and anxiety..."Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough cares of it's own." and, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." As we face these changes in life, isn't it good to know we have a God who cares for us, listens to us, and gives us a way out from the weight stress places on us?

Birthday Bashes and Baby Showers

2011-05-16T06:14:00.004-06:00

Well, dial up internet has made it more than frustrating to update my blog, but my how time flies. We had several parties this month with some fun traditions, so here are a few photos to share. Above, is our 5 year old daughter, Olivia, with her rainbow cake made with much love (and frustration!) by Mom!

The cake recipe called for replacing the egg, oil, and water of a box mix with clear "gaseosa," or what we like to call soda. It smelled so sweet that I thought to put it in the fridge before any of our local infestations got ahold of it! Not to mention, it seemed to be getting stickier everyday due to the humid climate. When it came time to frost it, the top layer broke apart in my hands...sigh. After piecing it together and frosting it, it did look pretty cool, especially when we cut it.

It was a hit at the party, but I would definitely recommend this recipe for dry or temperate climates only!

Orang Fanta, a favorite among kids here - what party wouldn't be complete with little five year olds donning orange bigotes! (mustaches)

A few of Olivia's Tico friends, enjoying some salchichas, also known as hot dogs to us gringos!

In tipical latino fashion, no party is complete without a piñata! Once the kids start chanting it's name, there is no waiting til later. The biggest challenge, as seen in most AFV shows, is making sure no one gets hit with the stick. I always hate it when one piece of candy falls. Kids scatter for it, ignoring the person with the palo, or stick, meanwhile the person continues swinging. It is enough to give any Mom a heart attack!

So here is my sweet friend, Zaidy, at her baby shower. We had two showers to go to this month and neither went according to plan. Zaidy's water broke the day before her shower, however the public hospital sent her back home (lovely socialized medicine at it's best!) and she was able to attend her shower. Shirley had her baby the day before her shower, so it was postponed a week later. A costa Rican baby shower is actually called a tea. Most serve a plate of postres, dry filo dough with some little bit of filling in them, arroz con pollo (rice with chicken), and coffee. Zaidy displayed all her clothes on her belly - not sure if that is a traditional thing here, but it was very cute, as well as was her helper!

Costa Ricans have very small houses and with the high humidity and mold, they do not save anything from previous pregnancies to reuse if the have more children. Everything is borrowed or given away, including cribs, bedding, and clothes. The nice thing about this is that a Mom gets a shower with every baby! For the giver, it is nice because little thought is given to nursery designs, color schemes, etc. They are always grateful for whatever they receive - being that they often have so little to begin with.

Roca Viva Baptisms and Family Day

2011-02-27T17:36:00.007-07:00

Baptisms are always an exciting part of the ministry, especially when you have had the joy of leading them to Christ. Cristian, pictured above, his wife received Christ as savior this past summer. Since then, Dave has been working with Cristian in the Jui Jitsu ministry and I have discipled Zaidy. Dave performed their wedding in August and it has been so great to see their spiritual growth as a couple and their willing hearts to serve in the church.

Alison, Cam, Zaidy, Cristian, Jackie, Dave, Henry, Josue, and Leo

Our baptismal service took place Feb. 13th at the Jardin Sagrado camp, where we not only celebrated our newest members in the family of God, but where we also celebrated the love of God through our families.

One of the ladies in our church recently took a face painting class and used her talents for the Lord. Olivia opted for the tatoo after her last face decorating disaster resulting in glidder in her eyes!

During these last 6 months, we have been training 4 couples as leaders in the church and have assigned them each a group of people to care for (deacon care groups known as our "Hecho 2" groups). At the camp, each of the families came in a specific color that represented their group and competed against the other groups in family oriented games.

Freddy and China, center, are one of the couples currently being trained as leaders in Roca Viva.

Getting ready for the sack race!

We enjoyed a wonderful day of food and fellowship. Here, my sweet friend Ana and I pose for a quick pic on our way to the games.

It has been a priviledge to disciple these two wonderful ladies, Zaidy and Jackie, since August. Discipleship was such an important step in my own spiritual growth as a new believer and now I have had the joy to be on the other end. It is so encouraging to see how eager they are to grow, how committed they are to the Word, and how much they endure each day with their daily circumstances. Please pray for Zaidy as she is expecting a baby boy in May, possibly with heart defects and for Jackie, who recently started night school to find a better job to support her two children. Both of these ladies had a child who was also baptized the same day as well!

Leadership Retreat at Volcan Turrialba

2010-11-21T17:21:00.007-07:00

Turrialba Volcano - Nov. 2008

Turrialba Volcano - Nov. 2010

So do you notice any difference? Well, we had the priviledge of returning to the Turrialba Lodge this past weekend to host our first Roca Viva Church leadership retreat. Due to the recent landslides, the road to the camp we were going to use was closed, so we made some last minute changes. The view was breathtaking and right away we noticed how much more smoke and gases were coming from the the volcano since we had been there in 2008! It has been active again since April of 2008 and had a mini eruption of gases and ash over Christmas last year. Despite the possible threat of an ever smoking volcano and ash covered trees, the Lodge made a beautiful and rustic backdrop for our retreat!

We spent time together in the word and in fellowship with our teammates, the Woolfords and five Tico couples. Cam spoke on how despite all the riches and resources that we have, God chooses to use people to share the news about Christ. We also watched a movie on forgiveness, called Amish Grace.

The ladies took turns cooking the meals; here I am preparing eggs and gallo pinto for 14 people at 7 a.m. in the morning. I think my expression reveals that this may not have been the best time for my picture! Thanks honey!

The following day we broke into groups of men and women to discuss a study we were currently doing with the ladies about the power of our speech. Dave also led the group in some initiatives to help them understand some concepts about leadership, such as communication and decision making, in a fun way.

Here, their task was to make a specific shape out of the rope with their eyes closed!

Here Dave is explaining the rules of the initiatives and the goal they need to accomplish.

For those of you who only know Costa Rica by it's travel brochures and sunny beaches, here is an interesting group shot. With no heat, 50 degrees can feel pretty cold, especially when you add in some rain!

World Cup 2010

2010-07-12T19:01:00.003-06:00

We have been back now for 6 weeks and life hasn't afforded us much time to catch up! Dave is teaching a Defending the Faith course as well as teaming up with another local pastor in Cartago who will be teaching a Christian Living course. We opened up our home to about 20 friends after church Sunday for a World Cup fiesta and cheered Spain on to a 1-0 victory over Holland! Dave has also started a Jui Jitsu class on Saturdays to reach some of the unsaved youth in the area. I am discipling 2 new believers and meeting with two women who have questions regarding Christianity this week. Finally, after receiving news that Word of Life had to cancel the youth camp for this week, we have organized a three day camp for about 12 youths from our church Wednesday thru Friday, following a children's Fun Day in the morning!

One blessing in all this activity is that we have Corey, a 19 year old son of our friends, staying with us and lending a helping hand. In addition to being a talented musician, he has been quite a servant around the house and in ministry. He will be assisting Dave at the camp this week, in addition to leading worship time. Pray with us that these 5 weeks will be an encouragement to him and that God may use this experience to direct him in his future decisions.

The Kentucky House

2010-03-09T13:51:00.007-07:00

Since Dave's parents retired to Kentucky, we have had the opportunity to visit the Kentucky house on furlough a few times. On this unusually warm day in March I decided to take a few shots of my favorite sites along route 39. This barn is by far my favorite landmark nearing Grandma's house and the setting sun casts a nice shadow of the opposing tree.

Another landmark that lets us know we're within miles from the long driveway up to the Graef lodge is this church, Gilbert's Creek Baptist Church. Dave and I have attended this small country church in the past and enjoyed fellowshiping with the pastor there.

Ah, Manuel Lane...Aunt Millie's sign to let you know you've reached your destination! A quarter mile up the drive and you can go right to her house or venture left to Grandma and Granddad's house.

There are several barns along 39 but I must be partial to the red ones.

Olivia enjoying the swing from Costa Rica with Grandma on their porch.

This mansion of a home reminds me of the plantation homes that dot the southern landscape. I am not sure if it is occupied, but it stands out against the typical barns and homes along route 39.

Ok, not sure who Dewey Cooper is but there are several of these signs around town.

The south and race cars, need I say any more? Not sure what happend to this guy but looks like he has been put out of commission!

This black barn sits on the property bordering the Graef's and the cedar trees in the back mark their property line. We pass this barn as we travel up the quarter mile driveway of Grandma's house.

Residency and Family

2010-01-09T17:00:00.008-07:00

Well, not having internet in the house for a while in Costa Rica really affected our internet postings! Most of you know by now that we returned to the US about a month ago to reapply for residency under the new laws for Costa Rica. Most recently, this involved us travelling to Washington D.C. this week to have all of our documents sealed by the consulate's office. Funny how they required both of us to come in person yet never checked ID's while we were there! So, two days of travel, a babysitter for the kids, 4 meals on the road, and a $320 document fee all culminated in a half hour wait in the consulate's office and a blue stamp on our documents! Yay!

In addition to paperwork, we have been enjoying the time with friends and family. Although it was nice to be home for the holidays, it was quite a dip in the temperature for us to come from Costa Rica to Detroit! The kids have not hesitated to play out in the cold and their first attempt at a snowman was met with much excitement! Perhaps with more snowfall we'll make the rest of the snow family to join him.

We are also scheduling churches, if anyone has interest in having us speak at any church events. The month of March is quite full, but many dates are still available!

The Story Behind the Graef's Furlough

2009-10-21T07:24:00.004-06:00

The Mess!
About 3 and a half years ago, we landed in San José, Costa Rica with our three kids and as much luggage as the airlines would allow. We immediately began the process of seeking legal residency, and had already prepared several copies of every necessary document to do so. Our team had hired a lawyer to handle this legal process, but time would show that he was not an honest, nor capable man for the job. Before turning our papers in to Immigration, he misplaced an important document. Fortunately, we had extra copies. A few weeks later, he misplaced another document. Again, we supplied him with another. The actual day that he delivered our documents to Immigration, he lost yet another document. We supplied it yet again, and he assured us that he had ALL documents in order. He didn't. The problem was then compounded by his lack of honesty. Immigration notified him that a document was missing, and that he had 6 months to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, he did nothing. He did not even tell us the document was missing. (We had extra copies.) Even further, from time to time he gave our team reports on our legal status. He would say that everything was going great and that we were a few steps closer to getting our residency. He was lying.

After the 6 months passed, Dave's residency request was rejected for lack of the important document. Since the residency of the rest of the family was dependent upon Dave's, they were rejected as well.

The Good News
The character of our team lawyer eventually came to light and was fired by the team. We have since hired a new lawyer who is a trusted friend. He is a Christian who works for Word of Life and attends the Piedras Vivas courses taught by Dave. Since then, the team has received a large portion of the money back for services not rendered by the first lawyer. Our new lawyer will be filing our documents again as soon as we can get them in order. This process is complicated, but we are moving on the right track now, and with an honest lawyer.

The New Law
The immigration laws have changed for the second time in 3 years. Under the new system, we should have an answer to our residency request around 6 months after we re-submit our documents. If we can get our documents in order by January, we could reasonably get our residency around June of 2010. As many of you know, we had planned on starting our furlough around that time. Under the new law, we must spend the first year of our residency inside Costa Rica or we lose it. (There is a 90-day limit outside of the country.) So, if we continued with plan A, we would lose our residency as soon as we got it. As such, we have had to change our furlough plans.

The Plan
Our new plan is to continue the process of re-submitting our documents in January and petitioning legal residency once again. We will take a shorter furlough while our paperwork is in process at Immigration (around 6 months.) We will then return to Costa Rica around the time that we should receive our legal residence. We will spend a full year in Costa Rica following the new rules for immigration. After that year, we will return to the States and finish our furlough.

Obviously, this is not what we expected to happen, but all things considered, we cannot complain too much. In the last 3 and a half years, we have seen God do some pretty amazing things. We have seen Him start a church from nothing (Roca Viva), and have seen constant growth in the Leadership training program (Piedras Vivas). I am certain that the timing of our furlough, though it wasn't part of our original plan, it is a part of God's perfect plan. God's timing is always perfect! With this in mind, our spirits are high, knowing that God is in control. Our hearts are saddened to some degree because we will dearly miss our Tico brothers and sisters, but we are looking forward to reuniting with our American brothers and sisters as well. We thank you for your constant prayers! We know God has been answering!

Where in the World are the Graefs?

2009-10-16T22:49:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note to let you know where I've been since our last post. In July, Dave took a trip to the United States to speak at 2 supporting churches. By coincidence, his 20 year high school reunion was the same weekend, so he was also able to catch up with some friends from long ago! While he was away, we found a house 5 minutes from our church plant and newer (to help with allergies) that was cheaper than what we were currently paying in San Jose. The day after he returned, we saw the house, signed the contract, and a week later we were moved in!

Unfortunately, we had quite a challenge getting internet for the last couple months and only now have dial-up (at the cost of damaging our phone line!) The speed for now will not let me upload much but I just wanted to give you a quick update since it had been so long. As for where we find ourselves... I am a homeschool Mom now, Dave continues with the church plant and leadership training ministries, we're discipling a couple and I meet weekly with a wonderful lady from the church. I am also working on teaching the ladies to take over the children's ministry and we are in the process of determining our furlough dates. We'll keep you posted and hopefully find a way to upload a few pics!

Happy Birthday Abby!

2009-06-17T19:39:00.007-06:00

This month we celebrated Abby's 7th Birthday! Where does the time go? We took a group of Abby's friends to the Museo de Niños, a.k.a. the Kid's Museum to celebrate her birthday in style! I could hardly keep up with the group, being the group photographer! Below is a picture of Abby with her friend Isabel.

Here's the gang in front of the kid's museum entrance, with Olivia.

Abby posing on the letter "A".

Olivia wanted me to take her picture so badly but couldn't quite reach the hole where you put your face! What a cutie!

We attempted to get everyone leaning the same way, and then staggering them, but we just couldn't coordinate 6 girls to get everyone in the photo! The girls are sitting on a painted ox cart - a traditional symbol of Costa Rican culture.

Isabel on tin can stilts.

A fun day at the museum! The museum itself is actually a renovated prison with other exhibits as well.

Abby opening a rainforest book I found here in English and Spanish.

Unfortunately, I made Abby's cake the day before while babysitting a friends three kids. One of the twins decided to turn all the burners and the oven knobs on high while I wasn't watching and burnt the cake! So, we settled for an overpriced Entemann's chocolate cake with a little sugar "bling" from Mom.

Happy Birthday Olivia

2009-05-02T11:57:00.004-06:00

Olivia passed a few milestones this month - potty training, her third birthday - our little "baby" is no longer a baby! We celebrated by having a BBQ to say goodbye to our friends, the Depuys, who are leaving for Mexico after a year of language school. We also had a cake to celebrate Olivia turning three. Above, she patiently waits for the chorus of singers to finish Feliz Cumpleaños so she can dig in!

Olivia eyes her piece of choice and gets ready to blow out the candle. She changed her mind between Dora and Diego at the last minute so we went with Diego.

Olivia manages to beat the wind and blow out her candle first!

Livy's present from Grandad and Grandma - a talking rocket ship from Little Eintsteins. It was coveted by all!

From Grandma Rose - a talking "Jungle Book" book and a search and find Nemo book!

The weather was great so we broke out the kiddie pool and sprinkler for an awesome afternoon!

Fun in Florida

2009-04-01T19:31:00.003-06:00

March has come and gone without an entry! Well, I thought I'd share a little about our recent trip to Florida to visit Grandma and Granddad. We were graciously invited to spend a week or so with Ron and Irene in Bonita Springs. A wonderful family gave them 6 weeks in their condo, free of charge, to escape the Indiana storms. We joined them for the last week, celebrating Aidan and Dave's birthdays at Disney World. Since they have a birthday promotion this year and Livy was still under three, we didn't have to pay for a couple of tickets either! We also had airline tickets we had to use from last year's mess up with immigration, so overall, this was a pretty inexpensive vacation - what a blessing!

Three generations of Graef men - Aidan, Ron, and Dave spending the day at Epcot!

The Graef girls - we spent the day at Magic Kingdom!

Here we are on the balcony of our condo in Orlando - a chilly and unseasonable 38 degrees! We went to Walmart the night before to buy some pants and warmer clothes!

We actually celebrated Aidan's birthday at the Zimmer's house on the way to Orlando. She made a great Mickey cake for Aidan and her kids drew us adorable pictures to welcome us. It was so good to see Kellie and her parents drove in also to visit with their former Pastor and his wife!

Despite the cold in Orlando, most of our time was spent in beautiful Bonita Springs. We enjoyed attending a Bible study in Spanish, watching the sunset over the Gulf, and the great weather. Mom and Dad not only spoiled Aidan, Abby, and Livy with Reese's Puffs cereal, Moose Tracks ice cream , and all their favorite goodies, they spoiled Dave and I as well. One of the perks of being so far away sometimes - coming home is always a celebration!

Piedras Vivas Leadership Brunch

2009-02-05T13:44:00.007-07:00

This month Dave will starting his leadership training ministry, Piedras Vivas, which literally means "living stones." The title comes from the Old Testament where the Israelites would erect standing stones to mark the place where God did something miraculous, something worth remembering. By the New Testament, they became known as "living stones." Peter calls us to be living stones, demonstrating to others the remarkable work God has done in our lives. Dave's desire is to use this ministry to train and equip local pastors with education and resources that might otherwise not be available to them.

Saturday, Dave had a "kick-off brunch" inviting leadership from our church plant, Roca Viva Iglesia Bautista, as well as some pastors and contacts from other local churches in the province of Cartago. Max, our lawyer and friend from another church plant spoke with Dave.

We had 9 men who attended the brunch and hoped that some of them would be interested in taking the one year leadership certificate program consisting of 6 bimonthly seminars. To our pleasant surprise, all of them signed up for the program which will be starting next week! Some of these men have little in the way of Biblical training and it is Dave's goal to provide education and resources through the ministry of Piedras Vivas. Each man was also given his choice of 2 books dealing in areas of spiritual growth, family, and faith. Also, two men won an illustrated Biblical study dictionary in Spanish.

The winners of the Spanish study dictionary of the Bible, Jeffrey and Luis, with Dave.

We were blessed to have the brunch in the restaurant of one of our church leaders, Alfredo and his wife Mara. Like many small business owners, Cafe Mara is the converted home of Alfredo and Mara. They live upstairs and renovated the main floor, garage, and backyard to have their own business. They graciously serve the church and our ministry with their hearts. We so appreciate having generous couples like Alfredo and Mara to work along side of.

Fun at the Finca!

2009-01-11T13:21:00.009-07:00

Saturday we spent the afternoon with a man named Coto, who attends our church in Paraíso. He is a very generous man, always giving us new fruits and vegetables to try that are native to Costa Rica. He has a "finca" or small farm on a piece of property outside the city and invited us to visit him there. Here is a picture of Abby and Aidan inside a large plant that he had set up for us to take pictures!

The property itself was carved out of the jungle with all the variety of plants growing everywhere. Aidan enjoyed climbing on the volcanic rocks and just being a boy!

"Is that Mario?"

"Toro, toro!"

Unfortunately, I did not carry a pen with me to write down the names of all these plant that Coto showed us. Coto mentioned that this particular fruit that Aidan is holding was poisonous if eaten.

We have these flowers in our backyard too, but ours are not red like these. They are very waxy and collect the water in their petals when it rains. Coto took me on a tour of the property and wanted me to take pictures of everything!

The plant that Livy is holding was used by the indigenous to paint their faces and skin. The outside resembles a sycamore nut but it has an orange wet flesh inside that dyes whatever it touches.

There are even plants growing on the rocks!

Coto mentioned he had a small pool for the kids - well, it was actually a plastic storage container filled with water and buried in the ground! Still refreshing on a hot day!

Coto's view from atop his property.

The man himself! I made Coto get in one of the photos - here he is with his lemon tree. He also grows cas, sugar cane, chayote, - possibly more! His house is made out of concrete, bamboo, and scrap wood with a dirt floor and wood stove. Very rustic!

Christmas Time in Costa Rica

2008-12-21T15:54:00.014-07:00

We have celebrated Christmas several times already having various parties and activities with friends and missionary family. We started the month with a trip to the Christmas tree farm to purchase a tree. Olivia wanted to wear her Santa's hat, Abby had just lost another tooth, and we were all excited to get our tree until... we saw that the prices for trees had doubled this year! The cost of the tree is still cheaper than what we would pay in the U.S., so we count it a blessing to still get a real tree. Guess it sort of makes up for the gas prices, right?

After our tree adventure, the kids received a gift early this year, their first pet. Sniffles, a.k.a. Galatea (a name given by the previous owners) joined our family as another missionary family heading to Chile could not take him with them. After a quick adjustment period, he is hopping all over our yard and seems to thoroughly enjoy all the space and greenery!

We also celebrated Christmas with our friends of Roca Viva Iglesia. We rented out the camp nearby and an inflatable for the kids while the ladies made a craft project. We all enjoyed the fellowship and food, including the Christmas cookies the kids made with me in the camp kitchen. Above, Abby, Miranda, and Sylvia are creaming the butter and sugar. Below are a couple of girls from our church that came to enjoy the day, as well as receive a small gift bag to celebrate the holiday with us.

A week later, we were celebrating Christmas with our ABWE missionary friends in our home once again. This year we had the children prepare food, decorate cookies, and make a small gift, all for their parents who arrived later on that afternoon. Below are the photos of Abby and Jordan Davoll working hard on their cookies, as well as the cookie "aftermath" as I call it!

Below are the girls showing off their sticky hands from making coconut balls and pigs-in-a-blanket. They worked hard learning Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman in both English and Spanish to present to the parents. The teens helped along side of the little ones, in addition to leading us in a time of caroling. It was a wonderful time with everyone and now we are looking forward to enjoying the next few days with our kids alone as we celebrate Christmas. We hope to help them focus in on the true meaning of Christmas in the midst of all this hustle and bustle - I am sure your month has been as busy, if not busier, than ours. May you spend the time worshipping Christ the Savior as you enjoy this last week of December!

Turrialba Volcano

2008-11-20T05:27:00.009-07:00

We managed to have a one night get-away with our teammates, Cam and Kerry Woolford, last weekend. We took advantage of one of the single language school students who will be leaving us in December to go serve in Colombia. She took care of the kids while the parents took a trip up the volcano to stay at the Turrialba Lodge. The lodge itself is rustic in style and since it is the coldest time in Costa Rica, as well as being higher in elevation, we gravitated to the wood burning stoves in the main building.

The lodge also runs a lecheria, or dairy farm and had many animals on site to enjoy. Below is a picture of the sheep waiting to be milked. Since they don't give a lot of milk, the cheese is rather expensive, about $10 a pound!

This little guy was an orphan sheep that escaped and couldn't find his way back into the fence. Once we caught him, we gave him a few strokes and put him back with the others.

The scenery is incredible since the volcano is on the lodge property. It erupted about 20 years ago but is now active again, spewing smoke daily since April. We spent most of our time just enjoying the outdoors and the other animals on the farm.

On Saturday morning we rode up to the crater of the volcano on horseback. Despite the 2 hour trip up, it was well worth the pain from the saddle as we gazed at this incredible display of nature's power. Below are some pictures of the crater and the smoke that seeps continuously from the side of the volcano.

I snapped this picture of the clouds because it reminded me of a screensaver I had seen. You can tell how high up in elevation we were by this shot!

This plant is referred to as a "poor man's umbrella." Fitting name, wouldn't you say?

Roca Viva Ladies Conference

2008-11-06T04:57:00.011-07:00

On October 23rd and 24th we were privileged to have a missions team consisting of 5 ladies from Northbridge Church in Kalamazoo, MI. The ladies specifically wanted to serve Roca Viva Baptist Church in areas of need and developed their entire trip around ministering to their sisters overseas.

On Friday, they helped Roca Viva host an outreach activity, Sabores de Roca Viva (Tastes of Roca Viva). Each woman was encouraged to invite a friend and we were excited to have close to 45 in attendance! Grace spoke on five types of friendship every woman needs with an invitation to learn more about our church and the friendship of Jesus Christ via the friend that had invited them. In addition to the wonderful variety of food, the entire night of fellowship seemed to be enjoyed by all! The activity generated much interest in the church and further events and we are preparing a small cookbook of the night's recipes to give as a gift on followup visits to the ladies.

On Saturday, the ladies hosted a Women's Conference for our church ladies at the restaurant of one of our members. Despite some technical difficulties, the event was a blessing to all in attendance. The ladies shared on specific topics relating to the difficulties we saw currently affecting our ladies, such as forgiveness, abuse, and unity.

In addition to these topics, several of the ladies share topics on how to start Women's ministries in Roca Viva. Each woman received a gift bag including the book "El Poder de la Mujer que Ora" (The Power of a Woman Who Prays). Although the bags were a personal encouragement for the ladies, they were encouraged to use the book as a way to start a small group or discipleship relationship with other ladies. Others shared testimonies of their salvation and experiences discipling and being discipled in their walk with God.

Baptisms at Jardin Sagrado

2008-10-05T07:28:00.007-06:00

Here is a short slideshow of some of the activities and the baptisms we had at the camp in Orosi Valley. We had a Family Day on Sept. 27 where we celebrated the baptisms of 6 individuals, Carlos, Francini, Sylvia, Kodo, Vernon, and Kelly. Dave had to make the file a bit smaller but hopefully you can still enjoy the photos!

Independence Day Festivities

2008-09-15T19:40:00.017-06:00

September 15th is Costa Rica's Independence Day, which actually seems to be celebrated throughtout the week. Ticos adorn their houses, cars, and businesses with the national flag and it's corresponding colors. Flags of all sizes are sold on the streets by vendors. As the 15th actually approaches, a number of celebrations take place. Olivia attends a Costa Rican preschool which celebrated the day with a "parade" in a typical bus. All the kids dressed in their typical Costa Rican dresses and caballero clothes, climbed aboard a modified tour bus and waved to passersby as they drove around town. As you can see by the photos, Olivia thoroughly enjoyed greeting everyone as she yelled "Costa Rica" out the window!

The parades of the faroles (torches) start the day before on the 14th as children make their own laterns and torches and bring them to school. Below is a farol that Abby made for her school parade in the shape of a house. Students carry them to school and have parades in their schools as well as at night time. At 6 pm the Costa Ricans gather together in a central park, usually near the catholic church, and sing the national anthem. They light the faroles and have a parade of lights following the anthem, provided the rain doesn't put them out.

On the 15th, parades fill the streets as school percussion teams flood the air with rhythmic songs they have practiced all month long. Younger children dressed in typical costumes join in the celebration as they watch older brothers and sisters perform with their school bands. The bands are usually made up of percussion instruments only, like a drum corp, along with flag bearers and sometimes dancers as well.

We went to our local parade to see Kevin Salley, the son of our teammates Joanna and LaMar. After the kids waited patiently for 2 hours, we realized that as his school approached, the drummers were behind us and were joining up with the flag bearers farther down the road! With a bit of quick manuevering, I was able to get a couple of shots. At least one of us got to see him! Aidan, Abby, and Livy were ready to get back for lunch and didn't seem to mind the fact that they actually never got to see the one person they knew in the parade!

Abby, Matthew, Alexa, and Olivia waiting patiently for Kevin's school to pass by.
Kevin and his 10 lb. drum he lugged all the way down the parade route!

Backyard Nature

2008-09-10T21:20:00.024-06:00

Although I am waiting til next week to post my next blog about Costa Rica's Independence Day, I took a walk in the backyard today and had to give you a taste of our "Biological Preserve." For you bug lovers, we offer a wide variety of insects, spiders and other creepy crawlies (see last year's blog on our tarantula infestation!). Perhaps one of our readers will write me a comment to tell me what kind of spider this is - I have two in our yard right now and have never seen anything quite like them!

In addition to the bugs, we have several types of beautiful tropical flowers and some fruit trees, including lemon (seen above), cas, and banana. Our lemon tree is small (only produced 5 so far) but the lemons, although green like a lime, are sweet rather than sour. Cas are small green citrus fruit that the Costa Ricans blend with water to make a sour juice similar to lemonade. Our banana tree produced a small bunch last year, quickly devoured by a grey squirrel that walked the tight rope, or should I say the clothes line, to reach them. The bananas are harder, smaller, and not as sweet as those grown on the plantations.

We have several butterflies and Colibri (humming birds) that visit our flowers as well. While I was out I managed to catch a photo of these two, while two other colorful varieties escaped my lens. Now I know you are all thinking about how wonderful life must be like to live near the rain forest and have such a variety of insects and plant life to keep you busy, but it is easy to forget that wildlife doesn't always remain out in the wild! Two weeks ago we found a crab in our office and our empleada, Marta, found a black scorpion in the utility room! Just a few more critters to add to the roaches, snake, tarantulas, millipedes, moths, beetles, and other creatures that have made our house their home too!

La Anexacion de Nicoya

2008-08-05T11:57:00.013-06:00

The 25th of July is a tradional day of celebration for Costa Ricans. It is the celebration of the Annexation of Nicoya - when Costa Rica aquired the Nicoya peninsula from Nicaragua. Festivities included the reading of the historical account and traditional dances in all the schools. This year Olivia was able to participate in the celebration since she attends a Costa Rican preschool. Thanks to some visiting American friends, Caleb and Charity Gibbs, we got some great shots of the kids in their vestidos tipicos (brightly colored dresses). The program was so crowded I barely got to see Olivia perform. Fortunately, Caleb is very tall and thanks to him, I have a bit of culture to share with you.

Olivia spies Aidan and Abby watching from above on some playground equipment!

Olivia awaits her turn. Her classmate's tears have washed away most of his mustache!

Olivia gets her turn to demonstrate the traditionl dance with her teacher.

How precious is this little girl! She knew how to swing her skirt and everything!

What a cute caballero! The little boys came dressed in handkerchiefs and mustaches!

Graef Family Protraits

2008-07-23T19:58:00.005-06:00

We had the opportunity to have some family pictures taken while we visited the States in July. As many of you know, I have been sick with some odd symptoms that the doctors now believe are a result of an autoimmune disorder. It was a real treat to stay with Aunt Sheri (http://www.sherisphotography.com/) and have some portraits of the kids taken. This is not something we have an opportunity to do in Costa Rica and I have only found one photography studio that takes professional pictures. Aidan and Abby do not get official school pictures either so I was glad to get their photos taken as well as Olivia's 2 year portrait done. Below are a few of my favorites. Hope you enjoy them too!

Aidan, Olivia, and Abby

A special treat for us, pictures with Grandma! Mom was invaluable during our stay with her and it was so nice to capture a bit of it via the camara!

Abby Celebrates 6!

2008-06-12T22:43:00.013-06:00

Well, we made it through the birthday season! In the course of 3 months, we celebrated everyone's birthday except for mine! I am getting better at decorating cakes (thanks Sally!) but the warm climate didn't help Belle's dress as it slid down the side of the cake when I left to pick up Livy from school. Oh well, the cake never lasts long anyways once the candles are blown out and Abby did a fine job there as well.

As we started to open a few gifts, we managed to get a couple pictures before the "swarming" began. This phenomenon occurs at the first tearing of paper. All children rise from their seats, swarm the birthday girl (cumpleaño) to see what she got, and also lend "helping hands" to open the gift for her! It starts as early as the first birthday with siblings and continues well into Jr. High (I think). Despite putting Abby high up on a chair and the girls on the floor, I gave up after the first two presents while Dave, who is much taller, attempted profile shots from a better angle. Below are the ones that actually worked, including a sweet photo of Abby with her new puppy from Alexa.

Everyone starts seated on the floor.

The swarming of the birthday girl!

"The Princesses"

Olivia turns 2!

2008-04-26T15:57:00.010-06:00

Hi, my name is Olivia and I am going to tell you about my birthday party. Today I turned 2 and Mommy made me a pretty cake. It was funfetti cake and very yummy since most of the cakes here are very dry. Below is a picture of me and my friend Emelia. She has a twin brother, Tyler, who couldn't come because he is sick. I think I might have shared my sickness with him last week in the nursery at church. (Sorry Tyler!) I am sure Emelia will share her candy from the piñata, right Emelia?

Speaking of piñata, we had one at my party, a tradition here in Costa Rica! Daddy was a little leary to let me swing full force, I mean, I am pretty strong! He helped me pick up some candy for my bag since all the other kids were much faster than I was.

Some of my favorite gifts were a piglet doll from Mommy and Daddy, a Barney CD player that plays songs in Spanish, and a stuffed kitty cat from Grandma Rose that travelled all the way from Michigan. Since we have two stray cats that come in our yard all the time (and in our house yesterday!) I really like my kitty. I've already named it Meow!

"Thank you Grandma Rose!"

Here I am blowing out my candle with a little help from Daddy. Although the cake was really yummy, by the time we got to it, it was at the end of the party and I was a little tired from all the excitement. Thanks everyone for making my birthday so special!

"Do I have to eat this whole piece?"

Fishing in Punta Uva

2008-04-20T15:50:00.007-06:00

Here is Dave with teammates Marty and Cam on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. They travelled three hours by car to Caño Blanco and then taxied via a small boat to some cabins along a system of rivers. You can only travel in this part of the country via boats and the community (about 450 residents) live fairly isolated from the rest of Costa Rica. Although we wouldn't want to live there, it makes for great fishing!

This is Arnold, the taxi driver and tour guide for the two day trip. This was his main source of income. Although he took us to the best fishing holes, the big ones seemed to have gotten away. We caught enough for supper and a few for Arnold's friend Gerardo as well. He and his father built and manage three cabins in the middle of 'nowhere'.

Although they had no photos of the fish, they came home with some photos of other 'wildlife' in the area! Here is a baby cocodrillo (crocodile) out for a tan in the warm sun. Below, mama wasn't to far away - of course they were a bit farther away when they took this picture!

Here are two crocodiles laying next to each other. As you can see by the large lump, one of them had just enjoyed a large meal! Fortunately, there were no reports of missing children that day!

Here is a photo of the largest crocodile that they saw. It swam underneath their boat and when it surfaced, Arnold said it was the largest he had ever seen! It was at least 8 meters long by the look of it but no one really wanted to get closer to measure it. Steve Irwin would've been "really excited!"

Easter in Paradise

2008-03-30T09:46:00.008-06:00

Although Easter is not a traditional holiday here in Costa Rica, we celebrated Easter Sunday with a baptismal service at a quinta (small property) with our church plant in Paraíso (which means "Paradise"). Eleven members were baptized and a few more are interested. Above is Carla, one of the members who was baptized along with her husband. What an exciting way to remember Christ's resurrection this past weekend. In most Catholic churches, the celebration seems to stop on Santo Viernes or Good Friday. Wouldn't it be terrible if we were left celebrating only the death of Christ and not the resurrection! Common traditions include processionals of the cruficied Christ carried by priests or on the back of a truck followed by mourners from the church.

After the baptismal service, people were welcome to stay around for a time of fellowship and games. The kids really enjoyed the open area of grass (not found in the city!) and the men took advantage of it as well with a game of futbol. Despite tearing his foot open (they all play barefoot) Dave was complimented on his soccer talent - I guess those years of soccer in high school paid off! It really was a great time for us to enjoy the beauty of the Orosi valley and the new friendships we've made over the last few months.

Whale Watching in Uvita

2008-02-22T08:23:00.025-07:00

While we visited the coast this past weekend, we had the opportunity to visit Parque Nacional Marino Ballena (Whale) and take a whale and dolphin tour. After seeing the boats parked on the beach the day before, I was a little hesitant to take three children on the floatable hulls covered with a small canopy. Andy, our friend who invited us to vacation with them, bartered with the owner of the largest boat - a 35 footer with a cabin! With a good price in hand and the best boat around we were excited to venture out for 4 hours the next morning. Reports from others at the 'hotel' were exciting as we learned that they had seen 2 whales that day!

The next morning we awoke for our typical tico breakfast of gallo pinto and scrambled eggs - something Andy would regret later. We hiked out to the beach to find that the 'largest boat with a cabin' was in fact the same shell of a boat but with a hard windshield and was slightly larger (maybe 25 feet instead of 20 feet!) We waded out to climb aboard and began our tour. After almost three hours, we met some dolphins while enjoying the fresh fruit and water that acompanied our great price! Andy and his daughter decided not to partake since they couldn't keep their last meal down either. Next we were off to a small island to snorkle. However, due to the inclimate weather, we were not permitted to snorkle. Lastly, we travelled along various beaches including Playa Ventanas (window beach) where we saw the Gran Ventana or Large Window - a cavern in which depending on the tides, you can drive a boat through.

Overall, the kids had a good time. Olivia loved to hang over the side to feel the water and breeze in her face. It was a little scary for Mom to see how fearless she really is when it comes to the water. A rain storm hit just as we reached shore so we ran for cover in the palm trees

along the dirtroad to the where we had parked. The night before we visited the beach known as the Whale's Tail to walk along the sand bars at lowtide. When it is lowtide, the sand bars and some rock formations follow a line shaped like the tail fin of a whale. Abby and Olivia stayed behind with Mom to play in the sand and hunt for sand dollars.

Fearless Olivia gets a better view!

Aidan and Abby pose on a large piece of driftwood!

Aidan, Abby, and Olivia building sand castles (or atleast the moat)!

Abby and I played games drawing in the sand.

Thank You for a Wonderful Christmas

2008-01-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

We wanted to thank all of you who gave so generously this Christmas to our ministry. We so appreciated the cards and gifts sent to us and our kids and how we are remembered by you while we are serving here in Costa Rica. Our children were able to participate in the Christmas Program this year and it was a blessing to see them sing songs in Spanish about the coming of our Savior. Olivia didn't get to participate but found her way into the action of this photo.

Aidan and Abby by the nativity and in the program with classmate Marianna.

The program was a traditional choral and Aidan and Abby had to learn some songs in Spanish and role play the parts of the angels and shepherds. I think Abby's favorite part was getting her hair done by Daniella, one of the youths of the church. She asked me to take a picture of it so she could see the finished product - I was pretty impressed myself (not only with the hairstyle, but with the fact that she sat still and never complained about all the pulling and combing!) After a bout of stage freight, she sang beautifully and we had a great night. It is exciting for me (and a personal challenge) as a Mom to see my kids acclimate and try new things, even with the language barrier! It encourages me to be brave in a new culture and venture out of my comfort zone too!

"Look Mom! I'm a star!" Abby gets the model treatment from Daniella!

Christmas in Guanacaste

2007-12-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

First let me apologize for missing last month's entry - it slipped my mind until we were already in December. I was able to participate in a Christmas outreach activity last weekend and wanted to give you a picture of Las Delicias, Guanacaste, a more rural area of Costa Rica. Here we still see caballeros or cowboys riding along side of their cattle in the dirt roads. The land is more open and arid than San Jose, with beautiful mountain scapes in the background (sorry my battery died before I could take any scenery shots!) This church plant started with the conversion of family members of a couple that attend our church, Impacto Vida Nueva. It is really more of a Bible study since our coworkers, the Colliers, can only travel the 5 hours each way once a month and there is no regular pastor in this remote area. The family was precious and impressed me with their hospitality despite their meager house and simple lifestyle. They were proof that we need not wait until we reach a certain income level to give; they gave sacrificially.

Here in the photos you get a glimpse of their home; the wood walls, basic amenities, farm animals roaming freely outside. The children and adults came from even farther away for this annual celebration hosted here. A Tico couple wanted to provide a small health fair for those who needed help as well as for the Mother's of children in attendance. Here Esteban checks the blood pressure of one of the grandmothers.

Despite the terrible dust (we are now in the dry season) the kids enjoyed the games and treats we brought. There were close to 200 in attendance and 19 people made a decision to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. With a strong catholic influence in Costa Rica, it will take time and people to follow up on these decisions, which is a challenge since the location is so far away.

Here, my friend Andrea holds one of the little boys. Next to her is a photo of the porch of the house where many gathered to sing songs while we awaited the arrival of all the kids. Again you can see how dusty everything was from the dirt roads and winds. It was an added blessing to talk to a group of university students who came to practice their English conversation skills. I also tasted my first tamale, a mixture of corn meal, vegetables and pork wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. The family, with the help of an aunt, prepared over 250 of these traditional Christmas tamales to share with all who attended - what a treat! Perhaps when you think of what you have and receive this Christmas, keep in mind that all we really need to celebrate this holiday is an open and generous heart.

Our Trip to the Wood Factory

2007-10-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

We were privileged to take a field trip to the Sr. y Sra. Ese wood factory during our last week at school. The store is a third generation family owned business that has manufactured woods for over 45 years. They supply wood products to gift shops and venders not only in Costa Rica but in other countries as well. This past week as we returned from a conference in Mexico, I found the same wood jewelry in the Mexico City International Airport, with it's made in Costa Rica label. The field trip allowed us an inside look at all the steps required for manufacturing the beautiful products we see in the local gift shops.

Due to the high levels of dust, we were required to wear masks as we started the tour. I didn't mind so much as it provided me a bit of anonymity as I walked as far away from these characters as I could! The pictures below show the different types of wood and their beautiful grains. The logs are dried outside for about 4 years before being cut and stacked for another drying time. After, the logs are planed and cut for specific uses and then sanded for a smooth finish.

Here you can see the variety of beautiful woods as well as the different sizes of pieces. Nothing goes to waste as plastic buckets of tiny pieces and beads are used as embellishments or for jewelry. The pieces themselves are put into a tumbler where the natural oils in the woods surface to give a beautiful shine without the use of any chemicals or finishes.

The pieces are categorized according to the products being made and each worker makes the individual product of his or her choosing - whether it be a purse, decoration, or jewelry. The more complex the item, the more time required to assemble it. Therefore, the worker is paid not only by quantity, but on a set quota determined by the complexity of the item. The woman below making these pens topped with small butterflies assembled one per minute. The woman assembling the wooden bowl below created one every 4 minutes! In addition to manufacturing wood products, Costa Rica protects it's national forests (there are 13 forest reserves) and practices conservation to protect against deforestation - a problem we witnessed while in West Africa where wood exports are a source of income as well.

School Begins & Ends for the Graefs

2007-09-04T10:38:00.000-06:00

Well, since Dave and I just graduated in August, I got a bit behind in my posts. So I thought I'd tell you a little about our last month of classes, as well as a little about the education system of Costa Rica. Above is a photo of Aidan and Abby on their first day of school last week. They attend a private school on an American schedule, so classes start in the end of August. The typical Costa Rican school calendar starts in February since their summer (dry season) is from December until April.

Below is a photo of Aidan's schoolmates and teachers from last year. Sojourn Academy is a private school that educates the children of missionaries passing through the language school on the same campus. However, it is also an accredited Costa Rican school. Sojourn is a bilingual school where classes are taught in English and non-spanish speaking students are taught SSL (Spanish as a Second Language). The teachers are either nationals or teachers from the states who commit two years to teaching in a foreign field. So, if anyone knows a teacher that is considering missions or is willing to serve, please send them our way!

Costa Rica requires that every school have uniforms for it's students. The public schools of Costa Rica have taught English as a required class since 1994. However, due to the lack of qualified teachers, these classes are not available in every school. In addition to English classes, the President at that time started a computer literacy program. Although many of the schools do not have sufficient computers or technology for the demands of the program, Intel has agreed to donate 1000 computers to the public school system of Costa Rica. Intel is one of several industries here which has built up the economy by the manufacturing of exports in Costa Rica. Lastly, classes in the public schools have tests every month to review what students have learned. They have a final set of tests that students must pass in colegio (high school) in order to graduate.

As for Dave and I, our official Spanish education has come to an end. However, we are still students of the language since mastery doesn't come in one year! In August, we went through a series of three tests to evaluate our language efficiency. We had an ECO, which is an oral exam lasting about 30 minutes with one of the language professors at the institute. We also had an ECO with an external professor required by our mission and a 3 hour grammar test. Dave and I both passed the grammar test and received an advanced level for our ECO's. It is hard to believe sometimes since I seem to get tongue-tied when I speak Spanish! There will always be times where we make errors or forget vocabulary, but it is nice to be finished with the formal training! We will continue with a tutor and conversation partners, and of course, the daily practice that life in Costa Rica offers.

It was a blessing for us to have the Roughts attend our graduation ceremony. Dave spoke at the ceremony (in Spanish) in front of all our professors and did a great job. The Roughts were visiting their son and daughter-in-law who are our teammates but also come from one of our supporting churches, First Baptist Church of Hart, MI. Although we couldn't have family at our ceremony, it was a blessing to have them there as surrogate parents, wishing us the best. Thanks for coming!

Unwelcome Guests

2007-07-07T10:15:00.000-06:00

This week we found our largest tarantula yet in our house! We have found smaller versions of the Aphonopelma moderatum in our house over the last 6 months but this guy spanned a few inches when his legs were fully extended. Here, he has pulled his legs over his torso in a defensive position but you can still get an idea of his size. The photo below was downloaded from a spider species website to show what he really looks like!

Costa Rica has over 500,000 thousand species of animals and insects within its borders, making it one of 20 countries with the highest biodiveristy in the world. This small country (about the size of West Virginia) contains 4% of the world's species due to its neotropical climate and geographical position. Of the 500,000 species, over 300,000 are insects.

Costa Rica is well known for its varieties of butterflies and moths as well. There are 1,250 varieties of mariposas (butterflies) and 8,000 varieties of moths. This 'little' guy was found in our room on vacation but we have also seen them in our garage as well! As you can see by the size of Dave's hand, we started referring to him as our 'pet'.

The variety of animals is incredible here, although I prefer seeing them in the zoo rather than in our home. Two weeks ago I had insomnia and went downstairs at 4 a.m. to watch a little TV. After I saw the small snake scurry under our TV cabinet, I woke Dave up to help me get it out. Regrettably, we discovered it was a harmless type after we killed it. However, with the three most deadly snakes living in Costa Rica, as well as a young baby who crawls on the floor, I decided not to take any chances. Needless to say, I never went back to sleep that night!

Giant cockroaches, snakes, an endless variety of ants - they've frustrated us at times but made life entertaining here as well. If you're a bug lover, please come see us and we'll be happy to show you around our lab, I mean our house!

The Last of the Birthdays - Abby turns 5!

2007-06-17T10:33:00.000-06:00

We had the last of the kids birthdays for this year this week as Abby turned five. She celebrated her birthday in her class as well as with her friends from our team. In Tica fashion, we clebrated her birthday in her class with cupcakes, fruit, a pinata, and regalos (presents) from some of her classmates. Below is a picture of her class at the party and her teacher, Sra. Monica, who has been a wonderful help with Abby's adjustment to Costa Rica. She always welcomes Abby with a hug! Abby's class is taught completely in Spanish which has helped her to get a grasp on the language quickly.

We also had a party at our monthly team meeting since Abby's friends couldn't attend her class party. Here, the girls get their own table to eat at. Miranda and Alexa are 2 of Abby's friends that come to play quite often. Olivia enjoyed getting in on the action of the big girls and sits by herself now at the little table. Aidan helped Abby at the party by reading the cards for her, now that he is such a great reader!

Here is Abby showing us her pinata at her school, modeling a dress and jewelry sent by Grandma Rose, and catching a shot with Mom on her birthday. The parties were a success and despite the cake tipping over after we finished singing, it still tasted delicious!

Olivia Turns One!

2007-05-10T14:25:00.000-06:00

Olivia turned one in the end of April and we were privileged to have Grandma Irene and Grandad with us to celebrate! Over her birthday we travelled to Manuel Antonio to enjoy the beach - our first vacation since we came 9 months ago! We enjoyed three days at a small condo, despite the loss of electricity daily due to a power shortage. We rescheduled Olivia's birthday party for the following Tuesday, which turned out to be a holiday (feriado) in Costa Rica and therefore had electricity the entire day! In this photo you can see one of our favorite spots, the hammock on the back porch of our room.

Here you can see that Olivia did not forget her grandparents even though she was only 2 months old when we came to Costa Rica. Although she was all smiles for the photos, she did not like the sand or the ocean!

After the beach, we celebrated Olivia's birthday party with our ABWE team. Since all of our Aunts and Uncles live in America, we invited all of Livy's missionary Aunts and Uncles to the party - 30 + people! I didn't realize how many were there until everyone gathered in one place to sing! In typical Latin fashion, we had a pinata for all the kids, Mommy made a cake which Olivia wasn't too sure about (but in the end found it to be very tasty), and had a big BBQ before the rain came.

Olivia enjoys her new presents and cake!

ABWE Missionary Kids - Costa Rica

Our Trip to Michigan - by Olivia

2007-04-23T07:33:00.000-06:00

Here is my friend Maya! We had lots of fun playing together while I visited the States this month. She shared all her toys, high chair, and even her porta crib - and she didn't even know me yet! I especially liked pushing her around in her high chair because it had wheels and really went fast on the hard wood floors!

While I was in Michigan, I got to visit a lot of people. In fact, every waking hour (well at least for Mom since I still take naps) it seemed we were out seeing someone Mommy knew. Here I am with some friends of Aidan and Abby. Julie kept me happy while Mommy ate lunch with all her girlfriends at one of her favorite restaurants, Panera Bread (yum!). Jordan let me lay on him and fed me cookies - I really enjoyed meeting him. Hopefully he'll remember me when I'm older (I like cookies!).

Here I am visiting Aunt Ivy and Uncle Eric. Again, Aunt Ivy was bribing me with cookies and crackers before dinner (hmmm, maybe I should visit the States more often since it is an American custom to give babies cookies!). Here I am with my cousin Evan - He sure has grown since we last saw him!

One of the highlights of our trip (besides the cookies) was seeing BOTH of my Grandmas! Here I am with Grandma Rose - I got to visit her twice when she took me over to Aunt Margaret's house. By the way, did you know I am a piano prodigy? And after only one lesson with Debbie Pyne at the Pyne's house, hard to believe I know. Don't I have great posture and hand positioning?

Here I am with another Aunt (Jamie) and her son Nathan. She gave me a cute stuffed bunny for Easter and a pretty new outfit for my upcoming birthday (which I have already worn since it is summer here in CR. She had very soft carpet in her home which is much easier to crawl on than the tile here!

And here I am with my other Grandma and Grandad. They came all the way from Indiana to see me even though the are coming to CR tomorrow! Maybe they'll bring more of those cookies! I had such a nice trip even though we got a little sick. I guess that's what happens when you go from humid and 85 to sleet and 35 degree weather, eh? Thank you to everyone who made our trip so nice!

For the Grandmas

2007-04-16T13:42:00.000-06:00

Okay, this entry doesn't have much to do with life in Costa Rica. It is really just for the grandparents to see Olivia's one year old portraits taken by Aunt Sheri (Sheri's Photography in Riverview MI) while we visited the States last week. She always does a wonderful job and since we don't have much in the way of photography business here, it was great to get some pics done for her birthday next week. If you want to see any up close, just click on the photo!

"Mom has always wanted the flower pot shot as a newborn but I was too big by the time we got around to the baby photos. So, we did the shot a different way now that I am bigger and can sit by myself. These were some of my Mommy's favorites poses."

"Here we have my cute smile with my new blanket (Mom left the other one at airport security on the flight home). We also bought a cute dress from Costa Rica so I could have a picture in it. Hopefully Mom won't make me do traditional dances in front of people when I get older! Lastly, we have some bathtub scenes - as you can see by my face it wasn't much fun until Mom broke out the bubbles! Isn't Aunt Sheri creative? Well, the model isn't bad either, right?"

Aidan's 7th Birthday

2007-03-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe our 'little' boy has turned 7 this month! We had a great party with friends from Aidan's first grade class as well as some missionary 'cousins' as we say on the field. Aidan decided on a Chicken Little theme - thanks to a friend, Alicia, he had an adorable cake! Favorite presents included a ninja wrist beetle that shoots discs and the game Colocho (Twister). We played games in the garage and after the actual party was over, several ninjas, power rangers, and other super heroes enjoyed our backyard!

Abby decides to do her own hair!

The weather here during the dry season is very beautiful. Every day is sunny, sometimes with a nice breeze, usually somewhere in the low 80's. Since we couldn't find a sprinkler, we made due with a hose. Below, Aidan and Abby have their 'force fields' on (arms crossed) so that Daddy could not spray them. Then Aidan decided to take a turn, until he squirted Mom and Olivia and subsequently lost his privileges with the hose! It was great exercise and everyone slept good that night, including Olivia!

Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels

2007-02-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

We visited The Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, a Byzantine style church which is the national religious shrine of Costa Rica in the city of Cartago. Every year thousands of devotees from across the country make a pilgrimage on foot to honor the Virgin Mary and to render homage for favors conceded. When we arrived in Costa Rica, our landlady and her family were preparing to make this pilgrimage on foot, which would take them about 5 days. The pilgrimage coincides with the feast day of the Virgin of the Angels held on August 2nd to commemorate the miraculous appearance (and subsequent reappearance) of a small carved image of the virgin mother to a young native girl in 1635. The church was erected on the actual site and the rock on which the statue appeared can be seen in a crypt from the left-hand side of the church's altar. The carved image, believed to be any image of the Virgin Mary, is inside a gold and glass box at the center of the altar, enshrined in gold.

Having visited the largest Basilica in the world (ironically in West Africa and larger than the Vatican) as well as many Cathedrals in Europe, Israel, and Brazil, this smaller version in Costa Rica does not pale in comparison. Known for its varieties of madera (wood), the architecture inside this Costa Rican church is amazing. Unfortunately my camera does not do it justice because of the dark wood and insufficient lighting. I am always amazed by the stained glass windows illustrating Biblical events, perhaps not always theologically correct, but beautiful none the less. Above are statues of St. Vincent de Paul caring for the children and one depicting Christ seated at God's right hand with four heads of the apostles who wrote the gospels below (for a closer look, double click on any photo).

Outside the church is a historical museum containing showcases filled with charms. People buy charms of body parts (legs, arms, hearts, etc.) in hopes of receiving healing from certain diseases or charms representing particular needs ($, love, etc.). I don't know if it is still a practice today to buy these and place them inside the many cases, but I noticed some were empty or only partially filled. In addition, there is a pipe coming out of the bottom of the church where water, believed to be empowered with the ability to heal, exits. People come daily to wash loved ones in the water or fill bottles to drink for those who cannot come. With a socialized medical system that has failed to take care of its citizens, perhaps this is the only affordable alternative.

Irazu Volcano

2007-02-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hi to everyone from a top of Volcan Irazu (and no I didn't misspell volcano! It's Spanish!) We visited out first of many volcanoes in Costa Rica during break and as you can tell, it was a bit chilly. Fortunately it is not an active volcano although there are several that are still active with glowing lava flows. I felt my first earthquakes a few weeks before but it was only exciting to this gringa since Ticos feel them all the time. After about an hour of driving up the mountainside we were pretty high up in elevation and decided to duck inside the coffee shop up top for some hot cocoa and postries (dessert). The kids enjoyed the view but enjoyed the treats more. I was happy that we knew enough Spanish to explain we were in the process of residency, so we were only charged the national rate ($1) instead of the visitors rate ($14)! As pretty as it was, I don't know if I'd pay $50 for all of us to see it! I think the ride up and down the volcano was the most beautiful part once you got over the fear of no guardrails.

Holidays at the Casa Nueva

2007-01-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

Let me apologize for the long delay in posting. We moved just before Christmas and were not able to get internet service for a couple of weeks. Once we did, it became clear we needed to upgrade to a faster speed, which took more time. So... I am going to post a little about our holidays here for all those we couldn't talk to over Christmas (sorry Abuelitos) and a little about our new house!

December was a busy month for us as we found a house after finishing school and moved on the 20th. When our friend mentioned he knew a guy with a truck, we weren't quite expecting this! It was a little chaotic before Christmas, but we are enjoying the new house and backyard! As you can see by the kids, they had plenty of fun with their new presents despite boxes and otherthings still left to be unpacked!

Our new home has been a blessing with space for Dave's office, a yard for the kids, and plenty of room for ministry and entertaining! I have enjoyed having the kids play upstairs while the adults have space downstairs to talk. There is also a little spot in front of the bedrooms that we have made into a kid's zone! We put our new house to the test this New Years Eve when we had almost 30 people over for an Argentinian asado (roast) to celebrate the new year. After consuming grand portions of meat and welcoming some visitors from the States, we had a great fiesta to christen our new home!

The Girls at the fiesta!

Our New House!

Piles of meat!

Welcome!

2006-12-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!

This is our first attempt at 'blogging' - I thought it would be an easier way to keep you updated and send pics of Livy! Life in Costa Rica affords many fun stories of language boo-boos, interesting cultural facts, and other adjustments we've had to make. Most of all, it is a way we can keep in touch with friends and family. So... I'll give it a try (please be patient!)

Olivia is now 7 months old - hard to believe since she was 2 & 1/2 months when we arrived here. Ticos (Costa Ricans) usually don't take professional photos every three months like us, so it was difficult finding a place for portraits. A friend of a friend told me about a passport photo place with a make shift 'studio' (I use the term loosely). We felt adventurous and since the price was right (8,000 colones or $16) we took a chance. All those years living next to Sheri, a professional photographer, as well as a little photoshop experience paid off. She's a little serious here but I didn't have time yet to touch up the other photos! Jamie, do you think she looks a little like Becky?

Dave has been teaching ESL on Friday nights so sometimes the kids and I get a little bored. We decided to play some games, including 'who could find the craziest hat' - yes that's underwear on their heads! Does that come from the Graef side of the family? Poor Livy had no choice in the matter as big brother found a hat (on backwards) for her.

The following Friday we had movie night on the fold out couch - unfortunately Livy didn't enjoy the barrage of constant affection flowing from her sister and brother. She is well loved and 'muy contenta' as they say here. For the grandparents who want to know the facts, she was 21 lbs 10 oz. at her 6 month check-up, can sit with help, and has two bottom teeth. She smiles at everyone and is affectionately referred to as Gorda or Gordita here in C.R. ('fatty'). She makes every day better when we arrive home from language school and see her happy face! We're sorry we robbed you of the joy of seeing her, but we hope this Blog helps a little!