Bitter Sweet...

The count down has begun and we only have a few more hours before we board the airplane. We are fortunate the airport is open as it closed again while we were at the beach from more volcanic activity and ash fall. 

It is always harder to say goodbye when you know it will be years until we see them again. The next time they are in the Northwest will be 2012. We were just talking about how much will have changed and how old the kids will be when they return. 

It has been a GREAT trip filled with so many good memories. For just about three weeks we got to experience their typical life here in Guayaquil. Let me tell you...it's a completely different life for them here than the states. I figured you gathered that from the pictures and videos! 

We'll be posting more pictures and videos that we didn't get around to posting. We didn't have a lot of time to work on this blog, but were glad you could experience a taste of what we did! 

Titus and Stephanie depend the support of individuals and churches to allow them to live here and focus on working with the kids at Shalom and hopefully starting up a rescue home for girls being trafficked. If you are interested at all in helping them with your support go to:

https://worldventure.com/GiveNow.aspx?aliaspath=/Give/Give-Now

Adios Ecuador

By the way...Brady won with saying "hola" the most! 

"Glory to God"

We sang this is Spanish too...they sang much louder then!

The Beach!

We had a great time at the beach! The water was nice and warm, even though they would say it wasn't. It's the winter months for them and not many people go to the beach during this time because it's too "cool." What that turned into was a hotel./beach all to ourselves! :) We spent the weekend swinging in hammocks, sharing stories, swimming, and enjoying the beauty of the coast of Ecuador!


The kiddos really like playing with eachother. It's going to be a sad day when they can't play in person (because we talk with them using Skype). It's a sight to see with three carseats lined up in the back of the car.

We are cherishing these last few days we have here! It's been amazing!

"You Never Let Go" or "No Me Soltaras"

On our way to Jiu Jitsu

Diego and I laying down a beat for Brian

It's like boats down a river...

...Driving that is. Lines on the road are only a suggestion. Passing three cars at once on a two way road is the norm. Also, the horn is used very frequently. All things that create memorable driving experiences!

Friday

Drove out of the city to Milagro to visit a church that has grown to 3,000 people. Had lunch with a very energetic family out in the "jungle." We had great authentic Ecuadorian food, played drums, danced, laughed a lot, and of course sweated! They lived on the same road that we get our Bonita bananas!

Saturday

Hiked to the top of a castle that gave us a panoramic view of the city. Brady's water cup fell over the side crashing at the bottom about 100 feet below! Good thing we had him strapped into his carrier!
Tired and exhausted we came back home only to be invited to someone else's house for swimming and bbq.  He had a gorgeous mansion with a big swimming pool, soccer field, tennis court, bbq patio overlooking the river. It was very refreshing!

Sunday
The kiddos are sick. I'm afraid Brady shared his germs. We went to church. Didn't quite understand it as it was all in Spanish. We spent the rest of the day recouping as we all found ourselves exhausted.

Panoramic view of Guayaquil

Byron's mansion we visited

Byron, Stephen and Titus

My little man

These turtles are huge!

Boys' Home - Shalom

Katie taught the boys how to take care of their teeth today. While she was helping them learn about dental care, I was strummin' the guitar with a few of the kids.

Helping with kids brushing

Giovani was really interested in learning guitar

Posing with their new tooth brushes

So Happy

You can imagine the smell in there! Not quite as hygienic as a dental office :)

All the boys love Stephen

Learning the song "You Never Let Go"

Diego

Daniel, Brian, & Marco

Oh how they loved Brady or should I say "Brathy"