10 years!

This weekend Daniel and I celebrated 10 years of being together. It's funny to think how much we've changed since junior high/high school. 10 years ago we were scared of each other; it took a while before we figured out we could wait for the other to walk to class instead of just "happen" to meet up with each other. :)

To celebrate, we spent the evening and following day at the Gran Jimenoa (a ten minute taxi drive from our house). We had a wonderful supper, relaxed, slept well in an !air-conditioned! room, and then had a huge breakfast the next morning. We took a walk and spent the day enjoying the pool. It was great to relax and have one last special time together before our lives are forever changed. I know we'll have many more special times, but they will be different and either involve children, or thinking about the children. :) All in all, it was a great weekend. And I especially enjoy being in the pool because my body feels somewhat normal again when I'm swimming. :)Our room was all the way to the right on the lower (2nd) floor.

For more pictures (and a sighting of the Teresa-whale) go here.

Pseudo Camping

So, I've been feeling restless for hiking and camping. Saturday I got my pseudo hike (walking to/ beside a river for the picnic). It helps, of course, that we live in the mountains so I can look around and see mountains as we walk. However, this did not satisfy my urge for camping. Unfortunately, I do not feel up to packing a large back pack and hiking up the mountain near us and having to use the "outdoor" bathroom a bajillion times, since the baby enjoys lying on my bladder (you wanted to know that, right?). And, there's no place to just drive to and camp (at least not close). Anyway, that all to say, we decided to camp on our porch. After grilling our dinner, we made a fire in Leah's mini Weber that we've been borrowing. We roasted marshmallows and enjoyed the smell of the fire. We had thought about putting the tent on the porch, but it is so noisy outside I figured we probably wouldn't sleep. So we brought our extra mattress into our living area, which is more open and has lots of windows and, therefore, more fresh air. This morning, Daniel revived the fire and made pancakes over it. So we sat around the fire eating pancakes, drinking tea, and just enjoying being outside. It was wonderful and refreshing! The evenings and mornings have been cool and, in spite of being in the middle of town, it is peaceful in it's own way, and we are still surrounded with so much natural beauty!

Passing the Time...

So what does a preggy with time on her hands do to keep busy? Well, there have been times I just want the due date to be here and I feel restless. However, then I remember that this is the last time for a while I'll be able to relax and I need to enjoy this time that Daniel and I have together as just "us." So, I'm passing the time in a variety of ways. Since my tutoring is pretty much done (only 1 student now just 2 hours a week), I have been doing more reading (mostly baby related), lots of crocheting, a sudoku a day, exercise, devotion time, sometimes going to the pool, and sometimes just going on a walk somewhere so I can get out. Saturday Daniel and I took a walk down a path by a river. We found a good place to have a picnic. Then we played in the water (well, I did; Daniel got in to his knees and held onto my hands while I let the river float me around). It was cold and refreshing. It was a great way to get some of the restless energy out of me! That night we made grilled pizza. :) Sunday, after church, we ate rice and beans (I admit, it was good, but not as good as when a Dominican makes them...) and just rested for the rest of the day. Tonight we're grilling again.
So, that's what this preggy does- lots of relaxing, exercise, reading, crocheting, and eating. :)
This weekend (Friday night to Sat) we are celebrating our 10 dating anniversary by going to a hotel, enjoying air conditioning, food that we don't need to make, and swimming!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

So, I'm a little late on this post...
Daniel's birthday was July 10th. To celebrate I cooked Italian food and we had an evening of just the two of us. His big birthday gift (combo gift from his family and I) was a grill. Here's a picture of it. Daniel's parents made a "coupon" for the grill, and he picked it out online (the one he liked the best was also the one I had like the best when I was looking for them). The rest of his birthday gifts were also grill related: grill tools, a "pan" and "wok," grilling book, "mop," and tarp to cover it. We got the grill last Tuesday night and Daniel set it up right away with the help of Dylan. Here are pics from birthday and of the grill. We plan to have our first meal on it- grilled BBQ chicken pizza- Saturday evening after Daniel seasons the grill.
On Friday night we had friends over to celebrate his b-day. We grilled (not on ours, unfortunately, as it had not arrived yet), ate lots of yummy food (including Leah's carrot cake), and played with sparklers and babies!- though again, not ours which had not and still has not arrived ;) .

Daniel's Birthday Dinner

Daniel enjoying his strawberry birthday-pie

Daniel opening the coupon (notice the "ooooooo" expression)

The new grill!

(See facebook for more pics)

Happy 4th!

Leah's giant cookie :) Mmmmm

Yesterday we have fun celebrating the 4th of July, in spite of being in another country. We had Leah and the Schotts over for dinner and grilled out on our patio. Dinner included hamburgers, grilled corn, jello, potatoes and peppers (thanks to the Schotts), and a watermelon bowl and decorated giant cookie (thanks to Leah). It was all very yummy. The jello turned out well- it had red, white, and blue layers. We made it based off of Daniel's sister's jello she makes each Christmas (but used blue instead of green). The green was grape jello to which I added blue food coloring. The white was lemon jello with cream cheese, and the red was cherry jello.
In all, I ate way too much and suffered heart burn for it. All well.

After dinner we celebrated with Dominican sparklers, which are slightly more fun than American sparklers because they're less safe and more powerful. :)See the red, white, and blue jello?

Food Creations

So our food creation of this week was jelly donuts. I used a recipe from the back of a Taste of Home magazine. They weren't very difficult and were very yummy. Daniel was my grease patter and suger-er. :)After the dough rose once, I cut them into circles and let them rise again.

Then we fry them. Mmmm.. grease

After the frying, Daniel patted them and dipped them in sugar. The recipe recommended icing them, but we wanted ours sugar-coated.

Finally, I slit them through the middle and stuffed them with strawberry jelly.

Daniel gives them an "A+, Crispy Cream- watch out"
So not the most healthy of our bread/baking endeavors, but def. tasty.

As for other food updates: Last week for date night we made enchiladas, salsa, and yummy low-fat re"fried" beans mixed with cheese- thanks to our rice cooker for soaking the beans for us (it takes a long, long time). This week we are having pesto shrimp pasta. Mmmm... shrimp...

Updated Belly Pic

I am not posting the picture in case anyone is frightened of bare, pregnant bellies. If you would like to see a picture of how my belly really looks, let me know and I can email it to you. :)

Baptism Pics

Before the baptism... declaring his faith


After the baptism... my belly looks small in this pic!

note: I don't have and pictures of the baptism itself because I was using the video feature... if anyone knows how to attach a video to a blog, please let me know!

Baptism!

by Daniel
Last Sunday, I was baptized. What? Why now? you may ask... here's the story.

So, I was baptized as an infant in the Catholic Church. As a kid, I went to a Catholic Church with my family. However, I can't really say I had faith until 9th grade when I decided to give my life to Jesus. In the time since then, I have certainly grown in Christ in many ways and have been called to have my primary worship and fellowship in an Evangelical church. The Bible seems pretty clear to me that baptism is supposed to happen after we believe, which clearly mine did not. Many times since, I have thought about being baptized, but even when praying about it never thought I was being led in that direction. At each stage of my Christian life, I've confronted the issue and prayed about it a lot. I had since grown complacent of the fact that I had never been baptized, even though it is pretty clear that I should have been. In the Great Commission, Jesus told the disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:20). In numerous accounts in Acts, those who believed were then baptized.
This came to point now because I wanted to become members of our church here. One of the requirements for membership is baptism after believing. So, it was this statute of the church that led me in the right direction, and then everything seemed to just make sense after that. I felt peace and joy about it, whereas I never had before. Also, our church here seems more like a spiritual home than I've ever really had with my young faith in high school and the transitional nature of college. So, these added up and I decided it was time.
Teresa was wonderfully encouraging and excited about it as well. Before my baptism and our membership, we needed to share our testimony/ies in front of the church (in Spanish) which was a hurdle but also a joy.
And then, last weekend after church, I was baptized with 6 others in the Yaque river! I felt a wonderful joy at this new, outward, public expression of my faith. While I'm certainly still somewhat on the high, I do feel that at a deeper level I have been opened to a deeper peace and freedom in Christ! "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death, for what the Law could not do, weak as it was in the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1-4). Read the rest of the chapter, it's awesome! Live in His Freedom!

2 months and Counting!

2 months left and I'm still feeling pretty good- although recently I've bee having some serious back pains. It's been good to have a week off, and I hope I continue to have energy after I start tutoring 4 hours each morning. Daniel has been so supportive, and I am very thankful to be going through this together! Here is an updated picture of my belly...

JCS Positions Need filling!

Friends and family,
JCS is in need of a jr./sr. high school math and/or reading and/or social studies teacher, a jr/sr high Bible teacher, and a couple lower grade elementary school positions. If anybody is interested in teaching next year in the Dominican Republic, please give us an e-mail! Even if it is not God's will for you to be here, please join us in praying that He will place the people He wants in each position.

Weekends in the D. R.

A typical weekend for us consists us usually at least one social get-together, working around the house on Saturday, and church and relaxing on Sunday.

This Friday evening we went to a student's birthday party. The theme was "50's" and we both attempted to dress up. Their was an Elvis impersonating contest, and Daniel won. :) We both had an enjoyable time.

On Saturday we bought groceries for the week, put up valences in our living room/ kitchen, bought the items needed to put up our tarp as an awning (which we'll do next week), and relaxed in the evening with a movie and a homemade Indian dinner.


We attend a Spanish speaking church here, which has helped us greatly with our Spanish. Last Sunday we shared our testimonies at church (in Spanish), because we are planning on becoming members (more on that to come later). We have Sunday school from 9-10 and then the service from 10-11:30 which includes praise time and the sermon. I especially enjoy singing worship songs in Spanish because I'm forced to focus more on the words and meanings.

Well, that's about the extent of our exciting weekend. :) I'm sure our weekends (and weeks) will change drastically after baby arrives!

Oh, and Happy Dominican Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

New Building

Yesterday a flier was sent home to all the students at JCS announcing that the much-anticipated new building will be built this summer. The new building will for now house the offices, library, computer lab (which we did not have before) and something to the effect of a school nurse. Future plans will add a second floor including a science lab (Yay!!!) and classrooms.
A few building teams will be coming down over the summer to work on construction, and I am sure I (Daniel) will be working on things here and there as they're needed. The catch is that the school is very short of the cost it will take for the new buildings. School parents were asked to donate if they are able anything from a few cinder blocks to an AC unit for the computer lab. If anybody is interested in being a part of the new building, please e-mail us. Please, nobody feel pressured, but I wanted to share this opportunity to give to those who may be interested.
Thanks!

Fun stuffs

Last Monday night we had a feast for our date night. We found packaged gnocchi in Santiago a while ago, and finally ate it with a red sauce and a creamy basil sauce. We also had salad, garlic bread, and tomatoes with fresh basil. To top it all off, we got to eat out on our balcony, dubbing this meal, our "Italian feast on the terrace."




Friday night, Teresa's 4th grade boys came over for pizza and dinner. We had a lot of fun eating, playing games, and me (Daniel) getting climbed all over. One particularly funny part of the evening was doing the penguin dance in honor of Teresa's class reading Mr. Popper's Penguins.
I thought the penguin dance was common knowledge, but apparently these boys had not seen Mary Poppins as many times as I have.

On Sunday we had a JCS family day. It included food, swimming, a clown... and even Barney. We had a fun time and so did the kids!

Belly Update

I finally look pregnant!

View One


View Two

Ode to Princess Bride

Princess Bride is a movie that I will most likely never tire of. It has everything- fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, true love, miracles... :)
Not only that, but it's funny and clean.
It's especially fun to watch with people who have never seen it before. Last night Cassie, Revani, and I watched it while Daniel worked on grad school (and finished for the semester!). Poor Revani put up with Cassie and I quoting much of the movie and me adding comments (I'm a social movie watcher). It's a movie I grew up on and one that withstands the test of time (for most people I know, at least).

Made from Scratch

So I've been re-reading the Little House on the Praire books. One thing I admire about that era is how much settlers made on their own. They made their own homes and clothes, often hunted for their own food, picked fruits, grew vegetables, and stored up for the winter. I love the idea of making things from scratch, and enjoy doing it when we have an opportunity.
Last week Daniel finished making shelves for our house. I like how they turned out- they're rustic looking.
Today I made bagels from scratch. The 3 different types included: oat and poppyseed; red pepper, minced onions, seasoned salt, and sesame; and sundried tomato and basil (from home-made sundried tomatoes and the basil we are growing).
Part of me wishes I lived in that era, though it was filled with hard work and different types of challenges than we face today. I hope that some day I am able do to more from scratch- have a garden, sew more, etc. But for now, potted plants, and cooking will have to do.

Our strawberry plant

Baby Update

We went to the doctor on Wednesday and were assured that everything is going very well. I've been exercising (moderately) this week- and even jogged some today- and have had energy! The baby's been moving lately- especially when I was lying on the beach. The night before Daniel's fam. left we could even see the baby moving! I actually have a belly now and it's fun to look pregnant, instead of just feeling pregnant! :)

Semana Santa

We had a great visit with Daniel's family. We stayed at a condo right on the beach surrouded with trees and beautiful flowers. Not only did we take time to relax on the beach and swim, but on our way out we visited the teleferica (sp?)- a cable car that took us up a steep mountain. On top of the mountain lay a garden and scientific reserve. There were many pretty pathways through the areas. I enjoyed bird watching even though I didn't see a lot of birds (though I heard many).
The day after Daniel's family left, we spent some time with a teacher from last year who was visiting for the week. The next day Daniel ran in the Jarabacoa marathon. I did not, but was able to take pictures of him (from a motorbike).
Easter morning we have a breakfast of hot cross buns (I had made them the night before). At church, we sang Easter-y songs and some of the students put on a few skits/dances. It was very enjoyable and meaningful. Afterward, we celebrated Easter by having dinner at the Fluths. Daniel made the annual Risotto and I made honey-glazed veggies, which actually turned out pretty good. The smoked pork chops the Fluths cooked were the closest thing to ham we could have and they were delicious.
after eating a wonderful dinner, we went back home to hide/hunt for candy-filled Easter eggs. :) Later, Katie came over and we died eggs.
It was a good Easter and spring break, but it was also good to be back at school with my students. I spent this week's Bible class talking about Christ's death and resurrection, and it was so good to celebrate the increible holidy with my students in that way. I look forward to celebrating next year with our baby (though it will be a while before it can hunt for eggs...)!

Peterson Visit and a Haircut

Daniel's parents arrived very early Friday morning. We had a half day that day, so they came into school and met our kids. They were able to attend the birthday party Daniel threw for me with my class. The kids were so cute! One of them even brought in a huge birthday cake! That night we went out with JCS teachers and the Petersons to the Columbian food stand for some yummy food. Afterward, we had a bonfire (on our cement patio) and Daniel set off a large firework he received over Christmas break. Talk about a birthday celebration! I felt very special. :)
That day I also went with Sara, and Kristy (a JCS teacher) to the salon to have a manicure and hair cut. They I felt so pampered. It was also fun to have girl time! I'm not sure when I've had my hair this short. I wasn't expecting it to be cut that short, but that's ok.
On Saturday we took a motobike trip up to a waterfall, and then down to the lower waterfall in the same river (It was about a 40 min drive from the top to the bottom waterfall). It was a chance to have Daniel's fam. see Jarabacoa from a fun perspective (it's much more enjoyable on a motocycle than in a car).
All in all, it was a good start to Semana Santa and the Peterson's visit. Today we're leaving for the beach. I'll have much more to update then. :)

Baby "Fern" Updates

For those who don't know, we named the Fetus "Fern." Don't worry, that will not be the name of the baby.
Last week we went in for a check up. We couldn't go to Santiago, because our doctor is on vacation for two weeks, so we went in to a doctor here in Jarabacoa. On the ultrasound, we saw Fern close up. The doctor saw the gender, but we asked him not to tell us. Fern was so cute! It was sucking it's thumb. :)
We did not get any picture of the whole baby, only of measurements (it's head, leg, etc.)
Head Circum.: 6 in
Femur (top of leg)length: 1 in.
Abdomen circum.: 4.5 in.

In addition, my belly is growing rapidly. Those here can tell the small changes, though it still looks small. But even my students comment on it! :) They love patting my small belly already.
I haven't felt any baby movements for certain yet. Sometimes I think I feel something, but I have no idea what it should feel like.
I'm in my 18th week, just beginning the 5th month. Half way done! Yay!

Our New Motorcycle

We finally did it. After searching for the best deal, we bought a motorcycle. Surprisingly, for a new bike, it was less expensive than the passolas (mopeds) or motorbikes (manual gears, but no clutch and somewhere in between style-wise). So, we have an all-manual bike. :) We are very thankful to God for His provision of it!!!

Independence Weekend at Pico Duarte

Last weekend Daniel and I had the wonderful experience of hiking up Pico Duarte, (a little over 10,000 feet) with 6 others from Jarabacoa. The first day we hiked over 12 miles, and it took about 11 hours, due to stops, rests, etc. That day was exhausting, and many of us were carrying packs (I was not carrying much). We had two mules and two guides with us, so the mules carried some of our supplies. We ended our hike wet, cold, hungry, and tired. When we arrived at Peak Camp (the next stop after Aguita Fria on the map) we made tacos (we had already precooked and froze meat and rice with seasonings- rice is a great addition to meat in tacos), heated it up, added veggies, and had great tacos. We also roasted marshmallows.

The next morning (Sunday) we woke up bright and early to make it to the top before the clouds set in.

We ate a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, and then set off to the peak. When we reached the peak, it was very foggy, but the fogs eventually lifted on one side of the mountain, and we were able to see distant mountains and the valley near Pico. It was a beautiful view, and I did not notice the small amounts of sun that I was receiving. At that height, it didn’t take much to give me a nasty burn on my face and legs!

We hike halfway down to the peak camp and had lunch and praise time and fellowship. Then we proceeded to our campsite, had some free time, and then had a delicious dinner of rice and beans. While we were there, some Koreans arrived. Regan knew a few of them, as one had lived in the same house as him for a few months. So, in addition to our filling dinner, we ate Korean food while hiking in the D.R!

After we stuffed ourselves, we made stick bread (bread cooked on sticks over the fire). Katie taught the others at the camp to do it as well (other hikers, guides, etc.), and we had a great communal stick-bread party!

Monday morning we started the day with mashed potatoes and gravy (instant, of course), and loaded eggs. It was a good breakfast to begin our long hike down the mountain. This time it took us 9.5 hours to get down. In all, we estimated about 30 miles of hiking.

We had a wonderful trip, full of fun, good food, singing, laughing, falling in mud, and even fencing. I’m so glad we were able to go! Next time we attempt it, we’ll have an extra bundle to take with us!

For more pics, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/dtpeterson2/PicoDuarte.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Dominican Independence Day! And what better way to spend the weekend than hiking Pico Duarte, named after the man who helped give the D.R. its freedom! It also happens to be the highest point in Central/North America east of the Mississippi River (a little over 10,000 feet). More on that to come...

Baby & Valentine's

Also this week, we went down to Santiago for another monthly checkup. Not knowing what the insurance situation would be, and not wanting to put it off any longer, we decided to pay for Teresa's blood work out of pocket and hope we can get it reimbursed. The ultrasound this month was great to see... fingers all accounted for, 2 arms, 2 legs, and definite arm movement visible, even though the baby's only 2-3 inches long. The picture's not very clear, but you can start to see definite baby!!

For Valentine's Day, we came home and had fondue of cheese & bread for appetizer, veggies and meat in oil for main course (along with multiple nummy sauces) , and then melted caramel with fruit and angel food cake. We had a good, much needed, relaxing night together.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we will begin the process of looking for a new bike. I (Daniel) will be going with a friend of ours to look around a bit and price shop so that Teresa and I can decide exactly what we want soon. Please pray that we'd have wisdome and seek God's will over our own.

Daniel and a pudding pie.

Teresa and Maria.

Daniel's Cabin Group (The Real Men)

Camp

Last weekend, JCS had a camp/retreat weekend for the 6-10^th graders. I (Daniel) was a counselor and Teresa hung out and helped out where she could. We went to a YoungLife camp in Jarabacoa up on a mountainside with beautiful scenery and a great cabin/lodge for retreat-ish stuff. Stan Long, the director of Camp Eagle in Virginia (where some of our students went for a week this past summer) came down and was our speaker. Friday after school we loaded up in taxis and headed off to camp. As camp always goes, it was full of crazy games and good spiritual time. For those of you who are cold right now, I was sweating like crazy running around in the hot sun ;-). My cabin had 3 JCS boys and a brother of a JCS girl. Overall I think there were 8 boys and 15 girls along with the counselors and other helpers. To make the weekend more fun for the kids, we counselors even got water, pudding, ketchup, and/or mustard dumped or smeared on us for various games (which none of us knew to expect).

A lot of the kids were surprised how crazy I got at camp, since most of them only see professional, teacher Mr. Peterson and don’t get to see the more laidback, louder side many of you have. In some ways, I think being crazy actually gained me more respect from many of my students.

The theme for the weekend was commitment, spending the entire weekend looking at Mark 12:28-34, the Greatest Commandment. Each chapel session, Stan outlined one area of loving the Lord our God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and finished with loving our neighbor as ourselves. After the big group times, we had some time with our cabins, but over such a short weekend, the boys didn’t open up much to each other. Saturday night, one of my cabin boys was strongly convicted and committed to, as he put it, love Jesus in all parts of his life, not just the easy ones. Please pray for him that the Holy Spirit would continue to work and that we at JCS would be able to disciple him well.

Many of our students come from Catholic families, and I think it was good for me to be there and be able to share some of my Catholic background as well as credibility having studied theology at Notre Dame. It was encouraging to me that, despite the many problems with the Catholic doctrine here in the DR, they still confessed that loving Jesus is really what matters. Please also pray for these guys because they are in a tough spot being pulled between cultural Catholicism and a real, living faith in Jesus Christ that transcends denomination.

Teresa came to camp on Saturday morning to spend the day, and she joined us for some games, meals, and worship/chapel times. She was a great defender in “Flicker,” a fast-paced, close-range version of Capture the Flag; did some wall-climbing during our cabin devotional time; helped us with our skits for the talent show; and there was no doubt the kids were glad to have her around. She had planned on leaving camp Saturday night to be able to go to sleep and go to church on Sunday, but the person she was riding back with had a motorcycle breakdown. As a result, she stayed overnight at camp and a few of us had to push the motorcycle back up the mountain to camp (A couple hundred feet elevation climb over about ½ mile). Thankfully I only made it in time for the last quarter of it. While I know she wanted to be at home, it was nice for me to have her around a little longer J.

Needless to say, we were both exhausted Sunday afternoon, and I still don’t think I’ve fully recovered. This weekend will include preliminary motorcycle shopping and catching up around the house, since we are planning on being gone next weekend, too (hiking/climbing Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain in the Caribbean at 10,000 ft).

Email Update

Here is the email we recently sent out as an update:

Dear Family and Friends,
We are writing to not only send our belated newletter, but to ask for your prayers.
Recently we discovered that Teresa is not insured, although we have been paying for her insurance. The insurance company somehow forgot to put her on the plan, and instead put Daniel on twice. When they caught the error, they deleted the extra, but still did not add her. To make matters worse, we found out that the school canceled our insurance over the summer, though we were not aware of this at the time, and did not start it again until September 4. As a result, our pregnancy would not be insured even if Teresa had been added in September, because she got pregnant within the three month beginning period. (We were about 1.5 weeks too soon)

In addition to this, our motorbike was just stolen from our carport tonight. We've contacted the police and will be filing a report in the morning.

Please pray that we would be trusting God in all that is occuring, that, if possible, our bike would be recovered, and that God would continue to supply our needs, as He has so faithfully in the past and present.
Thank you.

God bless,
Daniel and Teresa

P.S. If you want a copy of our newletter and did not receive it, let us know and we will email it to you (it's in PDF, so it's not a big file).

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to Daniel!
For our anniversary, we decided to go on a bike ride. Daniel spent hours fixing up the bikes we bought from the Chases (we knew we would have to do this when we bought them). Then, about 5-10 minutes from home, on of my tires blew. So, we walked for about 40 minutes, had a wonderful picnic lunch by the river, and walked back with the bikes. It wasn't what we had planned, but it turned out nicely anyway. Later today we intend to watch some clips from our wedding video, go over our vows again, go out to dinner, and eat angel food cake for dessert. :) yay! What a blessing it is to have a Dominican holiday today!



I also want to say congratulations to Ashley and Paul Borrego who celebrate their 1/2 year anniversary today! :)

Weekend 1/19-1/21

Last weekend (a week ago), I "ditched" Daniel (with his permission, of course) to go camping with 3 other JCS girls. WE hiked up to our favorite camping spot- Spider Point, arrived at dark, set up camp, and cooked calzones over the campfire. We had a great time talking and hanging out; it was good to have girl time. I love waking up at Spider Point- the almost 365 degree view of mountains is gorgeous. The morning started out with low fog, so when I looked in one directions, it looked as though there was a huge lake between the mountains. I tried to capture this on camera, but doubt it turned out as spectacular as it looked. The low silver area is the fog.

On Saturday, I came back home and rested for a bit. Then Daniel and I went to play Ultimate. We had a large group of people, so we split into 3 teams, each game going to 3 points and rotating. It worked out really well. We met many people from other ministries that we did not previously know. I was exhausted by the end of it, but had a good time. Afterward we ran to Pico Pollo, ate, went home, changed, and went to a ballet. The ballet was put together by a ballet teacher that teaches here in Jarabacoa. While it can not be compared to watching Nutcracker performed in the United States, it was very enjoyable and we were impressed by how well some of the students performed. It was a mix of modern and classical dance. I must admit, I liked the classical better. Some advanced dancers did point, others danced barefoot.
I put other pics on a web album: ballet. I did this especially for Devon. :)

BABY- Official Announcement

Well, many of you may have heard that Daniel and I are going to have a baby!
We're very excited and praise the Lord for this blessing. The baby is due in mid August, and we will be having the baby in the Dominican Republic. Please pray for us during this exciting, but challenging time. I've been tired, and it has been especially hard on Daniel, who is juggling teaching 7 classes, doing grad school, and now doing more share of the housework. However, God is good and He is in control! We look forward to sharing baby updates on our blog. I have an old sonogram picture I'll include, but we forgot the camera the last time we went to the doctor, so an updated picture will have to wait.

Long Time no Blog

Last weekend, we went with some JCS and church people for a motorcycle trip up to Monabao, the next town above Jarabacoa (different direction than Constanza for those of you who faithfully follow our blog and are trying to pick up Dominican geography). Anyhoo, we had a group of 4 motorcycles with 7 people and we headed up not really knowing what was there. The ride up was beautiful, though taxing on the bikes (about 15km and over 2000ft elevation increase). After we got to the town, we kept going up to the trailhead for Pico Duarte, the tallest peak in the Caribbean. That “road” was very bumpy and crossed a few streams where I was worried the bike might take in water. We didn’t pay to go into the park, but did set up a backpacking trip for the end of February for a group of teachers and others. We had a fun mix of English and some Spanish and lots of craziness. You need to hire a guide to take the trip, so we set one up and sat in his house talking and drinking coffee for a bit. Then we headed to another place along a river for lunch when it started to rain and some people who lived right by where we were eating invited us in and let us sit around, served us coffee with nutmeg (it was really good), and talked with us until the rain let up. Teresa even got to hold a 3 day old goat that was really cute. Then we headed back down to Jarabacoa and it rained on and off all the way down, leaving us wet and cold, but it was absolutely beautiful. I can tell my motorcycle driving skills improved greatly over the trip, but the bike definitely needs new oil and possibly a brake job. In all we drove about 2.5 hours or so. It was a great, fun trip with the group, and good time of Teresa snuggling behind me on the motorcycle.