Farnsworth Forum

Joel's first look at his new siblings Elias and Jacob find time in their busy first day to rest! Amelia and Joel admiring the babies with their uncle Hugo. Dr. Alfredo Jijon entertaining Joel and Amelia Proud grandparents, Zulema and Wilson, and big sister Amelia Wife and mother extraordinaire! Baby helper and Dad Here are some pictures from the first day of our twins' lives. Enjoy!

Jacob Stephen Farnsworth was born first, at 7:37 am on Saturday, January 28, 2012, at the Hospital Metropolitano in Quito, Ecuador. He weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 47 cm. Elias Samuel Farnsworth followed at 7:40 am. He also weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces (the doctor was amazed, saying that he NEVER had a set of twins born with the same birth weight) and measured 48 cm. We will write more later. We don't currently have internet at the hospital in Quito. Joel and Amelia are well. After a brief visit to meet their new siblings, they returned to Ibarra with Marisol's family. Thanks to all of you for your faithful prayers. We are grateful to God for His goodness.

Thank you to those of you who prayed for the MINTS course on Saturday in Ibarra. MINTS is the seminary that offers college courses every two months. The courses begin with an eight-hour conference, followed by four weeks of class sessions to review the reading assignments and homework. Each class ends with an exam, and the students write and turn in their research papers. Please pray for the students and me as we work through the class material in the next few weeks.

Last Wednesday we moved to our temporary home in Quito, where we are closer to the hospital. Here's a picture of Joel and Amelia with their uncle Hugo at the restaurant on the way from Ibarra to Quito. We are so blessed to have the help of Marisol's family. Her parents and brother helped us move. This is inside our apartment in Quito. Joel and I played a game after we settled in. This is an outside shot of our apartment. Here is a wider outdoor shot with the car. Joel and Amelia enjoy playing in the play area outside the apartment.

We hardly consider ourselves master gardiners, but we are very pleased with the progress of the flowers that the owners of the house where we live in Ibarra planted.

Here is a quick overview of our final activities in Ibarra before our temporary move to Quito to await the birth of the babies. One day Joel and Amelia presented a puppet show for us complete with Little Red Riding Hood and Smurfette! Also appearing were Little Lamb and Chip. A bow following the show! Joel looks on as Amelia dances in her frilly dress. Joel and Amelia model their pillow "hats." Another day we rode bikes and worked in the garden. Our children are good helpers. Our helmeted bike riders Joel and Amelia with their new bikes!

On Wednesday I stole away from my radio job to help the group from the USA on the construction at the Amigos en Cristo Church in Cotacachi. We also had some help from the church members, the German Impact team, and men from the indigenous community of Chirihuasi. It was extremely satisfying to see the progress on the wall at the end of the day. I enjoyed doing the physical labor, that is, other than the mosquito bites and the sunburn.

Joel is so happy with his new blanket that he received from Marisol's parents for Christmas. He sleeps with it every night!