Farnsworth Forum

No, we didn't have real snow as they did in Pennsylvania, but there is another snow-covered mountain that greets us on a regular basis from our house and the church where the radio station in located here in Ibarra, Ecuador. Enjoy the pictures, although the pictures don't compare to seeing it in "real life."

Here are some pictures of special people. In the first picture Amelia poses with her cousin Zoe. They are enjoying taxos, a kind of fruit that I have seen only in Ecuador. Come and visit us and you an taste it for yourself. I love that picture of the two of them. In the middle picture our family and Zoe enjoy some time with Sra. Virginia, a good friend and helper to Marisol's family. She has worked with them for years, planting corn, washing dishes, roasting guinea pig. She is now 92-years-old. I met her back in 1999, the summer of my Latin American tour to Peru, Ecuador and Mexico, one of the fringe benefits of being a teacher. The last picture shows my mother-in-law and our niece Cloe, who just turned six-months-old. She is cuter than cute and loves to stare at me. We all love her to pieces. Who wouldn't?

So hard to believe that my last blog entry was almost a month ago. Sorry. I am trying to do better. Sometimes the net is so slow that the pictures won't post, and I lose hope and patience. I will keep trying. We have been in Ecuador almost over three months now. You can see from the pictures above how much Joel and Amelia are enjoying Marisol's family. For the Day of the Dead (called Finados here in Ecuador) they made bread with their aunt Miryan and grandmother Zulema and cousin Zoe. They were so proud and happy. Before that, they went to the cemetery to decorate the graves of Marisol's paternal grandparents. That is the custom here in Ecuador and in many Latin American countries. Guam too! We remembered our military friends on Veterans Day. It was 11/11/11. I was checking some of Joel's math work for home school today, my day off. He got 11/11 on a math quiz on Friday. It didn't even occur to us at the time!!!!! Almost eery! We are settling in littl...

We went camping to Letchworth State Park (New York) in July. It was kind of a last hurrah before coming to Ecuador. We visited the relocated site of the Seneca Burial Ground. Here is Mary Jemison's statue and gravesite. Mary Jemison was kidnapped by the Native Americans during the period of the French and Indian War. She was adopted by them and lived with them for the rest of her life. Quite a fascinating life. We enjoyed visiting the sites and learning out more about her. Cooking in the great outdoors is always a pleasure. The food tastes better, at least to me. We made a stop to my alma mater, Houghton College. Here Joel and I pose on the quad in our Guam T-shirts. In Houghton we visited with some dear friends and supporters, Professor emeritus of German Robert Cummings and our Bible Memory Association (Swordbearers) advisor Margaret Wynn. Margaret fixed us such a delightful lunch and Profe Cummings shared yummy fruit. What a wonderful time we had with them! We enjoyed t...

To the pool! Today we registered Joel and Amelia for swimming lessons at the Olympic Pool of Ibarra. Both of them did very well on their first day. Marisol and I are very proud of them.

Amelia, Joel, and their cousins Zoe and Cloe helped their Aunt Miryan celebrate her birthday in September. Here are Marisol's brother Wilo and wife Giss with daughter Cloe. Miryan (Marisol's sister), Amelia, Joel and Hugo (Marisol's brother) clowning around. Marisol's niece Cloe, born on May 5! Such a little cutie! Joel, Amelia, Zoe and abuelito Wilson hammacking! Here's a better picture of Zoe on the hammack.

The house where we are staying until June is the right side of the duplex directly behind Amelia. We are glad that the children have friends to play with in this neighborhood. Joel and Amelia have become quite popular here in the neighborhood where we live. The kids come and knock on our door to see if "Joel and Amelia can play." We are really happy about that. Here they are with a neighbor Sebastian playing in the playground outside our house.