Living Abroad in Costa Rica

After my jump, I thought there was no way that Kyah would want to do it, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want my opinion to sway her decision. She had seen both of her parents do it, and they were OK, so that was enough for her, she would do it too. I was absolutely amazed and overcome with respect for her. She was so brave! The whole bridge was stunned and watched in amazement as a four year old bungee jumped. She didn't scream or cry, but came up with a great big smile and the entire bridge erupted into applause. That made her just beam with pride and I could see her self-esteem and confidence growing by leaps and bounds. I was so overcome with this amazing feeling of joy, pride, and amazement that I was nearly in tears. I never knew that bungee jumping would be such a "spiritual" experience.

Afterward, the bishop said to her "That was really brave Kyah, you should tell some of the people here who are scared that they should do it too." So she says in a calm little voice, "You should do it too, it's not that scary. It just feels like a tickle all over." Later she said to me, "I was scared right before we jumped, but after that it was much better!"

I'm posting my jump first, then Greg's and Kyah's pictures, and then I'll try posting the video of the jump later today or tomorrow.

It's just to difficult to describe all of the awesome and amazing experiences that we have- there are so many. I feel that I have grown by leaps and bounds since we left for Costa Rica 4 months ago. Each new and little experience brings greater understanding and growth to my small and limited brain! I just wish that we could bring you all along with us for this wonderful adventure.

I'm all alone, Greg is in the states and I miss him! I have lots of help though, two maids, my gardener, Noel, and a friends daughter, Alisha, has been staying with us. It makes the load a lot easier.

We started this 4th with Greg at young men's camp, and me singing the Star Spangled Banner to our children. I made some American flags with the kids out of construction paper. We watched some great patriotic videos (check this one out)and then enjoyed a 4th of July pool party at our friends house (with Greg who came home early from camp, so that he can fly out to the states tomorrow). I forgot my camera for the night, but I borrowed a friends. As soon as he emails me the pictures I took, I'll post them.

God Bless America!

We were in need of help still, so we hired Hilda. After working 1 1/2 days, she didn't show up. Noel tried to call her, and she said "Tell them I'm sick." He asked if she was going to be coming back at all, and she said no. So, who knows what happened there.

So then we hired Carla. Greg had interviewed her before, but decided against hiring her because she's only 17 and already has a 1 year old baby. But we really needed some help, so we agreed to trying it out. The first day she showed up 1 1/2 late, same with the second day. The third day she brought her baby because he was sick, and then she left after an hour and a half. It just wasn't working out.

Well it was Thursday and we needed a babysitter for our Thursday night date. So we asked Marta if she would come babysit. She agreed, and then we talked about having her come back to work for us. (She is my favorite so far, and I like her cooking the best!). She agreed, so it looks like we're back to her for now, but she's only going to work from 6-1 pm (instead of 6-3 pm). The drama! And as our friend likes to say sarcastically (who is also American), "Oh the trials of the rich and famous!"

Wednesday we went to La Paz Waterfall Gardens which is about an hour away from our house. It was beautiful. It was kind of expensive to get in, but worth it I think. They have an aviary, butterfly garden, frog and snake house and trout pond, as well as some restaurants, etc. The best part was the 5 fabulous waterfalls that we were able to walk to ranging from 50 to 150 ft in height. It was absolutely amazing! We all really enjoyed it, it was a great experience!

We took another weekend beach trip that was just wonderful! We left Friday evening around 6:00 or 7:00 and our friends, Darren and Kim McOwen rode with us. We drove south through Cartago, San Isidrio de el General until we arrived in Uvita, which is south of Dominical. It took us about 3 or 4 hours during which we had some great talks with Darren and Kim about beliefs, ideals, goals and dreams.

We arrived around 10:30 pm, and tried to look for a place to spend the night. The first place we stopped, Greg couldn't find anyone awake who worked there, only a couple of "drunken sailors" who didn't know where anyone was. So we moved on. Darren had a GPS system that we used to locate several hotels. We stopped at one that had vacancy, Los Gatos Cabinas, but it was pretty basic, so we decided to keep looking. Hotel after hotel was closed up and dark. After making several stops, Darren being our guide, with much laughter and joking, Kyah said, "You sure are funny Darren, you don't know very much." We all started rolling!

Well, after a few more stops and no success, we decided to return to Los Gatos. Unfortunately when we arrived (it now be after 11:00) they were also asleep and all was dark. After a few attempts to wake them up, Kyah said (very sweetly) "Darren, you made us keep driving around, you need to go wake them up!" We all started laughing again!

Fortunately as we started to drive away, someone came out and we were able to have a comfortable bed for the night.

The next day was great, cooking scones on the beach, Playa Uvita, enjoying the water, waves and sand. We spent a long time driving around on dirt roads looking for a waterfall that was nearby. After asking directions multiple times, we finally found it by following someone to it. It was well worth the time spent looking for it. What an amazing place. It was what I had always pictured in my mind of these exotic places that I wanted to visit with waterfalls cascading into beautiful pools that you could swim in! A dream come true! It was absolutely amazing. The water was cool and refreshing, and very deep and beautiful.

Darren and Greg both climbed to the top of the highest waterfall and jumped off! Of course.

We had lunch, then spent the evening at a different beach, Playa Ventanas, which is named for the two "windows" that are cut through the rock. It was a fantastic little beach, small and cozy, surrounded by coconut trees, and we broke open a few coconuts and drank the milk and ate the meat. It was so great!

We stayed to watch the sunset, and we were going to have a bonfire because of all the driftwood, but our hunger got the better of us and we decided to head home.

We had a really great trip that was made better by the companionship of great friends. It was a wonderful, memorable experience.

I feel that every wonderful experience like this is an investment in our future. It creates great memories, we experience a wonderful range of great feelings like awe, gratitude, joy, peace, serenity, happiness, laughter and fun, and the more we experience and feel these feelings, the more of them we will have in the future. As Zig Ziglar says, the more you focus on and express gratitude for the good things in life, the more things you will have to be grateful for.

Pura Vida!

Just wanted to do a recap of the week. We celebrated Kimball's 2nd birthday! We made a breakfast cake in the morning, and then later that day we went to our friends' house, the Carey's, and went swimming and opened some presents.

The next day we did some swimming at our friend's house, Darren and Kim McOwen, with the two Patey girls, Isabella and Lydia. They all had a lot of fun as you can see from the photos

We spend the weekend camping at the beach with the Careys. It was about a 3 hour drive to Manuel Antonio where we stayed, but we got stuck in traffic for about 2 1/2 hours, so we got to our campsite in the dark. There are several bridges that you have to cross over, and they are one lane, so traffic has to take turns crossing them. At this particular bridge (and you would laugh if you saw the bridges. They look about 100 years old and the have wooden slats missing,) a semi truck was driving across and fell off the bridge (this was at about 8:00 a.m.) We arrived at the bridge at about 3:30 p.m. and at about 4:00, they finally started letting traffic cross the bridge. It took us about two hours to get across. That is the efficiency of foreign countries for you. (Of course it was the only bridge and the only road heading into that area.)

When we headed back home the next day, there was still a line for crossing the bridge. We waited in it for about 45 minutes and moved about 10 feet, so we decided to try a new route back, one that head further south through Dominical, and then looped back around through San Isidro de El General to San Jose (these were all places we had considered living before we actually moved here. They would have been beautiful, but we are where we are supposed to be). The first 1 1/2 hours of the drive was on a crazy bumpy dirt road through miles and miles of coconut groves. It made me feel like I was in the South, with plantations and all. I felt like I was in a different country (than Costa Rica) because it was so different from the Costa Rica I had seen so far. But we saw some amazingly beautiful farms and mountains, with views of the ocean. It was unbelievable! (Unfortunately my camera battery died that morning at the beach, so I didn't get any photos of it). We were very glad we went home that way and were able to see some more of this amazingly, indescribably beautiful country.

The beach was fantastic also. We arrived late with 8 hungry, tired children, some of who were screaming (the Careys have four and we have four, 8 children under the age of 6!). We tried to start a charcoal fire in the grill that was...something else. I'm sure most people would not have dared to cook their food on it, but what can you do when your kids are hungry? Finally after coating the charcoal with lighter fluid, we got it going, then cooked up some hot dogs because the hamburgers were still frozen. Then we all went to bed, 10 of us in one tent, and two in the 2-man. But it was a peaceful night, everyone slept the whole time, which was a great blessing!

The next morning, Greg and I arose early and went to the beach (which was about 50 feet away). I took some great photos, then we went and made scones for breakfast before everyone headed out to the beach. It was a fabulous day. The kids body boarded, and at one point Kyah said to me, "This is the best day of my whole life!"

As I stood in the sand and waves, holding onto Kimball's hands while he laughed each time the waves pushed him around, I thought about how we grow and learn. Babies grow by experiencing new things, every time they experience a new sound, taste, smell, sight, their brain grows and develops and they develop new abilities and skills. I think that we forget as adults that we also grow in the same way. Each new experience we have, each new taste, smell, sight, sound, expands our reality and our a mind, and "a mind once expanded by new ideas can never return to it's original dimensions."

We have had a lot of opportunity for new experiences and it is amazing the growth that it produces within you. Greg and I made a commitment there on that beach that we would continue to introduce ourselves and our children to as many new experiences as we possibly can so that we can all continue to grow and learn.

Remember that you can click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can see them better.

Pura Vida!

I need your help and feedback. I'm entering a photography contest (deadline June 30) but I'm interested in getting some feedback on my photos. Please tell me what and why you like the following photos, what you don't like about them, and which ones are your favorites.

Which one just "wows" you? Which one is just...uh, ok? Out of a series, which is the best? Which one don't you like at all? Color or sepia? I can enter as many photos as I like, but I only want the best. Your honest and open feedback from as many people as possible is very much appreciated.

Thanks