"These Splints Were Made For Walking"

I just wanted to share some photos of Efrain with his new splints. The walker is a little big and we are working on getting some shoes and socks to complete the set, but he has made tremendous progress over the last several months. In September of last year he wasn’t even able to stand on his own, let alone use a walker for mobility. Enjoy the photos.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Paul! Yesterday we celebrated Paul’s 28^th birthday on the 28^th of January…I believe some people refer to that as the golden birthday. We also celebrated our 1 year anniversary here in Pucallpa. It was a wonderfully refreshing day here in the jungle, raining the whole day with the temperatures in the high 70’s. We were able to go out last night to a local restaurant that serves great tasting river fish, and then on the way home we picked up some Lucama (Peruvian fruit) ice cream to go with our birthday boy’s coffee cake. I included a few pictures of the evening. The first picture is Paul, the little guy, and I together, the second is Paul blowing out the candles, and then the third is Paul with his cake.

We will also be traveling to Lima in three weeks to await the arrival of our child. We are excited and would appreciate your prayers during this time. 9 weeks left!

Home for the Holidays

We have officially returned to Peru following our three week visit to the states. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we were able to spend with our families and friends.

To start out our time at home, we were greeted by our families at the airport. They were anxiously awaiting, with their Santa Clause hats, the news of whether or not they were going to be grandparents, aunts, or uncles to a grandson/granddaughter or niece/nephew. As promised we were wearing shirts to signify the gender of the baby.....a little boy!

As we entered Indianapolis, the first time for Paul in 15 months, we were also greeted by a snow storm. Most of you by this time are probably tired of the cold weather, but it was so refreshing to be able to experience some cold weather for a few weeks as the temperature here in Pucallpa rarely drops below 70 degrees at night and is at least 90 degrees during the day.

Following our exciting welcome home, we split time in Dugger and Wabash visiting with our families. During this time we were given two baby showers, were able to enjoy some American food and the land of never ending refills, and were able to speak English for a few weeks and be completely understood.

Now that we are back in Peru, our plan is to remain in Pucallpa until mid-February (6 weeks remaining in the pregnancy) and head to Lima to stay until after our little guy comes. Please be praying for us during this time as we continue to look for an apartment to rent during our time in Lima, safe travels, and a healthy delivery and baby boy!

I will continue to update our site from time to time to keep you all informed. Happy 2008!