Pictures from Saturday

While we were gone, Kelly and Emilia came over to visit. They remembered when Craig said we would be coming home and made sure to have their mom bring them by. They were so sweet and excited to see us back in Ecuador. They were concerned about swine flu though and also questioned us.....funny that they both had a runny nose as they questioned us :)
We played outside a lot and then came in to do some painting.
We are getting ready to ride our bikes over to Kelly's house now.

Natalie Joy's painting turned out beautiful - but the floor and curtains are also covered with her artistic stamp

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We made it back home

We are back in Ecuador. We started our journey down around 1am on Friday morning. Craig's parents drove us down and waited until we had our luggage packed. There is no way I could have done this alone as Craig's dad and Brooke had to haul my crates from ticketing to a special place where they would have to be screened due to their size. Going through security is always the most difficult part. Valerie needs to take on plenty of water (which all has to be screened individually). But we made it through with minimal meltdowns.
We all slept some on the flight to Panama. The breakfast wasn't that great, so the girls didn't miss out on much. We filled out our health screening and exited the plane in Panama. On the plane with us were a group of students (all wearing masks). I figured they were all from Panama since that is where the most people were masked up last time. The girls and I found a perfect corner with seats that did not have arm rails - so Valerie and I took a 2 hour nap (Brooke wasn't tired). We waited another half hour, then boarded our plane for Quito. The students boarded with us - all masked up still. It was a bumpy flight, and the landing in Quito is always interesting as they speed up right before landing and we can practically see what people are watching on TV in the nearby homes as we land.

We filled out another health screening, but no one took it when we exited the plane. We went through immigration (and LOVED being back in Ecuador where there are special lines for women with children). A man came up to me while I was at immigration and told me he was going to help me with my bags and to not lift any, but just wait for him to come. I thought 'wow, how nice is that'. We then realized why we still had our health forms. A masked up doctor questioned each of us (in Spanish). Then, one by one, we had to have our photos taken by two women (also in masks) - apparently, Ecuador is now very afraid of swine flu.

After that, we were free to get our luggage. I wasn't going to count on the man who approached me in immigration to actually help, so I went to the man with the carts and requested two men and two carts. Brooke then watched Valerie as I pointed to which bags were ours (and again LOVED being back in Ecuador). The men loaded all of the bags on the carts and then unloaded them onto the xray machines and loaded them back on the carts again. The doors opened to the crowd in the airport lobby and there was Craig! He told me he had a big plan to sneak in and get all of my luggage onto carts before we came through, but he was caught by one of the guards. He explained what he was trying to do, and they said they would send in a man to come and help me get my luggage (hence the man who approached me in immigration). We got in the van and I was curious where my other two children were. Craig said that was part of the surprise.
He told Vicente to drive to an address in Quito (and I was praying that part of the surprise was not staying somewhere in Quito as I didn't take my altitude medicine). We arrived at a beautiful home of some friends of ours. Courtney and Natalie Joy were over there playing with their children. All five children were EXCELLENT at keeping the surprise a secret. We get in the van and drive to another location. Everyone except the girls and I went into a home and came out with a squirel monkey. Our friends are moving to Shell in two months and they wanted us to house sit a monkey someone was giving them. Then, Craig told me to go in the house because there was a bird for me to look at. It was an Amazon parrot that greeted me with many "hola" "cookito" "corre corre papi". Apparently, the man who had the animals is moving and was giving them away for free. The bird got right on my hand and was super friendly. While I was in the house alone, Craig was out telling our friend that I might not want the bird....then I came out holding it. They strapped the cage to the roof of the van and we were off to Shell. I held the bird on my lap for the 5 hour drive (thankfully Craig brought a towel to put under the bird. The monkey did escape once. It went all over the van and even across the steering wheel as Vicente was driving - thankfully, Vicente has a good sense of humor. Craig managed to catch it and put it back in the cage (and then he cable tied the cage doors closed so we would not have a repeat once it was dark). We made it home around 8pm, unloaded people, luggage, and pets and went to bed.
Craig had more surprises in store, but I will write more about that later.


Love,
Celeste


















The most active volcano we pass on the way down....Courtney commented on all of those little homes below (the picture turned out to blurry to see them well, but below the clouds it is full of houses).

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Dereck

Tonight I met a friend. I met a young man who I have been praying for this year. A young man who moved here last summer to attend UF. A man who went in to the student health center and was treated by my friend Sue. A man who was told he had cancer only months after coming to Gainesville. I am not sure who I was expecting to see, but I was not expecting to see the handsome, peaceful young man I saw. Have you ever met someone for the first time, and you felt like you know them? When I saw Dereck, I felt like I was seeing someone I was destined to see.

Before Valerie Grace was diagnosed, I really felt like I had so many answers to life, and yet, I did not fully appreciate each day. As we have walked this journey with Valerie Grace, I am continually humbled as I realize how precious people are - how one persons touch or word can make a difference in your day and in your life. Tonight - the Lord used Dereck to make a difference in my life. Dereck so sweetly asked me how I get through things - what a blessing to be able to share my experience with him. What a blessing to share tears of understanding. I honestly don't know what Dereck has been through - but I can relate to some of the feelings, the questions. In this life we will all have struggles - but with the Lord's help, we can see clearly the eternal life available to us. When Valerie was first diagnosed, we would often hear stories of miraculous healings....quite honestly, that was never really encouraging to us (not to say the healings were not miraculous, but it made us question why our experience wasn't like that and left room for more questions). It was the assurance that the Lord would be with us, that He would uphold us no matter what happened, it was the people the Lord sent into our lives to comfort us that brought us the most encouragement. The Lord's love is amazing and mysterious - through relationship with Jesus, we have been able to sing, we have been able to be carried along - is every day easy? By no means....but with Him, it is glorious in the end.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Dereck's birthday is on Sunday. Dereck's family flew in to see him for his birthday - they were planning to go out and do some fun thing together. He is sad that he is in the hospital - but I pray that he will be able to have a fun day with his family (whether in the hospital or not).

Spending time with Dereck was another one of those moments that have made this trip back really special. Dereck, you are loved, you are prayed for, you are special in the eyes of the Lord and in our eyes as well.

Love,
Celeste

These all had faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them a far off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had the opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:13-16


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Packing up

For most of May, this is all Brooke, Valerie and I have seen of Craig, Natalie Joy and Courtney. It has been wonderful to be able to connect with them this way (for free :) but oh, how we look forward to being together as a family again. The trip down - well, I am praying that we will be filled with peace and joy in the midst of that trip. We have heard that there are people in Orlando at 4am who will be able to help us with our bags, which is great because right now, our bags weigh about twice what we weigh all together.

This trip has been really special though in many ways and I can see the Lord's plan in having just us three come back this trip. I was able to have a special night here at the house, just spending time talking with the Lord while our friends Ben and Sue had Brooke for the night. The other highlight had to be seeing Heidy and Elian at St Judes. St Judes was strangely empty that day (compared to when we were there earlier in the year). They were only in that waiting room a short while - our paths just "happened" to cross. There was so much more I wanted to say to Heidy, but didn't have time, so I wrote her a letter. I felt that I should go out to the lobby that I normally don't go to, and there she was again, waiting for a ride to their home away from home.

When I look at all that the Lord has done in Ecuador - there are so many things that make me think "if it was just for that reason - moving our family to Ecuador was completely worth it" - so many things that just show what an amazing Lord we have. Elian is just one of the many stories that have shown us that we serve a living God - the fact that He orchestrated everything from before we set foot in Ecuador, to when we arrived, to the years that have followed. We could not have planned any of it. Our plan was totally different - His plan is glorious - what excitement - Lord, live through us and use us.

Praying that this summer in Ecuador, we will be filled with joy, compassion, and love for the people we are there to serve. We pray that we are generous and not self seeking. Praying that we cultivate love within our family that will then overflow onto the people we are around.
We will have just two groups coming this summer. A group from Manor Church in PA will be coming in June (they brought a group of 39 down last year). The other will be from First Assembly/Gainesville,FL in August. Definitely a change from our back to back groups last summer. We are looking forward to building relationships with those who come and having time to spend together as a family and with the people we know and love in Ecuador.

Brooke is scheduled to have an EEG tomorrow. This is just to rule out more stuff from the 'blackouts' she occationally complains about - only expecting good news.

Love,

Celeste

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Last day at St Judes this trip

This morning, Valerie enjoyed eating breakfast at the Grizzly House where we are staying. She opted for a container of cream cheese to accompany her fruit loop cereal. We then headed to the cafeteria for bacon and sausage (it is all about having lots of variety to snack on :)

We were about an hour early for our appointment, but we were able to spend some time with Grandpa Tom (one of our all time favorite volunteers here). That was a special treat. We then went back to hear about the MRI. The MRI showed a slightly smaller tumor and they are no longer concerned with the left side of the brain because there are plenty of decent size collateral vessels. Now, they are looking more at the right side (which wasn't an issue before) - I guess because it might not have collateral vessels already made. 

We then went to occupational therapy. We saw little Maria who is here with her mom from Panama. Then another family went up to them to talk. The mom looked at me, and it was our landlord's daughter with her son Elian Gonzalez. We hugged, and cried and hugged some more. Elian looked very good. They will be here for over 12 more months - which was the cause of some of the tears - she misses Ecuador, her family, etc. It must be so hard to be in another culture - without family - on top of all of the medical stuff. They are staying at the Target house though, which is very nice. He will be on chemo for another year and will have a second surgery on the other side of his neck in six months. It sounds like the cancer spread to the lymph nodes and that some had to be removed, and the others will be removed later. It was wonderful to see them, but sad that we would not be staying here longer. What an amazing way the Lord orchestrated us to rent their house in Ecuador so that we would get to know them, and then they would be able to talk with us and get information on coming here for treatment. 

Valerie then had her OT appointment and the therapist commented on how much improvement she sees in her. 

Tomorrrow we will fly back to FL, then will fly to Ecuador a week from today :)

Valerie loves St Judes so much, that she asked to come to the MRI waiting room to play for a while since we are leaving tomorrow. (Which is why I have time to write this update).

Love,

Celeste

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In Memphis

We are at St Judes now - waiting for the MRI. Valerie Grace did great on the plane - she slept on the first flight and then flirted with two "boys" on the second and talked constantly. When the van driver picked us up, she got into the van that had a cracked windshield and engine light on and said "wow, your van sure is fancy - it is way too fancy for me". Then she said "thank you for coming to pick us up" to the driver and many other cute, sweet things. When we were in the elevator at the hospital she thanked me for bringing her here - looked right up at my face and said "thank you mommy for brining me here". Too bad the camera crews weren't around, because that would have been a great commercial for St Judes :) Valerie is currently still without food and water, waiting to be sedated for the mri. My mom is here with us. 

We also were able to meet Susan and her son Jordan (who has a tumor similar to Valerie's). Jordan is a young adult now and really charming. I feel like I know Susan because we have written to each other so much over the years - it was nice to meet her (and to be able to hear her deep New Orleans accent - now I know what a true New Orleans accent sounds like :)

Thank you for your prayers.

Love,

Celeste

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Heading to Memphis

Valerie Grace had her eye appointment today. She still lacks vision to the right, left, above and below - but what she is seeing, she is seeing 20/20. I think that the CT showed good things - the report said that the artery in question was completely constricted and that the brain was being fed by collateral vessels that her brain made on it's own - amazing how the Lord made the human body. There is not a "Brain Scans for Dummies" book at the library though - so this is just my educated (via the internet) guess on what the report really meant.

Tomorrow morning we leave for St Judes. We will be there until Saturday afternoon. I honestly have no clue what to expect as far as the MRI there, all I know is I have four of the most amazing children - and that I often feel very spoiled and blessed. When Valerie Grace was first diagnosed, we really thought that if we prayed the right way, if we had the elders of the church come and annoint her with oil....if we just did things perfectly, then she would be immediately healed - we expected it....that was over 4 years ago. As we have continued to walk down this journey, the thing the Lord keeps impressing on me is to have love - to be thankful and that the more time I spend with Him, the less the stuff of life really matters. I don't know why the Lord has allowed us this time/healed Valerie in many ways/not healed her in others...I have lots of guesses and can see lots of fruit - but I don't think my flesh, my thoughts, or my words had anything to do with it. Maybe others look at us and feel that we didn't have our prayers answered, but I feel truly blessed beyond measure. He is good.

Love,
Celeste


Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7

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Back from the hospital

We are back home from Shands now. We went in and Shands had Valerie Grace down for sedation, but no CT scan. Last Thursday, the problem was they had her down for CT, but no sedation. Anyway, we asked for the OR to make some phone calls and were able to get down to CT, they sedated Valerie while she sat on my lap, then drew her labs that we needed for St Judes (Yeah!), and after a short wake, we were called up to OR recovery to pick her up. Thank you to Jennifer, Jerry, and Sara for sitting with me during the pre and post wait times.

The lab sheet we had was missing a couple of labs, but our Lord always seems to orchestrate things in neat way - Hillary from the brain tumor clinic just happened to be on the 2nd floor while we were erroneously waiting up there first thing this morning and hear Valerie's voice and came over. She was able to add the labs on the sheet for me.

Valerie Grace will have an eye appointment tomorrow and then we will fly to Memphis on Wednesday. Brooke will be staying in Gainesville for some special one on one time with Craig's parents.

Love,
Celeste

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CT now 6am

Shands called tonight and we are now supposed to be in there at 6am and on the main floor.
Valerie Grace is asleep in bed and all drawers, cups, and crevaces have been cleaned of all of the snacks that she tends to hoard around her room. So thankful we will be going in early - praying they actually see her early too. I went to Shands Friday and picked up blood tubes and a lab sheet so that hopefully (if they get her iv started before 8am) we can have her labs done tomorrow, rather than have her have to have an iv in her arm overnight at St Judes for an early morning lab draw. They want to check for her hormone levels and some have to be done first thing in the morning.

Love,
Celeste

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CT scan at Shands tomorrow morning

Tomorrow morning at 7am, Valerie Grace and I will be at big Shands for her CT scan. We are praying that everything goes quickly and smoothly and that the scan shows perfect blood flow to both sides of Valerie's brain and that there are no issues or problems with arteries, cysts or tumor. Praying that the doctors listen to me about what works well for sedation and that I am open to hearing from the Lord throughout this next week with two sedations and multiple other doctors visits and 4 airline flights.

Last night, the girls spent the night with my parents who drove down from NC. I went to church this morning and was greated by so many sweet faces and received many hugs. I made it through without crying until I saw the Felders...they both looked at me and spoke to me and I could feel that their hearts loved our little Valerie Grace as ours do. I think sometimes, all of this medical stuff becomes somewhat normal - but it is moments like those and that of Pastor Max talking to me about the miracles seen in Valerie Grace - that remind me that the Lord is so totally in this and that His heart breaks and rejoices with ours.

Craig and the girls are doing well in Ecuador. It has worked out really well finacially and all around to have thing this way (I am hoping that I will still be thinking that as we attempt to get our 200lb+ of luggage down to Ecuador on the 29th....if anyone would like to take a trip to Ecuador with us on our flight, this just might be the perfect time :)

Our marriage is doing fantastic, our girls seem to be doing well - and Valerie Grace is smiling more than ever and eating her way through the day.

Thank you for your love for our family, for support as we continue to reach out to the children and families in Ecuador and for your prayers for our precious girls.

And thank you to Send Love Today for the mountain of birthday cards that awaited Valerie Grace upon our return to Florida - she enjoyed opening each and every one and has kept them all in one of the bags that was mailed down with one of the cards.

Love,
Celeste

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CT rescheduled

The CT scan for tomorrow was canceled. I think we were bumped due to more pressing cases (which I understand because if Valerie Grace was a pressing case, I would want her bumping someone else). Anyway - Valerie Grace, praise God, is symptom free, so we will have the scan done Monday morning. Lord willing. We have been trying to have this done since last March - who knew scheduling a CT with sedation would be so difficult. One more week, we will be in the land of fast finger scheduling where they always seem to have time to get everyone in - St Judes is seriously the master of organized scheduling - they have a one stop shop that does all of the working around so you just go from place to place to place.



We are now scheduled for CT Monday morning at 7am.



Today has had some really high points - lunch with my friend Belinda at Shands along with a listening ear and advice on thinking through doing the scan without sedation tomorrow or with on Monday - thank you Belinda for helping me see things clearly. A night with the team who came to Ecuador with a surprise anniversary card and my all time favorite cake (black forest) which was suggested to the team by my very thoughtful husband (if there was a point system, that would have scored big :) (thanks Carrie's mom). Plus Sue made a wonderful dinner. What a treat to see everyone again. Valerie was able to see her three boys from the team. Brooke is spending the night with her adoptive third grandma and Ben. They have turtles, snakes, lizards (all of the important kind of pets), and their house is scattered with carvings and castings of frogs, lizards and other creatures because Ben is a very talented wood sculptor. Craig's parents came by and had new tires put on our van which was a huge blessing as time has been short around here to take care of those sort of things.



I miss Craig and the girls so much, but we have also been very surrounded by wonderful friends here which has been so helpful. The Lord is continually teaching me, and it is neat to see how many different ways He does teach me and how many different people He uses in my life. Truly, I am still amazed how He uses the children in clinic at Shands to speak silently to me. I see these children come in, obviously with some major medical problems, but so precious and loved by their parents and the Lord and I am reminded of the continued need for education, evangelism, prayer, and love in Ecuador so that parents will have that same love there for their own children. Children need love, and medically challenged or not - and I am convicted and reminded of who I am in Christ and the amazing love that is available to be poured out on our own children and then how that love can then overflow to those around us.



We have been shown so much love this trip - thank you to everyone who has reached out to our family and offered your time to us - it means a lot to have a hug and a hand to hold - thank you for letting His love spill out onto us.



Love,
Celeste

The picture below is of Brooke at about 10,000 feet above sea level. The clouds rested on the ground of that mountain and it reminded me of the Lord's love spilling out - and four people watched that day, high up on that mountain as Brooke exploded with joy and danced on those hills.



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Valerie going to Shands Hospital today and tomorrow

Later today ( I can't sleep) Valerie will go into Shands to see the neurosurgeon and then preop. When children are sedated for CTs, it seems to be different than with MRIs and they have told us for that reason, Valerie will have to go through the OR to be sedated for the CT on Thursday (hence the appointments today). We are having this test done to check and see if both sides of her brain are receiving the same amount of blood flow. Her left main artery feeding the brain is very narrowed, but she has no symptoms. We hope that there are enough collateral vessels already in place to feed that side of her brain.
Today has been challenging and our calendar for this short time is quickly filling up - I am not sure why I even brought school books here for the girls. I have spent the past two days returning phone calls that were on our answering machine (insurance questions) and running around getting items we need for Ecuador (I have 3 quite full bags already packed to go back). Tonight ended well though as I was able to go to Family Group tonight and enjoy fellowship, worship and prayer (in English!) Such a wonderful group of believers - it is so neat to see how each person has grown (since we skip months between meetings :)
I have bugged Craig by calling about 10+ times today. It is a free call from where we are in FL which is convenient (for me :).

Tomorrow night, we get to meet and have dinner with the group that came to Ecuador and then Brooke will be having a sleepover and spending Thursday with our friends while Valerie and I are at the hospital.

Tomorrow is also our 14th wedding anniversary.

Love and thanks for your prayers,

Celeste

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Back in Florida

We made it back to Florida safely. The team was extremely helpful in carrying my bags and carrying Valerie Grace. They all sang happy birthday to me when we left our house in Ecuador. I was so exhausted, and my patience was left in Ecuador I think - the team was such a huge help. I am thinking next time we have to return to the US for medical stuff, we might stay in Quito overnight rather than do this all day trip thing. It was close to 24 hours of travelling.

This is a photo the team took in Panama - on their way to Ecuador. The airline handed out masks on the way off the plane. (the team put them on for the photo only :)

When we all went through Panama a week later, no masks were handed out, but plenty were being worn by other travellers. Valerie kept asking why everyone was wearing a mask. The copa flight attendants all wore masks (making it very difficult to understand their English and Spanish).

We are glad to have made it here safely, but we miss Craig, Courtney and Natalie Joy very much. The team was wonderful - thank you again to everyone who came and everyone who played a part in this team coming to Ecuador and ministering there.

Love,
Celeste

Below are more pictures from the group's time in Ecuador

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Pictures from today

The team had a fun day today with the monkeys. Also pictures of all of the bagged up clothing for Sacha Runa. The leaders of the church will be posting for a community wide church service this Sunday and will be giving out clothing to the children. The last two pictures are Maria's goodbye with Valerie and a picture of Maria and I that Valerie took...another hard goodbye.


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Leaving for US tomorrow - medical trip

The team is in Sacha Runa taking a hike with Maria's dad now. Maria came by and Valerie asked if she would take her to the park. Maria didn't even look at me, but just said okay - and off they went. Maria gets very sad before we leave and wants to spend every second she can with Valerie Grace. Maria will be with Valerie all day until around 8pm tonight. Maria's mom started crying after we ate there the other day. Maria told me yesterday that she has been fighting back tears because we are leaving.
Honestly, we don't really want to go back - we love being back in Ecuador and don't want to leave so soon. We will be gone for 3 weeks. Next week, Valerie will be at Shands Wednesday and Thursday. The following week, my mom, Valerie and I will head to St Judes from the 20-23rd of May. Then on the 29th we will fly back to Ecuador. Craig is staying here with Natalie and Courtney.
So, at 6am tomorrow, we will be loading on a bus with the team and making the drive up to Quito. We fly to Panama at 4pm and then to Florida - landing around midnight.

Our landlord's grandson Elian Gonsalez will be having surgery on Thursday (for stage 4 melanoma). Our landlord talked to us last night and said Elian's biological father is interested in flying up there to see them. She said that Elian and Heidy are very happy at St Judes and have found it to be very nice.


Please pray for Valerie Grace as she will be sedated and have scans at Shands and St Judes. We would also appreciate prayers for Craig and the girls as they stay in Ecuador, and for Elian as he has surgery.

Love,
Celeste
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Baking, painting, and English

Rick LaBouef, another missionary in town, taught Craig to play a dice game when we went over there for dinner one night. The game has been a big hit with Craig and the team. The team has also played with the children in Sacha Runa, and today they are out teaching English now. They plan to use the dice game to teach English numbers.....and of course, they had to practice before heading out there today :)
This morning, Jen taught how to make muffins and pizza in our house (I picked up some great tips too). Jen works in a bakery in the US and can make some amazing things. While Jen was teaching us to bake, the rest of the team was out in Sacha Runa finishing up the painting.




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Church progress

This week, the team has been painting the outside and inside of the church in Sacha Runa. It is coming along very well. The block soaked up the paint quite a bit. The team has been painting in the mornings and have done community outreach in the afternoon (once the children start coming home from school). This team raised a lot of money and thanks to everyone who donated for them to come down, we will be able to start some new programs as well as possibly help with a church project in another area. This team also brought down a LOT of English/Spanish dictionaries so that we will have some great materials for restarting English classes. Tomorrow, the team will be teaching English in Sacha Runa in the afternoon. They have been going strong from sunrise to well after sunset and have been such a blessing to us and everyone they have met in Sacha Runa. We have a couple of Spanish speakers too in the group which has been great. Thank you again to everyone who made this trip possible -for those who gave up their time to come, for those who gave of their money to provide, and those who prayed and are praying - thank you!

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Game day in Sacha Runa

The children in Sacha Runa had a blast yesterday - I think the team did too....

Playing duck, duck, goose...

These little boys below loved playing dice. It is a game that Rick (another missionary in Shell) taught Craig.

A friendly game of Ecuadorian volleyball about to start. It is said that the traditional height of the net is this high because games are often set up in streets and it needs to be high enough for cars to drive under.

Shelby throwing a boy up in the air (the rest of the time, they were hanging off of him)

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Mayto for lunch in Sacha Runa

Valerie Grace, Celeste, Mara, Shelby, Michael, Stephanie, Ben, Megan, Jen, and Marilyn

Maria's mom and sister preparing maytos

Magdelena tending to the cooking fire - look how close she gets to the flames...as we left after eating, she cracked a joke and said - you all ate everything - you are going to be very very fat. You should have left me more food. Her daughters all roared with laughter after she said this.

Tilapia fresh from Magdelena's pond

Gusanos - Palm grubs - fresh from Sacha Runa...not bad - I think all of us ladies ate them.

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Our team arrived safely last night. The girls and I drove over to meet them and made it all the way to the guesthouse gate before stalling out. Craig and the team were just 7 minutes away and helped Brooke and I push.
Today, the team painted about all of the exterior of the church. Another missionary who has been helping with the Woaranis came and helped us with the church. In the afternoon, they finished up some painting, then played volleyball and soccer with some boys from Sacha Runa.
The girls have REALLY enjoyed the team being here. Teams are one of their favorite parts about Ecuador I think. Valerie Grace loves her boys and Brooke seems to have really taken to Ben G. She asked if he would sit beside her the first night.
Maria is doing much better. She came by today and I told her about my symptoms all weekend. Seems like we had the same thing. She is 100% and this afternoon I am feeling about 80%. Strange thing is - none of our older children got it. Valerie Grace is a total ball of energy - back to her normal no napping and constant talking (which is making me feel very happy).
We would appreciate your prayers for the team to have a positive impact on the people of Sacha Runa and for all of us to grow in our relationships with each other and the Lord during these next few days. We are SO greatful they are here and they have been such an encouragement to us.

Love,
Celeste

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Update on Valerie Grace

Thank you for your prayers for Valerie Grace. She is no longer sleeping often and has been off of zofran (the anti-nausea medicine) all day and has been eating well, and calling out "mom" in her normal loud voice.

Craig will leave Shell at 7am tomorrow morning on the public bus to meet the team in Quito around 1:30pm. Earlier this week, there was a landslide that blocked the road before Banos for 6+ hours. We would appreciate prayers for a clear road, good driver, and safe trip.

Love,
Celeste

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Elian Gonzalez

Elian Gonzalez is our Ecuadrian landlady's grandson. He and his mom Heidy will be travelling to TN to be seen at St Judes Hospital. He has been diagnosed with cancer on his head. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel and adjust to the new environment. Please pray that the doctors have wisdom on how to best treat Elian and that they will make Spanish speaking friends while there. Valerie, my mom, and I will be traveling to St Judes on the 20th of May and hopefully will be able to visit with them while we are there.

Love,
Celeste


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Valerie Grace

Valerie Grace didn't sleep as sound last night (which is more normal for her :)
She woke up much more chipper than she has been and seems to have her appetite back. She has been on zofran for the past day and a half. We found out yesterday that the local mission school has a vomiting virus going around. Maria came by this morning and seems to have mumps (with vomiting) - so maybe Valerie got a mild case of something like that. Anyway, she seems to be better. Thank you for your prayers.
We would appreciate your prayers for Maria to feel better - she looks like a chipmunk and feels pretty rotten.

Love,
Celeste

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