Mmmm, Rico, rico!

I made a surprising discovery today: Jordan likes green tea! Granted, it is flavored with green apple, but still, it’s a bit unusual. Don’t you think? I was filling my glass at lunch when she asked for some. I gave her a sip, telling her that she probably wouldn’t like it. She promptly sat back, smacked her lips, and said, “Mmmm, rico, rico!” (“Rico” means “rich,” but it is most often used to say something is delicious.) We have a tea lover in the family!

We're Alright!

Some of you have expressed concern for our safety after the earthquake that hit Costa Rica this afternoon. Thank you! We want you all to know that we are safe and well. At 1:21PM a 6.2 (Richter scale) earthquake hit the area of Alajuela, Heredia, and the Central Valley where San José (the capital of Costa Rica) is located. The epicenter of the earthquake was a few miles from the Poas Volcano.

Our family was at Lindsay’s school at the time. The building began shaking and continued shaking, as if it were swaying on a wave of water, for quite some time (40 seconds according to some reports)! We have become accustomed to feeling small quakes from time to time, mostly at night, but this was much stronger and lasted a lot longer that anything previous. We just heard on the news that this was the strongest tornado felt in the area in the past 20 years.

Reports say that two young girls selling candy to tourists on the road near Poas were killed when they were covered by a mudslide, but we haven’t heard of any other fatalities. Damage in the area around the volcano is pretty severe with dozens of homes damaged or destroyed, 100’s hurt and more than 35 KM of roads destroyed. Reports of damage in the city of San José have been minimal.

We are thankful that Meghan flew out of Costa Rica early this morning, long before the earthquake hit, and is now safely in Chicago. If anything more develops here, we’ll keep you posted.

Please pray that the Lord would protect, especially those who live in unsafe houses.

Grateful for your prayers!
Henry, Marcette, Lindsay & Jordan

A Hike to the Cross (of Alajuelita)

Yesterday was the last opportunity to really get out and do something before vacation ended and, having no takers, I decided to try to hike to the cross of Alajuelita. In actuality, there are three crosses, which you can see if you click on the link to see the album that added.

The first and most interesting thing that I saw was a sloth! Beyond that, the views were outstanding! The hike was tougher than I thought it would be (for a desk jockey), but I'm glad that I went. I ran into a group of guys at the start of the hike and they graciously allowed me to hike with them and we enjoyed goofing around during the hike. The young man who was leading the group knew the "back way" down, which yielded more gorgeous views and, after hundreds of meters of walking down the steep side of the mountain, we came to the river, which we followed back to the starting point.

A tiring day, but well worth the effort.

A Day at the Fun Park

We went to the Parque de Diversiones this morning which is a fun park kind of like a small Great America (complete with fuzzy characters walking around!). Meghan and Lindsay went one way while Cette, Jordan, and I went to the small kids section. Jordan had a blast riding the "bullet train,", the semi's, the Tea Cups, and her very first roller coaster! The older girls had fun also, but the lines were so long, they were only able to ride a couple before Jordan was worn out.

Are you an Office fan?

We were slow to come around, but we (Henry and Lindsay primarily) have become fans of the Office. Here is a funny compilation of pranks Jim has pulled on Dwight. Enjoy!