Nana Was Here!

We just finished a very nice visit with Corey's mom. She came to Colombia for a week and we had a chance to share some sights with her as well as see new ones for ourselves! We took her to the National Museum to learn a little about Colombia. We went to Multiparque, the kids' favorite park and had a blast! Even Nana got in on the playing! We visited the Salt Cathedral, a salt mine in the Andes Mountains that has huge crosses representing the Stations of the Cross all throughout it ending in a beautiful chapel 180 meters below ground! It was dark and a little scary, but a very cool experience.

A friend of mine has a flower farm that raises roses to be sent to the States. Her husband was sweet enough to take us on a tour of the farm and show us the whole process of how roses are grown and what happens once they're cut. So if you order your flowers through a 1-800 number or get them from Wal-Mart, Super Target, Sam's or a bunch of other stores....chances are good we've seen your flowers before you did! Carlos, the owner, told us he was in the States a couple of weeks ago and saw his flowers when he was running into a grocery store! The tour was amazing, but even cooler yet, he sent us home with a hundred roses!! Our house looks and smells beautiful!!!

We took Nana to have lunch with Alex and Maggie and to visit our church. One night we had a fruit fiesta - we went to the fruit market and bought a bunch of the really strange looking fruits to come home and try. I found out later some are only used for juice or making candy, but we had fun trying to figure them all out!

Our final visit was to Monserrate. We made this trip when we were here three years ago, but it managed to take our breath away all over again. Pictures don't do justice to the steepness of the mountain as you take a train or a cable car to the top or to the expanse of the city as you look out over Bogota, but you can gather a glimpse of what it's like.

It was so nice to have Nana here and we had a wonderful visit!
~Tona

It's Our Anniversary

Today Corey and I celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss! See what happens when you've been married to a goofball that long...

~Tona

One Year Ago Today...

I didn't realize it until mom called - today marks one year since we left the U.S. A year ago today we were saying our goodbyes completely unsure of what lay ahead. I remember trying really hard not to cry and Josi telling me not to make her cry. Saying goodbye was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I look back at this year and I can't believe all we've been through. Eight months in Costa Rica, experiencing things I'd never dreamed I'd get to do, two short but memorable trips to Nicaragua and finally landing in Colombia where we had worked so hard and for so long to arrive. This year has been amazing, difficult, emotional, exciting, triumphant, fulfilling...I think I could list every emotion in existence here. It's such a bittersweet feeling to look back on this last year. Language school was tough, but we made incredible friends. Our experiences here have been incredible, but we're sad to have missed new babies and weddings of dear friends. This year took me away from my sister during her most trying time, making it one of the biggest challenges of my commitment to this ministry I have ever faced. God helped us get through it.

I asked the kids what their favorite memory of this year was and what they missed most from the States. Alex said his favorite memory was getting to spend time with is friend, Taylor, an MK to Mexico who was our neighbor in Costa Rica. He said he really missed the snow in Michigan. Maggie's favorite memory this year was meeting and making really good friends with Natalie, an MK to Nicaragua who was in her class in Costa Rica. She missed Sebastian the most (my mom's dog, which if you know Maggie well you'll know that anything besides an animal would be shocking.) Corey couldn't think of an answer, but said that his favorite thing about this year was that our marriage proved to be stronger than ever. It's a funny thought, but he was nervous knowing that we'd be together pretty much 24/7, but we've found that we are absolutely perfect for each other and even after a year of being together nearly every minute of every day we find that we are still madly in love!

I expect this year will be more settled, but you never know what's in store!
~Tona

A Bright, Sunshiny Day

Today was one of those days you wished could linger on forever. We had a relaxing day at the park. We went with the other missionaries, their kids and a few others. The park was called Parque de la Florida. We knew it must be a winner! It felt like a completely "normal" day. We grilled hamburgers, a pickup game of football was played - just a note, I tried to buy an American football a few weeks ago and couldn't find a store that carried them - walked around the park and just had a wonderful time! The weather was picture perfect, sunny and warm. One downfall of Bogotá is that it can be deceiving. You don't feel like it's that hot, but you can get very sunburned because of the altitude. We all survived fairly well, fortunately! It was just a perfect day of spending time with family and friends relaxing!
~Tona

Happy New Year!!

It's 2007!! I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve! Ours was rather uneventful. We went to a friend's house and watched a movie and came back home around 10. The kiddies went to bed and Corey and I watched a movie until it was time for the ball to drop. We missed Dick Clark this year, but we got to see the fun on CNN. This was one of those nights I was missing friends and family. We've had some pretty awesome parties in Michigan for New Year's Eve and this year we missed out. We're excited for this next year! Unfortunately the start was rough for Corey as he watched Michigan lose the Rose Bowl, but I strongly believe that won't temper the rest of our year! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year!

I thought I'd share some Colombian traditions on New Year's. We were very entertained watching people do all sorts of crazy things outside our window. I got the explanations for some of it off of the internet because I'm still figuring out what it all means, but I thought it was pretty interesting!

Suitcases - At the stroke of midnight we heard all sorts of yelling and celebrating. We looked out the window and people were running through the streets carrying suitcases. Here's the meaning of that:

In Colombia, people traditionally wear yellow on New Year's Eve in hopes of a good year ahead. The evening is usually shared with family and friends; dinner is usually served at midnight. At midnight, you can still see some people take their suitcases out for a walk, in hopes that they'll travel in the next twelve months.

Mr. Old Year - I had heard about this one, but I didn't actually get to see it happening, although we may try this one out next year:

Burning "Mr. Old Year" is a New Year's tradition in some cities of Colombia. It requires the participation of the entire family. It is a lot of fun; they fabricate a big stuffed male doll that represents the old year. Then they stuff the doll with different materials. Sometimes they put some little fireworks in it to make it more exciting at the time they burn it. Also, they put things inside that they don't want anymore, objects that can bring sadness or bad memories. These things will burn with the old year, meaning that they want to forget all the bad things that happened during the past year. They dress the man with old clothes from each member of the family. Then, on New Year's Eve at midnight, they set the doll on fire. This symbolizes burning the past and getting ready to start a happy New Year without bad memories of the past.

And one more for you:
People eat 12 grapes on New Years at midnight to ring in the New Year on a good note. The grapes are a sign of health and prosperity. After the grapes are eaten, people hug and kiss and speak blessings on each other.

Oh, and as there seems to be nearly every night for one reason or another, there were tons of fireworks!

Happy New Year!!
~Tona