Deep in the Heart of Texas

In May we took a brief trip to Texas to see Richard's family. It was a great escape from the heat (can you believe it?), and we had a wonderful time. Between time in Dallas, at the house in Pampa, and on the ranch, we felt good and family-filled. Below is the book we made on Shutterfly to commemorate our experience. I was so proud of it I just wanted to share (no other compensation beyond joy and pride). 

Note: There are not so many pages as it seems when the book is loading, but you do have to have a little patience, and once it does load you will see extra Shutterfly logo-ing, etc. That is what you get when you take an embed code from a commercial website I do believe...but whatcha gonna do?

 Click here to view this photo book larger

 (and you are totally going to want to see it larger...)

6 - Cities in 6 Months...Twice!

Peanut is actually quite the traveler. Besides going to Urabá and Brazil in utero, she has kept up her busy schedule out of the womb as well.

1. On her first monthday she headed to an ordination service in Cartagena.

Outdoor beach restaurants will put a girl right to sleep

2. Month two it was off to Medellín for her first church conference.

Nametag and all

 3/4. Month three and part of four introduced Peanut to international flight and the joy of customs as we went home to North Carolina and Texas to allow her to greet more of the family in person. 

White Christmas and Maxine to boot! Nothing better.

Hanging out in Texas with the cousins. Like people do.

5. Month five was Bogotá.We hung out with the Walker-Wilson family and the Colombia Mission Network. 

Two great tastes that went great together!

A little confused by all this outerwear, but happy!

6. Six months found us back in Barranquilla and here we stayed for a while (thank God), until we got to July.

Kickin' it for Carnaval de los Niños

And then we decided to do it all over again, sort of:

1. In July we went back to the States for the Big Tent Event with the Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. For four days we lived it up with Presbyterians from all over the place, and Peanut got a taste of what it is to stay with Abuelita Kit. I think she could get used to it...

What, this stole and necklace? I was just getting ready to give them back...

2. It is but a short jaunt from Indianapolis to Chicagoland, so we headed north to talk with folks in Chicago Presbytery about what we are doing in Colombia. Peanut, as always, stole the show. It was a gift to stay with loved ones in the city and out!

Requisite Bean Photo

3. Chicago is close to New York (okay, no it isn't), so Brooklyn was home for about 6 days. Nothing better than workin' for the Lord and hanging with your buddies at the same time. 

Seriously could no one have told Jesse and me we needed to wipe our faces?

4. New York is in fact close to New Jersey (the parts we were visiting at least), so next it was to the Jersey Shore. And yes, we did see filming and may even appear in an episode walking through an amusement park...you just never know.

Mmmmm...Sandy Hook tastes good

5. Though sad to leave, it was good to get back home...until last week when we headed off to Bogotá again! This time we stayed with Doña Flor and Carlotto the cat. He became a great focus of attention.

Stop laughing people. It is called layering.

6. And finally we are back again in Barranquilla. I think when you are away for long enough you get to count home as another travel stop. And it works for the whole theme I have going on, so it's in. Welcome home baby girl, welcome home.

All right, back to work. Clothing optional.

Ay Yay Yay

Seriously? You people have had to wait since December 3rd to see a post on this site? That is just sad. Pitiful really. I could put lots of excuses up here - good ones even - but that would probably take more time than just pictures, and that is what you want, right?

So here you go. A few pictures to get me back on the wagon. You're gonna love 'em.

PS. I spent two days trying to get this with music and coolio stuff. After the 179th attempt, and a host of words I am not interested in Nora using just yet, I have ceded my vision for at least having a freaking post. Geesh.

Marvelous Medellín

I mentioned in my last post that we had been in Medellín.  For those of you who do not know, Richard and I are in love with Medellín.  It is just lovely, nestled in a valley with mountains all around.  The temperature there is basically always in the 60s and 70s, and it is lush and green.  There are lots of great parks, a light rail system public transit with gondolas that take you up the mountain sides, a beautiful (and free) botanical garden, and public art everywhere.  Okay so it also has some gangs and violence problems, but hey...who doesn't? 

Anyway, we all traveled to Medellín last week for a gathering between Winnebago Presbytery (Wisconsin) and Urabá Presbytery (Colombia).  I got a little over-zealous and packed a completely unnecessary piece of long underwear, but I did get to wear long sleeves; it was quite a treat.  We pulled out the 4 things we have with long sleeves for Peanut plus the completely snazzy hat that Diane knitted for us, and we took off.  

Peanut was the absolute star of the meeting with everyone passing her around and offering to hold her.  The Winnebagans brought her a Green Bay Packers rattle (see above photo) and promised to come back and visit her.  The folks from Urabá were thrilled to meet her since they had "met" her when I was there and 6 months pregnant.  Photos abounded.  In fact, few of the photos that follow were taken by our camera...

As Peanut was sicky, we got caught in the clash of even more competing parenting advice:

- the fresh air will do her good!

- cover her up, the breeze will make her sick!

- don't wrap her up so tight, she doesn't like it!

- keep her wrapped tight, they like it!

- you should not keep her in that Bjorn all the time - try different positions!

- keep her upright in the Bjorn, she seems most comfortable that way!

- etc...and yes, they all did end in exclamation points!

At any rate, she is doing better now and has had her initial taste of air travel.  Cartagena in month 1, Medellín in month 2, the United States in month 3...gracious whatever will we do next?  :)

Planes...

Trains...

Trams...

and Gondolas?!

Anniversary!

So Mamie and I snuck away last week for a quick celebration of our eighth wedding anniversary. Yes, eight years ago, many of you were dancing it up in Winston-Salem, NC.  We had a wonderful stay-cation right here in Barranquilla, going to one of the city's historic old hotels, the Hotel El Prado.  The grounds, and the pool in particular are fabulous (see above, or click on the hotel name to take a virtual tour).

During the stay, Mamie proved that pregnant women do not float, but we're pretty sure Peanut enjoyed the pool.  Mamie at least enjoyed the feeling of being 8 kilos lighter again!  It was a great time to get away, because Mamie has been put on bed rest for the duration of this pregnancy.  Sooo, lesson learned is: take the vacation when you can!

Kickin' It in Rio

Yeah, so Rio de Janeiro is WAY cool.  You should totally plan to go there after you visit us.  :)  

Peanut must have also been impressed because the kicking started there, and it ain't never turning back.  It is nothing quite so strong as the picture on our earlier post (which I quite frankly can't decide is real or not), but I have officially seen my shirt move and Peanut even bumped our little computer up and down a few minutes ago.  Wild.  I am not sure this experience reduces the sense of alien being inhabiting your body, but we are just hoping the nutter is more friendly than any movie counterparts.  

We also know that Peanut's ears are now supposed to be in the right place (thank goodness, they were moving for weeks), and the eyes are able to distinguish light from dark.  Dra. Lily (regular doc, not OB) told us that we are supposed to shine a light on my belly through a colored cloth and tell Peanut what color it is.  Thus, not so regularly, we press my shirt on my belly and say, "Esta es ROJA Peanut"  (This is RED Peanut) and proceed to name all the things we encounter regularly that are red.  This is more challenging with purple once you get past eggplants and the color Mama Kit mistakenly died her hair one Easter, so feel free to add your suggestions.  

At any rate, in Rio, on the top of Corcovado (where the big Christ statue is, see above) we decided that if we could tell Peanut what color something was, we could show Peanut what Rio was too...so we have included a small video for your viewing...giggles.  :)

Peanut and Rio from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

PS.  It should be noted that Dra Lily also gave us an actual prescription (written on her prescription pad) to have Peanut listen to Christian music for an hour every day.  We have potentially broadened the definition of Christian music she had in mind, but I don't think Shakira will mind.

Brazil Bound

Today we are off to Brazil!  We have a mission personnel retreat with all the folks serving in South America and the Caribbean at a site just outside São Paolo, Brazil (look way South, a little below Rio). 

This means a few different things:

1.  Posts will likely be more sporadic, though we may try to put something up while we are away so don´t forget about us altogether!  To note, we shall return May13th at the latest for a Happy Birthday DAD (that would be RICHARD) sonogram update.

2.  Peanut will now have traveled to three countries (in utero, but there is definitely travel going on) in his/her short 4-ish months of existence.  Darn tootin' easier to carry the bean around this way too in the end...

So "tchau" for now, pessoas queridas.