Happy Birthday our little princess

Birthdays seem to come around very quickly each year so I am very grateful that I began the planning process for this one some time ago having finally gotten an answer from Alana as to what theme she wanted this year. Princesses seem to be a very popular theme for this age so I was able to gather plenty of ideas.

Bolivian birthday parties don't always constitute to much fun with both child and parents sitting around not sure quite what to do with themselves (or at least that has been our experience of some) so I like to plan things that will be fun (hopefully) for both the parents and children.  This of course has to be tempered with the fact that people never arrive to birthday parties for the time that you state on the invitation so activities need to be flexible.

We were not expecting anybody to arrive for the 3pm start time on the invitation however by 4:15 when still nobody had arrived we were beginning to get a little concerned that in fact nobody was going to come. But thankfully by 4:30 the princesses did began to arrive in a steady flow until the last one arrived at about 6pm!

The festivities began with a painting of the nails and putting on eye shadow and lipstick, which the girls loved, then we moved onto making crowns.  During the corse of this time more had arrived so once everyone had finished their crowns we could play some games beginning with parcel parcel and the usual few reluctant to pass the parcel on in the home it may stop on them. Then we played 'kiss the frog' where by each in turn were blind folded, put on lipstick and had to kiss a picture of a frog.  We then finished of the games with 'musical thrones' (Basically just musical chairs).

It was then time to eat and for Alana to blow the candles out on the cake and then to take a bite of it (A bolivian tradition here).  Once everybody was satisfied with full tummies (Apart from Alana who was still sat eating way after everybody else was done) the princesses then got to decorate their own party bags ready to take home with them some party goodies.

Whilst all this was going on the parents were happy sat playing games together such as Uno and Jenga.

Alana had a great time and I like to think that the other children and their parents did too.

Day of the pedestrian

This year La Paz decided to institute a new national day, that of the pedestrian.  This means that for one day a year no vehicles are permitted to drive about the streets, as a way to try and combat the pollution and congestion that normally clogs up the city. So from 8am in the morning until 4pm in the afternoon the streets are completely clear of any traffic.  This makes for a really nice tranquil sunday with lots of people milling about along the streets, on skateboards and bicycles.

New and old friends

One of the advantages of our job is that we are able to travel as a family in order to visit our expat staff living in different parts of the country. This gives a great opportunity for our children to form and grow relationships with other children of similar ages who experience many of the same struggles and joys of living within a different culture.

Isaiah was very happy to share his hat with his new friend Virginia in Cochabamba.

Isaiah enjoyed his crash course in lessons of how to roll around the floor from his new friend lydia, who believe it or not is a month and a half older than Isaiah!

Alana enjoyed getting to play again with her friend Ella as well as her old friend the lion in the main plaza of Sucre.

6 months old already

Time is flying by and it doesn’t seem possible that our little baby is already 6 months old. We praise God for a very healthy and happy baby who is developing in all the right ways. He now weighs a good 7kg and is just about at the point of being able to sit up on his own.

Being a true moulding he has a very healthy appetite and is tucking into 3 solid meals a day as well as his regular milk feeds. So far he has been enjoying most of what he has been offered though has made some amusing faces along the way.

He is often fascinated by his own hands and its fun to watch as he suddenly notices one, studies it closely before then putting it into his mouth. He also loves to watch his big sister and smile and giggle at some of her antics. He has also taught himself how to keep entertained when nobody else is about to do so, by rocking himself in his chair, a skill he mastered quite early on. As he gets more excited his arm moves faster and the harder he rocks himself.

At the age of just 6 months he is already becoming well travelled with having just completed a trip to Cochabamba and this last weekend to Sucre. He got a little hungry whilst our first trip was delayed, thankfully we had a banana to hand he could tuck into. The remainder of the journeying he pretty much spent sleeping. All good practice for the long haul visit to the UK next year!

Getting all the relevant paperwork completed for a child born outside of the UK can be a little arduous at times, but we are thankful now to be almost at the end of it all as we just wait to receive his British passport. Having heard some of the nightmare tales from other expats having children here we realize how blessed we have been with the relative ease in actually being able to get all the appropriate documents completed and in order.

We now look forward to see what the next 6 months bring!

Traffic Congestion!

Being stuck in traffic jams here in La Paz is a common occurrence, mostly due to the sheer volume of traffic so we were a little surprised to discover the real cause of the problems on one particular taxi ride. Upon seeing a bus blocking the road up ahead our first thoughts were that it had broken down or had a puncture. As we inched our way closer we were quite shocked to discover that it had in fact lost its entire wheel!

Moulding Chronicles July 2011

Dear Friends,

Attitude is everything! After all of the busyness of LARC I (Ed) have been trying to find my place and purpose again in FH. Once LARC was over I found myself asking what was next, what are we doing here and why? It has taken some time for me to find my feet again and I have had to go back to God once again asking him what is his plan for us.

After some time of rest, reflection and a good family holiday on Lake Titicaca God showed me 3 important points that I am re-learning and trusting God to shape into our hearts. The first was ‘contentment’ I read in a daily devotional that if you are not content with what you are doing now then you will never be content when you have your wants. Lately I have found my thoughts occupied wondering about what the next thing is, and not focussing on the here and now and being content with what I have been given to do at present. This led me onto the Gods second point where I was challenged ‘to have the right attitude of heart.’

At some point after LARC I lost this attitude and had forgotten that we are here in Bolivia to serve others. At times our work can seem frustratingly bitty and behind the scenes with no direct contact or interaction with people in the communities where FH is working. However, God has reaffirmed that our role as a family is to come alongside others both national and international staff within and others outside of FH to be a support and encouragement. Looking back we can see how God has used us in a variety of different ways, be that through listening and encouraging, practical administrative tasks or just taking a job off of someone to free them up for other things. In doing these things we have been enabling FH to achieve its vision and mission of walking with Churches, Leaders and Families.

The last point God showed me was that ‘all should be for the Glory of God’. When we were last in the UK we heard a sermon on the shorter catechism and have since read about it in a parenting book we are studying with some friends. It asks the question ‘what is the chief end of Man?’ And answers ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever’. God challenged me in this. Is what I am doing glorifying Him?

From these 3 points God has been helping me to redirect my focus back onto him to start out each day seeking to glorify him, being contented in what I am doing and with the right attitude of heart to serve him.

Having been challenged personally on these things, can I ask you too, does your life and what you do glorify Him?

Thank God for:

• A good relaxing family holiday
• The opportunity for Sarah’s parents to visit and meet Isaiah
• Grace and mercy as he patiently seeks to mould, shape and grow us into the people he wants us to be

Ask God for:

• Contentment and right attitudes in our work, family and friendships
• Renewed wisdom and passion for how to encourage and walk with our colleagues and friends so that God will be glorified

Blessings

Ed, Sarah, Alana & Isaiah

Moving home

Moving house is never an easy simple process, particularly when children are involved, however, amazingly it seems one of the very few processes here in Bolivia that can happen extremely quickly, our latest move being a case in point. Due to ever increasing rent we were no longer able to keep renting our current apartment so it was time to start looking again. Originally we were going to have to move right at the time when Isaiah was due to be born, however our landlady graciously allowed us to extend our current contract at the same price for just 3 months more to enable us to have Isaiah and get over the birth etc. The extension also served to enable us to host friends during a recent workshop.

With all such things in the past we knew it was time to start looking through the papers again and start asking around if anybody knew of any decent places up for rent. The down side to delaying was going to put us on a house hunt at a time of year when there was little movement due to it being the middle of school terms etc. However, in one weekend we had a number of places lined up to go and see.

Our first viewing was a definite possibility and we accepted the place in part because we were not sure what else was going to be available. The lady showing us the place was very non-committal saying that she had also had other acceptances and so would discuss it with her mother (the co-owner) and then get back to us the following day. Being unsure as to wether we would get it or not we decided to continue looking at other places, of which we were very glad that we did. We saw two other places that were pretty awful but the next we saw on the Monday morning we both really liked and so accepted that one too. The agent took our offer straight away and closed the door to any other viewers.

From there it was all a whirl wind. The Tuesday we signed a contract, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were spent busy packing, Saturday we were moved by a removal company and saw all our worldly belongings piled on the back of an open truck, then Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent unpacking it all again. Thanks to some good friends Alana was able to go and play with her good friend over the weekend which left us free to get on with the job. By the end of Monday it already felt that we had been living there for weeks.

In many ways it has been a good move, the apartment is still spacious like the previous one and receives lots of sun through out the day which is essential for keeping warm, its located in a relatively safe community and requires us all to do more exercise which is no bad thing as its located at the top of a hill on the third floor with no lift!

It has meant a change of kinder for Alana to one which is a little closer, but she seems to be very happy with the change and has been able to be reunited with some old friends who changed earlier on in the year.

Feliz dia del Madre

Mothers day was made very special this year by the presence of Isaiah within our family. This time last year I remember quite clearly being so sad at the fact that Alana didn’t have a sibling, whilst it was a joy to celebrate being a mother to such a precious daughter it was also a sad reminder of our three children never born. Little did we know at the time that within just one month Isaiah would begin his journey with us.

Friday was officially mothers day, when everybody seemed to be walking around with some kind of flower arrangement ranging from a single red rose to more elaborate floral displays. On every street corner it seemed that vendors had appeared in order to sell flowers and balloons and other knick knacks.

In recognition of the day the FH office here in La Paz set aside a special time to celebrate together the mothers who work within FH of which their were five of us this year. We each received a beautiful rose bouquet and then shared together a very scrummy white chocolate cake.

The celebrations continued on Saturday with Alana taking part in a special mothers day performance at her kinder. For the last few weeks all the children have been busy making special pieces of art work which were put on display as well as practicing a number of different songs which they performed for all of the parents. It was a delight to see Alana able to fully join in and sing all of the songs.

Sunday was our final celebration as all the Mothers at church were prayed for and presented with a little gift. On occasions like this I am reminded of how blessed I am to be a mother to two beautiful children. A blessing which I don’t take for granted.

Moulding Chronicles May 2011

Dear Friends,

It has certainly been a busy few months and its still not over yet. It began back at the beginning of April when Ed took a last minute trip to Sucre to help one of our families close down their life in Bolivia as they had to make a quick exit in order to get urgent medical care for their 18 month old son. The last we heard was that surgery went well and that he is now doing good.

Following that Ed then spent many long days making the final plans and preparations for the Latin America Regional Conference, before heading off to Cochabamba for the week to see it all through. It was an exhausting time keeping everything running smoothly and all 38 delegates happy, including last minute shopping for one guy from Kenya whose luggage apparently never left the continent of Africa! Those that attended the conference benefitted in many different ways from what was shared and gave much positive feedback.

Directly after the conference back in La Paz we were both involved in a 3 day workshop focused around our role as International Staff Coordinators. During which time we shared our home with another family of 4 who were also involved in the workshop. It was a pretty intense three days, working around the needs of 4 little people, but I think we all came away feeling that we had made some significant progress on how our role is to be worked out in the future of the organization.

Alana had a great time during that week having a little friend around the house to play with. Isaiah too I think enjoyed all of the extra attention from 3 inquisitive little people and 4 extra adults wanting cuddles.

Once our friends left we then began our search for a new home knowing that the end of our current contract was looming. In just two days we were able to find what we were looking for. If all goes to plan we should be moved and re-settled by the end of the month.

We have decided that when it comes to moving home here in Bolivia it is one of the few things that can happen within a week from seeing a place, writing and signing a contract and actually moving.

We are hoping that once we are moved life will begin to slow down a little again so that we can all catch up on ourselves a bit and get some well needed rest.

Thank God for:

• Provision of a new home
• A conference that ran smoothly
• A good workshop
• Micah’s successful operation

Ask God for:

• Safe travels, good health and a fun visit for Sarah’s parents the beginning of July
• For Alana to cope well with all the new changes
• Rest and relaxation

Much Love

Ed, Sarah, Alana & Isaiah

Wedding breakfast

Despite being thousands of miles away from the actual event and the street parties in celebration of the great occasion we were still able to feel apart of the goings on as we were invited to the house of the British ambassador (along with every other Brit in La Paz of which there were surprisingly quite a number), to watch it all take place as it was happening on the BBC. The only snag with this was the need for an early start leaving home at 5:30am, however it was worth it and made for a very memorable occasion as well as a very nice breakfast of sausage, bacon and eggs. Thank you Mr Ambassador :o)