Saying Goodbye!

In less than 24 hours we will be back in the U.S. of A! Below are some of the places and people we'll miss.  Colombia is beautiful, colorful, exciting, and the people are lovely. The weather is phenonenal every. single. day. and we will be back to visit for sure. 

Yes, it's hard to leave this place but getting back to our home, community, friends, and family back in Texas definitely makes it easier! 

     School days...  

    Park days and Zoo days... (yes, Emerick was still wearing his halloween costume in March)

 

Crepes and Waffles days... I may or may not have gone into a Crepes and Waffles coma last night.
 
   Angeles de Medellin days... 

  Adios Medellin! Cherished memories for sure.

Cartagena Getaway!

Dan and I were fortunate enough to leave the kids with our wonderful babysitter and friend and head to Cartagena.  It is one of the most romantic cities I have ever been to.  The old town was charming and sunsets on the beach were peaceful and we feel so grateful to have seen another beautiful part of Colombia.

Sitting on the beach or on a bench in the plaza for hours talking about our hopes and dreams with my one and only... Cartagena we'll miss you.

Quito, Ecuador and home sweet home soon

We headed to the great city of Quito, Ecuador for a short family getaway.  

I really don't tell them to strike a pose or anything.  It's better than them being tired of me taking pictures I suppose.

Happy with a wooden car and a hackey sack

Emerick jumped right in with a group of older boys playing a   game of soccer

Wish we'd had more time here but we'll never forget it!

The time is near that we will head home sweet home.  We don't know the exact date yet but it's not far away.  I will miss these great places but I get a little giddy thinking of our cozy little house and family and friends that we miss so dearly.  Oh, and my minivan and Costco too.  

Family comes to visit!

The day after my brother and sister in law (Slade and Jennifer)  arrived we left the kids for a few days and took off to Jardin for an adventure.  

We stopped off for good food and unfortunately I left my purse in this wide open off the road place.  I'll tell that story in a bit.

 We got to our B&B and it seemed we were the only ones in this peaceful place.  

 

 
                                          We explored the little colonial town

And we ate at a wonderful quaint little restaurant off the main plaza called Cafe Europa (it was so good we went back the next day) 

Breakfast in the courtyard. 

After breakfast we hopped on a jeep (some of us on the back) and headed our way up to the mountain to get on horseback and ride through the countryside to a cave and waterfall.  We met some Colombians and Germans on the way.

 View from horseback

I may have knocked 10 years off my age with this trip.  My girls looked surprised when I told them all we did! 

Now back to my purse story.  You see I figured it was a goner.  It had been almost 48 hours since I left it on a bench in some random restaurant in a town we didn't know the name of.  It had my iphone, wallet, everything in there.  My bro in law has a good track record of finding things though and he and Dan got their Sherlock on (see pic below) and headed back with optimism.  After 45 minutes of investigation we had the cook of the restaurant in our car headed up the street to a neighboring town.  And to make a long story short our waitress from the previous day met us at a bus station and handed my purse over with everything in tact.  Amazing.

A few days later Nanie and Grandpa (Dan's parents) arrive!

One of the days we had work and school they headed to Guatape with Jennifer and Slade.  We're so glad they were able to see one of our favorite spots.

We had a great time exporing some of Medellin's sights! (this is what we do while we wait for taxis to see the city)

    We went on a day trip to Santa Fe Antioquia and our first stop was this beautiful restaurant in town.

 

 

    We took little moto taxis to the bridge


    And lounged in hammocks

   
     Our friend and driver Pablo came along too.

 

A Sunday stroll in the botanical gardens.  It's not everday you get to eat peeled mango strings and see huge iguanas.

Watching the grandkids laugh and climb rocks

                            They hung out at the school with the girls

       And we celebrated my birthday together!  Complete with Nanie's quiche and a strawberry cake made by the kids.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about being on the other side of 35 but I do know I have THE best in-laws a girl could ask for.  

I love how we pick up where we left off each time we see them.  Jennifer and Slade, Ghislaine and Jim, we will miss you until we see you again! Thanks for coming to visit us!