Bringing in the New Year with Dead Skin

I'm rushed tonight, but here are a couple of pictures from today:

We went downtown today. So many new things! I loved  it! 

A few of us (not me for once!) had to use the restroom. We found this place. They charge 10 cents for going pee, and 15 cents for pooping. We thought it was amusing. There is no privacy here! 

Very neat buildings

This is from the top of the Basilica. Pretty neat. You can see all of Quito from there! 

 Before you scroll down any more, you need to be aware that this next picture may or may not gross you out.


Although I got a wonderful tan for about a day, I am now peeling. Here is one of the results:

That is only a tiny bit of all the peeling that is going on. Gross! 

This is my last post until Saturday... but I will post three posts on Saturday to keep you up to date. My family is off to Papallacta tomorrow! Woo!

Happy New Year! 

Tiring Tuesdays

Today was another busy day. As I said last night, Sara was supposed to arrive that night... it didn't actually happen that way. The plane she was on was supposed to land at 10:25 in Quito. Around 10 when  my dad checked on the flight, we found that it was delayed until about 11:15. So we prepared to wait another hour. Throughout that hour, we kept checking to see if they had an actual confirmed time. They didn't, and they actually changed the estimated time to 11:30. Around 11:40 it still didn't say the plane had arrived, but the estimated time was still 11:30. So my dad, Julianna, and I decided to head to the airport, because we wanted to make sure that Sara wouldn't arrive with no one to greet her. Soon after we got to the airport, the time was changed to 12:30... and then to 1:15. We decided to go home. Julianna and I went to bed after we got home and just told my dad to wake us up if he ended up picking her up that night. At 2:45, Juls and I got a nice wake up call, and we joined our dad on the way back to the airport. Apparently, Sara had managed to get a hold of a cell phone, and call my mom, who then told my dad that Sara should be arriving in Quito in about 45 minutes. Sara called from Guayaquil, and told my mom that the plane had circled Quito a few times and the pilot decided to head over to Guayaquil because it was too foggy here in Quito. Finally Sara made it to Quito almost 5 hours later than when she was supposed to, and we made it home around 4 in the morning and crashed.

Today was definitely more pleasant than last night was.

I just realized that I am super tan from the Galapagos. The horrible sunburn I had actually did something other than give me skin cancer. 

I'm almost as dark as Micah! This picture doesn't even do it justice. 

There is a LOT of traffic in Quito. Way too much. I'm glad I don't have to drive here. As it is, I've already almost died! 

Here's a game, guess what I did today :)

It's pretty easy.

Micah was very hesitant at first. When we paid, he even said he wouldn't do it. Later on, he asked me if he could go skating. So we paid for him, and put his cute little skates on. He was definitely clumsy, and he fell a lot. But that didn't keep him from trying! A couple minutes after going around with mom and I on both sides of him, he wanted to try it on his own. Such an independent child. 

Katelyn and I being pros. Of course. 

I'm assuming you guessed correctly... I did go ice skating today. A home school family invited all the homeschoolers to join, so we all decided to go. Even my dad went! (Except he just worked on his sermon and talked to a friend the whole time). 

I also made it to the orphanage today... finally. It's changed a lot since I last went. They are much stricter, but I'm sure it's because they want what is best for the kids. 

Happy Tuesday!

Mad Woman

I really don't have much to say about today. I slept. Woke up. Hung out. Made cookies. Got a manicure for $4 bucks!

It was a good day to just chill.

Sara Rogers, a girl from my church, comes in tonight. She's always wanted to come to Ecuador, so she decided to come stay with my family for three months.

Us waiting for our nails/ hair to be done. 

Me. Of course. 

Juls just got a haircut.

Julianna's haircut, and my painted nails.

Katelyn getting her nails done. 

The house on a rainy day. 

Me in the kitchen where I obviously belong ;) 

Flights and Sad Goodbyes

Today was definitely not as exciting as the past few days. Today was a lot of travel. Lots of sitting around. That happens whether you're on an airplane or in an airport. It was sad to leave the Galapagos. It was sad to think that these next few days will be pretty slow compared to the past week. In a way, it's nice. No longer do I have to get up at 5 or 6 in the morning. No longer will I be crashing hard at night. Finally I will have time to actually do things like watch a movie or read a book.

Another part of me loves the constant busyness. I love being busy. So, it will take a little while to get used to having free time.

With that said, here are the pictures I owe you. Not too exciting.

Julianna's and my friend, Jonathan (or Eduardo) . Tee hee. Good stuff. 

Here you can see the front of Jonathan. I am such a stalker. My mom-- isn't she beautiful?

This was taken from my seat. The lovely wing of the airplane. In the background you can see the airport which is very open. 

Mom and the boys

Me. So attractive. 

Blue skies and blue oceans. 

My White Christmas

Our guide led us through this place. It was pretty neat. We learned a lot about how they keep the turtles reproducing and alive. We got to see little baby turtles! I got to meet super Diego. And I also got to meet solitary George. And I found out why he is solitary... because he is so ugly!

Today was a good day. Once again. I find that it is hard not to have a good day when you are in the Galapagos.

This turtle is our friend. 

As crazy as it may seem, I did have a white Christmas. The beach we went to today had some pretty white sand.

I hope that all of you had a WONDERFUL Christmas full of family and loved ones. I find myself in awe of how Jesus sacrificed himself for us and was born as a human here on Earth. The older I get, the more I realize this.

Merry Christmas, Ya'll! We walked about 2 miles to get to this beach. And 2 miles back... it wasn't even THAT neat. It was BEAUTIFUL. But there wasn't much to do. We went swimming but it was very shallow and there were no waves. 

This beach was SO weird. It was very shallow... and the ground was VERY bumpy. 

This picture, in black and white, shows quite the common plant. It's pretty much a cactus tree that has flowers growing from it. 

Today we weren't as busy as the other days. So I had time to lounge by the pool and listen to music and read a book. 

At a store we went to after dinner, I found this. Attractive, huh?

I love my brother so much. He is so sweet. 

Christmas Eve on a Tropical Island

I am SO sunburned. Ouch.

Today was another good day. Although we travelled for about 8 or more hours, there was always a good view, and we had a great time snorkeling.

Snorkeling was JUST like in the movies... The colorful fish... the rocks... the deep blue water. My sister and my dad actually saw a shark and a sting ray.

Micah is a cutie :) 

I laughed so hard. My dad had something on his face and it wouldn't come off. 

We saw dolphins! So cool! 

That's the boat we were on almost ALL day. 

I hiked up that. It was neat. Good views. 

!

We were just kissed by the sun. It hurts!

Sea sickness

Agenda of today...

• Wake up at 6:30
• Eat breakfast
• Get on boat
• Take a 2 hour boat ride
• Sleep some and then watch half of my family get very sick from the rocking of the boat. 
• Get to an Island
• Ride on a Chiva
• See some animals (Sea lions, birds, Iguanas, and Galapagos Turtles)
• See some caves
• Eat lunch
• Get back on boat 
• Go snorkeling in FREEZING water (it was super neat though)
• Get back on boat for another 2 hour boat ride back to Island we are staying on (No one got sick on this ride :))
• Swim in hotel pool
• eat dinner
• Write blog

I'm tired.

Here are some pictures... if they ever upload. Internet here is slow. 

Cute little Galapagos Turtles

Sisters <3

Yay for snorkeling! 

The water is SO clear and blue and BEAUTIFUL. 

We are such tourists

Galapagos. Day 1.

Today we made it to the Galapagos. Finally. It was so crazy. So unreal. And I am tired.

We flew today, went on a bus, went on a boat, went in a car, and went in a van. We swam a lot, and we ate a lot.

This all started happening at 4 this morning... And I just realized that this week I will be up at 4 in the morning at three different times. and the other days I get up pretty early as well.

Here are some pictures:

This was like the coolest place ever. We went snorkeling... and Juls and I even jumped from some pretty high rocks. The water was so clear! 

mmm mmm ceviche. So good. 

At dinner Micah was so tired he almost fell asleep in his food. We took turns carrying him back to the hotel. 

Lounging by the pool. Kk loves MONEY.

Bathrooms with No Doors

It's my first full day in Ecuador. I'm tired. I haven't slept much lately. Tomorrow I am off to the Galapagos, and that will be awesome!

I have a picture to show you that kind of made my day. Not really. But I don't even know what I am saying anymore.

Here it is:

Something unusual that happened today was, when I went to the bathroom, there was no door. So, as I was doing my business, people would be RIGHT outside the curtain talking to me. It was weird. That is all.

Fly like A BIRD

Yesterday I flew. It was long, tedious, and boring. But it got me here to Ecuador. So it's all good.

It was a successful day without an ounce of trouble. :)

As promised here are a couple of pictures:

Me just waiting. Pretty much what I did all day. 

There was a cot (or something) just randomly on the floor.