Merry Christmas!

To all of our dear family and friends, particularly you loyal blogreaders, Merry Christmas! We are so delighted to be a family of four for the holidays. (This also counts as our 19 plus 4... OK 19 1/2 plus 4 1/2. I'm late.)




We are so happy to be in the States, catching up with family and friends for the holidays. We've been spoiled with love and gifts (and food!!!). Here are a couple highlights thus far with Oma and Opa (Nicole's parents). More to come...
Exploring the Safari Tent (Gift from Oma and Opa)
Delivering Christmas Gifts to Neighbors with Oma

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Despite the fact that I went shopping for our Christmas tree in short sleeves, we are getting in a Christmas mood. (For my originally Southern-hemisphere husband, the warm weather feels just right!)

Jacob and I went Christmas tree shopping. He helped decorate the tree (ha!), while Papa elfed around.

Quito Days - Timmy and the Toros

December 6th was Quito's Independence Day. Traditionally the city has almost 2 weeks of celebrations leading up to the 6th, including a Miss Quito pageant, tons of local festivals, and open air trucks that drive revelers around town. One main tradition is a week-long series of bullfights, featuring matadors from Spain and around the world.

Santiago, Timothy and I decided we would take in this cultural event. It was both amazingly artistic and chillingly brutal. We could easily understand why this is both loved in many countries and outlawed in others. Timothy was moved - to crying, sitting, and napping. Here are some photos from the event.


We finished the Quito Days celebrations at a dinner at a Spanish restaurant with some friends.

Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving, a friend hosted a wonderful dinner for about 20 folks from around town. It was the first Thanksgiving for her beautiful adopted (Ecuadorian) daughter, and for us in Quito. The meal was delicious and it was great to be among friends - particularly with a wonderful turkey, bountiful sides, and a table full of desserts. A real treat!

The next morning we got up early and headed to Banos, a town about 3.5 hours south of Quito. (Well 5 if you get lost and have 2 little people to juggle!) Banos is well known for its active volcano - Tungurahua, which was spewing while we were there, and which has recently erupted causing some serious damage in the area.

It is a great place for hiking, rafting, canyoning (the new thing, I guess), thermal springs, spas, etc. etc. etc. We stayed at a beautiful place in the mountains which provided us great hiking and a spectacular view of the mountains.

We spent our time hiking down to a waterfall called the Devil's Cauldron and then to a place to view the mountain, at the pool, or just hanging out with pigs.

Devil's Cauldron


ok - so Timothy wasn't that impressed...

Nicole and Jacob with a spewing Tungurahua


Pool with a view


El Chancho

Milestones - 18 and 3!

Jacob turned one and a half on Sunday, and Timothy three months on Tuesday. How time flies. Here they are!

Abuelos!!!

For the last ten days, we've had the pleasure of hosting Santiago's parents, also known as Abuelo and Abuela. Jacob was naturally delighted with the increased attention, and Timothy showed off his best squirms and smiles. In addition to just good old relaxing and hanging around the house, we had a great time seeing Quito and some sights around Ecuador.

We went to the zoo, which is a very scenic 45 minute drive north of Quito. Abuela and Jacob investigated the bear, and enjoyed the petting zoo.


We also went to the equator line, and the Sedacas tested whether it was the real thing or not. And of course, there was the obligatory grandfather blowdart.

We traveled to beautiful Mindo for birdwatching and gorgeous scenary. Here we are:


Here are some of the birds we saw:



And of course, here are our little people.

The boys...

I know I promised to put info about the boys in the bar on the side, but I just can't help myself from putting them in this main section when there's a cute picture or two.

Here are the boys together, including Jacob giving Timmy a kiss, and another picture of our little puppy (who won a prize in his school for best costume!)

Day of Costumes

Since the President banned Halloween (seriously), there was a "Day of Costumes". Here are the boys, or rather here's a dadoo (Jacob's word for dog) and Tweety.

DC Amigo and the Beach

A couple updates from the last week.

We were pleased to host a friend of ours from DC who was in town for business. He used to live in Quito so is practically a local, and introduced us to a number of really great folks in town who are old friends of his. And he did very well with the boys, as the picture below shows. Please note that Timothy's nap was due to Jeff's rocking, not to Santiago's choice of beverage.


We also spent a long weekend in Manta, a beach/port town midway down the coast. We had a great time - good weather, great seafood, and a good time with some friends who were down there for work as well. Our friends have an adorable 6 year old, and Jacob loved playing with a big kid. Timothy was indoors mostly, as we didn't think his fair skin was quite suited for equatorial temperatures and sun. Here are some photos of the visit:
Jacob and Mama in the pool
Jacob and Mateo enjoying the sand
Jacob and Papa enjoying some coconut milk
Jacob finishing off the coconut
Jacob smiling through his sandy face