Less than six weeks!

Christy and I realized while we were in Colorado that we had less than six weeks to go before we leave Illinois for the next year. Madness. Packing has not started yet - but we are trying to get all of our final paper work done. This includes signing up for language school, getting the kids enrolled in their equivalent of school, getting on Latin America Mission's payroll, getting our taxes done, etc. Six weeks feels like a long time, but we will also be in Michigan and Richmond for a combined 2 weeks - so we really only have about four weeks left. Christy's parents have offered to watch the kids as much as needed for us starting in early March (after our trip to Richmond and Michigan) so that we can get all of our stuff packed up and leave the condo we are using in a state that they can have visitors stay here without tripping over kids toys and books.

In between getting forms filled out and finishing up my two classes at Covenant (I'm done with one and hope to be done with the other by this Friday, 6 credits out of 60 completed for the degree!) - we've been busy with the kids. They like to do various activities like riding in their laundry basket cars, work at the computer, and play racquetball with dad. I've posted a couple pictures for everyone's entertainment.

The first picture of Sammy I have titled 'Sammy MEYER' because this is one of the first pictures of him that I think he REALLY looks like a Meyer. Given the powder blue shirt (which was in style during the 70s and now is apparently again) - this could easily be a picture of my middle brother Jon. I think it looks very similar to many of his baby pictures. My mother also tells me often that he acts and looks alot like Jon did. Hmmm....oh well, I guess he didn't get my brains (everyone at Capital One is snickering because I was barely in the bottom tenth decile of smartest people there) but Jon is 3'' taller than me so maybe there is hope at baseball or some sport like that.

We bought Lizzy some 'computer games' last time we were at International Aid - a low cost store that missionaries can shop at. They are less games and more learning activities. The most interesting thing so far is that she can now type her name...well....LIZZY...on a computer keyboard. I've attached a picture that Christy took of her working away on a real computer. As neat as it is to see this as a parent - it is still a little crazy too. My 3.5 year old daughter using a computer. It still makes me have a 'WHEN I WAS A BOY...' moment as I think back to the 286 Packard Bell which we got when I was just entering middle school.

The last couple pictures are of Elizabeth and I playing in the Racquetball court. The picture of me is one that she proudly took. It took a couple shots but she managed to get my entire face in the picture. What I notice here is not so much the goofy face or the beard, but the wrinkles under my eyes. Mind you, not that I care, but it is a reminder that 30 is around the corner, kids make you age fast, and life is short. When I was recently looking at my passport photo that was taken right before Christy and I got married, I no longer say 'Hey, I look a little different' but rather think 'I hardly can tell its the same person'. I imagine these thoughts will accelerate between 30 and 40 and even more so between 40 and 50. C'est la vie. I've also included a picture of Elizabeth triumphantly holding a racquetball at the mercy of a racquet. All in all we've had just a wonderful time in Wheaton. We'll miss having our play time like you see in these pictures, but we are eager (if not a little nervous) about getting down to Costa Rica.

Its late and I promised Christy I would watch the kids tomorrow morning so she could sleep in (it is Valentines day you know) so I'm heading off to sleep.

Leaving you with a little racquetball...Elizabeth style...

Yet another medical call

We have been up in the mountains since Tuesday and overall having a great time. On Thursday afternoon one of my old friends from Capital One, Ben, came up from near Denver to spend the afternoon with me. Since neither of us had ever tried it before, we got some snow shoes and went on our way at about 2pm up the mountain. Our first mistake was deciding to hike by foot up the ski slope to ski lift that would take us higher up the mountain directly in front of a snowshoe / cross country ski park at Beaver Creek. This absolutely destroyed us, and toward the top we stripped off hats, gloves, and jacket layers because we were sweating to death. Instead of waiting a second and putting all of those things on, we jumped onto the ski lift to take us up. This may have been (probably was) the coldest 13 minutes of my life. My hands holding my metal poles and metal snow shoes, jacket unzipped, no hats on, sweat freezing on the head, in windy 15 degree temperature. By the time we got off the lift I could not feel my ears or two of my fingers - everything else just killed. Luckily, there was a little warming hut which we spent 10 minutes in before we went on our way. We ended up hiking to an overlook point which you can see a picture of to the right. I brought my camera with, but I admit to being to cold to ever use it. Ben however is much more tough (manly?) than I and took several pictures. All the pictures here were by him, and many I think are great quality. The birch trees were so amazing against the the snow as you can see to the left. As we were coming down the mountain (we had to hike all the way down as the ski lifts close at 3:30) - it was about 5:30 and the sun was just about set. We figured we were probably just 2 of maybe 10 or so people on the entire mountain. We speculated that someone might be nervous about us coming back at all, and sure enough my father-in-law was there to great us when we finally came into sight (he had been keeping an eye out for us). I'm not sure how far we hiked that day but it must have been several miles. It gave us a great time to catch up and just enjoy some of God's beautiful creation.


On Friday morning Christy and I both decided to try our hand at something new - snowboarding. Step one was simply learning how to put the boards on and navigate enough so that we could get off the ski lift without killing ourselves or others. Getting on the ski lift and debarking was a success. When we got to the top of the hill, we strapped the boards on and headed down the slopes. My first 150 feet involved me heading down the mountain doing 360s uncontrollably. I was not doing this on purpose or riding any 'edge', rather just free falling on the board down the hill. Christy and I both fell about the same time, and then realized another problem. Christy was expending so much energy trying to stand up while attached to the board, that it made learning how to snow board nearly impossible. After about 1.5 hours and 1/3 of the way down the mountain, my mother-in-law offered to take Christy to a place called 'Zack's Cabin' for lunch so she could recharge, while my brother-in-law Jonathan and I finished down the hill. I think we both thought it was fun, but agreed that we might need a few runs on the bunny hill before we tried another run on the full sized mountain.

Tonight (Saturday) we also had more excitement. Right after dinner Sammy got bit by one of his cousins on the cheek - he has a perfect welt on his face with 8 top teeth and 8 bottom teeth showing. Needless to say he was not thrilled. Shortly after that situation was calmed down, the kids were playing out in the family room. Lizzy was spinning with her cousin Luke (a common activity) and while doing circles, Lizzy tripped over a pillow and went head first into the floor. She started crying so I ran over to pick her up - however - when I did her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to throw-up. Christy's mom called 911 to get an ambulance...while she started talking though Lizzy came to and was coherent. I told her to wave off the ambulance (I figured we would just watch her for 20 or 30 minutes and she how she was reacting) but they said they would come free of charge just to make sure she was okay. Over the next 30 minutes we had a public safety officer, a fire man, 2 EMTs and one representative from the hotel come into our condo. I must say though, I'm so glad they came. The EMTs were GREAT and showed that they really cared about our little girl. They checked her head and spine, monitored her breathing, heart rate, circulation in her hands, eye function and other things to make sure she was okay. They stayed with us for 30 minutes to make sure things were okay - and offered to take her to a hospital if we would like. In the end, we elected not to have her taken to the hospital because she was acting very much like herself (laughing, playing, giving the EMT man a high five) - but we did keep her up for another 1.5 hours just to make sure she did not show any symptoms of head trauma. We will keep a close eye on her breathing and energy levels over the next day to make sure. Although it was really scary, praise God that she was okay.

We are hoping you are all doing well and your week has not involved any ER visits or ambulance calls! Christy and I we just saying last night how amazed we were that we are flying to Miami in 6 weeks and Costa Rica in 7 - crazy. Pray for us as we continue traveling quite a bit with the family (Virginia, Michigan and Baltimore) and gear up to go. Please do let us all know how you are doing.