Second blog of Joe Joe and Mac’s Visit to Peru

Written by John’s Mom

Well, today was another wonderful day.  I awoke to the sounds of three little boys playing.  After eating fresh fruit, cheese and bread for breakfast, John, Mac, Caleb, Luke, Elijah, and I headed out to a park nearby to play.  It was loads of fun.  The boys played in a fountain for a long time where the different water jets shoot up and you can run among them and get wet.  That is exactly what the boys did.  I mean they had fun.  John talked with another missionary who was there.  He was from Chile and really enjoyed practicing his English.  Luke made friends with some Peruvians and visited a lot with them while the others played.  We also played on the playground and fed the geese.  ( I did not care to feed them).  Mac bought everyone  ice cream from the vendor on a bike.

We came home, played some more and the house helper prepared lomo saltado which is steak over rice, french fries, tomatoes, etc.  It was good.   After lunch the little boys took a nap, Jenny and Hope stayed here and John, Caleb, Mac, and I went to buy a couple of things.  While there we met a lady from Peru who is married to a man from Michigan and she wanted to talk to us since we are Americans.  She was quite interesting. Later  Caleb and I played several games and John took a nap.  Mac read, I believe.  We actually stayed here the rest of the day and just enjoyed each other.  I did so enjoy holding Hope and talking and singing to her.  She is too little to know how poorly I sing.   We watched Batman while we ate and then after dinner we played Batman. I love it.

The boys have now gone to bed, John is reading, Mac is upstairs, and Jenny is feeding Hope.  It has quieted down but I cannot wait until tomorrow when the playing begins again.

Oh, by the way, someone has hacked into my Facebook account and written a very inappropriate message.  Do not open anything from me for a while.  Goodnight from Peru.

Joe Joe and Mac’s Visit to Peru

Guest blog—-written by John’s mom

Stewart and I had a fairly smooth plane trip from Raleigh to Miami to Lima.  We arrived in Lima about 5 am on Thursday morning and made it through customs without a hitch.  I looked out as we were walking through with the bags and I saw a wonderful sight—–John.  We had a great reunion right there in the airport.  When we drove to their home we about burst with excitement to see Caleb, Luke, Elijah, Jenny and to meet our new Peruvian baby granddaughter.  I cannot tell you how pretty she is!  The boys have grown and are  just so cute and sweet.  They were very happy to get their gifts we carried from us, Mary Stewart and Fay.  The superhero costumes were a hit!  I think Captain America was the winner!  Baby Hope loved her new things and the little sister outfit from La Nell Brown.

Their house is so nice and is great for children and company.  We feel so much at home.  The boys have kept me busy playing superhero, ball, cars, trampoline, card games , using the yo yo, watching videos, spraying with the water hose, etc.  I tell you, I am loving it!  It is so nice that John is on vacation except for a few loose ends he has had to tie up with work.  I would tell you some of the interesting things we have been eating, but I am not certain what they are.  I will say that the food is very good.   We have had mango, maracuya ( a drink that John made from fruit), onions with lemon on them (I love this), rice cooked with garlic and oil, (I plan to try this), chicha morada (purple drink made from purple corn), and many other things.  John had rice today with octopus, squid, mussels, shrimp and other sea foods in it.  I saw a man in the restaurant today eating guinea pig.  I have not gotten up my nerve yet to try that.

The weather is about 80 degrees and is so nice.  We have no air-conditioning and neither do the Peruvian restaurants.  It actually is comfortable because of the fans.  We attended church yesterday and it began about 11 am and ended at about 1:45pm.  American churches are definitely on a different schedule.  I am thinking that perhaps we need to adjust our attitudes.  The service was very lively and nobody appeared to be in a hurry.  The church is 11 years old and is supporting a missionary family to Japan.  Also the church had no air-conditioning, but I was not hot.

Today the Phams (a missionary couple and their 5 children) and we went to a farm which is located in Pachacamac which is near the Pacific Ocean.  The drive there was through some poor parts with huge sand dunes all around.  We could see the ocean on part of our drive.  We went through one little town that people were cooking outside on an open fire and trying to sell their food as we drove by.  The farm was quite interesting because the children could hold baby chickens, feed rabbits, goats, lamas, turkeys, donkey, cow, etc.  They rode a cart pulled by a donkey and Elijah rode the horse.  Caleb sat on him for a picture.  It was loads of fun except birds were everywhere and most of you know how I feel about birds. In fact one flew so close to my head that my hair moved—-too close for me.

It is wonderful to be with my family here in South America.  I think we may go to the park tomorrow.  Oh! I forgot to mention how great Hope did at the farm.  She stayed in her stroller and just enjoyed the outside.  What a great baby!

I will say that Stewart and I are sleeping better here—we are so busy that rest is needed.  Will sign off for now.

Great visit with Jen’s mom, My parents on the way!

I took Kat to the airport early this morning and will go back to the airport early tomorrow morning to pick up my parents.

We had a great visit with Kat- and she was a great help to us during our transition to being a family of 6!  It was great to visit with her and have her help.  It was great to see her meet Hope and enjoy time with the boys.  It was a good visit.

Tomorrow morning I will pick up two excited but bleary eyed parents who will get to our house just about the time the boys wake up!  Wow guys!  My guess is seeing the grandkids will be enough to wake them up for at least a little while.  My parents, known now as Joe Joe and Mac, will be here with us for 2 weeks.   Along with meeting Hope, I know they are excited for plenty of superhero fun!  With hope now 3 weeks old, we will likely be able to do a bit more as one big group too!

Fun times !

My Little Angel!

Still Hangin’ in there…

Baby Hope is STILL an amazing baby!!!

Summertime!

All of us, except Hope, just had lunch outside at the picnic table.  Today is a beautiful day, warm but not too warm, and nice and sunny.  As poor as the the weather is much of the year in Lima, I believe summer here makes up for it!  It is just about perfect to me!

I am excited about the blessings in our family and also the blessings that God is providing in our ministry.  We have a vision team coming in May to consider adoption in Santa Rosa, an area that definitely needs a gospel witness in addition to some basic human needs.  I pray this team will be a blessing in that area and many from Santa Rosa will trust Jesus as Savior.

Santa Rosa

What a great baby!

While I FULLY recognize that 10 days old is WAY too young to make any definitive statements but…

HOPE MAY BE THE BEST BABY EVER!

She is so sweet and precious like all babies are but she rarely fusses like almost all babies do!  Honestly, were it not for some early concerns about her weight loss and trouble nursing, I would have probably already blogged about her amazing disposition.  She is now gaining weight properly and is nursing correctly and is still a sweetie pie!  I certainly hope her “good behavior” continues but we’ll love her either way!

As for the boys, they are good big brothers.  While I can see the toll it has taken on them to acclimate to the new family size, they have all been very sweet to Hope.  All three of them seem so in love with her and want her to go with us anytime we go somewhere.

Still growing

Sorry it has been a couple of days since I’ve been able to get something posted.  We have had a couple of eventful days.

Long and short, the baby has not been nursing well.  As a result, we’ve had to really keep an eye on her and her growth.  We’ve seen her pediatrician a couple of times since we left the hospital.  Hope is beginning to nurse well again, is gaining weight and seems to be acting normally otherwise.  We covet your prayers for her as she learns to nurse.

Here are a couple of pictures from our time since we’ve gotten home.

Caleb and Hope having "playtime"

Lukey after enjoying a "non-Hope" activity!

A little fun at the park feeding the geese.

With open eyes!

Normal and difficult

As every parent knows, the initial weeks of having a baby bring on an amazing amount of fatigue and stress as a lack of sleep and the challenge of baby learning to feed, etc.  The first of that has begun for us- but I think getting home today will be good medicine.

Hope is beautiful and we love her.

isn't she sweet?!

More Pics of Hope

I promise I won’t post an album a day of this little girl, but on day 2, surely it’s okay?  Right?

Go to www.dropshots.com/jennylovesjohn to see pics that I posted tonight (and are still uploading as I type).

BTW, Jenny is doing GREAT as is la princesa!