99 Things

The things I've done are highlighted in purple:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (does quilting count)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept over night on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23.Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (I should have)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (well, currently teaching myself)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (pencil sketch)
48. Gone Deep Sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (no, but stood underneath it)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (both)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (well, I worked as an extra in a movie, still don't know if I'm in it)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (the high school newspaper, does that count?)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (to the outside, not inside)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

As I look through this list I realize I've done a lot of things, but have a lot more to experience in this life! As we enter 2009, I hope to be able to have many more fun, enjoyable, and memorable experiences!

Owen enjoying his Christmas present

A little video for the family of Owen and his new toys:

Merry Christmas!

The week of Christmas was probably our most difficult week so far in Ecuador. We were a little more lonely, a little more homesick, Josh got his wallet stolen on the Ecovia bus while out Christmas shopping, Melanie was sick with a cold, then the flu, and Owen woke up with his first fever on Christmas morning.

We tried to make Christmas as special and memorable as we could though. We put up a little tree, hung stocking, put up a nativity display, put Christmas lights in the windows, wrapped presents under the tree, drank hot chocolate, and read Christmas stories. We had plans to do some service by volunteering at a local orphanage, but with being sick we weren't able to go. All these thing helped us get into the holiday spirit, but it was still hard being away from family. It was Melanie's first Christmas not spent in Arizona. There's just something special about waking up Christmas morning with family, eating Christmas breakfast with them, and sharing in the gift opening.

Christmas Eve was nice. We went down to the Swissotel where they had a special Christmas evening, including a giant tree, fake snow, a large nativity display, Santa and his elves, and a buffet dinner. The dinner was really yummy and we surely stuffed ourselves full!

Christmas morning we made a nice hot breakfast and read the Christmas story out of Luke 2. We took it slow in the morning since we weren't all feeling well, then we opened presents. Most of the presents were for Owen, of course. His big present from Santa was a walker! He seemed to really love it! Though his feet had a difficult time touching the ground. He really enjoys sitting up to play, and since he can't sit up on his own yet, this was the perfect thing for him. The rest of the day was spent lounging around and then talking to family on Skype.

It wasn't our most favorite Christmas to day, but it surely will be one of our most memorable Christmases! We are excited for next year when Owen will be a little bigger and can have more fun opening all the presents. :)

For the Grandmas...

Owen wants to say hi.

Otavalo

Friday we headed up to the town of Otavalo, about 2.5 hours to the north of Quito. Otavalo is famous for it's large Saturday market, the largest and most popular market in Ecuador, and perhaps in South America. Otavalo is known for it's textiles and weavings, and everything is made my the local indiginous people.

We spent Friday afternoon at Parque Condor and Cascada Peguche (a waterfall). We were able to see three condors, the largest flying bird in the world. This bird is nearly extinct, with only 70 existing in Ecuador. Parque Codor is a preserve/rehab center where various types of birds have been rescued and are being taken care of. The condor is such and awesome bird! It really is huge.

This condor, Andres, was nice enough to give us a little show. His wingspan was slightly wider than my armspan, and he's only a juvenile!

This is Cascada Peguche, just outside of Otavalo. It was in a beautiful forest! We really enjoyed it here.


Saturday we woke up early to head to the markets. First we went to the live animal market where people to go buy animals for food...cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and even guinea pigs. There were TONS of people, it was quite a sight to see.

Then we went to the artesian markets. So many neat things, so many bright colors.

This is the traditional dress of the indiginous women.

All the women carry everything on their backs....babies, food, boxes, you name it. I felt a little funny carrying Owen in the Baby Bjorn while all the local people carry their kids on their backs tied on with a simple sheet! I wonder if it's comfortable...

There is also a food market where all sorts of interesting things are sold.

Thumb Sucker

Owen has recently started sucking his thumb, and for some reason I think it is the most hilarious thing ever!!

Turkey Dinner

To make up for the vegetarian Thanksgiving we had, and as an early Christmas dinner, Josh and I, along with Sarah and Eddie and two other foreigners, had a turkey dinner complete with all the traditional fixings! (minus stuffing and pumpkin pie). It was DELISH!!

Ilinizas Norte y Papagayo

We decided to take advantage of our Andean surroundings and check out the paramo a little more. I (Josh) also decided to see what life is like above 16,000 ft so we spent a couple days at this little hacienda just outside of Quito called Papagayo.

A view of the peak we (Josh, Eddie, and Sarah) summited. It is called Iliniza norte, a dormant volcano that forms part of the avenida de los volcanes (Avenue of the Volcanoes).

Here's a view of the sister peak Iliniza sur. This is a more technical climb, maybe another day.

Here I am on the trail with a great view of Cotopaxi in the background. We hope to climb Cotopaxi in February.

At the summit (16, 818 ft).

Owen was ready to go too, but in the end decided to sit this one out until he's a little older.

Owen did get to meet some cute puppies. At the Hosteria Papagayo they had a small ranch of sorts. One of the dogs just had puppies. Here's an Anne Geddes style picture with the O-ster and one of the pups.
Owen also had his first horse "ride"

And of course there were llamas.

So in the end this may be one of my best posts yet. Mountaineering, cute Owen pics, puppies, and llamas all in one post has got to be some sort of a record. We had a great time and hope to got back to Papagayo and relax (and climb huge mountains).

more videos

We were finally able to upload some videos from home, woohoo! They're nothing too exciting, but we're sure family won't be complaining. :)

In this video Owen is having some of his usual play time. He's playing with his favorite toy, "kitty" or "el gato volador" as Josh calls him (the flying cat). He's also talking to himself which he loves to do.

This is another video of Owen laughing that we love. He's often camera shy, and you can see as soon as he figures out he's being taped, he stops. We think it's pretty funny.

Guayaquil

A few days ago we went to Guayaquil for a ward temple trip. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, and it's at the southern end of Ecuador near the ocean. Thursday night we loaded on to a bus that drove all night long. We got to Guayaquil around 7am and spent the day around the temple. We were able to get someone to watch Owen for us while we went to a session. It is such a beautiful temple inside and out! It really stands out as a gem amidst the older, not as beautiful city.



The next morning we wanted to see a little more of the city before heading home to Quito, so where did we go? To a big modern mall. Yes, it seems we are attracted to places that have anything American. It had a nice Christmas tree inside! We would have gone to see more of the city, but we didn't have a map and we didn't want to stray too far away, and this mall was pretty close. Besides, from what we've heard and read, there really isn't much exciting to see in Guayaquil. So we don't feel like we missed out on too much. :)




Later Saturday afternoon we got back on the bus for our long 9.5 hour bus ride back to Quito. (I learned that Owen is a really good traveler, but 9+ hours in a bus makes even the best travelers a bit cranky).

It was nice to experience the need to travel to a temple since I've always lived so close to one. In Chicago I thought driving 45min-2 hours (depending on traffic) was too long. Now I know I have nothing to complain about! The people here love their temple and are willing to make many sacrifices to attend as often as they can. We are so blessed we were able to go! And the workers there absolutely loved Owen.

Here are a few Owen Funny Faces for you...

Four Months Old

Here's what Owen has been up to now:

*He discovered his feet. He loves to stare at them, grab them, play with them.
*He can hold his hands together. When he does it it looks like he's contemplating some mischievous plan.
*He can roll over, from his belly to his back.
*He still doesn't like tummy time, but I discovered he enjoys it better when the TV is on (horrible habit, I know).
*He laughs a lot, and I can get him to laugh pretty hard now. Along with his laughs he also squeals pretty loud.
*He has learned that he likes to squeal/scream when he's mad as well, which isn't so fun.
*He reaches for and grabs things, and then puts it in his mouth.
*He like to put everything in his mouth now, which also means he slobbers a lot too.
*He is still a morning person and is always so happy to see me in the mornings. This is when he has his biggest smiles.
*He is starting to dislike naps. Often he'll just cry and I have to let him cry himself to sleep or he'll never fall asleep.
*He still loves his soothie pacifier and needs it to go to sleep, along with being swaddled.
*He likes to suck on his fingers, especially the first two.
*He loves to go for walks outside and look around the city. When I stop walking he sometimes gets upset, then when I start walking again he's happy again.
*He has now lived in Ecuador longer than he lived in the USA!

Here is video of Owen rolling over. Well, the last half of the roll. He's always been too fast for us to catch it on video!