Costa Rica Reveal Party February 2013

"Oh Yeah... We need to tell our families that we're moving to another country...."

This was one of the most challenging obstacles to deal with because we just were not sure how everyone would take the news. We are both pretty close to our families and the news we were about to share was not one they were expecting. (No, we are not having a baby :) 

We searched Pinterest until we found this idea and went for it! We wrote a note that said "It's fun to be with family and play, but there is something we must say, Surprise! We're moving!" The note was placed in a bowl and flour was packed all around it. We flipped the bowl upside down on a cookie sheet and put a lifesaver on top. The goal of the game was to slice the "cake" without making the candy fall off the top. Whoever made the candy fall, had to retrieve the candy in the flour using only their mouth. (No one knew there was a note inside) 

Dustin (Alyssa's brother) taking the first slice

Calder (brother-in-law)

Britney (Alyssa's sister)

Becky (Alyssa's Mom)

Calder, Allen, & Herb (Landon's Dad)

Allen (Alyssa's Dad)

Glenda (Landon's Mom)

Alesha (sister-in-law)

Our niece Annika wondering what is in the yellow box

Dustin going for the candy

Alesha reading the note outloud to the family

Everyone was pretty surprised - not what they were expecting! 

First question was "Where are you moving to?" So we had a piece of paper for everyone with a letter of Costa Rica on it and they had to unscramble the letters. Eventually they saw it spelled Costa Rica!

It was difficult to explain something that has been on our hearts for so long. We feel so confidant that this is what God has planned for us right now. Our families were very understanding but it is difficult for them and us to think about all the sacrifices there will be: such as missing out on family gatherings, special occasions,  Baby Carlson #2, watching our niece Annika grow, seeing Dustin go off to college, enjoying Allen's retirement, weekend visits and Landon's parents, Britney and Calder's new married life, Ciara's success in college, house projects at Lane & Aleshas, boating, etc... 

We are looking forward to the many many privileges we will have on the stretch of road in our lives and are very thankful for technology so we can always keep in touch!

Landon showing a map of Costa Rica (Glenda, Lane, Alesha, & Annika)

Ciara was not able to come because of bad weather. We put her on speaker phone so she could join in!

After all our planning, we were very happy with the way our reveal party went! It was fun, surprising, and entertaining! 

Our Costa Rica Visit

Our first visit to Costa Rica! Many have been wondering how this whole "trip" came about. Landon and I have always enjoyed Spanish. The language is so expressive and caring. It's really fun to learn, and gives one a new perspective on things. We went to Guatemala for our honeymoon and both have traveled before in places like Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico. The personality and culture of the people is really inspiring. We were also asked about a year and half ago to attend a morning church meeting in Tecate, Mexico. We have really enjoyed getting to know our church friends there and the language even more. During these experiences and our marriage, we both came to this conclusion that we wanted to experience more. We love knowing that God has had his hand leading us and guiding us this direction. We prayed about our next steps and doors just opened. We were in contact with a few of our ministers and word got back to us that Costa Rica would be a good place to land for a while. There are about 40-50 friends in the whole country so we hope we can be a help by filling a few seats in the meetings. We decided to go for a short visit during the annual special meetings to see the country. Landon has been once before for a short time but I have never been. It was such a wonderful experience to meet all the church friends and see where we will be living. Al & Marlene are a couple from Canada who have had a very useful place down in Costa Rica. Al is currently very ill so the couple (& 2 kids they adopted from Costa Rica) are living back in Canada to help meet his medical needs better. They have offered to let us rent out their home while they are gone. It is very kind of them and we are looking forward to all of the privileges we will have there.

Al & Marlene's place where we will be staying

Richard, one of our ministers who has been helping us make contacts in Costa Rica, met us at the airport when we arrived. He drove us over to Al and Marlene's and wanted to take us for a walk down to the waterfall that is on their property. As soon as we got hiking down to the waterfall, it started dumping rain. We got completely soaked and had to hang all our clothes out on the line. We thought it was a good introduction to Costa Rica!

This is Mapache the dog who lives at the house and will a good protector for us! He barks at all the passing cars, so we are happy to have him there! 

A street view from the house

A beautiful view of their property

They have a coffee plantation and lots of fruit trees

We went to a favorite zoo spot to check out the butterfly sanctuary and see all the local animals. It was absolutely gorgeous! If any one comes to visit, we will have to take you there! 

Sloths

Lunch at the zoo with some of the friends who were down for the Special meetings. Merlin & Joanne  (Connor & Quenton) Keith & Barbara, Martha, & Maria from Mexico. We all had a great time! 

We got to put 3 more waterfalls on our list at this zoo! They had beautiful trails leading down to these huge waterfalls. La Paz

Landon helping pick coconuts for the special meeting. They brought them down from the tree and then took all the juice out and served the coconut water at mealtime. 

Richard who has been such a wonderful help and encouragement to us as we start this journey!

The workers who were at the Special Meeting - so wonderful to get to know them and spend some time with them!

We are new the blogging world but would be delighted for you to follow our journey's here. Feel free to leave comments and give advice on the blog layouts. We are excited and hope this is a good way for everyone to keep in touch with us! 

Con un abrazo,

Landon & Alyssa