Saturday, November 30, 2013

Volcano Irazu with Soto's

Last Friday we went with Francisco and Olga to see Volcan Irazu. It was a really fun trip and so fun to spend the day with them! It was super cold up at the top but spectacular views! 


This is a church we saw on the way. They say it was supposed to go to England but somehow ended up in Costa Rica...



A view of San Jose from the mountain top. So pretty!




Just trying to find a place to stay warm! Brr...


The volcano crater. This volcano is not active and the water has all dried up as well.





The love birds!


Jumping around to try and stay warm. It was pretty funny :)



He says this is what its like walking across the desert :)


Hungry little guys





Good thing we got there early because the clouds came in fast!


Coyote


A sign just for Olga :)


Restaurant with a ton of business cards






This was the spider that we found in our bed with us. Landon was reading and saw it crawl across his book. He woke me up and we quickly climbed out of bed, turned on the light and there he was smack in the middle. Whew, I have no idea how we went back to sleep after that but this girl does not do tarantulas in the bed. No way Jose. But alas, here we are 4 nights later and haven't had a repeat incident and hopefully never will. We check under the bed every night before we go to sleep though!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Kramer's Visiting!


Mike and Lois Kramer came to visit Costa Rica and made some time to see us! We were so happy! They are Alesha's parents so it was fun to see them and they even brought pictures of our sweet nieces :)


Coffee tour at CoopeVictoria with Kramers in Grecia :)









Snorkeling near Playa Coco with Kramers. Landon saw a shark! 





Friday, November 8, 2013

Panama


We stopped at the park in downtown San Jose before our trip. It is huge and has this beautiful lake in the middle! We had a nice afternoon here :)




These trees are so amazing! There are so many colors and super vibrant! It looks like someone painted them!



Crossing the border in Panama! They have quite a few rules to enter the country which makes it kind of difficult but we were prepared so everything went smooth.




Everyone waiting to cross in to Costa Rica



How many guys does it take to change a light bulb? Three men on a pole.. not to mention in the rain!



After the first bus ride we stopped in David and stayed with these dear friends at their home. They are so sweet. We had such a wonderful time with their family! They have the convention in David at their home. 


They have a really big patio filled with hanging bells, a typical Panamanian decor, really beautiful!


Hector & Blanca with kids Hector & Leonell


Rice fields


We got the front row on the second level of the double decker bus on the way to Panama City. It was awesome to have such a nice view! Even though sometimes it looked like the tree branches were going to come through the windows! 



This is the home of Doña Nena where we stayed in Arejan. There are a lot of our church friends who live really close by to each other so we were able to walk from her house to the home where the convention was. 




She lives on a really steep hill and when we were leaving the worker June slipped and fell and scraped her knee all up. No one had a bandaid so we used a vine from a plant to attach a napkin and secured it with a sticker from our kleenex pack. Talk about original! 


Lunch with the workers at the home of a sweet lady, we had lasagna. 


Her grandchildren



The bother workers and Miguel getting ready for some dessert!


Guayo is pretty excited for some postre :) hehe I just love how Efrain is cracking up haha!


Lunch time at convention




Yard at Eric & Sandra's. Sad we didn't get a family photo but the last evening we were there one of the sister workers fell and broke her arm so there was a lot of commotion. It was fun to be with them for a little while and see their place. 


Walking to meeting on Sunday morning :) So sweet!



One of the ones who made their choice on Sunday



New bridge over the Panama Canal. We went on Monday morning to see the Canal. 



This shows the locks really well. You can see how high the water is in the lock on the right and how low it is in the lock the boat is in. The water raises up 26 meters! There are huge holes in the bottom of the locks where the water fills in. Pretty impressive!







These are the trains that pull the boat along so it doesn't hit the sides of the canal. It gets to be a pretty tight fit! We got to see 2 boats go through the canal and see the gates open for the locks. Here the gates are opening. The canal is open 24 hours and has had over a million boats pass through since it opened. 



Guayo & Landon watching the boats


Super exciting to see the Panama Canal!



Walking through the tunnels :)


Landon helping bring the boats in


Beautiful view of Panama City. We had this view where we ate lunch with Eric & Sandy and all the workers



There were a lot of us for lunch and it was a very yummy meal with seafood, beef, and platacones



All 12 of the workers who were at the Panama convention



Marjorie, Nena, and her husband. Such a sweet family!


Gotta love this retro bus, we thought it was going to be uncomfortable but it was the most comfortable we have been on! 


This indigenous lady in front of us had a newborn that she would just set on the seat next to her. He was a really good baby the whole trip 


Cemetery in San Jose


My favorite picture of all time. The Costa Rica flags and multi colors just make this picture!