When Gretchen came, she brought the girls new pajamas from Pops and Grammy. They were so excited! Aren't they cute!! Kaitlyn, Gretchen, and Kandi went and got pedicures. Matt painted Mckenzie's at the house. We had so much fun!! Pedicures are about $6.00 here. Very cheap compared to the U.S.!

While gretchen was here we had so much fun!! We had to buy Mimon Chinos (the red fruit) for her to try. She called them "Elmos toes". You peel the skin off and you see a big ball that tastes almost like grapes. They are good. Different. These bananas are growing in our banana tree in the backyard!! We may get to eat them before we leave for Mexico in December. Time will tell. We will have a lot!

A group of us had to go to Panama to renew our visas. Here is Kaitlyn and Mckenzie with a group of friends in Panama at a restaurant at our hotel.

Kaitlyn took swimming lessons this summer at an indoor swimming pool with a lot of students from school. She loved it!! She has become a little fish!!

This is Rebecca, Zachary's sister. Kaitlyn and Rebecca are very good friends. Kaitlyn sure misses her too. Kaitlyn had a sleepover with Rebecca before she left Costa Rica. They had a ton of fun!

This is Mckenzie with her teacher from last trimester, Hulda, and her best friend Zachary. Mckenzie sure misses Zachary. Zachary and his family just left Costa Rica.

This last month has been busy for all the students at the institute including us. Not only have we all been learning Spanish but we have been preparing to receive about 50 new families in the school for the next trimester (starting in August). We have all been house hunting for the new families and trying to get them a place to live. Please be praying for each of these new families as they are preparing to make the adjustments to living in Latin America, leaving their family and friends, and adjusting to the new life of a missionary.

These are some photos of the girls with some new friends at the waterfall gardens playing in an Ox cart (a national favorite). This is an awesome park that we have been to in the past but we are still amazed at the beauty that God has created. We got to see some Macaws up close along with some toucans and other birds, wow. We also had a chance to go on the swinging bridges at another park at one point. Wow they were high but pretty.

This past month we also had a chance to go to Arenal Volcano with several students from the school. It was an awesome experience, we had the chance to see Gods powerful creation first hand. Watching the lava flow out and erupt was indescribable. We could have watched it for hours and never gotten tired of it. We tried to capture some of the beauty in photos for you. One photo is the volcano in the rain during the day, one is a picture of a hot lava rock rolling down the volcano during the day so it is not glowing but still very real. The last photo is of the lava at night time. We also had a very unique experience when we saw 2 baby jaguar cubs playing in their nest in a tree.

The other night our family devotion was about the fact that Christ has gone back to heaven to prepare a mansion for us there. As we talked about this I was reminded of the beauty that God created here on this earth in a short 7 days. Then it made me realize that Jesus has been in heaven for more than 700,000 days preparing a mansion for us. I can't imagine how much more beautiful this manision will be compared to the beauty of this world. God is an awesome God that loves us so much. Please join us in praising Him for his majesty and awesomeness.

Kaitlyn graduated from kindergarten this past month. She is growing up so fast it seems like yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital for the first time. Well now she is grown up and a little girl. She started first grade now and loves it. During the summer months it is all about fun; she has gymnastics, soccer, cooking, music, art, and Spanish class. If you want to see a short video of the graduation click on the link to the right for the video.

Kaitlyn had her final Gymnastics Program this past month. She did great. If you want to see a short video of the program simply click on the link to the right for the video and watch it on your computer. Now Kaitlyn is helping teach Gymnastics during the summer program and she is translating for the english kids in her class. Wow she is learning spanish great.

These are the flowers that Kandi got for our 10 year anniversary. Olga, the florist, did a pretty good job matching our wedding flowers. They are beatiful and she was the talk of the school on Friday when they arrived.

Here are pics of Kaitlyn and Mckenzie helping Dad cook the Mother Day´s meal. We fixed Chicken cordon bleu with salad and brownies. The chef hats came from an idea from another missionary family, the girls love them, thanks Raines. We missed not being able to have lunch with grandma´s this year but we at least got to talk to them on the phone. We love you all!

This is a picture of Mckenzie with her new breathing mask that she got from the hospital here. Now she can be a fish while she does her breathing machine.

Wow that is cool!!!

We were blessed with a visit from Matt's mom and Aunt Jan for 10 days. It was so nice to see family again, but even nicer than that we were able to hug and kiss them. That was such a nice treat for us all but especially for the girls. Of course shortly after they got here Grammy had to start filling her grandmother duties by reading a book to the girls in the back patio area. The girls loved hearing a book in person from her.

While Mom and Aunt Jan were here we had them try several new fruits, vegetables and other foods. They liked several of them but were not sure about them all. This is a picture of them eating a Granadilla Fruit (known by some as cow snot). The texture is very unique (hence the nickname) but it taste great. They are not to sure about this one.

While they were here the girls had to show off some of their tricks. Kaitlyn is learning how to stand on her head in gymnastics and has taught her sister to do the same. Kaitlyn read several books and they both told several stories. They even practiced some of their Spanish on them.

We took the ladies to several places here in Costa Rica and kept them busy almost the entire time. We went trout fishing, to the waterfalls, on a boat ride to see monkeys and tucans, and to a butterfly garden. We even got to see a poisonous tropical frog in the wild and Mom, Jan and Kaitlyn stood under a poor mans umbrella to stay dry (now that is a big leaf).

The ladies even had time to play and re-discover their youth at a local playground. (Be careful not to fall, hold on tight)

We celebrated Easter while they were here. The girls both got a couple of new dresses for Easter and they loved them. While they were here they watched the girls one night and helped them dye Easter eggs for an Easter egg hunt on Easter day. The backyard is very small but the girls still enjoyed their hunt. For the first time in their lives they found Easter eggs in a banana and palm trees.

During a 3 day weekend in March we went to see an active volcano here in Costa Rica (Arenal) it was spectacular to see the power God had created in that volcano. We stayed directly across from the volcano on another mountain. We had a great view the first day but the clouds set in after that so we didn't get to see the lava flowing at night. We did however get to see the lava rocks flying out during the daytime. That was awesome. While we were there Kandi and Matt had the chance to zip line through the rain forest. Now that was a thrill and what a view of the rain forest. Matt had to get a different view so he went upside down for awhile. Now that was crazy.

Here are some of the animals that we have saw the last month or so. Yes that is Kaitlyn petting her first wild iguana. We were able to feed them cauliflower as they came into this souvenir store from the river.

The other day we went to a very interesting park as a family. There were several very large bushes that had been sculpted to different things. This particular bush we are standing in front of was two sumo wrestlers. Now these are interesting works of art. The people in charge of this park are a lot more talented than I am. The girls loved playing in the house and school bus.

This is a picture of Matt at Otero's (the pizza restaurant we go to on Thursdays) cooking pizza. Claudio (the owner) learned that Matt likes to cook and invent new recipes. He asked him to help create new recipes that scream Gringo (North American). Matt created a cheeseburger, BBQ Chicken, Alfredo, Pineapple pie, and cinnamon sugar. He modified several recipes he found on line and also had a little help from a friend back at home (Max). Thanks again Max. The pizzas turned out great and Claudio and Matt are shopping for the new ingredients this week so Claudio can decide on his new pizzas. This was a great chance for Matt to develop a relationship a little deep in order to spread the truth of the Gospel to more people. Please be praying that Claudio Otero will be open to the Gospel and that God will create a prefect opportunity for Matt to share it with him.

This is a picture of Matt's teacher (Ale) that just came to know and trust Christ in a personal way about one month ago. She is now beginning to share her new faith and hope in Christ with her family and friends. Please be praying for her as she does this. Often while Catholics in Costa Rica share their new faith and begin to leave the traditional church there is persecution. She has a lot of love for the Lord and will be a good witness. Next week she has invited her mother to come to the school so she can share her new faith and testimony with her in front of her students. Wow that is brave. Please be praying for her.

This is a picture of Matt with the guys from Church on their hike in the mountains. The view is of San Jose. It captures the majority of the city. There is about 2 million people living in this city surrounded by the mountains.