~Our Anniversary~

~Us in the Gandola on our 12th anniversary!~

We had a wonderful 12th anniversary! Thanks for all y'all's kind comments! We went to Medellin as a family for a few days! We had a great time together.
~The kids got to see "Oliver Ostrich" at our 1 stop during our 9 hour trip to Medellin~

~Colombia is BEAUTIFUL! Some pics that Phillip took on the way to Medellin!~



Medellin is Colombia's 2nd largest city, about 6,000 ft. elevation. It is a VERY PRETTY city surrounded by mountains (like Bogota) with BEAUTIFUL, spring-like weather all year around! It reminded us of Flagstaff, AZ in the summer time! Since Medellin is a tad smaller city than Bogota, the people there are more trusting and more friendly. So...our poor kids got even more people talking to them, and noticing them and their lighter hair and blue eyes. Poor kids! =) We enjoyed eating the typical, DELICIOUS, Medellin food: a huge plate full of rice, beans, a fried egg, a fresh yummy salad, or platano, a piece of sausage, shredded beef, (or yummy roasted chicken), some bacon type meat, and a fresh juice to drink...all for the price of $2.50!
We also enjoyed other treats like green mango with lemon juice and salt (WE ENJOYED THAT IN HONOR OF YOU, VONNIE =), and a drink of fresh, COLD sugar cane juice with lemon. ~The kids with their sugar cane/lemon drink!~

Fresh hot coffee with milk and sugar (cafe con leche), and coffee smoothies, (had to have some of that for Colombia is known for their coffee you know ;), icecream, homemade potatoe chips with fresh squeezed lemon and salt, freshly baked breads from the bakeries, and lots of yummy avacados with salt, etc.
~A famous church in Medellin~

~A park for the kids to play in that is called, "The park of barefooted kids!"~

~Having fun in the "Barefoot" park~

~We saw Medellin's old train station, and one of their trains~

Medellin is known for making clothes, shoes, and for growing roses and flowers to sell. SO, MY DEAR MAN BOUGHT ME A NEW PAIR OF SHOES FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY...HE KNOWS THAT I'D RATHER HAVE SHOES THAN FLOWERS, OR ANY OTHER GIFT! My shoes are a light blue leather with holes in them and they have a beige ribbon woven through the holes and tied in a bow. OK...they are really CUTE, and I love them...but they are hard to explain! =) ~Medellin is a windy city, as you can tell by my skirt!~

Medellin also has a metro (light-rail) train that goes the length of the city.

It cost about 40 CENTS a person...AND YOU GET TO GO ALL OVER THE TOWN, AND RIDE THE GANDOLAS ALL THE WAY UP THE MOUNTAIN AND BACK DOWN...all for that price! Our kids loved riding the train and the gandolas. ~Us on the gandola~


Phillip did some preaching while we were there, and we made several house ministry calls to his friends there. ~Me holding a cute little baby in one of the houses we visited.~

~Us in front of our nice, cheap, ~but NOT FANCY~ hotel (on the right in the back of the picture!)~

Our time in Medellin was sooo fun...that we'd love to do it ever so often....EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE A 9 HOUR BUS TRIP THERE AND BACK. THE ROAD FROM BOGOTA TO MEDELLIN IS ONE CURVE AFTER ANOTHER!!! IT'S LIKE GOING AROUND THE CURVES OF THE GREAT (AND AGAIN I EMPHASIZE GREAT!!) SMOKEY MOUNTAINS IN TENNESSEE, WHERE I GREW UP........FOR ALLLLLL 9 HOURS! UGH!
~One of the 4,000 (OR MORE =) curves going to Medellin!~

Phillip happened to look out the window and see a sign that WARNED US OF A CURVE AHEAD...and he said, "If they would've put those "CURVE AHEAD" signs up on this whole 9 hour trip...they would have gone out of business!" HA! I was SICK before I got into the bus...so I was dreading the trip home. Sarah, who always gets bus sick, was sick both going and coming. Late last night...Phillip was in the back of the bus SICK, I was sitting in my seat SICK TOO (with Kimberly asleep on my lap), but I was happy for all 3 children were ASLEEP!....but not for long...for all of the sudden Noah sat up and got SICK all over his seat! I threw Kimberly's head off of my lap, and tried to balance myself as we are flopping back and forth going around corners, (but accidently sat on Kimberly's head and woke her up too, ={ then tried to help poor, sick, little Noah. Got him over on my lap and all was well...I THOUGHT...until he got sick again all over himself, me and my seat. WE WERE SMELLING WONDERFUL FOR THE LAST 2 HOURS OF THE TRIP! UGH!
~Trying to get some sleep on the bus...ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE!~

That trip was supposed to take 9 hours, but I think it took 49 hours! (it was 11 hours!) We got home at 2:30 AM and discovered that a bird somehow got into our house before we left. HE MUST HAVE WANTED TO "BUY" SOME OF OUR THINGS, FOR HE LEFT "DEPOSITS" ON SEVERAL OF OUR ITEMS! UGH! Noah found him DEAD on the floor under our dinning room table. =(
We had a wonderful time, and LOVE BEAUTIFUL Medellin...and would love to go back often...except for the 9 hour trip FILLED WITH CURVES!! =)