Little Carlos; Kristina's Run

Carlos is a little 9-month-old who presented to us a few days ago.  His mother gave me permission to publish his picture and story on our blog.  He had been having fevers, and, as you can see in the picture, a bad infection of some sort that seemed to be eating his nose.  Even more worrisome was his extreme malnutrition.  This little guy weighed in at about 9 pounds on his admission, which is about half of what he should have weighed.  It was difficult and sad to see his tiny little arms and legs, which consisted of nothing but bone covered with a bit of skin.

Carlos had already seen a couple of docs here in Ecuador, but had not gotten any better.  We were thinking that his nose problem was a result of a bacterial infection or a parasitic infection called Leishmaniasis.  We sent a tiny biopsy to look for the parasite, and in the meantime, his nose did seem to get a little better with antibiotics.  He also gained 2 pounds in his first week on a high calorie diet (the picture above is his "after" picture).

Carlos has a few tests pending to help us to know more about his condition.  He still has a long way to go before he's out of the woods.  In the meantime, he would appreciate your prayers as he tries to gain some weight and fight off this difficult infection.

You may or may not know that Kristina has developed into quite the runner.  I have to try to keep running some as well, primarily so that I'll be able to catch my wife.  While out on a 4-mile tempo run a couple of days ago, Kristina was met by an unexpected visitor who left a nice souvenir on her calf.  As you might have guessed by the picture below, the visitor was a pretty good-sized dog who was surprised at seeing such a fast runner going by.

We washed the fang marks out really well, and Kristina began antibiotics to prevent infection.  She's also had to get some shots to make sure that she's properly protected against rabies, though I've not heard of a case of rabies here outside of the deep jungle.  Kristina's had a great attitude about the whole thing, but she says that she'll make sure to run on the other side of the road when she passes that house the next time.

We're Still Here

In the midst of travels and company we’ve gotten quite behind on our blogs lately.

To be with family after my grandma passed away I attempted a trip to the states with the three kids while Dan stayed in Shell to continue working at the hospital.  At some points along the way I felt really confident, and then several minutes later I’d be humbled and realize I was out of my mind to attempt such a feat.  (Have you ever tried to go to the bathroom in a public place with three kids four and under?)  Truthfully, though, the kids did great and we made it safe and sound to Washington.

The kids had a great time on the swing Papa set up in the old barn.

We had lots of help on our return trip with my mom, Aunt Donna, cousin Kaylan, and friend Sam.  It is always such a blessing to have visitors and makes the reality of being far from family and living in a different culture easier.  A week after their visit Dan’s folks were here to love on us.

Dan and his dad exploring some caves not too far from Shell.

After much prayer and discernment we’ve made the decision to head back to the States after our contract ends in September.  We plan to be there sometime mid-November.  Thank you to all who prayed and offered words of wisdom as we made this decision.  We’ve been blessed during our time in Shell and are confident this is where we were to be for these 2+ years; we’re excited to see where the Lord leads next.  We’re still not sure where we’ll be, but we'd like to be close to family in the Northwest.  We’re also anxious to get involved in Hispanic ministries wherever we end up.

The kids are getting ever bigger, especially Anna, who has just started solid foods.  She’s our little laid back Ecuadorian child and is very content to just sit back and let her big brother and sister entertain her.  Caleb is our engineer.  He spends lots of his time drawing plans for and then setting up blanket forts and playing with  lego sets.  Jael is a little firecracker.  The other day we were sitting on the couch together as she quietly contemplated something.  When I asked her what she was thinking about, she replied, "Boys."  I think we're going to be in trouble :)

Caleb has been learning to ride his bike without training wheels and always needs a congratulatory headbutt from Daddy after a good ride.

Playing in the hammock with Grandpa and Grandma.

Anna is quite the "drooler"; she can soak a shirt in a few minutes flat.