Home Sweet Home

Yes we are finally home... we have been back in our house in Brier now for about a week and it feels GREAT to be here. Although we are not fully adjusted to the pace and the scheduling craziness that comes along with being home, we are so grateful that God has brought us back to the exact place we started this journey. And we are reminded every day at what an incredible group of family and friends we have here. Thanks for reading along over this past year and being part of our international adventure!!

Guatemala, Then Back to the U.S.

After five days in Florida with the Cossey family celebrating Kori's graduation from medical school, we took off again to our last international destination-- Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, to stay with our friends Will and Diane who are starting a home for impoverished children and battered women, called Opal House (Check out more about their organization at http://www.opalhouse.org/ ). Will and Diane walk a life of faith that is very courageous and "out of the box". We went simply because we felt we were supposed to. We are not sure if that was because they needed help preparing Opal House to open its doors to those in need, or if we were supposed to go to catch inspiration from these two about how to live out a God-given vision in a obedient and courageous way. It was probably a combination of both reasons. The view of Lake Atitlan that we woke up to each and every day was also a very rejuvenating element for us while we were there.

Will and Diane's view each and every morning, on their 59 acres perched over the lake. This home will soon be a place of refuge for women and children in need from Guatemala City.

Below are some shots of us trying to help them get the place ready-- one day we did litter cleanup all around the farmland on their property, but the rest of the days we painted the interior and exterior walls of the women and children's home, trying to get it ready for the first intake in the fall.

Will and Diane have a Mayan family that lives on the property. Some are employed by Will and Diane, but the whole family has been "adopted" as part of the Opal House family.

The lake has been formed by volcanic activity, so volcanoes still surround the entire parameter of the lake. Hundreds of coffee plants and avocado trees cover Will and Diane's property.

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After two great weeks of work and inspiration, we returned to the U.S. of A... this time for good! We flew back into Florida from Guatemala where we picked up our big beauty-- yes that's right friends, we are the proud owners of the ultimate grandma car, a '98 Buick Regal, which will be driven all the way back to Seattle!!! Try to contain your jealousy! Here she is---

So far, she's gotten us as far as Athens, Georgia! Tomorrow-- the journey home continues through Knoxville, TN and then on to visit various other friends as we continue slowly back to the Northwest.....

The Amazing Peruvian Mountains

Three weeks in the Peruvian Andes couldn't have been a better fit for us. We spent the first half in the Cusco area with Kori, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The second half was spent hiking around in the Cordillera Blanca Mountains, another section of the Andes farther north in Peru. It doesn't get any better than this!! Pure Heaven!!

A day hike to a beautiful lake formed by glacial runoff, at 15,000 feet.

Day 1 of our 4 Day Santa Cruz Trek in the Cordillera Blancas. Our campsite, right up against the mountains.

20,000+ foot peaks. The Cordillera Blancas are actually the 2nd highest mountain range in the World, 2nd only to the Himalayas!


No porters on this 31 mile trek, just donkeys.



Wayland pays this Peruvian lady a dollar to get a picture with a goat!

The Alpaca is his next victim of the "Wayland pesters animals around the World" tour.

Starting the 4 Day hike on the Inca Trail. End Point: Machu Pichu!

Stopping to pose for a picture along the trail.

And finally, the last morning we reach the majestic Machu Pichu, in time to watch the sun rise over the ruins.

It was a perfect, clear sunny day!

Our time in Peru was probably our favorite of all our travels in the past 2 months. We just couldn't get enough of the beautiful mountains all around us.

Next-- on to Guatemala, June 8th to June 22nd, and the road trip from Florida back to Seattle starts June 23rd!

Southeast Asia Highlights

We write this blog from Hong Kong, quite possibly the largest business center we'll ever see, including our trips to Manhattan, NY. Our last month has taken us away from our "home" in Africa to Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. We have had the opportunity to trek deep into untouched jungles of Laos, into native villages in Cambodia, not to mention the pristine white-sand beaches of Thailand.

Our trip began in Cambodia on a visit to Angkor Wat, one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. Built in 1060 AD, it is nearly unbelievable that this was built with human hands. This was truly one of the most amazing places we will visit, next to Machu Pichu (tune into the next blog entry) in Peru. We spent two days visiting the various temples built by Kings nearly 950 years ago.

Our next foray was into the Cambodian countryside, where we did an overnight homestay in a local village, sleeping right alongside the family in their home. We learned the village lifestyle of rice cultivation, toured the local Buddhist temples, and Wayland even commandeered a buffalo cart for transportation. We are not sure why the owner of the buffalo felt like Wayland could responsibly drive but he did it anyway.

Courtney and our guide, Seki, touring the village and rice fields.

Courtney loved getting to see how things were grown of course... we got to see rice being grown and harvested all around us.

Next onto Thailand, where we met our friends Stephen and Pasha and Alan and Maria for some time on the scenic islands off the cost of Thailand. Pictured below are photos from Kho Tao and Kho Phan Ngnan (sorry, we were so relaxed that we didn't take many photos while living on "island time" !)

Renting a scooter on the islands costs about $5 a day...so off we went.

This was Wayland's pose three times a day.... eating the BELOVED CHICKEN PHAD THAI... each plate cost about a $1.50 on average.

Courtney taking a break from a random inpromptu hike to a supposed waterfall that began as a "drive" via our low powered scooter to the waterfall... needless to say the scooter wasn't making it up the hilly dirt roads in the middle of this island!

After that, we flew to Chang Mai, in northern Thailand to ensure that our elephant riding skills were up to par.

Next, onto the beautiful and rural country of Laos, carrying all and more of the beauty of Thailand without all the tourist pressure. In Laos, we spent 2 days trekking through local villages. Wayland even tried his hand at working the buffalo, but the animal was uncooperative.

Next, 3 days in the jungle for the Gibbon Experience, a zip-line tour where you stay in treehouses connected by over a dozen ziplines, some as long as half a mile. Courtney arrived at every treehouse with a smile on her face, and Wayland spent his time dangling and "hanging out" some 200 feet above the jungle floor.

Check out Wayland below in this clip, "zipping" in action...

After saying goodbye to Southeast Asia, onto the big city of Hong Kong. We celebrated our time here by taking a evening boat cruise through Victoria Harbor which has striking similarities to Seattle and Vancouver BC. Truly one of the most beautiful, scenic cities that exists worldwide. Amazing to think human hands could do so much.

Onward and upward.....next stop Lima, Peru!

Friends

Sadly, we are down to our final 3 days in Uganda. Although all the memories of work projects will fade away, the friends we have made will forever make an imprint on our lives. Here are some shots of our favorite people and
our favorite times.

Josephats and Wayland hanging out at the Cornerstone Staff Retreat.

Courtney and Wayland with close friend Javis and Coss during the Cosseys' visit.

Up at the Ranch, stopping for a shot with Maggie, a fellow Seattleite and close friend who runs African Hospitality Institute, another great ministry partnering with Cornerstone.

"Cutting the Cake" with Tim, the Director, at our going away party last week. The party was a Ugandan style going away event, full of speeches and lots of food.

Wayland and I with our dear friends Phillip and Sarah, and their first baby, only 8 days old.

Aunt "Coco" as they call me, holding the baby that has been long awaited.

Posing with our buddy Richard, who is charge of the Cornerstone Entrepreneurs group.

Wayland and the whole EcoNation Company team. In addition to Cornerstone projects, Wayland met with the team of salesmen each week giving his time to help teach them sales skills.


Way and I blessed by another set of visitors, our dear friends Erica and Brian, volunteering currently in Malawi. We conquered all the world's problems in our conversations and shared our challenges all the while seeing some other great parts of Uganda....

...parts of Uganda like like this... Sunset at Sipi Falls, Eastern Uganda.

A final wave to the cow statue marking the turnoff to the Ranch, 11km down a

random dirt road in the middle of Central Uganda. Until next time....

On April 15, we say our hard goodbyes and start a new segment of our year abroad.

We'll be moving on from 9 months of time in Africa to a bit of travelling in SE Asia, South America and other regions of the U.S. before we return to Seattle. Here's our basic itinerary:

• April 16-May 5: Thailand and Cambodia
  (yes we are aware of the situation in Thailand, so this portion of our travel may or may not be modified)
• May 6-10 Laos
• May 11-13 Stopovers in Hong Kong and L.A.
• May 14- Peru
• June 2-7 Florida (Kori's Medical School Graduation)
• June 8- 22 Guatemala
• June 23-July 16 Road Tripping from Florida all the way to..... Seattle!! Home Sweet Home!!

Thanks for your support and for keeping us in your prayers!

A Perfect Fit

Wayland and I just wrapped up a 2 part workshop with Cornerstone's female university students that are graduating this June. The goal? To help them acquire the skills they need to find a job. Edmonds Woodway HS Career Center had been moved to Uganda!

The first day involved teachings on how to be a professional, how to write a CV, and dos and don'ts of job interviews. On the second day the girls came ready to participate in mock interviews and get their CV's critiqued. At first the girls were SOO scared, going into their first interview with various Cornerstone staff and community members. But as the day went on, you could see their faces starting to light up and their excitement about the confidence and experience they were gaining in the interview process. It was so much fun. For me, I couldn't have found a better fitting job- empowering young African women! Can't get better than that!

The girls posing for the camera after their first round of mock interviews. Wasn't as scary as you thought, was it?

Florence and Emma not just showing confidence, but a little attitude too! I preached "confidence is everything" to the girls all day and I think it started to soak in a bit.

All of Cornerstone's students are from very poor disadvantaged backgrounds, so to see these ladies holding their heads up high and walking with confidence is something that really means a lot. I was grinning all day. God is good, and He is very creative-- you never know where he will send you to do the work you are so passionate about!

Summit Fever

Thanks for your prayers and well wishes friends. Wayland and I and our three friends Keri, Carter and Jeremy enjoyed the once in a lifetime experience of summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro last week! We took 7 days to summit this 19,300 ft mountain, and for a couple of us, we needed every minute to help our bodies acclimatize. For some it was easy and for others bitten by the altitude sickness bug, it wasn't a cake walk to say the least, but we were too determined to let our symptons get the best of us.

Below is the sunrise we got to watch JUST as we reached the summit... perfect timing!

And here is a shot, standing from the summit, of the receeding glaciers.

A shot of one of our previous camps, before summit night.