Lucy turned 30 however she wasn't too thrilled, so we had a quinciñera or a 15th birthday party for her, a traditional 15th birthday is all pink and it signifies when a girl becomes a woman.
Lucy and Her Husband Solomon
Just a little love for the birthday girl :)
Kristina Benedick also turned 30 so we gave her a little serenada (we all went to her window at about 10pm usually it is mid-night but that was just too late and sang Happy Birthday.) 
Kim Also had a Birthday in October Here she is with her cheesecake and her very special flower/ice cream arrangement (Caseros de Chocolate her Favorite Ice Cream!! It's so good!)
Here we are celebrating Kim!
During this semester we have had alot of firsts and one of those firsts was celebrating the 1st Birthday of Jael Benedick! What a precious little girl and what a blessing the Benedick family has been to us, we are so glad they are here studying with us!
Here is Jael and her Mommy Kristina enjoying her chocolate Birthday cake
Changing scenes, this was a night trip around Quito here we are at the Panecillo or Large Angel Over Quito checking out the Night lights! So Pretty
Me, Lucy and Kim trying to stay warm but enjoying the beautiful Night
Another Look at the city Lights!
Another Part of our Quito at Night tour was carriage Rides around Old Town, it was a lot of fun!
We ended our fun night at a rooftop Restaurant that overlooked the city! Here is a view of where we started our Night at the Panecillo from the restaurant.
We took a day trip to a new museum called Tulipe, There were lots of fun plants here are Kim and I just being goofy...as usual :)
Tulipe had lots of trails and streams to walk in so we had to wear our water shoes here are the Pink shoe girls! Lucy, me and Jael :)
Caleb found a buddy when we were leaving Tulipe, so he brought Mr. Inch worm home with him.
Another trip we took was to the Teleferico, which is a cable car ride up the side of the Mt. Pichincha. Here Caleb just fell out of the sky, good thing his dad was there to catch him
Just hanging out at roughly 13,000 ish feet above sea level over looking Quito
October came to an end with an unusual sight here in Quito... Trick or treaters. Here I am with my first two Trick or Treaters Jeremy and Valentina.
A little later I had more visitors... The Benedick family came with a Fresa (strawberry) Jael and
We started out November with a Holiday Nov. 1 and 2 here in Ecuador we celebrate the day of the dead. On this holiday families, usually indiginous families travel to cemetaries to"eat with the dead" yep that's right they make a ton of food and take it to the cemetary and eat with their dead relatives. This is a picture of the street outside the cemetary, they are selling flowers and things to leave at the graves.
Inside a mostly indiginous cemetary
A family with their food, they bring enough for the whole family plus enough to leave at the grave for the deceased.
Here is an example of what someone left: soda, bread, oranges, bananas and flowers
The flowers left by the family members
Another tradition for the Day of the Dead in Ecuador is to have Colada Morada (or Purple Colada a type of drink) and guaguas de Pan (bread in the shape of children) This is a tradition that mixes Ecuador Culture. The Colada Morada represents the Indiginous side of the culture in that it is a dark color like the skin of the indiginous and it is made of fruits that come from the ground because the indiginous are known to be workers of the ground. The guaguas de Pan represent the spanish side of the culture because the bread is made from wheat flour that was brought over from spain and is lighter in color like the skin of the spaniards. It is a mix of the two cultures which make up the Ecuadorian people! Here we are ready to learn how to make the colada and the pan. All the herbs and fruits on the table make up the Colada.
The bread makers....
Caleb and I stiring the Colada Morada
The pot of all the herbs that go into making the Colada Morada!
Jael was all about being our taster...she LOVED the Colada Morada!!!
Caleb and his guagua de Pan this one had chocolate inside...YUM
Here is just a sampling of the finished product Colada Morada and guaguas de Pan!
Lucy, Kim and I just being the three muskateers :) We got a little crazy after cooking all day
The last Academic trip of the semester was to the water museum Here are Caleb, Christyn and Kevin playing in the waterfall!
We got to play with Bubbbles here is Evelyn the Director of Spanish and her bubble!
Jael had fun...i think we ALL had fun!
I am being a water molocule falling from the top of the mountain down to the rivers and streams
Making friends wherever we go :)
The water muesum is on the side of a mountain overlooking Quito here is a view of the tunnels.
Another Look at the city Lights!Another Part of our Quito at Night tour was carriage Rides around Old Town, it was a lot of fun!We ended our fun night at a rooftop Restaurant that overlooked the city! Here is a view of where we started our Night at the Panecillo from the restaurant.We took a day trip to a new museum called Tulipe, There were lots of fun plants here are Kim and I just being goofy...as usual :)
Tulipe had lots of trails and streams to walk in so we had to wear our water shoes here are the Pink shoe girls! Lucy, me and Jael :)
Caleb found a buddy when we were leaving Tulipe, so he brought Mr. Inch worm home with him.
Another trip we took was to the Teleferico, which is a cable car ride up the side of the Mt. Pichincha. Here Caleb just fell out of the sky, good thing his dad was there to catch him
Just hanging out at roughly 13,000 ish feet above sea level over looking Quito
October came to an end with an unusual sight here in Quito... Trick or treaters. Here I am with my first two Trick or Treaters Jeremy and Valentina.
A little later I had more visitors... The Benedick family came with a Fresa (strawberry) Jael and Buzz lightyear Caleb
We started out November with a Holiday Nov. 1 and 2 here in Ecuador we celebrate the day of the dead. On this holiday families, usually indiginous families travel to cemetaries to"eat with the dead" yep that's right they make a ton of food and take it to the cemetary and eat with their dead relatives. This is a picture of the street outside the cemetary, they are selling flowers and things to leave at the graves.
Inside a mostly indiginous cemetary
A family with their food, they bring enough for the whole family plus enough to leave at the grave for the deceased.
Here is an example of what someone left: soda, bread, oranges, bananas and flowers
The flowers left by the family members
Another tradition for the Day of the Dead in Ecuador is to have Colada Morada (or Purple Colada a type of drink) and guaguas de Pan (bread in the shape of children) This is a tradition that mixes Ecuador Culture. The Colada Morada represents the Indiginous side of the culture in that it is a dark color like the skin of the indiginous and it is made of fruits that come from the ground because the indiginous are known to be workers of the ground. The guaguas de Pan represent the spanish side of the culture because the bread is made from wheat flour that was brought over from spain and is lighter in color like the skin of the spaniards. It is a mix of the two cultures which make up the Ecuadorian people! Here we are ready to learn how to make the colada and the pan. All the herbs and fruits on the table make up the Colada.
The bread makers....
Caleb and I stiring the Colada Morada
The pot of all the herbs that go into making the Colada Morada!
Jael was all about being our taster...she LOVED the Colada Morada!!!
Caleb and his guagua de Pan this one had chocolate inside...YUMHere is just a sampling of the finished product Colada Morada and guaguas de Pan!
Lucy, Kim and I just being the three muskateers :) We got a little crazy after cooking all day
The last Academic trip of the semester was to the water museum Here are Caleb, Christyn and Kevin playing in the waterfall!
We got to play with Bubbbles here is Evelyn the Director of Spanish and her bubble!
Jael had fun...i think we ALL had fun!
I am being a water molocule falling from the top of the mountain down to the rivers and streams
Making friends wherever we go :)
The water muesum is on the side of a mountain overlooking Quito here is a view of the tunnels.Well I think you are now all up to date! Please leave comments or questions if you have any :) I love hearing from you all! Thank you so much for your prayers and please keep praying especially as we prepare for the Galapagos next week and the jungle the week after that and just that God would be with us in this place as we finish this semester. I hope all is well wherever you are and that God is showing you his great and mighty love!
God Bless you all, and hey i'll see you soon :)
~jen
