Watch this space...

I'm sure I've used that line before. But tomorrow we start our adventures with a 10 1/2hr flight. Wahoooo this is going to be fun!
If we're all still alive I'll post pictures soon!

The other side of Costa Rica

Sorry it has been so long but here at the new house we have moved to is without WiFi . We have done so much since we have moved to this new spot! 

 The standard of living here is so far from what you would expect both in the UK and USA. The humidity and heat corrodes things at a much faster pace so houses and cars look old when they are not, also electricity is really expensive so you don't see too many power tools being used and most people won't use the tumble dyer either! The new house we are in is fantastic! Just this morning we were watching White faced monkey’s swing from branch to branch; there are a few a toucan’s that live in the trees around our house as well as a cute gecko that is living with us! We have also seen a sloth and a GIANT turtle. I know you could spend your entire life exploring this land and still not cover half of what there is to see. It’s such a privilege to see so many wonderful creations in one place, this leaves you with no doubt that there is a creator of this amazing earth! 

So first the new house...

 

The view from the front of the house, you can't see it here but when its clear you can see the sea (ocean)

 

The monkeys living in the trees in the back garden... They were really close.

Speaking of which, as amazing as the monkeys are the highlight has definitely been spending time with the brothers and this little English group. We have LOVED being here with them and the enthusiasm they show is outstanding! For example the room we meet in is the back school or second school and it seats about 12 ok but they have around 16 with us showing up, the room is like a little sauna and is not the most comfortable but that does not detour these dedicated brothers and sisters.  Their territory is vast and beautiful, for the most part! Most people live in modest houses and one Bible study we went to the people didn't even have a floor but they are so excited to be able to learn about the Bible, they have an appreciation for spiritual things which you don't see too often in the western worlds. Going out in service is fun but hot! It was especially fun the other day when we were doing the rural territory. The roads that are UN-paved are a free for all... as you can see.

And here is the group... most of them.

 

This is the Bible study I was telling you about, the dirt floor you see is all they had through the whole house. It really makes you appreciate all that we have! Here I was trying to teach the children English and they were teaching me Spanish, it was fun.

This is a house next to a brothers Bible study, the parrot looks dead but he was chilling with his friend the dog! So cute!
 

And this is how they do it! 

 

Even in the rural's we manage to find a street corner to congregate on! 

 

Hudson is now a seasoned driver! He can't be any worse than the locals hehe!!

A little after service refreshment...

Tarzan! 

And the kids catching lightening bugs back at the house... all those white dots are the bugs, it's so cool!!

We are going to move!!!

Ha! Only houses not actually move to Costa Rica! we have done so much in the last few days, it feels like we have been here for a month already! 

First of all we went to the English group which is hosted by the Spanish congregation on Sundays at 4pm and Fridays at 7pm. It was so much fun to be included, the kids were so happy because they got to answer on every question. Right now there are about 12 in the group so its kind of like the old book studies which is awesome (for us at least!) Experiencing the Spanish meeting was a real challenge mostly because we don't really speak any Spanish, although we are trying hard to work on that! Hudson was a bag of snakes for the majority of the meeting and did not want me to hold him plus its was SOOOOOOOOOOOO hot and humid in the hall they don't have AC just fans with the doors open... I didn't get pictures yet, I was to hot to care about it, but I will I promise! The brothers of course are lovely and we got to hang out with a brother called Matt and his lovely wife Meredith and their two boys Max and Jack. Jack has pretty much grown up in CR and has a funny Spanish and American accent, it's cute! 

We haven't got to out in service yet, the kids have been sick... (it's not the water ;)) just a tummy bug I think from the plane! Way to go American Airlines!! But we are hoping to go this Thursday if we can get baby well!

So why are we moving and where are we going?

The place we are currently staying at is so so beautiful but so very very cold! So cold in fact that you have to turn on the electric blankets on our bed so we can get a decent nights sleep, plus its a solid hour and a half from the congregation which is a huge pain because it means 3 hours of driving time just to get to the meeting let a lone out in service and on these roads that's a lot! We managed to find a new house about 10 mins from the beach and only about 45 mins from the Congregations,,, yep both the group in San Isidro and the English congregation in Quepos. Its near a little beach town called Dominical below you can see what the beach looks like... it looks rocky but nearer the water its amazing, and the waves are super high, perfect for surfing, we spent a few hours jumping waves, it was so much fun... oh and the house comes with a pool too, so we are really excited about that.

We have so many stories already, way to many to write down, but I am sure we will be talking of everyones ear when we are back.

In the meantime enjoy the pics.

xxx

With new friends...

 And a baby iguana they found

 Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh what a view, the beach in Dominical

 Just hanging out at the beach

 The perfect get-up

Ronnie and Danielle recommend this place... it was fantastic, built around an old plane in the city of Manuel Antonio, we got to see monkeys and the kids got to hang out in the cockpit. We got to stay in a hotel here to because our car broke down... like I said so many stories so far!

 Outside of the restaurant.

This is the bridge we have to drive over everyday to leave the property, its soooooooooooo dodgy, I don't even think there is anything holding it up expect the new planks thrown onto the old!

Our house in the middle of our street. Our house...

Are you humming the song yet?

Well for the past 24 hours we have been stuck at home because little Ella has caught a bug... Yep gross! Poor thing has been really poorly and needed to stay at home, so we have been making the most of this amazing place and exploring the area...

This is just one of the many breathing taking views from where we are.

 

It's so funny too that many of the plants we desperately try to keep looking amazing in Sacramento
grow like weeds here... look at these hydrangeas they grow everywhere! its so cool.

This little waterfall runs under the pathway up to our house.

This is the house we are staying in the pathway is lined with these lovely succulent plants, they look so good.
 
close up of the plants 

 

One of the back views of our place

The steps leading down to the river


Trying to keep Jude occupied whilst Ella recovered was not really a challenge, we let him wander free within walkie talkie range of course and I even got him to take some pictures for me... he even got an iguana on film.

These are so some of them...
Oh first the handsome young man right before he headed out


The shot he took of the Iguana is a little blurry, he'll get it next time...


The pond above our house, they re-stock the river with these fish (I think)

One of the caves at the bottom of the garden

 and another waterfall

Tomorrow we head out to meet the congregation, we are hoping to get the schedule down for the ministry and the rest of the meetings times. We also get to meet the brother who helped us put this trip together, actually he did most of the work!

We can't wait to meet the brothers...

We made it!!!

Well a few hours later and we have made it to the hotel! Finally!!

It has been too dark to take any good pictures, but I do have an interesting story.

We had to transfer flights to get to this pace, which actually turned to be a good thing, normally its a huge pain but when traveling with a baby, it meant he could get of the aeroplane and run around, well upon boarding the flight from Dallas TX I strike up a conversation with this man and his lovely daughter to my right, I think to myself ... Hmmm 4 hrs of witnessing this will be good! I thought I'd try to be discreet though (sometimes I can do that!) and got my iPad out to start studying for the week. He then asked me if that was the WT for this Sunday! What!!! How did he know?? Well it turns out they are witnesses who are from Seattle! How crazy is that a whole plane full of people and here we are sitting together!
Jose who actually is from Peru, his wife (sherri who we haven't met yet) and his daughter are going to be here for a couple of months whilst his daughter (Gabby) goes to school to learn Spanish and help teach the violin... Cool huh? They come to CR every year or so to help out the local Spanish congregations, and here we were all stuck on a plane together. It was so amazing to be able to relax straight away and see how Jehovah's people, are truly like a huge family! Plus he has the most awesome story of how he found the truth... Can't to share that with you in person.

Hudson is such a good traveler as well and was so relaxed throughout the whole thing... Check it out.

Oh and so sorry for the terrible pictures, my camera has broken, so you'll have to make do with these until I can replace it

 

And the lovely Gabby with my rabble... So nice to meet you!


I feel so privileged to be able to have this experience... I can't WAIT for the rest of the trip!!

Location:San Jose, CR

Traveling again!

Good morning to you all.
I wanted to start posting again... we are traveling to Costa Rica for about 4 weeks which is very exciting, but I wanted to be able to share our experiences with you all...
Enjoy!
The Gilmore Family

Why where have you gone?

You maybe wondering (or not!) just where I have been for the past year (s) or so?
Well if you want to find out then scoot on over to here... You will find all my lastest typos, and rambelings.
I must apologize for not posting pictures of my last meal in England, but it was just to sad to so. Kind of like closing the book never knowing when it will be open again! BUT!!!!! I maybe going back home in August so "watch this space"

Thanks for reading.

We're home

So we made it back okay to sunny Calif, I can't believe how much snow the UK has had this past week and how much warmer it is. We almost didn't make it up to the airport, but my dad pushed through the weather like the expert driver that he is. We did see a few cars facing us the wrong way on the motorway though which was a little unnerving!

The last night we were in England Graham cooked us this fantastic meal, and I took a million pictures but cannot be bothered to load them on at this moment, but I promise I'll do it this week. I want to show all you Yankees how amazing British food is so when you hear people slagging it off you can set them right ;-)

Look forward to seeing everyone and sharing our funny stories... miss you already my fellow Brits!

Love xxx

Sniff Sniff last night in GREAT Britain :-(

Well we have had such a fantastic time here in lovely England it's going to be so very hard to come back home to CA... ahhhhh we need to plan something to do to ease the pain! maybe snowboarding again??

Today we just spent the time getting ready to come home and took a little wander around the village where my brother lives. It's such a cute place and has everything you need.

Outside Tim/Dad's place

The American style house

Again it was so very very cold, she just couldn't manage to walk anymore!
Local butchers...
...and the local baker shop



We got to hang out with some old friends (Damien & Jo) we kind of all grew up?! together at least we were all pioneering at the same time! They are from lovely Brighton but took the time to come and visit us, which was lovely.
They too have a boy called Jude and a sweet little girl called Poppy.

Kathryn & Michael, who really don't drink as much as it looks like they do in the picture!!!!

Poppy & Ella

The other Jude and lovely mummy
And it was an absolute nightmare trying to get the kids to take a picture without mucking about... sigh oh well they are still very adorable.



This is in a place called Cranbrook, apparently it's the 2nd tallest windmill in the county.


So the girl that pretty much taught me to sew, is called Nicola, she was also my Quick Build team mate! we used to mix cement for the bricklayers on the team... ahhhh good Ol' days. She now is married and has two lovely Children, Joseph, who is a sweetie and Tilly, who I am sure will be too but is only about 6 weeks old! Anyway she makes the most amazing necklace's, bracelets, broaches etc... so I had to pop by to see what she had... check her out here at Tinhouse let me know if you want anything and I'll pass the info along! scuh cute stuff
Adorable Joseph helping mummy to show of her wares.
Her hubby (Tristans) pet spider, yes it was a little unnerving
Yes I was freaking out a little inside!


This was a brilliant idea, the kids were freezing but loved it! well done Nic


We took this the last day we were in Oxford with Rolfe & Michele