Traditions ~ Culture ~ Family

Wrap Up from Calacali, Ecuador January 2007

The three older kids were able to join us for Christmas. Although the time went far too quickly, I can say we enjoyed every minute. We continued many of our regular family traditions and added some new ones. There is an Ecuadorian tradition to hand out “Navidads” to the children. On Christmas day, while the Cline family (fellow missionaries and friends) were driving out to have Christmas dinner with us, they noticed a ton of kids lined on the road for their Navidads. We knew we had a bunch of beanie babies up in storage, left from groups this last summer. So we loaded up both our cars and just started driving. When we saw kids on the road we would stop and give them a beanie baby. One little boy told Howard, “Now Christmas has finally come!” We all agreed this is a tradition we want to continue.

We also had a good time “viewing” things through our kid’s eyes. One humorous Ecuadorian habit is to turn the flashers on their car whenever they need to do something out of the ordinary. Doesn’t matter if what they are doing is illegal, if they have their flashers on, it’s OK. We saw cars on the wrong side of the road backing up, to a car triple park. No worries, though, because they had their flashers on.

On New Years Eve day Howard and the kids were able to climb Guagua Pichincha (15,692 ft). Feeling confident a week later Howard, Nicole and Kevin climbed Iliniza Norte (16,815 ft). The altitude really affected Kevin, when they descended he said that would be enough climbing for him, no thanks he didn’t need to try Cotopaxi (19,388 ft), one of the world’s highest active volcanoes. Maybe next year.

Finally, thought you might enjoy a picture of Nicole and the young man she is going to marry. His name is Jay Kimbler and they will be married on March 28, 2008. Jay is a great guy and we are hopeful for these two and the future God has in store for them. Currently, Jay is employed in Visalia, CA. as a Herd health manager for a club calf operation. They raise cattle for 4H and FFA show animals. Pray for them as they make decisions about their future together.

We appreciate each of you and are constantly reminded how much we rely on you.

As God is our Refuge, Mary for the Scholl Family