More show and tell from Boquete

Welcome, again, to our blog. We thought we would share some of the normal goings on as we live our lives here in Boquete on our mission of mystery and adventure.

Occasionally we have water problems, and this may explain a little better why. First, the water comes from the mountain by gravity, and the PVC pipes sit above the ground most of the time. They break for a number of reasons: cars run over them, machetes cut them while cutting the grass, the sun bakes and breaks them. The city is very slow to respond and fix these, and normally we have to fix them ourselves. These are small, 1/2 inch pipes, so water comes slowly, and leaks cause a problem. Our neighbor fixed his leak, just above us in this unique manner. A cloth wrapped around it with a shoestring tied around to hold it together. We helped him fix it properly with a new joint and some pvc glue. 

While walking down one of the two main roads (yes, this is a main road in bustling downtown Boquete,), and this man selling wood chairs and small love seats while balancing them on his head! No, we didn't buy one. I couldn't fit it on my head!

Since we have a family living in the house that we built, you can see it back there, there are a lot of young children living there and love to play soccer. They like to see the old man get in there with them, even though they can beat the pants off me.

One of the doges that we have "inherited" with the house is Monte. Here, he is enjoying a group massage by some of the Montezuma family children. He is a big bear of a dog, and is as gentle as can be. Oh, to be so relaxed!

Lately, we noticed a family of armadillos along side our yard. Yep, 4 of them, rooting around, not causing any problem. We had never seen these creatures close up before, and they acted like we weren't even there. This is such an interesting area we live in.

Lynda has been busy all about Boquete. Here she is talking to the owner of a new mail service while at the Tuesday market. We are always looking for the best way to get mail and packages sent and received. It is practically impossible to get anything from the states without paying a fortune.

Lynda was able to get her Driver's license renewed for another year. To do this, you have to bring your updated visa and passport, then go to a booth for an eye test and questions, then another booth for a hearing test, and then go to this little window where they make the license and then go to another window and pay $40 dollars. Usually this can take a couple of hours, but we went early, when it first opened, and were done in 25 minutes. World record!

Lynda also keeps the cookies coming, as well as teaching Mariela Montezuma how to make them to keep the tradition going even after we leave. Mariela is 16 and lives in the house behind us with the other 10 people there!

And Don keeps the tradition going of "testing" the cookie dough to make sure it is up to standard! This is a specialist of chocolate chip cookies!

These two are the youngest of the Montezuma family, children of the oldest brother, Osvaldo. They are Ruth and Randy. Yep, not sure how they got the American names, but cute as buttons. Ruth is 3 and Randy is about 15 months. They like to stop by for apples and like to visit.

Not sure there are words for this picture. But they sure are grateful for their apples. 

We celebrated birthdays just last night, the 20th of July, for Mariela and Juan Carlos. Mariela is 16 and Juan Carlos turns 9 in a couple of days. We had Lynda's enchiladas, homemade frijoles, rice, and for dessert, chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.We had 14 people, including the two families living in the house behind us and the two sister missionaries. What a fun evening!

After dinner and dessert, the two sister missionaries, Hermana Delgado and Hermana Pula shared a message and scripture with the family. A wonderful way to end the evening.

Here is the Osvaldo Montezuma family, who share the house with the rest of the Montezuma clan, along with us, of course. Our house doesn't have much privacy, as there are more comings and goings with all the children visiting us. The other part of the Montezuma family also has 4 kids, for a total of 11 people living in the house that we built for 5!

5 months since the accident, and we truly believe the Lord has blessed us to recover quickly and with very little marks or scars. We are happy to be here, doing what we can to help the members and people of Boquete, Panama. But, honestly, we so miss our family and friends back home. Time is flying by, and we will end this adventure soon.

Don't forget to write us at dpresley90712@yahoo.com!