Dallas Report

Dear Family and Friends,

I arrived in Dallas on Wednesday about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. My sister-in-law, Nancy, met me in baggage claim. I was so glad to see her as I did not have a cell phone that would work in the U.S.

When we arrived home, I was surprised to find my brother, Norman, playing games on his computer in his office. He looked pretty good considering he was just a week from his by-pass surgery.

Nancy is a deacon at an Episcopal church here in Dallas. The church members have been so wonderful bringing dinners each evening.

I have been able to visit my mother who lives just a short drive from Norman's and Nancy's house. She is doing great. I took her shopping the other day and we had a wonderful time. Here she is playing BINGO at Autumn Leaves (her new home.)

Here is a picture one of her caregivers made of Norman, Mom and me.

Today, Nancy's mother and sister brought lunch. We had a wonderful meal and I really enjoyed meeting them. The first picture is of Nancy's mother, Nancy and Norman.

And this picture is of Nancy, Norman and Nancy's sister, Beverly.

This last picture is not for the faint of heart. I am using a Macintosh to put up this post and I do not know how to rotate the picture....probably a good thing. I asked Norman to show me his scar.

We have so much to be thankful for. My mom is 89 years old and except for her memory loss is in very good health. My brother has come through a very serious operation and is doing very well. I was able to come back and see them both.

I leave for Ecuador on Tuesday and arrive in Cuenca on Wednesday morning. I'm missing Chuck, but I will be back with him soon.

Love,

Nancy

Our Visitors

Dear Family and Friends,

Just a quick post to share a picture of our visitors. Chuck's sister, Carol is wearing the visor. Her husband Frank, has on the red jacket. Connie and Jim are their friends from Washington state.

They are headed out with Chuck to explore the neighborhood markets.

I am out of here in a few hours. I am flying to Quito this afternoon. Around midnight, I fly from Quito to Atlanta then on to Dallas.

Next post will be from Dallas.

Love,
Nancy

Off to Dallas and Company is Coming

Dear Family and Friends,

My brother, Norman, is doing great. I am leaving tomorrow to spend a week with him and my mother. I will share more about his health after I arrive in Dallas.

This evening, Chuck's sister, Carol and her husband, Frank, are arriving for a couple of weeks. This will be their first trip to Cuenca and we are so anxious to share the city with them. They
are coming with a couple of friends, so Chuck and I have vacated our condo and moved into the new one in El Molle so they can have plenty of room here.

I will add a post about Carol's and Frank's arrival before I head out of town. Chuck will be their tour guide, since I will be out of town for a week, but this is his regular role anyway. He has many things planned to do with them. I will return to see them again before they head back to the U.S.

In the meantime, I will share some more pictures about our new condo.

Here is Chuck enjoying the new awning we put up on the terrace.



We got internet last week. Here are some pictures of the installation.


Ecuador safety harness....


I went to another window to see what this guy is doing....


Our new antenna.....the internet works great.


Just this morning, our new dining room table and chairs arrived.


Also, this morning we had all the windows measured for window treatments. I will decide on fabric after I return to Cuenca.

Here are some views from our terrace....fantastic!!!




We have had water and gas run to the terrace so that we can have an irrigation system for Chuck's plants and a BBQ grill.

I will post more pictures of our new condo after I return from Dallas.

Love,
Nancy

Thank You God for Sparing my Brother

(Norman, Nan and Mom when they were visiting us here in Cuenca)

Dear Family and Friends,

The last few days have been very tense for us. I was planning a trip this week to visit my Mom who lives in Dallas, TX with my brother. I received an email from my brother, Norman, last Friday. He told me that he had just returned from having cardiac tests done and that three of his arteries were 100% blocked and the fourth one was 75% blocked. Immediate by-pass surgery was scheduled for Monday morning.

Needless to say a lot of prayers were sent up. It was a long weekend for us. Yesterday he had by-pass surgery at Baylor University Hospital. Nan (my sister-in-law) called late yesterday afternoon to tell me that the surgery was over and the surgeons were able to give him four new arteries.

I have rescheduled my trip to Dallas until next week. I can help him and Nan out when he first comes home from the hospital.

My heart is singing.

Love you Norman and Nan. See you next week.

Love,
Nancy

We Bought a New Condo

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck has been after me to share this on our blog. About three months ago we bought a new condo. Why??? Well, all I can say is that I had an itch for a penthouse apartment. Chuck saw it as a good investment and indulged me.

This is the outside of our building. You can't actually see our apartment in this picture, but the yellow arrows point to our terrace.


Here are a couple of views of the terrace.




It is quite large and the views are spectacular.

Here is Chuck checking out the living area.


The bedrooms have large built in closets. These are still shrink wrapped.


At first we thought we would sell our present condo and move into the new one. But Chuck could not bring himself to leave the lovely private patio garden that he has put so much of his heart into. So, here we sit with two condos.

I love the location and have convinced Chuck for us to live in it for a few months. I think as he puts his heart and soul in a garden on the new terrace he might decide to move permanently. The condo is located in a wonderful neighborhood. We can walk one block to the grocery store, the bank, the pharmacy, ice cream parlors and there are tons of nice restaurants close by. The location is beyond perfect.

We have decided to furnish the new one and then ????? We'll see what's next.

Love,
Nancy

Happy New Year!!

Dear Family and Friends,

For all my Georgia family and friends who may think that because we live in Ecuador that we have to do without....take a look at this.

This is what we ate on New Years day.



It is a tradition, especially in the southern states in the U.S., to eat black eyed peas on New Years day to insure "good luck" throughout the new year.

I have shared about some of the Ecuadorian traditions for New Year in a past blog.

We shared our southern U.S. New Year tradition with some of our Ecuadorian friends. Here they are in the aftermath of the feast. Yes, we even had iced tea....but some opted for wine instead.



We had a fun time sharing.....

Happy New Year!!!

Nancy and Chuck