5 Day Vacation!

Dear Family and Friends,

We had such a great time with David's family that I am not sure where to start! In only 5 days we packed in enough excitement for a month! Here goes!!!

David's sister, Tina, her son Ryan and Ryan's wife Danielle visited us and before they arrived we made plans to visit an area a few hours north of the city where the active volcano Arenal is located. The crew arrived a bit tired after an overnight layover in Miami, but after a few hours rest we were on our way.

On Friday we drove through a town called Zarcero for a quick pit stop and a visit to their central park. It is very unique with these bush designs made into animals, people and faces.


We arrived to our hotel at noon and then headed to La Fortuna waterfall. It was a quite a hike down and we were all thinking about the hike back up as we descended. Everyone hiking up said it was worth the effort so down we went. The waterfall was beautiful and amazingly powerful! It was hard to even stand in that water (which was a bit cold by the way!).


We enjoyed the hot springs pools in temperatures from warm to hot but the hit of the pool was a tie between the two water slides and the American football we managed to sneak into the swim bag. I've never seen three guys think of more ways to compete with a football. We were entertained for hours!


Saturday night it decided to rain so we were not able to see the lava as we had hoped, but the next morning made up for it with a wonderful canopy/zip line adventure. Here are a few shots of our time together. We were most worried about Kayley thinking she might get scared and chicken out but she was right up front and loved it even more than the rest of us. She looked like a professional out there!


We enjoyed worshiping together on Sunday morning and then did some souvenir shopping. Monday morning we left early to view Poas Volcano. It was a little cloudy but the wind blowed some clouds out of the way to view part of the crater.


It is always great to have family visit and we needed the break to spend some fun time together as a family. Needless to say, the regular routine has begun once again and already David is in Nicaragua to visit 3 of the 4 districts there. We are busy preparing for the 44 member team that will arrive in two weeks. All the plans are coming together and we are excited to see what God will do in and through this teen group.

May God bless your week. We miss you all!

The Webb Family

WV Team Part II

Dear Friends and Family,

The “winter” weather has begun here in Costa Rica, which is to say the rain has come. We had a tropical storm move through this week which brought days of continuous rain and flooding in many areas. But it has now subsided and the routine will return to regular with clear, sunny mornings and rainy afternoons. Such is life in San Jose.

This week we’ll continue the highlights of our time with the Pierpont Team from Morgantown, West Virginia. There was only room on the last blog to share 3 days of their trip, so we’ll sum up the rest of the week here.

On Sunday afternoon we traveled with the team to Rosister Carballo. This is a poor and drug infested area near the airport. Last year, Pastor Casey, now the Pastor at Pierpont, was involved in the planting of this new mission. It is now a growing and thriving group of around 70 people who meet in homes each week.

We arrived at 3pm to share a time with the local children in the community center. We shared two lessons of the VBS with around 90 children. Then we did a quick craft with the kids and they had a snack before heading out the door in the rain. The team had compiled 100 Personal Care Kits which included a shampoo, a washrag, soap, toothbruth and toothpaste. The children and moms were thrilled with their new goodies.

Three people from the team returned to Rosister later in the week to help paint the outside of the community center that had been absolutely covered in graffiti. In only a few hours all the new paint was on and it looked beautiful.

The team spent the rest of their time working on what will be the new Regional Office for the MAC Region. They painted the entire 3^rd floor, not once but two times. They hung about 30 new light fixtures and scrubbed and mopped all the floors. The building looks beautiful with the new peach colored paint and all the trimmings.

And of course the team had a day for touring Costa Rica. They first enjoyed a special evening out at a famous restaurant here known for its great views of the city. The rain hampered that event a bit but the team did get a glimpse of the city lights between the clouds. Plus we enjoyed watching the traditional dancers.

On their tour day, they enjoyed seeing the Poas Volcano, the hummingbirds and even the rain forest, even though it rained a bit for that part. A lovely dinner out completed the day and they returned to the seminary a bit tired, but happy.

Their team left San Jose at 1pm but did not make it home to West Virginia until 6am after their delays and plane changes. We appreciate their sacrifice of time and money to help the work in Costa Rica and we are already speaking with them about a return trip in late 2009 or early 2010.

We finally celebrated Kayley’s birthday with a trip with two of her friends to a local amusement park. We had a fun time and God provided a beautiful day after many days of rain. There was almost no one in the park so we never had to wait to get on any ride. WONDERFUL! Sorry, but Mom forgot the camera that day so we’ve no pictures to share.

More good news is that we received the kids’ grades and found that they completed the semester with flying colors. The kids are so glad to not have homework, although Mom is assigning a few things during the week to keep their minds busy.

David has a trip planned to travel to Panama City this week and he’ll likely be taking a couple of professors from the seminary along with him. Pray for their safety on this long trip.

We are excited for Aunt Tina (David’s sister), and her son and his wife, Ryan and Danielle to arrive. They will be here in two weeks and we’ll visit Arenal Volcano and fly through the rainforest on a zipline. COOL!!!

God bless you all and have a great week!

The Webb Family