August 31, 2001

June, July and August were busy with lots of family. What a blessing it was to have so many people coming to visit. Mark and Betsy Baker, Ed's brother and sister-in-law from Hilton Head, South Carolina spent a couple weeks vacationing in Costa Rica with their children, Craig and Alyssa. They spent some time with us here in San Jose, then went off to see the sights. We met up with them at the beach at Manuel Antonio.

Alyssa, Betsy, Craig & Mark

She looks quite at home up there!

Iguanas are EVERYWHERE on the beach at Manuel Antonio

...but kotamundis are much harder to photograph (this one did not want to smile for Mark)

After Mark & Betsy and family, we had a wonderful visit from our two daughters. Rhian, our oldest, from Austin Texas came for a couple weeks on vacation from her job as Account Sales Executive with Apple Computer. Kara, who is studying accounting at Georgia State University came for 5 weeks during her summer break. We had a great time, and truly enjoyed being able to show off our newly adopted country to them. We got to visit the volcanoes, rainforests and beaches, so they went back to the States with lots of photos and memories.

Ed, Rhian & Linda on the way to the beach	Two sisters!! (Kara & Rhian)
Kara at the Irazu Volcano crater	Linda and Kara at the Irazu Volcanoe
Kara at La Fortuna waterfall	Rhian and Ed at the hotel in Punta Uva
Adventurers setting out to visit Tortuguero Park	Kara on the rainforest canopy bridge

Last but not least were Linda's sisters - Martha Cole, Linda's oldest sister and her sister-in-law, Carlene Foster and Linda's twin, Brenda Smith and her husband, Jeff. They were here during our semester break, so we were able to act as "tour guides". We rented a van and toured Costa Rica from one end to the other.

(L-R) Linda, Jeff, Brenda, Martha & Carlene	Jeff on the zip-line at Arenal Volcanoe
Arenal Volcano on a beautiful clear day	Pacific beach on the way to Manuel Antonio

With all the fun over, it is time to get back to what the Lord really sent us here to do - STUDY SPANISH! We certainly had a wonderful time enjoying His creation, and spending time with family. We start our third and final quarter of school the first of September, and we are actually excited about getting back to our "normal" schedule.