A Year in the Life: December

December begins with a 2-day evangelistic campaign at the Pisulí Church of Christ. On Saturday, Rusty takes the three boys to their baseball practice and games in the morning, then to the church to help for the afternoon. I stay home and get out the Christmas decorations. We put up the tree that evening. On Sunday, we all go to Pisulí for the morning service, followed by a big lunch and some afternoon activities.

It takes me several days to get my house all decorated for Christmas. We start doing our Jesse Tree -- reading a devotional each night leading up to Christmas and then hanging up the accompanying ornament. This has become such a meaningful holiday tradition for our family. We use this wonderful book by Ann Voskamp. We also start watching our favorite Christmas movies when we have a free evening.

The first half of December tends to be fairly busy. I am still homeschooling and teaching my English classes, but I am also planning and getting ready for various Christmas events at the camp. We usually have a Parent Night for the after-school program just before we break for Christmas, so there are rehearsals to help with and decorating to do for that. In addition, we will have a Christmas party for the kids in the program, and a staff Christmas lunch. It is tradition in Ecuador for employers to gift their employees with a box of "víveres," or non-perishable food items for Christmas, so Rusty and I take a morning to price the various options at the different grocery stores in town and then purchase the boxes for our staff.

Alex has a Teen Night to attend. This one is a sleepover because the following day, the teens put on their Christmas fair fundraiser event. They are raising funds to off-set the costs of their annual retreat, which will take place in the spring. The teens spend Friday evening setting up for the fair, which takes place on Saturday. It is a fun day with games, crafts, and food for purchase. Our whole family attends and has a great time. We are very thankful for this community of fellow homeschooling missionaries.

The after-school program runs through mid-December, and then we have a 3-week break for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The final day of the program is busy. We have the staff Christmas lunch before the program and present the Christmas boxes to our staff. Immediately following the program, we have the Parent Night. Each class has prepared a Christmas song to sing for their parents, and they do a great job. Afterwards, we serve hot cocoa and homemade empanadas to everyone. We had a great turnout this year, so there are nearly 200 people present!

The boys have their final baseball games and end-of-season parties on the same day as the Christmas party for the after-school program, so once again, we "divide and conquer." Rusty takes the boys to Quito for baseball, and I stay at the camp to help with the party. We have a group of students from the Bible college come out for the day. They have planned games and outdoor activities for the kids. We also do "photos with Santa" and have those printed so the kids can make a photo craft. Lunch is served, followed by a special program -- the students perform a drama for the kids and then the kids sing a couple of their songs (the same ones they performed for the parent night) as a way to say "thank you." Finally, Santa gives out a bag of candy and treats to each child! We are thankful for all those who make these special Christmas parties possible -- through financial gifts or through giving up a free Saturday to help out!

Alex has a friend from baseball over to spend the night following the final game. The next day, his family drives out to pick him up. We have lunch together and spend Sunday afternoon visiting and playing disc golf. The Quito Youth Baseball League has been another great place for us to make friends outside of our own little missions circle!

Now, most of the camp Christmas activities are over, but we have become aware of a member of the Pisulí church, Sandra, who is in dire need of help with her house. The house is not finished, but Sandra and her children have been living in it for awhile. Rusty organizes some of the camp employees to travel to Quito several days in a row to do a service project to make the house more livable. He takes Alex with him one day to help out. They are joined in their efforts by some of the members of the Pisulí church as well as by Sandra and her family.

The last day of school before the Christmas break is December 21st. Elizabeth has her school Christmas program followed by her class party. After lunch, we head in to Quito. Alex attends the homeschool teen Christmas party. Rusty and Josh hang out at the Marcums' house with the younger kids while Julie and I go out to dinner and do some last-minute shopping.

Our Christmas break has officially begun. We spend the next few days doing final Christmas prep -- wrapping presents, doing our annual ornament craft (this year, we do puzzle piece ornaments), and finishing up the Christmas baking. I try to do 12 different cookies, plus peanut brittle and peppermint bark every year. Once I am all finished, I start putting out trays of Christmas cookies with each meal.

On Christmas Eve, we have finger foods and wassail for dinner. After the kids go to bed, Rusty and I stay up late wrapping presents and watching movies. I like to watch "While You Were Sleeping" as I wrap gifts on Christmas Eve. It has become a fun personal tradition.

Christmas Day is relaxed and fun. We start the day with pumpkin cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then, we open presents. We have a yummy late lunch of roast lamb, spiced peaches, and all the trimmings and then watch "A Christmas Story" together. The kids spend the following day playing with their new toys while I do a little clean up and putting away around the house.

On December 27th, the Marcum family arrives at the camp for our annual family Christmas gathering. We have a yummy late Christmas lunch, then play disc golf and board games for the rest of the afternoon. That evening, we exchange gifts (each kid buys one gift for one of their cousins -- keeps things simple) and have a sleepover. The Marcums leave after breakfast the next morning.

All the hustle and bustle of Christmas is finally over, but we have the next 2 weeks to enjoy some family time. All of the camp employees are taking vacation time for a few days and the camp is closed and very quiet. These times don't come around too often, so we try to enjoy them when they do! Over the next few days, we eat lots of Christmas leftovers, play board games, and have a "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" marathon.

On New Year's Eve I spend the day scrapbooking. We make egg-nog, Chex Mix, and homemade pizza for our family New Year's Eve party. The kids watch movies and sleep out in the living room under the Christmas tree. They want to try to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year, but nobody makes it except Rusty and me! At midnight, the fireworks start going off all around us.

December moments (clockwise from top left):

1. Alex and Eliana ran the game called The Three Gifts at the Christmas fundraiser fair.
2. Christmas train sighting!
3. After school program Christmas party -- the kids made a photo craft using their photo with Santa.
4. Group picture after completing Sandra's home improvement service project
5. Merry Christmas from the staff of Camp Bellevue!
6. Christmas cookie decorating
7. Christmas morning family pic in front of the tree with our silly hats!

Another year has come to an end. I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into what "A Year in the Life" looks like for the Campbell family in Ecuador!

A Year in the Life: November

The first weekend in November is a holiday weekend in Ecuador. Three holidays back-to-back (Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, and Cuenca Independence Day) combine to make a long weekend. This year, we have a large group from the Salvation Army at the camp for a youth retreat from Thursday afternoon through Sunday lunch. It is a busy few days.

The following weekend, the camp hosts the Women in Ministry retreat. This is a retreat planned by the Bible college in Quito and offered to all women in Churches of Christ who are involved in full-time ministry. The camp is in charge of food and housing for the weekend. In addition, I've been asked to lead a connection group, do a breakout session on personality styles, and give a keynote talk on Sunday morning. It is a busy week for me as I plan and prepare for all these different components. The theme of the retreat is "gratitude." It all goes very well and is a wonderful time of refreshment and encouragement for all the participants.

The next week, we drive into Quito to celebrate Dad's birthday. We eat at the best Indian restaurant in town and follow that up with pie for dessert at the Marcums' house. A few days later, we head back for a Friday night sleepover. The younger kids hang out with their cousins while Rusty and I drop Alex and Michaela off for Teen Night Then, we get to have a date -- dinner and movie out! The next day, we take the boys to their baseball practice and games at Cotopaxi Academy. After lunch and grocery shopping, we drive home. The camp is hosting a baby shower that evening for a young lady who has been helping with the after school program on a part-time basis and I have tea sandwiches to prepare for that.

Now that all my traveling is done and most of the fall camp groups have come and gone, I am ready to start up English classes again for the kids in the after-school program. I make name-tags for all the kids and teach my first set of classes in mid-November.

Just before Thanksgiving, Rusty has planned a 1-night getaway with Alex, Dad, and Josh, to discuss manhood and what it means to "become a man." Then, it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving! We drive into Quito for the weekend and have a nice family dinner on Thursday with the Marcums and my parents, followed by a mini-piano recital, put on by all the kids for their Nyanya. Later on, there is a time to share individual "psalms of gratitude" (a Marcum family Thanksgiving tradition), and while the kids watch a movie together, the adults have some time to visit and pray together.

The next day, all 14 of us head out of the city for a 1-night camping trip at Antisana National Park. Rusty has found a small lodge where my parents can stay, while the rest of us pitch tents by the lake. We enjoy exploring the park, hiking, and seeing several different species of birds, including an Andean Condor in the wild!

We spend one more night in Quito, attend church at Pisulí on Sunday, then have lunch at the Marcums' with the EQEB students who have been taking Dad's spiritual formation class. He teaches his last session to them after lunch, and then we pack up and head back to the camp. Mom and Dad come with us. They will be spending their last few days in Ecuador with us, and Rusty will take them to the airport.

It's hard to believe my parents' 2.5 months in Ecuador is at an end. We pass their last couple of days in Ecuador taking them to shop at the market in Otavalo, and arranging for them to see available apartments and condos in our area. (One of the purposes of this trip was to see if living in Ecuador full-time could be an option for them now that Dad has retired from full-time ministry.)

It has been a full and a busy month. We are thankful for all the wonderful family times we have enjoyed. Now, it's time to get ready for Christmas!

November moments (clockwise from top left):

1. Mom shares her "prayer album" with the Women in Ministry participants during my keynote session at the retreat.
2. Baseball has been such a fun outlet for our boys in the years we've lived in Ecuador.
3. Happy Birthday, Dad!
4. Our Thanksgiving feast
5. Three generations of piano players
6. Rusty and Alex
7. Hiking with the cousins in Antisana National Park
   

A Year in the Life: October

The first week of October, I am in Brazil for the Connections renewal for missionary women, sponsored by Great Cities Missions. This is a wonderful few days of rest, teaching sessions, lots of time for silence and solitude, and time spent in small "connection" groups. The food is delicious, and the setting (a cozy hotel on a secluded beach) is beautiful, but the best part of the whole week is being with sisters in Christ! The fellowship and especially the singing (in English!) is amazing.

Rusty spends the week at home with the kids. He keeps the Facebook community entertained all week with hilarious "misadventures of a single dad" posts. This has become something of a tradition that his friends look forward to every two years. This year, my parents are there to help out, so I don't think he gets as much sympathy as he normally does.

On the day Jerica and I return from Brazil, Rusty brings the whole family to pick us up at the airport. After dropping Jerica off, we head to the Marcums' house to help my parents get settled. They will be living there "on their own" for the next few weeks and studying Spanish. We attend a church in the valley near the Marcum's house the next day and help Mom and Dad make some connections with the Christians there. Then, we say goodbye and head back to the camp.

For the next two weeks, we have a fairly normal routine. I begin homeschooling again as well as planning for several upcoming camp groups. I have several special projects I am working on for the after school program -- preparing enrichment activities for each class, taking pictures of the kids for the picture wall, and updating the bulletin boards. I have decided not to start English classes until November, so this gives me a little extra time to work on these projects. I am also working on updating Facebook photo albums for me and for the camp, and on a PowerPoint for our presentation on Camp Bellevue at the upcoming Operation Ecuador Summit.

The boys have baseball every Saturday. Elizabeth has a Field Day at her school one Saturday, so I take her to that while Rusty takes the three boys to Quito for practice and games. Alex also has his first Homeschool Teen Fellowship night of the school year. He really enjoys these times -- they are one of his only social outlets right now.

Rusty has been invited to preach at the church in Cayambe, so we attend there one Sunday, followed by lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, the Café de la Vaca. The next Sunday, we are busy with a weekend group from the U.S. spending their fall break in Ecuador serving at the children's home next door. They stay at the camp for three nights and we prepare breakfast and dinner for them each day. They leave on Sunday after church.

The next day, Mom and Dad drive out to the camp. They will be staying with the kids while Rusty and I travel to the States for a week to attend the annual Operation Ecuador Summit. We go grocery shopping and make sure they are set up for the week, then pack our bags (again) and head to the airport for our late night flight to Miami.

The OE Summit is being hosted this year by the Livonia Church of Christ in Livonia, MI, but our first stop is actually Dallas to spend a few days with the Shawnee Trail Church of Christ. This church began supporting our family in January, but we have not personally visited them yet. Our days in Dallas are full with missions committee meetings, errands, shopping, and visits with our friends the Wilsons (who recently moved back to the States from Ecuador), and my Uncle Ken and Aunt Barb, members at Shawnee Trail and our initial connection with this church.

After a few days in Dallas, we fly up to Detroit. We stay at my parents' house with the Marcum family, who are wrapping up their 4-month furlough. The OE Summit takes place at the Livonia church on Friday and Saturday, October 26-27. Rusty and I do a presentation on the camp together for the entire group. We enjoy hearing about the good things that God is doing in the other "sister ministries" of OE -- the Bible college, church planting teams, and Kumanii and medical missions.There are also scheduled break-out sessions and times of prayer for the various ministries. On Saturday afternoon, the church has planned a fun outing for all the Summit participants -- the Rouge Factory Tour followed by dinner at a wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant in Dearborn.

On Sunday, we attend church at Livonia -- Rusty and Josh co-preach. The rest of our day is filled with visits with friends and supporters, as well as the requisite shopping and then packing until the wee hours of the morning. We fly back to Ecuador on Monday, October 29th. Mom and Dad drive back to Quito the following day, while we unpack and start prepping for a large group coming to the camp this weekend.

On Halloween, we manage to procure four orange pumpkins at the market for the kids to carve into jack-o-lanterns. That evening, they dress up in their costumes and we attend Fall Fest at Elizabeth's school. We finish the night by watching "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin," a family tradition.

October moments (clockwise from top left):

1. Haircuts for three boys and their Babu
2. Rusty and I presenting on Camp Bellevue at the Operation Ecuador Summit
3. Rusty bought two Great Dane puppies -- we named them Lucy and Ethel.
4. Carving jack-o-lanterns
5. Halloween, 2018 -- a cowboy, Doc McStuffins, a brave and daring knight, and Bumblebee!