The first half of October

Visit from the Oklahoma LiaBraatens

Kaden made friends with Great-Grandma on this trip.

This game lasted for at least 15 minutes and was hysterical every time.

Feeding Teddy

Time with Grandpa outside

A flower for Grammy

Mr. Blueberry Jr.

Chilling on the way to get his face wiped

Another fun game that lasted quite a while

Decorating Grammy with stickers

Hop on Pop

Modeling our Ecuador shirts

When it was time to say good-bye, Kaden made the rounds giving everybody hugs.  When he got to me, he must have known that I needed some extra love.  His kisses just plain old melted my heart!

Good bye, sweet boy!  Auntie Kamela loves you!

Trip to Whittington

Listening to Grandma play the piano as Grandpa accompanies on his harmonica

Meeting Karter Rayne

I got to see Little Miss Karter, my cousin Krista's baby, two times before my departure.  

She's just full of sweetness!

An Autumn Hike

We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous fall weather and take a hike on the Saturday before I left.  Rebecca and I also finally managed to get our companion picture (or two or three) taken.  

Finishing the day with a FaceTime call from Kaden (and his parents)

😁😁😁

Riding with Dad

In the spring and fall, Dad sometimes helps out a couple of local farmers when it fits into his schedule to do so.  I love to go out and ride in the tractor with him, especially during the harvest season.  I didn't have a lot of time, but I did go out for about an hour a couple of days before I left.  

Ecuador bound

My flight left O'Hare about 15 or 20 minutes late on Wednesday, Oct. 16, but we still landed ahead of schedule in Miami.

Coming into Miami

 After walking nearly a mile from my arrival gate in Miami to my departure gate, we were informed that there had been a gate change: from D2 to D51.  That turned out to be a full mile.  My flight was delayed about an hour, but we made up a little time in the air and landed in Quito right around 10:00, 40 minutes later than scheduled.  

I love flying into Quito at night.

Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Richard Harbur and Jill Yule, two of the workers on our Ecuador staff, met me at the airport and brought me to the home of Gonzalo and Celia Túquerres, where I keep my extra things.  Thursday I worked on organizing my things, getting a phone plan and having pictures taken for the visa to go in my new passport.  Yesterday a few of us met at David Lansdale's to cut up meat for one of our convention meals at Quito.  Today there is gospel meeting at 4:00 in the home of Marco and Jenny Díaz. Tomorrow after Sunday morning meeting, Richard, Jill, Damaris Báez and I will take the bus to El Cristal to begin preps on Monday morning.  I'll do another post with our upcoming convention schedule so that you can follow along.