Peru ~ Machu Picchu edition

When you have the opportunity to see an actual wonder of the world in person,
it does something to your heart. At least that is the effect Machu Picchu had on me.

I'm honestly not sure how to describe it or put into words how tremendous it was, so I'll just leave
this amazing day we had at Machu Picchu with the thought that people who lived long ago are
absolutely incredible, there is so very much about our lives that is so ridiculously easy compared
to life long ago and that when humans decide not to see really hard situations as too much or
impossible, but instead figure out a solution embracing exactly what seems difficult and finding
a way to make it work, miraculous and inspiring things happen. Also, the unreal beauty of
this earth, combined with the incredible creations of man are something else to behold.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm so grateful Jacob and three of the kids were able to
summit Huayna Picchu earlier in the day and the rest of us were able to join them to explore
Machu Picchu a couple of hours later. I'm also beyond grateful for the absolutely amazing guide
we had for the experience. Because darling Carilia is one of my favorite people I have ever met.
She is brilliant, knowledgeable, kind, funny and absolutely radiates the light of Christ. The day
we spent with her was such a privilege and I'm such a huge fan of who she is and how much
she taught us--both about Machu Picchu and about being a tremendous human.

It was a wonderful day, with the people I love most, experiencing something
I actually didn't know if I would in this life. I'm just so thankful.

Peru ~ Aguas Calientes edition

 Oh man, Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu, was so fun and amazing. 

(Sidenote: Getting tickets to Machu Picchu in person, when they run out crazy early online, is something
 else. It's approximately a 42-step process that had us all laughing and waiting in several fun lines--
beginning extremely early in the morning, then in the late afternoon and finally the evening.
We're so grateful we not only got tickets for all of us to explore Machu Picchu, but bonus tickets
for Jacob, Annie, Matt and Ben to summit Huayna Picchu early the same morning.)

We had some great food, took multiple hikes to different waterfalls and explored the town. But our
favorite part of our time there, you'll see in that picture of Ben with one of his really good friends. 

So almost all of Ben's close friends, including Ben himself, will be going to HXP this summer
 (humanitarian trips for teenagers, run by our church, that give them the opportunity to travel
elsewhere, while focusing on loving others and loving God, even more than they already do).
And Ben's friend, Tate, was headed to Peru. We knew we would overlap with Tate a bit, but had
no idea what part of Peru he would be in when, as those going on the trips turn in their phones
on the first day, so they can focus on good and wonderful things for a couple of weeks
without any distractions. So Ben had no way to know where Tate was at any point.

And then the day after we arrived in Aguas Calientes, after a busy morning, we decided to go to lunch
and picked one of the restaurants. As we were sitting there, out of the blue, a large group of teenagers,
 wearing ponchos, started walking down the path outside the restaurant. Exactly as I realized what
was happening, Jacob said to me, "They look like an HXP group." I honestly couldn't believe it and
didn't say a word to Ben about what was happening, but told him to turn around. And within about
three seconds, and because I was sitting where I could see each of the kids in the group before Ben,
I saw Tate. And it took everything in me to keep my mouth shut until Ben saw him.

Now it may seem like a silly thing for this to be such a big deal to Ben and Tate (and to our families--
how I loved texting Tate's mom with pictures and videos after), but if you had seen Tate and Ben greet
each other, you would have loved it as much as we did. Honestly, it was one of my favorite memories of
the trip. And it wasn't just me and our family. Several of the kids in Tate's group, as well as the "parents"
of their group, told me it made them teary to watch it. I can't put it into words, but I won't ever forget it.

I got a video after the fact, of the two of them before Tate left, which is the sweetest ever.
But man, what a highlight that moment was of our entire trip. I was so happy for Ben.
And for Tate. And for all of us that shared in the excitement.

Aguas Calientes was a fun couple of days for our family and we loved experiencing it.
And boy were we excited to head up into the mountains to see Machu Picchu next.

Ecuador ~ Guayaquil edition

Well, the unexpected bonus of our time in Ecuador was a long layover that gave us a few hours to explore 
Guayaquil. It is a beautiful and unique city and after making it downtown, we first found a place to have lunch and
nearly everyone in the family agreed, it was the best restaurant of the entire trip. Hence the food pic by Annie.

Then we walked around to see more of the area, happened up on artist's studio that was the very coolest
(and where our art girl decided on an early birthday present because his work was absolutely gorgeous)
and walked the 444 steps up the Santa Ana staircase (somehow we missed a good picture with Nate in it,
but he was definitely there--as was I, which felt like a poor choice on more than one occasion) to see the
 gorgeous views. In addition, Campbell and Kelsey were randomly offered the chance to 
purchase an apartment up many of those four hundred plus steps, so that was exciting.

(Also, I'll never get over how much I love that picture of Ben with that statue guy. Never.)

It was a fun ending to our time in Ecuador and the first half of our trip. We sure felt
a whole lot of gratitude for a week in a beautiful country, with incredible people,
an amazing earth to enjoy and God's blessings following us everywhere we went.