Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Published!

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers:  Olivia Rogers and I are now officially published authors!  Ripples, a collection of poems, is now available on Amazon!  To see it, go here: ripples (ripples may not show up for the next few days in a google search, because it is so recent.)  For best search results, search: ripple - a collection of poems.  

If you are interested in buying a copy, here are some points to help you.
  • The list price for our book is $9.99.  You can search and find it on Amazon.  There, shipping will most likely be added.  The book will be shipped to you as always.  
However, there is another route that is better for you and us as well.  For one, our profit is significantly less when a book is ordered through Amazon, as the above process.  Our price can be lower for you, as well, if you choose this second option!
  • We have a special discount for anyone who orders through us!  Get the book for $8.99, a 10% discount!   This deal is for all orders through us, and currently does not have a time limit.
  • To order through us - simply comment on this blog post, email us, or somehow contact us. When we accumulate a certain amount of orders, we will order the copies ourselves through our author membership account.  This takes shipping and 10% off for you, and also boosts our end!
  • We will deliver the books to you once they come in, and then you can pay us.
So if you would like a copy, just tell us!  We would also love feedback on our Amazon page!  Any questions, just email or contact us.  :)

Here is an email at which we can both be reached. 
More sites:  
See our new poem and writing blog, Two Friends. Two Pens.!!
2friends2pens.blogspot.com .  This has extra info, fun bits of stuff about us, some back ground story, and a bit of a preview of our other work!
Also, Caroline's blog: carolinemeek.blogspot.com


We hope you enjoy our book!

~Caroline and Olivia, co-authors  :)

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Saving the BEST for last...Manuel Antonio Beach

If you have been to Costa Rica, then hopefully you have experienced Manuel Antonio National Park and beach.  What a beautiful beach to visit!  It is full of wild life such as sloths, white-faced monkeys, iguanas and even annoying, little, fearless raccoon families that love to dig through your backpacks while you are standing only feet away from them throwing flip flops in their general direction.  Don't ask me how I know that.  It was especially exciting for Lucy since it was her visit trip to a beach.  Our family had a blast and it was the perfect way to close out our time here in Costa Rica.  We are just a few days away from heading home and are busy packing up now.  We will return to KC this coming Monday.  But for those of you back home in the cold and rain, enjoy these pictures and remember the hot days of summer fun are coming soon!  


















                                                    Can you see the teeth on this guy??
                   This is a sloth up in the trees that we caught moving along the branch.
an iguana
a lizzard
What a bunch of rascals these raccoons were!  The moment I turned my back, they were into our bags.





Eating at El Avion restaurant with its spectacular view.


                                               Enjoying some real seafood at Marlin's

                                                WE MISS YOU AND SEE YOU SOON!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Lucy Rose and Her Days at Sojourn Academy in Costa Rica



You may not know it, but Lucy has been attending a Spanish kindergarten and preschool class at the Institute while I am in my Spanish classes.  She was originally going to homeschool with teacher Jarrett with the other kids, but when we arrived, we learned that she could join the Spanish-speaking preschool and kindergarten classes.  So she begins her day at 7:30 in teacher Monica's preschool class, the same Monica that taught Annie when she was only two ten years ago in 2002.  At 10:30, she heads over to teacher Victoria's kindergarten class to finish off her day at 1:00.  She loves her teachers and her classmates and especially loves learning Spanish.  In fact, she is convinced she speaks Spanish better than anyone else in our family.  :)  That may be questionable, but we have been very impressed with how much she understands and can speak.
Lucy and her teachers, Hannah, Monica, Caroline and Victoria.  Her sweet smile tells you how much she loves them!
                                 Lucy loves doing her activities at school!
                                        Lucy and some of her buddies at recess.
 Each devotional time, some of the children pray for the class and their families.  On this day, Jacob, Nathan and Lucy each had a turn praying.  It is precious to hear your child pray to God in another language.

                      Lucy loves singing in Spanish with her friends Felipe, Jacob and Lily.
                                               Singing fun songs.
                                          Snack time with her buddy, Lily.
                        On Lucy's last day, the class prayed for her and her family.
                                               Teacher Monica's class
     Lucy prepared a presentation on baby chickens and shared it in Spanish with her class.
This is teacher Ulda who was Caroline's preschool teacher 10 years ago.  How special it was to return to the Institute and find these precious, faithful teachers still loving on kids.
                                          Teacher Monica and the girls.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Sabbatical Reflections from Costa Rica

Hello Friends,

I've posted some reflections from our time here on The Adelante Express blog.  If you're interested in some of what's been going on in our hearts during this blessed time I'd love for you to read the post: Sabbatical Reflections from Costa Rica.

May God bless you richly!
Jarrett

Saturday, April 13, 2013

A Trip to Volcano Arenal

During the Easter break, we went with Seth and Andrea Sears and their three kiddos to stay at a hotel located at the base of an active volcano.  It was a beautiful trip and we had a blast hanging out with the Sears family.  The hotel has many hot springs pools of varying temperatures heated by the volcano, so we had fun hopping from pool to pool.  One of the best parts was the water slides...they were fast.  In addition to the fun pools, the hotel also has a nature park with a butterfly garden, crocodiles (we even pet them), poison dart frogs and leaf cutter ants.  I think we would all agree that it was one of our biggest highlights of our time in Costa Rica.
Check out the active volcano in the background!!

                                                     Lucy was so brave!
   The boys are standing on a suspension bridge that is SUPER high up in the air.
                                            My two favorite boys!
                                                       This slide was FAST!

                                        I think Jarrett may be scaring Lucy here.  


The girls are hanging out in the mildly hot springs.  Actually, this one is a cool spring pool  :)



       Lucy and I had fun one morning playing our favorite games.  She beats me a lot at mancala.

                          These three boys had some great wrestling matches in these hot springs.
                                               Game time after a long day swimming.
       It has been so great for the best buddies to be reunited again here in Costa Rica.

                           We stopped at a great little road side restaurant for lunch on the way home.
                                                            Lucy, the butterfly girl.
                                 Spending some time in the butterfly/crocodile/poison dart frog nature park.
          The Sears' kids call this the "blue jeans frog" since it looks like he is wearing blue jeans.