| Filing for Angie�s Permanent Residence Card (PRC) required us to stay in Canada for a few days before heading out for our honeymoon. The Lord knew what we needed, because during that time both Dan and Angie came down with the flu. Through the discomfort, we were able to smile and thank the Lord for the early opportunity to put into practice the vows we had so recently uttered (�in sickness and in health�), and just as we were feeling better, the day came for us to catch a plane to San Jose, Costa Rica. |
| Honeymoon Highlights |
| Many may not know that when Angie was a little girl, she lived in Costa Rica for three years, where she spent every vacation at her aunt and uncle�s farm in the tropical rain forest on the beach. Her dream had always been to spend her honeymoon there, and Dan was quite willing to take his bride to this edenic paradise accessible by plane and/or boat. We spent nearly two weeks there, hiking through the jungle, hanging out on the beach, lounging in hammocks, and trying to find a myriad of ways to serve the same basic foods � rice, beans, lentils, spaghetti, and canned tuna (with an occasional plantain to fry as a rare treat!). What a challenge this presented for a young wife with scarce cooking experience! And the biggest challenge for Dan was getting used to the house�s unusual architecture � it had no windows or doors, intentionally designed for life as close to nature as possible. Every night we would crawl into our mosquito net to shield us from the bugs, and every morning we would awaken to a stunning panorama of the rain forest, and the ocean just beyond it. |
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| The view of the farm from the boat |
| The happy couple posing at sunset on our own beach! |
| As if all this weren�t enough, our two weeks in Costa Rica were followed by another month in Colombia travelling and visiting family and friends (Angie�s family is originally from Colombia). We began in Bogot�, where Angie�s uncle Mauricio served as our gracious host, taking or directing us to the most important museums and architectural works of the city. It was truly a pleasure to spend time with him. |
| From there we headed to Cartagena, a beach town situated on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Recognized for its sandy white beaches, this popular tourist city is also known for the Fortress of San Felipe, where the Spaniards stored their gold before shipping it to the Old World. Susceptible to pirates and international armed forces, its most famous battle, in 1740, was said to have been �the largest and worst defeat suffered by England at the hands of the Spanish in the eighteenth century.� In what would make a great movie if Spielberg ever decided to capture it on film, Colonel Gouch (an American, of all things!) led the largest military and naval force of that time, thirty thousand troops and sailors with one hundred and twenty ships, on an attack of the Fortress of San Felipe. And the story goes that they were turned away by anywhere from 1000-3000 men protecting the fortress � the number varies depending on the source, but even at 3000 men, they were still outnumbered 10 to 1! |
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| Standing in "Old Shoes" (long story!) with the Fortress of San Felipe right behind us |
| Our lesson in Colombian history was followed by a relaxing week with Angie�s aunt and uncle, Vicky and Dario, in Medell�n, the city from which her family originates. In what turned out to be one of the most memorable aspects of our trip, Dan had the privilege of getting to know some of Angie�s relatives and life-long family friends, and it was no surprise to her that the consensus was that Dan ought to be cloned! The other item of consensus among family and friends was that we would be amiss to leave Colombia without visiting the coffee region. A lovely bed and breakfast served as our home for five days as we visited national parks and even went fly-fishing and horseback riding in the mountains. It was a sweet time connecting with nature and with one another. |
| A short flight back to Bogot� and a layover in Miami later, we finally found ourselves back in a place where nothing was lost in translation - Abbotsford, British Columbia, home to Tim & Cari, Claire, Abby, Hope, and Lydia, Dan�s brother and his family. We had so much fun helping take care of the newborn twins, lending Cari a hand with household chores, and running around like crazy with Claire and Abby. A visit from Juan & Jeannette, Nicolas, and Mauricio Velasquez, Angie�s brother and his family, only added to the fun, offering us newlyweds a further taste of parenthood. We just love being aunt and uncle to the six sweetest, most adorable kids on North America�s Western seaboard! |
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| After two short weeks in B.C., we bid farewell to our family and set out for Southern Ontario. Angie�s parents had given us a van some months ago, and Juan and Jeannette were kind enough to drive it into Canada for us (since due to immigration restrictions we couldn�t enter the U.S. to get it ourselves). So, armed with a roadmap and a brand new CD player that Juan so generously installed for us, we headed across �The Great White North.� After a night�s sleep in Golden, Eastern B.C., and another night in Calgary, Alberta, visiting Dan�s uncle Rick and his family, we drove basically non-stop the rest of the way home. The weather was actually sunny and mild most of the way, and we were greeted by snow only when we arrived in Northern Ontario! |
| Uncle Dan and Claire |
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| Jeannette, Juan, and Nicolas |
| Two months, almost to the day, after we left home, we arrived back in Palgrave, Ontario, happy to be reunited with family and friends, but also deeply thankful for the rare privilege of having such a long, uninterrupted season to relax, celebrate, and invest in our marriage. To God be the glory! |
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