The apartment is shaping up nicely and now we are down to some fine tuning! I think I solved the spice problem with these:

First I tried one on the shelf and that spice turned to a solid rock. Next I tried a fresh bottle and put the little container in the freezer! Success. No clumping or molding. The little containers stack on top of one another and I love that there are different colors!

Found this yesterday! LOVED the colors!!

I decided it would be the perfect desk organizer:

So that's what I am doing this evening -deciding what will live there, neatly, of course! ☺

Today it was time to celebrate another birthday. Yes, my friend Brenda had a birthday this week so we set out this morning to do some exploring and photo taking. We chose Panama Viejo (Old Panama). Here's a bit of history:

A settlement was founded on 15 August 1519 by Pedro Arias Dávila and other 100 inhabitants. At the time, it was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Ocean. Two years later, in 1521, the settlement was promoted to the status of city by a royal decree. Soon after its creation the city became a starting point for various expeditions in Peru and an important base where gold and silver were sent to Spain.

In 1539 and 1563, the city suffered a number of fires which destroyed parts of it but did not impede the city's development. In 1610, the city reached a population of 5000, with 500 houses and convents, chapels, a hospital and the cathedral.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the city was attacked several times by pirates and indigenous people from Darién. On 2 May 1620, an earthquake damaged many buildings in the city. On 21 February 1644, the Great Fire destroyed 83 religious buildings, including the cathedral. At this time, there were 8,000 people living in the city.

In 1670, the city counted 10,000 inhabitants. On 28 January 1671, the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan attacked the city with 1,400 men marching from the Caribbean coast across the jungle. Morgan's force defeated the city's militia then proceeded to sack Panamá. Either Morgan and his army started a fire that burned the city or the Captain General Don Juan Pérez de Guzmán ordered the gunpowder magazines exploded. Either way, the resulting fire destroyed the city. Morgan's attack caused the loss of thousands of lives and Panamá had to be rebuilt a few kilometres to the west on a new site (the current one).

Okay, enough history. Let the photos begin. It only cost $4 to enter the "park":

The park is really quiet with many beautiful, huge trees:

Back to the ruins:

The old and the new meet:

"Yes, I can grow way up here."

We had been seeing this tower since we arrived in Panama but had not had the chance to check it out.

This was posted inside the tower: "The Catholic church always had a privileged position in the colonial world. It legitimized conquests and it helped articulate American territory on Spain's behalf. The Crown required building at least one church in every new townsite.

This Cathedral began as a simple wood and hatch structure. It was destroyed in a fire in 1539. The stone church whose remains we see today was built between 1619 and 1626.

Since the bell tower served as a lookout, Panama Viejo's surroundings could all be seen from this level, located 22 meters above the plaza. The rebuilidng of the tower's inner floors permits a recreation of the views"

So up we went to see some of those views:

Sign about how the "cruel pirates destroyed Panama City"

This little dove was taking a rest inside:

A few of the scenes below:

The new stairs do have these old ones beat a bit:

Another view after we climbed down:

Interesting tree:

Saw this little group coming in:

They were going to have a picnic:

At this point I looked down and realized the lens cap to the camera was gone. Instead of being attached at both ends by a string, one end attached by glue and the glue let loose. Brenda very sweetly offered to go back and look with me but we had covered a LOT of ground - climbing up and over rocks, walking in grass, etc. I was pretty sure it did not drop off in the tower because I would have heard it hit the floor. So time to order a replacement!

And this little guy came to say goodbye to us as we were leaving:

Do you wonder what DID happen to that old pirate Henry Morgan?? "Because the sacking of Panamá violated a new peace treaty between England and Spain, Morgan was arrested and conducted to England in 1672. He proved he had no knowledge of the treaty. Instead of punishment, Morgan was knighted by King Charles II of England in 1674 before returning to Jamaica the following year to take up the post of Lieutenant Governor." What??? Lt. Governor?? Definitely better than being hanged!! ☺

After that it was time to have some lunch.

Brenda knew a fun place for soups and sandwiches and these wicked things....

We resisted. Instead we chose yogurt:

These are just a FEW of the toppings!!

Fun way to celebrate a special lady!!

You may recall that last Saturday we were knocked out of doing two activities for Rick's birthday: one because of rain and the other because of traffic. So we tried again for one of them today and the traffic was not a problem at all. This project began in 2004 and just opened in 2014.

It is a biomuseum built out on the Causeway. We have watched its progress since arriving in 2012. As you can imagine it shows up quite clearly from the air as you land in Panama:

We wanted to go and check it out. Were we ever grateful for our discounts for being retirement age. Adult tickets are $22 a piece but we got in for $6.00! That is a big difference in cost! Here's Rick being funny with our little listening device:

Some pretty art about Panama's diversity:

Some fun windows:

In the first exhibit room it was totally dark with screens on 3 sides and on the floor. The projections were hard to capture but really fun:

Rainstorm:

Under our feet:

A look at some fossils:

To be honest there was quite a bit of evolution theory presented which I did not care for. These animals were examples:

Supposedly there were giant sloths as big as modern day elephants:

The information with this said, "Panama served as a bridge between continents for some of the new crops domesticated in the Americas. Corn, cassava, chilis and other crops spread between North and South America by way of the isthmus." Something I had never thought about!

This is too small for you to read but it was fun seeing where certain foods came from:

This one shows watermelon came from Africa, oranges and mango from Asia, bananas from New Guinea, and pineapple and papaya from the Americas:

Rice, onion, oregano, garlic came from Asia, yams from Africa, and yuca, cilantro, pumpkin and corn from the Americas:

I learned why the Caribbean has coral reefs and the Pacific does not:

Panama's culture is a mixture of Spanish, indigenous, and African heritage. 70% of the population is of mixed ancestry:

Another exhibit room had a great slide presentation. I know photos of photos are not so good but I have to show a few that I liked:

Several hard rainshowers came through while we were in the museum. The view of the skyline was pretty gray:

Thought I would take a closer look at that little boat in the foreground:

Zoomed in a bit further and saw this guy trying to use his life jacket to keep dry:

We left in between storms and drove out the Causeway but it was so cloudy that the photos I took looked like they were in black and white:

We enjoyed the museum but don't think it is one we would take guests to - just too expensive for what you get. They plan to add some aquariums and other things in a couple of years so we might check it out again later. When we got home and stepped out onto our balcony, we had the nice surprise of seeing a cruise ship headed through the Canal:

Just got to get that net off the balcony so I can make some good photos!!

I got that book free on my Kindle the other day. I was pretty sure it would be good because Dan Walsh is one of my favorite Christian authors. The book did not disappoint!! I started it Wednesday night and finished it Thursday night!

At one point I read this: "John and Laura spent the next two weeks making short trips together, mostly by train. They visited Washington DC and were able to tour the White House and the Smithsonian Museum and see the new dome being constructed on the Captiol Building. From there they went to Baltimore. Laura had wanted to see Fort McHenry, the place that inspired Francis Scott Key to write 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Next they traveled to Philadelphia to see Independence Square and the Liberty Bell. And finally they visited Boston...."

I enjoyed reading that part so much because I have been to ALL of those places! That still amazes me so much! For a small town girl, God has allowed me to get pretty far from home! I was sharing that with Rick this morning and he said, "Yes, in February and March I will be in Lima, Peru; Naples, Florida and Madrid, Spain!" How good our God is to us!!! Pretty amazing!

I think I have mentioned before finding the little fruit and veggie stand near our house. I am loving it!!! Now I stop by every time I am out grocery shopping. It's almost like a Latin American 7-11. They fix fruit in packages like this:

So if workmen or tourists on a bus, need a quick snack, it is all ready. Works for me because I buy a couple of packs and put them in a container in the fridge. It is not any more expensive than me buying whole fruit and taking a chance on it being good or not. Marvelous!!! Got this today, too:

Yes, chunks of pumpkin all ready to be cooked in a delicious soup!!

I think I showed you a photo of this before Christmas:

I was hoping that could be a solution for keeping spices on the shelf. It did NOT work. The onion powder was hard as a brick in no time. So I bought some more today and now I have put the container in the freezer to see if it would work there. Here's hoping...

I got in a baking mood so today I made banana oatmeal muffins, banana cookies, chocolate muffins and peanut butter cookies. The first 3 items don't have any white flour or white or brown sugar in them. I am experimenting with some healthier baked goods and they are pretty tasty. The banana muffins use oat flour which is not terrible expensive here. The banana cookies have protein powder in them. All very interesting. Rick is having lunch with our Swedish friend, Andreas, tomorrow so the peanut butter ones will be for him. The oven was very aggravating. It shut off twice and two times it sounded like there was a blow torch inside. I am going to investigate who is in charge of having it looked at - the apartment building or the owner. Probably the owner...Something has to change! I need to be a happy baker! ☺

We looked out the window yesterday and saw this:

Oh, my! There are painters working on the other tower this week and we hoped there wasn't an accident!. In just a minute we saw this:

Those photos look weird because I had to make them through the net on the window. Today I did a bit better:

So what's the guy in the red shirt looking at? This...

Our daily 30-minute traffic jam. Sometimes a policeman comes to help and sometimes they are just left to their own devices! I was VERY glad to see that the painters are in harnesses!

Yesterday we picked up the bookcases that Rick had made by a man out in a village. They are his birthday gift from his parents and me! He wanted them to store books (of course) but also to hold the board that makes his standing desk. My first attempt at a photo last night does not show the shelves very well:

Tonight I got a better one with the books in.

Rick has worked SO hard for over a week now getting all of his things organized into his office/guest room. He went from having a whole room in the old house to basically having two walls and a closet (which also holds his clothes). This morning as he went out to practice Spanish with Tomás, he took a big load of stuff away to Goodwill!! We are going to get this place shaped up yet!!

You remember that we moved in right at the beginning of November and had one month before we started traveling in December. That just wasn't long enough to finish the job. You have to live in a place just a bit before you really know where you want things to go or where the best place for them is.

The astute observer might be asking: why aren't y'all doing more mission work? Well that is going on, too. We have been in touch with the new Hands On students and Rick has lined up the entire week of orientation for them - the hotel, taxis, speakers, schedule, etc. That guy has been super busy!!!

Since we work from home, we have needed to take this time to get "home" workable! ☺ Right now schools are out for summer vacation so there hasn't been a lot we could do in that area. We are checking to see if the maritime students are back in class.

Personally I am grateful to have this time to regroup after the holidays and before we take two trips in February that are for ministry. It is making me feel a lot more settled and productive in our new place!

This year we received a very special gift from my aunt Midge.

That is a photo of my grandmother, Leona Fortner, at a niece's wedding in April, 1961. "Mama" as we called her always had long hair. I loved how she wore it braided and then up around her head like a crown. She passed away when I was 10 but I remember how sweet she was and what a great cook she was! This next one is a photo that I asked for. It is of one of her birthdays (trying to pin down which one):

I am sitting on the floor in front of Mother, beside Joyce. That look on my face just sums up how I always felt about Joyce - adoration at its best!! I remember that clown I am holding. Mama has two sons on either side of her: Royce to her right and Raymond to her left. Raymond's wife, Ola, is on the floor beside Joyce. Joyce's mother, Blanche is just above Mother. Joyce's dad, Coote and her brother Junior are to the left of Raymond. At the bottom left is the youngest son, Junior, and his wife, Martha. That is the uncle Joyce and I visited this Christmas in Alabama. I believe my dad took the photo.

Here is Midge just after she received her nurse's pin:

The entire family was very proud of that event!! And here are all the siblings except the oldest, Edward:

Sisters Blanche, Helen and Midge are top row: Brothers on bottom row are: Royce, Raymond, Clarence, and Junior in his navy uniform. I learned from him that Clarence was a marine, Raymond and Royce were in the army and Edward was exempted because he was a cotton farmer.

These photos are precious family keepsakes and I am SO very, very glad to have them!! I hope to be able to put some dates with them very soon!

This morning I went to the gym and when I came back I found Rick hard at work on two projects. He was assembling this to go in the perfect spot in our kitchen:

I am very happy to have a handy place to put onions, garlic, sweet potatoes and other vegetables!

He also put this together for our printer:

It fits great at the end of my desk where I can do computer work, cook, or do laundry all in "my little world" at the end of the kitchen:

How sweet for Rick to put those two things in place for me!! Around 12:00 we left to eat lunch in a place we have wanted to try called The Market:

Rick found some an entry that used to be on the menu as Atlanta Fried Chicken:

I chose a French Dip with sweet potato fries and all of it was delicious:

As we ate we had great discussion about things we wanted to do this year, people we want to spend time with, etc.! Next we were going to walk in a pretty area and take some photos but surprisingly even though it is officially dry season, it began raining pretty hard. So we went with Plan B to go and visit a new museum. However, we found the traffic was backed up a LONG way in that part of town so we went with Plan C and stopped at the mall to get a few more containers and enjoyed a great cup of chai tea. We have definitely learned to be flexible!

Now we have had dinner and plan to watch a movie. We gave each other Netflix for Christmas and this is a neat way to enjoy it!

Today is a very special day - the day Rick was born!! God did such an outstanding job when he designed him. Rick is fun to be with - makes me laugh each and every day. He is an encourager - looks on the bright side of things. He is all about exploring and going out to see new things which I love. He has always taken care of me and our children and would spend his last dollar on us! He loves the Lord with all his heart and serves Him faithfully. That was the quality I was looking for most of all in a husband because I knew if I found a man like that, all would be well and it certainly has been!

Now if you know me, you know I love celebrations. I usually know what I want to do for my birthday several months ahead and for anniversary and for Christmas and for Valentine's Day....you get the picture. (No joke I found a festival for us to go to NEXT January!! ) Rick on the other hand is much more low key about his special days and when I started asking what he wanted to do, he couldn't decide. When he got back from Oalando and we were talking about it yesterday he decided he wanted to do some office work and then sort out the rest of his things so we could get all the footlockers arranged. Yes, here is the end result of his labor:

Three of the footlockers are empty which is good because we have some tools and a few things like that over at the old house. Now we know where they can go. Four more boxes and one bag are waiting to go to Goodwill. That is such a huge part of our sorting out DONE!!!

So now we get to celebrate the birthday tomorrow - going to eat at a new place and see what else we can get into! I'll be back to share. ☺

On Sunday morning we left Las Tablas, arriving in the city in about 4 hours around 12:45. Rick did a quick turnaround packing job and we headed out for the airport at 3:00 so he could fly to Orlando for a International World Changers meeting. On my way home I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few things for the week. I began the blog about the weekend but had to go to bed before it was finished.

Monday I walked, had my quiet time and did some emails along with getting the laundry done and finishing the blog. Right after lunch I went through EVERY box and item that we had put in the storage room. I emptied 5 boxes, 2 shoe boxes and one footlocker and rearranged everything in a more concise manner. It took about 4 hours but it was a great accomplishment for that day.

Tuesday morning I worked out in our little gym, had my quiet time and went over to the apartments where we first lived in order for a guy there to wash our car. It was quite dirty from our trip and I wanted to surprise Rick. While I waited I had a great visit with the couple living in the apartment now while they wait to get their permanent housing. It was lunchtime when I left so I dropped into the mall for a salad and to look around a bit for things for the apartment. I found a couple of items to show Rick when he returned. I had great plans to work on recipes for the rest of the evening but my brain was just too tired to focus.

Wednesday was cleaning day and it was needed since I had not done it upon returning from the U.S. from Christmas. Did not leave the apartment at all until time to pick up Rick. He was coming in at 7:00 and it took one solid hour for me to reach the airport in the evening traffic. It was so great to get him back home! ☺

So why does our living room look like this?? Well that's some of the boxes I emptied, some containers Rick is going to use to store a few things in, footlockers we are going through and a few more pictures to hang on the walls. Yes, a big organization is happening right here. Although we moved in the last of October and had a full month before we went to Lima in Dec. and then on to the Christmas holidays, there were other things on our agenda so we did not get everything as organized as we would have liked. I posted about getting the guest bed back together a week ago Tuesday and showed some of the pictures we hung before our little "parade" trip. Now we have a solid chunk of time to hopefully complete the task of getting EVERY thing put away in its place!

Rick went through a lot of things today even as he caught up on his email and made plans for the next Hands On training in Lima. I went with my friend to look at an apartment this morning and then we had lunch. After that I made a PriceSmart run because I had let us get low on many things as I knew we were going to be away for most of December. It was time to restock. Now I have lots of meat in the freezer, paper products stashed away and things on the pantry! Meanwhile at the apartment, the maintenance guys came and cleaned all of the air conditioning units. Then Rick and I wanted to run some errands and we had a nice dinner out - a pre-birthday treat for his big day coming tomorrow!! ☺