Emma, the Song Lyricist …

Since about age 2, Emma has enchanted us with her ability to recreate songs to suit her situation (a skill she inherited from her mother).   At age 2 1/2, Emma reworked the theme song to one of her favorite TV shows, “Bear in the Big Blue House,” to emphatically declare to Mommy that she did NOT want to leave the park to return home for a nap.  As we pulled into the driveway of our home, Emma very defiantly began singing, “No, I just can’t be at home …” (to Bear’s tune, “Oh, it’s great to be at home …”).   

While we often giggle at her antics, Emma recently wrote out* a song that really moved her mommy’s and daddy’s hearts.  Take a look at the Spirit at work in our beautiful girl’s heart. …

“Undivided Heart”

Your Word goes out to all the earth, and I hear you …

I hear you call me to obey, and to trust you and strengthen my will to follow …

And give me an undivided heart, an undivided heart.

(*Copyright disclaimer:  Emma and I discussed the origin of this song again and learned it is from her summer program at church–not the work of a prodigy. …  We are nonetheless proud of her taking this song to heart and treasuring its words … and we’re having another conversation about truth v. untruth. …)

Spanish word of the day: mi primo=my cousin

Emma, Caleb and Isaac are excited to announce the birth of their new baby cousin, Luke Michael! 

Sweet, sleepy baby.

Aunt Sue & Emma (a.k.a. "Baby Hog") with baby Luke.

 

What do you think of your new baby cousin?

“Rawwwrrrrr … ,” says Isaac.

“Cute!  I want to see him again,” says Caleb.

“I really, really, really like him!  I’m a baby hog,” says Emma.  “I’m really excited that he’s gonna be a big boy and that Uncle Doug can lean down over him and say, ‘Luke, I am your father.'” (Imagine Emma immitating her Uncle Doug immitating Darth Vader, and you get the picture.)

Because you can never have too many pictures of cute babies to enjoy …

Luke Michael, 3 days old.

Eyes wide open ... for about two seconds.

 

Mono … Oh, No!

 

         

Our family was excited to note and record a special on Animal Planet this week about the monkeys of Costa Rica.  What we learned about our cute, little, white-faced friends, however, was a real eye-opener. …

As it turns out, the monkeys we enjoyed in the Costa Rican rainforest are “Capuchins.”  The Capuchins are omnivores — they eat fruit (this we knew) as well as other small animals.  These seemingly happy-go-lucky tree-dwellers are also predatory and vicious.  According to the program, the Capuchins enjoy eating squirrel, when given the opportunity.  But instead of dispatching of it quickly and eating the rewards, they apparently like to torture the squirrel for a while with a game of “pull the tail off the squirrel.”

Our jaws dropped as we watched the documented drama unfold on our television screen.  The poor, defenseless squirrel was thrown from one monkey to the next and taunted.  The monkeys proceeded to pull the tail off as a plaything, before putting the poor squirrel out of its misery — several minutes later.

“Uhhh … was this really the animal we allowed to play mere inches from our children? … The same animal we laughingly watched steal the sugar packets (not the Equal or Sweet n’ Low, thank you — just the sugar) straight from the table centerpieces?”  Apparently, it was. …

The Capuchin, although small in stature, is the wolf in sheep’s clothing — too cute to believe such had it not played out on film.  But don’t take my word for it … here’s what Emma had to say:

What did you think about the monkeys we saw in Costa Rica?

“They were cute and cool!”

Were they scary?

(Laughing)  Noooo … They weren’t scary!

What did you learn about the Costa Rican monkeys on TV?

“They torture squirrels and eat them!”

How do you feel about the monkeys now?

“A little bit scared.”

Will you ever let them approach you again?

“Well, sure.  They’re nice.”

Buen Dia de los Presidentes!

Caleb

Isaac

Emma

Delilah

Can you guess which one of these “little presidents” Dan wanted to name “Abraham”? … Seriously, it was his first choice of boys’ names.

Emma’s Spanish Word of the Day … Take 2

Diente=Tooth

"All I want for Valentine's Day is my front tooth!" (This gappy grinning beauty is full of charm!)

Emma’s Spanish Word of the Day

Mono = Monkey

Monkeys are found throughout the Rainforests of Costa Rica. We saw this mother and baby on our trip last month.

This pair of monkeys lives in our home.

Costa Rica from the Eyes of a Child …

To understand the purpose of this blog, you first need a little background information.  God has called our family to the mission field — specifically, to San Jose, Costa Rica.  “Tico Times Tres” is a blog dedicated to the impressions of our children as they transform from Midwesterners to “Ticos,” the name by which Costa Ricans affectionately refer to themselves.  

Now accepted with the Evangelical Free Church of America’s ReachGlobal, we are in the training and support-raising phase of becoming official missionaries in the area of micro-enterprise development (MED).  As a part of our candidacy with ReachGlobal, the Jenkins family traveled to Costa Rica in mid-January to conduct our “vision trip.”  Following are the impressions of the eldest Jenkins child, Emma (age 6). …

  

Emma slurping her favorite Costa Rican beverage, a "chocolate frio."

What did you think of Costa Rica?

“It was really hot, and I loved the beach!”

Did you realize that the city (San Jose) where you will be living in Costa Rica is in the mountains — about 2 1/2 hours away from the nearest beach?

“Aahhhh!!!!!!!!  I didn’t know!

What was your favorite part of the trip?

“Well, I don’t really know, but I’d say EVERYTHING!”

If you could pick only three words to describe Costa Rica, what would they be?

“Hot, beach and animals.”

What animals did you see?  What was the weirdest animal?  The prettiest one?

“I saw lots of animals!  The coati was the weirdest — it reminds me of lots of [different] animals!  Butterflies were the prettiest — they’re so pretty!”

What did you think of the food?  Did you eat anything strange?

“I liked the food, and didn’t really eat anything strange.”

Did you meet any new friends in Costa Rica?  What did you do with them?

“Yes, I met lots of new friends.  We did lots of stuff!”

What did you think of the airplane trip?

“It was actually fun!  When we had long flights [7 hours in total], they had little computers.”

What was it like to have people speaking Spanish all the time?  Did you learn any new Spanish words?

“It felt weird.  I didn’t really learn very much Spanish.”

What did you think of the school where you will go next year?

“It was very cool.  I thought it was sweet!”

Are you excited to move to Costa Rica?  Why?

“Yes!  Because it’s beautiful!  Who in the world would say no!?

What will your mom and dad be doing once you move to Costa Rica?

“Telling people about God?  (I think so.)”

What else should people know about your trip?

“I really liked it, and I’m looking forward to moving there, and I’m really sad that Delilah [our 11-year-old Doberman] can’t come.”

The "weirdest" animal in Costa Rica, the coati.