Happy New Year!

There is so much to share about our Panamanian adventure, I do not even know where to begin. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and praying that our trip would go well. Praise God that we had no major catastrophes on vacation. Everyone stayed well and we had safety on the crazy roads that we traveled daily. We did have many "minor adventures"  that were anxiety producing in the moment but easily laughed about later in the day. Among those were people being locked out of bathrooms, people being locked in bathrooms, more than one person getting pooped on by birds, a jelly fish sting, and a car sliding off the road.

The view from our backyard

We stayed in a 3 bedroom house with a beautiful view of the ocean. A nice beach was within a 10 minute drive and we took the opportunity to enjoy this luxury on multiple occasions. Our taxi drivers went above and beyond the call of duty and were our own personal tour guides on multiple occasions. In addition to our beach time, we walked through a nature preserve, toured the Panama canal, and saw monkeys hanging out in the trees. I was glad that I had packed dramamine for the plane ride because I used the extra pills for car trips since the roads are so full of twists and turns that most of us felt at least a little car sick at some point.

Our friendly taxi drivers for the week. The guy in the middle declared himself to by my mom's personal security service during our stay. She was in good hands.

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Raul and I had a great time just hanging out together again and it was really hard for me when it was time for him to leave for the airport (he flew out earlier in the day than we did). It seems like each time I say good-bye it gets harder, and I'm looking forward to the day when the last day of vacation does not mean saying good-bye to my husband. But, God is good and it's amazing that I have been able to see Raul on two separate occasions in the four months he has been gone. I'm also hoping to visit him again in March.


We are looking forward to what 2012 has in store for the Gizzos. Though we  had a lot of growing experiences in 2011, I can honestly say that I've never been so thankful to see a new year. Our next big thing is Raul's waiver appointment on February 10, and then it is more waiting. Though this is a scary place to be, Raul and I are both comforted by the fact that as long as we seek God, there is nothing we can do to mess up his plan for us. I'm just hoping that plan includes both of us being in Waukegan by the beginning of 2013! Happy New Year!