It's been two months since I last wrote and a lot has happened. I've been busy and putting more energy into my facebook account.
To sum up, which will be hard, but for this post, to sum up we got Beto's residency! It was a miracle we got it so quickly, but with lots of prayer and faith God was so gracious! On June 9th my childhood friend Katy Yates, her husband John and their three kids McKenna, Brooklyn, and Josiah came to visit us until the 14th. John spent all his time building 3 bunkbeds for "our" three kids, Jorge, Miguel, and Fatima. It was great for Katy and I to catch up and for Santi to make three new good friends. We had lots of adventures and they brought tons of donations and money to buy pillows, mattresses, etc. to abundantly bless that family before we left Honduras.
The Yates were so gracious to be patient while we sold/gave everything the night before we left to take them to the airport, so we stayed in a hotel our last night in La Esperanza, and then drove to the capitol where we stayed in a hotel that was afraid to give us just enough towels. We needed to be in town a day early since the Yates' flight left the next day around noon.
On June 14th the Yates flew home in the morning and we flew to Guatemala in the PM and stayed with Beto's family for about 4 days. After that we flew to Ft.Worth, TX to stay with Beto's childhood friend and his wife Manuel and Nancy and their new baby Lito, whom Santi, and we, fell in love with. They are spanish church planters which is who we want to be so we were also "doing research". Manuels' sister and bro-in-law are living there too so beto enjoyed being with old friends, and me with new ones.
Finally we arrived in LA on June 22nd and hit the ground running. We've enjoyed swimming in our aunt's pool, going to the library, beach, free concerts in the park, and ofcourse spending time with family, friends, and our church. My best friend and I have even started a cleaning business! (It's called L.L. Clean, by the way, and we're looking for clients!)
The most eventful...well, event, since we've been back that Beto and I have participated in is called Discovery Lab with Kairos Church planting. It was five intense days in a Portland camp where we gave testimonies, led worship, sat through 12 rounds of interviews, and learned about our calling, gifts, talents, strengths and growth areas. Before we left we spent what seemed like about 60 hours answering 100's of questions on multiple tests such as "Prepare/Enrich" for couple's, questionaire's about our pasts, our ministries, experiences, personalities, etc. The best part though was making lots and lots of great new friends.
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| Santi and Brooklyn on our way home from the airport |
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| Traffic, heat, and jet lag |
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| JOsiah! |
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| The Yates family in "our kids" house with their new mattresses |
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| with close friends at our going away party at church |
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| unloading the new beds at "our kids" house |
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| Making a porch with cement we bought with donations |
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| Play soccer once with them and they're friends for life |
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| Speaking of friends forever... |
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| Delivering the mattresses and pillows |
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| beto and grasshopper |
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| spending time with the fam in Antigua, Guatemala |
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| Lito, Manuel's and Nancy's baby |
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| Meeting our favorite band Third Day for Beto's Father's Day present |
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| Enjoying a free concert in the park |
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| Visiting lifelong friends the Baucums and the Yates kids |
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| There they are! |
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| Hanging out with the Yates kids in Honduras |
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| Soda in a bag! |
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| Celebrating the 4th in Long Beach |
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| At my uncle and aunt's pool |
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| Voo Doo donuts in Portland, a must see. |
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| Hanging out downtown before going to Discovery Lab |
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| Intense DL. We were observed...a lot! |
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| ...but it was a lot of fun too. GREAT people! |
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| we took walks... |
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| ...and played group building "games". |
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| yea,we love each other |
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| Before going to the airport to return home, our friends hosted us at the Rose Gardens. |
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| Tim and Lisa Blair. Peekaboo! |
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| One of my many favorites |
Now it's time to relax a little bit before Beto begins working at our home church Long Beach Church of Christ part-time in August as an "outreach minister". We plan on taking this first year back in the States settling in and adjusting back to life here, praying about our future and seeing what God has in store for us.
Now it's time to relax a little bit before Beto begins working at our home church Long Beach Church of Christ part-time in August as an "outreach minister". We plan on taking this first year back in the States settling in and adjusting back to life here, praying about our future and seeing what God has in store for us. 
