SUCCESS!

Beto got his license a couple of weeks ago!  Of course we were, and are, so excited! He practiced a lot, especially the morning before his test.  He was blessed with a peaceful, calm instructor (very different from the first time) and did very well.

Afterwards we went out to lunch to celebrate at Bai Plu Thai, of course. Where else?  Then we ran a bunch of errands and wore out the kids!  

I took Jack for a long walk to the "fresh off the farm" strawberry stand. mmmhmmm! Strawberry season has arrived!  

I now have my first student that I'm tutoring in English, a man my age from Honduras whose wife is from here.  Needless to say, we have a lot to talk about. Last week was Santi's birthday, the big 0-5.  We had a great time at Legoland and the Legoland hotel.  We were blessed with tickets to the park so we were able to stay at the hotel.  Everything is Awesome!!! If you ever get a chance to stay at the hotel I highly recommend it.  Everything is themed and there are legos everywhere!  There is dance music and a disco ball in the elevators and a giant woopie cushion under the floor by the elevators.  We are so thankful Shelby, Dave,  and Ben could go too.  When we returned home it was time to clean the house and prepare for Santi's party.  The theme was Pirate Bunnies in Outer Space.  Boring, I know.  

Shelby , my niece, did all of the decorating.  She made the solar system out of balloons and even went above and beyond by labeling them.  

A Brief Winter Observed

Almost three months has passes since my last post.  Those months have been filled with a lot of excitement.  We celebrated Christmas and New Year's, which included celebrating Advent for the first time, and starting a few new things.
Advent was amazing, something I plan to make our family tradition from now on.  The lessons were just right for our young kids, and they loved "lighting" and blowing out the candles.  Also something that seems to have become a tradition for us is to visit the beach for a little bit on Christmas Eve, later in the afternoon.  Santi and I especially enjoy making "sand angels".

Beto and I have been actively searching for jobs.  I was accepted as a substitute for a small Christian school where I have some "connections" and have subbed there a couple of times already and am set to sub at least twice in March.  I also got accepted as a private tutor with a tutoring company but have yet to be paired with a student. I am working on getting in my application to sub with LBUSD.  I am also actively pursuing acceptance into a credential/Master's in Education program, but am still doing some research between two different schools.

Beto has his "final"(?) appointment tomorrow at the city's hiring agency, so please be in prayer for his job search.  At his first appointment, God put him with someone from his home country who prayed over us and for us (down the street and around the corner, of course, off of the government property). It was very encouraging!  He also has his driver's test this week.  Please be praying for him too on WEdnesday at 11am Pacific time.  I just pray that he won't drive too much like he did in Central America.  If he can do that, he should be fine!

The kids are great.  We are getting excited to celebrate Santi's and my birthday's next month (but mostly Santi's).

And finally, today Bela got her first vaccinations!!!  It was such a big deal that passed without any fanfare, but I am so excited.  Truthfully this is just another stepping stone that means she truly is moving farther and farther away from the abnormalness that we experienced her first year of life.  So much was put on hold for so many months and now that she's started this process , it's another sigh of relief and reality that she can be a healthy kid.  She has to start from the beginning as if she's a newborn.  She did great, although she did cry pretty hard for about 10 seconds, until the lollipop came into the picture. Then she was fine.  I felt like telling her, "Hey, at least it's not chemo!"  But I didn't think she'd appreciate it at the time.

We are grateful everyday for our health and blessings that God has given to us and are always mindful of those whose paths have become harder than ours. Thank you for all of your prayers and please pray with us for those who are still fighting and mourning for loved ones.