Walk to school

Here are some pictures of our neighborhood and our walk to school. The walls, gates and bars on the windows are already familiar to us after living in Malawi. And just like Malawi--the tropical trees and plants are beautiful! Here in San José, we have the added beauty of the mountains surrounding the city.

As I mentioned in the last blog--we have to be on the watch for "gringo-catchers". For some reason the tops to manholes and the grates on storm drains are hot-commodities and if you are not careful when you are walking, you could disappear down one of the holes. This is no laughing matter as a previous student apparently fell in one and broke both his legs.

Mi casa es su casa

The entrance to our downstairs apartment

We have a new house--actually it is an apartment. We moved last week and are finally feeling a bit more settled. It's a great location--about 3 blocks from the school. So it's a pretty easy commute to and from school. We are living in a 4-plex of apartments. Two of which are Tico (Costa Ricans) families and two which are gringos--other students.

The yard and the kids playing with our neighbor

As in most cities, green space is a hot commodity and quite rare with the houses in the area. So we feel blessed to have a common "yard"where the kids can play and even swing! Not to mention the park that is 2 blocks down the street with a field, a BB court, and playground equipment. We are enjoying the convenience of city life--with a grocery store, bank, and bakery all just around the corner.

Sam sitting on his bed on moving-in day

We are happy to be settled in our own place at last--it makes it feel a bit more like home--even if only for the next few months. Stay tuned for some pics of our walk to school and the infamous "gringo-catchers."

Our 12th Anniversary!

Wow! Has it really been 12 years?! All I can say is, "God is good" to have given me such a wonderful, faithful husband. And such great kids. We celebrated as a family this year. We all got dressed up and had a fancy dinner together of kid-friendly foods--hamburgers, corn, ice cream. But it was tasty and it was fun! The kids even surprised us with a little after-dinner entertainment--a song and dance.

For those of you who have prayed for our family and marriage over the years, thank you. May you be blessed as you have blessed us.