Aaaah, a moment to breath...

Judah enjoying his "copo" in a Panama park

Ella cooling off after playing in the park

Our view from our apartment window in Panama City

Painting over the hideous green in our new house

Thanksgiving dinner with team and friends

So once again, a long time between posts. We'll get the hang of this blogging thing someday! Between the last post and today, so much has been happening and continues to happen. Besides the day in and day out of every day life, there has been a few "happenings" worth mentioning! During Thanksgiving time we had a team here from Wasco, CA. We had a fun time getting to know each other and working together. They were an awesome team that actually brought down 2 turkeys for our Thanksgiving feast. Our team here in Costa Rica was thrilled since turkeys are around $70 here! Not an option for us. Jeremy worked on a street in Los Guidos with his team of guys. There were bumps in the road (no pun intended), but the work week was very successful.

Jeremy and I have decided on schooling for our children Ella and Judah. They will both be starting in February, the new school year. They will be going to different schools for a couple of years due to the fact the one Judah will be going to has the option of only going 3 days a week. I like that because that gives me an opportunity to spend one on one time with him, while Ella is in her school. She'll be going M-F, 7:30- 12:30. She is SO excited and talks about all the things she will learn and the friends she will make. We are glad the decision has finally been made and that we don't have to keep looking.

During the week that the team was here, an opportunity came up to move from our house. We have been in this location since April, and really like the neighborhood, the people, and the location in general. We didn't like the fact that we felt we were being taken advantage of in our monthly rent, knowing there is probably something else out there cheaper and more or less the same. We didn't like the idea of possibly having to move away from friends we've made either. Well a house literally 2 doors down became available. We spent time talking and looking at it with the owners, and left wondering if this was an opportunity for us. There were definitely pros and cons and we were trying to weigh them out. The first night after we presented to the owner our price we were willing to pay, we both woke up in the middle of night, nervous and hoping we were making the right decision. We just started praying and asking for a peace and assurance we were making the best decision for our family. Also that we weren't jumping the gun with this, but that it was really God's timing. We both fell right back to sleep and woke up in the morning feeling completely different. Needless to say, we have spent the last week painting and moving our things into this home. We have a deadline of when we need to be out of our home, the 15th! It seemed like all would be fine in the timing, but put on top of that a staff retreat to the beach and leaving the country for visa renewal. We - have - been - BUSY! I am currently writing you from Panama City because cheap plane tickets came up on Friday to leave on Saturday! In the midst of our moving, this was an unexpected thing. Now we will return on Tuesday night, I'll have 2 days of more packing, unpacking, and cleaning, then we leave on Friday morning for our staff retreat. Then I'll have one more day before we absolutely need to be out of our house. Moving 2 doors down is not really an event like traditional moving. We literally just walk boxes down, or load up our car and drive it down. We are now taking some time to rest being here in Panama, knowing the craziness is not over yet. We'll be walking and taking buses to see what we can see the next couple of days. The kids definitely go with the flow, but with all the walking, it'll definitely take a toll on them. Pray for our continued sanity the next couple of weeks and that we get through this time well. On top of all this, it's Christmas time! We don't want to neglect this important time of year or the joy our family finds in it. We'll let you know how everything pans out this month.