Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A few weeks...

The end of October and the first half of November have been eventful and wonderful! Here are a few highlights:

• Sam has started a new school – Angel Gabriel. It’s quite the story, but I started becoming too concerned that Sam and his class were being left unattended too frequently (being left unattended at all crosses a line for me, but regardless we decided to search for something new). The school year in Guatemala runs from January – October. November and December are their summer months; so technically, Samuel is currently enrolled in a summer program. We REALLY like the school so far. The summer school is a blast. It includes weekly activities such as: karate class, yoga class, choir class, and swim class. Sam gets to swim once a week with an instructor at a local hotel with a beautiful, heated pool. He’s learning lots and doing so well. His Spanish is more and more spectacular everyday. He never ceases to amaze me.
• Stephen’s parents (Maybelle and Joe) came to visit for one week, starting October 31st. It was a great week and I was so glad to share our beautiful life here with them. We spent mornings letting Mimi and Granddaddy have Ruthie time while Stephen and I worked and Sam went to school. Afternoons were spent sight seeing in our beautiful city. Evenings were relaxed and Stephen and I even got to go on our first dinner date here while grandparents babysat. We were (of course) spoiled by the Doves all week. We decided to exchange Christmas presents while we had the time together. We’ve been enjoying our new patio furniture on our roof, which is where we spend a lot of our time. Thank you, Maybelle and Joe! It was sad to see them go, but we’re hoping Sam’s departing tears let them know we want them back soon.
• Sam calls Saturdays our “days off.” This past day off, we were around the breakfast table talking about what we should do for the day. Sam said, “I know! Let’s build a sandbox!” So we did. By 3:00 that afternoon and $12 later, we had a new sandbox on our roof. (Yes, our roof is quite the spectacular.) The kids have had a blast with it, and so have many of our neighbors. Two of our neighbors, Fatima (5 years) and Haisha (9 years) had never seen a sandbox except for on the “tele.” It’s so fun and Sam is proud to tell anyone that it was his great idea.
• Ruth is changing and growing so much every day. The coolest thing is that she babbles and “talks” more and more. She speaks several words, but what I love the most is that she loves to copy the cadence of what we say. I think it’s another sign of her definite musical abilities. For example we might say, “Hey! Where did it go?” And she’ll copy, “Hey! Blah blah blah blah?” But with the EXACT pitch of the phrase. Sam and Ruthie are becoming better friends as she grows. It’s always my favorite part of the day when I catch them really playing together.
• We continue to enjoy the blessings of our church.
• The kids and I have joined a play group every Thursday afternoon. Tomorrow will be our second time to attend.

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