Merry Late Christmas

Above: Our beautiful little Lu.

We’ve been in the US for a week now and so far spent time in Miami, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbia, Charlotte, and Durham. We’ve had a great time with friends and family, celebrating Christmas, a wedding, a baptism, parties, and seeing so many people we have missed so much. Not much downtime to blog, but we wanted to stop by and wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless.

Packing Up

Above: Lu testing out our carry on.

After moving 5 or 6 times in our first 3 years of marriage, we have enjoyed the last 10 months in the same apartment. But alas, we are on the move again. Tomorrow night we fly out of San Jose for Miami, where we’ll spend the night, and then on Christmas Eve morning we’ll fly to Atlanta, and then drive the Augusta for Christmas. The following days will bring us through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and back again, when we’ll fly out of Atlanta to Honduras in January.

But with all that ahead, the task for now is simply packing. We’ve said most of our good-byes, sold or given away a lot of our stuff, and now are trying to get everything into 6 50 lb bags.

We’ll continue to post while we are in the states, so check back for our travels, and then in a few weeks as we finally head to Honduras!

Graduacion

Above: Ellie, Sean, Lindsey, and Lucy in front of the Honduran flag.

This morning we had our graduation from language school. There were about 40 graduates heading to 12 or more countries. We processed in with our flag, heard a whole service in Spanish (and understood most of it!), and then spent the rest of the morning saying goodbye to friends and teachers we’ve meet in our time here.

It is a little strange to have an official “degree” or title that says we can speak Spanish, when all that really matters is if we can have a conversation with the guy on the street. The school here has been really good at teaching us some of the basics and structure of the language, and although we have been speaking it for almost a year now, we can’t wait to get to Honduras and continue learning.

Thank you all so much for your support during this time in school, it means the world to know that people care about us and what we are doing here in Central America.

A Different Thanksgiving

Above: Lindsey, Ellie, Lucy, and Sean finishing up Thanksgiving dinner.

Yesterday we celebrated our first Thanksgiving overseas, and my (Sean) first Thanksgiving ever away from my family. It was an interesting mix of emotions, and without the usual routine, it was hard to realize that it really was Thanksgiving, that is until the food was served. Although we were far from the US, we tried to continue some of the traditions, with a Spanish twist.

- Instead of starting off the day cooking and watching the parade, we stared it off at school, with a grammar test!
- After school the girls starting cooking, with limited pots/pans, a small over, and only three working burners on the stove, while the guys watched some football, in Spanish.
- A quick football game followed, on a futbol field none the less. I don’t think the people who walked by had a clue what we were doing, but we loved it.
- Next, instead of turkey, we went to Pollo Rey (Chicken King) to pick up some chickens.
- And finally the feast, one any good American would be proud of.

We loved the day, and I especially want to thank Lindsey for working so hard to bring some of my favorite foods and traditions to Costa Rica so we didn’t feel quite so far from home.

Hope you’re Thanksgiving was great as well!

The First Three Weeks

Above: Lucy watching Ellie.

Three weeks after becoming the father of not one, but now two beautiful girls, we are finally starting to get our feet under us. Life has been busy, awesome, crazy, peaceful, exhausting, rewarding, confusing, and sleep-less, all rolled into one. Here are some brief highlights:

- Lucy either ignores Ellie, or smothers her with attention. Sometimes she’ll see her, and run up and start yelling “Hi Ellie, Hi Ellie!!”
- We took the girls out the other night to our final English Class. We visited with some of our students and everyone got to see the new baby. They did great, although it was a bit crazy trying to do it all.
- Ellie’s crying doesn’t seem to bother Lucy, she just keeps talking right through it.
- Ellie blessed us the other night by not waking up until 3 AM. We had almost 6 straight hours of sleep. Bliss.
- It looks like we can pick up Ellie’s birth certificate next week, which would be a huge step in us making it home for Christmas.

Those are just some quick hits of the last few weeks, we’ve got a lot going on over the next few months, so stay tuned as we leave Costa Rica, visit our families in the US, and arrive in Honduras in January.

My Three Girls

Above: Lucy, Lindsey, and our newest, Nancy Elliot (Ellie).

On Thursday night at 8:15 pm Costa Rica time we welcomed our newest little girl to the family. We are so thrilled that she is finally here, we feel like we have been waiting forever! Lindsey was so brave to go through the whole thing. She had to be separated from me for a while, her doctors talked lot of Spanish, and she had to wait in a very cold OR. Just like she did with Lucy, she was amazing throughout the whole surgery and recovery. Somehow she manages to be one of the bravest woman I have ever met, while also being the most beautiful. I have no idea how she does it, but I am so blessed to have her.

Ellie has be great since we got here. Lindsey had to wait for a long time in the recovery room, and we couldn’t go and visit her, so it was just Ellie and I in our room for the first 2 hours of her life. I loved the special time with her, but was really missing Lins the whole time.

We’ve been home now for a day, and all is going well. Lucy is slowly learning what this new thing is in her house, and at times can be amazingly sweet and caring.

I love life with my three girls, and although it is exhausting, I couldn’t have it any other way!

Happy Birthday Lucy

Above: Our big girl in her birthday outfit: a matching birthday crown and #2 shirt, a pink boa, a white shawl, and a pink tutu.

Well we are parents of a two year old, and it has been quite a ride. At times it feel like she has been part of our life as long as we’ve been together, and at other times it feels like she just got here. She has brought so much joy to our lives that I truly cannot imagine being anyone else but Lucy’s Daddy.

When we first found out we were pregnant with here, I really wanted her to be a boy. I wanted a little boy to play with, roughhouse with, and teach how to be a little man. But now, two years into a lifetime of being a father of a little girl(s), I can’t believe I ever wished for it to be any other way.

Having a little girl who thinks I hung the moon cannot compare to anything else. I have cherished our time together and the amount of love I have been able to pour into her short life, and of course the love I have receive back tenfold. Raising a girl is no small matter, but knowing that I am the most important man in her life has caused me to love and care for her more than I could have ever imagined.

Our first two years together have brought us closer seemingly every day, so much so that I cannot wait to see what the next year holds.

Waiting

Above: The girls chillin’ out and watching Elmo.

This picture pretty much sums up our weekend. Although our lives are still full of Spanish classes, homework, English classes, time with interns, friends, and life, there is really only one thing on our mind. The baby arrival feels very close, and yet life still goes on. We spent the weekend alternating between long walks around San Jose and long naps or chill time like above. The walks to bring on the baby, the naps because we were all exhausted by the walks!

A quick Lucy update as well, she continues to get excited about Baby Tica’s arrival. She knows where her room is, she kisses Lindsey’s belly, she has certain toys waiting for her new sister, and she is even enjoys mimicking baby cries, and then telling the baby it will be ok!

Welcome Jamie

Above: Sean, Lucy, Lindsey, Josh, Jamie, Andy.

This weekend we welcomed the last of our three interns to San Jose when Jamie flew in late Friday night. Like the guys, she is from outside the Boston area and is taking a year off after graduating high school to study Spanish with us in Costa Rica and then serve with us in Honduras.

She had a busy weekend staying with us Friday night, going to a baby shower with Lindsey on Saturday, meeting her family, and getting unpacked. Today all three start a month long intensive Spanish course before they leave for Honduras in November.

We´re thrilled to finally have them all here and to start working with them and getting to know them. Lucy has already taken to the guys, daily asking for “Andyjosh” and even last night asking for Jamie to play with her in the tub. It is great having some teammates again and we look forward to all being together in Honduras soon.

Welcome Interns

Above: Andy, Josh, Lindsey, Lucy, Sean.

Last week we welcomed 2 of the 3 interns that will be joining us for ministry in Honduras.  Andy and Josh (and Jamie who arrives in a few weeks) are from the Boston area and just graduated high school.  Before going to college, they are taking a year off to join us in our mission work.  We are thrilled to have the help, the energy, and the enthusiasm on our team.

We have had a fun week showing them around, getting them set up at school, and just hanging out and getting to know them better.  They are excited about Spanish and excited about Honduras, and we can’t wait to all finally get to La Ceiba together and start working!

They are blogging about their experiences, so if you are interested about what it is like to live with a local family or experience a new culture as a teenager, check out their website: BostontoHonduras.com