"¿Y el bebé?"

This evening I walked to Mega Super (a grocery store around the corner from our apartment) for a couple of things. As I was paying, the clerk (who I don't remember talking to before) asked, "¿Y el bebé?" Implying how is the baby (Sawyer) doing? We proceeded to talk about our families (she has a son about Sawyer's age) while I paid. So after a week, our blond, blue eyed son with a million dollar smile has already made a name for himself.

Our Apartment

Several people have asked to see pictures of our apartment, so we have uploaded several to our Picasa web album. Click on the picture below to see more pictures of our apartment complete with captions.

Apartamento

1st Costa Rican Rain

On Thursday we had some rain in the afternoon, which is fairly typical for this time of year in San José. Olivia and Sawyer were anxious to try out their umbrellas and rain coats as you can see below.

Commissioning and Fare Well

Here are some pictures from our commissioning service at Savior's Community Church and the farewell dessert we had. The other couple are our teammates Erin and Jeremy Janzen.

"I'll hold you..."

This morning I (Jeff) woke Olivia up as we were meeting friends (Janzens and Elledges) to go to the feria (farmer's market). As she started to wake up I whispered in her ear, "I'll hold you, if you want." After a couple minutes of squirming and stretching she crawled on my lap and said , "I want you to hold me daddy." She then said, "I'm almost too heavy for mommy to hold, but I'm not too heavy for you."

So often the Lord teaches me about himself through my relationship with my kids. Just like I was there for Olivia this morning he is always there whispering in my ear that he will hold me if only I crawl into his lap. Just like Olivia's faith that she is not too heavy for me to hold, I am never too heavy, nor is any baggage I may carry with me too heavy for our heavenly Father to carry. He is there to hold me, all I need to do is ask.

We made it to Costa Rica!

We arrived in San José last night! The kids did great on the flights (mom and dad did too)! It was a blessing to travel with the Janzens and for Olivia and Sawyer to be able to play with Ella and Judah.

This morning our friends Rich and Jil (Our "big brother" who are going to the same language school and have been a huge help in helping us get situated here) took us for a tour of our new neighborhood. It was fun to explore a bit and we look forward to exploring more!

The last week has been a whirlwind of loading the container to ship, packing, a commissioning service at church, and saying goodbyes. Once we download the pictures from our camera we will post some pictures for you to enjoy. It was a good last week in Visalia.

We find ourselves being emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained yet energized at the same time. Both sad to leave close family and friends, yet excited to enter into this new season. During our training time at Mission Training International we talked about living in the midst of paradox. We are definitely experiencing this.

It is all still a little surreal to think after years of looking forward to this day it has finally arrived. I don't think it has quite sunk in yet. We are so grateful for everyone who has played a part in helping us get to this point. Thank you very much!! To say we are grateful is an understatement. We look forward to continuing to share this adventure with you!

In Less than a Week

Next Wednesday we leave for Costa Rica! It all seems a little surreal at this point in time. We find ourselves putting the final details into place. The last shopping trips, loading a container (yesterday!), selling our car, saying good-byes, choosing insurance, and writing a will are all on our to-do list (nothing like procrastination!). Olivia had a dentist appointment yesterday, we are gathering last minute prescriptions, taking oral typhoid vaccines, and making a file of all our medical records. Who knew there would be so many details?!?!