Ezra turned 2!

Can you believe this boy is 2 already?! I barely can. For his birthday he had a small party at his class.

He had fun at school and then on his birthday got to go to the party of another friend where he played a lot.

He slept really good that night.

Happy birthday, Ezra, we love you!

Sickness

Elias came home from school coughing last Monday. Tuesday evening Talia was sore and coughing. Wednesday all three had varying degrees of flu along with Ben. Thursday, I had it the worst.

All weekend we were pretty pathetic all lying down and just getting up to keep up with laundry and food. Then everyone mostly got better except for Talia who continued feeling achy, running a fever and very tired. Ben took her to a clinic on Sunday and the doctor said it was dengue but didn't confirm with blood work, so they will go to the clinic tomorrow to find out. 

After a year here, maybe we will be used to all of the things our immune systems are getting acquainted with right now, and it won't phase us... But flu is pretty common in winter no matter where you live. 

I'm so thankful most of us feel better again. Please help me pray for Ben and Talia.

Why Teachers Make Good Friends

I have been blessed with wonderful co-teachers at every school I have ever worked. I'm not  sure if that's an odd thing and I'm just hitting the jackpot every time, or, and I think this is more likely, many times good teachers have the same qualities that make good friends. (By no means am I downing any other profession, just speaking of the one I have experience in. ;) Some of these great qualities that translate into friendship are:

They are good multi-taskers: In the classroom this is imperative for maximizing learning time. In friendship, it means that while you are busy with school during the day, you still have time to plan for an evening or weekend with friends.

They are good at gauging internal conflict: Students come to school every day carrying their home lives with them. Sometimes that is a supportive emotional structure that encourages learning in the classroom. Many times it isn't and, even the best students have off days. In order to capture a child's interest in a subject, you have to first have their confidence that you have created a safe place. They need to feel emotionally safe before they can engage mentally. This constant gauging of emotions in the classroom hones a teachers' skill at perceiving when something is going on with a friend as well.

A good teacher is also a good listener. Listening for feedback and proof of understanding in the classroom is another thing that is put into practice in a friendship as well.

There are so many other things that apply- like compassion, being young at heart, being flexible, and knowing how to connect with many different types of people. There are so many things we learn from each other, it is good to be surrounded by people who encourage me by their example in all of these areas every day.

There's nothing like loving the people you get to work with!

Loreto to San Jose del Cabo, Texas to Cabo Trip, Part 7

From Loreto to San Jose del Cabo seemed to be the longest part of the trip, but only because we had come so far and it was the last stretch and we could almost see being at our destination finally happening! We left beautiful Loreto and drove through a few more mountains before reaching La Paz. 

There, (at a Burger King with a play place, yay!) Ben called the director of the school to see which way would be better: the road from La Paz going east seemed shorter than the road to the west. We learned that the road to the east went through mountains and was only a one lane road but the road to the west was a comfortable two lane... so that's the one we took this time. Going from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo was the most suspenseful part: We were so close, but construction was slowing everything down. The beautiful views compensated for this. 

Arriving in San Jose, the one way roads threw us off a few times, but we eventually found the school. We were overwhelmed with how thoughtful everyone was and how prepared they were for our family's arrival.

I'm very thankful for this trip to be over and to have arrived here without mishaps: no blowouts, no children sick, no confiscations, and our destination was full of people who are wonderful to work with!

After Abu Dhabi: The Next Chapter

Our family is so excited about our next move!

Several of the goals we've had for where we live next have been reached in the new positions we have accepted:
-A place where our children could become bilingual in English/Spanish.
-A place where flights home weren't around $1,000 each like they are here.
-A place where the natural environment was more inviting than the desert so that we could all spend more time outside.
-A place that had some sort of balance between being super controlling and super dangerous.
-A place where if we both were to work, our children would be able to attend school in the same location.
-A church community.

We prayed about this transition, and then this position opened for us. There are so many ways that this is the perfect transition from Abu Dhabi: San Jose del Cabo in Baja California, Mexico. Let me just tell you some of the ways this place exceeds our expectations:

-We will be working in a bilingual private school where the subjects are taught in Spanish except science and English. Definitely a place for children to be bilingual!
-Flights home round trip are between $100-$300 and a one-way trip can be as low as $79. There is an airport nearby, too. (Also, a three hour flight sounds lovely right now as we are preparing for another 14 hour one.)
-This is a place known for its outdoor environment: beaches, horses, whale-watching and many other water sports.
-Since it isn't on the mainland of Mexico, but the peninsula, the drug traffic doesn't go through like many of the mainland and border Mexican towns. It has tourist police to protect the tourism industry and a special court for them as well. It has a good balance between control and danger. As far as natural disasters are concerned, there are occasional hurricanes.
-Ben and I will both be teaching (science and English, I love both!) and our children will all be attending school as well. There is a daycare, preschool and elementary up to 6th grade. It's perfect for the ages of our children and we love that the younger children will be learning Spanish.
-There are church options.

There are beautiful things beyond what we even wanted, like liking the subjects we will be teaching, and having respect for the people who run the school already because of the way they have gone out of their way to research what we would need and been available to help us with questions.

We feel blessed and thankful!