Family

Settling In…Again

Crossing Cultures, Family, Life in El Salvador, Third Culture Kids, Transitions -

We made it back to El Salvador last Thursday night and the weekend was a whirlwind of filling our empty refrigerator, buying school uniforms, and covering books and materials with plastic in preparation for the first day of school. This morning, the kids climbed into Jon’s big red truck and headed off to school for the start of a new year. I got a lump in my throat watching them wave good-bye and start First and Fourth Grades. With the start of school, and a return to our regular routine we are back into Spanish, San Salvador traffic, and life in El Salvador. Our time in the States was wonderful and the good-byes were hard (as they always are), but it’s good to be settling back in where we belong. Ready […]

Rest for the Weary

Crossing Cultures, Family, Fundraising, Thinking About God, Third Culture Kids, Transitions -

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”   (Matthew 11:28, the Message translation)   This summer we’ve had our feet in 11 States, we’ve met with churches, organizations, and individuals that love El Salvador. We have seen the Statue of Libery, swam in Nana’s pool, had cousin sleepovers, and watched the kids hold their newborn niece. We’ve been prayed over, and we’ve prayed for. We’ve talked and talked about our […]

Updating…

Crossing Cultures, Family, Fundraising, Third Culture Kids, Transitions -

Six weeks ago we arrived in the U.S. for the start of our furlough. The first week I was still exhausted from all the end of the school year, packing to leave, wrapping up work madness that was our last month in El Salvador. It took at least a week to get the tension out of my shoulders! These past six weeks have been a mix of relaxing, time with family, visiting with friends,speaking in churches, and updating friends and supporters. The kids have taken it all in stride and they have especially loved playing with all of their cousins. We have traveled a lot this summer and they have transitioned well, but they have asked about our house, and they’ve mentioned eating pupusas a few times. It is strange […]

Wrapping Up

Crossing Cultures, Family, Third Culture Kids, Training -

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity around here. We have been wrapping up ministry and house stuff as we prepare to leave for our 8 week home assignment. We’ve also had all of the end-of-the year kids stuff…school parties and awards ceremonies, and today they competed in a tournament sponsored by their karate school here in El Salvador. Eight weeks is a long time to be gone, and wrapping things up so that we can get on a plane tomorrow has been a bit of a challenge. But here I am surrounded by suitcases and almost ready to go! We are so excited to see family and friends, to reinforce English with our kids, to share about what is happening in El Salvador, and to get […]

Jon in Panama

Family, Uncategorized, YWAM -

Jon recently returned from a week-long gathering in Panama of all the YWAM leaders from North, Central, and South America. He had the chance to connect with other leaders in YWAM, hear some updates on things YWAM is doing around the world, and to take time to rest and reflect on our work here in El Salvador. While he was gone, the kids and I dealt with a few bumps in the road including an iguana hiding out in Tori’s dollhouse and a stolen purse (more on that some other day)! We were glad to be together again just in time for the kids to compete in a karate tournament in Guatemala last weekend. They did great, and we enjoyed the time as a family. Here are some pictures that Jon […]

Tori Writes

Family, Language Learning, Third Culture Kids -

I’m so proud of my talented little girl. She shares my love of all literature and writing, and she just entered a poem into the Spanish writing contest. She wanted to share it with all of you:   Aves del Mundo Torogoz es nuestro orgullo, nuestro ave nacional, es lo que vivimos y vivimos otra vez en nuestras vidas es lo que tenemos para el Torogoz. Guacamaya tiene plumaje azul como el mar y un canto como el viento en un día soleado. Pavo real tiene muchísimos ojos falsos en sus plumitas, y es grande como un rey de Egipto. Tucán tiene un pico largo como una banana y su plumaje es tan lindo como un arcoirís en el cielo después de una tormenta larga. Paloma trae paz a nuestro […]

A Walk on Good Friday

Family, Holidays, Life in El Salvador, Places to Visit in El Salvador, Third Culture Kids -

Yesterday we took a walk on the streets of Santa Tecla, just outside of San Salvador, to view the beautiful alfombras, meaning “carpets” in English. These are beautiful creations of sawdust and sand that are dyed bright colors and crafted into pictures of Christ’s life and death. They form the “carpet” for the Good Friday processions as they pass on their way to evening services. Different groups, churches, and families sponsor the carpets and they get up early in the morning to create these works of art in the streets. It has become a family tradition for us to enjoy the culture of El Salvador each Good Friday. Here are some pictures from our walk down the street yesterday: The kids and I! Ian checking out the alfombras. Street vendors selling […]

Karate Kids

Family, Third Culture Kids -

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Guatemala City for the kids to compete in a karate tournament. I must admit I never saw competitive martial arts coming when we decided to move to El Salvador, but the kids are having an absolute blast. They practiced for hours to get ready for the weekend, and they did great! Ian participated in 5 events, and got 4 trophies and Tori participated in 4 events and got 4 trophies. I love the fact that they are teammates and into the same thing (at least for right now)! They are learning a lot about hard work paying off…and participating in international karate tournaments is pretty cool, isn’t it? The family time away was wonderful too, and the kids loved that […]

Operation Chicken Coop

Family, Life in El Salvador, Our Animals, Third Culture Kids -

I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting to hear the latest on my chicken drama.  Well, the chicks are out of the huge dog cage just outside the kitchen door and into their very own chicken coop. I have to give the kids credit. They worked for two afternoons straight helping Jon to construct the little darlings’ home. For those of you who are familiar with chicken-lore, these two little guys are chickens of the “Pollo Indio” variety, and apparently the structure pictured below is what they like to hang out in (at least that’s what we’ve been told by local farmers). One is a boy, and the other is a girl so we should have more chicks in a few months, and lots of fresh eggs. Jon […]

Chickens?????

Family, Life in El Salvador, Our Animals, Third Culture Kids -

When the cat is away, the mice will play…or in my case, when the Mom is away the Dad and kids will add two chickens to our family. That’s right, folks, chickens. “We” have just added Ping-Pong and Jake to the mix. I’m still not quite sure how this happened…they were offered, no one could say no and next thing you know we’ve got chicks. Apparently Jon knows how to deal with them. I, however, do not.  So, I’m off to search for an “urban farming” blog or some such useful resource. In the meantime, take a look at the newest members of our family, the kind of gross and definitely smelly adorable Ping Pong and Jake.

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