Far Too Long

Hey everyone! I think this is the longest I've gone without posting in the last 6 years or so! In September we headed to Illinois and spent a wonderful 3 months with family in the Peoria area and Forrest/Fairbury area. We really enjoyed our time there. Miguel helped Gary with the harvest. Anthony grew so much! Over Christmas, we traveled to Michoachan to visit Miguel's family. It was his first time back since moving away 11 years ago. So super special. We arrived back in Magdalena on December 30th! Miguel had his US citizenship ceremony on January 6th and on January 9th we both started work again, Miguel at Carnisimo Burgers and me at Colegio Verdad y Vida primary school teaching English. Definitely a new challenge for me! We're thankful for all the ways God has been providing and for getting in a new rhythm. Anthony fills our days with joy and keeps surprising us with new achievements. 

Illinois

Combining with Daddy, visiting Grammy and Pops on the farm, Anthony's first snow!

Photo from my sister, Megan's wedding on October 23rd.

Illinois cousins

5, 6, 7 months...

Great-grandparents

Michoacan

Cousins

  Visiting Zamora

Back in Sonora

Miguel's citizenship ceremony in Tucson

Visiting Daddy at work

We are so thankful for God's providing through all our travels, a few weeks of Anthony being sick (fever, then cold, then ear infection the week I started teaching 😬). We're thankful for growth and opportunities, our home and our community!

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Whirlwind

The past month and a half has been a whirlwind!

Ready for the first day of the Expo!

We were excited to have my cousins, Brian and Elizabeth Stoller and Brenda Ramsier to visit during the Expo. They also helped me out since Miguel was gone for a couple days at his cousin's wedding. 

Leah and Anthony are only a month apart in age, so we had to get a picture. Leah is Francisco and Jaqueline's daughter. Check out the featured post to see pictures of their wedding in 2021!

Anthony turned 3 months on August 9th.

He's been rolling over both ways and likes the bumbo seat and exer-saucer. With me working some, he's gotten some practice taking a bottle.

For the past month, I did some work as the kitchen supervisor again.

Also,  a couple of the teenage girls from CVE spent some mornings/afternoons at our house. They enjoyed spending time with Anthony and we appreciated a flexible way to support the houseparents.

As mentioned a couple posts ago, in July Miguel started a new job at Carnisimo Burger's new food truck in Santa Ana. He works evenings so that was quite the adjustment, but that also allowed him to care for Anthony some mornings while I worked and continue his schoolwork. One Saturday, Anthony and I went to visit him and eat a hamburger (pictured above). Between Miguel's job and school, my job, and a baby, August and September have been very busy.

On September 9th, Miguel and I celebrated four years of marriage. Thanks to some willing babysitters we got to go on a little date.

Anthony also turned 4 months on September 9th and got his first tooth. What a day!

We've been wrapping things up around here as we prepare to go on sabbatical for the next three months. We will be leaving Monday (Sept 19th). Please pray for a safe, smooth trip and that we can have accurate expectations in the coming weeks as we spend time with friends and family while continuing to care for a baby. God bless!

Update from July!

It's been far too long. I started this post back in July, just before Expo week and starting work again on August 8th. So here's an update from July.

Walk to the park!

Family picture

Mommy and Anthony. I was realizing that I hadn't taken a nice picture with him in awhile, so we snapped these.

They had a little dedication for Anthony after the church service this Sunday. A prayer, a few Bible passages, and some words of blessing for our family! We pray that we can raise Anthony to know and love Jesus.

Working on those tummy time skills.

Anthony has always been alert and observant. He kept eyeing this picture of Carson (my nephew) and I on the fridge. We joked that maybe he was jealous. :) Then Daddy printed off a picture of him and I to put on the fridge too.

Comparing Anthony to my baby pictures. 

Maybe because Miguel and I look so different, we were really curious who Anthony was going to look like. As he grows, I'm more and more convinced that his appearance is a very equal mix.

 Two months old in July!

At the end of July we were getting ready for my cousins to visit and Miguel to go to Colorado for his cousins wedding, all during the weekend of Expo Esperanza 2022.

Life with our Little Guy!

There are beautiful moments and tough moments!

It's been so fun to watch him grow. A couple weeks ago he started smiling (6 wks) and just this week he rolled over from his stomach to his back. (7 wks)

 

He turned one month old on June 9th.

Happy first Father's Day to Miguel in June!

He's getting chubby.

We enjoyed a visit from Aunt Emily and Carson. It took us a bit to figure out how to spend time together with a toddler and 1-month old, and them staying at a house on the CVE campus, but ultimately we enjoyed time with each other and each other's kids. Carson is starting to talk which is super fun!

I had my 6 week appointment in Tucson the day before they flew out, so we ended up staying at a hotel together. Anthony loved the warm water in the pool. So relaxing!

Thanks to a tip from Emily (hold his arms in so he doesn't startle) we are also finally enjoying bath time!

Cousins!

It's hard to believe we are all grown up with our own kids!

 Please pray that I can enjoy these moments and that my daily goals/expectations be small and that I would feel ok about them being small. I will begin supporting at CVE again on August 8th (still a month away), so please pray that I don't worry about that too much but also that we wisely plan/prepare for how to do home life, work life, and meet the baby's needs. Also, Miguel is starting a new job soon, so please pray that transition goes well and we can settle into a new routine. 

Thanks for your prayers!