What a whirlwind of a month or 2! Sorry it’s been so long since you have heard from us. We have been busy settling into life here in Mexico… We think we might be getting the hang of things.
As most of you know we are a family of four now! Gideon Michael arrived on October 26, at 8:41 am. He was 6 lbs and 20 ¼ inches long. He got here the day after Brittany’s mom arrived from the states (she came 10 days before her due date because she didn’t want to miss Gideon’s arrival, and less than 12 hours of being here he arrived!) We praise God for answered prayer, Brittany prayed that the labor would be fast, and that there would be no complications, we left home for the hospital at 7:30 am, and he was here by 8:41 and everyone was healthy! Although next time Brittany will be a little more specific in her prayer and ask that there will be enough time to get the epidural… that is if there is a next time ;).
Hope is adjusting well to having a little brother, she loves to get his pacifier, check his diaper, and give lots of hugs and kisses. We have grown to love her even more, which we didn’t think was possible, watching her love Gideon. She has loved having family here, it has made the adjustment to big sister a little easier for us all! Hope is learning spanish quickly, and will use phrases like hello, please and thank you, good bye, and see you later in the right context without being prompted, which is more that we can say for the grands! She loves to go to children’s choir, and exploring new water falls. She is adjusting quite nicely to life here in Mexico. And side note she is completely potty trained, win for mom and dad!
Garrett and Brittany are doing well. Despite how busy we have been, our language is coming along slowly but surely. We can order food, and get money out of the ATM… I will let you decide who is better at which. Our house is looking and functioning more like a home, and we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving (so glad Liz, Garrett’s mom, was here to cook) and decorate for Christmas.
And in the middle of adjusting to a new baby, a new culture, and having family in town, Garrett lost someone very dear to him. His boss, friend, and mentor of 10 years died suddenly in a car accident the Friday before Thanksgiving. It has hit our family very hard, second only to Buddy, Garrett’s dad, Jon was the biggest influence on the man Garrett is today. Garrett is a better man of God, husband, and father because of Jon and his investment into Garrett. Please pray for his sweet family he has left behind, his wife and 2 teenaged boys, and for the men at CSI that looked up to Jon just like Garrett.
We have visited the ladies by the river once so far since we have been here, to let them know we have moved here. They seemed to be doing well, but still need a lot of discipleship. Weekly we continue to strengthen our relationship with First Baptist Church Peniel. They have welcomed us like family. We have received visits, gifts, and lots of prayer from them. They are very gracious with our language learning, the pastor even said the book of the bible and chapter he was preaching from in english to make sure we could follow ago. One night during conversation, very broken conversation I should say, Pastor Miguel related our communication issues to the tower of babel.
One of our next steps are to get Gideon his Mexican and US passport, so please be in prayer so that we can get this done in somewhat a timely manner and that hopefully it will allow us to get our permanent visas. We also have a team from Sonrise and Shindler coming down in January, so be praying that God can use us and them while they are here.
Thanksgiving 2015, the first for us in Mexico, and the first for Pastor Miguel and his family
Garrett and Jon fishing this summer
