halloween and quinceanos

Halloween isn't really celebrated down here (at least not in Christian circles), but when Elvis spotted this outfit in a thrift store down here, how could we not get it for Suzy?? Especially when we end up calling her "punkin" more times on a daily basis than we actually call her "Suzy"?

You may remember Suzy's halloween costume from last year:

So she's keeping with tradition!

Last night we had a big event...you have heard us talk of our friend Pastor Jose Luis with the 7 kids....well, last night his oldest daughter had her 15th birthday party...her "quinceanos" which is a HUGE deal down here! It's basically like a wedding. Elizabeth had 3 different dresses that she wore during the evening, this first one being one that my mom gave her:I got to help cut the cake!
Dress #2
Her attendants:

Proud papa:The cake (complete with a fountain underneath):
Dress #3 :
Just a couple of the siblings:

Suzy was tuckered out after all that partying:

We're kinda sad around here...Elvis leaves tomorrow for Myrtle Beach! But we are so excited about our reuniting next week!

The scoop

So, here's the scoop on what I warned you about the other day.....

Elvis works at an American company here in El Salvador that makes capacitors (some electronic thingy) and they want to send him to the US for some training so that he can learn to design these capacitors. Now, keep in mind that he would be the only one from his company in all of Latin America that will know how to do this, so it's a HUGE honor to be chosen. Especially since he hasn't quite been there a year yet!

So, his boss told him that he could be there for 2 weeks or for 2 months, and he couldn't tell him the exact dates, and he had exactly 5 minutes to say YES or NO. WHOA. He called me to discuss it in his 5 minutes, and we decided it was too huge of an opportunity to pass up.

I forgot to mention one little detail.....you may ask, Well where are they going to send him? LA? New York? No... they will be sending him to Myrtle Beach. Yes, approximately 1.5 hours from my family! COincidence? I think not.

And, he later found out it will actually probably be more like 3 months that he will be gone.

And they want him to leave MONDAY. Like, in 3 days.

So, what's the plan? Obviously Elvis cannot miss Suzy's 1st bday coming up and we can't stand the idea of being apart for so long, soooooooo....

Suzy and I are going with him!!

Actually we will be traveling in a couple of weeks so i can give the school some more time to find a substitute, but we will be in NC for Suzy's bday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and who knows what else! I am so excited that we will be able to live close to my parents and grandparents for this period in Suzy's life.

We can see the hand of God working in this. For example, with my job. Two days before they offered this to Elvis, my boss asked me if I would be in charge of all the paperwork we need to get done this year in order to have our accreditation renewed next year. So, I will not be teaching anymore but rather be in a more administrative role, which all I need is a computer and so I can work from the US for a while!

Even though we are so convinced that this is God moving all the pieces, there still have been many frustrations and obstacles to overcome (such as the fact that Elvis still does not have a confirmed itinerary and he leaves Monday). But we are learning to trust even when we can't see, and to be thankful even when we are not sure how everything is going to work out.

So, we still appreciate your prayers about this....and we will see you SO SOON!

3 little pigs

Suzy has had a full weekend....yesterday I had to go into work for a few hours, but she loved being the center of attention there! Then we had a pool party yesterday afternoon (pictures below) where she got to hang out with her "bff" Rocio. And today she went to her very first musical play! You see, Suzy doesn't really watch TV, but she does LOVE watching the 3 Little Pigs cartoon on YouTube. Like, the 1933 original version. She laughs when the big bad wolf comes out and she loves dancing to the "who's afraid of the big bad wolf" song. It's her fave. So, when we saw that they were going to perform the 3 Little Pigs at a nearby theater, we knew we had to go! I was afraid she wasn't going to be very interested in it since she is a bit young still, but no....she loved it! She was clapping and dancing and laughing and on the edge of her seat the whole time!! It was cool because the used the original music (well, in spanish) but added other songs and changed the story line a bit. It was so fun!Here is Suzy at the play:



And at the pool party:

warning....

Just a heads up that God is doing something huge in our life right now. Be on the lookout for an update. A great update for all you US readers. And please pray that God will keep taking care of all the details as He has been doing. Thanks!

Ash, Elv, Suz

lil cabin in the woods

This weekend Elvis and Suz and I escaped to our favorite little mountain town to spend the night in a cute little cabin and enjoy some cool weather. We had a great time drinking coffee, eating good food, shopping in the second-hand stores people set up in their garages (I got an awesome like-new Columbia winter jacket for $5 for our Christmas trip to the US!), and just being together. After all the times we've been to this town, we finally found a nice waterfall that is just a few minutes away.



Suzy's first marimba concert!

my hunnybee

Elvis and I had fun with Suzy this weekend, playing dressup in her bumblebee outfit. She was definitely buzzing all around the park and would hardly sit still for a picture!

Blue skies...finally!

The rain has finally stopped! Today is the first time I have seen blue skies in a looong time. Actually, it didn't rain yesterday, so the Ministry of Education reversed their decision to cancel school and we ended up going. Thursday night, we had a strong tremor (5.6 on the Richter scale), which shot Elvis up from bed to go running to Suzy's room. Since I have never personally experienced a real earthquake, it is still a bit exhilerating for me to feel a tremor. However, for Elvis, who has lived through several devastating earthquakes, they are always a little bit traumatic. However, one good thing from the tremor is that usually the weather changes after a big one, and this was true for this tremor. Today there is a nice (almost fall-like) breeze and it's a bit cooler. Made for a lovely long walk with Suzy this morning!

Suzy has had a big week...turning 10 months has brought along all kinds of new exciting things! First of all, she cut her 3rd tooth yesterday. She now has two bottom teeth and a top one is now peeping through! And yesterday, she got her Halloween costume. Can't wait to put it on her =) She also learned how to climb the stairs yesterday by herself. Uh oh!! Guess we better figure out getting a gate for the staircase asap! Also this week she ate her very first pupusa!! Dinora made one for her and she ate the whole thing. Loved it! Here she is reaching for it:
I'm having trouble loading the video of her first pupusa experience, but i'll keep working on it!