Summer is HERE!

Summer has started full swing, and we've been almost 110 this past week!  It's been HOT!  We used to have this type of heat in California, and so we're thankful that God prepared us a little bit for this type of intense heat.  The one major difference is that in the States, we pretty much drove everywhere.  We would go from our air-conditioned home to our air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned stores, etc.  Here, we walk everywhere, so there's no escaping the heat. We DO have air-conditioning in our flat, praise the LORD!  It's not the same as a/c in the states... we still need fans in every room, but it keeps the house somewhat comfortable.)   In some ways, it makes us want to hibernate in our air-conditioned home!! :) 


From what we are finding here in Cáceres, most people leave the city and go to their beach or "countryside" homes for most of July and all of August.  Literally, they close down their shops and just leave for that time... and then things re-open after the heat wave is over. :)  Obviously, where there is concrete and tall buildings, it's intensely hot.  So, they all head to the beach or the countryside where they have pools/beach and a breeze.  Most of our friends for the month of July only work half days until the middle of July, and then they have "off" for the 2nd half of July and all of August.  Isn't that crazy??? :) 

Well, the Lord has provided a new family that has befriended us.  Weston's classmate Patricia and her family have expressed interest in getting together so that the kids could practice their English and Spanish as well as practice for us adults!  Wes has gotten together for coffee several times with Franciso (Patricia's dad), and this past weekend, they invited us to their little cabin in the countryside.  The kids had such a blast.  As I've mentioned before, it's been an adjustment, living in an apartment, so the boys really enjoyed being able to just laugh and yell, and have some fun. :) 

Francisco has 3 horses, a pony, and several dogs... and a tiny kid pool for the porch. :)  The kids got to ride the horses/pony and play in the water.  They had a lot of fun together.

Spaniards don't like to get up really early, but they also don't like to be out too late in the afternoon.  It's funny, just before 1pm, Francisco said it was time to go.  He had mentioned before that anytime after 1pm, it's just too hot out...  I kinda chuckled, b/c it seemed so important for us to be DONE before 1pm... as if it's not too hot at 12:45, but once we hit 1pm, it will be too hot. :)  We do find that it is such a common Spanish thing to be INSIDE for the hottest part of the day.  We were so grateful for the fun time, though.  He invited us back anytime, and we plan to take him up on it!  All the kids LOVED the horses, and it's such great therapy for Nathan.  Francisco and Patricia were so kind, and I loved to watch Patricia with Carolina.  They were both quite taken with each other. :)

The Last week of School

Well, this whole entry is all about the boys, so I thought I'd just throw in one of my favorite pics of Carolina from the past month ... ok, now on to news about the boys... :) 

The boys finished up school at the end of June, and we had so much fun with all the parties and festivals that came with their last week of school.  It's hard to believe that they are already finished with their first semester here in Spain!  We have learned so much about the school system here, and the Lord has been so gracious about providing everything we need at Practicas.  It's such a great school with great teachers!

Jonathan has done great this past semester!  He seemed to adjust pretty quickly, and he has learned lots and lots of Spanish!  He is our little Spanish boy.  You'll hear him say, "Mira, mama! Mira!" (which means, "Look, Mom, look!") among many other things.  He has a perfect accent, and it's so fun to listen to!  I've learned many new words from Jonathan in the past months.  It's awesome. :) He will be move up to the next grade with the exact same teacher and classmates.  I'm so thankful that he has adjusted so well.

This is Weston's teacher, Josefina.  During our meeting with her, she said that Weston (despite the fact that he has had 2 years less schooling than the other kids in 1st grade AND he doesn't know the language...) has caught up on every subject except writing and reading.  She was extremely impressed with that, so we were excited.  Obviously, the language is something that will hold him up a little when it comes to reading... but, we know it will come in time.  Josefina also offered to help Weston this summer, if he wants to try to catch up.  She told us she lives nearby and she gave us her phone number... how sweet!!!!

During this week, we also had a meeting with Nathan's teacher and some of the school officials to decide whether or not to hold Nathan back or not.  Wes and I had talked and prayed about this at length, b/c Nathan is definitely behind his classmates.  He was behind before he ever even arrived, and then you add the fact that he doesn't know the language... and he's really behind!  I think I've mentioned this before, but the kids in Spain start school at 3 years old.  By the time they are Nathan's age (the 5 yr old class), they are reading fluently and writing in cursive... and Nathan barely knew his letters, let alone how to write them! :)  So, we knew he was behind academically, and it was hard for him to catch up b/c of the language barrier.  But, on the other hand, he had finally come to enjoy his classmates.  It took all four months that we've been in school for the kids to figure out how to be around Nathan... without knocking him over or without making him nervous... and for Nathan to become comfortable enough to assert himself.  It was a joint effort between Nathan's teacher and I.  Marisa was SO wonderful about everything.  She was always so attentive to what Nathan needed, and so willing to bend over backward to help us do whatever was best for Nathan.

Thank you for those of you who prayed with us through this decision!  It was difficult for me as we weighed all the pros and cons; but in the end, Wes and I both felt like it was important for Nathan to stay with the kids that he knows.  The past four months were SO difficult for Nathan (and Wes would say that's an understatement. :)) that we just didn't want him to have to go through those social adjustments again.  (The kids here stay together as a class from the time they start at 3 all the way until they graduate... they never mix up the classes.)  There were MANY different factors that went into all this; but as we prayed, this was where we felt led.

The blessing was that when we went to the meeting, Marisa had come to the same conclusion.  She felt like it was much more important for Nathan to feel secure and confident with his friends than to be on the exact same level academically.  She said that Nathan is extremely intelligent, and that once he grasps the language, she thinks he will be fine.  It is almost unheard of to keep a child back a grade, here in Spain.  They would rather keep the child in the same class and give him extra attention than hold him back... not sure the why's of all of that, but I'm thankful for it!  They have already set in motion for Nathan to have someone to help him specifically next year... and we will work through the summer to help him, as well.  I was so thankful to have this decision made... and to have such a peace about it!  As one of my friends reminded me... now, even if the road is hard, at least we KNOW this was where God wanted us to walk!

So, Nathan GRADUATED on June 22nd!  Wes, Carolina and I were able to go for the ceremony (the other boys were still in class.)  It was so CUTE!

One thing that Wes and I both realized as we were praying though Nathan's situation was that the majority of our friends/contacts have come from Nathan's class.  It seems EVERYBODY knows Nathan, and it has opened so many doors for us to build relationships.  We are so thankful for the Lord opening doors in this way! :)  Many of the parents know Nathan and help him... they are all very attentive to Nathan.

This is a picture of Nathan's class party.  They whole class had worked on gifts and a poem for Marisa.  Each child was supposed to read a part of the poem, but... Nathan can't read yet.  So, this is Antonió, the father of one of Nathan's classmates, helping Nathan recite his part of the poem.  It was so sweet.

Then, the night of the last day of school, they had a big party at the school.  It reminded Wes and I of a "block party" in the States.  It was held at the school, and they had those big blow-up games and jumping house.  (This is a picture of Weston with one of his best friends, Diego.) We all went, and it was really encouraging to Wes and I how many people we knew!  We still don't speak the language, so we definitely feel like outsiders.  But, during all these events, I could see how we were actually more in touch with the majority of the parents than even some of the other parents.  That blew my mind... and it was all something that Lord has orchestrated little by little along the way.  We've been trying to keep our heads above water, so it's not like we would go to school to drop off the kids and say, "hmmm... I'm going to try to get to know this person today."  Or "hmm, I haven't talked with this person yet, so I'm going to have Nathan say something funny so we can interact." lol... no, usually, most of our focus was trying to keep Nathan in a routine where he felt comfortable and secure... and praying that he didn't cry and cling that particular day. :)  lol... God did it all!... without any effort on our part.  It feels like He has laid the ground-work for great opportunities as time goes on.

(This is a picture of Nathan {in the white shirt} and Jonathan {in the red shirt, khaki shorts} playing 'futbol' with their friends during the party.)  What an amazing time this was for us as a family!  The Lord has truly blessed us all with some wonderful new friends here in Spain.  As outsiders, we never dreamed we could connect this quickly with so many people!