So, we have been busy. We're a busy bunch (too busy to think of a good title)!
We've been here for five months now. Five months, you say?! That's right! We've now been here a week over five months. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already. In one month, we'll already be done with one-sixth of our time in Jamaica. The other five-sixths have potential to go by very quickly.
So, in case you're wondering what's up...
Out of the six of us, there are only two at home during the day.
Johnathan has been busy managing in the Consular section. He enjoys his job, his co-workers, and his local staff quite a bit. He's continually making me jealous of them because he cooks for his team meetings. His current team isn't very big, and he wonders what he's going to do when he moves to a bigger unit in the section next year. He has an amazing garden growing in our backyard. We're constantly using tomatoes, lettuce, dill, and other things from our garden.
Sara (yeah...I do third person sometimes) has been busy with her Housing Assistant job. For a month, her coworker was on a well-deserved vacation, and she handled the job of two people. Sometimes she did it like a rock-star, but there were times where she wanted to just give up. She's learning that being in the GSO section is hard work. She's learning that she prefers to not work in Management section jobs, but is going to make the best of her situation. She's been playing Dungeons and Dragons on a monthly basis with some friends.
Malachi's second semester is going very well. He's been enjoying school more, has more friends, and is even enjoying math this semester (this kid really gets fractions!). This semester his after-school activities include Lego-Yuh Mind Robotics, and he's continuing his private drum lessons. He's been rocking the Skylanders game on the Xbox, as well as the Lego Movie game.
Simon is killing it in pre-school this semester. He brought home some homework last week and was so excited to do it. In fact, on Monday he asked Johnathan to make him some homework (I think he wants to be like his brother - we'll see how long this lasts). His birthday is coming up soon and he'll be five - yes, five! As crazy as that sounds, it's true. He's asked for an alien-themed birthday party. So we're trying to trying to figure out an alien-themed birthday party for kids who may not know what aliens are.
Coen stays home with Lucy and chills out with her. He plays on his own, as well as helps her in the yard, or in the house. He loves to help anyone with their task. Last night he wanted to help me with dinner, but I was dealing with a very hot pot of food, that was splattering. The answer was no. Poor Coen. He's so excited to go to school this fall. I had been worried about him and going to school. He has introvert tendencies, and at someone's birthday party wouldn't sit at the table to eat with all the other kids. I thought - how is he going to go to school?! But I think he'll do well. He's been wanting to go for so long, that I think he'll jump right in.
Lucy is doing well. She has a church community that she likes, and she has two close friends. On Sundays sometimes she goes to the mall with her friends for lunch and shopping. She's also often on the phone with friends in the Philippines. She seems to be happy, and I really hope she continues to be.
Everyone has been struggling with allergies and colds to some degree. I hope that as the rainy season ends we'll have fewer sicknesses (and fewer mosquitos!).
We're liking it in Jamaica and are looking forward to the next five-sixths of our time here (sorry for the lack of photos - we're too busy living life to take them!).
