Virginia

Well, we've made it!! Sorry we haven't been keeping up...life is always interesting around our house! I think we are finally settled and loving what life is bringing us lately! After the crazy moving months of the DR, and then the crazy vacation month of December, we were so ready for some peace and normalcy. After having the flu when we got here to D.C. and some other illnesses, we worked through my 32nd birthday (me sick as a dog) because, of course, we have to get used to all the bugs of Virginia now!! Oh, and we'll do it again come August in Mozambique. Maybe someday we really will have awesome immune systems, but for right now it seems we just keep getting used to all new bugs from all new places :)
Madison is homeschooling with Sam, her cousin. Michelle and I love to have our kids at home and love even more that we get to teach them together! She teaches Madi two days a week and on those days I teach all the kids Spanish with the really fun program I did when I was in Russia (ILP). It seems to work out really well. Madison has taken to the idea of being at home and enjoys her cousins tons! She even has accepted doing it with me at home. The Lord has helped us find the things that we need to make our family work and we are continually being guided in this process. Thank heavens for help!!
Mikaela loves that she always has mommy around; we all loved Juana, but I think my girls prefer Mom and Dad. Tobias is home a lot because he is learning Portuguese really fast. We all love the library and are already feeling that we are going to have serious withdrawals as we prepare for Mozambique is August. Daddy reads lots with the girls in our new red papasan chair. Niki is into red and so we have lots of new red stuff. We also love our new car mostly for the DVD player that is already installed in the car--we watch lots of DVDs from the library and everyone in the whole family is happier!! We also love being able to get around by ourselves :) We have recently learned though that after all of Tobias' hard work in getting such a great car, it may just be too ostentatious for Africa. Oh well. We'll find another one with a built in DVD player and leather seats. Those are the MOST important :)
We love our time together as a family, we love living in America for a while, the parks, the libraries, the friends and family. We are so lucky to live next to my best friend Michelle, who married Tobias' cousin Peter (yes, I set them up and now we have the same last name!!) It has been such a blessing and a tender mercy! We love them!
Hope you are all doing well. Christmas cards are on their way in the next month...or two. Loves to all.