We did finally decide on a church - it's call Cuidad Refugio, El Bosque (Refuge City, the forest). El Bosque in the name of the area of town that it is in. They have quickly welcomed us and our skills and willingness to want to be in active ministry. They've asked us to help with the youth program and give it some "shape" in the way of formal youth ministry. We've been meeting with the youth on Saturday nights at 5PM and have lots of challenges, but see a lot of potential in the 12-15 core members. Elijah and Sydney love the Sunday School class that they are a part of on Sunday morning, and I was asked to attend a Sunday School teachers meeting next Sunday morning. I can see myself getting involved in that way as well in the future.
I took this picture for my mom - I knew she'd love seeing Sydney"cleaning" our porch after it had rained!
The kids' school is awesome - we are really impressed with it. Elijah is doing really well at reading in English and Spanish and pretty much knows how to write in cursive (except for obscure letters like "Q" and "Z"). I often compliment him on his penmanship and tell him that he writes better than Scott - that always gets a laugh out of him! He's also doing great at soccer - his coach seems to be really impressed with his skill level. He had a game this past Saturday - they lost, but their goalie didn't show up for the game. The coach put Elijah at goalie for the first half, and he blocked all the shots (even taking one in the face!). In the second half, the other substitute goalie was a little more afraid of the ball, and let 2 get past him. Elijah had fun playing the goalie, but I prefer to watch him play forward. I had butterflies in my stomach everytime the ball would cross midfield and head his way! 
Sydney is coming along beautifully in her skill sets as well. She has known letters and numbers for quite a while, so a lot of Pre-kinder is review for what she already knows. Her Spanish is exquisite and she has a best friend named Sofia. She is still enjoying her ballet class, but has already starting dropping hints that cheerleading is what she wants to do next year - she's got lots of rhythm in her blood - she's a good match for the "sport" (quotes for those of you who don't consider cheerleading a sport...). Tomorrow Scott and I are going to her club to see what's she's been learning in ballet - we hope there is a recital someday before the end of the school year, but haven't heard of anything yet. She feels little slighted that we've gone to 2 soccer games for Elijah, and nothing for her. Hopefully going to club tomorrow will make her feel special for a few hours.May and this last week of July brought 2 really huge ministry milestones for us. In May we had our 4th missionary training and were able to see a class of 13 new missionaries trained in missiology and practical concepts of missions. This past week, we welcomed back our 7 volunteers that have been serving for the past 2 years in Spain and the Middle East. It was so awesome to hear how God used them to touch so many people's lives. It was incredible to hear a maturity in their conversation of the many strategies implemented to really relate with people, and earn the privledge of talking to them about God. All of them came back changed people - what a great thing to be a part of.
A few things you can pray for - Scott has tonsilitis and is STILL battling his ingrown toenail. Elijah has had a persistent cough for the past 5 days. That our energy level would get back to normal - we all are completely wiped out when the evening comes.
To leave you with a funny Sydney phrase: (To the tune of "Bringing in the Sheaves") We're bringing in the cheese, bringing in the cheese... :)
Also - It's mother's day on August 15 here in Costa Rica - check out the video bar (2nd video down) for a tribute to moms!
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