Hola!
We are finally back in the world! So sorry for our long delay in updating this blog.  We have had no internet at home for the last few weeks---which has been a real challenge. So where do I begin in catching you up on the last month. There's so much to share and not enough time or space on this blog.

But here we go....

Well Dave and I have now become official coffee drinkers! I can say that because a day without a cafe con leche is just not a good day! Here in Spain there are no Starbucks or drive throughs where you can grab a coffee on the go.  It is the experience of sitting by the beach or in a cafe with a real coffee cup and enjoying the people you are with.  Not to say that we don't ever do that back in the States but it seems to be a everyday occurence for the people here. And of course the serving is only a cup (8 ounces), not a huge serving like in the States.  Even though we have become coffee drinkers we have not become smokers. However, I was offered my first cigarrette the other day.  A gentleman held out his cigarette pack and offered me a smoke--a polite thing to do here in Spain.  I am sure I had a dumb-founded look on my face, but I did reply "No Gracias."  Dave was with me so he can vouch for the offer! 

Dave and the boys are at a Malaga futbol (soccer) game as I write this.  We have season tickets and the game tonight did not start until 10:00 pm!  The first game we saw was against Real Madrid!  If you are a soccer fan that will mean something to you.  Lynsey and I joined the boys for that game.  It was very fun to experience the Spanish culture and their love of futbol.  My camera was not working the night of the Madrid game so we have no photos, which was a bummer!  We are looking forward to watching Barcelona play in May.  If this soccer experience does not make Ethan happy I don't know what will---well besides a ticket back to the U.S!

The kids are busy with school and sports and have all made a few friends.  I am learning a lot of Spanish because I have to frequently help the kids with their homework.  We have to use an English-Spanish dictionary to figure out what the assignment is, let alone how to complete it.  Joshua is adapting to the math work as they do division and many other skills differently.  All the kids have math class in Spanish and this is probably one of the biggest differences that I did not anticipate.  Ethan is completing a saxon algebra cd math course at home so that he will be on track when we return to the States.  Lynsey will start a pre-algebra program at home as well.  Lynsey has had to do many presentations for her class. She seems to really like and do well with these.  She even  had to speak in Spanish for one of her presentations!  Alec is doing great and full of himself!  Very confident and is always asking me if I know what a word means, as if to one up me!

We have had good reports and conferences with all the kids teachers.  Except Ethan is still refusing to embrace this experience and is not giving his best effort.  The teachers tell us that the students love Ethan and they all want to help him so they speak to him in English!   Unfortunatley, this has not helped Ethan learn the Spanish language.  We know that Ethan is just "doing his time" but we pray he decides to engage more in his school work and in the language.  A recent praise is that he won a race last weeknd in Rincon where we live.  He ran against several triatheletes so he did have some good competition.  He received his first Spanish trophy and it was good to see him smile!  He was supposedly in the local paper for winning--- we are trying to get a copy of the paper.  Currently Lynsey is unable to compete in her basketball games because the federation is not wanting to let girls play on the boys team.  This has not been a problem for the school  in the past so we are praying this gets resolved in her favor.  She is still practicing with the team though.

Dave has been very busy at church with the community center.  He is helping to start up a coffee shop and they are almost ready to open. Thank goodness---because  Dave and I need more coffee!  He is also helping in other areas as well.  We can't say enough good things about the people of the church here.  So many nice and welcoming families who are faithful in their christian walk.  I have attended several women's bible studies and have been blessed by the ladies and the teaching.  It can be fustrating because I have to ask for translations if I want to really understand what is being said.  I can't really converse with the ladies as I would in English but I have still enjoyed the studies.  One thing I have learned is to go to the study about one hour later than the time listed.  The ladies start showing up 30 to 60 minutes after the designated time and they really don't even start the lesson then.  Once you learn how it works it is okay, you just plan on arriving at a later time!  I will post pictures of the coffee shop and ladies from church on the next blog.

If you remember on an earlier blog I talked about the difficulties of merging onto the autovia here in Spain.  I believe I said I had figured it out---well I was wrong!  Yes, I had my first and hopefully last car accident here in Spain.  I ran into the driver in front of me.  She stopped because she could not merge. Of course I had the kids with me and they were all talking etc...  Anyways, the lady I hit was a very nice French women.  Her husband was equally as nice and we ended up not turning in the damage to insurance but had it fixed on our own.  Of course it was my fault so we paid for both.  In the end I guess we were blessed since we were all okay and the couple I hit were very understanding.

On a brighter topic...The weather here has been amazing---sunny and and in the high 70's-low 80's.  The temperature does drop quite a bit in the evening and morning.  We were able to see some autumn colors on a recent trip to Italy, which reminded us of the fall in Indiana.

We are anxious to have visitors from the U.S and are praying for all the plans to work out for those who are coming.  This weekend Bill and Vi Goodrich, the pastor from Horizon Church will be here visiting.  They are on their way to the Ukraine and are stopping here until Wednesday.  I am excited because Bill will be preaching this Sunday at the church we attend.  It will be nice to here a sermon in English!  We are also anxouis for the arrival of the Stayton family, also from Horizon church.  They are planning to move here for at least 2 years to serve in the same church as us.  Please keep them in your prayers as they are waiting on paperwork before they can come over. 

Trip to Italy 
Several weeks ago we flew to Venice, Italy.  We stayed in a little town outside of Venice which was lovely.  We were amazed at all the people on bicycles---both old and young.  All had baskets on the front of their bikes for carrying bread or other items.  These people were not tourist but people who lived there who rode their bikes as a normal part of life.  Women and men were nicely dressed as they rode their bikes to the bank, to the bakery, to work, etc... a fun sight for us to see.  We loved Venice-- the food, the gondalas, the street artists, the shops, the churches and of course all the water.  From Venice we drove to the town of Verona to see the balcony of Romeo and Juliet.  The movie "Letters from Juliet" was filmed at this balcony so we just had to stop and see it.  A very touristy thing to do, but glad we did.  After Verona, on the same day, we headed to the town of Pisa.  We were pleasantly surprised at how awesome the Leaning Tower of Pisa was---we were not expecting such a sight.  All of us except Lynsey climbed the tower.  It was one of the best things we have done so far.  The boys all really liked it.  Ethan actually came to life during this event!  The slant of the tower is very significant, so as you are climbing up it is a strange sensation. The constructiuon of the Tower began in 1174 and after only three floors were constructed it was already leaning.  Construction ceased on the Tower for over 90 years due to battles and war.  You can google the Tower if you want to learn more--- it is quite interesting.  Lots of great photo opportunites at the top.  From Pisa we headed on to Rome.  The drive from Venice to Rome was about 7 hours but the stops in the towns along the way helped.  We spent 2 days in Rome. We did not drive our car in Rome, instead we had to use the metro (subway) and buses.  This in itself was an experience.  We saw many sights in Rome and will post some photos here on the blog.  We ended up using a tour group to see the Colosseum because the lines were so long we would have had to wait for hours just to get in.  We also took a tour of the Sistine Chapel and were able to see the work of Michael Angelo.  We saw his famous "Last Judgement" mural done over the altar. The chapel was packed with people so it was difficult to really appreciate the art.  Rome was impressive but very crowded. We could not really see the Spanish Steps because so many people were covering them!  Trevi Fountain was nice but again so many people everywhere. Vatican City was very grand but no sighting of the Pope.  Dave and I both really enjoyed the buildings and history of Rome but the kids were done after one or two sites.  Even with the hassles of Rome it was still well worth the trip.  I think if we went again it would be much easier because it takes a day or two just to learn your way around the city.

Okay I think that about covers it for now.  We are hoping to take a trip the second week of December to Paris and England because the kids have a few days off from school.  It is exciting to visit these awsome places and learn so much history. However, it is a lot of work and planning with four kids!  The photos don't always show the reality of a trip!  Sometimes we think we must be nuts!  We know in the end it is always worth it. 

If you have not emailed us lately please do and update us on what is going on back home in your life. 
I am now on Facebook but have not really figured out how to manuever around the site yet.  I will continue this blog so check here for more detailed updates.

Thank you for all your prayers and know that you are in ours as well.

Scroll down for more photos!

Until next time,

Love,
Dave, Karen, and family