We arrived in Portland on Friday afternoon and it's been raining ever since. Our townhouse is nice. The moving truck is supposed to arrive Thursday -- so once we fill this place with all our junk it will feel more like home. We have a three story house but Alfonso put up gates so I'm less paranoid about Alejandro taking a tumble. (Well, from the stairs anyhow -- he likes to stand on the coffee table.) We live really close to just about everything we need. Less than 2 miles from Intel, there are groceries stores, restaurants, shopping plazas and parks within walking distance. We found a new church we like. It's on the other side of the railroad tracks. Literally and figuratively! Across the street from our complex there's Banana Republic and Gap and the like but when you cross the railroad tracks you see signs for tattoo parlors, payday loans, pawn shops and the carniceria/taqueria. (We bought some carnitas at the carniceria after mass. Yum!)
Alejandro is adjusting surprisingly well. He keeps asking to play with his friend Julianah but he's excited about the new house. He prays for both of them every night. His latest accomplishment is brushing his teeth. He finally figured out the brushing technique (instead of just sucking off the toothpaste.) He's sleeping in a twin bed without rails (since they are on the truck still) and hasn't fallen out of bed. Talks a mile a minute and sings at the top of his lungs. His favorite song these days is "If you are happy and you know it..."
Dante is rolling all over. He's starting to sit up. He's learning to steal toys back from Alejandro. Still a sweetheart and very easy going. He has gotten up on all fours once and will be crawling before we know it. Life goes way too fast!
Alfonso had his first day of work today. He has orientation this week so he only has to work half days. But Intel will get their pound of flesh later when he's working 14 hour days. He's excited and seems pretty happy about his coworkers so that's a good thing.
Love always,
debi
Well, Alfonso received an assignment with Intel in Israel. (He applied for the position -- it wasn't forced!) First he has to complete training in Portland, Oregon. So we are moving to Portland the week of Feb 19th. Our move to Israel is tentatively scheduled for October. But Intel is still building the facility, so the date might get pushed out a few months. The assignment there is two years, so we should return by the end of 2009.
For those interested in the details, we'll be renting our house out in the meantime. Intel will fly us back to the states twice a year -- so tentatively the plan is we'll head once to El Paso and once to Ohio. The town where Intel is located is between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv but further south so we'll probably live in one of the two. Anyone who's up for the trip is welcome! We'll be living in an apartment in Portland but will have a house in Israel.
Anyhow, we are all doing well. Have lots to do in the next couple weeks but somehow it will all work out. Dante is almost five months. He's a sweetheart -- very happy little guy. He laughs a lot. He's rolling over and trying desperately to sit up (with mixed results.) Alejandro's vocab has really taken off in the last few weeks. He uses his new language skills to boss his brother around. "No pulling hair, Dante! It's not nice!" "Drop the toy! It's my turn!" But he's very concerned about hygiene. Today he came in the bathroom and ran off with Alfonso's deodorant. I found him applying to his armpits (with his shirt on but he had the right idea.) It's never boring with him around.
Love always,
debi
The holidays have been a blur! Alejandro is officially two -- we had three parties to make sure (Albuquerque, El Paso and Ohio.) Somehow, the big 3-0 snuck up on me. I have no idea how I got so old all of the sudden. We had a long visit in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Aunt Deb and Uncle Jerry helped me fly back to the land of enchantment with the boys. Then we were off to El Paso for Christmas. Santa came a couple days late in Albuquerque. We headed to Farmington for another celebration with our adopted family and got snowed in for a couple extra days. Our house is completely buried in snow and we are exhausted! Happy New Year!
Dante Cristiano Navarrete was born on Aug 24th at 5:47 a.m. weighing 8lb 3oz and measuring 20.5 inches. Mom and baby are doing well (both are napping).
Love,Alfonso, Debi, Alejandro and Dante
Well, the past few weeks have been somewhat eventful. I finally finished my MBA. I'm told the diploma is in the mail. (They don't have a graduation ceremony for summer graduates.) It's just a huge relief to be done with school right now. Even more exciting, Alfonso got a new position at Intel. He's kind of been in limbo this summer working on odds and ends. Then a few weeks ago they announced they were reducing his department by 20%. He interviewed Tuesday for a position in the 12 inch facility (also in Albuquerque) and they had him start Wednesday. He's back working day shift so Alejandro misses him though. We have also been getting lots of rain (as you can see in the pic below) which is good.
We'll be in touch when the baby arrives (hopefully sooner rather than later -- I'm tired of looking like a hippo!)
Love always,
debi
Alejandro is adjusting surprisingly well. He keeps asking to play with his friend Julianah but he's excited about the new house. He prays for both of them every night. His latest accomplishment is brushing his teeth. He finally figured out the brushing technique (instead of just sucking off the toothpaste.) He's sleeping in a twin bed without rails (since they are on the truck still) and hasn't fallen out of bed. Talks a mile a minute and sings at the top of his lungs. His favorite song these days is "If you are happy and you know it..."
Dante is rolling all over. He's starting to sit up. He's learning to steal toys back from Alejandro. Still a sweetheart and very easy going. He has gotten up on all fours once and will be crawling before we know it. Life goes way too fast!
Alfonso had his first day of work today. He has orientation this week so he only has to work half days. But Intel will get their pound of flesh later when he's working 14 hour days. He's excited and seems pretty happy about his coworkers so that's a good thing.
