Irlenborn update

Ok, so I've been meaning to get this thing going for over a month now and I'm finally doing it. My sisters all have their own blogs going and I really enjoy checking them out so I thought it was time I got my own started. I also thought this would be a great way to sort of journal our family life. (FYI- I am not technically gifted, so don't expect this site to get too fancy!)

First off, we are now living in beautiful (although rainy) Costa Rica! In August we moved to Costa Rica with Wal-Mart (Dustin's job). The plan is to be here 2 years and then return to Northwest Arkansas. Just in case you don't know where Costa Rica is, it is the narrowest stretch of land in Central America that connects North America with South America.

The unfortunate thing about arriving in August is that this is their winter which means that it rains almost every day. I've never seen so much rain in my life!! Since arriving on August 10th we've seen 3 days without rain, and they say the rain won't stop until December. The good news is that they say it doesn't rain at all January through April and it's just beautiful. Oh, I forgot to tell you that although it's the middle of the winter most days average around 80 degrees and it gets down to the low 60's in the night.

One of the benefits of living in Costa Rica is that there are tons of beaches, both on the Pacific side and the Carribean side, and we plan to visit as many as we can in the next 2 years. We were lucky enough to go to the beach the first weekend here and really enjoyed ourselves. Some of saw a sloth, monkeys and some rather large iguanas.

Although we've had our challenges since arriving (problems with the house, living in a hotel for 10 days, the language barrier etc.) we seem to be getting settled. The kids go to a private school that is very american and they have transitioned pretty well. We actually feel very blessed to be here and to be able to give our kids this great life experience.

Well, that's enough for today, I'll keep you all posted on life in Costa Rica!

Here are some recent pics. of the kids, enjoy!!

Isabella (5), Zoey (15 mo.) and Kaylee (8) playing in the sand at Manual Antonio beach.

Austin (11) and Braden (9) body surfing at Manuel Antonio.

Isabella

Kaylee

Braden

Austin

Zoey

Kaylee buried in the sand.

Braden and Kaylee hanging out.

The end of day 10 in Costa Rica!