Today it hailed for about 15 minutes straight. Yesterday I wore my winter coat outside and hoodie and fuzzy slippers inside. On Sunday we took the kids to Belfast for lunch and got drenched. Joaquin had to ride home half naked. There has been a handful of sunny days in May and June which is taking a lot of getting used to for the Californians up in here. Serious lack of vitamin D equals serious mood dips.

Our moods however are picked up by the warmth of the people here. We are consistently having dinner get togethers and tea and coffee chats. Which by the way, if you are not looking you will consume 4 cups of coffee and 2 cups of tea in one day...easily. I am volunteering in the Mission Shop (church thrift shop) which proves to be great craic and a good lesson in Irish History.

Joaquin managed to have his first broken bone in his right arm. He fell down the stairs in our home. I am sure he was trying to do a trick or two on the way down. We didn't decide to go to the doctor until four days after...poor kid. He got a small cast which he removed himself two days later right before mommy and daddy were going out. Not frustrating at all. Especially because the hospital is about 30min away and we have no car. So Joaquin is now in a full arm cast for 2 weeks. I am positive this will not be the last. By the way, a big thank you to the UK health system. The only money spent on the arm was bribing Joaquin with treats to let the nurses (about 4) put his arm in the cast.

Chloe will be turning five in about two weeks. I had to convince her not to have a princess party because 90% of the party guests are older boys. We settled on a beach theme with a pinata and treasure hunt. Maybe a beach themed party will hold off the rain. In our minds at least. Today she told me I was mean and that she didn't want me anymore because I was making her put on her school uniform instead of watching Peppa Pig. I am bracing myself for the tween years.

I have experienced most emotions that new missionaries experience in the first three months of relocation: excitement, sadness, regret, joy, frustration, what the heck did we do, peace and many more. The training by our CA family is thankfully normalizing most of the fears.

Our family will be traveling to Czech Republic for three weeks to teach at an English camp in July, Hungary for 1 week of CA training in August, and eventually home for 4 weeks in the Fall. I am going to start loading up on airplane snacks and toys now.


All in all, four months has flown by and we continue on with open minds and hearts for what God has for us today and in the future.

Happy Easter!

Chloe has been asking who will pick us up at the airport. After a few days of trying to figure out what she meant by this, she finally came out with, "mommy, when are we going back to my country in California?" Hmmm, how do we explain? Although Chloe is very happy at her new "butter house" and her Academy, she is starting to miss home. It is unbelievable how resilient kids are though.

Joaquin will be two next week, I can't believe two years have gone by. He reminds me more and more of my brother Logan everyday...he has really figured out how to drive Chloe crazy. He got his first real haircut in a 100 year old barn turned salon and everyday asks to go to town and get a shreet (I believe this is treat and sweet mashed together). Almost everyday someone slips him a pound for his sweeties. Chloe taught him how to cover his mouth and giggle like a girl. He basically does everything she asks him to.

Carlos and I had our first informal young adults meeting at our house and got a good lesson in Northern Irish slang. Do you know what Chav, Naf, Bok, or Banjaxed mean? Well I do. University students are pretty much the same around the world and we love them. Carlos and I are putting on a Good Friday service at First Saintfield called Way of the Cross. Most of you will probably recognize the name. It has been an interesting process and we have learned a lot about the culture here. Carlos and I are meeting incredible people and are having a lot of incredible conversations. We are excited to see how Good Friday impacts the community.

Easter will be our first big holiday here in Northern Ireland. It is fun learning about different traditions like rolling hard boiled eggs down a hill. There aren't Easter egg hunts like we would have in the US. The Fernandez family will miss the hunt at Newport Dunes and fighting over the prize eggs. If you ask for an Easter egg here, you will get an enormous Cadbury hollow chocolate shell with a pack of sweeties inside. Our kids receive them about every other day from someone and they are in love with eggs now. I'm trying to figure out how to dye our eggs because I have yet to find white ones here. Anyone know if brown eggs can be dyed?

Happy Easter to all from our family...He is risen indeed.

NORN IRON

Today will mark three weeks since we arrived in our wee village. We almost instantly felt at home when we walked through the doors of our new house. The kids went crazy and sprinted through the house jumping on all of the beds and exploring their new environment. It took about a week for them to actually sleep in their new rooms, partly jet lag and partly scared of the unfamiliar.

Chloe has since started full blown school all day long in a real classroom (they start young here). I think she has brought a bit of "life" to the class. She gets dressed in her full uniform, including a tie every morning and she and daddy walk to the Academy. She is already starting to pick up the new lingo and accent. One morning she asked me if she looked "prim and proper" and "mum can you roll up my trousers"

Joaquin enjoys his new back yard (garden) and yells SHEEP at the top of his lungs whenever we go by one, which is often. People often tell me how cute my little girls are (maybe its time for a hair cut Joaquin). Almost no one can say his name and it doesn't help when they ask how we spell it.

Some things have been easier and some will be harder than we anticipated, but it is starting to feel like a community we are going to love.

We miss everyone in the states and hope you know that you are all invited to our new home (not at all at once please).