While we we’re back in Chicago and Wisconsin visiting our families for the holidays, Isabel took her first steps. It started out with 3 to 4 steps to go towards a grandma or an auntie, and then all of the sudden, she decided to break out in a run while playing with her grandpa the day before we left to head back to the DR. Thank goodness we were in the land of carpeting (all of the floors are cement and ceramic tile in Santo Domingo!) so that her falls were well-cushioned.
Jose and I, too, are now taking our first steps as leaders of the church here, as the founding pastor has now transitioned to NYC. We’ve had a few years to build relationships and better understand the culture and community, which I think will kind of be like the carpeting was for Isabel. When we stumble in the attempt to move forward, as we’re sure to do, we pray that the love and understanding that has been built between us and our church family will be a cushion to keep anyone from getting too bent out of shape when things don’t go quite right. : )
We thought we’d share some of our pictures from the holidays. Isabel loved every minute of it! She wants to be just like her bigger cousins.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
We also just celebrated Isabel’s 1st birthday on the 22nd. The evening before her birthday, we took her for a walk around the shopping complex that Jose and I walked a year earlier while I was in labor, counting down the minutes between contractions. : ) Here’s a little video that we made of the celebrations that we had both in Wisconsin and in Santo Domingo:
