May and June Updates

It is about time for another Berrios Family Update!  

Quite a bit has been happening since last I shared with you.

Here is a brief snapshot of  novel about what has been happening in our lives over the past 2 months.

May 2: GRADUATION

We celebrated Eddie’s mom’s Graduation.  After watching Eddie’s Mom work hard and study hard for the past 4 years, we had the privilege of watching her walk across the stage as she graduated with her Masters Degree in Social Work from Florida Atlantic University.  We all breathed a sigh of relief with her as we congratulated her on a job well done!

May 9: BEACH

Now that Welo and Wela (AKA: Edward and Yvonne OR Mom and Dad Berrios) have more free time, we were able to take a day and enjoy the sunny beaches of Florida with them.  Jaden has been fearful of the ocean waves ever since our trip to the beach in Costa Rica back in February, so it was awesome to witness his brave, first few steps into the ocean without tears and fear.  We loved watching him actually relax and enjoy the sun, sand, and the water.

May 17: MOTHER’S DAY: 

We squeezed in a few family pictures after church and before Eddie had to head to work.  El Mariachi’s was a busy place on Mother’s Day and they needed him to work.

May 13: HAPPY 60^th BIRTHDAY WELO:

We went to Benihanas for Dads birthday and we also celebrated with a trip to Puerto Rico (see below). 

I know what you're thinking... EPIC photo FAIL... The Birthday Boy's Face is hindered by a glare...  He didn't like this picture anyway... here is a better one of him.

May 18: BIKE RIDING:

Eddie has been itching to ride ever since we have stared visiting downtown Miami and seeing how many people use their bikes to get around town.  We (when I say “we” I mean “he”) finally broke down and bought one.  He also found a baby seat on Craig’s list, and a few weeks later, he found a bike for me.  We are now equipped to go on family bike rides.  As resistant as I was, I am actually enjoying this new family activity and I am glad he encouraged it (shhhh… don’t tell him.)  On my latest bike ride with Jaden, he fell asleep for the last 20 minutes of the ride.  I guess it was relaxing!

May 20-25: PUERTO RICO:

In celebration of my father-in-law’s 60^th birthday, the 5 of us took a trip to Puerto Rico.  It was Jaden and Eddie’s first trip to Puerto Rico, so it was a special moment that we feel blessed to have shared together.  In 5 long days, we did a lot of touring the island: El Yunque National Forest, Old San Juan, Playa Azul, Bio Bay, visits with relatives, swimming in the pool, eating at a lechonera, touring the underground caverns at Camuy.  It was a week to remember and we are glad to have been invited along for the trip. 

 And... Jaden with "Eee-Eee."  This became his new favorite stuffed animal after this trip.  This is a beanie baby that I have had since I was in high school.  My mom brought it with her on her last visit here, and now it is Jaden's favorite! 

June 1: HAPPY 80^th BIRTHDAY ABUELITA!

All 8 of her children and many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren were there to celebrate with her.  It was a beautiful day to celebrate a beautiful woman.

June 2: HAPPY 2^nd BIRTHDAY JADEN!

Those of you who may remember his 1^st Bithrday, I went a little crazy in the party planning aspect of that event.  Well, this year, I was the complete opposite; I am ashamed to say that I planned nothing (not even the cake). In fact, other than buying him an outfit to wear and a few birthday presents, I had no plan for the day other than eating cake and letting him open presents.  Well, even with no plans, the day was wonderful.  Thankfully, Jaden has loving grandparents who went out and bought him some decorations and a cake.  We had the neighbors over for cake and games and it was a pleasant evening. 

Plus, in other news: Eddie preached today for a church called Pursuit Miami which meets in a hotel conference room in downtown Miami.  I am so proud of him and the way he allows God to speak through him as he preaches the Gospel.  We have been attending this church and getting to know the people there, but it seems as if God is closing the door on the opportunity to work with this church for now. 

June 9: HAPPY 6^th ANNIVERSARY!

Eddie led worship today for a church called Christ Fellowship at their Homestead campus (this church has 6 sites!).  It was our first time to even attend, so it was basically like an audition for Eddie (which went well, see below).  Eddie’s dad attended with us, and he took Jaden home after church so that we could have the day to ourselves.

We spent the day shopping at the Sawgrass Mall (which Eddie willingly participated in) and then we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill.  It was a nice day… plus we got home on time for him to watch the end of the Miami Heat game.  I really am thankful for a husband who sacrifices time watching the basketball game to take his wife out to dinner (he even confessed later that at the restaurant he was tempted to sit where he could see the TV, but chose to sit on the other side of the table so that he could give me his full attention… as long as he didn’t get distracted by the reflection of the TV in the window).  I love that man!!!

June 16: FATHER’S DAY

Eddie led worship at CF Homestead again today, and he was expected to work at El Mariachi’s for the dinner shift.  Thankfully, his boss ended up giving him the night off.  We had celebrated a day earlier, so we ended up going to the park so he could play some disc golf…  Turned out to be a great day!

June 13: NEW JOBS

About 2 months ago, I applied for a part-time job posted on the City of Coral Spring’s website for a position as a clerical assistant for the Office of the City Clerk.  I got a phone interview, but did not get the job.  A few weeks ago, the woman called me back and offered me a temporary-part-time job working on a large project that they wanted to get completed as soon as possible.  I took the job and started on June 13.  The job has flexible hours and I can work as much or as little hours as I want.  They suggested 20 hours a week, but said I can work as many as 40 until the job gets completed.  My job involves photo copying, stapling, and filing in date order.  It is pretty brainless, but hey… it’s a job and I am thankful for it.  It was also expected that I commit to 6 weeks and after that, if I want to, they would find more work for me to do and keep me hired on part-time for up to a year.  Since we don’t know when we will be moving, this sounded pretty perfect.  Thank you, God!

During this same time period, Eddie had been in several meetings with the pastor at Christ Fellowship.  They were working on a job offer, and a it took a few weeks to get it finalized, but PRAISE THE LORD, they offered him a job!

IT’S OFFICIAL: He has been hired as a part-time worship leader for the Homestead Campus of Christ Fellowship Miami.  They could not offer full-time right now, but they did offer us housing.  The church owns a house in Homestead that needs a bit of fixing up (because of things like: holes in the roof), but once it is ready… We will be moving to HOMESTEAD!  Not only will he be working as a worship leader, he will also be going through training for church-planting.  We have already felt like part of the “family” at this church and with the staff, so we are excited about what God has in store for us there. 

Along with the joy, there is an ache in our hearts that we will not be returning to Lifepointe anytime soon, nor will we be working with the great people of Pursuit Miami.  If you are a part of either of those 2 church families, know that we hold you in our hearts and we miss you dearly.

June 26-30: ORLANDO

Since Eddie’s new job has not officially started, and he already quit his job at El Mariachi’s and my new job is flexible… we had a few days to take a visit to our old stompin’ grounds: Orlando - the city where we met and fell in love!  Other than a few visits many years ago, we had not spent much time there since we moved away 6 years ago.

We were graciously hosted by Don and Rita and their family… they put us up in the “pool house” (sounds better than “attic in the garage”).  No really, it is nice!  It has a bedroom, bathroom, lots of space for Jaden to run, and AIR CONDITIONING!  We were thankful for a place to stay.

We decided to try to plan some time with friends while there.  We used Facebook to plan 2 different evening activities.  One, we put an invitation out for our Orlando Facebook friends to come and join us for dinner at Chick-Fil-A and we had several families join us!  It was a blessing to get to catch up with old friends and introduce them to our son!

The other event was a cook-out/pool party at Don and Rita’s house.  This is where our friendships have been nurtured over the years. 

Whenever the “former Kindergarten teacher from TCS + Rita” get together to hang out, we always crash Rita’s house… thanks, friend!  This time around, we included the husbands and kids... and look at all those kids!!!  When we all met, there were only 4 kids in existence… now look at ‘em!

If you made it to the end of this, you must really love us.  Thank you for reading and being interested in our lives.  We would love your continued prayers as we step out into this new phase of our lives.  We don’t know when we will be moving, but we know that we will be sad to say goodbye to my in-laws.  Jaden has loved having his grandparents at his beck and call, and they have enjoyed spoiling him rotten.  Thankfully, we will only be about an hour south of them (without traffic).  It’s not “Goodbye.”  It’s “See you later.”