New Nephew!

We are so excited to announce the birth of Nathaniel Luke Hicks. He was born yesterday, October 2nd, 2008 at 1:20 pm.  He was 8 lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. He has blond hair! Everyone kept saying “he has a little bit of hair”, from our “Kolb South” perspective that is a lot of hair!! Of course Jackson is our frame of reference! Nate is Sara and Thomas’s 4th baby and 3rd boy. They are going to have a full house!! We can’t wait to meet Nate at Christmas!! Congrats Sara, Thomas, Tommy, Ella and Wade! Welcome to the world, Nate!

A Year Ago

A year ago today we arrived in Bogota, Colombia. It feels like it was just yesterday. I can remember how crazy it was to arrive late at night to a dingy, crowded airport where no one spoke English. I remember battling the crowds to get out to the Embassy shuttle. Jackson was so little back then, just over 2 months old. The shuttle moved at a maddening speed along curves that we had never experienced before!! The altitude difference was overwhelming in those first few days.

We got dropped off at our barely furnished apt which was beautiful but empty. We didn’t get into bed until midnight.  The next morning Seth took a shuttle to work at the crack of dawn. We had no phone, no internet and no TV for like a month. Jackson and I just hung out and tried to figure out why we were here.

A lot has happened in a year. We have internet (There is hope Bo and Leigh!!) The walls are painted, although a few shades brighter than we thought because the recycled paint chips were filthy!! Our belongings are all settled in their proper place. We know the basic lay of the land and brave driving in this crazy city.  And we now understand a lot of what is spoken to us and do our best to speak our minds in Spanish. I have learned the faster you talk people tend to miss your mistakes! We have experienced the low cost of beef, coffee and bagged milk and the outrageous cost of just about everything else!! We have spent endless hours investing in people and there have been times we have pulled back and felt too tired to keep trying.  Starting over in a new place has not been easy. It has been an experience that has strengthened our marriage and made us appreciate our family even more than we did before.

We plugged in to a church our second Sunday in Bogota. We are hosting a small group in our home. On the church front I must say though that even after a year, it might feel familiar but not like family. Many people are very “here, there and everywhere”. Most every expat knows they are shipping out soon so very few people really invest! I am not saying by any means that we haven’t made friends and met many people, I am just saying it isn’t what we were longing for in terms of a Christian community.  We hope to see the church grow and change over our last year here. And we hope for more close relationships with friends!

As we reflect on our first year abroad and anticipate our last year in Bogota I am overwhelmed with how fast this life is going by!! I am feeling quite sentimental. I hope that by our next tour we have this away from home thing down. In the meantime, we will keep plugging away hoping it feels more natural as time passes!

This is a picture of Jackson the week we arrived in Bogota!

This is him now!!! Talking, walking, riding!

A year from now we will pack up again and head back for homeleave and German training. We are eager for our time in DC with family and friends. Then once again we will pack up, but this time we will ship out to Bern! We are hoping Bern will land us a lot more visitors than Bogota has. Although we have to wonder if people are wanting to visit us or Europe! Pretend you are dying to see us!!

Here’s to our first year! Long days, fast year!