Beaty Family Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 24, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Season’s greetings from the Beaty family! And we are indeed a FAMILY now. Hard to believe that one year ago it was just Jake and me celebrating Christmas as newlyweds! It’s hard to imagine that any future year could bring quite as many “firsts” and changes and excitement for us as 2013!!

We welcomed in the New Year at a car rental place in Miami with Jake’s family, just minutes after I had first met them! Both of our families and a small group of relatives and friends joined us on a beach in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on January 5, 2013, for our second wedding, this time on US soil. We had such a good time, being together and with our families. The whole trip felt like a true vacation and very special honeymoon!

Back in Bolivia, on January 28, Casa de Amor made a big step by dividing the boys and girls into different houses. Our oldest were ages 3 to 9 at that point and we made this move preparing for most of these children to be with us long term. While it was a little sad at first to separate the kids, they live just one kilometer apart and still see each other at least once a day at school and other special activities. Also, the staff immediately reported that they were giving much better attention to the smaller groups of children.

On February 14, my suspicions were confirmed after 3 positive pregnancy tests. I could hardly wait until after our Valentine’s Day dinner to tell Jake we were having a baby!! We both cried with joy at a dream come true, and so quickly, too.

By March, Jake was regularly attending Youth Group meetings at Cochabamba International Church. In April, he took over the large group of young people from the former leader who was moving back to the US.

In April, we also began the paperwork process with a lawyer to be able to adopt our three oldest boys of Casa de Amor! Even before our Bolivia wedding on November 30, 2012, Jake asked me what I thought of adopting not only Angel (a child who has always held a special place in my family) but Luis Jesus and Marcus, as well. After catching my breath, I said yes!  

Jake’s last day at Calvert of his first full school year was on June 11. On June 12, we were at Casa de Amor II (the boy’s house) for our future son’s 9^th birthday and also finished up our adoption evaluation in government offices. On July 13, we began our big trip!

In a whirlwind six weeks we visited Machu Picchu and missionary friends in Peru, spent 12 days in Italy visiting 8 former Casa de Amor kids (now adopted), and visited with family, friends, and my home church in Texas. The last two weeks were spent in Washington visiting Jake’s family and friends I had met in Bolivia. It was great to finally see Jake’s famous cabin and see how beloved he is in Chelan! One of the highlights for me was watching him participate in a triathlon.

We got home to Bolivia in late July, just in time to receive a mission team from Texas for Casa de Amor and for Jake to start a new year teaching high school science at Calvert. I am so proud of him, how he has persevered through many tough days at Calvert! Without going into details, he’s an awesome teacher who is well-respected by his co-workers and a favorite with the students, but crowd control is a minute-by-minute battle. He is sticking it out till the end of his two year contract and then has some exciting new plans!

In late September, my mom visited to help us prepare for the arrival of our 4 children. By this point, we had decided to stay in our two bedroom condo and it was fun getting our home, already full of great memories, ready for our expanding family. The last three days of the month included three baby showers!

On Thursday, October 10, Jake and I presented our official adoption request to court with 21 accompanying documents! Friday, October 11, I met with my office staff as my last official day of work before beginning maternity leave. But that very Sunday, October 13, our beautiful baby Sophia Katherine was born 9 days early! Repeat CDA volunteer Katrina, also a midwife, barely got to Bolivia from New Zealand in time to deliver our baby in my dream home birth. It’s been pretty amazing to get to know my baby who will always be with me, unlike the dozens who have been at Casa de Amor only temporarily!  

Jake’s mom arrived for a visit two days after Sophia’s birth and was a very big help and encouragement for three weeks. It was neat that she enjoyed Cochabamba, too! During that time Jake was able to switch to part time work at school, getting home by 1pm every day. That was great timing, because….    

On December 10, we were finally called in to court for our first hearing regarding the adoption of our three boys! After the hearing, the boys got a big surprise in learning we were their new parents. For the next two weeks we enjoyed frequent visits and fun times talking with the boys and sharing things such as their new names. We have been so pleased with their very positive response to such a big change in their lives. Today, on Christmas Eve, we got a pretty big Christmas gift with our second hearing and official permission for the boys to move in with us! Our family size doubled and it’s like Jake always says: “Just add water!!”

With our adoption of the three boys, Casa de Amor has had 17 adoptions and guardianships of children for a record-breaking year! God is so good to set our children in loving families (Psalm 68:6).

We pray that you have a blessed CHRISTmas season this year enjoying special times with family!  

Much Love from the Beaty Family,
Jacob, Jennifer, Joel (10), Michael (10), Samuel (9), Sophia (10 weeks)