The Vilski Family: June 2011

This past Thursday Justin received his assignment to teach in Longmont, Colorado. It was a very exciting afternoon to say the least. He will be teaching upper grades and is the principal apprentice. Really, he is the principal since the previous principal/teacher took a call to teach in northern Wisconsin.

We are very excited, but have our work cut out for us. The school is VERY small (think less than 15 students total), but we know that with God’s help we can reach more people! I already have a few ideas and can’t wait to get there and meet the congregation and school families.

We will be living on the same block as the school. The church and school own three houses, so we’ll be living in one of them. It is beautiful! We got a Skype tour of the house. There are three bedrooms upstairs with a full bathroom (no more Tupperware tub baths for Coen!), on the main level are the kitchen, dining room, and living room, and downstairs (1/2 underground) there is a large family room, wet bar, guest room, and 3/4 bath with laundry. In the back there is a patio with an awning and picnic table, and a full screened-in porch. We have been told the weather is beautiful, we’ll get to watch many hot air balloons, there are no bugs (hurray!), and everything is within walking distance.

Justin is thrilled that it’s a scooter city…he’s been wanting a scooter/moped for quite some time now. However, since he’ll be walking a whole 100 yards to the school I’m not sure he needs it quite yet. : )

We pack up the truck July 1st and will be moving July 2nd-3rd with an overnight stop in North Platte, Nebraska. It’s only a 12-ish hour drive from here, but for everyone’s sanity I think we’ll stop part way. Our friends Bud and Maria are probably going to drive with us down there and fly back to Minnesota on the 4th. I am very thankful to have Maria ride with Coen and me so he can be entertained. They are such great friends and we’ll miss them dearly!

I think that’s all for now! Pray for the church, school, and us!

PS If you have any tips for cooking at high altitudes let me know.
PPS We have PLENTY of room for visitors. That means you. And tickets seem to be very reasonable….

Oh goodness lots has happened! Justin graduated but wasn’t eligible for an assignment due to not passing a Minnesota licensure sub-test, we went on vacation to Federal Way, WA, then Justin found out he can get a provisional MN license so now he’s back to being eligible for assignment. So we’re still just hanging out and waiting.

Other things we’ve done
- Moved a block and a half down the street to a small house with a nice, big backyard. The woman who I helped with track and her husband own the house and have been very generous. They realize we may leave at any time and they are just find with it! It’s an older house made for short people (which I love!), but Justin has a hard time not bonking his head on the way up the stairs. : )

-Coen has started talking more and speaks mostly English, but some Spanish. He also understands quite a bit of Spanish. For example, today we were out for a friend’s birthday at Plaza Garibaldi, the local Mexican restaurant, and Coen tried to run into the kitchen. A waiter laughed at him, then was making faces at him, and then said “Pues, ven, nino!” (it means basically “well, come, child!”) Coen looked at me and I said “he told you to go” (in Spanish) so Coen took off for the kitchen. The waiter was shocked…I thought it was humorous. Little whitey speaks the Spanish.

-Justin is reffing soccer this summer again and really enjoys it. This Saturday and Sunday is a big tournament and he refs 6 games on Saturday alone. I have a feeling he will be a little sore and VERY pooped come Sunday evening when he goes to work at Target. Poor Justy.

-I am still doing my job for ECELA Spanish Schools. I’m editing and helping publish an eBook with our advice/interest articles. I’ve cut back on my hours quite a bit with the moving and having other obligations. I’ll still be going to Denver come November and possibly South America next summer. But that is a ways out, lots could happen before then!

-Justin got very good (the best) scores on his student teaching and LOVES it. Part of the difficulty in waiting is that we don’t know 100% for sure that he’ll be teaching next year. We are coming up with options if he hasn’t heard anything by August 1st. Hopefully none of them come to fruition!

-We went and spent Easter in Omaha with Godfather Joel Lauber. It was a great time and not a bad drive! (4 1/2 hours) We went to the zoo, a really cool park downtown, and ate some good food. It was so nice to see Joel and Guster (his doggy).

-We bid farewell to Mitch and Corrine. It was very sad and we miss them dearly. Coen still says “home?” when we pass our old place and asks for Mitch (Mee) and Corrine (“ck”) frequently.

Here are some photos of our events: