COSTA RICA WAR IN OUR BACKYARD

We have always felt relatively safe here in our little town in the mountains. My daughters' boyfriend just got a call on his cell phone that his ex-girlfriends current boyfriend just got robbed, beat up and shot right down the road from us. They ran out the door and just called to report.
It appears the kid was just walking down the road and the guys pulled up and robbed him. Knowing him he probably mouthed off and they shot him twice. He is dead.
Now it is getting a little close to home, as in about one hundred meters from our corner. In fact I run down that road every morning on my way home from the track. I would go take pictures, but the streets are packed with people mourning as well as just plain old freaking out.
I will get some pics tomorrow of the street so you can see how busy it is and how close to home it is. We have tried to keep our fingers on the pulse of things so that we would know when it was getting too dangerous to stay here. Not going out of our house after dark is not an option.
Of course as my son who just moved here from Vegas keeps reminding us there are many places in Vegas that he will not go alone at night either. Maybe just the world is getting pretty crazy to be sure.
I just wonder how hard the police here will even try to find these kids. At the neighborhood meeting they told us to try their office if we had any problems, and if no one answered try the next two neighborhoods over. They sure did not do this kid much good!

LAS VEGAS SON

I am embarrassed to admit this is the closest thing I have to a picture of my son in Las Vegas! We went and spent three weeks with them in October, and I ended up with about one hundred pictures of his daughters, one of his wife, and not one of him. I couldn't believe that when I came home and went through my pictures. It is not because he is not super guapo either.
Today I figured I would take an oppurtinity to brag about him a little bit. He is one awesome kid and I like to talk about my kids anyway. He called us last night to tell us about another promotion at work.
Just a little history on that one. When we were there in Oct. he had just been promoted to assistant manage, and in the three week period we were there he was promoted to manager, and had his own store by the time we left.
With his new promotion he now makes as much as hubby did after 25 years of working at the PO! We are so excited and proud of him that I am glad I have this blog just to brag about him. You may think big deal, lots of guys by the age 28 have accomplished that and more.
Well to digress a little bit I would like to tell a little about his story. On his 18th birthday he surprised all of us by enlisting in the Air Force for six years. After only six months in he was an alcoholic and has struggled with that for 10 years. One and a half years ago, the day before his wife was signing the papers for a divorce and leaving him with his three daughters, he attended his first AA meeting.
That 12 step program saved his marriage, his family and most likely his life. It is never easy for him, but he keeps sober and has even paid off all their debts, kept his job and even climbed the corporate ladder, all in only 18 months of being sober!
It is awesome to just stand back and watch him finally be the man I knew he was. He is just the coolest guy and really a great dad that we are really proud of.
He is a real testimony to us that you never give up on your kids and prayer is the most powerful tool we have as parents!