It's Been Awhile

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been awhile since we've updated you all so there is a lot to catch up on. At the end of July we headed up north to attend the wedding of one of Stephanie's great friends. I (Steph) was a bridesmaid and Noah was the most adorable ring bearer. We had a great time at the wedding and we ate and danced the night away. 


While we were up north, we spent a couple of days hanging out with my parents. In Delaware we took Noah to the zoo for the first time. Unfortunately my mom tricked us into thinking this zoo was worth the ten minutes it took to drive there. After getting there we quickly realized that this zoo was one of the worst zoos imaginable. The entire zoo was about 1/4 mile long and the exhibits included bees, a fox, and ducks. There was a potential bright spot of the zoo - a monkey house. But when we entered the monkey house (which was literally a house converted into an animal enclosure) our hopes were quickly extinguished. There were monkeys in the house, but there was also the smell of poo, roaches, and mice. Next time we take Noah to the zoo it will DEFINITELY be an improvement. 

This August the Rivera family saw many new and exciting changes. I started a new job at Cook Endoscopy in Winston Salem, NC. My new title is R&D engineer and I will be working to bring medical devices that are used in the biliary system (bile duct, pancreas, and liver) to market. These devices will typically be used to clear any blockages that may be present near the liver and pancreas if people have gall stones or tumors. So far I've been there for a couple of months and it has been an easy transition. Most of my coworkers have been at Cook for more than five years but they have been super friendly in welcoming me. It helps that another engineer started a month before me so I'm not the only new engineer in our department.


On the same day that I started my job, Jorge started attending A&T University full time to a pursue a MS in Computer Science. At the end of July he resigned as a teacher from the Durham Public School system. After many discussions, we decided it would be a good decision to make a career change. He's done a great job of managing his busy class schedule with spending time with us.

Noah has been awesome as usual. Since our last post, Noah celebrated his first birthday and walking became his main mode of transportation. He also loves to babble and play hide and seek. For his birthday party, Noah celebrated like a super hero. Check out the pictures of Noah in his Super Noah outfit. 

Now that Noah is able to walk, we though it would be great to take him to the park. We aren't quite sure if Noah enjoyed himself or not because when we put him in the swing he had a look of confusion the entire time. 

Well that's all for now! Love you all!

God Bless,

Stephanie, Jorge, and Noah