Off and On

I'm trying to think of how to describe our life these days. Here is one thing that is consistent!

Things that are OFF or ON around here:

1. The flipping water!

2. The heat, then wind, then heat, then wind (which leads to sweep the dust off the floor, sweep it again, and again...you get the point).

3. The air conditioner (it works, it doesn't, it works, it doesn't).

4. Our truck (it's in the shop, it's out, it's in, it's out...)

5. Gabby (sassy on, sassy off, sassy on, sassy off!)

6. Our brains and language learning (this is the first time I've taken an intensive language course. It's from June 15-30 and it's 3 hours/day. Jon will start his intensive June 29- July 24, 3 hrs/day. By the end of my 3 hours I can't see straight! Especially the days I have my other tutor for 2 hours.)

7. Our good attitudes. (We wonder where they go sometimes!)

8. The internet.

(Now for some happy ones!)

9. Our dryer and dishwasher! Yeah!! It's great to have them ON!!! What a HUGE blessing.

10. Isn't it nice that Jesus is always ON? :) It's just me that turns that one off! Humdullah (praise God)!

Our Father's Day

My husband is so easy to please, what can I say? He requested a trip to the coffee/pastry shop in the morning, cookie dough for snack, and time playing with the kids and I for his father's day gift. Yesterday Kolby made him a card...then he wanted to make a card that said, "Happy Kolby's Day" then another card that said "Happy Spiderman's Day". Every year I put a page or 2 in a special album that is Jon's Father's Day album as his gift. Really, this project gets more fun every year...which memories do you choose when you have fabulous kids and a fun dad? Geesh! The options are endless. Our internet turned back on (after a week of being down) just in time for us to wish our own dad's happy father's day. Jesus is nice to us like that. It's hard being so far away on days like these...just hard to let people know you love them when you take away the gift shopping, internet, and resturants you could eat together at! Happy Father's Day to you Dads that work so hard loving your families, providing for them, and wearing so many different hats as you walk through life reflecting God to those around you by being "Father". Jon, you do so much for us...always fixing whatever breaks next, putting kids to bed and putting them back in bed, always learning, always striving, always apologizing for things I should be apologizing for, always buying me and the kids stuff that we don't really need but you know it will make us happy :) ...oh and so much more! We love you!

Wiving and mothering

"The family is at the heart of what really matters to all of us. If things aren't well at home, every other area of life is affected...(I admire) the willingness of women to be givers and nurturers of life. These women have chosen life by bearing children and they are choosing life every day...with every meal they prepare; with every load of dirty clothes they wash; with every trip they make to the grocery store, to school, to the dentist, to piano lessons, to soccer practice, or to the store; with every scraped knee they bandage; with every encouraging word they speak; with every night hour they spend rocking a sick or scared child; with every dispute they arbitrate; with every moment they spend building Legos, coloring, helping with math problems, reading a Bible story, or listening to a husband or child describe his day; with every moment they spend interceding for the spiritual growth and protection of their family...Day in and day out they are building a home; they are being life-givers; they are laying a foundation and building a memorial that will outlive them for generations to come; they are honoring their Creator in the greatest possible way."
(Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss)

It's just nice to be reminded sometimes.

Dumb things and new house...

You know how sometimes when you are pregnant you just do the dumbest things? And break things? For real, I don't even want to be around myself these days! I seriously just grabbed the hot stove with my fingers...this morning I made lattes for our friends over the wall and totally forgot to stir them...I spilled the spaghetti sauce all over the oven...oh it's so annoying. Oh wait is that pregnancy or just me? And I have broken 3 glass cups in a time span of about 2 weeks.

This morning we walked to our new house (which was supposed to be ready on May 1. Surprise it's not, but it's almost ready!). I realized last year when my parents were here they had to endure with us living in our current house while men drilled holes in the walls for air conditioners. This year when they get here our air conditioners will already be in a new house. Oh Lord, let this be the house we will stay in for awhile! Moving is not fun. Here are some before pics...

1. The left side of our yard, and yes, that is a huge piece of broken glass.

2. Our living room, landlord, and the stairs that go upstairs to the bedrooms.

3. Our new kitchen...a little different than the one we have now! But hey, there are no rats in the ceiling (at least we don't think so!)

4. The blue bathroom...oh wait, it gets better!

5. The pink bathroom...and yes, Kolby prophesied that our new house was going to have a pink bathroom!

My favorite part about our new house is three of the four bedrooms upstairs lead onto balconies which is pretty sweet as long as we can keep our children from climbing the rails. We are real safe around here. We also will now live in a stand alone house (meaning there are no people living above or below us). We now have a place to park the truck inside our gated yard...humdallah (ask Erin and Ian about that word...or actually Amelia can say it pretty well!). Oh yea, and let's not forget that now we can plant grass!!!!!

So hopefully by next Saturday we will be settled (I'm not sure if you can ever be settled here...hmmm...) into our new place and life can move on! Kolby seems excited to move so I am thankful for that. Gabby just likes that she can hide in the closets.

Living with the Longs

About the pics: Lattes in the morning with Ian's omelettes...oh so good. Jon has a new best friend, Amelia. The kids made orange juice the first morning they were here, in their cow boy hats (Thanks, Gma!).
Erin celebrated her birthday here in Africa! We asked a friend to watch the kids and went on a date to this Lebanese restaurant. The Dads are having fun with the kids rolling down this hill at the park on Sunday afternoon.
Oh it was so wonderful to have the Longs for a visit...we are hoping they tell you the same :) What a refreshing time for us. I am pretty sure Jon and I haven't laughed that hard since we moved here. It really reminded us of who we were and who we want to be here.
Erin, the morning you left I read this verse, no lie:
"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever." Psalm 52:8
Our olive wood finds take on a whole other meaning now (its also my verse for Geek Week this week!). Longs, thanks for encouraging us as we try to flourish here. Our time with you was priceless.

They made it...6 crates and all

And a happy Amelia came bouncy right out of the airport! It was seriously amazing!! She went to bed when Kolby went to bed last night even! I have never seen such an amazing traveling 5 year old before! For those of you who are wondering, Amelia and Kolby hit it right off. They are best buds and even wanted to sleep in the same room last night.

Sorry, the video is a little short. I think we were excited :)



AND...you all are CRAZY!!!!!!!!!! Erin and I were supposed to sort through the crates last night after the boys left (for their first cultural experience, more on that later) and the kids were in bed...well, it took us awhile to get there b/c we had to catch up a little :) CRAZY. You all are nuts, you people from Phoenix! NUTS. We are so SPOILED!! I am trying to not wake Erin up this morning to come make me my first espresso :) hmmmm, what syrup should I choose today? There are only 5 huge ones to choose from....and which granola bar should I have for snack? The options are endless around here I tell you...and which maternity shirt should I wear first...I mean really it's like Walmart in our house today :) Thanks, friends!! Not only for always sending us the BEST most wonderful thoughtful gifts, but for being such good friends who know what we like, what we need, and how to love us from miles away. We are always overwhelmed with gratitude for friends who are so much more than friends...like BOZ the Bear says, "Their family!" Not to worry, I plan on having a conversation with Erin and all of you over my cup of espresso and posting it soon :) It feels like you all are here with them. Love you!

Rats and Reasa don't mix.

Pics:
Grandma came for a visit!
Kolby and Gabby sporting their new clothes from Aunt Jill and Uncle Ben!
Jon being dangerous with our daughter on the beach.
Kolby trying desperately to stay warm on the beach.
The girls that came to teach the kids while the adults played...I mean worked. :)
The crazies who run into the sea every year when its freezing cold...yes, jon is the 5th one from the left.


Kolby: Man! My pants are giving me a wedgy! (thanks, Val!)
Gabby: OOOOH LA-LA! (again, we have Val to thank for that)

Well, let’s see…it’s hard for me to sum up in words our life these days. Too much too explain! But if you have been one of our lucky visitors this spring I don’t have to explain much…the loud rats that have been playing above our heads for the last 3 months progressed to the dead rat smell that fills Gabby’s room (it was filling our whole house for about 2 weeks but I think it’s subsiding in the house, just not in her room…and no, she doesn’t sleep there anymore). We’ve been hosting and traveling. It seems like this spring has flown by. We were on a retreat in another city for a week on the beach…yeah, poor us. Then we headed to France for 3 nights to renew our visa. Oh yeah, haven’t heard any rats lately…the rat guy put purple cubes of poison up in our ceiling. I guess it kills them and dries up their blood so it doesn’t smell? So far no new smells and no noise so maybe it actually worked. So now we move on…with our 2 bedroom house…but my fabulous husband is starting to look for a new house so maybe if the time is right, and the Lord is willing, we will be moving…sucking in our awaited guests Erin, Ian & Amelia, and my parents!

Okay so really I have no idea why this rat ordeal has thrown me into such a whirlwind! Maybe it’s b/c it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back for the time we have been here…maybe it’s b/c I am pregnant and every smell (including opening my fridge) makes me want to throw up…or maybe it’s just b/c my house not being in order and running properly drives me CRAZY! Okay, so it’s all 3 of those. However there is some humor in this. Our landlord ☺. So first they cut a hole in the ceiling and just left it for 2 days. Then we finally got them to let a professional rat guy come over and when he got here our landlady wouldn’t let him look for the dead rat! THEN she starts telling them that we have ants, cockroaches and rats b/c our house is dirty and I don’t dry the dishes before I put them away!!! (Despite the fact that we saw huge rat terds outside our window a couple months ago and when I told the gardener to kill it he said, “It’s okay, it will just go out under the gate.”) Last night landlady came back to tell Jon she was sending someone to seal up the hole in the ceiling. She suggested we just spray smell good spray up there and that will get rid of the smell! Novel idea really.

Moving on from the rat ☺. Other exciting things happening here, we got a bookshelf! I am overjoyed! I had no idea I would be so happy to have a bookshelf! I think it’s b/c its one of a couple pieces of furniture in our house that we got to actually pick out. The other super exciting thing is my mother in law brought us a memory foam mattress topper! Heavenly! Just in time for me to be big, fat and pregnant. AND I now own a crockpot (thanks, Lorie, for bringing us such great stuff!)! Today I made black beans in it (thanks to my mom and Nat!).

I could go on and on...but you really would get bored.



The kids performing for us after our time together! Notice my kids aren't moving their mouths at all...Gabby didn't know what to do with herself she just knew everyone was watching her! And Kolby is a little wrapped up in the new water gun they gave him as a goodbye gift!