I'm Thankful

For as long as I can remember we have been going to Livingston for family gatherings. My mom has 2 brothers and 2 sisters, so when our family gets together there is quite a crowd, especially since all the kids my age have kids! We were missing quite a few people this year, but it was still nice to get up there and see everyone else.

My Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Jim have a great piece of property with a pond on it. Shawn LOVES fishing up there every time we go and says it is the best! I think my younger cousin, Travis, caught 21 fish on Thanksgiving!

The food was delicious, as usual!! All 5 of the brothers and sisters can hold their own in the kitchen! You can always bet on the food and fellowship being first class whenever we get together!

While all of this was going on, I couldn't help but think of Nana. This was our 2nd thanksgiving without her. She loved to cook and gather together with family. Several reminded me of her: chocolate pie, watching football, sweet potato casserole, sitting outside, and day old bread. She was definitely the hub of the family and we all sure do miss her.

Another reason we decided to get together as a family this year is that my Uncle Billy (2nd oldest sibling) is not doing so well. He was diagnosed with a form of cancer in his face last year when my Nana was ill and he has lost a ton of weight, like probably over 100 lbs. It is hard for him to eat in his current condition and he has been drinking liquids/purees to make sure he keeps his nutrition up. Before I left I gave him a hug and told him that we have been praying for him. I'm not always sure what to say to someone in his condition, but I want him to know that we care about him and love him. He thanked me and told me that my mom told him that Jase has been praying for him, which he has been.

At the end of the day, all of the material items do not matter. It is our faith in Jesus that determines our destiny and until our destiny is fulfilled, our days are filled with memories. I am thankful to have wonderful family and friends in my life to help make sweet memories with.

Thanksgiving Eve Celebration

On Wednesday we went over to Shawn's parents' home to visit with his family for Thanksgiving. It was nice, there were 4 out of 5 of the siblings there, which doesn't happen often. Including Amanda with her new baby, Tessa, who was born on October 11th. Can I just say so tiny and cute?!? Even though Finn is only a little over 2 months older than Tessa, they are definitely at different stages. Finn has lost his newborn look and when I saw her, I was reminded again just how fast they grow up!

The weather was perfect on Wednesday so we spent most of the day outside with the kiddos. And we spend a lot of time indoors, so I wanted the kids to soak up the nice day and "unplug" from all the technology!

First Cereal!

In celebration of 4 months today, we fed Finn his first rice cereal this evening and he LOVED it! It was like he knew what to do with the spoon when I put it in his mouth! I remember the other two kids wondering what in the world I put in their mouths when I started feeding them with a spoon, but not Finn . . . he wanted me to keep it coming.

Now the plan was that he would get a full tummy and would be out for the night. Can I tell you that he is still up?!? Geez!! He has not been sleeping all that great this past week and it has made for some really long nights. {I feel another one of those coming on.}

Happy 4 months Finny!

It's Official

We're moving to Africa that is!! Shawn accepted a new position with his company in Luanda, Angola.  Crazy, I know!!  When this opportunity presented itself back in August it actually became a topic of conversation for us rather than me shutting it down. The Lord has allowed me to be open to this and given me a peace about it.  Now I'm not saying that I am not sad to leave family and friends and not overwhelmed at the things that have to be done, because I am, but if I am being honest I am excited about this adventure with my family.

I'm going to Q&A myself (yes, myself) on some of the details.

When will the big move take place?
Shawn will go back to Angola for a short visit in January and then the plan is the move the whole family in February.  No dates are set in stone, but we are thinking some time in February.

Why in the world would you want to do this?
We honestly feel this is right for our family at this point in our life.  This will be a great job opportunity for Shawn's career and a lifetime experience to live in a different culture and expose the kids to an alternative way of living.  Also, Living Water International is slated to be doing a lot of work in Africa and how awesome would it be to team up with them!! The need there is great, and we would love to be the hands and feet of Jesus, even if it is to just one person.

Where will you live in Angola and is it safe?
We will live in a gated compound with other families from Shawn's company.  While that doesn't sound safe, Shawn assures me that he never felt unsafe on his trip he just took.  And he tried to imagine Jase or Ally standing right next to him in certain situations.  The house is like a little townhouse or condo: 3 bedroom with a study and 2 1/2 bath.

What will you have to bring with you?
The house is furnished except the kitchen.  So, we will bring all of our kitchen items, clothes, bathroom toiletries, toys, and anything else we don't want in storage.

What will you do with your house here?
We are going to sell it.  We will put everything we are not taking with us in storage.  We will probably clear the house right before we make the big move and put it on the market when we are leaving.  We do not want to stress out and try to show the house while packing it up.

How long will y'all be gone?
Typical assignments last 2-4 years. While we did not sign to a certain length of time, ours will probably be around 24-36 months.

Will y'all be able to come back to the states and visit in the meantime?
YES!!  We already plan on coming back for a short stay in June 2013 and the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays in 2013 as well.  So, we will still get to see family and friends!

And your 2 dogs?
We cannot take them with us. We've had both Hank (10 lb rat terrier) and Jet (80 lb black lab) since they were pups since October 2003 and March 2005, respectively.  We will miss them.  And especially Hankie . . . he was my first baby!  Shawn bought him for me just days after he proposed, so Hank has been with us from the start of our family.  And with a near death experience with Hankie when he was only 1 year old, I'm attached to him.  We do not have concrete plans for them yet, but need to get that worked out and soon.

Those are all the big questions I can think of.  I think the hardest part of all of this was telling the kids and our loved ones.  I was very emotional when telling them.  What parent, sister, best friend wants to hear that their loved one is moving half way across the world?!?  I'm so glad that I did not go with my original plan of telling all of our family at Ally's family birthday party.  My thinking was that everyone would be there and we would only have to go through this once.  Looking back that would have been an epic fail and a huge cry fest!  I probably would have locked myself in my room!!  Ha! While I know it will be hard not being able to drive to their house and see them anytime I want, I am thankful for technology.  There is a 6-7 hour time difference (depending upon the time change), but we will be able to FaceTime and message whenever we'd like.  And it will make the time we do spend together very valuable and priceless.

So, stay tuned in as we begin the next chapter in our lives!

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto understanding. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Rollie Pollie

Yesterday while we were up in the homeschool room, our little Finn decided to roll on over! He was having some tummy time and the next thing I know I see him roll over from the corner of my eye!! So big! Next week he'll be 4 months!

E-mail to Daddy

Shawn has been working out of town for nearly the past two weeks and we miss him so much.  While we all miss him dearly, I know it is hard on Jase . . . he needs his Daddy!  At some point in the day Jase will ask me "can we call Daddy, take a picture and send it to Daddy, write Daddy an e-mail."  It is really sweet.  And now that he is learning to spell/read he will sometimes send Daddy a text on my phone if he is working in Houston.  Shawn will always respond so enthusiastically, I just love it.  Shawn is definitely Jase's hero!

Tonight in the living room, Jase was reading some new (used) books he got about animals and the outdoors.  He brought in stuffed animals from the playroom to match up to what he was reading.

It wasn't long and he was upstairs building a Lego scene to match!  He even taped one of his Lego men to a scene in the book where it looked like the Lego man was on an adventure!  He ended up bringing down this scene and asked me to take a picture to send to Daddy. {The figurines that are bowing down are animals.}

It was late, so I was trying to hurry things along, but Jase had other plans; he wanted me to write an e-mail to Daddy explaining what was going on.  Jase told me word for word what to type to his Daddy.

Daddy,

This is my Lego thing and I thought you would love it. I want you to like it forever. The people in the scene are me, Coby and Seth in the forest and about to go on an adventure, going to capture some animals from around the world. I hope you love it Daddy.

Signed,
From Jase

I checked my e-mail not that long ago and Shawn had replied.

Jase-

I love your Lego thing that you have put together! I love it forever! I love you forever! I am so glad that you like to go on adventures with Coby and Seth. It looks like it was a lot of fun. I want to hear about your adventure when I get home. There are a lot of animals to capture here in Africa and all over the world. I would like to read a book with you and play lego's with you on Friday when I get home from Africa.

P.S. Can you send me one more picture this afternoon (Thursday)? Daddy can see it before he gets on the plane to come home.

Love,
Daddy

Can I just tell you that tears came to my eyes when I read his reply?!?  I can't wait for Jase to get up in the morning so I can share his Daddy's e-mail with him.  Jase will be so excited!!  Shawn has been super busy with work and for him to stop and take time to write his son an e-mail just melted my heart.

Allyson the Tapper

This morning Allyson had tap and ballet class.  They recently moved into a new studio, so the girls are getting adjusted to their new rooms, which are very nice.  Today her teacher called us in the room to watch the tappers perform their routine . . . this was a first!!  So glad I had my phone in my back pocket!  I think Allyson was in shock with us in there and could not focus, although I'm really not sure how much more she would have done with us out of the room either.  At least now I have it on video and we can practice at home!!

After ballet and tap we went to Bullritos to eat.  If you've never eaten there before, you get a bag and fill out your order.  Jase likes to write his name and fill in some of the items he wants: Chips and Queso, small drink, etc.  Well today after I paid I got my receipt and looked at it.  Notice anything that should not be there?

If you guessed COOKIE, then you're right!  I asked the lady "did we mark cookie on one of our bags?" She looked at the bags and sure enough on Jase's bag, Cookie was marked!! I later asked him if he marked Cookie and he said yes, that he wanted one!!  I just had to laugh.  I told him that he cannot just mark Cookie, we pay extra for that!!  I got a reader on my hands!!

The kids are growing like weeds, especially little Finn!  I weighed him tonight and he is 14.80 lbs!  Hard to believe it!!  I weighed Ally too and she was 29.2 lbs and Jase is right at 50 lbs!  I cannot believe Jase is 50 lbs!!  Crazy!  He was just shy of 40 lbs at 4 years old.

We are into week 3 of big girl panties.  All and all she is doing great.  Only 1 potty accident in the last week.  Poop now is a different story.  She finally pooped in the potty yesterday . . . let me tell you BIG DEAL!! We were doing a Potty Sticker Poster for every time she pottied or pooped, she got a sticker, and then every time she landed on a 5 or 10 she got a prize.  Well, she was going so much in the potty, most days she was eligible for 2 prizes.  And they are small prizes I had bought a while back: Princess stickers and pencils, etc.  We have now moved on to every time she poops in the potty she gets a prize.  I stocked up on some cute things at Dollar Tree last week.  She normally poops everyday, but since I have been on her about pooping in the potty, some days she will not go.  When she pooped in the potty yesterday I told her that I was so proud of her and she says "it's still gross!"  I told her that we all do it, but it is better if we go in the potty!  I sang the Potty Song from the Elmo Potty Time DVD we have; it talks about everybody using the potty. {My kids respond better to music!}  So glad we are making a turn in the right direction with this!

Here's a picture of my baby boy today.  We were sitting in the chair together and I had the back door open because it felt great outside.  The light was hitting his eyes just right and they looked so blue; I had to take a pic!!