What A Summer!

I can't believe how quickly this summer has flown by. August 3rd marked four month living New Orleans! We've had such an amazing time. Orin and Micaiah have fallen in love with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I don't know how we're going to be able to leave. We got a glimpse of what it would be like to live near family all of the time. How nice it would be to have that constant support - the ready-made relationships. But the time is coming to an end. It's sad and exciting at the same time. We're finally going to be taking our first assignment as missionaries. August 9th marked two years since we were accepted as Wycliffe members. Two years! Boy, I can't believe that we've been "preparing" for so long. When we first were called into full-time missions we of course wanted to start right away. But after two years of training and raising prayer partners and financial supporters we fully understand why God allowed us to go through everything we have the past 24 months. We are even more committed to the ministry we will be doing and realize to a deeper extent what it means to trust God. There were definitely a few times where I wondered (and worried) if we were ever going to have the full support we needed to begin working. Luckily I have a husband who kept me grounded in those times and reminded me that God is faithful and that it will work out in His time and in His way. We don't know what God has in store for us during the next few years - we know what we feel that he has given us a heart for and what we "hope" will happen - but it's comforting to know that whatever it is, it's the plan God has for us. I'm just excited to live it! Right now we are back in Virginia to be commissioned by our church tomorrow. Most missionaries are "commissioned" which is comparable to a minister who is "ordained." Our church will commit to praying for us and supporting us in many ways. We are so incredibly blessed to have our sending church be a part of our lives and ministry. After commissioning we'll pack up the rest of our belongings and drive back to New Orleans (with a short stop in North Carolina to visit my brother) to pick up the few things we have here and on to Dallas hopefully by September 8th. Our monthly support is at about 97% so that combined with the one time gifts over the past year averaged to 100%. I'm definitely using every bit of "faith" I have to not worry about what will happen if people decide they can't continue their financial support. God will take care of us. In about an hour we'll leave for the Saturday night service at the church. We have to attend all three services this weekend so it will be interesting to hear the same sermon that many times. I'm sort of curious how it will change each time he preaches. We have a busy week this week. Three shepherd groups to attend, meeting with our old couples Bible Study, a play date, commissioning, going through all of our "stuff" trying to get rid of as much as possible and of course, packing and moving. Luckily we have Aunt Christina who will be coming up to help! We haven't started off very well as Micaiah and Orin both have fevers and Micaiah woke up at 4am throwing up everywhere. Luckily after about an hour it subsided and it seems to be done.

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Couples Swept Away

Ok, yes that is a dorky name. But when we were researching where to vacation, we looked at the hotels rated high on trip advisor. The caves was actually the #1 rated. But we also wanted to go to a typical beach resort with an actual beach. So we spent two nights at the caves and yesterday came over here to Couples Swept Away. The rest of our time at the caves was wonderful. It would have been nice to stay longer. We spent our last morning there eating a typical Jamaican breakfast and jumping off of the cliffs one last time. Once we checked out, we were driven the 15 minutes to Couples Swept Away. This resort seems huge compared to the other one (over 200 rooms compared to 10 at The Caves.) The room is very nice - more hotel like with a TV, air conditioner and inside shower. Plus a lot less bugs . :-) The grounds are very lush and we're on the third floor of a small building overlooking the ocean. There are 5 restaurants here that have food throughout the day. Lots of free activities too. Little huts are all over that serve drinks any time you want. Yesterday when we got here was was raining and it didn't stop until evening so we hung out in the room and on the balcony. We had dinner at "The Palms". A live Reggae band played while we ate. We're both really enjoying the culture and food of Jamaica. It's a neat little country and it's been fun to learn about it's history and people. Today the weather has been beautiful. After a late breakfast this morning we went to the beach. The water is clear and gorgeous. I kept putting sunscreen on but still got a little burnt - not too bad though. The food and service here is good but unfortunately can't be compared to how wonderful it was at the caves. Tomorrow we're going snorkeling and on a Catamaran cruise. It's our last full day here so we're going to enjoy every minute! We're off to walk along the beach. Most of Jamaica doesn't actually have sand and beach but our resort is set on a 7-mile stretch.

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The Caves

Here I am sitting on our balcony overlooking the beautiful water off of the coast of Jamaica. Damien and I are here celebrating our 10^th anniversary. Our anniversary won’t actually take place until January 2, but we decided now was the best time to take a trip. Our gracious parents have volunteered to take care of the kids – we’ll definitely have to find a good souvenir to bring back – Maybe a T-shirt that says “I survived my grandchildren while my kids were in Jamaica.” Thanks to our extra tax break this year, we’re staying here in Negril, Jamaica for 5 nights in two different All-inclusive resorts. Our trip out here was pretty uneventful besides being delayed in Miami for 2 ½ hours – not so bad when you don’t have kids with you. Once we got of customs we actually had a guy standing in the baggage area with a sign just for us. He drove us the 1 hour and 15 minutes from the airport to our resort. I was a little worried about the drive because my mom has been here and warned me that the most scared she has ever been was when she was being driven around in Jamaica. The roads are narrow and winding and the drivers will pass the car in front of them going 60miles/hour barely getting back into their lane before the oncoming car hit them. Our driver was pretty good and only gave me a few scares. The place we’re staying now is called “The Caves” and it is breathtaking. The resort is built at the edge of cliffs. There are caves that go underneath the resort where you can hear the waves crashing. There are only seven little hut-like buildings – enough for about 12 couples. We’re in a two story bungalow. Our bed is upstairs with a balcony that goes right to the edge of the cliffs. Our only shower is outside (well hidden of course). There is no air conditioner and the windows are just slats that we can close –sort of – at night to keep out the insects. We have a mosquito net around the bed which we used last night while we slept. It’s actually pretty cool here – although a bit humid – we were comfortable with the two fans in the room. With no TV or working phone, we definitely feel secluded. Our cell phone actually has service but it’s $1.99/min so we won’t be using it much. Along the edge of the cliffs are “diving” points specifically made to jump into the water. It’s hard to say how high they are. We jumped off of about a 30 foot one this morning. This place is relaxing. We did have a bit of excitement last night. As we walked back from dinner to our room, we could hear footsteps on the upper floor. The person must have heard us because we heard him running down the stairs. He hopped out of the back window and Damien sort of followed him around to try to get a good look at him (which he did not). We were a little confused at first but went to the office and got security. When we went upstairs we found that our camera bag and been opened and gone through as well as pockets in our suitcase. There is a small safe in our room and as we were leaving for dinner and had put our wallets, passports and camera in it. I’ve never used a hotel safe before and the only reason I did was because the place is so open I knew anyone could easily get in…I was mostly thinking of other guests or something. But I’m so glad I did. The management came over and spoke to us and called the police to file a report. We never got a good look at the person or what he was wearing so we weren’t much help. They handled it really well and seemed pretty shocked by it. They said the resort has been here ten years and it’s never happened. I was definitely a little scared and they offered to move us to another room. I was all for that but the place is entirely full. So they put a security guard outside our bungalow all night. Today the owner was here and talked to us about it too. I’m feeling much more comfortable today and really feel like it was an isolated thing – someone just looking for some money or something. We’re really enjoying the amazing authentic Jamaican food and service – the people are so nice and because it’s such a small place they all know your name. It seems like there are three employees per one guest. Tonight we have a reservation for private time in the hot tub inside one of the caves, as well as a private dinner. There is a little club next door that has live reggae music most of the day which we can hear from our balcony. This is such a cool place place!

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Observations

Living in New Orleans again reminds me how different it is from any other city. When you grow up here, many of the idiosyncrasies of the city are just normal. But when you’re older and visit and live in other places, you realized that they aren’t “normal.” These aren’t necessarily bad things. So living here again has reminded Damien and me of many of the quirks in this interesting city. I wanted to write some down before I forgot them:

1. Thunder Storms – No place I’ve lived has thunder storms like we have here. Lots of thunder and lightening and poring rain. Orin is now very scared of thunder!
2. Smell of grass – I love the smell of newly cut grass. There is always a plethora of that since you have to cut the grass at least once a week since it grows so fast here.
3. People riding in the back of trucks – I NEVER see that in VA
4. Children in cars without being strapped into a car seat or seat belt – never see that either!
5. Parents bringing their young children (I mean like 5-10yrs. old) in PG-13 and R rated movies at 10 o’clock at night. Oh, and people talking in movies.
6. Water, water, everywhere. Not as much of a surprise for me, but Orin is always pointing out the canals when we’re driving. I remember as a kid when I realized that it’s actually unusual to have canals everywhere. I just thought it was a normal part of a city.
7. Dogs barking in the backyard. Damien noticed this as jogs around town. He said he rarely hears this as he jogs in other places.
8. Guys coming up to me in random places (gas stations, stores, etc…) and starting a conversation – sometimes asking for my phone number. That hasn’t happened in a LONG time but it’s happened multiple times since we’ve been back here.
9. Bumpy Roads (and sidewalks) – actually, bumpy roads is an understatement. New Orleans is notorious for that!

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What We've Been Up To...

I can't believe how much less I've been blogging in the past two months. I think there are two reasons for it. First, a lot of the reason I blog is so that my family can keep up with what has been going on with us. Instead of having to communicate with a bunch of different people, I can just post in one spot and everyone can keep up. I think the other reason is that I've been scrapbooking like crazy. Well, "like crazy" is sort of relative. Seeing that I haven't scrapbooked in about 18 months (I just couldn't stand to pick anything up in our small dwellings in VA), doing it three or more times a weeks is a lot. It's been really nice. My main goal is to tackle Orin's and Micaiah's baby books (of their first year). I obviously was really behind. When Orin was a baby I was working on getting caught up on my family album. I did right about the time we moved. I have a feeling I'm not going to get both books done before we move. I'm REALLY slow! I think because it's their baby books, I want it to be really nice. So it takes me an hour (or more) to do a page. So my goal now is to get Orin's done. Once I finish their baby books, I'm going to do the rest online (probably using the Creative Memories software). I think it will just be so much fast for me...plus no cutting, sticking, etc... sounds great too. So, all of this to say, I've been spending a lot less time on the blog. Oh well, I guess I'll get back to it once we're in Dallas.

So what else has been going on? Well, I try to remember everything...

1. Orin is definitely completely potty trained. I'm so glad we had such a great experience. We've taken two long car trips lately and he's done great. No accidents and we didn't have to stop every hour. :-) He even got his first experience of stopping on the side of the interstate and peeing out of the van.

2. Our financial support is at 95%. If feels like we've been "so close" for a while now. It's exciting that we're almost there, but then again, it could take a few more months to get to 100%. I just think sometimes how happy I am that it's not a year ago when we were only at about 35%.

3. We took two trips to Pensacola in the past month. The first just to visit Aaron (my brother) who has lived there for the past six months. He was training to be a Naval Flight Surgeon. We went to the beach which wasn't the best experience. The waves and undertow were VERY strong and both kids were scared right when we stepped out. It was also pretty jammed packed with people. The second trip was last weekend when we went for his graduation from the training. The ceremony was held at this great aviation museum on the base. The best part of the museum was that there were a bunch of old jets and helicopter cockpits that the kids to get in. Orin especially loved playing with all of the buttons and pretending he was really flying. We went to the beach again but this time we went to the beach on the base which is on the bay. It was wonderful - very few people; no undertow; clear water. Aaron had his catamaran so we all got a chance to go sailing.

4. Last week we drove to Dallas. It's about an 8 hour drive. The kids did really well. Of course, it helps that we have a portable DVD player that we set up for long drives. We stayed at the guest house on the center. Orin loves staying in "hotels". Our main goal was to decide where we'll stay as well as to meet some people who work there. We decided that for the first few months we'll stay on the center. We have a three bedroom apartment that is just steps from the building Damien will work in. During the first few months we'll try to decide where we'll live permanently - well, at least for a couple of years before we go overseas. I'm so excited to be living on the center. Since I won't have an assignment myself, I think I'll be able to meet more people and feel a little more involved by being right there. There is a children's activity center right there as well. The best part is that if I need to leave the kids for a few hours I can just d drop them off! They also have a preschool that we may let Orin attend two days a week next fall. I'm sure he'd love it. While we were there we were able to have dinner with three other families. It was great to connect with some people as well as hear experiences from these seasoned missionaries. Damien was able to attend a meeting in his future office and get a little better idea of what he'll be working on. We're just really excited to being! Our lease begins August 15 so hopefully we'll be there!

5. Next January will be Damien and my 10th anniversary. Since we'll have just taken our assignment a few months before, we figured a "second honeymoon" was probably out of the question. So we decided that we'll take a trip this summer - alone! The first one since we had kids. Being that we're already in New Orleans with family who are happy to take care of our kids (or so they say) for a few days is a great incentive to go now as well. We decided to go to Jamaica. We started looking around to decide where to go and that seemed to be one of the most affordable. We're really looking forward to it in July.

6. Aunt Christina and Uncle Rob are coming back from the Philippines next Saturday. Orin can't wait. He keeps talking about it. He says, "We're going to pick Aunt Christina and Uncle Rob up at the airport - and I'm going to be HAPPY!"

5. For Memorial Day weekend we decided at the last minute to go camping. Damien remembered a place he went as a child called, "Land 'O Pines." We drove up on Sunday evening. It was a blast. We had a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It was Orin and Micaiah's first time sleeping in tents. They did a pretty good job - although Orin got the gold star for waking up the earliest - 6:15am! :-( There was this great creek/river with a sandy beach and clear water. It was shallow so the kids to walk along without problem. At one point Damien and Orin went "on an adventure" for over an hour! The went downstream quite a ways. In the afternoon we went to the pool - more fun! It was a great Memorial Day.

7. Well, I'm sure there is much more that is going on...I just can't think of it right now. I'll have to make another list later. I'll also try to post some pictures of the last few weeks' activities soon.

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Leaving VA

After 5 ½ years living in Northern Virginia (affectionately called NOVA by residents), it’s strange to be leaving. When we moved there we expected to be there for the rest of our lives. We’ve made so many wonderful friends and interestingly, the large majority of our supporters are from that area. Damien loved his job, we loved our church, and owned a home. There are amazing schools, museums and actives at our fingertips. And although it will be difficult to leave many of these things, knowing that we are following the plan God has for our lives is making it much easier. Of course, right now we’re home with family and I know it hasn’t hit me yet. I have a feeling as soon as we get to Dallas it will begin to sink in. I’ve been keep a list of things I’ll miss and things I won’t – both having to do with the area as well as our living situation of the past 15 months. This is certainly not exhaustive.

What I’ll Miss:

1. Great friends! God brought so many godly couples and friends into our lives. They have all made an impact in our lives.
2. Weekly lunch dates with Maggie, Skye and JB.
3. Our Bible Study of 3 years with the Baileys & Eniolas.
4. Reston Bible Church, our home shepherd group, and the ministries we were involved in.
5. I’ll miss having so little to clean as our home was only 2 rooms and 1 bathroom.
6. Late date nights with Damien. One of the perks of living with another family is that once the kids go to bed it’s easy to go out for a late night date without inconveniencing the other family. The couple we lived with enjoyed this perk as well!
7. VERY cheap rent! (at least for the past 16 months)
8. A nice, affordable gym close by with a great kids play area and really nice people to care for the kids while I worked out.
9. Milwaukee Frozen Custard (When I was pregnant with Micaiah we must have there (and often walked) at least 3 times a week.)
10. Japur Indian Restaurant. Maggie and I went there with the kids often for lunch. It was a nice place with an AWESOME buffet and they were so great to put up with us toting 4 kids.
11. Other restaurant we frequented – Guapos, Old Country Buffet, 5 Guys, etc...
    
12. Having other people in the house. Although Jill worked three days out of the house, it was nice to have someone around – even if just to have a short conversation.
13. Our Doctors – we loved our Doctors and the kids pediatrician.
    

What I Won’t Miss:

1. Living in a small, two room space.
2. Having our bed in our living area. (which also served as a playroom and eating area.)
3. Eating on TV trays. Although we could use the dining room upstairs the W’s kids were usually in bed by the time we ate dinner so it was difficult to not wake them up.
4. Living in such a wealthy area. NOVA (northern Virginia) was a beautiful area with great schools and lots of recreational programs. But because of that, money was definitely a huge priority for people. It drove much of life for those who live there. So, in that sense, not so great. Plus, EVERYTHING was just really really expensive!
5. Loosing sleep. We and the W family were on such different scheduled. Their kids went to bed at 7 and got up at 6am. Ours went to bed at 9:30 and got up at 9am. Being in the basement, we heard every footstep upstairs. The W’s were great at trying to keep their kids quite until we got up – but there is just so much you can do. It was also stressful to keep our kids quiet after theirs went to bed – as well as keep any middle-of-the-night crying to a minimum.
6. Driving forever just to get anywhere. Because it was such a huge area, church, work, friends, etc. were all in different directions, spread out across the city.
7. Winter! I don’t like the cold, but when you throw kids into the mix – taking an extra 15 minutes to get out the door because of the extra layers you have to put on – there is a whole extra dynamic that I don’t like about it.

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Potty Time

A few weeks ago we decided it was finally time to potty train Orin. We were pretty sure he was ready, although when we talked about it he would say that he wanted to wear diapers. The first day he had a lot of accidents - Orin would run in and say "I have to pee-pee on the potty," but it was already too late. By day three he was making it most of the time. Now, three weeks later, he's got the pee down. He can hold it for a while - even if we're out and he says he has to go he can often hold it until we get home. The poop has been another story. After about two weeks of not even going once in the potty, we decided to get him a toy as incentive. He picked out a train and we put it on top of his dresser and told him that he could play with it as soon as he pooped on the potty. He tried and tried and after about two or three days he started getting frustrated. Damien even put him on the toilet and read him books for an hour trying to encourage him (I think he wanted to play with the train as much as Orin did.) But it didn't happen and he just stared saying "I can't do it." So we put the train in the closet and decided to give it a rest for a while and not mention the poop. Then, a day or two later, he comes running out of the bathroom saying, "I poo-pooed in the potty, I poo-pooed in the potty!" We were a little surprised, but when we went into the bathroom sure enough to our surprise, he had gone. We figured that once he went one time it would be smooth sailing. But two weeks later, he hadn't gone again. He only poops once or twice a day, so it's either once in his underwear around nap time, or right after we put his diaper on before bed. Damien and I decided that we weren't going to push it. Orin knows how to do it, and he just has to figure it out for himself. If we talked about it every day he would just get frustrated with himself. So about an hour ago Orin and I were sitting, playing with his train and suddenly he got a strange look on his face and said to me "I have to poo-poo on the potty." Imagine my surprise, but I was like, "Ok, let's go!" So he did it! It wasn't much so I figured he would have to go again soon. Sure enough, he just told Damien he had to go and went again. We're really proud of him. Last weekend we went to Pensacola and he did great in the car - only once did he have a little bit of a "leak" when it took us 20 minutes to find a gas station. I'm going to have to get over my "germ-phobia" as he touches EVERYTHING when he goes. We definitely need to teach him to pee standing. In order for him to spread his legs out when he's sitting, he has to take all articles of clothing off from his waist down. This can be a pain when we're in a public bathroom and we're taking pants, shoes and underwear off (and putting it back on). I guess one great thing about him potty training at 3 is that about a week after starting, he could go by himself. He just announces that he needs to go and takes his pants/underwear off and runs to the bathroom. All we have to do is help him put his underwear back on. Micaiah has been very supportive. He's more excited about it than Orin. If Orin announces he has to go, Micaiah will run right behind him yelling, "pee-pee potty, pee-pee potty." He loves to take his diaper off and sit on the small potty chair. But his favorite of all is that he often reaps the benefits when Orin gets a piece of candy after going.

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Oh, right, I have a blog...

Things have been so busy, I've completely forgotten to post anything. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

"Row, row, row, your boat..." That is what Micaiah said when he got into the basket. He wanted us to push him around in it.
This kids loves to put on everyone else's shoes but his own.
Hum, looking at ladies clothing magazines. We may have to have a talk with him about this one.

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Room For Two

If you've read my blog for a while, you know that the kids had an unusual set-up for bath-time. We had a small, inflatable baby bath tub that we put into our our shower. So for the past 15 months, we had to give each of them their own separate baths. This definitely lengthened bath time as well as the number of days between each bath since it was sort of a pain. Orin was also getting to the point where he barely fit. So since we've been in New Orleans, they've really enjoyed not only having so much room in the bath, but being able to take baths together. They laugh a ton and splash (more than we'd like) and it's definitely more fun for all of us. He are a few pictures.

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Strawberry Festival

Two Saturday's ago, dad mentioned that the Strawberry Festival was going on in Ponchatoula, LA. We decided to go - ya know, be a little spontaneous. Damien was still on his way down from VA, so it was just Pops, me, the boys and Uncle Andrew who happened to be in town that weekend. Orin LOVES all of his uncles so any time that he gets to spend with them is very special. It was a beautiful day and we really had a great time. It was pretty packed but as we were leaving around 4pm it seemed to be getting much worse, so I think we hit it at the perfect time of day. Here are a few pictures and a video:

Orin has really loved the few carnival rides he has gone on so we bought a couple of tickets. He and Uncle Andrew went on the roller coaster. At first he was a little hesitant, but after a little talking and a promise that Andrew would hold his hand the entire time, Orin was really excited. As soon as they got on and sat down, Orin grabbed Andrews hand and didn't let go. Later in the day I took Orin and Micaiah down the large slide but all of the pictures came out blurry. Sad.

As they went around it was a little tough to tell if Orin was having a good time. It seemed pretty bumpy. When it came to a stop Orin had a huge smile on his face. Andrew said that he had to hold onto Orin's head to keep it from getting thrown forward but other than that it was a lot of fun.
Orin had to take a run on the train tracks. Probably the highlight of the festival for him.

The Marine Corps had a recruitment booth set up. Andrew noticed that there was a "challenge" that came with give-a-ways. For the men, if they could do a certain number of chin-ups, they would win something. The best was a t-shirt for 20 pull-ups. Not an easy task. Andrew was able to do 15 (very impressive~!) and won the second prize which was a hat. For the women, the challenge was to hold a chin-up for a certain amount of time. Seventy seconds would get you a t-shirt, 50 a hat, and down from there. After a little prodding from Pops and Andrew, I decided to try. I really had no idea how I would do. I probably haven't done it since high school. But I lasted 78 seconds - only due to the fact that I've been working out for a year. They said that was the longest of the day so far. But for some reason I don't think I'll be getting a call from the recruitment center - they are probably not looking for many 30-year-old stay-at-home moms! I saw my dad pick up the camera and wasn't in much of a position to stop him from taking pictures. The first one was at the beginning - you can tell I'm not having too hard of a time. But the one on the right you can tell him starting to loose it and sinking down slowly, slowly, slowly...

Orin took a turn too!Micaiah's spot all afternoon.

A video during a relaxing lunch. Nice music in the background.

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