One Year in Ecuador

The 21st of April marked one year in Ecuador. Anniversaries or birthdays always make me introspective, and this anniversary was no different.

Initially, we only came to "visit" for 7 weeks. Now, 52 weeks later, we're still here! It's amazing to me that so much time has passed. At times, it feels like it is impossible that it has been that long. Other times, last year seems like a lifetime ago.

Much of the time here has been frustrating for me. In Bahrain, we had the advantage that almost everybody spoke English. Here, almost nobody does. So, the first and biggest hurdle I've had to face was learning Spanish. I'm happy to say that I would classify myself now as a good solid intermediate, but I know I still have a long way to go to achieve the fluency I desire. Poco a poco.....

The morning of the 21st, I was thinking back over the past year as I went about my daily activities and then the reality of all we've actually done and accomplished hit me.

Thursday I woke up and said goodbye to Shawn as he headed out for a weekend guy's camping trip with Casa Gabriel. Later, I got up with the kids, waited for our babysitter to get here and then walked to the bus stop closest to our house. I took the bus into Quito, grabbing an empanada from a street vendor along the way. There's this one guy along our bus route who sells the absolute best empanadas I have ever had, so I always try to pick one up when I can.

I changed buses upon arrival to Quito, then took another bus to a second station. There, I crossed a pedestrian bridge to arrive at my Spanish tutor's house. My Spanish tutor and I were covering the subjunctive, one of the most difficult aspects of the Spanish language for many non-Spanish speakers. It, in my opinion, is one of the "final frontiers" of my study of the language, so I am thrilled to be reaching such an important milestone.

Two hours later, I left and walked to yet another bus line and took the bus to Mitad del Mundo. A guy on the bus saw my Spanish book and felt the need to start a conversation with me, trying to convince me that I should be practicing my Spanish instead of listening to my iPod. In reality, I suspect he just wanted to have a conversation with this gringa, but hey, it was good practice. At Mitad del Mundo, I negotiated a price with a taxi driver to take me out to a hotel nearby where I needed to make reservations. Some friends of ours are getting married next weekend and as a wedding gift, we booked them their first night in a hotel.

I made the reservation and paid, then got a brief tour of the hotel. It overlooks the most amazing valley, with beautiful green fields and quaint farms, nestled in the middle of steep Andean mountains. On the way back toward Mitad del Mundo, we passed the mountain I climbed with Casa G and the Douce family a couple months after I first arrived.

The taxi driver took me back into Quito, where I caught a bus to take me back out to our place again. And I started thinking about the last year.

Thursday, I navigated the city and outside-the-city bus system. I had Spanish lessons. I spoke to strangers. I made hotel reservations. I negotiated prices. And I did it ALL in Spanish. To see that really showed me how much good our time here has done as far as growth.

I've gotten over so many of those little things I used to let bother me. God has given me lots of opportunities to step outside my little comfort zone and really feel, taste, live and experience life. Though I have not always been as grateful the last year, I do feel grateful today for all of the hard things God has used here to make my life richer in the end.

2010 in Review

I keep a daily planner and each year I go back and take stock of all that happened in a given year. This year, I unfortunately lost my planner somewhere in November, so I don't have as thorough a record of all of our life events. I had to piece together most of 2010 through looking at old Facebook posts and e-mails. To the best of my ability, here is the recap for 2010....

January-March--we started out the year in Bahrain, with things being fairly uncertain. Shawn's company's contract in Bahrain was set to expire in April and we didn't know where we would go or what we would do after that.

March:
22-Shawn's birthday.
24th-I left Bahrain to fly to the States to attend the birth of my niece.

April:
6-My beautiful baby niece, Mary, was born at home.
Shortly after this, Shawn decided that we should go visit family in Ecuador to fulfill our tax requirements. We planned initially on visiting for only 7 weeks.
21-Arrived in Ecuador.

May:
5-My first visit to the girls' house for girls who have been sexually trafficked in Ecuador. In the following months, I visited as I could.

Sometime in May, Shawn received a job offer from a company here, continuing similar work to what he was doing in Bahrain. We decided to stay in Ecuador.

June:
19-Moved into our house in Cumbaya. (Yes, like Cum-ba-ya, My Lord)
29-My brother Henry arrived to visit for two months. The timing of his visit turned out to be quite fortunate because a few days before he arrived, Shawn received notice that he would be leaving for the duration of Henry's visit to work in the States.

July:
4-Shawn left Ecuador for the States, where he worked for two months on a fire-fighting boat at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
4-We acquired our dogs, a lab and a miniature schnauzer.
8-Shawn arrived at the Deepwater Horizon site.
20-My first day of Ecuadorian driving school, a 3-week class that is a requirement by law. It helped my Spanish, as well as teaching me how to drive a manual car.
27- Claire's 2nd birthday.

August:
3-Passed driving exam--in Spanish!
12-An earthquake happened in Ecuador, which Henry felt. I did not notice anything until he pointed out that all the light fixtures in the house were swaying slightly. My first earthquake!
27-I mowed the lawn for the first time ever in my life.
31-Shawn returned from Deepwater Horizon.

September:
2-Got official Ecuadorian driver's license.
Kai began kindergarten at his new school.
13-Shawn returns from teaching his first class in Ecuador at a jungle oil drilling site.
30-A short coup attempt in Ecuador. Everything was pretty much back to normal the next day.

October:
11-Bought Esmeralda, a 1974 Beetle.
12-13-Had to go to Ipiales, Colombia to renew our visas.
Began regularly visiting the girls' house with my dear friend from Holland, Desi.

November:
1-3-Camping trip with the Douces and the Casa Gabriel boys at the beach in Canoa.
4-My 29th birthday.
15-Kai's 6th birthday.
17-After 5 months without a dryer, we got a new one! A momentous occasion after line drying clothes for all that time.
25-Thanksgiving Dinner with all of our new Ecuador family.
28-National Ecuadorian Census. A very interesting experience during which we were sequestered in our house all day.

December:
8-Quinn's 4th birthday.
13-Attempted armed robbery of Shawn in the street. He managed to wrestle the gun away from the perpetrator and also keep all of the money he had. A harrowing experience to be sure.
24-We hosted a Christmas gathering at our house with all of the Casa G boys, the Douce family and the Ackermanns, another family that works with Casa G.
25-A low-key Christmas.

2010 was a very busy, stressful, challenging, exciting, crazy year. It definitely ended in a different way than I was expecting. Starting the year in the Middle East and then ending up in South America.....definitely not what I had envisioned!

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador--Part 4

Camping at the beach.



Volkswagens.




Baby Jesus on bars.

Uncle Henry's visit.

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador--Part 3

Forests.




Ziplines.



Family.

Giant grasshoppers! Oops, I couldn't get this picture to rotate!

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador--Part 2

All the boys at Casa G.



Horses and ponchos.





Waterfalls.

Spiders. Okay, maybe we haven't actually enjoyed the spiders.

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador

Butterflies.



Standing on the Equator.

Being 10,000 feet closer to the sky.

Treehouses.

Thanksgiving in Ecuador

Thanksgiving overseas is always an interesting experience. Our first year in Bahrain, it was just Kai, Shawn and me, but we went all out and spent all day cooking. We made turkey and the whole works, ate within about 15 minutes, then it was over. The next year we just decided to skip the whole thing and ordered pizza.

This year, we are also outside of the US again, but we have enough family here that we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Shawn's aunt and uncle. There were numerous other American friends who joined us in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Shawn had to be out of town for work this week and didn't get to come.


Here's a picture of our group--some American missionaries and teachers, along with their families and many of the Casa G boys.



Shawn's aunt and uncle made their patio up so cute for the occasion, complete with tiki torches. Inside they also had a large table for most of the guests. It was a lovely evening and the food was great with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes--the works! Though I have heard it is difficult to find pumpkin here, a lady brought two pies made from an Ecuadorian plant similar to pumpkins. Though the texture was different, the spices made the delicious taste of pumpkin (-esque) pie unmistakable. A slice of heaven.

The family atmosphere was a refreshing change to some of our previous Thanksgivings and it was so nice to hear everybody talk about what they were thankful for. The adjustment to life here has been difficult for me, but taking that time out to spend time with family and friends brings things into perspective. I am of course always thankful for my wonderful family--I have truly been blessed in that area. I am also thankful that though things have been stressful, life has still been filled with so many new adventures. Here's to another year of being grateful for all God has seen fit to bless me with!

Life is Moving Too Fast

I can't even begin to condense all that has happened in the last several months. Since my last posting in May, we have remained in Ecuador, but had repeated battles with Ecuadorian bureaucracy over our visas. Shawn was also gone working on the oil spill at Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on a firefighting boat for the months of July and August. Thankfully, my brother Henry came and stayed with me during that time and got a first-hand preview at parenthood. Since August, Shawn has been settling into his new job, Kai has been settling into his new (Spanish-only) school and I've been (sort of) settling into life here in Ecuador.

Mother's Day

A few months ago, I received an e-mail update from Shawn's Aunt Debbie about the ministry work they have been doing here in Ecuador. It is something she does on a regular basis and I enjoy reading about all the things they experience. In it, she mentioned that they are interested in starting a ministry for girls that is similar to the work they have been doing at Casa G over the last 8 years. When I read it, something in my heart felt immediately drawn to finding out more. It definitely sounded like something that would be right up my alley, but we were in Bahrain at the time, so I didn't give the tugging of my heartstrings much further thought.

Fast-forward to now. The same heartstring tugging happened when I started spending time with the Casa G boys, but I initially chalked it up to being a bit of the emotional persuasion. It wasn't long, though, before I started wondering why exactly God brought us to Ecuador. A few days ago, I became pretty convinced that the possibility of staying here and taking part in some of the work that is going on here was something I was very interested in. Also strong in my mind has been the memory of what Aunt Debbie wrote in her update about the girls' ministry they are trying to get started.

At present, there is a girls' house that is run by another (secular) organization which rescues and houses girls who have been rescued from prostitution and sex trafficking. Phil and Debbie (and some other people who work with them) have been wanting to start up a Casa G with some of the girls who seem most interested in turning their lives around. They have been allowed to visit the girls to talk with them about God and to spend time getting to know them.

Yesterday, Mother's Day, was one of the days they were allowed to visit. They invited me along and I was very interested to go. As we drove out there, we talked about what we would do and say while we were there. They asked me if there was anything I wanted to say to the girls. I am not the particularly outgoing spiritual type. I am usually pretty private about matters related to my spirituality, so I wasn't sure what I would have to offer. But a verse popped into my head. A verse which was very important to me during the most difficult time in my life. The verse is: Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE." I knew that this was something the girls needed to hear.

When we arrived, the girls were not around, so the administrator on duty showed us to a room where we would be meeting with the girls. We set up chairs and waited for the girls to arrive. A little while later, the girls showed up came in one by one. I have to admit that I KNEW intellectually that they were girls, but when they actually arrived, it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was truly seeing GIRLS, not women. Some of them looked so very young and it was hard for me to realize that these girls had been rescued from prostitution and sex trafficking. Four of the girls had babies in tow. A few others were pregnant. Though they all greeted me with the traditional Ecuadorian kiss on the cheek, I could see that most of them seemed very uninterested in what we might have to offer.

We played a game to learn names, then the girls introduced themselves and said their ages. I think that was the hardest moment for me. Each of the 26 girls stated their names and their ages and with each one I had to try to hold back tears as they said, "I'm 13," or "I'm 14." One of the girls with a baby was 15 years old. It truly hit me at this point that these girls were ultimately children, despite the very adult world they had been forced into.

After the getting to know you part, Juan Miguel sang a worship song and played on the acoustic guitar. The girls seemed to be warming up some, but still a little reserved. Miguel Angel then took us outside to play a game.

He put the ball in the middle of an outdoor basketball court and divided all of us into two lines. Each person was given a number and when our number was called, we had to run and meet the other teams' correspondingly numbered teammate where the ball was. If we got the ball, we had to run with it before the other team's player could tag us. The girls simply came alive. They were shouting and rooting on their teammates, running as fast as they could when their turns came up. They seemed to be having a blast. I enjoyed it, too, and ran (and fell down) to get points for our team.

As we were playing, I noticed that the very pregnant girl next to me was deaf. Though she got into the game considerably, I wondered how difficult it must be for her to be without the real ability to communicate with those around her. I took a deep breath as I looked up at the beautiful Ecuadorian mountains rising up above us and the clear, blue sky. More than two dozen girls, all shouting and playing as teenage girls are supposed to. Smiling and laughing in this gorgeous natural setting. Then it dawned on me that these girls are former prostitutes who have had their innocence and their childhoods stripped from them. How do they even begin to start a new and normal life after this?

After the game wrapped up, we went back into the day room where we had been before. By this time, the girls were much more animated and seemed like a room full of teenage girls, not girls who had to be protected by towering walls, locked gates and a security guard who is constantly on duty. Not girls who had to be protected from angry pimps who wanted their "property" back.

Aunt Debbie read a Bible story and Uncle Phil translated in Spanish. Miguel Angel talked a little bit to the girls about how he felt we could apply it to our lives in a practical sense. Then one of the girls, curious about me, asked if I could understand Spanish. When Uncle Phil responded that I only spoke a little, the girl commented on how patient I must be that I would sit and listen to the group talking without understanding anything. It was very ironic, considering that patience is definitely not one of my strongest points.

After the girl's comment, it opened up the opportunity for Phil to ask me if I wanted to say something. I decided to take the leap. As I mentioned before, I can be very private when it comes to matters of the heart and spirituality, so I wasn't sure how to go about this. I have never given my "testimony" as some would call it. But I did know a thing or two about how hopeless it feels to be pregnant and feel alone in many ways. So I felt very compelled to speak.

I told the girls (and Phil translated) that I didn't know anything about how hard their lives had been, but that I could only talk about what I'd been through. I told them a little about some of the things I've encountered in my life, especially about the time I faced when I was pregnant with Kai and was really starting to cling to God in a way that I had never done before. I told them that I knew without a doubt that God cared for each one of them and that He would be there for them during this dark and difficult time. I then quoted the verse in Jeremiah that had meant so much to me during my own difficult time.

Afterwards, the girls asked a few questions about my story. Juan Miguel played one more song and the girls all sang along very loudly, which suprised me. I couldn't understand all of the Spanish words, since I am just beginning to learn, but found out later that the words were:

You saw me when no one else saw me/ You loved me when no one else loved me/ You gave me Your name/ I am your child, the apple of your eye/ I love you more than life.

In hindsight, I am glad I couldn't understand the words. If I had known what the girls were singing at the top of their lungs, I'm sure I would have totally lost it emotionally.

When we finished the song, one of the girls was looking up a verse in the Bible that Debbie had brought. She asked if she could keep it, but several of the other girls protested, saying that they also needed a Bible. Phil asked who wanted a Bible and 18 hands shot up. Some of the other girls took Phil and Debbie aside and asked if they could take them for visits with them outside of their compound. The room seemed transformed from when we first arrived.

The girls joked, "The doors are open. They are open for you to come, but not open for you to leave." Several thanked us for coming on Mother's Day to be with them. In Ecuador, Mother's Day is an even bigger deal than it is in the States, so I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them to be separated from any sense of family on a day like that. Eventually, we kissed all the girls goodbye and left.

On the way home, we all talked about how impacted we had been by spending the afternoon with the girls. It wasn't until I got home and recounted the story to Shawn that I totally lost it emotionally and finally let it out. I can't fully express how much I wanted to just reach out to these girls and give them that promise of hope. To show them love--real love. I hope in the future, I get the chance.

Casa G

We've been having lots of fun here in Ecuador, spending time with family and occasionally doing some touristy type things. Some of you may not know about Shawn's family history in Ecuador, but many of you do. Shawn's grandparents were medical missionaries in Ecuador for more than 30 years. That means that Shawn's mother spent a lot of her growing up time here. Since the beginning of Shawn's grandparents' mission here in Ecuador, others in the family have felt called here, including Shawn's Uncle Phil and Aunt Debbie.

Phil and Debbie have been our guides and support since we have been here and it has been wonderful to spend some time with them. They spend a lot of their time working in a ministry for former street boys. The goal of their work is to help train up these boys to be leaders in their own communities, not just to provide them with their needs of food and shelter (though they obviously do that as well).

Since we have been here, we have been able to see into the work they are doing firsthand. The house is called Casa Gabriel, and they lovingly call it Casa G. Right now there are about 10 boys who live there full time, ranging in ages from 15-24. Shawn and I have been doing some things around the house. Shawn has been redoing the stairs there, and I organized their clothing donation room. It has been a wonderful experience for us.

The boys have been very welcoming and grateful to us and our children. It is amazing to me to see the work that God has obviously done in their lives. Seeing the transformative power that something like this particular style of ministry has is awesome.

I freely admit that I am a bit of a cynical person. Consequently, I wasn't sure what I would find when I arrived here. How much can a ministry project like this really do? I've come to realize that the combination of meeting people's spiritual, social and physical needs is truly making such a difference in the lives of the boys at Casa G.

The boys have treated us like family, and thanked us numerous times for the little things we've been able to do and give while we've been here. It really does feel like I've received 10 new brothers. I've been hearing stories of all the things the boys have been trying to do to minister to other people of their own free will and initiative. It is very humbling.

Within just a few days of meeting the boys and beginning to spend time with them, I felt something moving in my soul over this ministry. Shawn and I started talking about the possibility of staying longer term. We're not sure yet what God has in store, but I'm sure He will make that plain to us in the coming weeks.

You're What? Where?

Lots of people have been wondering about what we're doing at this point, so I thought I'd post an update.

Shawn's contract ends officially in Bahrain on April 30th. However, with all the leave he had left over, we packed up and were all together in the States on April 8th. One of the perks that was sort of written into Shawn's contract was the fact that we were able to claim tax-free status while working in Bahrain. The only catch is that you have to live 330 of 365 days overseas in order to enjoy this benefit.

Since Shawn's contract ended a little earlier than expected (not just for him, but for all the guys in his group), that left us 45 days short of our 330 required days.

SO, the IRS said we had to perfectly legal options: 1) Come back to the States and pay all of this year's taxes. That would amount to a substantial portion of the money we were actually able to save this year. Essentially, that would suck big time.

Option 2: Live somewhere overseas for the remaining 45 days and meet the eligibility requirements for tax free status.

It was sort of a no-brainer for us. "Hmm, pay all of our savings to the government OR go on an extended family vacation....?"

Shawn's family has a long history of living in Ecuador. His grandfather is a doctor who spent over 30 year in Ecuador as a medical missionary. Shawn's mother grew up in Ecuador. And now Shawn's uncle, aunt and cousin live in Ecuador. Since living in Ecuador would be less expensive than living in Bahrain, we opted to come here for the remaining time we have, or approximately 7 weeks.

Our scheduled date of departure is June 10th. After that, we don't know where we will be going or what we will be doing. We know God has a plan for us beyond these 7 weeks and we are trying to just relax and enjoy the respite.

I hope to be posting more about our Ecuadorian adventures. Thanks for reading! I hope you're all doing well!

2009 in Review

I keep what I call "my book." It is essentially a day planner in which I write the usual planner type stuff; appointments, exciting happenings, birthdays, etc. I have saved my books from the last five years. They provide an interesting chronicle of my life in a more palatable, bite-sized, and not-as-intimate-as-a-journal way. I enjoy looking back on major events each year to see what all has transpired. Here is 2009 in review:

January:
1-New Year's Day: Shawn worked an extra EMT shift on New Year's Eve and I ended up watching that TLC show about the Tree Man. Exciting.
7-We went rock climbing for our 3 year anniversary.
12-I started a news "fast" where I didn't watch, listen to, or read any news for 40 days. It was actually quite awesome and taught me a lot about self-discipline and not allowing negativity to distract me from all the good in my life.
20-Barack Obama was inaugurated as president.
21-Shawn began the application process for the Lee's Summit Fire Department.
31-I took a cloth diaper class and began cloth diapering the kids. It was a fairly successful experiment, though we ultimately abandoned it for logistical reasons.

February:
Throughout the month of February, Shawn had several steps to attend in the process of the LSFD hiring process.
8-Claire's first visit to the ER. Turned out to be a double ear infection.
14-Valentine's Day dinner at the Nazarene church in Harrisonville where Shawn and I played the Newlywed Game. Shawn horribly embarassed me by describing our first kiss in front of all the people in attendance. Nice.
17-A "Family Reunion" of sorts in St. Louis.
21-I taught my first childbirth education class at Christian Fellowship Church in Columbia.
23-Our car died. Fortunately, it was a quick fix and didn't cost much.
27-My grandfather passed away.

March:
3-My grandfather's funeral in Little Rock.
6-Shawn had another interview at LSFD.
21-Shawn tried out for a semi-pro football team, the Midwest Titans.
22-Shawn had his 31st birthday.
24-Shawn found out he made the Titans team.
29-Went to a casino for the first time in my life. I was unimpressed and only spent five dollars.

April:
We spent a fair amount of time looking around the Kansas City area for houses as we contemplated buying our first house.
10-Shawn found out that he did not get a job with the LSFD.
20-I taught the obstetrics portion of an EMT-B class in Harrisonville. The birth footage I showed the class made one guy throw up. Otherwise, it went really well.
22-I sat for the Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator exam.

May:
1-My dear sister graduated from college.
6-My mother-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was a very scary day. We didn't know what to expect.
24-We made an offer on our first ever house. It was a real fixer-upper and a foreclosure, so we bid very, very low on it. The offer was not accepted.
25-Shawn's previous job in Bahrain came open and his former boss asked if he'd like to rejoin the team.
26-We decided that we were on our way back to Bahrain.
31-My neice and nephew arrived and stayed with us for a week while their parents were out of town. It was crazy with five kids for an entire week!

June:
1-Shawn got the Big V. Weird how it coincided with us having five kids under our roof, huh?
9-12-Packing and preparing for our move back to Bahrain.
13-Garage sale to offload the items we had acquired in the year we lived back in the States. Amazing how much we Americans and store up when we put our minds to it.
15-We left Harrisonville, MO to go visit family before we left for Bahrain.
17-Went to Indiana to visit my family.
18-I received notification that I passed the Lamaze exam and was an LCCE!
20-We left the States, bound for Bahrain....again.
21-Arrived in Amman, Jordan and ended up staying overnight after we missed our connection.
22-Arrived in Bahrain...again.
23-Shawn started his first day in Bahrain.
24-We moved into our villa in Hidd.

July:
I began teaching a three-sibling group of Arab children who live in our neighborhood. They began coming over to my house for tutoring in English and have since become regular fixtures at our house.
4-We hosted a get-together for the 4th with Shawn's co-workers.
16-My mother-in-law had successful surgery to remove the brain tumor she found out about in May. We were very grateful that things went so well.
18-My sister found out she was pregnant with her third baby, due in April 2010.
27-Claire turned 1 year old!
30-I ended up having surprise surgery for a hernia repair. The doctor informed me that I would have to refrain from lifting anything over 10 pounds for a month! Yeah, right!

August:
I spent most of the month of August being pampered by my mother while recovering. It was so nice to have her here.
2-My mother arrived to stay with me for a month while I recovered from surgery. God bless her!
22-Ramadan began.
22-We attempted (again) to potty train Quinn.

September:
1-My mom left to head back to the States.
2-Shawn taught a rock climbing safety class on the Base. I got to go and help.
3-I hit a construction worker who was sleeping in my driveway. It was a very unpleasant experience, but thankfully he was given a reasonably clean bill of health after a trip to the ER.
20-Eid Al-Fitr.

October:
4-I started a scuba class to get my PADI certification.
6-I enrolled in a midwifery program.
7-My brother-in-law, Matt, shipped off to Iraq with the Navy.
30-My first ever open water dive. It was awesome and scary at the same time.

November:
2-Kai started his first day at Arabic school.
4-My 28th birthday. My dad also ended up in the hospital for swine flu and pneumonia. :(
14-I finished my open water dive certification!
15-Kai turned 5 years old!
22-We took Quinn and Kai to the Wahoo water park in Manama for the kids' birthdays. Quinn hated it and Shawn had to take her home while I stayed with Kai. He came back after dropping her off with Nanny Theresa and we ended up having a blast.
26-We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house.

December:
8-Quinn turned 3 years old!
15-I taught an infant massage class on the Base.
25-We had a very, very quiet Christmas with just our little family. It wasn't the same without everybody around!
31-We went out on the town with some friends on New Year's Eve and had a blast dancing the night away.

I Wanna Blog

It's ironic that my most recent post, entitled "Two Months" is pretty much the exact same state we're in right now. Things are up in the air with jobs, living arrangements, etc.

So after many MORE months of neglecting my blog, I've decided I want to try to blog more. With any luck I'll do a better job this time around.

Two Months

Two months. That's how long it's been since I've written on my blog. And for good reason.

The last two months have been another turning point in our journey of life. There were so many things going on that were uncertain that I didn't feel like blogging about things that may never come to pass.

First and foremost, Shawn applied for a job with a nearby fire department. They had a crazy series of several interviews, each about two weeks apart. So the entire process lasted nearly the entire two months. Shawn really wanted the job, but he did not make it to the final round of interviews. Instead, he was placed on a hiring eligibility list for the next year. Out of 750 applicants, he made it into the top 41 somewhere (he doesn't know what his official "ranking" is). In theory, if another job became available with that department, they would look at their hiring list to find qualified applicants. In reality, it is extremely unlikely.

So, a closed door there.

The second major event was that there was a tax levy that the City was trying to get passed by the H'ville voters that would change the fire staffing from an 8-4:30 schedule to the regular 24 hour schedule that most fire departments have. Shawn was hoping it would pass and spent the last couple months trying to do things to promote the ballot measure and to educate members of the community. It was a very stressful time, but the measure did pass, so H'ville will go to a 24 hour schedule beginning June 15th. So that means Shawn will work in 24 hours shifts on rotating days. He will work one day ON, one OFF, then one ON, one OFF, one ON, then four days OFF. That will be his work cycle.

Because it looks like at least for a little while we will be staying with H'ville, we have considered buying a house in a nearby town. We've spent lots of time looking at it and dreaming of what we would do if we bought it. It is a foreclosure and a fixer-upper. By fixer upper, I mean just that. It needs a lot of work. Fortunately, the price is very low, but it would cost many thousands of dollars to get it up to par. We were looking at it for the last two months, but could not put in an offer on it until we found out if they were going to lift the requirement that all H'ville firefighters live within city limits. Last night the council agreed to lift the requirement. As these kinds of things go, the house we're interested in is now up for auction instead of just being on the market. We are still waiting to find out what that means.

There are so many things going on and it has given us a roller coaster ride of emotions. Shawn and I have both been wrestling a lot with the question of where we want to live, how long we want to live there, what we want for our lives as a family, couple and individually. I go back and forth between wanting to buy that house we're interested in and wanting to move somewhere else and embark on a new adventure.

To make matters even more emotionally complex, last week we found out that Shawn's mom has a tumor inside her skull that is pushing on her brain stem. The doctor is fairly certain that it is a benign growth, but that it would still require surgery to remove. We don't know at all what to expect and that unknown is very scary. We are still waiting to hear all the details from the neurosurgeon. It makes us question whether we should stay in the area, or whether moving somewhere else would be possible.

We are still at this turning point. Should we look for another job and place to live? Or should we sit tight here? Ultimately we know that we really just want the best for our family and we are waiting until we have a more definite idea of what the best thing is going to be. It's the waiting and not knowing that is the hard part.

Trip to Little Rock

That's right--five car seats in the back of my sister's car. Elle, Luke and Kai took the back, then Claire and Quinn in the middle row. It was packed.

At my grandparents' graveside in Pottsville, Arkansas.

Marines waiting for my grandfather's casket to arrive.

On the trip home--Luke, Elle and Kai all fading in and out of sleep. Quinn and Claire were also asleep, but there were just too many children and carseats to get it all in one picture.

Chuck E. Cheese Outing

Quinn gets a ride from Uncle Henry.

Claire and her abuelita.

Elle getting hopped up on soda or some other sugary beverage. My kids did likewise.

Quinn and Shawn at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Chuck E. Cheese Outing

Last weekend, I went down to visit my family. The grandparents decided they wanted to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's in Springfield. All I can say is one word: chaos. It was total sensory overload. It was packed!

Walking into the place was traumatic. Somebody had puked all over the lobby and the outside area. It seemed completely impossible to me that all that puke could have come from one person! It was crazy! Whatever the case, it was really gross and there was a line out the door to get in. So, that left my little family standing basically in somebody else's puke. Not appetizing and not a good start to the outing.

However, once we got inside, things got better. We had lots of pizza and ended up winning lots of tickets. The kids really enjoyed it, but of course it ended with a group meltdown from all the kids (Kai, Quinn, Claire, Elle and Luke). Fun. Good times.

Quinn wasn't satisfied with just one piece of pizza at a time.

Grandpa makes the rounds with Kai.

Claire, my mom and Celeste.

Luke playing a driving game with his daddy.

We Miss Football

That's right. Football season is over. And in our house, that is a very sad thing. So one evening recently, we decided to take the kids to the H'ville football field to run around with the football. We thought the kids might want to get out. We had fun for about ten minutes, then the kids all three had a total meltdown at one time. It was comical, yet not comical.

Kai outside the stadium.

Claire.

Claire bundled up for the occasion.

Shawn showing the kids how to kick the football.

More of the Kids

Quinn got the hair that I got--thin, fine and very, very prone to static electricity.

Claire smiling as she plays on the floor.

Kai expressing his frustration over something or another.

Claire in her ExerSaucer.

The Lesson of the Day

Here is Shawn with Quinn less than an hour after she was born.

The lesson I want to impart to you is this--BACK UP your pictures.

We had a separate hard drive for all of our pictures and I never backed them up. Well, that hard drive crashed and we lost two years worth of pictures--almost all of our pictures from Bahrain. It was devastating, because they were pictures of Quinn right after she was born and when she was infant, as well as all of our Middle Eastern adventures.

A few weeks ago, my mom called and gave me very good news--she had some of our pictures backed up to her computer from when she came to visit right after Quinn was born. So, though we do not have all of our pictures, at least we have a few months worth. I am posting some of my favorites from that time period......

More Bahrain Pictures

Henry, Shawn and I trying to footprint Quinn for her homebirth birth certificate. It didn't work too well.

Kai bit the dust while going face first down his slide.

Shawn and Quinn as a newborn--like father, like daughter.

Nanny Theresa and Quinn.