Winter trip to IL

On Christmas Day, we set out for IL, and stopped half-way in Knoxville, TN. We had delicious BBQ for dinner at a restaurant on the river, then went to bed and hit the road early to make it to IL by lunchtime.

We had a fun few days in IL getting to spend time with Mark and Betty, the Jolliffs, Uncle Ed, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Nancy. The kids enjoyed opening Christmas gifts when we arrived.

Then we went to the Jolliffs for the afternoon for the cousins to play. These two little gymnasts had lots of fun doing back bends and cartwheels for the next few days.

So much fun to have the cousins back together again! They spent a lot of time playing ball outside, basketball in the barn, and flashlight tag at night.

The only 2 girl cousins out of 8 kids and BFF’s.

The kids and Nathan with Uncle Ron. 

We are thankful we had time to spend time with extended family during this trip.

One day Nathan, Mark, Hap, and the boys went to a basketball tournament about an hour away to watch the Herrin Tigers. They won both the games and were scheduled to play in the championship game later that night. 

Meanwhile, Betty, Aunt Nancy, the girls, and I went out for lunch on the square downtown and swimming at the Hub. It was a fun girly afternoon.

That evening we went to say bye to the Jolliffs, and they decided to go to the championship game that night and kindly took the boys with them. They got home around midnight and had a great time out with their family. We hit the road the next morning to head back to IL, stopping in Bristol, TN and catching the new Wonka movie in the theater. It was a fun quick trip to spend time with family!

Merry Christmas!

This is our first year celebrating Christmas in the U.S. since 2012 and it was a great one. We celebrated on Christmas Eve this year, because on Christmas Day we drove to IL to spend a few days with Nathan's family. The pictures are a little out of order. Christmas Eve service at McLean Bible.

Annual Christmas pictures :)

Christmas Eve dinner.

On Christmas Eve morning, we had our traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls, sausage egg casserole, bacon, and fruit. Then we read from the Bible and opened stockings and gifts. 

This is the first year the kids woke up before us!

The kids enjoyed finding gifts under the tree for each other and they received lots of nice gifts from family, us, and each other. 

We went to Christmas Eve service that evening, then hit the road on Christmas morning. Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas from our family to yours!

Winter Fun

This month we did some activities with the kids on the weekends. Caleb loves shoes, and one day Nathan took the boys to a Nike Air Jordan exhibit called 'Overboard.' A local artist was inspired to make 280 pair of Jordans from recycled materials, following the 'The Great Shoe Spill of 1990,' where 5 shipping containers of Nike shoes and work boots fell into the Pacific Ocean in a store between South Korea and the U.S., and washed ashore. They got to meet the artists and talk to him about the exhibit, and were very impressed with the craftsmanship of the shoes. Caleb said this was an opportunity of a lifetime :)

Afterwards, Nathan took the boys to a shoe store where they could see lots of Nike shoes.

They thought the shoe vending machine was neat.

Another day we went to Skyzone, their favorite place. It is impressive to watch them all flip away!

One day when Caleb was invited to go to a party with a friend, I took Benjamin and Eliza ice skating at the outdoor rink at Reston Town Center. Benjamin had skated may times in Turkey, but this was Eliza's first time. She got a snowman for stability, but within a short time she ditched the snowman and was skating on her own. It was a fun afternoon.

Benjamin was a good helper and encouraged Eliza.

One evening we drove around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. Some people go all out, this street was impressive. 

It's been a fun start to the winter season.

Thanksgiving with the Randells

Thanksgiving has always been a holiday that my family likes to celebrate together whenever we can, and now that we are back in the U.S. my parents and brother were excited to come to VA. The kids had school for the first couple days, then they had a fall break. On one of the days off we went to Skyzone, one of the kids favorite places to go around here.

On Thanksgiving morning, my mom fell at the basketball court while she and my dad were with the kids, and after spending the day in urgent care and the emergency room, they told her she unfortunately fractured her nose and wrist. She insisted we eat and she enjoyed leftovers a couple of days later when she was rested and feeling more up to it.

Everyone enjoyed having Uncle Aaron around for a few days.

One day my mom, Eliza, and I were supposed to see the Nutcracker, but she needed to be home resting so Benjamin went in her place. We got dressed up and everyone enjoyed the ballet!

Another day, we had a get together with friends from Amman to meet Brett and Victoria’s baby boy Kai, who they recently adopted. He was such a sweet little nugget and he had lots of friends to love on him during the day. 

This was the first time mom came upstairs, a few days after the accident. She had met all of our friends from Amman before and enjoyed seeing everyone again.

Brett, Benjamin, and Kai.

It was recently Eve’s 10th birthday so we celebrated that as well, and bid Farewell to Spencer and Lydia, who will be leaving for an assignment in Kuwait the next 3 years.

Here we are, great friends, the Jordan team, minus a few good souls. It’s amazing we were all here at the same time and we are thankful that Nadine and Joe are living here for the next few years and Victoria and Brett will be back from Istanbul later this coming year.

Nathan got wreaths and garland for the outside of the house and some Christmas plants.

And we started putting up decorations over the weekend. 

We love the cozy feeling of having the Christmas decorations up, it’s so relaxing to sit around in the evenings and mornings by the tree.

We also love the beautiful sunrises that we have been blessed with recently.

By the last day or two, my mom started feeling more like herself. The doctors advised her not to fly because of the fractured nose, so they were troopers and took the Amtrak train home. We are thankful that my parents and brother were able to visit for Thanksgiving and that my mom was feeling better towards the end of the trip. 

Always an adventure!