Past couple weeks

I'm way behind on blogging, so these pictures are from a couple of weeks ago. One day I went to pick up the boys from their school activity. Caleb does soccer and Benjamin does gymnastics. When I walked in Caleb was practicing as goalie. It was so cute!

 Caleb got a kitchen science kit for Christmas and one day Nathan helped them make electricity with a lemon and electrodes. We have a box full of experiments that will keep us busy for a while.

One day we went to see Moana at the movie theater. The theater is on the top floor of the building, and this is a good view of our part of the city.

 The mall with the theater had a giant Christmas tree and Santa's seat. No more Santa, but the boys smiled nicely.

 There is a nice park close to our house that the boys like to play at and ride their scooters and bikes.

 They recently installed new play equipment and these gigantic swings.

The boys have been enjoying their Christmas gifts, and tonight we built a puzzle of the United States and talked about different states they visited. 

Stay tuned, I'll try to be better about blogging! Happy Wednesday :).

Golden Anniversary

Happy 50th wedding anniversary dad and mom! What an incredible milestone and special day for you two. I am so thankful for the unconditional love and support that you shown me over the years, and for the example you have set for a loving and caring marriage. Throughout my life, you have shown immense love, patience, and understanding towards me, no matter what the circumstances. You continue to pour out your love to our family and are loving and caring grandparents to Caleb and Benjamin. The testimony of your love is an encouragement to me and all those who know you.

And now as you continue to live your dream in Hawaii, I pray that you continue to encourage each other to grow in new ways and that your marriage will continue to be blessed, as you enjoy your lives together on this journey. Wow, how amazing to be celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary today! Happy Golden Anniversary Dad and Mom, we love you so much!

Happy 2017

Happy 2017! As I reflect on 2016, I think about many sweet memories and blessings from the year and excitement about what is to come in 2017. Our big news is that Nathan accepted a new job at the Embassy, extending our time in Amman, Jordan until summer 2020!

Our boys grew and developed much this year. Caleb turned 5 years old and Benjamin turned 4, and are in KG-2 and KG1 at the bilingual Arabic/English school. They do well with the language learning, and are having fun with gymnastics, soccer, and Tae Kwon Do. The boys make friends easily and are in class with many of the same kids from last year.

In January, Heather had the opportunity to go on a short term mission trip with a team to Ethiopia, to minister to street children and orphans, and provided Vacation Bible School, and visited ministries around Addis and outside the city.

Early this summer, we took a family vacation back to the US, and had the opportunity to visit Heather's parents in Hawaii, Nathan's cousins and Heather's brother and his girlfriend in Washington, Nathan's family friend in Oregon, and Nathan's parents in Illinois. We had a wonderful time being with family and friends, visiting new states, and seeing many beautiful places along the way. Some of our favorite sights were the Hawaii beaches,  NW Washington whale watching, Oregon's beautiful forests and waterfalls, and Southern Illinois kite flying, nature trails, and ice cream treats. Heather and her mom have the same birthday and celebrated together in Hawaii for the first time in 18 years, turning 106 years old!

Later in the summer, Nathan's parents visited us in Jordan for a couple of weeks, and we saw the highlights of Petra, Dead Sea, Mt. Nebo, Jerash, Ajloun, Jesus's Baptism site, and the ancient town of the Madaba, and lots of time with the boys!

In the fall, Nathan flew to Illinois for foot surgery, for an injury he had for several years. Surgery went well and the care of nurses Dad and Mom were excellent.

In November, we visited the Jolliffs for Thanksgiving, which was lots of fun with 4 adults and 7 kids! The cousins had a great time together and it was a sweet visit full of fun and lots of laughter.

In December, Heather traveled back to the US for a week, to help with a Christmas event at their home church, and partnered with a couple of friends to raise awareness about Iraqi Christian refugees who fled Iraq due to persecution and now live in Jordan, and to sell their hand made crafts at an international bazaar.

We spent Christmas together in Jordan, celebrating the meaning of Christmas, and all the fun and toys that come with the day.

We pray that 2017 is a wonderful year for you all!

Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas Eve and Christmas day as a family. On Christmas Eve, we spent most of the day at home and the boys made Christmas cookies. We were supposed to do a Santa fun run with some friends, but it rained here all weekend.

And I made lemon bread (I think the day before), to give to some of our friends. Thank you Elizabeth for your recipe, it's the second year I've baked the bread!

That evening, we went to our church's Christmas Eve service.

The church service was really nice, and afterwards we had a time of fellowship together enjoying lots of sweets. We are thankful for the freedom to worship Christ in Jordan, and we do not take that freedom for granted.

When we got home, the boys opened their Christmas PJs and left some cookies for our special visitor.

Boys asleep, presents delivered to the tree.

They actually slept in until 8am the next morning, and when they saw the tree with the presents, they were so excited! We had a birthday party, ate breakfast, then began opening presents. 

The boys received lots of nice gifts, and they had fun playing with their new toys. Caleb put together 4 lego sets that day and he is really proud of his new ability to follow instructions and build the sets.

I love the card that Caleb and Benjamin made for Nathan.

Nathan received a set of hot sauces and hot powders. He sampled some, and started sweating like crazy! We went to a friend's house for dinner and then settled in for the night in our new Christmas PJs.

We are thankful for the quiet Christmas together. Praying you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah holiday!