Busy times, catching up, and doing well

I am way behind on blogging and hope to catch up soon. It's been a busy past couple of months with  my parents and brother's visit, Nathan and my work travels, and current events. I'm sure you have seen a lot in the news recently about this part of the world, regarding the announcement about Jerusalem and the Embassy move. It has sparked anger and protests throughout the country, but please know that we feel safe and are doing well. The Jordanian security services have done a tremendous job keeping the protests under control, and many of our local friends have reached out to us to make sure we are doing and ok. Please pray for all people of this regions, Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Please pray for the situation to stay calm and remain peaceful, despite the tension and emotions, and for God's protection over the people. We know we serve a mighty and sovereign God, and pray that we trust in Him, though all times.

View from the top of Mount Nebo, looking into Palestine.

 Recent visit to little Petra.

Grandpa Art and Uncle Aaron's Arrivals.

Ok, time to catch up on my family's visit to Jordan in November!  A few weeks after my mom arrived, my dad came. It was his first trip to Jordan and we were really excited for him to get here.

The boys knew he was coming but were asleep when he arrived. They were so happy when get got them off the bus the next day.

Happy, happy to be together!

A couple of weeks later, my brother arrived! It was his first visit to Jordan also, and the boys were super excited to see him!

A day later we hit the ground running for a whirlwind trip around Jordan. Next few blog posts will be on our travels.

Halloween Fun!

We had a fun and long Halloween season this year, with several parties and school events to celebrate. This year, the boys dressed up as vampires, check out those teeth! 

The first event was our friend's Halloween party the weekend before Halloween. A few houses went in on the party and they haunted trick-or-treating that ended with a fun party at one of the houses. This is their friend Lydia, who used to be in school with Benjamin the past couple of years, and Benjamin says is still one of his girlfriends ;).

Another day on the weekend, the kids went to a  friend's house to decorate pumpkins and cupcakes.

On Halloween day, Caleb got to dress up for school and they went trick-or-treating! Caleb decided to be "Dr. Bones" on this day. He is the 4th one from the right in the back row.

That night the Embassy had a great Halloween party with a scary haunted house and delicious dinner at the end. The boys liked the haunted house and did not even get scared!

 On Thursday, Benjamin got to dress up at school for a Halloween parade and trick-or-treating. Benjamin is the 4th from the left in the back row.

 Sweet boy getting off the school bus.

It was a fun Halloween had by all!

Yellow-Green Belts

The boys are doing great with Tae Kwon Do, and recently tested for their yellow-green belts. Nathan left that day for a work trip, but  my mom and Tes were here to attend the test. Getting warmed up...

Benjamin starting his yellow belt form.

Caleb doing the same.

Here are their full tests.

Receiving their new belts from the Sensei of the school, and Ms. Irish, their instructor. She is so good with the boys and works them really hard.

They tested with a few other friends too. It was so cute to watch.

Grandma Sue was so excited to be here to see this.

Good-bye yellow belt, hello yellow-green belt! The boys worked really hard and we are proud of how far they have come these past couple of years.

Grandma was home to watch their first yellow-green belt class the next week.

Great job boys!!

Grandma Sue is here!

Grandma Sue is here to visit us for 6 weeks, and we are all so happy to have her here! We are about 1.5 weeks into her visit, Grandpa Art arrives in a little over a week and Uncle Aaron arrives a couple of weeks later. The boys welcomed Grandma with this sign when she arrived.

She saw both boys when she arrived late at night, and she got them off the bus the next day....and pretty much every day since then!

After school, they play, work on puzzles, and read books. Benjamin is really into puzzles these days. He put together all of these by himself! One of sea creatures, 4 dino puzzles, a construction puzzle, and a puzzle of the U.S., which I think is his favorite.

Caleb loves being read to. He is learning lots of sight words in school, and grandma has been practicing them with him as they read books.

It's been a full first couple weeks for my mom, and even more so because Nathan is out of town for a few weeks. On her second day here, she attended a bridal shower. The boys have had karate tests, several halloween parties,  (I'll blog about those),  trips to the park, parent-teacher conferences, going out to eat, and play dates with friends. It's been fun for her to just live life with us and see what our day-to-day routine is like.

Lunch at our favorite schwerma restaurant! We usually take out, so it was nice to sit and eat for a change.

One of my favorite views near our house.

The boys gave grandma a tour of their school while I had parent-teacher conferences one afternoon.   They got great reports, and we are thankful for how they have adjusted to the new school and many new friends this year.

Tes and my mom are really enjoying each other's company. She is such a blessing to us, and takes great care of our family. The last time my folks saw her was during their visit to Kuwait in 2014, so they have enjoyed catching up. Tes is laughing in this picture because she is wearing the boys' sweater...yes, she is that small, but mighty!

We have a great park close to our house that they have already enjoyed a few times already. We planned to ride bikes at the park one morning, but got our first thunder and rain. It cleared quickly, so we were able to play and enjoy the park all to ourselves.

One afternoon, the boys were supposed to get flu shots and Caleb also needed several shots for his 6 year well check-up. Turns out the scheduling got messed up and our appointment was changed. Surprisingly both boys cried when I told them, because they were looking forward to ice cream afterwards, but of course we still went. And will go again next Monday after the appointment!

It has been a fun first couple of weeks with my mom here!

ACS Wellness Day

The boys school is focusing on promoting wellness and healthy life styles, and a couple of weeks ago they hosted a wellness day event. There was music, local fruit and vegetable and healthy foods vendors and had some activities for the kids. The boys favorite was the zip line!

Here goes Benjamin...

And Caleb.....

And the rock wall. What you don't see in the picture are the kids unscrewing/screwing the rock pegs in the wall, but these were secured.

One of the gyms brought in some kids exercise equipment. They had treadmills, stair steppers, and weight circuit machines. It was cute.

Front entrance to their school.

Caleb has gotten very good on the monkey bars this year!

It was a fun day and healthy day :)