Christmas 2019

This year we celebrated our fifth and final Christmas in Jordan.  This is the longest we have lived anywhere since we have been married, and it will be a bittersweet departure in a few months. This year, I had to travel back to the US for most of the month of December, and returned only 2 days before Christmas. I love spending the Christmas season with our family, so it was hard to be away during this time of year, but Nathan did a great job carrying on our family traditions while I was away. This year we put the Christmas tree up a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving so I could enjoy it with the family before leaving, and we planned ahead and did most of our Christmas shopping and wrapping before I left, which made the two jet-lagged days before Christmas easier for me. On Christmas Eve, our tradition is to bake cookies during the day.

And in the evening, the kids receive a new pair of Christmas pajamas.

The boys are excited on Christmas Eve night, what kid isn't?! But thankfully they go to bed easily despite the excitement. This year, I heard their door open around 2 am, and found Caleb in the living room staring at the tree, then he went back to bed.

On Christmas morning, our tradition is we have cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast, read the rest of the Christmas story, sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, and then open the gifts.

We didn't get a nice family picture this year, but we got a selfie :).

The kids were thankful to have received very nice gifts - thank you so much everyone! 

Pokemon was the theme of this year from us. The boys are really into Pokemon this year, so they got some Pokemon cards, books, stuffed animals, and a shirt.

We open the stockings last, and the boys enjoy getting new toothbrushes, flashlights, chap stick, and other little stocking stuffers.

New hat and new shoes...this girl LOVES shoes!

Eliza didn't understand opening gifts this year, but once it was open she was happy to play with what was inside :). Just a girl and her musical puppy dog.

Eliza is a nice helper and she is good at cleaning up her toys and messes. So now she has her own cleaning set and she loves it!

After her nap, we attempted to get some nicer pictures of the kids inside because it was raining all day. She wasn't a big fan of taking pictures, but she sure looked cute in her dress.

Christmas is so much fun with the kids. We are thankful that they understand the meaning of Christmas, and love seeing how they grow each year in their understanding.

The boys are great big brothers and love their little sister.

I will leave you with pictures from all of our Christmas's in Jordan. My how these kids have grown! 

2015:

2016

2017:

2018:

2019:

Merry Christmas!

Thankfulness

I love November for many reasons. It's fall, my favorite season, Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, and a reminder to be thankful for all things. So thing blog I will talk about some important things I am thankful for this year. I am thankful for our family, how God chose Nathan for me, and how He chose us to be the parents of Caleb, Benjamin, and Eliza. I can't say enough about how much Nathan means to me and the kids, so I'll just leave it at that for now. 

I am thankful for these three munchkins. They are each special and unique in their own ways, and we love the little people they are.

I'm thankful that Eliza is so easy going! This girl goes with the flow and takes whatever comes her way...as evidence right here :).

I am so thankful for Tes. She has been a part of our family for almost 7 years now, since Benjamin was 8 months old, Caleb was 2, and Eliza was a newborn. She loves our children like our own, and we could not do what we do without her.

I am thankful for an opportunity to slow down. In early October, I injured a tendon and joint in my right foot and was in a boot cast for a month. The injury caused a cyst to form on an inconvenient part of my foot (on the outside where my shoe rubs), and it had to be surgically removed in November. It's never convenient to be in bed with your foot up for 3 days, and spend a week on crutches when you have 3 little kids and a job, but it is what was needed and I was thankful for the time to slow down and rest like my body needed to. I could not have done that without Nathan and Tes's extra help, to care for me and the kids.

I am thankful for good friends. Heidi and Jake came to visit Heidi's niece who was studying abroad in Jordan, sightsee, and they spent a few days with us. We were thankful for the time we had with these good friends from Virigina that we don't get to see often enough!

I am thankful for the good friends we have made in Jordan these past four and a half years, who have become our family. This year, we spent Thanksgiving with our friends Mike and Cassandra, who we met our second year in Jordan.  They have twins, Sean and Ava, who are Caleb's age and they are great friends.  Cassandra works for the UNHCR, and most of the people they invited to their home for Thanksgiving were Jordanian or from other countries, and for several people, this was their first Thanksgiving. It was a nice evening sharing our traditions with others and spending time with friends. I didn't get a picture of the adults, but here is the kids' table.

Lastly, I am thankful for our families near and (mostly) far. We are blessed to have loving, healthy, and understanding parents, siblings, and extended families. The hardest part about living abroad is being so far away family and friends. We are thankful for technology that allows up to Skype with our parents every week, and keep in touch with family and friends near and far. Happy November! What are you most thankful for?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our masked grim reaper (Caleb), zombie (Benjamin), and cutest little skeleton!

Each year the Embassy puts on a great Halloween celebration. They have trick-or-treating, a haunted house, kids games, and a dinner buffet. Nathan was out of town, but Tes came with me to watch Eliza while the boys and I did the haunted house and other older kid activities. The haunted house was a hit and we went through it a couple of times.

This sweet girl played outside most the evening!

I don't have any pictures, but that weekend I took the boys to their school's Halloween celebration called Spooktackular. It was the first year we went and I'm glad to say the last. It was a really well done event, but to say I felt like a sardine trying to maneuver through the crowds was an understatement. Lines were really long for everything, we waited almost an hour to go through the haunted house. They also had trick-or-treating, fairy gardens, spooky games, music, food, and lots of activities. If it was just 1/2 as busy it would have been great (for me) but the kids had a fun time so I'm glad we went this year. 

Dead Sea Fun

Over a long weekend, we took what we think will be our last trip to the Dead Sea before moving. It was perfect weather and we had a great time swimming in the pools and floating in the sea.  Our first trip to the Dead Sea almost 4 years ago, both boys were scared to go in the water. Now they swim out to the bouys, love the sensation of floating, and as you can see, like to lather themselves in the mud.

As much as they enjoy the sea, they love the pools most. We always stay at the Marriott because they have amazing pools, a water slide, and a kids pool. The pools were chilly, but it did not stop this crew. It's a good thing the boys hit the waterslide hard the first day, because it was closed the next day.

This sweet girl loves the water and I think it's safe to say she enjoyed her first trip here. She's a bit young to get in the sea, but hopefully she will get to experience it one day when she is older.

The sunsets are always amazing here.

After sunset we walked around the hotel. Eliza did a lot of walking on this trip, and as you can see she has two brothers keeping a close watch on her!

The next day we swam until lunch time, then headed back to Amman. It was a fun trip and we were glad we could get here one more time!

Benjamin is 7!

This special boy turned 7 years old, and he was so excited for this day. Benjamin has grown, both physically and emotionally, a lot this past year. He is a hard worker and puts his heart into everything he does. Benjamin loves all things music - singing, dancing, and especially playing the piano. He enjoys sports, arts and crafts, math, magic, and playing outside. Benjamin loves telling jokes and making people laugh, and he enjoys being the center of attention. Benjamin is also very sensitive and thoughtful and he thinks of others often. Benjamin loves his siblings. We sometimes say it feels like we have twins because he and Caleb are so close and we are thankful for their brotherly bond and love. Benjamin is a great big brother to Eliza and he loves playing with her and making her laugh every day.  Happy 7th birthday Benjamin, we love you big boy!

Ten Years!!

This year we celebrated 10 years of marriage! Life has been quite a journey for us and I am thankful for each day, the opportunities we have had to learn and grow about each other and ourselves, challenges we have overcome, lives we have created and nurtured, experiences and fun we have had, and the may places we have seen. 

The past 10 years we have had 3 kids and lived in 3 countries - U.S, Kuwait, and Jordan. I don't think 10 years ago we would have guessed our lives would be what they are today, but I'm so glad they are, and am grateful to be sharing and experiencing life with this man. I love to remember this perfect day and all the love surrounding us. 

Nathan is a loving and dedicated husband, father, and friend. He is my rock, by better half, and I love how he can bring calmness to any situation. Nathan is an engaged father and our children adore him. He is a role model, a wrestler, a cuddle, and adventurer, and so much more to them.

I love you so much, and I thank God everyday for choosing me to be your wife. 

Sweetly remember our first dance, Swept Away, which is also the song he proposed to me to, on his 28th birthday, at Shenandoah National Park.

We talked about taking a trip to celebrate, but for now, we enjoyed a nice dinner at a French restaurant we had been wanting to try. And this is the dress I wore for our wedding rehearsal dinner :).

Happy 10 year Anniversary Nathan! I love you so much, and look forward to what the years ahead have in store for us!