Family Mall

 We got a new mall in the big city last fall. They have an ice rink. We hadn't tried it because it was a little expensive, and we didn't want to end up wasting money on a bunch of bruised and crying children. I couldn't remember if I still knew how to skate too. 

 So it was pretty much a waste of money on Jesse...who cried most of the time and clung to the wall.

 Toby gets the award for not giving up. He could not keep his feet under him and said he fell a million times, but he kept getting up and trying again. I was so proud of him.

 He just kept on trying and kept a smile on his face...most of the time. He was a little worn out and discouraged at the end.

 This little girl was the star of the show! She was a little nervous at first, but since her friend Sydney was already out on the ice, she pushed past her fears and did amazing. She fell pretty hard a few times, but she figured it out. By the end she was even learning to turn around and trying to go backwards. I was so impressed. She could hardly go to sleep last night thinking about how much fun it was.

We finally convinced Jesse that it was fun to skate and took him for a few spins. I can't wait to go on a date with just Tim and do this. I am so excited that we found something FUN that we can do together. I don't even care that Holly and I were the ONLY women on the ice! I wish I had a video of the crazy, and I mean insane, men that were out there. I have never seen people fall so hard and so often. They were literally up in the air and down on the ground over and over again. Grown men with panicked looks on their faces, pouring sweat and unable to get on their feet. Maybe that was why I liked it...for once in this culture they saw a woman was doing something better than them. They even ran into me two times...legs sprawling and unable to stop and I held my ground. I was so proud of myself too. Family Mall is my new favorite...just waiting for Carre-Four to open. Doesn't look like it's going to happen this year though. Bummer.

I Love My Kids!

 Our sweet friend Tiffany, sent this book to Annie. We love it. Annie is actually having to puzzle her way through the questions and is learning to seek out meaning in verses. Some mornings, she snuggles up with me to work through verses.

 She is learning that her decisions are important and that it's going to be a journey. She is becoming a princess and enjoying her inheritance as a girl after God's own heart.

 My boys are mighty warriors. If you have a boy, you know this is in them. There is no stopping it. There is only molding it and shaping it. Last summer at ICON they learned a great song about the Full Armor of God. They love to dress up and fight. It's amazing what a few cereal boxes and tin foil can become in the hands of these warriors.

 They stand for what is good and fight for the rights of others!

 They are fierce and loyal. But they also have the tender sides that will protect me at all costs.

They have pledged their honor on this! 

I love my kids!

We are rich!

 So I already mentioned that Tim is an inventor, but thanks to his Dad he can do anything with his hands. He already made us one bookshelf last year, but because we are so RICH in books, we needed another one. It's already full, so we are going to need more projects built for us soon. I love that this book shelf is different and creative. He spent a long time figuring out how to get everything just right. I am so NOT like that. I am instant gratification to the extreme. If I had made this. I probably would have used cardboard and tape and it would be a total wreck. Thanks for working so hard to make me happy Tim. 

We are RICH in books. We now have 3 bookshelves FULL of books. That was the number one thing that was hard to get rid of before we moved. Every book I gave away or sold was painful to lose. Our friends and neighbors have NO books. I just saw one neighbor had the Quran in a bag nailed to her wall in her house. But she can't even read it... I think about all the ways these books have helped us. They have taught us great morals and led us into amazing imaginary lands. My kids LOVE to read. Well, Jesse isn't exactly a reader yet...but he will be! Somehow after only being here for 2 years we have more books than we ever had before we left. I love that God gives us great things. Now if only we could inspire our neighbors and friends to want to read and to look for books of their own. We have almost finished the editing of the two children's books we secured the rights to. We should have those printed this summer some time. It's so exciting. But they have to value them still...

Father's Day

 This post is about Tim. The love of my life and the best Dad ever! You may wonder why there are so many pictures of me and the kids though... So I will just start by saying that Tim, not only does not mind being in the shadow of his family, but he actually enjoys it. This may tend to make me feel a bit selfish. However, the more I shine and enjoy life, the more he does. Okay...now I just feel rotten. I am realizing the depth of his love for us at an even greater level as I type this post. I mean, I enjoy a good act of service for Tim here and there, but  he actually thrives on it. Father's Day was a great example of this. I had to beg him to let us do something fun "for him." We wanted to go to the river. I did however manage to make a lot of good food for him...so that should count for something right?? Once at the river, we managed to lose a tube up river, not once, but twice.  Holly went out into the river the first time to get it and I went the second time. I was scared to death. I kept envisioning giant, mutated fish from the horribly polluted waters swimming up and nibbling at me...but all the while I wouldn't know because the water is so freezing I wouldn't feel it until my leg was halfway gone.

 But I couldn't make Holly go again. I couldn't let her become the prey of some horrible mutant. I couldn't make Tim go, because he hates the water. Actually, he didn't offer. It was my fault we were even there for Father's Day to begin with. So I did it. 

 I got really close to the tube, but it has some kind of brown, bubbly swirling foam around it and I was scared and my shoes were falling off and my arms were giving out and I was fighting these horrible currents. Here I am giving up. I am yelling for Tim to come save me. It's all in my mind really, because the currents are actually not that strong here and I am sitting in a tube myself...but still the mutant fish could be there.

 Miraculously I made it back and Holly threw me a line. All along, Tim took pictures of me being a total freak so I could blog about it later. What a great husband!

 We found a different spot down river without gross plant life on the shore and crazy frogs all about. We were able to enjoy the new spot. Even though I failed and we were down to one tube.

 Toby says, "I love that Daddy is so cool and tells us great stories!"

 I think Toby looks a lot like Tim in this picture.

 Even though Tim refused to get in the water, he insisted he was having fun. He helped the boys build boats out of trash collected on the side of the river. He cheered Annie on as she braved the rapids and encouraged me to go out and have fun too.  It's just what he does. If we are shining, he is shining.

 We adore this guy! He is amazing at creating and inventing. He has a great idea every other day! He chooses to lay some of those ideas aside for our sake and others he knows will help us and always goes after those things first. He is rarely ever grumpy. He is always helpful.

 He encouraged Annie to try out her brave side and go out in the bumpy waters. But he kept his eye on her the whole time, ready to rescue if he needed to. 

 He helped Toby figure out a new way of building his boat so it would float, without actually doing it for him. I love that about him. He is always so patient to teach and help the kids learn on their own. By contrast, I just want them to get it real quick and often blurt out the answer.

 She did it. She was looking for Tim's wave the whole time, to know she had done a good job.  Annie says, "I love Daddy because he is so awesome. He believes in me and knows that I can do it. He is handsome and unique, loveable and huggable." 

 Jesse says, "I love about Daddy that he is cool and that he helps me build stuff and that we hike a lot and I love hiking and swimming and I love him so much." 

 Our kids are empowered by Tim. They know their value in him and look to him daily for it. He never fails to give it to them and they are successful in what they do because of him.

They will float through life, knowing that they have the best construction and will not sink even in the turbulent waters, because their Daddy has helped them be strong and confident. 

Tim, you are amazing. I know you don't like me showing you off to everyone, but I can't help it. We already established at the beginning of this post, that it was about me and how I feel after all...so I like for everyone to know how great you are. Thank you for loving us so well. Thank you for being a patient teacher. Thank you for being an inventor. We love you.

River Run

 Yesterday was hot! So we packed up and headed to the river...which is ICY cold!

 Jesse is never very sure about the cold water.

 But if you are a good parent, you force your kids to have fun!

 See...I was right...it is FUN!

 But he ended back up on the side and not really in the water.

 The river bottom is really rocky and all I have is flip-flops...so the kids helped me stay above water.

 Toby has been asking lots of questions about baptism lately...he wanted to practice today. He has been scared about the water over his face thing. He decided it was a really fun thing to do. We are hoping to hold him off until ICON next year! That would be so special.

 I love my kids!

 Holly convinced Annie that it is fun to ride the rapids and a little. So after 10 minutes of talking her into it, she braved the current with Holly!

 They went down river a little ways and gave each other a high five at the end. The boys ran off to meet them.

sword fight with bamboo sticks!

 

The river was right next to this sunflower field. Holly took some great pictures and I stole them!

I love this picture with my kids!

Total Eclipse

This is not the best picture obviously, but it was so fun to watch a full lunar eclipse the other night. At the height of it, the moon turned red. It was a reminder to me that we have to be completely lined up with the Son to receive his Light. Also a reminder that we are really small. I think I had some other deeper thoughts at the time, but I have already forgotten them. 

Garden

 The garden is in full bloom now. This year we have cilantro, basil, grapes, pomegranates, hot peppers and bell peppers, and tomatoes. Seriously how does this grow from a seed and how does it have a taste in it? God is so amazing!

 We planted a lot more flowers this year too. I didn't even know what these flowers were when I bought them from the bazaar as little shoots...turns out they are carnations! Fun!

 I love these guys...they are a spreading little viney looking thing. They only open up during the morning.

I love pulling back my curtain and seeing all the colors and the growth in the morning! So thankful for my garden!

Housha Sale!

 STUFF...it is always multiplying! I pride myself on not buying a lot of junk! I pride myself on throwing things away...sometimes things I didn't mean...much to Tim's chagrin. Maybe it's because I have always lived a transient life-style, but I look at our home right now and I think, "If we were to move tomorrow...this would be a disaster." So I purge! It's a wonderful feeling! Usually I just give things away or throw it away. But I have found here that both of those ways are bad. If I give them away, one of the neighbors complains that they didn't get as much. If I throw it away, they always know and dig it out. I never actually caught them digging in my trash, but I have seen stuff in their homes I know I threw away. Personally, I wouldn't recommend digging through our trash...we can't flush our toilet paper here...just sayin'! So this time we decided to have a yard sale...or housha sale! This also proved to be disastrous, because the day before the neighbors got wind of it and everyone wanted a sneak preview of the sale and everyone had a reason why they should be let in early. We had people knocking on our door all day.

 We finally let them in...you all thought Texas garage salers were crazy!

 The kids were pushing and pulling on each other. The moms were doing their best to grab the goods without looking too eager! Our board games were the hottest item. We sold everything for 250 dinar...which is less than a quarter.

 It was a madhouse!

 I felt a little bad getting rid of my junk, because honestly they already all have tons of junk in their own homes and they were all buying more than they wanted...but it was such a deal, they couldn't pass it up. People even came to ask if we were moving back to America and could they have our furniture.

 Lavine wasn't letting go of her car!

 Reshwan has long coveted this batman suit and even though it is tattered and torn and stained and smelly and WAY too small for him, he has worn it every day since! Jesse is explaining Bakugans to him.

 Looking through a few books together.

The women trying to pretend they weren't too interested! But Nazila was a dead give away with a big bag full of stuff. Everything sold out and the kids made 30,000 Dinar! They are starting a bike fund!