I know, I know...

Sorry, I have not kept up with this recently. We have been in so many states in the last three weeks, I have more jetlag from changing time zones here than when when we came back from Asia! I do have pictures, unfortunately, no way to upload them this week. I hope that next week to be able to post some pictures. But for now, here is one of the last pictures we took in Asia.

In other news, many of you have already heard, but Tim has been accepted to the Ph.D. program at Southern Seminary. We hope to move to Louisville in August. It is nice to know what we are doing at least for the near future. I am really hoping that once we settle into one place here, I'll be better able to keep up with the blog.

It's Bacon!

One of the great pleasures of living overseas is all the interesting translations. Well, as this is probably one of the last posts from overseas I thought I would put a picture of a package of bacon.

Elaborate Bacon (I'm not sure what makes it "elaborate"--although it was pretty lean)

Piece in heart Fragrance in mouth...is that a "piece" of bacon IN my heart? Will my arteries clog that quickly? And isn't a "fragrance" something you smell, ie not in your mouth?

These things, I will miss...except when it's important information that I can't figure out what they want me to do. Such as, "olymepics" on official banners. And an "Aboriginal Tribal Restaurant," I'm not really sure what they would serve. And I won't go to "Line up this" instead of "here" anymore. No more heads on my chickens. Ok, maybe I won't miss that. This week I have been thinking a lot about all the things I will miss here. And these are just a few of the things I will miss.

Play Ball!

The kids are really excited because this summer, Isabella and Elijah will be playing softball and T-ball, respectively. Lydia feels a little left out though. She loves balls and likes to through a lot!
In our country, eggs are rarely refridgerated...something I had a hard time relaxing about at first. We have to wash the eggs as well since the sellers try to prove "freshness" by leaving evidence of the eggs last place of inhabitance. So sometimes the eggs will sit on the counter until we have time to wash them. A couple of days ago I was sorting Isabella and Elijah clothes in their room, when Lydia came in and yelled "BALL!" She threw something that I first thought was a toy, but then I realized it didn't bounce. I turned to look and see what "ball" she had thrown and lo and behold, it was an egg! It was really funny...a mess clean up but still funny. I'm looking forward to having counters she can't reach!

Each of them is unique!

I decided it was time to start comparing the kids...not who's the best, but who looks like who (or is it whom?). Enjoy these "through the years" pictures.

All the kids about 20-21 months, in order...

All the babies within the first few months, in order...

Sorry for the pause...

Things have been a little crazy between meetings, traveling, packing, and illness, we've felt stretched a little thin. Happily, the weather has taken a turn for the better and we have our windows open letting in a little warm air.

Elliana will soon be 2 months old. She's growing really fast. While we don't know how much she weighs and she isn't exactly "fat," she is already able to wear 3-6 months clothes. She is really long. The poor thing has a little cold, we are praying that she will be better soon.

Lydia is 21 months now and talking up a storm. This morning Elijah was trying to get her to say "spiderman" but instead, she said "diaperman." Her favorite words are "no," "cookie," juice," and "I'll get it."

Elijah is really getting taller. He is really excited about playing T-ball this summer. And still loves doing his pre-school.

Bella is continuing to do well in school, even though it's always a little difficult to get back in the swing of things after a vacation. But her reading skills are still exploding!

Anyway, here are some pictures that I took yesterday, hope you enjoy!

Long time, no blog...

Sorry for my used to be regular readers. It has been quite a while since I wrote last...sorry. I hope that soon things will calm down, and I will be able to post some pics of the kid from Thailand. But for now, we are going, going, going. Tomorrow is a day off, so hopefully we will be down at the beach for a little R & R. Sadly, though, we only have a few more days left in Thailand...really hoping it will warm up a little before we go back!

Tigers

It's amazing to think that Elliana is already more than a month old. She has slept through the night a couple of times. But even though she doesn't seem to be making it a habit, I'm still okay with her getting up once a night.
Tim took Isabella and Elijah to the Night Safari here with some friends. These pictures prove that they are pretty brave! One of the older girls got to hold the cub, but ours didn pretty good petting.

3 Weeks Today

Believe it or not, Elliana is already 3 weeks old. It seems like she was born last week or just a few days ago. Alright, so I guess it's still not been THAT long. Anyway, Tim and Elijah have gone back home. And we girls are just hanging out waiting for her passport and the boys to come back. So here are a few pictures of the girls. Hope everyone enjoys these!

Chick- ow!

Lydia's idea of fun is to pull all the shoes off the shoe rack. First, she piles them up, and then slowly she hides them all around the house...it makes for a lot of searching!

Let's all go to the movies...

While we've been here in Thailand, the movie theater across the way was playing Alvin and the Chipmunks. As our kids have never been to a movie before, they were too young before we left the US and in China the only American movies they play are the most violent ones. That and they are played so loud that I leave feeling I have permanent hearing loss. So anyway, the kids had no idea where we were going when we left. And when I told them we were going to see a movie, they were a little confused because they didn't know that you could see a movie outside your home. They were shocked at the size of the screen! And they didn't have any concept that they couldn't talk in the movie. Isabella kept shouting things at me! But Elijah was the truly funny one. Isabella was mesmorized by the movie. Elijah though fell asleep less than half way through the movie. I guess he's not into the whole "talking Chipmunks" thing.
I will try to take some pictures soon of the girls and post them.

Can't always be right...

So yesterday Elijah wanted to go on my walk with me. I'm not sure why walking around in a circle is fun for a four year old, but I like the company. One thing that you have to understand is that in Asia it takes MONTHS for them to take the Christmas trees down. As we passed one of the many Christmas trees still up, Elijah realized that the music was also Christmas music. He got really excited and said that today was Christmas. I told him that Christmas had already come and gone. And he, as a four year old, argued with me at some length. He finally asked if it were Christmas somewhere else, like another country. I said no. Christmas was over and done with EVERYWHERE! And then yesterday night, we were watching CNN and lo and behold. I WAS WRONG!!! Apparently, in Russia, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th (maybe the 6th with the time difference). On CNN they were showing a video clip from a Christmas mass. And so there it is, just when you think you are confident of something...CNN proves you wrong! And Elijah was right! Yesterday, it was Christmas in Russia.

More pictures...

I realized as I was posting yesterday that I didn't have any pictures of Elijah with Elliana. So now we have some of those...unfortunately for him, she was not really happy about it. Anyway, so here are a few more pictures.

Elijah wants to hold Elliana a lot.

He's a great older brother!

Three cheers for sleeping...hip, hip, hooray!

Find something you're good at and do it!

In Elliana's case, napping!
So Lydia's a little bored, she's hoping this drawer will offer a little excitement.

A few baby pictures

Well, most of these are still from the hospital but they are new. So far Elliana has been a good sleeper. She wakes up to eat, but then goes right back to sleep...I can't ask for much more than that! Anyway, I will hopefully take some more pictures soon and upload those too. Hope you enjoy these.

Merry Christmas!!!

Well, so Christmas is already passed, but some of us spent it in the hospital. So we didn't fully "do" Christmas until the day after until Elliana and I got home. Some one thought that I posted the last blog, but that was Tim. We are really glad to be back home. So the following are just a few Christmas pictures of us opening our presents so the grandparents and great-grandparents can see. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Sleepers for Elliana

Sudoku...we are going to have to share this!

Watches

Elijah's t-shirt and the girls' jeans

An IQ booster book...are you guys trying to tell us something?

Kids' stockings

Lydia wants to wear the Stockings



Are we smarter than a 5th grader? I'm not so sure!




Lydia's animal boat and Elijah's Buzz Lightyear coloring book




New bags


Cinderella



Mama's French press

Grandma and Elliana