Calling Santa

We went for a trip to the mall to visit Santa to tell him all we wanted for Christmas. After we saw him, Madison and Matthew Ray discovered they forgot to tell Santa everything they want. So, Aunt Micah picked up her handy cell phone and made a call to Santa. Her first call accidentally reached an elf so we had to make another call to get to Santa. Here's a video of the Santa call and some pictures of our visit with Santa.

Decorating at Uncle Jeff's and Aunt Micah's House

Since we are still in the states and it is getting closer to Christmas, we are getting to help decorate at our family's houses. It has been so much fun for all of us but we are itching to get back to our house to decorate. Here's the fun we had at Uncle Jeff's and Aunt Micah's house.

Thanksgiving Day

Here's a slide of how we spent Thanksgiving Day. We made the trip to Jackson, TN from Arkansas with Stacey's mom and sister taking the kids in one car and meeting Matt's sister and brother-in-law half-way to get the kids and Stacey driving another car with Matt lying flat in the back seat. (What would we do without family!!?? :)) We tried riding with Matt reclined in the front seat but he was too sick to travel like that. Now I know some of you are thinking, "Why in the world would they drive all of that way with Matt so sick???" Well, we had to make the trip before Friday morning's doctor appointment in Tennessee. So, we took our time, got to Jackson and moved Matt from lying down in the car to lying down on Ryan and Sara's couch. He didn't feel like eating all day but was grateful to be able to see everyone standing over him. By 9 that night Matt was hungry so I fed him leftover Thanksgiving dinner while he laid down on the couch! (Boy, he has his work cut out for him when this is all over!!LOL)

Kickin' Back with the Kings

Well, it's been a week or so since we have been with a strong internet connection. Now it is time to catch you up on what's been going on.
The day after we arrived in the states some of our dearest friends, the Kings, drove all the way from Pensacola to Cabot, Arkansas to see us. They were on their way to see family in VIRGINIA for Thanksgiving and decided to drop by here first. (SOOOOO NOT ON THE WAY!!!) It meant so much to us for them to make that long trip with their 3 kids. All of these pics were taken outside because that is all the kids wanted to do the whole time! Our kids miss the grass and leaves and the day was just beautiful for them to catch up on some good-ole playin'. Thanks guys!!! We love you!!

Update on Matt

I took Matt to a neurologist yesterday. The good news is that they ran the test that ruled out the hemmorhage we had feared. The bad news is that they still are not 100% sure what is wrong. They suspect an "exercise induced migraine" but are going to run other tests to make sure. We will take a migraine over a brain bleed any day! He was scheduled for another test today but he was too sick to even get out of bed. The doctor has now given him some major drugs to help with the pain and he will re-schedule for another day. Until then, please keep praying for his recovery. I am really starting to feel sorry for him! LOL (For all of you who know me and know I don't have the gift of compassion and mercy, you can go ahead and laugh!)

The Trip to America

We made it to America without any glitches. Matt had to ride with a medic and they got to ride in first class while the kids and I sat in economy! But really, all went well and the kids were great. The medic, Mr. Rob, even let me sit up in first class with Matt for a little while. He was such a sweet man and the kids thought he was the greatest! Here's some pics of the trip and some "sticker fun" the kids had with Mr. Rob.

The kids travel so well! Mr. Rob playing with the kids! He even let them put stickers all over his face.

Matt and Rob became great friends. We finally made it to Little Rock!

Unexpected trip to America!!!!

Well, we leave in 7 hours on an unexpected trip back home to America! Just look at this view of my parent's house! Oh, it looks so clean, homey and peaceful! I can't wait! I think I am just going to roll around in that grass!(ha) Maybe I will leave that for the kids!

We have so many emotions going through us, we don't know quite what to expect. We will be going home for a doctor's visit for Matt. We are anxious about the trip and about the tests he will be having while there but we are also sad to leave our friends (really family) here and then we are so excited to see our family and friends in America! Matt has had his roller coaster of feeling good and then feeling bad while I have the roller coaster of every emotion you could dream of!

For all of you who check our blog regularly and for those who have emailed and called giving your prayers and support, we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. I will be posting again in just a few days to update you on Matt's test results. When this is all over, I have one more story to post for you! You won't believe it when you read it!

The McDonald's Birthday Bash!

Everyone in Harmony! :)

Listen to this harmonious Birthday singing! :)

Birthday Week!

This week is the week for birthdays at our house. Stacey, Madison and Matthew Ray all have birthdays the first week of November. The festivities began with a party at the pre-school for Madison and Matthew Ray, followed by a party at our house with Mr. Siede and his family (shown above). We will have the final party this weekend at McDonalds! It is sure to be a great event. I have heard that McDonald's parties here are AMAZING!!! We will post the great PIRATES AND PRINCESS PARTY in a few more days!

Snappin' Beans

I have done some snappin' in my past but nothing like I have done since living here! There is so much available here but so many of our "ready foods" are so much more expensive. For example, I found velveeta the other day and saw that it cost $11. Oreos were $10! And a can of good tasting green beans can run $3-5. So, needless to say we are learning how to buy, cook and eat without breaking our budget. One way we do this is buying fresh green beans. I can buy a kilo (2 lbs) for about 25 cents!!! Pretty cheap, huh? One of Madison and Matthew Ray's new chores is snappin' beans. So far, they love it! We will see how long that lasts! :)