Dead Sea Trip

Over the last few weeks we've had company...dear friends we love to live life with. We spent a day at Mt. Nebo and the Dead Sea..such a memorable and fun trip!Sweet Caroline...
Nader and Cairo...
The "men" floating in the Dead Sea...Matthew Ray thought it was so cool to just "float."
Madison wasn't so sure at first but then loved splashing around in this VERY salty sea...
Pure joy (with no teeth)...
Skipping rocks on the sea...
Audrey and Meredith tasted the HUGE salt crystals...

MEREDITH...I LOVE HER BEING 14 :)

Meredith and her friend did a photo shoot together and this is what they came up with...pretty creative and 14. :)

Meredith also is enjoying her new friends at her school...AND getting into 14 year old poses at school..she's so funny...

Sharing My Big Family With You...

I ran across the picture taken at Christmas and wanted to share my sweet family with you...I love you all so much and am so grateful for a great Christmas ALL together!

The Nose Story...

As stated in an earlier post, we ran out of water 2 days before the city would turn it on again. Matt and I decided that we would all go out for dinner that night so we didn't have a yucky kitchen for 2 days. We loaded up in a taxi and headed to a local restaurant with these place mats...


After leaving the restaurant with hysterical place mats we decided that we should stop by a local store (called a doukan) to get a few bottles of water for drinking. The kids and I waited in the taxi while Matt ran into get the water. I was looking down and suddenly Madison screamed, "Daddy is hurt and is bleeding!" I looked over to see Matt doubled over and blood gushing from his nose. I jumped out of the taxi and told the kids to wait there. Thank goodness for Meredith who can comfort and mother Madison and Matthew Ray..they were crying and concerned.:(

Matt ran smack dab into a VERY CLEAN glass door! He never saw it! After getting the bleeding under control and paying for the water we decided to go home and assess his nose to see if it may be broken. Matt was in pretty good spirits and seemed to not be in that much pain but his nose was crooked and swelling fast.
We decided to go have it x-rayed just to make sure. X-ray's showed he had broken it in THREE places! Since we had no water at home and he didn't want us all to have to come back to the hospital dirty the next day, Matt told the plastic surgeon, Dr. Mo, to go ahead and set it while he was awake....
Dr. Mo did a great job on a very painful procedure.
Here's Matt at home afterward on pain meds :)....
The next day we had a very scary moment when Matt passed out and seized in the kitchen. After speaking with the doctor it was determined that it was a vagal reaction to an injury like this. We are so thankful that he is recovering quickly and will have a straight nose once again...in sha Allah..

The Kids are doing GREAT!

While we were in the States we always were asked, "How do your kids like living overseas?" We can honestly say that they love it and adjust very well to different settings. Many times we feel like they are "missing out" on things like a yard, all friends speaking English, more time with grandparents and Target(oh, that's mine..sorry!:) But really, they aren't "missing out"...they are gaining in so many ways and we feel so blessed that we have the opportunity to show them "life outside of our own little world." Their eyes are opened to how people hurt, how people live in darkness, the hopelessness of those without The ANSWER, and how serving others brings HIM glory! Of course we would love a yard, love to have grandparents around at all times, love Target...but those are very small sacrifices for living out obedience.

Here are a few recent happy faces...

Matthew got a new spike...
Madison on the street..she picked out her outfit for going out to dinner...
Meredith in the taxi...she's so sweet...

First day of school in front of our building...

Flat Number 2 in 2 weeks...

We've moved again to another flat since arriving a little over two weeks ago. We have gotten settled into this place and will be here for the next 6 months. Then we will move to another flat that is unfurnished after we receive our crates of belongings...or at least that is the plan today...our life tends to change so much so you never can tell what may happen next! :)

Our flat is very cute and very "American like" except for the temperature and the water issues! You would think it would be very hot here in the desert but it is VERY cold where we are now. The temps are only in the 40's but we don't have central heat, we have ceramic floors and concrete walls and that makes for us living in a big refrigerator! We also have water issues here..imagine that..in the desert! Water is only turned on two days a week in the city where we have unlimited use of it on those days. The rest of the week we use water from our reserve tanks and pray we make it to the next week! We didn't make it last week but this week I am the "MOM WATER POLICE!" I walk around saying, "Turn off the water! Do you need that much water? Take a really quick shower!" Oh the joys of learning again how to live in yet another place!

Here are a few pics of our flat...

Entrance is "down below"..kinda unique!
Kitchen...very cute...stove cooks EXTREMELY slow and microwave stops every few mins..:)
Madison and Matthew Ray's room...
Meredith's room...
Our room...
The living area...

I'm pickin' up the slack around this blog! :) -meredith

SKINNY DIET coke...I guess it gives you a goal to reach "be as skinny as the can!"
Our heater....we like to call it our fireplace....you are most likely to find one of us in front of it at all times!
the bathroom...not much more to say about that....
our washing machine that holds 1/10 of an American load!

the VERY orange bathroom!
Matthew and Madison chillin' in their bedroom
my bedroom!!! XD
the hallway....
Momma's already starting to cook from scratch in the kitchen :)
a view from our back door
a view from the stairs

Hey everyone! To start off, I would like to apologize for my mother...who has not been updating the blog, but tonight I (Meredith) have decided to update ya'll on what's been going on. :) We just got back from spending time with family, friends, and some interesting schools in the states for six months and are so excited to be back on this side of the world! Usually my mom would tell you guys that the flight was great and was smooth sailing, but I'm going to be honest and say that it was tiring, long, and the food was nasty. Haha...the landing part was fantastic though! As we now unpack and start life in Jordan in a guest house, we are anxious to find our own apartment to settle into! Actually, tomorrow house hunting begins and my parents are going to enroll us into our new school!! I am super excited about getting out tomorrow because there is no way I am going to survive in enclosed walls for much longer. :P The guest apartment is great though! There are stairs (which Matthew and Madison love), we have wireless internet, it is CLEAN :), and it is fairly close to stores and such. I have uploaded some pics of where we are currently living:). Everyone is slowly.....oh so slowly getting over jet lag! We are all excited to find out what God has in store next!!! We'll just have to keep on trusting Him! <3

It's Been Way Too Long...

I know! I have been terrible about updating the blog since being in the States! It has just been easier to throw a few pics up on fb than to actually sit down and type out some great words with my pics! Hee hee!! I am feeling a little overwhelmed by back tracking and catching up the blog. So, I have decided to catch it up in this one post.. yep, one post...a few pics..a few notes...done..and I feel much better! :) Here goes...

Matt and I got to get away for a few days in Tennessee for some rest and relaxation. When you see the other pics below you will know that we have been busy people and this trip was SO NEEDED! My sweet parents kept our kiddos and we can't thank them enough!! :)

Madison cheers...Every week has been filled with cheer practices and football games for Madison! A few weeks ago she was in the local Cabot parade.

She did cartwheels almost all the way down the street for the parade...:)
Matthew Ray is a soccer champ! Our weeks have also been filled with soccer practices and games! He is one of the star players on his team! Last week he made 6 goals!! We think that his practice with Egyptian boys in a 3 ft wide hallway in Egypt really paid off to improve his mad skills....
Mimi came for a visit from California! We had so much fun and she was such a blessing. She kept our house under control while I recovered from foot surgery...
Mimi and Matthew Ray love Juliana's dog, Bentley...
Micah, Bryar and Avery Rae got to come for a couple of days to visit as well! :)
Grandparent's Day...Madison and Matthew Ray's school had grandparents day. Grandaddy and Grammie had lunch with them and took them to buy things at the book fair. What a sweet time for them to share together that doesn't come often in our lives....

Madison and Matthew Ray's 7 and 8 year old birthday party! My mom decorated her house in fun fall decorations for the party...
It was a dress up party and we painted pumpkins and had a cook out...I had to post this pic..it makes me laugh every time I look at it!
Army Man and Ladybug....:)