The Biggest Surprise EVER!!!!

So, everyone knew but me....but it was the coolest surprise ever! Mariah came to see me. I didn't even recognize her because I was so not expecting her. Matt tricked me into going to the airport to help with some other friends that were coming. I wasn't feeling well that day and really didn't want to go but at the last minute I agreed. I think the pictures really speak for themselves:





Ahhh...I love her!

Meeting Needs...

This past week has been an amazing week around here in these parts! We just sent off a group from the States that have been with us for the past 9 days. They were here helping us with our ministry to Autistic children and their families. I have to say that they were ONE AMAZING TEAM with so much talent. We saw 18 children and trained about 15-20 shadows, parents and teachers each day. They were able to ease some parent's minds and were also able to give them the tools they need for their children.

Training Time:

Mervat, one of our translators and a dear friend to our family:

Julie and Vicky with Stacey and Matthew Ray
April with Vicky and Julie


The team also spent time playing with our kids and loving on them:


And....while they were here we also celebrated my (Stacey's) 38th birthday at the NEW Outback Steakhouse. It was such a fun time of relaxation in the middle of an intense week.

Don't ask...but just know that this is pure talent (I'm just sayin:)







THANKS GUYS! WE LOVE YOU AND CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO COME BACK AGAIN!!!!!

Madison's Ear Piercing

For Madison's 7th birthday she asked to have her ears pierced. Her daddy was a little reluctant....




BUT he allowed it because in our culture ALL little girls have their ears pierced from birth. She sounds pitiful at the beginning of this video but you see how happy she is by the end. :)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our Life is Different now....

Yes, different...that's the best way to describe our life now. Not bad, not wrong, not what we ever expected, but different...sometimes different in a crazy way...sometimes different in a bad way....but most of all different in a good way. We used to spend our "extra moments" outside in a yard, our weekends packed with church activities, and our evenings filled with counseling sessions. But now...now what do we do in this different life?
We spend our family times in our apartment doing these activies...
baking....


doing homework and playing school with the kids...




enjoying our "most of the time embarrassed" teen...

spending time with and ministering to families that live among us....

and...

... sitting in traffic jams daily...breaking every traffic law (if we were in the states)

...taking trips to the Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea

...daily seeing ancient sites around us
...including the pyramids
...encountering beggers on every street
...speaking Arabic with the locals
...bargaining and dickering for everything from apples to apartments
...sitting in gov't offices for hours for ONE piece of paper

...ordering fresh meat on the street, straight off of the cow
...buying fruits and veggies for pennies

and understanding more about the meaning of the 'washing of feet' in Scripture...in more ways than one! :)

Different...just what HE has called us to be!

Plumbing in Egypt :)

When you see that title you know there has to be a story behind it, huh? We have had many plumbing problems on this side of the ocean...ya know, things aren't made as sturdy here and I really don't think the plumbing system is all that modern if you really want to know the truth:)

Among many of the repairs, each year we have had to replace our kitchen faucet...have no idea why...not really abusing it...it just breaks. So, once again we called our plumber, Mohammed, and asked him to come and put another one in. Madison and Matthew Ray enjoy watching repairmen. Matthew pulled this hairy substance out of Mohammed's toolbox and brought it to us and asked, "Why does he have HAIR in his toolbox?!"

Mohammed's toolbox and the HAIR (not really hair...some type of synthetic string stuff)
"Does this guy really know what he is doing????"
Mohammed...he's really comfortable here now...he asks for "shay" (tea) each time he visits. :)
Madison and Matthew Ray showing Mohammed some of their kitchen doorway stunts....

Rainbow Cake...first go around...

Madison and Matthew Ray's birthday (and mine) is in just a few weeks. I have talked them into ONE MORE (maybe) joint party. So, I was trying to decide on what kind of cake to make this year. When I came across this I just had to try it. Well, this is my first attempt..hmmm...It tastes great..but needs a little work on the appearance for sure! It will help when I get some really cool food coloring from the states. It's a good thing I have more time to practice...I guess my family and friends will be having lots of cake for a few weeks...birthdays...gotta love 'em!

What have we been doing???

It's been a while since I have blogged but I have a really good reason....I promise! All schools here were closed for a couple of weeks due to the "most recent" flu going around the world. So, our school decided to send all of the school work home for the parents to homeschool their children during this "time off" to keep us from extending the year into the summer.
The kids did a great job and we worked day and night on all of their assignments...but I am TIRED...whew..that was A LOT! 3 different kids at 3 very different levels...let's just say I am EXTREMELY thankful for our school here and how it ministers to our family.
Here are the kids working really hard:)

A Day on the Nile...overcoming fear...

Today we went for an afternoon ride on the Nile River. We all enjoy this experience except for Madison. She has refused to go on a faluka for over a year now....she is so motion sensitive and is just petrified. Today we encouraged her to conquer her fear...it was tough at first but she finally did it! Afterwards we were praising her for how well she did and then asked her if she was ready to go the next time...her reply, "NO!" :)
Adam and Liz enjoying a relaxing time...:)
The fam...glad to have Madison back in our Nile pictures..
Love birds..

Meredith and Caroline..so sweet