change is on the way

By the time Hannah was 10 days old, we knew that change was probably on the way.  By the time she was 3 weeks old, we knew we would moving to another country.  So much change happened so quickly.  We did our best to say goodbyes and soak up time with people we love so much.

 

Catie, Rebekah, Anna, and I went out for pedicures.  And the girls got Henna done.  This was just a couple days before our friends left the country.

 

 

And when they left, we went, too.  John, Hannah and I went with them to check out our new country.

Here's some of us at the airport.  This moment was pretty intense, and it brings back a lot of emotion just looking at the picture.

 

We all made it onto the plane, and Hannah got to go on her first international flight when she was just 3 months old!!  Please notice that she wore something with her feet covered so that I would be fussed at as little as possible.  : )

 

We did lots of meetings and talking and praying and checking out schools and houses in our 3-day-trip, and we squeezed in a date night, too!  : )

 

We got to go to the beach for 5 minutes.  I didn't even know there was a beach here!!

 

We headed back "home" after 3 days, and our friends headed to the US for a sabbatical.

Time to start packing.  I laughed that I coincidently started packing with box #1...which means it was the first box I started packing when I packed up our house in Waco, too.

 

A new Chili's opened close to our house, so we went out for a family fun night.  They left the pepper costume in the play area, so Zach put it on.  So much hilarity ensued.  We laughed and laughed.  Here's Zach-the-pepper chasing Jake.

 

And then more goodbyes...to people we love so much!

We went out to this fun place with some friends.

 

We had a cookout with some other wonderful friends.

 

This sweet friend came over and helped me several times, and I loved squeezing in every moment with her that I could get.

sweetness

In the midst of life changing around us, we have enjoyed this sweet princess.  Here are some shots of her around month old.

 

Check out the hands on the hips and that little bottom in the air.

 

Sweet expressions

 

I could snuggle her all day long!

 

Time for fun

As we knew we were going to be moving to another country, we wanted to soak up everything we could where we were living.  So in the midst of craziness, we took a drive up to a fun family day.   We had so much fun driving through the beautiful countryside, exploring ruins, and just hanging out. 
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One little town we were planning to drive through had some kind of protests that day with tires burning in the main circle, so that led us to some adventurous Middle-Eastern driving so that we didn't go into that town.  We got to cross medians, go the wrong direction on one way streets, and find back roads to avoid the protests.  That might not sound fun to you, but it was a blast!  : )  I didn't think I was going to be able to drive there, but I actually miss it.  As far as driving goes there, the rules are, there ain't no rules.  Except don't hit a pedestrian...or you go to jail...totally not kidding!

Once we got there, we found flowers blooming and a beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee.  We ate a delicious Arab lunch and enjoyed our family and some normalcy in a very not-normal time of life.

 

 

 

(Do you like the black line across every picture I take with my phone??!!  Me either.  If you have any ideas of how to fix it, please let me know!)

 

Jacob snoozed out on the way home. 

Brothers...

 

This one cracks me up!

 

We made a wrong turn on the way home and ended up in crazy crazy traffic.

But it was the last time I got to see the downtown area, so we soaked it up!

 

Goodbye to friends

Some interns came to work with our company in our previous country.  They arrived 2 days before us, and we got to say goodbye to them on May 2 before they left to return to the US.  By May 2 the changes were coming so fast in our lives that I was kindof in shock, I think.  I just couldn't do much blogging, but I want to try to document some of the last couple months.

 

I'm so thankful for the months we got to know these amazing men and women.  Each one of them is so precious to our hearts.  They loved us and our kids through such an intense time.  I love this picture cause you can see them investing in 3 of our kids...even in their last few minutes with our family.   

 

 

They were friends to me while we found our way in a new country.

 

This guy came over many weeks and did a morning of art with Zach.  It was one of Zach's favorite parts of every week!

 

 

I'm thankful to God for the many many ways He has provided for us over the past year!