He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress and for his children it will be a refuge.
Proverbs 14:26

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Day 46

September 29, 2018

Daddy and big sis traveling means movie marathon, card games and playing with make-up with these two...




Day 45

September 28, 2018

Another day of fellowship with good friends...  Anabelle loves playing big sis


Day 44

September 27, 2018


We have a door frame in the back of the house where we measure the girls.  Both Naomi and Anabelle have really shot up in the last year...


 Sweet Maddie....  Holding steady at the same height for going on three years...



Day 43

September 26, 2018

Maddie's leadership team made it to their conference.  Thankful for a great week for these kids!


Day 42

September 25, 2018

Just figuring out where all he can climb...




Day 41

September 24, 2018

Maddie went for a week long trip to Europe with the student leadership team from school this week.  Biggest challenge was packing all her belongings for 8.5 days including a towel and her study Bible in one 8 KG backpack.  We didn't weigh it but I told her to act like it was light!  She did it!  I really don't think this would have been possible for me!!


Her new hammock is also perfect for late night naps before going to the airport in the middle of the night!


Day 40

September 23, 2018

Leo has been oh so afraid of Maddie's new hammock in her room until today when he decided not to be anymore.  Sweet kitty...

Day 39

September 22, 2018


Coffee dates and sister talks- even across oceans...

Day 38

September 21, 2018

Can't get enough of hearing her play and sing...  So thankful for our church here.



Day 37

September 20, 2018

Saw this on facebook and sent it to Maddie today.  Something both of us needed to be reminded of I think...


Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Day 36

September 19, 2018

Late nights...


Strangely will be missed next year...

Day 35

September 18, 2018

Don't worry, Leo has recovered from his traumatic middle of the night cat party and is back to the business of killing all the big spiders.  Good kitty...

And these two are finally bonding and sharing the space by the front window...

Day 34

September 17, 2018

Pictures definitely do not do the events of this early morning justice...  

To set the stage, this has been the state of our kitchen window for awhile...  We desperately need to get the screens replaced...


Notice the hole in the screen.  It is positioned behind the glass window, but still definitely a hole. So anyway, in Jordan at this time of year it's still pretty hot but just during the day when the sun is out.  So if you time it just right, you open your windows in the late afternoon and all throughout the night and in the early morning and it overall keeps the house much cooler (we don't have AC).  So for as long as we've lived here, we've kept the window open at night.  (and yes, that is my mountain of clean dishes- no dish washer either)

Ok so early early in the wee hours i started hearing like cat yowling- not just little meow's but these awful noises and I was half asleep so didn't fully realize what it was.  When I started waking up,  I'm thinking goodness what in the world is wrong with Leo?  (the cat we are keeping for friends).  He really has not ever been very vocal during the night (well except for the one night Maddie closed him out of her room where his food is).  Anyway, it was a very strange noise.  Not completely uncommon because there are TONS of stray cats in Jordan out on the streets and yes, tons in our neighborhood.  It's kind of a normal nighttime sound except it seemed very loud and very close.  So I headed into the living room (first closing my bedroom door behind me, thinking that if Leo was doing something bad it would not make Jason happy and I didn't want him waking up and having to deal with it...).  So I glanced into the living room and saw something small and black streak across the room.  Ok first, Leo is not black.  Or small.  So panic is setting in.  In case you don't know me, I don't do bugs, or small fast unknown animals.  My first thought was that Leo had somehow captured a rat and was chasing it around (He has already done a stellar job killing cockroaches and spiders).  Then I hear additional noises in the kitchen and realize there are multiple unknown animals....So as I'm entering panic mode, I go in and wake up Maddie- my resident go-to tough girl who can handle killing all the things (or at least dealing with whatever things there are that might make me shreak and jump on the couch).  I'm realizing as I"m waking her that maybe, just maybe, there are additional cats in the house.  Bless her.  I practically drag her off her bunk bed, tell her that there are CATS IN THE HOUSE!!!! and she has to HELP ME DO SOMETHING...  Needless to say we are both a little jumpy but she heads into the kitchen while i stand on the couch and watch (did I mention there are unknown animals streaking across the living room?).  (Oh but first, both of us realize we have not seen Leo- again PANIC!  If these cats got in, Leo could have gotten out!  I started looking and found him kind of cowering on the back patio where he likes to hang during the day when Maddie's not home...).  Whew- ok.  Leo is fine- back to the pressing problem

I'm standing on the couch trying not to scream (remember we do not want Jason to wake up) and Maddie heads into the kitchen and immediately I hear "OH MOM OH MOM OH MOM"  More panic and kind of a lot of loud, crashing sounds... Apparently when she entered the kitchen there was a mad scattering of all the neighborhood cats (she counted "4, maybe 5- at least 2 really big ones") that had made there were into our kitchen and when she went in and flipped the light they all scrambled out of the dog/cat food area and wherever else they were around the kitchen and back onto the counter and out the window.  Except for one poor little sweetie... (the black streak).  Every time he tried to jump on the counter he would fall back down.  He then went into panic and started circling our kitchen island (more muted screaming from the peanut gallery- that would be me...) and finally ended up under the stove.  At which point I told Maddie to GET HIM OUT.  (She may or may not have glared at me a time or two during all of this by the way).  



(I mean, closing her in the kitchen with the kitten was a good idea so it couldn't get out and run through the house, right?).  She got a broom and kind of poked him out and he eventually made it back onto the counter and out the window only falling a few times.  He did however knock a frying pan to the floor and i guess it was about the time the last little kitty made it's way out the window, frying pan crashes to the floor and Maddie and I practically collapse (I mean I had been working hard- all the standing on the couch and yelling ideas at Maddie), so yeah about that time that Jason appears in the hallway and says some version of WHAT in the world are y'all doing?  I briefly try to explain that don't worry honey, there were 4-5 stray cats in the kitchen, we got them all out, a few things crashed, oh and don't worry Leo's fine!  He stands there and looks at me for a second and says "I'm going back to bed"...  

Besides a somewhat brief explanation a few hours later when we were all up, we have not spoken of the cat invasion again.  

But hey, guess what we got today on all windows?  New screens...



Day 33

September 16, 2018

So Jason has started this great new favorite game- soccer in the living room... Such an awesome idea that so far has not resulted in anything breaking but has resulted in frequent tears.  Some of us REALLY like to win...  We're working on that...




Day 32

September 15, 2018

Because no weekend is complete without an Ikea run!



And cleaning out closets means new places for Leo to hide...

Day 31

September 14, 2018

Abbey's birthday!  So far I still find this one of the hardest things with this having a kid in college thing is being so far apart on special days like bdays!!  She had a good day and was loved on by friends and families of friends so I'm thankful for that.

We just went about our normal Friday business over on our side of the world.  House group with dear friends we haven't seen in a while.  Following along to the worship songs is somehow easier with a massive stuffed dog!

Fun to reconnect and love on some kiddos!  AB loves being the big kid for once!



Thursday, September 13, 2018

Day 30

September 13, 2018

Senior year homecoming dance.  One more "last" to check off our list!



Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Day 29

September 12, 2018

This hammock swing has been a long time coming!  Finally got it installed and ready for Maddie to enjoy her last year at home ( and of course take with her wherever in the world she ends up going!)



Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Day 28

September 11, 2018

 A little homework help from big sis...



Day 27

September 10, 2018

Weirdly excited about the same kind of drinkable yogurt we loved when we lived in France...



Sunday, September 9, 2018

Day 26

September 9, 2018

So Jason has declared that Leo may not come into our bedroom (or at least be on the furniture in our room).  So I may have laughed just a little when I walked into the room and say this...


And then I woke up to this...  Sitting in the window is not technically on the furniture so we may let him get away with that... 

Day 25

September 8, 2018

These 2 sweeties were super excited to see each other.  So thankful that Anabelle was so excited about getting back and starting school IN ARABIC.  

Day 24

September 7, 2018

So missed worship with our home group and hearing my girl sing and play...


Day 23

September 6, 2018

Headed out shopping for school uniforms with this little sassy pants.  Yes, she is wearing a pink "girly girls" baseball t-shirt ("diamonds are a girls best friend"), shorts, brown winter boots and curly hair from sponge rollers.  Love her...


Day 22

September 5, 2018

So yeah, this might not work as the cats favorite place...

 Hard to remember to take pics when jet lagged!

Day 21

September 4, 2018

Home!  Someone was glad to see the animals (and the people too...)


Oh and a few days behind, but Naomi had a great start back to school too!

Day 20

September 3, 2018

Home we go!  It's been an amazing month but we're ready to be together again as a family and to get back into a routine!


Day 19

September 2, 2018

Anabelle and I headed back to Georgia today after a good, much needed week with Memphis family. Got to say one last amazing Georgia sunset...