Christmas with friends

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with friends! On Christmas Day we gathered with a lot of friends to celebrate Jesus!

One friend led us in a wonderful devotional time! We read through many old testament scriptures as the kids opened a boxes inside of boxes. Each one showed that Jesus was a very anticipated gift!

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Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a really special time with friends. Some American friends just moved really close to us...walking distance! We had Joseph's favorite meal, chili, for dinner. This really made it special for him. 

I have really missed Christmas Eve candlelight services in the States. So, we got some candles and sat outside. We read the Christmas story and sang Christmas carols by candlelight. It was the kind of moment that I wanted to pause, rewind, and play again. What a special time with good friends! 

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Christmas in the desert

It hasn't really felt like Christmas to me here. It takes a lot of effort to make it feel Christmasy. Everywhere we go we don't see, hear, and feel Christmas like the States. We don't hear the music or see the lights on houses.

Actually, we see the opposite. Our Arab friends are wearing black for mourning. There are black flags and banners hanging in the village because of the mourning time. It's a little hard to feel festive when our friends are mourning.

So, in order to feel Christmasy, we went out to the desert and took some Christmas pictures. We've been listening to Christmas music in our house and car. Also, the kids have been playing with the nativity set and pretending to be the different characters in the story.

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mourning

Our Arab friends have been mourning since the end of November and it will continue through January. They are mourning the deaths of the family of their prophet Mohammed.

The first 10 days were a very intense time of gathering together to listen to readings. The men would march through the streets broadcasting a lamenting story of the martyrdom of Hussein, Mohammed's grandson. There was a drum too, which really added to the mournful feeling.

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blending in with the locals

The first 10 days of Muharram are very important. No one eats their meals at home...everyone gathers together and eats rice and meat together. There were many evenings that I spent in the village with the ladies. It was a great time to get to know people!

I had to wear this Abaaya. Actually, this is a specific kind of Abaaya that my friends call a Difa. Everyone in the village has one of these.

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fun in the rain

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged. These last few weeks have been so crazy busy, but also very fulfilling. Mostly because of Muharram and Ashura, we've been very busy with people who live in the village close to us.

In some ways it seems like this time has gone by in a blur...kind of like Joseph in the running picture! haha!

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I'm thankful to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends

Friday we celebrated Thanksgiving with wonderful friends. Since we all live overseas, far from family, we are family to each other. I'm thankful that God provides such great friends to live life with!

We have a lot of kids and a lot of noise, but that's what makes it fun!

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I'm thankful for good medical care

Since we live overseas, I am especially thankful for good doctors and hospitals. 

We've had plenty of experiences with doctors over the last few years. Both of the kids have had respiratory issues. I had two surgeries. We've also dealt with stomach ulcers and other things. They can do the procedures here that are available in the States. We really are blessed!

Faith has had a cold and so I took her to the doctor. I didn't want her to be suffering with ear infections or another kind of infection that could clear up with antibiotics. Turns out that it's viral...not a big deal...something else to be thankful for! :) 

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I'm thankful for headaches

For seven days in a row I struggled with the worst headaches. Today was the first day that I've felt good again. It's been a tough week because of this. But, I kept feeling God tug at my heart and I finally let him speak to me through His Word.

There have been times when I have to tell my kids, "Go say Thank You!" Sometimes some random person will give them a bag of chips and I make them say thank you! That's how I felt this week. God was telling me, his reluctant child, to be thankful for my headaches. He had to push me to do it, but I finally said thank you!

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I'm thankful for my college years

I went to school at a tiny little college in Phoenix called Southwestern College. I loved this school and the friends I made there! I have so many great memories from the four years I spent there.

I was in the elementary education program. When I graduated, I got my teaching license and started teaching at a public school. I felt well prepared for teaching!!

I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to go to college! I know it's something that not all women around the world get to do.

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I'm thankful for our home

We've been home for only a few days and we are SO THANKFUL for our home! It's good to be home and we love the place that we call home!

We never doubted that God would provide for us. He has provided a home for us many times since we've been overseas.

I really enjoyed looking back and remembering how much He's blessed us over the last 5 years. We stepped out of America to a place that was so foreign. He has provided for us again and again! Each place we've lived in has felt like home. God is so good!

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I'm thankful for forgiveness

I mess up all the time. I wish I didn't, but I do. I am often overwhelmed by my own sinfulness. God is always so good to me, though. He forgives my sin and draws me close. Even in the midst of disciplining me, he shows me that it's His Kindness that leads to repentance and that He wants only to restore me so that I can be close to Him again.

I love the promise in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 

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I'm thankful for quiet times

I started early with both Joseph and Faith having quiet time in the mornings. They can sit and look at books while I read my Bible and write in my journal. It's such a blessing that they can do this and it gives me some much needed time with the Lord! 

Many times I have my own quiet time before they get up and then Joseph asks, "when will we have quiet time?" 

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More Turkey

After our time in Ephesus we drove for seven hours in a 9 passenger rental van. We drove to another city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, which was beautiful! We spent a few days there before going on to Istanbul.

Istanbul was such an interesting place. It seemed to us that there is both Secularism and Islam mixed together. It certainly isn't as conservative as where we live now. We were also struck by how people didn't smile in public. It doesn't seem to be normal to make eye contact there.

Istanbul is a mega city on the Bosphorus Straight. It extends from Asia to Europe. Apparently, it's the only metropolis that is on two continents! So, we flew into Europe and stayed in Asia. Then we took the ferry a few times from Asia to Europe. Crazy, huh?

Below you can see a slideshow from both Istanbul and Antalya. Enjoy!

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I'm thankful for digital cameras

I can remember a time when we didn't have digital cameras and we had to buy film instead of memory cards. I remember when we could only take one or two pictures of something and hope it turned out. Now I take several shots and delete the ones that don't turn out. 

My kids will never know the difference. As soon as we take a picture of them they want to see it! 

Last Christmas my grandma gave us money to go towards a new camera and we are loving our new DSLR!! 

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I'm thankful for sleep

Isn't it true that our need for sleep is just one more evidence that God is God and we are not? He doesn't need sleep, but we do. 

There are so many times that I wake up refreshed from a good night's sleep and thank Him for the gift of good sleep. Other times I don't get good sleep and I am exhausted the next day. Today I'm particularly thankful to be back to sleeping in my own bed with the kids sleeping in another room! 

Sometimes when we travel we have no choice but to take the all night flight. Our most recent flight was from 9:30pm to 2:15am. The kids sleep well on planes...and for that I'm so thankful! When we ask our kids, "what do we do on airplanes?" They say, "we sleep!"

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Ephesus

For the first two weeks of November we were in Turkey. We were excited about this opportunity to see a new country! After doing lots of research, we knew we must include some time in Ephesus. We've been planning this trip for some months and we were so excited about this part!!

Archeologists worked very hard to dig up this ancient city of Ephesus. It was so cool to imagine what life was like there 2,000 years ago!! It was once inhabited by 400,000 people, but earthquakes destroyed this city. No one lives there now.

We flew into a city called Izmir, which was once known as Smyrna. We stayed in a quaint little town called Selcuk, close to Ephesus. The people there were so kind to us! We also had dinner Kusadasi, a port town about a 30 minute drive from Ephesus. 

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I'm thankful for a bathtub

I know this might sound silly to some of you, but I know we have been blessed to have a bathtub. A lot of places throughout the world do not have bathtubs in their houses. Many places here in the Middle East do not have bathtubs. So, we don't take it for granted!

Our kids can play in the bath for so long some days. Usually they're not ready to get out of the bath when we're ready. Sometimes I read while they're playing, just to let them enjoy it.

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I'm thankful for boats

Since we live on an island we see lots of boats around. I love watching them in the evenings, bringing in their fishing nets!

A few weeks ago we got to go on a boat ride. It was a lot of fun! You can see the video below.

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I'm thankful for visitors

It's always such a blessing to have people come visit us here in the Middle East! We haven't had a lot of visitors and we would love to have more...hint, hint! The times that we have had visitors have really been a blessing!

Over the years we've had some visitors for the day and some that stayed the night. John & Denise came to visit us for the day when they had to do a one day visa hop.

We have lots of great memories from the visits we've had. I wish I had taken more pictures of our visitors...some people I don't have their pictures.

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I'm thankful for pools

Swimming has been such a great activity for our family! The kids love it and have become so comfortable in the water. I'm always happy when they're happy!

Swimming also helps me with my headaches. I had a chiropractor tell me once that I need to go swimming to help with muscle tension in my shoulders and neck. I've definitely noticed that when I am swimming a lot, my headaches are reduced.

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I'm thankful for Tim's sisters

Growing up, I always wondered what it would be like to have sisters. Little did I know that when I got married, I would have two sisters. Tonya and Karla have accepted me as their own sister. They've even said that they don't like calling me their "sister-in-law." I love them both so much!

Tim is the youngest and only boy in his family. Tonya is 9 years older than him and Karla is 4 years older than him.

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I'm thankful for Tim's parents

I married into a wonderful family! I know I'm very blessed to have two sets of parents who love me! Tim's parents have treated me and their sons-in-law like their own.

They have been very supportive and encouraging to Tim and me. They're wonderful grandparents to Joseph and Faith. They are blessed to have 8 grandchildren to keep up with. Joseph and Faith are the two youngest!

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I'm thankful for my brothers

I am blessed to have two younger brothers, whom I love! In my family there are three kids. I am the oldest child and only daughter. Andrew is four years younger than me and Ross is six years younger than me. My grandpa called us the "JAR" kids: Jeni, Andrew, Ross.

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I'm thankful for Arabic

I love this beautiful language that we are learning! Arabic is so difficult and so much fun to learn. I enjoy making connections when I talk with my Arab friends. Sometimes I learn a new word when I'm with my friends and I rush home to look in the dictionary to get a better grasp of what it means.

There are some letters/sounds in Arabic that don't exist in English. It's always so funny to me when I'm trying to teach my kids these sounds!

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I'm thankful for my kids

James 1:16 - 17 "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." 

It's so obvious to me that Joseph and Faith were handpicked by God for us. Both of them fit so well in our small family as well as our extended families.

Tim and I longed for children for eight years before God led us to adopt Joseph. A year and a half later we adopted Faith.

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I'm thankful for skype

Living so far away from family is hard, but we have regular skype times. It's such a blessing to be able to see each other on the computer.

Sometimes if we talk on the phone without video, the kids say, "Grandma, I can't see you!" They often prepare for their talks with grandparents by gathering toys. The other day Joseph was showing off his new cutting skills so grandparents could watch him!

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I'm thankful for my nieces and nephews

I have 3 nieces and 3 nephews. I LOOOVE my nieces and nephews! I never knew I would love being an aunt as much as I do. These kids mean so much to me. I have prayed for them and I'm so thankful that they all know the Lord! 

All six of my nieces and nephews are Tim's sisters' kids. Tonya has four kids and they live in Phoenix. Karla has two kids and they live in Colorado. 

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I'm thankful for our preschool group

We are blessed to be living in the same country with other kids about the same ages as our kids! It has been so great to start a little preschool group! These kids get along well and so do their moms! I have missed teaching elementary school and I'm glad to have this chance to teach these kiddos.

We have four kids in our little class: Morgan turned 4 in March, Jonathan turned 4 in July, and Joseph turned 4 in September. Eli is the only 3 year old in our class, but he keeps up with the big kids pretty well!

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I'm thankful for my Mom & Dad

I am blessed to have two wonderful parents! My Mom and Dad love each other and enjoy each other...even though they work together.

They are so generous to us by giving the kids gifts and sending packages to us. We had such a wonderful time with them when we were in the States! They sure do love Joseph and Faith, which is such a blessing to me!

I'm including some fun pictures of both of them with the kids...they really are crazy about their grandkids!

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I'm thankful for my years of teaching

I taught for six years before we left the States to live in the Middle East. I loved each class that I got to teach! I learned so much during this time. I'm so grateful for my teaching experiences!

I taught kindergarten for 4 years at Lincoln Academy in Denver, Colorado. When we moved to Albuquerque I taught 2nd grade and 1st grade at Edward Gonzales Elementary. 

Below you can see some teaching pictures. I enjoyed looking through some pictures of my students! There were so many fun memories of things like pet day, field day, kindergarten graduation, birthdays, valentines day, and so much more. 

Last May I got to go to the 8th grade continuation at Lincoln Academy. It was so much fun for me to see my kindergartners all these years later! I loved hearing about their successes! 

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I'm thankful for opportunities to travel

We have lived overseas for five years this November! It's been an adventure to say the least. I've been so thankful for many things over these last five years. I have loved being able to travel to different countries!! I've learned so much and experienced so much...I feel very blessed!

The funny thing is that now that I've done some overseas traveling, I have the desire to see more. I'm certainly not finished traveling and so I hope that God will give me more opportunities to see and experience new countries!

I have enjoyed looking at pictures of our overseas travels. I won't bore you with all of the pictures, just a few. I hope you enjoy seeing where we've been!

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I'm thankful for sunsets

I love sunsets! I love how the sky changes color and everything becomes so beautiful. I love to anticipate sunsets and I love enjoying them!

They are such a reflection of God's creativity! He didn't have to make this world so beautiful, but he did! It's just one more aspect of God's love for us!

I've been teaching our preschoolers about God's creation. On the fourth day of creation God created the sun, moon, and stars. He made the days turn into nights in this amazing way!

I wish I could have been there at the time of creation to watch it all come together. I love that God spoke it all into being. I love that he declares it to be good! Indeed His creation is good!

Below I am posting a few more of my favorite recent sunset pictures...enjoy!

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I'm thankful for my husband!

I have been married to a wonderful man for 11 years! Tim is such a blessing to me! He has taught me so much in the way that he loves me. He truly loves me like Christ loves the church! He is the spiritual leader in our home. I admire his steadfastness, his strength, his knowledge of Scripture and the way he trusts God.

His quiet manner has always been so attractive to me! I always love to hear what's on his mind. His sense of humor is so much fun...he's so good at making me laugh!

I love looking back at our years together. We've been through a lot together. I'm so thankful for the history we have! Though I'm thankful for the years we've had, I ask God to give us many more. I don't know what I'd do without him!

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30 Days of Thanksgiving

I have always had a love/hate relationship with Thanksgiving. I love the idea of taking the time to reflect and give thanks to God! I hate that usually I let time get away from me and end up being more concerned about the traditional thanksgiving food, than about being thankful. 


So this year I have decided to post something that I'm thankful for each day in November. I hope it will encourage you. I know it will be good for me to reflect on God's goodness. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

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Farm

Last week we went to a farm with one of Tim's students. It was fun for the kids to see the animals and it honored Tim's student. It was so different than what we normally picture for an animal farm. We saw dogs, horses, sheep, birds, a cat, and a monkey!

Joseph's favorite part was playing fetch with one of the dogs! See video and pictures below.

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Teacher Tim

Tim has been teaching for a few weeks now. He's enjoying his students, which makes it all worthwhile! He comes home with some fun stories!

He teaches a beginning level course and the students have been learning how to pronounce words correctly. It makes me think about our time as language students. I felt so funny pronouncing sounds that I wasn't used to! 

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What is a village?

We live in a country that has a lot of little villages. My idea of a village is different than the villages here.

It is about the size of a neighborhood, sometimes bigger. But it's very dense with families. Often times when a son gets married the father will build an apartment above the house for the couple to live in.

These villages are all close to each other, not out in the middle of nowhere. This picture of our village shows the city in the background. The city center is only about 15 to 20 minutes away.

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Our Home

We are finally completely settled into our home! God has been so good to give us a wonderful place to call home. We're glad to have our furniture back in place and a few new things too! Here are a few pictures of our place...enjoy!

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New Dryer

A few weeks ago I was excited to get a new dryer!! Before we got our new dryer we were hanging out our clothes on this drying rack.

The problem for getting a dryer in this area is that many of the homes don't have a place to put the vent. So we opted to buy a "condenser dryer" that doesn't need a vent.

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Megan & Jared

In the last couple of weeks we have had the opportunity to have Megan & Jared Breneman at our house!!

We were glad for them to stay with us for a few days when their parents took a vacation to celebrate 20 years of marriage!! Both Megan and Jared are really great with our kids. Joseph and Faith love having them around.

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Mejilis Cushions!!

Yesterday our new Mejilis cushions finally arrived!! We are so excited to have a place to sit that's much more comfortable than the floor! When you walk through the front door in our house there's a big entry way. We decided to use this space for a traditional mejilis, sitting room, with cushions that are on the floor.

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Names

Names are a big deal here in the Middle East. It’s always a great conversation starter when I ask someone where his or her name came from. They like to hear our names, especially our children’s names. Women are not quick to share their names, but it's easy to talk about the children's names. 

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Where did my Arabic go?

We were away from Arabic for nine months and now we're having to start all over again. Ok, actually some things have been coming back to us naturally, but other times I go to say something and just can't seem to think of the word! ugh!! Tim is doing better than I am. I just need to make friends in our neighborhood that I can walk to visit them when Tim is gone.

I feel like I'm speaking like a one year old. Like Jonathan did before he turned two:

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First Week of Teaching!

 I noticed that in my last two posts I used the word "busy." So, I'll try not to use that word again here. Instead of busy, I'll use the word adjustment!

This week was Tim's first week teaching at the English Institute called ILC. It was a big adjustment for our family, especially for him. He teaches every evening for this 5 week session. So, it's an adjustment to have him home in the mornings and gone in the evenings. Three days he gets home around 9:30pm, so the kids don't get to say good night to him those days.

He does some one on one tutoring as well as some classroom teaching. One class has 4 Arab guys who speak very little English. It's an intro class.

I have enjoyed hearing him talk about his students and his experiences! We are proud of Tim for stepping out of his comfort zone and teaching!

There are three other teachers at this small institute and we've only been open for a few sessions now. It's fun to watch this business grow!

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Moved In!!!

These last couple weeks have been so busy for us. In the midst of getting over jet lag we started house hunting. God provided a wonderful place for our family and we are so thankful!!

I had forgotten how exhausting it is to find a house and move in. We are thankful to be in and unpacked! We still have a few things to do like buy a new table since our old kitchen table is too small.

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Happy Birthday to Tim!

Tim's birthday is September 10th. We've been so busy with finding a home that his birthday totally snuck up on us.

We were thankful to be able to go out on a date before all of the moving starts! I love this man and I'm so thankful for his life! He is worth celebrating!

After dinner we went out for chocolate fondu! What a special treat!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIMMY! I LOVE YOU!!

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Good to be back!

Several people have asked us, "Is it good to be back?" We have answered quickly, "Yes it is!" We are back in the Middle East...the place that we call home. We are back and it feels so good to be here. 

But, we're not back to the same place we left. So much happened in this place while we were gone. I don't know if I can really put it into words, but my heart really hurts for the people here. 

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Traveling Overseas

Traveling overseas is always an adventure, especially when you're moving overseas! Packing takes on a whole new meaning when there are so many bags that need to be 50lbs or less. We were so thankful that the lady who checked us in let us get away with a couple bags that were 51lbs!

Our flight to London was delayed so we missed our connecting flight. That meant that we had an extra 10 hours in London. The airline put us up in a hotel and we all took a 4 hour nap! It was nice! We arrived back in the Middle East at 6:30 in the morning with all of our luggage!!

We have been able to successfully go house hunting and celebrate two birthdays despite the fact that we've been dealing with jet lag. We were so glad to get back home!

Here's a slide show of our travel adventures: 

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August

August was such a busy month for us, but it was a lot of fun!! Tim was taking a 4-week course for teaching English as a second language. It was an intensive course and we didn't get to see him very much, so we spent our time catching up with friends and spending some extra time with family!

It was a lot of fun for us, but a lot of work for Tim. He ended up getting bronchitis at the end and was trying to recover as we finished packing and traveled back to the Middle East. Thankfully he seems to be almost completely better now!

I wish I could sum up all that we did in words, but pictures will have to do this time! Enjoy this slideshow of our time in Denver:

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Five Favorites

Here are five of our favorite places that we will miss from Albuquerque! We've really enjoyed New Mexican food, breakfast burritos, green chili in biscuits & gravy, and green chili on our pizza! 

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10 Indications that we're ready to go back

1. 108 degree weather was familiar and comforting in a strange way.
2. We miss seeing our little boy in a dress.
3. We're starting to have dreams in Arabic again.
4. It seems so natural to say "Salaamtik" when someone sneezes!
5. We're sad we missed Eli's birthday party. :(
6. Joseph was jumping up and down when he got to have hummus for dinner.
7. Seeing a Saudi flag made us excited.
8. At McDonalds we were wishing we had hummus instead of ketchup to dip our fries.
9. It's tempting to flash our lights at someone who is driving slow in the fast lane.
10. The kids are singing the Arabic Alphabet nonstop! 

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Greeley Stampede

Last Sunday we went to the Greeley Stampede! We took two full car loads with my parents, our family, Tim's parents, Tim's sister Karla and her kids.

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Grampa Day!

Last Saturday was a special day! We celebrated Father's Day and Grampa's birthday. We called in Grampa Day! It was fun to celebrate my dad! The kids loved having Grampa Day! Grampa's birthday is Friday, July 8th!! We're so thankful that he was born on this day...so thankful that God placed him in our family!

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