An Update to our Missing Kitty...

She's home! 

Our sorrow and grief were turned into joy when she showed up one morning wanting her food! 

Christmas Sugar Cookies

We decorated our annual Christmas cookies this week.  This recipe that I use is so yummy!  I have used it for 3 years and will continue each year!  I found it at All Recipes.com our first Christmas away from home.  You can find it here.

A Little Trip to the Zoo

Today consisted of...

Pink Flamingos...

Parrots and other colorful fowl...

Two of the most amazing kids in the world...

teasing Mr.Giraffe

and just a little more teasing...

poor bare bottomed ostrich...no worries, he didn't seem to mind his bottom was bare...

fishing for leopards...

just kidding...only feeding them meat...

lots of hills and stairs...

and these two amazing kids again...

pretty waterfalls and pretty girls...

(I think I see her daddy in this picture)

cute baby elephants...ahh!

feeding big slobbery mamma elephants!

We had a great time at the zoo this morning.  The best part...we only spent $15 dollars total for the whole thing...including hotdogs from 7-11!

We love cheap outings!

My Man @ Work

The Once Was A Boy...

There once was a boy who loved to build...

 who loved to create forts,

who loved to create clubs and be the king of them,

 who loved to make his sister be below him on the royal throne.

  There once was a boy who loved to play at the park with his sister and let her be in the club.

 The once was a boy who had a friend and together they kicked the sister out of the club because she didn't work hard enough.

There once was a boy who could no longer play in his club because he did not allow his sister to be the princess of the club.

There now is a boy who has allowed his sister back in the club, but only as a soldier to fight off the bad guys.  Not as a princess...there are no princesses in this club!

The Last of the Birthday Celebration

On Friday when we had our party we had planned to do some fireworks and set 9 lanterns off.  But it was raining.  The fireworks would have been ok but the lanterns are thin paper and would not have worked.  We re-planned to do it on Sunday night.  All the neighborhood friends came over and let's just say...the neighbors were very much aware we were celebrating something!  :)  Boys and fireworks...!

My favorite part was the lanterns!  Below are a few pics of the lighting of the lanterns.  

They are awesome!  

You can tell how humid and hot it was...just look at Little Man's green shirt!  :)

Bowling Birthday Party

 We had a bowling party and then returned home for hot dogs and s'mores!

Below they are having nice quiet dinner time conversation.  HA!  Anytime you get a bunch of 8, 9, 10, 11 year old boys together it is anything but nice and quiet!  :)  

I think this was around the time they started the burping contest. 

Boys will be boys!

 

Little Lady had a friend over too...This sweet girl is such an answer to prayer for Little Lady to have a godly girlfriend!  We just love her.

Birthday

Little Man's Birthday is this weekend!  We started off the weekend with mail from America and Ecuador! 

Here are a few before party pictures...

14th Wedding Anniversary

In honor of 14 years with the most amazing husband in the world...

Top 14 things of love about him...

14. He still makes my heart throb.

13.  He is a fun father.  There are always squeals of joy around this place.

12.  He desires for his children to know and love the Lord...he spends time every single night reading God's word to them.

11.  He loves helping others.

10.  He loves to save money for a rainy day.

9.  He eats and enjoys anything I cook...as long as it doesn't have onions.

8.  He always keeps gas in the car for me.

7.  He exercises with me...as long as it isn't 5am.

6.  He is a huge help when it comes to home school. He is always willing to help where ever he can.

5.  He is my own personal IT guy!

4.  He keeps me up to date with current events...I don't have to watch the news that way.

3.  He is my very own personal chiropractor...that is pretty important since we live where there are none.

2.  He encourages me to pursue things that I love.

1.  He is faithful to me and loves me as Christ loves the church.

I am so thankful for my sweetheart.  

Marriage overseas isn't easy and everyone is always watching you.  May our lives and love for one another always be a testimony to God's great love in our lives.

A couple more Pictures from the Weekend

Anniversary Getaway

We have friends who live around the corner from us.  They served with us in India and we followed them here. :)  They have two kids the same age as our two.  We have agreed to help each other get away while we keep the other couple's kids.  Our kids get along so well so it is always fun for all!  

This past weekend Hubby and I wanted to go somewhere for our anniversary...it has been 14 years since we said I do!  We live in an amazing place and there are so many options for things like this.  I found a place I really wanted to go to, but the drawback was the fact that it was $100 a night.  I personally felt that fourteen years was totally worth that but my sweetheart who is ever so practical said "No Way!"  HA!  We had about a week and a half to figure out where we were going to stay and Hubby said go ahead and book where ever I wanted. He is sweet like that.  But I just couldn't spend the $200 when it came down to it!  I think his practicality has rubbed off on me.  

I just prayed about it and then talked to some friends who have used airline miles to stay in places.  After going to the American Airlines Advantage website and seeing how many miles I had from my trip to America last March, I looked to see what hotels here were available to be paid for by miles...it just so happened that the very hotel that I wanted to stay at was on there!  And I had more than enough miles.  I booked it and we stayed for two nights with no money out of our pocket.  It was awesome!  I honestly probably wouldn't have enjoyed it if I had paid for it.  I would have kept thinking about it how much it was costing us. Hubby would have also brought along the peanut butter, jelly and bread and that is what we would have eaten the whole time. 

This way was so much better...it was truly a blessing from the Lord.  

Thank you Father!

Just a few pics from the weekend...

 Our porch!  So peaceful with lots of lizards.

 Our view!

 Of the entire resort this was the best part!  I love bath tubs...I spent two years without one and boy do I appreciate them.  This one was amazing!

The shower was pretty cool too.  Two different shower heads.  I am easily impressed!

This resort was on the side of a steep mountain.  These little cars/trucks would pick you up and take you wherever you wanted to go.

 A little fish tank!  These are everywhere.

 

 I thought this was a neat door.

  I guess this is an old time Ferris wheel.  We didn't have enough in our party to operate it.

 The pool was amazing.  The only problem it was so COLD!  We did get in but it was so cold!

 Rice fields everywhere!

 Chess anyone?  

 Taking out his frustrations.  :)

A really cool rocking chair!

 

There were no mushrooms in this mushroom house.  :(

 This chair is one big piece of wood.  Amazing!

 He did it!  He dove in!

 Taking a hike at a nearby waterfall.  

 

Trusty little looking bridge!

This is all for now...more to come!