Our Friday and Saturday

This scrapbooking design made with Smilebox

New Best Friends

There is a (mainland) Chinese family that lives next to us. Their little boy LOVES to come over to play. Too bad we speak no Mandarin and he speaks no English. Ana and him love to ride bikes, kick balls, run, scream, and play with blocks. Although he will probably go into a local kindergarten in January, Ana is enjoying playing with him for now!

School Pictures!

The pictures came back from the photographer. When you get yours in December, they should be something like this--only less grainy of course!

Our Non Traditional Thanksgiving!

This free greeting made with Smilebox

The Flower Girl

This is what they looked like most of the time! TOTAL BLURS!

THE HAIR

So Friday was the big staff wedding. The art teacher married the administrative assistant. The administrative assistant's dad is a pastor, so it was a BIG wedding. Luckily Ana didn't seem disturbed by this (even though all the people were clapping for her as she came in--it's Singaporean!). She happily spread all her petals all over the isle. I made sure she got a good nap, cleaned her up, and did her hair--that took a good long while! The ceremony started late mainly because lots of people came in late which meant that the two young children were waiting around for quite a while.

I hope to get some more photos from the actual photographers and post them soon.

Put That Lawn Mower to Good Use

Don't know what to do with your kids on a beautiful day? Pull 'em around the farm for 1/2 hour or so. Not much effort required!

Every time we have to go to the embassy we head over to the Botannical Gardens afterwards to blow off some steam.

Every time Ana gets a leaf "umbrella." You should see all the people passing by laughing!

We put Uncle Michael's bubbles to good use!!

Can't Catch Up--so I'll Do Recent Things!

Picture retakes were last week. Thanks to a very accommodating photographer we got to sneak in a family photo. He was so nice that even took a couple shots with MY camera! We'll get prints and send them off to you in the States--hopefully by Christmas!

We were very glad to get to meet up with great grandmas, great aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles, cousins, and even some second cousins! The kids were very friendly with everyone and had a great time socializing! Thanks everyone for going out of your way to come and see us!

Keepin' them busy!

We played a lot of soccer and rode the horses frequently! Anything to keep them active and out of the house!

The Feast of the Hunter's Moon

Right before we came back from Ethiopia, the girls went to the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. They ate apple dumplings, buffalo stew, roasted corn, and lemonade. They dipped candles and cut logs. They saw people dressed in 1800's gear and got to see how things were done in that time period. Fun was had by all and best of all it wore Ana out! Thanks Auntie Karla for this great idea! Want to go? Lafayette, Indiana at Fort Ouiatenon Park in late September.

Finding ways to keep these three busy and not fighting was a challenge. So, we put them to work cleaning out the pumpkins. Then, after they drew the faces, Matt cut it out for them. They couldn't leave them alone afterwards. Days later they were still digging around in them. Their pumpkins rotted extra fast!

Ana's Birthday Trail Ride

We did this two days before I left for Ethiopia. It was freezing cold, but the horses felt good and there were no bugs. We rode for 2 1/2 hours which was much longer than I expected Ana to last! The forests were lovely and we even saw a deer. What a fun way to celebrate your birthday!