Update

Andrew got here safely last night from his week in the DR. He was/is missing his baby a lot. That will probably get worse when he leaves for Ethiopia on Wednesday, except he may be so busy he won't have time to think about it too much. He's got a list of chores to get done in the next couple days.

Rachel continues to work very hard at her new job. She's now spending a mere 12 hours a day at in instead of 16! This week she moves over to a more regimented schedule for her parent phone calls.

Haven't heard anything recent from David and Sarah, except that Sarah was interviewing for a different job.

Gary is working like crazy on the next edition of the Ethnologue among other things.

Facebook Fotos

Grandma might need to sign up for Facebook! Look what someone posted!

Shipping

Friday was shipping day. Thursday night they were finishing up the boxes and I made labels. The truck was late, but it finally came, and it was finally loaded, but not without a few worrisome moments when it looked like the entire pallet was going to fall on top of one of the workers!




And lastly, we cannot forget posting another photo of baby. In her new front pack, grandpa can entertain her with both hands at the piano, as long has he has a long reach.

Safely There

We had a very early wake up this morning at 3:15am to take Andrew, Laura and Isabella to DFW to go visit the other grandma. Check-in didn't go very quickly because it turned out Isabella needed a ticket after all (stupid Expedia). But, it only cost $12, so we can't complain very much! And this email just arrived:

hi Mom,

I just wanted to send a quick note saying that we arrived with no incidents or problems. Miguelina was so excited to see the baby. We had about a 15 minute session of her oohhing and aahhhing at the baby at the airport before going out to the car. The baby was very good on the planes, she hardly cried at all. Even a couple of people mentioned to us that she was very well behaved. Okay, now it is nap time. Talk to you later.

Love,
Andrew

Maybe tomorrow I can post photos of the 42 boxes on their way to Ethiopia. We thank God that there were no mishaps--for a moment there I was sure the whole pallet was coming down on top of the worker!

I've spent an hour cleaning up and rearranging more boxes and empty boxes. The house is still pretty much a wreck, but that is to be expected with the transitions. At least now Gary can get to the piano easily.

Upcoming Family Schedule

The upcoming schedule for our busy family is below. But first, a photo of our cutest baby trying to learn how to suck her thumb. So far, she hasn't figured out how to consistently prevent poking herself in the eye when sucking her thumb.

• Friday Sept 19, 8-10am: shipping company comes and takes STUFF to go to Ethiopia
• Saturday Sept 20, 5:45am Andrew, Laura, Isabella fly to DR
• Saturday Sept 27, 10:30pm Andrew returns to Dallas from DR, leaving L and baby behind
• Wednesday Oct 1, 3:00pm Andrew flies to Ethiopia via Amsterdam
• Friday-Sunday, Oct 10-12 Linda and Gary go camping
• Saturday October 18, 10:30pm Laura and Isabella return to Dallas from DR
• Wednesday Oct 22-Nov 1 Gary goes to Baltimore and Charlotte for two business trips
• Sunday Nov 2, 2pm Andrew returns to Dallas from Ethiopia
• Wednesday Nov 5 sometime Grandma and grandpa Simons arrive in Dallas by car
• Friday Nov 7? David and Sarah drive up from Houston
• Monday Nov 10 Grandpa turns 80! PARTY!
• Wednesday Nov 12 4pm Andrew, Laura, Isabella leave for Ethiopia :-(
• Sometime: David and Sarah return to Houston
• Sometime: Gma and Gpa return to Sun City
• Tuesday Nov 18-Fri Nov28 Gary in Philippins for a conference

Look, Ma--No Hands!

Andrew and Laura found this baby carrier on Ebay for half price and baby seems to like it lots better than the one the already had. She seems to have a distinct preference for being held out, rather than being held in.



In other news, David and Sarah may finally have a renter for their vacant property. I guess with all the mess in Houston, somebody wants to rent a house that didn't even loose power.

Storm Update

I haven't been doing such a great job updating lately. Here's the obligatory photo of our cutest baby. And here's the news from Houston.

David and Sarah did not evacuate, but around 3 4 am on Friday night I think they may have wished they did. Their cell phones never went out of service, though, so David was able to phone us Saturday morning and tell us they were OK. They had no power or water, except the rainwater that had seeped in under their windows and sliding glass door. Apparently Mali didn't like the storm very much either.

They did find that their other house (the one Sarah bought before they got married and that they are still trying to find a renter for) did have electricity, so they slept there and invited some friends too. However, that house had no furniture, so they all slept on the floor, but at least they had AC. I guess the other 90% of Houston doesn't have power yet.

The storm amounted to nothing here in Dallas, just a bit of rain and a light breeze.

Rachel's job continues to be tough in the sense that she is climbing up a steep learning curve, but good in the sense that she is totally engaged with it and seems to like what she's doing. We are so happy to see her fully into it!

Andrew and Laura are packing and packing. They are sending 1/5 of a container to Ethiopia, and the shipping company is coming on Friday to pick it all up. Stuff they aren't taking to Ethiopia is getting carried over to Rachel's apartment to be stored in one of her two large walk-in closets. Andrew has tickets to be in Ethiopia Oct 1- Nov2 by himself, then they all fly there on Nov 12. If their passports arrive soon, Andrew hopes to go to the DR for a visit along with Laura and baby prior to Oct. 1. They are beginning to gear up for their new job and new life.

OK, got to get Gary to quit writing his latest paper and go to bed. The paper is due tomorrow for the conference he is attending in the Philippines in November.

Let Sleeping Babies Lie

Isabella fell asleep before we left for church and slept all the way through lunch. Even that lively singing didn't wake her up.

Tomorrow Rachel gets her virtual class--about 60 kids in grades 3-8--and starts her work, ready or not! She has worked very hard all last week to do the training and to set up her virtual classrooms, input email lists, watch training videos, etc. etc. I helped with some of the physical arrangements and typing in some lists and programming her phone. I expect it will be an intense week for her, but she is very excited about getting started. Gary made her a home page called The Virtual Academy at Redbird Village (that's the name of her apartment complex). On Wednesday she will go to Irving for some face-to-face professional development with other DFW area teachers and administrators. Pray with us that she will have a great first week and get off to a good start with her students.

Andrew and Laura's plans are falling into place too. They have tickets to depart for Ethiopia on November 12. They've contracted with a shipping company to send a bunch of stuff to Ethiopia and they're getting those boxes packed. We're hoping to have a full family get-together just prior to their departure.

Baby Chatterbox