Isabella, Daddy's Home!

Andrew arrived home safely from a month in Ethiopia. He was so happy to see his little family.



And they were happy to see him too.



Well, maybe baby Isabella wasn't so sure. Mama, who is this stranger that's holding me??

Baby Checkup

Today I drove Laura and Isabella to the pediatrician in north Dallas for baby's 4 month checkup. Wow, that baby has grown! She has doubled her weight since birth and is actually off the chart for weight at 16 lbs, 11oz.! Her height is 95th percentile and head circumference is 75th percentile. The dr. said she is doing just great!

Baby herself was doing just great until they gave her her 4-month immunizations--three shots and an oral vaccine too.

We stopped at Pei Wei for lunch on the way home. I had never been there before, but it was great and fun to watch too.

A Punkin on a Pumpkin

More Computer Troubles

I called Gary this morning and had a nice chat with him. His laptop has gone from limping to non-functional. A friend and colleague tried to help him on Saturday and ended up making it so it won't even run in safe mode now. This same friend found a loaner for him to use on the weekend. Maybe the fix-it guys can be contacted on Monday.

Rachel's new computer is partially set up. Her music and her photos have been transferred from the old computer and only the documents are remaining. But she is so busy with her job, she doesn't have any time for her new computer anyway. The first grading period has just ended and this week she has to learn how to run the gradebook and mail out report cards.

Laura and I have been hearing from Andrew in Ethiopia. Last I heard he was buying a bed and interviewing a potential maid. He hopes to return a couple days earlier than originally scheduled, but don't know if that is going to work out or not.

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Like to the theater for a lovely matinee of Seussical the Musical.



Baby thought it was lots of fun!

Computer Problems

The phone woke me up this morning. It was Gary calling from Baltimore saying his laptop wouldn't boot. Well, it would partially boot, then freeze up. I googled "safe mode" and got him going on that, and then at the office I asked the IT guys for a bit more advice. I called Gary's cell phone at 11:40 and amazingly, he had it turned on, set to vibrate, in his jacked pocket, so he answered (stepping out of the lunch line).

On the other hand, I started setting up Rachel's brand new computer this afternoon. It runs Vista, so we'll have to learn a new operating system, but it didn't take long to get the thing up and humming and on the internet. Setting computers up is lots easier than it used to be in the old days. I managed to get her photos moved over, but it will take more effort to do her music.

Rachel gets to finally meet some of her students face to face tomorrow at a field trip to a pumpkin patch. I found a bright orange pumpkin shirt for her to wear to the event for $4.50 at Walmart in the girls section. That was when Laura, Isabella and I went shopping after lunch at Moon Wok. That baby is so cute! She is really sucking her thumb now, which keeps her quietly occupied for long stretches.

Visitors

Last weekend we enjoyed the company of another Gary and Linda--this couple attends Gateway Presbyterian Church in The Dalles, Oregon, a church that shares in our financial support. They came to Dallas to attend a wedding of the son of friends they knew when they were missionaries in Kenya some years ago. They mostly took care of themselves or were out feasting at various wedding events, but we did manage to have a picnic out on the deck. October is one of the two months in Dallas when the weather is amenable to picnicking.

In other news, Gary left today for 10 days. First a workshop in Baltimore at the government's invitation, and then on the the Computer Technical Conference at the JAARS center in North Carolina. He wasn't feeling very prepared for his three upcoming speeches at CTC--work on the next edition of the Ethnologue has been all consuming for weeks now.

Laura has been able to speak to Andrew in Ethiopia nearly every day. Sounds like he is doing well, but misses his family back here in Dallas. I've been babysitting Isabella a couple hours each afternoon so Laura can get a few things done without interruption.

Keeping In Touch

It is never too early to Skype your family and friends back home.

Beautiful Baby

Isn't this about the most beautiful baby there ever was?? (No, I'm not biased, not a bit.) Photos were sent by Laura who will rejoin us here in Dallas on Saturday. Then we'll get to enjoy this baby for less than a month before they depart for Ethiopia.

Click on the photo below to go see the entire album.

Baby Isabella, part 4

Camping with friends at Mineral Wells State Park

We had a great weekend out of Dallas on a little camping trip. The weather was perfect, the friends were great, and the food--well, you know that camping always provides lots of yummy food!

We went to Mineral Wells State Park, only about 1.5 hours drive away. We got home around 3pm and spent the next 2-3 hours cleaning up and doing laundry and packing away the camping stuff.

I've uploaded my photos of the weekend here, if you want to have a look.

Not Much Going On

Today's big excitement was getting a flu shot. They were kind enough to set up a shot clinic in a meeting room on our floor, so I didn't have to go far.

Other news is that it has cooled down a bit, finally. I still wore just a tee shirt to work, but I was actually a bit chilly on the walk there.

We've heard a bit more from Andrew. He's still looking at houses and starts some country travel tomorrow, so pray for his safety.

Gary is still busy, busy with the Ethnologue. He's making travel plans for trips to Baltimore, Waxhaw, and Manila over this month and next.

Gary and I are going camping with some friends from work this coming weekend. I'll have my cell phone on, but not sure if there will be coverage. Rachel will need to come over and feed our cat while we're gone. It will be nice to be away for a couple days.

You Can't Get There From Here

That's how we felt when we tried to figure out how to get to church this morning. There was a national triathlon routed right through our neighborhood and all along or across the routes we can take to get to church. Between 7am and 11:30am. So we decided to have home church today. (Possibly another determining factor was that a certain person, who shall remain nameless, can't stand the music on Youth Sunday, which today was.) Said person instead got up and took the camera outside to take some photos of the middle stretch of the race, the part on bikes.

And can you believe that this woman would ride 24 miles in her swimming suit? Sounds pretty uncomfortable to me.

More From Ethiopia

Andrew was able to talk to his family in the DR over Skype for 30-40 minutes today. He also was able to do gmail chat with me this afternoon. It seems that his new office has decent internet access, at least at night after all the employees have gone home!

Andrew was happy to have met a friend for coffee and had two possible rental houses to look at. He's hoping to find something near his office so the transportation issues won't be so complicated.

He's also already at work getting a drivers' license, a cell phone, keys to the office, etc. Sounds like things are going smoothly to start with.

Gary and I are going over to Rachel's for dinner tonight. Well, bringing dinner in would be a better description. We think she needs to be around people a bit more!

But her job does have her talking a lot on the phone, so that helps her not to be isolated. And she is keeping very busy, fully engaged in her new job. She lost a few students but now they've given her 5 more!

The Phone Just Rang

It was Andrew. He got to Addis Ababa safely, was met at the airport by his boss, and is now at a guesthouse a block from his new office. He has internet access at the moment, so you can send him an email. He was trying to call his wife, but hadn't quite figured out the way to call DR from Ethiopia. I'm sure he'll get it figured out in a minute or two.

His time zone is 8 hours ahead of Dallas.

We thank God for his safe arrival.

He's Off

Andrew wore his new sport coat for his trip to Addis Ababa.


DFW terminal D is for international flights. He has so many frequent flyer miles he gets to use the 1st class check in lane, and it went quickly and smoothly.


Time for a photo in front of a very strange piece of sculpture.