Linda's Family News

News Alert--Goodbye, Blogger!

2008-12-14T15:13:00.003-06:00

I'm moving this blog from Blogger to a different blogging system called Wordpress. I'm doing this so that family members in a certain country can see it; apparently that country doesn't allow Blogger in.

So, starting today, if you want to read Linda's Family News, you need to go here:
http://lindasfamilynews.wordpress.com/

Please take a minute to put that link in your Favorites or Bookmarks in your web browser. Or better yet, add it to your RSS feeder, if you know what that is. Also, I won't be able to send blogs by email any longer, so you'll have to go to the above link if you want to know what's going on at Linda's Family News.

Bye Blogger. It has been nice knowing you.

Baby Gets More Shots

2008-12-13T16:09:00.002-06:00

Andrew sent a couple emails this week. Here are excerpts:

We had a full day today of more purchases. A washing machine, toaster, changing table, hair dryer, and groceries. Also we got a shower rod and curtains installed in the house finally so it seems the house is coming together. Except for maybe a TV we probably have all the purchases we will make at least until our container comes so we can see what we have in there.

Yesterday, I bumped into a Harvard classmate who is here for a week on business. He and his wife now live in Tanzania. We took him out for lunch today.

and

Isabella had her shots yesterday at the Swedish Embassy clinic which seems to be the only place that has vaccines in the country. I am not actually sure how much they cost since they charged us in sweedish kroners. About 2200 kroners for the six vaccines. One was a 5 in 1 so only one injection. She had the other one in the other leg.

We finally got out curtains installed this week after much waiting. They look nice and make the house feel a little more homey.

As for other news, I've caught a pretty bad cold and don't feel so great. I stayed home from work yesterday and am still moving pretty slow today. When I'm not resting I"m trying to get my Christmas packages ready to take to the post office on Monday.

Forget the Thumb!

2008-12-12T16:40:00.002-06:00

Laura sent me this cutest photo of baby's latest trick. I added this photo and several more to the Picasa web album (Baby, part 7). Do you know how to get there, or do I need to post a link?

You will also see a photo of baby with her Ethiopia cousins who speak Spanish!

I've been half sick today with a cold, but tonight is our department Christmas party, so I need to pull myself together. I'd rather just stay home curled in a ball.

Cookie Baking Has Started

2008-12-09T17:07:00.002-06:00

I'm making a bunch of stained glass star cookies this year to have on hand for all those Christmas events that you're supposed to bring some goodies to.

They are pretty and pretty easy, and they will sit in the freezer until needed without any problems.

I've also baked a bunch of Christmas trees, and will get to decorating them soon.

A Lovely Visit to Granbury

2008-12-07T16:07:00.002-06:00

Yesterday afternoon we drove to the home and Dave and Julie in Granbury, TX to join them and two other couples to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season. We started the evening with a visit downtown for the 25th Candlelight Tour of Homes. We went to maybe 8 or 10 houses out of the 25 on the tour. Then back for a lovely meal, opening Christmas gifts, doing a craft project, and trying out Dave's Wii. We spent the night, had a lovely breakfast and drove home in time for church. Halfway home we realized our coats are still hanging in their closet, which wouldn't be so bad about the coats, but Gary's best reading glasses are in his coat pocket. So, now we have to figure out how to get them back.

Click on the photo below if you want to see more photos of our visit.

Overnight in Granbury

A Saturday in Advent

2008-12-06T12:30:00.003-06:00

I think both Rachel and Gary have other things to do, but this morning Gary is giving Rachel an algebra review in preparation for a certification test she has to take Dec 17. Why does "Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" come to mind?? Ugh--8th grade algebra was a long time ago! And there's science, history, and literature to worry about too.

In spite of this looming test, Rachel's job continues to go well. She's over the steep learning curve and now only works 12 hours a day instead of 18! Once in a while she only works an 8-hour day! She still works some on the weekends too, but she's not as stressed as she was at the beginning. Yesterday she got a couple nice compliments from her boss who reviewed the recorded online parent meeting that Rachel led. She's learned so much about spreadsheets, online collaboration software, and application sharing along the way too.

This afternoon Gary and I are driving to Granbury, about 60 miles away, to spend the evening with three other couples with whom we used to enjoy a weekly Bible study. We plan to spend the night there but make it home for church tomorrow.

Getting Closer to Starting

2008-12-04T19:27:00.002-06:00

Today we talked with the contractor and finalized our plan for remodeling the bathroom. Here's a sketch of the new floorplans. We will end up with a full bath and a three-quarters bath with a sink in the bedroom. This means lots of replumbing, but I think this is the plan that gives us the end result we will be most happy with.

He hopes to get back to us on Monday with an estimate, and he hopes the project would take no more than 4 weeks. It is likely to span the holidays, so good thing we had all our company in November! We're excited (well, I am at least!) to get started on this project!

We will do our own purchasing of the fixtures, so if anyone reading this wants to know what we want for Christmas, think Home Depot gift cards!

Cute Baby Tries Cereal

2008-12-03T19:34:00.002-06:00

I've added a handful more cute baby photos to the online album--baby is seeing what cereal tastes like. Click below to see the newest additions.
http://picasaweb.google.com/linda.simons/BabyIsabellaPart75Months#

In other news, today Rachel got a ride to Casa Mañana Children's Playhouse to attend a school field trip to the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer show, but we needed to go pick her up at noon. Gary kindly came along for the ride and be be navigator.

New Baby Photos

2008-11-30T14:26:00.004-06:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/linda.simons/BabyIsabellaPart75Months#

I just received a few more baby photos, so I added them to the above album. Looks like baby is getting ready for Christmas.

Speaking of which, yesterday Rachel talked us into going Christmas tree shopping with her after going out for breakfast. She bought a big tree and since she's doing that, we decided to buy a little potted Austrian Pine to plant outside after Christmas. In the afternoon we got the boxes of Christmas decorations down and so far I've put up the nativity scene and a few lights outside around the living room window.

On Friday Gary and I spent a lot of time discussing our bathroom remodel plan. He nixed my plan, but we're working hard on some other options. I hope the contractor can come by this week and give us some advice so we can finalize our plan.

Thankful for Gary's Return

2008-11-27T20:08:00.002-06:00

Gary's flight arrived safely and a few minutes early, and Dave and Sharla were willing to postpone Thanksgiving dinner to accommodate Gary's arrival. Dave carved up the turkey and Sharla make a banquet with all the traditional dishes. Rachel contributed green bean casserole and I made some rolls.
And we had a nice table to sit at too.

The "kids'" table was available for a puzzle, since all the kids have grown up.

The News from Ethiopia

2008-11-25T12:53:00.002-06:00

Last night I did some research on calling cards that work to Ethiopia and came up with this one: www.callethiopia.com. I waited until about 10:30pm to try it out, and yay, it worked. I called their landline, and everyone was up but Andrew hadn't left for work yet, so I had a nice chat with everyone. Including baby Isabella, who reportedly smiled when she hear my voice over the phone! :-)

They seem to be doing well. They will be happier when they get some more furniture for their house and when the shipped furniture in boxes arrives, hopefully early January.

I guess I should send out an email with all their contact info, in case any other relatives want to call.

Yay! Some Photos from Ethiopia

2008-11-24T17:22:00.002-06:00

They knew I couldn't go too long without some photos of my beautiful baby, so I was so happy to get these today. I've uploaded them to another Picasa Web Album so if you want to see all 8 of them click on the photo and it should take you to the entire web album.

Baby Isabella, part 7 (5 months)

Also, look to your right and notice that I have added a clock to my blog template showing the current time in Addis Ababa. Hmm, at least it is current relative to Dallas; I'm not sure if it works for viewing my blog from all other places in the world. Maybe somebody would test that for me.

I've added this clock as a way to help myself get organized so I can phone baby and ask her how she's doing. I found a calling card company called CallEthiopia.com and I bought $20 credit, but I haven't tried it yet.

Email from Gary in Philippines

2008-11-19T14:05:00.002-06:00

I just got a long email from Gary so here are parts of it for your reading enjoyment: (sorry the formatting isn't too nice)

It is now 9:30 p.m. Last night I hit the wall at 8:30 and could function
no longer, so I went to bed, and then woke up at about 3:00 and got up. At
least I didn't have any trouble being down stairs at 5:30 to leave for the
airport :-) Tonight, I still feel reasonable, so I might make it back to a
regular schedule by today.

We just got back from a dinner for the invited speakers, and I checked at
the registration desk on the way in about getting Internet access. You'll
be glad to know that the postage for this letter is only $6.00. For $1.00
I could probably put it in an envelope and you'd get it in 10 days, so
maybe $6.00 for instant delivery isn't that bad. The Hotel Services book
in the room said they had 2-hour, 4-hour, 10-hour etc. cards, but when I
checked at the desk they've just changed to $6.00 per day, so i have
unlimited use until noon tomorrow -- I'll just be asleep and at the
conference most of that time.

...

We planned to get to the airport two hours in advance, but ended up 2.5
hours early because there was virtually no traffic on the roads. They had
His and Hers metal detector and Xray lines since they pat everybody down.
The terminal was brand new and shiny and so was the plane we took. It was
Cebu Pacific which is the local budget airline but they had a brand new
plane. They have an interesting approach to loading and unloading the
planes. Ian told me that the old board by rows routine never worked in the
Philippines since everybody always came as soon as they mentioned the
flight, so they load from two ends at once. When they call the flight,
everybody comes and they have two lines, one for the rows 1-16 and the
other for 17-31. Then the 1-16 line continues down the jetway and into the
front door of the plane as usual, but the 17-31 line goes down the stairs
to the tarmac and walks the back of the plane and goes up stairs to enter
in the back door of the plane. When they land, they open the doors at both
ends, so the plane empties twice as fast!

The highlight of the flight was "game time". Ian told me this is a regular
feature on this airline. On our flight, the game was "Name that Tune".
The two stewardesses stood together at the front of the plane. After one
explained the rules, the other one started singing a pop song, and the
first passenger to correctly shout out the name of the song won a Cebu
Pacific towelette. The had three towels to give away, so we got to enjoy
three rounds. I kid you not!

...

Lunch was a hoot. It was a local chain that has local cuisine. For
drinks, we had green coconuts. Yes, they brought out the whole coconut,
shaved down a bit to a six sided solid, with the top cut clean through to
make a removable lid. It was served with a straw to drink it and a spoon
to scoop out the soft meat. The main dish was chicken and rice served on a
wicker plate like you have for using with paper plates, except the paper
plate was a giant leaf that had been cut to make a big circle. They also
ordered squid on the side-- their bodies were stuffed with vegetables and
cut into many small slices.

The event seemed to go okay, though it was hard to tell how much they were
really getting out of it. I think the professors got more than the
students. This is apparently a certificate culture, so they made
certificates of completion for all the students (for sitting through 3.5
hours). They brought a blank certificate for the three of us presenters to
affix our official signatures, and then duplicated them onto fancy paper.
And as we were leaving, the lady in charge ducked into her office to grab
our speakers' gifts, which amounted to a 3-pound bag of groceries. Again,
I kid you not. It includes a package of dried mangos, and 5 different
packages of cookies/biscuits. At least I won't have to worry about
breakfast since they also have coffee in the hotel room.

Tonight there was a dinner for the invited speakers and the all the staff
of the university who are putting on the conference. Ian was invited to
come along as well. It was kind of amazing. We were in the back room of a
restaurant. After taking drink orders, they just kept coming with plates
and bowls of Philippine specialties, like sour soup with tamarind, oxtail
in peanut sauce, scallops on the half shell, fish that is still looking at
you, chicken kebabs, and a bunch more. For a drink, I had green mango
shake (not because I ordered it, but because that is what they brought --
but it was okay). And then the Filipina that I was sitting next to
insisted that I should try "halo halo" for dessert. That's Tagalog for
"mix mix", and it is shaved ice with all kinds of things mixed in -- purple
yams, green hard jello, jack fruit, corn flakes, coconut meat, and more
that I couldn't identify. Like I say, I kid you not.

It's been an interesting day! I also learned to go to a new kind of
euphemism today. Instead of asking for the WC here, you ask for the CR --
the comfort room.

They're There

2008-11-14T23:29:00.002-06:00

I got a call this morning saying Andrew and Laura and Isabella had arrived safely in Ethiopia. We didn't talk long, but long enough for him to tell me all had gone smoothly on the flight, all baggage arrived, someone was there to pick them up, and the baby had behaved very well during the trip.

They were already dealing with issues like a cell phone out of minutes, no cord on their stove, and a plug on their refrigerator that didn't match the outlet in the wall. Ah, such is life and they will find solutions to each of those things.

Gary's parents left by car this morning. We pray for their safe travels too.

Gary leaves on Sunday for a trip to the Philippines and then I'm going into seclusion for a day or two!

Interview at the Airport

2008-11-13T19:06:00.002-06:00

Click here to see the family caught on TV! Why didn't they show beautiful Isabella?

We've not heard from them, but they should have arrived in Addis Ababa by now.

Saying Goodbye

2008-11-12T16:09:00.005-06:00

Last night Andrew and Laura just had to have one more visit to Los Lupes.

And baby needed to listen to grandpa play the hammered dulcimer one last time.

And eat breakfast with grandpa one last time.

And try on her new shirt from Aunt Rachel for the first (and maybe last?) time.

And then another trip to Target to buy some more magic vacuum bags to fit in another box of baby clothes sent from grandma Miguelina.

And then saying goodbye to the great grandparents and great aunt.

Can you believe all this luggage fit in our car along with 5 people??

Trip number two from curb to ticket counter.

And baby waits patiently while they find her ticket and only charge $350 in overweight charges--it could have been worse!

In 24 hours they should be starting their new life in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Family Time

2008-11-11T13:15:00.002-06:00

We are in the middle of a week of more-or-less vacation. Gary has still been working some, but I've mostly stayed away from office work and have kept busy with stuff around the house and taking care of my photos. My last post was about our visit to the Dallas Arboretum, but I've now organized more of the photos from that day and put them into an online album. Click below to see them all--many pretty flower photos and lots of shots of the family.

Family Visit to Dallas Arboretum

I'm still working on another album or two, so stay tuned.

Family Visit to the Arboretum

2008-11-08T22:05:00.002-06:00

We are enjoying a lovely weekend with our whole family here. Well, by whole I mean all our kids and their spouses, and Gary's parents and Gary's sister.

We picked a day with the most gorgeous weather to walk around the Dallas Arboretum which was all decked out in autumn plants and pumpkins.

And what blog would be complete without a cute baby photo?

Just a Couple More Cute Baby Photos

2008-11-06T14:25:00.001-06:00

It is now less than one week before Andrew and Laura take my pretty baby to Ethiopa. So I need to keep taking photos and posting them--soon I'll have to look harder for material for this blog.

Baby goes to vote.

Baby sits on Grandpa's lap while he's working.

A Typical Sunday for Baby

2008-11-05T13:04:00.002-06:00

First, she goes to church, sitting on (top of) her favorite pew.

After church, she chats with her friends.

Then she goes home and watches a bit of football.

I'm Going to Miss This Baby

2008-11-03T22:28:00.002-06:00

Great-great-grandma

2008-11-02T14:43:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I dressed baby up in an outfit crocheted by her great-great-grandma, Alberta Shinabargar. (This baby has grown so much, I should have taken these photos two months ago!) Grandma Shinabargar was my grandmother, and she crocheted this yellow outfit for my first baby, Andrew, Isabella's daddy.

Grandma died in 2004 at the age of 94. My kids were all in college at that point, but they all made the effort to come to grandma's funeral in Michigan which was a blessing for me.

Grandpa's Back!

2008-11-01T14:13:00.002-05:00

And these are the two ways he babysat Isabella when he got home.

Isabella, Daddy's Home!

2008-10-31T20:49:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-28T17:24:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-27T23:13:00.001-05:00

More Computer Troubles

2008-10-26T09:55:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-25T22:57:00.003-05:00

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

Baby thought it was lots of fun!

Computer Problems

2008-10-23T23:02:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-22T22:46:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-19T20:57:00.002-05:00

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

Beautiful Baby

2008-10-14T20:48:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-12T20:57:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-07T22:24:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-05T10:42:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-03T16:28:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-02T14:59:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-01T20:21:00.002-05:00

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.

Update

2008-09-28T15:45:00.003-05:00

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

2008-09-24T20:03:00.003-05:00

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

Shipping

2008-09-21T21:36:00.003-05:00

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

2008-09-20T16:37:00.002-05:00

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

2008-09-18T16:55:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-09-16T19:27:00.003-05:00

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

2008-09-14T23:49:00.004-05:00

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

2008-09-07T21:08:00.003-05:00

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

2008-09-02T21:49:00.001-05:00

My, What a Big Hat You Have!

2008-08-29T17:33:00.002-05:00

Baby Isabella got her birth certificate today using plan B. Plan A had been in the works for several weeks with no result, but her dad found a faster way, so off they went for downtown. And that worked so well, they immediately went to the downtown post office and applied for her first passport. I mean, this girl is about to become a world traveler, so she needs a passport.

Rachel mailed in her first set of employment papers today. Each step seemed to take longer than it should, but it was progress. Tomorrow is her last day of work at Sylvan Learning Centers. After work she plans to buy a laptop desk, another bookcase, a phone with caller ID, and some new ink cartridges. That will about eat up her first paycheck!

Some Good News

2008-08-27T16:07:00.002-05:00

Rachel got a job! A real job. A job in her field. A job with a salary, health and dental insurance, and a retirement package. Included: a new computer, paid-for internet, phone, and travel. We are so happy, but almost afraid to be too happy until she signs the papers! She starts Tuesday, Sept. 2 and has lots of reading to do until then to get ready. More details later!

Also, she is 95% moved into her place, just a few more things to hang on the walls. She still is discouraged about the cigarette smoke smell, which apparently comes from the smokers downstairs. We're trying to help her find some ways to deal with that as she seems quite sensitive to it.

50% More

2008-08-27T15:49:00.003-05:00

Baby Isabella went to the pediatrician yesterday for her 2-month checkup. She had gained 50% of her original weight and now is in the 75th percentile in both height and weight. No wonder my arm is getting tired holding her! I think she is about 50% more beautiful too, don't you?? She also got three injections and one oral vacination--I bet her legs are sore!

Laura has joined the YouTube movement with this funny little clip of Isabella talking to her grandmother in Santo Domingo. Baby is definitly catching on the the turn-taking process of communication. If you look at her and say something, then quietly wait, she vocalizes something back, and we all laugh because it is so fun!

We are going to be so sad to see this baby move to the other side of the globe, but it looks like that is going to happen. Andrew has accepted a job with Food For the Hungry in Ethiopia. The travel details are not in place yet, but it looks like Andrew will go ahead of his family for 4-6 weeks, leaving in September.

Update

2008-08-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

Wow, another week has flown by. Nearly every day this week I spent a bit of time helping Rachel with getting her apartment set up. Yesterday we switched out the mattress and took a few more bits and pieces from here to there. Today she got a nice hand-me-down desk, a photo shelf, and 3 lamps. We also moved her computer desk over, but left her computer here since she doesn't get her internet until Monday.

Everything is nice about this apartment except for one thing--it smells like cigarette smoke. The people below her smoke--is that causing the problem? Supposedly the previous renter did not smoke, but I"m not so sure... We washed the carpets with clear water--we'll see if that helps.

It looks like she is going to need to buy one more bookshelf and she might need another small table or so.

She took her cat over a couple days ago and he's starting to get used to the place. But I think he misses going outside, too.

This afternoon we attended a graduation celebration for Rhodesia--Gary was asked to play a song, which he did. Afterwards, someone asked him for his CD. :-)

Flat Tire

2008-08-22T19:19:00.002-05:00

I was glad Andrew was here to help me. He changed it and then I drove to Goodyear. They told me I needed not one, but two, new tires which they put on this afternoon.

In other news, Gary and I are babysitting tonight. Yes, without mama and papa nearby. They went to another Rangers' game but the seats were in foul ball territory so they didn't want to take baby. She is just coming up on 2 months now and is getting so alert and intentionally interacting with smiles and vocalizations. I think she's going to be a chatterbox!

Dinner at Rachel's

2008-08-19T22:43:00.003-05:00

We squeezed 6 of us, plus baby, around this 4-man table to enjoy a sit-down dinner at Rachel's new place. She didn't quite do the cooking--maybe next time for that. I bought some great chicken at Pollo Regio and Laura brought rice and guandules.

Rachel still has quite a bit to do to finish settling in, but I've helped her install drawer liners and hang her bluebonnet paintings (originals from exchange student Doro).

She didn't get the job she interviewed for, so at the moment she is still going ahead with plan A--subbing and Sylvan.

Lorena returns to DR tomorrow, hopefully missing tropical storm Fay.

A Day of Changes, A Need for Prayer

2008-08-15T22:44:00.003-05:00

Rachel moved into her new apartment today, or more correctly, she started to move. Tomorrow morning a friend with a pickup truck will come and help get some furniture from another friend's place and take it to her apartment. Next Thursday she hopes to take possession of a desk. Also, she won't be able to order internet until Monday, so it is likely to be a week or more before she is really set up and settled it. The apartment was very clean, except for the windows and looks like it is going to be a good place for her.

While unpacking this afternoon, Rachel got a surprise phone call asking her to interview for a teaching job. It is late in the hiring season for this, so she is praying about whether this is the right direction for her to pursue. Please pray with us about that too.

Another important decision has been made: Andrew accepted an offer to take a job in Ethiopia. Lots of follow up decisions now need to be made regarding timing of their departure, especially in light of the fact that the organization wants him there in about 6 weeks. They want to make a trip to the DR as well prior to leaving. It may end up that Andrew would go by himself at first. Pray for God's clear guiding about all the details that need to be dealt with.

And lastly, my mom had her pacemaker battery changed today--it should be good for another 9 years!!

Foxes

2008-08-14T20:30:00.002-05:00

I went to the furniture boutique this morning and picked up (with Andrew's help) this wooden table for Rachel's new apartment. I spent a couple hours in the afternoon both cleaning, sanding, staining it AND sewing an everyday table cloth since it isn't in perfect condition. But it is real wood, and sturdy, and I think it will fit her little dining room pretty well. She was given 4 wooden chairs that just about match too. Tomorrow is the big move day--she's so excited!

Speaking of excitement, these two foxes showed up in the back yard tonight.

Time for More Baby Photos

2008-08-13T19:37:00.003-05:00

Gary continues to excel in his grandpa role, especially when it includes lying on the couch watching the Olympics.

I've added a few more photos to the existing online album "Look at that Face!" We love to stare at her and notice every little thing that changes. Just recently it seems like she intentionally smiles at us for a brief moment--no, it is not gas!

Rachel had jury duty today, but didn't get chosen for a jury or even on a panel. Andrew and his family had taken her downtown and dropped her off, then did a bit of sightseeing and ended up picking Rachel up just after they ate lunch.

Speaking of Rachel, she is busy getting ready to move. Here is the Google maps satellite view of her place. Her apartment is just to the right of the push pin icon:

Picnic, Second Try

2008-08-11T20:21:00.003-05:00

We had planned for a couple days to go to Joe Pool lake tonight for a BBQ. I did all the work this afternoon, in spite of the brief rain showers, to get ready and when we load stuff in the car, we realized we needed to take two cars. That wasn't a problem since we had two State Park passes. So Gary and I got the firewood and took off for the lake to be followed by the rest of our gang in the second car.

But when we got there there was a big sign saying "BURN BAN. NO CHARCOAL OR WOOD FIRES." Well, that wasn't going to work for us, since we had wood but no propane tank to cook our brats on. So, we turned around, called the car at home and told them to cancel, and decided to have a picnic in the back yard instead. Of course, this gave Gary a chance to try out his new fire pit which we got on sale for $40.

It is still too hot to sit by a fire, but at least we got our food cooked.

Laura wasn't sure this was a good idea since it was threatening to rain. But baby didn't really seem to notice.

And Lorena got to try s'mores after eating her well-done bratwurst.

Father and Daughter (x2)

2008-08-10T17:40:00.003-05:00

Scanning all my old 35mm slides is one of my on-going projects. I'm trying to do a few every day since it is too boring and tedious to do it all at once. I'm still not sure what I will do with the photos when I'm done scanning them, but at least I will pick out a few to post every now and then.

In other news, I guess I already mentioned that Rachel's move got postponed a week, so now she has another week to think about what she wishes she had the money to buy for her new place! She is getting some usable hand-me-downs of furniture, and she bought a book case yesterday. She also got a nice little side table, solid wood, for 75% off because it was scratched and the drawer pull was missing.

I talked to David today--he and Sarah are doing OK. He's hoping to do two reports with his examining committee this week, and if that goes well, that will satisfy all the requirements for his entry into the PhD program. His car is messing up again and he hopes to sell it shortly after getting it fixed. Again.

Today is Laura's birthday (sort of. Long story there.) We had a cake with 3 candles on it. Lorena gave her a very lovely scrapbook with Isabella photos, the sort of thing Laura can add to.

Andrew is off to see his fantasy football friends in Indy this next weekend. Rachel hopes to get an hour or two of help out of him before he leaves for the airport. There has been some things going on with a job for him, but nothing really to report yet.

Spicy Thai Noodles

2008-08-09T19:51:00.001-05:00

Spicy Thai Noodles (Americanized Pad Thai)

Makes 4 servings
Prep. Time: 20 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon

Ingredients:
¼ c vinegar
3 T soy sauce
6 T sugar
4 t paprika
2 t fish bouillon granules or 2 anchovies mashed (I think this is important for authentic flavor, but I use chicken or vegetable bouillon)
½ to ¾ t ground hot red pepper (cayenne) (This is what makes the dish hot, so use less if you don’t like it too spicy. Also can use red pepper flakes.)
1 T vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ pound turkey cutlets, slivered
3 green onions, sliced
½ pound mung bean sprouts
12 ounces fettuccine, cooked and drained (the traditional dish uses rice noodles)
2 T chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
¼ cup chopped peanuts

1. Combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, paprika, bouillon granules or anchovies, and red pepper in a large serving bowl.
2. Heat oil in wok or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and turkey; stir-fry 2 minutes or until turkey is cooked. Add to bowl.
3. Add green onions and sprouts to wok; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in turkey mixture, pasta and cilantro if using, tossing until heated through.
4. Spoon noodle mixture into serving dish. Sprinkle on peanuts.

Homemade Pizza

2008-08-08T09:13:00.002-05:00

Here is another of my standard, frequently used recipies for any child who is reading this blog (or anyone else, for that matter):

Homemade Pizza

Makes 2 large (as in, jumbo) pizzas
Once you get the knack, you can make this pizza in one hour.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients: T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon
2 c. warm water
3 scant T yeast
2 t. sugar
2 t. salt
¼ c. oil
2 c. whole wheat flour
4 c white flour

In mixer place 2 cups warm water, add 3 scant T yeast, 2 scant t sugar. Mix. Add 2 t. salt, ¼ cup oil. Mix. Add 2 cups whole wheat flour, then 4 cuts while flour.

Dough should rest a couple minutes, but does not need to rise like regular bread dough. Cut dough into two halves. Spray counter and at the same time spray the two pizza pans (the kind of pan with holes in it works well) with cooking spray. Use rolling pin to roll dough out to just larger than the pizza pan. Flip half the dough over the rolling pin to help place it on the pan. Crimp the edges of the dough to make a nice fit.

Sauce:
Pour one 8oz can of tomato sauce directly on one pizza and spread evenly. Sprinkle the sauce lightly with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, basil.

Cover the whole thing with grated mozzarella cheese.

Add pepperoni, ham, chopped peppers, mushrooms, olives, etc. Finish by sprinkling with grated parmesan cheese.

Baking is the tricky part. Put pizza on low rack in cold oven then turn oven on at 450 degrees. If you try to bake two at once, switch them around and note that total baking time may take longer.

The goal is to get the crust crispy underneath without overbrowning the top. So you may need to see what timing and which rack level works best in your oven.

Isabella's First Baseball Game

2008-08-07T10:39:00.002-05:00

It took some talking, but Andrew convinced Laura to let Isabella go to the Yankees v. Rangers game last night. First he had to get a spot out of foul ball territory, which works for the third deck:

Then he had to get a place where no one would spill beer on this pretty girl.

Grandpa hogged baby most of the time, but by the time the game was over we all had a turn holding her.

The third deck provides a good view of progress on the Cowboys' new stadium. Don't you think it looks like a spaceship?

Rachel and Isabella had on matching outfits.

Las Tias

2008-08-03T17:01:00.003-05:00

It is no wonder this baby is so good looking when you see her two blood aunties (that is, a consanguinial relationship, not an affinial one.)

Tia Lola is here for three weeks from the Dominican Republic during her college break.

Baby is not only getting prettier every day, she is getting stronger too. For as much as she eats, she should be getting stronger! She is holding her head pretty steady now, and her eyes follow you when you walk past. And I think she smiled at me this week too!

Empting Nest

2008-07-31T13:17:00.002-05:00

Did we tell you Rachel is moving out? A week from tomorrow, to a one-bedroom apartment 2.5 miles from here. She can hardly afford it, but we all feel like it will be a good thing for her. She still does not have a "real" job or health insurance, but she did sign up to do subbing in an additional school district so we are hoping that her 4 part time jobs will pay the bills.

This morning we went to a Wycliffe garage sale and she bought a large TV, a wooden bookcase (not particle board), a floor lamp, 16 drinking glasses, a teapot, an ice chest, a love seat cover, a clock, a multi-drawer storage bin, an almost new laundry basket, and a bunch of other stuff for $100. Plus they gave her a bunch of stuff for free. What we didn't buy but was a cool thing was an antique armoire that had been retro fitted (the guy is a woodworker) into a computer station with fold down table, sliding file cabinet, sliding printer shelf, sliding keyboard drawer--for $80! The only problem with it would have been moving it!

She bought a bunch of "soft furnishings" a couple years ago, and will gather those together this week (which may put Andrew and Laura at a bit of a loss, but they will manage). We will donate some furniture we don't want anymore, and we'll go to the free furniture boutique to see what can be scrounged. She plans to turn the futon into a more comfortable bed by getting a mattress back from a friend she lent it to a year ago.

She is getting excited about starting a new phase of life.

Newsletter Time

2008-07-26T11:03:00.003-05:00

I'm about to put all these paper newsletters in the mail box. I already sent out many by email a couple days ago. If you happen to be reading this blog and didn't get one, and would like one, send me an email or make a comment with your email address, and I'll send you one. We had so many happy things to tell about in this latest newsletter.

Look at That Face!

2008-07-23T20:22:00.004-05:00

Look At That Face!

Daddy Andrew is always going around saying, "Look at that face!" when he is showing off baby Isabella. So, I thought it was time for some more photos of that face. She's almost a month old!

Hackberry Season

2008-07-21T17:34:00.003-05:00

It is that time of year when the miserable little hackberries fall off the tree and onto the deck, making it necessary either to sweep the deck every day or wear shoes. Of course, it is too hot to use the deck anyway, so it really doesn't matter.

It will be a while before we can use Gary's newest toy--a firepit. We saw one at Maureen's house and Gary decided we needed one. Turns out I got this on for 75% off at Target, because, you guess it--it is way too hot to have a fire.

Pijin Bible

2008-07-20T20:36:00.002-05:00

If your computer and internet are up to it, please click on this link to go see the dedication of the entire Pijin Bible in the Solomon Islands which took place on the country's 30th independence day. Photo #9 is the translator we worked closely with and trained back in the early 80's.

Not much else for news at the moment. Haven't heard from the newlyweds, but tomorrow will be their one month-aversary already!

Baby Isabella is just as cute as ever. No word on a job yet for Andrew, but he's working on it. No word on a job for Rachel yet either, but she's working on it too. Rachel will move back in with us on Tuesday as the people she has been housesitting for are returning. She is looking for other accommodations, but she really needs a full-time job first. Sigh.

Cutest Thing Ever

2008-07-17T22:21:00.001-05:00

Baby Isabella, part 2

Baby Isabella is three weeks old today, so it is time for some more photos. Click on the photo above to go to the full web album.

All-Star Game, 2008

2008-07-16T13:12:00.002-05:00

We organized a junk-food potluck,

invited some friends from work,

and I even let Gary throw the peanut shells on the floor (but first he had to cover the carpet with a tarp!).

The aunties helped take care of the baby,

Baby Isabella's 1st Movie

2008-07-08T22:46:00.001-05:00

Another Party!

2008-07-07T15:29:00.003-05:00

We have just had yet another big party. This time it was an open house wedding reception for David and Sarah who have now been married two weeks. They actually came and spent the long July 4th weekend with us. We didn't do a bunch of activities on the 4th, but we did make a grill some burgers, brats, tuna, and salmon. Saturday was spent getting ready for the reception on Sunday. It was good to see friends and it was fun to show off both of the new girls in the family--Mrs. Sarah Simons and Miss Isabella Simons.

Click the photos below to go to online albums of photos from the weekend and the reception.

July holiday weekend 2008

2008-07-06 Dallas reception David Sarah

More Photos

2008-07-02T21:51:00.002-05:00

But this time, more wedding photos.

I've just gotten this URL from Sarah's mom, letting us know there are many beautiful professional photos of David and Sarah's wedding posted in an online slideshow. There are three sets; click on them one at a time from the main page to see the full set.

Today was also my birthday, but who has time for a birthday with all the other things going on at our place?? We did go out to Los Lupes for dinner, taking 6-day old Isabella with us, and she slept through all that noise.

In other news, I hate all our cars. Or more to the point, they all hate me. The check engine light has come on for a THIRD time in David's car, we had to go jump start Rachel's car when it was dead after work and before she had to be at the dentist, and now I see a brake light is out on the van. :-(

First Day Home

2008-07-01T21:12:00.002-05:00

Baby's first day at home

I have been told in no uncertain terms that I have not been posting enough photos of the new baby!! So here are a few more.

She's been home for more than 24 hours now. I think the parents aren't sleeping all that much, but baby seems to be catching on to the nursing, so that is good. We got out our own kids' baby books and it was easy to see a distinct resemblance between Andrew's face as a newborn and Isabella's.

Also, I've just learned that I've been spelling her middle name wrong. It isn't Sophia, it is Sofia. My bad.

Does anyone still say, "My bad"?

Baby Update

2008-06-29T20:36:00.003-05:00

I'm just letting you know that I added a few more photos to my existing web album of Baby Isabella's birth.

We are hoping that baby and mama will come home from the hospital tomorrow. Laura is making progress toward handling the pain from the C-section, and baby is making progress on learning how to breastfeed. Last night they had their first sleepless night due to baby crying. Well, I say "they," but by they I mean Laura and her mom, since Andrew slept here last night where he had lots of peace and quiet.

In other news, the honeymooners were supposed to come home from Cabo, Mexico today, but their flight was canceled, and they were unable to get on to a standby flight. So we think tomorrow they will instead get a direct flight to Houston and not come here to Dallas at all. Then they have to figure out a way to get up here next weekend for their Dallas reception a week from today. And I have to take David's car in to the shop AGAIN and try to get it all fixed before they get her next weekend.

I'm a Grandma!

2008-06-26T23:05:00.003-05:00

Isabella Sophia is born

Click the above photo to see a web album.

Laura entered the hospital on Monday, June 23 at about midnight with elevated blood pressure. On Wednesday June 25 they induced labor, but that failed. So baby was born by C-section on Thursday June 26 at 6:14pm. We got to the hospital about an hour later and she seemed very alert. She has a big head and tiny lips and a soft little cry.

We thank God for her safe entry into this world!

The Grandmothers/Las Abuelitas

2008-06-25T22:41:00.003-05:00

The other grandmother has arrived from the Dominican Republic, and now we all await baby's arrival. Since baby has shown no signs of wanting to leave her warm abode, the doctor is taking measures, starting tonight, to make her face the world. If all goes as planned, she should make her arrival tomorrow afternoon or evening.

Please pray with us for a safe delivery.

Travelling

2008-06-25T11:07:00.002-05:00

Last night we arrived safely from our week in Seattle. It was a study in spacial intelligence to fit all those suitcases into Dave's hybrid SUV.

But we did manage to get them all to the airport in Seattle, and also to get them all back to Dallas. We took advantage of the fact that, since we "bought" our frequent flyer tickets many months ago, we got free baggage allowance. This enabled us to bring all of David and Sarah's wedding presents home for them for free. (Which they are going to be glad for once they get the bill for David's car repairs...)

Upon checking in these two beauties, the airline agent said, "Were these high school graduation presents?"

Baby David Got Married!

2008-06-23T00:03:00.007-05:00

Hard to believe, but our baby is now a married man. He is now under new management, the joke was going around. (Or as Andrew put it after he got married, "Mom, I have a new boss now.")

We've been in the Seattle area since Tuesday, busy every day with wedding related activities. We've had a family reunion too since Gary's parents are here, my mom is here, Gary's sister and her two daughters were here, as well as fictive aunt Carol and second mom Janet. Also, several of David's high school friends came: Parvaneh, David, Drake, Julia, Caleb, Jesse, and Michael. We've been sleeping at the bride's father's house in Woodinville. In fact, we've basically taken over his house, and he's been kind enough to not mind.

Of course, we've been taking lots of photos this week and I've organized them into five albums linked below. Also, the professional photographer picked out his 13 favorite photos and put them in his blog.

Trip to Seattle and dinner at Maureen's

David's wedding rehearsal and dinner

Friday night pre-wedding dinner

David and Sarah's wedding

David and Sarah's wedding reception

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T19:59:00.003-05:00

Gary safely arrived from Kenya right on schedule this afternoon and the whole household went to DFW to meet him.

We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for an early dinner/late lunch so the dad and the dad to be could have wings while checking out the golf play.

My Baby Is Getting Married!

2008-06-14T10:40:00.002-05:00

By the looks of my two sons, it is a wonder any woman would take them!

This photo was taken during breakfast this morning. David and Sarah arrived by car late last night and as soon as breakfast was over I drove them to the DFW airport to go to Seattle. We will follow on Tuesday.

David was already giving Sarah a hard time about wearing his new Groom hat.

We are praying they won't be too stressed out this coming week, but what are the chances of that?? Andrew's advice to David: this will be the worst week of your life, so shut your mouth and open your wallet. (I guess he remembers the week of stress before his wedding!)

In other news, on the way home from DFW Rachel got a call to work the rest of the mornng, so I took her directly to Sylvan and she arrive exactly at 9:30. Mom and I picked her up at noon, went out to eat at Bennigans, then did some shopping. Andrew and Laura are spending the day at a Lamaze class, getting ready for baby.

Headbands

2008-06-13T13:27:00.002-05:00

I've finished my sewing for wedding stuff, so I made baby girl some headbands. Laura bought the colored bows and the grosgrain ribbon, and I sewed them. I hope they fit her--but if not, I can always adjust them. Baby will get the headbands, not the soda. :-)

My mom arrived safely at 7:30 this morning. We expect David and Sarah to arrive by car tonight and fly to Seattle tomorrow. Then Gary come in on Sunday and we all leave on Tuesday. That's 4 trips to the airport in 5 days. Yikes on the gas prices!

Update from Africa

2008-06-10T20:36:00.002-05:00

I finally got an email from Gary who is in Kenya this week teaching a workshop on Language Documentation. He found the computer room and plugged his computer in long enough to send me a nice long letter telling about his eventless travels and the early part of the workshop. He's having to work hard to keep ahead of the students since this is the first time he's taught a workshop of this type.

In other news, our colleague Pam was kind enough to translate three documents that Laura and Andrew needed to proceed with Laura's green card application. That saved them a chunk of time and money. One more thing to check off the to-do list.

Rachel has a dentist appointment tomorrow before she goes to work. Her new house seems to be working out pretty well.

Andrew got the wood cut from the broken tree, and all the brush hauled away. Yay!

OK not much else for news.

It Must Be The Cat's Fault

2008-06-08T19:27:00.001-05:00

When we got home from church a big branch of one of the trees in the back yard was down.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

2008-06-07T19:57:00.002-05:00

With all the baby and wedding stuff going on, I nearly forgot Rachel's birthday. And, sadly, I did not bake her a cake. But Andrew and Laura didn't let me forget altogether, so we took her to IHOP for a late breakfast. It is a good place to go when Gary is out of town, since he hates pancakes.

Andrew had the very good idea to buy Rachel a new set of tires for her little car, so we are splitting the cost of that. It is great to have her car for use when the van is busy with other things. We'll try to get them put on early next week.

Rachel has moved to her new location, not far away on a different street in our neighborhood. She is house sitting for 8 weeks and we can use the place for overflow sleeping if we need to. She will still eat most of her meals with us--after all, she doesn't want to miss out on any of the new baby excitement!

Speaking of new baby, the latest medical checkup was all good, and it looks like this will be a big baby. My good friend, baby nurse Janet from next door, spent 2.5 hours giving Andrew and Laura a private baby class since they've been unable to enroll in one at the hospital. Then today Andrew and Laura went to the hospital for an official tour to learn where to park, what the general routine will be, and all about the strict security protocols at the hospital.

I haven't heard anything, but Gary should be in Ruiru, Kenya by now to soon start his workshop on Language Documentation for a group of Bantu languages.

(50% of the photos I take of Andrew have his eyes closed.)

BBQ-Baby Shower Slideshow

2008-06-03T16:07:00.002-05:00

Here is an embedded slideshow of our baby shower. Be sure to click the quote bubble on the left side so that the captions show up.

If your computer can't see the slide show, you can view it online here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/linda.simons/AndrewAndLauraSBabyShower

New Ladder

2008-05-26T15:35:00.003-05:00

Now that Andrew is here, we're putting him to work. He and Gary went to Home Depot and bought a new fancy articulated ladder. They forgot to buy a chainsaw chain, so they trimmed the tree using a hand saw.

Lots of tree came down. It made a mess too, because this tree is a fruited mulberry and the mulberries are ripe. So there a dark purple smears everywhere.

The Household is Growing

2008-05-24T22:22:00.002-05:00

We spent a lot of the week preparing for Andrew and Laura's arrival last evening. Rachel prepared a yard sign before we left for the airport.

Their flight was on time and 5 out of 6 big bags of luggage arrived. The airlines now have a little machine into which to type your complaint about lost baggage. The missing bag was delivered to our house this afternoon.

Five weeks until baby is due.

They're Coming Home!

2008-05-23T09:20:00.001-05:00

Andrew and Laura are due at the airport at 6:30pm tonight. Their load of air cargo belongings arrived already this morning.

No Cat Zone

2008-05-20T13:40:00.003-05:00

Gary didn't want to miss any of the preparation for Andrew and Laura's pending arrival, so he contributed this sign for me to put in the door.

More Weddings

2008-05-18T16:29:00.002-05:00

Last night we attended another wedding. The bride was someone Rachel had known from her college days, and one of the bridesmaids was Jessica, the woman whose wedding Rachel had been in over a year ago. She got to see several of her SNU friends. The parents of the groom attend our church, so we knew lots of people there.

(Note the new jacket that Gary bought for Rachel in Thailand.)

Sadly, the plan for Rachel to move into a house around the corner for the summer has fallen through (their son decided to move back in). So for now, until grandma comes at the latest, Rachel will move into the guest room, and she will do so tomorrow since there is no school tomorrow (therefore no subbing). You can pray with us that God will lead her about more permanent housing as well as something cheap for the summer.

I'm trying my best to de-cat the apartment before Andrew and Laura arrive on Friday since Laura is allergic. Lots of vacuuming, washing the walls, and washing the carpets. That also means another change for us--now we will have a black cat and a white cat. They don't much like each other either.

In other news, I found a dress for David's wedding. Except for having to cut 10 inches off the skirt, rework the bodice, shorten the straps, and that I hated the jacket, it was PERFECT!! Gary endured a trip to the fabric store today while I picked out new fabric for a shawl to use instead of the jacket.

In other news, Rachel and I did quite a bit of preparation for the BBQ-Baby shower that we're having on June 1. It should be fun--wish you could be here!

Gotta Have A Home

2008-05-14T19:20:00.003-05:00

The plan for Rachel to move into a home around the corner has hit a snag. Please pray with us that God will give Rachel and us clear guidance about her living situation for the immediate need, for the summer when she has less employment, and beyond.

Not much else for news. Baby gifts are arriving for our shower on June 1, but you still have time to send one if you want to!

Home Again

2008-05-09T12:41:00.002-05:00

Gary arrived safely this morning after a 2.5 week trip to Thailand. There were flight delays along the way which made for long layovers, but he and three of his friends arrived a DFW a bit before 7am. Three of the four of them got their luggage. :-)

I got my coming-to-see-you present--this cool decorative paper which I use to make greeting cards. Each large sheet costs between fifty cents and a dollar.

White Kitty particularly liked the blue one.

My first order of business is to get to the laundry. But Gary said I didn't need to do his underwear--at the hotel they wash, dry, fold, and shrinkwrap!

Gary is already out mowing the lawn which badly needs it in the back. Rachel and I did the front a week ago, so it doesn't look so bad.

The rest of the weekend we will be working to help Rachel finish packing in preparation for moving this next week. It is a bunch of work to do this, but we need to make room for Isabella! A side benefit of moving is cleaning all the dust bunnies that have been reproducing in the hidden nooks and crannies.

April's Graduation

2008-05-05T17:01:00.002-05:00

Click below to take you to an online album of photos I took while in Michigan. Mostly of April's graduation from Kuyper, but a few other photos as well.

08-05-02 April Burt's graduation from Kuyper, other photos from MI

The trip was good except for Sunday--Debbie and I both woke up Sunday morning with vomiting and diarrhea accompanied by a slight fever and chills. In spite of that, we went to church, then Jim drove me to Rockford where I spent Sunday afternoon chatting with Noskers and Becky Chomic. We had a great time getting caught up with each other. My travels home were uneventful. Now I have to decide whether I need to mow the back lawn or leave it a few more days until Gary gets home. But since I'm still feeling a little queasy, I probably will leave the lawn to grow in peace.

Cute Kid Report

2008-04-30T13:21:00.002-05:00

I know, I'm way too old to have cute kids. But I did find this cute photo while working on collecting photos for a slide show for David and Sarah's upcoming wedding. Ya'll come! I assume you've gotten your invitations by now--very nice invitations, too.

Let's see, I should update you on life. Gary's presentation on Monday went very well, according to all reports. It was multimedia, but even that worked thanks to some folks who made the technology work in a large venue. Since then, he's been very busy in more meetings and side meetings and lunch meetings and dinner meetings so I haven't talked to him much.

Andrew emailed with with a link to a blurb you might be interested in reading at Samaritan's Purse: click here.

Rachel didn't work at all yesterday, but today she is back to her two part time jobs. She's packed a couple more boxes of books in preparation for moving.

David told me he thinks he finally got thing straightened out: I've gotten 5 or 6 letters from Harris county (that's where Houston is) saying I need to pay up for running the toll booth--and they have photos to prove it. Trouble is, the car they are photographing is the car David traded in at the dealership where he bought his Jetta over a year ago. I mailed the dealership the title, etc., but it is probably still sitting on some salesman's desk. In the meantime they've apparently sold my old car to an unscrupulous scoundrel who did not re-register the car and he keeps running the toll booth. GRR. They even sent "my" unpaid tolls to a collection agency!

I've nearly finished by furniture rearranging--Gary may not recognize the place when he returns.

When the Cat Is Away

2008-04-27T13:49:00.002-05:00

...the mouse will play. And by "cat" I mean Gary; by "mouse" I mean me; and by "play" I mean throw out things and move furniture. I do have an overarching plan for these activities, however--and it isn't just to irritate Gary. The plan is to make room for our new grandbaby! I know that child does not want to read 25-year old computer journals.

Gary is also missing his wild flower garden while he is away. April is the best month to live in Texas--too bad he's gone for half of it this year. I've had a couple chances to chat with Gary over Skype (the guy who invented that was a genius!). His big speech is tomorrow afternoon, which means it will really be while I'm alseep tonight. (Click on the photo below to get a better look.)

In other news, Andrew sent email that he had a wisdom tooth extracted yesterday. The process did not go that smoothly as the dentist had to cut the tooth into three pieces and the root had a 90 degree turn in it. He must have inherited his father's teeth! No news about a new job for Andrew yet, but they did buy their tickets to come to Dallas on May 23. We expect them to live with us for a minimum of 2 months while job hunting and having a baby.

To make room for them and baby, we're kicking Rachel out! Well, that sounds pretty drastic, doesn't it? We aren't kicking her out in a mean way, and it appears the Lord has provided a place for her to live for free right here in our neighborhood in exchange for some dog and grandma sitting. We thank God for that. But she is having some feelings of being unsettled as I'm already making her start to pack up her stuff. And that takes us back to the moving furniture. I"m trying to convert our piano room into a storage room (we have no garage or attic space) for Rachel's stuff and Andrew and Laura's stuff until permanent living arrangements have been settled. Either that or rent a storage room, so I'm trying to do this the cheap way.

Babies R All of Us

2008-04-24T12:49:00.003-05:00

Baby Isabella's presents have started to arrive!

In other news, lots of rain again last night, but no damage to us. Others nearby weren't so fortunate.

I got my first email from Gary. He has arrived safely and looks like he figured out how to get internet access in his hotel room. He was feeling miserable from so long with no sleep. Chiang Mai is directly 12 hours different from us, half a day ahead.

Stress and Heat

2008-04-22T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today there was stress as Gary got ready to leave for 2.5 weeks. And there was stress because I had just spent over an hour at the dentist (10 hours later I still feel the anesthetic). And there was stress because the car quit working this morning as I was driving to the Center.**

Furthermore, today the temperature got pretty hot in the house. I like to wait until May to turn on the A/C but today we decided we could either handle the stress or the heat, but not both. So I turned the A/C on for a few hours.

Turns out the van needs a new catalytic converter--I didn't need that $500 anyway! Should be finished by noon tomorrow. We got a friend to take Gary to the airport tonight instead of me. He just had to leave two hours early to catch his ride.

And the filling in my tooth is a temporary one, probably redo it in July. Either that or a root canal.

**If I had walked to work as usual, we wouldn't have even known the car wasn't working until we tried to drive to the airport barely in time for his flight.

Time for This Year's Wildflower Post

2008-04-19T15:57:00.002-05:00

flowers, wild

I've been adding more wildflower photos to my album as I get new photos and identify the flowers. Click above to go to my online album. I've reorganized my photos so that I have all my unidentified ones on one place, to work on when I feel like it.

In other news, Rachel's new job seems to be going along pretty well. She did a fair bit of online training this week as well as working a few hours on four different days. They called and asked her to work today but she already had a babysitting job (which actually pays more per hour than Sylvan!)

Gary is out mowing the lawn (I did part of it last night) and then he needs to crawl up on the roof to fix the ridge vent that is flapping in the breeze due to coming loose during one of our recent storms. Then I think we're going out to dinner tonight because he is leaving on Tuesday for 2.5 weeks.

I've gotten the laundry done, bought gas for the mower, and finished the last of the newsletters. We almost went camping this weekend, but Friday just was too chilly. Today is lovely.

A Wedding Weekend

2008-04-13T14:23:00.001-05:00

We spent a lot of time this past weekend on activities related to Sarah Cover's wedding. Sarah is the little girl next door whom we've known since she was a toddler. She married an MK whose family we also know.

David and his Sarah were here for the wedding, but left already this morning, here less than 24 hours. But we did a little wedding planning with them, and got to watch Mali and White Kitty get into it a couple times.

If you look hard enough, you'll see Rachel's new glasses in this photo. She put them on and exclaimed, "Wow, everything is clear and bright now!"

Fixed

2008-04-12T08:30:00.004-05:00

I need to update about Rachel's car. The same kind friend and colleague who got her car repaired last time took care of it again, and at a very cheap price. Which the neighbors were very thankful for, since they paid for it.

Yesterday Rachel and I took off work so we could join in Sarah C's pre-wedding festivities. We drove south to Waxahachie and had brunch at The Dove's Nest

and took a quick stroll around the interesting courthouse

and an even quicker stroll through a small museum with a WWI display.