Year in Review

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends.  We hope you are enjoying the TRUE reason for the season and you are experiencing HIS joy and peace no matter the circumstances in your life.

As 2011 draws to an end, I find myself reviewing the year.  I'm quite amazed at the changes ONE year can bring. 

• Salem, Oregon, USA to Aqaba, Jordan
• Brandee as a stay-at-home mom to a zumba instructor
• Travis as an event planner/salesman to an english teacher
• English to Arabic
• Kids in a public American school to a private International school
• American/Christian culture to Arab/Muslim culture
• Living by most of our family to living by none of our family

Overall, by God's grace and provision, I think we've done pretty well with all the transitions and changes that have come our way.  I'm constantly amazed with how well the kids are doing.  It's been an exciting and sometimes scary adventure of following God where ever He leads, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  We shall see what God brings our way in 2012.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Recently we went with some friends up north a few hours and got to see some beautiful scenery and see some old castle ruins.  It did our hearts good to get out of town even for one night and see some of the sights here in the middle east.  We did some hiking around, hung out in a bedouin like campground and had a great time.  Below are some pictures from the trip.



Our family on the edge of the canyon



The Hotel Manager and entertainer with Travis and Brandee





Hailey in front of a room at the hotel



The kids exploring the Showbak Castle





Connor at the enrtrance to the castle ready to explore





Logan enjoyed making his own trails and fearlessly exploring

Adventure

We are keeping busy with Brandee teaching Zumba, Travis teaching English and putting together the weekly trade show (Souk by the Sea), but we've also been able to do some fun things in Jordan recently. The weather has been awesome, so we have enjoyed being out and about more.  Below are some of the outings we've been able to experience in the last couple weeks.
  

Brandee at Wadi Rum

 

Neighborhood boys come over every day to play "football" with our boys.



Travis, Brandee and Hailey at the entrance of Souk by the Sea





Date night!

The Family climbing rocks at Wadi Rum





School Days

The kids are a month into school now, and are getting used to the new routine.  It was quite the emotional start for all of us, but we persevered.  God was faithful in seeing us through one day at a time. 

Kids in their uniforms on the first day at Aqaba International School.

Connor didn't have a uniform because the school wasn't open the month prior to the first day due to Ramadan and Eid (the celebration after Ramadan).  So we weren't able to get uniforms or any sort of school supplies.  Logan and Hailey wore clothes on loan from friends, but no one had big enough sizes for Connor!

Connor: 4th grade with Mr. Appleby
Fav Class: PE and Arabic
School Clubs: Basketball and Soccer (football here!)
Best Friend @ School: Samuel (from Germany)
Biggest Fear: Tests
Excited About: learning how to speak Arabic - using sentences.

Logan: 2nd grade with Mrs. Appleby
Fav Class: Swimming and Math (Numeracy)
School Clubs: Basketball and Swimming
Best Friend @ School: Adia (coworker's daughter)
Biggest Fear: French
Excited About: Reading (Literacy)



Hailey: Kindergarten with Mr. Scott

Fav Class: Science

School Clubs: none, still adjusting to 7 hour school days/5 days a week

Best Friend @ School: Roan (coworker's son)

Biggest Fear: morning drop-off

Excited About: having lunch and recess

The boys at school.

Hailey and Connor hugging after the first day.

It's interesting to watch how this transition has grown our kids closer together, especially at school.  Don't get me wrong they fight like crazy at home (Logan and Hailey) but they are tight when we are anywhere else.  Another blessing is the kids of our coworkers.  All the kids get along really well and are like cousins to one another.

They all run together after school for a group hug! It's the sweetest thing!

Connor, Adia and Logan with Hailey and Roan in the background.

Hailey and Roan

All in all,the kids are doing very well with their new school.  Just look at all the smiles!!!

New Adventures

We have been one busy family.  It hardly feels like we've had much time in our new city.  We arrived a little over one month ago and have only had 3 weeks at "home". But it is amazing how quickly it has become just that - home.  We are settling in to a new house, new routines and new foods.  I'm amazed at how well our kids are adjusting.  I've never seen them so adventurous!  This is a huge answer to prayer - thank you!

There have definitely been moments of homesickness, however.  Connor has cried himself to sleep on several occasions - he misses his friends and grandparents desperately.  Logan and Hailey have joined in the tears a few times after seeing Connor mourn the loss. But most of the time the tears are at night when the events of the day have come to a close.  Upon waking Connor seems to be in a great mood ready for the adventures of the new day.  I've struggled a bit myself.  I've had 2 bad days.  One was right before our friends from Salem had arrived.  I had been harrassed in a grocery store and was tired of all the stares, heat, and having to cover every inch of skin!  It was my first and only "I want to go home moment" so far.  One of the things that helped get me through was knowing friends were coming soon. 

Thank you to all who sent notes, goodies and items we requested.  We felt so loved when those bags got here.  It was a real treat and really touched our hearts.

My 2nd hard day was the day our friends left.  I hadn't realized how much it helped with goodbyes stateside - knowing friends would be coming soon.  Now we were really gonna be left all alone - at least that's how it felt.  I felt stripped away from one more comfort.  I cried a good deal and slept off a good portion of the day.  It helped that I had Hailey's 5th birthday to get ready for so I had a little distraction.  I'm doing much better lately as I depend on God to give me strength. He is faithful!

We've also had many travel adventures since arriving.  Our first was a trip to Petra, which you saw pictures of in an earlier post.  The second was a week retreat in Egypt with our bigger team.  It was an amazing time of meeting new friends, hanging out with old friends, receiving training, and getting a break from the cultural differences. It was such a wonderful time. We got to swim in a variety of pools, snorkel in the Red Sea and just visit with friends - no cooking or cleaning!!! 

And most recently, we took a trip to a town four hours north of here.  We got to shop for home things and groceries that we can't find in our city,  reconnect with friends we had hung out with in Egypt, and go to an American restaurant and visited a citadel that Uriah the Hittite was killed at (Bathsheba's first husband)!

It's been fun to see a little of our new country now since school begins in 1.5 weeks and traveling will be over until Christmas Break.  The kids have enjoyed "coming home" and upon returning this last week they all mentioned how good it feels to be home. And from a parents persepctive we are grateful. 

We will write again when school starts if not sooner. Please be praying for this new transition.  We are all a little nervous.  Love to all.  Brandee

Friends and Places to see

Our friends from Salem arrived this week!  They have been hugely encouraging.  Yesterday we went with them to Petra. The pictures don't do it justice, but take a look anyway. The boys did great and thought the donkey rides up the mountain were the best part. 

  

getting settled

Hi Everyone,

We are 3 days in now and started to get settled in our new home.  Our teammates are making our transition very comfortable and helping with shopping trips, driving us around town, even picking up the last bit of luggage that arrived today.  Here are some quick pictures of our journey thus far.

Long Flight and Good Memories



Brandee and Logan on the last and shortest flight

The kids in front of our new home

This home came with a couple beds and a new friend for Hailey

Connor lounging on the couch



Our first family outing in Jordan with just the five of us.

 

Thanks for your prayer support this past week. We have felt covered and protected. I'll try to give a more detailed update soon.

Good Times & Goodbyes

Okay, Okay...I admit it, I'm not great about blogging yet.  But I PROMISE I'll be better once we are overseas.  It just feels like I keep saying the same thing right now - we are still getting ready to leave - packing, moving, saying goodbyes.  But I realize that there is more to the story, and there are those that are interested in knowing how we are doing.  Thank you for thinking and caring about our family.  This update is for you.

We leave a week from tomorrow.  July 21st is rapidly approaching.  We have moved out of our house and the renters are in. That was a surprisingly emotional transition for me (Brandee).  I'm not super sentimental about stuff like that.  I'm usually excited about whatever is coming next that I don't look back much.  But I found it really hard to leave our house.  Maybe part of it is I don't know for sure if we'll get to come back to it.  We don't know what God has planned for us after these 2 years in the ME, so I can't be certain.  The other part of it is that I love our home.  It's been a place of rest and healing for me after dealing with Connor's cancer.  So there was a little more grief than I was prepared for, but God walked me through it.

Anyway, on our last night at home with the fam, we sat on the deck and reminisced together.  We laughed, cried, talked about the upcoming transitions, named some of the things we were sad and scared about, sang worship songs and did some crazy dancing.  It was a great last night in a home we love.

Travis' parents have graciously allowed us to live with them until our departure. We spent a week with them while both Travis and I finished up work and then headed to Eugene to spend a week with my parents.  We made some great memories going to a rodeo on 4th of July and watching fireworks, hanging out at Camp Harlow for an afternoon, swimming and rafting at Dorena Lake, celebrating birthdays, sleeping in a tent in the backyard, going to a baseball game and having good talks.

Our kids with their 2 Eugene cousins - Tayvan and Jezzi

Nana with Hailey and Jezzi on the Bumper Boats @ Camp Harlow

Logan and Connor on the go-carts @ Camp Harlow

Quality Time with my Dad

Now we are back in Salem, wrapping up a week of errands, paperwork and time with friends.   At the moment we are all doing well.  The same might not have been said yesterday as we were madly trying to find misplaced important documents, but God showed Himself faithful in that situation by helping us find "a needle in a haystack".  As I told family yesterday, there's nothing like a minor catastrophe to put things in perspective.  Now the things that seemed overwhelming - the packing of the 10 infamous bags - seems much less daunting. 

Grandpa, Cousin Grant, Connor, Logan and Grandma at a Volcanoes Game

Hailey and her beloved cousin, Cole

Travis with his big bro, Mitch

Story time with Grandpa

Mother-Daughter Tea Party for Hailey's "birthday" (August 17th)

Mothers and Daughters

Hard Goodbyes

We are seeking to keep our eyes on Him who is worthy of our trust as we wrap things up here in the US.  Next time I write will probably be from across the ocean.  We'd love your prayers for safe travel!! Blessings!