The View from My Earthly Suit

2008-09-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

The buzzing of generators surrounds me as I type, louder because the windows are open. The neighborhood is dark except for the light of the full moon overhead. All is well. Now. We have survived our first hurricane.

Three long days ago, we lived through a night full of howling 100 mph winds that ripped branches off of trees and fences from their safe places in the ground. The rain blew sideways from the northeast and then from the southwest as the hurricane passed overhead. I prayed all night long that God would protect our windows, our roof and our cars. He was so awesome and did just that. We have a dented, slightly askew mailbox, lost two of the three fences that surround our back yard, and our oak trees out front are mutilated, but we survived and God, our Shield, provided wonderfully for us. Noah slept through it all! Oh to be resilient and oblivious like children.

We have been raking and cutting up limbs, bagging leaves, and other basic cleanup for 2 days now. We have no electricity, but God brought fall early for us so that we can sleep without sweating profusely. It is actually a little chilly! He gave us wonderful neighbors who let us plug our refrigerator into their generator, and this morning we woke up to running water again. It went from a trickle to nothing in one day. We didn’t even get that much rain! It was enough to flood the streets, but after Cody and Taylor went out and cleared the storm drains of the debris blocking them, our street cleared out pretty quickly. All is well with our souls.

We fared well. People down south of us were not so lucky. From the few news reports we have heard, lots of people lost their lives or are missing. So sad! We are continuously giving thanks. We have driven around the city some and seen a lot of devastation. It is weird to see all the emergency vehicles and helicopters around. We hear reports of crime at grocery stores and gas stations because people are panicked and selfish. It is like a mob mentality, but more on the self-preservation side.

Life is a little different without electricity. I am making meals on a camp stove or the grill. We are so thankful for a gas water heater and can take hot showers now that we have water again. We also have a new addition to our family- a hurricane survivor Taylor named Evita-a baby squirrel about 7 weeks old. We are guessing her age based on Karen Lay’s research she relayed to me over the phone. Without internet it is hard to research these things, so I called her. Evita is doing well with her surrogate parents and is really cute. Even Maximus and Lucius like her and Taylor’s friend brought over a bunny to meet her as well. There was a little boy that came an hour later but he died about 20 minutes after we got him. A dog had gotten to him first. Poor little guy. I’m sure he is one of hundreds that didn’t survive Ike.

It is interesting to spend the evenings by candlelight and flashlight. We talk often about the colonial days and how that must have been. I totally understand why most folks back then went to sleep shortly after sundown and were up with the sun. There is not much else to do in the evenings with limited light. Right now, Taylor is watching a 4 inch television that her friend down the street loaned her. They have a generator so are watching their big TV. They had a tree fall through their roof right in the middle of the storm and had to go out into it to block up the holes. Not fun.

Noah seems to be oblivious except that he likes to play with the lights and they do nothing and he can’t seem to understand that. He is still his happy little self and likes to give hugs and kisses. Taylor has a job and actually went in to work today. Where she works is one of the few places opening up again since they have power. It is a catering company called Tres Market.

Well, keep praying for the victims of hurricane Ike, and give praise that we are all ok, we sure are! (I can't get pictures right now but will post them soon.)

2008-08-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

My intentions for blogging seem to be no good. It is kind of like handing Monopoly money to the cashier at Wal-mart. It just doesn't work. For those of you that are actually interested in reading my blogs, sorry they aren't more often. I have, however, just scheduled my life on a desk calendar and plan to blog every Wednesday, so hopefully I can actually accomplish that!

My mom and sister just visited us. That was a nice treat. Of course it rained for most of the time they were here so their tour of Houston consisted mostly of our house, to and from the airport, and a cloudy view of downtown and part of Galveston before we got pelted by a squall. At least we were already in swimsuits. Always an adventure....

Well, for those of you that have been the recipients of my chocolates during the holidays might be interested to learn that I am about to start selling them here in Houston. Along with quilts and other handicrafts I make. It was an idea I had born out of the necessity to add to our income. We are slowly making less and less each month so I was trying to think of ways to help out with what abilities I have while still being mother and wife first and foremost. I was just reading about the Proverbs 31 woman and loved verses 13, 18-19, and 31 in regard to this.

10 A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from far away.
15 She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.
22 She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her:
29 "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

So, when you are praying next, please keep this 'business' endeavor in mind and pray for God's blessing upon it.

In other news, Taylor just started school - her Senior year! Yikes, when did she get so old? It is weird to have her sitting with Cody and discussing which universities to apply to and realizing that she only has one more year here with us before she flies away from this nest. Amazing.... She is in choir this year and is still in theater and track, so she will have a lot of extracurricular activities to attend, which will take more of her time this year. She is also trying to get a part time job and applied at a catering business close by. Pray for her in that area.

Noah is doing well. He is cutting his molars and that is not fun for any of us. He is also at that stage where he is trying to exert his will over ours. It is few and far between his usual amiable behavior. We are so blessed to have a little boy that is 98% happy and easy going. Sure makes it easier to deal with that 2% of bad attitude. He woke up this morning with a deep chest cough and runny nose with a slight fever, so keep him in prayer too. It might be related to the teething, or something else all together. He is generally pretty healthy so he should be able to fight it off well. Of course, I can't find the Tylenol anywhere in the house, so that isn't helping the situation. Poor kid. He is still happy and lovable though. Speaking of, the other day in the store he just kept reaching out and hugging me from the cart numerous times and wanted to give me a kiss. Very cute. He sits down and pats the seat next to him wanting us to sit beside him. When he accidentally hurts us, he pats it and gives kisses where it hurt. So sweet. He is a sensitive kid and fairly obedient as well.

Next time I will put some pictures with my blog. Noah is awake now and I need to feed him some lunch.

I'm Alive!

2008-06-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'm sure most of you have stopped even looking for my blogs, since I seem to have fallen off of the face of the earth! It has felt like that to some extent, but I feel a little more organized and back to normal. I am at least more settled here in Houston and getting into the swing of things. I still have lots of projects to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for me. We just hit the one year mark since our return to the States and that was an emotional time for us. In some ways it has seen like longer since a lot has occurred in that year, and other times we think, "was it only last year?"

I planted a garden. Actually, Cody did most of the work and it was my birthday present. He plotted out the layout, built it up, started the seeds, put in the drip lines and timer. A lot of the seeds didn't sprout so we ended up buying some plants, especially the herbs. I have cherry tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, roma tomatoes and large salad tomatoes. I have 5 bell pepper plants, 2 hot pepper plants, cucumbers, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, spearmint, fennel, oregeno, thyme, basil, lemon basil, cilantro, chives, and rosemary. I did have radishes, carrots, lettuce, peas and zucchini but those didn't do so well so I yanked them out. I plan to start some more seeds in the fall for a winter crop. It has been fun and Noah loves picking the ripe cherry tomatoes. The squirrels like to pick ripe fruit as well, those wretched beasts! They took my little watermelon that was growing. I only had one and it was about the size of a golf ball and then it was gone. They (or birds) have gotten the first 3 tomatoes that ripened as well. So frustrating! Cody pointed out that farmers all over the world deal with pests and diseases all the time and to be thankful that I don't have to depend on what I grow. Good point.

Noah keeps me pretty busy these days. I forgot how little one can get done with a toddler afoot! He is now 16 months old and really active and still really sweet. We have two new additions to our family as well, Lucius and Maximus. They are both male kittens that are 11 weeks old. Very cute little guys. Noah loves them to death, emphasis on the to death part at times. If I am not watching when he is particularly loving, he is holding them by the neck or leaning on them trying to give them hugs. Mostly he is pretty gentle and good with them. It is fun to watch all three of my 'boys' playing and running a muck in the house.

My first born, Taylor, is keeping pretty busy these days as well. She is enjoying her summer and is gone a lot of the time. When she is here, she sleeps in and stays in her room cleaning, planning or listening to music during the day. In the evenings when she is home, we watch t.v., play games, or plan her college education. She just went to summer camp with the youth group and is heading off to Spain at the end of July on a two week trip to help with some camps there (if she raises all of her support.) She doesn't have a typical job, but does a lot of babysitting and makes pretty good money. She seems to be in demand as a babysitter too, so that should come in handy with the income she needs to make. She now has bills to pay each month since she is a car owner, and since she wrecked ours back in May and her insurance went up. Poor kid. She is a better driver for it, and God took care of her in it.

Cody is doing well at work and may be going to Tajikistan, but it isn't firmed up yet. If he does, it will be in a couple of weeks, and he will be gone for 7-10 days. The longest we've been apart is 10 days when he went to Turkey a couple of years ago. A longer trip will be the one to Iran and Afghanistan for the re-cultivation project in November. It looks like that one is coming together nicely and may actually happen. We'll see.

Well, that is all for now. I will try to keep up with this blog this time. :)

2007-11-30T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I'm back! I have been so extremely busy with a new house in a new city with a new baby! I hope to spend more time blogging and sending pictures now, especially once we get our office set up and I have everything in its place again. Still living out of boxes and bags, but soon we will be set up. We love our new house and our new life here in Houston. We have made several great friends who have made us feel right at home and we have wonderful neighbors that are very friendly and welcoming. Cody really likes his work and gets along well with his colleagues.

I just got "with it" and am now on Facebook. Still have no idea what it is or how to use it yet, but I am signed up. Some day my life will get organized. So, if any of you want to connect with me there, feel free to do so.

I am loving the baby stage again and it seems like Noah gets cuter and cuter each day. He is so mobile and walks around holding onto the furniture. He just got his first tooth last week so he smiles this huge, lopsided, open-mouthed smile that just melts my heart. He laughs alot too and it is fun to watch him crack up at the squirrels chasing each other around the yard. He loves the outdoors and lying in the hammock with us. It has been really cold lately, but just warmed up today. With the drop in temperature he developed his first yucky cold but is almost over it. It didn't help that he got his immunizations on Monday and that brought a fever and grumpiness to the mix. He was up several times in the night on Monday and Tuesday and Cody was in Dallas for a conference so it was rough for us all. Even with all of that, he still was smiley most of the time. He likes to give hugs and is more cuddly too. What a doll!

Taylor is doing well in school and is in the Christmas play at church that is coming up. She will be 16 years old on Monday. When did she grow up so fast? She is driving with a permit now, which was scary at first, but isn't so bad now. She does a good job actually. She has lots of friends, of course, since she is so friendly, and is busy often. We have to make time to spend as a family now. We can sure tell that we are back in America since everyone is so busy all the time. Well, I need to watch a movie with my family and then get to bed. We are going to IHOP and then to the zoo with Tay for her birthday tomorrow.

Hope you are all doing well!

Waiting.... Still...

2007-06-02T01:57:00.000-07:00

We are still here in Bahrain waiting for news. They said maybe today we’d hear something. It is nice to be among friends and everyone here has been so encouraging and supportive of us that we are so blessed to be back – in spite of the amazing heat and humidity!
Noah rolled over for the first time on May 31^st and we got some video of him doing so. I got a picture of him mid-roll, but it just looks like he’s on his side. Cody then took his blanket and wrapped it on his head like a turban and we took pictures of that. He thought it was pretty funny. There's one picture where he looks really shy and that is because Kate was talking to him and telling him how cute he is. He smiled and looked away. It was really cute.
He went swimming for the first time right before Taylor left for the states and has been back in the water a few times since then. He seems to really like water. We got him an inflatable tube that he can sit in and he liked that for a bit, but prefers for his Daddy to hold him and let him swim. He floats on his back when Cody holds his head and he laughs when lifted up out of the water and plunged back in. Already he is a thrill seeker.

After a year without my quilting and scrap booking stuff, my friend Allison encouraged me to buy a small book to do while here and offered the use of her stuff. Very generous offer, so I took her up on it. I am going to join her scrapping circle on Monday morning and am going to do a little album of Noah. Today I compiled a bunch of pictures of him to have printed and can’t believe how much he has changed! He is already 3 months old and so different from when he was born. He weighs 6.2 kg and loves to put his feet up in the air above his head. He started grabbing his toes the other day and it is so cute. He has a total belly laugh now which is so cute when he gets going. He has lots of dexterity now and can grip little knobs and anything he is aiming for. Very cute and fun. We are enjoying him a lot.

Cody’s birthday is on Monday as well and we are going to have dinner and then go bowling. There’s not much else to do here in Bahrain and who knew we’d be spending another of his birthdays here! God did, and we are trusting that He knows where we will be next.

For Your Own Good

2007-05-27T01:08:00.000-07:00

We got Noah vaccinated yesterday. He cried a little at the time of the injection, but it wasn’t until a couple of hours later that the real crying set in, followed by a slight fever as his body built up immunities to the small doses of diseases he was given. It was hard to watch him go through that, but I just held him close and comforted him, rocked him and told him it was going to be ok. At times I cried along with him because I knew he was suffering. He has never cried so much until now. It got me thinking about how God allows us to experience suffering for our own good. He is bigger than we are and knows what we need even if we see it as painful, He knows it is for our own good and that a little bit of suffering now spares us from a lot of suffering later. He knows that to allow small amounts of pain now allows us to build up perseverance for bigger pains later. He also holds us and comforts us as we go through pain and suffering, loving us and letting us know that it will be ok, things are going to get better. When we choose to follow Jesus in this life, we are told in Scripture that we are to expect suffering and that when it comes we are to rejoice in it because it will build perseverance, character and hope. So while it is hard to watch Noah go through this, I know that it will pass and that he will be better because of it. As we go through this minor ‘suffering’ of being unsettled and homeless, I know that we will be better for it and that we will develop perseverance, our character will be improved, and our hope will increase. We can also be assured that He is there, holding us, comforting us and telling us that it will be ok. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

These pictures are taken on the day we sent our first born to the States by herself. That was a hard thing to do and we cried all the way home after leaving her in God's hands at the airport. Now, she is doing fine in Arizona and the difficulty has lessened. It is kind of like preparation for sending her off to college, which is only 2 years away. I have a feeling those years will fly by. Meanwhile, we will have our hands full with our youngest. We have been so blessed by our children and are thrilled that Taylor has such a heart for the Lord, and we pray that Noah will grow up love Him as well.

2007-05-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

I was talking to someone here in Bahrain the other day and I mentioned that it has been “quite the roller coaster ride” we have been on. That got me thinking about roller coasters and carnival rides in general. There are two ways you can ride a roller coaster. One way is to buckle in, smile, put your hands up in the air on the drops, screaming in exhilaration on the rolls, completely trusting in the designer and operator of the ride. The second way is to buckle in and while doing so, think about all the ways the thing was put together and all the ways it can fall apart, not trusting in the engineer or operator, screaming in fear, completely stressed throughout the whole ride. When you get off you thought it took forever and you vow never to get back on. When I was 16, I went to Missouri with Cody and his family and there was a country carnival. For those of you that do not know what that is, it is a traveling assortment of amusement park rides, game booths, food booths, etc, that get set up for a few weeks in different towns. We had a good time until we were getting on one of the rides and the operator reeked of alcohol. This ride was completely different for me because I was aware that the operator was intoxicated and I questioned his ability to operate the ride the entire time. It didn’t help that he allowed the ride we were on to hit the tree branches nearby. There were leaves and branches flying around us and the ride seemed to last forever! I didn’t go on any more rides after that one. So, as I was thinking about this ‘ride’ we are on in our lives right now, I was wondering, “which way am I riding?” Am I free and enjoying this time with complete trust in the Engineer and Operator, or am I doubting His abilities to care for us while we ride? Am I going to get off vowing never to get on again or am I trusting my Engineer to design the best life for me with rolls, drops, twists, and loops, all taking me closer to Him, building my trust even further in Him? Do I ride with anxiety and worry, thinking of the worst possible scenarios? I really had to ponder this. I think for the most part I am trusting the Engineer and Operator, but there are times when doubt creeps in and I am anxious once more. He never said it would be easy, He only promises we’d never be alone. I am so thankful that He is here with me – the Author and Perfector of my faith.

2007-05-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

May Day. What exactly is that and why do we know today as such? Anyone have a clue? We have lived in Iran for one month now and we still have no news on our residency visas yet. Everyone is a little leery to deal with the Americans so we keep getting put off or handed off and that is what is delaying everything. So, we are still playing the waiting game. I am beginning to wonder if Noah’s bigger clothes that are in the container are going to fit him by the time it arrives or will he have outgrown them. We are still trusting God to take care of us and I know that He is in control and will provide. I read a great verse in Hebrews today: 13:5-6, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’, so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” This has been especially meaningful since the theft we experienced 2 weeks ago. God owns everything on the earth and in the heavens anyways, right? How can I expect Him not to take care of me and to provide for me when everything I have was His first, and He has just shared it with me for the time being? We serve a great big God and I am but a tiny speck in comparison, but a loved speck by my Creator.

We started Farsi classes and they have been good but a little fast paced so our teacher is making a special class for Cody and I. He suggested that Debra join us as well since she is beyond the beginner class she is in with Taylor. I am happy about this arrangement because I was about to cry during the last class, having felt like it was hopeless and going to take forever to learn the language of this country well enough to communicate. There are two Turkish girls in that class that are much more fluent and we are just holding them back, so it will be better this way for all of us. One of the girls is my age, 34, and has a 4 ½ year old daughter, stays home during the day and we are planning to get together soon. She says she lives close by too so that should be easy enough. It will be nice to hang out with her and also to practice Farsi with her or go over our lessons. She has been here two years and is married to an Iranian, so she speaks pretty the language pretty well. She is in the class mainly for the writing and reading part. It will be nice to have a friend, especially when Taylor leaves for the summer and I am all alone during the days. Cody keeps urging me to invite the neighbor over for tea and I will, but she is just going to head back to Canada soon where she lives. She just returned to Iran for Noruz to visit family. I’ve already forgotten her name! I am terrible at that and should’ve written it down. In America I am great with names, but here, they are all foreign. J

Well, it is just after midnight and I should get back to bed. I got up because I had a nose bleed. I haven’t had a nosebleed in years! Must be the dry air and all the pollution here in the city. Good night all, and pleasant dreams the next time you go to sleep. Oh, I am throwing in a couple of cute pictures of Noah too. The one where I am laughing was taken in Bahrain on my birthday. It was just such an odd day and the situation just struck me as hilarious so I laughed and apparently Cody got it on film. The other one is just precious to me.

2007-04-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated our 16^th wedding anniversary. We actually met 21 years ago. That is more than 2 decades! Wow the time has flown. On Thursday when Cody got home from work we went for a walk and ended up at a beautiful nursery where he wanted to take me to pick out a bunch of flowers to plant as a gift. We didn’t do this because we have no residency permits yet and didn’t want to spend the money if we don’t get more permanent visas. It was a nice visionary visit though. The place is laid out beautifully with different sections and in one section they had a cage with about 40 finches inside. Noah thought those were pretty cool and sat staring at them for awhile. There was a duck that came quacking up to him in the stroller looking for food and he thought that was pretty cool as well. We left the nursery and walked some more and ended up at a bakery where I discovered is the only place to find powdered sugar, so I bought some. We returned home around 7:30 and shortly after, a delivery man came with some flowers from Rahim and Nosrat for our anniversary. Right before they came up I told Cody that they wouldn’t rival his bouquet he got me that morning. His was full of an assortment that I love and he picked each one out specially for me, and pointed out that there were 16 flowers in the bouquet (that were open). It was gorgeous. So, as pretty as the ones they got were, the ones he got me were better. Afterwards, we watched a movie. As they were setting up the computer for our viewing, I came in the room after putting Noah down in the other room and I smelled smoke. I noted that it was only from that corner of the room and when I made the rounds to confirm that I saw smoke coming up past the living room window. We all saw it and I told Taylor to go get Noah and I opened the window to see where it was coming from. It was down below on the ground, so we all calmed down a bit and settled in to watch. It was a bit frightening since we are eight floors up and everything we own that isn’t in storage is here with us. I think I freaked out more afterwards at what could’ve been. Do you ever do that?

So, back to yesterday. We spent a lazy, relaxing day at home and then headed up to the mountain for dinner at a nice restaurant named Koohpayeh, which means foot of the mountain. It was raining really hard but we were warm under a heater and an awning, sitting beside the canal that was full of rushing water –melted snow. We waited until the rain lessened and walked down the mountain and into the city where we caught a taxi home. It was a great day, and we spent it as a family.

Today, it was sunny and only slightly cloudy so Taylor and I headed out in search of a birthday gift for Samira’s sister. She got invited to attend her birthday party tonight so we need to get a gift. We headed down the hill, crossed the main roads 3 times with the stroller and scary traffic. Once, I had just pushed Noah across and was about to get him up on the sidewalk when the car we were behind started rolling backwards 2 feet and almost hit the stroller before they drove forward. The majority of the vehicles here are manual and with all the hills it makes for interesting traffic. Anyways, that was avoided and I gave thanks to God for watching out for us. We found a little grocery store and went in to get some stuff and discovered lots of little treasures like Italian dressing and Barbeque sauce! They had Ranch dressing too, but it was $6 for the bottle, and since I don’t eat it and Cody likes the local alternatives I didn’t get it. They also had syrup, which Debra discovered at a store by her, so it is nice to know where else to get it. The best find was mint chocolate chip icecream, my favorite, and it is a local brand and only cost $1.25 for the container. Yummy. While we were in the store, Cody called to say that it was hailing at his office and moving quickly our direction and that we should either hurry home or stay put until it passed. Taylor came in at the same time and said it looked liked doomsday outside. By the time I was checking out 3 minutes later, it was raining heavily and hailing where we were at as well, which is many miles away. It was over just as quickly and moved on south and east of where we were. I found out later that Debra and Tad were stuck in it but a nice stranger offered them a ride home. It was sunny again and so we started our trek back up the steep hill to our home. I didn’t realize how steep it was until I was pushing Noah in the stroller with 3 bags of groceries attached, uphill, in the street while trying to avoid the muddy river that was running down the middle and other side of the street. It was amazing how much water there was with just 3 minutes of rain! At least this city is equipped for rain runoff. We made it back in one piece and were so sweaty and hot because the sun had come out again. The bad news was that we didn’t find a good gift so Taylor had to walk out to the little bazaar to find something an hour later. All in all, it has been a good three days and I wanted to share them with you.

2007-04-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

Today I gave Noah a bath in the sink, because he was beginning to stink, and his daddy wasn’t around to give him a shower. He sure enjoys himself when he is getting bathed. It is very cute and most enjoyable for us both.

Taylor has already begun her torture of her little brother by dressing him as a girl. Well, she put her scarf on him and he looks like a Russian babushka. He will rue this day later on in his life, but for now he is oblivious and his sister is having a good laugh. It made me think of my poor brother who had to suffer with not one sister, but three, to torture and torment him. Poor Tommy, but he survived and so will Noah.

Last night we started our first Farsi class and it went really well. On Saturday night we went to the beginner’s class and he tested each of us to see which level we were at and which class to put us in. Taylor stayed for that class and he sent Cody and I to the more advanced class which meets on Sundays and Wednesdays from 5:00-6:30. Taylor’s class meets on Saturdays and Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00. It works out well for Taylor to watch Noah while we are in class and since we can walk to the class in 5-8 minutes she is close if need be. We were just going to bring Noah to the class with us, but now don’t have to. The class is good and the teacher is great and only speaks to us in Farsi. It is very hard but good for us to be immersed that way. It is held in a building in the middle of a beautiful park that we went to two weeks ago, and the walk is up a steep hill and then down a sleep hill. On the way back it is up a steep hill and then down a steep hill. Or as our grandfathers used to say, “Up hill both ways”.

We are doing well after the theft we encountered on April 12^th. God is going to provide and we trust Him completely to do so. We still haven’t received our residency permits but we might hear something about it tomorrow. If we don’t get them by the 30^th we will have to leave Iran and we may not come back. We will keep you posted.

2007-04-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

Home. Where is that exactly? Is it where you grew up? Is it where your parents live? I was listening to Fernando Ortega today and his song ‘Traveler’ made me think. The chorus is, “Heavenly Father, remember the travelers, bring us safely home”. In essence I have prayed that prayer many times. We have been traveling and we haven’t had a home for a few years and sometimes it has seemed like God has forgotten us. Today, as I stood looking out the window on the city of Tehran, I prayed for the people of this country, that God would bless them, and I thanked Him for bringing us here.

Home. In America we have a saying, “home is where the heart is”, but unless you have been homeless that is just a nice saying that gives you warm fuzzies as you read it. Now, after struggling with being homeless and all that goes with it, I realize that this sentiment is true. Home is where the heart is and my heart is here in Iran, and has been for years. Moreover, my heart is in heaven with Christ and my true home is there with Him, so any earthly home is temporary anyways. In Fernando’s song he says, “I long for my friends and family to remind me where I have been, where I am going and where I come from.” What a wonderful concept to dwell on. How often do you remember where you’ve been, where you’re going and where you come from? I know where I’ve been. I have been in the deepest depths of despair, in the dark, lonely, selfish, prideful, angry, impatient and many more woeful things. I know that I am going to a better place, one that God has made for me and will bring me to when it is the end of my days. One where all the things I have been will be no more. I know where I come from – a life of sin and regret, a childhood full of hurt, a country full of shame that used to embrace God and is now turning away from Him and His statutes. I know also who I am today. I am free. I am covered in grace given through the spilled blood of Christ and humbly accepted when I recognized my need for it. I know I have great friends and family that will remind me of these things. Reliant K has another song I heard lately and the chorus of one song really stuck in my head, “Who I am hates who I’ve been”. This is a trustworthy saying (had to put this in, been reading Paul’s epistles lately). May that always be the case. I am striving to live in such a way that I will be an old woman with no regrets. Is that even possible? I know that love covers over a multitude of sins, and I am thankful for Christ’s love and that he has surrounded me with people that love me and are gracious towards my shortcomings. What things do you know for sure?

Home. Now, when I think of home, I only have to look around me, into my heart, and towards heaven, and I am home. That doesn’t mean I won’t miss places or people where I have lived before, it just means I know where I am going, and that I have hope because of it.

2007-04-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Easter with the Reimers and our new friend Samira, who works for Rahim in the same office as Cody and Jeff. She is so sweet and was very charming. She speaks English superbly and is willing to help us with our Farsi. Last night she offered to take us shopping for scarves and manteaus and so she picked us up around 7:30 and we headed through the busy streets to the south of Tehran for some stores where there are good sales. She said her friend told her to take us to a mall in Tajrish, but I told her it was too expensive and asked if there was somewhere cheaper. She laughed and said her friend told her not to take us to Fatemi Square because it was too cheap for Americans and that we would like somewhere more expensive. I told her that Americans like a good bargain and that we aren’t all like what is portrayed on television - all glitz and glamour. So, that is exactly where we headed to and we were successful in our endeavors. I came away with two manteaus and two scarves, Taylor had two scarves leaving the manteaus for another place that caters to teenagers, and Debra got one manteau and I think one scarf. So, we were all pretty grateful for her help in finding us cheap prices for good quality, for translating, for inspecting the stitching and telling us what was too much or what wasn’t good quality, etc. She is very kind and I really enjoyed my time with her. She is courteous as well and always enquired as to how we were doing each step of the way. I am thankful that God brought her into my life and that she is eager to help us settle in to her country. When I mentioned that I used to do the same thing for international students when they came to America, she said, “This is God bringing me to you because of what you did”, and yes, that is what I believe to be true. God is blessing me for being a blessing in the past, and He will continue to bless me so that I will be a blessing in the future.

Since I don’t have any pictures of our Easter dinner or our time yesterday, I will throw in some of Noah in the shower (did I mention how much he loves his showers?) for the grandparents and anyone else who wants to see pictures of him. Can’t resist… Oh, and I must mention that I bought a leg of lamb at the butcher shop and communicated all in Farsi. That was an adventure. So was cooking it. We live and learn and each day is a new opportunity to gain new knowledge.

Oh, one funny thing that happened yesterday while we were out walking our neighborhood as a family I just have to mention: a young guy was walking by us and said, “Hello. I am fine, thank you”, just like that. It was pretty funny and seemed to be the only English he knew.

2007-04-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at a desk in our 7^th floor apartment that overlooks the snow-capped Elburz Mountains. This picture shows the snow already melted off from when we first moved in. We are on the 8^th floor really because they don’t count the ground floor. Noah is napping and Taylor is doing school in her room. We are getting settled and learning our way around here. We have been making trips up the hill to the little bazaar that has two little stores and a fruit and vegetable stand in it. By little, I mean little. The stores are about 12ft x 12ft, and stuffed to the ceiling with all sorts of products. There are things piled on the floors and spilling out into the hallway beyond. Interesting and eye-catching. If you don’t take in everything you just might miss something you needed. The Reimers found a big supermarket and told us about it so we were able to go to that 2 nights ago after we had dinner with them in their new place. So, now we have food in our fridge, and some in the pantry, but I still need some basics and need to plan some menus with the food we have. Lunches are the hardest to plan for since there isn’t much in that department. I think people just have leftovers or go to fast food for lunch. We will probably have leftovers too, once I start cooking. We have pasta in there now, but no microwave to heat it up with. I will have to do it the old-fashioned way – on the stove or in the oven. Sheesh….what is this world coming to. J My Scottish friend, Eilidh, is probably laughing at me right now because she has never had a microwave and is used to this. One great thing about the shopping is that there aren’t a whole lot of processed food options. No easy fixes for dinner, which is both good and bad. Good because it is healthy and we will be better for it, bad because I will be in the kitchen a lot longer. I am going to get a food processor though, and that should cut down on some of the chopping time, and I will have it for when I make baby food later. I am looking forward to my garlic press to come with our stuff. In fact, life would be nicer with our stuff, especially in the kitchen. Some day soon that will happen. In the meantime, we make do.

Yesterday we went for a walk up the hill about 20 minutes and found a wonderful little Italian restaurant to eat at for lunch. The whole meal cost us $11 and was the best pizza we’ve had here in Iran, and the ambiance was great. Afterwards we walked another 20 minutes or so and arrived at a park and walked around there for awhile. I took some time out to feed Noah, which was my first experience in a public place in the daylight. It went well and no one seemed to think it odd. So far, I have done so in taxis at night while going from here to there and back. Kind of crazy, but it worked out well, even with the way people drive here. The park was beautiful and the weather was wonderful yesterday, blue sky, with the sun shining down. It was much warmer than the day before, but still had a slight chill in the air. It sure was a shock to arrive here and the weather is still cold and rainy, having just snowed the day before. In fact, it snowed again two days ago, but just up on the mountains, with only rain coming down on us. It left a fresh layer of white on the mountain peaks, which is just breath-taking to behold. After the park we walked back through the neighborhood and went to some little stores for some more things we didn’t get at the big store the night before. It is hard to shop here with a clear head. It is overwhelming at times and especially with the crowds it was harder to shop. All the prices and descriptions are in Farsi, so sometimes unless there is a picture, I am lost and have to ask the nearest shopper for help. That works sometimes if they speak English or if I know what to ask in Farsi. For example, the meat department has some packages of ground beef mixed with ground lamb. I have no idea how they mix it, but it is there. It looks like ground beef, which is what I was wanting, but the Reimers had warned us of just such a package. So I asked this woman that was getting some and she told me in Farsi that it was both. I then asked her if there was some that was just beef (“only cow, where?”) and she smiled and helped me find some. There were two packages and so I grabbed them both. Now I need to write down on my grocery list what it is in Farsi so I will remember for next time. At least the chicken was pretty self explanatory! One thing we are missing is cheddar cheese. I asked for some at the little store and they brought out a container with 8 tiny wedges of processed cheddar and told me that was all they had. I did find some gouda and we may just have to get used to that on our Mexican food and in everything else we eat with cheddar. We eat a lot of cheddar so this should be interesting…

Well, I need to go get Noah. I hear him waking up. He and his sister are napping on her bed. I will blog again soon and keep you informed of what is going on. Tomorrow is Easter and that will be interesting to celebrate here in Iran. Reza may be coming to Tehran on Tuesday so we might get to see him again. He hasn’t seen Noah yet, since he moved to Kuwait before Noah was born. He is looking forward to meeting him and we can’t wait to introduce him to his godson. All for now, I am being beckoned. Grace and peace to you all.

2007-04-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in the hotel room, having been here in Tehran for 2 days now. I am listening to Cody read Jules Verne to Taylor, who is sick in bed having vomited 11 times in the last 6 hours! Poor thing. Noah is sleeping soundly next to me on the bed, having eaten and spent time laughing at his daddy. We arrived at 1:30 a.m. in Iran yesterday and it was SO cold here, having just snowed the day before. It was 5 degrees Celsius (so about 36 degrees Fahrenheit) and we had to wrap Noah tightly in blankets to walk to the car. Rahim and Nosrat met us at the airport with a bouquet of flowers and with hugs, having arranged for our transportation and hotel ahead of time. It was so nice to see them and by the time we arrived at our hotel it was 4:00 a.m. and all of us were exhausted! We slept for awhile and then called a realtor that we had communicated with over the internet, and she came and met us at 2:00 to show us some apartments. Her name is Melika, but it could have been Maria Andretti with the way she drives! Wow, I’ve never met a woman driver quite like her. She is a good driver, but very fast. One time we were going backwards on a one way street with someone going the correct way about 6 feet from our front bumper and approximately 25 miles per hour! It was like something from a movie. Anyways, we looked at several places and then went back to the hotel for another nap. I woke up around 7:00 p.m. to find that Cody and Taylor had left and gone out in the rain to find an internet card but came back with sweets from a bakery and a DVD instead. We headed out the other way up the street with Noah tied up in a shawl around my neck and back and under a raincoat and umbrella. Everything was closed because of the holiday, National Day, so we just ate at a little restaurant and came back to watch the movie and go to sleep.

Yesterday we went by taxi to Rahim’s house and stayed there the whole day, returning to the hotel at 10:00 p.m. We had a really nice time with them celebrating Seezdah Bedar and we even ventured out into the rain to the local park where there were lots of people trying to celebrate in spite of the wet weather. We ate some traditional food served during Noruz, including bean pods. You squeeze out the bean from the pod, dip it in salt and sumac, then squeeze the inside bean in your mouth and leave the skin behind. Lots of work, but they weren’t bad. The men spent time looking in the paper for apartments and trying to call a few of the ones listed. Nosrat spent most of the time in the kitchen preparing the meal, so I hung out with Noah, Debra and Tad. Anahita held Noah for awhile and then went to nap due to a headache she had. Taylor and Farzin played computer games for a few hours and had a good time. It is absolutely breathtaking here with lots of snow on the mountains and a chill in the air. The trees have new little leaves and buds on them and flowers are everywhere! Pansies, Primrose, Gerbera Daisies, Stock, Tulips, etc, which are some of my favorites, are planted all over. The flower shops have beautiful daffodils and calla lilies and lots of gorgeous looking flowers, unlike the wilted ones in Bahrain. It is amazing and refreshing to see. Anyways, we played games with the family and ate a huge lunch and had leftovers for dinner, along with lots of trays of sweets and nuts to snack on between meals. It was a nice and relaxing day and we are so thankful to be here in Iran with our good friends and good weather.

Today Cody got up and went to the office to begin the long journey of getting our business visas and finding us a temporary place to live, outside of this hotel. He did find one and we are moving in tomorrow morning. Taylor, Noah and I slept in and then got up and went out with Debra and Tad, walking around the neighborhood trying to find a baby store. We weren’t successful, but we asked directions using our Farsi, and got braver about crossing the street and getting around. We returned to the hotel and had lunch, planning to head out to a big park up north where there are two baby stores but Taylor started feeling poorly so we came back to the room and she began her vomiting then. We ordered in because she didn’t want us to leave her and after Cody ate, he headed up the street to some baby stores that he had heard of. Now, as I am finishing this blog, she has vomited 12 times, but is finally feeling better and it has been longer than 20 minutes between. She even slept some and is propped up reading a book. Praise God for a speedy recovery. Well, I need to get some sleep and feed Noah, not in that order. Hopefully I can find internet to send this blog soon. I will blog again regardless of when they get sent. Good night for now!

2007-03-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

We are getting our passports back today with our Iranian visas inside! We are thrilled and eager to go to Iran after waiting for so long. Noah is one month old and is officially an American citizen since yesterday when we received his passport and certificate of birth abroad. Now he is going to go to Iran and begin a new life there. It will be all he knows for a few years, as opposed to our daughter’s experience of living in America for so long, then here in Bahrain, and now in Iran. We hope she has lots of helpful information to pass on to her little brother some day.

Well, I am 34 years old now, having celebrated my birthday on the 15^th. We went to Al Areen Wildlife Park to see the animals and take some family photos. It was the first day here where it was really hot! It wasn’t a great experience due to the heat, the flies, and the bright sun in Noah’s face, so we packed it up with only one photo session taken in prickly grass. We headed to lunch at a Tex-Mex restaurant that opened up recently, and it made me a little homesick. There was an Arizona Route 66 sign on the wall on the way to the restroom that particularly made me sad. When I was exiting the restroom I was cheered up though, because on the back of the entrance door there was a sign that read “Men’s” and it looked just like the other signs marking the restrooms on the outside. It made me second guess where I was at. I had a good laugh and then sent Taylor and Cody to the bathrooms and they laughed too. We enjoyed our lunch and then split two desserts that were really chocolatey and yummy.

So, now it has been a few days since I typed the above portion, and since we didn’t have internet for awhile and I’ve been busy, I didn’t send it. We are leaving tomorrow! It has happened really fast and like our friend Alfred says, “It’s like a bottle of ketchup- nothing, nothing, nothing, and then whoosh, all at once”. He’s a pilot with Gulf Air and has been gone for a little over a week, so he comes back and we’re leaving. Pretty shocking for him I’m sure, it is for us. So pray for us and when we get a chance to connect to the internet again, we will, but it may be a little while. Look for us soon.

2007-03-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today my baby boy is 9 days old. (Pictures in the bouncer seat) He is so cute! We just love him to death and as Taylor says all the time, “I just want to eat him up”. As strange as it sounds, our Persian friends say that all the time. Noah is a great baby and we hardly ever get to hear his cry. He used to cry during bath time but Cody discovered that he enjoys showers (only after he peed and pooped all over himself and desperately needed one. Noah, not Cody.) He is nursing well and getting bigger every day. I still can’t believe he has my hair color! Taylor was born with a head of black curls, so to see curly blonde locks on my boy was unexpected – but oh so cute. He was 3.5kg and 51cm long (7lbs. 7ozs. And 23 in.) when born.

I must say, I really enjoyed being pregnant and didn’t have any significant difficulties with my pregnancy. I didn’t have any morning sickness, felt great with lots of energy until the last 2 weeks. At the end I developed carpal tunnel and that was slightly annoying, and my feet swelled, but didn’t hurt. Overall I was blessed with an easy pregnancy, and very grateful for that. The delivery however…..that was much more than I bargained for!
The two weeks before Noah arrived, I had contractions and sometimes they were regular, sometimes accompanied by pain, sometimes not. So, it was exhausting emotionally and mentally, not knowing whether ‘today was the day’ or not. February 24^th I woke up with quite regular contractions and they were more painful than ever and it radiated throughout my lower back, so I knew something was different. They got more irregular throughout the day, but stronger. By the time we went to bed that night around 9:30 they were ten minutes apart and building in intensity. I had to wake Cody up to rub my back and he decided to take a shower and prepare for a long night and morning. At about 3:30 they started coming every 5 minutes and lasting a minute and a half, so at 4:00 a.m. I called the midwife and she told me to head to the hospital. After yanking Taylor out of bed and grabbing our stuff, we arrived at the hospital at 4:20 and I was wheeled up to the birthing room. Nurses were bringing in buckets of water to fill the tub faster and everyone was bustling around. When the midwife arrived (later than usual due to an unexpected fog), she hooked me up to the fetal monitor to check on the baby’s heartbeat and did an exam to determine how far along I was. I was only 3 cm and they recommend not getting into the water until at about 5 cm. She said to let it progress and she’d check on me in a few hours. So, as I labored away, Cody and Taylor either slept or assisted me by bringing me drinks or comforting me. There wasn’t much for them to do. I tried to sleep in between contractions but they were pretty painful in my back. She hooked me up to a TENS machine which is basically little electrical pulses that take the edge off the contractions. Right. It still hurt. After a few hours, she checked me again and I was only 5 cm so she broke my water to speed things up. That is when all the problems started. There was meconium (baby’s first poop) in the amniotic fluid, which means that the baby was under distress some how. That meant that she had to call in a doctor and that they were in charge from then on. The doctor came in and said that I couldn’t have a water birth, had to have a pediatrician present at the birth and she had to be present as well. She said they needed to start an oxytocin drip and that if I wasn’t close to delivering in 2 hours that they were going to have to do a Cesarean. So, I started praying that that wouldn’t be the case but if it was God’s will then so be it. Once the drip started, the pain increased and the contractions came on harder and longer. Every 20 minutes they turned up the drip which increased the pain and contractions. When I didn’t think I could take it anymore she was there to check my progress, two hours having passed already. She had to wait to examine me because I had two contractions right on top of each other and with them felt the urge to push. She said I was there and did I feel like pushing to which I replied I did, and thus began the delivery. Fifteen minutes later there was Noah, all slimy and warm, laying on my stomach. I’ll spare you the details…but Taylor was in tears because she had never seen me in so much pain and it freaked her out. Now she claims that she will never have children unless she adopts. They took Noah off to suction his nose and stomach in case he swallowed or breathed in any meconium. Cody stayed with him and Taylor went with them as well while I was getting stitched and cleaned up. When we were all done and in a recovery room, I nursed him and he took to it right away and was much happier. And thus began this family of four.
The first few days were hard on me because I was worried about him. He made some little choking sounds and I thought something was wrong. Was he getting enough to eat, was he dehydrated etc. I think I worried more in the last week than I have in the last three years that we’ve been here! What a wreck I’ve been emotionally. It is funny how you know that worrying does nothing to change a situation, but still can’t help worrying. I had some long talks with God this last week and one night when I was up worrying, I picked up my bible and read Psalm 4:8 “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.” I held to that promise and went to sleep. I slept soundly and didn’t stir at every little noise coming from Noah. Now we are in a pattern and all is well. He sleeps quite a bit at night and rouses about every 3 to 4 hours to eat, then goes right back to sleep. He doesn’t cry, just makes some smacking sounds which is enough to wake me up and feed him.
I am doing well; totally recovered and happy to have him here. I am wearing my clothes from before being pregnant and able to do all the normal activities I had before: cleaning, cooking, laundry, ironing, emailing (when we have internet), reading, exercising, etc, but now I add in there nursing several times a day. We have taken Noah to church, out to dinner (which is where I first nursed in public under a blanket), the grocery store (he slept the whole time), the mall, our pastor’s house and to the park. Quite a bit of activity for his first 9 days of life.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us during this time. We are truly blessed and we are raising our son to be a blessing to everyone he meets. May God do great things with this tiny person He has entrusted to us.

2007-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday, so Happy Birthday Robin! We are all doing well here, still in Bahrain and will be for the birth. I have 20 days until my due date and we are all anxious for little Noah's arrival. Since everything will be in storage and ready to ship to Iran, our friends the Dunkley's are letting us use a portable crib, blankets, carseat, snuggli and a stroller if we need it, until we leave here. We plan to buy most things in Iran because they are cheaper there and we don't want to lug it from here to there or wait until our cargo arrives to use it. So, that is nice of them to loan us the necessities. I am still writing up the birth plan to give the midwife and hospital staff and have been reading lots of books to prepare. Sometimes ignorance is bliss and I wonder what I am doing filling my mind with all the things that could go wrong!

Yesterday in church, there was a guest speaker from England talking about bringing Jesus with you to work, but during his talk, he mentioned worrying. It was really good for me to hear, again. When something has me worried I tend to dwell on it and usually it doesn't turn out how I imagined at all. He used the example of wildebeasts and lions. Wildebeasts don't have support groups or dwell on "if" a lion comes, they go on with their lives until a lion does appear. Then they worry. He brought up the Lord's prayer and the part that says "give us this day our daily bread" and where Jesus tells the disciples not to worry about tomorrow. So, I am praying for each day and not thinking ahead to tomorrow or even next week, or to whenever Noah arrives, just today. And I am not worrying about today, but giving thanks to God for it and for whatever He wants me to learn and experience now. May you all do the same!

2007-01-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

Today I am 35 weeks along, which means I have 5 weeks and 3 days left until my due date. That means 38 days from now I am supposed to have a baby. Of course, God may have other ideas on the timing, but according to the doctors that is when Noah Gabriel will enter this world and our lives will be changed forever. Last week Cody took some pictures of my belly, so I am including those in this blog.
Not much is going on. We are still waiting here in Bahrain for our visas. We got an email yesterday informing us that by the end of the week (tomorrow, the 17th) a letter of request for visas will be in the hands of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that they will take up to 10 days to issue our 3 year visas. Which is excellent news. Thank you God for that amazing answer to prayer. The only thing we need to decide is whether to stay or go. The airline will only let me fly up to 36 weeks, so I think that we may exceed that time limit and end up staying here to deliver. We are still waiting until the last minute it seems. I trust God in his timing, and am willing to do whatever he thinks is best. It is just hard to know what that is sometimes!We are all doing well with the waiting though. The new year has come and gone and now we are in the middle of January. Where does the time go? There doesn't seem to be much to do during the day, so it sometimes gets boring around here. Cody stays rather busy with work, and Taylor with school, so I am left to read or watch tv sometimes. I have read 3 of the books I received for Christmas and am on the fourth. I read the birthing books I have and that makes me anxious for Noah's arrival, or it makes me nervous about actually giving birth, so I read in moderation.

Our friend Kate is in the hospital with pneumonia and has been since the 10th. She had to have two operations to drain fluid from her lungs. The antibiotics don't seem to be working much, but after yesterday's operation she is somewhat better. It is taking a toll on Dave, her husband, though so they both can use some prayers.

It is starting to cool off again here, and even raining today. It warmed up last week, which is nice since we don't have a heater, but the rumor is that it is supposed to be really cold this week. We'll see. In Tehran they just got some more snow yesterday, so I won't complain about the cold front coming here. I am usually just fine when Cody and Taylor are in multiple layers and still cold.

2006-12-27T02:16:00.000-08:00

Hello there! Hope you all had a great Christmas, celebrating Jesus' birth. We had an awesome time caroling in the mall on the 23rd and 24th. It is so neat to watch the varied responses of the people in the 'audience'. Some smile shyly, some boo, the ones with video phones use them to take pictures or record us singing. It is also really interesting to see people's mouths moving to the music, some singing the same lyrics and some not at all. Noah kicked a bunch, or maybe he was dancing, as we were singing. I'm sure he is getting anxious to enter the world, and is running out of space in my belly. Only 8 more weeks little guy!
On Christmas Eve we went to the Reimers and exchanged gifts before going to the 4:00 candlelight service at church. Cody and Jeff gave each other the same thing, very funny for us all. Debra gave me a watch. We had a nice time together. When we got to the church, it was packed so we stood in the back (I had a chair given to me because of my 'condition'). I noticed the man next to Taylor had his plate on fire so I mentioned it to Cody since I couldn't get there that fast. He was blowing it out and the man looked at him weird and still didn't realize that it was on fire until he looked down. The blowing Cody did didn't help so the man frantically blew and it went out, leaving a bunch of smoke in its wake. The usher commented that they were worried about the kids!
After the caroling, we came back to our flat and called Cody's mom, then opened our Christmas gifts. We all felt extremely loved and cared for as we opened the gifts from friends and family back home. Thank you everyone who gave to us this year! We love and miss you all.
On Christmas day we spent the day at the home of our friends from church. We had a great dinner and some dessert and then came back and spent time as a family. It was a very relaxing holiday for us all.
Right now we are babysitting (minding) the pastor's children while they are at a conference in Turkey. We started this morning and have one of the 8 days done with. They are pretty good, so besides a few squabbles, they played nicely together and are very respectful of us. It is fun. As Cody mentioned in his blog, Iran has given us the green light and so we are waiting now for our export license and visas to be issued. I only have 4 more weeks in which I can fly, so hopefully we will come in under that window of time, and that means I will deliver Noah in Tehran, Iran. If not, then I will have to wait and have him here in Bahrain. I have been seeing the midwife here and saw the birthing room with the big tub for the water birth and am very comfortable with all of that. I trust that God knows where we need to be and we will find out soon enough. I am in the process of finding a midwife in Iran and have sent several emails out to various medical professionals and am waiting to hear back. Well, hope you all have a great New Year, or a nice Eid, depending on your part of the world.

2006-11-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was the Australian Super V8 races at the Bahrain International Circuit. Cody, and Graeme, signed up to scrutineer the races and so he received 3 complimentary tickets for yesterday's big race. Taylor and I went and gave the extra ticket to Ola. I dropped Cody off at 8:30 at Graeme's house, and Tay and I headed to the track at 10:45, making a pit stop to pick Ola up. We had great seats and were right across from the pit garages where Cody was scrutineering. He was overseeing the Ford performance group, who won the day before. He was having a blast. It was raining a little in the morning but cleared up for the races, and then continued all night.

It was a good day and the races were loud and fun. We stopped for lunch and saw the 'aborigini' man with his dijeridoo entertaining the children, and 2 men in kangaroo costumes bouncing around or laying down. They had springs on their feet and literally bounced 3 or 4 feet off the ground. Very funny.

Ola, Taylor and Alla, who met up with us later, had a good time being girls. It started sprinkling, barely, and Ola freaked out about her hair getting wet so we gave her an umbrella to use. It was rather hilarious and she saw the humor in it on the way to the restroom when I pointed out that it wasn't raining anymore and that she was the only one with an umbrella up. Taylor opened hers so she wouldn't feel so bad and I snapped a cute picture of the three of them on a bench. There was a beautiful rainbow in the clouds and the sunset was like ones in Arizona when it has been raining. Really nice!

Cody was really easy to spot since he was the only one with a red clipboard, so look for him in the pictures. The cars he was scrutineering are the black and yellow Number 6 car and the blue and white Number 5 car, so of course those are the ones we rooted for. The Number 6 car came in second at the end of the race and won overall since the day before they won, so it was exciting for everyone there in the pits!

2006-11-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well, today was America's Thanksgiving Day. It commemorates the first feast after the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower. They suffered a long and arduous trip across the ocean, only to arrive and have to deal with sickness and deaths. They worked hard for their food and during the harvest time, had a lot to be thankful for and threw a feast. The native Americans joined in and brought food to share as well. In our generation, we eat as well, and remember all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for, and spend time with family and friends -some of what we are thankful for. Hopefully. :)

We invited our Canadian friends, Dave and Kate Webb, as well as our pastor Graeme and his wife Allison, and their kids Aisha and Peter, from Australia. The Reimers joined in to add to the Americans that were present, and Reza, an Iranian, came for dinner as well. My Scottish friend, Eilidh, came by for tea earlier in the day since she had dinner plans already. So it was a nice international mix.

I started preparations early in the day by making rolls and pies from scratch, setting out the appetizers and preparing the turkey for cooking. Taylor made the hummus the night before. This isn't a traditional Thanksgiving dish, but we adapt to our culture here. After dinner we chatted and played cards, and then had warm peach and cherry pie with a scoop of ice-cream or whipped cream on top. Yummy.

Cody and Graeme were on the computer, looking at interesting satelite images of the world, big unknown fossils found in Iran, remote control planes, and other 'guy' stuff, and enjoyed the time spent using their minds to wonder and plan and invent. I love that about my husband and it is neat that he can do that with a like-minded person, Graeme.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving time, you Americans that celebrate it that is, and remember all the wonderful gifts and blessings God has given you - and be thankful!

2006-11-18T03:16:00.000-08:00

Hello. It has been a long time since I've blogged, but not much has been happening. On Saturday Debra threw a baby shower for me (and Noah) so I can blog about that! It was a lot of fun and she made it special for me. Almost all of the attendees were from Awali church here in Bahrain except for my friend Farzana, Taylor's friend Ola, her sister Mariam and mother Iman. I have never met Iman before so it was nice to meet her. She is so short and when I wanted to take her picture she insisted on putting on her shoes first. Very cute. She is really sweet and now I know where Ola gets it. We played pictionary too, and all the items were related to what you do to babies. It was funny to see what some people drew. See if you can guess what this picture is of. Sally was especially good at guessing. Good thing she was on my team. Speaking of Sally, she is British but lived in South Africa for several years, met and married her husband and had children there. When she was 8 months pregnant with her last, her friends threw her a shower. She arrived in a dress and they made her take it off and wrapped her in a large towel that looked like a giant diaper (nappy for you non-Americans). She was so embarrassed to be sitting there in only that in front of her mother-in-law, mentor, people from church, etc. She said to be glad that I don't live in South Africa! I am rather thankful actually.

Debra also passed around a blessing box, which I have never heard of. Everyone wrote a prayer or note of encouragement on a card and put it in the blessing box for me and Noah. Very sweet idea. I haven't read those yet, I think I will do that right after this blog...

2006-10-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of Eid, which means that Ramadan is over and people can eat in public during daylight hours. We are going to meet up with some friends from church out in the desert for a barbecue in a little bit to celebrate. Some of them will be camping, but since we don't have any gear with us, we will just stay for the evening.

Yesterday was a big day for us. We found out that we are expecting to have a son! We had already decided on the name Noah Gabriel, so now all we have to do is wait 4 months to meet him. It is a little scary to think about having a boy, since all we know is how to raise a girl, but God is sufficient and will get us through. We liked the name Noah, because in the bible he was reputed for his righteousness. He lived over 600 years old! To be considered a righteous man for that long is amazing to me. I like that heritage for our son, and will do my best to train him in righteousness for the Lord's namesake. Gabriel was a messenger of God, so we liked that name as well and pray that our Noah will carry God's message far and wide.

Friday we had the privilege of hearing a well-known Christian speaker who was visiting Bahrain on his way from Saudi. Bob Sjogren used to live in Arizona and we met him years ago when he spoke at a seminar at Bethany Community Church, where we used to go. He has books and videos that are most excellent and change your view of what it is to be a Christian. Anyways, his topic that evening was Joy. How do we find true joy and what is it. Most of it I had heard from him before but it was an excellent reminder for how to live my life and reinforced what my thoughts of God really are.

Well, I am off to pack for the jaunt into the desert. I will write more later and send some pictures at that time.

2006-10-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the women's prison here in Bahrain. It is located in Isa Town (Jesus Town), and currently there are 80-90 women behind bars. Most are women who've overstayed their visas and can't afford to pay the fines. I expected to see mostly Indian, Pakistani, or Filipina house maids that ran away, but there were 5 Russian girls that surprised me. I went with 9 other women from church and it is only because the prison has just now granted permission for us to come and minister to the women. Only women that are 'officially' Christian are allowed to come.

So, here is basically what happened. We arrived at about 8:50 a.m. and were ushered into this little room about 10x12 feet with filing cabinets on two of the walls, a rug in the center, and a plant in the corner. We moved the few chairs that were in there into the outer office so that there was more room. We stood there until 15 prisoners filed in. In their pajamas, and looking very sleepy. One was a young Asian about 15 or 16 years old. Wonder what she did.... Anyways, they all shook our hands or gave big hugs and kisses and then all sat down. I was kind of in one of the corners against the filing cabinet and all the Russian girls gathered around me and sat down. Since there was no room for me to sit, I figured I'd stand. Susan (by chance it was the woman I gave my cat, Shadi, to when we left Bahrain 3 months ago) started with a scripture reading and prayer. Then we sang some songs, in English, and then she passed out some photo copied drawings she had done of the life of Christ. She asked if any of the women had crayons to color in the pictures, and when they said no, she said we'd bring some back next time. Now, up until this point I was thinking it all felt a little juvenile but the crayon comment made me feel like I was in VBS helping with the little kids. I had to check my attitude because God can use ANYTHING to reach people, even that. Hmmm....maybe that is why I almost fainted, because of my poor thoughts. Well, I did almost faint and I had to quickly ask the Russian girl in front of me to scoot forward so I could slink down the wall to the floor in a cross-legged position. My legs fell asleep because of how crowded we were and from not moving for 20 minutes, but it was better than falling down!

We then broke into little groups to ask for prayer requests and to pray. I managed to get one from a girl named Yulia. She has a court case in a week and she asked that that go well and to pray for her family back in Uzbekistan, especially her 3 year old baby. I told her I would. Then, one of the women that came with us came over and she speaks Russian so the rest of the time was spent with them conversing in Russian. I listened politely and when she noticed me staring at her she asked if I knew Russian and where I was from. I told her I was American to which she replied, "You look Russian". I told her I get that a lot. I do! Mostly in Iran, and sadly it is because most of the Russians that they encounter are prostitutes. Wonder what they'd think now that I am obviously with child. When we were all done, we prayed, said good bye and left. I came back to the villa and ate a piece of cheese, had some gatorade and slept on the couch for almost 2 hours. The whole rest of the day I was very dizzy, even while sitting or lying down. I think that it was a combination of getting a cold, which I have a very small one, and being somewhat dehydrated. It is very hard during Ramadan to sneak drinks out in public, since it is quite illegal during daylight. So, I need to stay in in order to get enough fluids in me.

Today I am much better with only a slight runny nose and some sinus pressure, but am drinking lots of water to flush it out. The baby is doing well, kicking a lot harder and more often. I am having trouble finding a comfortable position at night though, so that doesn't help much. I am thankful that we have a bed to sleep in and a roof over our heads, and I don't want to come across as complaining, so excuse me if I am.

My little sister is singing in Flagstaff tonight. Just thought I'd mention that. She is in a band called Lesser Heroes and is the lead singer. They just released a CD and will have a big night for the release in November. I am really proud of her. She is pursuing her dreams, but hasn't left God out of the decision. Go Mary Ann!

Ok, off to do some dishes and laundry. God bless you all!

2006-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today I am rather homesick. It has been creeping up on me the last week or so, but now it has hit full force. It didn't help to relive the whole summer as I got caught up on our finances, entering in all the receipts from all the places we went with friends. Then while checking email, I notice a flyer for one of my favorite craft stores, Jo-Ann's, and that made me sad. I have lots of crafts to do, but they are all packed up and waiting to be shipped to wherever we are going to end up living. All of that is in God's hands. Is this a hard life to live? Yes, definitely, but God's grace is sufficient for even this. It is a small price to pay compared to what Christ has done for us, right? So, I'll stop my belly aching.

We are in Bahrain, staying at a villa of a friend who is out of the country until mid November. It is a nice place and very affordable - free - so that works out well for us. The days seem a little long since there isn't much to do here in Bahrain in the first place (no offense to my Bahraini friends), but it is also Ramadan and most places are closed during the day here. I am cooking and baking, and cleaning, and when I tried to do the ironing Cody reminded me that John has a maid that comes and will iron them. So, I am left trying to fill my time. I am going to the women's prison on Thursday with the church, and tonight we are going to a bible study group. On the 20th, Bob Sjogren will be visiting on his way to somewhere else, and we will go hear him speak. If you don't know of him, he is a great Christian teacher with some books out there like "Unveiled at Last". I might join a Pilates class with my friend Allison, who is also pregnant. I have been doing some here, on the floor, that I got off the internet.

Taylor has begun her home school studies with NorthStar Academy, and is trying to make up 8 weeks of school. She is doing well so far. She enjoys it, but it is long hours and gets pretty boring being in the house all day. I know the feeling....at least she has structure.

Well, I will wrap up for now. Off to make cookies for tonight.

2006-09-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in a really small hotel room in a really small town between Esfahan and Tehran. We left Esfahan this morning and headed out on the road again. We stopped in a town called Natanz that has a gushing spring running through it. Cody wanted to know where all the water comes from so we headed up a little mountain and saw a beautiful park area with a tea house that is 300 years old. There is a fountain and lots of flowers all around. We walked around the mountain following the spring and didn't make it to the source because it was still about a mile away as the crow flies. You could see the green trail snaking off in the distance. Everywhere else you looked was a barren desert, so it was easy to follow with your eyes. It ended in a stand of trees off in the distance.
After that little jaunt we headed to Abiyaneh, an ancient city in a valley with an oasis. There were lots of Beech and Poplar trees all around, as well as apple, persimmon, plum and peach trees. There was, covering an arbor, a grape vine that must have been a hundred years old because it was about 1 foot in diameter at the base! They said the grapes are now for the birds, and it was in the courtyard of a shrine for one of the brothers of Imam Reza. (So far we have seen shrines for 3 of the brothers) The village is made up of about 600 people and they make their money from tourists. I can't imagine that many going through there because it is so in the middle of absolutely nowhere! I bought two matching little cloths (table cloths someday?) because I wanted to help out and they were only $4 each. The old man that sold them to me was at least 70 and stooped over, had some teeth left, and very, very nice. We walked up the 'main street' which was probably about 8 feet wide with a little trough in the middle. Not sure what that trough was for, but we saw donkeys saddled with heavy loads walking in it. I think it must be for water runoff or something. There must also be an underground spring near here too because it was so green in the valley and there were gushing canals along parts of the street. We ate in the only hotel there and it was nice because the windows were open and the cool breezes were blowing in and you could hear the song birds they had caged outside.
Then we were off to Kashan, where we are now. In 45 minutes we are going to go see some gardens and then have dinner somewhere. It really feels like we are in the middle of nowhere, and the hotel room is something out of a B-rate movie - which gives us good laughs- but we are safe and sound and enjoying this part of historical Iran.

2006-09-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today we returned to Imam Khomeni square and went back to the carpet dealers. We bought a carpet from Bam that is 65 years old for some friends, but if they decide it was too much then we will keep it. Bam is the city that was destroyed in the earthquake a few years ago so there won't be any more carpets from there in the future. It is a Baluchi carpet. The Baluch are a nomadic people group that live primarily in Iran. We learned a lot about what the designs mean and that it was the young girls that were making them when they were old enough to be considered a woman. There is a design called "hands on hips" which is their way of saying "look, I am not a child any more and am ready to get married". When the carpet was finished, it contained symbols that showed what she expected in a husband and where he would be from, whether she wanted girls or boys, and sometimes what she wanted her husband's trade to be. Very interesting stuff. I just always thought they looked rugged and tribal...shows my ignorance. They are all made with natural dyed wool like with henna, saffron, etc. Overall, a very good experience!

2006-08-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a LONG time since I have done anything on my blog site and I will be playing catch up for the next month I think. I wanted to start off with the ultrasound we had of the baby on August 24th so you all could see him/her. Currently I am in Iran, and should be having my next check up but I have no idea where or if I will on time. Oh well, with Taylor, I didn't even have my first check up until I was 5 months along! And I didn't have an ultrasound with her (except when I was 2 weeks along to see if it was an ectopic pregnancy or not) so this is our very first 'inside' view of our child. We have two printed out and in one of them the baby is sucking it's thumb with its legs crossed. Very cute! At the time that the ultrasound was done, I was 14 weeks along. Now I am 18 weeks (which for those of you that have no idea, that is just about half way. A pregnancy is usually 36-40 weeks long.) I feel the baby move often each day, though it has been pretty still the last couple of days. Cody says it is in a kebab coma! Very funny to me because all we have had for the last 11 days, two times a day, is either kubideh kebab (ground beef) or jujeh kebab(chicken chunks that are roasted) and tons of rice with each meal... I think that we have been SO active that I haven't had much time to feel him move. Anyways, I will go to the internet cafe right now to send this and will try to be better in the future with keeping you all informed. So, look out for my future blogs which will all be post-dated for archival purposes. Neat and orderly, to keep my hubby happy. :)

2006-07-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Hello there! This is my first blog on this site, so welcome y'all. Tonight I saw my sister perform for the first time. She is the lead singer in the band Lesser Heroes and is really good. I am a little biased as a really proud big sister, but she is. You can hear portions of her songs at www.lesserheroes.com. Her name is 'Ree', at least that is what she goes by on stage now. I lovingly know her as Marbnin, but while growing up she has always been MaryAnn.

Right now, I am sitting on the couch next to my husband, Cody, who is at the same time blogging his day as well. You can see his blogs at eternalforeigner.blogspot.com.

Well, it is short for the first blog, but I am tired and need to get up early for church tomorrow. Good night everyone!