At the first kid call this day seems oh so typical.  The smells of pumpkin pie haven’t risen up and intoxicated us with sentimental feelings that come with the holiday. The same little arguments occur about what cartoon or who can put their feet straight out on the couch for cartoon watching. I want so badly for this day to feel special and different. Today is just an ordinary day in every sense except that we have set it apart in the midst of the normal to be thankful for what we have. And somehow holidays have also become a bit of homesick days when we don’t live close to the rest of our families. Jackson has brought fresh enthusiasm for the holiday as his class has been studying about the Pilgrims and Indians. He comes home will all kinds of facts and paper bag garb, attempting to convince Owen that wearing the simple black pilgrim hat will suit him far more that the exciting Indian hat adorned with feathers.

We have much to be thankful for.

Today I am thankful for my husband, this guy has been working non-stop on this place since the day we landed stateside. We tell each other weekly that it’s almost all done, and it is in terms of big projects but the little stuff will be constant. Seth has patiently chipped away at the big stuff.  I am thankful that he is such a kind daddy and so patient with the boys. And of course to say I am thankful for the ways he loves me would be an understatement. I am blessed.

I am thankful for our energetic, funny, intense, happy boys. I am thankful God picked them to be in our family. It is so fun to watch them grow and learn by leaps and bounds these days.  Owen’s new way of expressing love is to press his nose against ours and to grip his little fingers around our necks so we can’t back away while he whispers “I love you”. A much needed balance to the toddler tantrums!  I took Jackson on a date yesterday and he told me next time he would let me have the cherry on top of the milkshake. That’s generosity in advance I guess! They are our babies turned boys. Growing way too fast.

I am thankful for family and friends near and far.  I could make a phone call a day for probably the next year and not be in touch with all of the special people we have met and gotten to know in this crazy life we live.  We are enjoying being close to family this year and having special times with friends who had been so dear. We are also thankful for the new friendships developing in our new neighborhood.

I am thankful for our home. It’s coming along. And it’s feeling like home.

And to name a few more, I am thankful for: a 5 yr old that is dying to cuddle up for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade,

pumpkin pie (that didn’t require a drive to the base for canned pumpkin), turkey!, Seth being home from work for the day, a day with my Aunt, Uncle, Grandma and family!  and so much more!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours wherever on this big globe you might be!

I had a little hurricane distraction fun digging up old pictures of Halloween’s past.

2006 Dallas, Texas

2007: Sweet pea, Embassy Bogota

2008: mono (monkey), Embassy Bogota

2009: puppy, Vienna, VA

2010: Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat, Embassy Bern, Switzerland

2011: Superman and puppy….crayon and Superman (depending on the party), Embassy Bern, Switzerland

This year we had an interesting Halloween. An hour before I almost decided to call it a day but decided to push through and go through with the festivities. Jackson’s buddy Jackson from school and his family came over for a quick dinner before taking the kids trick-or-treating down our street. Truth is we probably went as long as we would have any other year but the wagon and broken arm made things a bit more interesting.

kind of a lame pumpkin shape but the kids liked it!  The pumpkin cookies looked a bit better!

Owen’s line of the night was “can we just come on in?”

2012: Captain America and Woody, Herndon, VA…woody was at a slight advantage with candy sorting this year with both arms working! He rode around in our wagon most of the night!

Hope you all had a safe and fun evening!

So it turns out that when everyone in the US found out we were coming back they decorated with American flags, shot off fireworks and fired up the grills for good old American hamburgers….not really, it was actually the 4th of July, but it may as well have been for us because it was so fun to come back just before the 4th and soak in lots of patriotic love!

We stayed for our first few days stateside with my brother and his family. My sister-in-law and brother kindly braved a day with our boys so that we could spend a day finalizing our kitchen remodel and picking paint and appliances for the house. (I don’t recommend doing this with jetlag but it’s just how it worked out)  The next day was the 4th and we spent the day playing with the kids, going to a 4th of July parade that my niece Ruthie was marching in, grilling and going to the pool. At the end of the night we let the kids try some sparklers. Stephanie did a great job of decorating the table and adding little festive touches!

The boys did well with jetlag all in all. We wrapped up a few more house details and flew out Thursday morning for Texas.

Happy Father’s Day to my dad who is celebrating in Virginia today!  Looking forward to spending time with my dad in less than 3 weeks!  I am hoping he gets to teach our boys how to fish! Fun times to come.

This morning poor Seth’s Father’s day started WAY too early. As in 4:45 AM too early. Our youngest is giving us yet another run for our money on sleep. He did not spare Seth the agony on Father’s Day! Seth’s fathering skills are being put to the test in these days of transition with our boys. I can attest to his loving patience with them. Seth doesn’t hesitate to jump in with our boys and gives them 100% of his energy when he is with them!  You are a wonderful daddy, Seth!

We spent the morning and early afternoon taking a hike with friends and roasting hotdogs over a fire for lunch. It was so nice to get out and have some fresh air!  The visibility wasn’t great for the mountains but the view of the valleys and rolling hills was gorgeous!

{Just so you know how very tired we are Seth told me this morning that he grabbed the matches, by that he literally grabbed a few matches WITHOUT the box. So, we scrounged for a few minutes and eventually found a lady who happened to have a book of matches on her. Whew. Disaster averted. Yesterday I found the sunscreen in the fridge}

Going to miss the beautiful scenery and our dear friends!