Help Needed

Hi Everyone-

I am really sorry I am waiting to the last minute to ask for help, but moving the week after we were gone for a week as thrown me off of my organization a little bit. Many of you have asked me how you could help, so here is my list. I am going to post this on facebook. If you think you might could help, please reply to the facebook message so that others can see what needs are being met and what needs remain.

Need 1: On Wednesday evening after 6pm - I need 2 guys to help me move the things in the attic to the second floor.

Need 2: Jason Sampler - can you still help put up closet shelving and if so...could you help tomorrow night?

Need 3: I am painting one room tomorrow night (Tues)...I need one more person to help with that so we can knock it out quickly. (Michael Hitch...if you can help with this then we have it covered.)

Need 4: I need someone to be here at the house on campus between 3:30 and 4:00 on Thursday afternoon to pick up the girls from my sweet friend, Desi, and keep them until around 6 or until the movers call it quits for the day.

Need 5: On Saturday, Dave and Chelsi are coming to hang pictures and I need a place for the girls to take their naps right after lunch. (1pm-3pm or so).

Ok, I think this is all. I really, really appreciate each one of you. I appreciate any help that you can give me this week even if it is just praying that we get moved in quickly and with as little stress as possible. I am SO blessed to have such wonderful friends!!

We Are Home Owners!!

The keys to our new home!!!

How Exciting!

After 3 and a half hours of signing a HUGE stack of documents for myself and for Page and waiting on USAA to give permission to release the money, the little house on Telemachus officially became ours yesterday afternoon.

God has a sense of humor. He decided that since I had a captive audience for over 3 hours that He wanted me to share the gospel with them. I was able to share our family testimony of why we were moving into mid-city (the church plant) as well as a little of our adoption story. The part of our story that the group seemed to be the most interested in was how I have handled this house buying process by myself. The door flew wide open for me to share how God divinely led me to our real estate agent who "just happened" to meet James, the then owner of the Telemachus house. I then begin to explain how I was looking for a number of specific things in a house outside of the house itself due to the fact that we were going to be planting a church. Tammy, our real estate agent, told me when we first started looking that finding what I was looking for would be really hard. However, this house had almost everything I was looking for we got it for less than we were expecting to spend. When the house was appraised, it was appraised for $10,000 more than what we paid for it and with a VA hospital being built in the area, the market will only go up. Didn't God use His money wisely? (All you Harbor folks will appreciate that!)

We should not have been closing yesterday. The city has still not gotten their act together and sources close to the situation say that the situation might not be fixed until after Mardi Gras. Because we are only the 3rd owners of this house built in 1905, there was not much information to look up. The title company already had the information when they went through the buying process for James. Because we used the same title company to close, we were granted permission to go ahead with our closing. God worked this out as well.

After the conversation, the insurance agent told me that she was really interested in coming to our church meetings to find out more about it. From our conversation, she seemed to be interested in finding the Person that has given me the strength to make it through this year and be able to buy a house on top of it. I am not sure what I am more excited about....the house being ours or the opportunities to share that the Lord allowed me to have yesterday.

I am headed to Tifton next week to spend some time with my family over Thanksgiving. The girls and I will come back and move into the house the first week of December. Page will be home in 4 weeks!!!

Hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! May the Lord pour out many, many blessings on you and your families!!

Let me introduce you to: Our New House....hopefully!

The shutters are actually closed on the house, so you cannot see the windows. The house is formerly a double shot gun home that was renovated many years ago into a single. It was recently (as in the last few months) renovated again to look like a brand new home on the inside and out.

I wanted y'all to see the new house we are in the process of purchasing. We were suppose to close tomorrow (Nov. 15), but the Orleans Parish computers crashed last week. This crash made it impossible for the titles of over 30 homes in the parish to be cleared for closing. They are in the process of getting things cleared up and we have been given a tentative date of Nov. 19th (this coming Friday) for the closing. We are praying that this date is a keeper. I would really like to go to my family's for Thanksgiving. If the house does not close until next week, I might not get to go Tifton.

This house has been such a blessing from the start. It is completely renovated. It is in a wonderful section of mid-city. We are within walking distance of some fabulous restaurants and the street car. We are street car ride away from city park and even the aquarium if it is a pretty day.

The aspect of this house that excites us the most is that it is right in the heart of the area we feel God has led us to plant a church. This mid-city area has about 40,000 residents and no evangelical church. This community, or faubourg (pronounced foe berge) if you are from New Orleans, has residents who have lived there all their lives or most of their adult lives. They accept you as one of them only if you live in their community. This fact is true for most of the fough bourges. The population is culturally diverse. There are African Americans, Hispanics, White Americans, and other ethnicities living in the area. Economically, the people are either lower middle class or higher upper class. There are very few in between. As in most of New Orleans, most of the community comes from a Catholic heritage.

We are so very excited about the number of diversities in this area. We have felt very strongly that God is leading us to plant a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-econimic church. If you are not familiar with church planting, these churches are the hardest to plant because of the number of differences. However, Page and I feel very strongly that these types of churches are the most Biblical. We want to see God's will here on earth as it is in Heaven. In Heaven we are going to be worshiping with every nation, tribe, and tongue. We would love to see a little of that here in New Orleans.

We are praying specifically that God would use this little house on Telemachus (pronounced Tell u makus) to be a light in this community. We are praying that God would show us how we can minister to our neighbors and open up our home as a place of hope, comfort, and healing. Please pray with us that God would go before us into this community and that the hearts of our neighbors would be prepared to hear the gospel. I would also appreciate your prayers as we plan to move before Page gets home. My goal is to be in the house the week after Thanksgiving. Of course, this is the second time I have laid out plans and I do realize that God's plans are much better than mine. I will try to wait patiently.

We are definitely in the last few days of this very long year. I think we are down to 32 days (this is if the Army does not change anything) and counting. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!! God has been and is so faithful. Thank you for your continued thoughts, support, and prayers.

Welcome To the Family Emma Claire!!!!

Emma Claire Nalls

6lbs 9oz and 19 inches tall

We are so excited that the Lord saw fit to add this little bundle of joy to the family. Although we haven't met her yet (and probably won't for a long time) we are glad she is here. ISN'T SHE SO CUTE!!!

I am a very proud Aunt and Page has expressed his excitement over being an Uncle again. Karis and Thia have been talking about the "Five Girl Cousins" and all the adventures they are going to have the summer that the Nalls' family has on furlough. They are SO GLAD Emma Claire is a girl. :-)

Katie is doing well. She is still recovering in the hospital in Jo-burg, South Africa. Her mother, Carol, was able to be there to help take care of Abigail while Chris takes care of Katie and Emma Claire at the hospital. I wanted to end this post with a letter to my new niece.

Dear Emma Claire,

The Brooks' Family is so excited you are here. We are praying for you and your Mommy, Daddy, and sister Abigail. God chose your Mommy and Daddy especially for you and chose you especially for them. We are praying that they will have wisdom to know how to parent you in a way that will mold you into the young lady God created you to be. God has such a special plan for your life. We can't wait to see how God chooses to use you.

He also chose Abigail to be your big sister. You may get mad at her some times, and she may get mad at you too. However, she will always be your sister. Having your sister (or other siblings) as good friends is such a blessing, Sweet Heart. We pray that you and Abigail will be the best of friends.

We love you so much and we haven't even met you. I (Aunt Ashley) can't wait to hold you and kiss on you and tell you funny stories about your Daddy. I don't have any on your Momma, but your Uncle Russ can tell you those. Your cousins, Karis and Alethia, cannot wait to meet you either. Karis has already told me about the many adventures y'all are going to take around PopPop and Nana's Eight Acres. She wants y'all to find the foxes, deer, squirrels, and owls that hang out around there. She and Thia also like to watch and feed the horses and cows too.

Sleep and eat well for your Mommy and Daddy. We love you!

Aunt Ashley

Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman

I was surfing Amazon about 2 weeks ago when I ran across this book, Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman. Steven Curtis Chapman is one of my all time favorite artists and I remembered the tragic accident involving their youngest daughter, Maria, and I was intrigued to find out what she would say. I was expecting for the book to be strictly about their struggle with the loss of their daughter. While much of it was about that loss, Mary Beth opened up about much more than just aspect of her life.

I was so blessed by reading this book. Mary Beth was very real and open about her struggle over allowing God to orchestrate her life. She talks candidly about how she had a plan for her life that did not include much of the aspects her life entails today. She talked about her struggle with anger, depression, stubbornness, and fear. She also speaks honestly about questioning God about His choices for her life.

I was impressed over several aspects of this couples life. I am drawn to the adoration, affection, and love that this couple outwardly displays for each other. I am inspired by the passion they have for orphan ministry. I am challenged as a parent when I see the type of parents they are and the children they have raised. I told Page that if I could choose any mentors in the world for us as a couple, it would be Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman.

If you haven't read this book, I would encourage you to read it. You will cry and laugh through the entire book, but in the end you will not have just read the story of an incredible woman, you will be challenged to become one yourself.

Our Ballerina and Baby Giraffe

I wanted to give you a quick look at the girls costumes for Halloween. I am hoping to get a few more pics up here of our trip to Trunk or Treat, but I don't have them uploaded to the computer yet. This picture was taken at church on Sunday by Mrs. Meredith. Meredith's pic was the only one I have of Thia's entire outfit while she is standing still. Neither one of them have the idea of standing still for pictures quite yet. I guess I just need to get a high speed camera so that it doesn't matter whether they move or not. Maybe I'll just teach them to stand still and save myself a little cash. Hope you enjoy!

The Miracle of Time

Do you think it is possible for time to move slowly or stop in your life but continue to move normally in the world around you? I think I would have laughed at this question a few weeks ago, but after the 2 weeks I just had I am inclined to answer yes to this question.

Page was given his 2 week leave or R & R time at the beginning of August. We had a wonderful reunion at the airport where, once I told the workers at the airport what we were there for, we were treated like royalty. Karis, Thia, and I were given bogus boarding passes and the little girls were given stickers and told to hug their daddy real tight because he was a hero. We were allowed to go all the way to the gate to meat him. We waited patiently, or rather, I waited as patiently as I could and the girls ran around the gate area with signs saying "We love you, Daddy!" and "Welcome Home!". They also had their sweet shirts Nana gave them that said, "My Daddy is my Hero!" Everyone in that 4 gate area knew why we were there. As soon as they saw Page, Karis took off running towards him pushing people out of the way as she ran. Thia couldn't get her little feet to move fast enough, so she ran in place a few times before she took off after Karis into her Daddy's arms. After Page was able to get up and out of the way of everyone, I was able to get a quick hug and kiss as well. Mine wasn't as memorable as the girls because they were louder and a bit more demanding. Thia would not allow him to put her down, bursting into tears the moment he mentioned that he needed to pass her to me so that he could get his bag.

We made it home a little while later and it seemed that from the time we walked through the door time slowed way down. We weren't concerned about what was going on outside our home. We weren't concerned about what day it was. We got up with the girls, had wonderful dinners including Thanksgiving dinner a little early. We had date nights. We went to the beach, the park, and the zoo. We did not stay shut up in our home the entire time completely to ourselves. We saw friends and family, but somehow the entire time the focus was on family and making each moment count.

From the time Page got home, I forgot about the 7 months he had been gone. I was also able (for the most part) to forget about the 4 1/2 months left. We were just living in the moment. The girls immediately had their Dad. I had my best friend and husband. The world was right again and we didn't care about anything else. There were no transition problems. We had one or two "serious discussions" but nothing that was due to his having been gone. They were normal married discussions. It was as if he had never been gone and he wasn't leaving again.

All of that ended last night. We decided to have one last "date night." We put the girls to bed and popped in a movie that neither one of us had seen. We sat snuggled up on the couch through the entire movie and then the credits began to roll. As soon as the credits started it was if the bells were chiming on that "kill-joy clock" on the Disney movie Cinderella. You know....the one that continually wakes her up from her beautiful dreams and chimed the night of the ball breaking the spell...turning everything back to reality. It was over. The 2 beautiful weeks that had seemed timeless actually had a definite beginning and a very definite end.

Page was taken away to the airport this morning at 7:30 am. We have all had our moments of tears today. I don't really want to focus on the sadness of his leaving again, because we knew that was coming and would be something we would have to process through. I want to focus on the surprise and the blessings of the 2 weeks that far exceeded either one of our expectations. I want to focus on the laughs and screams of delight from two little girls that were thrilled beyond measure to play with their Daddy. I want to focus on the hours of uninterrupted conversation I was able to have with my best friend. I want to focus on the time spent with family and friends. Most of all, I want to focus on the feeling of "perfection" - not the perfection of being without a mistake because we are all human and know that is an impossibility. No, I want to focus on the feeling of "perfection" as God sees it.... a completeness that could only come from an Heavenly Father that loves me far beyond what I could ever understand. A Father that saw fit to not only give us wonderful memories, but went a step further to prove to me once again that He knows me so well that he met my love language in the 2 weeks of R & R. He gave me Time....Quality Time. I don't know how He did it, but He worked a miracle over the past 2 weeks when He made.....time slow down.

Barnes & Noble Outing

We went to Barnes and Noble this morning. I wanted to get the girls out of the house, so we left about snack time. We grabbed a small snack and I got some coffee in the Starbucks attached to the store. Then we went to the kids section and read some books. Thia pulled books off the shelf of course, but we read about 4 or 5 books. Then they played with the train set. Karis then needed to go to the bathroom. So we got over to the restrooms as quickly as you can with an 18 month old that has her own direction that she wants to go and a 3 year old that is enticed by all the toys they have at her level right in front of the bathrooms. I don't think it should be the mom's fault if they have a child that has an accident on the way to their bathroom. They do it to themselves by putting all those distractions at eye level. We finally got in there and tried to cram into a little bitty stall. The area was not really even big enough for me to turn around good with a purse let a lone cram 3 people into. I had to keep Thia behind my back so that she would not put her hands into the toilet. I was finally able to get the toilet seat covered and Karis on the toilet. By the time I turned around to check on Thia she had crawled out underneath the door and was looking under the door of the stall next to us. Luckily the lady that was in the stall thought she was cute and the situation was funny. I got Karis dressed again and out of the stall. I put Thia up on the counter so that we could all wash our hands. Thia thought she should wash the mirror too. When I set her down to leave she immediately went back to the stalls to look underneath. She thought it was a hide and seek game. Meanwhile, Karis is trying to dry her hands. They have the automatic towel dispensers in this bathroom. When you tear off the paper another sheet is immediately spit out. Karis does not like that it keeps spitting out towels so she is yelling at the dispenser, "Stop, I don't need another towel!"

We finally made it out of the bathroom. I drag the girls back through the toys and games section where they want to touch everything and hear the sound that it makes. We walked up the register to buy the book I had intended to get:

Hey! At least we got out of the house today and remained cool. My parents thought this story was hilarious, so I hope everyone else enjoys it too!

Service Project: What a blessing!!!

I am VERY blessed to be a part of a women's Bible study on Thursday mornings at a Presbyterian church plant in the Garden District of New Orleans. These women have supported me, loved on me, and been such sources of encouragement. I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be be a part of this group.

This past Thursday we took a break from our normal Bible study time and did a service project. Because the church is a church plant, they do not own their own building. Their church offices are not in the building where they meet for worship. The church offices are on Magazine street in Uptown which is not even 3 miles from the building where they meet for worship. The church offices are in an older home which has been changed into office space. The back yard of this home was our assigned project. We had been told that we would be planting some flowers and cleaning up some beds. When we got there, this is what we found.

We could not see that there were actually 2 built up garden spots and one circular flower bed under this over grown mess. To be honest I felt a little overwhelmed and was not sure how much we were going to be able to do to help. But we got started pulling weeds. It was a beautiful day. It was not hot at all, but the sun was shining and we talked and laughed through several hours of work.

After 3 hours, weeds had been cleared; flowers, herbs, and a few veggies had been bought and planted; bricks had been laid around the circular flower bed; and a compost pile had been sectioned off and started. This was the end result.

We had that wonderful feeling of actually accomplishing something on this day. I was exhausted, but it was a good exhausted. Working outside in the beauty that God created for us to enjoy and maintain was such a blessing for me. I have to say that 3 hours away from being a mommy was a nice break too. :-)

Pics From Tifton

Karis and Thia spent several hours out in the yard with PopPop on the Friday after we arrived in Tifton. They enjoyed picking flowers with him. PopPop enjoyed that the flowers they thought they were picking were actually weeds he had needed to pull out of the yard anyway. Way to put those girls to work!!

We enjoyed a great lunch at Hawkeyes with Grandma and BigPa last Friday. The girls had a veggie plate and I had a good BBQ sandwich. As you can tell from Thia's tummy, she really enjoyed her lunch. She was also enjoying Grandma's entertainment after dinner.

The girls and I have really enjoyed Nana and PopPop's front porch swing. I think one or all of us have been on it everyday we have been here. In this picture, Karis, Anyston, and Nana are enjoying the swing even though the temperature is down in the 40's. The girls are wearing a "Nana sweatshirt" and are completely covered in a blanket. On this day they were saving their "treasures" from Swiper and staying away from all the sharks, dolphins, and other sea creatures trying to get them. Don't you see them swimming under the swing?

We also helped Anyston celebrate her birthday a few weeks late. Her daddy just got home from Afghanistan, so they waited to have her party until he could be there. Karis waited through all the presents to be able to wear the Tiana dress we gave Anyston for her birthday. She wore it the rest of the party. Doesn't she look beautiful?! I love the look.

These are some pics from the first few days. I'll try to post more pictures later. Hope you enjoy!

Page's New Address

Some of you have asked me about Page's new address in Tallil. I actually was able to talk with him today for about 45 minutes which is the longest time I have talked to him since he left for Kuwait over 2 weeks ago. Karis had a good conversation with him and Thia got to hear her Daddy tell her he loved her as she woke up from her nap today. I felt very blessed today by the long conversation and the time the girls had with him on the phone.

Here is the new address:

CPT PAGE BROOKS

1/141FA 256BDE

COB ADDER/TALLIL

APO AE09331

Remember that mail you send could take up to 2 weeks or more to get to Page. If you send baked goods, the old cookie tins may be your best bet in getting things there fresh. I will keep you updated on what is working and what is not.

Thanks for all your love and support! We definitely are aware of your prayers. None of us would be doing as well as we are without them.

Funny Stories

We went to Jeremy and Rebekah's (my brother in love and sister) for Anyston's (my neice) b-day party. Scott and Christy Short (friends) were there with their girls Ashley and McKenzey. We had sandwiches and cake and then Anyston opened her presents. Her birthday party theme was Princess and the Frog, so we got her a Tiana Leapster game and the Tiana dress up dress. Karis waited so patiently until all the presents were opened and then she brought the dress to me and asked if she could wear it. I told her she needed to ask Anyston first. Annie didn't care, so K wore the dress pretty much the rest of the time we were there. She came up to me about 20 minutes before we were going to go and said that she was going to take off the dress so that someone else could wear it. They watched the movie again (we had already watched it 2 times yesterday) while we were there (on the back tv so that the adults could talk).

While we were at the party, Thia decided she was going to see how much attention she could get. We were sitting in the LR and Thia kept walking from the LR to the back rooms chattering the entire time. She would walk up to the LR and say "Hey!" chatter chatter chatter chatter and then walk back to the back where the older girls were. She then came to the LR and found as many phones as she possibly could and talked on each one. She would hold it up to her ear and say "Hey!" and chatter away. We finally started to see if we could get her to say names. We started with Annie because she had said that one before. She repeated it and we shouted "Yay!" Well she thought this was a game. So we then tried to get her to say Beka. She said, "Eka" and then said "Yay!" for herself after she said it. She also clapped for herself. She then would say something we didn't understand and would just yell, Yay! after each "name". She must have done this 10 or 15 times which had us laughing pretty hard at her.

We left the party about 7pm and drove back to mom and dad's. When I got to the house I realized Dad had set the alarm and I didn't know the pass code. I started looking around for my phone and realized I didn't have it. I then remembered that I had seen Thia pick it up out of my purse while I was getting stuff together and walk away with it. I drove back over the Rebekah's house (15 minutes back into town) I went up to the door and started banging on the door. No one came to the door. I kept knocking and knocking and still no one came. I peeked in the door and saw Annie sitting on the couch playing her Leapster. I then started banging really hard. I peeked in again and saw Beka come in the LR with a vacuum. I banged even louder and she finally heard me. Rebekah asked Annie if she had heard me knocking and Annie said "um-hmm". Rebekah asked Annie why she did not get the door and Annie shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know" all the while continuing to play the Leapster (at least she was playing the game we gave her.) We looked all over the house for the phone and couldn't find it. I had left the girls in the van while I ran in thinking that the phone was in the LR somewhere easy to spot. Fifteen minutes later we had searched the van and the house and still couldn't find it. The battery was running dead, so I didn't think we would be able to call it. Beka had tried it once and it had gone straight to voicemail. She decided to try it once more and finally she heard something. She ran in Annie's play room and started searching through the closet and found it in the back of the closet.

At 7:45 we were back on the road and I started teasing Thia about hiding my phone. Karis then said, "Oh Mom, Thia didn't hide it. It was in the grocery cart in the closet. She put it in there so that I could go grocery shopping." Can you believe it? The child knew where the phone was the entire time I was searching the house and the van like a mad woman.

During the mad search, Karis decided it was movie time in the van. She took the DVD player out of its bag and turned on a movie for herself. She held the DVD player and was watching herself a movie as though nothing was wrong.

I think having a one year old that now walks and thinks she is the life of the party and an almost 3 year old who is as smart as a whip is going to keep me on my toes. I could either laugh or cry. Today I am choosing to laugh. :-)

One Leaves for Kuwait the other comes home from Afghanistan

Page is finally flying out to Kuwait today. I find it very ironic that on the same day that Page is flying out, my brother in law, Jeremy, is flying back to the states from Afghanistan. We are very excited about his return. My sister Rebekah and their daughter, Anyston, are the most excited though. Anyston's birthday was on the 15th, but she decided to wait to have her birthday party when her daddy could be there.

Life here in New Orleans has been about the same. We miss Page very much, but we are keeping busy. As I type, Karis is eating a muffin snack and Thia is taking a morning nap. Normally Thia does not nap until the middle of the day with Karis, but last night we had the privilege of speaking (yes...we) at an Adoption/Foster Care Awareness meeting that the Louisiana Baptist Children's home put together. Thia tried to steal my mic while Karis did a hide and seek show around the stage. All this was going on while I was trying to talk about how God led us to adoption and giving Karis and Thia's adoption stories. I always enjoy telling our stories because it reminds me of the many miracles and blessings God has done in our lives. The girls stole the show.

We are headed to the grocery store a little later, but for now we are reading books, resting, and praying that daddy has a safe trip today and tomorrow.

Nearer, My God, to Thee!

I was listening to Pandora this morning and I heard this song twice in two different versions. I thought since I heard it twice I should look up all the words and read through them. Did not know how appropriate they would be for today. Here they are:

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Sarah Adams/Lowell Mason

Nearer, my God to thee, Nearer to Thee!

Even tho' it be a cross that raiseth me;

Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee!

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heav'n;

All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv'n;

Angels to beckon me nearer, my God to Thee!

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Then with my waking tho'ts bright with Thy praise,

Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;

So by my woes to be nearer, my God to Thee!

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

We had a wonderful weekend with Page. He quickly recovered from the flu and we were able to pick up Monday as though he had never been sick. We took him back to the base on Tuesday afternoon. The girls and I stopped and got some ice cream on the way back to the house. We decided we needed a small "happy" to make us feel better about "taking Daddy back."

Today started off pretty well until my babysitter plans fell through at the last minute and I had to find people to keep the girls while I am counseling this afternoon. All is well once again, but I am glad my thoughts were "bright with Thy praise" this morning. Today is one of those days I miss my parental back up!

Stomach Flu-4/Brooks-0

Last Saturday a stomach bug and took down each member of my household one by one. Karis came down with the bug on Sunday. Thia woke up sick on Monday. I was able to hold off until the girls got over the worst of there sickness and came down with the bug on Wednesday. I think the girls must have had a 48 hour version of the bug and I only had a 24 hour version. But this bug really took us out for a ride.

On Thursday, us girls took a ride up to Hattiesburg to be ready for the departure ceremony for the 256th Brigade (the brigade Page is deploying with). We spent the night with our sweet friends, the Meridas. Bright and early Friday morning we got up and headed to the base. I was still not eating very much, but I was feeling much better than before. I wish you could have seen Karis all day. She was stuck to her daddy's side. She cried during the hour of the Pass and Review. She wanted to "go march on the field with my daddy." Page had to either hold her hand or carry her the entire day. She asked him when he was coming back when he walked away from her for 2 seconds. She watched his every move. When he came off the field from the Review she told him, "We are going to take you home."

Saturday began as a beautiful day. We got up, got dressed, and headed to the zoo. We got there as it opened and had a wonderful time because all the animals were out and doing something. The weather was in the 60's and absolutely clear. We were surprised by our friends Jason and Braci who came out to the zoo around lunch time. We all ate lunch together. They stayed at the zoo while we headed home to put the girls down for a nap. After naps, we took the girls over to Jason and Braci's for them to spend the night while Page and I had an extra long date night.

Page and I went to eat at Redfish Grill (one of our favorite places to go) and then we came home to watch a movie. Right after the movie Page begin to complain that his stomach was not feeling so well. Yep, you guessed it. Somehow, someway (even through a cleaned house), that stomach bug found a way to take out Page too. He spent all last night in the bathroom. I think he may have had it worse than we did.

To be very honest with you, I spent a long time last night in tears. Even today I am up rather upset that God allowed the stomach bug to attack Page. I will keep you posted on how I am doing with that as the next few days unfold. Our Sunday plans with Page have definitley changed, but I am praying that he mends quickly and that our family time is not harmed significantly. I am posting this today so that y'all can pray with us that he regains his strength, no one else is affected by this bug, and that our time with Page over the next 2.5 days continues to be special and fun.

Mardi Gras in the Snow

I decided, since Page was not here with me to go to the Mardi Gras parades, the girls and I would take a trip. I have some very dear friends, the Littletons, that I met in Rome, GA while in college. I babysat for their son, Caleb, who was 1 at the time. He is now 13.

Anyway, they are now living in Sevierville, TN. Eric, Julie, and Caleb had not met Thia yet, so I decided this would be a great opportunity for us to go see them and for them to meet Thia. The girls did great! We split up the trip by spending the night in Montgomery with Page's parents which is almost exactly half way. We left on Thursday, before Mardi Gras and got to Montgomery that night. As we were going to bed, the weather reports were predicting that we would wake up to several inches of snow. I was a little nervous about that and decided to wait to see what the next day would bring. When we woke up there was no snow, but as we were leaving it had just started snowing. I was so excited that the snow had held off until I could get out of town. Little did I know that it would snow on me the entire way up to TN. I decided that I would much rather drive through snow than rain any day. The snow kept the girls entertained as we drove.

As soon as we got to Sevierville, the girls climbed up in Julie's lap and made themselves at home. Julie has already planned for grandchildren by thinking to keep the toys Caleb had when he was little. The girls thought they were great!

The girls had some really fun opportunities while in TN. They got to see some snow. They were able to go sledding, which I did not get any pics of because I was taking a shower at the time. They were trying to get in the sledding before the snow melted and apparently Grandma Julie used it as a distraction while I was taking a shower. I do have pictures of them getting ready to go sledding.

After the sledding craziness, we realized that the girls do not have any clothes warm enough for this type of weather. So we decided to try to find them some in expensive snow gear. We were very blessed to find this outlet with really cute clothes having a HUGE sale on their winter gear. We got the girls snow suits which will last them this season and next (we got them a little too big). Karis was very excited about her suit because it had gloves and a hat that matched. I thought I had a picture of these suits, but I couldn't find it. If I do, I will put it up later.

The girls loved getting to spend time with the Littletons and their dogs, Hobbs and Louise. This is Hobbs in this picture laying on the kitchen floor next to Karis.

Grandma Julie gave Karis her first Oreo and taught her how to twist it and lick out the middle. No one realized that since Karis does not get much sugar that we were in for a real treat later that night as the sugar kicked in.

Julie also made her famous chocolate chip cookies with Karis, which EVERYONE enjoyed too many of.

Caleb enjoyed playing with the girls too. I think he enjoyed Thia the most though. She attached herself to him and forced him to walk her around the house a number of times. She started standing up by herself for the first time while we were there. She has not started walking yet, but I am expecting it any day.

We had a wonderful time renewing friendships and watching the girls get loved on by this sweet family that I love very much.

Dressing Up

A few weeks ago we had dinner with a few other moms and kids whose husbands are either in class or studying on Monday nights. The moms really enjoy the fellowship and the experience is a great form of community. We all bring food for dinner and watch as the kids are too excited to eat. Here are some pictures of the fun.

Ava helped all of the girls into one of her many princess dresses she had just received for her birthday. Ava helped Karis into her Sleeping Beauty ball gown.

Here are all of the girls in their gowns. Beginning on the left, Lillian LePointe (Tinker Bell), Ava Robert (Bell from Beauty & the Beast), and Karis (Aurora from Sleeping Beauty).

After the girls were dressed, they put on music and spent a long time twirling in the living room. They had a blast and they all slept well that night.

Drew Bree's Testimony

I am really sorry I have not made any posts in a while. I am taking lots of pics and have a lot to tell you about how we are doing. I wanted to share this clip with you in light of the Saints victory in the Superbowl. I am very proud of our team, but I extremely proud of our quarterback and the example he lives on and off the field. I thought that y'all would like to see this as well. I am having trouble getting the YouTube video to embed, so I am going to leave you with the URL address. Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0buCfbFuHw

Sleeping Issues: Day 26

Overall, or family's transition to Page being gone has been smooth. Last year when Page was gone for several months, Karis acted out and expressed anger in other ways. This time, she has not had the anger, but she is having trouble sleeping by herself.

For the first few nights, Karis would wake up around 1:30 am crying out until I came in to reassure her. This would continue almost every hour. This problem only lasted a few nights....thank goodness. She quickly moved to wanting to come sleep with me. She would start out in her bed, but around 1:30 am she would wake up and either climb in bed with me or call me to come get her.

I soon gave her permission to come to sleep with me if she woke up in the middle of the night and could not go back to sleep. After I gave her permission, she quit wanting to sleep with me. I thought we were through the sleeping woes until I walked in the girls room one night to check on them. This is what I found.....

Karis is sleeping on the floor in front of the gate blocking their door. I put the gate up until I go to bed so that she does not get up and play in the bathroom or my room (which she has a tendency to do when she "can't sleep.")

A few days later I walked in the room and could not find Karis anywhere. She was not in her bed. She was not in the floor. Nor was she in my room. I finally went back in their room and looked in the bed with Thia. There they both were, curled up next to one another.

She has climbed in Thia's bed almost every night since then. On most nights Thia yells at her and I have to come get Karis out. However, somehow Karis climbs back into the crib after Thia is asleep and falls asleep next to her. I fought this for about a week and then realized... they are both sleeping well and I am getting a full nights sleep. Why am I fighting it?

Saints Championship Football Game: Day 25

I will have to admit that I have not been a Saints fan for very long. We came into the fan club this season. As I have watched them play and then watched the interviews with the players after the games, I am not only cheering them on.... I am very proud to be a Saints fan. They work as a team and have done SO much for this city.

Last Sunday we watched them play in the championship game. We ate dinner with our friends, Jason and Braci Lawson. The girls were dressed for bed before I walked over to the Lawson's apartment. I knew that the night would be late, so I decided having them dressed for bed would be one step closer to getting them there when we walked in the door after the game.

Karis watched the game for the first 3 quarters. She was finished after that and wanted to have a pillow fight with Jason. They fought for about 10 minutes. Jason was amazed at how tough she was. Karis would get knocked down and come back for more.

Thia enjoyed all the attention she received as well. She went from lap to lap hugging, laying, and crawling all over each one. She cruised and crawled all over the apartment. She even talked Braci into reading her a book during the game. I don't think Braci minded due to the fact that she was not all that invested in the game. :-)

We are very excited about watching the Saints play in the Superbowl. I think this is the first time ever I have even cared about an NFL team not the mention the SuperBowl. We are headed out this week to get the girls and I some Saints outfits to wear on Sunday. We decided we were not going to be the only ones not to wear black and gold to church on Sunday. Yes, 95% of the church had on black and gold the week of the championship game. I have never seen anything like it. Different culture here, but I have to say....I kinda like it. Hope you help us cheer on the Saints this coming weekend!!

NOLA Children's Museum: Day 18

On Saturday I took the girls to the New Orleans Children's Museum. Karis had a great time. We met some friends there and Karis, Rachel, and Foster played for over 3 hours. Here are some pics from our fun day.

The kids went immediately to the bubble room when we got to the museum. You can see the huge table filled with bubble making equipment and soapy bubbles. There was also a round truck tire that was sliced open. The ring held the bubbles and the kids could get in the middle and pull down on a lever which lifted huge ring around them to create a bubble around them. It was really cool.

They also had an area to get your face painted. Karis has never wanted to get her face painted before, but when she saw her friends do it, she decided she wanted to as well. She waited her turn in line and then told the lady painting, "I want a rainbow." She sat very still while the rainbow was painted on her face.

The museum had houses that were kid sized. This particular house was set in the 1800's with furniture, dishes, and appliances one might see during that time. Karis enjoyed sweeping with a straw broom and loved pumping the water to wash dishes.

Rachel's dad (Thomas Covington) is a contractor. He and his family (Jennifer (Mom), Foster, & Rachel) are missionaries here in New Orleans. They are working with families in the Hollygrove area to help them rebuild their homes. Here Rachel is showing Karis how to use the tools and put the piece of wood on the frame. Karis enjoyed wearing the hat and apron.

The museum was having puppet shows on the day we went, so we attended on of the shows before lunch. The show we attended was featuring stories from the Hispanic culture. My favorite was the story about a sneaky possum who tricked the coyote out of eating him. The story was very similar to our cultures "Briar Rabbit" stories.

After the puppet show, we ate our packed lunch in the eating area of the museum. The kids enjoyed sharing their lunches with each other. I took a picture of Thia so that y'all would believe she was with us.

After lunch the kids played with hoola hoops for several minutes before packing up and heading home.

Later on that afternoon we were able to talk to Page online. Karis acted a tad bit shy at first, but after the first few minutes she warmed up and started telling Page about her day at the museum. We were so glad to see him. I was glad we had a day that wore them both slap out!

Fun at the Park: Day 15

I am so sorry I have not updated the blog this week. We have had a few extra things going on this week that are out of the ordinary which caused me to get a little side tracked. First, Karis and Thia started out the week not sleeping very well at all. We have had a few mornings this week that we have had to sleep a little later just to get the right number of hours in our sleep schedule.

Second, my dad went into the hospital last Thursday because his appendix was close to rupturing. The doctors removed the appendix, but he has not been able to get well. He started having fluid build up in his abdomen and then developed pneumonia at the end of this week. We have not gone to visit, but I have been on the phone with my mom and sister several times a day for updates.

Third, our schedule has not stopped just because a few other things were added in. So, we have been a little busy. We are loving this weather. I have been able to take the girls to the park several times this week. Both girls have enjoyed sliding and swinging. Mom has enjoyed that the sliding and swinging wears them both out. Oh, I wish the weather would stay like this for a LONG time. I know we will soon get to the really hot NOLA weather, but I sure am going to enjoy the cool breezes and beautiful sunshine while we have it.

Here are some pics of our fun at the park:

First Weekend: Day 11

We made it through the first weekend of Page's deployment. Saturday was probably the hardest day I have had since Page deployed. He is normally here on Saturdays so we missed him more so than on the days he is normally at work. We have a very scheduled week which actually goes by pretty quickly. The weekends are usually family times. We didn't have anything scheduled this weekend (except watching the Saints game, of course), so the days went by a little slower.

The other hard part for me was that I use to look forward to the weekends because I had help with the girls. I was not the only parent responsible for the girls on the weekends. I had a little more free time to do some things for me. This weekend I found myself getting frustrated with the girls quicker than I normally do. I realized this weekend that I am going to have to be more proactive about our weekends. I will probably begin planning one or two fun activities for us on Saturdays to get us through the weekends a little easier.

We really enjoyed watching the Saints beat the Cardinals on Saturday.

We are also glad they are playing the Vikings for the championship rather than Dallas. Karis watched most of the game with me and a friend who dropped to visit for a little bit. Every time a commercial would come on she would turn to me and say, "Mom, I want to watch more football!" I am so glad she is not use to commercials. She had no idea what they were. I realized how little "real" t.v. we actually watch.

Today (Monday) we are washing clothes and planning to go to the seminary library to see our friend Gabrielle (Lolli) Walker. Gabrielle's husband is also a chaplain in the National Guard. He is still a chaplain candidate until he completes his training this summer. The Walkers are one of the couples working with us in the church plant in mid-city. Please keep this couple in your prayers as Thomas looks for a job in mid-city. They just found out a few weeks ago that they are expecting their first baby. We are very excited for them.

Thanks so much for your continued prayer support. I can really tell that I am being prayed for. God is so gracious to me and my family.

Hair Day: Day 8

This morning for breakfast the girls had yogurt and cheerios. Karis was very concerned that EVERYONE get breakfast, SO, her stuffed dog got a bowl of cheerios and water as well.

Thia thoroughly enjoyed her water this morning. She is such a happy baby!

Every other week or so, Karis has Hair Day. I give her a bath in my bathtub in the morning and we wash and condition her hair. Every other wash she gets a conditioning rinse and gets to wear a cool shower cap while playing for a while with her bath toys. Today was not as in depth a process. We took down her hair (which takes a while when it is in small squares and twists like it was today) and then we wash and condition it really well. Even though this picture does not look like it, Karis really enjoys washing her hair.

After we finish with that step, we move to the living room and turn on a Mickey Mouse or Pooh and Tigger while brushing out her hair. Today we took a break to eat some lunch before we started that step.

Karis likes to have her hair in twists and braids, but she also likes to not have it in a number of what she calls "sqwiggies" (a.k.a. rubber bands) every once in a while. So, today I was happy to just put her hair in pompoms rather than spending the many hours it takes to divide and twist her hair. We will go back to that style next Hair Day.

Here is the end product. I don't know if you can see it really well, but she has 5 poms on her head. Those of you that know Karis well will be able to tell that she is tired. She has her thumb in her mouth and she is twisting her hair. This is a sure fire way to tell that she is ready for a nap! (that or feeling a little shy...you just have to read context clues) :-)

Hope you enjoy the pics of Hair Day and learning more about our hair process.