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.