My cousin put this in our family Newsletter last month, so I decided to do it with my kids, too! It's pretty funny! I interviewed each of the kids separately so they wouldn't clue in to each other's answers, which they tend to do.
A.Andrew at 2 1/2 years
C.Claire at 4 1/2 years
J.Josh at 6 1/2 years
THE INTERVIEW:
1. What is something mom always says to you?
A. Please!
C. Stop doing what you were doing and go to the bathtub!
J. You love me.
2. What makes mom sad?
A. Because she's happy
C. Don't bring her anything.
J. Hitting her.
3. What makes mom happy?
A. I want to color!
C. Get her watch.
J. Obeying her.
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
A. It's happy.
C. I'm happy! *giggle*
J. By making her happy! Peetie is actually the one who makes me happy very often, because he's so cute!
5. What was your mom like as a child?
A. Because it's happy!
C. I don't know.
J. I don't know.
6. How old is your mom?
A. 2
C. 11 (she got this number after counting her fingers...?)
J. 30 Years Old. (good job, Josh!)
7. How tall is your mom?
A. I'm little!
C. This tall! (She spread her arms vertically in the air)
J. About 7 feet tall, I think.
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
A. A project.
C. I don't know, but do you have my barrette in your hair??
J. Clean up!
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
A. A project.
C. I don't know.
J. I don't know. What are you writing?
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A. Stuff
C. Watching Movies
J. Your family
11. What is your mom really good at?
A. That (He smiled and squinted his eyes)
C. Hopping.
J. Pilates! Ha! Gotcha!! I'm right, aren't I?
12. What is your mom not very good at?
A. *Silence* (He didn't say anything at all...smart kid)
C. Jumping on the couch.
J. Watering Flowers! because you have flowers on the table and you haven't watered them yet!!
13. What does your mom do for her job?
A. Play puzzles.
C. Go to the commissary and stay home.
J. Feed Peter.
14. What's your mom's favorite food?
A. From Grandma
C. Carrots and green beans and sausage
j. Hmmm... What is your favorite food, mom? I don't know.
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
A. I'm laughing! (Yes, that's what he said.)
C. A Watch.
J. By eating 6 plates of dinner! That's a really good thing isn't it? It really makes me proud!
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A. A monster
C. Claire
J. A boy
17. What do you and your mom do together?
A. Play puzzles
C. Roll the ball
J. Read books at night time.
18. How are you and your mom the same?
A. A monster!
C. Wearing Red!
J. Eating Dinner
19. How are you and your mom different?
A. She's a monster!
C. Wearing Pink and Yellow
J. Our Voices
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. I'm upset!
C. Another Kid!
J. I apparently don't know.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday Stations
Last week we were reading our usual morning devotional story from the Friend magazine, and it had a story about a family who did something called 'Sunday Stations'. They placed different Sunday activities at different parts of the house, such as reading the scriptures, emailing/calling family and friends, etc. We read it and thought it was a great idea!
So, we set up our own Sunday Stations. At the table, I printed off copies of scriptures with pictures for the kids to color (they're supposed to be memorizing them...).
At the couch, they got to read children's scripture stories with Dad. I think they did Old Testament stories, because Josh told me afterward that he read Daniel and the Lion's Den.
The last station they got to email family and friends. I asked them who they wanted to send a message to, then they dictated their message to me while I typed. I laughed so hard at some of their messages! For example, Claire wanted to write to Grandma and Papa...and what did she write in her message? "Dear Grandma and Papa. I want my pink bear! Because I love it and it's pretty! the end." She cracks me up!
The kids really enjoyed it! As a matter of fact, after we were done, Josh says to me, "Mom, I think we should have Sunday Stations every day! Only it could be Monday stations and Tuesday stations...and have it all week! But instead of scriptures, we could play Uno and play computer games and watch movies!" Hm. At least he enjoyed it! :)
So, we set up our own Sunday Stations. At the table, I printed off copies of scriptures with pictures for the kids to color (they're supposed to be memorizing them...).
At the couch, they got to read children's scripture stories with Dad. I think they did Old Testament stories, because Josh told me afterward that he read Daniel and the Lion's Den.
The last station they got to email family and friends. I asked them who they wanted to send a message to, then they dictated their message to me while I typed. I laughed so hard at some of their messages! For example, Claire wanted to write to Grandma and Papa...and what did she write in her message? "Dear Grandma and Papa. I want my pink bear! Because I love it and it's pretty! the end." She cracks me up!
The kids really enjoyed it! As a matter of fact, after we were done, Josh says to me, "Mom, I think we should have Sunday Stations every day! Only it could be Monday stations and Tuesday stations...and have it all week! But instead of scriptures, we could play Uno and play computer games and watch movies!" Hm. At least he enjoyed it! :)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Fall of the Roman Empire
Edward Gibbon, in 1788, set forth in his famous book, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, five basic reasons why that great civilization withered and died:
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes: the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure, with sports and plays becoming more exciting, more brutal and more immoral.
4. The building of great armaments when the real enemy was within.
5. The decay of religion, whose leaders lost their touch with life, and their power to guide the people.
Interesting, isn't it?
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes: the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure, with sports and plays becoming more exciting, more brutal and more immoral.
4. The building of great armaments when the real enemy was within.
5. The decay of religion, whose leaders lost their touch with life, and their power to guide the people.
Interesting, isn't it?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Catastrophe
My mom is a catastrophic thinker. She admits it. She is always afraid that the worst will happen. Unfortunately, she passed that on to me. I remember many times when Devin would come home late and not call, I would have myself so worked up that he must have died or some other terrible tragedy, that I would be this massive purple puddle on the floor and already have a plan as to what I would do if the police showed up at my door with the bad news. Devin now calls.
Luckily, I have shed a lot of that. I really don't catastrophize as much as I used to, but I must say we will die a lot... Lately, Josh turns everything into death.
Here are some recent examples:
Claire was pulling on my ring as I was explaining the symbolism of a wedding ring. She kept saying, "Look! I can't break it!" I asked her to stop, as she was hurting my finger. And Josh pipes up and says, "Yah! Then you might break her finger and then she could DIE!"
Claire and Andrew were trying to reach things on the table...mostly by climbing on it. I asked them not to climb on the table and Josh speaks up: "You should get down! Or you might fall! Then you could hit your head on the floor and DIE!"
Claire and Andrew (well, and Josh for that matter) LOVE to jump on the couches. They especially love to jump OFF the couches. I asked them not to, and once again comes the voice of Joshua: "If you jump, you could fall, and then you could DIE!"
Josh and Andrew were on our little teeter-totter, and Andrew got his foot stuck under him once when Josh let him fall fast (Andrew WAS asking him to do it...) I told Josh he probably shouldn't let Andrew free-fall like that. Well, then Josh turns to Andrew and says, "Yah, Andrew. I'm not supposed to let you go fast, because you could fall off and then...you could DIE!"
Here are some more ways we could die according to Josh:
Poking the TV.
Turning on and off the lights quickly.
Plugging things in.
Turning on the projector.
Climbing on the bookshelves (although, with the combined weight of the massive amounts of books we have, and the African made actual wood bookshelves, I do have to agree with this one!)
Climbing on the counter.
Jumping on your brother. (yah, your mom might kill you)
Slamming the door.
Flushing the toilet while still sitting on it.
Throwing books.
The list continues to grow, and I have to laugh and cry a little every time I hear it. What have I passed on to my son??
Luckily, I have shed a lot of that. I really don't catastrophize as much as I used to, but I must say we will die a lot... Lately, Josh turns everything into death.
Here are some recent examples:
Claire was pulling on my ring as I was explaining the symbolism of a wedding ring. She kept saying, "Look! I can't break it!" I asked her to stop, as she was hurting my finger. And Josh pipes up and says, "Yah! Then you might break her finger and then she could DIE!"
Claire and Andrew were trying to reach things on the table...mostly by climbing on it. I asked them not to climb on the table and Josh speaks up: "You should get down! Or you might fall! Then you could hit your head on the floor and DIE!"
Claire and Andrew (well, and Josh for that matter) LOVE to jump on the couches. They especially love to jump OFF the couches. I asked them not to, and once again comes the voice of Joshua: "If you jump, you could fall, and then you could DIE!"
Josh and Andrew were on our little teeter-totter, and Andrew got his foot stuck under him once when Josh let him fall fast (Andrew WAS asking him to do it...) I told Josh he probably shouldn't let Andrew free-fall like that. Well, then Josh turns to Andrew and says, "Yah, Andrew. I'm not supposed to let you go fast, because you could fall off and then...you could DIE!"
Here are some more ways we could die according to Josh:
Poking the TV.
Turning on and off the lights quickly.
Plugging things in.
Turning on the projector.
Climbing on the bookshelves (although, with the combined weight of the massive amounts of books we have, and the African made actual wood bookshelves, I do have to agree with this one!)
Climbing on the counter.
Jumping on your brother. (yah, your mom might kill you)
Slamming the door.
Flushing the toilet while still sitting on it.
Throwing books.
The list continues to grow, and I have to laugh and cry a little every time I hear it. What have I passed on to my son??
Monday, March 23, 2009
Enriching My Sisters
I’ve been thinking a lot about Enrichment activities. If I were in the states and were put in charge of Enrichment, I would get a bunch of volunteers to head up groups like quilting, scrapbooking, a reading club, cooking, sewing, etc. Here, that’s just not possible. They don’t quilt or scrapbook. They only cook the things they’ve always known, as most of them don’t have oven or even stoves (they cook over open fires in a communal spot). I’m sure many would like to learn how to sew, but sewing machines are expensive here. And most don’t really know how to read, and if they do, books are too expensive to have on hand. What a mess.
So, I’ve tried to think creatively and think of things that would be useful to them. Here are some of the things that I’ve come up with:
• How to have FHE (In the words of my housekeeper: “Family Home Evening is beyond us!”): Family Home Evening should not be something overwhelming and difficult. It’s a time to learn different topics of the gospel as a family. I’d like to have group FHE’s to give ideas on what they can do. After all, the family is important!!
• Singing/Leading the hymns: No one knows how to lead the music here (although, some SAY they do…) and no one has ever sung the hymns in English, so it would be fun to get together every couple of weeks for a sing-a-long. I’ll teach them the basics of how to lead, then everyone can take turns picking and leading a hymn. Sounds fun to me.
• Scripture Study: How to use indexes and topical guides. General instructions on how to use the scriptures for maximum benefit.
• How to teach: Training for teachers. How to use the manuals, scriptures and other helps that are available. How to study to be able to teach effectively: preparation, keeping attention, etc.
• Literacy: My housekeeper told me that there are many members that she has talked to recently who don’t come to church because they’re embarrassed. They can’t read. I can fix that. On my mission, I was trained as a welfare missionary. I have ways to teach reading through the scriptures. I’m sure I could teach someone else how to do it and they would have something ongoing for people who want to learn how to read and learn the gospel at the same time! After all, how are we supposed to know and benefit from the word of God if we don’t know what it is??
• Personal and Family History: How to keep a journal, ideas on how to research family history, the basics of personal history and what it means now and in the future.
Those are a few that I’ve come up with. I’m going to see if I get any reaction and excitement about involvement. I think these would be some invaluable things…and they definitely go along with the idea of activities that enrich and better the lives of the women and families here!
Anyone else have ideas?
So, I’ve tried to think creatively and think of things that would be useful to them. Here are some of the things that I’ve come up with:
• How to have FHE (In the words of my housekeeper: “Family Home Evening is beyond us!”): Family Home Evening should not be something overwhelming and difficult. It’s a time to learn different topics of the gospel as a family. I’d like to have group FHE’s to give ideas on what they can do. After all, the family is important!!
• Singing/Leading the hymns: No one knows how to lead the music here (although, some SAY they do…) and no one has ever sung the hymns in English, so it would be fun to get together every couple of weeks for a sing-a-long. I’ll teach them the basics of how to lead, then everyone can take turns picking and leading a hymn. Sounds fun to me.
• Scripture Study: How to use indexes and topical guides. General instructions on how to use the scriptures for maximum benefit.
• How to teach: Training for teachers. How to use the manuals, scriptures and other helps that are available. How to study to be able to teach effectively: preparation, keeping attention, etc.
• Literacy: My housekeeper told me that there are many members that she has talked to recently who don’t come to church because they’re embarrassed. They can’t read. I can fix that. On my mission, I was trained as a welfare missionary. I have ways to teach reading through the scriptures. I’m sure I could teach someone else how to do it and they would have something ongoing for people who want to learn how to read and learn the gospel at the same time! After all, how are we supposed to know and benefit from the word of God if we don’t know what it is??
• Personal and Family History: How to keep a journal, ideas on how to research family history, the basics of personal history and what it means now and in the future.
Those are a few that I’ve come up with. I’m going to see if I get any reaction and excitement about involvement. I think these would be some invaluable things…and they definitely go along with the idea of activities that enrich and better the lives of the women and families here!
Anyone else have ideas?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Historically Overwhelming
We survived the day. I'm impressed. But talk about overwhelming! I feel like I've been run over by a steamroller!!
Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. (Princess Bride quote, in case any of you are fans! :))
We got home and attended church on our first Sunday back. When I got to Primary, they were doing an activity, so Sister Baker (one of the couple missionary here) came up and we started chatting. She told me that they were starting an English branch, and they were just waiting for us to come back! (place warning bells here) That night, the Bakers came over to tell us what they had proposed to the mission president as far as an English branch possibility.
It appears that there really are people out there who don’t speak French here. Many times, people will be taught by the missionaries in English, then come to church…and one of 3 or 4 things would happen. One, they’d not even give it a chance because of the language barrier… Two, they’d come for awhile then just give up… Three, they’d come and just sit through the pain, hoping that it would somehow enter through osmosis… Four, they’d eventually learn a little French, but because they were branded as being English speaking only, they’d never get the chance to contribute anything—no callings or friends—and we all know what that means!
Thus, the English branch idea started. It’s not technically a branch, because there aren’t enough members. We’re technically called a Group. But, we have permission to go ahead with this. This group doesn’t have a bishop/branch president, it has a Group Leader (give you three guesses who that is, and the first two don’t count!) The Group Leader is basically like a branch president, except that he doesn’t accept tithing/fast offerings and doesn’t do the ‘give advice’ stuff that branch presidents and bishops do. *whew!* And, because we’re so small, we don’t technically have a relief society…at least, not during church. We have a ‘women and children’ class. Basically a sharing time/singing time with the moms/adult women present. Which, I think, is super cool, as these people REALLY need the basics because they just haven’t gotten it from church! And what better way to learn the basics?? Primary rocks!! So, Primary will be taught at church, and Relief Society will congregate during the week. Sounds like the very beginning of church, doesn’t it? Isn’t it SO COOL?!?!?!?
So, Devin is the Group Leader, and I’m the Women and Children Representative (basically the same as Relief Society AND Primary President). We are SO excited! We know that this is really going to take off! Especially since LAST WEEK there were SIX new English speaking investigators and two have a baptismal date! It is inspired and we are so excited to be a part of this! The coolest thing—we get to start it, give a whole lot of training in the time we have left, and then the leadership will be handed over to Cameroonians. We both get to call counselors and give lots of training to everyone who will be involved. I’m even going to teach a few people to play the piano so they won’t be left high and dry when I leave! It is just so cool!
Now, that I wrote about a week ago. Here's the update:
We have now survived the first Sunday. Overwhelming. It is interesting to me that all ‘historical events’ have fairly auspicious beginnings. It felt like the Hendriksen branch. Ha! BUT it was super cool aside from all the hardships. I was prepared for an English Sharing time/Singing time. What I wasn’t prepared for was the number of women we had!!! I was expecting 3. All either moms, or previous primary workers. There were NINE! Three of them investigators, three from the other branch, and three from the branch we went to before. One of the ladies I was expecting wasn’t even there. I felt terrible, because I think they were pretty bored! The kids had a ball…but the adults sort of sat there. Doh! I was planning to have Relief Society during the week here at my house, but have since changed my mind. So, I have asked someone to teach a Relief Society lesson next week! We already have a Relief Society! Woohoo! And I’m planning to call two counselors: A Relief Society representative and a Primary representative. I feel as if doing this will really help with the transition once Dev and I leave…I’ll basically leave them with the knowledge of what they need to do as the leaders of the respective groups, and I’ll leave the branch with its future presidents (if that’s what they need to do, obviously). It’s so exciting! We had 29 people there for our first meeting ever! MANY more than what we had expected! It really is a momentous thing: The very first English branch in Cameroon, a bilingual country. Devin and I expect to see this little group become a full fledged branch VERY soon! There are lots of baptisms coming up, and there are lots of things for everyone to do and learn! It is just so neat!!
Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. (Princess Bride quote, in case any of you are fans! :))
We got home and attended church on our first Sunday back. When I got to Primary, they were doing an activity, so Sister Baker (one of the couple missionary here) came up and we started chatting. She told me that they were starting an English branch, and they were just waiting for us to come back! (place warning bells here) That night, the Bakers came over to tell us what they had proposed to the mission president as far as an English branch possibility.
It appears that there really are people out there who don’t speak French here. Many times, people will be taught by the missionaries in English, then come to church…and one of 3 or 4 things would happen. One, they’d not even give it a chance because of the language barrier… Two, they’d come for awhile then just give up… Three, they’d come and just sit through the pain, hoping that it would somehow enter through osmosis… Four, they’d eventually learn a little French, but because they were branded as being English speaking only, they’d never get the chance to contribute anything—no callings or friends—and we all know what that means!
Thus, the English branch idea started. It’s not technically a branch, because there aren’t enough members. We’re technically called a Group. But, we have permission to go ahead with this. This group doesn’t have a bishop/branch president, it has a Group Leader (give you three guesses who that is, and the first two don’t count!) The Group Leader is basically like a branch president, except that he doesn’t accept tithing/fast offerings and doesn’t do the ‘give advice’ stuff that branch presidents and bishops do. *whew!* And, because we’re so small, we don’t technically have a relief society…at least, not during church. We have a ‘women and children’ class. Basically a sharing time/singing time with the moms/adult women present. Which, I think, is super cool, as these people REALLY need the basics because they just haven’t gotten it from church! And what better way to learn the basics?? Primary rocks!! So, Primary will be taught at church, and Relief Society will congregate during the week. Sounds like the very beginning of church, doesn’t it? Isn’t it SO COOL?!?!?!?
So, Devin is the Group Leader, and I’m the Women and Children Representative (basically the same as Relief Society AND Primary President). We are SO excited! We know that this is really going to take off! Especially since LAST WEEK there were SIX new English speaking investigators and two have a baptismal date! It is inspired and we are so excited to be a part of this! The coolest thing—we get to start it, give a whole lot of training in the time we have left, and then the leadership will be handed over to Cameroonians. We both get to call counselors and give lots of training to everyone who will be involved. I’m even going to teach a few people to play the piano so they won’t be left high and dry when I leave! It is just so cool!
Now, that I wrote about a week ago. Here's the update:
We have now survived the first Sunday. Overwhelming. It is interesting to me that all ‘historical events’ have fairly auspicious beginnings. It felt like the Hendriksen branch. Ha! BUT it was super cool aside from all the hardships. I was prepared for an English Sharing time/Singing time. What I wasn’t prepared for was the number of women we had!!! I was expecting 3. All either moms, or previous primary workers. There were NINE! Three of them investigators, three from the other branch, and three from the branch we went to before. One of the ladies I was expecting wasn’t even there. I felt terrible, because I think they were pretty bored! The kids had a ball…but the adults sort of sat there. Doh! I was planning to have Relief Society during the week here at my house, but have since changed my mind. So, I have asked someone to teach a Relief Society lesson next week! We already have a Relief Society! Woohoo! And I’m planning to call two counselors: A Relief Society representative and a Primary representative. I feel as if doing this will really help with the transition once Dev and I leave…I’ll basically leave them with the knowledge of what they need to do as the leaders of the respective groups, and I’ll leave the branch with its future presidents (if that’s what they need to do, obviously). It’s so exciting! We had 29 people there for our first meeting ever! MANY more than what we had expected! It really is a momentous thing: The very first English branch in Cameroon, a bilingual country. Devin and I expect to see this little group become a full fledged branch VERY soon! There are lots of baptisms coming up, and there are lots of things for everyone to do and learn! It is just so neat!!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Happy, Happy, Happy!
Apparently, I've been told that when I was little I would run around saying that phrase (happy, happy, happy...) constantly. I suppose I was happy! So, I thought I would put in a few 'happy' pictures and make some people smile or laugh so that they may run through the house yelling 'happy, happy, HAPPY!', too! :)
Claire ready to go somewhere (she has to wear a hat, scarf and necklace to complete her ensemble every time she goes anywhere. As a matter of fact, when she takes her bath at night, before she gets in, she has to get her clothes to change into. That includes her pj's, a hat, scarf, necklace, bracelet, and her cell phone. Where did I get this girly-girl from???????)
Peter happy on the floor. He LOVES to be on the floor, he LOVES to be in his swing, he LOVES to be held, he LOVES to be in his bed...he DOES NOT like bouncy chairs. That's ok, though. He's such a happy mellow kid!
I was getting everyone ready for the day, and went in to Andrew's room to get him up. Here is the first thing that comes out of his mouth: "I'm a WINNER!" What? Where did that come from? He continued to say it all day. I suppose he's learned something about positive thinking...say something enough and it comes true, right?
Claire ready to go somewhere (she has to wear a hat, scarf and necklace to complete her ensemble every time she goes anywhere. As a matter of fact, when she takes her bath at night, before she gets in, she has to get her clothes to change into. That includes her pj's, a hat, scarf, necklace, bracelet, and her cell phone. Where did I get this girly-girl from???????)
Peter happy on the floor. He LOVES to be on the floor, he LOVES to be in his swing, he LOVES to be held, he LOVES to be in his bed...he DOES NOT like bouncy chairs. That's ok, though. He's such a happy mellow kid!
I was getting everyone ready for the day, and went in to Andrew's room to get him up. Here is the first thing that comes out of his mouth: "I'm a WINNER!" What? Where did that come from? He continued to say it all day. I suppose he's learned something about positive thinking...say something enough and it comes true, right?
The Pope
We had a visit from the Pope this week. I didn't actually get to see the PopeMobile, but we sure felt the effects from his visit.
One of the big things that I truly dislike about life in Cameroon is when anyone 'important' has to drive on the roads, they close all the roads down for anyone 'unimportant'. So, guess what happened while the Pope was here? That's right. Most of the roads were closed. The useful roads. Josh's bus came 1/2 hour early one day to avoid the road closure and they let school out over an hour early to make sure they'd miss the mess. I didn't leave the house. They closed down the big fruit and vegetable market because it is close to the cathedral. So basically, for a week no one could get to school or work or buy any food because the Pope was here. How is that for people's morale? You would think that the government here and, more importantly, a church leader (regardless of which church) would be a little more considerate of people who are already suffering.
One of the big things that I truly dislike about life in Cameroon is when anyone 'important' has to drive on the roads, they close all the roads down for anyone 'unimportant'. So, guess what happened while the Pope was here? That's right. Most of the roads were closed. The useful roads. Josh's bus came 1/2 hour early one day to avoid the road closure and they let school out over an hour early to make sure they'd miss the mess. I didn't leave the house. They closed down the big fruit and vegetable market because it is close to the cathedral. So basically, for a week no one could get to school or work or buy any food because the Pope was here. How is that for people's morale? You would think that the government here and, more importantly, a church leader (regardless of which church) would be a little more considerate of people who are already suffering.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wierdest Tree EVER
We saw the weirdest tree EVER:
I have NO idea how they did this, but it was WEIRD!!!!!!
I have NO idea how they did this, but it was WEIRD!!!!!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A Nice Day for a Swing
I put Peter in an outdoor swing for the first time! He loved it so much, he fell asleep! :)
Claire and Andrew were enjoying the swing, too. It's SO nice to have beautiful weather all the time. When we first got our bid list, I thought I really wanted a BIG change. Finland was my top choice because it is SOOOOO different from where we are right now. Now I'm wondering to myself, is that what I really want??? Then again, who knows which they'll give us. After all, regardless of what order we put the countries on our list, they're going to send us wherever they want to. Needless to say, I'm curious to see where it will be. Wherever it ends up being, I'm sure we'll be happy and love it! We love it here, so I think that says something!
Claire and Andrew were enjoying the swing, too. It's SO nice to have beautiful weather all the time. When we first got our bid list, I thought I really wanted a BIG change. Finland was my top choice because it is SOOOOO different from where we are right now. Now I'm wondering to myself, is that what I really want??? Then again, who knows which they'll give us. After all, regardless of what order we put the countries on our list, they're going to send us wherever they want to. Needless to say, I'm curious to see where it will be. Wherever it ends up being, I'm sure we'll be happy and love it! We love it here, so I think that says something!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
St. Patrick's Day
We had a fun outing for St. Patty’s day at the British High Commissioner’s home! A few of us moms (spear headed, of course, by the indomitable Leonora) decided we needed some more celebration fun! So, we found some little things around our houses, wrapped them up in tin foil, and called it treasures from the leprechauns. The kids ran around the garden looking for treasure!
Andrew's bear...
Then, they decorated biscuits (cookies) with green frosting, gum drops and silver ‘eyes’ to make little leprechaun men.
We then enjoyed a jaunt on the trampoline! Should a group of 2 year olds jump on a 10 foot rectangular trampoline together? Nope!
Claire started it all...
Even little Peter joined in the fun!
Hiding behind his hat:
My sweet 'bald' baby! He LOVES that Baby Bjorn!!
Thanks, Leonora, for setting this all up!!
Andrew's bear...
Then, they decorated biscuits (cookies) with green frosting, gum drops and silver ‘eyes’ to make little leprechaun men.
We then enjoyed a jaunt on the trampoline! Should a group of 2 year olds jump on a 10 foot rectangular trampoline together? Nope!
Claire started it all...
Even little Peter joined in the fun!
Hiding behind his hat:
My sweet 'bald' baby! He LOVES that Baby Bjorn!!
Thanks, Leonora, for setting this all up!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
FAQ's
Do mice climb walls? Yes. In Africa, at least, they do. AND don’t believe what they tell you about the thick foil pouches keeping the smell of food from escaping so that the mice don’t smell it and won’t try to chew through. They do it anyway.
Should I consider a tankini for swimming? If you’re a nursing mother and you want to join your family on a swim outing, I recommend wearing a tankini.
Are electric pianos worth considering? Yes. Especially if they have really cool demo buttons with multiple songs to choose from so your kids can be occupied for hours without too much intervention. It’s also nice knowing that you don’t have to tune it again after every move.
Can you send exercise bikes overseas? I don’t know…yet…
Should I consider a tankini for swimming? If you’re a nursing mother and you want to join your family on a swim outing, I recommend wearing a tankini.
Are electric pianos worth considering? Yes. Especially if they have really cool demo buttons with multiple songs to choose from so your kids can be occupied for hours without too much intervention. It’s also nice knowing that you don’t have to tune it again after every move.
Can you send exercise bikes overseas? I don’t know…yet…
Friday, March 13, 2009
Reflections on a Fourth Child
I’ve had lots of time to think about the difference between having 4 children and way back when I only had one. There are a lot of differences, obviously, but I thought I’d share a few of those thoughts with all you lucky readers (all 4 of you…)
One child:
As soon as the baby cries you run in and pick him up…and wonder why he never ‘wants’ to sleep.
Four children:
What? You hear someone crying? I don’t.
One Child:
You sit and nurse in complete silence and wonder if you’ll ever be able to do anything again.
Four Children:
You nurse while getting snacks for the others…making lunch, dinner, breakfast…reading stories…carrying the toddler…helping the others do a ‘fun project’…
One Child:
You never get time to shower. You’re overwhelmed by how much you have to do.
Four Children:
Need a shower? No problem! There’s even time to dry your hair, put in contacts, and apply make-up! (As long as you don’t mind the screaming fest in the other room…but that’s why you use the ear plugs provided by your local airline service…)
One Child:
You keep your baby in your room next to your bed while you’re ‘sleeping’…you can’t imagine being parted with your little one for even a moment! (And again, you wonder why the baby never sleeps)
Four Children:
All children are in their OWN rooms. I didn’t hear anyone all night long! He he he he…
One Child:
You never get a chance to eat, as each time you start to prepare something, the baby starts crying and you assume he wants the same thing, so you sit down for another long feeding before you get to eat.
Four Children:
I’m hungry. You can just cry. (As you’ve finally realized that the reason the baby was constantly hungry the first time is because YOU WERE TOO!!)
One Child:
You play soft music to keep the baby calm. Sometimes you sway around the living room in quiet bliss.
Four Children:
You play toddler tunes as loudly as possible and all of you run in crazy circles.
One Child:
You never ever want to have more children because it was just so much hard work and you love that little one SO MUCH that you could never love any other children as much.
Four Children:
Maybe I could do five…or six because it’s an even number…or seven because I’ve heard it’s the ‘perfect’ number…or eight because that’s how many Devin comes from…
One Child:
DON’T YOU DARE MAKE ONE PEEP WHILE THE BABY IS NAPPING OR I’LL SHOOT YOU!
Four Children:
Oh, look, the baby fell asleep on the floor again! Let’s keep running around him in circles and giggling and see if he keeps sleeping!
One Child:
Stress every moment about whether the baby is eating the right food or getting the right amount of sleep, or whether you’re doing everything you’re ‘supposed’ to (meaning you’ve read and believe everything all those baby books tell you…), such as stimulating the baby with educational things and singing the ‘right’ songs, etc.
Four children:
You finally realize that that baby is going to get stimulated whether you do anything or not! And he won’t get brain damage if you don’t wave that rattle in front of his face the whole time he’s awake. All they need is you and some love and TLC…
One Child:
If anyone’s older kid gets near your baby you freak out! Don’t get so close!!
Four Children:
You lay the baby on the ground and all his siblings migrate over immediately (it’s seriously like the baby is magnetized!), and you’re happy to see that they love their baby brother so much! Other kids touching the baby? No problem. He gets much worse at home!
One Child:
GERMS!! Must sterilize everything! No dirt! No going outside!
Four Children:
Germs? Bring ‘em on! This kid needs a good immune system!
One Child:
I never get any sleep! I’m going crazy!!!!
Four Children:
Wow. If only I realized how good I had it when I only had ONE kid waking me up in the middle of the night!
One Child:
You’re wondering how best to discipline your child, and every book/magazine you read says something different…What do you do???
Four Children:
Realize it’s all about example and love—hang what every book and magazine has to say.
One Child:
You freak out when the baby gets more mobile and starts making messes (this does continue through to the second child, and sometimes even on to the third…) All you can think about is how much time this is going to take YOU to clean up…
Four Children:
What, you poured out all the flour to make some bread for me? How sweet of you! You took all your blankets and sheets off your bed and stuffed them in the bathtub then hauled your mattress over to use as a slide? How creative!
One Child:
You feel stuck. You feel like you just can’t go anywhere because of the baby and your ‘schedule’ (what schedule, really?) The baby would start to fuss and you’d have to feed him or something would happen and you just don’t know how you’d handle it.
Four Children:
We are NOT staying inside a minute longer! Bring the diaper bag, strap on the baby and load the others into the jogging stroller! We’re going for a walk or to play at a friend’s or SOMEWHERE!!! Let’s just GO!!!
One child:
As soon as the baby cries you run in and pick him up…and wonder why he never ‘wants’ to sleep.
Four children:
What? You hear someone crying? I don’t.
One Child:
You sit and nurse in complete silence and wonder if you’ll ever be able to do anything again.
Four Children:
You nurse while getting snacks for the others…making lunch, dinner, breakfast…reading stories…carrying the toddler…helping the others do a ‘fun project’…
One Child:
You never get time to shower. You’re overwhelmed by how much you have to do.
Four Children:
Need a shower? No problem! There’s even time to dry your hair, put in contacts, and apply make-up! (As long as you don’t mind the screaming fest in the other room…but that’s why you use the ear plugs provided by your local airline service…)
One Child:
You keep your baby in your room next to your bed while you’re ‘sleeping’…you can’t imagine being parted with your little one for even a moment! (And again, you wonder why the baby never sleeps)
Four Children:
All children are in their OWN rooms. I didn’t hear anyone all night long! He he he he…
One Child:
You never get a chance to eat, as each time you start to prepare something, the baby starts crying and you assume he wants the same thing, so you sit down for another long feeding before you get to eat.
Four Children:
I’m hungry. You can just cry. (As you’ve finally realized that the reason the baby was constantly hungry the first time is because YOU WERE TOO!!)
One Child:
You play soft music to keep the baby calm. Sometimes you sway around the living room in quiet bliss.
Four Children:
You play toddler tunes as loudly as possible and all of you run in crazy circles.
One Child:
You never ever want to have more children because it was just so much hard work and you love that little one SO MUCH that you could never love any other children as much.
Four Children:
Maybe I could do five…or six because it’s an even number…or seven because I’ve heard it’s the ‘perfect’ number…or eight because that’s how many Devin comes from…
One Child:
DON’T YOU DARE MAKE ONE PEEP WHILE THE BABY IS NAPPING OR I’LL SHOOT YOU!
Four Children:
Oh, look, the baby fell asleep on the floor again! Let’s keep running around him in circles and giggling and see if he keeps sleeping!
One Child:
Stress every moment about whether the baby is eating the right food or getting the right amount of sleep, or whether you’re doing everything you’re ‘supposed’ to (meaning you’ve read and believe everything all those baby books tell you…), such as stimulating the baby with educational things and singing the ‘right’ songs, etc.
Four children:
You finally realize that that baby is going to get stimulated whether you do anything or not! And he won’t get brain damage if you don’t wave that rattle in front of his face the whole time he’s awake. All they need is you and some love and TLC…
One Child:
If anyone’s older kid gets near your baby you freak out! Don’t get so close!!
Four Children:
You lay the baby on the ground and all his siblings migrate over immediately (it’s seriously like the baby is magnetized!), and you’re happy to see that they love their baby brother so much! Other kids touching the baby? No problem. He gets much worse at home!
One Child:
GERMS!! Must sterilize everything! No dirt! No going outside!
Four Children:
Germs? Bring ‘em on! This kid needs a good immune system!
One Child:
I never get any sleep! I’m going crazy!!!!
Four Children:
Wow. If only I realized how good I had it when I only had ONE kid waking me up in the middle of the night!
One Child:
You’re wondering how best to discipline your child, and every book/magazine you read says something different…What do you do???
Four Children:
Realize it’s all about example and love—hang what every book and magazine has to say.
One Child:
You freak out when the baby gets more mobile and starts making messes (this does continue through to the second child, and sometimes even on to the third…) All you can think about is how much time this is going to take YOU to clean up…
Four Children:
What, you poured out all the flour to make some bread for me? How sweet of you! You took all your blankets and sheets off your bed and stuffed them in the bathtub then hauled your mattress over to use as a slide? How creative!
One Child:
You feel stuck. You feel like you just can’t go anywhere because of the baby and your ‘schedule’ (what schedule, really?) The baby would start to fuss and you’d have to feed him or something would happen and you just don’t know how you’d handle it.
Four Children:
We are NOT staying inside a minute longer! Bring the diaper bag, strap on the baby and load the others into the jogging stroller! We’re going for a walk or to play at a friend’s or SOMEWHERE!!! Let’s just GO!!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Hopscotch and Eye Patches
I taught Andrew and Claire how to play hopscotch. It was SO FUNNY!!!
The other day, we opened up one of the complimentary things that you get on the airplane…it includes earplugs, toothbrush with toothpaste, hand sanitizing wipe, eye covers for you to sleep with (I know they have a name, but it is escaping me at the moment…) I took the eye covers and put them over my eyes then started to roar like a monster and ‘chase’ the kids around (I couldn’t see anything) and they thought it was hilarious! So I said that we could use them as blindfolds for games! Then, Claire thought up another alternative:
Oh, she cracks me up!!
The other day, we opened up one of the complimentary things that you get on the airplane…it includes earplugs, toothbrush with toothpaste, hand sanitizing wipe, eye covers for you to sleep with (I know they have a name, but it is escaping me at the moment…) I took the eye covers and put them over my eyes then started to roar like a monster and ‘chase’ the kids around (I couldn’t see anything) and they thought it was hilarious! So I said that we could use them as blindfolds for games! Then, Claire thought up another alternative:
Oh, she cracks me up!!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Playgroup Bonanza
I think we’ve had playgroup pretty much every day since we got back. It’s been so much fun! It keeps the kids busy and happy, away from the television (we’ve watched ONE movie since coming home! Wow!!), and I get to sit and chat with my friends! Yea! Sadly, I should be taking my camera with me more often, as we do some super fun things… At one play group, they invited a professional African drummer to come and teach the kids to play the Tam-Tams! It was SO cute! Claire was shaking some maracas and she had some sweet rhythm going on! It was so fun to watch all TWELVE of those little kids banging away! (I’m sure we’ll do it again, so I’ll get pictures eventually…)
Here are a few pictures from playgroup at our house at snack time. I couldn’t get everyone all in at the same time, but you get the idea:
Here are a few pictures from playgroup at our house at snack time. I couldn’t get everyone all in at the same time, but you get the idea:
Monday, March 9, 2009
Two Months
Peter is TWO months old! And that poor kid’s been traveling all over! He’s never been in one place for more than two weeks. Idaho…St.George…Orem…Idaho…Switzerland…Cameroon… Can’t keep a good man down! (Or baby, for that matter) And, just so you know, he weighs in at over 12 pounds now. I continue to feed my children cement. It does them good.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Birthday Bash!
About 4 children (probably more…) had or will have birthdays this month, so they combined them all together and had one big party for them! It was SO fun, and I was completely shocked by how many children there really are here! It’s amazing! This has really turned into a family post, and it makes it so fun!
Here are some fun pictures from the festivities:
Here are some fun pictures from the festivities:
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A Nut and a List
We were at playgroup today, and Andrew comes up to me with this scowl on his face and states: "I don't want to eat my food because I'm grumpy!" Ha!!!
In other news: Our bid list is in. Surprisingly, right before we sent it in, we made some big changes from what we'd thought it should be! I guess you all know how much we love surprises and to mix things up! So, we should find out by the end of next month. The poll will stay open until the end of this month, so if you haven't voted yet, feel free to do so! Once we know where we're going, we'll post what we ended up sending in and where we'll be next year!
In other news: Our bid list is in. Surprisingly, right before we sent it in, we made some big changes from what we'd thought it should be! I guess you all know how much we love surprises and to mix things up! So, we should find out by the end of next month. The poll will stay open until the end of this month, so if you haven't voted yet, feel free to do so! Once we know where we're going, we'll post what we ended up sending in and where we'll be next year!
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Trip and a Day
WE'RE HOME! I LOVE BEING HOME!!! What a great feeling it is to walk into your house after a long absence (or even a short one for that matter)! Such a feeling of peace. It's not that I didn't enjoy our stay in the US. We will always be grateful for our families who let us stay with them and who cared for us during our time out there. THANK YOU! WE LOVE YOU!! But I think you all know what I mean when I say, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME! :)
With that said, I think I'll do a quick overview of our trip home which was brought to you courtesy of some nice people at the visa/passport office and the Cameroonian embassy... :)
So, we started our trip off with a bang. We all got up and groggily left my parent's house by almost 5:30am in Idaho. We thought we had arrived with plenty of time. Think again, Hendriksen's!! We started to check in and everything was pretty messed up. Apparently, we had 3 itineraries. Josh and Devin, Peter, and Claire, Andrew and myself. Hunh? And, I guess someone decided to list Peter and Andrew as having been issued paper tickets. What is that supposed to mean? Does anyone actually DO paper tickets anymore? I have no idea what that meant, but supposedly it was a problem. So, the lady at the front desk typed away as she tried to get us through (because it appeared that Andrew didn't have a seat???) as Celeste walked the 'dog' (Andrew on a leash), Josh and Claire ran 'amock', Peter cried, and I rolled my eyes while standing with my bro and mom and dad! :) I ran the checked bags over to the screening area, and luckily they didn't have me stay to watch as they picked through all the dumb things we brought with us. The lady was still typing away as they called out our first boarding call! Yikes! Hello, people, this is the IDAHO FALLS AIRPORT!! It's not like it was some huge international airport where there are millions of people running all over to hundreds of gates and flights. There are TWO gates, and there were TWO flights leaving that morning.
Anyway, I ran over to start us going through security and then came Devin running and we rushed ourselves through security to get to our flight. The lady at security announced that there were still passengers going through screening (or 'screaming' as I like to call it, as the kids DO NOT like to take off their shoes) and I have to admit that I thought that was kind of funny. Then about 4 security people helped us drag our bags and kids up the escalators (because Josh was heading back down as we were heading up to our flight..."I didn't see you guys!!") and the lady at the ticket counter didn't even glance at our boarding passes--she just shooed us through. We rushed on pretty breathless and looked for our seats and lots of people were SUPER nice trying to make sure we were all sitting together (I actually think it was because they didn't want to be stuck sitting by any of our kids!!), so that was a really good start to our journey! :)
The flight was short and sweet. My favorite was listening to Josh and Claire's conversation behind me as the plane took off:
J: "Claire, my favorite part is coming up!!"
C: "Huh?"
J: "My favorite part is coming! We're going to go FAST and then go up in the air!"
C: "Oh."
(Plane speeds up for take off)
J: Wahoo!! This is my FAVORITE!!!
C: WHEEEEEEE!!!!
The trip was uneventful, and I'm grateful. We landed on time in SLC for our silly 5 hour layover. That wasn't so bad, though. They have a couple of little play places where the kids played for a few hours. We ate some beef jerky and Burger King. Some really nice airport people offered us some help, which we took! Have you ever seen those little white electric cars that zoom around the airport? Yep! We got to ride on one! I always thought it was for either people in wheelchairs or the frequent flyer business people who got to ride on those. But, I suppose they saw us with our 40 kids and took pity. :) The kids loved it, and got pretty mad when we told them we couldn't ride on it again.
The kids waiting at the gate for our boarding call:
We got to our gate, and had to get the ticket stuff sorted out again. This time, though, we knew about it, and it only took them 1/2 an hour to get our seats all assigned and put Andrew back in. It was another uneventful trip. Claire was upset, though, that she only got one glass of juice and that they weren't giving us any food!
We landed in Chicago and had a very interesting time trying to find the stinking gate where we were supposed to board the plane. Then, once we found it, we started checking in again to make sure Andrew and Peter had a ticket to get through to Zurich. This got really interesting. Note to self: ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU GET ELECTRONIC TICKETS FOR EVERYONE! I think it would pay to double check with the booking agent...and then check again a few more times after that. I have no idea how any of that happened. It wasn't me! We spent well over an hour there--Claire had to go 'potty', Josh was skipping about and running into people, Andrew kept escaping and running, giggling, through the crowds as I chased him down (then screaming as I towed him back and sat him in the stroller) and Peter screamed himself silly because he was hungry and needed a new diaper. This was going on the whole time they were trying to rearrange everything. Sorry everyone! But, they did manage to get it fixed, and even put us all in a row together! Nice!
At that point, we had to make a break for the gate! So, off we ran. First, down an elevator, where the kids refused to move in so I could get in and the door actually closed on Andrew's head! poor kid!! Next, through security again. Oh, joy of joys!! More screaming ensues as Peter is STILL hungry and STILL needs a new diaper, Andrew and Claire are REFUSING to take off their shoes, Josh WILL NOT put his carry on on the belt for screening...Yah, it's so fun! So, Devin takes the kids through, and I hoist all the bags and strollers and coats and shoes and car seats and whatever other junk we had with us onto the belt and walk through. And, lo and behold, a bag gets stopped for extra screening. Ooops, we forgot to take the mini DVD player out of the bag. We finally get everything together and realize that we're missing a bag. Doh! In all the craziness, I forgot one of the bags at the front. So, the security person goes and gets it and puts it on the belt for us. That was nice.
Then we were off! We got to our gate, I sat down to feed Peter, and FIVE MINUTES LATER we loaded the plane! Just in time! I guess I should be grateful for all of the hold-ups since it made us not have to 'wait' at the gate for too long...
This flight was SO NICE! I can tell you right now that I LOVE business class! It is so fantastic! We sit down, and the flight attendants come and help us and the kids and give us water and juice to drink while everyone boards and the plane gets ready to take off... They give the kids toys and us newspapers and magazines, and they do all this with a smile! :) And they keep smiling through the whole entire trip! We get lots of food and the kids get to watch their own t.v. screens. There's SO much room and it feels so happy! :) Makes me a bit tear-y just thinking about it! *sigh*
By 8:30 Mountain Standard Time, we were ALL sleeping! yea!! And we all got to sleep for a whole 4 or 5 hours! It was wonderful! Then we woke up and ate croissants and fruit and juice for breakfast before landing in Zurich.
We've decided Zurich is our favorite place. We got through the airport without any problems--and our luggage actually made it before we did! We were wondering why we couldn't find our carousel. So, Devin asked a guy, and he took us over to the baggage claims (the lost ones...) and there they were!
So, we got out, jumped on the airport shuttle, and checked into this sweet little hotel! Our room was awesome! It had 4 twin beds AND a futon! So fun!
The view from the window of our room:
Our room:
We all showered and refreshed ourselves, then took ourselves out for a tour of a city. We took a train downtown, then walked down the road with our little 'doggies' (Andrew and Claire both on leashes--we had people laughing and barking at us! It wasn't meant in a mean way, I don't think...) Peter was in the Baby Bjorn, and Josh was in his own little world. It was actually quite nice. A little chilly... Then we took a trolley down to a big lake. We got off and we were FREEZING!!!! Whew!!! So, we jumped back on a trolley to the train station, found a place to eat (where we spent $70 on FAST FOOD!!! Yikes!!), then took the train back to our hotel. We all got our pj's on, had story time, then all the kids were in bed by 7pm, local time!
Riding on the train in Zurich:
A quick view from the train. It was such a pretty city!!!
Freezing in front of the lake in Zurich:
Eating at the Zurich Bistro in the train station...the lunch/dinner that cost us $70 dollars. Who thinks up these prices?????
A really cool fountain in the Zurich train station. It's too bad you really can't see it. It was super cool!!
Devin and I decided we didn't want to go to sleep yet. So we stayed up reading for a while. I wanted to last until 9 to help myself get used to the time better. Well, I went to bed at 9, Peter woke up at 10, Andrew woke up at 11, Peter got up again at 12, Claire and Josh woke up at 1, Peter got up again at 2, Andrew finally fell asleep again (from the first time he got up at 11...) around 2-ish, so I got to go to sleep then...then Peter got up again at 4am, and I couldn't go back to sleep again. Nice.
We left the hotel by 8am, because we wanted to give ourselves a good cushion of time just in case we had more ticket issues. We got to the airport by 8:30am, went up to check our bags and get our tickets arranged, and it took FIVE MINUTES!!! Well, that was nice!!! We got ourselves through the security check--which I LOVED because they didn't make us take off our shoes or even take the stroller down or take Peter out of his car seat! So wonderful! We found the AWESOME play area and hunkered down for some fun and games! :)
The kids enjoyed themselves for 3 hours, and then we went through another security check at our gate (which still wasn't bad because they didn't make us take off our shoes...Claire was very happy about that). There was even a little play area next to our gate!
AND when they started boarding, they let us go through very first, got us all through and in and seated before anyone else. It was SO NICE!!! *sigh* Just love that!
The last leg was also very nice. The kids behaved fairly well, we ate a lot, and just enjoyed the space.
We landed in Yaounde on time and our favorite expeditor (Dairu) was there to greet us! We got our bags and found the car and enjoyed the exciting ride back home...
Really, I'm super impressed at how much these kids have improved in their traveling skills. They did a tremendous job and we had a truly enjoyable trip for being so long!!! :)
Today, we got to unpack our bags (including our layette shipment which got here a few days ago! yea!!!) and do some organizing. That was fun. Then, the kids had swimming lessons. We went out to get in the car, and the battery was dead. Oh well. We can walk. But I couldn't find my badge anywhere. Well, they usually let me in since we're just going swimming and Devin's there with me. So, we used both of our double strollers and set off.
Whew! It's hot here! :) There are a lot of hills between here and the embassy... But, I digress. We got to the embassy, and they wouldn't let me in! Apparently, we've been gone long enough that we don't know all the guards now. Doh! So, they made us go ask the Marines. He said he needed some I.D. so he could give me a temp badge. I didn't bring any I.D.! I was just going swimming! So, I told him that, and he said, "Oh! In that case, go ahead!" Thanks. We got down to the pool just as Claire and Andrew's class ended. Sorry kiddos! So I stood and chatted with my long-lost friends while Josh and Claire had a class and Andrew swam with Devin. Then I jumped in, but it only lasted for like 5 minutes, since Peter decided to go bonkers. Then we walked home--my goodness I'm out of shape! But, in my defense, they really are crazy steep hills! I was seriously going backwards while trying to push the stroller up on of them!! Good exercise, though.
We came home, I put Peter down for a nap, Devin and Claire went grocery shopping, Josh and Andrew played outside...it was a nice relaxing day!
And now, it's time for me to go to sleep. Or at least brush me teeth!!!
With that said, I think I'll do a quick overview of our trip home which was brought to you courtesy of some nice people at the visa/passport office and the Cameroonian embassy... :)
So, we started our trip off with a bang. We all got up and groggily left my parent's house by almost 5:30am in Idaho. We thought we had arrived with plenty of time. Think again, Hendriksen's!! We started to check in and everything was pretty messed up. Apparently, we had 3 itineraries. Josh and Devin, Peter, and Claire, Andrew and myself. Hunh? And, I guess someone decided to list Peter and Andrew as having been issued paper tickets. What is that supposed to mean? Does anyone actually DO paper tickets anymore? I have no idea what that meant, but supposedly it was a problem. So, the lady at the front desk typed away as she tried to get us through (because it appeared that Andrew didn't have a seat???) as Celeste walked the 'dog' (Andrew on a leash), Josh and Claire ran 'amock', Peter cried, and I rolled my eyes while standing with my bro and mom and dad! :) I ran the checked bags over to the screening area, and luckily they didn't have me stay to watch as they picked through all the dumb things we brought with us. The lady was still typing away as they called out our first boarding call! Yikes! Hello, people, this is the IDAHO FALLS AIRPORT!! It's not like it was some huge international airport where there are millions of people running all over to hundreds of gates and flights. There are TWO gates, and there were TWO flights leaving that morning.
Anyway, I ran over to start us going through security and then came Devin running and we rushed ourselves through security to get to our flight. The lady at security announced that there were still passengers going through screening (or 'screaming' as I like to call it, as the kids DO NOT like to take off their shoes) and I have to admit that I thought that was kind of funny. Then about 4 security people helped us drag our bags and kids up the escalators (because Josh was heading back down as we were heading up to our flight..."I didn't see you guys!!") and the lady at the ticket counter didn't even glance at our boarding passes--she just shooed us through. We rushed on pretty breathless and looked for our seats and lots of people were SUPER nice trying to make sure we were all sitting together (I actually think it was because they didn't want to be stuck sitting by any of our kids!!), so that was a really good start to our journey! :)
The flight was short and sweet. My favorite was listening to Josh and Claire's conversation behind me as the plane took off:
J: "Claire, my favorite part is coming up!!"
C: "Huh?"
J: "My favorite part is coming! We're going to go FAST and then go up in the air!"
C: "Oh."
(Plane speeds up for take off)
J: Wahoo!! This is my FAVORITE!!!
C: WHEEEEEEE!!!!
The trip was uneventful, and I'm grateful. We landed on time in SLC for our silly 5 hour layover. That wasn't so bad, though. They have a couple of little play places where the kids played for a few hours. We ate some beef jerky and Burger King. Some really nice airport people offered us some help, which we took! Have you ever seen those little white electric cars that zoom around the airport? Yep! We got to ride on one! I always thought it was for either people in wheelchairs or the frequent flyer business people who got to ride on those. But, I suppose they saw us with our 40 kids and took pity. :) The kids loved it, and got pretty mad when we told them we couldn't ride on it again.
The kids waiting at the gate for our boarding call:
We got to our gate, and had to get the ticket stuff sorted out again. This time, though, we knew about it, and it only took them 1/2 an hour to get our seats all assigned and put Andrew back in. It was another uneventful trip. Claire was upset, though, that she only got one glass of juice and that they weren't giving us any food!
We landed in Chicago and had a very interesting time trying to find the stinking gate where we were supposed to board the plane. Then, once we found it, we started checking in again to make sure Andrew and Peter had a ticket to get through to Zurich. This got really interesting. Note to self: ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU GET ELECTRONIC TICKETS FOR EVERYONE! I think it would pay to double check with the booking agent...and then check again a few more times after that. I have no idea how any of that happened. It wasn't me! We spent well over an hour there--Claire had to go 'potty', Josh was skipping about and running into people, Andrew kept escaping and running, giggling, through the crowds as I chased him down (then screaming as I towed him back and sat him in the stroller) and Peter screamed himself silly because he was hungry and needed a new diaper. This was going on the whole time they were trying to rearrange everything. Sorry everyone! But, they did manage to get it fixed, and even put us all in a row together! Nice!
At that point, we had to make a break for the gate! So, off we ran. First, down an elevator, where the kids refused to move in so I could get in and the door actually closed on Andrew's head! poor kid!! Next, through security again. Oh, joy of joys!! More screaming ensues as Peter is STILL hungry and STILL needs a new diaper, Andrew and Claire are REFUSING to take off their shoes, Josh WILL NOT put his carry on on the belt for screening...Yah, it's so fun! So, Devin takes the kids through, and I hoist all the bags and strollers and coats and shoes and car seats and whatever other junk we had with us onto the belt and walk through. And, lo and behold, a bag gets stopped for extra screening. Ooops, we forgot to take the mini DVD player out of the bag. We finally get everything together and realize that we're missing a bag. Doh! In all the craziness, I forgot one of the bags at the front. So, the security person goes and gets it and puts it on the belt for us. That was nice.
Then we were off! We got to our gate, I sat down to feed Peter, and FIVE MINUTES LATER we loaded the plane! Just in time! I guess I should be grateful for all of the hold-ups since it made us not have to 'wait' at the gate for too long...
This flight was SO NICE! I can tell you right now that I LOVE business class! It is so fantastic! We sit down, and the flight attendants come and help us and the kids and give us water and juice to drink while everyone boards and the plane gets ready to take off... They give the kids toys and us newspapers and magazines, and they do all this with a smile! :) And they keep smiling through the whole entire trip! We get lots of food and the kids get to watch their own t.v. screens. There's SO much room and it feels so happy! :) Makes me a bit tear-y just thinking about it! *sigh*
By 8:30 Mountain Standard Time, we were ALL sleeping! yea!! And we all got to sleep for a whole 4 or 5 hours! It was wonderful! Then we woke up and ate croissants and fruit and juice for breakfast before landing in Zurich.
We've decided Zurich is our favorite place. We got through the airport without any problems--and our luggage actually made it before we did! We were wondering why we couldn't find our carousel. So, Devin asked a guy, and he took us over to the baggage claims (the lost ones...) and there they were!
So, we got out, jumped on the airport shuttle, and checked into this sweet little hotel! Our room was awesome! It had 4 twin beds AND a futon! So fun!
The view from the window of our room:
Our room:
We all showered and refreshed ourselves, then took ourselves out for a tour of a city. We took a train downtown, then walked down the road with our little 'doggies' (Andrew and Claire both on leashes--we had people laughing and barking at us! It wasn't meant in a mean way, I don't think...) Peter was in the Baby Bjorn, and Josh was in his own little world. It was actually quite nice. A little chilly... Then we took a trolley down to a big lake. We got off and we were FREEZING!!!! Whew!!! So, we jumped back on a trolley to the train station, found a place to eat (where we spent $70 on FAST FOOD!!! Yikes!!), then took the train back to our hotel. We all got our pj's on, had story time, then all the kids were in bed by 7pm, local time!
Riding on the train in Zurich:
A quick view from the train. It was such a pretty city!!!
Freezing in front of the lake in Zurich:
Eating at the Zurich Bistro in the train station...the lunch/dinner that cost us $70 dollars. Who thinks up these prices?????
A really cool fountain in the Zurich train station. It's too bad you really can't see it. It was super cool!!
Devin and I decided we didn't want to go to sleep yet. So we stayed up reading for a while. I wanted to last until 9 to help myself get used to the time better. Well, I went to bed at 9, Peter woke up at 10, Andrew woke up at 11, Peter got up again at 12, Claire and Josh woke up at 1, Peter got up again at 2, Andrew finally fell asleep again (from the first time he got up at 11...) around 2-ish, so I got to go to sleep then...then Peter got up again at 4am, and I couldn't go back to sleep again. Nice.
We left the hotel by 8am, because we wanted to give ourselves a good cushion of time just in case we had more ticket issues. We got to the airport by 8:30am, went up to check our bags and get our tickets arranged, and it took FIVE MINUTES!!! Well, that was nice!!! We got ourselves through the security check--which I LOVED because they didn't make us take off our shoes or even take the stroller down or take Peter out of his car seat! So wonderful! We found the AWESOME play area and hunkered down for some fun and games! :)
The kids enjoyed themselves for 3 hours, and then we went through another security check at our gate (which still wasn't bad because they didn't make us take off our shoes...Claire was very happy about that). There was even a little play area next to our gate!
AND when they started boarding, they let us go through very first, got us all through and in and seated before anyone else. It was SO NICE!!! *sigh* Just love that!
The last leg was also very nice. The kids behaved fairly well, we ate a lot, and just enjoyed the space.
We landed in Yaounde on time and our favorite expeditor (Dairu) was there to greet us! We got our bags and found the car and enjoyed the exciting ride back home...
Really, I'm super impressed at how much these kids have improved in their traveling skills. They did a tremendous job and we had a truly enjoyable trip for being so long!!! :)
Today, we got to unpack our bags (including our layette shipment which got here a few days ago! yea!!!) and do some organizing. That was fun. Then, the kids had swimming lessons. We went out to get in the car, and the battery was dead. Oh well. We can walk. But I couldn't find my badge anywhere. Well, they usually let me in since we're just going swimming and Devin's there with me. So, we used both of our double strollers and set off.
Whew! It's hot here! :) There are a lot of hills between here and the embassy... But, I digress. We got to the embassy, and they wouldn't let me in! Apparently, we've been gone long enough that we don't know all the guards now. Doh! So, they made us go ask the Marines. He said he needed some I.D. so he could give me a temp badge. I didn't bring any I.D.! I was just going swimming! So, I told him that, and he said, "Oh! In that case, go ahead!" Thanks. We got down to the pool just as Claire and Andrew's class ended. Sorry kiddos! So I stood and chatted with my long-lost friends while Josh and Claire had a class and Andrew swam with Devin. Then I jumped in, but it only lasted for like 5 minutes, since Peter decided to go bonkers. Then we walked home--my goodness I'm out of shape! But, in my defense, they really are crazy steep hills! I was seriously going backwards while trying to push the stroller up on of them!! Good exercise, though.
We came home, I put Peter down for a nap, Devin and Claire went grocery shopping, Josh and Andrew played outside...it was a nice relaxing day!
And now, it's time for me to go to sleep. Or at least brush me teeth!!!
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