January began with big changes afoot – Hubby’s initial training with DoS was wrapping up and were making plans to move to Nairobi, Kenya. At the same time, we were thankful to have settled in quickly in D.C., even though that meant saying more goodbyes. J14 and T13 competed in two NCFCA speech and debate tournaments. R11 and C10 were able to participate in junior tournaments, in which they very appropriately recited Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Foreign Lands.”

February included rounds of exotic immunizations, appointments, a final pack-out, and a good-bye open house. We flew through London to Nairobi and took a few extra days to tramp through the city, eat fish and chips, visit Westminster Cathedral, and celebrate R’s 12th birthday. We arrived in Nairobi right at the end of the month–it was good to be “home.” Thanks to preparations by a friend, we even had a fridge full of food, sheets on the beds, and most importantly, fresh Kenyan coffee!

March meant Hubby hitting the ground running at his new job, and he’s really excelling. Our first weekend in town, the boys got to ride ostriches and had ostrich nyama choma (barbeque.) J14 and T13 entered Rosslyn Academy – the first time they’ve been in school since 4th and 1st grades. Re12 and C10 continued to homeschool. We found a great truck—a bit beat up, but very practical. Just driving in our neighborhood required constant off-road detours and mud-bogging due to construction. It is a manual transmission, and took a few months before I braved driving it, especially since everyone drives on the “wrong” side of the road!

April brought our first visitor, Andrew, who holds the distinction of visiting us no matter in which corner of the globe we live! (We’d welcome more visitors, too, but understand Nairobi is off the beaten path. . .) We also enjoyed a safari on Crescent Island, where we got to walk among the animals. We even saw a giraffe baby nursing and what looked at first to be an injured little zebra – later we realize it was probably just a newborn!

May meant wrapping up school. J14 played rugby, and was “most promising player” for the under-15 teams. Our family got its first dog – an African hound/rott mix we named Buckley. All four boys went to their first sleep-over camp, Camp Bluesky. One perk of living in Africa is that camp includes some pretty exotic trips and activities like camping with the Maasai!
 
June is the beginning of winter in Nairobi – overcast days, sweater weather. J turned 15 and discovered the joys of the Kindle. I began volunteering with Mercy House maternity home.

July was a low-key month. Hubby and I celebrated our 16th anniversary.

August on the other hand, was quite exciting. I took a last-minute gorilla trekking trip in Uganda. Immediately after I got back, we discovered that baby #5 was on the way (due late April 2012!) We’re all thrilled, especially the four big brothers. Hubby was able to take leave for the first time since we arrived, and so we went on safari in the Maasai Mara – elephant, lion, wildebeest migration, zebra, giraffe, hyena – everything you would imagine seeing in the wilds of Africa! Right at the end of the month we had the adventure of driving from Nairobi to Mombasa (crazy drivers on a narrow two-lane highway) and spending a week at a friend’s beach house on the Indian Ocean. It was peaceful, restful. . . and Hubby and the boys started plotting out a fantasy series they want to write together.

September meant back to school. . . This time the younger three boys started at Rosslyn Academy (first time in school for C11, 5th grade!) and J (10th grade) continues to homeschool. He wants to study economics and classics, and has an opportunity to intern in Uganda.

October brought the official publication of John’s scifi book, “Knox’s Irregulars.” He wrote this book eleven years ago, when we were in language training before moving to Ukraine. It’s exciting to see the fruition of his work and even more exciting to hear how much people are enjoying it!

November included the news that baby #5 is a BOY. We have a fun guest who needed a change of pace from Malawi. We celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving at a friend’s home, enjoyed having Andrew visit (4th time!) and the kids did a fun “What Thanksgiving if About” play for guests from South Africa, Bolivia, and Uganda. C turned 11 and T turned 14 right at the end of the month.

December brought the end to my grad school pursuits, culminating in a Master in Nonprofit Management degree. (Would love to hear about any short-term projects to work on!) We’ve enjoyed our Advent and Christmas traditions, incorporated with new things from Kenya. We rejoice in God sending a Savior !

Into 2012. . . The boys and I will be in Florida from March – May, as the medical unit here recommends returning to the US to have a baby. We welcome you to come visit us in Kenya before our anticipated departure in February 2013!

Baby is moving about — doing the happy dance with me!?

Last assignment and paper for my master’s degree is submitted!

(Just one of the reasons things have been quiet around here lately. . .)

“I hope you’re glad to be where you’re at
I don’t mind living where we are
It’s a suitable climate
A fine habitat for the yellow-haired monkeys in the yard
Yellow-haired monkeys in the yard

“A friend of mine, ya now he’s flat broke, just handed me a fat cigar
It’s a beautiful excuse for a celebrative smoke
It’s a yellow-haired monkey for the yard
Another yellow-haired monkey for the yard
Yellow-haired monkeys in the yard”

the Choir

Due late April 2012.

The past month has been good. . . and busy.

The older boys finished the school year at RA. (J14 was given two end of year awards — even though we’d just been there a few months! “Most Curious Student” for Algebra and “Most Promising Player” for rugby!) Now the boys are into their summer schedules. Supposedly the younger boys are having regular school — but in reality, we’ve boiled it down to math and handwriting. The older boys are both doing math through the summer as well, of their own volition — and J is studying economics. Yes, my boys are geeks.

The week after school was out, the boys joined some of their friends at Camp Blue Sky. Hubby had both Madaraka Day and Memorial Day off that week, so we had several dates — including a mini-safari at Nairobi National Park. We missed the boys. It was hard having them gone for a whole week. (It was made easier knowing they were all together.) Mountain climbing, ropes course, spelunking, rock climbing, rodeos, crazy games. . . I have a lot of appreciation for Kim, Lexi, and the summer college volunteers.

We’ve tackled some home improvement projects, and it seems like they are all happening at once. We have the darling, wonderful, housing maintenance guys out all the time it seems. Fixing leaking pipes, replacing the water filter, etc. . . And we have hired a carpenter to build some wardrobes and a tailor to sew cushions for our wrought iron tables on the porch. We eat out there almost every night, so it was time we made it a bit more comfortable.

J14 reminded me that this week will mark our 4 month anniversary in Kenya, and that we’ve been here 1/6th of the time we’ll be posted here. In some ways, it feels like we’ve just arrived. In other ways, it feels like we have settled in quickly to enjoy things as much as we can before we have to leave.

It’s gotten cold here in the last few months. Cold here means we have to wear socks and sweaters — and soon it will be good to build a fire in the fireplace. People tend to disbelieve us that it gets cold here, since we are in Africa and near the equator. But, our city is over a mile above sea level and while the days tend to be warm, it quickly gets chilly at night.

We have amazing neighbors with the most interesting friends. The other night we went to no-notice sundowners and chatted with some great people. Some have been in Kenya forever, others have just arrived.

We had our second Kenya visitor a couple of weeks ago. . . okay, so it was the same person as our first visitor. *grin* Seriously, people. . . only one person taking advantage of our open invitation? We visited the infamous Carnivore as well as walked among the animals at Crescent Island. It was a great visit.

I’m taking a couple of classes this summer — I should be finishing my MA in December. I’m excited that I’ve been able to partner with Mercy House Kenya. Please visit their site and see the cool things they’re doing with the young women in Kenya.

Oh, did I mention we got a puppy? Hubby and the boys are thrilled. Me? Well, I’ve never been a dog person. . . But they love Buckley.

Hopefully more pics later. . .

Yesterday, the gardener caught a little bird for the boys. I’m still not sure what kind it was. The boys were so excited, they
made a little house for it, we had bird seed already. . .

Today doing school, R12 and C10 did school with the birdie on their fingers.

Sadly, their birdie died this evening. They buried him in the backyard.

Hubby says we need to get a dog this weekend.

We had a dear friend visit us for just over a week, and as his name implies, Nomad Travels visits us no matter where we live in the world (Ukraine, Florida, DC, now Kenya…) And it is great having such an easy going guest for our first visitor in Kenya, as just about everything that could go wrong, did — though he makes it sounds amusing. We’ll know the ropes better for our next guest.

We visited a Kenya Presbyterian church for Palm Sunday. We didn’t prep the kids as well as we could have, and the cross-cultural differences were a surprise to them. I forget that just because Hubby and I have experienced a wide variety of church and worship contexts, doesn’t mean the boys have. The churches we attend in the US are pretty similar to one another, and they don’t remember much about Zavat Blagodati in Kyiv.

Hubby called this afternoon to tell me that half of our HHE (household effects) will be arriving tomorrow morning at 11am. We weren’t expecting this until mid-May, so this is good! The other half of our HHE is still in Mombasa. In spite of being excited, I’m also a bit anxious. I still have organizing to do in the house, rearranging furniture. . . To be honest, I have no clue what we’re getting. Our stuff has been in storage for over a year. I know that every time we’ve moved before, when unpacking I’ve felt like, “And why do we own this?!” Especially since we’ve been living in a furnished apartment and house for the past year and are down to the basics, I’m wondering what could possibly be in our stuff that we need. (Then again, we have six plates, six bowls, and less than six drinking glasses. . . I know it will be nice to have our “stuff” in many ways.)

Homeschooling and school-building-schooling is going well. At least some of the kids in school want to homeschool and some who are homeschooled want to go to school. It’s an interesting mix. . . I’m not sure if these feelings are “grass is greener” types or part of the struggles of transition or really legitimate preferences. Either way, right now it’s going great having some boys at home and some in school. I get to do all the fun-mom things with the younger boys and the older boys are bubbling with news and chatty when they get home from school.

We are officially in the season of the “big rains” in Kenya. So far, though, it hasn’t seemed that rainy. I don’t know if it is simply because I had certain expectations for a season called the “big rains” or whether like the meteorologists predicted, Kenya isn’t getting enough rain this year. I hope it is the former, because the latter will mean higher food prices for everyone, and that is hard to see around me. As it is, like everywhere, gas prices are soaring due to the protests around the world in oil-producing countries.

The weather is getting cooler, and maybe in a few weeks we’ll actually use our fireplace. Though we are near the equator, Nairobi is at a high elevation and so the weather is more temperate than many expect when they think of Africa. And since we are just south of the equator, the seasons are flip-flopped from what I expect. The kids’ school recently had its Spring Fling, which in my mind fits with April. . . but it’s really autumn here.

Pole, pole. . . that’s one of the few phrases I’ve picked up in Swahili. Slowly, slowly. . . that’s how we’re adjusting to Nairobi.

The drive there and home was. . . exciting. . . to say the least. This was our first trip out of Nairobi in our own vehicle (a 2004 Nissan Terrano, 90k African kilometers on it, standard transmission.) Shifting into fourth was a bit sticky, but Hubby finessed it just fine. But combine that with driving through the mountains, curving roads, with lots of slow moving lorries to pass? I was pretty calm, all things considered. Hubby has cat-like reflexes and is a great driver, but the situations were crazy at times.

We stopped along the way to look out over the Rift Valley. Amazing view. . .

Along the way, we saw some baboons, zebra, and had to stop for a herd of cattle and goats crossing the street.

When you visit Crescent Island, you get to walk among the animals. No fences, no pens. . . this is like a free-range zoo. While there weren’t many people there (our family and friends, and a group of adoptive parents who we only saw when we arrived), the animals are used to people enough that they don’t startle easily.

It was amazing to walk near the animals, watch them graze. I loved seeing the impalas running and jumping — it illustrated how brilliant the choreography in The Lion King musical really was, capturing the essence of the animals movements.

We also had a picnic lunch on the island, but almost as soon as we started eating, the rains came. We finished up in the truck. A monkey (not sure what kind) came up to the truck to retrieve a chip one of the boys dropped. He then scampered up a tree — but J14 got decent pictures of him.

As you can probably tell, I’ve been amazed at the birds we’ve seen here. The pelicans in the pictures don’t look as tall as they did in person — they were almost the size of C10 and R12! Besides the Great White Pelican, we also saw Yellow-Billed Storks and numerous other smaller, faster birds which I haven’t identified yet.

Probably the most exciting animals we saw, however, were the four baby giraffe. Our guide said that the youngest was 5 days old and the oldest was 2 months. We saw one mother giraffe with the babies, and in the distance another giraffe eating from the tall trees near the water.

This really was a fabulous family day, and a place we’ll be sure to bring friends and family who come visit. (hint, hint!)

For more pics, click here. We really, really need to get a better camera and lenses — Kenya is amazing!

(This is a test post to see if I can upload picks to picasa and then post here. Having a heck of a time with uploading pics to my blog. Sigh.)

We don’t have a housekeeper, yet. It’s quite bizarre for me to come into a society in which household help is a normal part of the culture. In fact, I’ve been told that many housekeepers even have household help for their own homes, it’s just a matter of degree. It hasn’t been that way in the US for most people for many years. Well, that’s not exactly true – just most of the household help in the US is mechanical –dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, crockpot. . . Still, adding in the human element to managing a household is a whole new set of domestic skills to learn. I feel like a highschooler stumbling through home ec. But again, thanks to the neighbor and dear friends, I’m starting to learn the ropes.

We do have a groundskeeper. He’s been working in this garden for the past four years, and went unpaid for the past month and a half when it was unoccupied. (I thought the landlord should have paid him, but no. . .) His diligence has paid off, however, and we have hired him as he had hoped – and paid his salary for the time we knew we would have this house. The boys adore him already. I asked him to give the boys yard jobs when they come ask him – if that doesn’t create more work for him.

R12 has had an eye on cooking and gardening for years, and now he can learn. Our groundskeeper already has a small plot cultivated with rocket, beets, parsley, cilantro, carrots and more. He has other areas ready for planting, waiting for us to decide what we want – and R12 will be helping make those decisions. Today he gave C10 a tour of the yard, pointing out flowers and plants. It may sound silly to have a groundskeeper, but our yard is large and tropical and. . . we have bananas, papaya, mango, avocado (bearing now!), paw paw, sweet lemons, and an apple tree. Maybe more – I forget and the boys are out playing (European) football in the back yard.

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Ironically, our first football injury occurred between the last paragraph and this one. C10 slipped on the grass, has a minor scrape on the arm and a big bruise on his hip. I heard him whimpering – the sound of a child really hurt, not just the scared or upset cry – and had the “oh, hell. . . what do I do?! 911, ambulance, everything is different here!” thoughts go through my head when I ran for the door. Thankfully it seems to be simply a matter of surface scraping and some bruising. Painful, but not emergency. He’s soaking in the tub now and I wish I had my Epsom salts which will be coming in our shipment. I’m sure they are available here, too – but I’m still at the stage in which I don’t know where to find things, which stores are where.. . I bet a pharmacy would have them, but where’s that? And, we don’t have a vehicle yet.

We aren’t in an area in which public transportation is a viable option. I did take a taxi today. A friend told me that this particular company has station wagon taxis and I should let them know I had four children with me so they would send that. Yeah, right. The dispatcher told me she had to send two cabs. I told her I would not let any of my children in a cab separate from me. She told me she had to (insurance). I’m sure she is right. However, I’ve lived in Ukraine. I know that four boys can fit into a back seat, share seatbelts (if they work) and be just fine. Two cabs showed up, we all got in one. Our driver was fine with it. The other driver darted angry looks at me. I told the woman I wouldn’t have my children in a separate car from me. *shrug* I wouldn’t do it in the states, either—like hell I’m going to do it in a country where I’ve just arrived—even if it is just a 10 minute drive! (I tipped the taxi driver for not having an issue with the kids in the car and I have his number for when we need a taxi in the future.) The vehicle we were going to buy here fell through – so, we’re praying for something to become available soon and calling every ad we see. Even with a “big” shopping trip with Naoma on Saturday, I’m running low of food for the kiddos already!

With my hearing loss and the local accent, even though most people speak English, communication is often cumbersome. Sometimes I don’t know whether I’m not understanding because I’m not hearing the words correctly or whether I’m not understanding because of the cultural differences. I’ve read bits and pieces of cultural practices and it’s interesting to see things about which I’ve read actually happen to me. Some people and tribes in Kenya prefer not to make direct eye contact during parts of the conversation. This isn’t out of deference and it isn’t out of disinterest. Being from the US, eye contact during conversations is part of good communication – it shows attentiveness, engagement, really listening. . . So when I’ve had someone looking away, it’s felt weird. I haven’t tried to “force” eye contact, haven’t tried to be too aggressive… but it feels weird. I’m so use to eye contact and smiling being key parts of how I connect with people (especially with my hearing loss?), that I feel a little off kilter. It’s not a bad thing – just different. And, really, I hope I’m not offending anyone my habits of eye contact. On the flip side, it’s so nice that almost everyone has a ready smile. That isn’t always the case in Eastern Europe. I found people there to be friendly and warm when you knew them – but you just didn’t smile at strangers on the street or new acquaintances. Here in Kenya, almost everyone has a warm and ready smile. (Yes, I know I’m broadbrushing – I want to be respectful of individual differences, tribal differences, cultural differences. . . But this has been my experience so far and it is in contrast to my past experiences.)

Ants were climbing over the dishes I didn’t do last night. (Yes, I do go to bed with dishes in the sink – but not anymore. I know they are an invitation to the very few creepy crawlies to be found in my neighborhood.) I did dishes while coffee was brewing, pouring boiling distilled water over them as the final rinse. Our tap water has microscopic buggies which require drinking distilled water and using boiling water for sterilization. I rarely do dishes – my boys long ago assumed that responsibility. But without a dishwasher and with learning the sterilization procedure, I’ve once again assumed that routine. Our house still has the bare essentials, so no dishes by candlelight. But doing dishes with the windows open and the smell of coffee brewing? Still lovely and peaceful.

[Addendum: I’ve since learned that pouring boiling distilled water over dishes is an unnecessary step, and the water in our area – while not potable—is actually treated and has many fewer microbes than most tap water.]

[Addendum 2: We have a dishwasher! It’s blocking the middle of the laundry room for now, but ours is one of the few houses that can accommodate a dishwasher and in the next few days should be hooked up. Our laundry room is off of the kitchen, and so I’ll have a trilogy – dishwasher, washing machine, dryer – in there. The placement is odd – six feet or so from the sink. But still – a dishwasher?! What a treat!]

It seems so surreal to actually be in Africa.

Even though we were told in June that we had been assigned this post, even though Hubby has been studying Swahili and I’ve been studying logistics of living in Kenya, it still seems so amazing, so bizarre.

We arrived in Nairobi late on Thursday night. Very late. Thankfully, we were met by someone and didn’t have to try to navigate immigration, customs and the way to our new home alone. They had hired two vans for us — one for our family and one for the luggage. We had packed light enough that it took only one vehicle for both us and our baggage. [Sidenote: No matter how light you think you pack, it is never light enough when you are hauling it around NYC and London. If you are flying overseas, double and triple check the luggage allowance. In spite of my research, we were charged an extra bag fee. Only one, however, because we packed light enough to shove one bag into another and reassign a checked bag to carry-on. In the future, part of my wants to pack much lighter. Another part of me wants to take as much space and weight as I can because who knows when your shipments will arrive?]

If you try to google map our address in Nairobi, you won’t find us. It’s not yet on the map. And our street name is just like a dozen other street names in our area of town. To complicate matters, there is construction and constant detours in our area of town. All the resulted in the driver of the van being unable to find our new home. A very late night call to Naoma (who is our social sponsor, and a true gift) resulted in the driver finding our house and we walked into our new home about midnight.

We had the immense blessing of having our house ready before we arrived — and readied for our arrival. I heard that workers were here almost until we unlocked the door, fixing the hot water tank, checking electricity, repairing the generator, installing furniture. . . (And Naoma and her visiting family filled our pantry with necessities and our fridge with a delicious meal!)

And so, we arrived in Nairobi and arrived home.

Home.

It still seems a bit surreal, living in someone else’s world.

I can already feel that this place will be home.

January:

First, we had a kajillion more appointments — doctors, dentists, chiro, immunizations. . . you name it. It seemed like every day had a new appointment, in spite of my attempts to get these all done last summer / fall.

The second week of January, the boys had the Icebreaker speech and debate tournament. Anyone who has attended one, knows how these tournaments consume your life for that week.

The third weekend, I went to New Orleans to see my grandmother and uncle. One day I need to write all about my grandmother. . . but for now, I feel like Kenya is so far away that I needed to visit as much as I could.

Then the last weekend of January was the Capital Challenge tournament, another week full of long days, fabulous speeches, good times with friends and very little sleep.

Which brings us to February. . .

In the first week, we had our walk-through for the packout, a dear friend and her two boys came to visit overnight, and we went up to Pennsylvania for one last good-bye to Hubby’s relatives.

The second week we had our pack out. Oh, wow. What a sense of RELIEF when that movers were gone and the house was (mostly) empty, save for the usual trappings of a furnished corporate apartment and what could fit in our suitcases. It no longer felt like “home” as it had for the past nine months, but just an apartment. (Moving hint — some one told me to buy little dot stickers and color-coordinate for the move. I did it and it seemed to help — green was go in the UAB, yellow was slow in the HHE, and red was stop and leave in the apartment.)

That weekend, my parents came to visit for one last farewell. (Hint to FS families — it is wonderful to have visitors AFTER pack-out! Much less stress. . .) It was such a dear time with them and the kids and was just. . . great.

Hubby’s testing date for Swahili was moved up, and so our date to leave DC was sooner than we expected. Thankfully everything was able to be expedited and appointments in various places moved up. Hubby passed his Swahili exam with flying colors on Tuesday, 2/14 and we left DC the following day.

Part of Hubby’s training included meeting with various organizations in NYC before we could leave the States. It was such a great little buffer (for me, anyway. . . not sure about Hubby) to be able to leave behind DC and have a little time to transition away before arriving in Kenya.

We had three amazing days in New York City. I had never been there before. . . A friend recommended a place to stay that was just amazing, right near Central Park. We walked all over the city, the boys and I, when Hubby was at work. Thanks to my parents, we even got to see a Broadway show — The Lion King. Very appropriate, don’t you think, for where we’re going? We had a late flight out of JFK airport, and honestly, that day was long and bitterly cold. By then, we just wanted to be on the plane.

The flight from the US to Kenya is really long — so long that we were offered a stop over in London. We decided to take a few days of leave then, as well, and so had a mini-vacation in London before the last leg of our trip to Kenya. We stayed near Paddington Station (which I recommend now) and so easily walked and took the tube everywhere. The boys were amazed at all the history they saw. We loved walking along the Thames, seeing the Tower, visiting Westminster and walking under umbrellas in the London fog and rain. We recited A. A. Milne when we went to Buckingham palace, and of course had fish and chips. We attended evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral. While not found in the usual tour guide for London, some things our family enjoyed was watching Japanese game shows with wry English commentary and visiting charity shops for unusual t-shirts.

Soon, I hope to put pics up of all these wonderful side trips and moving memories. Still, our internet connection is slow and my blog images have been a bit wonky. We’ll have to see when that happens.

We took our first real college visit. Sure J14 is just a freshman in high school, but we don’t know if/when we’ll get to do this before he finishes high school. Off to Covenant College, alma mater of many dear friends like diber and Jo and so many others. Let me just say, driving up a beautiful mountain and standing at its peak and then talking about great ideas? Totally inspiring. I’d go just for the location.

After the visit, T12 was really excited about Covenant. J14? Still holding out for West Point.

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Our next destination? New Orleans to see Maw Maw and Uncle Mitch and others. . .

And beignets.

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The boys visit their favorite French aunt, Vivienne.

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They act silly with cousins.

(Add more pics here. . . along with the rest of the trip notes!)

Experiencing Art. . .

Happy birthday, Hubby. . .

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In 6 hours and 45 minutes, our Flag Day ceremony starts. . . the moment when we learn where and when we’ll be going. . . posts scattered around the world. On pins and needles. . .

I’ve confused friends by mentioning Flag Day, since the US holiday is June 14th, and Flag Day our date-with-destiny is June 7th. This is a great summary of what “our” Flag Day is.

I have a gut feeling about a certain African country, our daring friends have placed their bets on a place in Central America but is hoping for Asia. We have a lot of places we’d love to go, many more that would be fun, and just a couple that are. . . ummm. . . let’s just say we have our fingers crossed about one or two places where we’d rather have another family enjoy the exotic life there. But the kids are excited and I know that anywhere we are posted will be an adventure, will be a great place for our family.

And the reason for this excitement? In just a few short days we find out where around the world we’ll be moving and when. . . Africa? Asia? Europe? (Stuck a year here in DC?)

To back up a bit. . . those who know us in real life know most of the scoop. Online I’ve been a bit more circumspect. I haven’t been sure what guidelines or boundaries would be best, how up front I could be. . . how transparent I wanted to be. . . But Hubby and I have talked it over and blogging is such an important part of our our family journaling, such an important part of our support structure (especially when we are overseas) and so it’s time to share our good news.

Hubby has been hired as a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State. What this basically means is that he has the coolest of cool jobs, that all the bits of knowledge he’s gathered through the years are useful in an integrated way. (Did you know that the FSWE has questions on jazz?) All of this life and work experiences — military, missionary, professor — have been good preparation for this career. The gypsy life we’ve had so far has been better resume building for the foreign service than if we had carefully structured our lives as preparation. And no, to the multiple friends who have asked, Hubby is not a spy. And we get to travel! With the kids! Explore new places, new languages, new foods! The boys have been spending hours pouring over maps and atlases, reading about countries on our bid list and deciding where they want to go (and don’t want to go!)

Insert standard disclaimer here. The views and writings on this blog do not represent any governmental entity, ecclesiastical body, family member or other formal or informal group. Ideas shared, beliefs explained, observations made, and causes promoted are purely my own.

I’ve been blogging here at TulipGirl for over six years now. . . I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to hide our adventures, joys and struggles. On the other hand, my blogging can have an effect on Hubby’s career similar to when we were on the mission field. I know how to use discretion. But it was easier before when Hubby’s supervisor was someone I knew and worked with regularly myself, and not an unknown with an unclear idea of what is and isn’t unacceptable.

Yet, here we are, and here we keep track of our family.

Back to the giddy, bubbly feelings. . . We’ve been in the DC area for just over three weeks. Next Monday is a much anticipated day for those going through FSO training, Flag Day. Flag Day is when we find out both where we are going, and when it is most likely based on the training Hubby is requird to have for that particular post. On our bid list are about 10 different job categories, about 60 different countries, with the opportunity to learn about 15 languages. While Hubby has extra brownie points with State for his mad Russian language skillz, it’s not likely we’ll end up in a Russian speaking country this go around. (Next time? Almost definitely.)

So what do the kids think? I keep getting that question, and in all honesty — they are thrilled. Yet, Florida has been their home for the past five years and their memories of Ukraine and moving are faded. Moving every two to three years will be new to them. It will be challenging. I grew up nomadic, and while I loved it, I also remember it being hard. I remember being homesick (for me, “homesick” usually meant missing my Maw Maw; when we moved to Illinois, it meant missing the warmth and relaxed lifestyle of Gtmo.) We’ve gone through some TCK struggles in the past. I’m not naive, or think it will be easy for them — in spite of their current excitement. And yet. . . and yet, what I remember from my own growing up years is moving with my family every few years, new adventures, travels. . . driving across the country with laughter and singing. . . my sister being my best friend. . . lots of laughter, and always a close family. I know my kids are going to be angry-sad-cranky-struggle-frustrated. But I believe we are also going to have the strong, close family — and memories of adventures and fun.

So, this is why we are in DC, giddy and going to new places.

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Visiting my folks in Chicago, I felt as if the city heard I was coming and planted tulips just for me. It was a gorgeous time of year to be there, and the time I spent with my parents was wonderful.

Of course when we packed up in Florida, my (experienced) priority was on packing light. Six people times clothes and books for five weeks crammed into an SUV? Definitely need to pack light. And it is spring, isn’t it? Even with an itinerary taking us out west and up north — we still packed light. I made sure each child had a kofta. (Errr. . . sweatshirt. That’s one of the things that will always come to mind in Russian rather than English.) I should have remembered Bisbee always gets a good snow well into April (and often even May!)

Thankfully, in spite of the snow, it was a warm snow. Or something. The boys layered, borrowed clothes from the cousins, wore socks on their hands and went out and played in the snow, and then came in for a hot breakfast.

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The boys played with their cousins. . .

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T12 restrung his guitar with the help of Uncle Pat. . .

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Amazed at how my niece looks like my sis did at that age. . .

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Sis fed gourmet meals to kids on paper plates. . .

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Washed dishes by the light of the chandelier and candles. . .

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With the help of my niece. . .

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I did homework. . .

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Didn’t get any really good pics of my sis and I together. . .

And had a wonderful, peaceful visit.